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THE  IRISH 
ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 

S  JHontfjlg  Journal;  tinier  (Episcopal  Sanction. 


THIRD    SERIES. 

VOLUME    XVIL— 1896. 


"Ut  Christian!  ita  et  Romani  sitis." 

"  As  you  are  children  of  Christ,  so  be  you  children  of  Rome. ' 

Ex  Dictis  S.  Patricii,  Book  of  Armagh,  fol.  9. 


DUBLIN  : 
BBOWNE   &  NOLAN,   LIMITED,   NASSAU-STEEET, 

1896. 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED. 


Nihil  Obstat. 

GlKALDUS  MOLLOY,  S.T.D., 

CENSOE  DEP. 

Smprtmatur. 

K  GULIELMUS, 

jLrchiep.  Lublin.,  Siberniae  Primas, 


BROWNE    &  NOLAIf,  LTD  ,  NASSAU-STEEET,  DUBLIN. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Abbe"  de  Broglie  on  Positivism,  The.  By  Rev.  W.  H.  Kent,  o.s.c.  -  1000 
Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway,  The.  By  Very  Rev.  J.  Fahey,  D.D.,  V.G.  39 
Anglican  Orders,  The  Papal  Bull  on.  By  Rev.  J.  Crowe  -  9(>1 

Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood.     By  Rev.  J.  Crowe  -       1087 

Anglo-Irish  Dialect,  The.    By  Rev.  William  Burke       -  694,  777 

Anglo-Saxon  Monasticism.    By  M.  M.  P.  -        996 

Architecture,  Fergusson's  History  of.     By  Orby  Shipley,  M.A.   - 
Birthplace  of  Maurice  De  Portu,  The.    By  Rev.  E.  B.  Fitzmaurice,  O.S.F.        325 
Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy."     By  William  P.  Coyne,  M.A.,  B.L.  204,  306 

Calendar  of  Papal  Registers.  By  Rev.  B.  MacCarthy,  D.D.,  M.E.I. A.  -  972 
CanonLaw,  St.  Raymond  and  the.  By  Rev.ThomasM.  Grotty,  O.P.,  S.T.L.  112 
Cardinal  Manning,  The  Life  of.  By  Rev.  W.  H.  Kent,  o.s.o.  -  193 

Cardinal  Moran's  "History  of  the  Catholic   Church  in  Australasia." 

By  Rev.  T.  P.  Gilmartin        -  -  673,  885,  1065 

Catechism,  A  New.     By  Editor  I.  E.  R.  -  -1018 

Catholic  Organization  in  Germany.     By  Rev.  J.  F.  Hogan        -  1 

Church  and  State  in  France.     By  Rev.  A.  Walsh,  O.S.A.  -        910 

Church  Music,  The  recent  Decree  of  the  Congregation  of  Rites  regard- 
ing.   By  Rev.  H.  Bewerunge  -  -      1112 
Codex,  A,  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai.     By  Very  Rev.  M. 

O'Riordan,  D.D.          ...  19 

Confessional,  The  :  Its  Shape  and  Surroundings.    By  Rev.  T.  Quin,  P.P.        988 

CorcesponDence  :— 

Birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu         -                        -  444>  545 

Church  or  Chapel       ....  -       1138 

Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy,  The  -        942 

Missions,  The  Necessity  of    -  .650 

Monks  of  the  West,  The        -  -         259 
New  Catechism,  The              -            -                                       -         1128,  1131 

Sibyl,  The,  in  the  ' « Dies  Ira  "  •        363 

Stowe  Missal,  The     -  -1132 

"  Dies  Irse,''  The  Author  of  the.     By  Rev.  E.  B.  Fitzmaurice,  O.S.F.  -        228 

"  Dies  Irse,"  The  Sibyl  in  the.     By  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Malone,  P.P.  ,  v.o.  -        133 

documents  :— 

Admonition  addressed  by  the  Bishops  to  Catholic  National  School 

Teachers                                                                  -                          -  762 

Allocution  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  29th  November,  1895                       -  366 

Anglican  Orders :  Papal  Bull                                                  -             -  943 
Commission  of  Cardinals  appointed  by  the  Pope  for  the  Reunion  of 

the  Churches      -_..-..  364 


iv  Contents 

PAGE 

DOCUMENTS —  continued. 

Condemnation  of  three  Societies  in  the  United  States                       -  560 

Consecration  of  Altars,  The                                                                  -  189 

Decision  of  the  Sacred  Penitentiary,  "  De  Absolutione  Compliels  "  •  1041 

Deceased  Wife's  Sister's  Bill,  Statement  of  the  Bishops  on  -             -  1034 
Decrees  and  Decisions  of  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites  regarding  : — 

Anniversary  of  the  Dedication  of  a  Church,  The                        -  400 

Bishop  and  his  Canons                                          -                          -  566 

Blessing  of  a  Church  and  Cemetery                                             -  566 

Blessing  of  a  Mother  whose  Child  dies  without  Baptism           -  1042 

Blessing  with  the  Pyxis                                                                -  566 
Carrying  of  Images  of  B.  V.M.  in  Processions  of  the  Blessed 

Sacrament,  The                                                                          -  458 

Consecration  of  Altars,  The        -                                                  -  180 

Days  on  which  Mass  is  Forbidden  in  Private  Oratories,  The    -  861 

Divine  Office                                                                                       -  461 

Electric  Light  in  Churches         -  84 

Feast  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury        -  566 

Intonation  of  the  "  Gloria "  and  "  Credo "        -             -             -  567 

Litanies  of  the  Sacred  Heart      -                                                    -  181 
Obligation  of  hearing  Mass  on  Sundays,  satisfied  by  assisting 

at  Mass  of  Bishop  in  his  Private  Oratory  [-  1044 

Opening  Tabernacle  for  Private  Devotion          -  182 

Order  of  Prayers  at  Requiem  Masses     -             -  955 

Regulars  and  the  "  Ordo  "  of  the  Place  1043 

Renewal  of  Vows          -            -            -            -             •            -  1045 

Requiem  Masses  on  Double  Feasts        -                         -  956 

Singing  Hymns  in  the  Vernacular  during  Mass            -             -  459 
The  "  Ordo  "  of  the  Place  to  be  observed  by  those  who  celebrate 

in  Bishop's  Chapels,  Seminaries,  &c.          -                           -  1044 

Use  of  Holy  Oils  in  Blessing  Font       -                                       -  459 

Votive  Offices  and  Vespers        -            -            -  181 

Votive  Offices                             1049 

Wreaths  at  Funerals     -                                                                -  1050 
Decision    of    Congregation    of   Bishops  and   Regulars  regarding 

Dependence  of  Nuns  on  Ordinary  of  Diocese    -             -             -  454 
Decree  of  Sacred  Congregation  of  Bishops  and  Regulars  regarding 

Nuns  in  quest  of  Alms                                                       -             -  451 

Decree  of  the  Inquisition  Condemning  certain  Abuses  in  France    -  565 

Dubium  quoad  operationes  Chirurgicas       ...             -  270 

Erection  and  Affiliation  of  Confraternities  -                                       -  1046 

Good  Shepherd  Nuns  and  Bishop  of  Nancy              -                         -  645 

Gospels  of  Advent  in  West  Connaught  Irish             -             -             -  271 
Impediments  in  Consanguinity  :  Decision  of  Sacred  Congregation 

of  the  Inquisition                                       -             -             -            -  953 
Important  Declaration  of  Irish  Bishops  on  the  Irish  Education 

Bill                                                                                                  .  643 

Indulgence  of  Papal  Blessing  gained  by  the  Bishop  who  imparts  it  862 

Indulgences  attached  to  Prayer  to  B.  V.  for  Reunion  of  Churches  -  455 
Interpretation  of  the  Decree  "  Auctis  Admodum  "   -            -         1037,1038 


Contents  v 

FAQB 

DOCUMENTS — continued. 

Letter  of  Congregation  of  Propaganda  granting  Maynooth  College 

power  to  Confer  Degrees                                                                -  450 
Letter  of  Prefect  of  Propaganda  to  Cardinal  Taschereau  regarding 

State  Schools      -                                                                              -  269 
Letters  of  His  Holiness  Leo  XIII.  :— 

To  Archbishop  of  Mechlin  on  Philosophical  studies  in  Lou  vain  562 

To  Belgian  Bishops  on  Social  Question               -            -            -  261 

To  Bishops  of  Hungary                                        -                         •  552 
To  Cardinal  Rampolla,  protesting  against  the  Celebration  of 

the  20th  of  September  80 

On  the  Coptic  Patriarchate  of  Alexandria                       •            -  1 74. 
On  the  Unity  of  the  Church      -                                                     748,  834 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Dutch  Newspaper,  "  De  Tijd  "     - 
To  General  of  Jesuits  regarding  Missions  to  Copts 

To  the  Negus  of  Abyssinia  ;  Reply  of  the  Negus          -            -  1139 

To  Patriarchs  and  Apostolic  Delegates  of  the  East        -            -  464 

On  Pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land         -                                      -  559 
To  Superior  General  of  Augustinians  of  the  Assumption 

To  the  Abbe  Vigouroux              -                         -                         -  644 

Litanies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Decree  of  Congregation  of  Rites       -  181 
Mass  to  be  said  by  Extern  Priests  in  a  Church  where  the  Feast  of 

a  Saint  or  "  Beatus  "  is  being  celebrated            -            -            -  178 

Masses  for  the  Dead,  Decree  regarding  the  Application  of              -  266 
Matrimonial  Dispensations                              -                                       463,  568 

Meaning  of  "  Condimenta  Ex  Adipe "                                                  -  570 
Nuns    as    Hospital    Nurses :    Correspondence  between  the  Irish 

Hierarchy  and  the  Local  Government  Board    -                         -  1035 

Office  and  Mass  of  the  Blessed  Thaddaeus  Machar  -                         -  859 
Parliaments    of    Religion.     Letter  of  the  Pope  to  the  Apostolic 

Delegate  of  the  United  States                                                        -  179 
Power  of  Bishops  to  Dispense  in  Laws  of  Fast  and  Abstinence  or 

permit  Anticipation        -                                      -  569 

Precedence  of  Tertiaries  of  St.  Francis         -                                       -  462 

Precedence  of  Festivals  within  an  Octave      -                                      -  463 

Re-erection  of  Stations  of  the  Cross                                                     •  457 
Renewal  of  Faculties  granted  to  Irish  Bishops  regarding  Masses 

on  Retrenched  Holidays            -             -             -                          -  173 
Resolutions    of    the    Irish  Hierarchy    regarding    Managers    and 

Teachers  of  Primary  Schools                  -                          -            -  173 

Resolution  of  the  Irish  Hierarchy  regarding  the  Education  Bill      -  756 

Rite  to  be  observed  in  Blessing  a  Secular  Prelate                 -             -  1048 

Rules  to  be  observed  in  Correspondence  with  Propaganda  -            -  1039 

Scapulars,  The,  of  the  Holy  Trinity  -                                                   -  368 
Telephone,  Use  of,  in   Calling  a  Confessor ;  Decision  of  Cong,  of 

Bishops  and  Regulars                                                                      -  369 

University  Education :  Statement  of  Irish  Archbishops  and  Bishops  1029 

Education  in  the  United  States.     By  Rev.  P.  Grrffy                                 -  145 

Father  Sheehy,  The  Life  and  Death  of.    By  Rev.  Patrick  Lonergan,  c.c.  600 

Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture.     By  Orby  Shipley,  M.A.     -  59 


vi  Contents 

PAQB 

Fowler's  "  Adamnan,"  Additional  Remarks  on.  By  Rev.  B.  MacCarthy, 

D.D.,  M.B.I.A. 

France,  Church  and  State  in.     By  Rev.  A.  "Walsh,  O.S.A. 

Genazzano,  The  Shrine  of.     By  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Knowles,  O.S.A.  -         794 

German  Catholics,  Literary  Organization  of  the.     By  Rev.  J.  F.  Hogan        233 
"Higher  Purgatory,"  The,   of  Aubrey  de  Vere.     By  D.  Moncrieff 

O'Connor        -  -         789 

Historical  Character  of  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis,  The.     By  Right 

Rev.  Monsignor  Molloy,  D.D.  -  -  1057 

Holy  Family,  New  Votive  Mass  for  the  Feast  of  the  Arch-Confraternity 

of  the.     By  Rev.  W.  Bannon,  C.SS.R. 
Hundred  Good  Books  for  Young  Priests,  A 

"  Imprimatur "  of  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  The  •        657 

Jewish  Canon,  The.    By  Rev.  Joseph  M'Rory,  D,D. 
Kelly,  D.D.,  The  Very  Rev.  Matthew,  Professor  Maynooth  College  and 

Canon  of  Ossory.     By  Rev.  N.  Murphy  •        704 

Kirby,  The  Late  Most  Rev.  Dr.,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus.    By  Rev. 

D.  F.  M'Crea,  M.E.I.A.  -        769 

Xtturstcal  motes  :— 

Beads  enriched  with  various  Indulgences      -  -  541 
Blessing  of  Dolor  Beads 

1 « Fidelium  "  and  < '  A  Cunctis, "  The  Prayers  -  1119 

Holy  Oils :  Use  of,  on  Holy  Saturday  -  940 
Indulgences  of  the  Rosary 

Mass  "Pro  Sponso  et  Sponsa                         -  -  76 

Mass  to  be  eaid  by  Extern  Priests  in  Churches  and  Oratories  -  356 

Monsignori,  Choral  Dress  of  -  544 

Name,  The,  of  the  Deceased  in  the  Prayer  of  a  Requiem  Mass  -  1127 

Plenary  Indulgences                                                                  -  -  165 

Prayers,  The,  to  be  Recited  after  Mass  -  H23 

Preaching  "  Coram  SS.  Sacramento "                        -  -  639 

Quarantine,  Meaning  of,  in  Indulgences      -  -  538 
Requiem  Masses,  Important  Decrees  regarding 

Scapular  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  -  171 

Solution  of  Difficulty  regarding  Mass  to  be  said  in  ' '  Ecclesia  Aliena"  443 

Veiling  Stations  of  the  Cross                                                    -  76 

Votive  Mass  for  feast  of  Arch-confraternity  of  Holy  Family  •  832 

Meditation  and  Preaching.     By  Rev.  J.  Magnier,  C.SS.R.  -  714 

Missionary  Movement,  The  Student,  in  the  British  Isles.     By  Rev. 

J.  R.  Slattery            ...  -  1012 

Missions,  The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of.     By  Rev.  J.  Lennon  -  417 

Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture,  The.     By  Rev.  R.  Walsh,  O.P.       -  -  802 

Hottces  ot  3Boofcs  :— 

A  Yachting  Cruise  to  Norway,  575 ;  Alethea  :  At  the  Parting  of  the 
Ways,  1054;  Amities  de  Jesus,  Les,  189;  Are  Anglican  Orders 
Valid  ?  477 ;  Ascetical "Works  of  St.  AlphonsusLiguori,  381 ;  Banquet 
of  the  Angels,  The,  576  ;  Bishops  of  Down  and  Connor,  The,  284  ; 
Bray  Catholic  Monitor,  The,  383  ;  Breviarium  Romanum  exDecreto 
SS.  Concilii  Tridentini  Restitutum,  93  ;  Brief  Text-Book  of  Moral 


Contents  vii 

PAGE 

NOTICES  OF  BOOKS— continued. 

Philosophy,  380 ;  Cardinal  Manning,  Le,  1051 ;  Catechism  of 
Mechlin,  The,  576;  Charity,  192;  Christian  Apology,  A,  658 
Christian  Inheritance,  The,  960  ;  Christian  Reunion,  472 ;  Church 
Music,  89 ;  Circus  Rider's  Daughter,  The,  1056  ;  Clongownian,  The, 
191,  766 ;  Comedy  of  English  Protestantism,  The,  383  ;  Devotion  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  The,  574 ;  Divine  Redeemer  and  His 
Church,  The,  958  ;  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland,  An,  191  ; 
End  of  Religious  Controversy,  The,  766  ;  England's  Darling,  473  ; 
English  Catholic  Directory  for  1896,  288  ;  Ethel's  Book,  or  Tales  of 
the  Angels,  767  ;  Faith  and  Science,  469  ;  Faith  of  our  Fathers, 
The,  766  :  Father  Furniss  and  his  Work  for  Children,  478  ;  First 
Communion,  1055  ;  Fontes  Juris  Ecclesiastic!  Novissimi,  96  ;  Four 
Humorists  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  665  ;  Graduale  Parvum,  1144; 
Grammaire  Hebraique  Elementaire,  190  ;  Historia  Exercitiorum 
Spiritualium,  1142 ;  History  of  the  German  People  at  the  close  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  764  ;  Horae  Diurnae  Breviarii  Romani,  93 ;  How 
to  Escape  Purgatory,  288 ;  Hunolt's  Sermons,  474 :  Hymns  for  the 
Ecclesiastical  Year,  87 ;  Institutions  Theologiae  Dogmaticae 
Generalis,  95 ;  Institutiones  Theologiae  Dogmaticae  Specialis,  95 ; 
Irish  Catholic  Directory  and  Almanac  for  1896,  288 ;  Jesus  :  His 
Life  in  the  very  Words  of  the  Four  Gospels,  479 ;  Jewels  of  the 
"  Imitation,"  574 ;  L'Eglise  et  Le  Travail  Manuel,  95 ;  Lyra 
Hieratica,  476 ;  Manning,  Cardinal,  The  Life  of,  273  ;  Memories 
of  My  Pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  1055 ;  Missa  in  Honorem 
Sanctae  Caeciliae,  94 ;  Missa  V.  vocum  inaequalium  i.  h.  B.  M.  V. 
Matris  Dolorosae,  94  ;  Monks  of  the  West,  The,  84  ;  On  the  Road 
to  Rome,  381 ;  Our  Seminaries,  863 ;  Outlaw  of  Camargue,  The, 
1056;  Petronilla  and  Other  Stories,  287;  People's  Edition  of  the 
Lives  of  the  Saints,  478,  669  ;  Pontificalia,  90  ;  Popular  Instructions 
on  Marriage,  378  ;  Protestant  Fiction,  957 ;  Psalm  Miserere,  89  ; 
Record,  A,  of  the  Centenary  Celebrations  held  in  Maynooth 
College  in  June,  1895,  862;  Retreats  given  by  Father  Dignam, 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  959 ;  Sarsfield,  Patrick,  The  Life  of,  92  ; 
St.  Antony  of  Padua,  The  Life  of,  93  ;  St.  Peter,  his  Name  and  his 
Office,  571  ;  Sermons  on  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  672 ;  Six 
Months  in  Jerusalem.  1141  ;  Spirit,  The,  of  the  Dominican  Order, 
1143;  Striking  Contrast,  A,  91;  Studies  in  the  New  Testament, 
573 ;  Tan  Ho,  1056 ;  Theologica  Naturalis,  sive  P  hilosophia  de 
Deo  in  usum  Scholarum,  663  ;  Ushaw  College,  276  ;  Visit  to  Europe 
and  the  Holy  Land,  A,  671 ;  Young  Ireland,  1142 ;  With  an 
Ambulance  during  the  Franco-German  War,  280. 

Notes  on  Local  History.    By  Rev.  P.  Lonergan,  o.o.      -  427 

Philosophy  and  Letters.  By  Rev.  A.  Walsh,  o.s.A.  ...  726 
Philosophy  of  Habit,  The.  By  Rev.  P.  T.  Burke,  O.D.C.  -  396 

Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France,  The.    By  Rev.  A.  Walsh,  o.s.A.  97 

Priory  of  Glascarrig,  Co.  Wicklow.  By  William  H.  Grattan  Flood  -  1101 
Progress  of  the  Church  :  Germany,  Italy,  Bulgaria.  By  J.  F.  Hogan  -  372 
Prophecy,  The,  regarding  the  Popes  attributed  to  St.  Malachy.  By 

Rev.  J.  F.  Hogan      -  63? 


viii  Contents 

PAGE 

Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland.     By  Very  Eev.   J.   Canon 

Murphy,  D.D..  V.F.      -  289,  488 

"  Keligion  of  Protestants,  The."     By  Rev.  John  S.  Vaughan    -  121 

Religious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States.     By  Rev.  P.  Griffy                    -  385 

Rights  and  Limits  of  Conscience.     By  Rev.  James  V.  Warwick             -  586 
Scapular,  The,  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Sacred 

Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary.     By  Rev.  Daniel  O'Loan,  D.D.               -  1107 

St.  Augustine's  Fort,  Gal  way.     By  Very  Rev.  J.  Fahey,  D.D.,  v.a.      -  577 

St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto.    By  Rev.  J.  F.  Hogan                                      -  403 

St.  Mary'8-of-the-Hill,  Galway.     By  Very  Rev.  J.  Fahey,  D.D.,  v.a.      -  219 

St.  Patrick,  Local  Traces  of.    By  Rev.  John  Begley,  c.c.                         -  317 

Seneca  and  his  Spanish  Translators.     By  Rev.  A.  Macaulay,  P.P.           -  522 

Shall-and-Will-iana.     By  G.  M.                                                                    -  47 

Shrine-  of  Genazzano,  The.     By  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Knowles,  O.S.A.            -  794 

Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope,  The.     By  Rev.  E.  B.  Fitzmaurice,  O.S.F.  865 
Temporal  Power,  Will  the  Pope  regain  his.      By    Rev.   Joseph  A. 

Knowles,  O.S.A.                        •  481 

Theobald  Mathew  Union,  A.    By  Rev.  Walter  O'Brien,  o.c.     •            .  515 


IRotee  :— 

Absolution,  repetition  when  Confession  of  Sin  involuntarily  omitted        245 

Absolutio  Complicis  in  Articulo  Mortis        -                          .  -       1023 

Absolutio  Moribund!  a  Non-approbato         -           .-            -  -       1023 

Abstinence  on  Black  Fast  Days       -                          -  345 

Adoration  due  to  our  Lord's  Body  in  Sepulchre     -  1025 

Banns,  Dispensation  in        -  247,  439 

Bination,  Lawfulness  75 

Bination,  Two  Honoraria    -            -            -            -            .  -537 

Bination,  Application  of  Second  Mass          -                          -         •  -       1022 
Cathedraticum         --                         -                          --439 

Communion  of  Sick  at  their  Houses  by  Regulars    -            -  -  ,      346 

Confirmation  of  Maynooth  Statutes              -                         -  -       1027 

Confraternities  Funds,  Treasurership,  Administration        -  -         164 

Delegated  Powers  of  a  Vicar  Forane  :  Dispensation  in  Banns  -       1117 

Impediments  in  Consanguinity          -            -             .            .  -         932 

Laws,  The,  of  a  National  Synod  are  not  mere  Diocesan  Laws  -       1114 

Mass  "  Pro  Sponso  et  Sponsa  "                                    .             .  -         163 

Mass  in  a  Private  House  on  Sunday           .               .             -  .75 

Matrimonial  Consent                                        -             -             .  -         439 

Papal  Bull,  The,  "  Apostolicae  curae  "  :  Preaching  in  a  Convent  -       1116 
Paschal  Communion  of  Persons  unable  to  Fast  not  in  danger  of  death        ]  51 

Paschal  Communion  of  Children  in  year  of  First  Communion  -         159 
Paschal  Communion  of  those  who  have  received  Viaticum  imme- 

diately before  Paschal  Time        -  -        159 

Preaching  on  Sundays  and  Holidays  -  72,  163 

Quasi-Domicile                        -             .             _            _             .  -        439 

Stipends  for  Offices  and  Prayers        -                                       -  -           72 

Testimonial  Letters  of  Postulants  entering  Religion           -  .        531 


THE   IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


JANUARY,    1896 


CATHOLIC  ORGANIZATION  IN   GERMANY 

IN  the  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  during  the  latter 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  there  is  no  more 
interesting,  and,  in  many  respects,  no  more  glorious  chapter, 
than  that  which  tells  of  the  struggles,  the  sufferings,  the 
contests,  and  the  triumphs  of  the  German  Catholics.  The 
more  one  learns  of  the  inner  history  of  Bismarck's 
persecution,  of  its  deliberate  purpose,  its  cold,  cynical 
determination,  its  cruel  spirit,  and  unscrupulous  methods, 
the  more  he  is  compelled  to  admire  the  calm  and  steady 
patience,  the  unchanging  loyalty,  the  manly  fortitude, 
by  which  it  was  met.  Contemporary  history  can  supply, 
indeed,  but  few  examples  of  a  campaign  so  well  calculated 
to  try  the  patience  and  loyalty  of  Catholics.  Their  bishops 
and  clergy  were  thrown  into  prison ;  their  religious 
congregations  were  driven  into  exile  ;  their  churches  were 
closed ;  their  schools  were  emptied  ;  their  nuns  dispersed ; 
the  dogmas  of  their  faith  were  mocked  and  ridiculed  ;  the 
bigots  of  every  school — fanatical  sectaries  and  rationalist 
philosophers — literally  rubbed  their  hands  in  glee,  so  great 
was  their  joy  to  live  in  these  days,  and  see  the  Church  they 
hated  in  the  dust,  an  object  of  ribald  insult  and  merciless 
violence  to  every  knave.  But  their  joy  was  destined  to  be 
of  short  duration.  The  effect  of  this  nefarious  campaign 
was  merely  to  band  the  Catholics  of  Germany  together  as 
they  had  never  been  united  before. 

In  the  hour  of  need  they  rallied  to  the  standard  of  the 

VOL,  XVII,  A 


2  Catholic  Organization  in  Germany 

faith  with  a  courage  and  zeal  worthy  of  the  Crusaders  ;  and 
in  the  merciful  course  of  Providence  they  have  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  their  persecutors  completely  vanquished, 
their  arch-enemy  banished  by  his  master  from  the  position 
that  once  gave  him  power  to  oppress  them.  Bismarck 
is  gone.  Dollinger  is  dead.  Falk  and  Friedberg  have 
disappeared;  and  at  the  present  day  the  mpst  potent 
factor  in  German  politics,  the  most  compact,  successful 
and  prosperous  organization  in  the  empire  is  that  which 
was  called  into  existence  by  Mallinkrodt  and  Windthorst,  to 
defend  the  Catholic  Church  and  her  persecuted  children. 

There  is  no  effect  without  a  cause  ;  and  if  the  German 
Catholics  have  proved  themselves,  in  such  trying  cir- 
cumstances, so  loyal,  so  docile,  so  faithful  to  the  bishops  and 
clergy,  it  must  have  been  that  the  clergy  had  proved  worthy 
of  their  confidence  ;  that  they  had  been  to  the  people  under 
their  spiritual  charge,  not  only  faithful  spiritual  shepherds, 
but  enlightened,  experienced,  and  sympathetic  guides,  even 
in  matters  that  did  not  directly  concern  the  eternal  interests 
of  their  flocks.  The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit.  The  fig-tree 
which  once  attracted  the  attention  of  our  Lord,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bethany,  presented  a  brilliant  display  of 
foliage,  a  magnificent  appearance ;  but  it  suffered  from  one 
supreme  defect.  It  bore  no  fruit ;  and,  on  that  account,  it 
was  condemned  to  wither  and  decay.  This  barren  fig-tree 
has  ever  since  been  regarded  as  the  symbol  of  words 
without  acts ;  of  the  letter  that  killeth  without  the  spirit 
that  vivifies ;  of  fine  language  and  great  pretensions,  but  of 
no  achievement,  no  results.  No  other  symbol  would  typify 
the  social  influence  of  the  German  clergy,  if  they  had 
confined  their  action  to  the  delivery  of  fine  speeches,  and 
the  writing  of  eloquent  articles  in  the  Press.  But  they 
have  merited  a  very  different  emblem.  It  may  truly  be  said 
that  they  have  spent  themselves  in  the  service  of  the  people, 
that  they  have  worked  with  ceaseless  energy,  and  uncommon 
intelligence  and  success,  for  the  mental  and  moral  elevation 
of  those  committed  to  their  charge.  The  whole  fatherland 
is  covered  with  the  monuments  of  their  toil,  the  living  proofs 
of  their  indefatigable  labours.  There  is  no  class  in  the  great 


Catholic  Organization  in  Germany  3 

social  scale  that  has  been  forgotten  in  the  wonderful  network 
of  their  beneficent  institutions.  We  propose  to  examine  here 
some  of  these  establishments,  and  to  begin,  as  is  just,  with 
those  that  have  been  founded  for  the  benefit  of  the  poorer 
classes. 

THE   BAUEKNVEBEIN 

Of  the  fourteen  or  fifteen  millions  of  people  who  compose 
the  Catholic  population  of  the  German  Empire,  a  very 
large  number  are  peasant  proprietors  and  tenant-farmers. 
Agriculture  is  their  staple  resource  ;  and  in  no  country 
in  Europe,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Ireland,  has 
agriculture  suffered  from  such  severe  depression,  during  the 
past  twenty-five  years,  as  in  the  German  fatherland.  The 
reason  of  this  is  not  very  far  to  seek.  The  land,  in  many 
places,  is  very  poor  and  unproductive.  Foreign  competition 
has  enormously  reduced  the  prices  of  cattle  and  grain. 
Taxation,  on  the  otber  hand,  has  been  doubled  and  tripled 
in  order-  to  maintain  a  huge  standing  army  and  provide  for 
the  other  wants  of  the  Empire.  And,  as  is  usually  the  case, 
the  burden  of  this  increased  taxation  fell  most  heavily  on 
land.  Moreover,  the  industries  that  have  arisen  in  the 
great  mining  and  industrial  centres  have  drawn  away  the 
young  men  of  the  country  districts  to  the  towns,  and  labour 
has  become  doubly  expensive  to  the  owners  of  farms  and 
agricultural  freeholds.  Add  to  all  this  the  huge  drain  which 
military  service  makes  upon  the  country,  taking  away  the 
bone  and  sinew  of  the  land  from  the  cultivation  of  the  fields, 
drafting  off  the  most  stalworth  youths  for  three  whole  years ; 
and,  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  taking  them  away  again,  for 
six  weeks,  each  year,  in  the  busiest  time  of  the  season, 
to  renew  their  acquaintance  with  arms  and  drill,  until  they 
are  forty  years  of  age.  Under  such  adverse  conditions  of 
life  it  was  natural  enough  that  the  German  farmer  and  small 
freeholder  should  fall  into  debt,  and  become  the  prey  of  the 
money-lender.  For  every  struggling  peasant  that  was  on 
the  downward  path,  the  usurer  was  on  the  watch.  As  soon 
as  the  fatal  moment  arrived,  when  his  capital  was  exhausted, 
the  Jew  was  ready  with  his  bond.  The  peasant,  pressed  by 
creditors,  should  either  pay  or  sell  out. 


4  Catholic  Organization  in  Germany 

It  is  hard  upon  a  man,  in  any  land,  or  in  any 
circumstances,  to  be  driven  from  the  home  of  his  fathers. 
It  is  particularly  hard  on  a  member  of  the  old  Teutonic  race, 
whose  happiness  has  ever  been  found  at  the  domestic 
fireside.  In  order,  therefore,  to  retain  possession,  and  keep 
the  roof  above  his  head,  the  German  peasant  had  recourse 
to  desperate  devices,  and,  in  an  evil  hour,  when  all  else  failed 
him,  he  turned  for  assistance  to  the  Jew.  If  he  required 
the  loan  of  £50,  he  got  it ;  but  only  on  conditions  of 
signing  a  bill  for  £60,  payable  in  three  months.  If  at  the  end 
of  the  term  he  could  not  pay  the  bill,  it  was  renewed  for 
three  months  more ;  but  this  time  it  was  to  be  £10  instead 
of  £60.  Thus,  little  by  little,  the  Jew  got  his  rope  around 
the  neck  of  his  victim.  He  got  mortgages  on  his  cattle, 
his  crops,  his  land.  A  beast  the  unfortunate  owner  could 
not  sell  without  the  permission  of  Shylock.  Not  an  implement 
in  his  farmyard  could  he  call  his  own.  There  was  no 
consideration  or  mercy  when  the  bond  became  due  ;  and 
thus  the  peasant,  worsted  in  the  struggle,  beggared  and 
broken-hearted,  was  finally  compelled  to  lay  down  his  arms, 
and  pass  under  the  Caudine  forks  of  the  usurer. 

In  this  way  a  great  number  of  the  smaller  holders  were 
ruined  and  scattered.  The  battle  was  an  unequal  one. 
Circumstances  had  proved  too  much  for  them  ;  and  so  they 
left  the  peaceful  and  virtuous  homes  of  their  childhood,  and 
went  sadly  away,  either  to  the  emigrant  ship,  or  to  swell  the 
ranks  of  the  proletariat,  and  risk  the  dangers  of  corruption, 
and  the  shipwreck  of  their  faith,  in  the  turmoil  and  whirl  of 
the  cities. 

The  Catholic  clergy  could  not  look  on  with  indifference 
at  these  things,  nor  witness  unmoved  the  extermination  of 
the  people  who  were  bound  to  them  by  so  many  ties. 
When  they  saw  the  turn  that  things  were  taking,  they 
proceeded  with  energy  to  organize  resistance  and  relief. 
From  the  outset  they  found  enlightened  and  willing  allies 
amongst  the  members  of  the  Catholic  aristocracy,- and, 
as  a  result  of  their  combined  action  and  counsel,  the 
"  Bauernverein,"  or  «  peasant's  league,"  was  founded. 

The  first  branch  of  this  great  organization  was  started 


Catholic  Organization  in  (Germany  5 

at  Miinster,  in  Westphalia,  under  the  auspices  of  a 
nobleman,  who  was  afterwards  known  as  "The  King  of 
the  Westphalian  Peasants,"  the  late  Baron  Schorlemer  Alst. 
The  organization  quickly  spread  to  other  parts  of  the 
empire ;  and  to-day  it  counts  upwards  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  members,  regularly  enrolled  and  supporting 
its  objects  by  a  small  annual  subscription. 

The  object  of  the  "  Bauernverein  "  was  to  unite  in  one 
society  or  league  the  farmers  and  small  proprietors,  for  the 
purpose  of  promoting  their  moral,  intellectual,  and  material 
welfare ;  and,  particularly  with  the  intention  of  constituting 
a  powerful  rural  corporation  for  the  defence  of  peasant 
proprietors  and  farmers.  To  attain  this  end  they  were  to 
hold  regular  meetings  in  their  different  localities,  and  to 
study  in  common  the  means  of  averting  the  dangers  that 
threatened  them.  Books  and  pamphlets  were  to  be  distri- 
buted which  should  give  the  peasants  an  opportunity  of 
studyingHhe  newest  and  most  profitable  methods  of  farming. 
The'league  was  to  take  up  the  cases  of  hardship  that  occurred, 
and  defend  the  interests  of  its  members  in  the  law  courts. 
It  was  gradually  to  establish  loan  funds,  insurance  companies, 
co-operative  societies,  and  agricultural  banks.  The  sub- 
scription for  membership  was  to  be  only  a  shilling  a-year, 
but,  from  the  beginning,  the  exchequer  was  subsidized  by 
large  contributions  from  wealthy  sympathizers.  Membership 
was,  however,  strictly  confined  to  the  owners  of  farms  and 
limited  freeholds,  and  to  those  who  rendered  important 
services  to  the  organization.  The  association  was  to  be  ruled 
by  a  president  and  a  council  elected  by  all  the  members. 
The  moral  purpose  of  the  union  was  clearly  explained  by 
one  of  its  earliest  pioneers,  Breuker  von  Kirchheim. 

"  Our  standpoint'  [he  said]  is  the  Christian  one.1  Our 
object  is  the  defence  of  the  peasant.  Our  methods  are  the 
discussion  and  elucidation  of  questions  that  affect  him.  Society 
is  undergoing  a  tremendous  change.  New  theories  have  shaken 
its  foundations  and  time-honoured  principles.  They  tend  to 
destroy  the  family  by  substituting  civil  for  religious  marriage 
and  godless  schools  for  Christian  ones.  We  shall  resist  all  this, 
and  we  shall  maintain  against  all  attacks  our  order  of  Westphalian 

1  See  Catholiques  Allemands.     Kanne^ieser. 


6  Catholic  Organization  in  Germany 

peasants,  which  is  the  glory  of  our  province,  and  the  most  solid 
rampart  of  the  state  and  of  society — an  order  of  peasants,  free, 
independent,  enlightened,  enjoying  prosperity  and  comfort,  but 
compact,  organized,  disciplined,  faithful  to  the  morals  and 
example  of  their  fathers.  That  is  the  programme  which  we 
inscribe  on  our  banners." 

Violence,  dishonesty,  injustice  were  left  to  the  socialists 
and  the  professional  agitators,  who  thrive  on  them.  The 
methods  of  the  new  organization  were  methods  of  peace, 
of  law,  of  brotherhood,  and  self-defence.  The  "union" 
founded  in  Westphalia,  by  Baron  Schorlemer  Alst,  and  the 
clergy  was  rapidly  extended  to  other  parts  of  the  country. 
The  original  association  which  began  with  two  thousand 
members  has  now  close  on  forty  thousand.  A  similar 
"  union,"  in  the  Khine  Province,  under  the  presidency  of 
Baron  von  Loe,  has  thirty-five  thousand  members.  Another 
established  in  Nassau  has  from  three  to  four  thousand; 
that  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse  has  two  thousand  five 
hundred ;  one  in  Baden  has  eight  thousand ;  one  in  West 
Prussia  about  five  thousand;  a  very  flourishing  one  in 
Silesia,  with  Baron  von  Huene  as  its  president,  has  over 
nine  thousand. 

But  by  far  the  most  enterprising  and  successful  of  all 
these  associations,  is  that  established  at  Treves,  which  is,  at 
present,  composed  of  about  twelve  thousand  members.  It 
was  founded  by  an  energetic  priest  named  Father  Dasbach, 
and  has  taken  the  lead  in  almost  all  the  progressive  measures 
adopted  for  the  defence  of  the  peasants,  and  given  an 
example  which  was  soon  followed  by  all  the  other  branches 
of  the  association.  Father  Dasbach  was  a  man  of  indepen- 
dent means,  who  put  his  purse  as  well  as  his  time,  and 
intelligence  at  the  disposal  of  the  people.  He  is  the  author 
of  a  pamphlet  entitled,  Usury  in  the  Neighbourhood  of  Treves, 
which  lets  in  a  flood  of  light  on  the  machinations  of  the 
Jews  and  money-lending  syndicates  in  these  districts. 
During  the  war  of  the  "  Kulturkampf,"  he  founded  no  less 
than  six  or  seven  newspapers  in  different  centres,  in  the 
north  of  Germany,  for  the  defence  of  Catholic  interest ;  and 
when  Bismarck  was  once  on  the  road  to  Canossa,  he^devoted 
these  organs,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  promotion  of  the 


Catholic  Organization  in  Germany  1 

"Bauernverein."  In  the  statutes  of  his  organization  au 
article  was  embodied  to  the  effect  that ;  "  whenever  one  of 
the  members  was  involved  in  a  lawsuit  having  reference  to 
usury,  or  the  sale  of  cattle,  or  distraint,  or  the  auction  of 
furniture  or  goods  by  creditors,  the  union  would  take  up 
the  case,  and  defend  it  at  their  own  expense,  provided  a 
committee  of  the  union,  appointed  for  the  purpose,  was 
satisfied  that  the  defendant  was  being  harshly  or  unjustly 
treated."  In  virtue  of  this  provision  the  officials  of  the 
"  union  "  took  charge,  in  the  first  year,  of  102  law  suits  ; 
in  the  second,  of  96  ;  in  the  third,  of  176  ;  in  the  fourth, 
of  77.  According  to  the  statistics  published  in  1891,  743 
cases  had  been  defended  in  this  single  "  union."  Of  these 
43  were  gained,  46  were  lost,  289  were  settled  out  of  court, 
and  200  were  withdrawn  by  the  plaintiffs. 

It  was  not  enough,  however,  to  expose  the  methods  of  the 
usurer,  and  meet  him  in  the  law  court.  It  was  necessary  to 
cut  the  ground  from  under  him,  and  devise  some  means  of 
supplying  the  needy  but  industrious  farmer  with  money  at 
the  lowest  possible  rate  of  interest.  For  this  purpose 
Father  Dasbach  created  "  an  Agricultural  Bank."  He  had 
no  difficulty  in  forming  a  company,  and  raising,  by  shares,  a 
capital  of  thirty  thousand  marks.  The  capital  is  now  over 
a  million  marks,  and  accommodates  the  farmers  with  loans  on 
a  large  scale.  On  the  one  hand,  the  shareholders  receive, 
at  least,  the  Government  rate  of  interest  for  their 
investments;  and  on  the  other,  the  farmer  gets  credit  on 
the  most  advantageous  possible  terms,  and  is  allowed  to 
refund  by  instalments,  during  a  term  of  years,  the  sum  which 
he  has  had  to  borrow.  There  is,  thus,  no  necessity  of  going 
to  the  Jew,  and  putting  his  neck  into  the  halter.1  The 
banks,  which  are  perfectly  safe  concerns,  are  conducted 
according  to  various  systems,  and  on  the  most  business-like 
principles.  Their  machinery,  which  is  clearly  explained  in  the 
manuals  of  the  society,  is  extremely  simple,  and  is  approved 
by  the  highest  financial  authority. 

1  Leo  XIII.,  in  his  Encyclical,  "  De  Conditione  Opificum,"  after  enume- 
rating- the  evils  from  which  the  poorer  classes  suffer,  continues  : — "  Malum 
auxit  usura  vorax,  quae  non  semel  Ecclesiae  judicio  damnata,  tamen  ab 
hominibus  avidis  et  quaestuosis  per  aliam  speciem  exercetur  eadem." 


8  Catholic  Organization  in  Germany 

Other  methods  were  also  devised  to  counteract  the 
influences  that  told  against  the  peasant.  If  the  cattle  of  a 
farmer  were  to  die  of  disease,  if  his  crops  were  ruined  by 
hailstorms,  as  sometimes  happens  in  these  districts,  if 
his  house  or  any  part  of  his  property  were  destroyed  by 
fire,  such  disasters  were  often  the  beginning  of  his  ruin. 
Father  Dasbach  established  a  network  of  insurance  companies 
for  the  protection  of  all  these  interests.  In  his  own  society 
at  Treves  the  insurance  company,  established  for  the  purpose, 
received  in  the  year  1890,  thirty-six  thousand  marks,  for  the 
insurance  of  cattle  alone,  and  had  paid  twenty-six  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-three  marks  for  the  loss  of  cattle 
insured.  The  results  in  connection  with  other  kinds  of 
property  were  even  still  more  satisfactory. 

All  the  branches  of  the  association  have  this  in  common, 
that  they  have  been  enabled  to  establish  agricultural 
co-operative  societies  on  so  large  a  scale  that  the  members 
can  purchase  farm  implements  and  machinery  and  other 
requisites  for  the  house  and  farmyard  at  less  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  ordinary  market  price.  By  common  action 
they  have  also  been  able  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  on 
Parliament  to  pass  several  excellent  measures  for  the 
protection  of  agriculture,  laws  against  usury,  reduction  of 
taxation,  prohibition  of  letters  of  change,  authorization  of 
banks,  credit  funds,  companies,  and  soforth. 

It  has  been  computed  that  upwards  of  three  thousand 
peasants  have  been  enabled  to  hold  possession  of  their  homes 
through  the  agency  of  the  "Bauernverein."  Several  million 
marks  have  been  annually  saved, moreover,  by  its  intervention 
to  the  general  body  of  farmers  and  peasant  proprietors.  . 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  clergy  have  everywhere 
been  the  life  and  soul  of  this  great  organization.  It  is 
mainly  due  to  them  that  the  work  was  carried  out  on  the 
lines  of  moderation  and  charity  and  justice.  Everywhere 
they  got  the  peasants  to  join  the  Union.  They  gave  their 
time  and  labour  free  to  work  for  the  cause.  They  founded 
newspapers  and  disseminated  pamphlets  and  books  to 
propagate  its  principles.  They  spared  no  enemy  when  he 
was  discovered  in  the  act  of  plundering  or  harrassing  the 


Catholic  Organization  in  Germany  9 

people.  But  they  insisted  that  the  peasants  who  benefited 
by  their  exertions  should  be  sober,  industrious,  and  deserving, 
that  they  should  confine  themselves  to  peaceful  and  Christian 
methods  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  redress,  and  that  they 
should  bear  in  patience  the  hardships  which  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree  are  common  to  all  mankind,  and  which  in  our 
imperfect  state,  can  never  be  entirely  removed  by  human 
law,  let  theorists  and  speculators  say  what  they  will. 

The  interest  of  the  clergy  was  not  confined,  however,  to 
one  section  of  their  community.  We  shall  now  see  what 
they  accomplished  for  a  class  not  less  worthy  of  their 
devotion  than  those  whom  we  have  described. 

THE    GESELLENVEREIN 

"  Should  it  ever  be  your  fortune  to  visit  the  city  of  Cologne 
[says  a  distinguished  French  writer],  you  may  see  in  the 
beautiful  church  of  the  Friars  Minors,  close  to  the  altar  of 
St.  Joseph,  a  slab  which  bears  the  simple  inscription: — 'Here 
lies  Adolf  Kolping,  who  begs  for  the  charity  of  your  prayers.' 
You  may  never  have  seen  the  name  before,  but  I  can  inform  you 
that  this  humble  grave  contains  the  mortal  remains  of  one  of  the 
most  admirable  men  this  century  has  produced.  Six  years  ago, 
in  the  month  of  August,  1889,  I  found  myself  in  this  church, 
absorbed  in  the  contemplation  of  a  beautiful  work  of  art,  My 
attention  was  soon,  however,  called  away  from  the  mediaeval 
reredos  that  had  attracted  it,  by  the  appearance  on  the  scene  of  six 
or  seven  strangers,  led  by  a  young  man.  They  were  all  clad  in 
humble  garb,  and  when  they  came  to  the  spot  for  which  they  were  in 
search,  they  knelt  piously  down  around  the  grave  of  Adolf  Kolping, 
and  the  tears  were  seen  to  trickle  from  their  eyes.  They  were 
children  who  had  come  from  afar  to  pay  the  homage  of  their 
filial  love  to  the  greatest  of  their  benefactors,"  x 

Kolping  was  the  founder  of  the  "  Gesellenverein," 
or  "  Associations  of  Compagnons,"  a  vast  organization 
established  for  the  benefit  of  German  artisans.  This 
admirable  institution  has,  in  the  course  of  its  existence, 
saved  hundreds  of  thousands  of  German  artisans  from 
spiritual  and  temporal  ruin.  Like  the  guilds  of  the  "  Arts 
and  Crafts,"  in  the  Middle  Ages,  it  has  formed  the  artisans 
into  a  powerful  corporation,  alive  to  all  the  interests  of  its 
members,  and  offering  to  all  its  associates  advantages  which 
cannot  be  found  elsewhere. 

1  Cailioliqnes  Allcmands.     Kannegieser. 


10  Catholic  Organization  in  Germany 

Kolping  was  born  at  Kerpen,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Cologne,  in  the  first  half  of  the  century.     His  parents  were 
poor  labourers,   but  excellent  Christians.     Adolph  was  the 
youngest   of  their   children,  and,  in   his   early   years,   was 
exceedingly  frail  and  delicate  in  health.     He  made,  however, 
rapid  progress   at  the  parish  school,  and   learned   a   little 
Latin.     He   felt   a  vocation  for  the  priesthood,  and  spoke 
about  it  to  the  curate  of  the  parish  ;  but  his  parents  were 
too  poor  to  pay  for  his  education,  and  nobody  could  be  found 
to  undertake  the  expense.     He  was,  therefore,  obliged  to  be 
satisfied  with  an  humbler  lot ;  and,  instead  of  being  sent  to 
college,   he    was    bound   to   a   shoemaker.     When  he  had 
finished  his  apprenticeship  he  went  in  search  of  work  and 
experience  to  several  German  towns  and  cities,  and  amongst 
others,  to  Cologne.     Adolf  Kolping  was  a  rare  shoemaker. 
There  was  no  better  hand  at  his  trade.     He  was  never  to  be 
seen   at   the  beer   shop ;  but  often  in  the  church .     In  the 
midst  of  very  indifferent  company  he  preserved  his  innocence 
and  candour;  and  whilst  attending  to  his  business  during  the 
day,  he  got  lessons  in  the  classics  at  night.     In  the  course 
of  some  years  he  had  saved  a  little  money,  and  one  day  he 
made  his   way  to  the  palace  of  the  archbishop,  to  inquire 
whether,  in  case  he  should  succeed  by  his  work  in  earning  a 
sufficient  sum  to  pay  for  his  education,  there  was  any  chance 
of  his  being  admitted  to  the  priesthood.     The  archbishop, 
whom  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  see,  was  struck  with  the 
sincerity  of  the  young  man,  made  inquiries  as  to  how  he 
stood,  and  ended  by  admitting  him  to  college,  and  educating 
him  at  his  own  expense.     Kolping  was   thus   enabled    to 
spend  several  years  at  the  University  of  Munich,  under  the 
greatest  teachers  of  the  day— Goerres,  Dollinger,  Haneberg, 
Windishmann.     The  last  year  of  his  course  he  spent  at  the 
University  of  Bonn;  and  in  the  month  of  August,  1845,  he 
was  ordained  a  priest,  at  Cologne,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two 
years. 

Father  Kolping  was  first  sent  as  curate  to  the  town 
of  Elberfeld,  where  the  population  is  half  Catholic  and 
half  Protestant,  and  where  many  traps  were  placed  in 
the  way  of  Catholic  young  men.  Kolping  was  naturally 


Catholic  Organization  in  Germany  11 

interested  from  the  beginning  in  the  young  artisans  who,  on 
account  of  their  peculiar  mode  of  life,  were  exposed  to 
greater  dangers  than  others.  The  zealous  priest  got  as 
many  as  he  could  of  these  young  men  together,  and  formed 
them  into  a  sort  of  society  for  mutual  improvement  and  help. 
The  success  of  his  efforts  soon  reached  the  ears  of  his  bishop, 
who  thought  it  well  to  open  up  for  him  a  wider  field  of 
action,  and  appointed  him  curate  in  the  cathedral  parish,  at 
Cologne  itself.  Here  Father  Kolping  set  to  work  with 
redoubled  energy.  There  was  no  priest  in  the  country 
better  qualified  to  judge,  than  he  was,  of  the  needs  and 
requirements  of  the  artisan  class.  He  had  been  through  it 
all.  He  knew  every  danger  and  seduction  that  lay  before 
them  ;  and  he  resolved  to  come  to  their  assistance,  and 
to  bring  with  him  all  the  power  and  authority  of  the"  Church. 
With  this  object  in  yiew,  he  conceived  and  elaborated  the 
plan  of  the  "  Gesellenverein.". 

There  is  no  class  of  people  in  Germany  so  troublesome 
to  Church  and  state  as  the  artisan  class.  It  is  from  their 
ranks  that  the  worst  elements  of  socialism  and  revolution 
are  recruited.  It  is  mainly  through  their  agency  that  false 
theories,  subversive  of  order  and  religion,  are  propagated 
through  the  poorer  classes.  The  Catholic  young  man  who 
is  obliged  to  frequent  their  society,  to  ply  his  trade  in  the 
same  workshop  with  them,  to  serve  the  same  master,  to 
follow  the  same  routine  of  daily  work,  is  constantly  beset 
with  dangers,  which  sometimes  undermine  his  faith,  and 
very  often,  also,  tend  to  weaken  his  character,  and  corrupt 
his  heart.  But  it  is  when  the  day's  work  is  over,  that  the 
worst  snares  are  laid  for  him.  It  is  then  that  he  requires 
relaxation  and  amusement,  and  only  too  often  goes  to  seek 
them  in  the  haunts  of  revelry  and  perdition.  Then  the 
gin-shop  and  the  tavern  light  up  their  recesses,  and  put 
forth  their  glaring  attractions.  Then  the  music-hall  is  in 
readiness  with  its  repertory  of  loathsome  songs  and  corrupt 
representations.  Then  the  secret  society  holds  its  meet- 
ings; the  club  matures  its  plots  of  anarchy;  the  socialist 
erects  his  pulpit,  and  expounds  his  theories ;  the  scheming 
politician  organizes  the  dance  and  the  revel ;  the  doors  of 


12  Catholic  Organization  in  Germany 

the  masonic  lodge  are  opened  wide.  Countless  are  tbe  victims 
which  this  great  network  of  seduction  annually  makes,  and 
sad  is  the  havoc  which  is  wrought  by  it  in  the  ranks  cf 
Catholic  youth. 

In  order  to  counteract  these  evil  influences,  Father 
Kolping  formed  the  young  Catholic  artisans  of  Cologne  into 
a  compact  organization  which  offered  them  all  the  advantages 
of  a  club  ;  amusements,  books,  newspapers,  games,  reading- 
rooms,  plays,  concerts,  lectures,  gymnastics,  and  athletic 
sports,  lessons  in  drawing,  book-keeping,  arithmetic,  agree- 
able society,  pleasant  companions  ;  and,  in  addition  to  all  this, 
in  special  cases,  food  and  lodgings  at  greatly  reduced  prices. 
In  return  for  these  advantages,  the  members  of  the  "  Verein" 
must  faithfully  fulfil  their  religious  duties.  They  must 
frequent  the  sacraments  at  regular  intervals.  They  must  be 
sober  and  respectable  tradesmen.  They  must  assist  at  Mass 
on  Sundays  and  holidays,  and  be  present  at  the  meetings  of 
the  Union  on  the  days  and  hours  appointed.  In  order  to 
establish  the  Union  the  founder  was  obliged  to  appeal  to  the 
charity  of  the  public.  He  began  with  a  small  number  of 
associates,  and  a  modest  establishment.  But  the  tradesmen 
no  sooner  realized  the  material  advantages  of  the  Union? 
than  they  began  to  compete  for  membership.  The  buildings 
were  gradually  enlarged,  and  the  number  of  attractions 
increased.  The  installation  is  now  a  really  magnificent 
one,  well  furnished,  well  ventilated,  attractive  in  appearance, 
lofty,  neat,  and,  best  of  all,  self-supporting,  and  full  of  young 
men. 

The  success  of  Father  Kolping,  at  Cologne,  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  in  other  parts  of  Germany; 
and  he  was  soon  invited  to  undertake  the  establishment  of 
similar  institutions  all  over  the  country.  Under  his  wise 
and  zealous  care  the  work  spread  rapidly.  At  the  present 
day  there  are  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four  of  these  establish- 
ments, organized  in  the  different  cities  of  Germany,  Austria, 
Hungary,  Switzerland,  Holland,  and  Belgium.  They  have 
upwards  of  eighty  thousand  members  in  active  participation 
of  the  benefits  of  the  "union."  They  were  turned  to  use 
by  Father  Kolping,  not  only  for  resident  tradesmen,  but  alsp 


Catholic  Organization  in  Germany  13 

for  the  members  of  the  association  who  are  obliged  to  travel 
in  search  of  work.  The  members  of  this  class  of  tradesmen 
are  exposed  to  perils  greater  even  than  those  which  come  in 
the  path  of  others.  As  a  rule,  they  are  very  poor,  and  when 
they  arrive  in  a  city,  worn  out  by  hunger  and  fatigue,  their 
position  is  one  to  inspire  the  deepest  pity.  They  are 
often  obliged  to  consort  with  the  dregs  of  society,  jailbirds 
and  loafers,  who  are  on  the  look  out  for  associates.  Unless 
the  charity  of  some  good  Samaritan  gives  them  shelter,  they 
are  condemned  to  fix  their  couch  in  some  dreary  yard  or 
rat-infested  garret,  where,  instead  of  a  nightly  prayer,  they 
are  tempted  to  invoke  an  imprecation  on  the  society  which 
gives  riches  and  comfort  to  so  many,  whilst  they  are  refused 
the  very  means  of  subsistence.  The.  "  Gesellenverein  "  has 
now  become  a  refuge 'for  all  such  travellers.  Provided  they 
can  show,  by  their  card  and  book,  that  they  belong  to  the 
union  of  their  native-place,  they  are  lodged  and  fed,  free 
of  expense,  for  a  day  or  two,  whilst  they  are  in  search  of 
work,  and  if  no  suitable  situation  can  be  got  for  them,  they 
set  out  again  for  the  nearest  town  where  the  association 
has  a  branch,  with  the  certainty  of  meeting  with  the  same 
welcome  and  similar  treatment. 

Each  branch  of  the  association  is  governed  by  a  pre- 
sident, two  vice-presidents,  and  by  a  council  elected  by  all 
the  members.  In  the  different  provinces  there  is,  besides,  a 
provincial  president  of  all  the  branches  in  the  province,  with 
local  presidents  working  under  him.  And  all  these  are 
bound  together  again  by  a  president-general,  who  has  the 
command  of  the  whole  organization.  The  president-general, 
provincial,  and  local  presidents  must  be  priests,  and  must 
be  approved  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  under  whose 
patronage  and  protection  the  branches  are  placed. 

Before  his  death,  Father  Kolping  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  upwards  of  four  hundred  of  these  houses  well 
established.  His  own  name  had  become  a  household  word 
all  over  the  Fatherland.  Wherever  he  went  he  was  received 
with  royal  honours.  At  Berlin,  he  was  asked  by  the 
Emperor  to  give  an  exposition  of  his  methods  to  an  assembly 
of  princes  and  nobles  at  the  Court  itself.  At  Munich 


14  Catholic  Organization  ia  Germany 

Maximilian  II.  came  in  person  to  welcome  him.  At  Vienna, 
the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  paid  him  a  visit,  and  publicly 
thanked  him  for  his  services,  whilst  archdukes  knelt  before 
him,  and  begged  him  for  his  blessings  and  his  prayers. 
Pius  IX.  wrote  him  letters  overflowing  with  affection,  and 
appointed  him  a  domestic  prelate  of  his  household.  But  in 
the  midst  of  success  Father  Kolping  thought  only  of  extend- 
ing his  charity.  In  many  places  the  numbers  had  become 
too  large  for  one  society,  and  he  established  a  separate 
organization  for  apprentices,  called  the  "  Lehrling-verein," 
and  another  for  the  masters  of  their  craft,  called  the 
"  Meisterverein."  He  also  opened  at  each  branch  of  the 
"  Gesellenverein  "  a  small  "  savings'  bank,"  having  found 
by  experience,  that  once  the  poor  begin  to  save,  they  are  on 
the  road  to  industry,  sobriety,  and  many  other  virtues. 

Strict  discipline  is  maintained  in  all  these  "unions,"  and 
the  whole  organization  has  been  an  admirable  agency  for 
the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  temperance.  Any  member 
who  becomes  guilty  of  misconduct  is  expelled  from 
the  association.  This,  besides  being  a  severe  material 
loss  to  the  member  expelled,  is  also  a  disgrace  to  him, 
and  is  looked  upon  as  such  by  his  fellow-members,  who 
are  all  the  more  particular  about  observing  the  rules  and 
securing  the  advantages  for  themselves.  Between  them  the 
three  organizations  we  have  mentioned  cannot  have  less 
than  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  members.  It  is  no 
small  achievement  for  the  poor  shoemaker  of  Kerpen  to 
ha  ye  saved  so  many  souls  from  danger.  He  was,  no  doubt, 
ardently  supported  by  his  brethren  of  the  clergy.  But,  in 
the  words  of  an  eloquent  German  writer,  God  Himself  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  work  when  He  gave  to  Adolf  Kolping 
the  heart  of  an  apostle  and  the  soul  of  a  priest. 

Monsignor  Kolping  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years, 
and  was  buried,  at  his  own  request,  in  the  church  that  he 
loved,  near  the  altar  where  he  had  so  often  prayed,  and 
confided  to  the  good  St.  Joseph  the  interests  of  his  wide- 
spread family.  He  was  succeeded  by  another  excellent 
priest,  Monsignor  Schaeffer,  of  Treves,  who  has  now  his 
headquarters  also  at  Cologne,  and  who,  during  his  term 


Catholic  Organization  in  Germany  15 

of  office,  has    laboured    with   indefatigable   energy  in   the 
interests  of  the  association. 

THE   AKBEITERWOHL 

When  Father  Hitze,  the  celebrated  German  economist, 
went  to  congratulate  our  Holy  Father,  Leo  XIII. ,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Jubilee  of  his  priesthood,  in  1887,  he 
received,  as  he  deserved,  a  warm  and  affectionate  welcome 
from  the  "  workman's  Pope  ; "  for  he  was  able  to  lay  at  the 
feet  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ  not  only  the  homage  of  his  own 
filial  love,  but  also  that  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  associations 
of  German  labourers. 

In  the  "  vereins  album,"  which  he  brought  with  him, 
there  was  not  only  a  list  of  the  branches  of  the  labour 
organization,  but  an  eloquent  address,  which  assured  the 
Holy  Father,  that  there  were,  in  the  German  Fatherland, 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  labourers  who  greeted  him  as  a 
father  and  a  protector,  and  who  sent  him  with  acclamation 
the  enthusiastic  homage  of  devoted  subjects.  There  was 
the  workman's  union  of  Breslan  with  its  3,000  members, 
that  of  Bochum  with  1,500,  Mayence  with  1,000,  Wiirzburg 
4,500,  Treves  3,000,  Colmar  1,000,  Cologne  with  two 
organizations  of  3,000  each,  Dortmund  with  3,000,  and  so 
on  in  proportion  to  the  size  and  catholicity  of  the  various 
towns  and  cities.  These  do  not  include  the  associations 
for  boys  and  girls  and  for  women  labourers,  which  in  many 
cases  are  established  in  connection  with  the  "  Arbeiterwohl," 
or  men's  organization. 

When  the  German  clergy,  with  Father  Hitze1  at  their 
head,  undertook  the  organization  of  the  workmen,  the 
condition  of  the  German  labourers  was  a  scandal  and  a  danger 
to  the  whole  empire.  Syndicates  and  capitalists,  composed, 
for  the  most  part  of  Jews  and  rich  Freerp;  sons,  thinking  only 
of  their  dividends  and  their  profits,  drove  the  workmen 


1  Father  Hitze  has  been  ever  mindful  of  the  teaching  of  Leo  XIII. :  — 
"Nee  tamen  putaudum,  in  colendis  animis  totas  esse  Ecclesiae curas ita defixas, 
ut  ea  negligat  quae  ad  vitam  pertinent  mortalem  ac  terrenam.  Do  proletariis 
nominatim  vult  et  eonteudit  ut  emergant  a  miserrimo  statu  fortunamque 
meliorem  adipiscantur. " 


16  Catholic  Organization  in  Germany 

before  them  like  a  herd  of  slaves.  Little  did  they  care  how 
these  men  and  their  families  were  housed  and  fed.  All  they 
wanted  was  work  at  the  lowest  possible  wages.  Hence, 
long  hours,  starvation  pay,  unwholesome  and  demoraliz- 
ing conditions  of  labour,  bad  ventilation,  an  oppressive 
atmosphere,  promiscuous  mingling  of  the  sexes,  profanation 
of  the  Sunday,  foul  and  degrading  language,  all  these  things 
were  the  order  of  the  day  in  the  factories  and  work-rooms. 
Socialist  agitators  and  trades-unionists,  disciples  of  Lasalle 
and  of  Karl  Marx,  of  Bebel  and  of  Liebknecht,  in  this 
condition  of  things,  found  the  workmen  an  easy  prey  to 
their  propaganda.  They  reviled  and  denounced  the  Churches 
for  their  indifference  towards  the  sufferings  of  the  working- 
men,  and  announced  to  the  clergy  of  all  denominations  that 
the  day  of  retribution  was  at  hand  when  they  should  reap 
the  reward  of  their  slavery  to  the  rich  and  the  powerful,  and 
pay  the  full  price  of  their  neglect.  Catholic  workmen, 
however,  were  not  led  astray  to  any  great  extent,  either  by 
the  theories  or  the  promises  of  the  Socialists.  They  held 
aloof  from  the  meetings  and  associations  of  their  comrades, 
but  sought  under  the  shadow  of  the  Catholic  Church  the 
protection  which  they  claimed.  The  clergy  who  had  watched 
with  anxiety  the  development  of  affairs,  saw  that  the  time 
was  ripe  for  action,  that  industrial  life  had  reached  a  stage 
which  made  their  intervention  an  imperative  necessity. 
Accordingly,  at  the  general  meeting  of  the  German  Catholics, 
held  at  Amberg,  in  Bavaria,  in  1884,  a  few  months  after  the 
appearance  of  the  Encyclical  "Humanum  Genus"  priests 
and  people,  nobles  and  merchants,  manufacturers  and 
labourers,  determined  to  put  their  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  and 
save  the  Catholic  workmen  from  the  traps  and  dangers  that 
were  thickening  around  them.  The  rules  of  an  association 
were  then  and  there  drawn  up  and  approved,  and  there 
was  soon  a  branch  of  the  workmen's  union  in  almost 
every  important  centre  of  industry  in  Germany.  Already 
Herr  Brandts,  of  Munchen-Gladbach,  a  great  Catholic 
manufacturer,  had  carried  on  his  work  on  Christian  lines, 
and  his  establishments  became  the  models  and  the  patterns 
that  were  held  up  for  imitation  to  all  others.  In  the  new 


Catholic  Organization  in  Germany  17 

union  business  was  carried  on  much  in  the  same  way  as  in 
the  "  Gesellenverein."  The  members  were  to  approach  the 
sacraments  four  times  a  year,  and  to  attend  the  lectures  and 
spiritual  instructions  given  from  time  to  time.  They  were 
provided  with  a  large  hall  or  lecture-room,  which  sometimes 
also  serves  as  a  theatre  and  concert-hall,  with  a  reading- 
room  in  which  books  and  pamphlets  are  supplied,  with 
a  room  for  games  and  amusements  of  various  kinds ; 
and  finally,  wherever  it  was  possible,  with  a  garden  and 
gymnasium,  where  beer,  coffee,  and  other  light  drinks  are 
provided  at  the  lowest  possible  prices. 

These  establishments  are  most  attractive,   and  it   is   a 
pleasure  to  see  the  workmen  come  there,  on  the  evening 
of  a   concert   or    festival,    well    dressed    and    comfortable 
looking.     The  priests  are  there  in  full  force,  young  curates 
and  old  canons,  all  equally  at  home.     There  is  no  Olympian 
arm-chair  for  any  of  them.     They  mingle  with  the  crowd, 
and    get    seats     where    they    can.      Noblemen,   and    rich 
merchants,  also,  not  only  come,  but  bring  their  wives  and 
daughters,  fine  ladies,  who   do   not    disdain    to    spend   an 
evening  with  the  poor,  and  share  in  the   humble  joys   of 
the  men  and  women  who  earn  their  bread  by  honest  labour. 
Nowhere   is   the   great    Christian    family   seen    to    greater 
advantage,  with  the  sole  exception  of  the  church  in  which 
they    worship    together.      Th?,    lecture    hall,    too,    is    an 
immense   resource  in  these  unions.     Here  the   priest  can 
speak   more   freely   than   in   the    church   itself,   refute   the 
false  theories,  repel  the  charges,  contradict  the  calumnies, 
by  which  the  Church  is  assailed.     He  can  enter  more  fully 
into  the  advantages  of  sending  the  children  to  school,  and 
speak  of  many  things   that   concern  workmen   exclusive'y, 
always  reminding  them  that  labour  cannot  degrade  a  man 
who,  of  his  own  free  will,  does  not  degrade  himself: — 

"  That,  though  on  homely  fare  they  dine, 

Wear  hodden  grey,  and  a'  that, 
The  honest  man,  though  ne'er  sae  poor, 
Is  a  king  o'  men  for  a'  that."  , 

Nor   were    the   boys    and  girls    and    women-labourers 

VOL    XVII.  B 


18  Catholic  Organization  in  Germany 

iorgotten  in  the  provisions  of  this  association.  A  special 
necessity  was  felt  to  do  something  for  the  boys  and  young 
girls,  who  had  hitherto  been  greatly  neglected.  Young  lads 
of  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age  had  been  remarkable  for 
their  premature  depravity,  the  precociousness  and  refine- 
ment of  their  vicious  habits.  No  wonder,  indeed,  that  it 
should  have  been  so  ;  for  whilst  father  and  mother  spent 
their  days  in  the  factories,  the  youngsters  were  left  at 
home,  to  vegetate  as  best  they  could,  without  any  super- 
vision or  moral  control ;  and  the  great  Government  at 
Berlin' would  consider  the  Empire  in  danger  if  the  excellent 
"  Little  Sisters  of  the  Assumption "  were  to  set  foot  on 
its  soil,  and  venture  to  rescue  from  utter  corruption  these 
abandoned  children. 

A  regular  system  of  supervision  was  organized,  however, 
and  many  of  these  youngsters  are  taken,  when  found  docile 
and  intelligent,  and  placed  in  some  technical  school,  where 
they  are  taught  a  trade,  and  given  an  opening  which  they 
could  never   expect   without  the  assistance  of  the  clergy. 
Those  who  remain  are  sure  to  be  well  instructed,  and  when 
they  begin  work,  care  is  taken  that  their  surroundings  will 
be  such  as  to  afford  a  fair  guarantee  of  security  both  from  a 
physical  and  moral  point  of  view.     It  would  be  impossible 
to  estimate  the  extent   of  the  good  that  is  done  by  these 
various  organizations,  for  the  workmen  themselves,  and  for 
the  Church  as  well.     For  these  men  are  stal worth  supporters 
of  Catholic  rights  all  over  the  Empire,  and  never  lose  an 
opportunity  of  proving   their    fidelity   and  their  gratitude. 
A  well-organized  distribution  of '  literature  suited  to  their 
needs  and  capacity  keeps  them  informed  of  the  progress  of 
things  in  general.     The  importance  attached  by  the  clergy 
to  this  department  of  the  work  and  the  machinery  by  which 
it  is  carried  on  would  afford  material  for  a  whole   paper. 
But  we  have  already  gone  beyond  the  usual  limits. 

J.  F.  HOGAN, 


[     19     ] 


A  CODEX  OF  THE  GOSPELS  LATELY  FOUND  IN 

SINAI1 

IN  recent  years  as  many  mines  have  been  opened  in  the 
field  of  historical  and  Biblical  criticism  as  in  that  01 
the  natural  sciences,  and  with  results  as  fruitful  and  far- 
reaching.  Since  Tischendorf  discovered  the  Codex  Sinaiticus, 
the  old  monastic  libraries  have  become  a  happy  hunting- 
ground  for  palaeographers.  In  1869  was  published  a 
manuscript  containing  the  Homilies  of  Aphraates,  which 
date  from  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century.  In  1876 
Dr.  Moesinger  of  Salzburg  edited  the  Latin  translation 
which  one  of  the  Mechitarist  fathers  of  Venice  had  made 
in  1841  from  an  Armenian  version  of  St.  Ephraem's 
commentary  on  the  Diatessaron  of  Tatian.  In  1883  the 
Archbishop  of  Nicomedia  published  a  manuscript  of  the 
Teaching  of  the  Apostles,  which  throws  much  light  on 
Christian  history  of  the  first  century.  The  French  Archaeo- 
logical Commission  discovered  the  Gospel  of  St.  Peter  in 
Egypt,  which  was  afterwards  edited  by  Swete.  In  1891, 
Professor  Eendel  Harris  published  the  Apology  of  Aristides 
which  he  had  found  in  St.  Catherine's  Convent  in  Sinai 
two  years  before.  In  1888,  Archbishop  Ciasca,  the  present 
Secretary  of  Propaganda,  made  a  Latin  translation  from  an 
Arabic  version  of  the  text  of  the  Diatessaron  itself.  This 
publication  of  Ciasca,  by  the  way,  gives  evidence  which 
completely  takes  the  ground  from  the  a  priori  reasoning  by 
which  Biblical  rationalists  of  one  school  or  another  have  tried 
to  discredit  the  historical  value  of  the  Gospels.  It  throws 
back  their  date,  I  think,  unquestionably  to  apostolic  times. 

Towards  the  close  of  last  year  the  Syriac  version  of  the 
Gospels  which  I  have  named  at  the  head  of  this  paper  was- 
published  by  the  Cambridge  University  Press.  I  will  give 
the  narrative  of  its  discovery  presently.  Before  its  discovery 

1  The  Four  Gospels  in  Syriac,  transcribed  from  the  Sinaitic  palimpsest,  by  the 
late  ^Robert  L,  Bensly,  M.A.,  and  by  J.  Rendel  Harris,  M.A.,  and  by 
F.  Crawford  Burkitt,  M.A-,  with  an  Introduction  by  Agnes  Smith  Lewis.- 
The  Cambridge  University  Press.  1894. 


20.         A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

the  following  were  the  only  Syriac  versions  of  the  Gospels 
known  in  modern  times.  Early  in  the  sixth  century  the 
Western  Syrians,  Monophysites,  made  a  translation  directly 
from  the  Greek.  It  is  called  the  Philoxenian  version,  from 
Philoxenus,  a  Monophysite  bishop  under  whose  direction  it 
was  made.  Dr.  White  of  Oxford  published  a  manuscript 
of  it  in  1778.  What  is  called  the  Heracleian,  or  Harkleian, 
version  is  but  a  recension  of  it.  There  is  also  the  Palestinian, 
or  Jerusalemite  version,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been 
made  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century.  There  is  then  the 
P'schito,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  made  in  Eastern 
Syria  in  apostolic  or  quasi-apostolic  times.  It  was  to  the 
Syrians  what  the  Latin  Vulgate  was  to  the  Christians  of 
the  Western  Church.  One  of  its  manuscripts  was  edited  in 
1555,  by  a  Jacobite  of  Vienna;  it  has  also  appeared  in 
polyglots,  and  an  edition  of  it  was  made  in  Home  from  a 
Maronite  Codex,  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century. 
Archdeacon  Tafctam  found  a  Syriac  manuscript  of  parts  of 
the  Gospels  in  a  monastery  of  the  Nitrian  -desert,  in  1842. 
It  was  translated  by  Canon  Cureton  in  1858,  and  is  called 
after  his  .name.  Although  it  varies  from  the  P'schito  in 
many  important  particulars,  critics  have  not  agreed  as  to 
whether  it  may  be  set  down  as  a  different  version.1 

The  Convent  of  St.  Catherine  is  situated  in  a  narrow 
valley  or  wady  in  Sinai.  It  stands  within  the  shadow  of 
Jabel  Mousa,  and  around  are  the  scene  of  the  vision  of  the 
Burning  Bush,  the  well  at  which  the  daughters  of  Jethro 


1  What  is  called  the  Karkaphensian  version  is  but  a  recension  of  the 
P'schito  made  by  Jacob  of  Edessa.  Cardinal  Wiseman  devotes  the  third  part  of 
his  Horae  Syriacae  to  an  investigation  of  it.  Mention  is  made  of  such  a  version 
by  Bar-Hebraeus,  quoted  by  Asemanni ;  but  what  or  where  it  was,  or  whether 
it  existed  at  all,  was  a  puzzle  to  Biblical  scholars  till  Wiseman,  then  only 
twenty-six  years  old,  threw  light  on  it  from  a  manuscript  which  he  found  in  the 
Vatican  library.  I  read  in  Dr.  Wright's  Syriac  Literature,  published  last  year, 
that  he,  following  the  Abbe  Martin,  discredits  the  discovery  which  Wiseman 
thought  he  had  made.  Wright  seems  to  say  that  what  Wiseman  believed  to  be 
a  version  of  the  Gospels  was  only  a  manuscript  containing  a  massora  of  the 
works  of  Karkaphetha.  it  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  Wiseman  that  the 
manuscript  contained  their  massoretic  readings  also.  Wright  tries  to  prove 
nothing,  but  merely  mentions  the  authority  of  the  Abbe  Martin,  whose 
pamphlet  I  have  not  seen.  Father  Comely  -still  holds  to  Wiseman's  position. 
He  does  not  notice  the  Abbe  Martin's  work ;  whether  it  is  that  he  ignores  it, 
or  has  not  seen  it,  I  cannot  say. 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai  21 

watered  her  father's  flocks,  and  the  cave  of  the  ecstasies  of 
the  Tishbite.  It  was  originally  built  by  order  of  the 
Emperor  Justinian,  in  the  fifth  century,  but  it  is  at  present 
composed  of  an  irregular  cluster  of  buildings  constructed  at 
various  periods  since  then.  Its  name  comes  from  the 
tradition  that  St.  Catherine's  body  was  miraculously  tran- 
sported thither  by  angels  early  in  the  fourth  century.  Its 
library,  or  the  holes  and  corners  where  its  literary  treasures 
are  stowed  away,  (sometimes  they  are  even  hidden  beneath 
the  convent  to  secure  them  from  the  Bedaween),  contains 
manuscripts  in  various  dead  languages.  It  was  there 
Tischendorf  found  the  manuscript  from  which  he  published 
the  Codex  Sinaiticus ;  it  was  there  Professor  Kendel  Harris 
found  the  Apology  of  Aristides  six  years  ago  ;  and  it  was 
there  also  those  two  learned  sisters,  Mrs.  Lewis  and 
Mrs.  Gibson,  found  the  new  Syriac  palimpsest  in  February, 
1892. 

They  had  learned  Greek,  with  its  modern  pronunciation, 
and  could  speak  it  well.  Mrs.  Lewis  had  been  studying 
Arabic  and  Hebrew  for  some  years,  and  had  lately  learned 
Syriac.  Mr.  Harris  gave  her  hopes  of  finding  something 
of  importance  amongst  the  Estrangelo  manuscripts,  where 
he  had  found  the  Apology  of  Aristides.  He  taught  her  also  how 
to  photograph  manuscripts,  and  lent  her  his  photographic 
apparatus ;  and  she  learned  from  another  how  to  copy  the 
Estrangelo  alphabet.  Thus  encouraged  and  equipped,  the 
two  sisters  set  out  on  their  palseographic  pilgrimage.  When 
they  arrived  at  the  convent  they  at  once  set  to  delving  up 
its  treasures.  In  a  dingy  room  opening  from  a  dark  stair- 
case they  were  shown  by  the  librarian  a  large  box  full  of 
manuscripts.  They  had  to  examine  them  by  candle-light. 
Mrs.  Lewis  was  attracted  by  one  from  its  look  of  venerable 
antiquity,  and  from  the  fact  that,  as  nearly  all  its  leaves 
were  stuck  together,  she  was  probably  the  first  who  had 
examined  it  for  centuries.  On  separating  some  of  the 
leaves  she  saw  it  was  a  palimpsest ; *  that  the  upper  writing 

1  Of  course,  the  readers  generally  of  the  I.  E.  RECOED  need  not  be  told  what 
a  palimpsest  is.  But  as  the  name  may  be  new  to  some,  I  may  observe  that 
when  papyrus  had  become  rare,  and  paper  was  not  yet  in  use,  vejlum  was  used 


22         A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai. 

was  a  hagiography,  and  that  the  under  writing  contained, 
at  least,  the  Synoptic  Gospels.  This  she  could  see  from  the 
titles  at  the  top  of  the  pages,  and  from  the  first  and  last  ' 
words  of  the  lines  which  she  was  able  to  detect  along  the 
margins.  The  body  of  the  writing  she  could  not  decipher, 
because  besides  being  faint  it  was  covered  over  by  the 
writing  of  the  hagiography ;  nor  did  she  discern  at  first 
sight  that  the  manuscripts  also  contained  the  Gospel  of 
St.  John.  By  permission  of  the  librarian,, she  at  once  took 
the  manuscript  to  a  convenient  place,  and  set  about  taking 
a  photograph  of  each  page.  It  was  work  under  difficulties. 
Whilst  she  used  the  camera  her  sister  held  the  folios. 
Then,  the  least  violence  used  in  separating  some  of  the 
pages  made  them  crumble  between  the  fingers,  and  about 
half-a-dozen  could  be  separated  only  by  applying  the  steam 
of  a  kettle.  After  a  ^month's  work  they  left  Sinai,  on 
March  8th,  and  returned  home,  bringing  with  them  the 
negatives  they  had  taken  of  this  and  other  manuscripts— 
about  one  thousand  in  all.  When  Mrs.  Lewis  had  developed 
the  negatives  after  her  return  to  Cambridge,  the  under 
writing  of  the  Gospels  began  to  peep  out  through  the  upper 
writing  of  the  hagiography,  and  she  was  able  to  decipher 
some  passages. 

The  important  question  then  was,  To  what  version  did  it 
belong,  and  what  was  its  critical  value  ?  She  submitted  the 
photographs  to  Professors  Burkitt  and  Bensly  who,  after 
a  first  careful  examination  pronounced  it  to  belong  to  the 
same  family  as  the  Cureton  Gospels,  with,  however,  many 
important  variant  readings  and  other  differences.  Even 
though  it  were  but  a  recension  of  the  same  version  as 
the  Curefconian,  the  new  manuscript  would  be  a  very 
important  element  in  the  textual  criticism  of  the  Gospels  ; 
for,  whilst  the  Cureton  manuscript  contains  only  fragments 

for  writing  purposes.  This  was  dear,  and  in  many  places  scarce.  Vellum 
already  written  upon  was,  therefore,  occasionally  used  to  be  written  upon  again. 
For  this  purpose,  the  old  writing  was  erased  with  knife  or  pumice-stone,  and 
something  new  written  on  it.  Nevertheless,  the  old  writing  did  not  always 
disappear  beyond  recovery,  so  that  in  whole  or  in  part  it  remained  legible. 
Such  a  manuscript  is  called  a  palimpsest.  I  may  add  that  the  celebrated 
Cardinal  Mai  was  the  pioneer  of  this  branch  of  study.  The  palimpsest  in  which 
he  tound  Cicero's  DC  Republica  is  now  in  the  Vatican  Library  ;  it  originally 
belonged  to  the  monks  of  St.  Columbanus,  at  Bobbio 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai  23 

of  the  Gospels,1  the  Lewis  manuscript  has  the  Gospels 
nearly  complete.2  It  would  thus  supplement  the  Cureton 
fragments,  and  the  variant  readings  could  be  checked.  In 
the  course  of  the  autumn  they  succeeded  in  transcribing 
about  thirty  pages,  but  they  found  that  it  was  impossible  to 
get  on  satisfactorily  with  the  photographs.  The  manu- 
script itself  was  necessary  to  enable  them  to  decipher  all  or 
most  of  it ;  so  back  to  the  manuscript  they  would  go. 

Early  in  ths  year  1893,  Mrs.  Lewis  and  Mrs.  Gibson, 
together  with  Professors  Burkitt,  Bensly,  and  Rendel 
Harris,  set  out  for  Sinai.  They  arrived  at  the  convent  on 
February  8th,  were  welcomed  and  afforded  every  facility  by 
the  monks,  and  they  at  once  set  to  work.  It  took  them 
forty  days  to  transcribe  all.  Although  passages  could  be 
read  in  the  manuscript  which  could  not  at  all  be  read  from 
the  photographs,  the  ink  had  in  many  instances  so  faded 
as  to  leave  only  faint  traces  on  the  vellum.  Besides,  many 
letters  and  words  were,  of  course,  covered  over  by  the  upper 
writing.  This  difficulty  was,  however,  in  a  great  measure 
lessened  by  the  fact  that  the  ink  used  in  the  writing  of  the 
hagiography  was  fortunately  of  a  different  colour  from  that 
used  in  the  writing  of  the  Gospels.  Where  words  had  been 
erased  beyond  the  power  of  deciphering,  hydrosulphide  of 
ammonia  was  applied  ^to  restore  them,  and  by  this  means 
they  succeeded  in  deciphering  a  sixth  more  of  the  manu- 
script than  they  otherwise  could.  After  all,  some  passages 
defied  every  contrivance,  as  can  be  seen  by  the  asterisks 
which  mark  the  lacunae  in  the  printed  copy  of  the 
manuscript  which  I  have  before  me.  Having  transcribed  the 
different  pages  of  the  palimpsest,  they  had  to  arrange  them 
in  order;  for  the  scribe  who  had  used  the  Gospel  manuscript 
for  the  hagiography,  evidently  pulled  the  old  volume  to 
pieces,  and  having  prepared  the  vellum  for  the  new  writing 

1  Of  Matthew  it  has  only  i.  1  ;  viii.  22  ;  x.  32  ;  xxiii.  25.    Markxvi.  17-20. 
Johni.  1-42;  iii.  5  ;  viii.   19;  xiv.   10-12,    15-19,   21-23,   26-29.     Luke  ii.  48  ; 
iii.  16  ;  vii.  33  ;  xvi.  12;  xvii.  1  ;  xxiv.  44. 

2  The  following  only   are   wanting :  —INI  atthew  vi.   10;  viii.   3;  xvi.   15; 
xvii.  11  :  xx.  25  ;  xxi.  19  ;  xxviii  8.     Mark  i.  12  ;  i.  44  ;  ii.  20 ;  iv.  18  ;  v.  1  ; 
v.  27  ;  vi.  4.     Luke  i.  16-38  ;  v.  29  ;  vi.  1 1.     John  i.  l-l>4  :  i.  47  ;  ii.  15 ;  iv.  38  ; 
v.  5  ;  v.  27-45  ;   xviii.  32;  xix.  48. 


24          A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

by  erasure  and  washing,  wrote  on  each  folio  as  it  came  to 
hand  regardless  of  their  original  order. 

The  work  of  reproduction  was  completed  towards  the 
close  of  last  year,  when  the  printed  edition  issued  from 
the  Cambridge  University  Press,  with  an  introduction  by 
Mrs.  Lewis,  and  notes  by  Professors  Burkitt  and  Harris. 
Unfortunately,  Professor  Bensly  who  took  part  in  the 
labour  of  the  expedition  in  spite  of  weak  health,  died 
immediately  on  his  return  to  England  ;  and  so  the  name  of 
him  who  would  probably  have  most  to  do  with  the  critical 
work  appears  only  at  the  foot  of  the  pages  which  he  helped 
to  transcribe.  The  published  copy  is  a  reproduction  of  the 
manuscript  as  far  as  possible.  The  text  is  disposed  in  it 
line  by  line  as  it  is  in  the  manuscript,  and  each  page  of  the 
former  represents  a  page  of  the  latter.  The  following  is  a 
description  of  the  manuscript  given  by  Mrs.  Lewis  in  the 
introduction  to  the  published  work  :— 

"  Our  manuscript  is  numbered  30  in  the  Syriac  catalogue  of 
the  Sinai  library,  and  is  throughout  a  palimpsest.  The  volume 
consists  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  leaves  of  vellum,  including 
a  leaf  pasted  in  the  cover.  .  .  .  The  vellum  was  once  stout,  but 
is  now  disposed  to  crumble.  The  leaves  measure  8|  inches  by 
6i 

' '  The  upper  wri  ting  is  in  single  column ,  in  strong  clear  characters, 
with  twenty-six  lines  in  each  page.1  . 

"  Of  these  leaves,  one  hundred  and  forty-two  belonged  to  the 
original  Gospel  manuscript.  Twenty-two  leaves  have  disappeared  ; 
but  five  of  these,  two  at  the  beginning,  and  three  at  the  end,  did 
not  contain  any  part  of  the  Gospel  text.2 

"The  writing  of  the  Gospels  is  in  two  columns,  with  an  uncertain 
number  of  lines  in  each.  There  are  no  lines  ruled  for  the  text, 
but  vertical  ones  existed  on  the  side  of  each  page  in  the  original 
manuscript."3 

Though  the  work  of  reproduction  has  been  difficult,  it  is 
but  the  preface  to  the  work  of  criticism  which  the  publi- 
cation has  called  forth.  What  is  the  age  of  the  manuscript  ? 
To  what  family  of  versions  must  it  be  assigned  ?  In  what 
relation  does  the  version  to  which  it  belongs  stand  to  the 
other  Syriac  versions  of  the  Gospels  already  known?  In  a 

'Page  6.  "  Tage  19.  3  Page  20, 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai  25 

word,  what  is  its  critical  value?  And  what  is  the  true 
interpretation  of  some  curious  readings  which  it  presents  ? 
These  are  problems  which  several  competent  critics  have 
already  tried  to  solve,  but  for  the  most  part  with  conflicting 
conclusions,  and  therefore  in  great  part  with  unsatisfactory 
results. 

Whoever  copied  the  Gospel  manuscript, wrote  at  the  end 
of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John :  "  Here  ends  the  Gospel  of  the 
Mepharreshe,  four  books  (or  writers).  Glory  to  God,  and  to 
His  Christ,  and  to  His  Spirit.  Let  everyone  that  reads, 
and  hears,  and  observes,  and  does,  pray  for  the  sinner  who 
wrote  it,  that  God  may  have  mercy  on  him,  and  remit  him 
his  sins  in  both  worlds.  Amen,  and  Amen."  After  this  is 
some  writing  which  has  baffled  all  attempts  to  decipher  it; 
but  Mrs.  Lewis  has  no  doubt  that  it  gives  the  date  of  the 
transcription.  To  determine  its  date,  therefore,  we  have  to 
depend  on  indirect  evidence. 

The  first  clue  to  its  date  is  to  be  found  in  the  age  of  the 
hagiography  that  was  written  over  it.  Fortunately  this 
gives  its  own  date,  and  Mrs.  Lewis  has  been  able  to  decipher 
it.  It  contains  the  lives  of  several  saints,  and  begins  with 
the  preface :  "  By  the  strength  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
(the  Son)  of  the  living  God,  I  begin,  I  the  sinner,  John  the 
Kecluse  of  Beth-Mari-Kaddish,  to  write  select  narratives 
about  the  holy  women ;  first  the  writings  about  the  lady 
Thecla,  disciple  of  Paul,  the  blessed  apostle,  pray  for  me," 
&c.  The  date  is  found  at  the  end  :  "This  book  was  finished 
in  the  year  (1009  ?)  .  .  .  of  Alexander  the  Macedonian  son 
(of  Philip)  ...  in  the  month  Tarnmuz :  on  the  third  day 
...  of  the  day  ...  may  they  be  .  .  .  who  wrote  the  book 
.  .  .  yea,  and  Amen."  The  other  words  have  not  been 
made  out.  The  era  of  Alexander  begins  at  312  B.C.,  and 
that  would  fix  the  date  of  the  hagiography  at  A.D.  697.  On 
closer  examination,  Mrs.  Lewis  detected  a  hole  in  the  vellum 
immediately  after  the  date,  and  she  supposed  that  Ma  (100), 
in  (the  ending  of  multiples  of  10)  should  have  been  there. 
That  would  leave  the  date,  counting  from  the  Alexandrian 
era,  either  1900  or  1090.  The  former  supposition  would 
bring  the  date  of  the  manuscript  down  to  A.p.  1588,  which 


26         A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

is  out  of  the  question.  The  latter  supposition  would  fix  the 
date  at  A.D.  778,  which  also  coincides  with  the  age  which 
Professor  Bensly  assigned,  to  it  on  examining  the  characters 
of  the  writing. 

Now,  the  Gospel  manuscript  must  have  been  written 
before  that  time.  But  how  long  before  ?  The  writer  of  one 
of  the  criticisms  which  I  have  read — I  forget  which — says 
that  it  must  have  been  centuries  before.  But  that  is  by  no 
means  a  certain  conclusion.  It  was  the  scarcity  and  cost  of 
vellum  that  drove  those  early  copyists  to  use  pre-existing 
manuscripts  to  write  upon ;  and  it  is  less  likely  that  they 
would  use  earlier  manuscripts,  of  which  fewer  copies 
remained,  than  later  ones,  of  which  copies  were  probably 
more  numerous.  The  contrary  too  might  happen,  and  we 
are  involved  in  uncertainty.  But,  at  any  rate,  it  is  not  right 
to  rush  to  the  conclusion  that  the  under  writing  of  a 
palimpsest  must  necessarily  have  been  made  in  all  cases 
centuries  before  the  upper  writing.  It  is  the  opinion  of 
Eendel  Harris  that  the  Gospel  manuscript  was  written  in 
the  early  part  of  the  fifth  century,  or  half  a  century  earlier. 
It  is  well  here  to  distinguish  between  the  time  when  the 
manuscript  was  written,  and  the  date  of  the  version  to  which 
it  belongs.  Kendel  Harris  assigns  the  latter  to  the  second 
century ; 1  but  here  again  we  are  in  uncertainty.  As  with 
scientists,  there  is  a  disposition  amongst  critics  to  put  back 
the  date  of  a  newly-found  manuscript  as  far  as  possible. 
When  the  Curetonian  fragments  were  published  they  were 
assigned  to  a  very  early  time ;  but  I  believe  the  tendency  at 
present  is  to  assign  it  to  a  later  date.  Might  not  the  version 
itself  have  been  made  when  the  Diatessaron  of  Tatian  had 
run  its  course  of  popularity,  or  had  come  to  be  regarded 
with  disapproval  by  ecclesiastical  authority  ?  A  reaction 
set  in  towards  the  close  of  the  third  century  against  Tatian's 
"Gospels  of  the  Mixed  "  (Evangelion  da-Mehallete),  as  they 
were  called  by  the  Syrians  ;  and  the  use  of  the  name 
"  Separated  Gospels  "  (Evangelion  da-Mepharreshe),  at  the 
end  of  the  recently-found  manuscript,  would  seem  to 

1  The  Contemporary  Review,  Nov.,  1894,  pasre  055. 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai          27 

emphasize  that  re-action.  One  can  hardly  see  any  reason 
why  the  four  Gospels  should  be  called  the  "Separated 
Gospels,"  which  is  their  original  form,  before  a  harmonic 
narrative  was  woven  out  of  them  by  Tatian.  When  he 
wrote  the  Harmony,  it  was  quite  natural  to  give  it  a 
peculiar  name,  for  it  was  the  substance  of  the  Gospels  taken 
out  of  their  original  separated  form,  and  it  was  fittingly 
called  Diatessaron,  or  Mehallete  ;  i.e.,  the  "  Gospels  of  the 
Mixed."  But  when  the  reaction  had  come,  when  ecclesi- 
astical authority  wanted  Tatian's  Gospels  to  be  set  aside  and 
superseded  :  when,  for  instance,  Theodoret,  Bishop  of  Cyr, 
swept  up  more  than  two  hundred  copies  of  it  in  the  churches 
of  his  diocese,  and  introduced  the  four  Gospels  in  its  place  ; 
when  Kabbula,  Bishop  of  JMessa,  ordered  that  "  the  priests 
and  deacons  should  take  care  that  in  every  church  there  should 
be  a  copy  of  the  Separated  Gospels  (Evangelion  da-Mephar- 
reshe),  and  that  it  should  be  used,''  it  was  quite  natural  that 
the  name  "  Separated  Gospels  "  should  come  to  be  used  to 
emphasize  the  change,  and  point  the  contrast  more  clearly. 
A  similar  conclusion  may  be  come  to  with  regard  to  the 
version  to  which  the  Curetonian  fragments  belong.1  From 
what  source,  then,  ; did  Tatian  construct  the  Diatessaron  ? 
for  he  must  have  composed  it  from  the  Separated  Gospels. 
He  could  do  it  in  Greek,  from  the  original  Greek  of  the 
text,  and  there  are  those  who  think  that  he  did  so.  He 
could  do  it  in  S}rriac,  directly  from  the  original  Greek ;  or 
he  could  do  it  in  Syriac,  from  the  P'schito,  or  Syriac 
Vulgate,  which  is  generally  thought  to  have  existed  before 
his  time ;  and  this  last  I  think  to  be  the  most  likely  source 
and  language  of  his  Harmony. 

Some  have  tried  to  determine  the  age  of  the  Lewis 
Gospels  by  trying  to  show  that  they  belong  to  the  same 
family  or  recension  as  the  Curetonian.  But,  even  though 
that  were  established,  the  question  of  age  would  still  remain 
doubtful,  because  the  age  of  the  latter  is  far  from  fixed. 
However,  a  minute  comparison  must  needs  be  made  between 
the  two  texts  before  it  can  be  said  with  anything  like 

1  Cf.  History  of  Syriac  Literature,  by  Dr.  Wright,  published  lf},st  year, 
page  7. 


28          A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

certainty  that  they  belong  to  the  same  family.  That  requires 
considerable  time  and  careful  study,  and  I  understand  that 
a  well-known  French  Syriac  scholar  is  engaged  on  it.  In 
the  meantime,  anyone  who  wishes  to  see  an  examination  of 
the  question,  I  would  refer  to  the  Eevue  BiUique  Inter- 
nationale,1 published  by  the  Dominican  Fathers  who  are 
engaged  in  the  practical  school  of  Biblical  studies  in 
Jerusalem.  It  is  the  fullest  I  have  seen. 

After  all,  the  great  importance  of  an  old  manuscript  of 
the  Gospels  consists  in  the  witness  it  bears  to  the  authentic 
reading  of  what  the  Evangelists  wrote ;  beyond  this,  it  is 
valuable  only  as  an  object  of  antiquarian  curiosity.  And 
when  we  come  to  weigh  the  evidence  which  a  codex  gives, 
the  element  of  greatest  value  is  not  its  age.  It  may  easily 
happen  that  a  version  of  later  date  had  passed,  through  a 
purer  medium,  and  preserves  a  more  faithful  copy  of  the 
original  text  than  one  of  earlier  date.  I  do  not  say  this  to 
forestall  the  evidence  which  some  peculiarities  of  the  Lewis 
Gospel  seem  to  give  against  one  of  the  Canons  of  the  fourth 
Session  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Even  though  it  were 
correct  in  some  of  its  peculiarities,  the  Tridentine  Canon 
would  remain  untouched  ;  for  it  must  be  carefully  kept  in 
view  that  the  Canon  does  not  put  forth  the  old  Latin  Vulgate 
as  the  exclusive  criterion  of  authenticity.  It  does  not  make 
the  Vulgate  the  absolute  mouthpiece  of  the  early  Church  in 
this  matter,  as  if  they  were  both  one  and  the  same  witness. 
They  are  rather  made  by  the  Canon  to  constitute  two 
distinct  elements  giving  evidence  together. 

The  Lewis  manuscript  has  several  important  omissions, 
and  a  great  many  peculiar  readings.  A  long  catalogue  of  its 
peculiarities  will  be  found  in  the  number  of  the  Eevue 
Biblique  to  which  I  have  already  referred. 

It  wants  the  first  eleven  verses  of  the  eighth  chapter  of 
St.  John's  Gospel,  which  contain  the  narrative  of  the  woman 
taken  in  adultery.  It  wants  also  the  last  twelve  verses  of 
the  last  chapter  of  St.  Mark,  which  contain  our  Divine 
Lord's  apparition  to  Magdalene  and  the  Apostles  after  His 

?  Julj,  1895. 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai  29 

Resurrection ;  the  commission  to  "  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature,"  and  His  Ascension.  These  omissions  it 
has  in  common  with  the  Vatican  and  Sinaitic  Codices.  It 
wants  verses  43  and  44  of  the  twenty-second  chapter  of 
St.  Luke,  which  record  the  apparition  of  the  angel,  and  the 
Bloody  Sweat  in  Gethsemani.  In  the  twenty-third  chapter 
of  St.  Luke,  it  wants  the  prayer  of  our  Divine  Lord  for  His 
executioners  (verse  34),  and  the  superscription  on  the  cross 
(verse  38) ;  also  the  record  of  His  Ascension,  in  St.  Luke 
Cxxiv.  51).  The  Lord's  Prayer  is  given  in  its  shortest  form 
(St.  Luke  xi.  2-4).  The  Curetonian  Gospels  omit  one 
aspiration — "  Thy  will  be  done;"  the  Lewis  Gospels  omit 
the  three.  In  St.  Luke  (x.  41),  where  our  Divine  Lord 
rebukes  Martha  for  "  being  troubled  about  many  things," 
the  new  Codex  omits  "  but  one  thing  is  necessary."  It  also 
omits  St.  Matthew  xii.  47  ;  xvii.  21 ;  xviii.  11 ;  St.  Mark 
ix.  44-46.  It  also  wants  St.  Luke  xxiii.  10-13,  about  the 
reconciliation  of  Herod  and  Pilate,  the  genuineness  of  which 
has  never  been  questioned ;  and  St.  Luke  xxiv.  40,  where  it 
is  said  that  our  Divine  Lord  showed  His  hands  and  feet  to 
His  disciples  after  the  Resurrection.  In  these  two  latter 
omissions  the  Lewis  Codex,  I  believe,  stands  alone, 

Amongst  the  peculiar  readings  are  the  following : — In 
St.  Matthew  (xviii.  20),  our  Divine  Lord  is  represented  as 
saying  :  "  There  are  not  two  or  three  gathered  in  My  Name, 
and  I  am  not  amongst  them,"  instead  of  the  usual  form, 
"  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  in  My  Name,"  &c.  The 
form  of  Pilate's  question  to  the  Jews  (St.  Matthew  xxvii.  17) 
is  curious  : — "  Which  will  you  that  I  release  to  you — Jesus 
Barabbas,  or  Jesus  who  is  called  Christ?"  In  St.  Luke 
(xvi.  22),  the  rich  man  is  "  cast  into  hell,"  instead  of  "  buried 
in  hell."  In  St.  Luke  (xx.  58),  St.  Peter  is  represented  as 
prefacing  one  of  his  denials  with  the  expostulation,  "Let 
me  alone."  In  St.  John  (xi.  39),  where  our  Divine  Lord 
commands  to  have  the  stone  removed  from  the  grave  of 
Lazarus,  Martha  is  represented  as  asking,  *'  Why  are  they 
to  take  away  the  stone?" — a  question  which  Eendel  Harris 
says  he  has  seen  nowhere  else.  In  St.  John  (xiv.  16),  the 
statement  of  our  Divine  Lord  is  made  unusually  emphatic, 


30          A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

thus  :  "I,  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  ;"  and  in 
verse  27  He' says,  "  My  own  peace  I  give  you." 

The  version  given  by  the  Lewis  Codex  of  the  genealogy 
of  our  Divine  Lord,  which  is  contained  in  St.  Matthew 
i.  16-25,  is  both  singular  and  startling.  Verse  16  reads, 
"  Jacob  begat  Joseph ;  Joseph,  to  whom  was  espoused 
Mary  the  Virgin,  begat  Jesus  who  is  called  Christ."  The 
angel  said  to  Joseph  in  verse  21,  "  She  shall  bear  thee  a 
son  ; "  verse  25,  "  She  bare  him  a  son,  and  he  called  His 
name  Jesus."  We  have  here  a  version  of  the  Gospels,  of 
whose  age  and  origin  the  critics  who  have  hitherto  examined 
it  have  left  us  in  uncertainty,  which  seems  at  first  sight 
to  make  the  conception  of  our  Divine  Lord  merely  natural 
and  human.  This  singular  character  of  the  text  does  not 
bear  on  any  secondary  Christian  doctrine;  it  strikes  at 
the  fundamental  doctrine  of  Christianity  itself.  But  the 
difficulty  which  arises  is  not  in  that.  If  we  should  read  in 
it  only  a  purely  human  origin  for  our  Divine  Lord,  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  left  us  to  solve,  for  we  should  at  once 
say  that  we  were  dealing  with  a  version  corrupted  on  purpose 
to  support  the  heresy  of  the  Ebionites,  or  some  other  of 
those  sects  which  sprang  up  early  to  set  human  caprice 
against  the  pure  teaching  of  Christ.  But  it  will  be  observed 
that  we  can  read  in  it  a  supernatural  as  well  as  a  natural 
conception  of  our  Divine  Lord.  In  verse  18,  "  Now  the 
birth  of  Christ  was  in  this  wise :  when  His  mother  Mary 
was  espoused  to  Joseph,  when  they  had  not  come  together, 
she  was  found  with  child  from  the  Holy  Ghost. "  Therefore, 
the  conception  had  already  come — and  through  the  Holy 
Ghost — when  Mary  was  espoused  to  Joseph. 

In  verse  19,  "  But  Joseph,  her  husband,  because  he  was 
a  just  man,  was  unwilling  to  expose  Mary,  and  he  was 
minded  that  he  would  quietly  put  her  away."  Why  did  his 
justice  make  him  unwilling  to  expose  her,  and  move  him 
to  put  her  away  ?  Because  he  saw  that  the  conception  had 
already  taken  place,  and  he  knew  not  how. 

In  verse  20,  "  While  he  was  meditating  on  these  things, 
there  appeared  to  him  an  angel  of  the  Lord  in  a  vision,  who 
said  to  him :  Joseph,  son  of  David,  fear  not  to  take  Mary 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai  31 

thy  wife,  for  that  which  will  be  born  of  her  is  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Here  we  have  plainly  the  supernatural  conception. 
Again,  after  reading  in  verse  21  the  concluding  words  of 
the  angel  to  St.  Joseph,  "She  shall  bear  thee  a  Son,  and  thou 
shalt  call  His  name  Jesus,"  we  read  in  verses  22  and  23, 
that  this  happened  that  there  might  be  fulfilled  what  was 
spoken  by  the  Lord  in  Isaiah  the  Prophet,  who  said,  "  Behold 
a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and  shall  bear  a  Son,"  &c.  And 
following  on  this  supernatural  account,  and  as  if  in 
conformity  with  it,  we  read  in  verses  24  and  25,  that  "  when 
Joseph  arose  from  his  sleep,  he  did  as  the  angel  commanded 
him,  and  took  his  wife,  and  she  bore  him  a  Son,  and  he 
called  His  name  Jesus."  But  more  than  that ;  in  verse  16, 
where  we  are  told  that  "  Joseph  begat  Jesus,"  it  is  Joseph 
"to  whom  was  espoused  Mary  the  virgin."  And  it  is 
important  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Lewis  Codex  gives  the 
epithet  "virgin"  to  the  spouse  of  Joseph  against  the 
Vulgate  and  every  Greek  version.  In  this  particular,  at  any 
rate,  it  is  ultra-orthodox. 

Now,  taking  the  Matthaean  genealogy  as  the  Lewis 
version  presents  it,  if  we  pin  ourselves  to  the  clear-cut 
alternative,  that,  having  been  originally  heterodox,  it  was 
sought  to  make  it  orthodox  ;  or  that,  having  been  originally 
orthodox,  it  was  sought  to  make  it  heterodox,  we  are 
perforce  driven  to  think  those  who  framed  it  fools.  If  it 
was  formed  by  heretics  on  set  purpose,  they  certainly  had 
not  the  wisdom  of  serpents ;  they  were  bad  promoters  of  a 
bad  cause.  Who  indeed  with  the  cunning  of  an  oriental 
heretic,  would  set  about  corrupting  the  genuine  text  in  the 
Ebionite  or  adoptionist  interest,  and  would  yet  allow  so  many 
passages  in  favour  of  Christ's  supernatural  conception  to 
pass  untouched  ?  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  expressly 
meant  to  correct  a  heterodox  Syriac  version,  those  who 
undertook  the  correction  would  hardly  allow  so  much  in 
favour  of  Christ's  natural  conception  to  remain  in  their 
work.  Mr.  Harris  writes  :  "We  see  the  Gospel  either  in  the 
process  of  formation  as  the  sources  are  gradually  combined 
until  they  reach  their  final  orthodox  form,  or  in  the  process 
of  primitive  contamination  under  the  influence  of  the  earliest 


32          A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

perverting  hands."  *  Either,  of  course,  might  hope  to  win 
the  other  over  gradually  to  their  side  ;  but  not  certainly 
by  the  impossible  process  of  "  gradually "  changing  the 
meaning  of  a  passage  towards  the  fulness  of  their  own 
teaching.  It  would  be  drawing  cunning  too  fine  for  common 
sense.  The  meaning  of  a  passage  is  an  indivisible  unity  ; 
to  make  it  pass  through  a  gradual  change  is  to  make 
nonsense.  In  painting,  one  colour  may  be  gradually  shaded 
into  another,  till  black  takes  the  place  of  white,  or  white 
takes  the  place  of  black ;  but  to  try  it  on  in  doctrine  would 
be  more  like  the  military  tactics  of  Captain  Bobadil  than  the 
astuteness  of  an  Eastern  theologian.  I  have  written  this  on 
the  supposition  that  the  apparently  unorthodox  readings 
in  verses  16,  21,  and  25,  are  really  unorthodox.  Whether 
they  can  be  taken  in  an  orthodox  sense,  will  be  considered 
presently. 

Besides  the  criticisms  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made,  it  will  be  well  to  note  the  following,  which  have 
appeared  in  England.  A  letter  to  The  Guardian,2  by 
F.  C.  Burkitt ;  The  Academy,3  by  F.  C.  Badham,4  by  Fred.  C. 
Connybeare,5  by  E.  H.  Charles,6  by  Willoughby  C.  Allen  ;° 
two  letters  to  The  Tablet,1  which,  I  think,  grasp  the  subject 
more  definitely  than  any  of  the  above.  Each  writer  has 
offered  a  solution  of  his  own  ;  but  they  may  be  classified 
into  those  who  see  an  inconsistency  in  the  narrative — 
Messrs.  Harris  and  Charles  ;  and  those  who  think  it  can  be 
explained  into  consistency  throughout — Messrs.  Connybeare, 
Badham,  Allen,  and  the  writer  in  The  Tablet.  Mr.  Burkitt 
deals  with  the  age  and  origin  of  the  manuscript  only. 
Mr.  Charles  writes  : — 

"  In  vs.  17,  we  have  exactly  what  one  would  expect  a  priori  to 
find  in  a  genealogy  of  Joseph.  By  this  reading  every  difficulty  of 
exegesis  is  removed.  If  this  text  is  the  primitive  one,  it  makes 

1  The  Contemporary  Review,  Nov.  1894,  pas^e  698. 
.. 8  October  31st,  1894. 

3  November  17th  and  December  15th. 

4  November  17th. 

5  December  1st. 

6  December  15th. 

7  December  29th,  1894,  and  January  5th,  1895. 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai          33 

verses  1-17  a  consistent  whole,  and  supplies  us  with  an  Ebionitic 
genealogy  of  Jesus,  which  represents  Him  as  the  natural  son  of 
Joseph.  Before  pursuing  this  question  further,  we  might  turn 
aside  for  a  moment  to  remark  that  the  idea  of  Jesus'  natural 
descent  from  Joseph  could  not  possibly  have  been  in  the  mind  of 
the  writer  of  verses  18-25.  This  is  clear  from  verse  19.  Hence 
we  reject,  on  internal  and  external  grounds,  the  Ebionitic  .readings 
in  verses  18-25  in  the  Syriac  manuscript,  as  due  to  wilful  corrup- 
tion of  the  text.  Here,  then,  in  this  'chapter — if  for  a  moment 
we  may  assume  the  text  of  verse  16  to  be  primitive — we  have 
two  distinct  documents  confronting  each  other  :  the  former 
representing  Jesus  as  the  natural  offspring  of  Joseph  ;  the  latter 
representing  His  birth  as  distinctly  of  a  superhuman  nature." 

He  thinks,  then,  that  verses  1-17  were  not  in  the  original 
text  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  that  they  are  an  Ebionitic 
interpolation,  and  that  they  were  incorporated  in  the  Greek 
manuscripts  about  A.D.  170 ;  that  verses  18-25  belong  to 
the  original  text ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  genuine  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew  began  with  verse  18.  It  is  not  easy  to  keep  one's 
head  over  water  amidst  the  fluctuations  of  critics ;  the  part 
which  Mr.  Charles  labels  as  genuine,  the  Tubingen  rejected 
as  interpolated;  and  conversely.  Besides  an  internal  evidence, 
which  may  be  set  aside  as  having  no  other  ground  than 
the  assumption  of  what  he  wants  to  prove,  he  draws  his 
conclusion  from  these  external  reasons  : — that  Tatian,  in  his 
Diatessaren,  tand  St.  Justin,  in  his  Apology  and  Dialogues, 
do  not  refer  to  verses  1-17  ;  that  some  Irish  manuscripts 
place  the  initial  letter  of  the  Gospel  at  verse  18.  But,  it 
does  not  appear  why  Tatian  should  refer  to  the  genealogy. 
His  scope  was  to  arrange  a  harmony  of  the  Gospels.  We 
have  similar  works  of  modern  writers,  and  if  we  wanted  to 
look  for  a  genealogy,  who  would  think  of  searching  such  a 
book  for  it  ?  St.  Justin's  writings  I  have  not  read ;  but  from 
a  very  exhaustive  work  on  his  life  and  writings,  I  find  that 
the  main  difficulty  proposed  to  him  in  his  Dialogue  with 
Trypho  the  Jew,  was  :  "  Show  me  that  Christ  as  God  existed 
before  all  ages  ;  that  He  became  man,  and  that  He  was  not 

begotten  humanly  "  (^ai  on  OVK  avOpanros  e£  avOpwirov,  Dial.  48).1 


1  Vita  e  dottrina  di  San  Gitisf'no,  Filosofo  c  Martyrc.     Per  Emidio  Euggieri, 
Roma,  1862. 

VOL.  XVII.  C 


34          A  Codex  of  ike  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

Here  the  human  genealogy,  so  far  from  having  been  oppor- 
tune for  St.  Justin,  was  precisely  what  he  should  keep 
behind ;  his  opponent  knew  of  that  genealogy  only  too  well 
already.  So  much  for  his  Dialogue.  His  Apology  was 
dedicated  to  the  Emperor  Antoninus  Pius,  and  was  written 
to  defend  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  Christians  against 
the  accusations  of  the  Jews.  What  useful  purpose  could 
the  genealogy  serve  in  that  ?  All  who  admitted  that  Christ 
was  not  a  myth  should  know  that  at  least  He  was  a  man ; 
and  what  could  it  be  to  the  Gentiles  what  His  genealogy 
was  ?  Again,  the  Ebionites,  so  far  from  interpolating  the 
genealogy,  omitted  all  the  first  chapter  of  St.  Matthew  from 
their  Gospels.  They  recognised  Christ  as  a  mere  man,  and 
therefore  denied  His  virginal  birth.  It  served  their  purpose 
to  reject  the  account  of  the  latter  ;  and  as  it  comes  after  the 
genealogy,  they  let  both  go  together. 

Mr.  Charles  insists  on  the  fact  that  some  Irish  manu- 
scripts have  the  initial  letter  of  the  Gospel  at  verse  18.     It 
is  true  also  that  they  have  the  words  "  Incipit  Evangelium  " 
and   "  genealogia   hucusque,   incipit   Evangelium "    in   the 
margin  at  verse   18.     But,  then,  this  latter  suggests  the 
solution.     The  scribe  wanted  to  divide  the  genealogy  or 
introductory  part  from  the  body  of  the  Gospel,  which  was 
better  adapted  for  liturgical  use.     Moreover,  the  manner  in 
which  verse  18  opens  reveals  a  logical  connection  with  a 
preceding  premises.  It  proceeds  as  if  the  Evangelist,  having 
given  the  genealogy,  goes  on  to  explain  the  nature  of  it.   As 
Mr.  Connybeare  puts  it — "  Verse  18  harps  back  to  verse  1." 
He  says  that  "  in  the  genealogy  we  have  exactly  what  we 
should  expect  in  a  genealogy  of  Joseph."     He  supposes  that 
as  the  genealogy  of  Joseph  was  natural,  the  genealogy  of 
Jesus  should  follow  on  the  same  plan.     He  evidently  went 
to  the  passage  preoccupied  wiih  the  conviction  that  it  teaches 
the  natural  birth  of  Christ ;  and  instead  of  gleaning  that 
from  the -Gospel,  as  he  should,  he  corrected  the  Gospel  from 
it.      He   says,  that  <s  the  idea  of  Christ's  natural   descent 
from  Joseph  could  not  possibly  have  been  in  the  mind  of 
the  writer  of  verses  18-25."     Neither  should  we  think  it  to 
have  been  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  of  verses  1-17,  if  we 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai          35 

read  them  together  with  the  former.  Of  course,  that  cannot 
be  done,  if  we  begin  by  rejecting  them  as  an  Ebionitic 
interpolation.  But  that  is  what  Mr.  Charles  'does,  and 
without  any  justifying  motive. 

Mr.  Connybeare  considers  the  Syriac  version  to  have 
been  originally  heterodox  ;  that  it  was  gradually  corrected 
into  an  orthodox  form  ;  that  whilst  other  Syriac  recensions 
were  cleared  of  such  doubtfully  orthodox  phrases  as  appear 
in  verses  16,  21,  and  25,  these  were  left  untouched  in  the 
Lewis  manuscript.  But,  then,  how  is  the  naturalistic 
account  in  verses  16,  21,  and  25  to  be  reconciled  with  the 
supernaturalistic  in  verses  18-20  and  22-23  ?  He  thinks  it 
can  be  done  by  an  appeal  to  Jewish  philosophy.  He 
writes  :  "  The  Jews  in  the  time  of  Christ  deemed  it  possible 
and  natural  for  a  child  to  be  conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  yet  at  the  same  time  to  be  begotten  in  the  ordinary 
way.  The  two  processes  lay  in  different  spheres.  The  one 
gave  his  soul  or  reason,  which  is  a  gift  of  the  Divine  Spirit ; 
the  other  process  gave  his  flesh,  blood,  and  the  faculty  of 
sense."  And  having  called  a  passage  from  Philo  to  witness, 
he  proceeds: — 

"  In  the  terms  of  such  a  philosophy  as  this,  a  woman  might 
be  said  to  conceive  her  child  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  respect  of  its 
soul,  which  is  an  aTruvyaoyza  9f.lov  Aoyov  or  vov,  a  spark  thrown 
off  by  the  Divine  Eeason  or  Word.  At  the  same  time  she  would 
conceive  it  in  respect  of  its  flesh,  blood,  and  sensuous  faculty 
(ato-07/o-is),  in  the  natural  manner  through  intercourse  with  a 
human  husband." 

But  then  the  complaint  of  St.  Joseph,  that  Mary  was 
with  child  beforehand,  excludes  human  intercourse.  To 
this  Mr.  Connybeare  finds  an  answer  also  in  philosophy. 
He  continues  : — 

"  So  it  is  that  the  angel  assures  St.  Joseph  that  Mary  has 
conceived  the  future  Messiah  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  yet  in 
the  same  breath  bids  him  take  his  wife  to  himself,  and  procreate 
the  Messiah  in  the  usual  way.  To  the  mind  of  Philo  and  his 
contemporaries,  there  was  nothing  in  such  a  command  that  was 
inconsistent  or  irreligious  .  .  .  We  are  obliged  to  admit  that  the 
original  purport  of  the  story  was  to  represent  Mary  as  owing  the 
soul  of  the  Messiah  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  His  flesh  to  the 


66         A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

natural  human  intercourse.  The  account  of  Matthew,  18-25,  must 
be  explained  by  help  of  the  Jewish  theosophy  current  at  the 
time." 

Now,  according  to  this  philosophy,  there  was  nothing  in 
the  manner  of  our  Divine  Lord's  birth  that  had  not  happened 
at  the  conception  of  every  babe  that  came  under  Herod's 
decree ;  nothing  supernatural.  What  I  have  quoted  from 
Mr.  Connybeare  might  have  been  written,  every  word  of 
it,  by  an  Ebionite.  He  says  that  the  primitive  heterodox 
version  of  the  Syriac  was  made  orthodox.  His  explanation 
would  reduce  it  to  the  heterodox  again ;  in  the  light  of  it, 
Christ  was  born  into  this  world  a  mere  man.  Again,  why 
did  St.  Joseph  think  of  putting  her  away  privately  ?  What 
was  the  ground  of  his  fear  which  the  angel  came  to  dispel  ? 
Mr.  Connybeare  gets  rid  of  the  difficulty  by  saying  that  "  in 
these  verses  we  have  a  gloss  of  carnally-minded  persons 
who  were  too  dull  to  comprehend  the  import  of  the  purely 
spiritual  statement  that  Mary  had  conceived  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  But  if  Jewish  theosophy  be  applicable  in  the  case, 
those  "  carnally-minded  persons  "  might  have  managed  the 
matter  better. 

Again,  in  verse  16,  Mary  is  called  "virgin."  How  does 
that  not  exclude  St.  Joseph  from  any  part  in  the  generation 
of  Christ  ?  As  Mr.  Connybeare  went  back  to  Jewish  philo- 
sophy for  an  explanation  of  the  other  difficulty,  so  he  goes 
back  to  the  customs  of  the  early  Church  to  find  a  solution 
for  this.  He  says  that  in  the  first  ages  the  title  of  virgin 
was  given,  not  only  to  the  woman  who  never  married,  but 
also  to  the  widow  who,  instead  of  flying  to  a  second  marriage, 
consecrated  the  rest  of  her  life  to  pious  deeds.  He  thinks 
he  finds  grounds  for  that  in  certain  expressions  of  St.  Ignatius 
Martyr,  who  in  a  letter  to  the  faithful  of  Smyrna  sends  his 
salutation  to 'the  "families  of  my  brethren,  also  to  the 
virgins  called  widows;  "  of  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who 
speaks  of  widows  regaining  their  virginity  by  continence ; 
of  Teriullian,  who  calls  that  a  second  virginity  which  is 
preserved  in  voluntary  widowhood.  But  it  is  quite  clear  that 
these  call  widows  virgins,  merely  as  an  appreciative  recogni- 
tion of  their  piety.  In  special  cases,  such  as  when  reference 


A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai  37 

was  made  to  what  was  known  in  early  Christian  discipline 
as  a  viduatus,  to  which  virgins  were  often  admitted  with 
widows,  all  might  be  called  virgins.  But  the  appellation 
was  never  general.  When  it  was  sought  to  introduce  the 
custom  into  Africa,  Tertullian  took  occasion  to  protest 
against  what  he  called  that  miracle  or  monster — a  virgo 
vidua. 

Mr.  Badham  explains  the  consistency  in  another  way. 
Unlike  Mr.  Conybeare's,  the  miraculous  is  an  element  in  his 
method  ;  but  it  comes  in  after  a  fashion  that  makes  his 
solution  appear  to  the  mind  of  Mr.  Simcox  "  just  as  probable 
and  just  as  edifying "  as  the  other.  He  admits  Joseph's 
physical  fatherhood,  but  says  that  "  his  instrumentality  was 
unconscious;"  "  that  by  Divine  interposition  the  necessity 
for  intercourse  with  man  was  obviated ;  and,  therefore,  the 
conception  being  due  not  to  the  volition  of  man,  but  of 
God,  her  child  was  (rod's  Son."  He  quotes  from  a  work 
which  he  had  already  published,  in  which  he  wrote,  "  The 
narratives  of  virgin-birth  do  not  necessarily  exclude 
St.  Joseph  altogether.  It  is  only  stated  that  Christ's  birth 
was  not  due  to  any  action  or  volition  of  His  mother's 
husband  ;"  and  he  thinks  that  "  this  tentative  conclusion  is 
now  pressed  home  with  irresistible  cogency  by  the  readings 
of  the  old  Syriac."  Undoubtedly,  it  might  have  been  so, 
just  as  our  Divine  Lord  might  have  become  incarnate 
without  a  mother  ;  but  was  it  so  ?  Mr.  Badham  may  well 
be  excused  for  finding  in  the  Lewis  Gospels  a  confirmation 
of  what  he  had  been  already  propounding.  Yet  he  need  not 
be  too  anxious  that  the  theory  should  live,  since  it  is  not 
his  own.  I  understand  that  it  was  born  in  the  brain  of  an 
Italian  critic,  and  it  afterwards  appeared  in  the  pages  of 
Strauss. 

Let  us  now  see  what  other  explanation  may  be  offered, 
taking  the  narrative  as  consistent  throughout.  From  an 
analysis  of  the  narrative  as  it  stands,  it  seems  that  we  must 
stand  by  the  supernatural  account  of  our  Divine  Lord's 
birth.  That  cannot  be  explained  away  ;  it  runs  through 
the  weft  and  woof  of  the  whole  narrative  from  verse  16  to 
25,  It  remains,  then,  to  explain  those  phrases  suggestive 


38          A  Codex  of  the  Gospels  lately  found  in  Sinai 

of  a  natural  birth  into  it.  That  must  be  done,  either  by 
showing  that  they  should  read  otherwise  than  they  appear; 
or,  taking  them  for  what  they  appear,  by  attaching  a 
meaning  to  them  which,  whilst  it  preserves  the  fatherhood 
of  Joseph  as  set  forth  by  them,  guards  also  the  supernatural 
birth  of  Christ.  For  the  former,  let  us  consider  verse  16. 
It  reads  thus  in  the  Lewis  text : — u  Jacob  awuled  le-Joseph 
Joseph  da-Mekira  hewat  leh  Mariam  betultha.  Awuled 
le-Jesu  de-Methchera  Mesicha — Jacob  begat  Joseph,  Joseph 
to  whom  was  espoused  the  Virgin  Mary.  Begat  Jesus  who 
is  called  Christ.''  On  the  face  of  it,  Joseph  is  nominative  to 
awuled  (begat).  But,  then,  there  is  a  stop  just  before  awuled, 
which  would  seem  to  preclude  that ;  and  if  the  suggestion 
made  by  Mrs.  Gibson  in  a  letter  to  the  Times,  that  a  th 
should  have  come  after  d  as  the  final  letter  of  awuled,  or 
that  it  is  there  but  has  disappeared  in  the  palimpsest,  we 
should  have  the  feminine  form  of  the  verb,  which  would  call 
for  Mary  as  its  nominative  instead  of  Joseph.  The  verb  is 
not  the  one  which  is  ordinarily  used  of  a  woman,  but  there 
are  not  wanting  instances  where  it  has  been  used.  Also, 
verse  25  would  become  distinctly  orthodox  by  reading  loh 
instead  of  leh ;  for  which  change  only  the  presence  of  a 
diacritical  point  is  wanted.  May  not  this  be  hidden  in  the 
palimpsest  also?  And  these  changes  appear  the  less 
unreasonable,  when  we  recollect  that  verses  10  and  25  are 
probably  otherwise  corrupt,  owing  to  the  presence  of 
"  virgin  "  in  the  former,  and  to  the  absence  of  "  she  knew 
him  not  until"  in  the  latter.  At  the  same  time,  the 
apparently  unorthodox  phrases  occurring  in  the  three  verses 
is  a  coincidence  which  can  hardly  be  got  over  by  these 
grammatical  conjectures.  Hence,  following  the  writer  in 
The  Tablet,  let  us  take  the  text  as  it  stands,  and  see  how 
those  verses  which  contain  the  fatherhood  of  Joseph  may  be 
reconciled  with  the  virginal  birth  of  Christ. 

Genealogy  amongst  the  Jews  was  reckoned  in  two  ways 
— according  to  nature,  as  in  the  case  of  physical  generation, 
and  according  to  law,  as,  when  a  man  died  childless  his 
brother  was  obliged  to  marry  his  widow,  and  the  issue  of 
that  marriage  was  accounted  to  the  deceased,  took  his  name, 


The  Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway  39 

and  inherited  his  property.  It  was  not  the  custom  amongst 
the  Jews  to  place  females  in  the  direct  line  of  genealogies ; 
they  traced  their  genealogies  through  the  male  line.  Hence, 
when  a  line  ended  with  a  woman,  instead  of  naming  her  in 
the  genealogical  line,  they  named  her  husband  as  the  son  of 
her  father.  Hence,  with  the  Jews,  the  word  son  was  used 
in  two  senses — one  to  signify  the  son  properly  so  called,  and 
the  other  the  legal  son.  But,  because  Christ  did  not  come 
in  a  human  way,  St.  Matthew  names  Mary  as  His  mother, 
although  he  traces  the  rest  of  the  genealogy  through  men 
only.  The  prophecies  should  be  fulfilled  in  the  birth  of 
Christ,  in  order  that  the  Jews  should  believe  Him  to  be  the 
.Messiah  ;  i.e.,  He  should  be  a  descendant  of  Abraham. 
The  readings  in  St.  Matthew  (verses  16,  21,  and  25),  of  the 
Lewis  Gospels  may  be  due  to  a  desire  of  propitiating  the 
Jews  or  those  Christians  of  Jewish  tendencies,  by  tracing 
the  genealogy  of  Christ  through  Joseph.  Thus  the  legal 
fatherhood  of  Joseph  would  have  been  established,  and  the 
prophecies  would  have  been  fulfilled  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  Jews,  whilst  the  virginal  birth  of  Christ  was  secured  by 
the  context. 

M.  O'E. 


THE  ABBEY  OF  ST.  FKANCIS,  GALWAY 

SAINT  STEPHEN'S  Island  was,  perhaps,  the  most 
privileged  and  historic  district  in  the  ancient  City  of  the 
Tribes.  Yet  there  are  few  who  recognise  it  now.  Its  pri- 
vileges are  of  the  past,  and  forgotten  with  its  name ;  and  its 
monastery,  its  historic  church,  its  rich  chapels,  and  gorgeous 
mausoleums,  have  passed  away,  leaving  scarcely  a  trace 
behind.  A  court  of  law,  a  convent  of  our  Lady  of  Mercy, 
and  the  modern  church  of  the  Franciscan  Fathers,  with 
other  structures  of  less  interest,  occupy  St.  Stephen's  Island 
in  our  day ;  and  the  centuries,  which  have  made  the  island 
from  which  the  towers  of  Westminster  cast  their  shadows 


40  The  Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway 

on  the  Thames,  an  integral  part  of  the  great  City  of  London 
have  also  made  St.  Stephen's  Island  an  integral  part  of  the 
town  of  Galway,  and  destroyed  the  evidences  of  its  former 
isolation. 

At  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  it  stood  just 
outside  the  city  walls  :  and  so,  even  in  later  years,  when  a 
more  extended  municipal  boundary  placed  it  within  the  city 
walls,  it  was  permitted  to  ignore  the  authority  of  the  Mayor 
with  "  all  his  works  and  pomps."  He  divested  himself  of 
the  insignia  of  his  office,  before  presuming  to  enter  the 
privileged  precincts  of  St.  Stephen's  Island.  Seven  centuries 
ago  the  splendid  monastery  of  the  Franciscans  had  arisen 
from  its  foundations  in  St.  Stephen's  Island,  with  its  glorious 
church,  worthy  of  the  munificence  of  men  who  were  even 
then  justly  regarded  as  the  most  powerful  subjects  of  the 
British  Crown.  Bold  and  daring,  the  De  Burgos  grasped  vast 
possessions  in  the  west,  south,  and  north,  and  held  them  by* 
the  right  of  their  own  good  swords,  and  with  such  additional 
right  as  the  shadowy  grants  of  English  kings  might  confer. 
But  whether  as  Lords  of  Connaught  or  Earls  of  Ulster, 
there  was  a  grandeur  about  the  religious  foundations  of  the 
De  Burgo's,  and  a  largeness  in  their  generous  endowments, 
which  compared  favourably  with  those  of  the  most  Catholic 
of  our  native  princes ;  and  the  monastic  establishment 
founded  and  endowed  by  Sir  William  Leigh  De  Burgo,  on 
St.  Stephen's  Island,  compared  most  favourably  with  those 
of  his  race  in  any  other  part  of  Ireland.  It  was  founded 
at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  A.D.  1296;  a  year 
memorable  in  our  annals  for  the  "  spoiling "  of  much 
"  ecclesiastical  as  lay  "  property.  The  noble  founder  was 
nephew  of  Walter,  Earl  of  Ulster,  and  for  a  period, 
Lord  Warden  of  Ireland.  The  Burkes  at  the  period 
were  recognised,  not  without  a  struggle,  as  feudal  Lords 
of  Dungallive,  and  now  that  they  had  raised  the  strong 
fortifications  that  were  to  give  security  to  its  inhabitants, 
and  placed  its  people  under  a  certain  form  of  municipal  law* 
they  were  able  to  give  attention  to  its  religious  needs  also. 

The  Church  of  St.  Nicholas  had  not  yet  been  founded, 
and  Mr.  Hardiman  assures  us  that  "a  small  chapel,"  which 


The  Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway  41 

occupied  its  future  site,  "  was  the  only  place  of  worship 
belonging  to  the  settlers."  No  doubt  the  church  of  the 
Knights  Templars  stood  close  by ;  but  it  was  soon  to  be 
suppressed ;  and  St.  Mary's  on  the  Hill,  outside  the  town 
on  the  west,  was  either  then  abandoned,  or  about  to  be 
abandoned  by  its  nuns.  Such  the  inadequate  provisions 
existing  for  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  town,  when  Sir 
William  De  Burgo  established  his  monastery  there  for  the 
children  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  select  a  finer  site.      The  low- 
lying  shores  of  the  Corrib  extended  northward.     The  hills 
that  extended  far  to  the   northwest  indicated  the  wilds  of 
lar  Connaught,  wrhile  the  waters  of  the  Corrib  rushed  along 
the  foaming   rapids  to  the  ocean  by  the  grounds   of  the 
monastery.     And  the  great  ocean  spread  far  in  the  sheltered 
bay  to  the  east  and  south.     "  The  illustrious  founder  spared 
»no  expense,"  we  are  told,  "to  render  the  monastery  Cjne  of 
the  finest  in  Ireland;  and,  indeed,  the  spaci(fas 'dimensions 
of  the  church,  the  rich  marble  of  which  it  was  'constructed, 
and  the  splendour  of  its  altars,  were  so  many  irrefragable 
evidences  of  the  piety  and  taste  of  the  noble  De  Burgh."  He 
lived  to  see  it  solemnly  consecrated,  and  when  dying  ordered 
that  his  remains  should  be  laid  in  the  gorgeous  monument 
which  he  caused  to  be  built  for  himself  and  his  posterity 
under    the    shadow    of    the    grand    altar.      The  generous 
founder  did  not  forget  to  make  suitable  provisions  for  the 
maintenance  of  his  Franciscans.     He  conferred  upon  them 
tithes  of  certain  lands  adjoining  the  town.     He  erected  flour 
mills  for  their  maintenance  ;  and,  furthermore,  he  arranged 
that  they  should  have  abundant  supplies  from  the  teeming 
fisheries  of  the  river. 

Father  Mooney  enters  with  relish  into  the  details  of  this 
interesting  and  valuable  provision  for  the  convent's  support. 
11  That  our  friars  should  never  lack  fish,"  he  says,  "  he 
ordained  that  on  every  Wednesday  they  should  be  supplied 
with  one  salmon  out  of  the  great  weir ;  and  on  the  same  day 
with  one  out  of  the  hand  net,  and  with  all  the  eels  that 
might  be  taken  in  one  day  in  each  week  out  of  the  many 
eel  weirs  on  the  river." 


42  The  Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway 

After  having  witnessed  the  dedication  of  the  monastery, 
Sir  William  Leigh  De  Burgo  died  on  the  12th  February, 
1324 ;  and  was  reverently  laid  in  the  resting-place  of  his 
choice,  "beneath  the  shadow  of  the  high  altar,"  in  the 
church  which  he  had  founded.  The  influence  of  his  example 
remained,  and  raised  up  many  benefactors  to  the  monastery. 
Father  Mooney  adds,  with  pardonable  pride,  "  Galway 
monastery  had  as  many  benefactors  as  any  other  house  of 
our  Order  in  Ireland;  for,  indeed,  the  inhabitants  of  that 
ancient  city  loved  our  habit,  and  never  tired  of  contributing 
td  the  maintenance  of  our  brethren."  A  record  of  the 
endowments  to  the  monastery  was  long  preserved. 

Amongst  its  many  benefactors  the  name  of  Edward 
Philibyn,  "a  wealthy  merchant,"  receives  special  notice. 
The  dormitory  of  the  monastery  was  rebuilt  by  him  in  the 
year  1492.  In  the  year  1538  John  French  "  erected  the 
great  chapel  on  the  south  side  of  the  Abbey,"  in  honour  of 
God,  and  St.  Francis,  "  and  for  the  good  estate  of  his  own 
soule."  He  was  the  same  who  had  erected  the  north  aisle 
of  the  collegiate  church.  The  good  citizens  loved  its  altars 
and  its  sanctuaries.  Indeed  it  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to 
record  that  a  striking  growth  of  practical  piety  on  the  part 
of  the  people,  was  the  outcome  of  this  esteem  in  which  the 
religious  foundation  was  regarded.  A  religious  practice 
sprung  up  then,  which  acquired  all  the  sanction  of  general 
custom,  according  to  which  the  young  and  the  old  of  almost 
every  age  and  sex  repaired  to  the  Church  each  evening  at  sun- 
down to  offer  its  homage  before  its  altars,  and  pour  out  there 
the  perfume  of  their  holy  prayers.  And  as  they  loved  it  in  life, 
so  too  they  sought  the  privilege  of  having  the  remains 
of  their  beloved  dead  rest  within  its  walls.  Hence  the 
beautiful  mausoleums  of  the  noble  and  wealthy  of  the  town 
and  district  were  to  be  found  there.  The  De  Burgos  were 
laid  there,  side  by  side  with  the  O'Flaherties,  the  Lynches, 
and  the  Fitzstephenses. 

When  referring  to  their  beautiful  monuments,  Father 
Mooney  finds  it  difficult  to  restrain  his  enthusiasm.  "As 
for  the  tombs  of  the  distinguished  denizens  of  Galway  and 
its  neighbourhood,  who  had  selected  our  church  for  their 


the  Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway  43 

last  resting-place,  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  they  are  very 
numerous  and  splendid  productions  of  the  sculptor's  chisel, 
exquisitely  wrought,  rich  in  heraldry  and  pompous  epitaphs, 
recording  many  a  high  achievement  on  the  battle-field,  in 
the  senate,  and  in  the  mart." 

Amongst  the  monuments  of  the  illustrious  dead  in  the 
Franciscan  church  at  Galway,  there  was  one  of  very  special 
interest.  But  its  interest  did  not  arise  from  the  richness  of  its 
marbles,  or  the  skill  of  the  sculptor's  art.  It  needed  neither 
"florid  prose  nor  honied  lies  of  rhyme"  to  perpetuate  the 
fame  of  the  great  man  who  lay  at  rest  within  its  shelter. 
It  was  the  simple  tomb  of  Maurice  O'Fihely,  Archbishop  of 
Tuam,  a  man  of  European  fame,  to  whom  the  learned  world 
of  his  age  loved  to  refer  under  the  flattering  title  of  "  Flos 
Mundi."  But  Maurice  "De  Portu,"  as  he  was  also  styled,  made 
it  his  chiefest  ambition  to  be  a  faithful  son  of  St.  Francis,  while 
astonishing  the  learned  of  Italy  and  of  Europe  by  the  depth 
and  brilliancy  of  his  writings.  In  the  month  of  May,  1513, 
he  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  church  of  his  brethren  at  Galway, 
on  the  south  side  of  the  choir.  When  Archdall  wrote,  the 
"  humble  monument  under  which  he  lay  "  was  still  pointed 
out.  It  was  no  wonder  that  this  humble  monument 
should  derive  a  lasting  interest  from  the  lustre  of  his  name. 
Though  the  place  of  his  birth  was  for  a  considerable  time 
a  subject  of  interesting  controversy,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  honour  belongs  to  the  western  province. 
Few  will  doubt  the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Lynch,  who  tells  us,  on 
the  authority  of  John  De  Burgo,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  that 
O'Fihely  was  a  native  of  the  diocese  of  Clonfert.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  two  of  O'Fihely's  illustrious  successors  in 
the  see  of  Tuam  were  also  laid  to  rest  in  the  same  grave; 
namely,  Thomas  O'Mullally  and  Christopher  Bodkin. 

But  the  storm  clouds  were  gathering  quickly  over  the 
West,  and  when  the  storm  burst  at  last,  in  1570,  it 
swept  with  modified  violence  over  the  privileged  island 
of  St.  Stephen.  The  monastery  was  dissolved  by  Royal 
enactment,  and  its  possessions  transferred  in  part  to  the 
Corporation.  "  The  convent  and  church  were  assigned  to 
an  individual  who,  pretending  to  have  adopted  the  doctrine 


44  The  Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway 

of  the  'Anglican  Keligion  '  in  order  to  accommodate  himself 
to  the  times,  contrived,  withal,  to  do  great  service  to  our 
brotherhood  when  they  were  banished  from  their  ancient 
precincts."  We  owe  the  narrative  of  this  pious  fraud  to 
Father  Mooney.  But  he  does  not  disclose  the  name  of  its 
perpetrator,  who,  whatever  his  motives  may  have  been 
showed  himself  a  man  of  great  courage  and  unselfishness, 
considering  the  circumstances  of  the  times.  He  insisted  on 
the  punctual  payment  of  the  tithes,  endowments,  and  other- 
revenues  of  the  convent,  only  to  hand  them  over  privately 
to  the  fathers,  who  were  meantime  obliged  to  occupy  a 
private  residence  in  town. 

It  was  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  such  protection 
could  be  perpetuated.  In  1603,  we  find  that  his  majesty 
James  I.  conferred  the  Franciscan  monastery  at  Galway  on 
Sir  George  Carew  and  his  heirs  for  ever.  Pretexts  were 
flung  to  the  winds,  and  the  church  was  openly  desecrated. 
Lawyers  and  their  minions  did  not  hesitate  to  occupy  the 
sanctuary  and  choir;  witnesses  gave  their  evidence  from 
the  pulpit ;  and,  to  make  the  profanation  more  complete, 
"a  bloated  judge"  occupied  the  very  altar.  Well,  indeed, 
may  we  sympathize  with  the  pious  horror  of  Father  Mooney 
who,  as  an  eyewitness,  tells  us  of  this  sad  scene.  "  Hence- 
forward," he  says,  "  our  venerable  church  was  turned  into  a 
profane  court-house,  where  judges  appointed  by  Chichester, 
the  Lord  deputy  j  held  assizes  for  town  and  country.  Alas  ! 
it  was  heart-rending  to  witness  such  desecration,  and  the 
tears  fell  fast  and  hot  from  my  eyes  when,  on  entering  the 
holy  edifice,  I  found  it  crowded  with  litigants,  the  pulpit 
turned  into  a  witness-box,  the  choir  and  chancel  adapted 
to  accommodate  a  multitude  of  noisy  lawyers  ;  and,  worst  of 
all,  the  grand  altar  transformed  into  a  bench  for  a  bloated 
judge."  Hitherto  English  law  was  practically  unknown  in 
the  western  province,  yet  these  were  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  made  to  supersede  the  Brehon  code.  How 
natural  it  was,  that  a  Catholic  people  should,  under  those 
circumstances,  distrust  the  law,  and  hold  its  administrators 
in  abhorrence. 

But  the  exclusion   of  the  Franciscans  from  their  ancient 


The  Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway  45 

house  on  St.  Stephen's  island,  was  not  yet  final.  After 
little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  we  find  them  back 
again  in  their  venerable  home,  from  the  house  in  the  city 
which  Father  Maurice  Ultan  had  hired  for  them ;  and  we 
shall  allow  recorded  events  to  indicate  their  presence  there, 
as  we  cannot  give  the  exact  date  of  their  return. 

At  the  opening  of  the  confederate  movement,  we  see 
once  more  a  noble  assertion  of  Catholic  claims,  on  which 
Europe  looked  with  wonder  and  approval.  In  1642  we 
find  the  people  of  Galway  electing  Oliver  Martin,  a  Catholic, 
as  mayor  of  their  city.  The  choice  is  all  the  more  note- 
worthy, as  he  was  away  at  the  time  of  his  election,  residing  in 
the  ancient  castle  of  Dungorie,  at  Kinvarra.  The  election 
was  entirely  without  his  knowledge ;  and  so  little  did  he 
ambition  the  honour  of  the  office,  that  he  accepted  it  only 
at  the  solicitation  of  many  "honourable  persons."  His 
election  gave  general  satisfaction;  yet  the  public  must 
have  been  well  aware  of  his  strong  Catholic  feelings.  But 
if  any  doubt  existed  on  this  subject,  it  must  have  been 
quickly  removed  by  his  active  interest  in  the  restoration 
and  improvement  of  the  church  of  St.  Francis.  The 
erection  of  a  chapel  in  the  Abbey  was  one  of  the  many 
religious  works  to  which  he  generously  devoted  his  wealth. 
Several  other  improvements  were  effected  in  the  church. 
Amongst  others,  we  are  told,  that  the  "tomb  of  the  founder 
was  restored  and  beautified."  And  once  more  we  find  the 
Catholic  ceremonial  observed  within  its  walls  in  all  its 
pomp  and  splendour.  "  High  Mass  was  celebrated  within 
the  Abbey,"  for  the  first  time  since  its  suppression  on  the 
25th  June,  1643,  when  a  discourse,  suited  to  the  solemnity 
and  importance  of  the  occasion,  was  delivered  by  Father 
Valentine  Brown,  the  Superior  of  the  house.  And  the 
Franciscan  fathers  might  be  seen  once  more  in  the  city, 
clad  in  the  poor  brown  habit  of  their  Order,  "  which  the 
people  loved."  But,  alas  !  within  a  short  decade  of  years,  we 
witness  all  the  hopes  which  the  confederate  movement 
called  forth,  buried  beneath  the  ruins  of  the  nation ;  and  over 
the  devoted  City  of  the  Tribes,  the  rigour  of  persecution 
rolled  like  a  raging  and  consuming  fire.  The  beauty  of 


46  The  Abbey  of  St.  Francis,  Galway 

the  ancient  house  of  the  Franciscans  excited  at  once  the 
special  hatred  and  cupidity  of  the  persecutors.  The  fathers 
were  banished.  In  after  years,  far  away  from  their  beloved 
monastery  at  Galway,  men  spoke  in  Prague,  with  deep 
respect  of  the  learning  of  Father  Francis  Burke,  and  through 
Europe  of  the  names  of  Franciscus  a  Galvia  and  Stephanus  a 
Galvia,  who  are  still  remembered  for  their  learned  works  at 
St.  Isidore's,  at  Rome.  The  church  and  monastery  were  seized 
by  the  plunderers.  The  sacred  vessels  were  desecrated  as 
drinking-cups  by  the  profligate  soldiers.  The  sacred  vestments 
were  turned  to  profane  uses.  The  statues  of  the  saints,  and 
particularly  those  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  were  broken  or 
burned.  The  rich  marbles  of  the  altars  and  the  monuments 
were  torn  down  or  shipped  to  England.  But  the  most 
beautiful  and  costly  of  the  mausoleums  within  the  sacred 
walls  was  that  of  Sir  Peter  French.  Its  rich  sculpture, 
relieved  by  a  profusion  of  gold,  attracted  the  cupidity  of 
Stubbers,  the  military  governor.  Having  selected  a  portion 
for  a  mantle-piece  in  his  residence,  he  sold  the  remainder  in 
the  English  market  for  a  considerable  price.  But  this  was 
not  all.  The  plunderers  of  the  church  not  merely  tore  down 
the  monuments,  but  they  tore  the  coffins  open  in  order  to 
plunder  the  dead.  And,  as  the  manuscript  Annals  of  the 
Order  record,  "  the  monuments  were  left  wide  open  for  the 
dogs  to  drag  out  and  eat  the  corpses  interred  there."  Five 
years  later  the  convent  buildings  were  all  destroyed.  Its 
desecrated  church  alone  remained  to  be  again  utilized  as  a 
public  court  of  English  law.  Referring  to  it  in  the  year 
1690,  Allemande  speaks  of  it  as  "a  very  large  and  noble 
structure  then  almost  entire,  and  serving  for  a  Court  of 
Judicature."  But  this  was  subsequently  destroyed,  and  a 
modern  Law  Court  erected  on  its  site. 

The  fidelity  of  the  fathers  in  clinging  to  the  old  spot,  in 
the  face  of  the  gravest  dangers,  deserves  all  praise.  In 
1781  they  availed  themselves  of  the  dawn  of  comparative 
toleration,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  their  present  church, 
as  close  as  possible  to  the  site  on  which  Sir  William  Leigh 
De  Burgo  had  originally  built  their  monastery  and  church. 

J.  FAHEY,  D,D, 


SHALL-AND-W1LL-IANA—  (concluded) 

VI.    IS  THE  PEE  SENT  USE    OF   SHALL  AND    WILL  ABSOLUTELY 

FIXED  ? 

AS  the  idiomatic  use  of  Shall  and  Will  is  not  founded 
upon  any  fixed  and  immutable  principle  of  the 
language,  but  is  the  result  of  gradual  growth  and  develop- 
ment, we  may  naturally  expect  that  it  will  be  subject  to 
changes  in  the  future,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past.  A  careful 
reader  will  be  able  to  detect  traces  of  such  changes,  even 
since  the  present  idiom  was  fairly  established  in  its  more 
leading  features.  Thus,  for  example,  in  replying  to  a  request, 
or  an  invitation,  or  a  command,  we  must  now  say,  I  will, 
and  not,  I  shall,  though  it  was  quite  common  to  say,  I  shall, 
in  Shakespeare's  time,  and  even  later.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  following  passages. 

King  Henry.  Collect  them  all  together  at  my  tent ; 

I'll  be  before  thee. 
Erpingham.  I  shall  do't  my  lord. 

Henry  V. 

Ccesar.  Our  will  is  Anthony  be  took  alive ; 

Make  it  so  known. 
Agrippa.  Caesar,  I  shall, 

Antony  and  Ckopatra. 

Lucius.  Good  Servilius,  will  you  befriend  me  so  far,  as  to 

use  my  own  words  to  him  ? 
Servilius.  Yes,  sir,  I  shall. 

Timon  of  Athens. 

Kitely.  Fail  not  to  send  me  word. 

Cash.  I  shall  not,  sir, 

BEN  JONSON,  Every  Man  in  his  Humour. 

Bobadil.         While  you  live,  avoid  this  prolixity. 
Mattheiv.         I  shall,  sir. 

BEN  JONSON,  Every  Man  in  his  Humour. 

No  doubt,  in  these  examples,  I  shall,  is  perfectly  good 
English,  but  at  the  present  day  we  shrink  from  using  it, 
apparently  through  a  feeling  of  courtesy.  When  invited  or 


48  Shall-and-Will-iana 

requested,  or  directed  to  do  something,  courtesy  and  respect 
for  the  person  addressing  us,  require  that  we  should  not 
merely  express  the  bare  fact  that  we  shall  do  it,  but  also 
that  we  should  express  our  readiness  and  willingness  to  do 
it.  Therefore  we  must  say,  not  I  shall,  but  I  will. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  many  Irish  servant  girls,  at  the 
present  day,  in  reply  to  a  request,  say,  I  shall,  sir ;  and  this 
is  often  put  down,  by  English  writers,  as  a  peculiar  feature 
of  the  Irish  idiom.  If  it  were  really  a  part  of  the  Irish 
idiom,  it  would  only  be  another  example  of  what  we  so 
often  find,  that  what  are  considered  Irish  peculiarities  are, 
in  fact,  pure  Shakesperian  English,  whereas  the  correspond- 
ing forms  used  in  England  are  only  a  modern  development, 
not  to  say  corruption.  But  I  believe  that  this  particular 
phrase  is  no  part  of  the  Irish  idiom.  As  I  explained,  in  an 
earlier  paper,  there  is  no  shall  in  the  Irish  idiom,  strictly  so 
called.  The  explanation  seems  rather  to  be,  that  these  good 
servant  maids,  on  an  occasion  of  some  ceremony,  wish  to  use 
a  word  which  they  never  use  in  familiar  discourse,  and  which 
they  suppose,  in  their  simplicity,  must  be,  on  that  account, 
more  polite,  and  more  suited  to  the  occasion. 

Again,  we  find  very  commonly  in  Shakespeare,  and  in 
other  writers  of  his  time,  a  peculiar  use  of  shall,  which  has 
lasted  down  to  our  own  days,  but  which,  I  think,  is  now 
disappearing.  I  will  give  a  few  examples. 

You  shall  mark 

Many  a  duteous  and  knee-crooking  slave, 
That,  doting  on  his  own  obsequious  bondage, 
Wears  out  his  time.     Whip  me  such  honest  knaves. 

Othello. 

An't  please  you  to  go  up,  sir,  you  shall  find  him  with  two 
cushions  under  his  head,  and  his  cloak  wrapt  about  him,  as  though 
he  had  neither  won  or  lost. 

BEN  JONSON,  Every  Man  in  Ids  Humour. 

A  man  shall  see,  where  there  is  a  house  full  of  children,  one 
or  two  of  the  eldest  respected,  and  the  youngest  made  wantons. 

BACON,  Essay  on  Parents  and  Children. 

It  appeareth  in  nothing  more,  that  atheism  is  rather  in  the 
lip  than  in  the  heart  of  man,  than  by  this,  that  atheists  will  be, 


Shall-and-Will-iana  49 

ever  talking  of  that  their  opinion,  as  if  they  fainted  in  themselves, 
and  would  be  glad  to  be  strengthened  by  the  consent  of  othres  ; 
nay  more,  you  skill  have  atheists  strive  to  get  disciples,  as  it 
fareth  with  other  sects  ;  and,  which  is  most  of  all,  you  shall  have 
them  that  will  suffer  for  atheism,  and  not  recant ;  whereas,  if 
they  did  truly  think  that  there  were  no  such  thing  as  God,  why 
should  they  trouble  themselves  ? 

BACON,  Essay  on  Atheism. 

The  idea  inherent  in  this  form  of  expression,  seems  to 
be  that  the  speaker  gives  an  assurance  or  guarantee  that 
the  event  will  turn  out  as  he  describes;  and  thus  feels 
justified  in  using  shall,  in  the  second  and  third  persons,  as 
if  the  event  depended  on  his  own  will.  But  whatever  the' 
explanation  may  be,  the  form  was  once  very  common,  and 
seems  to  be  gradually  dying  out.  It  is  frequently  used  by 
Charles  Lamb,  occasionally  by  Thackeray,  and  very  rarely,  I 
think,  by  writers  of  the  present  day. 

But  passing  away  from  these  more  subtle  refinements  of 
idiom,  there  are  reasons  for  believing  that  the  present 
English  use  of  Shall  and  Will,  is  not  destined  to  last,  even 
in  its  more  important  features.  The  English  language  is 
spoken  over  a  great  part  of  the  civilized  world,  and  the 
idiomatic  use  of  SJiall  and  Will  is  possessed,  in  its  fulness, 
by  Englishmen  alone.  The  influence  of  Irishmen,  Scotchmen, 
Americans,  and  Australians,  will  be  felt  more  and  more  every 
day ;  and  this  very  subtle  and  capricious  idiom  will  hardly 
be  able  to  withstand  the  opposing  force  of  so  many 
nationalities,  which  have  never  accepted  it,  or  even  under- 
stood it,  in  the  past,  and  are  never  likely  to  understand 
it,  or  accept  it,  in  the  future. 

I  shall  be  told,  perhaps,  that  whatever  may  be  said  of 
the  masses  of  the  people,  the  educated  classes  in  all  English- 
speaking  countries,  will  take  their  idiom  from  England,  and 
will,  therefore  adopt  the  English  use  of  Shall  and  Will. 
That  they  ought  to  adopt  the  English  idiom,  when  they 
adopt  the  English  language,  I  will  not  deny ;  but  they 
have  not  done  it  hitherto,  in  fact,  and  why  should  we 
expect  that  they  will  do  it  in  the  future?  It  would  be  a 
complete  illusion  to  suppose  that  the  educated  classes 

VOL.  XVII.  D 


50  Shall- and-Will-iana 

in  Ireland,  for  example,  use  Shall  and  Will  according  to  the 
English  idiom,  unless  you  exclude  from  the  educated 
classes,  authors,  barristers,  doctors,  judges,  clergymen  of  all 
denominations,  and  university  professors. 

It  would  be  more  correct  to  say,  I  think,  that  the 
aristocratic  classes,  in  Ireland,  conform  to  the  English 
idiom.  They  have  received  their  education,  for  the  most 
part,  in  England,  and  they  live  in  close  contact  with 
English  society;  and  thus,  they  acquire  and  retain,  by  a 
sort  of  instinct,  the  English  use  of  Shall  and  Will.  But 
the  educated  classes,  as  such,  have  no  influence  of  that  kind, 
to  guide  and  control  them.  They  acquire,  from  their 
education  and  from  reading,  a  certain  tincture  of  the  English 
idiom;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  from  habitual  contact 
with  the  people,  they  are  inevitably  drawn  more  or  less, 
into  the  usage  that  prevails  around  them;  and  thus  the 
actual  language  of  their  every  day  life,  whether  written  or 
spoken,  exhibits  a  curious  mixture  of  the  two. 

Something  of  the  same  kind  is  probably  to  be  found  in 
Scotland,  in  America,  and  in  Australia ;  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  ever-increasing  influence  of  so  large  a  body  of 
educated  people,  all  speaking  and  writing  the  English 
language,  must  in  the  end  prove  fatal  to  so  subtile,  and 
delicate,  and  I  think  I  may  say  capricious,  an  idiom,  as  the 
present  English  use  of  Shall  and  Will 

But  there  is  another  very  special  influence  at  work,  in 
the  same  direction,  in  the  very  heart  of  England  itself :  I 
mean  the  influence  of  the  large  number  of  Irish  writers 
engaged  on  the  London  press.  Mr.  Labouchere  said,  not 
long  ago,  in  a  joking  way,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  that 
several  of  the  leading  London  newspapers  were  almost 
entirely  manned  by  Irishmen,  "only  one  or  two  Englishmen 
being  kept  on  the  premises,  to  look  after  the  shalls  and 
wills." 

It  would  seem,  however,  that  these  faithful  guardians 
of  the  English  idiom  sometimes  slumber  at  their  post  ; 
and  the  frequent  misuse  of  shall  and  will  in  the  London 
press  of  the  present  day,  is  a  matter  of  common  observation. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  following  passage  from  a  London 


Shall-and-  ~W  ill-land  51 

evening  newspaper  o  light  and  leading,  as  far  back  as 
September  3,  1892,  in  an  article  headed  :  How  it  feels  to 
die,  by  one  who  has  tried  it.  "  I  was  taken  out  stone-dead. 
Unless  extreme  remedies  had  been  applied,  I  would  have 
remained  stone-dead  till  the  present  moment," 

The  barriers  being  once  broken  down,  the  rush  of  the 
incoming  tide  is  likely  to  go  on  increasing  in  strength,  until 
the  complicated  structure  of  the  present  idiom  will  have 
crumbled  to  pieces,  and  the  use  of  shall  and  will  entered  on 
a  new  phase  of  development.  Nevertheless,  for  the  time  of 
the  present  generation,  the  idiom,  as  it  now  exists,  will 
probably  continue  to  be  the  law ;  and  this  law  must  be 
observed  by  all  who  wish  to  speak  and  write  the  English 
language  correctly. 

VII. — CURIOSITIES   OF    SHALL  AND   WILL 

"  A  reward  will  be  given  f  "  He  shall  receive  a  reward.19 
Though,  in  some  respects,  a  considerable  latitude  is 
allowed,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  choice  of  Shall  and  Will, 
there  are  cases,  on  the  other  hand,  in  which  a  somewhat 
arbitrary  distinction  seems  to  be  strictly  observed.  I  was 
struck,  many  years  ago,  at  observing,  in  the  columns  of  the 
Times  newspaper,  that,  in  the  advertisements  for  lost 
•articles,  if  a  reward  is  offered  in  one  form,  it  is  the  uniform 
practice  to  use  shall,  while  if  it  is  offered  in  another  form, 
will  is  always  employed.  Here  are  a  few  examples  taken 
from  a  single  copy  of  the  paper. 

If  the  cabman  who,  on  the  sixth  instant,  about  4  p.m.,  took 
up  a  lady,  gentleman,  and  birds,  from  High  Street,  Notting  Hill, 
will  return  an  umbrella  to  84,  Cornwall  Road,  Westbourne  Park, 
he  shall  receive  five  shillings  reward, 

Lost,  an  Isle  of  Wight  diamond  ring.  Supposed  to  have 
fallen  from  a  window  in  Mount  Street.  Whoever  has  found  the 
same,  and  will  take  it  to  Messrs.  Hogarth,  96,  Mount  Street, 
Grosvenor  Square,  shall  be  rewarded. 

Lost,  on  20th  April,  between  Marshall  and  Snelgrove's, 
Oxford  Street,  and  Torrington  Square,  a  gold,  gray,  enamelled 
brooch ;  two  names  engraved  at  the  back.  Anyone  taking  the 
same  to  Plummer's  News  Agency,  46,  Theobald's  Eoad,  Blooms- 
bury,  shall  be  rewarded. 


52  Shall-and-  Will-iana 

Lost,  a  brooch,  on  Friday,  May  7th,  between  King's  Cross, 
Oxford  Street,  and  Edgware  Road.  A  handsome  reward  will  be 
given,  on  application  to  Messrs.  Hindley,  134,  Oxford  Street. 

Lost.  Dropped,  on  Thursday  evening,  in  Covent  Garden 
Opera  House,  a  valuable  half -hoop  diamond  ring.  If  returned  to 
Mr.  Robert  Dicker,  jeweller,  8,  Vigo  Street,  Regent  Street,  a 
handsome  reward  will  be  given. 

Five  Pounds  Reward.  The  above  reward  will  be  given  to 
any  person  who  can  give  information  where  the  registers  of 
baptism  of  James  Kerwick  and  Elizabeth  Olswith,  together  with 
the  registers  of  marriage  of  those  parties,  may  be  found. 

It  would  be  a  needless  refinement  to  seek  for  an  elaborate 
explanation  of  a  distinction  like  this.  The  one  form,  He 
shall  receive  a  reward,  is  a  promise ;  the  other,  A  reward 
will  be  given,  is  a  simple  statement  of  the  future  fact.  And 
the  practice  seems  to  be  that,  when  the  finder  of  the 
lost  property  is  put  in  the  nominative  case,  we  are  to  use 
the  form  which  conveys  a  promise ;  whereas,  when  the 
reward  is  put  in  the  nominative  case,  we  are  to  use  the 
form  which  only  states  the  future  fact.  Subtile  reasons 
might  be  found  in  support  of  this  distinction  ;  and  there 
might  be  rejoinders  equally  subtile.  But,  perhaps,  it  is  best 
simply  to  say,  that  use  has  so  decreed,  quern  penes  arbitrium 
est,  et  jus  et  norma  loquendi. 


Is  it  true  that  no  Englishman  ever  misuses  Shall  and 
Will  ?  Dean  Alford  says,  "  I  never  knew  an  Englishman 
who  misplaced  shall  and  will ;  I  hardly  ever  knew  an 
Irishman  or  a  Scotchman  who  did  not  misplace  them  some- 
times."1 Archbishop  Whately  is  equally  emphatic  :  "  It  is 
difficult,"  he  says,  "  to  define  intelligibly  to  a  foreigner  the 
modern  use  of  these  two  words,  though  throughout  the 
whole  of  England  no  misuse  of  them  can  be  observed,  even 
amongst  the  lowest  of  the  people,"2  Lord  Macaulay  throws 
the  statement  into  a  rhetorical  form,  according  to  bis  wont ; 


1  The  Queen's  English,  p.  154. 
'2  English  /Synonyms,  p.  43. 


Shall-and-Will-iana  53 

but  he  confines  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  London.  " Not  one 
Londoner  in  ten  thousand  can  lay  down  the  rules  for  the 
'proper  use  of  will  and  shall.  Yet  not  one  Londoner 
in  a  million  ever  misplaces  his  will  and  shall.  Doctor 
Robertson  could,  undoubtedly,  have  written  a  luminous 
dissertation  on  the  use  of  those  words.  Yet,  even  in  his 
latest  work,  he  sometimes  misplaced  them  ludicrously."1 
Cobbett,  in  his  English  Grammar,  carries  the  same  idea  to 
the  borders  of  extravagance.  "  The  use  of  shall  and  will," 
he  says,  "  is  as  well  known  to  us  all  as  the  uses  of  our  teeth 
and  our  noses ;  and  to  misapply  them  argues  not  only  a 
deficiency  in  the  reasoning  faculty,  but  almost  a  deficiency 
in  instinctive  discrimination." 

Perhaps  Lord  Coleridge,  in  the  letter  already  quoted 
though  speaking  only  for  himself,  has  given  the  most 
judicious  and  accurate  account  of  the  condition  in  which 
most  Englishmen  find  themselves,  with  regard  to  this 
curious  idiom.  "  I  have  no  claim  whatever,"  he  says,  "  to 
be  an  authority,  and  I  have  often  been  exceedingly  puzzled 
myself  as  to  what  rule  to  lay  down.  I  trust  to  the  instinct 
of  the  moment  ;  and  having  been  brought  up  among  a  people 
who  have  the  same  instincts  as  I  have,  I  dare  say  I  appear  to 
them,  and  therefore  to  myself,  to  speak  correctly.  But  I 
was  never  taught  any  rule,  and  I  can  not  pretend  to  give 
one  to  anyone  else." 

But  is  it  strictly  true  to  say  that  Englishmen,  or  even 
that  educated  Englishmen,  never  make  a  mistake  in  the 
use  of  Shall  and  Will  ?  I  will  venture  to  give  a  few 
examples,  in  favour  of  the  opposite  view.  Thackeray  was 
an  Englishman  of  Englishmen,  a  Londoner  of  Londoners  ; 
and  yet  he  makes  his  favourite  Becky  Sharp,  also  thoroughly 
English,  say  to  her  husband  :  "  Pitt  and  his  little  boy  will 
die,  and  we  will  be  Sir  Kawdon  and  my  lady."  Again, 
Warrington  says  in  Pendennis  :  "  I  would  not  be  what  I  am, 
had  I  practised  what  I  preach."  In  these  passages,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  we  have  two  distinct  violations  of  the  modern 
idiom. 

1  Essay  on  Lord,  Bacon;    Critical  and  Historical  Essays,  vol.    ii.,   p.    200. 


54  Shall-and-Will-iana 

The  following  may,  perhaps,  be  disputed,  but  I  submit 
that  they  are  at  variance  with  the  best  usage  of  the 
present  time. 

He  [Museau]  knew  that,  according  to  the  system  pursued  in 
France,  where  almost  all  promotion  is  given  to  the  noblesse, 
he  [Museau]  never  would  advance  in  rank. 

THACKERAY,  The  Virginians. 

On  such  a  subject,  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  knew  that  he  [the 
Bishop]  would  have  a  willing  listener  in  the  Prince. 

SIR  THEODORE  MARTIN,  Life  of  the  Prince  Consort. 

Buckle  believed  in  a  future  state,  because  it  was  intolerable 
to  him  to  think  that  he  would  never  meet  his  mother  again. 

J.  A.  FROUDE,  Frazer's  Magazine. 

Even  Macaulay  himself  has  been  charged  with  a  violation 
of  the  modern  idiom ;  and  though  the  charge  has  been 
disputed,  the  very  fact  that  it  is  disputed  amongst  English- 
men, shows  that  the  right  and  the  wrong  use  of  Shall  and 
Will,  is  not  quite  so  settled  in  England  as  the  writers  above 
quoted  would  seem  to  imply.  The  passage  in  dispute  runs 
as  follows,  and  I  leave  it  to  the  impartial  judgment  of  my 
readers.  "  Had  even  a  small  number  of  my  constituents 
hinted  to  me  a  wish  that  I  loould  retire,  I  should  have 
thought  it  my  duty  to  comply  with  their  wish."  The  question 
is,  ought  he  to  have  said:  Hinted  a  wish  that  I  should 
retire. 


Professor  Edward  Freeman.  In  the  last  place,  as  a 
curiosity  in  the  use  of  shall,  I  would  submit  a  well  known 
passage  from  the  writings  of  the  late  Edward  A.  Freeman, 
Regius  Professor  of  Modern  History  in  the  University  of 
Oxford.  It  is  the  passage  in  which  he  contrasts  the  ideal  of 
an  historian  who  wins  the  favour  of  the  multitude,  with 
that  of  an  historian  who  duly  fulfils  the  high  functions 
of  his  office.  The  two  ideals  are  commonly  supposed  to 
be  drawn  from  life ;  the  one  picture  giving  the  writer's  view 
pf  his  great  contemporary,  James  Anthony  Froude,  the 


Sha  ll-and-  Will-iana  55 

other  being  inspired  by  the  historical  work  of  an  eminent 
writer  still  living. 

"  Let  us  pause,  and  see  more  narrowly  how  some  reputations 
are  formed.  A  man  shall  sit  down,  and  profess  to  write  the 
history  of  a  period  chosen  at  random,  without  the  needful 
knowledge  of  times  before  and  after  the  times  chosen ;  he  shall 
show  in  every  page,  perhaps  actual  indifference  to  truth,  perhaps 
only  a  kind  of  physical  incapacity  to  make  an  accurate  state- 
ment; he  shall  go  wrong  on  every  opportunity  of  going  wrong; 
if  a  man  bore  one  name  or  title,  he  shall  give  him  another  ;  if  a 
thing  happened  in  one  place,  he  shall  say  that  it  happened  in 
another ;  he  shall  show  in  every  page  an  ignorance  absolutely 
grotesque  of  the  laws,  the  customs,  the  language,  of  the  times  of 
which  he  is  writing,  of  the  geography  of  his  own  country  and  of 
every  other.  .  .  Yet  if  he  be  master  of  a  style  which  pleases 
some  tastes,  the  tastes  which  delight  in  sneers  and  metaphors,  in 
scraps  of  strange  tongues,  and  in  the  newest  improvements, 
which  the  newspapers  have  given  to  the  language ;  above  all,  if 
he  uses  his  gifts,  such  as  they  are,  to  set  forth  paradoxes  at 
which  common  sense  and  morality  revolt ;  then  he  shall  be  hailed 
as  a  master  of  history  ;  volume  after  volume  shall  be  received 
with  the  applause  of  raptured  admirers,  and  even  honest 
searchers  after  truth,  if  they  have  no  means  at  their  disposal  for 
testing  the  accuracy  of  statements,  shall  be  led  away — and  small 
blame  to  them — into  the  evil  fortune  of  mistaking  falsehood  for 
truth. 

"  And  there  shall  be  another  man  who,  with  an  honest  and 
good  heart,  shall  give  himself  to  record  the  tale  of  one  of  the 
great  periods  of  his  country's  history  ;  he  shall  choose  a  yet  later 
time,  a  time  whose  understanding  implies  no  slight  knowledge  of 
every  century  that  went  before  it,  and  he  shall  not  shrink  from' 
the  long,  perhaps  weary,  preparation '  which  is  needed  for  his 
immediate  work  ;  he  shall  not  venture  to  grapple  with  the  details 
of  his  chosen  age,  till  he  has  fully  mastered  its  relation  to  the 
ages  before  and  the  ages  after  it ;  he  shall  make  himself  master 
of  all  points  of  law  and  custom  and  language  which  may  illustrate 
the  work  which  he  has  in  hand  ;  and  when  he  draws  near  to  his 
immediate  work  he  shall  never  shrink  from  labour,  from  searching, 
from  journeying,  from  poring  one  day  over  a  forgotten  record,  and 
the  next  day  tracing  a  forgotten  field  of  battle ;  he  shall  choose  a 
controversial  time,  a  time  beset  with  disputes  and  prejudices  on 
every  side,  and  he  shall  so  deal  with  it  .  .  that  none  can  charge 
him  with  letting  indolence  or  caprice  or  prejudice  stand  in  the 
way  of  an  honest  desire  to  set  forth  the  truth  at  any  price.  He 
shall,  it  may  be,  forbear  to  deck  his  tale,  or  feel  no  call  to  deck 
it,  with  the  metaphors  or  the  smartnesses  of  the  novelist ;  but  he 
shall  tell  it  in  clear  and  manly  English,  perhaps  not  tickling  the 


56  Shall-and-Will-iana 

fancies  of  his  readers,  but  being  satisfied  with  appealing  to  their 
reason  ;  and  he  shall  do  all  this  with  but  scant  encouragement 
save  from  the  few  who  are  like-minded  with  himself ;  his  volumes 
shall  come  forth,  pair  after  pair,  growing  in  value,  as  he  feels 
himself  surer  on  his  ground,  but  drawing  to  himself  only  a  small 
share  of  the  applause  and  incense  which  wait  on  the  steps  of  his 
rival. 

"  To  the  one  with  whom  truth  is  nothing,  or  rather  to  whom 
truth  is  simply  unattainable,  fame  shall  come  as  to  a  favoured 
and  spoiled  child  of  fortune ;  to  the  other,  to  whom  truth  is 
everything,  fame  shall  come  only  slowly  and  painfully,  as  he  toils 
on  with  undaunted  heart  till  men's  eyes  are  at  last  taught  to 
know  the  true  light  of  day  from  the  ignis  fatuus  that  guides 
only  to  darkness." 

I  will  not  say  that  the  use  of  shall,  in  this  wonderful 
passage,  is  contrary  to  the  modern  idiom.  But  I  think  it  is 
a  form  of  the  idiom  which  has  almost  become  obsolete,  and 
which  is  here  carried  to  a  length,  and  enforced  with  a 
persistence,  for  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  parallel 
in  English  literature.  The  idea  seems  to  be,  "  Let  me  put  a 
case ; "  and  this  idea  dominates  the  whole  passage.  The 
conditions  of  the  case  are  all  determined  by  the  will  of  the 
writer ;  and  thus  he  can  say :  A  man  shall  sit  down  and 
profess  to  write  a  history;  he  shall  go  wrong  on  every 
opportunity ;  he  shall  show  ignorance  on  every  page ;  and 
another  man  shall  give  himself,  with  honest  heart,  to  a 
similar  task ;  he  shall  never  shrink  from  labour ;  be  shall 
"chose  a  controversial  period,  and  he  shall  so  deal  with  it 
that  none  can  charge  him  with  indolence,  or  caprice,  or 
prejudice  ;  and  so  forth. 

But  when  we  go  further  into  detail,  and  come  to  the 
second  part  of  each  picture,  the  use  of  shall  is,  I  think,  open 
to  dispute.  Thus,  for  example,  speaking  of  the  historian 
according  to  the  first  ideal,  the  .writer  says :  He  shall  be 
hailed  as  a  master;  volume  after  volume  shall  be  received 
with  applause ;  honest  searchers  after  truth  shall  be  led 
away.  Here  the  writer  is  not  putting  a  case  in  which  the 
various  incidents  are  determined  by  his  will ;  but  he  is 
describing  results  which  he  greatly  deplores.  Hence  the 
modern  idiom  would  seem  to  require  will  and  not  shall. 
To  defend  this  portion  of  the  passage,  we  must  suppose  that 


Sha  ll-and-  Will-iana  5  7 

the  writer  having  put  his  case,  then  assumes  the  role  of  a 
seer,  and  looking,  as  it  were,  at  a  vision  spread  out  before 
him,  uses  the  prophetic  shall  in  describing  the  scene,  like 
the  wizard  in  Campbell's  fine  poem  of  Lochiel  Such  flights 
may  be  allowed  to  a  great  master  like  Professor  Freeman, 
but  they  can  hardly  be  imitated  with  safety  by  ordinary 
mortals. 


VII.   SHALL    AND    WILL   COMPAEED    WITH   THE    AUXILIAEIES 
OF   THE    FUTUEE    TENSE    IN    GEEMAN 

It  can  hardly  be  denied  that  there  is  something  com- 
plicated and  capricious  in  the  English  use  of  shall  and 
will.  This  is  sufficiently  evident  from  the  fact,  laid  down 
by  grammarians,  that  if  we  want  to  express  a  future  event 
simply  as  future,  we  must  change  the  auxiliary  for  the 
different  persons,  and  conjugate  it  thus :  I  shall,  thou 
wilt,  he  will ;  and  again,  if  we  want  to  represent  the 
future  event  as  depending  on  the  will  of  the  speaker,  we 
must  say :  I  will,  thou  shalt,  he  shall.  This  is  certainly  a 
caprice  of  usage  for  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
parallel  in  any  other  language, 

The  German  language  affords  a  very  interesting  and 
instructive  standard  of  comparison.  In  German,  there  are 
three  auxiliaries  of  the  future  tense :  werden,  wollen,  and 
sollen.  The  first  expresses  simple  futurity;  the  second, 
volition  ;  the  third,  obligation.  Thus,  if  we  want  to  speak 
of  a  future  event,  simply  as  a  future  event,  we  use  werden 
through  all. the  persons  ;  if  we  want  to  convey  that  a  future 
event  proceeds  from  the  will  of  the  subject  of  the  verb,  we  use 
wollen  through  all  the  persons ;  and  if  we  want  to  represent 
a  future  event  as  arising  out  of  an  obligation  incumbent  on 
the  subject  of  the  verb,  we  use  sollen  through  all  the  persons. 

The  simplicity  and  completeness  of  this  system  will  be 
made  more  apparent  by  examples.  Ich  werde  zufrieden 
sein.  du  wirst  zufrieden  sein,  er  wird  zufrieden  sein ;  here 
the  speaker  expresses  simple  futurity.  Ich  will  zu  Hause 
gehen,  du  willst  zu  Hause  gehen,  er  will  zu  Hause 
gehen  ;  here  he  represents  the  future  evept  as  determine^ 


'58  Shall-and-Will-iana 

by  the  will  of  the  subject  of  the  verb.  Lastly,  Ich  soil  nicht 
sfcehlen,  du  sollst  nicht  stehlen,  er  soil  nicht  stehlen ;  here 
he  conveys  the  idea  of  an  obligation  incumbent  on  the 
subject  of  the  verb. 

Now,  let  us  try  to  translate  these  three  forms  into 
English,  and  we  shall  soon  recognise  how  imperfect  and 
capricious  the  English  idiom  really  is.  In  the  first  case,  we 
must  translate :  I  shall  be  content,  thou  wilt  be  content,  he 
will  be  content.  In  the  second  case  :  I  will  go  home,  thou 
wilt  go  home,  he  will  go  home.  But  here,  let  it  be 
observed,  when  the  speaker  says,  I  will  go  home,  he  conveys 
that  the  future,  event  proceeds  from  his  present  will ; 
whereas,  when  he  says,  Thou  wilt  go  home,  He  will  go 
home,  the  verb  will  does  not  express  volition  at  all,  but 
simple  futurity.  We  say,  in  fact,  He  ivill  go  home, 
though  we  may  know  that  he  does  it  against  his  will ;  and 
thus  we  have  the  singular  anomaly:  He  will  go  home 
unwillingly. 

When  we  come  to  the  third  of  the  German  forms,  we 
encounter  new  difficulties.  In  the  second  person,  shall 
gives  the  true  meaning  of  sollen;  but  the  English  language 
has  no  future  auxiliary  that  gives  the  exact  sense  of  sollen 
in  the  first  and  third  persons.  We  may  translate,  Du  sollst 
nicht  stehlen,  Thou  shalt  not  steal ;  but  in  the  first  and 
third  persons,  we  must  have  recourse  to  a  circumlocution, 
such  as,  I  am  bound  not  to  steal,  He  is  bound  not  to  steal. 
The  difference  between  the  use  of  shall  in  the  second  person 
and  the  third  person  here,  is  very  curious.  Thou  shalt  not 
steal,  is  a  command  :  I  forbid  you  to  steal.  But,  He  shall 
not  steal,  is  an  undertaking  or  a  promise  :  I  will  take  care, 
and  prevent  him  from  stealing. 

The  German  language  has,  in  fact,  three  auxiliary  verbs, 
to  express  three  distinct  conceptions,  about  a  future  event ; 
and  each  auxiliary  is  used  in  its  own  proper  sense  throughout 
all  the  persons.  In  English,  we  have  the  same  three 
conceptions,  but  we  have  only  two  auxiliary  verbs  to  express 
them.  I  have  long  thought  that  the  anomalies  and 
imperfections  of  the  English  idiom  have  arisen,  in  great 
measure,  from  the  unconscious  effort,  working  through 


Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture  59 

many  generations,  to  express  these  three  distinct  ideas  by 
the  aid  of  two  auxiliary  verbs. 

If  the  English  language  had  a  neutral  verb,  like  the 
German  werden,  to  express  simple  futurity,  then  shall  would 
probably  have  been  reserved  to  express  obligation,  and  will 
to  express  volition,  in  all  three  persons  alike.  But  owing  to 
the  want  of  such  a  verb,  shall  and  will  have  been  forced,  so 
to  say,  to  divide  its  functions  between  them.  And  this 
has  been  so  done  that  shall  expresses  simple  futurity  in  the 
first  person,  will  in  the  second  and  third.  Then,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  new  duty,  thus  assigned  to  shall  and  will, 
each  has  been  shorn,  in  some  degree,  of  the  power  to  express 
the  special  idea  inherent  in  itself.  Shall  has  lost  the  power 
of  expressing  obligation,  in  the  first  person ;  and  will  has 
lost  the  power  of  expressing  volition,  in  the  second  and 
third  persons.  Thus  it  would  seem  that  all  the  anomalies 
of  the  English  use  of  Shall  and  Will  have  sprung  from  the 
one  radical  defect,  the  want  of  a  special  verb  to  express  the 
idea  of  simple  futurity. 

G.  M. 


FEKGUSSON'S  HISTOEY  OF  AKCHITECTUKE  1 

ME.  FEKGUSSON'S  History  of  Architecture  in  all 
Countries  is  a  book  which,  from  its  originality  in 
conception,  from  its  intrinsic  merit,  from  the  revisions  by 
which  it  has  been  improved,  and  the  well-nigh  endless 
illustrations  by  which  it  has  been  enriched,  has  secured  for 
itself  the  position  of  a  classic  in  the  special  department  of 
art-literature  of  which  it  treats.  To  subject  such  a  book,  at 
this  date  of  its  career,  to  the  ordeal  of  ordinary  criticism, 
were  a  work  of  supererogation.  Its  value  is  not  uncertain, 

1  A  History  of  Architecture  in  all  Countries,  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the 
Present  Day.  By  James  Fergusson,  D.C.L.,  &c.  In  5  Vols.  Third  Edition. 
Illustrated  by  upwards  of  1,000  Plates,  Edited  by  R.  Phone  Spiers,  F.S.A.,  &o. 
London  ;  John  Murray,  1893. 


60  Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture 

its  faults  are  not  unknown.  Such  as  it  is,  and  susceptible 
as  it  may  be  to  posthumous  emendations  at  the  hand  of  a 
competent  editor,  such  will  it  remain.  The  genius,  acumen, 
industry,  and  perseverance  of  the  late  Mr.  Fergusson  in 
architectural  philosophic  history  are  widely  acknowledged, 
and  need  not  be  again  insisted  upon.  His  idosyncracies  and 
enthusiasms,  his  brilliant,  if  not  always  justly  defensible 
theories,  and  his  sometimes  too  rapid  and  exhaustive  general- 
izations in  print — these  are  now  beyond  the  power  of  the 
author  to  restate,  modify,  or  abandon,  even  if  a  reviewer  be 
intellectually  and  artistically  capable  to  discuss  them.  His 
very  failures  in  judgment  and  errors  in  argument  have  been 
recognised  by  friend  and  foe  alike.  They  have  been,  whether 
gradually  in  successive  editions,  or  immediately  by  a  single 
stroke  of  the  pen,  corrected  where  correction  were  per- 
missible, suppressed  where  correction  seemed  impossible,  or 
allowed  to  stand  intact  as  a  notable  indication  of  the  fact, 
that  the  great,  the  keen,  the  exact,  are  liable  to  fall,  and 
occasionally  do  fall.  But  Mr.  Fergusson  herein  differs  from 
many  another  fellow-author.  He  is  one  of  a  limited  number 
of  those  whose  imperfections,  in  their  results,  are  sometimes 
of  greater  worth  than  the  common-place  faultlessriess  of 
less  able  and  less  conscientious  writers.  His  untenable 
theories  are  more  suggestive,  more  instructive,  and  contain 
more  matter  for  thought  than  the  orthodox  artistic  plati- 
tudes of  others.  His  great  work  is  a  rich  store-house  of 
architectural  knowledge  and  criticism  ;  and  if  his  History 
be  always  over-concise  in  detail,  and  sometimes  too  theoretic 
in  argument,  the  first  objection  could  only  be  mended  by  a 
large  increase  in  the  already  bulky  proportion  of  the  book ; 
and  the  last  could  only  be  changed  by  changing  the  person- 
ality of  the  producer.  It  may  be  described  in  brief  by  a 
combination  of  the  titles  employed,  or  rejected,  at  different 
times  for  different  portions  of  his  work  by  the  author 
himself,  as  an  "  Historical  Handbook  to  the  various 
styles  of  Architecture  considered  as  a  Fine  Art."  This 
title  may  be  rendered  even  more  nearly  descriptive  by  the 
prefix  being  added  to  it  of  "  Philosophical  "  :  for,  though 
Mr.  Fergusson  be  not  the  first  philosophic  writer  on  the 


Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture  61 

science  of  architecture,  he  may  certainly  be  esteemed  as  the 
most  capable  historian  who  has  taken  so  wide  and  varied  a 
range  of  his  subject,  and  has  devoted  himself  so  successfully 
to  the  elucidation  of  this  side  of  his  art  studies. 

In  such  a  many-sided  work  elaborated  and  extended 
monographs  on  each  successive  style  of  architecture  cannot 
be  expected,  or  if  they  be  expected,  the  expectation  is 
doomed  to  disappointment.  But,  taking  the  History  as  it 
was  designed,  and  as  it  has  been  developed  and  gradually 
been  perfected,  first  by  the  author,  and  then  by  the  editor,  it 
is  a  monumental  creation  of  combined  talent  and  industry  : 
and  the  editor,  publisher,  and  printer  alike — together  with 
the  memory  of  the  author,  if  the  phrase  be  allowed,  of 
which  the  purport  is  obvious — are  to  be  congratulated,  and 
are  hereby  congratulated  on  the  happy  result  of  their  several 
and  composite  labours  on  the  unrivalled  architectural  work 
of  a  fourth  and  a  master's  hand.  To  this  it  may  be  added 
that  the  first  two  volumes  of  the  History,  which  will 
ultimately  be  published  in  five  volumes,  have  lately  secured 
the  honour  of  a  third  edition ;  and  that  to  some  items  in  its 
varied  career,  and  to  some  details  of  its  encyclopaediac  aim 
and  scope,  together  with  a  few  references  to  certain  portions 
only  of  its  contents,  the  reader's  attention  is  now  invited. 

Half  a  century  has  almost  elapsed  since  a  young  and 
unknown  author  adventured  himself  into  the  arena  of  the 
Press  by  publishing,  at  his  own  cost,  a  book  entitled,  An 
historical  Enquiry  into  the  true  Principles  of  Beauty  in  Art, 
more  especially  with  reference  to  Architecture.  The  volumes 
of  which  the  title  stands  at  the  head  of  this  article  are,  in 
reality,  the  fifth  form  of  the  work  which  has  arisen  from  the 
ashes  of  the  True  Principles,  and  its  legitimate  successors, 
if,  indeed,  serious  and  important  omissions  may  be  considered 
as  a  claim  to  revivifaction,  equally  with  serious  and 
important  additions.  About  one-third  of  this  book,  says 
the  editor  of  the  present  edition  (1893),  was  devoted  to  an 
introduction  to  which  the  author,  then  young  James 
Eergusson,  who  had  not  yet  won  the  distinction  implied 
by  a  score  of  initial  letters  of  honour  now  placed  after 
his  name,  attached  so  much  value  that,  in  his  preface  he 


62  Fergusson*s  History  of  Architecture 

considered  it  to  be  the  text,  and  the  text  to  be  merely  illus- 
trative of  the  introduction.  This  preliminary  effort  was  not 
crowned  with  the  success  which  it  deserved,  but  which 
could  hardly  be  expected  at  that  date,  or  under  the  con- 
ditions of  issue,  and  least  of  all  was  expected  by  the: 
youthful  author  himself.  It  formed  the  basis,  however,, 
of  a  second  and  more  ambitious  and  more  valuable  work 
produced  by  Mr.  Fergusson  six  years  later,  called  a  Hand- 
book of  Architecture,  in  two  volimes. 

And  here  it  may  be  remarked  parenthetically  how  some 
of  the  best  judges  of  literature  and  literary  men,  and  of  their 
powers  and  capacities,  may  be  deceived.  Presumably, 
Mr.  Fergusson's  first  publishers,  who  avowedly  did  not 
issue  his  early  volume  save  at  the  author's  cost,  failed  to 
invite  the  young  writer  to  renew  his  efforts  at  the  publisher's 
expense.  From  what  cause  soever,  he  transferred  his 
literary  allegiance  from  one  of  the  two  princely  houses  in  the 
publishing  world  to  the  other.  His  earlier  book  was  issued 
by  the  house  of  the  Longmans,  at  the  author's  request. 
His  later  works,  at  the  invitation  of  the  publisher,  were 
printed  and  published  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Murray.  The 
Handbook  in  question  was  conceived  and  written  in  a  style 
much  better  suited  to  the  public  taste  than  was  the  author's 
first  venture  in  literature  ;  and  public  taste  responded  to  the 
enticement,  and  caused  the  work  to  prove  itself  successful. 
Seven  years  later,  again,  namely,  in  1862 — the  two  volumes 
meanwhile  having  been  reprinted — a  third  volume  was  added 
to  them,  dealing  with  the  modern  styles  of  architecture. 
This  third  volume,  on  a  revision  and  expansion  of  the 
former  two-volumed  work,  became  in  1873  the  fourth  volume 
of  the  whole  series.  The  years  1865  and  1867  witnessed  the 
third  form  in  which  Mr.  Fergusson's  work  was  made  public  ; 
and  the  materials  of  the  Handbook  were  re-arranged  "  to 
form  an  historical  sequence,  instead  of  a  topographical  one, 
and  a  new  work  was  published  under  the  title  of  a  History 
of  Architecture!' 

In  1874  a  second  edition  of  this  History  was  printed, 
from  which  "  the  whole  of  the  Indian  and  Chinese  sections 
were  omitted,"  and,  subsequently,  were  published  separately; 


Fergussojis  History  of  Architecture  63 

and  to  which  were  large  additions  made  in  "  the  Assyrian 
and  Byzantine  Chapters."  This  was  the  penultimate  change 
made  in  the  book.  The  fifth  and  last  series  of  changes 
carried  out  in  Mr.  Fergusson's  book,  and  these  were  made 
after  his  death,  appear  in  the  present  edition  published 
during  the  past  year.  These  changes  can  only  be  estimated 
in  two  out  of  the  five  volumes  which  have  been  yet 
issued.  The  editor,  himself  says, 

"  Has  endeavoured,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  to  follow  the 
course  which  Mr.  Fergusson  adopted  in  publishing  new  editions, 
viz.,  to  re-write  those  portions  which  subsequent  discoveries  had 
proved  to  be  incorrect  or  doubtful.  For  instance,  in  Egyptian 
architecture,  the  accurate  measurements  of  the  pyramids  made 
by  Mr.  Petrie  .  .  .  have  placed  information  at  the  editor's 
disposal  which  were  unknown  to  Mr.  Fergusson  ...  On  the 
other  hand,  absolutely  nothing  new  has  appeared  on  Assyrian 
architecture,  and,  therefore,  Mr.  Fergusson 's  theories,  respecting 
the  restoration  of  the  Assyrian  palaces,  have  been  retained." 

The  corroborations  or  the  questionings  of  Mr.  Fergusson's 
judgment  or  opinion  in  ancient  architecture,  however — 
specially  in  that  of  Persia,  or  in  the  chapter  which  treats 
of  Parthian  and  Sassanian  architecture,  on  the  one  hand, 
or  in  that  of  Greece  or  Eome,  on  the  other — need  not  be 
specified.  The  changes  made  in 'the  arrangement  of  the 
work,  and  in  the  text  of  the  parts  devoted  to  Christian 
architecture  are  more  important  to  us,  and  will  be  of  more 
interest  to  our  readers  at  the  present  day.  "  The  Byzantine 
Style,"  continues  the  editor,  "  has  been  placed  first,  not 
only  for  chronological  reasons  as  the  first  perfected  Christian 
style,  but  from  the  impossibility  of  otherwise  following  the 
development  of  the  early  Christian  styles  in  Italy  during  the 
fifth  and  following  centuries."  Under  the  division  entitled 
''Italy,"  the  Romanesque  or  early  Christian  style  has  been 
included  in  Book  II. ;  and  this  arrangement,  together  with 
another  named  in  the  preface,  has  tended  towards  the 
unification  of  the  chapter  on  the  home  of  the  first  efforts 
of  Christianity,  so  far  as  history  testifies,  in  the  erection  of 
her  temples.  In  the  book  of  the  Byzantine  style,  more 
important  revisions  have  taken  place.  These  changes  chiefly 
cluster  around  the  so-called  mosque  of  Omar,  the  Dome  of 


64  Fergussori*  History  of  Architecture 

the  Bock  of  Jerusalem.  This  venerable  building  is  now 
credited,  and  in  all  probability  is  rightly  credited,  to  the 
zeal,  devotion,  and  taste  "of  the  Caliph  Abd-el-Melik  and 
•his  followers,  in  the  eighth  century;  and  after  only  not 
endless  discussion  and  much  controversy,  the  final  aban- 
donment, so  far  as  existing  evidence  is  concerned,  of 
Mr.  Fergusson's  cherished  theories,  has  necessitated  "  the 
complete  revision  of  the  description  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre." 
These  and  other  changes  are  mainly  narrated  in  the  editor's 
words  taken  from  the  preface  of  the  third  edition  of  the 
work  ;  and  Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture  may  now, 
in  all  probability,  be  considered  as  having  reached  its  last 
stage  of  organic  alteration,  development,  and  improvement 
the  correction  only  of  minor  points  of  detail  beig  left,  as  they 
may  chance  to  be  recognised,  in  the  records  of  fresh  dis- 
coveries, or  from  the  more  accurate  particulars  of  older 
information. 

The  portion  of  Mr.  Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture 
with  which  we  are  concerned  is  divisible  into  three  main 
parts.  First  comes  the  editor's  preface  to  the  present 
edition,  and  the  author's  prefaces  to  the  second  and  first 
editions  severally.  Next  follows  a  general  Introduction,  of 
eighty-five  pages,  to  the  .whole  work,  in  two  parts.  The 
first  of  these  contains  instruction  on  the  science,  suitable  not 
only  to  beginners  in  the  study  of  it,  together  with  discussions 
on  some  architectural  principles  viewed  in  the  abstract,  on 
some  practical  accidents  and  accidental  adjuncts  to  the  art, 
together  with  a  statement  of  some  results  obvious  to  the 
author  and  others,  and  some  valuable  and  far-seeing  specu- 
lations and  criticisms  on  the  future  prospects  of  architecture. 
The  second  part  is  entitled  "  Ethnology  as  applied  to 
Architectural  Art ;"  and  consists  of  introduction,  conclusion, 
and  four  short  essays  on  the  religion,  government,  literature, 
arts,  and  science  of  as  many  different  races — the  four  great 
races  of  man,  the  Turanian,  the  Semitic,  the  Celtic,  and 
the  Aryan.  Lastly,  the  body  of  the  work  fills  three  parts, 
treated  of  unequal  length  and  with  varied  wealth  of 
detail  :  (1)  Ancient  Architecture  ;  (2)  Christian  Architecture; 
(3)  Saracenic  and  American  Architecture.  Of  these,  Part  I. 


Fergusson' s  History  of  Architecture  65 

includes  the  history  of  Egyptian  Architecture,  of  Assyrian 
Architecture,  of  Grecian  Architecture,  and  of  Etruscan, 
Roman,  Parthian,  and  Sassanian  Architecture.  Christian 
architecture,  the  history  of  which,  in  Part  II.,  is  treated  at 
greater  length,  and  fills  nearly  one-half  of  the  first  volume, 
and  five-sixths  of  the  second,  is  divided  into  eight  books. 
The  headings  of  these  books  are  as  follows  :  —Byzantine 
Architecture,  Italy,  France,  Belgium  and  Holland,  Germany, 
Scandinavia,  England,  and  Spain  and  Portugal.  The  last 
or  third  great  division  of  the  volumes  deals  very  concisely 
with  Saracenic  architecture  in  seventy  pages,  and  with  that  of 
ancient  America  in  less  than  a  score.  The  reader  is  led  by 
the  author  through  the  Saracenic  division  of  the  subject  via 
Syria  and  Egypt,  Spain,  Turkey,  and  Persia  ;  whilst  ancient 
America  is  visited  architecturally  only  in  the  regions  of 
Central  America  and  Peru. 

The  very  wide  and  far  extended  tract  of  architectural 
country  over  which  Mr.  Fergusson,  in  orderly  sequence  and 
with  a  wonderful  amount  of  acute  observation  and  minute 
detail,  conducts  the  student  of  his  attractive  and  lucid 
History,  renders  any  attempt  to  follow  him,  within  the 
compass  of  the  space  at  command,  impossible.  The  utmost 
which  can  be  done  in  order  to  give  the  reader  an  intimation 
of  the  mode  and  manner  of  the  author,  and  of  the  line  of 
thought  adopted  by  him  on  certain  topics  of  architectural 
interest,  is  to  select  a  few  of  these  almost  at  hazard,  and  to 
see  what  this  travelled  artist,  this  scientific  and  philosophic 
architect,  and  this  original  thinker — whilst  keeping  our  mind 
in  suspense  on  his  theories — can  teach  us  on  his  own 
chosen  subjects.  It  may  not  be  unwise,  however,  in  the 
first  place,  to  indicate  what  may  be  the  author's  own 
purpose  in  publishing  his  work.  After  explaining  to  what 
extent  an  architectural  history  might  be  devolved,  and 
to  showing  to  what  dimensions  himself  was  confined, 
Mr.  Fergusson  says  that : — 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  it  will  be  easily  understood  that 

this  book  is  far  from  pretending  to  be  a  complete  or  exhaustive 

history  of  the  art.     It  is  neither  an  atlas  nor  a  gazetteer,  but 

simply  a  general  map  of  the  architectural  world,  and — if  I  -may 

VOL.  XVII.  E 


66  Fergusson' s  History  of  Architecture 

be  allowed  a  small  joke — on  Mercator's  projection.  It  might 
with  propriety  be  called  an  abridgment,  if  there  existed  any  larger 
history  from  which  it  could  be  supposed  to  be  abridged." 

His  great  difficulty  has  been  to  compress  so  vast  a  subject 
as  he  had  undertaken  to  write  upon  into  so  small  a  compass 
as  he  was  forced  to  content  himself  with.  A  further  diffi- 
culty arose  touching  the  illustrations,  namely,  to  determine 
what  buildings  to  select  for  illustration,  and  what  to  reject  :— 

"  It  would  have  been  infinitely  easier  to  explain  what  was 
necessary  to  be  said  had  the  number  of  wood-cuts  been  doubled 
(although  it  may  be  added  that  the  two  volumes  before  us 
contain  upwards  of  one  thousand  illustrations,  great  and  small). 
Had  the  text  been  increased  in  the  same  ratio,  a  great  many 
things  might  have  been  made  clear  to  all,  which  will  now,  1  fear, 
demand  a  certain  amount  of  previous  knowledge  on  the  part  of 
my  readers.  To  have  done  this,  however,  would  have  defeated 
some  of  the  great  objects  of  the  present  publication,  which  is 
intejided  to  convey  a  general  view  of  the  history  and  philosophy 
of  the  subject,  without  extending  the  work  so  as  to  make  it 
inconveniently  large,  or  increasing  the  price  so  as  to  render  it 
inaccessible  to  a  large  number  of  readers.  [Whilst,  Mr.  Fergusson 
adds,  in  concluding  his  description  of  his  aim  and  object,]  The 
reader  who  desires  information  not  bearing  on  the  general  thread 
of  the  narrative,  must  have  recourse  to  monographs,  or  other 
special  works,  which  alone  can  supply  his  wants  in  a  satisfactory 
manner." 

The  first  point  to  which  the  reader's  attention  may  be 
directed  is  the  relation  which  Mr.  Fergusson  discovers,  or 
imagines,  between  his  favourite  art,  in  which  he  is  avowedly 
an  authority  and  expert,  and  the  independent  sciences  of 
history  and  ethnology.  It  is  the  opinion  of  one  who  is 
certainly  unequal  to  hold  the  balance  between  Mr.  Fergusson 
and  those  whom  he  names  below,  that  the  weight  laid  upon 
architecture,  to  support  the  strain  from  the  other  sciences, 
is  greater  than  it  can  be  legitimately  expected  to  bear,  or 
indeed,  as  a  fact,  does  honestly  bear.  It  is,  perhaps,  hardly 
a  fair  example  to  make  in  criticism  of  Mr.  Fergusson's 
views,  to  take  an  instance  from  the  architecture  of  our  own 
country  and  day.  We  are  too  cosmopolitan,  too  wanting  in 
simplicity,  too  much  given  to  what  the  author  would  term 
"  servile  copying  "  in  the  arts,  too  complicated  in  our  ideas 


Fergusson's  History  of  Architeeture  67 

and  in  those  acts  which  arise  from  them,  to  furnish  an  apt 
illustration.  Yet,  fresh  from  Mr.  Fergusson's  History,  one 
cannot  but  wonder  what  Lord  Macaulay's  New  Zealander, 
sitting  on  the  ruins  of  London  Bridge,  and  moralizing,  or 
philosophizing,  on  the  remains  of  the  "  province  covered 
with  houses  "  which  lay  before  his  eyes,  would  evolve  from 
them  and  from  his  inner  consciousness  on  the  "  religion, 
government,  morals,  literature,  arts  and  sciences  "  of  the 
British  people  of  the  nineteenth  century.  To  decide  even 
on  their  style  of  architecture,  save  in  coming  to  the 
decision  that  they  had  no  style,  or  that  their  style  was 
simply  eclectic,  would  be  a  difficult  problem,  when  the 
ruins  of  almost  every  conceivable  form  of  architecture  were 
strewn  around  him,  from  Grecian  to  Gothic,  from  Norman 
to  Elizabethan,  or  from  Koman  to  Victorian.  But  when 
doctors  disagree,  though  it  may  be  rash  to  judge  between 
the  theories  of  both,  it  may  not  be  inexpedient  to  listen  to 
the  apology  of  one  of  them ;  and  this  is  what  Mr.  Fergusson 
says  in  self-defence  of  his  ingenious  theory*: — 

"  It  may  tend  to  explain  some  things  which  appear  open  to 
remark,  if  I  allude  to  a  difference  of  opinion  which  has  been 
pointed  out  as  existing  between  the  views  I  have  expressed,  and 
those  generally  received  regarding  several  points  of  ancient 
history  or  ethnology.  I  have  always  been  aware  that  this 
discrepancy  exists ;  but  it  has  appeared  to  me  an  almost 
inevitable  consequence  of  the  different  modes  of  investigation 
pursued.  Almost  all  those  who  have  hitherto  written  on  these 
subjects  have  derived  their  information  *  from  Greek  and  Koman- 
written  texts  ;  but,  if  I  am  not  much  mistaken,  these  do  not 
suffice.  The  classic  authors  were  imperfectly  informed  as  to  the 
history  of  the  nations  who  preceded  or  surrounded  them ;  they 
knew  little  of  the  archaeology  of  their  own  country,  and  less  of 
their  ethnology.  So  long,  therefore,  as  our  researches  are 
confined  to  what  they  had  written,  many  important  problems 
remain  unsolved,  and  must  ever  remain  as  unsolvable  as  they 
have  hitherto  proved. 

"  My  conviction  is,  that  the  lithic  mode  of  investigation  is 
not  only  capable  of  supplementing  to  a  great  extent  the  deficiencies 
of  the  graphic  method,  and  of  yielding  new  and  useful  results, 
but  that  the  information  obtained  by  its  means  is  much  more 
trustworthy  than  anything  that  can  be  elaborated  from  the  books 
of  that  early  age.  It  does  not,  therefore,  terrify  me  to  be  told 
that  such  men  as  Niebuhr,  Cornewall  Lewis,  or  Grote,  have 


68  Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture 

arrived  at  conclusions  different  from  those  I  have  ventured  to 
express.  Their  information  is  derived  wholly  from  what  is 
written,  and  it  does  not  seem  even  to  have  occurred  to  them,  or 
to  any  of  our  best  scholars,  that  there  was  either  history,  or 
ethnography,  built  into  the  architectural  remains  of  antiquity. 
While  they  were  looking  steadily  at  one  "side  of  the  shield,  I 
fancy  I  have  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  other  .  .  .  While  they 
were  trying  to  reconcile  what  the  Greek  and  Roman  authors  said 
about  nations  who  never  wrote  books,  I  was  trying  to  read  the 
history  which  these  very  people  had  recorded  in  stone,  in 
characters  as  clear  and  far  more  indelible  than  those  written  in 
ink.  If,  consequently,  we  arrive  at  different  conclusions,  it  may 
possibly  be  owing  more  to  the  sources  from  which  the  information 
is  derived  than  to  any  difference  between  the  individuals  who 
announce  it." 

The  second  question  to  which  the  reader's  attention  may 
be  directed  is  to  the  relation  which  exists  at  present,  and 
ought  to  exist  in  the  future,  between  intelligent  persons  and 
Gothic  architecture.  Thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  it  required 
more  courage  than  it  needs  at  the  present  day,  to  affirm,  in 
some  quarters,  *  even  a  negative  opinion  touching  Gothic 
architecture,  viz.,  that  it  is  not  practically  the  only  style 
which  deserves  the  consideration  of  cultivated  men,  or  in 
which  the  thoughts  of  architects  can  be  reasonably  expressed. 
Indeed,  in  some  architectural  circles,  as  is  the  case  with 
some  political  forms  of  opinion,  a  person  is  or  was  hardly 
esteemed  to  be  orthodox  in  religion,  unless  he  be  sound  in 
the  Gothic  faith,  or  true  to  the  Conservative  belief.  In 
both  cases,  it  is  a  litt'le  difficult  to  prove  one's  orthodoxy 
from  the  inability  of  the  artistic  or  of  the  political  heretic  to 
grasp  the  principles,  or  to  be  assured  of  the  authority,  upon 
which  he  is  condemned  with  more  than  infallible  certitude. 
Probably  both  popular  fallacies  will  die  a  natural  death,  and 
Liberals  will  one  day  be  considered  to  be,  necessarily,  not 
more  unworthy  of  a  claim  to  Catholicity  than  formerly  were 
the  advocates  of  ancient  as  opposed  to  mediaeval  architecture. 
Evidence  seems  to  point  to  a  change  of  opinion  touching  the 
relative  value  and  use  of  the  Koman  and  Gothic  styles  of 
church  building ;  and  the  fact  that  the  Archiepiscopal  See 
of  Westminster  is  about  to  be  furnished  with  a  Basilican 
Mother  Church  is  a  noteworthy  element  in  that  evidence. 


Fergussoris  History  of  Architecture       ,  69 

Advocates  for  the  monopoly  of  Gothic  architecture,  however, 
will  die  hard ;  and  that  this,  like  other  monopolies,  require 
a  great  deal  of  killing  may  be  conceived,  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  one  of  the  English  Catholic  weekly  organs  of 
opinion,  not  a  century  ago,  gave  circulation  to  the  wail  of  a 
desponding  upholder  of  the  monopoly,  founded  on  an  implied 
assumption  that  St.  Augustine  of  Canterbury  crossed  the 
Channel  with  the  elevation,  ground-plan,  and  working 
drawings  of  a  Gothic  cathedral  concealed  in  his  personal 
luggage.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  tyranny  of  being  limited  to 
Gothic  architecture,  in  spite  of  the  endless  claims  which  the 
elder  Gothic  architects  have  on  the  reverence,  admiration, 
love  and  gratitude  of  all  intelligent  and  cultured  men,  is  to 
a  large  extent  overpast.  And  for  such  enfranchisement 
lovers  of  liberty,  even  in  architecture,  are  to  a  large  extent 
indebted  to  Mr.  Fergusson.  More  than  a  generation  has 
passed  since  that  eminent  historian  and  philosopher  of  his 
art  lifted  up  his  voice  against  the  tyranny  of  the  Goths  of 
those  days.  Writing  in  depreciation  of  the  idea  that  he 
could  neither  understand  nor  appreciate  the  beauties  of 
Gothic  architecture,  he  says : — 

"  I  cannot  now  speak  of  Gothic  architecture  with  the  same 
enthusiasm  as  others ;  this  certainly  was  not  the  case  in  the  early 
part  of  my  career  as  a  student  of  art.  Long  after  I  turned  my 
attention  to  the  subject,  I  knew  and  believed  in  none  but 
mediaeval  styles  and  was  as  much  astonished  as  the  most  devoted 
admirer  of  Gothic  architecture  could  be,  when  anyone  suggested 
that  any  other  forms  could  be  compared  with  it.  If  I  did  not 
learn  to  understand  it  then,  it  was  not  for  want  of  earnest 
attention  and  study.  I  got  so  far  into  its  spirit,  that  I  thought 
I  saw  then  how  better  things  could  be  done  in  Gothic  art  than 
had  been  done  either  in  the  Middle  Ages  or  since  ;  and  I  think 
so  now.  But,  if  it  is  to  be  done,  it  must  be  done  by  free  thought, 
not  by  servile  copying." 

This  and  what  follows  were  written,  it  may  be  observed, 
upwards  of  a  generation  since  ;  but  they  are  equally  sound 
and  true  thoughts  to-day.  The  reader  may  now  consider  the 
remainder  of  Mr.  Fergusson' s  remarks : — 

"  My  faith  in  the  exclusive  pre-eminence  of  mediaeval  art  was 
first  shaken  when  I  became  familiar  with  the  splendid  remains 


70  Fergusson's  History  of  Architecture 

of  the  Mogul  and  Pathan  Emperors  of  Agra  and  Delhi,  and  saw 
how  many  beauties  of  even  the  pointed  style  had  been  missed  in 
Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages.  My  confidence  was  still  further 
weakened,  when  I  saw  what  richness  and  variety  the  Hindu 
had  elaborated,  not  only  without  pointed  arches,  but,  indeed, 
without  any  arches  at  all.  And  I  was  cured  when,  after  a 
personal  inspection  of  the  ruins  of  Thebes  and  Athens,  I  perceived 
that  at  least  equal  beauty  could  be  obtained  by  processes 
diametrically  opposed  to  those  employed  by  the  mediaeval 
architects." 

Mr.  Fergusson's  concluding  words  are  so  full  both  of 
good  taste  and  common  sense,  that  they  bear  to  be 
reproduced  here  :— 

"  After  so  extended  a  survey,  it  was  easy  to  perceive  that 
beauty  in  architecture  did  not  reside  in  pointed  or  round  arches, 
in  bracket  capitals  or  horizontal  architraves,  but  in  thoughtful 
appropriateness  of  design  and  intellectual  elegance  of  detail.  I 
became  convinced  that  no  form  is,  in  itself,  better  than  any  other, 
and  that,  in  all  instances,  those  are  best  which  are  most  appro- 
priate to  the  purposes  to  which  they  are  applied.  .  .  My  own 
conviction  is,  that  the  great  difference  which  seems  to  exist 
between  my  views  and  those  of  the  parties  opposed  to  them, 
arises  almost  entirely  from  the  accident  of  education." 

Space  forbids  our  giving  more  than  another  extract 
fromMr.  Fergusson,  and  it  will  be  a  characteristic  passage. 
One  of  the  most  suggestive  and  striking  thoughts  in  the 
volumes  occurs  in  a  division  of  the  Introduction  which 
is  devoted  to  the  "  Imitation  of  Nature."  Mr.  Fergusson 
had  been  discussing  the  question  of  uniformity,  and  had 
endeavoured  to  distinguish,  and  in  part  to  assimilate  the 
processes  which  were  adopted  respectively  by  classical  and 
medisaval  architects  on  the  questions  of  "  formality  "  and 
''irregularity,"  He  had  shown  that,  in  opposition  to 
current  opinion,  where  "several  buildings  of  different 
classes  were  to  be  grouped/together  ...  no  Gothic  architect 
ever  took  such  pains  to  secure  for  each  its  separate 
individuality  as  the  Grecian  architect  did "  : — whilst 
when  building  a  church,  a  chapel,  or  a  hall,  Gothic  architects, 
"  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,"  would  build 
it  so  that  "  a  line  drawn  down  the  centre  divides  it  into 
two  equal  and  symmetrical  halves."  He  continues;  "If 


Fergussoris  History  of  Architecture  71 

we  could  conceive  the  task  assigned  to  a  Grecian  architect 
of  erecting  a  building  like  one  of  our  collegiate  institutions, 
while  he  would,  without  doubt,  have  distinguished  .  .  .  each 
part  from  the  other,  he  would  have  arranged  them  with 
some  regard  to  symmetry ;"  and  he  adds,  on  the  other  hand, 
"  the  chance  medley  manner  in  which  many  buildings  were 
grouped  together  in  the  Middle  Ages  tells  the  story  as 
clearly,  that  no  great  amount  of  dignity  can  be  obtained 
without  a  certain  amount  of  regularity;  "  great  picturesque- 
ness  may  be  obtained,  but  not  of  the  same  nobility.  This 
leads  the  author  to  combat  another  popular  misunderstand- 
ing on  the  Imitation  of  Nature.  "It  is  generally  assumed," 
says  Mr.  Fergusson,  "  that  in  architecture  we  ought  to 
copy  natural  objects  as  we  see  them  ;  whereas  the  truth 
seems  to  be,  that  we  ought  always  to  copy  the  processes, 
never  the  forms  of  Nature."  The  error,  he  adds,  has  arisen 
from  confounding  together  the  imitative  arts  of  painting  and 
sculpture,  with  the  constructive  art  of  architecture.  Without 
binding  ourselves  to  the  somewhat  over-definite  and  extreme 
statement  here  enforced,  with  no  limitation  or  qualification, 
we  may  admire  and  adopt  the  eloquent  and  thoughtful 
example  which  the  author  has  given  in  support  of  his  theory. 
To  take  one  prominent  instance,  he  says  :— 

"  So  far  as  we  can  judge,  the  human  body  is  the  most  perfect 
of  nature's  works ;  in  it  the  ground- work  of  the  skeleton  is  never 
seen,  and  though  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  anywhere  concealed, 
it  is  only  displayed  at  the  joints,  or  more  prominent  points  of 
support,  where  the  action  of  the  framework  would  be  otherwise 
unintelligible.  The  muscles  are  disposed  not  only  where  they  are 
most  useful,  but  so  as  to  form  groups  gracefully  rounded  in  out- 
line. The  softness  and'  elegance  of  these  are  further  aided  by  the 
deposition  of  adipose  matter,  and  the  whole  is  covered  with  a 
skin  which,  with  its  beautiful  texture,  conceals  the  more  utilitarian 
construction  of  the  internal  parts.  In  the  trunk  of  the  body  the 
viscera  are  disposed  without  symmetry  or  reference  to  beauty  of 
any  sort — the  heart  on  one  side,  the  liver  on  the  other,  and  the 
other  parts  exactly  in  those  positions  and  in  those  forms  by 
which  they  may  most  directly  and  easily  perform  the  essential 
functions  for  which  they  are  designed.  But  the  whole  is 
conceived  in  a  perfectly  symmetrical  sheath  of  the  most  exquisitely 
beautiful  outline.  It  may  be  asserted  that  a  building  is  beautiful 


72  Theological  Notes 

and  perfect,  exactly  in  the  ratio  in  which  the  same  amount  of 
concealment  and  the  same  amount  of  display  of  construction  is 
preserved,  where  the  same  symmetry  is  shown  as  between  the 
right  and  left  sides  of  the  human  body — the  same  difference  as 
between  the  legs  and  the  arms,  where  the  parts  are  applied  to 
different  purposes,  and  where  the  same  amount  of  ornament  is 
added,  to  adorn  without  interfering  with  what  is  useful.  In 
short,  there  is  no  principle  involved  in  the  structure  of  man 
which  may  not  be  taken  as  the  most  absolute  standard  of 
excellence  in  architecture." 

On  another  occasion  we  hope  it  may  be  our  late  to 
consider,  discourse  upon,  and  quote  from  another  portion 
of  Mr.  Eergusson's  valuable  and  interesting  History  of 
Architecture. 

OEB»Y  SHIPLEY. 


IRotes 

ANSWERS   TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

STIPENDS   FOE   OFFICES  AND   PEAYEES.       THE    OBLIGATION 
OF   PEEACHING    ON    SUNDAYS  AND   HOLIDAYS 

KEV.  DEAE  SIR, — Please  reply  to  the  following  queries  :— 

1.  Has  a  priest  of  a  parish  any  right  to  a  stipend  for  an  office 
held  in  his  absence?     Would  custom  of  parish  give  him  such 
right,    or,   failing   this,  would   the   almost   universal  custom   of 
diocese  give  it  ? 

2.  When  priest  in  administering  the  last  Sacraments  is  offered, 
say  £1,  to  say  a  prayer  for  a  person — (a)  'Has  he  any  titulus  to 
this   money;  and,  if  so,  (b)  must  he  regard  it  as  belonging  to 
himself,  or  as  going  to  the  common  dues. 

3.  A  parish  priest  arranges  marriage  dues  with  contracting 
parties.     The   curate   marries   them,   and    after   the    ceremony > 
besides   the   sum  above    mentioned,    he    gives    to    the    curate 
£1  for  himself.     Can  he  keep  it,  or  is  it  common  ? 

4.  If  a  bishop  of  diocese  makes  a  law  that  an  instruction  is  to 
be  given  at  every  public  Mass  on  Sundays  and  Holidays,  is  a 
priest   who   has  two  Masses  to  say  on  those  days,    and  gives 


Answers  to  Correspondents  73 

instruction  at  one  only,  free  from  sin  ;  and  would  an  omission 
of  instruction  at  one  Mass  for  four  Sundays  running  be  considered 
a  mortal  sin  ?  A  MISSIONAKY  PRIEST. 

1,  A  priest's  right  to  a  stipend  in  regard  to  an  Office,  at 
which  he  has  not  been  present,  for  a  deceased  parishioner, 
may  be  conceived  to  arise  either  (1)  against  the  representa- 
tives of  the  deceased,  or  (2)  against  the  other  priests  of  the 
parish  who  attended  the  Office,  and  who,  it  may  be  thought, 
are  bound  to  put  the  offerings  they  receive  into  a  common 
fund.    • 

(1)  As  against  the  representatives  of  the  deceased,  a 
priest  has,  in  this  country,  apart  from"  special  legislation, 
no  right  to  such  a  stipend,  except  such  as  may  come 
from  a  recognised  custom  of  the  parish  or  diocese. 
If  custom  had  established  this  means  of  contributing  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  clergy,  then  that  custom  would 
give  a  priest  the  same  right  to  this  stipend  that  he  has 
to  other  offerings  by  which  the  faithful  contribute  on  certain 
stated  occasions,  to  the  support  of  the  clergy.  We  are  not 
aware  that  any  such  custom  exists.  (2)  As  against  his 
fellow-priests,  he  has  no  right  to  a  part  of  the  offerings 
unless  there  be  special  legislation  or  agreement  by  virtue  of 
which  the  offerings  received  on  such  occasions  are  to  be 
put  into  a  common  fund,  and  divided  even  with  those  who 
happen  to  be  absent  from  the  Offices.  The  universal  custom 
of  the  diocese  would  be  evidence  of  such  legislation,  or  of,  at 
least,  tacit  agreement  among  the  priests  themselves.  The 
custom  of  a  parish,  or  of  certain  parishes  only,  would  be 
evidence  of  an  agreement  among  the  priests.  From  such  a 
mere  agreement,  general  or  local,  any  priest  may,  of  course, 
attempt  to  withdraw ;  but  if  others  are  thereby  aggrieved, 
they  have  an  appeal  to  the  bishop. 

2.  (a)  Evidently,  the  money  may  be  offered  as  a  gift,  or 
as    a  mark  of  gratitude,  and  if  so,  it  may  be  accepted   as 
such.     But,  moreover,  the   money  may  be  lawfully  offered 
and  accepted  titulo  sustentationis,  just  as  in  the  case  of  a 
honorarium  for  Mass.     The  faithful  should,  however,  in  that 
case  be  warned  against  treating  the  money  offered  as  the  price 
of  the  prayer,      The    priest,    in    accepting  'money   titulo 


74  Theological  Notes 

sustentationis ,  tacitly  binds  himself  in  fidelity — and  in 
justice,  if  he  is  so  minded,  or  if  the  donor  so  demands— 
to  pray  as  requested,  (b)  The  honorarium,  unless  there 
be  local  legislation  or  agreement  to  the  contrary,  is  the 
private  property  of  the  recipient, 

(8)  Again,  unless  there  be  local  legislation  or  agreement 
disposing  otherwise,  the  curate  may  retain  the  money  as  his 
private  property.  Legislation,  however,  assigning  to  the 
common  fund  offerings  made  to  the  priest — parish  priest  or 
curate — who  happens  to  arrange  the  "  marriage  dues  "  with 
the  contracting  parties,  could  not  be  considered  unreasonable. 
There  may  be  a  temptation  to  neglect  the  interests  of  the 
common  fund,  if  one  has  an  opportunity  of  thereby  furthering 

.  his  own.  . 

(4)  The  priest  in  question  would  not  be  free  from  sin, 
even  though  he  omitted  preaching  once  only.  The  bishop 
has  a  perfect  right  to  oblige  his  priests  to  give  an  instruction 
at  every  public  Mass,  and  ex  hypothesi  he  does  so.  Inde- 
pendently altogether  of  local  legislation,  priests  are  bound 
to  preach  to  their  people  on  all  Sundays  and  holidays  of 
obligation.  Nor  can  it  be  alleged  that  this  obligation  is 
always  satisfied  by  preaching  once  on  Sundays.  For  the 
end  of  the  law  is  not  that  priests  should  exercise  themselves 
in  the  function  of  preaching,  but  that  the  people  should  hear 
the  Word  of  God.  That  end  is  not  secured  by  the  priest 
who  preaches  at  one  only  of  his  public  Masses. 

As  regards  the  gravity  of  the  sin  committed  by  neglect 
of  this  duty,  the  common  teaching  of  theologians  is,  that 
to  neglect  preaching  for  four  weeks  consecutively,  or  for 
three  months  non-consecu-tively  within  one  year,  would  be  a 

'  mortal  sin.  Hence,  independently  of  episcopal  legislation 
altogether,  a  priest  who,  by  his  neglect,  deprives  the  same, 
or  practically  the  same,  congregation  of  the  Word  of  God  for 
four  weeks  consecutively,  or  for  three  months  throughout  the 
year,  is,  according  to  the  common  opinion,  guilty  per  se  of 
mortal  sin.  There  are,  of  course,  various  causes  which  may, 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  excuse  a  priest  from  mortal  sin. 
And,  in  estimating  how  far  a  priest  is  excused,  the  fact  that 
he  has  two  Masses  to  say  on  Sunday  should,  no  doubt,  be 


Answers  to  Correspondents  75 

considered.  But  that  fact,  of  itself,  is  not,  sufficient  to 
excuse  him  from  giving,  at  least,  a  short  instruction  at  both 
Masses.  Nor  will  he  be  excused  from  mortal  sin,  we  think, 
if  without  cause  he  neglects  one  of  his  instructions  for  a 
period  notably  over  a  month. 

In  a  diocese  where  the  bishop,  knowing  that  many  of 
his  priests  have  to  say  two  Masses  on  Sundays  and  holidays, 
makes  a  law  binding  his  priests  to  instruct  the  people  at 
"  every  public  Mass  "  on  those  days,  there  seems  to  be  no 
room  for  doubt.  It  is  the  evident  intention  of  the  bishop 
that  bination  should  not  be  a  sufficient  excuse  for  omitting 
to  preach  at  one  of  the  Masses.  It  is  presumably  his 
intention,  we  think,  to  apply  even  to  those  of  his  priests 
who  have  to  s&y  two  Masses,  the  teaching  which  we  have 
laid  down  above,  and  to  enforce  that  teaching  under  the 
express  sanction  of  his  authority. 

A  priest  who  neglects  to  preach  at  one  (only)  of  his 
Masses  for  four  Sundays  consecutively,  does  not  sin  mortally. 
He  is,  as  we  have  said,  more  easily  excused  than  a  priest 
who  has  to  preach  but  once  each  Sunday. 

MASS    IN   A   PBIVATE   HOUSE    ON   SUNDAY— BINATION 

DEAR  SIB, — Would  you  kindly  give  an  answer  in  next  month's 
I.E.  RECORD  to  the  following : — 

1.  Is  it  lawful  for  a  P.P.  to  say  Mass  in  a  private  house  on 
Sunday,   thereby  making  it  necessary  for  the  curate  to  duplicate? 

2.  Was     the     curate    justified    in    such    circumstances    in 
duplicating  ? 

3.  Did  the  people  assisting  at  such  private  Mass  fulfil  their 
obligation  of  hearing  Mass  on  Sunday.  ? 

A  READER  OF  THE  I.  E.  RECORD. 

We  assume  that,  in  the  diocese  from  which  this  question 
comes,  Mass  in  private  houses  is  not  forbidden  ;  also,  that 
there  is  not  question  of  a  parish  priest  who,  owing  to  ill- 
health,  celebrates  in  his  own  house,  because  he  is  unable  to 
say  a  public  Mass. 

1.  It  is  unlawful,  independently  of  any  general  prohibi- 
tion regarding  such' a  Mass  on  Sundays  or  holidays,  for  the 
parish  priest  to  say  Mass  in  a  private  house  on  Sunday,  and 


76  Liturgical  Notes 

for  two  reasons  :  (a)  because  the  parish  priest  is  bound 
to  celebrate  on  Sundays  coram  populo  in  his  church  J 
(b)  because  he  thereby  makes  "  duplication  "  necessary  on 
the  part  of  the  curate. 

We  learn,  however,  that  in  some  dioceses  the  bishops 
permit  a  "  corpse-Mass  "  in  private  houses  on  Sunday,  even 
though  such  a  permission  may  necessitate  "  duplication." 
We  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  statement.  But  if  a 
bishop  undertakes  to  permit  "  duplication  "  in  these  circum- 
stances, his  priests  are,  of  course,  justified  in  acquiescing  in 
his  interpretation  of  his  dispensing  power.  It  has  been 
frequently  declared  by  the  Holy  See,  and  by  the  Congr.  de 
Prop.  Fide,  that  it  is  left  to  the  discretion  and  prudence  of 
the  bishops  to  determine  when  a  sufficient  cause  exists  for 
dispensing  in  the  law  against  "  duplication." 

2.  If  the  parish  priest's  action  is  not  justified  by  the 
faculties  of  the  diocese,  «the  curate   ought,  if  time  permits, 
consult  the  bishop.     If  the  case  turns  up  unexpectedly,  the 
curate  is  justified  in  saying  two  Masses  ;  even  the  diocesan 
faculties,  no  doubt,  provide  for  emergencies  of  this  kind. 

3.  Yes  ;  it  has  been  commonly  held  that,  in  this  country, 
at  all  events,  persons  satisfy  the  obligation  of  hearing  Mass 
on  Sunday  wherever  they  assist  at  it. 

D.  MANNIX. 


Xiturcjical  IRotes 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

VEILING    OF     THE     STATIONS     OF     THE     CEOSS    AND     1'ASS 
"  PRO    SPONSO   ET   SPONSA  " 

DEAR  REV.  SIR, — I  beg  leave  to  ask  the  following  question, 
and  hope  that  the  next  issue  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD  will  supply  the 
answer : — 

It  is  whether  the  Stations  of  the  Cross  ought  to  be  veiled  or 
not  during  Passiontide.  I  am  aware  that  in  some  places  they 
are  not  veiled,  though  I  am  not  in  a  condition  to  say  whether 
such  a  custom  is  universal,  or  even  general.  But,  even  though  it 
were  universal,  it  might -well  be  asked,  whether  it  could  holcl 


Answers  to  Correspondents  77 

the  field  against  a  decree  of  the  Ceremonial  of  Bishops  which 
De  Herdt  quotes  (Pars.  5,  No.  6).  If  the  Church  has  not 
expressed  any  opinion  on  the  question,  I  should  wish  to  know 
what  authority  (if  any)  is  in  favour  of  the  custom  ;  and  what 
respect  it  can  command. 

There  is  another  question  on  which  I  hope  for  an  answer  in 
your  next  issue.  When  the  rubrics  allow  the  Mass  pro  sponso  et 
sponsa,  it  is  the  Mass  that  is  to  be  said ;  and  it  would  not  -be 
carrying  out  the  intentions  of  the  Church  to  say  another  Mass 
with  the  nuptial  benediction.  Now,  out  of  this  arises  the  question 
whether  the  obligation  of  saying  that  Votive  Mass  carries  with  it 
the  other  obligation  of  offering  it  for  the  contracting  parties.  In 
that  case,  the  clergyman  would  be  bound  to  offer  Mass  for  them, 
though  the  decree  of  September  1,  1841,  decides  that  he  is  not 
bound.  At  first  sight,  it  would  appear  that  the  answer  ought 
to  be  in  the  affirmative,  as  a  Votive  Mass  for  any  object  appears 
to  require  a  special  application  of  it  for  that  object.  And  if  that 
be  the  right  answer,  the  clergyman^  would  be  bound  to  offer 
Mass  for  the  parties,  even  though  he  got  no  fee  for  it. 

It  appears  to  be  the  opinion  of  De  Herdt,  for  he  proposes 
another  way  of  evading  the  difficulty,  though  it  does  not 
harmonize  so  well  with  the  decrees  of  1853  and  1861. — I  am, 
yours  faithfully, 

P.P. 

The  paragraph  in  the  Ceremonial  of  Bishops  to  which 
our  correspondent  refers,  runs  thus  :— 

"  Ad  primas  autem  Vesperas  Dominicae,  quae  de  Passione 
dicitur,  cooperiantur,  antequam  Ofificium  inchoatur,  omnes  Cruces 
et  imagines  Salvatoris  nostri  Jesu  Christi  per  ecclesiam,  et  super 
altare  nullae  ponantur  imagines  Sanctorum."  1 

Now  it  might,  we  think,  be  fairly  argued  from  the  very 
terms  here  employed,  that  the  Stations  of  the  Cross  do  not 
come  under  this  rubric  of  the  Ceremonial :  and  custom 
the  best  interpreter,  assures  us  that  they  do  not.  For  the 
custom  of  permitting  the  Stations  of  the  Cross  to  remain 
unveiled  during  Passiontide  is  now  very  general,  if  not 
universal,  and  prevails  even  in  Rome,  where,  if  anywhere, 
the  true  interpretation  of  the  Ceremonial, should  be  known. 

1  Lib.  ii.,  cap.  20. 


78  Liturgical  Notes 

The  learned  author  of  the  Ceremoniale  des  Eveques  Com- 
mente  et  Explique,  is  our  authority  for  the  statement  that 
the  custom  prevails  in  Borne.  He  says  : — ] 

"  A  Kome  .  .  .  les  tableaux  du  chemin  de  la  Croix  restent 
decouverts  toutle  temps  de  la  Passion." 

I  might  cite  many  other  writers  to  show  both  that  the 
custom  is  recognised  in  Kome,  and  that  it  is  general 
elsewhere,  but  I  will  content  myself  with  giving  the  words 
of  just  two  others,  Bouvry  and  Wapelhorst.  The  former 
says  : — 2 

"  Usus  invaluit,  etiam  Romae,  ut  non  cooperiantur  imagines 
(et  Cruces)  Viae  Crucis." 

The  latter  is  no  less  explicit : — 3 

"Ante  primas  Vesperas  Dominicae  Passionis  cooperiantur 
cruces  et  imagines  (excipiuntur  Stationes  Viae  Crucis)." 

2.  Writers  differ  regarding  the  reply  that  should  be 
given  to  our  correspondent's  additional  question,  though  all 
agree  that  the  celebrant  of  the  nuptial  Mass  is  in  no  case 
bound  to  offer  the  Mass  for  the  contracting  parties  unless 
he  has  received  a  honorarium.  Some  writers,  like  De  Herdt, 
would  permit  the  celebrant  of  the  nuptial  Mass,  to  whom 
a  honorarium  for  the  application  of  the  Mass  has  not  been 
given  on  the  part  of  the  contracting  parties,  to  celebrate  the 
Mass  of  the  day,  or  a  Votive  Mass,  when  the  rubrics  permit 
it,  even  on  a  day  on  which  he  could  celebrate  the  Votive 
Mass  pro  sponso  et  sponsa.  Their  reasons  are,  that  as  the 
nuptial  blessing  can  be  given  in  connection  with  the  Mass 
of  the  day  on  those  days  which  exclude  the  celebration  of 
the  Votive  Mass  pro  sponso  et  sponsa,  so  can  it  be  lawfully 
given  in  connection  with  the  Mass  of  the  day  or  a  Votive 
Mass  on  days  which  do  not  exclude  the  above  Votive  Mass, 
provided  the  celebrant  has  a  reasonable  cause  for  saying  the 
Mass  of  the  day  or  another  Votive  Mass.  And  according  to 
these  writers,  the  fact  that  the  celebrant  holds  a  honorarium, 

1  loc.  cit. 

2  Par.  ii.,  Sect,  iv.,  Art.  iv.,  n.  4. 
3N.  171.  1. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  79 

or  an  equivalent  for  celebrating  another  Mass,  and  none 
for  celebrating  the  Mass  for  the  contracting  parties,  is  a 
reasonable  cause  why  he  should  celebrate  the  other  Mass. 
These  writers,  it  will  be  remarked,  do  not  even  discuss 
whether  the  celebrant  might  say  the  Votive  Mass  pro 
pponso  et  sponsa,  and  apply  it  to  another  purpose  in  the 
case  in  which  he  had  not  received  a  honorarium  in  behalf  of 
the  contracting  parties. 

Other  writers,  however,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned 
Fr.  Schober,1  the  learned  editor  of  St.  Alphonsus'  work  on 
the  Ceremonies  of  the  Mass,  contend  that  the  celebrant  of 
the  nuptial  Mass  is  bound  to  say  the  Votive  Mass  pro 
sponso  et  sponsa  when  the  rubrics  permit ;  but  they  allow 
him  to  apply  the  Mass  as  he  pleases,  in  case  he  has  not 
received  a  honorarium  for  offering  it  for  the  contracting 
parties. 

For  ourselves,  we  are  very  strongly  in  favour  of  the 
opinion  of  De  Herdt,  and  would  have  no  hesitation  in 
following  it  in  practice,  while  we  would  have  some  difficulty 
about  applying  the  Votive  Mass  pro  sponso  et  sponsa  to 
discharging  an  obligation  in  justice  contracted  towards 
others  than  those  for  whom  this  Mass  is  specially  intended. 

D.    OTiOAN. 

1  De  Cacrcin.  Missae,  Append.  3,  c.  7,  n.  7. 


80     ] 


2>ocument0 

LETTER  OF  HIS  HOLINESS  LEO  XIII.  TO  CARDINAL  RAMPOLLA 
PROTESTING  AGAINST  THE  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  20TH  OF 
SEPTEMBER 

BMP,    CABDINALIS 

Public!  ac  populares,  praeter  morem,  clamores,  quorum  ultimus 
per  Urbis  vias  sonus  vix  extinctus  est,  nonnulla  ad  te  hac  super 
re  verba  facere  Nobis  suadent,  baud  equidem  ut  iustum  moerori 
nostro  solatium  comparemus ;  sed  potius  ut  facti  gravitatem, 
atque  eorum,  qui  illud  inspirarunt,  consilia  opportune  pate- 
faceremus. 

Profecto  ille  humanitatis  sensus  ac  dignitatis,  qui  in  animis 
etiam  vehement!  affectu  concitatis  inesse  solet  sperare  nos  sinebat, 
aliquam  saltern  senectutis  nostrae  ration  em  habitum  iri.  At  vero 
inurbane  omnia  potius  agere  placuit ;  adeo  ut  nobis  contigerit 
ferme  proxime  testes  esse  apotheoseos  rerum  novarum  italicarum, 
et,  quae  exinde  consecuta  est,  expoliationis  S.  Sedis.  Iniuriis 
tolerandis,  et  veniae  facile  concedendae  Deo  adiuvante,  assueti, 
contumeliam  personae  illatam  praeterimus,  praesertim  vero  cum 
ad  hanc  animi  nostri  moestitiam  leniendam  catholicarum  gentium 
pietas  sponte  subvenerit ;  quas  inter  Italia  generosis  protesta- 
tionibus,  et  pretiosissimis  benevolentiae  significationibus  exhibitis 
eminuit. 

Verum  quod  magis  Nos  comrnovet  et  angit  est  ipsa  publica 
iniuriae  buic  Sedi  Apostolicae  inlatae  ostentatio,  atque  evidens 
animi  propositum  perpetuo  conflictum  prosequendi  potius  quam 
amice  componendi,  cuius  tristissimos  effectus  recensere  nemo 
potest. 

Facti  gravitas  per  se  cuique  nota,  ex  ipsis  eorum,  qui  eiusdem 
facti  auctores  vel  laudatores  extiterunt,  confessionibus  clarius 
patet.  Laudibus  quippe  quod  anno  MDCCCLXX  hie  gestnm  est,  in 
Coelum  extollentes  id  in  primis  spectarunt,  ut  quod  turn  bello 
obtinuerunt,  id  stabile  ac  fir  mum  statuerent,  atque  Italiae 
Orbique  universe  denuntiarent,  Eomanum  Pontificem,  ad  ipsos 
quod  attinet,  servili  iugo  subeundo,  sine  ulla  spe  libertatis 
recuperandae,  iam  acquiescere  oportere. 

Nee  satis  :  ulterius  insuper  progress!  sunt,  ut  impium,  quod 
mente  conceperunt,  consilium  re  ipsa  perficerent.  Quippe  in 
occupanda  Urbe  finis  ultimus,  quam  vis  fortasse  non  in  omnium 


Documents  81 

mente,  qui  in  id  oporam  contulerunt,  sed  profecto  perduellium 
societatum,  qui  primi  auctores  fuerunt,  haud  quaquam  est,  aut 
saltern  non  unicus,  politica  italicae  unitatis  constitutio.  Enim- 
vero  ille  adeo  efferatae  violentiae  actus,  cuius  in  historia  raro 
admodum  exempla  occurrunt,  in  perduellium  decretis  velut 
adininiculum  ac  praeludium  esse  debebat  nequioris  consilii.  Si 
manus  ad  moenia  civilis  huius  Metropolis  diffindenda  protensa 
fait,  hoc  idco  facturn  est,  qao  facilius  Urbs  Sacerdotalis  per  ipsos 
expugnaretur ;  utque  cominus,  quod  adeo  expetebant,  Spiritualem 
Kamanorum  Pontificum  potestatem  labefactarent,  terrestre  huius 
propugnaculum  perduelles  isti  primo  adnisi  sunt  deinoliri.  Quin- 
que  abhinc  lustris  Roma  circumspiciens,  campum  velut  Dominus 
obtinere  christianarum  institutionum  ac  dogmatum  oppugnatores 
videt  :  reprobam  quamque  doctrinam  late  diffusam  :  Christi 
Vicarii  personam  et  ministerium  impune  despectum :  loco  christi- 
anae  Fide  ius  libere  cogitandi  atque  credendi  suffectum,  et  Petri 
Cathedrae,  novae  perduellium  sectae  magisterium.  Atque  huic 
nimirum  nefasto  idearum  factorumque  complexui  nuper  ausum 
est  iuris  et  perpetuitatis  speciem  attribuere  novae  legis  promulga- 
tione  sancitam  et  fragosis  publicisque  clamoribus,  quos  impiae 
sectae  fautores  praeeuntes  sine  pudore  obsecundarunt.  Est  ne 
istud,  quaesumus  italicae  unitatis  triumphus,  an  vero  apostasiae 
proclamatio  ? 

lustitiam  finalis  triumphus  certissime  manet,  quemadmodum 
Roma  de  immutabili  ac  divina  sua  destinatione  secura  est. 
Interea  tamen  ilia  pessumdatur ;  huius  vero  destinationis  effectus 
pessima  sectarum  coniuratione,  atque  eorum  qui  ipsas  fovent, 
iniqua  opera  praepeditur.  Quid  hoc  italicam  nationem  iuvat  ? 
Romae  occupatio  Italiae  populis  velut  salutis  prima  lux,  et 
futurae  prosperitatis  auspicium  conclamata  fuit.  Nequaquam 
inquiremus,  utrum  eventus,  ad  materialia  bona  quod  attinet, 
promissa  confirm arint.  At  vero  certum  omnino  est,  per  Urbis 
acquisitionem,  armis  comparatam,  si  animos  spectes,  divisam 
potius  Italiam  fuisse,  quam  unitate  donatam.  Constat  autem 
hoc  intervallo  audaciores  evasisse  cuiusvis  generis  cupiditates ; 
morum  licentiam,  iure  publico  favente,  late  ubique  obtinuisse,  et 
quae  inde  consequitur,  religiosae  fidei  imminutionem  ;  eorum  qui 
humanas  divinasque  leges  contemnunt,  excrevisse  numerum  ; 
extremas  (quas  vocant)  factiones  numero  ac  vi  auctas  esse, 
furentesque  phalangas  in  civilem  ordinem  atque  socialem  funditus 
evertendum  coniuratas. 

VOL,  XVII.  F 


82  Documents 

At  enim  inter  tot  malorum  eluviem  secta  isthaec  infensa  baud 
quaquam  quiescit,  sed  bellum  in  illud  divinum  institutum  inferre 
ferocius  pergit,  in  quo  validissimi  omnium  ac  tutissimi  praesidii 
reperiundi  spem  reponi  oporteret.     Ecclesiam  videlicet,  speciatim 
vero  eius  visibile  Caput,  cui  una  cum  civili  Principatu  avroi/o/xia 
sublata  est,   baud  minus  Pontificis   dignitati  conveniens,  quam 
Apostolici  ministerii  libertati  necessaria.     Vanum  est  autem  ad 
civilis  legis  remedia  effugere  ;  nullum  quippe  ex  iuridicis  statutis 
veram  ac  plenam  libertatem  sine  certa  quadam  territoriali  prorsus 
immuni   dominatione,    in   Nos    conferre   potest.     Ea  vero   vitae 
conditio,  quam  hi  Nobis   omnino   tutam   praestitisse  affirmant, 
nequaquam  ipsa  est,  quae  Nobis  competit  atque  opus  est.     Ea 
vera  libertas  non  est,  sed  specie  tantum  et  insuper  incerta  atque 
instabilis,  quia  alieno  arbitrio  obnoxia.     Hanc  quippe  libertatis 
speciem  qui  dedit,   idem  auferre  potest :    heri  sancita  est,  eras 
deletur.     Eeapse    enim   non    bisce  iisdem  diebus,    eorum    quae 
Pontifici  tuendo   per   legem    statuta   fuerunt,    bine    impudenter 
flagitata,  inde  vero  minaciter  intentata  abrogatio  fuit  ?     At  enim- 
vero  nee  minae,  nee  sophismata,  neque  impudentes  criminationes, 
quasi  ita  persistendo  inanem  Nobis  gloriam  conquirere  velimus, 
efficere  poterunt,  ut  Apostolici  nostri  muneris  vox  sileat.     Quod- 
nam    sit,    quodque    esse    debeat    verum    Pontificiae    libertatis 
praesidium,  iam   turn   perspici   potuit,    cum   primus    christianus 
Imperator,  relicta  Koma,  Byzantium  imperii  sedem  transferendam 
duxit.     Exinde  ad  baec  usque  tempora,  nemo  eorum,  qui  rerum 
Italicarum  potiti  sunt,  Bomae  considere  visus  est.     Inde  initium 
vitamque    sumpsit    civilis    Ecclesiae   dominatus,    haudquaquam 
phrenetici  furoris  ope,  sed  divinae  Providentiae  consilio,  optima 
quaeque  nomine  praeseferens,  quae  legitimam  constituere  valent 
cuiuslibet   Principatus   possessionem ;    nimirum    grati    animi  in 
populis  beneficio  affectis,  ius  gentium,  spontaneum  civilis  assen- 
sum,  suffragiurn  denique  saeculorum.     Neque  vero  sceptrum  in 
manibus  Pontificurn  Episcopale  eorum  ministerium  praepedivit. 
Sceptrum  reapse  gestabant  ii  ex  Antecessoribus  nostris,  qui  vitae 
sanctitate  et  in  christianae  Eeipublicae  salutem  praeclaro  ardenti- 
que  studio  praefulserunt.     lidem  ipsi  praeterea  fuerunt,  qui  velut 
arbitri   maxime    ardua  imperantium   iurgia    componendi    gratia 
saepenurnero  adlecti  sunt ;  qui  insanae  Begum  impotentiae  invic- 
tissimum  pectus  vincendo  opposuere  ;  qui  periclitanti  Italiae  in 
adversis  formidandisque  eventibus  Fidei  tbesaurum  sartum  tectum 
servarunt,   atque   ab  ortu   solis  usque   ad  occasum  cbristianae 


Documents  83 

insitufcionis  lucem,  et  humanae  redemptions  propagarunt  beneficia. 
Et  si  hodieque,  quamvis  in  difficillimis  asperisque  temporum 
conditionibus  versetur,  inter  obsequentes  Nationes  viam  suam 
incedere  pergit,  ut  nequaquam  humani  cuiusque  praesidii  defectui. 
Sed  gratiae  coelestis  auxilio,  quod  supremo  sacerdotio  christiano 
nunquam  deest,  tribuendum  ducimus.  Num.  ne  Imperatorum 
romanorum  oppugnationibus  mirabile  adolescentis  Ecclesiae 
incrementum  quispiam  tribuat  ? 

Haec  omnia  ab  Italis  consilio  atque  experientia  praeditis 
melius  intelligi  velimus.  Haud  Nobis  sermo  est,  de  iis  qui  sive 
falsis  imbuti  doctrinis,  sive  impiae  sectae  vinculis  obstricti  viam 
deviam  sequuntur ;  sed  de  coeteris,  quibus,  quamvis  horum  vin-. 
cuiorum  immunes  sint,  neque  coeci  illorum  dogmatum  sectatores, 
inordinatus  tamen  rerum  novarum  amor  obnubilat  intellectum. 
Videant  hi  quam  periculosum  sit  atque  insanum  'sapientibus 
divinae  Providentiae  consiliis  obsistere,  et  in  dissidio,  quod  solum 
pessimis  audacissimarum  factionum  propositis,  praecipue  vero 
christiani  nominis  hostibus  prodest,  pertinaciter  persistere.  Penin- 
sulam  nostram  Apostolicae  Sedi  protuendae  electam  fuisse  ex 
millibus,  singulare  prorsus  privilegium  fuit,  ac  maximum  Italicae 
Nationis  emolumentum  :  profecto  unaquaeque  italicae  historiae 
pagina,  quam  bonorum  copiam,  quodque  gloriae  incrementum  ex 
assiduis  Bomani  Pontificates  curis  Italia  perceperit  aperte 
testatur.  An  vero  eius  indoles  immutata,  aut  efficacia  immutata 
fuit?  Humanae  quidem  res  mutantur;  sed  benefica  supremi 
Magistratiis  ecclesiastici  virtus  e  Coelo  est  ac  semper  eadem 
persistit :  imo  cum  ille  in  terris  perpetuo  duraturus  constitutus 
sit,  humanitatis  incessum  peramanti  vigilantia  consequitur  ; 
neque,  ut  eius  detractores  effutiunt,  iustis  temporum  necessita- 
tibus,  quoad  licet  se  conformare  recusat.  Si  dociles  Nobis  aures 
Itali  praeberent,  atque  ex  avitis  traditionibus  et  ex  propri- 
arum  conscientia  rationum  vim  animumque  haurirent,  imposi- 
tum  sibi  a  perduellibus  iugum  excutiendi,  dulcissimam  spem  de 
hac  Nobis  in;  primis  dilecta  Itala  terra  conciperemus.  At  vero 
si  contra  fieri  contingat,  dicere  piget,  nonnisi  nova  pericula, 
gravioresque  ruinas  profecto  Nobis  fas  esset  praenuntiare. 

Apostolicam   Benedictionem   tibi,  Erne  Cardinalis,   peculiari 
benevolentia  impertimus. 

Ex  Vaticano  :  Die  viii  Octobris  MDCCCXCV. 

LEO  PAPA  XIII. 


84  Notices  of  Books 

DECISION    OF    THE    SACRED    CONGREGATION   OF  RITES  AS   TO 

USE  OF  ELECTRIC  LIGHT  IN  CHURCHES 
A  Brnis  locorum  Ordinariis  non  semel,  postremis  hisce  annis 
exquisltum  fuit,  utrum  in  Ecclesiis  adhiberi  liceret  lucem 
electricam  tarn  ad  dissipandas  tenebras,  quam  ad  pompam 
exteriorem  augendam.  Nuper  vero  Sacrorum  Eituum  Congre- 
gation! propositum  fuit  dubium :  "Utrum  lux  electrica  adhiberi 
possit  in  Ecclesiis  ?"  Quare  Emi  Patres  Sacris  tuendis  Bitibus 
praepositi,  in  Ordinariis  Comitiis  ad  Vaticanum  infrascripta  die 
habitis,  rescribendum  censuerunt :  "Ad  cultum,  Negative.  Ad 
depellandas  autem  tenebras  Eiclesiasque  splendidius  illuminandas, 
affirmative  :  cauto  tamen  ne  modus-  prae  se  ferat  theatralem." 
Atque  ita  rescripserunt  et  servari  mandarunt  die  4  Junii,  1895. 

C.  CABD.  ALOISI  MASELLA,  S.R.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.*S. 

ALOISIUS  TBIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretaries. 


IRottces  of  Books 

THE  MONKS  OF  THE  WEST.  By  the  Count  de  Montalembert, 
with  an  Introduction  by  Kev.  F.  A.  Gasquet,  D.D., 
O.S.B.  London:  John  C.  Nimmo. 

IT  is  with  no  ordinary  feelings  of  pleasure  that  we  welcome 
this  splendid  edition  of  Montalembert's  great  work.  The  Monks 
of  the  West  had  already  found  a  place  not  only  in  all  Catholic 
libraries  of  importance  throughout  the  world,  but  on  the  book- 
shelves of  scholars  and  men  of  culture,  no  matter  to  what 
denomination  they  belonged.  The  best  proof  that  it  has  lost  none 
of  its  popularity  is,  that  this  new  edition  of  its  English  translation 
should  have  been  called  for,  and  that  it  should  have  been  produced 
by  one  of  the  foremost  publishers  in  London,  in  first-class  style, 
with  the  certainty  of  a  speedy  sale. 

Montalembert's  work,  as  our  readers  are  aware,  is,  by  no 
means,  an  apology  for  monasticism.  He  rejects  with  scorn  the 
notion  that  the  monasteries  of  the  Middle  Ages  require  a  champion 
to  plead  for  them.  They  require  but  an  impartial  historian  to  tell 
what  they  have  achieved,  to  describe  their  methods,  to  reveal  the 


Notices  of  Books  85 

springs  of  their  activity,  the  secrets  of  their  conquest.  To  this 
noble  task  he  set  himself;  and  in  the  midst  of  a  busy  life,  with 
demands  on  his  time  and  energy,  to  which  few  men  in  Europe 
had  to  submit,  he  pursued  that  labour  of  love,  at  the  cost  of 
innumerable  journeys,  and  almost  endless  research.  Into  the 
materials  laboriously  brought  together  he  breathed  a  soul  and  life 
and  beauty  which  were  the  reflection  of  his  own  nature,  and 
which  will  never  cease  to  charm  those  who  admire  a  writer 
who  spared  no  pains  to  master  the  facts  with  which  he  had 
to  deal,  and  was,  at  the  same  time,  endowed  with  the  richest 
gifts  of  imagination  and  intelligence. 

With  the  hand  of  a  master,  Montalembert  traces  the  causes 
and  the  effects  of  the  corruption  which  had  invaded  the  society 
which  the  monasteries  were  founded  to  cure.  The  century  which 
followed  the  conversion  of  Constantine  is,  indeed,  in  many 
respects,  the  most  brilliant  and  the  most  prolific  in  the  history  of 
Christian  literature.  In  no  other  age  do  we  behold  such  a  cloud 
of  saints,  of  pontiffs,  of  doctors,  of  orators,  of  writers.  And,  yet, 
with  all  their  subtlety  of  intellect,  with  all  the  fervour  of  their 
eloquence,  with  all  the  fire  of  their  zeal,  and  all  the  weight  of 
their  learning,  they  were  unable  to  cope  with  the  flood  of  profligacy 
that  had  been  let  loose  from  the  degenerate  centre  of  Imperial 
Borne. 

"The  old  world  [he  writes]  was  at  the  point  of  death.  The 
Empire  gave  way  slowly,  in  shame  and  contempt,  stricken  by  a 
melancholy  weakness  that  did  not  even  inspire  pity.  Everything 
dropped  into  incurable  decay.  Such  was  the  fate  of  the  Koman 
Empire  two  centuries  after  it  had  become  Christian.  In 
spiritual  affairs,  it  was  on  the  road  to  that  schism,  which,  under 
the  Byzantine  Caesars,  separated  from  unity  and  truth  more  than 
half  the  world  converted  by  the  Apostles.  In  temporal  affairs,  it 
issued  in  the  miserable  regime  of  the  Lower  Empire,  the  hardest 
censure  we  can  pronounce  upon  which  is,  td  name  its  name." 

What  the  Church  had  failed  to  effect,  however,  amid  the 
corruption  and  degeneracy  of  the  effete  civilization  of  the  Empire, 
she  was  to  accomplish  after  an  ordeal  of  violence  and  anarchy, 
inseparable  from  invasion  and  conquest,  by  the  ministry  of  the 
monks.  In  a  few  vivid  sketches  the  author  outlines  the  result  of 
the  barbarian  victories  : — 

"  Visible  instruments  of  divine  justice,  they  come  by  intuition 
to  avenge  the  nations  oppressed  and  the  martyrs  slain.  They 
shall  destroy,  but  it  will  be  to  give  a  substitute  for  what  they 


86  Notices  of  Books 

have  destroyed  ;  and,  besides,  they  will  kill  nothing  that  deserves 
to  live,  or  that  retains  the  conditions  of  life.  They  shall  shed 
blood  in  torrents,  but  they  shall  renew,  by  their  own  blood,  the 
exhausted  sap  of  Europe.  They  bring  with  them  fire  and  sword, 
but  also  strength  and  life.  Through  a  thousand  crimes,  and  a 
thousand  evils,  they  shall  reveal,  though  still  in  a  confused  form, 
two  things  which  Eoman  society  had  ceased  to  know — the  dignity 
of  man,  and  respect  for  woman.  They  have  instincts  rather  than 
principles  to  guide  them  ;  but  when  these  instincts  shall  have 
been  fertilized  and  purified  by  Christianity,  out  of  them  shall 
spring  Catholic  chivalry  and  loyalty." 

It  is  the  part  played  by  the  monks  in  the  great  drama  of  this 
transformation  that  Montalembert  has  placed  before  the  world  in 
these  six  volumes.  We,  in  Ireland,  are  naturally  interested  more 
than  others  in  a  great  part  of  this  work,  for  it  deals  in  a  very 
comprehensive  and  most  sympathetic  spirit  with  what  our  Irish 
monks  accomplished,  not  alone  in  their  own  country,  but  also  in 
Scotland,  in  England,  France,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Italy,  for 
art,  science,  and  letters,  as  well  as  for  religion. 

"  No  country  [he  writes]  has  received  the  Christian  faith 
more  directly  than  England  from  the  Church  of  Eome,  or  more 
exclusively  by  the  ministration  of  the  monks.  If  France  has 
been  made  by  bishops,  as  has  been  said  by  a  great  enemy  of 
Christ,  it  is  still  more  true  that  England  has  been  made  by 
monks.  Of  all  the  countries  in  Europe,  this  is  the  one  that  has 
been  most  deeply  furrowed  by  the  monastic  plough.  The  monks, 
and  the  monks  alone,  introduced,  sowed,  and  cultivated  Christian 
civilization  in  this  famous  island." 

Now,  of  the  eight  kingdoms  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Confede- 
ration, Montalembert  shows  that  Kent  alone  was  exclusively  won 
over  to  Christianity,  and  retained  by  the  Eoman  monks.  The 
two  Northumbrian  kingdoms,  and  the  kingdoms  of  Mercia  and 
Essex,  owe  the  gift  of  faith  to  the  Irish  monks  alone.  In  Wessex 
and  East  Anglia,  the  Share  of  the  Irish  monks  was,  at  least,  equal 
to  that  of  the  Continental  missionaries  ;  and  if,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Sussex,  the  main  instrument  of  the  change — Wilfrid — was  not 
a  Celt,  but  an  Anglo-Saxon,  he  owed  his  first  training  in 
missionary  labour  to  the  Celtic  monastery  of  St.  Aidan,  at 
Lindisfarne.  The  account  given  of  the  Easter  controversy  is  in 
the  author's  best  style,  and  he  follows  with  the  most  ardent 
interest  the  contentions  of  the  various  parties  in  the  dispute. 
The  .history  of  St.  Colman,  abdicating  his  see,  and  retiring  with 
his  monks,  first  to  lona,  and  then  to  Innisbofin,  off  the  coast  of 


Notices  of  Books  87 

Mayo,  and  bringing  with  him  the  relics  of  his  beloved  St.  Aidan, 
11  as  if  an  ungrateful  land  had  become  unworthy  to  possess  them," 
is  one  of  the  most  attractive  chapters  in  the  whole  work.  In 
this  connection,  however,  we  have  to  find  serious  fault  with 
the  translator,  and  with  the  present  editor,  who  render  what 
Montalembert  very  justly  and  accurately  calls  "  les  dissidences 
Celtiques  "  by  the  opprobrious  and  utterly  incorrect  translation, 
"Celtic  Heresy."  There  was  no  Celtic  heresy  in  connection 
with  the  Easter  controversy,  as  Montalembert  distinctly  states. 
We  can  readily  understand  how  the  Protestant  translator  fell 
into  this  mistake  ;  but  why  it  is  that  Dr.  Gasquet  did  not  take 
care  to  remove  this  defect,  before  he  lent  his  name  to  this  new 
edition  of  The  Monks  of  the  West,  is  what  we  do  not  so  easily 
conceive.  The  fair  fame  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  may  not 
concern  Dr.  Gasquet  as  much  as  it  does  Irish  Catholics  ;  but  a 
man  of  his  erudition  and  knowledge  of  human  affairs  will  not 
find  it  difficult  to  realize  how  jealous  of  their  reputation  Irish 
Catholics  are  in  this  respect.  In  the  present  case,  however,  the 
task  of  repudiation  is  made  uncommonly  simple  by  the  fact  tha 
the  imputation  of  "heresy"  is  due  to  the  ignorance  of  the 
translator,  who  gives,  in  several  places  an  utterly  false  renderin 
of  the  original  text.  This  is,  indeed,  the  most  glaring  example ; 
but  is,  by  no  means,  the  only  one.  In  spite,  however,  of 
these  defects,  we  commend  this  work  as  a  substantially  accurate 
translation.  We  recommend  it  for  all  Catholic  libraries,  both 
public  and  private,  and  trust  that  even  a  further  edition  may 
soon  be  required,  in  which  the  defects  of  the  present  one  can 
easily  be  remedied.  J,  F.  H. 

HYMNS  FOE  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  YEAE,  with  accompany- 
ing Tunes  and  Six  Benediction  Services.  London  :  Art 
and  Book  Co. 

IN  Church  Art  generally,  the  principle  is  now  almost 
universally  recognised  that,  in  order  to  find  the  master  works 
which  we  are  to  study,  the  models  which  we  are  to  imitate, 
we  must  go  back  to  the  Middle  Ages.  For  Church  music  this 
principle,  though  theoretically  rejected  by  but  few,  can  hardly 
be  said  to  be  generally  followed  in  practice.  For  hymn  tunes  in 
particular,  the  prevailing  custom  is  to  select  melodies  which  will 
suit  the  taste  of  the  modern  musical  amateur,  melodies  written 
in  the  style  of  second-rate  composers  of  the  last  and  the  present 


83  Notices  of  Books 

centuries.  The  conviction  that  to  get  the  proper  idea  of  a  hymn 
tune,  that  is  to  say,  a  tune  possessing  in  itself,  without  reference 
to  accompanying  harmonies,  lasting  interest  and  healthy  life,  we 
must  go  back  to  a  time  when  melodies  were  invented  for  their 
own  sake,  not  merely  as  the  upper  part  of  a  series  of  harmonies — 
the  conviction  that  to  get  the  unction  required  for  a  sacred  hymn 
we  must  have  recourse  to  tunes  composed  before  the  secular 
spirit  entered  the  precincts  of  the  sanctuary — the  conviction,  in 
other  words,  that  a  collection  of  hymn  tunes  ought  to  draw  freely 
on  the  treasures  of  the  Middle  Ages,  hardly  ever  takes  hold  of 
the  mind  of  a  compiler  of  a  hymn-book  in  these  countries  ;  or,  if  it 
does,  he  has  not  the  courage  to  act  on  his  convictions.  A  reviewer, 
therefore,  must  be  satisfied,  if  the  hymn-book  before  him  marks 
even  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  if  it  is  any  approach  towards 
what  a  proper  hymn-book  ought  to  be. 

From  this  point  of  view  we  welcome  the  present  collection. 
It  is,  on  the  whole,  the  best  hymn-book  published  in  these 
countries.  The  melodies  are,  as  a  rule,  devotional,  suitable  for 
congregational  use,  and  tasteful ;  the  harmonies,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  chaste  and  artistic.  We  must  protest,  however, 
against  the  insertion  of  secular  tunes,  notably  that  of  No.  13, 
which  is  the  Austrian  national  air.  The  same  melody  is  used  for 
No.  118.  Also  No.  Ill,  one  of  Mendelssohn's  part  songs,  is 
objectionable  on  this  ground.  A  few  other  melodies,  besides, 
must  be  pronounced  unsuitable,  either  on  account  of  their  own 
structure  or  rhythm,  or  on  account  of  the  accompanying  harmonies ; 
for  instance,  Nos.  94,  95,  97,  100,  104,  106.  All  these  are  in 
honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Why  she  should  get  just  the  worst 
hymns,  we  cannot  quite  understand.  Also  the  Antiphons  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  Nos.  147,  148,  149,  and  150,  are  particularly  bad. 
Another  class  of  hymns  that  are  remarkable  for  bad  taste  are 
those  for  missions.  It  is  well  that  music  has  not  that  specific 
influence  which  some  writers  claim  for  it,  or  these  hymns 
should  destroy  the  whole  salutary  effect  of  a  mission.  We 
must  also  mention  No.  36,  which  gives  a  miserable  dance 
tune  to  the  grand  sequence  Lauda  Sion.  The  clumsy  way  of 
making  this  tune  fit  the  stanzas  of  different  metre  is  particularly 
provoking. 

We  are  glad  to  see  that  the  compiler  has,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  adhered  to  the  rule  "one  hymn  to  every  tune."  It 
is  important  that  the  people  should  know  at  once  when  the  tune 


Notices  of  Books  8£) 

is  played  on  the  organ,  what  hymn  is  to  be  sung.  We  should, 
therefore,  have  wished  the  compiler  to  have  selected  special  tunes 
for  the  few  hymns  that  have  to  borrow  from  others. 

It  is  particularly  praiseworthy  that  the  book  contains  a  large 
number  of  translations  of  liturgical  hymns  with  their  Gregorian 
melodies.  It  is  certainly  very  desirable  that  these  treasures  of 
religious  poetry  and  music  should  once  more  become  popular. 
We  regret,  however,  that  the  melodies  are  not  in  accordance  with 
the  reading  of  the  Eoman  Antiphonarium.  The  forms  of  the 
hymn  melodies  in  the  typical  edition  may  not  be  the  best 
possible — though  we  do  not  admit  that  those  in  the  book  under 
review  are  much  better — but,  for  the  sake  of  unity,  we  should 
think  it  desirable  to  have  the  authentic  form  adhered  to. 

The  Tantum  Ergo  in  the  last  Benediction  service  is  provided 
with  a  harmony  ascribed  to  Palestrina.  We  may  mention,  by 
the  way,  that  Palestrina's  authorship  is  doubtful.  But  we  think 
whoever  is  the  author,  has  a  right  to  have  his  composition  left 
as  he  wrote  it,  or  as  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  oldest  source.  More- 
over, the  Amen  could  not  have  been  written  by  Palestrina  in  the 
form  given  in  the  book. 

The  various  objections  we  have  raised  do  not  prevent  us, 
however,  from  recommending  the  book  as  a  whole,  and  we 
hope  that  it  may  do  something  towards  promoting  good  hymn 
singing. 

H.  B. 

PSALM  MISERERE,   for  Four  Mixed  Voices.     By  C.   Ett. 
Straubing  :  Max  Hirmer. 

CHURCH  Music,  No.  3   MISERERE  for   Mixed  Voices.    By 
J.  van  Craen.      Dublin :    Cramer,  Wood  and  Co. 

IT  is  a  somewhat  strange  custom,  at  the  Matins  of  the  last 
three  days  in  Holy  Week,  to  perform  with  solemnity  the  Psalm 
Miserere.  This  psalm  on  that  occasion  occupies  the  position  of 
the  Preces  in  the  ordinary  ferial  office  ;  and  a  special  rubric  says 
that  it  is  to  be  recited,  not  sung.  Still  the  custom  of  singing  it  is 
general,  and  cannot  be  objected  to.  The  two  settings  under 
review  agree  in  the  general  arrangement,  the  even  verses  being 
sung  in  unison  to  a  psalm  tone.  Ett  has  selected  the  eighth  tone, 
with  the  second  ending  ;  Van  Craen,  the  sixth  tone;  not,  however, 
in  the  Eoman  form. 

Of  Ett's  work,  the  late  Dr.  Witt  said,  that  it  is   '•  Ett's  most 


90  Notices  of  Books 

spotless  work ;  that  in  which  the  influence  of  the  Masters  of  the 
sixteenth  century  on  Ett  appears  with  the  most  beautiful 
results."  We  must  confess  that  we  cannot  see  any  resemblance 
to  sixteenth  century  music  in  the  psalm  beyond  a  general  dignity 
of  style.  The  work  is  thoroughly  modern,  but  devotional  and 
appropriate.  We  are  sure  modern  choirs  will  sing  it  with  pleasure, 
listeners  hear  it  without  having  their  devotion  interfered  with. 
A  preface  to  the  present  edition  says,  that  the  composition  has 
been  transposed  a  semitone  downwards  "  to  facilitate  execution," 
but  that  it  is  desirable  to  have  it  intoned  in  the  original  pitch. 

Van  Craen's  Miserere  is  also  quite  modern  in  style,  perhaps 
a  -little  more  masculine  than  Ett's.  A  few  chromatic  notes  will 
present  little  difficulty  to  a  choir  accustomed  to  sing  modern 
compositions.  The  metronome  marks  appear  to  us  rather  slow. 
Some  attention  on  the  parts  of  singers  and  conductor  is  required 
to  preserve  the  right  accents  of  the  words  innova,  sahltis,  and 
delectdberis,  As  an  appendage,  the  publication  gives  the  Bene- 
dictus  in  the  first  tone,  with  a  simple  harmonization. 

H.  B. 

PONTIFICALIA.  A  Description  of  the  Things,  Persons,  and 
Principal  Actions  employed  in  Pontifical  Functions. 
By  the  Rev.  Patrick  O'Leary,  Dean,  Maynooth  College.- 
Dublin  :  Browne  and  Nolan,  Limited. 

THIS  is  a  very  useful  book,  and  deserves  an  appreciative 
welcome  from  ecclesiastics.  Those  who  have  not  the  time  or 
the  opportunity  for  consulting  the  large  commentaries  on  the 
Caeremoniale  Episcoporum  will  find  in  Pontificalia  a  brief  and 
accurate  description  of  the  things,  persons,  and  principal  actions 
employed  in  pontifical  functions.  In  his  preface  the  author  thus 
states  the  scope  of  his  book : — "  The  work  is  in  substance  the 
first  book  of  the  Caeremoniale  Episcoporum,  with  such  additional 
information  on  the  subjects  treated  as  is  supplied  by  the  Decrees 
of  the  Congregation  of  Eites  and  the  most  approved  authors.  In 
the  description  of  things  and  persons,  the  first  book  of  the 
Caeremoniale  does  not  deal  with  questions  of  archaeology  and 
symbolism ;  it  confines  itself  to  what  is  necessary  for  cere- 
monial purposes ;  and,  in  describing  the  actions,  it  does  not 
deal  with  complete  functions,  such  as  Vespers  and  High  Mass, 
but  only  with  such  parts  as  it  would  not  be  convenient  to  discuss 
in  the  description  of  a  complete  function.  I  have  followed  a 


No tices  of  Boo  ks  91 

similar  plan."  The  work  is  divided  into  four  parts.  In  Part  I., 
the  author  deals  with  what  we  may  call  episcopal  insignia. 
In  Part  II.  the  duties  of  the  various  officers  required  in 
Pontifical  Ceremonies  are  fully  discussed.  Part  III.  contains  a 
description  of  the  most  important  details  of  Episcopal  Functions- 
In  Part  IV.  will  be  found  very  interesting  information  on  the 
ceremonial  status  of  Cardinals,  Apostolic  Nuncios,  Coadjutor- 
Bishops,  Abbots,  Domestic  Prelates,  and  other  minor  dignitaries- 
Father  O'Leary  has  not  burdened  his  pages  with  quotations  and 
indications  of  reference.  "  I  have  not  thought  it  necessary,"  he 
says,  "  to  quote  authority  for  each  statement ;  as  far  as  I  am 
aware,  there  is  no  statement  that  is  not  supported  by  some  one 
or  more  of  the  following  authorities: — the  Caeremoniale,  the 
Decrees  of  the  Congregation  of  Rites,  Martinucci's  Manuale 
Caeremoniarum,  De  Herdt's  Praxis  Pontificalis."  As  Dean  in 
Maynooth,  Father  O'Leary  has  had  a  long  experience  not  only 
in  teaching  liturgy,  but  in  conducting  ecclesiastical  ceremonies, 
and  no  words  of  ours  are  required  to  recommend  his  book 
as  a  standard  authority  on  pontifical  ceremonies.  Nor  is  his 
knowledge  of  the  subject  derived  wholly  from  the  above  sources. 
He  has  visited  Rome,  and  studied  the  practice  of  the  Roman 
churches,  which,  it  appears,  differs  in  many  points  from  the 
teaching  of  the  Rubricists.  After  describing  the  method  of 
putting  the  mitre  on  a  bishop,  as  taught  by  De  Herdt,  the  author 
adds:  "We  have  seen  a  different  practice  which  seemed  to  be 
general  throughout  the  churches  of  Rome  : — The  Master  of 
Ceremonies  stands  behind  the  bishop,  and  holds  the  mitre  over 
the  bishop's  head,  in  such  a  way  that  the  minister  who  has  to  put 
it  on  has  nothing  to  do  but  press  it  on  the  head."  Father  O'Leary 
writes  in  a  clever,  terse  style,  and  has  managed  to  compress  a 
large  amount  of  matter  within  the  limits  of  a  small  cheap  octavo 
volume.  This  book,  and  the  Ceremonies  of  Ordination,  a  work 
by  the  same  author,  published  last  year,  are  companion  volumes, 
and,  in  our  opinion,  amply  supply  the  want  which  had  hitherto 
existed  of  an  easily  accessible  source  from  which  a  knowledge  of 
Episcopal  Ceremonies  could  be  obtained.  T.  P.  G. 

A   STRIKING  CONTRAST.    By  Clara  Mulholland.     Dublin : 

M.  H.  Gill  &  Son. 

WE  looked  into  this  book,  and   read   a  chapter   or  two   to 
test  its  attractions ;  but  we  were  so  taken  with  the  simple  and 


92  Notices  oj-  Books 

beautiful  story,  that  we  could  not  give  it  up  until  we  had  read  it 
through.  It  is  an  excellent  story,  well  conceived,  well  told,  and 
well  maintained.  It  carries  one  through  to  the  end  without  the 
slightest  effort.  Miss  Mulholland  has  very  uncommon  gifts  as  a 
novelist ;  and  her  work  is  sure  to  do  good.  It  is  not  a  preaching 
novel ;  and  yet  it  excites  our  sympathy  all  through  for  truth, 
courage,  and  self-denial,  as  well  as  our  horror  for  duplicity  and 
deceit.  A  Striking  Contrast  ought  to  have  a  good  circulation. 

J.  F.  H. 

THE  LIFE  OF  PATRICK  SARSFIELD,  Earl  of  Lucan.  By 
John  Todhunter.  London :  T.  Fisher  Unwin.  New 
Irish  Library  Series. 

DR.  TODHUNTER' s  Life  of  Sars field  is  not   by   any  means   a 
work  of  art.     It  has  none  of  the  charms  of  style  that  distinguish 
the  historical  works  of  Mr.  Lecky,  or  of  Froude,  or  of  Professor 
Freeman.     It  is  uneven  and  disjointed  and  patched.     Yet,  not- 
withstanding all   these   drawbacks,  it   is  decidedly  one   of  the 
most  interesting,  and  one  of  the  most  attractive,  of  the  contribu- 
tions to  "  The  New  Irish  Library  Series."     The  author  is,  we 
believe,  a  Protestant,  but  a  Protestant  of  a  very  large-minded 
and  liberal  type.     Not  only  is  there  not  in  the  whole  volume  a 
single  expression  to  which  the  most  critical  Catholic  could  object, 
but   a   tone   of  deep   sympathy  and   sincere   good-will    towards 
Catholics  runs  through  it  from  beginning  to  end.     The  subject- 
matter  must  ever  possess  the  deepest  interest  for  Irishmen.     It 
embraces  some  of  the   most   important   events  that  were   ever 
enacted  within  the  shores  of  Ireland.     It  presents  us  with  an 
excellent  view  of  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  gives  a  still  more  vivid 
picture  of  the   sieges   of  Limerick,   Gal  way,  and   Athlone,    and 
devotes  a  chapter  full  of  interest  to  the  Battle  of  Aughrim.     In  all 
these  events  Patrick  Sarsfield  played  a  prominent,  and  in  some  a 
foremost,  part ;  and  when   one  has  read  Dr.  Todhunter's  sketch 
of   him,  he   must  feel  undoubtedly  satisfied  that  the  place  the 
hero  holds  in  the  hearts  and  imaginations  of  Irishmen  is  fully 
justified.  No  braver  soldier,  more  gallant  officer,  more  honourable 
and  single-minded  patriot,  ever  fought  in  the  cause  of  Ireland. 
This   is   the    conclusion   which   is   forced   upon   the   reader   by 
Dr.  Todhunter's   narrative,    which   makes   up   for    its   want    of 
entrain  and  defects  of  style,  by  its  simple  honesty  and  sincere 
devotion  to  historical  truth.  J.  F.  H. 


Notices  of  Books  93 

BREVIARIUM  KOMANUM  EX  DECRETO  SS.  CONCILII  TRI- 
DENTINI  EESTITUTUM.  S.  Pii  V.  Pont.  Max,  jussu 
Editum,  dementis  VIII,  Urban!  VIII,  et  Leonis  XIII, 
auctortate  Eecognitum.  Editio  Septima  post  Typicam. 
Eatisbonae,  Neo  Eboraci  et  Cincinnati,  Sumptibus 
et  Typis  Friderici  Pustet.  S.  Sedis  Apost.,  et  S.  Eit. 
Congreg.  Typographa.  MDCCCXCV. 

HORAE  DIURNAE  BREViARii  EoMANi.  Sumptibus  et  Typis 
Ejusdem. 

WE  have  received  from  the  great  house  of  Pustet,  at  Eatisbon, 
specimen  copies  of  its  newly-published  Breviary  and  the  Home 
Diurnae  which,  in  our  opinion,  are  destined  to  have  a  very  wide 
circulation  in  Ireland.  That  the  work  is  fully  up  to  date,  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  feast  of  the  Annunciation  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  raised  only  a  few  months  ago  to  be  a  Double  of  the 
First  Class,  is  here  set  down  in  its  new  dignity,  with  the  regula- 
tion providing  for  its  transfer,  in  case  of  necessity,  duly  prefixed. 
Pustet's  Breviary  has,  however,  many  qualities  besides  this  one  to 
recommend  it  to  the  public.  The  paper  and  type  are  excellent. 
Indeed  we  know  of  no  other  Breviary  of  the  same  price  and 
dimensions  to  surpass  it,  in  this  respect,  and  very  few  to  equal  it. 
Everything  that  tone  and  colour  and  largeness  of  type  could 
reasonably  be  expected  to  do  to  relieve  the  tension  of  the  eye, 
has  been  accomplished  here.  The  Breviary  can  be  had  at 
different  prices  according  to  size  and  binding ;  but  no  one  need 
wish  for  a  more  satisfactory  copy  than  that  which  can  be  got  for 
the  moderate  sum  of  28  shillings.  We  wish  a  wide  sale  to  this 
new  Breviary,  and  we  congratulate  the  publishers  on  the  success 
they  have  achieved  in  turning  out  a  work  so  convenient  and  so 
satisfactory  in  every  respect. 

THE  LIFE  OF  ST.  ANTONY  OF  PADUA.  By  E.  M.  D. 
THIS  small,  but  really  excellent,  life  of  St.  Antony  of  Padua, 
one  of  Duffy's  weekly  volumes  of  Catholic  divinity,  is  a  class  of 
book  we  very  much  desire  to  see  propagated  in  Catholic  homes  ; 
for  the  lives  of  the  saints,  written  with  judgment  and  literary 
taste,  as  this  little  volume  undoubtedly  is,  are  of  immense  value 
in  this  age  of  unsavoury  literature.  They  are  interesting  and 
pleasurable  reading,  and  never  fail  to  strengthen  our  hold  on 


94  Notices  of  Books 

the  supernatural,  and  awaken  or  keep  alive  a  solicitude  for  our 
salvation. 

The  writer,  who  has  undertaken  to  tell  the  story  of 
St.  Antony's  life,  and  popularize  devotion  to  that  remarkahle 
saint  in  these  countries,  seems  well  fitted  for  such  a  work  ;  for 
E.  M.  D.  has  the  gift  of  style,  and  writes  with  good  taste, 
elegance,  and  freedom..  The  author,  we  are  glad  to  see,  abstains 
from  formal  preaching ;  instead  of  short  sermons,  so  usual  in 
books  of  this  kind,  and  which,  as  a  rule,  are  commonplace,  and 
therefore  ineffective,  we  get  the  inspiring  story  of  the  saint's  life ; 
and  facts,  the  most  potent  of  all  trumpeters,  are  allowed  to  preach 
for  themselves.  Devotion  to  St.  Antony  is  not  as  popular  with  us  as 
in  some  continental  countries  ;  yet  we  learn  from  this  little  volume 
how  profitable  that  devotion  has  always  been  to  St.  Antony's 
clients.  Those  who  are  anxious  to  cultivate  the  devotion  will 
find  an  admirable  collection  of  prayers,  hymns,  and  litanies,  in 
honour  of  St.  Antony,  at  the  end  of  this  very  excellent  little  book, 
which  it  is  a  pleasure  as  well  as  a  profit  to  peruse. 

MISSA  IN  HONOEEM  SANCTAE  CAECiLiAE,  for  Soprano  and 
Alto,  with  Organ  Accompaniment.  By  P.  Griesbacher. 
Straubing  :  Max  Hirmer. 

IN  the  last  February  Number  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD  we  called 
attention  to  Griesbacher 's  two  part  Mass  in  honour  of  our 
Lady  of  Lourdes.  We  are  glad  to  be  able  to  announce  another 
two  part  Mass,  of  equal  artistic  merits,  by  the  same  talented 
composer.  The  Mass  of  St.  Cecilia  will  not,  perhaps,  be  so 
popular  as  that  of  our  Lady  of  Lourdes,  because  it  is  in  the 
minor  mode.  But  we  trust  that  a  careful  study  will  reveal  to 
choirmaster  and  singers  the  great  beauties  contained  in  it. 

H.  B. 

MISSA  V  vocuminaequalium  i.  h.B.M.  V.  MATEIS  DOLOEOSAE. 
Auctore  P.  Griesbacher.  Op..  J.  Straubing:  Max 
Hirmer. 

FROM  an  artistic  point  of  view,  this  Mass  is  the  most 
important  work  of  its  gifted  author,  and  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  Church  compositions  of  late  years.  If  there  are  any 
choirs  in  these  countries  that  can  perform  a  contrapuntal  Mass 


Notices  of  Books  95 

for  five  'parts  (Soprano,  Alto,  I.  Tenor,  II.  Tenor  or  Barytone, 
and  Bass)  without  accompaniment,  we  recommend  this  work 
for  performance.  The  effect  will  amply  repay  the  trouble  of 
studying  it. 

H.  B. 

L'EGLISE  ET  LE  TEAVAIL  MANUEL.  Par  M.  Sabatier, 
Docteur  en  Droit  Canon.  Paris  :  Lethielleux,  10,  Kue 
Cassette. 

THIS  is  the  work  of  a  learned  man,  who  has  brought  many 
acquirements  to  the  study  of  his  subject.  In  a  series  of  most 
interesting  chapters  he  tells  us  the  estimate  of  manual  labour 
that  was  held  by  the  ancient  Jews,  by  the  Greeks,  Bomans,  and 
barbarians  of  early  times.  He  points  out  the  transformation 
that  was  effected  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  in  so  many  others, 
by  Christian  teaching  and  example;  how  the  new  spirit  was 
brought  to  perfection  by  the  monks  of  the  middle  ages,  and  by 
the  guilds  and  associations  established  in  cities  during  the  same 
period.  He  illustrates  very  happily  how  the  same  spirit  prevails 
to-day  in  the  Church,  in  her  confraternities,  and  sodalities,  and 
associations  of  various  kinds,  and  finally  how  it  has  been 
confirmed  once  again  by  the  Vicar  of  Christ  in  his  immortal 
Encyclical  on  The  Condition  of  Labour.  The  volume  is  well 
worth  perusal.  J.  F.  H. 

INSTITUTIONS  THEOLOGIAE  DOGMATICAE  GENERALIS. 
Tractatus  de  Vera  Eeligione.  Auctore  Bernardo 
Jungmann.  Editio  Quarta.  Pustet,  1895. 

INSTITUTIONES  THEOLOGIAE  DOGMATICAE  SPECIALIS. 
Tractatus  de  Gratia,  Auctore  Bernardo  Junmann. 
Editio  Sexta,  Pustet,  1896. 

THE  valuable  treatises  of  Professor  Jungmann  retain  the 
popularity  which  they  readily  acquired  on  their  publication.  The 
two  volumes  before  us  have,  within  a  short  time,  gone  into  the 
fourth  and  sixth  editions  respectively,  Fu'l  in  their  treatment 
without  being  diffuse,  clear  without  being  shallow,  and  models  of 
order  and  of  arrangement  of  matter,  they  make  excellent  text- 
books in  the  hands  of  theological  students.  For  them  they  are 
primarily  intended.  We  find  at  the  end  of  each  volume  a  concise 
analysis  of  the  treatise.  This  synoptic  view  should  be  a  valuable 


96  Notices  of  Books 

aid  to  the  student,  enabling  him,  the  more  easily,  to  take 
in  at  a  glance  in  its  entirety  the  subject-matter  on  which  he  is 
engaged,  and  to  see  the  logical  relations  and  sequence  of  the 
various  parts. 

D.  M. 

FONTES    JUEIS    ECCLESIASTICI   NovissiMi.      Edidit   atque 
illustravit  Philippus  Schneider.     Pustet,  1895. 

THIS  volume  gives  in  a  small  compass  (136  pp.)  many 
important  ecclesiastical  documents — dogmatic  and  disciplinary— 
which  we  often  need,  but  cannot  always  easily  lay  our  hands, 
on.  The  title  of  contents  speaks  for  itself : — 

I.  Decreta    et    Canones     Sacrosancti     Oecumenici     Concilii 
Vaticani  [cum  notis  adjectis]. 

II.  Epistola  Encyclica  Pii  IX,  "  Quanta  Cura,"  1864,  Syllabus 
complectens  praecipios  nostrae  aetatis  errores. 

III.  Constitutio  "  Apostolicae    Sedis,"    1869    [cum    censuris 
recentissimis  post  hanc  Constitutionem  editis  declarationibusque 
et  resolutionibus  SS.  Congr..] 

IV.  Facultates  Quinquennales  [notis  illustratae]. 

V.  Constitutiones  circa  Eegulares. 

VI.  Instructio  S.  Cong,  de  Prop.  Fide,  1877,  super  dispensa- 
tionibus  matrimonialibus. 

D.  M. 


THE   IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


FEBRUARY,    1896 


THE  PEE  SENT   STATE   OF   THE   CHUKCH  IN 
FKANCE 


flTHE  state  of  France  just  now  is  so  abnormal  in  relation 
J_  to  spiritual  interests  that  it  arrests  attention  on  every 
side,  and  is  well  worthy  of  careful  study  from  all  who  wish 
to  follow  the  course  of  European  politics,  in  so  far  as 
they  affect  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  The  country  is  now 
absolutely  in  the  hands  of  a  radical  Government  that  knows 
no  measure  'in  its  hatred  of  religion,  and  whose  lease  of 
power  appears  to  depend  upon  the  urgency  of  its  measures 
against  every  interest  of  Catholicism.  This  in  itself  is  one 
of  the  wonders  of  modern  history.  In  a  nation  Catholic  to 
the  very  heart,  a  cabinet  has  been  raised  to  power,  which 
is  in  direct  contrast  to  the  feelings  and  habits  of  life  of 
nearly  all  the  people,  and  remains  at  the  head  of  affairs 
despite  of  such  maladministration  as  would,  in  almost  every 
other  country,  mean  political  ruin  to  those  who  undertake 
the  direction  of  public  life.  During  the  past  year  the 
history  of  Government  here  is  simply  a  series  of  aggressions 
against  religious  principles;  no  interest  associated  with 
worship  has  escaped  the  malign  ingenuity  of  the  statesmen 
to  whom  the  great  control  of  the  affairs  of  the  country  has 
been  confided.  Bishops,  priests,  religious  of  every  name 
and  institute,  schools,  churches,  all  have  felt  the  heavy 
hand  of  the  enemy  upon  them,  and  this  seems  to  be  the 
sum  total  of  the  legislative  achievements  of  the  Governments 
that  have  followed  each  other  in  such  quick  succession.  This 
VOL.  XVII.  G 


£8  The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France 

seems  strange  enough,  especially  during  these  latter  days 
when  parliaments  are  mainly  concerned  with  the  duty  of 
meeting  the  urgent  evils  of  the  social  question,  broadening 
liberty,  and  deepening  the  channels  of  national  life,  that  they 
may  be  able  to  carry  out  all  that  is  needed  for  the  complex 
civilization  of  modern  times.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  seem 
realized  the  very  evils  against  which  other  continental 
nations  are  working  with  such  vigour.  The  worst  things 
feared  as  the  result  of  triumphant  socialism  are  now  the 
daily  experience  of  the  French  people.  Corruption  in  the 
cabinet,  in  the  parliament,  in  the  press ;  schools  whose 
central  dogma  is  the  denial  of  creed,  and  even  negation, 
positive  and  formal  of  the  Deity  ;  the  reign  of  selfishnes,  and 
greed  substituted  for  those  higher  principles  on  which  alone 
a  nation  can  securely  rest ;  such  are  the  results  achieved  in 
France  under  the  flag  of  popular  Government,  and  in  the 
name  of  liberty  and  progress. 

If  all  these  had  taken  place  under  the  supreme  influence 
of  some  great  personality  it  would  not  be  without  parallel 
in  the  history  of  this  century  ;  if  private  interest  and  personal 
ambition  had  under  them  the  greatness  of  a  Napoleon,  or 
the  strength  of  a  Bismarck,  then  there  would  be  some  hope 
for  the  success  of  a  philosophical  historian  in  his  search  for 
a  reasonably  sufficient  cause.  But  there  is  no  Napoleon 
now  to  rouse  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people,  no  victories  to 
conceal  the  ruin  of  the  country  under  the  veil  of  military 
glory  and  unparalleled  conquest ;  we  have  now  at  the  head 
of  the  French  people  a  man  of  humble  talents,  and  absolutely 
devoid  of  that  magnetism  that  can  hypnotize  its  victims  ;  he 
cannot  boast  of  a  great  name,  and  such  name  as  he  has  is 
besmirched  with  scandal  that  in  any  other  country  would 
compel  him  to  vacate  his  high  position. 

No  section  of  the  strange  facts  in  the  situation  can  be 
attributed  to  the  personality  of  M.  Felix  Faure.  Then  in 
his  cabinet  there  is  not  one  real  notable;  "the  dearth  of 
noble  natures  "  was  not  more  marked  in  the  early  days  of 
the  first  revolution  than  to-day  in  these  declining  years  of 
our  own  century.  The  French  Cabinet  of  to-day  has  no 
personal  associations  that  ennoble  or  endear  it  to  the  French 


The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France  99 

people  ;  it  is  composed  of  men  who  were  yesterday  in  their 
laboratories  or  school-rooms,  and  who  to-day  essay  to  be  the 
directors  of  the  national  life,  controlling  its  military  and 
marine  forces,  settling  with  definitive  hand  and  voice  the 
complex  questions  of  diplomacy  and  internal  administration, 
and  fixing  through  the  machinery  of  parliamentary  adminis- 
tration their  own  ideals  and  purposes  upon  the  mind  and 
action  of  the  country.  Nor  is  this  all  that  there  is  to  say  in 
this  connection.  It  might  be  that  new  hands  could  have 
achieved  brilliant  results  in  the  work  of  public  service ; 
American  history  is  especially  rich  in  the  achievements  of 
men  whose  training  gave  no  hope  or  security  of  their 
success  ;  and  perhaps  we  can  point  to  such  work  clone  by 
the  French  cabinets  in  recent  years,  as  may  justify  their 
selection.  But,  no  ;  the  contrary  is  abundantly  evident ; 
in  diplomacy  we  have  Egypt  as  a  grand  monument  to  the 
ineptitude  of  the  diplomatists  of  modern  France,  and  the 
recent  war  in  Madagascar  proves  as  plainly  the  incapacity 
of  the  radical  ministers  for  the  administration  of  military 
affairs.  Then  to  all  this  is  added  the  more  extraordinary 
fact  that  all  the  prominent  officials  for  the  last  few  years 
have  been  stained  with  venality  and  corruption ;  not  a 
cabinet  escapes  the  judgment  of  the  public  in  this  supreme 
test  of  honourable  statesmanship.  The  Panama  scandals 
implicate  ministers  and  ex-ministers  to  the  degree  that  the 
wonder  is  the  honour  and  pride  of  this  great  and  proud 
people  have  not  done  away  with  the  whole  scheme  of  govern- 
ment, and  substituted  another  more  worthy  of  the  traditions 
and  the  actual  needs  of  the  nation. 

Now  this  is  the  condition  of  the  leaders  whose  policy 
means  persecution  and  disruption  to  modern  France.  Are 
we  not  justified  in  our  expression  of  wonder  that  the  national 
sentiment  will  allow  such  men  to  do  such  work  ?  If  they  had 
won  renown  in  some  great  crisis  of  public  affairs ;  if  they 
had  talent,  diabolical  though  it  be,  to  make  the  worse  the 
better  reason,  and  so  delude  the  people  into  a  belief  in  their 
capacity  and  probity,  then  one  might  understand  the  present 
legislation  with  respect  to  ecclesiastical  affairs ;  but,  as 
matters  are,  there  is  no  such  pretension  ;  their  projects  of 


100          The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France 

repression  are  laid  before  the  country  naked  of  all  rhetoric, 
baldly  proposed,  and  accepted  by  Parliament ;  constituted  a 
law  of  the  land  almost  without  protest,  and  certainly  without 
vigorous  and  well-sustained  opposition.  When  we  see  what 
a  well-organized  band  of  resolutes  has  been  able  to  achieve 
in  the  British  Parliament  with  respect  to  Irish  and  Catholic 
interests,  we  may  fancy  what  similar  action  might  accom- 
plish here,  and  we  are  justified  in  pushing  the  analogy 
further,  and  concluding  that  there  must  be  public  apathy 
and  appalling  political  indifference  in  France  when  ardour 
and  organization  could  effect  so  much  more  in  the  somewhat 
similar  circumstances  of  Irish  public  life. 

The  work  of  destroying  religion  in  France  is  not  a 
purpose  of  yesterday;  it  has  been  the  dream  of  evil  men 
for  many  a  day.  It  was  entertained  by  nearly  every 
administration  for  over  a  hundred  years,  and  now  was  more 
evident,  and  now  more  concealed,  according  to  the  varying 
circumstances  of  the  times.  It  was  the  central  purpose  of 
the  first  revolution,  and  main  doctrine  of  the  philosophical 
school  that  prepared  the  way  for  that  carnival  of  blood  ;  and 
the  poison  then  communicated  to  the  body  politic  has  never 
since  been  completely  dislodged.  The  imperial  purposes  of 
Napoleon  III.  were  not  compatible  with  the  open  profession 
of  the  principle ;  but,  in  his  own  astute  way,  he  hampered 
religious  liberty,  accentuated  the  subordination  of  the  national 
Church  to  the  national  government,  and  instituted  a  surveil- 
lance that  took  in  every  department  of  religious  enterprise. 
With  his  downfall  came  the  more  fitting  era  for  the  unholy 
work.  The  Republic  had  no  traditions  except  that  of  false 
liberty,  and  no  moral  code  except  the  deification  of  the  State 
and  the  gradual  overthrow  of  public  religion.  The  open 
profession  of  such  principles  was  scarcely  possible  in  its 
opening  years ;  the  memory  of  its  overthrow,  the  sight  of 
its  wounds  yet  raw,  made  France  conservative  even  though 
it  was  republic,  and  it  confides  its  affairs  to  men  of  name 
and  station,  who  held  aloof  from  the  destruction  of  the 
religious  germ  in  the  national  system.  But  as  defeat  was 
removed  from  the  eyes  of  the  nation,  already  renewed  in  her 
marvellous  native  strength,  then  caution  was  flung  aside, 


The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France          101 

and  an  eminent  statesman  made  the  portentous  discovery 
that  the  enemy  was  no  longer  the  Prussian,  with  his  new 
empire  and  invincible  hosts  ;  the  enemy  was  clericalism, 
and  was  to  be  found  not  across  the  Rhine  or  in  the  German 
mountains  and  forests,  but  in  the  very  heart  of  France,  in 
the  bishop's  palace,  in  the  venerable  abbey  and  cloister,  in 
the  schools  and  hospitals  of  the  sisters ;  in  the  venerable 
sanctuary  of  the  Church  itself  lay  the  enemy  whom  France 
had  to  fear. 

The  work  proposed  to  its  followers  by  the  present  and 
recent  Governments  is  nothing  else  than  to  destroy  every 
trace  of  those  enterprises  peculiar  to  the  active  life  of  the 
Church.  They  wish  to  remove  from  the  public  view  those 
evidences  of  religion  that  keep  alive  in  the  heart  of  France 
the  spirit  of  worship,  and  link  the  present  era  with  the 
glorious  accomplishments  of  the  past.  It  is  hard  to  remove 
the  Catholic  spirit  from  the  thoughts  of  the  race,  while 
cathedrals  tell  in  every  city  of  the  land  the  story  of  French 
faith  and  devotion  ;  and  so  this  obstacle  to  the  new  spirit 
must  needs  be  removed  from  the  public  gaze ;  the  ritual 
must  be  shorn  of  its  splendour,  and,  more  and  more,  the 
hand  of  secular  jurisdiction  must  be  seen  in  every  religious 
function.  Then  the  heart  of  the  people  must  be  turned  into 
stone  if  the  devotion  of  the  religious  orders  to  the  dying  and 
the  miserable  did  not  awaken  some  love  for  those  institutes 
whose  members  are  the  ministering  angels  in  the  dark  wards 
of  death  and  disease  ;  and  so  the  many  orders  of  regulars  and 
congregations  must  be  done  away  with,  their  means  for 
doing  good  confiscated,  and  their  lives  made  a  practical 
impossibility.  This  is  the  central  note  of  their  latest 
manifestation  of  the  spirit  of  persecution.  The  Hebrew 
spirit,  now  triumphant,  shows  itself  in  this  characteristic 
way,  and  in  lieu  of  the  olden  methods  of  imprisonment  or 
exile,  they  substitute  such  fiscal  enactments  as  must  destroy 
the  formal  work  of  religious  associations,  even  though  the 
individuals  comprising  them  are  not  deprived  of  life  or 
liberty.  The  good  work  done  by  these  institutions  is  made 
clear  by  this  last  effort  to  overthrow  them ;  if  the  schools 
were  less  active  and  less  effective  in  the  great  ministry  of 


102  The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  Prance 

teaching,  the  Government  would  not  dream  of  them  ;  if  hand 
in  hand  the  religious  orders  did  not  do  spiritual  good  with 
corporal  ministry,  the  Parisian  leaders  would  not  seek  them 
out  for  the  purpose  of  destruction  ;  if  the  bishops  and 
clergy  were  not  alive  to  their  great  obligations,  and  were  not 
making  headway  against  the  godless  spirit,  they  too  might 
occupy  their  eveches  and  presby tires  without  interference;  so 
that  from  the  present  disastrous  condition  of  affairs  we  may 
deduce,  at  least,  this  comfort,  that  the  Church  in  France  is 
up  and  doing  the  great  work  of  the  Gospel,  and  doing  it  so 
well  that  the  enemy  must  exert  the  last  energy  of  its  forces 
in  order  to  meet  it. 

A  glance  at  the  measure  recently  concocted  against  the 
religious  forces  of  France  will  enable  any  reader  to  under- 
stand the  lengths  to  which  the  revolutionary  spirit  has 
gone  to  compass  the  ruin  of  public  religion.  The  apparent 
scope  of  this  penal  code  is  purely  economic.  There  is  no 
distinct  profession  of  hostility  to  religious  principles,  yet  the 
immediate  effect  of  these  legal  provisions  must  be  to  destroy 
those  institutions  that  are  the  mainstay  of  worship  and 
Christian  ministry  in  every  land.  That  this  is  the  spirit  of 
the  legislators,  is  plain  from  the  professions  of  the  ministers 
who  are  responsible  for  the  measures,  and  whose  lives  and 
careers  are  sufficient  evidence  to  determine  the  real  meaning 
of  their  political  action.  The  recent  law  directed  against 
the  religious  associations  is  only  the  suite  of  a  series  of 
enactments  that  single  out  these  institutes  for  exceptional 
penal  legislation.  The  war  was  declared  by  the  law  of 
accroissement  of  25th  December,  1880,  and  29th  December, 
1884,  by  which  the  religious  communities  were  subjected  to 
a  death-tax  of  extraordinary  severity.  The  congregations 
have  resisted  this  with  admirable  courage,  and  system ;  and 
there  is  not,  I  believe,  an  instance  in  which  it  has  been 
paid.  By  the  recent  law  of  15th  April,  1895,  this  has  been 
converted  into  an  annual  tax  by  ihel&wofabonnement,  which 
is  now  the  only  difficulty  that  must  be  met.  According  to 
this  legislation,  there  is,  in  the  words  of  the  new  code  : — 

"Une  taxe  annuelle  et  obligatoire  sur  le  valeur  brute  des 
biens  meubles  et  immeubles  possidees  par  les  congregations, 


The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France          103 

communiautes  et  associations  religieuses,  autorizees  ou  non,  et  la 
taxe  est  fixee  a  0.  Fr.  30  %  de  la  valour  specifie'e,  et  la  taux  en  est 
portee,  a  0.  Fr.  40  pour  les  immeubles  possidees  par  celles  des 
congregations  qui  ne  sont  pas  assujetties  a  la  taxe  de  mainmorte 
etablie  par  la  loi  du  20  Fevrier,  1849." 

It  will  be  seen  from  this,  that  the  annual  sum  to  be 
paid  by  large  communities  would  reach  an  enormous  figure, 
and  when  added  to  the  ordinary  tax-rate  would  constitute  a 
burden  no  association  could  bear. .  Hitherto  religious  houses 
had  no  exemption  from  the  common  taxation  to  which  all 
citizens  are  subject.  Here  we  see  how  different  the  spirit 
of  French  public  life  is  from  that  obtaining  in  England,  and 
America,  where  religious  institutions  enjoy  such  exceptional 
privileges.  When  we  consider  that  in  France  almost  every 
species  of  property  is  assessed  at  a  high  rate,  doors  and 
windows  are  even  subject  to  heavy  duties,  and  the  sum 
total  in  ordinary  cases  lifts  the  price  of  living  to  a  degree 
difficult  to  realize  without  seeing  the  working  of  the  system. 
When  to  these  heavy  imposts  are  added  the  death-tax  and 
the  new  weight  of  the  recent  law,  it  will  be  easily  seen 
that  the  application  of  such  conditions  would  make  the 
continuous  administration  of  religious  corporations  a  sheer 
impossibility.  Further,  the  new  law  imposes  the  duty  of 
paying  all  arrears  due  under  the  law  of  1880,  and  fixes  heavy 
penalties  in  default  of  such  payments.  In  the  presence 
of  this  condition  of  affairs  the  position  of  the  religious 
institutes  is  very  critical :  to  pay  means  ruin  ;  not  to  pay 
means  forced  sequestration  of  their  homes,  and  is  threatened 
with  absolute  suppression  of  the  delinquent  communities. 
Now  as  the  exceptional  legislation  is  against  the  constitution 
of  the  republic,  one  would  say  the  easiest  way  out  of  the 
trouble  would  be  to  appeal  to  the  tribunals,  and  have  the 
law  declared  unconstitutional  and  invalid.  But  there  is 
little  hope  for  the  success  of  this  policy.  The  tribunals 
are  as  corrupt  as  the  parliament,  and  any  appeal  would 
certainly  issue  in  failure.  As  a  result  of  this  condition  of 
affairs  the  communities  have  settled  upon  the  policy  of 
passivity.  Bishops  and  priests  throughout  the  nation  take 
their  stand  upon  this  principle,  and  they  bid  fair  to  defeat 


104          The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France 

their  enemies  by  the  invincible  forces  of  resolution  and 
unity.  To  pay  is  impossible,  and  would  compromise  more 
than  the  monetary  resources  of  the  congregations.  As 
M.  Blandens  said  during  the  debate  of  8th  April,  1895  : — 

"  L'enjeu  de  la  partie  n'est  pas  cette  somme  que  Ton  dispute 
a  des  oeuvres  d'enseignement,  de  charite,  de  propaganda  religieuse, 
mais  1'enjeu  reel  touche  au  droit  de  penser  et  de  croire." 

And  a  distinguished  lawyer  in  a  pamphlet  recently 
published,  writes  :— 

"Payer  ces  impots  exorbitants  c'est  accepter  d'etre  mis  hors  du 
droit  commun,  consacrer  le  regime  de  Tarbitraire  et  de  1'injustice  ; 
compromettre  la  vie  des  oeuvres  les  plus  sympathiques  et  les  plus 
necessaires  ;  abandonner  a  la  spoliation  les  fondations  pieuses 
confiees  a  la  garde  des  religieux,  enfin  appauvrir  1'Eglise  de 
France  et  affablir  sa  situation  deja  si  menacee." 

These  opinions  are  one  with  the  almost  unanimous  view 
of  the  active  Catholic  leaders  ;  they  are  advanced  every  day 
in  the  Press,  and  through  books  and  pamphlets  ;  and,  what 
is  more,  they  are  identical  with  the  pronouncements  made 
by  nearly  all  the  bishops  in  their  addresses  to  their  clergy 
for  the  New  Year.  This  is  a  new  phase  of  French  life  ;  it 
must  have  signal  consequences  in  the  near  future.  "  II  n'y 
a  de  persecutes  reellement,"  cries  one  Bishop, lt  que  ceux  qui 
veulent  se  laisser  faire."  Such  words  are  a  new  force  that 
the  Government  has  now  to  deal  with.  As  the  interests 
endangered  by  the  new  law  are  placed  in  every  corner  of 
the  country,  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  congregations  will 
start  a  flame  whose  limits  will  be  coterminous  with  France. 
The  families  whose  children  wear  the  religious  habit  will 
not  stand  by  idle  while  the  officers  of  the  law  maltreat  their 
congregations,  confiscating  their  goods,  and  dispersing  the 
inmates,  so  that  we  shall  see  strange  things  come  to  pass  if 
the  passive  attitude  of  the  communities  should  urge  the 
authorities  to  extreme  measures.  As  a  sign  of  the  times, 
we  have  the  cabinet  ask,  through  the  Loi  d 'association,  for 
summary  powers  to  visit  and,  if  need  be,  disperse  the  various 
religious  societies.  But  this  cannot  but  be  a  ruse  to  terrorize 
the  communities,  as,  by  a  law  of  1825,  the  expropriation  of 
such  associations  is  controlled  by  a  principle  that  disposes 


The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France         105 

of  their  goods  in  a  way  hardly  agreeable  to  the  present  rulers. 
Bat,  then,  they  have  legislation  in  their  hands,  and  can 
make  laws  to  suit  their  designs,  and  will  scarcely  be  curtailed 
by  notions  of  precedent  if  they  are  determined  upon  reaching 
any  end.  Yet  this  project,  in  its  very  extremeness,  shows 
how  far  the  Government  is  pressed,  and  how  strong  the 
case  and  attitude  of  Catholic  sentiment  must  be,  when  to 
meet  it,  their  enemies  have  to  outrage  the  traditions  of  the 
country  and  revolutionize  the  most  sacred  pages  of  the 
Statute-book. 

But  the  measure  most  likely  to  cause  agitation  just  now 
is  the  effort  of  the  Minister  of  Worship  to  practically  apply 
the  provisions  of  the  Loi  de  fabriques,  passed  March  27, 1893. 
This  has  roused  every  diocese  and  parish,  and,  as  it  effects 
affairs  in  which  the  people  themselves  take  immediate  part, 
it  probably  has  greater  interest  for  them  than  the  odious 
measures  against  religious  houses.  While  the  evil  of  this 
law  is  not  so  evident  as  the  destructive  expoliation  of  com- 
munities, and  does  not  appeal  to  popular  sympathy  with  the 
same  intrinsic  force,  yet  it  probably  will  be  the  centre  of  the 
most  vigorous  stand  made  for  many  a  day  in  France  in  the 
cause  of  religious  liberty. 

This  Loi  de  fabriques,  like  all  other  recent  emanations  of 
French  legislation,  is  a  fiscal  law,  and  extends  the  juris- 
diction of  the  executive  to  the  control  of  all  revenues 
received  in  the  cathedrals  and  parish  churches  of  the  nation. 
These  laws  hitherto  have  been  in  the  hands  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical authorities,  according  to  the  decree  of  1809,  which  has 
given  the  dioceses  almost  a  century  of  peace.  The  law  of 
1893  is  a  new  effort  to  emphasize  in  the  eyes  of  the  people 
that  the  State  is  supreme  arbiter  in  church  affairs,  and  the 
ultimate  judge  of  the  needs  and  conditions  of  public  worship. 
The  Concordat  that  left  the  French  Church  with  very  little, 
of  the  liberty  she  should  enjoy  from  the  nature  of  her 
missions  and  authority,  secured  it  the  power  of  directing 
the  administration  of  religious  functions,  which,  according 
to  a  great  authority  in  French  jurisprudence,  "  flows  from 
the  very  nature  of  her  office  and  ministry."  This  privilege 
is  now,  in  the  words  of  the  eloquent  Bishop  of  Montpellier, 


106  The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France 

«'  tellement  amoindri,  qu'il  semble  presque  disparu  et  oublie." 
This  last  assault  upon  their  position  has  awakened  a  splendid 
spirit  among  the  bishops  and  clergy,  and  reasonably  so,  as 
will  appear  from  a  short  analysis  of  the  new  provisions. 

The  Loi  de  fabriques  directs  that  all  accounts  of  the 
committee  in  charge  of  the  administration  of  the  churches 
must  be  presented  with  its  report  to  the  Council  of  the 
Prefecture,  with  whom  rests  the  ultimate  disposition  of  all 
funds  received  from  the  faithful,  by  voluntary  subscriptions, 
for  the  purposes  of  sustaining  religious  organizations. 
Hitherto  the  church  committees  were  composed  of  respectable 
parishioners,  who  undertook  their  duties  as  a  voluntary 
service,  and  were  responsible  to  the  bishop  for  the  discharge 
of  their  office.  It  was  esteemed  an  honourable  position,  and 
was  aspired  to  by  the  best  people  of  the  various  congregations. 
The  present  law  makes  their  tenure  of  office  a  source  of 
continual  unrest ;  they  are  bound  under  oath  to  fidelity,  and 
are  subject  to  conditions  of  administration  that  few  will  be 
willing  to  accept.  As  a  consequence,  they  are  now  resigning 
their  offices,  and  if  the  law  is  really  applied  we  shall  soon 
have  the  venerable  churches  of  France  in  the  hands  of 
officials  with  no  more  spirit  of  religion  or  zeal  for  its  welfare 
than  may  be  found  in  the  purlieus  of  the  police-courts  or 
the  ante-chambers  of  atheistical  ministers.  This  too  is 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  Concordat,  which  provides  that 
"  le  regime  de  chaque  societe  religieuse  doit  etre  confie  a 
des  personnes  interessees  par  1'etat  et  par  devoir  a  faire 
prosperer  ce  regime  ;"  while  now,  as  Monsignor  de  Cabrieres, 
in  a  recent  letter  to  the  Minister  of  Worship,  declares,  those 
who  control  the  administration  of  our  places  of  worship  are 
strangers  to  our  faith,  nay,  even  enemies  to  every  creed  and 
every  belief.  As  this  law  will  affect  every  parish  in  France, 
we  can  easily  imagine  the  unrest  and  dissatisfaction  that 
must  ensue  from  its  promulgation. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  excitement  is  even  now  well  begun. 
We  now  hear  those  vigorous  protests  for  which  the  Catholic 
world  waited  so  long,  and  which  are  in  all  probability 
the  first  of  the  prayers  offered  for  so  long  a  time  for  the 
regeneration  and  salvation  of  the  French  Church.  The 


The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France          107 

bishops  and  publicists  have  at  length  declared  war,  and  in 
distinct  terms  announced  their  determination  not  to  submit. 
Every  day  the  Catholic  journals  bring  strong  words  from  the 
highest  Church  authorities  before  the  eyes  of  the  people,  and 
the  denunciations  of  the  law  are  couched  in  as  brave  and 
militant  language  as  Ireland  was  accustomed  to  hear  more 
than  a  half  a  century  ago,  from  the  lips  of  J.  K.  L.  or  the 
Lion  of  the  Fold,  the  eloquent  and  immortal  John  of 
Tuam. 

One  bishop  declares :  "  We  must  not  fear ;  but  rather  prepare 
for  the  battle,  with  the  will  to  do  our  fullest  duty."  Another, 
Monsignor  Renou,  of  Amiens,  says  : '"  It  is  clear,  the  morning 
of  the  year  is  full  of  clouds,  but  we  must  not  open  our  hearts 
to  presentiments  of  evil  or  despair ;  an  army  that  doubts  of 
victory  and  loses  courage  is  already  vanquished."  Another 
prelate  tells  his  priests  "  to  close  their  ranks  until  they  hear 
their  hearts  beat  in  unison  ;"  and  in  every  episcopal  charge  for 
the  opening  year,  we  hear  the  words  of  war,  and  all  the 
associations  of  battle  are  used  to  urge  the  country  to  battle 
for  the  rights  of  the  Church.  Some  of  the  prelates  were 
recently  in  Kome,  and  have  invariably  used  the  name  of.  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  as  a  further  means  of  arousing  the  active 
service  of  their  subjects ;  one  says :  "  Le  Pape  insistait  sur 
la  nece&site  de  la  priere  pour  triompher  des  perils  de  1'heure 
presente.  Sa  Saintete  voit  venir  1'orage  et  indique  le  moyen 
de  le  conjurer;"  and  the  citation  of  the  Pope's  authority  in 
this  relation  is  more  than  significant. 

All  speak  of  the  force  of  union  :  one  uses  a  watchword 
well  known  in  Ireland  in  moments  of  national  peril :  Soyons 
unis  plus  que  jamais,  pour  que  noire  union  fasse  noire  force  ; 
and  recommends  that  secondary  issues,  in  which  Catholics 
may  differ,  be  put  aside  for  the  moment,  in  order  that 
martial  discipline  and  unanimity  may  be  assured  in  the 
great  campaign  for  the  liberties  of  the  Church. 

As  a  result  of  this  policy,  they  expect  an  early  victory  : 
"  Les  difficultes  presentes  auront  un  terme  et  1'Eglise  verra 
peutetre  bientot  luire  le  jour  du  triomphe."  But  the  solution 
of  the  problem  may  come  in  many  ways.  One  of  the  ablest 
bishops  of  France  sees  the  victory  of  his  opinions  in  the 


108  The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  Prance 

return  of  affairs  to  the  old  condition  assured  by  the  law  of 
1809:  "Kamenez-nous  done  simplement,"  he  writes  to  the 
minister,  "  a  la  pratique  exacte  du  decret  de  1809  qui  a  assure 
a  nos  dioceses  pres  d'un  siecle  de  paix ;"  but  this  is  scarely 
the  method  in  which  the  crisis  will  end.  The  Government 
is  not  in  a  conciliatory  mood,  and  may,  if  it  lives  long 
enough,  push  matters  to  the  farthest  limits  possible.  Even 
now,  M.  Combes,  the  Minister  of  Worship  (an  ex-cleric  by 
the  way),  speaks  of  the  appointment  of  Government  bishops 
without  the  permission  of  the  Holy  See,  hoping  in  this  way 
to  secure  more  obedient  service  from  the  individuals  whose 
power  and  office  would  be  purely  creations  of  the  State. 
They  also  speak  of  the  suppression  of  the  budget  des  cultes, 
and  the  repudiation  of  the  Concordat,  which  is  a  possibility 
for  which  the  Catholic  leaders  are  not  unprepared. 
Speaking  recently  of  this  famous  treaty,  Mgr.  Faillieres, 
Bishop  of  Saint-Brienc,  declares  : — • 

"  Le  Concordat  de  1801  fut  une  oeuvre  de  reparation,  d'ap- 
paisement  et  d'union.  Vous  savez  dans  quel  esprit  de  defiance 
et  d'hostilite  il  est  execute  depuis  vingt  ans  par  1'une  des  parties 
contra  stantes.  L'execution  stricte  est  un  commencement  de 
strangulation.  Nous  avons  souffert ;  le  Pape  a  patiente ;  mais 
vraiment  s'il  plaisait  au  Souverain  Pontife  de  reprendre  sa  liberte, 
et  de  nous  rendre  la  notre,  aurions-nous  a  le  regretter. 

"  Ce  seraitla  separation  d'l'Eglise  et  de  1'Etat,  cette  separation 
dont  on  nous  menace  comme  d'un  chatiment  et  qui  serait  peut- 
etre  un  bienfait. 

"  L'Eglise,  separee  de  1'Etat,  se  retrouverait  avec  tous  les 
droits  primordiaux  de  Societe  divinement  institute. 

a  Sans  doute,  ce  n'est  point  ainsi  que  1'entendent  les 
sectaires  haineux  qui  ont  jure  la  ruine  de  1'Eglise. — Separation 
veut  dire  pour  eux  :  destruction.  Pour  nous,  separation  vent 
dire  :  liberte." 

We  have  heard  these  words  before  ;  but  now,  for  the  first 
time,  from  the  lips  of  an  ideal  French  bishop.  They  sum. 
up  the  verdict  of  all  those  who  have  had  actual  experience 
of  the  working  of  a  Church  whose  strength  rests  not  upon 
the  pivot  of  a  law,  but  rather  upon  the  broad  and  secure 
basis  of  popular  faith  and  popular  devotion.  But  they  are 
new  in  the  circles  of  the  higher  French  clergy,  and 


The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France          109 

have  produced  a   striking   effect.     One  publicist  writes  of 
them : — 

4<  La  rupture  du  Concordat,  dans  les  circoristances  actuelles 
amenerait  des  bouleversements  dont  il  est  impossible  de  calculer 
la  portee;  ce  serai t  un  de  ces  tremblements  de  terre  dont 
nous  avons  parle.  Des  ruines  immenses  s'etendraient  sur  le  sol, 
mais  1'Eglise,  enfermee  dans  une  impasse,  1'Eglise,  aujourd'hui 
prisonniere,  s'echapperait  a  travers  ces  ruines  et  retrouvait  sa 
liberte." 

This  commentary  reflects,  I  believe,  a  large  part  of 
French  Catholic  lay  opinion  ;  many  held  this  thought,  but 
did  not  dare  to  voice  it,  as  questions  affecting  the  reversal 
of  the  Concordat  are  reserved  to  the  Holy  See.  But  now 
when  a  bishop  publicly  holds  these  sentiments,  he  has  only 
spoken  aloud  thoughts  that  lay  a  long  time  silent  in  the 
hearts  of  many,  and  has  given  freedom  for  the  initiation 
of  a  new  religious  movement  that  may  eventuate  in  the 
emancipation  of  the  French  Church  and  clergy  from  the 
bonds  that  now  hinder  their  best  energies  and  hold  them 
within  the  bonds  of  a  politic  opportunism  that  detaches 
them  often  from  the  vigorous  freedom  of  action  needed  for 
the  direction  of  their  people.  As  it  is,  the  thraldom  must 
be  galling  to  men  of  Apostolic  spirit ;  they  are  gagged  and 
manacled,  not  only  in  relation  to  purely  political  questions, 
but  even  with  respect  to  aspects  of  public  life  which  neces- 
sarily touch  upon  the  spiritual  domain.  Only  recently  some 
bishops  inserted  in  the  catechism  in  use  in  their  dioceses  a 
few  points  affecting  the  duty  of  Catholics  while  discharging 
electoral  functions ;  of  supporting  Catholic  candidates  and 
securing  the  interests  of  the  Church ;  and  they  were  com- 
pelled by  the  authorities  to  erase  these  necessary  principles 
of  modern  theology,  and  so  to  practically  abdicate  their 
position  in  the  ecdesia  docens.  This,  espionage  penetrates 
into  every  part  of  the  priest's  life  and  work,  controls  his 
statements  and  teaching  in  the  Church  and  out  of  it,  making 
him  comport  himself  as  an  official  of  an  atheistical  govern- 
ment when  his  duty  should  urge  him  to  scourge  evildoers 
everywhere  with  apostolic  liberty,  and  correct  false  teachings 
and  false  principles  as  the  central  duty  of  his  ministry. 


110          The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France 

The  connection  with  the  official  world  of  the  republic 
insensibly  affects  even  the  best  characters ;  it  destroys 
independence,  and  educates  one  to  look  for  control  and 
direction  from  those  whose  bounty  sustains  the  office  that 
gives  social  standing  as  well  as  the  means  of  living.  The 
effects  of  this  union  between  Church  and  State  are  only  too 
evident  in  France  ;  there  is  too  much  silence  where  there 
ought  to  be  the  strong  ministry  of  the  word,  and  the  heart 
of  the  people  has  been  often  lost  to  Catholic  sentiments  by 
the  supineness  of  those  whose  weakness  has  made  them, 
practically,  co-operators  with  the  reign  of  iniquity  that  now 
preys  upon  the  vitals  of  the  nation. 

If  the  new  movement  change  all  this,  then  all  true 
sympathizers  with  France,  the  world  over,  will  pray  that 
its  arm  be  strengthened,  and  its  ardour  grow  until  the 
country  shall  correspond  with  its  ambitions.  It  has  noble 
men  at  its  head  ;  eloquent  prelates,  who  unite  with  the  virtues 
of  their  exalted  office  those  gifts  of  eloquence  and  tact  that 
make  them  ideal  tribunes  of  the  people.  The  French  clergy, 
as  a  body,  have  gifts  equal  to  the  call  upon  their  support 
that  is  now  made ;  their  zeal  for  souls,  and  the  good  of  the 
Church  no  one  doubts,  and  if  there  were  a  little  more 
strength  and  heroism,  the  victory  is  already  won.  The 
people  need  leaders  who  can  give  lessons  in  sacrifice  as  well 
as  splendid  homilies  upon  abstract  morality;  if  the  present 
crisis  produce  the  officers  and  generals,  the  army  will  not  be 
wanting  for  the  campaign ;  and  we  may,  within  our  own 
times,  see  France  once  again  the  eldest  daughter  of  the 
Church,  not  in  name,  or  empty  title  only,  but  in  very  deed, 
giving,  at  home,  such  magnificent  evidence  of  her  faith,  and 
heroic  devotion  as  she  gives,  even  now,  in  her  missionary 
work  abroad,  where  her  name  brings  the  cross  and  the 
holy  sacrifice  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth.  If  the  heroism 
of  French  missionary  history  in  China  or  Africa  had  even  a 
faint  reflection  in  the  mother  country,  we  should  soon  have  a 
new  France,  no  longer  a  slave  to  masonry  and  semitism,  but 
rather  a  land,  where  liberty  was  assured  by  just  laws,  where 
public  life  was  worthy  of  a  Christian  people,  and  where  the 
Church  was  free  to  effect  the  work  given  it  to  do  by  its 
divine  Founder. 


The  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  France          111 

Whether  this  salutary  work  will  be  accomplished  during 
the  ^coming  year  remains  to  be  seen.     Whether  the  present 
awakening  has,  indeed,  the  far-reaching  significance  attributed 
to  it  by  many,  is  a  question  the  solution  of  which  must  be  seen 
in  the  sequel  of  events  that  now  are  in  their  primary  stage. 
But  this  is  certain  ;  there  is  a  marked  change  in  the  spirit  of 
the  country ;  the  policy  of  silence   and  submission  seems 
ended,  and  that  of  combat  and  resistance  well  begun.     It  is 
begun  too  in  circles  that  are  here  usually  the  last  to  move, 
and  we  may  deduce  from  this  that  the  other  sections  are 
already  in  motion.     The  Catholic  press  helps  the  movement 
by    valiant   and    inspiring   writing,  the  journals   of  sound 
views  are  largely  read,  especially  in  the  provinces,  and  all 
that  remains  to  be  done  to  declare   a  state  of  war  is  the 
ultimatum  of  the  Government  accompanied  by  some  positive 
acts  of  spoliation  and  repression.     These  may  not  come  to 
precipitate  an  actual  crisis :  the  ministry  may  not  care  to 
risk  a  policy  of  domestic  war,  while  the,  situation  without  is 
so  strained  and  so  likely  to  awaken  other  difficulties  such  as 
call  for  all  the  national  resources  of  a  people  to  adequately 
meet.      But   whatever   may  be  the   future,  the  present  is 
clearly  an  anxious  and  revolutionary  period  in  the  Church 
of    France.      Interests    that    touch    the    very   essence   of 
ecclesiastical   life   are   face   to    face    with   ruin,   and   show 
themselves  ready  for  united  action  to  save  themselves ;  and 
on  the  other  side  a  government  rules  that  has  as  its  first 
attribute  a  savage  and  diabolical  hatred  for  religion,  and  is 
vowed  to  its  destruction.     The  events  of  a  day  may  change 
a  conscientious   protest   into   an   act   of  rebellion,    as   the 
Bishop  of  Monpellier  expresses  it,  and  then  some  permanent 
change  would  have  to  be  effected  in  the  relations  between 
Church  and  State  in  the   French   Republic .      Catholics  of 
every  nation  will    pray  that    the    right    may  win  in  the 
struggle  ;  and  Irish  Catholics,  especially,  between  whom  and 
France  such  tender  ties  existed  in  the  past,  will  watch  with 
strained  interest  the  conflict  where  so  much  may  be  lost  and 
so  much  may  be  won.    Catholic  France  is  now  in  an  attitude 
of  prayer  for  the  triumph  of  the  Church ;  one  bishop  prays 
especially  to  obtain  for  the  priesthood  "les  vertues  sacerdotales 


112  St.  Raymond  and  the  Canon  Laiv 

plus  necessaires  que  jamais — courage,  devouement,  generosite, 
prete  a  tout  sacrifier  pour  defendre  et  sauver  les  ames  que 
1'ennemi  veut,  avec  tant  d'audace,  ravir  aDieu  et  a  1'Eglise  ;" 
and  in  this  prayer  Catholic  Ireland  will  join.  If  that  prayer 
is  heard,  then  the  battle  is  won,  and  France  is  destined  to 
be  again  the  glory  of  Christendom. 

A.  WALSH,  O.S.A. 


ST.  KAYMOND  AND  THE  CANON  LAW 

"I  N  the  Preface  of  the  Decretals  of  Gregory  IX.  we  read 
L  the  words:  "  Ingenti  labore  opus  feliciter  absolvit." 
These  are  indeed  words  that  convey  to  a  thoughtful  mind 
the  vastness,  and  at  the  same  time  the  high  merit,  of  the 
work  performed  by  St.  Eaymond  di  Pennafort,  O.P.,  in  the 
compilation  of  the  Canons  of  the  Church.  It  will  not  be 
out  of  place  to  bring  before  our  readers  the  history  of  a 
saint  who  is  but  too  little  known.  Doubtless  to  the  student 
of  Jus  Canonicum  a  short  account  of  the  work  of  a  great 
canonist  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting ;  and  whilst  we  adhere 
to  the  details  of  the  laborious  work  of  the  collection  of 
the  great  Code  of  Church  Laws,  we  feel  sure  that  we  are 
not  departing  from  our  subject,  but  rather  strictly  keeping 
to  it,  if  in  his  great  work  we  also  apply  ourselves  to  the 
study  of  a  great  saint.  To  many  it  may  appear  strange  that 
a  Code  of  Laws  such  as  are  to  be  found  in  the  Corpus  Juris 
had  not  been  arranged  and  collated  much  earlier  in  the 
history  of  the  Church  than  the  thirteenth  century;  for  it 
was  only  then  that  we  had  a  volume  of  Canon  Laws  which 
had  the  seal  and  the  approbation  of  an  infallible  authority. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  Church  there  was  always 
a  residing  power,  of  all  powers  the  greatest,  as  it  is  divine ; 
and  likewise  has  there  been  always  in  the  Church  an 
authority,  of  all  other  authorities  the  highest,  as  it  is  the 
.  authority  of  God  Himself,  who  is  Truth  in  essendo  and 
dicendo,  and  hence  cannot  deceive,  nor  be  deceived.  That 


St.  'Raymond  and  the  Canon  Law  113 

power  was  given  to  the  Apostles,  and  to  their  successors, 
when  it  was  said  to  them  :  ''Amen,  I  say  to  you,  whatsoever 
you  shall  bind  upon  earth  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven, 
and  whatsoever  you  shall  loose  upon  earth  shall  be  loosed 
also  in  heaven  "  (St.  Matt,  xviii.  18).  The  divine  authority 
was  given  to  the  Church  when  its  Founder  spoke  the 
words:  "  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  Me;  and  he  that 
despiseth  you,  despiseth  Me;  and  he  that  despiseth  Me, 
despiseth  Him  that  sent  Me  "  (Luke  x.  10).  In  these  and 
similar  passages  of  Sacred  Scripture  we  may  recognise  the 
power  and  the  authority  granted  to  the  Church  to  establish 
laws  of  discipline  for  the  guidance  of  its  members.  These 
laws  could  not  be  drawn  up  in  the  form  in  which  we  now 
have  them,  unless  the  experience  of  times,  and  manners,  and 
customs  enabled  the  representatives  of  the  Founder  of  the 
Church  to  do  so :  not  that  their  authority  depended  on  these 
things,  for  this  right  existed  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Church.  As  in  the  seed  reside  virtually  the  trunk,  branches, 
leaves,  and  fruit  of  the  tree,  so  too  in  the  power  and 
authority  given  by  our  Divine  Lord  to  the  Church  at  its 
first  institution  were  the  germs  of  the  laws  that  were 
subsequently  developed,  and  perfected  in  the  form  in  which 
they  are  found  in  the  Jus  Canonicum.  In  every  society 
there  are  certain  laws  which  in  the  beginning  are  nothing 
more  than  the  outlines  of  the  laws  which  time  and 
experience  bring  out  in  detail.  Hence  it  is  that  centuries 
passed  before  the  Church  was  in  a  position  to  publish  in  a 
regular  form,  such  as  is  the  Corpus  Juris,  its  laws  and 
decrees  Many  and  difficult  questions  were,  from  time  to 
time,  proposed.  They  had  to  be  discussed,  and  decisions 
concerning  them  had  to  be  given.  For  these  propositions, 
discussions,  and  decisions,  a  very  lengthened  period  of  time 
was  of  the  utmost  necessity. 

As  soon  as  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  the  Apostles, 
the  fire  of  divine  faith  was  enkindled  in  their  hearts,  and 
they  went  forth  to  preach  the  birth,  the  death,  the 
resurrection,  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  numerous 
miracles  which  they  wrought  bore  testimony  to  the  doctrine 
they  preached.  Their  voice  was  heard  throughout  the 

VOL.  XVII.  H 


1.14  St.  Raymond  and  the  Canon  Law 

world:  "In  omnem  terram  exivit  sonus  eorum."  Thus 
was  the  Church  of  Christ  established  and  extended,  and  it 
has  continued  to  increase  from  its  beginning  up  to  our  own 
days  in  its  extent  and  in  the  number  of  its  members.  With 
the  marvellous  increase  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  the 
rapid  spread  of  churches  in  various  lands,  the  necessity  of 
making  laws  for  the  correction  of  morals  and  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Church  discipline  became  more  and 
more  urgent.  In  the  earliest  ages  of  the  Church  a  collection 
was  made  of  the  rules  given  by  the  Apostles  to  the  members 
of  the  Church,  lay  and  clerical.  This  collection  was  called 
the  Canones  Apostolorum.  Then,  too,  there  existed  the 
Constitutions  Apostolicae.  The  greater  part  of  this  work 
was  ascribed  to  St.  Clement,  the  disciple  and  successor 
of  the  prince  of  the  Apostles  ;  but  learned  critics  say  that 
the  Constitutions  were  increased  in  the  course  of  time, 
and  the  whole  work  was  corrupted  by  the  interpolations 
of  some  unknown  writer. 

Inspired   by  the  exigency  of  the   age,  more  than  one 
canonist   tried   to   collect    and   put   together   in  form   the 
decrees  of  .popes,  the  dogmatic  decisions  of  councils,  and  the 
disciplinary  canons  of  preceding  ages,  so  as  to  have  some 
guide  and  direction  for  future  times.     To  do  a  work  of  this 
kind   entailed   the   greatest   labour,   as   well   as   the    most 
profound  study.    The  errors  of  copyists,  and  the  unauthorized 
interpolations  made  from  time  to  time  in  the  decretals  which 
were  scattered  about  as  so  many  fragments,  demanded  on 
the  part  of  the  sincere  and  trustworthy  collector  a  more  than 
ordinary   knowledge  of  Church   laws  and  of  ecclesiastical 
history.     Towards  the  end  of  the  fifth  century  was  compiled 
the   Vetus   Canonum   Codex,   by   Dionysius    Exiguus;    and 
though  this  compilation  was  formed  by  his  own  authority, 
yet  it  was  the  only  code  of  Church  laws  that  was  approved 
of  by  the  Holy  See  from  the  beginning  of  the  Church  up  to 
the  thirteenth  century.     In  the  ninth  century  appeared  the 
code  of  laws  of  the  famous  Isidorus  Mercator  ;  and,  in  116.1, 
was  produced  the  Gratian  collection  of  Canons.     This  was 
the  result  of  indefatigable  zeal  and  labour  on  the  part  of  the 
Benedictine  monk  Gratian.     Notwithstanding  the  long  toil 


St.  Raymond  and  the  Canon  Law  115 

and  study  of  the  monk,  his  work  was  not  perfect,  as  we 
learn  from  the  fact  that  in  the  sixteenth  century  St.  Pius  V. 
ordered  it  to  be  revised  and  corrected,  and  it  is  now  known  as 
the  Emendatio  Gratiani.  In  1226,  Gregory  IX.  was  chosen 
to  undertake  the  government  of  the  Church.  He  was  then 
in  his  eighty- second  year.  It  would  seem  that  a  man  of  so 
many  years  could  not  perform  the  important  and  laborious 
duties  of  the  pontificate  ;  but  so  excellently  did  he  acquit 
himself  of  the  great  offices  of  his  exalted  position,  that  he 
ranks  amongst  the  most  glorious  pontiffs  of  the  Church. 
He  was  a  scholar  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word.  He 
made  Canon  Law  the  special  study  of  his  life.  He  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  several  compilations  of  the  Codes  that 
had  been  made  up  to  the  time  of  Gratian.  In  that  immense 
pile  of  decretals  he  saw  the  difficulties  and  labour  that  the 
study  of  them  entailed.  Since  Gratian's  time,  many  new 
canons  were  made  in  the  two  Councils  of  Lateran,  and  by 
the  different  popes  that  ruled  the  Church  from  Anastasius  IV. 
in  1113,  to  the  beginning  of  his  own  reign,  1226. 

To  facilitate  the  sudy  of  Canon  Law,  Gregory  determined 
to  make  a  new  collection,  and  to  insert  therein  those  new 
canons.  In  the  old  collections  were  found  many  decisions 
given  on  different  occasions  on  the  same  questions ;  again, 
they  contained  some  very  long  decretals,  which,  by  their 
length,  were  obscure  as  to  their  precise  meaning ;  besides 
they  had  many  apparently  contradictory  canons.  To  bring 
together  in  one  place  the  many  decisions  given  on  the  same 
questions,  to  put  into  a  short  form  the  too  lengthened 
decretals,  and  to  clearly  explain  or  to  suppress  any  con- 
tradictions., was  the  threefold  end  of  the  pontiff  in  making 
a  new  compilation  of  laws.  This  was  the  grand  design 
conceived  by  Gregory  IX.  To  put  it  into  execution  meant  an 
extraordinary  labour,  and  no  one  could  undertake  to  perform 
such  a  work  unless  a  man  well  versed  in  the  science  of 
Canon  Law  and  well  read  in  ecclesiastical,  philosophical, 
and  theological  matters.  Where  was  the  Pope  to  find  such 
a  one  who  would  be  competent  to  act  as  the  able  and 
powerful  organizer  of  his  designs.  An  old  and  illustrious 
professor,  at  one  time  the  honour  and  oracle  of  the  celebrated 


116  St.  Raymond  and  the  Canon  Law 

University  of  Boulogne,  and  now  the  glory  of  the  Koman 
Court,  was  selected  for  this  great  work.  He  was  Kaymond 
di  Pennafort,  of  the  Order  of  Preachers.  In  the  year  1180, 
Raymond  was  born  in  a  little  town  called  Pennafort,  near 
Barcelona.  His  parents  were  descendants  of  the  royal 
family  of  Aragon.  When  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  in  which 
he  was  capable  of  receiving  instruction,  his  parents  took  the 
greatest  care  possible  to  have  him  learn  the  rudiments  of 
the  Chrisian  religion.  This  early  religious  training  served 
as  the  solid  basis  of  the  grand  work  which  was  subsequently 
to  appear  clearly  denned  and  exquisitely  finished  by  Raymond 
in  his  life  and  writings. 

The  knowledge  of  a  science  or  an  art  is,  no  doubt,  some- 
thing to  be  desired  and  sought  after  as  a  real  good.  Many 
have  succeeded  in  the  attainment  of  this  good,  but  imper- 
fectly, inasmuch  as  they  acquire  knowledge  which  they 
make  their  own,  and  fail  to  make  use  of  it  for  the  enlighten- 
ment of  others.  As  gold  buried  deep  down  in  the  earth  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  human  hands,  so  is  knowledge  hidden 
away  in  those  who  cannot  communicate  it  to  others.  The 
knowledge  that  is  possessed  by  those  who  are  capable  of 
diffusing  it,  by  a  free,  clear,  and  distinct  communication  to 
others  has  all  the  qualities  of  a  perfect  good,  for  "  bonum," 
according  to  the  philosopher,  "  est  diffusivum  sui."  This 
is  the  knowledge  that  makes  a  teacher  successful  in  his 
labours  in  the  lecture  hall.  This  is  the  knowledge  that  made 
the  name  of  Raymond  of  Pennafort  the  most  celebrated 
amongst  the  professors  of  his  own  times.  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  truth  in  the  proposition  which  states  that  a  "  teacher 
is  born,  not  made  ;"  for  a  good  communicative  power  is  a 
gift  of  nature,  rather  than  the  result  of  the  labour  and  study  of 
years.  That  nature  had  designed  Raymond  to  be  a  professor, 
cannot  be  denied,  since  we  read  in  the  histories  of  his  life 
that  whilst  yet  a  mere  boy  he  experienced  the  greatest 
possible  pleasure  in  teaching  his  friends  and  companions  the 
things  he  had  learned  from  books  or  in  the  school.  At 
twenty  years  of  age  he  was  made  Professor  of  Mental  and 
Moral  Science  in  the  School  of  Barcelona. 

In  those  days  the  University  of  Boulogne  became  so 


St.  Raymond  and  the  Canon  Law  117 

famous  that  students  from  all  parts  went  there  in  crowds. 
Amongst  them  was  Raymond.  There  he  gave  himself  with 
incredible  ardour  to  the  study  of  Roman  and  Canon  Law. 
After  following  the  course  of  study  under  the  most  celebrated 
masters,  he  obtained  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  both  Laws. 
Then  he  was  chosen  to  take  the  chair  of  Canon  Law  in  the 
University.  This  position  he  held  for  three  years,  and  would 
have  continued  in  it  but  for  the  pressing  invitations  which 
he  got  from  Berengarius,  the  Bishop  of  Barcelona,  to  return 
to  his  native  place.  During  his  three  years  as  professor  he 
never  looked  for  recompense  of  any  kind  from  his  scholars. 
The  chief  aim  of  his  great  labours  was  the  love  of  truth  and 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge.  He  despised  earthly  honours 
and  riches,  and  that  he  might  give  himself  the  more  to  study 
and  prayer,  and  to  the  work  of  saving  souls  he  renounced 
the  world's  goods,  and  begged  to  be  admitted  amongst  the 
sons  of  St.  Dominick.  When  he  received  the  religious  habit, 
he  who  had  at  all  times  scrupulously  observed  the  duties  of 
his  state,  advanced  daily  more  and  more  in  perfection  and  in 
Christian  sanctity. 

About  this  time  he  began  to  write  his  work  the  Summa 
Casuum  Conscientiae,  which,  according  to  the  expression  of 
Clement  VIII.,  was  equally  as  useful  to  penitents  as  it  was 
necessary  to  confessors.  The  author  there  solves  all  the 
difficulties  proposed,  and  decides  the  cases  almost  always 
on  the  authority  of  the  Sacred  Scripture,  of  the  Canons  of 
the  Church,  of  the  teaching  of  the  fathers,  and  of  the  decrees 
of  the  popes  ;  very  rarely  did  he  use  his  own  authority  or 
reason  in  the  solution  of  the  cases :  an  example,  says 
M.  Dupin,  that  all  should  imitate  who  have  written  on  these 
matters.  Far  from  an  excessive  rigour,  which  drives  the 
penitents  to  despair,  and  from  an  arbitrary  indulgence 
which  tends  to  extinguish  the  spirit  of  true  penance,  Raymond 
adds  nothing  to  what  the  law  prescribes,  nor  does  he  weaken 
the  force  of  the  precepts,  but  he  contents  himself  with  the 
explanations  of  them,  showing  their  meaning  and  extent, 
and  applying  them  to  the  particular  cases  in  question. 

In  the  introduction  of  his  Summa,  Raymond  manifests 
the  sincere  humility  of  a  true  servant  of  God.  There  may 


118  St.  Raymond  and  the  Canon  Law 

we  find  the  purity  of  intention  which  is  evident  in  all  his 
works  and  writings.  He  presumes  in  no  way  on  his  own 
strength  or  knowledge,  and  taking  to  himself  no  honour  and 
glory,  he  gives  all  the  honour  and  glory  to  God,  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  and  to  his  special  patroness,  St.  Catherine. 
The  following  is  a  quotation  from  the  Introduction  :— 

11  Ego  Frater  Eayraundus  inter  fratres  Ordinis  Praedicatorum 
minimus,  imo  inutilis  servus,  ad  honorem  Domini  Nostri  Jesu 
Christi  et  gloriosae  Virginis  Matris  ejus  et  Beatae  Catherinae, 
praesentem  sumuculam  e  diversis  auctoritatibus  et  majorum 
meorum  dictis,  diligenti  studio  compilavi,  ut  si  quando  fratres 
ordinis  nostri  vel  alii  circa  judicium  animarum  in  foro  poenitentiali 
dubitaverint,  per  ipsius  exercitium  in  consiliis  .  .  .  valeat  enodare. 
Hoc  autem  non  praesumens  de  viribus  propriis  attentavi  quia 
nullae  sunt,  praesertim  cum  nee  velle  nee  nolle  habeam,  sed 
spem  figens  totaliter  in  bono  obedientiae  atque  in  Summa 
dementia  Salvatoris." 

In  the  midst  of  his  deep  study  and  long  prayers,  the 
saint  did  not  allow  his  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls  to  flag. 
He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  redemption  of  the  Christians 
who  were  brought  into  captivity  by  the  Moors.  He  may  be 
called  the  second  founder  of  the  Order  of  Mercy,  an  order 
having  for  its  end  the  redemption  of  Christian  slaves.  He 
encouraged  Peter  Nolasco  to  put  into  execution  the  grand 
design  of  establishing  the  new  religious  order,  the  rules  of 
which  were  outlined  by  Eaymond.  This  order  was  estab- 
lished by  the  authority  of  Pope  Gregory  IX.  in  1223.  The 
Moors  still  continued  to  persecute  the  Christians,  and  the 
Pontiff,  to  save  the  Church  from  the  desolating  scourge, 
prepared  to  overcome  the  Moors,  not  only  with  spiritual 
arms,  but  also  with  the  sword.  He  sent  his  legate,  Giovanni 
d'Abbeville,  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Sabina,  into  Spain,  to  preach 
a  crusade.  The  Cardinal  who  learned  many  things  through 
report  concerning  Raymond,  wished  to  divide  his  mission 
with  him,  and  went  to  Barcelona  to  seek  the  help  of  the 
learned  professor  of  Boulogne,  now  the  humble  religious  of 
St.  Dominick.  Eaymond  did  not  for  a  moment  hesitate, 
but,  having  obtained  the  necessary  permission,  he  joined 
himself  with  Giovanni  di  Sabina,  and  set  out  with  him  in 
the  mission  of  preaching,  to  which  he  gave  himself  with  all 


St.  Raymond  and  the  Canon  Law  119 

the  zeal  of  an  apostle.  The  Pope's  legate  had  a  great 
affection  for  his  companion,  and  promised  to  bring  him  to 
Rome  to  present  him  to  his  Holiness.  Raymond  did  not 
wish  to  leave  the  quiet  of  his  religious  home,  and  the  efforts 
of  the  Cardinal  to  induce  him  to  do  so  were  unavailing. 

The  great  success  of  Raymond's  preaching  and  his  holi- 
ness of  life,  made  his  name  celebrated,  not  only  throughout 
Spain  and  amongst  his  own  people,  but  also  in  the  Court  of 
Rome.     The  Pope   desired   to   have  this  remarkable   man 
near  him  ;  and  though  he  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to 
go  to  the  Eternal  City  by  the  entreaties  of  Giovanni,  the 
legate,  yet  the  good  religious  could  not  refuse  to  answer  the 
summons  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ.     He  accordingly  went  to 
Rome,  and  visited  the  Roman  Pontiff.     Gregory  very  soon 
recognised  in  Raymond  the  many  excellent  qualities  which 
had  rendered   him  so  famous.      To  show  his  esteem   and 
respect  for   the   son   of  St,  Dominick,   he   gave   him   very 
important  positions,    amongst   them   that  of   confessor   of 
the  Pope  himself.     The  extraordinary  care  and  solicitude 
exhibited  by  Raymond  for  the  poor,  gained  for  him  the  title 
of  "  father  of  the  poor,"  and  the  Pontiff  was  accustomed  to 
address  him  by  no  other  name  than  that  of  Pater  Pauperum. 
This  was  the  man  to  whom  Gregory  confided  the  great 
work   that  he  harl   designed   of  compiling  and   placing  in 
suitable  order  the  decrees  and  canons  of  the  Church.    What 
St.  Raymond  has  done  for  Canon  Law  shall  not  be  easily 
forgotten,  since  he  has  performed  a  task  as  lasting  as  it  is 
useful.     He  began  this  immense  labour  in  1230,  and  after 
four  years  of  unflagging  toil,  completed  it  in  1234.     To  it 
was  affixed  the  seal  and  authority  of  the  Pope,  Gregory  IX., 
who  published  it  with  the  Bull,  Rex  Pacificus,  addressed  to 
the  doctors  and  the  students  of  Paris  and  Boulogne.     The 
work  was  entitled   the  Decretales  Gregorii  IX.      It  takes 
up  the  most  considerable  portion  of  the  Corpus  Juris  ;    for 
besides  the  Decretales,  there  were  afterwards  added  to  the 
Corpus  Juris  the  Sextus  Decretalium,  under  Boniface  VIII. 
in   1299 ;    the   Clementinae,   in   1313,   under   Clement   V. ; 
and,  in  1324,  the  Extravagantes  Joannis  XXII.,  and   the 
Extravag  antes  Communes. 


120  St.  Raymond  and  the  Canon  Law 

To  arrange  in  order -and  to  abbreviate,  was,  in  a  few 
words,  the  work  of  the  great  Canonist.  He  had  to  bring 
together  into  one  work  the  texts  of  the  laws  of  preceding 
compilations,  and  then  to  re-write  them  as  briefly  and  as 
clearly  as  possible.  We  may  understand  the  difficulty  of 
this  work  if  we  recall  the  immense  stock  of  materials  that 
was  to  be  dealt  with,  and  the  obscurity  and  disorder  in 
which  these  materials  were  placed. 

The  order  and  method  which  St.  Eaymond  observed  in 
his  work  proved  a  wonderful  success.  Following  the 
division  of  Bernard  of  Pavia,  he  classified  the  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-eight  decretals  of  the  preceding 
collections  under  these  five  heads  or  chapters : — Judex, 
Jtidicium,  Clerus,  Connubia,  Crimen.  To  these  he  added  the 
one  hundred  and  ninety-five  decretals  of  Gregory  IX.,  and 
the  nine  Extravag  antes.  Having  finished  his  work  he 
returned  to  Spain,  where  persons  of  all  ranks  paid  him  the 
greatest  respect  and  reverence.  Many  sought  counsel  and 
advice  from  him,  and  even  the  Pope  himself  frequently 
called  on  Kaymond  for  advice  in  matters  of  the  greatest 
importance. 

Besides  being  a  Canonist,  St.  Raymond  was  a  philosopher 
and  a  theologian.  He  composed  a  work  entitled  Summa  de 
Matrimonio ;  and  he  left  behind  him,  in  manuscript,  his 
Dubitalia  cum  responsionibus  ad  quaedam  capita  missa 
ad  Pontificem.  It  was  St.  Eaymond  who  suggested  to 
St.  Thomas  of  Aquin  to  write  a  book  containing  a  clear  and 
methodical  exposition  of  all  the  truths  of  the  Christian 
religion,  with  proofs  and  replies  to  the  arguments  of  the 
Infidels.  The  Angelic  Doctor  then  wrote  his  great  work, 
the  Summa  Philosophica  contra  Gentiles.  As  a  religious  he 
gained  the  esteem  and  love  of  his  brethren,  who  elected  him 
as  their  General  in  1238.  He  founded  a  college  in  Spain, 
for  the  instruction  of  the  students  who  wished  to  acquire  a 
knowledge  of  the  Oriental  languages. 

James  I,  King  of  Aragon  was  so  displeased  at  the  courage 
and  intrepidity  of  our  saint  in  condemning  the  scandals  of 
the  court,  that  he  forbade  anyone,  under  pain  of  death,  to 
bring  St.  Eaymond  to  Spain  from  Majorica,  where,  by  the 


"  The  Religion  of  Protestants  "  121 

command  of  the  king,  he  was  to  spend  his  days  in  exile. 
The  holy  man,  fearing  nothing,  went  to  the  sea-shore,  and 
spreading  out  his  black  mantle  he  was  wafted  across  the 
seas,  and  by  the  Providence  of  God  reached  in  safety  the 
convent  of  the  Dominicans  at  Barcelona.  After  many  years 
of  a  most  useful,  holy,  and  edifying  life,  he  died  at  Barcelona, 
on  the  6th  of  January,  1275,  at  the  age  of  ninety-five. 
The  General  Chapter  of  the  Dominicans,  held  at  Milan, 
1278,  wrote  the  name  of  "  Father  Kaymundus  di  Pennafort " 
in  the  martyrology  of  the  Order ;  Clement  VIII.  wrote  it 
on  the  Calender  of  the  Saints,  in  1601.  His  feast  is 
celebrated  on  the  23rd  of  January. 

THOMAS  M.  CBOTTY,  O.P.,  S.T.L. 


'THE  KELIGION  OF  PEOTESTANTS  " 

"In  order  to  know  the  religion  of  Protestants,"  says  Caillingworth, 
"neither  the  doctrine  of  Luther,  nor  that  of  Calvin,  or  Melancthoii,  is  to  be 
taken,  nor  the  Confession  of  Augsburg-  or  Geneva,  nor  the  Catechism  of 
Heidelberg,  nor  the  Articles  of  the  Anglican  Church,  nor  even  the  harmony  of 
all  the  Protestant  confessions,  but  that  which  they  all  subscribe  to,  as  the 
perfect  rule  of  their  faith  and  actions,  that  is  to  say,  the  Bible.  Yes,  the  Bible, 
THE  BIBLE  ALONE,  is  THE  RELIGION  OF  PEOTESTANTS." — Vide  The  Religion  of 
Protestants,  a  sure  road  to  Salvation,  by  Dr.  CHILLINGWOETH.  (Ch.  vi.  56.)  • 

IF  we  turn  to  Whitaker's  Almanack  for  1895,  we  shall 
find  that  he  enumerates  two  hundred  and  seventy -foui 
"  Keligious  Denominations  "  in  England  alone.  In  the 
United  States  of  America  there  are  said  to  be  almost  an 
equal  number,  so  that  we  can  hardly  be  accused  of  exaggera- 
tion, if  we  say  that,  throughout  the  English-speaking  world, 
there  are  at  least  five  hundred  distinct  bodies  of  Christians. 
Here  we  seem,  at  first  sight,  to  be  confronted  with  a 
veritable  sea  of  confusion,  and  to  be  listening  to  a  perfect 
bable  of  conflicting  tongues.  There  seems  no  way  of  classi- 
fying these  five  hundred  different  churches.  They  refuse  to 
group  themselves  in  any  regular  order.  Each  is  a  law  to 
itself.  The  outlines  of  each  are  so  indistinct,  and  so  vague, 
and  ill-defined,  that  they  seem  to  blend  almost  imperceptibly 
into  one  another,  like  the  floating  clouds  in  a  storrn-swept 


122  "  The  Religion  of  Protestants  " 

sky.  Looking,  however,  somewhat  closer,  we  find  that 
there  is  one  among  these  Christian  Churches,  which  is 
fundamentally  different  from  all  the  rest.  Different,  in  the 
first  place,  in  the  number  of  its  adherents.  Not  merely  in 
the  sense  of  being  larger,  and  more  extended  and  more 
universally  diffused  than  any  other  which  would  not  be 
very  remarkable,  but  in  the  sense  of  being  so  immeasurably 
greater  as  to  exceed  numerically,  not  only  any  single  Christian 
Church  taken .  alone,  but  all  other  Christian  Churches  put 
together.  In  other  words,  if  we  divide  all  Christian 
Ch arches  into  two  parts,  and  place  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  upon  one  side,  and  all  the  other  forms  of  Christianity 
on  the  other,  we  shall  find  a  larger  number  gathered  together 
under  the  banner  of  the  Catholic  Church  than  under  the 
host  of  distinct  banners  held  aloft  by  all  the  varieties  of 
conflicting  sects.  That  is  perhaps  the  most  obvious  dis- 
tinction, lying,  as  it  were,  on  the  surface,  and  the  first  to 
attract  the  notice  of  the  casual  observer. 

But   there    is   another    and    far    more    important    dis- 
tinction,  which   takes   us  at    once    to    the    root    of    the 
matter,  and  that  consists  in  the  difference  of  the  rule  of 
faith.    The  five  hundred  and  odd  different  Christian  denomi- 
nations  may,    and   do    differ,    to   an   extraordinary   extent 
among"  themselves.    They  vary  in  innumerable  unimportant, 
and  in  a  considerable  number  of  important  points,  both  of 
doctrine  and  of  discipline.      Yet,  however  widely  they  may 
differ  upon  other  points,  they  all,  or  almost  all,  are  agreed 
as  to  their  rule  of  faith.     In  other  words,  they  all  accept 
Reason  and  the  Scriptures ;  or,  if  you  will,  the  Scriptures, 
interpreted  by  reason,  as  the  source  and  very  foundation  of 
their  respective  creeds.     They  one  and  all  point  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures  as  to  the  infallible  and   unerring  word  of  God. 
They  accept  no  other  infallible  or  unerring  authority  upon 
earth.     The  Bible  is  the  divine  Book,  and  contains  all  that 
is  necessary  to    salvation ;    and   there   is   no   other   divine 
authority,   no  other   infallible   guide   or   teacher  to  whom 
men    can    have    access.      Though    each    denomination    is 
distinct,    and   unlike   every   other,   yet  one  and   all   found 
their  creed  on  this  only  infallible  teacher,  viz.,  the  Bible, 


"  The  Eeligion  of  Protestants  "  123 

"  Holy  Scripture  containeth  all  things  necessary  to  salva- 
tion ;  "  and  "  Whatever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be 
proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be  required  of  any  man,"  &c. 
So  runs  Article  VI.  of  the  Church  of  England.1 

It  is  only  when  we  turn  to  the  gigantic  Catholic  Church, 
which  stretches  her  arms  over  the  entire  earth,  that  we 
discover  a  totally  different  rule  of  faith.  The  Catholic 
Church  accepts  reason,  just  as  the  Protestant  Church  does. 
It  is  in  her  eyes,  a  gift  of  God,  to  be  exercised  and  employed 
to  the  utmost ;  she  also  accepts  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the 
inspired  word  of  God,  and  as  containing  a  divine  revelation. 
She  even  pays  them  more  honour  and  more  respect,  and 
treats  them  with  even  greater  reverence  than  any  of  those 
Churches  that  profess  to  found  their  creed  on  them  alone. 
So  far,  she  and  all  Christian  bodies  are  at  one.  But  here 
she  parts  company  with  them.  She  does  not  believe  that 
God  has  left  this  inspired  Book  to  the  mercy  of  fallible  men 
to  be  turned  and  twisted  into  a  thousand  conflicting  mean- 
ings, to  be  made  to  support  doctrines  and  practices  not  only 
different,  but  opposite  ;  and  to  be  a  basis  upon  which 
hundreds  of  distinct  and  irreconcilable  sects  may  take  their 
stand.  She  believes  that  God  has  confided  this  inspired 
volume  to  the  guardianship  of  a  living  and  infallible  Church. 
That  this  Church  is  the  only  authorized  interpreter  and 
explainer  of  its  pages.  That  no  passage  can  really  bear  two 
or  more  contradictory  senses  ;  and  that  where  such  con- 
tradictory interpretations  are  set  forth,  it  rests  with  her,  and 
with  her  alone,  to  decide  absolutely,  definitely,  and  with 
unwavering  certainty  which  is,  and  which  is  not,  the  true 
interpretation  ;  and  so  to  secure  unity,  or  truth,  which  is 
the  same  thing ;  for  where  there  is  truth,  there  unity  must 
always  be  found  also. 

There  are,  in  fact,  but  two  systems  of  Christianity 
possible — the  one  based  on  private  judgment,  and  the  other 
on  authority.  The  system  of  private  judgment  is  by  far  the 
more  flattering  to  human  pride,  and  that  is  why  it  has 
commended  itself  to  so  many  proud  and  rebellious  spirits. 
It  makes  each  man,  not  a  disciple,  but  a  master ;  not  a 

1  fide  Thirty -nine  Articles, 


124  "  The  Religion  of  Protestants  " 

learner,  but  a  teacher  ;  not  a  pupil,  but  a  critic.  But,  as  a 
consequence,  it  renders  all  real  unity,  not  only  difficult,  but 
practically  impossible.  Now,  unless  we  are  out  and  out 
rationalists,  and  deny  that  there  is  infallibility  anywhere, 
which  would  be  to  destroy  supernatural  religion  altogether, 
I  take  it  as  evident  that  but  two  courses  are  open  to  us  : 
either  we  must  accept  the  Bible  as  the  only  infallible  teacher, 
or  we  must  accept  the  magisterium  of  the  living  and  arti- 
culate Church  as  equally  infallible.  If  the  infallible  Bible 
alone  will  not  suffice,  we  are  driven  to  acknowledge  an 
infallible  Church.  Now  our  reasons  for  not  accepting  the 
"Bible  and  the  Bible  only"  theory,  are  manifold.  In  the 
space  at  my  disposal,  I  can  suggest  only  a  few  of  the  more 
important  :— 

Firstly.  Christ,  when  founding  His  kingdom  on  earth, 
never  wrote  as  much  as  a  single  line  of  any  kind,  which 
seems  strange,  if  He  intended  each  man's  religion  to  depend 
upon  his  personal  interpretation  of  certain  documents. 

Secondly.  Though  He  commanded  His  disciples  to  "Go 
and  teach  all  nations  ;"  to  "preach  to  every  living  creature," 
He  never  once  commanded  any  one  of  them  to  commit  a 
word  to  paper  or  parchment. 

Thirdly.  Even  the  very  expressions  He  made  use  of, 
seem  to  emphasize  this  fact ;  for  He  does  not  say  :  "  If  any 
man  will  not  read  the  Scriptures,"  but,  "If  any  man  will 
not  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be  to  thee  as  a  heathen  and 
publican  ;"  not  "  He  that  follows  the  Scriptures  as  his  guide 
follows  Me,"  but  rather,  "He  that  heareth  you  heareth 
Me."  And,  again,  "  Faith  cometh  (not  by  reading,  but)  by 
hearing;"  and  so  on,  in  many  other  passages. 

Fourthly.  Because  (a)  very  few  of  the  Apostles  wrote  at 
all.  Out  of  the  "twelve,"  only  five,  viz.,  St.  Matthew, 
St.  John,  St.  Peter,  St.  Jude,  and  St.  James  ;  and  (b)  because 
those  who  did  put  pen  to  paper  were  urged  to  do  so  from 
special  circumstances,  as  when  absent,  or  in  prison,  and  from 
accidental  motives  ;  and  (c)  even  then,  they  did  not  address 
their  writings  to  the  whole  Church,  but  to  some  one  or 
another  section,  specially  needing  it,  to  some  local  church, 
and  occasionally  even  to  mere  individuals,  as  is  the  case  in 
the  Epistles  to  Titus,  Timothy,  and 'Philemon,  &c, 


"  The  Religion  of  Protestants  "  125 

Fifthly.  Because  the  very  form  and  construction  of  the 
Scriptures  seem  to  show  that  the  Bible  was  never  intended 
to  be  a  text-book  of  doctrine,  or  a  summary  of  belief.  There 
is  no  clear  or  methodical  statement  of  the  teaching  of 
Christ,  proceeding  in  regular  sequence,  but  exhortations, 
and  narratives,  and  incidents,  &c.,  are  all  intermingled. 

Sixthly.  Because  the  entire  Bible  was  not  even  written 
until  whole  generations  of  Christians  had  passed  away  ;  v.  g., 
the  Gospel  and  Apocalypse  of  St.  John  had  no  existence  for 
more  than  sixty  years  after  our  Lord's  Ascension. 

Seventhly.  Because  even  after  the  various  books  of 
Scripture  had  been  composed,  they  were  not  at  once  gathered 
together  into  one  volume.  Some  were  to  be  found  in  one 
place,  some  in  another,  and  it  was  not  until  hundreds  of 
years  had  rolled  slowly  by,  that  the  various  inspired 
writings  were  collected  and  placed  under  the  same  cover : 
so  that  during  many  generations  scarcely  anyone  could 
have  seen  the  complete  collection,  unless  indeed  he  were  a 
great  traveller. 

Eightly.  Because  even  when  at  last,  the  whole  of  the 
inspired  writings  had  been  collected  into  one  volume,  not 
one  person  in  a  thousand  could  have  got  possession  of  them. 
There  was  no  printing ;  and  even  paper  had  not  yet  been 
invented,  so  that  the  only  possible  means  of  securing  a  copy 
of  this  volume  (in  which  each  man  is  supposed  to  find  his 
religion)  was  to  get  it  written  out  by  hand,  letter  by  letter, 
and  word  by  word :  a  process  which  would,  according  to 
some  authorities,  take  a  scribe  five  years  to  accomplish. 
Nor  was  this  all :  the  copy  had  to  be  written  on  vellum  or 
parchment.  As  a  consequence,  the  price  was  enormous  and 
prohibitive.  No  one  but  a  rich  man  could  afford  to  purchase 
such  a  thing.  So  that  for  fourteen  hundred  years,  the 
system  of  "  the  Bible  and  the  Bible  only,"  interpreted  by 
each  individual,  would  seem  to  be  an  impossible  one,  and 
unworthy  of  acceptance  by  any  reasonable  or  reflecting 
man.  As  the  well-known  historian,  W.  Lecky,  observes  : — 
"  Protestantism  could  not  possibly  have  existed  without 
a  general  diffusion  of  the  Bible,  and  that  diffusion  was 
impossible  until  after  the  two  inventions  of  paper  and 


126  "  The  Religion  of  Protestants  " 

printing."1  Clearly,  a  religion  dependent  upon  such 
human  inventions,  unknown  during  fourteen  centuries  of 
Christianity,  cannot  be  the  religion  of  Christ. 

Further,  there  was  not  only  the  difficulty  of  getting  a 
copy  of  the  Scriptures,  there  was  still  the  greater  difficulty 
of  reading  them.  The  Protestant  historian,  Macaulay,  tells 
us  that : — ".There  was  then  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
Europe  very  little  knowledge,  and  that  little  was  confined 
to  the  clergy.  Not  one  man  in  five  hundred,"  he  says, 
"could  have  spelled  his  way  through  a  psalm;  books 
were  few  and  costly:  the  art  of  printing  was  unknown." 
"Probably,"  says  a  professor  of  the  University  of  Lavel, 
Abbe  Begin,  "  there  is  no  exaggeration  in  saying  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  population  were  not  in  a  position  to  read  the 
manuscript  of  the  Bible.  According  to  the  Protestant 
system,  we  should  have  to  conclude,  therefore,  that  these 
poor  unfortunate  beings  had  no  rule  of  faith,  and  were  out 
of  the  path  of  salvation." 

Tenthly.  Because,  whereas  we  know,  on  the  one  hand, 
that  Christ  desired  and  prayed  for  unity  of  faith  and  doctrine 
among  His  disciples,  we  know,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
the  "  Bible  only  system "  has  been  the  direct  cause  of 
interminable  divisions  and  innumerable  dissensions.  In 
the  words  of  the  Anglican  historian,  Lecky  :2 — "It  has 
been  most  abundantly  proved  that  from  Scripture  honest 
and  able  men  have  derived,  and  do  derive  arguments  in 
support  of  the  most  opposite  opinions."3  In  our  eyes  such 
a  system  stands  self-condemned. 

All  these  present  themselves  as  insuperable  difficulties, 
against  the  Protestant  rule  of  faith.  But  there  remain 
others  far  greater  still.  There  are  three  fundamental 
tenets  which  are  absolutely  essential  to  the  Protestant 
theory,  but  which  on  strict  Protestant  principles,  we 
hold  to  be  absolutely  unproved  and  unprovable.  Let  me 
exemplify  it  in  this  way.  A  Protestant  comes  up  to  me 

1  Rationalism  in  Europe,  vol.  ii.,  p.  209. 

2  On  November  ^,    1895,  Mr.  Lecky  wrote :  — "  I  was  brought  up  in  the 
Church  of  England,  and  have  never  severed  myself  from  it." — Vide  St  James's 
Gazette,  November  14,  1895. 

3  Nationalism  in  Europe,  vol.  ii.,  p.  174. 


"  The  Religion  of  Protestants  "  127 

holding  the  Bible  in  his  hand.  He  says  : — "  This  is  the 
word  of  God  ;  this  is  the  foundation  of  my  faith.  I  don't 
want  any  infallible  Church  to  teach  me.  All  I  need  lies 
here  within  the  cover  of  this  book."  Thus  Dean  Farrar 
is  reported  to  have  said  : — "  We  take  our  stand  on  the  open 
Bible,  and  declare  it  to  be  the  very  charter  of  our  existence." 
What  would  we  naturally  reply  ?  We  would  say  :  "  Not  so 
fast,  my  friend.  Are  you  quite  sure  that  you  hold  in  your 
hand  the  true  Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  and  nothing  but  the 
Bible?" 

I.  Take  the  most  impoitant  part  of  it,  viz.  :  the  New 
Testament.  Consider  its  history.  It  was  written  by 
different  men,  at  different  times,  in  different  places,  under 
different  circumstances.  The  different  Gospels  and  Epistles 
composing  it  were  floating  about  in  different  parts  of  the 
Church,  together  with  dozens  and  scores  of  other  epistles 
and  gospels,1  and  it  was  not  till  the  fourth  century  that  the 
Catholic  Church  put  her  hand  upon  them,  and  said  : — "  This 
is  Scripture,"  "  that  is  not  Scripture  :"  "  this  we  enrol  in 
the  canon,"  u  that  we  reject."  For  example,  there  was  an 
epistle  written  by  one  of  the  twelve  Apostles,  viz.  : 
St.  Bartholomew.  The  Catholic  Church  said  :  We  reject 
that,  even  though  the  writer  was  an  apostle ;  on  the  other 
hand,  there  was  a  Gospel  written  by  St.  Luke,  who  was 
not  an  Apostle,  and  the  Church  said : — We  accept  that 
even  though  the  writer  was  not  an  Apostle. 

In  this  way  the  present  Bible  was  formed.  Now,  either 
the  Church  which  made  the  selection  is  infallible,  or  she  is 
not  infallible.  If  you  say  she  is  infallible,  then  you  agree 
with  us,  and  you  must  be  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
which  is  the  only  Church  which  has  ever  even  so  much  as 
put  forward  the  claim :  but  if  you  say  she  is  fallible,  then 
you  acknowledge  that  she  may  err  ;  and  if  she  may  err,  then 
she  may  have  erred  in  her  selection,  and  you  have  no 
certainty  that  you  possess  the  Scripture  at  all !  Some  of 

1  Note,  for  instance,  the  Protevangelion,  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Thomas, 
the  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  the  Acts  of  Paul  and  Thecla,  the  Epistles  of 
St.  Clement,  of  St.  Barnabas,  the  Books  of  Hernias,  the  Acts  of  St.  Andrew, 
and  a  great  many  others,  which  the  Church  has  refused  to  insert  in  the  Canon 
of  Scripture. 


128  "  The  Eeligion  of  Protestants ' ' 

the  books  you  include,  may  be  mere  human  documents — 
so,  on  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  inspired  books  may  be 
omitted.  Different  Protestant  denominations  have  different 
bibles. 

Luther  rejected  from  the  Canon  of  the  Scriptures, 
Job,  Ecclesiastes,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Second 
Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  Second  and  Third  of  St.  John, 
that  of  St.  Jude,  and  the  Apocalypse  (or  Eevelations). 
Calvin  rejected  Esther,  Tobias,  Judith,  Wisdom,  Ecclesias- 
ticus,  and  Machabees.  Spinosa  doubts  the  authenticity  of 
the  Pentateuch,  Judges,  Kings,  &c.;  Strauss,  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew ;  Griesbach,  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark.  Who 
will  decide  between  these,  and  countless  others,  if  there  be 
no  infallible  court  of  appeal,  no  unerring  voice  to  pronounce 
sentence  ?  No !  If  there  be  no  infallible  Church  to  settle 
such  questions,  no  one  can  declare  with  any  certainty  that 
he  possesses  the  Scriptures  at  all.  Even  were  one  satisfied 
with  human  testimony,  it  would  not  help  one,  for  human 
testimony  is  not  agreed  on  the  point. 

II.  A  second  difficulty  arises  concerning  the  question  of 
inspiration.     What  proof  can  anyone  bring  forward,  that 
the  Bible — granted  that  we  have  the  Bible — contains  the 
whole  inspired  word  of  God,  and  nothing  but  the  inspired 
word  of  God.     Inspiration  is  not  a  thing  that  can  be  proved 
by  mere  history  or  intrinsic  evidence.     Whether  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  guided  and  guarded  a  writer  and  protected  him 
from   all   error,  &c.,  can  be   known  only  by  an  appeal  to 
authority.     It  does  not  admit  of  ordinary  direct  proof,  or  of 
ocular  demonstration.     So  that,  unless  that   authority  be 
an   infallible    one,  a  man  cannot  be  absolutely  sure  that 
the  Scriptures  are  inspired.     There  is  not  even  agreement 
among    the   various    Protestant    denominations   upon    this 
most   important,    and   in    their   view,    positively   essential 
point. 

III.  But  the  third   difficulty  is  the  most  insuperable  of 
all,  and  that  is  the  difficulty  of  interpretation.     The  Bible, 
however  holy  a  book,  and  however  certainly  inspired,  is  not 
merely  useless,  but  worse  than  useless  to  one  who  draws 
from  it,  doctrines  and  principles  which  are  contrary  to  its 


"  The  Religion  of  Protestants  "  129 

real  teachings.  Yet  this  is  inevitable,  unless  there  be  a 
divinely  assisted,  and  consequently  an  infallible  interpreter. 
Some  would  persuade  us  that  the  Bible  is  an  easy  and 
simple  book  to  understand  ;  so  easy,  in  fact,  that  "he  who 
runs  may  read."  Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth. 
This  may  be  proved  from  the  Scriptures  themselves.  Thus 
the  Eunuch  of  the  Queen  of  Ethiopia,  who  was  studying 
the  writings  of  the  prophet  Isaias  as  he  journeyed  home, 
admitted  to  the  Deacon  Philip  that  he  could  not  understand 
the  sense  of  what  he  read,  unless  someone  explained  it  tD 
him.  After  reading  out  some  prophetic  utterances,  he 
turned  to  Philip,  and  said  :— "  I  beseech  thee,  of  whom  doth 
the  prophet  speak  this,  of  himself,  or  of  some  other  man  ?'' 
(See  Acts  ix.  27-35.) 

In  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  St.  Luke's  Gospel 
(verse  25,  et  seq.}  we  have  another  illustration  of  the 
difficulty  of  correctly  interpreting  the  inspired  text.  Our 
Lord  is  obliged  to  interpret,  to  His  own  disciples  on  their 
way  to  Emmeus,  "  the  things  concerning  Himself,  begin- 
ning from  Moses  and  from  all  the  prophets."  He  told  them 
that  they  had  not  understood,  and  therefore  He  "opened  to 
them  the  Scriptures" — ws  Snjj/oiyei/  r^ilv  rots  y/^a^as.  St.  Peter, 
inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  reveals  to  us  still  more 
clearly  that  there  are  "certain  things  hard  to  be  under- 
stood, which  the  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest,  as  they  do 
also  the  other  Scriptures  (ws  Kal  ras  Aot/ras  ypa^ds)  to  their 
own  destruction"  (2  Peter,  iii.  16). 

The  truth  of  my  contention  is  fully  borne  out  by  the 
experience  of  past  and  present  ages.  One  person  reads  the 
divine  oracles  in  one  way,  and  another  in  another,  so  that 
from  one  and  the  same  infallible  source,  are  derived  totally 
distinct  and  opposite  doctrines.  The  followers  of  Novatian 
take  one  view,  and  the  followers  of  Sabellius  another :  while 
Donatists,  Arians,  Pelagians,  and  Nestorians  all  differ 
among  themselves.  Truly  does  Erasmus  remark  that  "  the 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  by  individual  minds  has 
never  ended  in  anything  but  laming  texts,  which  walked 
perfectly  straight  before;"  while  St  Augustine,  as  early  as 
the  fifth  century,  declared : — "  non  aliunde  natae  sunt 

VOL.  XVII,  I 


130  "  The  Eeligion  of  Protestants  " 

haerases,    nisi    dum    Scripturae    bonae   intelliguntur    non 
bene." 

Some  Protestants  to  whom  the  objection  has  been  put 
have  attempted  to  meet  it  by  saying  : — "  This  may  be  true 
with  careless  and  worldly-minded  men  :  but  if  a  devout 
Christian  takes  up  the  Bible  with  reverence,  places  himself 
in  the  presence  of  God,  and  earnestly  prays  for  the  assistance 
and  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  will  be  sure  to  arrive  at  a 
correct  and  true  meaning."  Well!  We  English  are 
considered  a  practical  people.  We  like  to  test  the  theory 
for  ourselves  ;  for  to  use  a  homely  phrase,  "  the  proof  of  the 
pudding  is  in  the  eating."  Then  let  us,  for  the  moment, 
accept  the  theory,  just  to  see  how  it  works.  Take  three 
honourable,  good,  and  learned  men  ;  e.g.  (1)  the  Anglican 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  Dr.  King ;  (2)  the  Anglican  Bishop  of 
Liverpool,  Dr.  Ryle;  and  (3)  the  Rev.  Dr.  Martinau,  a 
representative  of  Unitarianism.  Each  believes  in  the 
Bible.  Each,  no  doubt,  approaches  the  study  of  it  in 
becoming  dispositions.  Each  craves  God's  grace,  and 
light,  and  assistance.  Yet  each  rises  from  his  knees 
holding  a  totally  different,  and  a  wholly  irreconcilable 
doctrine.  The  Protestant  Bishop  of  Lincoln  finds  authority 
in  Scripture  for  a  sacrificing  priesthood,  for  priestly  abso- 
lution, and  for  the  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament.  The  Protestant  Bishop  of  Liverpool,  on  the 
other  hand,  can  discover  nothing  of  the  kind.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  finds,  that  any  clergyman  who  attempts  or  pretends 
to  forgive  sins  is  usurping  the  authority  of  Christ ;  further, 
he  fails  to  discover  any  reason  for  believing  that  Christ 
is  truly  present  under  the  sacramental  species.  "  This  is 
My  Body"  means  one  thing  to  the  Protestant  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  and  quite  another  thing  to  the  Protestant  Bishop 
of  Liverpool.  Still,  both  are  able  to  find  in  the  Bible  the 
divinity  of  Christ.  But  a  Unitarian,  as  clever  and  as  sincere 
as  any  Anglican  prelate,  takes  up  the  inspired  writings,  and 
he  can  find  no  proof  within  its  pages  even  that  Christ  is  God  ! 
He  prays,  and  studies  and  reads  the  Bible,  and  then 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  Christ  is  not  God  at  all.  You 
urge  that  the  Scripture  speaks  of  Christ  as  "  God,"  and  as 


"  The  Beligion  of  Protestants  "  131 

the  "  Son  of  God."  He  will  reply :  "  Yes,  but  may  not  such 
words  be  applied  to  man  ?  Does  not  the  psalmist  say,  '  Ye 
are  all  gods,  and  sons  of  the  Most  High  !  "  If  you  return 
to  the  charge,  and  point  out  that  Christ's  divinity  is  clearly 
contained  in  His  own  declaration,  "  I  and  the  Father  are 
one,"  he  will  again  reply:  "Not  at  all;  that  is  merely  a 
union  of  heart  and  will,  such  as  exists,  or  may  exist  among 
men.  Nay,  this  is  [he  will  say]  evident  from  Christ's 
prayer — '  Father,  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  I  and  Thou 
art  one.' >:  This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  sort  of  absurd  and 
senseless  position  to  which  the  private  interpretation  of  the 
Bible  inevitably  leads.  Here  are  three  well-known,  highly- 
respected,  learned  and  scholarly  men,  each  discovering  a 
totally  different  doctrine  in  the  selfsame  words. 

Is  the  Holy  Ghost  directing  them  all  ?  Is  the  Changeless, 
Eternal,  and  Uncreated  Truth  whispering  "  yes  "  in  the 
ears  of  one,  and  "no"  into  the  ears  of  another;  and 
declaring  that  a  thing  is  false  and  true,  black  and  white,  at 
one  and  the  same  time  ?  To  say  so  would  be  blasphemous. 
If,  instead  of  three  highly-educated  and  distinguished  men, 
of  recognised  ability,  we  take  the  millions  of  educated  and 
uneducated,  learned  and  unlearned,  young  and  old,  rich  and 
poor,  the  effect  of  such  a  system  becomes  still  more  apparent, 
and  its  consequences  still  more  hopelessly  absurd  and 
appalling. 

To  sum  up  :  (1)  We  believe  that  Christ  came  upon  earth 
to  teach  the  truth.  This,  indeed,  is  stated  in  the  most 
emphatic  way  by  Christ  Himself  in  the  hall  of  Pilate — viz., 
"For  this  was  I  born,  and  for  this  came  I  into  the  world  ; 
that  I  should  give  testimony  to  the  truth"  (Jn,  xviii.  37). 
We  believe  with  St.  Paul  that  "  the  Church  is  the  pillar 
and  ground  of  truth;"  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  to  "  remain 
with  her  for  ever  to  teach  her  all  truth  ; "  and  that  "  the  gates 
of  hell  (i.e.,  of  error)  shall  never  prevail." 

2.  We  believe  truth  to  be  one,  and  that  it  cannot  be 
anything  but  one,  and  in  harmony  with  itself.  We  hold 
that  two  Churches  teaching  contradictory  doctrines  may 
both  possibly  be  false,  but  by  no  possibility  can  both 
be  true.  That  they  may  both  be  true  we  regard  as  a 


132  "  The  Religion  of  Protestants  " 

metaphysical  impossibility,  and  a  self-evident  absurdity.  But 
if  instead  of  two,  there  be  five  or  six  hundreds  claiming  to 
be  true  Churches  of  Christ,  the  absurdity  becomes  more 
glaring  and  monstrous. 

3.  That  there  can  be  but  one  true  Church  follows,  not 
merely  from  the  intrinsic  nature  of  truth  itself,  but  also 
from  the  repeated   and   express   declaration  of  the  Divine 
Founder  of  Christianity — e.g.,  "  There  shall  be  one  fold  and 
one  Shepherd  "  (Jn.  x.  16).     "  Be  ye  all  one  Body  and  one 
spirit,  as  you  are  called  in  one   hope  of  your  calling.     One 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism"  (Eph,  iv.  13).     "You   are 
the  body  of  Christ,  and  members  one  of  another,"  and  so 
forth.     Further,  the  very  comparisons  our  Lord  makes  use 
of  prove  the  same  truth.    He  likens  His  Church  to — (a)  a 
Kingdom,  (b)  a  City,  (c)  a  House,  (d)  a  Family,  (e)  a  Fold, 
(/)  a  Tree,  (g)  a  Body,  &c.     All  these  figures  imply  a  most 
essential  unity,  together  with  diversity.     What  more  various 
than  the  different  parts  of  a  living  body  ?     Yet  what  more 
essentially  one,  and  in  harmony  with  itself? 

4.  If    unity  be   essential  and   vitally  important,   what 
constitutes  the  bond  of  unity?     "  The  Bible,"  cry  out  the 
Protestant  Churches.     "  The  living  and  imperishable  voice 
of   the  divinely    assisted,   and   (because  divinely  assisted) 
infallible    Church,"  exclaim    Catholics.      The  one   system 
maintains  true  unity  in  a   community  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  or  three  hundred  millions,  consisting  of  men   of  every 
race  and  nation,  and  character  and  disposition,  and  language 
under  heaven.     The  other  system  cannot  secure  unity,  even 
within  a  national  Church,  among  men  of  the  same  race  and 
country,  and  of  the  same  general  character  and  antecedents 
— nay,  cannot  secure  unity  upon  the   most  vital  points  of 
Christian  doctrine  either  among  the  people,  or  the  clergy, 
or  even  among  the  bishops  themselves. 

There   is  no  logical  resting-place   between  Catholicism 
and  Rationalism. 

JOHN  S.  VACJGHAN. 


[    133    ] 


THE  SIBYL  IN  THE  DIES  IEM 

MY  special  attention  was  drawn  to  the  Dies  Irce  by  the 
exclusion  of  its  third  line  from  some  French  missals. 
Such  purism  appears  passing  strange,  for  the  Church  of 
France  has  been  consecutively  during  the  last  hundred  years 
tainted  with  Jansenism,  schism,  and  infidelity  ;  and  though  it 
became,  through  the  mercy  of  God,  orthodox  in  faith  and 
general  discipline,  its  ritual  continued  for  some  time  subse- 
quently to  be  out  of  harmony  with  that  of  the  universal 
Church.  Now,  however,  in  France,  the  Koman  Eitual  is, 
I  believe,  in  common  use. 

The  Gallican  Church,  with  such  experiences,  was 
expected  to  be  more  scrupulous  than  any  other  in  following 
the  teaching  and  practice  of  the  mother  of  Churches.  But 
some  of  the  old  leaven  appears  to  have  remained.  The 
shallow  criticisms  of  sophists  and  of  the  academicians  of 
the  eighteenth  century  1  has  been  brought  to  bear  on  the 
liturgy  of  the  Church  ;  and  the  result  has  been  the  excision 
of  a  historical  allusion  from  the  Prose  for  the  Dead. 

That  portion  of  the  liturgy  between  the  Epistle  and 
Gospel,  in  some  few  Masses,  is  called  a  Prose  or  Sequence. 
It  immediately  follows  the  Tract,  and  is,  consequently, 
called  a  Sequence  ;  and  it  is  called  a  Prose,  because, 
though  of  a  rhythmical  character  and  divided  into 
stanzas,  it  is  not  regulated  by  any  fixed  rule  of  versifi- 
cation. The  proses  are  not  very  ancient.  Notker  Balbulus, 
Abbot  of  St.  Gall,  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  to 
compose  them.  He  wrote  a  great  number  of  them.  The 
Roman  Missal  contains  five  proses,2  but  none  of  them  is 
attributed  to  Notker.  The  present  paper  deals  with  one 
of  these  five — the  Prose  for  the  Dead.  Its  reputed  author 
was  Cardinal  Ursinus  or  Frangipani,  a  Dominican,  who  died 
in  the  year  1291.  Our  attention,  then,  in  the  present  article 

1  Memoire  de  VAcad.  des  Inscrip,,  torn.  23  in  4to  et  12do. 

3 1  am  surprised  that  Benedict  XIV.  in  his  short  commentary  on  the  several 
parts  of  the  Mass  (lib.  2,  oh.  5,  No.  18)  enumerates  only  four  proses,  and  thup 
excludes  the  Stabat  Mater,  though  falling  under  his  own  definition  of  a  Prcse. 


134  The  Sibyl  in  the  "  Dies  Ira  " 

will  be  confined  to  the  third  line  of  the  first  stanza — Teste 
David  cum  Sibylla. 

The  two  first  lines  of  this  Prose  bring  before  us  the 
changes  that  shall  precede  ths  last  judgment,  and  usher  in 
the  day  on  which  this  world  shall  be  reduced  to  ashes  ;  and 
in  confirmation  of  this  statement,  the  testimony  of  the 
prophet  David  and  of  the  Sibyl  is  adduced.  No  person,  I 
believe,  can  deny  that  the  royal  prophet  gave  expression 
to  the  idea.  Thus,  in  one  passage  he  declared  that  "  the 
earth  and  all  that  dwell  therein  are  melted  away;"1  in 
another  he  assures  us  "  that  the  heavens  shall  perish ;" 
and  in  a  third  passage,  from  among  many  of  a  like  character, 
we  are  told  that  "  the  mountains  melted  as  wax  before  the 
face  of  the  Lord,  the  entire  earth  before  the  face  of  the 
Lord."3  But  I  take  for  granted  that  the  objection  of  purists 
lies  not  against  the  royal  prophet,  but  against  the  alleged 
testimony  of  the  Sibyl. 

It  matters  very  little,  viewed  doctrinally,  whether  such  a 
prophecy  was  or  was  not  uttered  by  the  Sibyl.  Revelation 
needs  not  her  testimony.  But  the  matter,  viewed  as  a 
subject  of  historical  inquiry,  and  as  bearing  on  the  liturgy, 
is  not  without  interest  and  some  importance.  In  further- 
ance, then,  of  such  an  inquiry,  it  were  desirable  to  ascertain 
(1)  whether  there  were  one  or  more  Sibyls,  and  if 
there  were  several,  which  of  them  was  associated  with 
the  psalmist ;  (2)  what  was  her  native  country ;  and 
(3)  what  was  the  really  prophetic  character  of  her 
utterances. 

1.  In  regard  to  the  numerical  identity  of  Sibyl,  some 
think  there  was  only  one ;  that  she  lived  to  an  advanced  age, 
visited  many  countries,  and  possessed  extensive  knowledge 
of  men  and  countries ;  and  from  these  circumstances  it  is 
inferred  that  a  single  Sibyl  was  multiplied  by  the  writings 
of  authors  into  as  many  individuals  as  the  countries  which 
she  visited.  The  earliest  writer  who  mentions  the  Sibyl 
was  Plato,  who  alludes  to  her  as  though  there  was  only  one 
Sibyl.  On  the  other  hand,  many  have  maintained  there  were 

'Ps,  Ixxiv.  4.  2  Ps.ci.  27,  3  Ps,  xcvi.  5. 


The  Sibyl  in  the  "  Dies  Ira  "  135 

several  Sibyls.  Some  contend  for  the  existence  of  three 
different  Sibyls ;  others  maintain  there  were  four ;  Varro 
enumerates  ten,  with  their  respective  countries;  while  Suidas 
asserts  there  were  twelve  Sibyls.  Some  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Church,  in  accordance  with  Varro,  insist  on  a  multiplicity 
of  Sibyls.  Hence  St.  Jerome,  extolling  the  state  of  virginity 
against  Jovinian,  asserted  that,  as  a  reward  of  their  charac- 
teristic chastity,  the  gift  of  prophecy  was  given  to  the  Sibyls 
of  Erythraea,  of  Cuma,  and  to  the  other  eight  Sibyls.1  And 
though  mention  of  the  Sibyl  may  lead  to  the  supposition  of 
only  one  individual,  the  word  "  Sibyl,"  it  is  asserted,  like 
"Caesar"  or  "Pharao,"  had  a  generic  meaning,  and  was  an 
expression  for  a  prophetess  in  general.  However,  several  of 
the  fathers  earlier  than  St.  Jerome,  such  as  St.  Clement 
and  St.  Justin  maintains  there  was  only  one  Sibyl,  and  that 
her  prophecies  referred  to  Christian  events. 

2.  But  whether  we  adopt  the  theory  of  the  existence  of 
only  a  single  Sibyl,  or,  from  many  succeeding  ones,  the 
existence  of  the  original  genuine  Sibyl,  what  was  her 
native  country?  It  is  not  easy  to  reply  with  certainty. 
A  Latin,  Greek,  and  Eastern  origin  is  claimed  for  her  by 
different  authors.  Hence,  the  word  "  Sibyl  "  is  variously 
traced  to  a  Latin,2  Greek,3  and  Semitic  source.  But 
derivations  are  often  fanciful,  and  those  attributed  to 
"  Sibyl  "  are  not  very  reliable. 

But  a  stronger  argument  than  a  merely  verbal  derivation 
is  forthcoming  in  favour  of  a  Latin  home  for  the  Sibyl. 
Who  has  not  been  made  familiar  with  Virgil's  reference  to 
the  Cumaean  Sibyl  ?  And  this  very  Sibyl,  to  the  exclusion 
of  others,  if  they  ever  existed,  is  understood  as  foretelling 
future  Christian  events ;  so  much  so,  that  the  fathers 
at  the  first  General  Council  of  Nice  had  the  Virgilian 

1  "  Quid  referam  Sibyllas  Erythraeam   atque  Cumanam  et  octo  reliquas. 
Nam  Varro  decem  fuisse  autumat,  quarum  insigne  virginitas  est,  et  virginitatis 
praemium  divinatio." 

2  It  is  said,  on  the  authority  of  Festus,  there  was  an  archaic  Latin  adjective 
cibits  (acute),  and  that  Sibyl  came  from  it.- 

3  St.  Jerome  adopts  the   Greek  root  #eou  (triou,   JEolice)  @OV\TJ.      The 
objection  to  this  is  that  the  adjective  form  could  not  be  a  dactyl,  ftovXivos,  as  in 


136  The  Sibijl  in  the  "  Dies  Tree  " 

quotation  from  the  fourth  Eclogue  translated  into  Greek, 
and  emblazoned  in  letters  of  gold  : 1 

On  the  other  hand,  the  first  mention  of  the  Sibyl  is 
made  by  a  Greek  author.  Plato  in  his  Phaedro,  Aristotle  in 
Admirandis,  and  Dionysius  of  Halycarnassus  , connect  the 
Sibylline  oracles  exclusively  with  Greece  ;  while  St.  Clement 
of  Kome  places  her  abode  in  Delphi :  and,  in  point  of  fact, 
the  old  Sibylline  books  when  destroyed  were  replaced  by 
Grecian  oracles.  These  were  appealed  to  by  the  early 
fathers  of  the  Church  in  confirmation  of  the  Christian 
religion. 

A  third  opinion  advocates  Persia  as  the  original  home 
of  the  Sibyl.  This  opinion  has  the  support  of  St.  Justin 
Martyr.  He  tells  us  she  was  the  daughter  of  the  Chaldean 
historian,  Berosus,  which  strengthens  the  supposition  that 
she  was  a  Jewess  connected  with  the  Babylonish  captivity. 
It  is  stated  that  after  much  travel  she  reached  Cuma,  a 
village  in  Campania,  a  few  miles  distant  from  Baiae,  and 
there  delivered  her  oracles.  Let  us  listen  to  the  following 
description  by  St.  Justin  of  her  abode,  which  he  personally 
visited  : — 

"  I  have  seen  the  place.  There  is  a  large  oratory  hewn  out 
of  a  rock,  which  was  an  undertaking  of  much  labour,  for  it  is 
large  and  elaborately  worked.  There,  according  to  traditions 
handed  down  from  father  to  son  for  generations,  as  related  to  me 
by  the  inhabitants,  the  Sibyl  gave  her  responses.  There  was 
pointed  out  to  me  the  hollow  spaces  in  the  rocks,  in  the  middle 
of  a  grotto,  in  which,  when  filled  with  water,  she  used  to  bathe ; 
and  having  dressed,  she  retired  to  a  cell  hewn  out  of  the  rock  in 
the  remotest  part  of  the  grotto,  and  seated  on  an  elevated  throne 
used  then  deliver  her  oracles." 

The  above  account  of  the  Babylonish  or  Syrian  daughter 
of  Berosus  synchronizes  with  the  first  mention  of  the  Sibyl 
by  Plato,  and  is  reconcilable  with  Virgil's  allusion  to  the 
Cumsean  prophetess.  Virgil,  by  a  flight  of  fancy,  makes 
.ZEneas  consult  the  Sibyl  in  his  way  from  Troy  to  Italy. 

1  "  Ultima  Cumaei  venit  jam  Carminis  aetas ; 
Magnus  ab  integro  saeculorum  nascitur  ordo  ; 
Jam  nova  progenies  caelo  diinittitur  alto  ; 
Jam  redit  et  Virgo,  redeunt  Saturnia  regna." 


The  Sibyl  in  the  "  Dies  Tree  "  137 

By  the  way,  the  Syrian  name  of  the  Sibyl  was  Sambetha,1 
of  which,  perhaps,  Sibylla  was  either  a  translation  or  a 
corruption. 

The  early  Christians  are  charged  with  having  forged  or 
interpolated  the  Sibylline  writings  in  support  of  Christianity, 
and  the  fathers  of  the  Church  are  reproached  by  French 
academicians  with  having  been  abettors  or  victims  of  the 
deception.  But  the  reproach  is  groundless;  and  to  make 
this  quite  evident,  we  have  only  to  distinguish  between  the 
three  several  editions  of  the  Sibylline  writings.  The  original 
edition  of  the  Sibylline  writings  existed — (a)  from  its  first 
appearance  to  eighty  years  B.C.  ;  the  second  edition  (6)  from 
this  period  till  about  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  year  of 
the  Christian  era ;  and  the  third  edition  (c)  from  the  latter 
half  of  the  second  century  till  the  present  time. 

(a)  What  student  of  Koman  history  is  not  familiar  with 
the  story  of  the  Sibylline  Books  in  connection  with  Tarquin  ? 
Aulus  Gellius  and  Denis  of  Halycarnassus  are  vouchers  for 
the  story  which  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  An  old  woman  once  approached  Tarquin,  either  the  Proud 
or  Ancient,  and  offered  him  for  sale  nine  books  for  three  hundred 
pieces  of  gold.  He  objected  to  the  terms,  and  declined  the  offer. 
She  at  once  burned  three  of  the  books  in  his  presence.  She 
approached  him  a  second  time,  and  made  the  same  demand  for 
the  remaining  six  books.  He  rejected  this  offer  also  ;  and  she  in 
consequence  burned  three  others  of  the  books.  She  came  the 
third  time,  and  made  the  original  demand  for  the  three  remaining 
books.  The  King,  astonished  at  her  conduct,  consulted  the 
Augurs,  who  advised  him  to  purchase  the  books." 

Having  bought  the  books,  he  was  advised  by  her  to  have 
them  deposited  in  a  stone  chest  in  a  private  corner  of  the 
Capitol.  Two  persons  were  appointed,  called  Duumvirs,  to 
take  charge  of  the  books  ;  subsequently,  fifteen  persons 
called  Quindecemvirs,  were  appointed  their  custodians ;  and 
a  law  was  passed  which  forbade  any  person  from  consulting 
the  books  without  the  knowledge  and  a  decree  of  the  Senate. 
A  violation  of  the  law  was  punished  by  the  death  inflicted 

1  Sambetha  is  supposed  by  Orientalists  to  be  the  same  as  the  Hebrew 
Sabbatta.  In  Esdras  and  Nehemias  we  meet  with  a  man  named  Sabbathai, 
that  is,  born  on  the  Sabbath, 


138  The  Sibyl  in  the  <(  Dies  Lra  " 

on  parricides.1  There  was  only  one  instance  of  a  violation 
of  the  law.  M.  Attillius,  a  Duumvir,  allowed  Petronius 
Sabinus  to  copy  the  Sibylline  Books,  and  for  this  neglect 
of  duty  paid  the  penalty  of  death.2  He  was  put  alive  into  a 
sack  firmly  sewed,  and  thus  flung  into  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
Kecourse  was  had  to  the  Sibylline  Books  on  every  occasion 
of  importance,  difficulty,  or  danger.  Whether  war  was  to 
be  declared  or  peace  to  be  made,  whether  a  public  calamity 
was  to  be  averted  or  public  games  to  be  instituted,  the 
books  were  consulted.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been 
minute  in  prescribing  the  various  sacrifices  and  the  various 
rites  which  were  necessary  either  for  honouring  the  many 
deities  or  celebrating  the  various  solemnities.  The  books, 
it  is  said,  made  reference  to  the  future  destiny  of  Home. 
From  all  that  has  been  written  it  is  inferred  by  many  that 
the  contents  of  these  books,  so  jealously  guarded,  could  not 
be  generally  known,  and  that,  dealing  with  superstitious 
usages,  they  could  not  well  be  supposed  to  have  been  the 
medium  of  Christian  predictions. 

(6)  When  the  Sibylline  Books  in  the  Capitol  were 
burned,  three  special  senators  were*  sent  to  the  principal 
cities  of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring 
and  bringing  to  Borne  the  writings  attributed  to  the  Sibyl. 
The  Delphic,  Samian,  Erythraean,  Phrygian,  Colophonian, 
Sardinian,  and  Cumaean  Oracles  were  laid  under  contribu- 
tion. The  result  was  a  collection  of  a  thousand  oracular 
verses  in  Greek,  which,  after  a  careful  revision,  were  placed 
in  the  Palatine  Temple  of  Apollo.  This  happened  in  the 
year  83  B.C.  These  books,  like  the  older  ones,  were  so 
carefully  guarded,  that  their  perusal  could  not  be  attempted 
without  a  decree  of  the  Senate. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  nature  of  these  Sibylline 
verses  was,  no  secret.  They  had  been  known  to  many 
previous  to  their  consignment  to  the  Boman  custodians. 
They  were  known  to  pagan  poets  and  philosophers  who 
subsequently  became  Christians.  These  Sybilline  verses 
made  mention  of  the  Trinity,  Incarnation,  the  Life,  Passion, 


1  Tacitus,  Annals  ;  St.  Justin,  Apolog.  1,  2. 

2  Valerius  Maximus, 


The  Sibyl  in  the  "  Dies  Ira  "  139 

Kesurrection  of  our  Saviour,  and  of  a  new  order  of  things. 
They  inspired  Virgil  with  the  majestic  verses  in  reference  to 
the  coming  of  our  Redeemer.  In  his  fourth  Eclogue  he 
embodies  in  magnificent  strains  the  traditions  of  the  human 
race,  as  well  as  the  prophecies  of  the  Sibyl.  He  speaks  of 
the  "  great  year,"  of  the  "age  of  gold,"  of  the  *' chaste 
Lucina,"  of  the  "  august  mother,"  and  of  the  ''mysterious 
infant,"  who  was  ready  to  "  descend  from  the  height  of 
heaven." 

Furthermore,  Tacitus  and  Suetonius l  make  mention  of 
the  general  expectation  that  some  striking  event  was  to  take 
place  in  the  East,  and  that  men  from  Judaea  would  subject 
the  world  to  themselves.  This  statement  was  only  an 
expression  of  belief  in  the  coming  Saviour.  Even  the  Jews, 
who  claimed  for  themselves  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
prophecy,  had  to  attribute  to  the  Sibyl  a  knowledge  and 
prediction  of  future  events.  Josephus2  cites  the  Sibylline 
verses  in  confirmation  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  and  the 
confusion  of  tongues. 

But,  remarkable  as  has  been  the  testimony  of  Jews  and 
pagans,  still  more  so  was  that  of  the  early  fathers  of  the 
Church.  Clement  of  Alexandria  is  an  authority  for  the 
statement,  which  he  attributes  to  St.  Clement  of  Borne  : 
"You  have  the  Greek  books;  they  speak  of  one  God  and 
final  retribution."  St.  Clement  was  third  pope  in  succession 
to  St.  Peter. 

Then  we  have  the  very  remarkable  testimony  of  St.  Justin 
Martyr  in  reference  to  the  Sibyl's  allusion  to  Christ ;  and  in 
order  to  the  due  appreciation  of  his  testimony  we  should 
bear  in  mind  his  peculiar  opportunities  for  forming  an 
opinion  on  the  subject.  Though  born,  in  the  year  103, 
amid  Jewish  surroundings,  in  Naplosa  or  ancient  Sichem, 
St.  Justin  was  of  Grecian  descent,  and  an  idolater.  He 
mastered  all  the  Grecian  mythology,  and  went  to  Alexandria 
in  order  to  be  initiated  in  all  the  mysteries  of  Egyptian 
lore.  Even  after  conversion  he  continued,  like  Heraclas, 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  to  wear  the  philosopher's  cloak.  In 

!In  Vespasian.  2  Antiquities,  b.  20,  c:  16, 


140  The  Sibyl  in  the  "  Dies  Ins," 

bis  exhortation  to  the  Gentiles  he  quotes  from  pagan 
authors  in  favour  of  the  Christian  religion.  While  quoting 
from  Orpheus,  Ammon,  Mercury,  Plato,  Pythagoras,  Homer, 
and  Sophocles,  he  does  not  omit  mention  of  the  Sibyl.  No 
one  was  more  competent  to  pronounce  on  her  writings  than 
St.  Justin.  He  who  had  travelled  much,  and  was  pro- 
foundly skilled  in  sacred  and  profane  literature,  and  earned 
the  martyr's  crown  by  his  defence  of  the  Christian  religion, 
deliberately  assures  us  that  the  utterances  of  the  Sibyl 
were  marked  by  clearness  and  wisdom.1 

Equally  expressive  is  the  testimony  of  St.  Paul,  as 
quoted  by  Clement  of  Alexandria.  The  quotation  is  not, 
indeed,  found  among  the  canonical  writings  of  the  saint ; 
but  these  do  not  profess  to  contain  his  every  statement. 
Nor  do  the  Evangelists  give  a  remark  attributed  by  St.  Paul 
to  our  Eedeemer — that  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than 
to  receive."  And,  in  point  of  fact,  the  inspired  penman 
exhibits  St.  Paul  himself,  in  his  disputation  with  the 
Athenians  in  the  Areopagus,  as  appealing  to  pagan  authors 
in  proof  of  a  personal  God.  He  represents  one  of  their 
poets2  as  saying  of  God:  "  We  are  also  His  offspring." 
The  words  then  attributed  by  Clement  to  St.  Paul  were  as 
follows : — 

"  As  God  wished  to  save  the  Jews  by  giving  them  the 
prophets,  so  He  raised  up  the  wisest  men  among  the  Greeks 
so  as  to  be  prophets,  speaking  to  them  in  their  own  language, 
according  to  the  gifts  they  had  received  from  God,  and  thus 
distinguished  them  among  the  common  mass  of  mankind.  We 
have  the  testimony  not  only  of  St.  Peter,  but  of  St.  Paul,  who 
said  :  '  Take  up  the  Greek  books  ;  see  how  the  Sibyl  announces 
the  existence  of  only  one  God  and  future  events.  Take  up. 
Hystaspes,  read  him,  and  you  will  see  how  the  Son  of  God  is 
described  in  a  most  striking  and  unmistakable  manner,  and  how 
kings,  animated  by  hatred,  will  combine  against  Christ  and  His 
faithful."  8 

The  Sibylline  Books  were  referred  to  by  pagans,  Jews, 
and  Christian  writers.  The  early  fathers  of  the  Church  in 

1  cravens  KOI  (f>avfpa)S' 

2Aratus,  de  Phcenomenis.     (Acts,  xviii,  28.) 

?  Stromqta,  lib.  yi. 


The  Sibyl  in  the  "  Dies  Irce  "  141 

their  disputations  with  pagans  appealed  as  well  to  them 
as  to  the  Sacred  Scripture,  for  they  supplied  an  argument 
ad  hominem :  such  a  line  of  argument  was  pursued  till  in 
the  fourth  century  it  lost  its  force.  Then  the  pagans,  owing 
to  the  numberless  conversions  to  Christianity,  were  disposed 
to  give  a  patient  hearing  to  the  Christian  cause  on  its  own 
merits ;  moreover,  the  interpolation  of  the  Sibylline  Books 
before  the  fourth  century  brought  discredit  on  the  entire 
collection. 

(c)  The  Sibylline  Books  under  a  third  form  appeared 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century.  This  collection 
though  pretending  to  reproduce  the  original  Sibylline 
Books,  bears  evident  marks  of  interpolation ;  for  they 
allude  to  the  succession  of  the  Emperor  Antoninus,  and  to 
the  adoption  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Lucius  Verus.  The 
writer  or  writers  of  the  oracles  in  the  eighth  book  go  the 
length  of  stating  that  they  are  descendants  of  Christ.1 
These  writings  were  printed  for  the  first  time  in  the  year 
1545,  in  eight  books.  Besides  these  Cardinal  Mai  gathered 
four  additional  Sibylline  Books  in  Greek,  from  various 
libraries.  He  had  them  published  in  the  years  1817  and  1827. 

French  academicians,  relying  on  the  interpolated  books, 
have  charged  the  fathers  of  the  Church  with  forgery;  but  the 
quotations  of  the  fathers  are  not  found  in  the  interpolated 
copies,  and  thus  proves  that  they  did  not  quote  from  them. 
The  genuine  Sibylline  Books,  then  in  existence,  were  quoted 
by  the  fathers.  The  Christian  apologists  challenged  their 
adversaries  to  a  comparison  with  the  original  Sibylline 
verses.  Forgery,  indeed !  Forgery  ill  consorts  with  such 
names  as  St.  Justin  Martyr,  Athenagoras,  Theophilus  of 
Antioch,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and  St.  Clement 
"  whose  name  was  written  in  the  book  of  life."  But  the 
least  offensive  of  the  academicians,  if  no  less  unreasonable, 
suggest  the  possibility  of  imposition  on  the  fathers.  Such 
an  objection  receives  an  answer  by  anticipation  from 
Lactantius.  His  remarks  are  as  follows  : — 

"  Some  persons  allege  that  the  Sibylline  verses  have  been 
composed  by  those  interested  in  the  maintenance  of  Christianity. 

1  2fos  i'jilur  de  stirpe  Chriati  creati. 


142  The  Sibyl  in  the  «  Dies  Irce  " 

This  suggestion  is  made  wildly  improbable  when  one  has  read 
Cicero,  Varro,  and  the  ancient  authors  who  speak  of  the  Sibyl  of 
Erythrasa,  and  other  prophetesses.  It  is  from  these  books 
we  borrow  our  proofs,  and  their  authors  had  died  before  the 
Incarnation  of  Christ  the  Word.  I  do  not  doubt  the  Sibylline 
verses  in  ancient  times  passed  for  fables,  because  not  understood ; 
for  they  announced  astounding  miracles  without  designating  their 
precise  character,  epoch,  or  author.  The  Erythraean  SibyJ 
predicted  that  herself  would  be  accused  of  folly  and  falsehood. 
The  Sibylline  verses  remained  concealed  for  ages;  but  when  the 
birth  and  passion  of  Christ  had  thrown  full  light  on  what  had 
been  wrapped  in  mystery,  its  significance  was  realized  by  the 
people ;  just  as  the  predictions  of  the  prophets  read  for  more 
than  one  thousand  five  hundred  years  by  the  people  of  God 
became  fully  understood  only  after  the  words  and  actions  of 
Christ  were  verified;  for  though  the  prophets  uttered  predic- 
tions, man  interpreted  their  oracles  only  when  they  received 
fulfilment." 

From  all  that  I  have  stated  it  is  evident  there  exist  no 
grounds  for  objection  to  the  reference  by  the  fathers  to 
the  Sibyl.  The  objection  lies  only  against  the  interpolated 
edition  of  the  Sibylline  verses ;  but  these  verses  were  never 
quoted  by  the  fathers.  It  is  abundantly  evident  that  the 
philosophic  pagan  urged  every  possible  objection  to  the 
fathers,  and  that  the.  fathers  fully  answered  them ;  for 
they  fearlessly  appealed  to  the  originals,  which  were  guarded 
from  public  scrutiny.  But  though  guarded  while  in  Eome, 
the  contents  of  the  books  were  no  secret  in  Greece,  whence 
they  came.  Hence  St.  Justin  Martyr  speaks  of  them,  in  so 
far  as  they  referred  to  the  Christian  religion,  as  being  known 
everywhere.  They  were  so  well  known  that  Cicero  com- 
mented on  their  structure  in  reference  to  their  acrostic 
character,  while  the  surpassing  sweetness  and  charm  in 
Virgil's  fourth  Eclogue  were  inspired  by  the  spell  of  the 
Sibyl. 

But  the  second  form  of  the  Sibylline  Books,  to  which 
SS.  Justin  and  Clement  refer,  was  kept  in  the  palatine 
temple  of  Apollo.  These  had  been  consulted  by  the 
Emperor  Aurelian,  in  the  year  270,  when  the  Marcomanni 
crossed  the  Danube,  and  scaled  the  Alps;  and  subsequently 
by  Julian,  in  the  year  363.  At  the  close  of  the  fourth 
century  the  pagans  circulated  a  pretended  prophecy,  to  the 


The  Sibyl  in  the  "  Dies  Irce  "  143 

effect  that  the  Christian  religion,  founded,  as  asserted,  by 
the  magical  arts  of  Peter,  would  last  only  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  years.  This  result — calculation  being  reckoned 
from  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord — was  to  have  taken  place 
in  the  year  399 ;  but  as  Christianity  was  found  in  that  year 
to  be  in  a  more  nourishing  condition  than  before,  the 
Emperor  Honorius,  in  order  to  prevent  the  public  mind 
from  being  unsettled,  directed  his  general,  Stiticho,  to  burn 
the  Sibylline  Books,  and  to  destroy  the  temple  of  Apollo  in 
which  they  were  preserved.1 

3.  And  now  a  question  instinctively  comes  to  the  lips : 
What  was  the  religious  or  prophetic  character  of  the  Sibyl? 
If  it  be  said  she  was  pagan,  a  chief  priestess  of  sinful  rites, 
it  must  appear  strange  that  she  was  chosen  by  God  to  be 
the  medium  of  His  revelations.  The  objection,  however, 
can  receive  some  explanation  or  answer  in  the  conduct  of 
Baalam.  He  was  wicked,  and  probably  an  idolater,  was  sent 
by  King  Balec  to  curse,  and  yet  became  in  the  hands  of  God 
an  instrument  of  Christian  prophecy  and  blessing.2 

The  hypothesis  of  a  Jewish  prophetess  naturally  suggests 
itself,  and  though  none  of  the  canonically  prophetic  writings 
has  been  attributed  to  females,  yet  we  find  some  of  them 
called  prophetesses.  Such  were  Mary,  sister  of  Moses; 
Anne,  mother  of  Samuel;  and  the  four  Virgin  daughters 
of  Philip  prophesied.  But  these  women,  however,  were 
associated  with  holiness,  and  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile 
sanctity  with  the  role  of  a  Sibyl.  This  very  quetions 
exercised  and  divided  the  early  Christians.  For  Celsus,  a 
pagan  philosopher,  objected  that  there  was  a  sect  of  Chris- 
tians called  Sibyllists.  Origen  replied  to  this  charge  by 
stating  that  some  Christians,  and  only  some,  looked  on  the 
Sibyl  as  a  genuine  prophetess,  inspired  by  God,  and  were 
called  Sibyllists  by  their  fellow-Christians.3 

Not  the  least  probable  is  the  theory  which  would  make 
the  Sibyl  an  apostate  Jewess.  As  such  she  could  have  a 
knowledge  of  the  prophetic  writings,  and  be  at  the  same 
time  a  medium  of  divination.  And,  in  point  of  fact,  St.  Justin 
says  she  was  connected  with  the  Jewish  captivity  of  Babylon. 

1  St.  Aug.,  Civitate  Lei,  B.  18,  ch.  53.54.  2  Numbers  xxiv.  13 

3  Origen,  adv.  Celsum,  lib.  v. 


144  The  Sibyl  in  the  "  Dies  Irce  " 

However,  apart  from  a  Jewish  origin,  the  Sibyl  could  have 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  prophetic  writings.  For  they 
had  been  translated  into  Greek  under  Ptolemy  several 
centuries  before  Christ,  and  an  acquaintance  with  them  wad 
quite  within  the  reach  of  an  inquisitive  Sibyl.  The  most 
learned  of  the  earliest  fathers  of  the  Church  as  also  the 
ablest  of  modern  writers  champion  the  genuineness  of  the 
Sibyl's  utterances  in  regard  to  Christian  events.  Among 
the  latter  may  be  classed  Cardinal  de  Lauraea1  and  the 
profoundly  learned  Benedict  XIV.  The  great  Pontiff  in  his 
treatment  of  prophecy  merely  glances  at  the  Sibyl,  and 
sums  up  his  judgment  on  the  Sibylline  verses  by  stating 
that,  though  some  of  them  were  forged,  what  was  quoted  by 
the  fathers  was  genuine.  But  he  might  have  gone  further, 
and  said  that  the  quotations  of  the  fathers  could  not  but  be 
genuine,  as  they  had  written  before  the  interpolated  edition. 
Doctrinally  considered,  it  would  matter  very  little  though 
a  Sibyl  never  uttered  an  oracle,  or  at  all  existed ;  but  Beve- 
lation  through  divinely-appointed  prophets  does  not  exclude 
its  being  echoed  through  less  worthy  mediums.  From  this 
principle  has  sprung  the  legend  which  connected  the  reli- 
gious anger  and  consequent  death  of  our  pagan  Conchobar 
McNessa  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Crucifixion  imparted 
to  him  by  an  Irish  Druid.  There  may  be  various  channels 
of  revelation ;  here  it  may  be  through  a  choir  of  angels, 
there  it  may  be  through  an  eloquently  mysterious  star.  The 
Divinity  of  the  Son  of  God  was  proclaimed  not  only  from 
the  heavens  above,  but  on  earth  by  the  very  devils  them- 
selves. And  as  the  groaning  of  every  creature  in  labour 
combined  with  the  voice  of  the  prophet  in  heralding  the  first 
coming  of  Christ,  so  too  it  was  with  regard  to  the  second 
coming.  Its  attendant  circumstances  were  proclaimed,  as 
attested  by  the  earliest,  holiest,  and  most  learned  of  the 
fathers,  by  the  verses  of  the  Sibyl  in  unison  with  the 
heavenly  strains  of  the  inspired  Psalmist ;  and  this  har- 
monious accord  finds  solemn  recognition  and  approval  in  the 
liturgy  of  the  Church — Teste  David  cum  Sibylla. 

SYLVESTER  MA  LONE. 

1  Disput,  19,  Art.  8,  §  3 


[    145    ] 


EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

NO  more  important  or  vital  question  to-day  claims  the 
attention  of  thinking  men  than  the  question  of 
education.  If  to  educate  be,  according  to  the  definition  of 
Monsigneur  Dupanloup,  "  to  cultivate,  to  train,  to  develop, 
to  strengthen,  and  to  polish  all  the  physical,  intellectual, 
moral,  and  religious  faculties  which  constitute  nature  and 
human  dignity  in  the  child  ;  to  give  to  these  faculties  their 
perfect  integrity ;  to  establish  them  in  the  plenitude  of 
their  power  and  their  action,"  no  more  important  matter 
can  engage  the  minds  of  men  who  have  at  heart  the  interest 
of  humanity  and  the  glory  of  God.  No  wonder  that  we  hear 
in  every  civilized  country  from  all  classes  and  creeds,  the 
anxious  query  :  "  How  shall  we  educate  our  children  ?  How 
shall  we  best  fit  them  for  the  discharge  of  their  social,  political, 
and  religious  obligations?"  All  seem  to  realize  that  the 
true  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  nation  depends  upon  a 
satisfactory  solution ]of  this  vital  question;  but,  unfortunately, 
there  are  many  and  conflicting  opinions  as  to  the  meaning 
of  education,  and  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it  ought  to  be 
imparted. 

The  atheist  who  denies  the  existence  of  God,  and  the 
agnostic  who  says  we  cannot  know  that  there  is  a  God, 
would  have  us  exclude  God  from  our  system  of  education. 
They  would  substitute  "  natural  ethics  "  for  the  religious 
training  of  the  child.  They  profess  to  believe  that  the 
child's  moral  nature  may  be  cultivated  by  appealing  to  his 
honour,  to  his  sense  of  propriety,  to  his  respect  for  the 
rights  of  others.  No  Christian  can  accept  such  a  substitute 
for  religious  training.  Morality  cannot  be  separated  from 
religion.  Keligion  is  a  system  of  fundamental  truths  with 
corresponding  ethical  duties  ;  and  there  can  be  no  duty 
that  is  not  based  upon  some  correlative  dogmatic  truth.  To 
exclude  God,  therefore,  from  the  system  of  education,  is  to 
exclude  religion  and  morality,  and  to  fail  in  the  first  and 
most  essential  requisite  for  a  true  education.  "  A  system 
of  national  education  not  based  on  Christianity  is  an 

VOL.  XVII.  K 


146  Education  in  the  United  States 

imposture,"  says  Cardinal  Manning.  "  It  is  not  education. 
Call  it  national  instruction,  if  you  will ;  but  in  the  name 
of  Christianity  and  also  of  truth,  let  it  not  be  called 
education." 

There  are  others  who  believe,  indeed,  that  religious 
training  is  all-important,  but  think  that  it  ought  to  be  left 
to  the  parent  or  the  Church,  the  school  attending  only  to 
secular  instruction. 

Finally,  there  are  those  who  believe  that  secular  and 
religious  training  ought  to  be  concurrent ;  that  they  cannot 
be  separated  without  injury  to  the  soul;  in  one  word,  that 
denominational  education  is  the  only  true  and  good  system 
of  education.  There  cannot,  we  believe,  be  two  opinions 
among  Catholics,  as  to  the  superiority  of  the  denominational 
system.  The  declarations  of  Pius  IX.,  of  Leo  XIII.,  and  of 
the  bishops  of  every  country  in  which  the  mixed  system 
of  education  exists,  are  clear  and  unmistakable.  With  one 
accord  they  declare  that  a  purely  secular  education  is  bad, 
and  that  an  education  based  upon  the  Catholic  religion  is 
the  only  one  suitable  for  Catholic  children. 

Here  in  the  United  States  the  bishops  assembled  in 
National  Council  in  Baltimore  in  1884,  not  only  declared  the 
purely  secular  system  of  education  defective  and  dangerous,  • 
but  decreed  that  a  parochial  school  should  be  erected  in  every 
parish.  These  are  the  words  :  "  Optimum  vero,  imo  unicum 
quod  superest  medium,  quo  gravissimis  hisce  malis  atque 
incommodis  (scilicet  exitiali  indifferentismi  labi  et  morum 
corruptelae  summo  cum  dolore  deploratis)  occuratur,  in  eo 
situm  videtur,  ut  in  singulis  dioecesibus,  unamquamque 
prope  ecclesiam  scholae  erigantur  in  quibus  juventus 
Catholica  tarn  literis  ingenuisque  artibus  quam  religione  ac 
probis  moribus  imbuatur."1  Jhe  fruit  of  the  zeal  of  the 
American  hierarchy  we  see  to-day  in  the  three  thousand  five 
hundred  parochial  schools  in  which  seven  hundred  thousand 
Catholic  children  are  receiving  a  Christian  education.  Nor 
can  anyone  fail  to  admire  the  generosity  and  self-sacrifice 
of  our  Catholic  people  in  contributing,  oftentimes  out  of 
their  poverty,  for  the  building  and  maintaining  of  those 

Con.  Bait.,  iii,  n.  198. 


Education  in  the  United  States  147 

schools,  outside  of  which,  they  believe,  no  true  Christian 
education  can  be  given. 

The  free  public  schools  of  the  United  States,  founded 
and  supported  for  all  the  children  of  the  State  at  the  public 
expense,  are  non-sectarian  and  purely  secular.  There  is, 
perhaps,  no  country  in  the  world  in  which  more  zeal  is 
manifested,  and  more  generous  efforts  made  for  the  education 
of  all  classes  of  the  people.  No  doubt  this  zeal  is  in  great 
measure  the  outcome  of  the  principle  of  universal  suffrage ; 
for  a  country  in  which  every  man  has  a  voice  in  the  making 
of  the  laws,  can  less  afford  than  any  other  to  have  ignorant 
citizens.  This  zeal  is  deserving  of  sympathy.  To  quote 
the  words  of  the  learned  Bishop  of  Peoria  : — 

"It  is  not  possible  for  an  enlightened  mind  not  to  take 
profound  interest  in  our  great  system  of  public  education.  To 
do  this  he  need  not  think  it  the  best  system.  He  may  deem  it 
defective  in  important  requisites.  He  may  hold,  as  I  hold,  that 
the  system  is  of  minor  importance,  the  kind  of  teacher  being  all- 
important.  But  if  he  loves  his  country,  if  he  loves  human 
excellence,  if  he  has  faith  in  man's  capacity  for  growth,  he  cannot 
but  turn  his  thoughts,  with  abiding  attention  and  sympathy,  to 
the  generous  and  determined  efforts  of  a  powerful  and  vigorous 
people  to  educate  themselves." 

While  we  appreciate  the  zeal  of  the  American  people  in 
the  cause  of  education,  we  regret  that  they  have  adopted 
and  are  maintaining  a  system  which  loses  sight  of  the  true 
object  of  education ;  and  no  one  has  pointed  out  with 
greater  force  and  clearness  the  defects  of  that  system  than 
the  gifted  prelate  from  whom  I  have  quoted.1 

In  the  United  States  every  shade  of  religious  creed  and 
opinion  is  represented  in  our  sixty-five  millions  of  people ; 
and  the  difficulty  that  confronts  us  is  this  :  How  to  devise  a 
system  of  Christian  education  in  which  the  consciences  and 
rights  of  all  will  be  respected.  Many  believe  it  impossible, 
and  hence  accept  as  the  only  practicable  solution  of  the 
question  our  present  system  of  secular  schools  from  which 
all  religious  teaching  is  excluded.  The  common  schools  of 

1  Means  and  End  of  Education,  by  Bight  Rev.  J,  L.  Spalding,  Bishop  of 
Peoria. 


148  Education  in  the  United  States 

this  country  were  originally  religious  schools.  The  early 
settlers  of  New  England  who,  whatever  their  faults  may 
have  been,  were  a  deeply  religious  people,  established 
schools  in  which  their  religion  was  taught ;  and  it  was  only 
when  people  of  many  and  different  persuasions  came  to  the 
country,  all  zealous  in  teaching  and '  propagating  their  own 
peculiar  tenets,  that  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  make 
the  common  schools  non-sectarian.  The  majority  of  the 
American  people  have  now  come  to  believe  that  the  non- 
sectarian  is  the  ideal  system  of  education,  and  regard  those 
who  differ  from  this  view  as  enemies  of  the  country. 

No  class  in  the  community  appreciates  more  highly  the 
advantages  of  a  good  secular  education  than  the  Catholics  ; 
but  while  they  are  prepared  to  admit  that  ignorance  is  the 
parent  of  vice,  they  vigorously  deny  that  intelligence  is 
always  the  concomitant  of  virtue.  Experience  has  clearly 
demonstrated  that  the  education  of  the  head,  without  the 
education  of  the  heart,  is  a  menace  to  society.  Catholics, 
therefore,  maintain  that  the  present  system  of  secular 
education  fails  to  accomplish  the  end  for  which  our  common 
schools  were  established — the  creation  of  those  civic  virtues 
which  are  necessary  for  the  existence  and  perpetuation  of 
republican  institutions.  ;They  believe  that  the  religious 
school  is  necessary  for  the  creation  of  these  virtues.  To 
quote  again  from  that  admirable  book,  The  Means  and 
End  of  Education : — 

"  The  scope  of  public  school  education  is  to  co-operate  with 
the  physical,  social,  and  religious  environment  to  form  good  and 
wise  men  and  women.  Unless  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  school 
is  but  one  of  several  educational  agencies,  we  shall  not  form  a 
right  estimate  of  its  office.  It  depends  almost  wholly  for  its 
success  upon  the  kind  of  material  furnished  it  by  the  home,  the 
state,  and  the  Church  .  .  .  The  school,  unless  it  works  in  harmony 
with  these  great  forces,  can  do  little  more  than  sharpen  the  wits." 

This  is  precisely  the  defect  of  our  public  schools.  They 
do  not  work  in  harmony  with  the  religious  forces.  Unfor- 
tunately, they  often  antagonize  them.  If  we  wish  to  have 
our  children  truly  Christian,  they  must  be  brought  up  in  a 
Christian  atmosphere  ;  and  no  matter  how  good  their  home 


Education  in  the  United  States  149 

training  may  be,  no  matter  how  powerful  the  influence  of 
their  Church,  if  for  six  days  of  the  week  they  live  in  an 
unchristian  atmosphere,  the  result  must  be  disastrous. 
Some  of  our  non-Catholic  fellow-citizens  are  beginning 
to  see  the  terrible  consequences  of  this  godless  education 
and  are  striving  to  devise  for  the  public  schools  some  system 
of  Christian  teaching,  which  would  suit  all  classes  of  con- 
science and  conviction — a  minimized  Christianity  containing 
nothing  objectionable  to  any  denomination.  Even  if  such  a 
system  could  be  devised,  which  would  be  acceptable  to  all 
Christian  denominations — and  we  are  very  far  from  believing 
that  possible,  because  the  basis  of  agreement  is  too  narrow 
and  impracticable — there  would  still  be  a  large  portion  of 
our  population  to  whom  it  would  be  decidedly  objectionable. 
If  we  are  to  teach  Christianity  in  our  schools,  it  must  be 
no  minimized  Christianity,  no  compromise  Christianity,  but 
Christianity  as  it  is,  and  as  Christ  gave  it ;  and  since  the 
people  will  not  accept  the  form  of  Christianity  taught  by 
any  one  denomination,  the  only  practicable  solution  of  the 
difficulty  is  to  give  us  denominational  education. 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  establishing  in  the  United 
States  a  denominational  system  of  education  are,  notwith- 
standing the  declarations  of  the  politicians  and  the  preachers 
to  the  contrary,  not  insuperable.  The  objection,  that  such 
a  system  would  destroy  or  seriously  imperil  the  unity  and 
homogeneity  of  the  American  people,  and  be  productive  of 
religious  bigotry  and  sectarian  animosity,  has  little  weight. 
We  fail  to  see  how  such  a  result  would  follow.  It  would  be 
more  natural,  we  believe,  to  expect  that  if  the  denominational 
system  were  adopted  we  should  hear  less  of  the  bickerings 
and  the  strife  which  is  the  result  of  the  present  system- 
Nothing,  we  believe,  would  more  effectively  produce  unity 
and  harmony  among  all  classes  and  creeds  than  the  con- 
viction that  perfect  justice  was  done  to  all,  that  no  class  in 
the  community  was  compelled  to  support  a  system  of 
education  of  which  they  could  not  conscientiously  avail 
themselves,  and  that  the  conscientious  convictions  of  all 
were  respected. 

Another  objection  often  heard  is  this  :  If  we  give  separate 


150  Education  in  the  United  States 

schools  to  Catholics,  the  other  religious  denominations  and 
the  Jews  would  demand  separate  schools ;  and  such  a 
breaking  up  of  our  present  system  would  seriously  injure  its 
efficiency.  We  answer  :  it  the  majority  of  Protestants  and 
Jews  and  infidels  are  now  satisfied  with  the  secular  system, 
why  should  they  cease  to  be  satisfied  with  it  after  separate 
schools  had  been  given  to  the  Catholics  ? 

The  truth  is,  there  is  no  serious  difficulty  to  be  overcome 
in  order  that  denominational  education  may  be  given  to 
those  who  conscientiously  demand  it.  We  believe  that  the 
jealousies  and  rivalries  of  the  different  denominations  have 
done  more  than  anything  else  to  keep  our  schools  secular. 
The  anti-Catholic  spirit,  which  is  the  life  of  Protestantism, 
prompts  many  to  favour  the  secular  system,  because  they 
believe  it  weakens  the  respect  of  Catholic  children  for  their 
religion,  and  detaches  them  from  their  Church. 

It  is  manifestly  unjust  that  Catholics  should  be  compelled 
to  support  schools  to  which  they  cannot  conscientiously 
send  their  children.  If  the  State  takes  our  money  for 
education,  it  ought  to  devote  a  fair  proportion  of  the  funds 
arising  from  such  taxation  to  the  education  of  our  children 
according  to  the  method  of  which  we  can  avail  ourselves. 
We  are  prepared  to  give  the  State  in  return  a  sufficient 
guarantee  that  the  money  so  appropriated  is  properly  spent, 
and  that  the  necessary  secular  instruction  is  given  in  pur 
schools.  If  our  non -Catholic  fellow-citizens  are  satisfied 
with  the  public  schools  as  at  present  conducted,  let  them 
have  them  ;  but  if  Catholics,  or  the  members  of  any  other 
denomination,  conscientiously  believe  that  the  public  schools 
fail  to  give  that  education  which  they  deem  necessary  to 
insure  the  well-being  of  their  children  and  the  safety  of  their 
country,  and  if  they  are  willing  to  pay  their  share  of  the 
school  tax,  it  is  only  simple  justice  that  they  should  receive 
a  proportionate  share  of  that  tax  from  the  State  for  the 
support  of  their  denominational  schools. 

Notwithstanding  the  manifest  justice  of  this  claim  of  the 
Catholic  population  of  the  United  States,  the  great  majority 
of  the  people  do  not  appear  disposed  to  grant  it.  We  must 
not  on  that  accouut  cease  to  point  out  the  justice  of  our 


Theological  Notes  151 

claim,  arid  to  show  to  the  American  public  that  a  purely 
secular  education  is  pernicious  and  altogether  inadequate 
to  fit  the  children  of  the  country  for  true  citizenship.  In 
the  meantime  parochial  schools  must  be  erected  and 
supported.  The  eternal  and  temporal  interests  of  our 
Catholic  children  are  at  stake  ;  the  interests  of  our  country 
are  at  stake ;  we  must  adopt,  no  matter  how  great  the 
sacrifice,  the  only  means  by  which  these  interests  may 
be  safeguarded. 

P.  GRIFF Y. 


£beolo0fcal  motes 

ANSWERS   TO   CORRESPONDENTS 

THE     PASCHAL    COMMUNION    OF   PERSONS   UNABLE   TO    FAST, 
BUT   NOT   HOWEVER   IN   DANGER   OF   DEATH 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — In  the  I.  E.  EECORD  for  December  you 
state,  in  reply  to  a  correspondent,  that  it  is  not  lawful  to 
administer  Communion  to  the  sick,  in  order  that  they  may  comply 
with  the  precept  of  Paschal  Communion,  when,  though  not 
subjects  for  the  Viaticum,  they  are  unable  to  fast.  This  seems  to 
be  the  general  opinion  of  theologians  and  the  general  practice  of 
priests,  but  some  maintain  that  it  is  lawful  to  give  Holy  Com- 
munion to  this  class  once  a  year,  that  they  may  comply  with 
Paschal  precept.  Kindly  say  in  next  issue  of  I.  E.  EECORD — 
(A),  whether  this  second  opinion  is  sufficiently  probable  to  justify 
priests  in  acting  on  it ;  (B),  whether  the  Benedictio  in  articulo 
mortis  may  be  repeated  as  often  as  Extreme  Unction  in  case  of 
protracted  illness,  when  the  patient,  having  partially  recovered, 
falls  again  into  danger  of  death. 

DUBIUS. 

A.  In  our  reply  in  the  December  number  of  the 
I.  E.  EECORD,  we  deliberately  abstained  from  expressing 
any  approval  of  that  more  liberal  opinion  to  which 
our  correspondent  refers.  And  now,  in  answer  to  the 
definite  question  proposed  to  us,  we  say  that,  in  our  opinion, 


152  Theological  Notes 

it  is  not  probable  that  Communion  may,  even  once  a  year 
at  Pascbal  time,  be  given  to  those  sick  persons  non 
jejunis  who  are  unable  to  fast,  and  yet  not  subjects  for  the 
Viaticum. 

O'Kane  is  sometimes  quoted  as  admitting  the  probability 
of  this  exemption  from  the  law  of  fasting  in  the  case  of  the 
Paschal  Communion  of  the  sick  unable  to  fast.  But  it 
should  be  noted  that  what  O'Kane  says  is,  that  this  opinion 
"  seems  not  improbable  ;"  and  that  he  "  should  be  slow  to 
condemn  anyone  who  might  make  up  his  mind  to  act 
upon  it."  While  further  on  he  concludes  his  discussion 
of  the  matter  in  these  words  : — "  In  practice,  then,  we 
think  that  the  most  that  can  be  done  without  a  Papal 
dispensation  is  to  administer  Communion  .  .  .  soon  after 
midnight." 

We  now  give,  very  briefly,  our  reasons  for  denying  the 
probability  of  this  alleged  exemption  in  favour  of  the  sick. 
(1)  The  obligation  to  be  fasting  when  receiving  Communion 
is  general ;  it  affects  all,  the  sick  as  well  as  others,  unless 
in  so  far  as  an  exemption  can  be  established.  We  can  find, 
however,  no  solid  proof  or  argument  for  the  teaching  which 
allows  even  the  Paschal  Communion  to  persons  unable  to 
receive  it  fasting.  (2)  Benedict  XIV.,  in  the  letter  quoted 
in  our  former  reply,  having  enumerated  certain  circum- 
stances in  which  a  person  not  fasting  may  communicate, 
asserts,  that,  in  all  other  cases,  a  Papal  dispensation  is 
required.  The  Paschal  Communion  of  the  sick  unable  to 
fast  is  not  among  the  excepted  cases.  (3)  Papal  dispensa- 
tions, in  the  fast  before  Communion  have  been,  even  in 
recent  times,  sought  by  and  granted  to  persons  unable 
to  fast  (vid.  Konings,  1309 ;  Lehmkuhl,  ii.  161).  Nor  is 
it  alleged,  that  a  reply  was  ever  given  to  the  effect 
that  no  dispensation  was  necessary  for  Communions  de 
praeceptoy  like  the  Paschal  Communion.  (4)  The  Rubric 
itself,  as  we  shall  try  to  show,  is  against  the  teaching  which 
we  oppose. 

Those,  who  would  permit  the  administration  of  the 
Paschal  Communion  in  the  case  under  discussion,  attempt 
to  prove  the  exemption  from  the  law  of  fasting — (1)  from 


Answers  to  Correspondents  15$ 

the  Eubric  de  Communione  infirmorum.  (2)  From  the  fact 
that  the  Paschal  precept  is,  as  they  contend,  a  divine 
precept,  and  that  it  should,  therefore,  prevail  against  the 
ecclesiastical  precept  of  the  fast  in  a  case  in  which  both 
cannot  be  fulfilled.  (3)  Because  the  Church,  even  though 
she  could,  would  not  urge  the  obligation  of  the  fast  where 
it  would  prevent  a  sick  person  from  communicating  for  a 
very  long  period.  (4)  From  the  authority  of  theologians. 
We  reply,  briefly,  in  order. 

(1)  As  regards  the  Kubric — anyone  can  find  it  for  himself 
in  his  Kitual ;  we  need  not,  therefore,  repeat  it  here.     The 
Kubric  seems  to  us  to  be  clearly   against  the   exemption 
that  it  is  supposed  to  establish.    For — (a)  while  it  purports 
to  treat  de  communione  infirmorum,  and  of  the  obligation  to 
fast  before  Communion,  it  divides  the  sick  into  two  classes 
only — brevi  morituros   and   ceteros  infirmos.     The   former, 
according  to  the  Rubric,  may,  if  necessary,  receive  Com- 
munion non  jejuni;  the  latter,  the  Eubric  says,   without 
distinction,  must   be  fasting.      Nor,  to  our   mind,  does  it 
create  any  serious  difficulty,  that  the  Eubric,  in  affirming 
this  obligation  of  the  latter  class  of  sick  persons  to  fast, 
speaks  of  them  as  persons  "  quiob  devotionem  communicant." 
The  Eubric  simply  adheres  consistently  to  the  division  it 
has  made  of  the  sick  into  brevi  morituros  and  ceteros  infirmos. 
From  this  point  of  view,  the  Viaticum  alone  is  depraecepto  ; 
any  other  Communion  of  the  sick  is,  and  may  be  called, 
communio  ob  devotionem.    (b)  If  ours  be  not  the  true  reading 
of  the  Eubric,  it  must  be  held   that   the   Eubric,  while  it 
claims  to  treat  de  Communione  infirmorum  in  relation  to  the 
fast,  omits  all  reference  to  a  large  and  obvious  class  of  cases, 
(c)  But,  even  granting  that  the  Eubric  does  not  affirm  the 
obligation  of  the  sick  to  fast  when  they  communicate  to 
fulfil   the   Paschal   precept,  what   follows?     Nothing;  the 
Eubric  neither  affirms   nor   denies  their  obligation.     They 
remain,  therefore,  as  far  as  this  Eubric  goes,  subject  to  the 
general  law. 

(2)  We  deny  that  the  Paschal  precept  is  a  divine  precept. 
It  is  true,  indeed,  that  a  person  satisfies  the  divine  precept 
of  Communion  by  his  Easter  Communion.     But  the  same  is 


154  Theological  Notes 

true  of  Communion  made  at  any  other  time  of  the  year. 
The  divine  precept  is  not  attached  to  Easter  time  any  more 
than  it  is  to  Advent.  Moreover,  even  though  the  precept 
were  a  divine  precept,  it  would  not  follow,  that  the  ecclesi- 
astical precept  of  fasting  should  give  way  in  order  that  the 
Paschal  Communion  may  be  received.  Such  an  argument 
would  prove  too  much.  It  would  make  it  lawful,  in  cases  of 
necessity,  to  consecrate  without  vestments,  altar,  or  missal, 
in  order  to  procure  the  Viaticum.  Even,  therefore,  though 
it  happen,  that  a  sick  person  has  been  so  long  without 
Communion,  that  during  Paschal  time  the  divine  obligation 
of  communicating  begins  (per  se)  to  "urge,"  it  would  by 
no  means  follow,  that  Communion  may  be  administered 
to  that  person  non  jejuno  ;  still  less  would  it  follow  if  there 
were  question  of  the  ecclesiastical  precept  only, 

(3)  To  the  third  argument,  we  reply,  that  no  a  priori 
reasoning  can  establish  this  exemption.      It   is   doubtless 
true,  that,  in  the  opinion  which  we  hold,  some  sick  persons 
may  be  deprived  of  Communion  for  a  considerable  time. 
But  the  question  is  one  of  positive  legislation.     Nor,  is  the 
privation  to  the  sick  the  only  thing  to  be  considered ;  and, 
therefore,  this  argument  really  tells  us  nothing  as  to  what 
the  Church  has  actually  decided.      That  must  be  discovered 
otherwise. 

(4)  Now,  as  regards  the  weight  of  authority  in  favour  of 
giving  the  Paschal  Communion  to  a  sick  person  unable  to 
fast : — It  is  true,  as  O'Kane   says,  that  Elbel   allows  not 
merely  the   Paschal   Communion,  but  Communion  several 
times  during   the  year   to  a  man  for  whom  it  is  morally 
impossible   to   communicate   fasting.       And    he  gives    his 
reason  : — "  Ratio  est  quia  non  est  verosimile   quod  Ecclesia 
.    .    .  hoc    suo     praecepto    voluerit    comprehendere    tales 
infirmos   qui  nunquam  vel   certe   raro   admodum  possunt 
communicare    jejuni    veluti     recte     observant    ac    tenent 
Bonacina,    Diana,    Busembaum."       Now    we    shall    only 
observe  that  at  the  present  time  Elbel's  opinion  does  not 
find,  as  far  as  we  know,  a  single  adherent.   We  have  said 
above  what  we  think  of  the   reason  that  he   advances ;  it 
proves  absolutely  nothing.    But  what  is  most  noteworthy  in 


Answers  to  Correspondents  155 

connection  with  Elbel's  opinion  is,  that  it  is  not  held  by 
even  one  of  the  theologians  quoted  by  him  in  support  of  it. 
Every  reader  of  the  I.  E.  EECOED  can  find  in  St.  Alphonsus l 
the  words  of  Busembaum.  Busembaum  is  there  discussing 
quite  a  different  question,  viz.,  how  far,  and  at  what 
intervals,  it  is  lawful  to  give  Communion  per  modum  viatici 
to  a  sick  person  non  jejuno.  Bonacina2  discusses  the  very 
same  question  as  Busembaum,  but  has  nothing  whatever 
about  the  opinion  for  which  he  is  quoted  by  Elbel. 
Diana,  indeed,  refers  to  the  opinion  which  in  a  case  of 
necessity  allows  a  person  non  jejunus  to  receive  the  Paschal 
Communion.  But  he  mentions  it,  only  to  reject  it,  for 
he  adds,  with  apparent  approval :  "  Sed  hoc  (the  opinion 
referred  to)  Praepositus  non  admittit  cum  in  tali  casu 
communio  differri  possit ;  Ecclesia  namque  non  intendit 
obligare  ad  communionem  eum  qui  non  potest  communicari 
jejunus." 

So  much  for  Elbel's  opinion  and  for  his  authorities. 
O'Kane  attributes  Elbel's  opinion  to  a  writer  in  the 
Melanges  Theologiques  and  to  Witasse.  We  have  no 
means  of  judging  what  authority  attaches  to  the  name 
of  this  writer  in  the  Melanges  Theologiques,  And  anyone 
who  consults  Witasse,3  may,  perhaps,  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  his  words  do  not  necessarily  bear  the 
interpretation  put  on  them.  He  writes :  "  Lex  jejunii 
relaxatur  si  urgenti  morte  viatici  necessitas  incumbat  aut 
ea  sit  natura  morbi  diuturnioris  ut  jejunium  non  ferat." 
It  is  just  possible,  that,  in  the  second  clause  "  ea  sit  .  .  • 
ferat,"  Wittasse  simply  means  to  say,  that  even  though 
death  be  not  immediately  imminent,  the  Viaticum  may  be 
administered  to  a  sick  person  non  jejuno  in  danger  of  death. 

Among  the  modern  writers  that  we  have  seen,  we  find 
onlyHaine4  and  D'Amribale  5  allowing  the  Paschal  Com- 
munion to  a  sick  person  unable  to  fast.  But  they  advance 
no  new  argument.  Haine  appeals  to  the  authority  of  Elbel 

1  De  Euchar.,  284. 

2  De  Euchar.,  Disp.  iv.,  Q.  vi.,  P.  ii.,  23. 

3  Quaestio  nona  Quar.  5. 
4iii.  267. 

5iii.  412. 


156  «  Theological  Notes 

and  D'Annibale,  while  D'Annibale  himself  merely  refers  to 
St.  Alphonsus  (vi.  284). ]  But  in  that  place,  as  we  have  already 
said-,  there  is  question  of  the  Viaticum  only.  Busembaum 
and  St.  Alphonsus  allow  a  person  not  fasting  to  receive 
the  Viaticum  repeatedly  in  the  same  illness  ;  and  in  favour 
of  that  opinion  they  adduce,  among  others,  Suarez, 
Toletus,  Lugo,  Bonacina,  Escobar,  Henriquez,  Hurtado, 
Diana,  Laymann.  Thinking  that  D'Annibale  may  have 
found  some  support  for  his  opinion  among  these  writers,  we 
went  to  the  trouble  of  consulting  them.  But  we  found 
that,  with  the  doubtful  exception  of  Toletus,  they  either 
reject  D'Annibale's  opinion,  or  omit  all  reference  to  it, 
while  professing  at  the  same  time  to  enumerate  the  various 
cases  in  which  one  may  communicate  non  jejunus. 

From  this  examination  of  arguments  and  authorities, 
we  had  concluded  that,  the  opinion  allowing  the  Paschal 
Communion  to  a  person  unable  to  fast,  is  not,  and  never  was 
really  probable,  or  to  be  recommended.  At  the  very  most, 
it  seems  always  to  have  been  not  improbable,  struggling  for 
recognition.  But  we  were  confirmed  in  our  judgment, 
especially  as  regards  the  probability  of  the  opinion  at  the 
present  time,  on  referring  to  such  modern  writers  as  we  had 
at  hand.  In  a  practical  question  of  this  kind,  which  some- 
times occasions  very  great  inconvenience  to  priests  and 
people,  we  should  expect  theologians — whatever  may  be 
their  own  view — to  refer  to  and  admit  the  probability  of 
Elbel's  opinion — at  all  events  as  regards  the  Paschal  Com- 
munion— if  they  thought  it  a  really  probable  and  safe  opinion. 
Now  what  do  we  find  ?  We  have  looked  in  vain  through 
Lehmkuhl,  Ballerini,  Vindiciae,  Alphonsianae,  Gury, 
Konings,  Aertnys,  Palmieri,  Sabetti,  Bucceroni,  for  any 
word  of  even  qualified  approval  for  this  opinion.  In  the 
face  of  such  authorities,  we  think  ourselves  justified  in 
saying,  that  the  opinion  in  question  is  not  probable,  the 
authority,  such  as  it  is,  of  Elbel  and  of  Haine,  notwith- 
standing. 

We  quote,  by  way  of  example,  the  words  in  which  Palmieri 

1 24  must  be  an  error. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  157 

aptly  defends  the  action  of  the  Church  in  refusing  per- 
mission to  communicate  fracto  jejunio  without  a  Papal 
dispensation.  "  Absurde  vero  quis  postularet,  ut  judicium 
de  hac  re  ipsis  fidelibus  permitteretur  neque  expediret  ad 
hoc  Episcopos  (?)  multo  minus  parochos  aut  confessarios 
deputare ;  sic  enim  facile  lex  jujunii  brevi  a  praxi 
exularet." l 

The  only  remedy,  therefore,  that  we  can  recommend  for 
the  difficulty  experienced  with  the  sick  who  cannot  fast  is 
either  to  obtain  a  Papal  dispensation  directly  or  through  the 
Bishop ;  or,  in  defect  of  such  dispensation,  to  administer 
Communion  as  soon  after  midnight  as  may  be  necessary. 
Finally,  we  venture  to  add,  that  if  anyone  against  the  almost 
unanimous  opinion  of  theologians  can  make  up  his  conscience 
to  follow  the  opinion  of  Elbel,  he  ought,  at  all  events,  take 
care  that  these  two  conditions  are  verified— (1)  that  it  is 
morally  impossible  for  him  to  administer  Communion  at  a 
time  when  the  sick  person  may  be  found  fasting ;  (2)  that 
the  inability  to  fast  has  lasted,  or  is  likely  to  last,  for  such 
a  period  as  to  prevent  the  fulfilment  of  the  divine  (not 
merely  of  the  ecclesiastical)  precept  of  Communion. 

B.  (a-)  The  Benediction,  like  Extreme  Unction,  may 
be  repeated  whenever  the  sick  person,  having  even 
partially  recovered,  falls  again  into  danger  of  death. 
This  seems  to  us  to  be  conveyed  in  the  answer  of  the 
S.  Cong.,  1775.  The  question  put  was :  —  "Benedictio 
superadicta  potestne  bis  aut  amplius  in  eodem  morbo  qui 
insperate  protrahitur  impertiri,  etiamsi  non  convaluerit 
aegrotus  ?  Si  possit  iteraii  haec  benedictio,  quodnam  inter- 
vallum  inter  ejus  largitiones  ?"  The  answer  was — "  Semel 
in  eodem  statu  morbi."  It  is  worth  noting,  that  the  answer 
does  not  repeat  the  words  of  the  question.  It  does  not  say, 
"Semel  in  eodem  morbo;"  but,  "  Semel  in  eodem  statu 
morbi."  This  departure,  presumably  intentional,  from  the 
words  of  the  question,  implies  to  our  mind  that  the  S.  Cong, 
did  not  decide,  that  the  Benediction  was  to  be  given  but  once 
within  the  same  illness.  It  implies,  too,  that  what  makes 

;  Ballerini  ;  Palmier!  iv.,  De  Euchar,,  175. 


158  Theological  Notes 

the  repetition  lawful,  is  not  the  lapse  of  any  period  of  time, 
long  or  short,  but  rather,  as  in  the  case  of  Extreme 
Unction,  the  relapse  of  the  patient  into  a  dangerous 
state. 

With  a  view,  possibly,  of  removing  any  doubt  that  may 
be  entertained  regarding  the  interpretation  of  this  decree  of 
1775,  a  question  was  put  in  1842,  as  follows  : — (1)  "  Utrum 
benedictio  in  articulo  mortis  .  .  .  iterari  possit  in 
eodem  morbi  statu?"  The  answer  sent  was  one  already 
given  in  1838 — "  Sacra  Cong,  in  una  Veronem  cuidam  illius 
Episcopi  dubio  :  an  scilicet  benedictio  apostolica  pluries 
impertiri  possit  novo  mortis  periculo  redeunte  die  24  Sep. 
1838,  responsum  dedit  :  negative,  eadem  permanente 
infirmitate  etsi  diuturna :  affirmativa  vero  si  infirmus  con- 
valuerit,  ac  deinde  quacumque  de  causa  in  novum  periculum 
mortis  redeat."  This  reply  leaves  matters  pretty  much  as 
they  were.  If  by  the  words  si  infirmus  convaluerit  we  were 
to  understand  complete  recovery,  the  Benediction,  unlike 
Extreme  Unction,  could  not  be  repeated  during  the  same 
fit  of  sickness.  On  the  other  hand,  if  in  these  words  there 
is  question  of  a  recovery — complete  or  partial— followed  by 
a  dangerous  relapse,  the  Benediction  may  be  repeated  like 
Extreme  Unction  within  the  same  sickness  whenever  a 
dangerous  relapse  follows  a  partial  recovery.  Now,  we  think, 
that  the  latter  is  the  natural  interpretation  of  the  reply, 
viewed  in  the  light  of  the  Rubric  regarding  the  repetition  of 
Extreme  Unction.  The  Rubric  runs : — "In  eadem  infirmitate 
hoc  sacramentum  iterari  non  debet  nisi  diuturna  sit :  ut 
si  cum  infirmus  convaluerit  iterum  in  periculum  mortis 
incidat."  These  words  are  understood  to  convey  per- 
mission to  repeat  Extreme  Ucction,  if  during  the  same 
illness  there  be  a  dangerous  relapse  following  upon 
partial  recovery.  It  is,  we  think,  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  same  words  bear  the  same  meaning  when  used 
with  reference  to  the  kindred  subject  of  the  benedictio 
in  articulo  mortis.  The  Benediction  may,  therefore,  we 
think,  be  repeated  in  the  same  circumstances  as  Extreme 
Unction 

(6)  If,  however,  the  Benediction  has  been  once  validly 


Answers  to  Correspondents  159 

given,  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  it  during  the  same  illness. 
The  reason  is  that  the  indulgence  attached  can  be  gained 
only  once,  i.e.,  at  the  moment  of  death;  and  once  the 
blessing  is  validly  imparted,  its  effect  remains  suspended — 
no  matter  how  long  the  illness — until  the  moment  of  death. 
The  repetition  of  Exteme  Unction  produces  an  increase 
of  grace,  and  may  forgive  sin  and  restore  health.  The 
repetition  of  the  Benediction  has  no  similar  justification. 
If,  then,  the  repetition  of  the  Benediction  can  have  no 
effect,  why  should  it  be  even  lawful  to  repeat  it  ?  The 
Church  permits  the  repetition  for  the  greater  consolation  of 
the  dying  person,  and  to  make  it  more  certain  that  it  has 
been  validly  imparted. 

It  may  be  useful  to  add  that  the  indulgence  can  be 
gained  by  each  person  once  only ;  i.e.,  at  the  moment  of 
death ;  that  it  is  not  applicable  'to  anyone  but  the  dying 
person  himself;  that  the  state  of  mortal  sin  is  not  an 
obstacle  to  the  valid  reception  of  the  blessing,  though  in 
order  that  the  indulgence  be  actually  applied,  it  is  obviously 
necessary  that  the  dying  person  be  in  the  state  of  grace  at 
the  moment  of  death ;  nor  does  a  relapse  into  mortal  sin 
after  receiving  the  blessing  extinguish  the  right  to  a 
plenary  indulgence. 


PASCHAL  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDEEN  IN  THE  YEAE  OF  THEIR 
FIEST  COMMUNION  J  PASCHAL  COMMUNION  OF  THOSE 
WHO  HAVE  EECEIVED  THE  VIATICUM  IMMEDIATELY 
BEFOEE  PASCHAL  TIME 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — 1.  There  is  a  double  precept  binding,  at  the 
age  of  discretion,  viz. : — the  precept  of  Confession  and  Communion. 
The  practice  of  going  earlier  to  Confession,  and  of  preparing 
later  on  for  Communion,  is  general.  O'Kane  (N.  646)  says,  first 
Communion  is  usually  fixed  within  Paschal  time.  The  practice, 
at  least  in  rural  parishes,  is  to  have  it  outside  Paschal  time.  Is 
the  Paschal  precept  binding  on  children  the  year  of  their  first 
Communion  ? 

2.  Having  administered  the  Last  Sacraments,  on  Monday 
before  Ash  Wednesday,  to  some  in  danger  of  death,  should  they 
still  survive,  are  they  bound  to  receive  again  on  Ash  Wednesday  ? 


160  Theological  Notes 

The  liberty  of  using  a  privilege  does  not  enter  into  the  case, 
since  it  could  be  made  for  the  eve  of  Palm  Sunday. 

By  kindly  answering  the  above  questions  you  will  much 
oblige. 

INQUIRER. 

1.  Out  of  any  first  Communion  class  of  well-instructed 
children,  some  will  be  bound  by  the  Paschal  precept  in  the 
year  of  their  first  Communion.  Parish  priests,  therefore, 
should,  as  far  as  possible,  arrange  to  have  the  immediate 
preparation  completed  and  first  Communion  given  each  year 
before  the  end  of  Paschal  time. 

It  is,  indeed,  true,  that  the  first  Communion  of  children 
may  be  deferred  for  a  considerable  time  after  their  first 
Confession.  They  should  be  prepared  for  and  admitted  to 
Confession  as  soon  as  "they  have  attained  the  years  of 
discretion ;"  that  is  to  say,  when  there  is  already  danger  of 
their  committing  mortal  sin.  For  children,  as  well  as  adults, 
are  bound  by  the  precept  of  annual  Confession  if  they  have 
sinned  grievously.  By  reason,  therefore,  of  this  precept,  not 
to  speak  of  other  sources  of  obligation,  the  parish  priest 
should  afford  them  opportunities  of  being  absolved  in  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance.  Above  all,  needless  to  say,  the 
obligation  to  admit  children  inpericulo  mortis  to  Confession, 
and  positis  ponendis,  to  absolve  them,  is  especially  urgent. 

Children  are  also  bound  to  communicate  at  Easter  when 
they  have  come  to  "the  age  of  discretion."  But  in  regard 
to  the  precept  of  Communion,  the  "  age  of  discretion  "  is 
understood  to  mean  that  age  at  which  they  are  capable 
of  understanding  that  our  Lord  is  really  present  in  the 
Eucharist,  and  of  approaching  the  Holy  Sacrament  with 
reverence  and  devotion.  The  authority  of  theologians  and 
the  practice  of  the  Church  sanctions  the  teaching  that  the 
degree  of  "  discretion  "  desirable  for  the  reception  of  first 
Communion  is  not  usually  attained  by  children  at  the  age 
at  which  they  are,  or  ought  to  be,  admitted  to  Confession. 
Putting  aside  the  case  of  children  in  periculo  mortis  (to 
whom  the  Viaticum  should  be  administered,  if  they  can, 
even  very  imperfectly,  'distinguish  the  Body  of  the  Lord),  it 
is  held  that  children,  as  a  rule,  should  not  make  their  first 


Answers  to  Correspondents  16  L 

Communion  before  the  ninth  or  later  than  the  twelfth  year. 
It  will  rest  mainly  with  the  parish  priest  to  determina 
when  precisely  within  these  limits  (or  without  them)  a  child 
has  acquired  the  dispositions  that  Church  desires  before 
enforcing  the  Paschal  precept.  It  should,  of  course,  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  same  knowledge  and  reverence  and 
devotion  must  not  be  expected  from  children  as  from  adults. 

Now  from  what  we  hive  said  it  shuuld  not  be  inferred, 
that  the  parish  priest  may  arbitrarily  defer  first  Com- 
munion until  the  twelfth  or  eleventh  year.  On  this  point 
St.  Alphonsus  writes:  "recte  reprehendit  Koncaglia parochos, 
qui  indiscriminatim  non  admittunt  ad  communionem 
nisi  pueros  in  certa  aetate  constitutes."  The  priest's 
duty  is  to  begin  to  instruct  the  children  for  first  Com- 
munion as  soon  as  they  are  capable  of  receiving  instruction. 
When  in  his  judgment  the  children— no  matter  what 
their  age — have  such  knowledge  and  dispositions  as  the 
Church  expects,  they  are  bound  to  communicate  at  Easter; 
and  the  parish  priest  should  admonish  them  of  their 
obligation,  and  see  that  they  fulfil  it. 

Now,  in  any  class  of  first  communicants,  with  whom 
ordinary  care  has  been  taken,  there  will  be  some  of  whose 
fitness  to  receive  Communion  during  Paschal  time  no 
reasonable  doubt  can  be  entertained  by  the  parish  priest. 
There  seems  to  be  nothing  wanting  to  bring  such  children 
under  the  Paschal  precept.  It  binds  all  who  have  come  to 
the  "  years  of  discretion."  Of  course,  children  are  some- 
times admitted,  and  rightly,  to  first  Communion  without  all 
the  dispositions  that  the  Church  desires  them  to  have.  It 
may  be,  that  there  is  a  little  hope,  for  example,  of  their  being 
better,  or  as  well,  prepared  the  following  year.  We  do  not 
speak  of  these  or  of  any  whose  preparation  is  imperfect. 
But  we  can  see  no  reason  why  children,  admittedly  prepared, 
should  not  be  bound  to  communicate  within  the  Paschal 
time.  Hence,  in  order  to  give  such  children  an  opportunity 
of  fulfilling  their  obligation,  they  should,  whenever  it  can  be 
done  without  disproportionate  inconvenience,  be  admitted 
to  first  Communion  before  the  expiration  of  Paschal  time 
each  year.  In  many  places  there  appears  to  have. been 

VOL.  XVII.  L 


162  Theological  Notes 

express  legislation  obliging  parish  priests  to  such  an  arrange- 
ment. Obviously  the  assumption  was  that  the  children,  or 
some  of  them,  would  be  bound  by  the  Paschal  precept  in  the 
year  of  their  first  Communion. 

2.  We  understand  the  case  to  be  this.  A  person  has 
immediately  before  Paschal  time  received  the  Viaticum 
worthily  and  from  a  priest  duly  authorized  to  administer  it. 
The  sick  person  survives  until  Paschal  time  has  begun.  Is 
he  bound  to  communicate  again  in  order  to  fulfil  the 
Paschal  precept  ?  We  reply  : — 

(a)  If  he   survives  until   the  end  of    Paschal   time — it 
matters  not  whether  he  has  fully  recovered  or  not — he  must 
communicate  again.    For  the  precept  binds,  without  distinc- 
tion, those  that  are  ill  and  those  that  are  well. 

(b)  If  he  dies  before  the  expiration  of  Paschal  time — on 
Easter  Sunday  for  example,  while  there  yet  remains  time  to 
fulfil  the  Paschal  precept,  he  is  not  bound  by  virtue  of  this 
precept   to   communicate   again.      This,   no   doubt,   is  the 
hypothesis   before   the  mind  of  our   correspondent.      The 
reason  is  that,  like  others,  he  can,  on  Easter  Sunday,  law- 
fully defer  his  Paschal  Communion  until  some  day  during 
Easter    week,  v.g. ;  meantime  death  intervenes  to  free  him 
from  the  obligation  altogether. 

What  suggested  the  difficulty,  perhaps,  is,  that  if  the  same 
man,  in  perfect  health,  were  going  to  sea,  for  example,  on 
that  Easter  Sunday,  and  if  he  were  to  have  no  further 
opportunity  of  doing  his  Easter  duty,  he  would  certainly  be 
bound  to  communicate  before  setting  out.  The  reason  is 
that,  even  at  sea,  he  will  remain  subject  to  the  ecclesiastical 
law;  and  it  is  unlawful  for  anyone  directly,  or,  without 
cause,  indirectly,  to  place  an  obstacle  which  makes  the 
fulfilment  of  a  law  impossible  for  him  without  at  the  same 
time  liberating  him  from  subjection  to  the  law  itself. 

It  would  be  quite  otherwise,  however,  if  there  were 
question  of  doing  something  which  would  make  a  man  cease 
to  be  subject  to  the  law  altogether.  A  man  would  not  be 
bound  to  anticipate  the  fulfilment  of  his  Paschal  Communion 
if,  on  Easter  Sunday,  he  were  setting  out  for  and  were  to 
reach  a  country  where  the  Paschal  precept  does  not  bind. 


Ansivers  to  Correspondents  163 

No  one  can  do  so ;  there  is  no  such  land.  But  death  does  for 
us  what  we  cannot  do  for  ourselves.  It  removes  us  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  Paschal  precept.  In  the  technical  language 
of  theology,  the  reason  of  the  difference  in  relation  to  this 
precept  between  a  man  dying  and  a  man  going  to  sea  is, 
that  in  the  former  case  there  is  question  of  a  causa  eximens, 
in  the  latter  of  a  causa  exvusans.  A  man  is  not  bound  to 
anticipate  the  fulfilment  of  an  obligation  by  reason  of  a 
causa  eximens  that  he  foresees ;  he,  sometimes,  is  bound 
to  anticipate  in  view  of  a  causa  excusans.1 

PBEACHING  ON  SUNDAYS 
AND  HOLIDAYS 

REV.  DEAR  SIR, — May  I  ask  for  information  on  the  following 
questions  in  the  I.  E.  RECORD.  As  different  opinions  are  held, 
a  decision  would  be  useful : — 

1.  Can  the  Mass_pro  sponso  et  sponsa  be  said  on  a  double? 

2.  Is   a  priest   obliged  to   preach   on  Sundays,  who  has  to 
celebrate  the  last  Mass  at  eleven   or  twelve   o'clock,  and  give 
Benediction  of  the  Most  Holy  Sacrament ;  or  on  holidays,  when 
much  business  is  to  be  transacted  by  townspeople? 

3.  Can    the    sermon   be   dispensed  with,    by  the   celebrant, 
when  a  "  long  list  of  the  dead"  is  to  be  read  at  the  last  Mass? 

1.  Our  correspondent  will    find  in   the   Or  do    for  the 
present  year  (p.   xii.,  n.    5)    the  information  that  he  seeks 
regarding  the  Mass^ro  sponso  et  sponsa. 

2.  (a)  The  mere  fact  that  a  priest  has  to  say  the  eleven  or 
twelve  o'clock  Mass,  and  to  give  Benediction  immediately 
after,  does  not  excuse  him  from  preaching.     Benediction  of 
the  Most  Holy  Sacrament  on   Sundays  and  holidays  is,  of 
course,  most  desirable,  whenever  it  can  be  given  conveniently. 
But  it  is  intended  to  supplement—  not  to  exclude — the  Mass 
or  the  sermon. 

(6)  In  cities  and  in  towns  in  which  a  good  deal  of  business 
is  done  on  certain  holidays,  there  may  sometimes  be  sufficient 
reason  for  omitting  the  sermon.  Fairs  and  markets  are 
in  some  places  held  on  certain  holidays.  However  much 

1  Vid<  Gury,  i.  108-110, 


164  Theological  Notes 

we  may  regret  this,  we  must  take  things  as  we  find  them, 
if  we  cannot  hope  to  change  them.  It  may  well  happen, 
that  on  these  market  days  it  would  be  unreasonable  and 
imprudent  to  delay  townspeople  and  others  from  their 
business.  Such  delay  may  tempt  them  to  remain  away  from 
Mass  altogether.  Only  a  knowledge  of  local  circumstances, 
however,  could  enable  one  to  form  a  prudent  judgment  on 
such  cases. 

But,  apart  from  exceptional  cases  of  this  kind,  we  think 
that  a  priest  is  not  justified  in  neglecting  to  preach  on 
holidays,  on  the  plea  that  many  of  the  congregation  require 
to  return  to  their  business.  Even  busy  people  gladly  listen 
to  a  short  sermon,  if  the  preacher  has  really  got  something 
to  say,  and  says  it  well  and  earnestly. 

3.  The  list  should  be  extremely  long,  indeed,  that  would 
exclude  a  few  words  of  instruction  and  exhortation.  It  is 
said  that  with  careful  preparation  an  excellent  sermon  can 
be  delivered  within  the  space  of  five  minutes. 

THE   FUNDS   OF   CONFEATERNITIES  ;    TREASUEEESHIP  ; 
ADMINISTRATION 

"A  Subscriber,"  a  curate,  who  is  the  local  director  of  a 
confraternity,  asks  whether  he  is  bound  to  hand  over  the 
funds  of  the  confraternity  to  the  parish  priest. 

We  assume  that  the  confraternity  has  been  canonically 
erected  with  the  permission  of  the  bishops.  It  was  competent 
.for  the  bishop,  in  giving  his  permission,  to  determine 
how  the  funds  of  the  confraternity  were  to  be  collected, 
held,  and  administered.  If  he  did  so,  there  should  be  no 
further  question  as  to  the  treasurership  of  the  money,  or  the 
objects  on  which  it  is  to  be  expended. 

If,  however,  as  usually  happens,  the  bishop  merely 
approved  the  erection  of  the  confraternity,  then  the  members 
can  appoint  their  own  treasurer,  and  dispose  of  their  funds, 
for  pious  purposes,  as  they  think  fit.  The  local  director, 
as  such,  has  no  more  right  to  the  custody  or  disposal  of 
the  money  than  any  other  member ;  the  parish  priest,  as 
such,  has  no  right  whatever,  Often,  indeed,  the  local 


Liturgical  Notes  165 

director  is,  as  a  matter  of  course,  either  elected  or  recog- 
nised as  the  treasurer,  and  is  allowed  to  disburse  the  funds 
at  his  discretion.  If  any  difficulty  is  likely  to  arise  from 
such  an  arrangement,  the  director  should  have  some  other 
member  appointed  treasurer  or  joint  treasurer  with  himself. 
That  the  parish  priest,  as  such,  has  no  right  to  hold  or 
administer  the  revenues  of  a  confraternity  established  in 
his  parish,  is  evident  from  the  following  decree,  urbis  et 
orbis,  1703: — "An  possint  [confraternitates]  propria  bona 
administrare  ac  de  illis  disponere  absque  ulla  dependentia 
a  parocho  ?  Affirma  tive. ' ' 

D.  MANNIX. 


IRotes 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

I.  CAN    A    PERSON    GAIN     SEVEEAL     PLENARY    INDULGENCES 

SIMULTANEOUSLY  ? 

II,  CAN    A    PERSON    GAIN    SEVERAL    PLENARY    INDULGENCES 

"  IN    ARTICULO    MORTIS  "  ? 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — I  wish  to  submit  to  the  expert  consideration 
of  your  I.  E.  EECORD,  a  few  practical  questions  :— 

1.  Can  a  person  gain  simultaneously  several  plenary  indul- 
gences ?     The  usual  answer  to  this  query  is,  I  believe  :  A  person 
cannot  gain  for  himself  more  than  one  plenary  indulgence  at  the 
same  time.     But,  with  all  due  deference  to  this  evasive,  venerable 
reply,  I  think  there  is  here  a  slight  confusion — the  gaining  of  an 
indulgence  is  confounded  with  its  application.     The  question  is 
not,  can   a  person  gain  for  himself — but  can  a  person  gain- 
several  plenary  indulgences  at  once  ?  The  gaining  of  an  indulgence 
is  a  something  entirely  distinct  from  its  application,  for  positis 
ponendis,    an    indulgence   is   surely   gained,   the   application   is 
conditioned. 

2.  Can  a  person  obtain  more  than  one  plenary  indulgence  in 
articulo  mortis  ?    Here   I   have  heard  two  opinions   advanced. 
The  first  asserts  positively  that  but  one  can  be  gained,  though 
the  dying  person  be  entitled  to  several — for  the  plenary  indulgence 
in  articulo  mortis  is  personal — cannot  be  transferred ;  and  the 
Church  nowhere  declares  that  more  than  one  may  be  gained  at 


166  Liturgical  Notes 

the  hour  of  death.  The  second  opinion  asserts  that  a  person  in 
articulo  mortis  can  gain  all  the  indulgences  to  which  he  is  entitled, 
for  the  Church  nowhere  declares  otherwise,  does  not  discriminate 
against  the  indulgences  in  articulo  mortis.  The  Church,  in  fact, 
has  granted  many  indulgences  for  the  hour  of  death,  and  there  is 
no  reason  why  these  cannot  be  gained,  provided  the  necessary 
conditions  are  fulfilled.  True,  it  may  be  indeed,  the  Church  has 
never  declared  we  can  gain  more  than  one  plenary  indulgence  at 
our  last  hour  ;  but  this  is  not  the  question ;  rather  has  the  Church 
ever  taught  that  but  one  can  be  gained  at  that  hour. 

To  resume  : — 1.  Can  a  person  gain  simultaneously  several 
plenary  indulgences  ?  2.  Can  a  person  gain  more  than  one 
plenary  indulgence  in  articulo  mortis  ? 

AMERICAN  PRIEST. 

1.  A  person  can  gain  several  plenary  indulgences  on  the 
same  day,  and  even  simultaneously.  Previous  to  the  year 
1841,  a  difference  of  opinion  existed  among  theologians  as 
to  whether  a  person  could  on  the  same  day  gain  several 
plenary  indulgences,  for  each  of  which  Communion  wras 
prescribed.  Those  who  held  the  negative  opinion  contended 
that,  as  Communion  could  not  be  repeated,  and,  as  it  was 
one  of  the  works,  the  performance  of  which  was  essential 
for  gaining  each  of  the  indulgences,  only  one  of  the  plenary 
indulgences  could  be  gained.  Against  these  it  was  contended 
that,  Communion  was  not  so  much  a  work  to  be  performed 
for  gaining  each  of  the  indulgences,  as  a  condition,  the 
fulfilment  of  which  was  necessary  for  each.  But  one 
Communion  fulfils  this  condition  for  any  number  of  plenary 
indulgences;  consequently,  whoever  faithfully  fulfils  the 
other  conditions  can  gain  several  plenary  indulgences  by 
one  Communion,  though  Communion  be  prescribed  for  each. 
In  1841  this  latter  opinion  received  the  sanction  of  the 
Congregation  of  Indulgences.  In  that  year  the  Congregation 
in  reply  to  the  question,1 

"  An  eodem  die  lucrari  possunt  plures  indulgentiae  plenariae, 
quando  pro  unaquaque  praescripta  est  perceptio  divinae 
Eucharistiae  ?  " 

Replied : 

"  Affirmative,  servatis  tamen  respective  aliis  appositis  con- 
ditionibus." 

lDecreta  Authentica,  291,  1  May  29,  1841. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  167 

Moreover,  it  is  not  merely  the  plenary  indulgences  whict 
are  attached  to  a  particular  festival,  or  rather  to  Confession 
and  Communion  on  a  particular  festival,  that  can  be  gained  in 
virtue  of  one  Communion  ;  but  also  those  plenary  indulgences, 
which,  springing  from  different  titles,  one  may  gain  on  a  d.a,y 
in  each  month  to  be  selected  by  himself.  Hence  a  person 
who  goes  to  Confession  and  Communion  only  once  in  tht 
month,  can  on  that  occasion  gain  all  the  plenary  indulgences 
to  which  he  has  a  right  during  this  month,  whether  his 
right  springs  from  the  festival  of  the  day,  from  his  member- 
ship of  confraternities,  or  from  the  recital  of  certain  prayers. 
This,  too,  has  been  explicitly  declared  by  the  Congregation 
of  Indulgences  in  its  affirmative  reply  to  the  following 
question : — 

"  Cum  ex  diversis  decretis  S.  Congregationis  Indulgentiarum 
jam  liceat  plures  indulgentias  plenarias  eadem  die  lucrari,  solutis 
scilicet  conditionibus,  quaeritur  an  dictum  decretum  respiciat 
solas  indulgentias  in  una  die  occurrentes  propter  festivitatem,  vel 
potius  etiam  illas,  quas  unusquisque  ob  suam  devotionem  tali 
per  hebdomadam  aut  mensem,  diei  adfixerit?  Resp.  Affirmative."1 

The  necessity  of  repeating  the  works  which  can  be 
repeated  for  each  indulgence  one  desires  or  hopes  to  gain, 
cannot  be  too  strongly  or  too  often  insisted  upon.  For 
most  of  these  indulgences  a  visit  to  a  church  or  chapel,  and 
prayers  during  such  visit  for  the  intentions  of  the  Holy 
Father  are  prescribed.  Now  these  visits  and  prayers  must 
be  repeated  for  each  indulgence.  It  is  not  sufficient  to 
make  only  one  visit,  though  that  visit  should  be  a  prolonged 
one,  and  though  during  it  a  person  prayed  as  long  for  the 
Pope's  intentions  as  would  suffice,  if  divided,  to  fulfil  this 
condition  for  all  the  plenary  indulgences  he  hopes  to  gain. 
And  furthermore,  that  the  visits  be  distinct,  it  is  necessary 
to  go  outside  the  church.  It  is  not,  however,  necessary  to 
go  away  a  distance  from  the  church,  nor,  a  fortiori,  to  return 
home ;  neither  is  it  necessary  to  remain  for  a  notable  time 
outside  the  church  between  two  visits.  As  has  been  stated, 
once  before,  in  these  pages,  the  visit  to  the  church  on  a 
Sunday  or  a  holiday  to  hear  a  Mass  of  obligation,  and  to 

1  Dccreta  Authentic^  399,  1  Feb.  29,  1864. 


168  Liturgical  Notes 

receive  Communion,  fulfils  the  condition  of  one  visit.  Hence, 
if  before,  during,  or  after  the  Mass  a  person  prays  for  the 
Pope's  intention,  he  has  fulfilled  the  conditions  of  visit,  and 
prayers  for  one  plenary  indulgence. 

The  following  decrees 1  of  the  Congregation  of  Indul- 
gences point  out  what  has  just  been  stated  :  — 

"  Qui  decreto  ipso  (decreto,  scilicet,  anni  1841,  jam 
memorato)  uti  voluerit,  an  teneatur  ecclesiam  vel  publicum 
oratorium  visitare  (quando  nempe  requiritur  talis  visitatio)  totidem 
vicibus  quot  sunt  indulgentiae  lucrifaciendae  ?  Affirmative. 

"  An  sufficiat  ut  in  una  eademque  ecclesia  tot  preces,  seu 
visitationes  repetantur,  quot  sunt  indulgentiae  lucrandae,  quin 
de  ecclesia  post  quamlibet  visitationem  quis  egrediatur,  et  denuo 
in  earn  ingrediatur  ?  Negative." 

We  have  said  that  several  plenary  indulgences  can  be 
gained  simultaneously.  This  is  merely  a  corollary  from 
what  we  have  demonstrated  regarding  the  gaining  on  the 
same  day  of  several  plenary  indulgences,  for  each  of  which 
Communion  is  prescribed.  An  indulgence  is  gained  the 
moment  the  last  condition  is  fulfilled,  or  the  last  work, 
performed.  Now,  when  Communion  is  prescribed  as  a 
condition  for  the  several  indulgences  which  one  wishes  to 
gain  on  the  same  day,  it  is  evident,  first,  that  no  one  of  the 
indulgences  is  gained  until  Communion  has  been  received ; 
and,  secondly,  that  if  all  the  other  conditions  for  each  of  the 
indulgences  have  been  fulfilled  before  Communion,  when 
Communion  has  been  received,  all  the  indulgences  will  be 
gained  at  one  and  the  same  moment,  or  simultaneously. 

Now,  that  we  have  replied  directly  to  our  esteemed 
correspondent's  question,  he  will  pardon  us,  we  are  sure,  if 
we  say  a  word  of  defence  of  that  "  venerable,  but  evasive 
reply,"  which  seems  to  have  excited  his  ire.  But  for  his 
warning,  that  he  would  not  be  satisfied  with  this  reply,  it 
is  almost  certain  we  should  have  introduced  it  much  earlier. 
For  now,  after  demonstrating  that  a  person  can  gain  several 
plenary  indulgences  simultaneously,  we  must  admit  that  he 
cannot,  unless  this  reply  be  regarded  as  valid  and  reasonable. 
For,  what  is  a  plenary  indulgence  ?  It  is  the  remission  of 

1  Deer.  Auth.,  n.  399,  2,  3  Feb.  29,  1804. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  169 

all  the  temporal  punishment  due  to  whatever  sins  one  has 
committed  up  to  the  time  of  gaining  the  indulgence.  Hence, 
the  effect  of  one  plenary  indulgence  is  the  same  as  that  of 
any  number  gained  simultaneously.  Hence,  too,  if  a  person 
about  to  gain  several  plenary  indulgences  simultaneously 
does  not  apply  all  but  one  to  some  other  object  than  himself, 
then  all  but  one  are  lost.  Thus,  Lehmkuhl,  speaking  of  one 
Communion  being  sufficient  for  gaining  several  plenary 
indulgences.,  says  : — * 

"  Sufficit  una  eademque  communio  ad  lucrandas  plures 
indulgentias  plenarias  (quamquam  solum  defunctis  tune  re  ipsa 
applicari  possu?it)  eodem  die  occurrentes,  &c." 

2.  A  person  can  gain  only  one  plenary  indulgence  in 
articulo  mortis.  This  plenary  indulgence,  no  matter  on 
what  title  or  titles  the  dying  person  claims  it,  is  gained 
only  in  the  last  instant  of  mortal  life.  It  is  not  gained  if 
the  person  recovers,  even  after  having  received  the  apostolic 
blessing ;  it  is  not  gained,  even  though  it  should  be  con- 
sidered necessary  or  desirable  to  repeat  the  apostolic 
blessing ;  it  is  never  gained  until  the  moment  the  soul  is 
parting  from  the  body.  Hence,  clearly,  a  person  cannot  gain 
more  than  one  plenary  indulgence  in  articulo  mortis  for 
himself ;  and  it  is  nowhere  stated  that  these  indulgences  for 
the  hour  of  death  are  applicable  to  the  souls  in  Purgatory. 
But  indulgences  are  not  applicable  to  the  souls  in  Purgatory 
unless  by  the  express  concession  of  the  Pope.  Hence  it 
would  seem  to  follow  that  these  indulgences  cannot  be 
applied  to  the  souls  in  Purgatory.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
have  shown  that  the  dying  person  can  gain  only  one  for 
himself.  Hence  he  can  gain  only  one  altogether.  This 
opinion  Beringer  states,  and  strongly  defends.  Indeed  he 
does  not  admit  the  possibility  of  its  soundness  being 
questioned : — 

"^  From  all  that  precedes  [he  says  ]  it  must  be  concluded  that 
the  indulgence  for  the  hour  of  death  can  be  gained  only  once 
by  each  of  the  faithful.  It  is  true  that,  in  their  solicitude  for  the 
good  of  souls,  and  in  order  to  make  it  easy  for  every  dying  person 

1  Vol.  ii.,  page  381. 


170  Liturgical  Notes 

to  gain  the  indulgence,  the  Popes  have  granted  it  on  titles  both 
very  numerous  and  very  varied.  But  never  have  they  declared 
that  one  can  gain  it  as  many  times  as  he  has  titles  on  which  it 
may  be  gained.  Besides  this  indulgence  is  destined  and  applied 
in  a  very  special  manner  by  the  Pope  to  the  dying  person  himself, 
and  he  does  not  gain  it  until  the  precise  moment  of  his  death, 
which  evidently  arrives  only  once.  But  as  to  the  pretence  or 
contention,  that  the  dying  person  can,  by  reason  of  the  different 
titles  to  this  indulgence,  which  he  possesses,  gain  it  once  for 
himself,  and  several  times  for  the  souls  in  Purgatory,  it  is  an 
assertion  which  rests  on  no  solid  foundation,  and  which  is  refuted 
by  all  that  we  have  said  up  to  the  present." x 

He  then  goes  on  to  say  that  hardly  had  the  above  words 
been  written  when  he  heard  from  a  thoroughly  reliable 
source  that  the  Congregation  of  Indulgences  had  just  issued 
an  instruction  which  stamps  this  opinion  as  the  only  tenable 
one.  We  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  copy  of  this 
instruction,  but  Beringer  himself  gives  a  synopsis  of  it, 
which  fully  bears  out  what  he  says  of  it.  Hence  we  may 
now,  it  would  seem,  say  that  the  Church  has  declared  that 
a  person  can  gain  only  one  plenary  indulgence  in  articulo 
mortis. 


1  That  is,  in  the  exhaustive  treatment  of  this  question  which  precedes  this 
passage  we  have  quoted.  The  assertion  here  refuted  has  the  support  of 
Busembaum,  who  says  :  "  Possunt  moribund!  plures  indulgentias  plenarias,  ob 
plures  titulos  concessas,  simul  lucrari ;  verbi  gratia  quia  habent  plura  rosaria, 
vel  grava,  cruces  imaginesve  quibus  sunt  applicatae  ;  vel  titulo  suae  religionis, 
confraternitatis,  &c."  (apud  S.  Alphons.  lib,  6,  n.  534,5.)-  St.  Alphonsus 
does  not  question  this  statement;  consequently,  we  may  conclude  that  he 
approves  it.  Father  O'Kane  was  seemingly  misled  by  this  paragraph  from 
Busembaum,  for  in  his  admirable  Notes  on  the  Rubrics,  he  says  (n.  979) :  "  It  is 
probable  that  even  by  virtue  of  a  single  concession  the  indulgence  may  be 
gained  as  often  as  the  prescribed  acts  are  repeated,  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  several  may  be  gained  where  the  titles  are  distinct,"  and  he  quotes 
Busembaum  as  his  authority  for  the  last  statement.  Busembaum's  opinion  is  a 
logical  deduction  from  the  principles  with  which  he  starts,  although _ these 
principles  are  wrong.  He  believed,  or  seems  to  have  believed,  that  an  indul- 
gence for  the  hour  of  death  was  gained  as  soon  as  the  dying  person  was  in 
articulo  mortis,  and  that  a  person  might  be  in  that  condition  for  several  days  before 
death  actually  arrived.  Here  are  his  words  :  ' '  Probabile  enim  est  si  habeat 
(moribundus)  plures  imagines,  grava,  rosaria,  &c.,  benedicta,  posse  siveintuitu 
ejusdem  concessionis  sivediversarum,  toties  lucrari  quoties  nomen  Jesu  repetierit 
vel  praestiterit  opus  requisitum.  Sufficit  autem  ad  eas  lucrandas  quodvis 
tempus  in  quo  verifioatur  mortis  articulus  etsi  pluribus  diebus  ab  ipsa  morte 
absit."  {Ibid.}  it  is  now  perfectly  certain  that  the  plenary  indulgence  for  the 
hour  of  death,  whatever  its  title  may  be,  is  gained  only  in  the  very  moment  of 
death.  Hence  with  Busembaum's  principle  his  deduction  also  falls. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  171 

IMPOETANT   DECEEE   EEGAEDING   THE  SCAPULAE   OF  THE 
MOST   HOLY   TEINITY 

Indultum  quo  conceditur  dispensatio  a  nova  benediction e  pro 
Scapularibus  SSmae,Trinitatis,  quando  a  fidelibus  aliud  assumitur 
post  primum  attritum  vel  consumptum. 

BEATISSIME   PATEE 

Fr.  Stephanus  a  S.  Corde  Mariae  Ordinis  SSmae.  Trinitatis 
Congregationis  Hispanicae  Commissarius  Apostolicus,  ad  pedes 
S.  V.  humiliter  provolutus  exponit  adscriptos  sodalitati  SSmae. 
Trinitatis  parvum  habitum  sen  Scapulare  ex  Ian  a  alba  confectum 
cruce  nigra  et  caerulea  decoratum  ab  aliquo  Ordinis  superiore 
benedictum  sumere  et  super  se  gestare  :  verum  quum  scapulare 
hujusmodi  attritum  vel  consumptum  fuerit  et  aliud  assumatur  de 
novo  benedici  debet,  prouti  expresse  edicitur  in  Summario 
Indulgentiarum  concessarum  sodalibus  SSmae.  Trinitatis  sub 
poena  amissionis  Indulgentiarum. 

Id  tamen  causa  est,  ut  plures  Christi  fideles,  praedictae 
solilitati  adscripti,  saepe  saepius  priventur  Indulgentiis  eidem 
concessis.  Nam  non  semper  praesto  sunt  cuique  fideli  indigenti 
novo  Scapulari  superiores  Ordinis  SSmae.  Trinitatis  aut  alii 
sacerdotes  etiam  saeculares  de  eorumdem  superiorum  licentia,  qui 
illud  benedicere  queant.  Quare,  ut  bono  spirituali  adscriptorum 
provideatur  Orator  supplex  adit  S.  V.  quatenus  huic  legi 
iterum  benedicendi  novum  Scapulare  post  primum  a  Sodalibus 
assumptum,  benigne  derogare  dignetur,  ita  ut  in  posterum 
quicumque  eorum  primum  Scapulare  susceperit  benedictum,  si 
hoc  ita  attritum  vel  consumptum  fuerit,  ut  primum  form  am 
amiserit,  aliud  ipsis  assumere  detnr  etiam  non  benedictum  absque 
amissione  Indulgentiarum  :  et  ita  etiam  uniformitas  habebitur 
quoad  hoc  Scapulare,  cum  omnia  aliarum  diversarum  Confrater- 
nitatum  Scapulari  non  benedicantur  nisi  prima  vice  tantum,  id  est 
quando  primitus  imponuntur,  facta  cuilibet  adscriptorum  potestate 
aliud  postea  assumendi  absque  nova  benedictione. 

Et  Deus,  etc. 

S.  C.  Indulgentiis  sacrisque  Eeliquis  praeposita,  utendo  facul- 
tatibus,  a  SS.  D.  N.  Leone  PP.  XIII.  sibi  specialiter  tributis, 
attentis  expositis,  et  praesertim,  ut  etiam  quoad  Scapulare  Sanc- 
tissimae  Trinitatis  inducatur  uniformitas  pro  aliis,  et  in  primis 
pro  Carmelitico,  existens,  quae  nonnisi  prima  vice  benedicuntur, 
idest  quando  primitus  Christifidelibus  imponuntur,  benigne 


Liturgical  Notes 

annuit  'pro  gratia    juxta  preces.      Contrariis  quibuscumque   non 
obstantibus. 

Datum  Eomae   ex  Secretaria  ejusdem  S.  Congregationis  die 
24  August!  1895. 

It  is  well  known  that  a  person  once  validly  invested  in 
the  brown  scapular  does  not  need  to  have  the  new  scapulars, 
which  he  or  she  may  afterwards  assume,  blessed.  Though 
not  so  well  known,  it  is  nevertheless  equally  certain  that  the 
same  held  and  holds  true  of  the  scapular  of  the  Seven 
Dolours,  of  the  blue  scapular,  and  of  the  red  scapular.  But, 
for  some  unaccountable  reason,  the  white  scapular,  or 
scapular  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  remained  an  exception  to 
this  rule,  and  each  new  scapular  which  one  assumed  had 
to  be  blessed  by  a  priest  having  the  proper  faculties  in 
precisely  the  same  manner  as  the  first.  The  above  decree 
removes  this  anomaly,  so  that  henceforth  the  white  scapular, 
like  the  other  scapulars,  will  not  require  to  be  blessed  after 
one  has  been  once  validly  invested.  This,  of  course,  holds 
true  for  those  who  have  already  been  invested,  as  well  as  for 
those  who  shall  be  invested  in  future,  and  even  for  those 
who,  having  been  invested  for  a  considerable  time,  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  renewing  their  white  scapulars  without 
having  them  blessed.  We  take  this  opportunity  of  again 
reminding  our  readers  that  the  names  of  those  who  are 
enrolled  in  the  white  scapular,  the  brown  scapular,  or  the 
black  scapular — the  scapular  of  the  Seven  Dolours — must 
be  entered  in  the  register  of  a  canonically  erected  and 
corresponding  confraternity,  or  sent  respectively  to  a  house 
of  the  Trinitarians,  the  Carmelites,  and  the  Servites  of  the 
B.  V.  Mary.  If  this  is  not  done,  no  indulgences  are  gained 
through  wearing  these  scapulars. 

D.  O'LoAN. 


[    173    ] 


Documents 

EENEWAL  OF  FACULTIES  GRANTED  TO  THE  IRISH  BISHOPS 
TO  DISPENSE  PARISH  PRIESTS  FROM  THE  OBLIGATION  OP 
SAYING  MASS  IN  THEIR  OWN  CHURCHES,-AND  APPLYING  IT 
FOR  THE  FAITHFUL  OF  THEIR  PARISHES  ON  RETRENCHED 
HOLIDAYS 

Prot.  16350. 
BEATISSIME  PATER, 

Michael  Cardinalis  Logue,  Archiepiscopus  Armacanus,  ad 
pedes  Sanctitatis  Tuae  provolutus  petit  pro  se  aliisque  Hiberniae 
Episcopis  ut  S.  T.  benigne  dignetur  prorogare  ad  decennium 
facultatem  ipsis  die  VIa  Auguste  MDCCCLXXVI.  concessam,  videlicet 
dispensandi  Parochos  sibi  subditos  ab  onere  celebrandi  in  propriis 
ecclesiis  et  applicandi  Missam  pro  populo,  in  iis  festis  diebus 
in  quibus  fideles  ab  obligatione  Missam  audiendi  Apostolica 
auctoritate  soluti  sunt. 

Ex  Audientia  Sanctissimi  habita,  die  7  Jan.  1896. 

SSmus.  D.  N.  Leo  divina  providentia  PP.  XIII.,  referente  ine 
infrascripto  Sacrae  Congregationis  de  Propaganda  Fide  Secretario, 
Indultum,  de  quo  in  precibus,!  benigne  prorogare  dignatus  est 
ad  aliud  decennium  in  forma  et  terminis  primaevae  concessionis, 
contrariis  quibuscumque  non  obstantibus. 

Datum  Eomae  ex  aed.  S.  Congregationis  de  Propaganda  Fide, 
die  et  anno  ut  supra. 

A.  Archiep.  LARISSENS,  Seer. 

RESOLUTIONS    OF    THE     IRISH     HIERARCHY    REGARDING   THE 

MANAGERS  AND  TEACHERS  OF  PRIMARY  SCHOOLS 
[THE  following  important  statement  and  resolutions  unani- 
mously adopted  by  the  Irish  Bishops  at  their  meeting  at 
Maynooth,  on  the  llth  of  October,  1894,  were  omitted,  by  an 
oversight,  from  the  documents  published  in  the  I.  E.  BECORD  of 
the  following  month.  Owing  to  pressure  of  work,  in  connection 
with  the  College  Centenary,  they  were  lost  sight  of ;  but  they 
are  of  such  practical  importance,  that  we  believe  many  of  our 
readers  will  be  glad  to  have  them,  even  now,  in  a  convenient  place, 
suitable  for  reference.  They  are  as  follows : — ] 

"  The  Bishops  have  observed  with  regret  that  efforts  have 
been  made  by  some  prominent  members  of  the  Teachers' 


174  Documents 

Organization  to  effect  important  changes  in  the  Eules  of  the 
National  Education  Board  subversive  of  the  legitimate  authority 
of  the  managers  of  schools. 

"  They  consequently  feel  called  upon  to  make  it  known  that 
they  regard  the  managership  of  the  schools,  especially  in  reference 
to  the  appointment  and  dismissal  of  teachers,  as  a  matter 
intimately  and  essentially  connected  with  that  control  over 
education  in  its  moral  and  religious  aspects  which  it  is  their 
right,  and  therefore  their  duty,  to  maintain. 

"  In  reference  to  the  exercise  of  the  existing  power  of  managers 
in  the  dismissal  of  teachers,  the  following  resolution  embodying 
the  arrangement  which  has  for  some  time  been  in  operation  very 
generally  throughout  Ireland  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
meeting. 

"  'That  no  principal  or  assistant  teacher  be  dismissed  or  served 
with  notice  of  dismissal  by  a  clerical  manager  until  the  manager 
has  informed  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  his  intention  to  take 
such  action,  and  has  obtained  the  assent  of  the  bishop  to  his  doing 
so.' 

"  That  a  copy  of  the  above  statement  and  resolution  be  sent 
to  the  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland,  and  to  the  National  Education 
Board  through  its  Secretaries. 

"  ffc  MICHAEL  CARDINAL  LOGUE, 

Chairman. 
"  ^  FRANCIS  J.  M'CORMACK, 

Bishop  of  Galway  and  Kilmacduagh, 

"  *  J°HN  HEA^> 

Coadjutor  Bishop  of  Clonfert, 


APOSTOLIC    LETTEES    OF    HIS    HOLINESS    POPE    LEO   XIII.    ON 
THE    COPTIC   PATKIAECHATE    OF  ALEXANDEIA 

Christi  Domini,  Eedemptoris  humani  generis,  auctoris  con- 
servatorisque  Ecclesiae,  assidue  Nos  et  caritatem  divinam  intueri 
et  salutare  provehere  opus  pro  muneris  Nostri  sanctitate  con- 
tendimus.  Gratiamque  ei  debemus  plurimam  atque  ex  animo 
profitemur,  quod  Nobis  in  eas  incumbentibus  curas  quae  ad 
nomen  catholicum  sive  inferendurn  reducendumve  in  populos  sive 
stabiliendum  in  illis  augendumque  attinerent,  suis  ipse  auspiciis 
praesentique  ope  tarn  benignus  adfuerit.  Cui  etiam  acceptum 
singulari  modo  referimus,  quasdam  biennio  proximo  oblatas  esse 
temporum  maturitates,  quibus  instituta  catholici  nominis  incre- 


Documents  175 

menta  licuerit  Nobis  studio  impensiore  atque  opera  persequi. 
Providentiae  autem  rationes  quas  in  earn  rem  adhibere  visum  est, 
datis  praesertim  qua  universe  qua  singillatim  epistolis  apostolicis, 
baud  vacuae  sane  fructu,  divina  fovente  gratia,  cesserunt :  atque 
adeo  Nos  eumdem  insistentes  cursum,  laetiorem  quotidie  votorum 
eventum  fidenti  cogitatione  prospicimus.  Nunc  inter  ceteras 
nationem  atque  ecclesiam  Coptorum  complectimur  peramanter, 
destinatumque  habemus  peculiaria  quaedam  in  eius  bonum  et 
ornamentum  ex  apostolica  potestate  decernere. 

Copticam  gentem  paucis  ante  mensibus  allocuti  sumus  epistola 
propria,  et  vetera  ecclesiae  Alexandrinae  monumenta  commem- 
orando  excitavimus ;  idque  duplici  consilio,  ut  nimirum  ex 
benevolentia  atque  hortatione  Nostra  quum  catholici  confirma- 
rentur  in  coniunctione  et  fide  erga  Apostolicam  Sedem,  turn  vero 
dissidentes  ad  eamdem  coniunctionem  invitarentur  quaerendam 
et  renovandam.  Utraque  ex  parte  fuit  Nobis  quod  caperemus 
conceptae  spei  solatium.  Catholici  in  primis,  ut  aequum  erat, 
maximum  Nobis  obsequium  ac  pietatem  in  morem  filiorum  testati 
sunt,  iidem  praeterea  grati  quod  episcopum  e  gente  sua,  Vicarii 
apostolici  munere,  secundum  vota  dedissemus,  Venerabilem 
Fratrem  Cyrillum,  titulo  Caesareae  Paneadis.  Quin  etiam  suae 
voluntatis  apertius  declarandae  causa,  id  propositum  susceperunt 
ut  publicam  ad  Nos  mitterent  legationem  :  quo  nihil  certe  poterat 
neque  ipsis  honestius  esse  neque  Nobis  iucundius.  Septembri 
igitur  mense  coram  fuit  legatio  Coptorum,  ex  variis  nationis 
ordinibus,  ipso  Venerabili  Fratre  praeeunte,  delecta.  Ab  ea 
perlibentes  cognovimus  praeclare  amrmatum  quo  studie,  qua 
reverentia,  qua  obtemperatione  erga  hanc  beatissimi  Petri  Cathe- 
dram,  nomine  etiam  suorum  civium,  affecti  essent :  permovitque 
intimos  paternae  caritatis  sensus,  qua  ipsi  fiducia  suis  item  rebus 
ac  dissidentium  fratrum  exposcerent  a  Nobis  st  expectarent 
ampliora  praesidia.  Atque  illud  praecipuum  fore  significaverunt, 
magisque  et  humillimis  precibus  flagitarunt,  si  decreto  auctoritatis 
nostrae  Hierarchia  catholica  et  Patriarchalis  dignitas  apud 
Aegyptios  instaurata  resurgeret.  Aequam  afferri  et  non  inoppor- 
tunam  postulationem  plus  una  persuasit  causa.  Constat  enim 
rei  catholicae  progressus  non  exiquos  quotidie  per  Aegyptum 
haberi;  clericos  et  sacerdotes  natives,  quod  plurimum  interest, 
numero  augeri ;  scholas  iuventutis  similiaque  rectae  instititutionis 
subsidia  multiplicari  ;  vigere  acrius  in  animis  religionis  amorem 
et  cultum,  atque  fructus  consentaneos  largius  provenire.  In  quo 
alacrem  cleri  operam  valde  quidem  iuvant  et  sustinent  nonnullae 


176  Documents 

Eeligiosorum  Familiae  :  ac  sua  debetur  laus  Franciscalibus,  qu 
iam  diu  per  ea  loca  elaborant,  suaque  debetur  Alumnis  Societatis 
lesu  et  Missionalibus  Lugdunensibus,  quos  Nosmetipsi  auxilio 
submittendos  curavimus.  lamvero  si  Hierarchia  in  eis  vel  partim 
renovetur  certique  praeficiantur  pastores,  ex  maiore  ipsa  atque 
expeditiore  vigilandi  providendique  facultate,  multiplex  profecto 
utilitas  in  clerum  ac  populum  dimanabit.  Patriarchalis  porro 
dignitas  optime  valitura  est,  turn  amplitudine  sua  ad  decus 
ecclesiae  Coptae  catholicae  in  opinione  relevandum,  turn  ingenita 
vi  ad  vincula  fidei  et  fraternitatis  in  omni  ratione  obstringenda. 
Nos  autem  re  tota  meditate  perpensa  eademque  deliberata  cum 
Consilio  seu  Commissione  Cardinalium  S.  K.  E.,  quam  ad  recon- 
ciliationem  dissidentium  cum  Bcclesia  fovendam  iussimus  Nobis 
adesse,  ei  ipsi  Coptorum  postulationi  obsecundare  censuimus. 

Itaque  ad  maiorem  divini  Nominis  gloriam,  ad  fidei  sanctae 
et  communionis  catholicae  incrementum,  Nos  ex  certa  scientia 
motuque  proprio  ac  de  plenitudine  apostolicae  potestatis,  Patri- 
arcbatum  Alexandrinum  catholicum  restituimus  et  pro  Comptis 
constituimus  ;  eique  ac  singulis  qui  ipsum  obtenturi  sint,  honores 
omnes,  privilegia,  praerogativas,  nomina,  omnemque  potestatem 
tribuimus,  eadem  ratione  qua  generatim  ea  nunc  a  Patriarchis 
orientalibus  rite  exercetur  :  qua  super  re  peculiaria  praescripta 
ab  Apostolica  auctoritate  tempore  et  loco  impertientur.  Sedi 
autem  patriarchal!  sedes  episcopales  duas  in  praesens,  decernimus 
suffraganeas ;  alteram  in  urbe  Hermopoli  maiore,  vulgo  Miniehj 
alteram  Thebis  seu  Diospoli  magna,  ad  urbern  Luksor  :  ita  ut 
Patriarchatus  tribus  interea  dioecesibus  constet,  videlicet  patri- 
archali  Alexandrina,  Hermopolitana,  Thebana :  integro  tamen 
Nobis  et  successoribus  Nostris  pleno  ac  privative  iure  sedes  alias 
vel  archiepiscopales  vel  episcopales  excitandi  easque  pro  neces- 
sitate vel  utilitate  Ecclesiae  immutandi. 

Alexandrinum  Coptorum  Patriarchatum  ita  constitutum 
eatenus  patere  qua  patet  proregnum  seu  Kedivatus  Aegypti 
proprie  dictae  ac  provinciae  praedicationis  sancti  Hard  statuimus 
atque  sancimus.  Limites  autem  singularum  dioecesium  quas 
supra  diximus,  hoc  modo  definire  placet.  Patriarchalis  Alexandrina 
Aegyptum  inferiorem  et  urbem  Cairum  complectitur.  Ad 
aquilonem  habet  mare  internum  seu  Mediterraneum  ;  ad  orientem, 
canalem  Suessi :  ad  austrum,  latitudinis  borealis  gradum  trige- 
simum  ;  ad  occasum,  Tripolitanam  Othomanici  imperii  provinciam. 
Dioecesis  Hermopolitana  in  Aegyptum  mediam  profertur.  Ad 
septentrionem  nnitima  est  dioecesi  patriarchal!;  ad  orientem 


Documents  177 

attingit  sinum  Heropoliticum ;  ad  meridiem,  continetur  circulo 
fere  rnedio  inter  gradus  vigesimum  septimum  et  vigesimum 
octavurn  latitudinis  borealis/ubi  scilicet  locus  iacet  Sacci-t-moussa 
ad  Nilum  flumen,  qui  pariter  locis  in  ditione  esto  eiusdem 
dioecesis ;  ad  occidentem  habet  desertum  Libycum.  Dioecesis 
Thebana,  in  Aegyptum  superiorem  porrecta,  circumscribitur  ad 
aquilonem  Hermopolitana  ;  ad  orientem,  sinu  Arabico;  ad  austrum, 
vigesimo  secundo  gradu  latitudinis  borealis  ;  ad  occasum,  deserto 
Libyco. 

Designationis  primae  turn  Patriarchae  turn  suffraganeorum 
Episcoporum  Apostolicae  huic  Sedi  ius  reservamus.  Interim, 
quoadusque  ea  designatio  fiat,  mandamus  ut  catholicorum 
coptici  ritus,  quotquot  tota  Aegypto  versantur,  penes  eumdem 
Venerabilem  Fratrem  Cyrillum,  nomine  et  auctoritate  apostolica, 
administratio  permaneat. 

Ita  posse  Nos  de  Patriarchatu  Alexandrine  pro  Copti? 
restituendo  providere  vehementer  laetamur  in  Domino ;  eoque 
magis  quia  eius  recordatio  ecclesiae  tarn  grata  accidit  quam  quae 
gratissima,  Nam  propterea  quod  earn  •  Marcus,  beatissimi  Petri 
discipulus  et  interpres,  auspicato  constituit  sancteque  gubernavit 
arctior  quaedarn  et  praeclarior  necessitudo  exorta  est,  quam  alias 
commemoravimus,  ipsam  inter  et  Eomanam  ecclesiam ;  cuius 
potissimum  coniunctionis  beneficio  extitit  ilia  pernobilis,  floruit- 
que  diu  et  splendore  virtutum  et  doctrinae  excellentia.  Quare 
Nobis  est  optatissimum  ut  dissentientes  Copti  Hierarchiam 
catholicam  ex  veritate  coram  Deo  considerent ;  earn  nimirum, 
quae  ob  communionem  cum  Cathedra  Principis  Apostolorum  et 
successoribus  eius,  sola  potest  ecclesiam  a  Marco  conditam 
legitime  referre,  solaque  heres  est  memoriae  omnis  quaecumque 
Patriarchatui  Alexandrino  a  priscis  illis  maioribus  est  fideliter 
tradita.  Ex  eo  fiat,  id  quod  rectus  ipsorum  animus  et>divinae 
gratiae  benignitas  sperare  admodum  iubent,  ut  dimissis  tandem 
compositisque  dissidiis  quae  consecutae  intulere  aetates,  ad 
unitatem  redire  velint  Eomanae  ecclesiae,  quae  permagno  eos 
desiderio  caritatis  expectat. 

Has  litteras  Nostras  et  quaecumque  in  ipsis  habentur  nullo 
unquam  tempore  de  subreptionis  aut  obreptionis  vitio  sive 
intentionis  Nostrae  aliove  quovis  defectu  notari  vel  impugnari 
posse,  et  semper  validas  ac  firmas  fore,  suosque  effectus  in 
omnibus  obtinere  atque  ab  omnibus  cuiusvis  praeeminentiae 
inviolabiliter  observari  debere  decernimus.  Non  obstantibus 
Apostolicis  atque  in  synodalibus,  provincialibus,  universalibus 
VOL.  XVII.  M 


178  Documents 

Conciliis  edisis  generalibus  vel  specialibus  sanctionibus,  ceterisque 
contrariis  quibuscumque.,  peculiar!  etiam  mentione  dignis  :  quibus 
omnibus,  quatenus  opus  sit  amplissime  derogamus :  irritumque 
et  inane  decernimus  si  secus  super  his  a  quoquam,  quavis 
auctoritate  scienter  vel  ignoranter  contigerit  attentari. 

Volumus  autem  ut  harum  litterarum  exemplis  etiam  impressis, 
manu  tamen  Notarii  subscriptis  et  per  constitutum  in  ecclesiastica 
dignitate  virum  sigillo  munitis,  eadem  habeatur  fides  quae  Nostrae 
voluntatis  signification!  his  praesentibus  ostensis  haberetur. 

Datum  Komae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  anno  Incarnationis 
Dominicae  millesimi  octingentesimo  nonagesimo  quinto,  sexto 
Calendas  Decembres,  Pontificatus  Nostri  anno  decime  octavo. 

A.  Card.  BIANCHI,  Pro-Datarius. 
C.  Card.  DE  BUGGIERO. 


MASS  TO  BE    SAID   BY   EXTEKN  PRIESTS  IN  A  CHURCH  WHERE 

THE  FEAST  OF  A  SAINT  OR  "  BEATUS  "  IS  BEING  CELEBRATED 

DECEETUM  UEBIS   ET   OEBIS 

Quod  Benedictus  XIV.  diserte  docet  (Op.  de  Beat,  et  Can.  Lib. 
IV.  part.  II.  C.  II.  n.  5),  Missas  nempe  in  honorem  Beatorum, 
vel  etiam  Sanctorum  nonnullis  Ordinibus  Eegularibus  ex  indulto 
concessas,  ab  aliis  Presbyteris  sive  Saecularibus,  sive  Eegularibus, 
celebrari  non  posse  ;  Sacrorum  Eituum  Congregatio  iampridem 
declaraverat,  ac  postea  quampluribus  particularibus  seu  generali- 
bus Decretis  retinuit  confirmavitque. 

Cum  nihilominus,  eodem  Benedicto  XIV.  fatente,  incongruum 
videretur,  ut  exteri  Sacerdotes  ad  Eegularium  Ecclesias,  die  pro 
festo  statuta,  confluentes,  aliam  celebrarent  Missam  ab  ilia, 
iisdem  Eegularibus  concessa ;  hinc  factum  est,  ut  Summi 
Pontifices,  in  ipso  Beatificationis  Brevi,  Indultum  pro  Eegularibus 
datum,  ad  onmes  et  singulos  Sacerdotes  in  praefatis  Ecclesiis 
celebrantes  extenderent. 

Id  autem  progressu  temporis  consultius  ac  prope  necessarium 
iudicatum  est,  cum  novae  pluresque  Missae,  iisdem  Eegularibus, 
seu  etiam  permultis  particularibus  Ecclesiis,  quum  Sanctorum, 
turn  Beatorum  indultae  sint ;  ne  videlicet,  latae  super  celebratione 
Missarum  leges,  aut  confusionem  aut  facilem  transgressionem 
paterentur ;  nisi  et  forte  earundem  observantia  fere  impossibilis 
fieret. 

Quae   quidem    omnia    cum   pluries,   ac  praesertim,   in    una 


Documents  179 

Eomana,  Dubiorum,  in  conventu  habito  die  23  Augusti,  1890, 
perpensa  fuissent  ;  Sacra  Eituum  Congregatio,  dilata  resolutione, 
decrevit,  ut  ad  omnem  difficultatem  penitus  amputandam,  certae 
normae  hac  in  re  universis  Sacerdotibus  in  singulis  casibus 
constituerentur.  Idcirco  in  Ordinariis  Comitiis  ad  Vaticanum 
subsignata  die  habitis,  hanc  generalem  regulam  ab  omnibus 
servandam  constituit  : 

Omnes  efc  singuli  Sacerdotes,  tarn  Saeculares  quam  Regulares, 
ad  Ecclesiam  confluentes,  vel  ad  Oratorium  publicum,  Missas 
quum  Sanctorum  turn  Beatorum,  etsi  Regularium  proprias, 
omnino  celebrent  Officio  eiusdem  Ecclesiae  vel  Oratorii  conformes, 
sive  illae  in  Romano,  sive  in  Regularium  Missali  contineantur  ; 
exclusis  tamen  peculiaribus  ritibus  Ordinum  propriis. 

Si  vero  in  dicta  Ecclesia,  vel  Oratorio,  Officium  ritus  duplici 
inferioris  agatur,  unicuique  ex  Celebrantibus  liberum  sit  Missam 
de  requie  peragere,  vel  votivam,  vel  etiam  de  occurrenti  feria  ;  iis 
tamen  exceptis  diebus,  in  quibus  praefatas  Missas  Rubricae 
Missalis  Romani,  vel  S.  R.  C.  Decreta  prohibent.  Die  9  lulii  1895. 

Super  quibus  omnibus  facta  postmodum  Sanctissimo  Domino 
Nostro  Leoni  Papae  XIII.  per  me  subscriptum  Secretarium 
relatione,  Sanctitas  Sua  sententiam  eiusdem  Sacrae  Congregationis 
ratam  habuit  et  confirmavit  ;  Rescripta  seu  Decreta,  turn  parti- 
cularia  turn  etiam  generalia,  in  contrarium  facientia,  suprema 
auctoritate  sua  penitus  abrogando.  Die  9  mensis  Decembris 
eodem  anno. 

CAI.  Card.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.B.C.  Praefectus. 
L,*S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  S.R.C.,  Secretarius. 


PAELIAMENTS   OF  KELIGION 

LITTERAE  APOSTOLICAE  DE    COETIBUS  VULGO  DICTIS    "PARLIAMENTS 
OF   RELIGION  " 

Venerabili    Fratri,   Francisco,    Archiep.   Naupactensi,     Delegate 
Apostolico  ad  Foederatas  Americae  Civitates,  Washing  toniam. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 

Venerabilis  Frater,  Salutem  et  Apostolicam  Benedictionem.  — 
Coetus  in  foederatis  Americae  civitatibus  celebrari  subinde  novi- 
mus,  in  quos  viri  promiscue  conveniunt  turn  e  catholico  nomine 
turn  ex  iis  qui  ab  catholica  Ecclesia  dissident,  simul  de  religione 
rectisque  moribus  acturi.  In  hoc  equidem  studium  agnoscimus 


180  Documents 

religiosae  rei,  quo  gens  ista  ardentius  in  dies  fertur.  At  quamvis 
communes  hi  coetus  ad  hunc  diem  prudenti  silentio  tolerati  sunt, 
consultius  tamen  videatar  si  catholic!  homines  suos  seorsum 
conventus  agant :  quorum  tamen  utilitas  ne  in  ipsos  unice 
derivetur,  ea  lege  indici  poterunt,  ut  aditus  ad  audiendum  uni- 
versis  pateat,  iis  etiam  qui  ab  Ecclesia  catholica  sejunguntur. 
Haec  tibi,  Venerabilis  Frater,  dum  pro  munere  Apostolatus 
duximus  significanda,  placet  simul  Sacerdotum  Paullianorum 
institutem  commendatione  Nostra  provehere.  Quibus  id^ratum 
sapienter  est  ut  dissidentes  fratres  palam  alloquantur  turn  catho- 
licis  dogmatibus  illustrandis,  turn  contra  ilia  objectis  refellendis. 
Horum  usum  ac  frequentationem  sermonum  si  singuli  sacrorum 
Antistites  in  sua  quisque  Dioecesi  promoveant  gratum  Nobis 
acceptumque  eveniet,  non  enim  inde  exiguum  in  animaruin 
salutem  emolumentum  oriturum  confidimus.  Tibi  interim, 
Venerabilis  Frater,  divinarum  gratiarum  munera  adprecati, 
Apostolicam  benedictionem  praecipuae  Nostrae  dilectionis  testem 
amantissima  impertimus. 

Datum     Eomae    apud    S.    Petrum     die     xvm     Septembris 
MDCCCXCV,  Pontificatus  Nostri  anno  Decimo  octavo. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 


THE    CONSECEATION   OF   ALTAES 

Eevmus.  Dnus.  Benedictus  Maria  della  Camera,  Episcopus 
titularis  Thermopylen.  Auxiliaris  et  Vicarius  Generalis  in  Thele- 
sina  seu  Corretana  Dioecesi,  sequentia  dubia  Sacrae  Eituum 
Congregation!  enodanda  humiliter  proposuit,  nimirum ; 

I.  Duo  altaria,  quum  haberent  aram   portatilem  ita  firmiter 
collocatam  in  magna  tabula,  ut  cum  hac  velut  unum  corpus   ilia 
efficeret  et  dimculter  extrahi  posset,  fuerunt  consecrata,  ara  por-- 
tatili  non  amota  et  parvo  sepulcro  in  ipsa  ara  portatili  effosso ; 
quaeritur,  fueruntne    ista  altaria   valide    consecrata?  an  denuo 
consecranda  sunt  ? 

II.  Altare  cuiusdam  Ecclesiae  consecratum  fuit  sub   eodem 
titulo    Beatae    Mariae  Virginus,    sub    quo  Altare   maius     erat 
consecratum  ;  quid  agendum  erit  in  casu  ? 

III.  In  quodam  Oratorio  private  altare  fuit  solemni  ritu  con- 
secratum.    Poterat  consecrari  altare  hoc,  et  peracta  consecratio 
estne  valida  ? 

Sacra  porro  Eituum  Congregatio,  ad   relationem  infrascripti 


Documents  181 

Secretarii,  exquisite  voto  alterius  ex  Apostolicarum  Caeremo- 
niarum  magistris,  reque  mature  perpensa,  rescribendum  censuit  : 

Ad  Ium.  "  Dilata;  facta  interim  potestate  bina  ilia  altaria  ad 
sacra  adhibendi. 

Ad  IIum.  a  Emus  Ordinarius  proponat  alium  titulum  pro  altari 
minori. 

Ad  Illum.  Negative  ad  primam  partem,  affirmative  ad 
secundam. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit  et  servari  mandavit.     Die  24  Maii,  1895. 

CAI.  Card.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  Praef. 
ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  Secretarius. 


DECISION     OF   THE     SACRED     CONGREGATION      OF    RITES 
REGARDING   THE   VESPERS    OF   VOTIVE    OFFICES 

B.  D.  Alph.  Mart.  Larne,  Episcopus  Lingonensis,  hurniliter 
petiit,  ut  S.  B.  C.  sequentia  dubia  enodare  dignaretur,  nimirum  : 

Utrum  officia  votiva  concurrentia  cum  aliquo  festo  primario 
eiusdem  ritus  :  et,  vice  versa,  an  festum  primarium  concurrens 
cum  officiis  votivis,  dimidient  Vesperas  ? 

Et  S.  C.,  exquisite  voto  alterius  ex  Apostol.  Caeremoniarum 
Magistris,  reque  mature  perpensa,  respondendum  censuit  :  Totum 
de  festo  primario  cum  commemoratione  officii  votivi. 

Ita  rescripsit  23  Aug.  1895. 

C.  Card.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.  E.  C.  Praef ectus. 
ALOISIUS  TEIPEPI,  S.  R.  C.  Secretarius* 
L,  g  S. 

DECISION     OF     THE     SACRED    CONGREGATION    OF     RITES 
REGARDING  LITANIES   OF   THE    SACRED   HEART 

A  Sacra  Bituum  Congregatione  expetitum  fuit,  utrum  Litaniae 
SS.  Cordis  lesu,  quae  per  Decretum  Pinerolien.,  quod  circum- 
fertur,  quamvis  a  Sancta  Sede  approbatae  non  fuerint,  permissae 
dicuntur,  saltern  extra  functiones  stricte  liturgicas,  recitari  aut 
cantari  possint  in  Ecclesiis  vel  Oratoriis  publicis  ? 

Eadem  vero  Sacra  Bituum  Congregatio  ad  relationem 
infrascripti  Secretarii,  re  mature  perpensa,  respondendum  censuit : 
"Negative;  et  cuilibet  Decreto  contrario  derogatum  esse  per  sub- 
seqiiens  Generate  Decretum,  datum  die  6  Martii  1894,  quo 
prohibentur  Litaniae  quaecumque,  nisi  extent  in  Breviario  ant  in 


182  Documents 

recentioribus  editionibus  Eitualis  Bomani,  ab  Apostolica  Sede 
approbatis."  1  Atque  ita  servari  mandavit.  Die  28  Novembris, 
1895. 

CAI.  Card.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.  E.  G.  Praefectus. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  S.  E.  C.  Secretarius. 
L.  *  S, 


DECISION  OF  THE  SACRED  CONGREGATION  OF  EITES  ON  THE 
OPENING  CF  THE  TABERNACLE  FOR  PRIVATE  DEVOTION, 
COMMUNION  BEFORE  AND  AFTER  MASS,  CARRYING  OF 
SACRED  RELICS  IN  PUBLIC  PROCESSION 

I.  In  quadam  Ephemeride   gallica  legitur,  Sacerdotem  posse 
pro    sua   privata   devotione  sacrum  Tabernaculum  aperire,   pro 
Sacrament!   adoratione,    preces   ad   libitum  fundere,    ac   deinde 
illud  claudere.     Idque  dicitur  legitime  inferri  a  quibusdam  S.  K. 
Congregationis  Decretis.    Nomine  et  auctoritate  Sacri  Tribunalis 
Eituum,  omnes  lectores   nostros   certiores  facimus,  quod    Ephe- 
rneris    gallica    vulgavit,  esse    simpliciter    falsum,    et    illationem 
esse  prorsus    illegitimam.      Expositio  privata   differt  a   solemni, 
quod    ilia  fit    cum  pixide,  ista   cum    Ostensorio ;    sed    utraque 
instituta  est  ad  bonum  publicum,  nullo  pacto  privatae  personae. 

II.  In  alia  legitur,  Communionem  fidelibus  non  posse  imper- 
tiri  sine  gravissima  causa,  neque  immediate  ante,  neque  immediate 
post   Missam ;    et  adducitur   ad  rem    recentius  quoddam  S.  E. 
Congregationis  Decretum.     Eodem  nomine  eademque  auctoritate 
declaramus,  est  simplicetur  falsum  quod  asseritur,  et  apochryphum 
si  extet,  Decretum,  quod  in  genere  nominatur,  sed  non  affertur. 
Ad  rem  valeat  sequens   declaratio  nobis  data  die  28  Novembris, 
1895: 

"  Nullum    extat   decretum  S.  E.  Congregationis    quod  prohi- 

beat   Communionem   fidelium    ante    vel  post   missam ;    et   turn 

Director    Ephemeridum    liturgicarum,    turn     Director     Analect. 

Ecclesiastic,  curent.  ut  huiusmodi  resolutio  lectoribus  innotescat." 

PHILIPPUS  DI  FAVA,  Substitute,  S.  E.  C. 

The  following  Note  is  added  in  the  "  Acta  Sanctae  Sedis  " 

Communio  fidelium  immediate  post  Missam  permittitur   ex 
Eitualis  Eubrica,  uti  Sacerdotes  norunt ;  ex  ratibnabili  quidem 

J  Recole,  vol.  xxvii,,  450. 


Additional  EemarJcs  on  Fowler's  "  Adamnan"       183 

causa,  ait  Kituale,  sed  haec,  temporum  nostrorum  conditione 
perpensa,  facile  adest,  semperque  generalitur  adesse  censendum 
est,  quando  communio  petifcur.  Posse  etiam  immediate  ante 
Missam  communionem  distribui  indubium  est,  eadem  ut  supra 
extante  causa,  eodemque,  ut  diximus,  modo  intellecta,  quamvis 
Eituali  de  hoc  sileat.  Ita  fert  communis  et  laudabilis  praxis 
Urbis :  hie  est  Ecclesiae  sensus  :  hoc  omnino  tenendum,  atque 
ita  se  gerendum. 

III.  Nomine  tandem  et  auctoritate  eiusdem  S.  E.  Congnis, 
omnium  in  memoriam  redigimus,  Eeliquias  quascumque  et 
Corpora  Beatorum  non  posse  in  publicis  supplicationibus  deferri, 
uti  deferri  possunt  Eeliquiae  et  Corpora  Sanctorum. 

Haec  prohibitio  sua  gravitate  pollet,  legemque  infringere, 
toties  per  Decreta  seu  particularia,  seu  generalia  et  a  Surnmis 
Pontificibus  confirmata,  nemini  licet. 

[We  beg  to  draw  the  attention  of  a  correspondent,  who  sent  us  a 
question  on  Communion  before  Mass  a  short  time  ago,  to  the  declaration 
now  formally  made  by  the  Sacred  Congregation.  The  question  was 
answered  in  our  November  issue,  page  1 043. — ED.  I.  E.  R.] 


ADDITIONAL  KEMAKKS  ON  FOWLEK'S  ADAMNAN 

TOWARDS  the  close  of  November,  we  received  the  following 
Notes  of  Dr.  Fowler,  relative  to  some  of  the  strictures  in  our 
notice  of  his  edition  of  Adamnan's  Vita  Columbae  in  the 
I.  E.  EECOBD  of  last  May.  Unforeseen  circumstances  prevented 
us  from  dealing  with  them  sooner. 

1.  To  issue  a  reprint  without  collation  with  the  original  text, 
even  to  the  meagre  extent  of  numbering  the  folios  and  columns, 
was  to  trifle,  we  said,  with  workers  at  first  hand. 

Note.  — "  No  one  regrets  more  than  myself  that  I  could  not 
give  the  Schaffhausen  text,  but  the  book  was  wanted  at  once  for 
theological  students  here  and  elsewhere,  and  I  could  not  go 
to  Schaffhausen,  or  have  the  whole  thing  copied. 

"  '  Numbering  the  folios,'  &c.  No  doubt  desirable  for  one  reader 
in  100,  but  not  practicable  for  above  reason." 

But  we  did  not  require  to  have  "the  whole  thing,"  as 
Dr.  Fowler  elegantly  terms  it,  copied,  but  to  have  the  printed 


184        Additional  Remarks  on  Fowler's  "  Adamnan" 

sheets  compared  with  the  MS. — no  Herculean  task,  and  one 
which  the  librarian  who  supplied  the  "  tracing  of  the  original 
colophon  "  (p.  166),  we  have  no  doubt,  would  have  executed  with 
alacrity  and  accuracy. 

Furthermore,  the  "  reader  in  100,"  whom  some  editors 
with  good  reason  hold  in  salutary  dread,  should  have  been  told 
beforehand  that  what  he  had  a  right  to  expect  was  not  supplied. 
We  had  thus  been  spared  the  dull,  and  apparently  thankless, 
office  of  exposing  and  rectifying  a  few  of  the  many  elementary 
errors  to  be  found  in  this  crude  edition. 

2.  Bine,  a  vox  nihili,  we  proposed  to  amend  blue,  small  (of 
stature). 

N. — "  The  n  and  u  are  as  different  as  possible  in  the  Irish  MS., 
and  the  conjecture  offered  by  the  Eeviewer  may  be  taken  for  what 
it  is  worth." 

Exceptio  probat  regulam.  The  editor,  copying  Beeves,  gives 
(p.  8)  this  same  bine  as  obscure  in  the  MS.  !  But  perhaps  he 
takes  it  to  mean  that  the  obscurity  lies  (not  in  u,  but)  in  one  of 
the  other  letters  !  Our  "  conjecture,"  if  he  will  allow  us,  is  so 
obvious,  that  we  claim  little  credit  for  making  it. 

3.  "Mac  Firbis's  Annals"  (p.  93)  are  "now,"  we  were  told, 
"  usually  quoted  as  Chronicon  Scotorum  "  (p.  xcii.).     They  are,  we 
pointed  out,  the  Three  Fragments  of  Irish  Annals,  issued  by  the 
Irish  Archaeological  and  Celtic  Society  (Dublin,   1860),  and  we 
gave  the  pages  where  Dr.  Fowler's  two  quotations  were  to  be 
found. 

N. — "  So  entitled  in  the  Bolls'  Series  edition  to  which  I  refer 
on  p.  xc." 

Will  it  be  believed  that  the  edition  referred  to  has  a  note 
(p.  112)  on  the  Chronicon  text  which  supplies  the  original  of  one  of 
Dr.  Fowler's  excerpts  from  "the  Fragments  of  Annals  published 
by  the  Irish  Arch,  and  Gel.  Soc.  (Dublin,  1860),  p.  96"  ?  To  add  to 
the  confusion,  our  editor  equates  the  "Book  of  Mac  Firbis," 
(p.  xxi.)  with  the  Chronicon  (p.  180).  The  Bolls'  edition  rightly 
states  that  the  Book  is  Mac  Firbis's  "  large  genealogical  work, 
completed  in  the  year  1650  "  (p.  xxi.). 

4.  The  Stowe   Missal   and  shrine,  it   was  said,  are  now  in 
London  (not  in  the  Library  of  the  Boyal  Irish  Academy,  Dublin). 

N. — "  That  was  an  unfortunate  slip.  I  had  forgotten  that 
they  were  removed,  although  I  saw  them  at  B.I  A.  But  I  saw 
so  many  things  I  could  not  carry  all  clear  in  my  head.  Never- 
theless, herein  I  confess  peccavi  nimis." 


Additional  Remarks  on  Fowler's  "  Adamnan"       185 

5.  We  referred  to  our  own  pages  (Ser.  iii.,  vol.  v.,  976-7),  for 
the  original  authorities  proving  that  depositio  meant  (not  burial, 
as  the  editor  stated,  but)  death  in  ancient  martyrologies. 

N. — "  Depositio — Used  both  ways  ;  but,  so  far  as  there  is  a 
distinction,  it  would  be  what  I  say." 

Now,  take  St.  Ambrose,  who  flourished  in  the  last  half  of  the 
fourth  century.  "  What  is  Deposition  ?  Not  that,  surely,  which 
is  carried  out  by  the  hands  of  clerics  in  burying  bodily  remains, 
but  that  whereby  a  rnan  lays  down  the  earthly  body  in  order 
that,  freed  from  carnal  bonds,  he  may  go  unimpeded  to  heaven. 
.  .  .  The  day  of  deposition  is  called  the  day  of  nativity ;  since, 
when  freed  from  the  prison  of  our  sins,  we  are  born  to  the  liberty 
of  the  Saviour "  (Sermo  in  depositione  S.  Eusebii.  Opp.  Paris. 
1549,  fol.  213,  A.B.).  Coming  down  to  the  first  quarter  of  the 
tenth  century,  you  have  Notker  Balbulus  employing  the  following 
equations  in  his  Martyrology : — Xvii.  Kal.  Nov.  Depositio,  sive 
transitus,  vel  ad  aeternam  vitam  natalis  dies,  beatissimi  Galli 
confessoris  festive  celebrat'iir  (AA.  SS.  Oct.  t.  iv.  p.  ii.  857).  But 
such  proofs  are  stark  nought,  of  course,  against  the  ipse  dixit  of 
the  Lecturer  of  Durham. 

6.  For  an  explanation  of  Ua  Briuin,  we  said,  you  will  search 
in  vain. 

N.—  "  Uais  explained  in  a  note  on  p.  17  :  one  does  not  explain 
the  same  thing  over  and  over,  and  it  was  not  within  my  scope  to 
go  minutely  into  Irish  names. 

"  '  Search  in  vain.'     Vide  p.  17." 

But,  if  Ua  and  Briuin  are  to  be  taken  here  as  two  personal 
names,  why  does  not  Briuin  appear  under  B  in  the  index?  Why, 
too,  is  Ua  Liathain  taken  as  singular, and  explained  a  "clan-name" 
Cp.  22)  ?  More  candour  and  less  word-splitting  were  better  in 
place. 

"  One  does  not  explain  the  same  thing  over  and  over."  Let 
us  see.  "  Ua  .  .  nepotis ;  '  Ua,'  grandson,  later,  descendant,  now 
O'  "  (p.  17) ;  "  Nepos  .  is  in  Irish  Ua  "  (p.  97) ;  "  Nepos,  Irish 
ua  or  o  "  (p.  171) ! 

The  search  on  p.  17  will  reward  you  with  the  two  first  of  the 
items  just  quoted.  Where  he  explains  Briuin,  the  editor  forgot 
to  say,  nor  can  we  find. 

The  plea  that  the  minutiae  of  Irish  names  lay  outside  his 
scope,  besides  being  an  evasion,  does  injustice  to  the  editor's 
work.  In  compendiums  of  the  kind,  the  descent  and  location  are, 


186       Additional  Remarks  on  Fowler's  "Adamnan  " 

all  that  is  required,  and  these,  with  few  exceptions,  the  little  book 
supplies. 

7.  Birr,  we  found  out,  was  placed  in  Co.  Londonderry. 

N. — "  Here  again,  peccavi  in  confounding  two  places  of  same 
name,  and  I  offer  no  excuse." 

8.  With  regard  to  the  Irish  Paschal  system,  we  showed  that 
Bede's  text  was  twice  tampered  with ;  the  incidence  of  the  vernal 
equinox  held  to  depend  on  a  cycle  ;  no  authority  given  for  saying 
a  cycle  was  adopted  by  Borne  in  463,  in  resisting  which  the  Irish 
showed  their  independence  of  Boine ;  and  an  erroneous  statement 
made  that  the  Easter  system  advocated  by  Cummian  was  that 
which  finally  prevailed. 

N. — "Paschal  System. — The  whole  business  seems  to  be  a 
hopeless  muddle,  and  I  could  only  make  out  the  best  I  was  able 
to  from  authorities  at  hand.  I  dare  say  I  am  wrong  on  some 
points,  and  I  dare  say  the  Eeviewer  is  also  "  ! 

These  astounding  admissions  with  the  civil  innuendo  at 
the  close  call  for  no  comment,  except  that  Warren,  the  only 
"  authority "  mentioned,  may  well  pray  to  be  saved  from  the 
friend  who  thus  brands  his  Liturgy  as  "  hopeless  muddle.1' 

9.  The  editor  adopted  the  erroneous  assumption  of  Beeves, 
that  frangere  panem  meant  to  celebrate  Mass  (not  to  break  the 
Bread  for  Communion). 

To  show  his  consistency,  we  print  his  first  and  second 
thoughts  side  by  side  : — 

Adamnan,  p.  59.  NOTE. 

[Panem]  frangerent.      The  "  Frangere  panem,  of  course, 

Scriptural  expression  here  and  includes  the  breaking  of  bread 
below  [frangere  panem}  pro-  for  Communion,  if  they  did 
bably  has  a  special  reference  break  it  ;  or,  I  '  assume  '  (if 
to  the  Eucharistic  fraction,  or  the  Beviewer  pleases)  that  the 
it  may  be  simply  a  synonym  phrase  refers  primarily  to  the 
for  celebrating.  Eucliaristic  fraction  (restored  to 

its  original  prominence  in   our 

Anglican  Liturgy)  in  the  act  of  consecration,  according  to  the 
example  of  Christ,  and  I  suppose  '  in  the  breaking  of  the  bread 
and  in  the  prayers  '  of  Apostolic  days  " 

The  explanation  of  the  textual  expression,  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  remind  those  acquainted  with  the  Stowe  Missal,  lies 
in  the  Irish  Bubric — Here  the  Bread  is  broken  —  inserted  a  little 
before  the  Pater  Noster. 

JO.  To  disprove  concelebration,  we  quoted  cum  omnibus  .  ,  . 


Additional  Remarks  on  Fowler's  "  Adamnan  "      187 

offerentibus .  .  .  sacerdotibus,  offert  senior  noster  N.,  presbyter 
[not :  offerunt  seniores  nostri,  NN.,  presbyteri]. 

N. — "  The  passage  from  the  Stowe  Missal  is  as  clear  an 
evidence  that  it  was  practised  as  can  be.  I  never  said  that  the 
'  senior '  or  principal  celebrant  was  only  on  the  same  footing  as 
the  rest." 

It  never  struck  us,  we  confess,  that  the  veriest  tyro  in  Liturgy 
would  take  cum  of  the  Missal  to  signify  (not  communion  of 
intention,  but)  such  contiguity  as  occurs  in  "  the  Roman  ordination 
of  priests,  at  which  the  newly  ordained  are  concelebrants  "  (p.  57). 
Otherwise,  we  would  have  transcribed  in  toto  mundo,  which  stand 
between  omnibus  and  offerentibus.  Which  now  shall  we  admire, — 
the  diligence  that  overlooked  these  words,  or  the  sagacity  that 
was  baffled  by  their  meaning  ? 

Equally  characteristic  is  taking  senior  to  be  an  adjective 
qualifying  presbyter,  instead  of  an  adjective  used  as  a  substantive, 
and  in  apposition,  with  the  meaning  familiar  to  those  conversant 
with  monastic  rules  and  hagiographic  texts  (including  Adamnan  !), 
This  notable  deviation  from  the  beaten  track,  it  is  safe  to  infer, 
will  be  justified  on  the  Greek  Kalends. 

11.  To  disprove  the  assertion  that  there  was  no  trace  of 
confession  being  held  to  be  necessary  before  celebration,  we  gave 
the  case  of  the  priest  who  was  made  to  publicly  confess,  when 
St.  Columba  declared  he  was  saying  Mass  whilst  hiding  some 
great  crime  in  his  conscience. 

N. — "  That  one  case  hardly  [proves  that  confession  was  held  to 
be  always  necessary.  A  Protestant  minister  might  have  said  what 
St.  Columba  said.  It  was  private  confession  that  I  was  referring 
to.  The  note  should  have  made  this  clearer." 

But  we  quoted  the  case  to  prove  that  confession  was  always 
necessary  in  the  case  of  one  who  had  fallen  into  grievous  sin.  The 
cogency  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  narrative  incidentally  reveals  the 
practice  formulated  in  the  Hibernensis,  the  Penitc?itials,  and 
elsewhere.  These  authorities  leave  no  room  to  doubt  that  the 
saint  on  the  occasion  enforced  public  confession  to  punish  the 
wilful  neglect  of  private  confession,  and  the  added  sacrilege, — 
exceptional  severity  to  expiate  aggravated  guilt. 

The  writer  failed  to  complete  the  comparison  by  omitting  to  say 
how  many  Protestant  ministers  would  have  compelled  the  priest 
to  do  what  St.  Columba  coerced  him  to  perform. 

As  to  private  confession,  not   to  go  beyond  his  text,  the  editor 


188      Additional  Eemarks  on  Fowler's  "  Adamnan  " 

made  no  comment  on  what  he  had  under  his  eyes  respecting  the 
mother  of  Colga  (i.  17).  She  had  a  certain  very  grievous  secret  sin 
which  she  was  unwilling  to  confess  to  any  man  (nulli  hominum 
confiteri  vult) ;  which  she  denied  when  questioned ;  confessed  never- 
theless, and  did  penance.  N  ow  the  editor  formally  admits  that 
coram  omnibus  confiteri  means  publicly  to  confess  :  what  but  wilful 
blindness  prevented  his  seeing  that  nulli  hominum  confiteri 
implies  private  confession? 

12.  Finally,  in  painful  contrast  with  the  first  edition,  the 
second,  we  showed,  was  made  the  vehicle  of  religious  polemic. 

N. — "  Hinc  ilia  convicia.  I  did  not  mean  to  be  needlessly 
controversial,  but  I  did  not  feel  bound  to  conceal  anything, 
because  it  might  seem  damaging  to  modern  Eoman  positions." 

Dr.  Beeves  judged  Adamnan's  text  should  not  be  made  the 
ground  of  controversy  ;  Dr.  Fowler  judges  it  should.  Utri 
creditis,  Quirites  ?  For  the  rest,  whether  consciously  or  other- 
wise, Dr.  Fowler,  as  we  have  proved,  has  concealed  more  than 
one  thing  that  seemed  favourable  to  modern  Eoman  positions. 

The  foregoing,  coupled  with  the  charges  he  tacitly  admits, 
will  enable  readers  to  decide  how  far  the  editor  has  defended 
himself  against  our  censure,  that  his  brochure  "  presents  no 
palliation  for  its  gratuitous  misrepresentation  of  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  the  Early  Irish  Church." 

B.  M'CARTHY,  D.D. 


[     189     ] 


IRotfces  of  Boohs 

LES  AMITIES  DE  JESUS.     Par  le  K.  P.  M.  J.  Ollivier,  Des 
Freres  Precheurs.     Paris  :  Lethielleux. 

IN  this  work  Pere  Ollivier  j presents  us  with  a  series  of  erudite 
and  extremely  interesting  studies  on  the  friendships  of  Jesus. 
Our  Lord's  friendships  are  divided  into  three  classes  :  those  of 
blood,  of  free  choice,  and  of  mission.  In  the  first  class  are 
discussed  the  peculiar  and  unique  friendships  of  our  Saviour  with 
His  blessed  Mother  and  St.  Joseph ;  then  those  with  the  brothers 
and  sisters  of  the  Lord,  with  Zachary  and  Elizabeth,  and  with 
John  the  Baptist.  In  the  second  class,  which  not  being  based  upon 
family  affection  or  ties  of  blood  are  friendships  more  properly  so- 
called,  our  author  considers  the  friendship  of  Jesus  with  Lazarus 
and  his  sisters  Martha  and  Mary.  In  the  third  class  he  treats  of 
our  Lord's  friendship  with  the  Apostles,  the  disciples  and  holy 
women,  and  lastly  with  those  whom  the  Saviour  Himself 
converted  by  His  personal  influence. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  a  work  by  Pere  Ollivier  dealing 
with  such  a  subject  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  and  instructive. 
We  are  accustomed  to  reflect  more  upon  the  divine  than  the 
human  aspect  of  the  God-man's  character,  to  admire  His  ineffable 
wisdom  and  His  infinite  power,  while  overlooking  the  natural 
sympathies  and  human  tenderness  of  Him  who  was  "  like  as  we 
are,  without  sin."  The  work  before  us  fastens  our  attention  upon 
one  of  the  sweetest  and  most  consoling  aspects  of  the  human  side 
of  our  Divine  Lord's  character.  "  We  see  in  Him,"  writes  Pere 
Ollivier,  "a  man  like  unto  ourselves,  having  a  soul  like  unto 
ours,  capable  therefore  of  loving  as  we  are  ourselves ;  with  thi« 
difference,  however,  that  He  could  not  be  deceived  regarding  the 
object  or  the  manner  and  measure  of  His  affections.  For  He  has 
taken  our  nature,  but  not  our  sin,  of  which  he  could  become 
the  redeemer  and  destroyer,  but  never  the  slave."  Friendship 
has  in  all  ages  been  found  necessary  to  man's  happiness,  and  He 
who  came  down  from  heaven  to  be  not  only  our  Eedeemer,  but 
also  our  model,  cultivated  during  His  mortal  life,  and  consecrated 
by  His  example  this  beautiful  virtue.  Who  can  read  the  beloved 
disciple's  touching  story  of  Jesus  weeping  over  the  grave  of 
Lazarus,  his  "  friend,"  and  doubt  the  jdepth  of  the  Saviour's 


190  Notices  of  Books 

friendship?  These  tears  of  tenderness  tell  us  more  eloquently 
than  words  that,  God  though  He  is,  He  is  also  our  brother,  with 
a  human  heart  and  human  feelings  to  sympathise  with  us  in  all 
our  sorrows.  Nor  can  such  lessons  be  without  a  salutary  influence. 
Many  a  soul  that  should  be  only  awed  by  the  glory  of  Thabor  may 
be  drawn  to  Jesus  in  hope  and  love  by  reflection  on  the  tenderness 
of  Bethany. 

Pere  Ollivier,  of  course,  bases  his  studies  on  the  text  of 
Scripture,  but  he  supplements  it  very  largely  from  Jewish  and 
Christian  tradition.  To  the  scholar,  indeed,  the  chief  interest  of 
the  work  will  arise  from  its  judicious  use  of  tradition  ;  there  is 
little  that  is  original  or  of  any  special  interest  in  the  portions  of 
the  work  which  deal  with  Scripture.  Once,  indeed,  on  page  24, 
what  to  us  at  least  is  a  new  interpretation  of  the  famous  phrase, 
St.  John,  ii.4,is  advanced  on  the  authority  of  Eastern  missionaries ; 
but,  if  we  understand  the  interpretation  correctly,  we  hardly 
think  it  could  be  made  to  harmonize  with  the  context.  Pere 
Ollivier  holds  the  view  that  our  blessed  Lady  died  not  at  Ephesus, 
but  on  Mount  Sion  in  Jerusalem ;  and  he  identifies,  in  our  opinion 
rightly,  St.  Luke's  "  sinner  in  the  city"  with  Mary  the  sister  of 
Lazarus.  The  work  is  well  printed  on  good  paper,  and  is 
provided  with  a  useful  map  of  Palestine  in  the  time  of  our  Lord. 

The  published  price  is  9  francs. 

J.  M.  E. 

GRAMMAIRE  HEBBAIQUE  ELEMENTAIRE.  Par  Mgr.  Alphonse 
Chabot,  Prelat  de  sa  Saintete,  Cure  de  Pithiviers. 
Freiburg :  Herder. 

As  its  title  indicates,  this  little  work  is  meant  merely  to  be 
elementary.  As  such,  we  can  most  heartily  recommend  it.  The 
fact  that  it  has  reached  its  fourth  edition,  is  ample  proof  of  the 
popularity  it  enjoys  in  France  and  Belgium,  and  we  sincerely 
congratulate  Monsignor  Chabot  on  the  success  which  has  crowned 
his  enthusiastic  labours  in  the  cause  of  Hebrew. 

The  Grammaire  fully  deserves  the  favour  with  which  it  has 
been  received..  Clear,  well-arranged,  sufficiently  full  without 
being  appalling  or  confusing  to  the  beginner,  taking  nothing  for 
granted  that  has  not  been  explained,  and — what  cannot  always 
be  said  of  Hebrew  grammars — free  from  printer's  frailties,  it  is 
eminently  adapted  for  a  class-book.  We  are  particularly  pleased 
with  the  introductory  sketch  of  the  Hebrew  language,  and  with 


Notices  of  Books  191 

the  little  exercises  which  occur  at  intervals  through  the  course  of 
the  work.  If  we  have  a  fault  to  find,  it  is  that  these  exercises 
are  too  short  and  too  few. 

The  work  is  soon  to  be  published  in  English,  and  we  bespeak 
and  predict  for  it  a  hearty  welcome  from  all  who  take  any 
interest  *in  the  original  language  of  the  Old  Testament. 

J.  M.  E. 

AN    ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTOEY    OF    IRELAND,    FROM    THE 

INTRODUCTION  OF    CHRISTIANITY  INTO  THAT  COUNTRY 

TO  THE  YEAR  1829.     By  the  Eev.  M.  J.  Brennan,  O.S.F. 

New   Edition,  Kevised  with  Notes.     Complete  in  One 

Volume.     Dublin:   James  Duffy  &  Co.,  Limited. 

THIS  work,  which  has  just  been  republished,  is,  perhaps,  on 

the    whole,    the    most    useful    and    convenient,    as    it    is    the 

most   complete   historical   account   of    the  Catholic   Church   in 

Ireland.     It  contains  a  vast  amount  of  matter  arranged  almost 

as  well  as  could  be  expected  considering  the  difficulties  of  the 

case.     But  the  editor,  whoever  he  may  be,  of  this  new  edition,  has 

proved  very  incompetent  for  the  duties  he  undertook  to  perform. 

It  is  really  too  bad,  at  this  hour  of  the  day,  to  turn  out  such  a 

work  without  either  an  index  or  a  general  table  of  contents,  and 

with   faults  of  style  and  diction,  that  a  schoolboy  might  have 

corrected.     Whatever  reason  there  may  have  been  forty  or  fifty 

years  ago  for  passing  lightly  over  faults  and  imperfections  of  this 

kind,  there  surely  is  none  now.     Such  crudities  and  deficiencies 

repel  the  readers  of  the  present  day,  and  reflect  but  little  credit 

on  those  who  are   responsible   for  them.      The  defects  of  this 

volume  are  all  the  more  to  be  regretted  as  the  material  part  of 

the  work   done   by   the    original    author    deserves   the   highest 

praise. 

J.  F.  H. 

THE  CLONGOWNIAN.  Christmas,  1895, 
THE  author  of  the  opening  articles  in  this  new  literary  venture 
tells  us  of  the  efforts  made  in  former^imes  to  establish  a  literary 
journal  in  connection  with  the  famous  College  of  Clongowes 
Wood.  The  measure  of  success  achieved  by  these  experiments 
is  not  quite  encouraging,  as  within  the  memory  of  "  An  Old 
Fogey,"  the  Argus,  the  Slap  Bang,  and  the  Rhetorician  were 


192  Notices  of  Books 

started  and  welcomed,  had  their  day  of  passing  glory,  and  dis- 
appeaed.  We  trust  that  the  Clongownian  may  have  a  more 
prosperous  and  lasting  career.  It  is  a  bright,  cheerful,  interesting 
production.  To  us  not  the  least  interesting  feature  of  its  first 
number  is  its  account  of  the  relations  between  Clongowes  and 
Maynooth,  which  have  always  been  close  and  cordial.  Never  were 
they  more  friendly  than  at  the  present  time.  We,  therefore,  wish 
the  Clongownian  the  fullest  tide  of  prosperity ;  and  we  hav^e  no 
doubt  that,  with  a  little  more  care  on  the  part  of  the  editor, 
the  new  journal  is  destined  to  flourish.  Floreat. 

J.  F.  H. 


CHAEITY,  THE  ORIGIN  OF  EVERY  BLESSING.  Translated 
from  the  Italian.  New  York,  Cincinnati,  and  Chicago  : 
Benziger  Brothers. 

THIS  is  a  very  interesting  little  book.  It  deals  with  the  virtue 
of  charity  in  a  striking  and  unusual  way,  beginning  with  its 
earthly  advantages,  and  ending  with  its  heavenly  ones.  Charity 
obtains  wealth,  honours,  health,  long  life,  peace,  light  from  on 
high,  grace  in  abundance,  and  especially  final  perseverance.  The 
original  has  gone  through  many  editions,  and  we  think  the 
translation  deserves  to  go  through  as  many  more. 


THE  IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


MARCH,    1896 


THE  LIFE  OF  CABDINAL  MANNING1 

SOME  few  years  before  his  death,  Cardinal  Manning  was 
asked  by  an  old  friend  to  speak  a  few  words  into  the 
phonograph,  so  that  the  sound  of  his  voice  might  remain 
recorded  in  its  waxen  tablets.  With  his  accustomed  kindness, 
he  readily  complied  with  the  request,  and  spoke  the  folio  wing 
message  to  posterity  : — "  I  hope  that  no  words  of  mine, 
written  or  spoken,  will  do  harm  to  anyone  after  I  am  dead." 
This  might  surely  seem  a  somewhat  needless  wish  in  the 
case  of  one  who,  whether  speaking  or  writing,  was  ever  so 
careful  to  weigh  his  words,  and  keep  clear  of  anything  that 
might  mislead,  or  wound,  or  give  offence.  But  now  that  so 
many  of  his  private  and  confidential  letters  have  been  given 
to  the  world,  there  is  good  reason  to  fear  that  some  of  his 
words,  through  no  fault  of  his,  may  do  harm  to  himself  or  to 
others  after  he  has  been  taken  from  us.  Indeed,  if  we  are 
to  judge  by  the  impression  created  by  this  strange  publica- 
tion, 110  little  harm  has  been  done  already.  Catholic  critics, 
with  hardly  a  single  exception,  have  roundly  condemned 
Mr.  Purcell's  book  as  a  cruel  caricature  of  the  lost  leader. 
Some  Protestants,  on  the  other  hand,  have  hailed  it  as  a 
welcome  exposure  of  a  Catholic  prelate,  and  a  startling 
revelation  of  Roman  intrigues.  And  even  the  more  sober 
and  moderate  organs  of  non-Catholic  opinion  betray  a  lowered 

1  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning,  Archbishop  of  Westminster,  by  Edmund 
Sheridan  Purcell,  Member  of  the  Roman  Academy  of  Letters.  In  two  vols. 
London  :  Macmillan  and  Co. 

VOL.  XVII.  N 


104  The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning 

estimate  of  the  late  Cardinal's  character.  One  writer 
suggests  that  the  biography  itself  might  be  added  to  the  list 
of  "  Hindrances  to  the  spread  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
England,"  given  in  one  of  the  closing  chapters  ;  while  at  the 
same  time  he  thinks  it  likely  to  lighten  the  labours  of  the 
"  Devil's  Advocate,"  if  the  question  of  canonization  should 
ever  be  raised. 

Such  are  some  of  the  opinions  uttered  in  the  heat  of  the 
moment, 'when  the  book  first  made  its  appearance,  to  the 
delight  of  those  who  have  little  love  for  the  memory  of 
Cardinal  Manning,  and  the  terror  of  his  friends.  How  do 
they  seem  now  that  time  has  allowed  us  to  correct  our  first 
impressions,  and  form  a  calmer  and  more  dispassionate 
judgment  on  the  work  as  a  whole  ?  This  is  a  somewhat 
complex  question  ;  and  we  must  needs  make  some  divisions 
and  distinctions  before  it  can  be  fairly  answered. 

The  literary  merits  of  the  biography  need  not  detain  us 
for  long.     For  where  such  things  as  the  character  of  the 
Archbishop  and  the  interests  of  the  Catholic  cause  are  at 
stake,  these  are  surely  minor  matters.     If  the  writer  had 
only  given  us  a  true  and  helpful  picture* of  the  great  and 
gracious  life  he  has  attempted  to  pourtray,  we  should  have 
been  well  content  to  do  without  philosophy,  or  eloquence,  or 
the  charms  of  a  graceful  style.     But  there  are  some  things 
that  we  have  a  right  to  expect  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  and  in 
too  many  instances  we  look  for  them  in  vain.     It  is  only  fair 
to  say  that  the  book  is  eminently  readable  ;  the  story  is  for 
the  most  part  clearly  and  agreeably  told,  and  some  passages 
are  written  with  no  little  vigour  of  language.     None  the  less, 
there  are  grave  blemishes  in  point  of  form.     A  more  methodic 
arrangement,  and  greater  sobriety  of  language,  would  have 
been,  to  say  the  least,  more  appropriate  in  a  life  of  Cardinal 
Manning.     It  would  be  too  much  to  expect  that  the  first 
edition  of  a  work  of  this  magnitude  should  be  free  from  all 
blunders   and   misprints   and   inaccurate  statements.     But 
the  book  before  us  has  more  than  its   due  share  of  these 
tokens  of  human   and  editorial  infirmity.     The  errors  are 
naturally  more  conspicuous  in  the  Greek,  Latin,  or  Italian 
woids ;  but,  as  these  foreign  phrases  are  not  very  numerous, 


The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning  195 

they  might  have  been  given  correctly  with  a  little  care: 
Proper  names,  again,  fare  veryJbadly  in  Mr.  Purcell's  hands. 
A  well-known  theologian  figures  as  Melchior  Camus  ;  and  as 
the  error,  besides  occurring  more  than  once  in  the  text,  is 
repeated  in  the  index,  it  would  seem  to  be  something  more 
than  a  mere  misprint.  Later  on,  in  the  account  of  the 
Vatican  Council,  we  come  upon  a  list  of  the  minority,  which 
includes  the  name  of  "  Deschamps."  This  is  surely  a  case 
of  adding  insult  to  injury,  for  the  late  Cardinal  Dechamps 
cannot  fairly  be  ranked  with  the  members  of  the  Inoppor- 
tunist  opposition. 

Another  drawback  is  the  wearisome  iteration  with  which 
•  statements  of  fact  and  expressions  of  opinion,  instead  of 
being  given  us  once  for  all,  are  repeated  without  rhyme  or 
reason.  In  one  case  a  long  extract  from  a  letter  is  printed 
twice.1  This,  it  must  be  confessed;  is  not  without  its  use, 
for  it  enables  us  to  test  the  accuracy  with  which  Mr.  Purcell 
copies  his  documents.  As  we  have  not  the  advantage  of 
consulting  the  manuscript  itself,  we  cannot  say  which  of  the 
variant  readings  is  to  be  preferred.  But  it  is  clear  that  both 
versions  cannot  be 'perfectly  accurate  and  literal  transcrip- 
tions of  the  same  original. 

Some  items  of  information,  though  only  told  once,  are 
still  told  once  too  often,  as  they  are  either  incorrect  or  not 
germane  to  the  matter  in  hand.  Thus,  in  one  place  we  read 
how  Edward  Twisleton  said,  in  explanation  of  his  vote 
against  the  condemnation  of  the  Regius  Professor  of 
Divinity:  "Dr.  Hampden  to-day;  to-morrow  it  will  be 
Neander's  (Newman)  turn." 2  Mr.  Purcell  very  properly 
explains  that  "Neander"  stands  for  "Newman;"  but, 
apparently,  not  perceiving  that  it  is  a  Greek  rendering  of 
that  illustrious  name,  he  thinks  it  necessary  to  append  a 
brief  notice  of  the  German  historian  to  whom  the  remark 
does  not  refer.  By  a  curious  slip,  John  Sterling  is  mentioned 
among  those  with  whom  Archdeacon  Manning  was  on 
friendly  terms  during  his  visit  to  Home  in  the  winter  of 
1847-48.  At  that  date  Sterling  had  been  dead  some  three 

1  Vol.  ii.,  pp.  IOM,  14;;.  -  Vol.  i.,  P.  115. 


196  The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning 

•years.  He  was  in  Koine,  however,  at  the  time  of  Manning's 
previous  visit  in  1838-39,  and  the  biographer  has  apparently 
mistaken  the  one  for  the  other. 

A  far  more  serious  defect  than  these  minor  inaccuracies, 
is  the  strange  want  of  proportion  in  the  picture  here  pre- 
sented of  the  Cardinal's  life,  Many  pages  are  wasted  on 
matters  of  little  or  no  importance.  And  in  the  record  of  a 
life  so  full  of  action,  there  is  no  space  to  spare.  But  the 
worst  of  it  is,  that  the  writer  dwells  at  undue  length  on 
disputes  or  struggles,  or  personal  misunderstandings. 
Opinions,  110  doubt,  will  differ  as  to  the  wisdom  of  touching, 
however  lightly,  on  some  of  these  perplexing  and  painful 
topics.  There  is  still  some  danger  of  re-awakening  old 
controversies,  which  we  could  very  willingly  let  die.  At  the 
same  time,  there  are  some  things  which  could  hardly  be 
passed  over  in  silence  in  a  book  which  professes  to  be  a  full 
life  of  Cardinal  Manning.  Thus,  it  might  well  seem  neces- 
sary to  say  something  of  the  circumstances  which  prevented 
Archbishop  Erriiigton  from  retaining  his  right  of  succeeding 
Cardinal  Wiseman  in  the  see  of  Westminster.  For  how 
else  could  the  historian  explain  the  fact  that  the  Holy  Father 
set  aside  the  names  proposed  by  the  Chapter,  and  appointed 
Provost  Manning  to  the  post  he  filled  so  worthily  ?  And  to 
state  the  fact  without  any  explanation  would  be  likely  to 
convey  a  false  impression.  But  there  was  surely  no  need  to 
devote  page  after  page  to  the  "  Errington  Case,"  to  add  to 
this  some  other  matters  of  dispute  between  Cardinal 
Wiseman  and  some  of  his  colleagues,  and  to  print  a  long 
array  of  private  and  confidential  letters,  which  can  do  no 
good,  and  may  do  no  little  harm.  Not  only  is  this  by  no 
means  necessary,  in  the  interest  of  truth,  but  truth  itself 
may  suffer  from  this  reckless  way  of  going  to  work.  The 
correspondence,  of  which  such  lavish  use  has  been  made  by 
the  biographer,  is  after  all,  only  a  part — and  that  not  the  most 
valuable  or  instructive  part  of  the  extant  evidence  on  the 
"  Errington  Case."  And  we  cannot  accept  the  picture  he 
has  given  as  an  adequate  account  of  the  facts. 

But,  even  supposing  Mr.  Purcell's  presentment  of  this 
episode  to  be  accurate  in  every  particular,  we  must  -still 


The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning  197 

• 

consider  the  prominence  given  to  this  matter  a  grave  blunder, 
fatal  to  the  true  proportion  of  the  biography  into  which  it  is 
intruded.      The   unwary  reader,   who  has  no   independent 
knowledge  of  Cardinal  Manning's  life  and  work,  may  easily 
be  misled  by  this  long  and  laboured  account  of  this  incident, 
and  judge  of  its  importance  by  the  pains  which  the  writer 
bestows  upon  it.     He  may  forget  that  this  passing  contro- 
versy took  up  but  a  small  part  of  that  long  and  eventful 
career,  while  works  which  have  only  a  few  poor  pages  devoted 
to  them  occupied  his  heart  and  his  hands  during  more  than 
thirty  years  of  toil.  And,  unfortunately,  this  is  by  no  means  the 
only  instance  of  the  kind.      Elsewhere  in  these  volumes  we 
find  the  same  morbid  tendency  to  dwell  with  painful  particu- 
larity on  conflicts  and  other  untoward  incidents  in  the  story. 
Is  there  some  appearance  of  discrepancy  between  the  various 
letters    of    the    Archdeacon   of    Chichester?      Is    there   a 
difference  or  misunderstanding  between  the  Archbishop  and 
the  great  Oratorian?     We  may  be  sure  there  will  be  no 
dearth  of  details.     Letters  and  notes  and  comments,  elabora- 
tions and  explanations   will  be   vouchsafed   in   abundance. 
We  might  well  complain  of  this  want  of  proportion,  even  if 
the  chapters  devoted  to   these  disputes,  and  other  painful 
episodes  had  been  open  to  no  other  objection,  and   could 
fairly  take  their  place  in  a  more  voluminous  life  in  which 
the  Cardinal's  peaceful  labours  were  treated  with  the  same 
generous  measure.     But  this,  we  fear,  is  far  from  being  the 
case.     The 'darker  pages  are  not  merely  too  large  for  the  rest 
of  the  book ;  but  in  many  cases,  the  writer  has  blackened 
them  by  his  own  blundering.     Thus,  in  his  own  account  of 
the  time   preceding  the  Archdeacon's  conversion,   he   has 
succeeded  in  giving  his  readers  the  impression  that  Manning 
was  "  speaking  concurrently  for  years  with  a  double  voice." 
"  One  voice  proclaims  in  public,  in  sermons,  charges,  and 
tracts,  and  in  a  tone  still  more  absolute,  to  those  who  sought 
his  advice  in  confession,  his  profound  and  unwavering  belief 
in  the  Church    of  England  as   the    divine    witness  to  the 
Truth,  appointed  by  Christ  and  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  other  voice,  as  the  following  confessions  and  documents 
under  his  own  handwriting  bear  ample  witness,  speaks  in 


198  The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning 

• 

almost  heartbroken  accents  of  despair,  at  being  no  longer 
able  in  conscience  to  defend  the  teaching  arid  position  of  the 
Church  of  England  ;  whilst  acknowledging,  at  the  same  time, 
if  not  in  his  confession  to  Laprimaudaye,  at  any  rate  in  his 
letters  to  Robert  Wilberforce,  the  drawiog  he  felt  towards 
the  infallible  teaching  of  the  Church  of  Rome."  1 

Few  passages  in  the  book  have  given  so  much  offence  as 
this  startling  statement.  Protestant  writers  have  regarded 
it  as  a  grave  charge  against  the  Cardinal's  character,  and  it 
has  been  very  severely  handled  by  Catholic  critics.  Both 
the  one  and  the  other  have  apparently  overlooked  the 
biographer's  attempt  to  answer  his  own  difficulty,  though, 
as  it  happens,  this  occurs  on  the  same  page  : — 

"  The  simplest  solution  that  can  be  offered  to  a  difficulty  is, 
for  the  most  part,  the  truest.  In  this  trying  period,  between 
1847-51,  Manning's  mind  was  in  a  state  of  transition  in  regard 
to  his  religious  belief.  The  struggle  was  as  prolonged  as  it  was 
severe.  Until  his  mind  had  grasped  the  reality  of  things,  had 
probed  his  doubts  to  the  bottom,  had  reached  solid  ground, 
consistency  or  coherency  of  statement  was,  perhaps,  scarcely  to 
be  expected.  To  see  things  in  one  light  to-day,  in  another 
to-morrow,  is  but  natural  in  such  a  transition  state  of  mind.  To 
make  statements  on  grave  matters  of  faith  to  one  person,  or  set 
of  persons,  in  contradiction  of  statements  made  to  others,  is 
only  a  still  stronger  proof  of  a  sensitive  mind,  perplexed  by 
doubt,  losing,  for  the  time  being,  its  balance."  : 

One  reviewer,  at  least,  seems  to  have  missed  this  passage 
altogether ;  for,  after  roundly  condemning  Mr.  l?urcell,  he 
proceeds  to  give  what  is  practically  the  same  explanation 
himself.  Others  have  probably  read  it  with  due  attention, 
and  rejected  it  as,  after  all,  a  lame  apology.  There  are  surely 
some  things  which  cannot  be  explained  or  justified  even  by 
the  changing  doubts  of  a  time  of  transition  ;  and  most  of 
us  would  suppose  the  "  double  voice "  described  by  the 
biographer  to  be  one  of  their  number.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
Mr.  Purcell,  whose  language  is  generally  more  remarkable 
for  vigour  than  for  accuracy,  has  grossly  overstated  the 
objection.  Hence  his  solution,  which  is,  in  the  main,  the 

1  Vol.  i.,  p.  463.  2  Vol.  i.,  pp.  463-4. 


The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning  199 

true    one,    becomes    inadequate    for    the   'occasion.      The 
difficulty,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  must  first  be  reduced  to 
its  real  dimensions  by  comparing  the  dates  of  the  "  concur- 
rent "  utterances,  and  by  carefully  examining  the  letters  on 
the  one  side  and  on  the  other.     It  will  then  be  seen  that 
while  the  Archdeacon's   doubts  in  the  Church  of  England 
are  accompanied  by  misgivings  and  fears  that  they  may, 
after  all,  be  delusions,  his  spiritual  exhortations  hardly  show 
unwavering   faith   in   her   authority,   and   rather   betray   a 
tendency  to  dwell  on  great  truths,  which  are  certain  in  any 
case.    For  instance,  in  one  of  these  letters,  he  writes  :  "  We 
have  no  doubt  that  no  penitent  can  perish,  and  that  no  soul 
that  loves  God  can  be  lost."     And  this,  be  it  observed,  is  in 
an  attempt  to  give  his  correspondent  "  some  statement  of 
the  ground  on  which  I  think  you  may  without  fear  trust 
yourself  to  the  mercy  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
Church  of  England  at  this    time."  *     The   Archdeacon  is 
bidding   his   penitent   take   comfort   in  what    he  calls  the 
"  inner  sphere  "  of  the  Church  of  God,  which  consists  "in 
the  fellowship   of  the  soul  with  God  through  Jesus  Christ 
and  a  life  of  faith,  love,  repentance,  and  devotion."     And  if 
we  turn  to  the  letter  to  Robert  Wilberforce,  with  which 
Mr.  Purcell  contrasts  this  advice  to  his  penitent,  we  shall 
find   that    Manning    himself    had    the   same   consolation : 
"  These  are  not  cheerful  Christmas  thoughts  ;   but  in  the 
midst   of    all   I   find    great    peace,  living    in    a  sphere    of 
faith,  and  amidst  the  thoughts  and  images  of   which  our 
system  gives  no    expression."5     This    last   letter,  we  may 
observe,  was  written,  in  1849,  and  not,  as  Mr.  Purcell  has 
it  in  one  place,  on  page  481,  in  1847. 

The  biographer  has  a  good  deal  to  say  about  the  prolonged 
struggle  through  which  Archdeacon  Manning  went  before 
his  conversion.  But,  unfortunately,  he  has  formed  what  wo 
take  leave  to  call  a  radically  wrong  conception  of  the  nature 
of  that  struggle.  In  his  view  :  "  Even  before  the  Gorham 
Judgment  he  [the  Archdeacon]  had  clearly  and  without 
reserve  declared  his  faith  in  the  Catholic  Church.  His  letters 

1  Vol.  i.,  p.  481.  Vol.  i.,  p.  -516. 


200  The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning 

to  Robert  Wilberforce  testify  this.  All  that  was  wanting 
was  the  final  act  of  submission."  And  he  asks,  "  What  is 
still  keeping  him  back  ?  What  had  kept  him  back  so  long? 
Human  motives ;  old  habits  of  mind ;  fear  of  taking  an 
irrevocable  step  ;  a  fear  which  he  likened  to  the  fear  of  death ; 
old  ties  and  associations."1  Elsewhere  we  are  told  that 
Manning  was  kept  in  the  English  Church  by  "  moral 
difficulties,"  or  shrinkings  of  flesh  and  blood  from  "  a  sacrifice 
of  what  was  dearest  to  him  in  life — his  home  and  hopes  ;  his 
office  and  work  in  the  Church  of  England,"  2 

This  is  surely  a  strangely  distorted  view  of  the  matter  ; 
and  we  cannot  think  that  it  is  warranted  by  the  documents 
from  which  it  purports  to  be  drawn.  We  are  not  forgetting 
the  words  about  the  "  suggestions  of  flesh  and  blood."  But 
there  is  really  no  need  to  understand  them  in  what  may  be 
called  a  sinister  sense.  There  are,  doubtless,  some  who  see 
the  path  of  duty  clear  before  them,  and  hold  back  from  fear 
or  love  of  home  and  dear  friends.  But  there  is  a  more 
dangerous  and  subtle  way  in  which  the  suggestions  of  flesh 
and  blood  may  hinder  one  from  taking  the  right  course. 
While  the  intellectual  struggle  is  still  undecided,  these  lower 
motives  are  sometimes  insensibly  blended  with  the  reasons 
on  the  one  side,  and  give  them  a  strength  and  consistency 
not  their  own.  Hence,  even  one  who  is  acting  with  a  clear 
conscience,  and  is  prepared  to  make  any  sacrifice  when  once 
he  sees  that  duty  demands  it,  may  still  with  good  reason  be 
fearful  of  the  seductive  suggestions  of  flesh  and  blood. 

Not  content  with  thus  misreading  the  facts,  the  biographer 
goes  out  of  his  way  to  make  what  many  will  consider  a 
wanton  and  gratuitous  charge  against  Cardinal  Manning- 
"  To  a  losing  cause  Manning  was  never  partial,  early  in  life 
or  late.  His  nature  instinctively  shrank  from  them  that 
were  failing,  or  were  down."  3  We  would  fain  hope  that 
Mr.  Purcell  wrote  this  astonishing  passage  in  haste,  and 
without  weighing  the  meaning  of  his  words.  For  who  could 
seriously  accuse  Cardinal  Manning  of  such  miserable  weak- 
ness and  cowardice?  It  would,  indeed,  be  no  light  task  to 

J  Vol.  i.,  p.  C6G.  2  Vol.  i.,  p.  488.  3  Vol.  i.,  p.  240. 


The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning  201 

find  a  man  less  open  to  this  accusation.  When  he  joined 
the  little  flock  of  English  Catholics  they  were  certainly  in  an 
evil  case.  The  recent  outbreak  of  Protestant  prejudice  had 
not  yet  died  away ;  and  the  coming  dawn  of  toleration  and 
liberty  was  still  in  the  distance.  And  when  he  had  once 
more  got  a  hearing  and  an  influence  with  his  countrymen,  he 
never  shrank  from  putting  his  position  in  jeopardy  by 
lending  his  aid  to  unpopular  causes.  Even  one  who  had  so 
far  misunderstood  the  history  of  his  earlier  days  as  to  over- 
look these  proofs  of  moral  courage  and  tenacity  of  principle, 
might  well  have  been  kept  from  uttering  this  absurd  charge, 
by  the  remembrance  of  his  action  on  certain  social  questions 
in  recent  years.  By  what  strange  perver sit}71  was  Mr.  Purcell 
led  to  perpetrate  this  paradox?  What  can  be  the  facts 
which  he  has  distorted  into  a  basis  for  this  marvellous 
indictment  ?  Possibly  some  solution  of  the  mystery  may  b'e 
found  in  the  practical  bent  of  Cardinal  Manning's  character. 
Convinced  of  the  truth  of  a  principle,  he  held  to  it  at  all 
hazards.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  not  a  man  to  indulge 
in  dreams,  or  to  adopt  a  line  of  action  which  he  knew  to 
be  imprudent  and  likely  to  lead  to  no  good.  Outwardly  a 
prudent  change  of  means  may  sometimes  resemble  the  course 
of  one  who  forsakes  his  principles,  and  gives  way  to  popular 
clamour.  And  it  is  possible  that  some  zealous  tractarians 
may  have  thus  mistaken  Manning's  conduct  in  1843.  But  it 
is  not  so  easy  to  forgive  the  same  mistake  in  one  who  has  the 
advantage  of  reading  the  true  explanation  in  the  subsequent 
course  of  a  career,  so  full  of  noble  proofs  of  courage,  and 
loyalty  to  principles. 

In  this  passage,  and  elsewhere  in  his  work,  the  author 
speaks  in  a  tone,  which  is  seldom  adopted  by  writers  of 
biography,  who  are  entrusted  with  the  private  papers  of  the 
dead.  Others,  indeed,  make  some  praiseworthy  attempts  to 
be  impartial,  often  enough  with  but  indifferent  success. 
But  in  many  cases  the  biographer  is  led  by  love  or  enthu- 
siasm to  gloss  over  the  faults  and  failings  of  his  hero,  or 
touch  them  with  a  very  gentle  hand.  This  is,  no  doubt, 
an  error ;  but,  to  speak  frankly,  it  is  a  very  venial  offence 
compared  with  that  of  mixing  harsh  and  hostile  criticism 


202  The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning 

with  a  man's  own  private  letters,  and  intimate  journals. 
We  do  not  quarrel  with  Mr.  Purcell,  for  holding  the  opinion 
expressed  in  these  volumes.  The  lives  of  great  men  are,  in 
some  sense,  public  property.  And  anyone  is  at  liberty  to 
judge  them  according  to  the  measure  of  his  abilities,  and,  it 
may  be,  his  party  and  personal  prejudices,  and  to  put  forth 
his  opinion  for  the  benefit,  or  otherwise,  of  all  who  .care  to 
know  it.  But  it  is  neither  fair  nor  seemly  for  a  man  who  is 
out  of  sympathy  with  his  subject,  to  write  a  life  of  this  kind, 
and  give  his  own  hostile  criticism  the  advantage  of  being 
associated  with  the  dead  man's  private  papers.  If  these 
criticisms  had  been  published  apart,  they  would  have  been 
taken  at  their  true  value,  and  perhaps  we  should  not  have 
been  at  the  pains  of  answering  them. 

It  must  not  be  thought  from  what  has  been   said,  so 
far,  on  the  defects  of  Mr.  Purcell's  work,  that  his  pages 
are  entirely  occupied  with  such   painful  and  depreciatory 
utterances,  or  that  he  takes  up  an  attitude  of  undisguised 
and  consistent  hostility  to  the  late  Cardinal.     Such,  we*  fear, 
is  likely  to  be  the  impression  created  by  not  a  few  critics, 
who   have   devoted  most   of  their  attention  to  these  less 
pleasing  features  of  the  book.     We  should  be  sorry  to  let 
our  readers  draw  the  same  conclusion  ;  for,  much   as  we 
regret  the  publication  of  this  biography,  we  would  not  do  its 
author    an    injustice.      Let   us    say,   frankly,   that    we   do 
not  regard  it  as  the  work   of  an  enemy,  but  of  one  who 
has  gravely  misunderstood  many  points  in  the  Cardinal's 
character   and   history,  and  has,  moreover,  some   peculiar 
views  on  the  duties  of  a  biographer.     If  he  is  often  hostile 
and  critical,  there  are,  on  the  other  hand,  many  pages   in 
which  he  speaks  of  the  Cardinal  in  terms  of  fervent  admi- 
ration.    Even  in  his  treatment  of  the  Errington  episode,  he 
absolutely  rejects  the  notion  that    Manning  was  actuated 
by  motives  of  ambition,  and   maintains   that  he  was  only 
working  for  the  good  of  the  Church.     Elsewhere,  we  find 
an   appreciative   notice   of  the   Cardinal's   zealous   labours 
for  the   education   of  the   young  ;   of  his   crusade   against 
drunkenness ;  and  of  his  later  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  dock 
labourers.     And  if  we  may  judge  by  his  concluding  words, 


The  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning  203 

Mr.  Purcell's  final  verdict  on  Cardinal  Manning  is  by  no 
means  unfavourable.  Nevertheless,  this  record  of  the  life 
and  labours  of  Cardinal  Manning  is  very  far  from  satisfactory, 
and,  to  say  nothing  of  the  blemishes  which  we  have  already 
noticed,  it  has  many  grave  shortcomings.  We  cannot  con- 
sider that  the  biographer  has  done  justice  to  Manning's 
merits  .as  a  writer  •  and  a  thinker ;  and  he  has  only  an 
imperfect  conception  of  the  spiritual  influence  of  the 
Cardinal's  life  and  teaching.  These,  however,  are  points 
which  cannot  be  met  by  mere  negative  criticism.  The  only 
adequate  answer  would  be  another  biography,  telling  the 
story  anew  with  something,  more  like  completeness. 

It  will  be  no  light  task  to  write  the  Life  of  Cardinal 
Manning,  which  is  now  imperatively  demanded.  But  who- 
ever attempts  it  will  find  no  lack  of  materials  untouched  by 
the  author  of  the  book  before  us.  The  published  writings 
of  the  Cardinal  form,  as  it  were,  an  index  to  his  labours, 
and  throw  no  little  light  on  the  spirit  and  motives  of  his 
active  life.  But  of  these,  the  present  biographer  has 
made  little  use.  There  is,  moreover,  a  large  amount  of 
letters,  and  other  manuscript  documents  yet  unpublished, 
many  of  them  of  great  importance.  And  more  valuable 
than  these  written  records,  are  the  memories  of  the  Cardinal 
still  living  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  so  many  around  us, 
who  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  him,  and  coming  under 
his  influence.  There  are  those  who  can  tell  of  his  sym- 
pathetic help  in  various  works  of  social  reform ;  and  some 
of  them  can  bear  witness  that,  when  their  cause  was  in 
evil  days,  he  held  out  his  hand,  and  gave  them  hope  and 
encouragement.  There  are  many  converts  who  can  tell 
how  his  kindly  guidance  helped  to  bring  them  safely  into 
the  Catholic  fold.  And  many  a  non-Catholic  can  bear 
willing  v-tness  to  his  large-hearted  charity;  while  in  his 
own  flock  there  are  many  homes  where  young  and  old 
still  cherish  the  remembrance  of  his  tender  solicitude,  of  his 
share  in  their  joys,  his  sympathy  in  sorrow.  With  yet  more 
reason,  does  his  memory  still  live  in  the  hearts  of  his  clergy, 
who  were  so  closely  associated  in  his  pastoral  labours.  And 
nowhere  is  that  remembrance  more  justly  cherished  than  it 


204  bishop  Butlers  "Analogy  '' 

is  here,  in  his  own  chosen  community,  where  he  lived  for 
so  many  happy  years  in  the  little  room  in  which  these 
words  are  written.  Happy  the  writer  who  can  gather 
together  these  many  memories,  and  focus  these  scattered 
rays  of  light,  and  give  us  a  not  unworthy  life  of  Cardinal 
Manning. 

W.  H.  KENT,  O.S.C. 


BISHOP  BUTLER'S  ANALOGY1 

BUTLER  is  a  fixed  star  in  the  firmament  of  English 
Protestant  theology,  and  even  after  the  lapse  of  more 
than  a  century  and  a-half  from  the  publication  of  his  great 
work2  it  is  of  profit  to  take  a  fresh  observation  of  him. 
A  fit  occasion  for  this  purpose  is  offered  by  the  issue  of 
Mr.  Gladstone's  most  valuable  edition  of  the  works  of  the 
famous  Bishop  of  Durham.  In  thus  devoting  himself,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-seven,  to  the  elucidation  of  Butler's 
thought,  the .  great  Liberal  statesman  is  but  returning,  in 
the  evening  of  his  wonderful  life,  to  a  loyalty  of  its  dawn. 
Twenty-three  years  ago  his  most  recent  and  most  distin- 
guished editor  wrote  thus  of  the  author  of  the  Analogy  : 3 
"  Bishop  Butler  taught  me,  forty-five  years  ago,  to  suspend 
my  judgment  on  things  I  knew  I  did  not  understand.  Even 
with  his  aid  I  may  often  have  been  wrong ;  without  him  I 
never  should  have  been  right.  And  oh  !  that  this  age  knew 
the  treasure  it  posseses  in  him,  and  neglects."  Mr.  Gladstone 
is  not,  of  course,  alone  in  his  experience  of  the  potency  of 
Butler's  thought  and  character.  Cardinal  Newman — the 
other  greatest  Englishman,  shall  I  say,  of  the  century- 
records  in  the  Apologia  that  the  study  of  the  Analogy 

1  The    Works  of  Joseph   Butler,  D.C.L.,  sometime   Lord  Bishop   of  Durham. 
Divided  into  Sections,  with  Sectional  Headings ;  an  Index  to  each  Volume,  and 
some   Occasional   Notes;  also   some   Prefatory  Matter.     Edited  by  the  Eight 
Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone.     Two  vols.     Oxford  ;"  Clarendon  Press. 

2  The  Analogy  was  published  in  1736. 

3  In  a  letter  published, in  the  Spectator,  December  13,  1873. 


Bishop  Butler' 's  " Analogy '"  205 

formed  "  an  era  in  his  religious  opinions."  He  learned 
from  it,  we  are  there  told,  the  view  that  the  world  is  a 
"  sacramental  system,"  in  which  "  material  phenomena  are 
both  the  types  and  instruments  of  the  things  unseen  ;  " 
and,  as  all  readers  of  the  Grammar  of  Assent  know,  Newman 
was  profoundly  impressed  by  Butler's  characteristic  doc- 
trine that  "  probability  is  the  guide  of  life."  On  other 
soil  the  germ  of  Butler's  'thought  produced  other  fruits. 
The  reading  of  the  Analogy,  if  we  are  to  believe  his 
son,1  was  the  turning-point  in  the  mental  history  of 
James  Mill,  which  brought  him  out  on  the  straight  road  to 
agnosticism ;  while  to  another  cultured  and  trained  intel- 
lect,2 Butler  has  unintentionally  "  furnished  .  .  .  one  of  the 
most  terrible  persuasives  to  atheism  ever  produced."  Thus, 
by  attraction  and  repulsion,  Butler  attests  the  living  force 
of  his  "  high  argument,"  and  stimulates  an  inquiry  into  its 
real  nature,  and  the  modification,  if  any,  which  the  progress 
of  modern  thought  and  the  altered  conditions  of  the  problem 
he  set  himself,  not  to  solve,  indeed,  but  to  render  less 
mysterious  and  more  credible,  have  rendered  necessary.  It 
is  to  this  inquiry  I  propose  to  devote  the  present  and  a 
subsequent  paper. 

I. 

Butler  must  be  set  in  his  historical  environment.  It  is 
quite  true  that  mankind  have  pretty  well  agreed,  in  the  case 
of  his  magnum  opus,  to  take  over  what  was  originally 
meant  for  a  party.  Nevertheless,  to  understand  at  once  the 
strength  and  the  limitations  of  the  Analogy  of  Religion, 
Natural  and  Revealed,  to  the  Constitution  and  Course  of 
Nature — the  full  title  of  the  work  must  be  kept  in  mind — 
it  is  necessary  to  make  an  endeavour  to  gauge  the  intellec- 
tual atmosphere  in  which  it  was  produced.  The  eighteenth 
century  in  England  was  a  period  of  mental  and  moral 
disintegration.  A  characteristically  obtrusive  regard  for 
decorum  masked  the  most  offensive  free  thought  and  the 
most  debauched  free  living.  The  libertinism  which  had 

1  Autobiography,  p.  38. 

2  Dr.  Martineau,  Studies  of  Christianity,  p.  93. 


206  Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  " 

disgraced  the  Court  of  Charles  II.  resulted,  in  the  next 
century,  in  a  widespread  scepticism  and  corruption.  This 
seems  to  have  pervaded  all  classes.  In  the  philosophical 
world,  Hume,  with  the  keen  edge  of  his  dialectic,  was 
cutting  away  the  spiritual  substance  which  Berkeley 
thought  he  had  saved  from  the  ruins  of  Locke's  Essay. 
The  rationalism  which  had  always  been  latent  in  the 
Eeformation — in  so  far  as  it  was  an  intellectual  movement- 
had  now  risen  to  the  surface.  The  Eeformation  in  England 
was  not,  in  fact,  primarily  an  intellectual  movement  at  all. 
It  was  not  till  years  after  it  had  become  the  only  kind  of 
reality  it  was  ever  destined  to  become  that  any  important 
attempt  was  ever  made  to  justify  it  on  other  than  political 
grounds.  Loosed  from  the  moorings  of  Catholicism,  the 
great  Protestant  divines  of  the  seventeenth  century,  great  in 
spite  of  the  necessary  failure  of  the  task  they  had  under- 
taken— Taylor  and  Barlow,  Cudworth  and  Leighton — felt 
the  growing  need  of  a  philosophy  of  Protestantism.  The 
task  was,  I  have  just  intimated  it,  impossible  of  accomplish- 
ment. The  rejection  of  the  authority  of  the  Church,  or 
rather  the  transference  of  it  to  the  Bible,  and  the  principle 
of  private  judgment  were,  indeed,  sorry  foundations  on 
which  to  erect  a  philosophy  of  religion.  They  were,  in  fact 
(though  this  truth  has  been  recognised  but  gradually  in 
England,if  its  full  import  is  grasped  even  now),  the  denial  of  all 
supernatural  religion  whatever.  "It  [Protestant  Christianity] 
is  at  last,"  says  an  acute  writer,1  "beginning  to  exhibit  to  us 
the  true  result  of  the  denial  of  infallibility  to  a  religion  that 
professes  to  be  supernatural.  We  are  at  last  beginning  to 
see  in  it  neither  the  purifier  of  a  corrupted  revelation,  nor 
the  corrupter  of  a  pure  revelation,  but  the  practical  denier 
of  all  revelation  whatsoever.  It  is  fast  evaporating  into  a 
mere  national  theism,  and  is  thus  showing  us  what,  as  a 
governing  power,  natural  theism  is."  It  was  the  merit — 
quantum  valeat — of  the  deists  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
on  whom  Butler  spent  the  force  of  his  philosophic  power- 
to  thus  early  recognise  the  fatal  blight  of  Protestantism. 

1  W.  H.  Mallock,  la  Life  Worth  Living  ?  ch.  xi. 


Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  "  207 

Deism  took  its  natural  rise  in  Locke  and  Herbert  of  Cherbury. 
From  deism  to  atheism  was  but  a  step,  and  it  was  quickly 
taken.  In  point  of  fact,  many  of  the  soi-disant  deists  of 
Butler's  day  (Mandeville,  for  instance,  the  acutest  of  them 
all),  had  no  claim  to  the  title.  The  deist  Collins  said 
sarcastically  that  nobody  doubted  the  existence  of  the 
Deity  until  the  Boyle  lecturers  had  undertaken  to  prove 
it.  Whether  this  is  quite  so  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  in 
Butler's  day  atheism  or  indifference  were  exceedingly 
common  in  England.  In  the  Advertisement  to  the  Analogy 
he  writes  as  follows  : — 

"It  is  come,  I  know  not  how,  to  be  taken  for  granted,  by 
many  persons,  that  Christianity  is  not  so  much  as  a  subject  of 
inquiry ;  but  that  it  is,  now  at  length,  discovered  to  be  fictitious. 
And  accordingly  they  treat  it  as  if  in  the  present  age  this  were 
an  agreed  point  among  all  people  of  discernment ;  and  nothing 
remained  but  to  set  it  up  as  a  principal  subject  of  mirth  and 
ridicule  as  it  were,  by  way  of  reprisals,  for  its  having  so  long 
interrupted  the  pleasures  of  the  world."  i 

This  is  rather  an  understatement  than  otherwise  of  the 
actual  sceptical  crisis  which  had  overtaken  English  religious 
thought  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  "  I  had 
lived  to  see,"  writes  Warburton,  a  contemporary  witness  of 
this  same  age  of  profligacy  and  unbelief,  "it  is  a  plain  and 
artless  tale  I  have  to  tell — I  had  lived  to  see  what  lawgivers 
have  always  seemed  to  dread  as  the  certain  prognostic  of 
public  ruin,  that  fatal  crisis  when  religion  hath  lost  its  hold 
on  the  minds  of  a  people"  And  he  goes  on,  in  a  most 
remarkable  passage,  to  lay  bare  the  causes  of  this  most 
lamentable  condition  of  public  society.  "  The  most  painful 
circumstance  in  this  relation,"  writes  Warburton,  "  is  that 
the  mischief  began  among  our  friends ;  by  men  who  loved 
their  country ;  but  were  too  eagerly  intent  on  one  part  only  of 
their  object — the  security  of  its  civil  liberty."  After  alluding 
to  the  attempts  made,  which,  of  course,  have  Warburton's 
hearty  approval,  to  "  lessen  the  credit  of  a  body  of  men  "  (the 

1  Analogy,  p.  Ivii.  The  references  throughout  these  articles  to  Butler's 
works  are  not  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  edition,  but  to  the  well-known  Oxford 
edition  of  1874,  in  2  vols.  Those  of  my  readers  who  are  interested  in  the 
matter,  are  most  likely  to  have  that  edition. 


208  Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  " 

Catholics,  to  wit)  in  the  eyes  of  the  Government,  the  writer 
thus  comments  on  the  [over-zealousness  of  the  Protestant 
besmirchers  of  the  Church.  "  In  their  endeavours,"  he 
writes,  "  to  take  off  the  influences  of  a  Church,  or  rather  of 
a  body  of  churchmen  inauspicious  to  a  free  State,  they  had 
occasioned,  at  last,  the  loosening  all  the  ties  which,  till 
then,  religion  had  on  the  minds  of  the  populace,  and  which, 
till  then,  statesmen  had  even  thought  were  the  best  security 
the  magistrate  had  for  their  obedience.  For  though  a  rule, 
of  right  may  direct  the  philosopher  to  a  principle  of  action,  and 
the  point  of  honour  may  keep  up  the  thing  called  manners 
amongst  gentlemen,  yet  nothing  but  religion  can  ever  fix  a 
sober  standard  of  behaviour  amongst  the  common  people." 
This  last  admirable  sentence  was,  of  course,  directed  against 
Hobbes'  deification  of  the  civil  authority.  To  justify  his 
abominable  principle  of  political  absolutism,  the  Philosopher 
of  Malmesbury  had,  as  is  well  known,  drawn  a  picture 
of  the  selfish  and  anarchical  tendencies  of  man's  nature 
that  was  as  gross  a  caricature— Butler  showed  this  with 
unequalled  skill  in  his  Sermons — as  his  attempt  to  ground 
morality  on  positive  law  was  subversive  of  all  religion. 
The  frank  materialism  of  the  Leviathan  was,  however, 
but  another  striking  instance  of  the  disintegrating  influence 
of  the  Reformation  which  even  Warburton  recognises  as 
an  appalling  reality,  but  on  which  he  quite  naturally  puts 
his  own  gloss.  That  its  influence  did  not  play  more  havoc 
with  the  Anglican  Church,  even  in  the  eighteenth  century,  is 
entirely  due  to  non-religious  causes.  As  I  have  said,  the 
English  Church  which  sprang  out  of  political  issues,  was 
destined  to  be  buttressed  by  political  and  social  organizations 
which  of  their  very  nature,  and  especially  in  England,  do 
not  lend  themselves  to  ready  dismemberment.  How  real 
a  cohesive  power  these  buttresses  proved  in  England  is 
best  seen  by  a  brief  reference  to  the  fate  of  continental 
Protestantism.  In  England  the  deists  were  apparently 
completely  vanquished — and  qua  deists  they  were  really 
so — by  Butler's  practical  logic.  The  deist  controversy 
culminated  in  the  year  1730,  and  with  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  Mandeville,  who  is  known  to  curious '  students  of 


Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  "  209 

literature  their  names  alone,  if  so  much,  are  remembered. 
As  against  the  brilliant  power  of  a  Butler  or  a  Berkeley 
the  clumsy  infidelity  of  Woolston  and  Chubb  cuts  but  a  poor 
figure.  Butler  and  Berkeley  alike,  however,  made  use  of 
weapons  which  might,  had  the  political  environment  of 
their  time  been  propitious  to  the  task,  have  been  turned 
with  dire  effect  against  themselves.  As  it  was,  Protestant 
orthodoxy — if  I  may  be  pardoned  the  expression — won  to 
its  defence  the  keenest  intellects  of  the  hour,  and  thus  its 
foundations  seemed  secured  from  attack,  when  in  reality 
these  very  foundations  had  to  be  uprooted  in  order  to 
supply  missiles  against  its  actual  foes.  When  the  scene  of 
the  controversy  shifted  to  France,  the  disparity  of  intellect 
between  the  contestants  was  reversed.  Voltaire,  the 
disciple  of  the  English  deists,  quickly  went  to  the  bottom 
of  the  matter,  and  made  the  alternative  between  atheism 
and  Catholicism  sharp-drawn  and  inevitable.  No  illogical 
compromise  was  possible  in  a  free  intellectual  atmosphere, 
and  in  Pierre  Bayle's  Dictionaire  Historique — first  published 
when  Butler  was  a  child  of  four  years — this  was  made  quite 
evident.  The  typical  English  mind,  on  the  other  hand, 
rests  freely  in  a  logical  half-way  house.  Locke  and  Butler 
are  supreme  examples  of  this  hesitancy  to  push  matters  to 
extreme  lengths.  The  Scotch  intellect  of  Hume,  however, 
speedily  brought  to  the  surface  the  latest  scepticism  in  the 
views  of  one  and  the  other  thinker.  In  this  connection 
it  is,  perhaps,  worthy  of  note  that  Butler  "  everywhere 
recommended  "  (as  Burton  tells  us  in  his  Life  of  Hume) 
the  first  set  of  essays  which  Hume  gave  to  the  world. 
English  Protestantism  was,  then,  a  compromise,  and  an 
essentially  unstable  one  ;  and,  as  I  hope  to  be  able  to 
show  later  on,  it  was  merely  because  Butler's  argument  was 
and  has  been  interpreted  in  the  light  of  this  compromise, 
that  it  has  seemed  to  many  acute  minds  a  persuasive  to 
atheism,  rather  than  an  adequate  defence  of  Christianity. 
Head  in  the  light  of  Catholicism,  its  full  force — arid  its  force, 
though  not  per  se  conclusive,  is  wonderfully  strong — comes 
to  the  surface.  I  shall,  however,  before  dealing  with  that 
point  proceed  to  state  at  some  length,  and  as  precisely  as  m  ty 

VOL.  XVII.  0 


210  Bishop  Butler's  "Analogy" 

be,  what,  in  effect,  Butler's  argument  in  the  Analogy  is. 
The  task  is  not  superfluous,  as  the  history  of  the  controversy 
which  has  been  waged  round  that  great  work  shows. 

II. 

In   Southey's   noble   epitaph,  which   graces  one   of  the 
monuments  erected  in  Bristol  Cathedral  to  the  memory  of 
Butler,  we  read  : — "  It  was  reserved   for  him  [Butler]  to 
develop  its  [i  e.,  the    Christian    Eeligion]    analogy   to    the 
constitution   and   course   of  nature,  and  laying  his   strong 
foundations  in  the  depth  of  that  great  argument,  there  to 
construct    another  and  irrefragable  proof:    thus  rendering 
philosophy  subservient  to  faith  ;  and  finding  in  outward  and 
visible  things  the  type  and  evidence  of  those  within  the 
veil."     An  "  irrefragable  proof"  is  the  last  claim  that  Butler 
would  make  for  his  analogical  reasoning.     He  had,  indeed, 
no  illusions  on  the  nature  or  place  of  his  argument  in  the 
philosophy  of  religion.  It  was  meant  merely  as  an  argumentum 
ad   hominem   against   the  deists.      The   position    of  these 
thinkers,  as  laid  down  in  works  like  Tindal's  Christianity 
as    Old    as    the    Creation,    or    Toland's    Christianity    not 
Mysterious,  may  be  stated  in  a  sentence.     It  was  simply  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  existence  of  God,  with  a  denial  of 
revelation    and   a   disbelief    in    Christianity.      The    deists 
maintained,  in  a  word,  that  nature,  as  known  at  the  time 
by  man,  allowed   no   room  for  revelation  ;    that  miracles, 
as  violating  the  laws  of    nature,    were   impossible ;    that, 
as  a  consequence,  "  historical  Christianity  "  was  an  absurd 
anomaly,    being    honeycombed    with    moral    and    mental 
difficulties.     Lt  is  this  so-called  Natural  Eeligion  that  Butler 
has  in  view  on  every  page  of  his  great  work.     He  takes  the 
deist  admissions — notably,  of  course,  that  of  the  existence 
of  God — and,  as  I  have  said,  turns  an  admirable  ad  hominem 
argument  against  them.     Does  he  think  that  in  doing  so  he 
has  forged  in  Southey's  phrase,  "  an  irrefragable  proof"  of 
Christianity?     He    suffers    from    no  such  illusion.     With 
that   singular    modesty    and    candour,    which    were    such 
prominent  traits  in  a  beautiful  character,  Butler  undertakes 
to  show — "  that*  Christianity  was  true  to  demonstration" — 


Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  "  211 

nothing  of  the  kind ;  but — "  that  it  was  not  so  clear  a  case 
that  there  was  nothing  in  it"  The  cardinal  argument  of  the 
Analogy,  which  was  suggested  by  a  passage  of  Origen's,1 
is  this : — Christianity  reflects  the  difficulties  which  the 
constitution  of  the  world  opposes  to  the  belief  in  God  ; 
therefore,  if  you  believe  in  God  upon  the  evidence  which  the 
world  supplies,  you  ought  not 'to  disbelieve  in  any  system  of 
religion  claiming  to  be  divinely  revealed  on  the  score  of  the 
same  difficulties.  Thus  Butler  addressed  the  deists. 

Given  the  idea  of  a  natural  lawgiver,  the  Creator  and 
Governor  of  the  Universe  (a  conception  common  to  the 
author  of  the  Analogy  and  his  opponents),  then  Butler 
contends  that  Christianity,  or  revealed  religion,  offers  no 
difficulty  which  cannot  be  paralleled  in  the  case  of  "  natural 
religion."  Butler,  it  will  be  seen,  makes  no  attempt,  as 
Paley  did,  to  prove  the  truth  of  Christianity.  He  does  not 
even  pretend  that  it  is  free  from  difficulties,  moral  and 
mental.  His  one  contention  is,  that  it  cannot  be  proved 
to  be  false ;  and  here,  of  course,  comes  in  his  well-known 
doctrine  of  probability.  Probability  is  the  guide  of  life.  If 
Christianity  cannot  be  demonstrated  to  be  a  fiction,  it  is 
possible  it  may  be  true.  Why,  he  seems  to  ask,  and  with 
pertinence,  should  we  not  apply  to  religious  questions  the 
same  test  that  regulates  our  conduct  in  the  ordinary  affairs 
of  life?  If  there  is  the  slightest  probability  of  revealed 
religion  being  true,  we  cannot  afford  to  disregard  it.  Let 
us  then,  with  a  due  sense  of  the  solemnity  of  the  issues 
depending  on  the  result  of  our  investigation,  examine  the 
objections  which  have  been  advanced  by  the  deists  in  t the 
light  of  the  analogy  afforded  by  the  difficulties  of  the 
natural  religion  which  they  profess  to  find  so  "reasonable." 

"  What,  if  earth 

Be  but  the  shadow  of  heaven,  and  things  therein 
Each  to  other  like,  more  than  on  earth  is  thought?  " 

Such,  succinctly,  is   Butler's   position  in  the   Analogy. 

1  "He  who  believes  the  Scripture  to  have  proceeded  from  Him  who  is 
the  Author  of  Nature  may  well  expect  to  find  the  same  sort  of  difficulties  in  it 
as  are  found  in  the  constitution  of  nature."— Origen,  Philocal. 


212  Bishop  Butlers  "Analogy" 

Commenting    on    it     recently,    Mr.  Gladstone     wrote     as 
follows  : — 1 

"  Butler,  in  every  instance  without  exception,  reduces  his 
demands  upon  the  antagonist  whom  he  always  sees  before  him 
to  their  minimum.  There  is  not  in  the  Analogy,  from  beginning 
to  end,  a  word  of  rhetoric,  of  declamation,  of  either  wilful  or 
neglectful  over-statement.  It  is  purely  dry  light  which  he  seeks 
to  cast  upon  his  theme.  He  opens  a  path  before  us,  and  the 
whole  purpose  of  his  book  is  summed  up  in  the  word  'ought;' 
while  to  this  '  ought '  there  is  no  other  sequel  than  the  words 
'to  inquire.'  For  all  those  whose  temperament  is  warm,  whose 
imagination  is  lively,  this  seems  but  a  jejune  result ;  they  have 
spent  much  labour  and  much  patience  in  toiling  up  the  steep 
road  of  the  treatise  itself,  and  then  they  find  themselves  simply 
introduced  into  a  new  field  of  arduous  investigation.  They  are 
tired,  and  demand  refreshment ;  he  offers  them  only  a  recom- 
mencement of  work.  After  a  hot  and  a  hard  day,  it  seems  a 
scanty  wage.  It  is  no  wonder  if  some  are  disappointed ;  it  is  well 
that  so  many  are  not.  To  my  mind,  there  is  no  preparation  for 
a  satisfactory  study  of  Butler  so  good  as  to  have  been  widely 
conversant  with  the  disappointing  character  of  human  affairs. 
With  touching  simplicity  he  says  :  '  Indeed,  the  unsatisfactory 
nature  of  the  evidence  with  which  we  are  obliged  to  take  up 
in  the  daily  course  of  life  is  scarce  to  be  expressed.'  Yet  such 
evidence  suffices  for  those  whose  one  habitual  endeavour  it  is  to 
discern  and  follow  the  way  of  duty." 

Does  Butler  then  think  religion  rests  on  so  narrow  and 
problematic  a  basis  ?  Far  from  it.  He  accepts  unreservedly 
the  metaphysical  arguments  which  his  friend  Clarke,  and 
the  Cambridge  Platonists,  generally  were  just  then  develop- 
ing. "  There  are  two  ways,"  he  writes  in  a  well-known 
passage  of  the  Preface  to  the  Sermons;  "  There  are  two 
ways  in  which  the  subject  of  morals  may  be  treated.  One 
begins  from  inquiry  into  the  abstract  relations  of  things ; 
the  other  from  a  matter  of  fact :  namely,  what  the  particular 
nature  of  man  is,  its  several  parts,  their  economy  or  con- 
stitution; from  whence  it  proceeds  to  determine  what  course 
of  life  it  is  which  is  correspondent  to  this  whole  nature  .  .  . 
the  first  seems  the  most  direct  formal  proof,  and,  in  some 
respects,  the  least  liable  to  cavil  and  dispute;  the  latter  is  in 

1  Nineteenth  Century,  November,  1895,  p.  723,  "Bishop  Butler  and  his 
Censors." 


Bishop  Butlers  "  Analogy  "  213 

a  peculiar  manner  adapted  to  satisfy  a  fair  mind,  and  is  more 
easy  applicable  to  the  several  relations  and  circumstances 
in  life." J  This  is,  of  course,  but  an  application  of  Aristotle's 

distinction    of    ^vtrei  Trporepov  and  Trpos  r)/j.a<s  TTporcpov.        With 

Butler,  as  with  Aristotle,  truth  in  the  moral  order  is 
apprehended  not  by  the  dry  light  of  reason  alone,  but  by 
the  whole  soul — <rvv  o\y  ry  faxy.  Non  in  dialectica  com- 
placuit  Deo  salvum  fasere  populum  suum.  Butler  saw — 
none  more  clearly — that  the  cause  of  the  flippant  irreligion 
of  his  day  was  the  outcome  not  of  ignorance,  but  of  wicked- 
ness. Remembering  the  text :  Dixit  insipiens  in  corde  suo, 
non  est  Deus,  his  aim  was  to  supplement  the  a  priori  methods 
of  such  thinkers  as  Clarke  and  Cudworth  by  an  inductive 
appeal  to  the  facts  of  nature,  human  and  external,  as 
shadowing  forth  the  spiritual  dignity  of  man  through 
conscience  and  free  will,  and  the  valid  character  of  his 
hopes  for  a  future  life;  where  the  entanglements  of  this 
will  be  unravelled,  and  its  apparent  injustices  revealed  in 
their  true  light.  The  following  fine  lines  might  indeed  be 
set  by  way  of  motto  to  the  Analogy,  so  expressive  are  they 
of  Butler's  mental  attitude  : — 

"  Conjecture  of  the  worker  by  the  work. 
Is  there  strength  there  ?     Enough.     Intelligence  ? 
Ample.     But  goodness  in  a  like  degree  ? 
Not  to  the  human  eye,  in  the  present  state  : 
An  isosceles  deficient  in  the  base. 
What  lacks  there  of  perfection  fit  for  God 
But  just  the  instance,  which  this  tale  supplies, 
Of  love  without  a  limit.     So  is  strength, 
So  is  intelligence  ;  let  love  be  so, 
Unlimited  in  its  self -sacrifice, 
Then  is  the  tale  true,  as  God  stands  complete. 
Beyond  the  tale  I  reach  into  the  dark, 
Feel  what  I  cannot  see,  and  so  faith  stands.  "^ 

So  conceiving  his  task,  how  does  Butler  proceed  to  state 
his  argument  ?  He  does  not,  as  we  have  seen,  deceive 
himself  as  to  the  character  of  his  undertaking.  He  admits 
to  the  full  that  even  to  the  keenest  intellects  many  things 
are  seen  "  as  in  a  glass  darkly."  "  Let  not  such  poor 

*  Vol.  ii.,  p.  9, 


214  Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  " 

creatures  as  we  are,"  he  exclaims,  "go  on  objecting  against 
an  infinite  scheme  that  we  do  not  see  the  necessity  or 
usefulness  of  all  its  parts,  and  call  this  reasoning." 
"Knowledge,"  he  elsewhere  writes,  "is  not  our  proper 
happiness."  "And  how,"  he  seems  to  ask,  in  the  words  of 
a  Kempis,  "  how  are  we  concerned  in  the  distinctions  of 
logic — in  '  genus  '  and  '  species  '  ?  "  Nowise — unless  we 
draw  therefrom  the  lesson  of  the  awful  reality  of  life,  and 
of  the  issues  depending  on  it.  It  is  the  abiding  sense 
of  this  reality  throughput  Butler's  work  that  makes  the 
perusal  of  the  Analogy  and  the  Sermons  a  moral  tonic  of 
the  most  valuable  kind.  The  moral  majesty  of  Butler  is, 
indeed,  as  outstanding  as  the  subtlety  of  his  argument. 
For  him  the  world,  like  Prospero's  island,  is  full  of  sights 
and  sounds  which  faith  alone  can  interpret  duly.  Crede  ut 
intelligas.  " Things,"  he  says,  "are  not  the  less  real  for 
their  not  being  the  objects  of  sense."  The  very  imperfec- 
tion of  our  knowledge  should,  in  Butler's  view,  make  it 
precious  to  us.  "For,  after  all,"  he  adds,  quaintly,  "that 
which  is  true  must  be  admitted,  though  it  should  show  us 
the  shortness  of  our  faculties."  In  this  way  Butler  opposed 
the  "meekness  of  wisdom"  to  the  arrogance  of  the  scepticism 
and  the  insolence  of  the  half-knowledge  of  his  opponents. 
We  may  apply  to  him,  as  the  enemy  of  the  intellectual 
foppism  and  irreverence  of  his  day,  the  fine  eulogy  which 
Aristotle  in  the  Metaphysics  passes  on  the  philosopher 
Anaxagoras,  that  he  "  stood  out  like  a  sober  man  from  the 
random  talkers  that  had  preceded  him." 

The  famous  Analogy  is,  then,  an  endeavour  to  show  that, 
as  the  particular  frame  of  man  reveals  a  supreme  conscience 
(a  contention  which  Butler  put  beyond  doubt  in  his 
Sermons},  so  the  frame  of  nature  shows  a  moral  governor 
revealed  through  conscience.  A  moral  governor,  note  ;  for  it 
is  of  the  essence  of  Butler's  argument  to  maintain  that  the 
facts  of  observation  fall  in  with  the  belief  that  this  life  is  a 
probationary  state  where  men  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  under 
a  system  of  government  which  encourages  virtue,  as  such, 
and  discourages  vice,  and,  therefore  implies  the  probability 
that  in  a  future  life  there  will  be  a  complete  satisfaction  of 


Bishop  Butler's  ''  Analogy  "  215 

the  claims  of  justice.     Bat,  says  the  objector,  suffering  is  not 
always  punishment  in  this  life — "the  virtuous  groan,  and 
the  wicked  prosper."     And  then   there   is  the  mystery  of 
"  vicarious  suffering" — Delirant  reges,  plectuntur  Achivi? 
"Good   actions,"    answers    Butler,    "are   never  punished, 
considered  as  beneficial  to  society,  nor  ill  actions  rewarded 
under    view    of    their    being    hurtful   to   it  ; "   and   again, 
"In    the    natural    course    of    things,  virtue,   as   such,  is 
actually    rewarded,    and    vice,    as    such,   punished."     Nor 
are  suffering  and  evil,  by  any  manner  of  means,  synonyms 
in   Butler's  vocabulary.     He  recognises  that,  by  suffering, 
we  may  be  purged  "  of  the  distempers  of  sin,"   and   thus 
made   more   worthy   of  the   great   heritage    which    is    to 
be    ours."      As    a    rule,    therefore,    even    in    this    world, 
virtue   leads   to   happiness,   and   vice   to   misery.      Butler, 
in  point  of  fact,  contends  that  the  tendencies  of  virtue  and 
vice  are  "  essential  and  founded  in  the  nature  of  things," 
whereas   the   hindrances   are  "  artificial."      But    are  these 
essential  tendencies  to  be  ultimately  baffled?  Not  so.  Virtue, 
says  Butler,  is  "  a  plant  intended  to  flourish  more  vigorously 
in  another  world."  On  what  analogy  is  this  statement  based? 
On    the    analogy   of    evolution,   answers  Butler.      We  see  ' 
things  around  us  spring  into  life,  increase,  come  to  perfection, 
decay,  and  their  place  knows  them  no  more.     It  is  so  with 
man's  body.     It  is  so  with  the  development  of  the  acorn  into 
the  oak.     Having  filled  their  ends  they  lie  "  in  cold  obstruc- 
tion."    Is  this  the  destiny  of  man's  soul  ?     We  have  reasons, 
says  Butler,  for  thinking  not.      Our  intellectual  and  moral 
qualities,  and  especially  the  latter,  have  not  yet  come  to  their 
perfection,  they  are  but  slowly  approaching  it,  when  we  are 
called  away  from  this  world.     Oar  whole  life  (if  so  we  will  it) 
has  been  a  discipline — a  latensprocessus,  to  adapt  a  phrase  of 
Bacon — a  girding  of  the  loins — for  what  ?     The  world  of 
sense  affords  no  arena  for  a  spiritual  athlete  so  equipped. 
If  immortality  seems  a  difficult  problem,  the  denial  or  doubi 
of  it  casts  upon  us  one  more  difficult.     For  it  asks  us  to 
credit,  that  when  the   evolutionary    process   of   spirit,   so 
far  as  it  is  confined  to  this  life,  is  nearing  its  perfection,  it 
suddenly  ceases.     The  pulses  of  man's  heart  wear  out  in  less 


216  Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  " 

than  a  hundred  years,  but  the  strength  of  his  love  rends  the 
shackles  of  time  and  place.  If  death  ends  all,  and  the  "  rest 
is  silence,"  what  a  shocking  disproportion  there  remains 
between  the  production  of  man  and  the  length  and  signi- 
ficance of  his  life !  Thus  Butler  shows  that  the  analogies  of 
the  case  leave  us  free  to  cherish  the  hope  that  is  within 
us: — 

"  Our  being  placed  in  a  state  of  discipline  throughout  this 
life  for  another  is  [he  writes]  a  providential  disposition  of  things, 
exactly  of  the  same  kind  as  our  being  placed  in  a  state  of  dis- 
cipline during  childhood  for  mature  age.  Our  condition  in  both 
respects  is  uniform  and  of  a  piece,  and  comprehended  under  one 
and  the  same  general  law  of  nature.  And  if  we  were  not  able  at 
all  to  discern  how  or  in  what  way  the  present  life  could  be  our 
preparation  for  another,  this  would  be  no  objection  against  the 
credibility  of  its  being  so.  For  we  do  not  discern  how  food  and 
sleep  contribute  to  the  growth  of  the  body,  nor  could  have  any 
thought  that  they  would,  before  we  had  experience.  Nor  do 
children  at  all  think,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  sports  and 
exercises  to  which  they  are  so  much  addicted  contribute  to  their 
health  and  growth ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  of  the  necessity 
which  there  is  for  their  being  restrained  in  them  ;  nor  are  they 
capable  of  understanding  the  use  of  many  parts  of  discipline 
which,  nevertheless,  they  must  be  made  to  go  through,  in  order  to 
qualify  them  for  the  business  of  mature  age.  Were  we  not  able 
then  to  discover  in  what  respects  the  present  life  could  form  us 
for  the  future  one,  yet  nothing  would  be  more  supposable  than  it 
might,  in  some  respects  or  other,  from  the  general  analogy  of 
Providence."1 

And  here,  perhaps,  it  is  well  to  take  note  of  an  objection 
which  has  been  urged  against  the  whole  scheme  of  Butler's 
argument ;  which  looks  plausible,  and  which,  if  well  founded, 
would  deprive  the  Analogy  of  almost  all  its  intellectual 
force.  The  objection  I  refer  to  has  been  differently  stated 
by  Butler's  critics.2  I  shall  content  myself  with  quoting 
Dr.  Martineau's  forceful  expression  of  it  :— 

"  His  [Butler's]  fundamental  maxim,  that  '  Revelation  and 
nature,  having  the  same  Author,  may  be  expected  to  exhibit  the 
same  features,'  may,"  writes  Dr.  Martineau,  "  be  admitted  until 
be  adds,  '  and  therefore  to  contain  the  same  difficulties.'  There  is, 

1  Analogy,  parti.,  eh.  v.,  s.  M. 

2  Cf.  Mr.  Bag-ehot's  Literary  Studies,  vol,  ii.     Essay  II. 


Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  "  217 

we  suppose,  some  limit  to  the  resemblances  which  may  be  reason- 
ably looked  for  between  the  two  systems.  No  one's  anticipations 
would  be  satisfied  by  their  being  perfectly  alike — each  in  its 
disclosures,  an  exact  facsimile  of  the  other.  And,  if  so — if  the 
presumption  be  irresistible  in  favour  of  some,  difference  iri  the 
midst  of  the  visible  affinity — where  should  we  fitly  seek  for 
the  lines  of  divergence  ?  Surely  the  very  antithesis,  '  Natural ' 
— 'Revealed,'  is  an  index  to  the  true  seat  of  contrast.  Precisely 
what  Nature  hides  is  Inspiration  given  to  unveil :  it  is  where  the 
one  is  silent  that  the  other  has  to  speak  ;  and  again,  in  so  far  as 
the  first  leaves  us'  in  the  dimness  of  perplexity  does  the  second 
vouchsafe  its  light.  The  difficulties,  therefore,  of  unaided  theism 
are  exactly  what  we  should  not  expect  to  find  over  again  in  a 
religion  sent  to  our  rescue ;  and  just  in  proportion  as  we  do  so, 
does  the  gift  forfeit  its  character  as  a  revelation,  and  remain 
undifferenced  from  our  prior  darkness.  To  insist  that  the  universe 
and  the  Gospel  came  from  the  same  Author,  and  to  forget  that 
they  contemplate  different  ends,  supplementary  to  each  other,  is 
to  do  violence  to  all  laws  of  rational  presumption."  l 

An  apparently  fatal  objection  to  Butler's  argument, 
and  yet,  in  reality,  one  that  leaves  its  force  untouched. 
For  what  is  the  position  taken  up  in  the  Analogy? 
Precisely  this  :  That  the  world  "  is  in  a  state  of 
apostasy  and  ruin ;"  that  there  is  a  radical  discordancy 
between  the  spirit  and  the  flesh ;  that  the  "  genius  and  the 
mortal  instruments  "  are  at  war  in  man's  petty  kingdom ; 
that,  in  a  word,  sin  has  blighted  human  nature.  What  then 
in  the  circumstances  should  we  expect  from  a  Eevelation  ? — 
that  it  would  disentangle  all  the  intellectual  problems  and 
make  clear  all  the  mysteries  of  life  and  creation  ?  Not  that, 
surely,  but  rather  that  it  would  offer  us  the  means  to  build 
up  again  the  fallen  fabric  of  human  nature  until  our  bodies 
become  indeed  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  not 
darkness  of  the  understanding  that  is  the  danger  of  our 
moral  lives,  but  perversion  of  will.  As  Mr.  Gladstone  finely 
says,  discussing  this  very  difficulty  : — 

"  Darkened,  without  doubt,  the  understanding  is ;  but  darkened 
by  those  fumes  of  passion  which  rise  so  thickly  from  the  furnace 
of  our  desires.  These  cloud  the  atmosphere  within  us,  and  thicken 
what  ought  to  be  a  translucent  medium,  to  convey  the  authoritative 

1  Essays.  Reviews,  and  Addresses,  vol.  iii.,  ThcologicalrFhilosophical,  pp. 
122-123,  * 


218  Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  " 

sentences  of  conscience.  Had  want  of  knowledge  been  the 
capital  difficulty  of  our  state,  fishermen  would  not  have  been  the 
chief  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  nor  would  babes  and  sucklings  have 
perfected  its  praise.  Not  from  an  upper  chamber  in  Jerusalem,  not 
from  the  stable,  offering  to  the  Eedeemer  of  the  world  the  shelter 
denied  Him  by  the  inn,  but  rather  from  the  Pnyx  and  Theatre, 
from  Portico  and  Academe  of  Athens,  would  the  notes  of  salvation 
have  been  sounded  forth."1 

For  Butler,  the  existence  of  speculative  difficulties  in 
religion  on  which  Kevelation  throw  no  light,  is  no  stumbling- 
block. 

"  Nor  [he  says  acutely]  does  there  appear  any  absurdity 
in  supposing  that  the  speculative  difficulties  in  which  the  evidence 
of  religion  is  involved,  may  make  even  the  principal  part  of  some 
person's  trial.  For,  as  the  chief  temptations  of  the  generality  of 
the  world  are  the  ordinary  motives  to  injustice  or  unrestained 
pleasure  ;  or  to  live  in  the  neglect  of  religion  from  this  frame  of 
mind  which  renders  many  persons  almost  without  feeling  as  to 
anything  distant,  or  which  is  not  the  object  of  their  senses  ;  so 
there  are  other  persons  without  this  shallowness  of  temper,  persons 
of  a  deeper  sense  as  to  what  is  invisible  and  future,  who  not  only 
soe,  but  have  a  general  practical  feeling  that  what  is  to  come  will 
be  present,  and  that  things  are  not  less  real  for  their  not  being 
objects  of  sense ;  and  who  from  their  natural  constitution  of 
body  and  of  temper,  and  from  their  external  condition,  may  have 
small  temptations  to  behave  ill,  small  difficulty  in  behaving  well, 
in  the  common  cause  of  life."  2 

How,  in  fine,  are  we,  on  Butler's  showing,  to  solve  the* 
old  problem  of  evil,  to  reconcile  the  constitution  and  course 
of  nature,  as  we  find  it,  full  of  physical  and  moral  disorder, 
with  the  government  of  benevolent  Omnipotence  ?  This 
is  a  difficulty,  it  will  be  at  once  seen,  which  has  no  special 
force  as  against  Butler's  argument.  It  is  one  which,  what- 
ever its  strength,  is  inherent  in  every  system  of  morality 
based  on  a  future  life.  No  one,  least  of  all  Butler,  has  ever 
contended  that  Christianity  presents  us  with  no  difficulties — 
it  is,  in  fact,  the  root-idea  of  the  Analogy  that  it  does — and 
confronts  us  with  no  moral  and  intellectual  problems.  But 
these  perplexities  are  the  price  we  pay  for  rising  from  the 
natural  to  the  supernatural.  Once  thus  double  the  sum  of 

1  The  Nineteenth  Century,  November,  p.  717- 
?  jlnalogy,  part  ii->  ch.  vj. 


;  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  Galway  219 

things,  and  you  have  mystery,  indeed,  before  which  reason 
is  silent,  but  which,  to  the  eye  of  faith,  is  but  the  symbol  of 
God's  majesty  and  might.  Butler,  then,  finds,  as  I  have 
said,  no  special  force  in  the  "  mystery  of  evil."  Nevertheless 
he  glances  at  it.  He  pertinently  reminds  us  how  over- 
whelmingly large  a  proportion  of  the  misery  of  our  mortal 
lot  is  the  direct  result  of  our  own  sins ;  of  the  abuse, 
that  is  to  say,  of  our  free  will.  ''If  we  could,"  says  a 
philosopher1  of  a  very  different  type,  "if  we  could  lay  all 
the  misery  of  the  world  in  one  balance,  and  all  the  guilt  of 
the  world  in  another,  the  needle  would  certainly  point  to 
the  centre."  The  world,  Butler  constantly  reminds  us,  is 
in  "  a  state  of  ruin;"  but  just  as  the  havoc  wrought  by 
pestilence  or  earthquake  does  not  blind  us  to  the  general 
harmony  and  beauty  of  nature,  or  to  the  existence  of  law, 
neither  should  the  moral  wrack  of  sin  make  us  deny  or 
forget  the  reality  of  God's  providence,  or  our  duty  to  fashion 
our  wills  to  His  : — 

"  In  la  sua  volontade  e  nostra  pace." 

WILLIAM  P.  COYNE. 


ST.  MAKY'S-OE-THE-HILL,  GALWAY 

O'HEYNE,  referring  to  the  venerable  Galway  shrine  ot 
"St.  Mary 's-of-t he-Hi  11,"  speaks  of  it  as  very  ancient 
"  Vetustissima."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  one  of 
the  oldest  religious  houses  in  the  ancient  city  of  Dungallive. 
We  know  from  the  pages  of  O'Flaherty,  that  for  a  long  period 
its  chief  treasure  was  a  statue  of  our  Lady,  which  was  much 
venerated  by  the  faithful  of  the  town  and  district.  Yet, 
though  once  a  popular  and  much-frequented  shrine,  it  does 
not  seem  to  have  gathered  from  a  remote  antiquity  many 
of  those  venerable  traditions  which  invest,  as  with  an 
imperishable  halo,  so  many  of  our  ancient  religious 

1  Schopenhauer, 


220  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  Galwaij 

establishments.  The  date  of  its  foundation  is  unknown.  The 
founder's  name  is  not  recorded.  But  there  can  be  but  little 
doubt  that  -the  local  dynasts — the  O'Hallorans— chieftains 
of  Clan  Feargail,  were  both  its  founders  and  chief  patrons. 
It  occupied  an  eminence  beyond  the  river,  on  the  western 
suburb,  around  which  the  cottages  of  the  Claddagh  fishermen 
clustered  centuries  ago,  as  they  do  in  our  own  day.  From 
this  site  it  commanded  a  splendid,  view  of  the  town  and 
of  the  bay,  of  the  rapids  and  estuary  of  the  river.  The 
wide  bay  lay  before  it,  extending  its  arms  far  eastward  along 
the  low-lying  wooded  coast ;  while  the  Burren  mountain 
ranges  rose  upon  the  south,  fixing  the  line  of  its  broken 
coast  by  their  lofty  and  broken  headlands.  It  would  appear 
that  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill  was  erected  as  a  convent  of 
the  Praemonstratenses,  and  as  a  branch  of  their  convent  of 
the  Holy  Trinity  at  Tuam.  This  connection  with  Tuam 
will  not  appear  strange  to  those  who  will  remember  that, 
the  territories  of  Clan  Feargail,  and  Moy  Soela,  which  after- 
wards constituted  the  diocese  of  Annaghdown  then  were 
portions  of  the  diocese  of  Tuam,  and  that  the  diocese  of 
Annaghdown  was  not  yet  established.  It  will  also  be 
remembered  that  the  small  parish  church  of  the  'town  of 
Galway  was  then,  and  long  after,  served  by  Tuam  Cistercians 
from  the  abbey  of  Knockmoy. 

It  does  not,  however,  appear  that  the  connection  of  the 
nuns  of  the  Holy  Trinity  with  the  convent  of  St.  Mary's- 
of-the-Hill  was  a  satisfactory  one.  The  convent  was 
abandoned  by  them,  though  from  what  cause  is  .  not 
recorded,  and  remained  for  a  considerable  time  altogether 
deserted.  Meantime  the  secular  clergy  of  Galway,  seeing, 
perhaps,  in  the  rapid  growth  of  their  town  evidence  of 
the  immediate  need  of  an  auxiliary  church,  took  possession 
of  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  and  continued  to  use  it  as  their 
own.  We  must,  no  doubt,  assume  that  their  action  had  at 
least  the  tacit  approval  of  the  Ordinary ;  but  we  are  forced 
to  conclude  that  the  arrangement,  whatever  its  recom- 
mendations may  have  been,  did  not  recommend  itself 
favourably  to  the  people  of  the  town.  It  is,  perhaps, 
impossible  to  ascertain,  in  our  day,  the  true  cause  of  the 


St.  Mary*  s-of-the-H  ill,  Galway 

dissatisfaction.  What  we  know  with  certainty  is,  that  they 
required  that  the  secular  clergy  should  be  deprived  of 
St.  Mary's,  and  that  a  house  of  the  Dominican  Order  should 
be  established  there.  Their  plea  for  affecting  those  objects 
was  put  before  the  Roman  authorities  at  a  time  when  the 
influence  of  the  Galway  citizens  at  Rome  was  proved  to  the 
world  by  the  establishment  of  the  wardenship  in  their  town- 
They  pievaded  with  all  th.e  force  of  truth,  that  the  exemplary 
lives  of  the  Dominican  fathers  would  prove  a  strong 
incentive  to  virtue  in  their  town ;  that  the  eloquence  and 
fervour  of  their  preaching,  their  zeal  in  the  tribunal  of 
penance,  their  piety  in  celebrating  the  Divine  Mysteries, 
would  prove  so  many  invaluable  spiritual  aids  to  secure 
salvation.  No  doubt  they  ignored  the  value  of  the  spiritual 
ministrations  of  the  secular  clergy  then  in  charge  of 
St.  Mary's,  but  the  possible  or  real  inefficiency  of  their 
ministry  is  not  otherwise  pointed  to  or  proved.  But  what- 
ever may  be  urged  on  either  side,  it  certainly  cannot  be 
urged,  that  the  popular  desire  on  the  part  of  the  people  of 
Galway  at  the  time  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of  their 
warden  had  influenced  in  any  respect  the  character  of  their 
pleading.  Their  petition  was  favourably  received.  A  brief 
was  accordingly  executed  on  the  4th  December,  1488,  by 
His  Holiness  Pope  Innocent  VIII. ,  depriving  the  secular 
clergy  of  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  conferring  the  monastery 
on  the  fathers  of  the  Dominican  Order  to  be  established 
there,  and  constituting  the  new  abbey  an  independent  house 
enjoying  the  same  privileges  as  other  independent  houses 
of  the  Order  wherever  established.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
this  brief  of  December,  1488,  was  addressed  to  the 
Dean  of  Annaghdown,  and  to  William  O'Mullachlynn, 
and  William  Mackay,  Canons  of  the  church  of  Annaghdown. 
As  the  diocese  of  Annaghdown  was  then  supposed  to  be 
annexed  to  Tuam,  and  Galway  constituted  a  wardenship  a 
few  years  previously,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  what 
connection  the  Dean  and  Canons  of  Annaghdown  could 
have  with  the  foundation  of  a  religious  community  within 
the  wardenship.  But  as  De  Burgo,  who  publishes  the  brief, 
throws  no  light  on  the  subject,  we  can  only  regard  it  as  one 


222  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  Galway 

of  many  interesting  puzzles  in  connection  with  the  history 
of  the  wardenship. 

It  is  necessary  to  point  out  clearly  that  the  Dominican 
foundation  at  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  in  1488,  was  an  entirely 
independent  one.  Kegarding  this  important  fact,  several 
writers  of  eminence  have  been  in  error.  O'Heyne  asserts 
that  it  was  but  a  branch  from  the  great  Dominican 
convent  of  Athenry.  0 'Flaherty,  copying  O'Heyne, 
expressly  states  that  the  "Praemonstratenses  granted  the 
place  to  St.  Dominic's  Order  at  Athenry ; "  and  Hardiman, 
in  stating  that  it  was  a  branch  of  the  newly-established 
house  at  Athenry,  adopted  the  same  opinion,  and  gave  it 
the  sanction  of  his  authority. 

We  are  assured  by  De  Burgo,  that  O'Heyne  could  not 
have  seen  the  original  Bull  of  Innocent  VIII.,  in  which  all 
the  facts  in  connection  with  the  foundation  are  clearly  set 
forth.  And  at  the  time  in  which  he  wrote  there  did  exist  a 
connection  between  both  convents,  but  of  a  casual  and 
comparatively  modern  nature,  From  the  opening  of  the 
seventeenth  century  (1612),  it  was  frequently  necessary  for 
the  persecuted  house  at  Galway  to  recruit  its  numbers  from 
outside  ;  and  it  was  from  Athenry  the  fathers  were  frequently 
secured  for  the  perilous  duties,  until  the  necessity  passed 
away  with  the  dawn  of  a  more  pacific  period. 

The  Dominican  fathers  were  established  within  the 
restored  cloisters  of  St.  Mary's  in  1488.  They  found  the 
most  prominent  citizens  amongst  their  friends  and  patrons. 
Though  Dominick  Lynch  bequeathed  a  fixed  sum  to  every 
convent  in  Ireland,  he  made  an  additional  special  bequest 
to  "  the  works  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Blessed  Mary-of-the- 
Hill,  in  the  west  part  of  our  town."  While  the  improve- 
ments of  the  church  were  in  progress,  a  spacious  and 
beautiful  choir  was  erected  there  by  another  of  the  citizens, 
who  occupied  the  civic  chair  as  Chief  Magistrate,  in  the  year 
1492.  History  preserves  his  name  ;  and  as  long  as  men 
shall  be  influenced  by  a  fear  of  crime,  and  a  love  of  justice, 
so  long  shall  the  name  of  James  Lynch  Fitzstephen,  who, 
in  the  stern  vindication  of  public  justice  executed  his  only 
son,  command  universal  respect.  But  this  was  not  the 


St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  Galwdy  223 

extent  of  the  patronage  extended  to  the  fathers  at  St.  Mary's. 
Hardiman  assures  us  that  the  convent  "  was  richly  endowed 
by  many  individuals  in  the  town,  and  that  several  additions 
were  made  to  the  monastery  and  the  church."  Amongst  the 
other  additions  to  the  church,  made  at  that  period,  we  would 
mention  the  house  for  the  poor,  or  Lazarus  house.  From 
these  and  similar  records  we  can  have  no  difficulty  in 
accepting  Mr.  Hardiman's  statement  regarding  the  promi- 
nence of  this  monastery.  "  It  became,"  he  assures  us,  "  one 
of  the  most  perfect  religious  foundations  in  the  province." 

But  the  evil  days  of  persecution  were  rapidly  approaching. 
The  monastery  was  dissolved  by  royal  enactment  under 
Elizabeth;  and  on  the  9th  March,  1570,  "part  of  the 
possessions  of  this  monastery,  then  lately  dissolved,"  was 
granted  by  her  majesty  to  the  corporation.  But  despite 
the  confiscations  of  Elizabeth,  and  the  equally  penal 
enactments  of  the  Stewarts,  the  fathers  were  in  possession 
of  their  beloved  monastery  and  church,  when  the  confederate 
movement  began  to  extort  concessions  from  an  unwilling 
king,  and  a  still  more  unwilling  parliament.  .  We  are, 
however,  forced  to  add,  that  the  fathers  at  St.  Mary's  were 
amongst  the  earliest  victims  of  that  great  but  ill-starred 
movement. 

In  the  year  1642,  ill  feelings  had  arisen  between  the 
mayor  and  citizens  of  Gal  way,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Captain 
Willoughby,  governor  of  its  suburban  fort,  on  the  other. 
Both  parties  professed  absolute  loyalty  to  his  majesty.  But 
Captain  Willoughby  would  discredit  the  professions  of  the 
citizens,  by  insisting  on  establishing  a  military  garrison 
within  the  city  walls.  While  the  citizens  were  immovable 
in  their  opposition,  the  arrival  of  Lord  Forbes  in  the  bay, 
with  a  squadron  of  seventeen  vessels,  caused  Willoughby  to 
have  recourse  to  hostile  measures  for  enforcing  his  demand. 
Alexander,  Lord  Forbes,  who  was  styled  "  Lieutenant- 
General  of  his  majesty's  forces  by  sea  and  land,"  shared 
Willoughby's  distrust  of  Catholics,  and  willingly  under- 
took the  responsibility  of  reducing  the  town  to  submission. 
Having  landed  a  strong  force  on  the  western  side  of  Gal  way, 
he  signalized  himself  by  the  wanton  murder  of  some 


224  St.  Mary  s-of -tile-Hill,  Galway 

defenceless  women  and  children,  and  by  setting  fire  to  the 
adjoining  villages  of  the  coast.  He  took  possession  of  the 
eminence  on  which  the  Dominican  convent  was  situated,  and 
converting  its  venerated  church  into  a  battery  for  his  ordnance, 
he  hurled  shot  and  shell  across  the  estuary  against  the  town 
and  its  fortifications.  But  the  courage  of  the  townsmen 
remained  unshaken  as  their  walls.  On  the  21st  of  September, 
he  felt  himself  obliged  to  raise  the  siege,  and  set  sail  for 
Limerick  from  the  scene  of  his  humiliation.  Before  his 
departure,  however,  he  was  careful  to  wreck  still  more  the 
church  of  St.  Mary's,  which  he  had  desecrated  with  the 
instincts  of  a  monster.  Defeated  by  the  living,  he  avenged 
himself,  in  his  blind  rage,  on  the  dead  who  had  been  laid 
to  rest  within  the  church,  and  in  the  adjoining  cemetery. 
The  monuments  were,  accordingly,  destroyed,  and  the  graves 
were  violated.  Nay,  the  very  coffins  were  dragged  forth,  and 
publicly  burnt  with  their  human  remains. 

When  the  victorious  battalions  of  Baron  de  Ginkle  were 
marching  against  the  ancient  city  a  few  years  after,  these 
events  were  still  clearly  and  deeply  impressed  on  the  public 
mind.  With  the  recollection  of  the  recent  siege  fresh  upon 
their  memories,  the  citizens  of  Galway  thought  it  expedient 
to  have  the  Church  and  Monastery  of  St.  Mary's- of-the-Hill 
razed  to  the  ground,  lest  it  should  be  again  used  by  the  besieging 
army  as  a  fortress  against  the  city.  But  it  was  a  painful 
expedient,  and  one  to  which  they  would  not  have  recourse 
without  the  consent  of  the  faithful  Dominican  fathers  ; 
"  Whereupon  the  mayor,  sheriffs,  free  burgesses,  and  com- 
monaltye  of  the  said  towne  of  Gallway  .  .  .  craved  the 
consent  of  Father  Pierce  Buthler,  now  Prior  of  the  Eeligious 
Order  of  the  Dominicans  in  Gallway,  and  the  rest  of  the 
said  convent — who  for  the  good  and  securitie  of  the  said 
towne  and  corporacion,  their  friends  and  benefactors,  have 
thereunto  consented." 

The  citizens,  however,  alive  to  the  character  of  the 
sacrifice  so  generously  made  by  the  fathers  of  St.  Mary's, 
for  the  security  of  the  town,  gave  to  the  "  Prior  of  the  said 
Abbey  of  St.  Dominick's  Order,  and  their  successors,"  a 
solemn  and  official  guarantee,  that  on  the  return  of  peace 


St.  Mary's~of-the-Hill,  Galway  225 

the  church  and  convent  should  be  rebuilt  on  exactly  the 
same  plan,  and  restored  to  its  former  beauty,  and  at  the 
expense  of  the  citizens.  It  may  prove  interesting  to  cite 
here  in  part  the  words  in  which  this  undertaking  was 
recorded  in  the  year  1651 : — "  The  corporacion  of  Galway 
shall  after  these  wars  in  hand  and  peace  established  in  this 
kingdom,  build,  erect,  and  re-edifie  the  said  monasterie,  and 
leave  the  same  in  so  good  condition,  plight,  manner,  and 
forme  as  the  same  was  at  the  time  of  pulling  downe  and 
demolishing  of  the  same."  They  furthermore  undertook 
to  have  the  church  and  monastery  re-erected  either  on  the 
old  site,  "  or  anywhere  else  without  this  towne  or  in  the 
liberties  thereof  on  their  owne  ground,  for  the  said  prior  for 
the  tyme  being,  in  discharge  of  our  consciences,  the  honour 
of  Blessed  Lady,  and  advancing  of  Holy  Church ;  and  yet 
before  any  other  worke  shall  be  done  for  any  other  religious 
work  within  the  corporacion  or  franchise  of  same."  This 
interesting  document  was  signed  at  the  "  Galway  Toulsell," 
on  the  20th  September,  "  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  God,  one 
tousand  six  hundred  fiftie  and  one." 

The  purpose  of  which  this  striking  document  gives 
evidence,  was  a  noble  one,  worthy  of  a  pious  and  patriotic 
people,  whose  sincerity  was  beyond  suspicion.  All  must  feel 
with  O'Heyne,  that,  had  the  expected  peace  only  dawned  on 
the  country,  the  pious  people  of  Galway  would  have  fulfilled 
their  undertaking,  and  the  Abbey  of  St.  Mary's  would 
have  risen  again  from  its  old  foundations  in  all  its  former 
beauty  of  proportion  and  design.  But  in  the  designs  of 
Providence  the  anticipated  peace  was  not  to  be.  And  one 
of  the  most  interesting  monuments  of  mediaeval  Galway 
disappeared  for  ever. 

Amongst  the  many  valuable  documents  preserved  for  us 
by  the  scholarly  and  patient  industry  of  Mr.  Hardiman,  we 
have  one  which  purports  to  give  accurate  details  of  such 
portions  of  "  St.  Dominick's  Abbey,  otherwise  called  our 
Ladies'  Church  in  the  west  Brancheses  of  Galway,"  as  were 
"demolished  and  pulled  downe,"  dated  10th  August,  1651. 
From  the  details  thus  furnished,  and  set  forth  in  quaint  and 
obscure  language,  it  is  possible,  we  think,  to  form  a  fairly 

VOL.  XVII.  ? 


226  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  Galway 

correct  idea  of  the  character  of  the  church.  We  find  that 
special  reference  is  made  to  a  central  tower  with  "  steple," 
which  formed  one  of  its  chief  features.  The  space  from  the 
entrance  to  the  central  tower  was  occupied  by  the  spacious 
nave  and  aisles  which  measured  sixty-seven  feet  in  length 
by  forty-four  in  breadth.  The  ample  space  of  sixty-four 
feet,  separated  the  chancel  gable  from  the  tower.  It  is 
probable  that  this  portion  of  the  church  had  served  as  choir 
until  Lynch  had  added  his  large  and  spacious  new  choir. 
On  the  north  side  there  was  a  small  chapel  measuring 
nineteen  feet  by  sixteen,  and  similar  in  many  respects  to  an 
ordinary  transept.  The  new  choir  was  built  on  the  opposite 
side.  It  was  very  spacious,  measuring,  as  it  would  seem, 
seventy-four  feet  by  twenty-two. 

The  Lazarus  house,  which  was  twenty-seven  feet  long  by 
twenty  feet  broad,  was,  it  is  likely,  added  at  this  period.  And 
as  it  resembled  in  many  respects  the  structure  also  erected 
for  the  poor  in  connection  with  the  Collegiate  Church  of 
the  town,  by  James  Lynch,  it  may  claim  him  as  its 
founder.  The  choir  and  Lazarus  house  were  the  latest 
additions  to  St.  Mary's. 

This  outline  of  the  Church  of  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill  cor- 
responds, we  think,  with  the  details  preserved  in  the  document 
referred  to ;  and  also  with  an  outline  of  the  Church  made 
in  the  time  of  Charles  II.,  and  which  we  find  engraved  by 
Mr.  Hardiman,  in  his  map  of  Galway  of  that  period.  The 
body  of  the  church  was  lighted  by  triplet  lights  in  each  of 
the  gables,  with  the  addition  of  three  additional  triple 
lights  in  the  side  walls.  But  this  insufficient  lighting  was 
compensated  for  by  the  splendid  provision  made  for  lighting 
the  choir.  The  choir  gable  had  a  fine  five-light  window, 
while  a  line  of  six  single  lancets  was  placed  on  one  side 
wall,  and  one  double  lancet  on  the  opposite  side.  The 
chapel  or  transept  on  the  north  side  had  a  triple  light  in 
its  gable,  and  three  similar  windows  in  its  side  walls, 

Features  such  as  we  have  attempted  to  sketch  are  rarely 
cjnnected  in  any  country  with  Romanesque  architecture: 
but  in  Ireland  never.  We  may,  therefore,  assume  that  the 
style  of  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill  was  early  Gothic,  of  which 


St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill,  Galway  227 

the  simple  lancet  window  forms  a  special  characteristic 
feature. 

After  Galway  had  opened  her  gates  to  the  victorious 
troops  of  Baron  de  Ginkle,  the  fathers  of  St.  Mary's  did 
not  escape  the  general  plunder.  But  it  is  a  curious  fact 
that  no  record  has  been  discovered  of  the  names  of  those  on 
whom  their  plundered  property  was  then  conferred.  Even 
Harris  declared  himself  unable  to  discover  their  names. 
This  singular  fact  is  noted  also  by  De  Burgo  in  his  history 
of  the  Irish  Dominicans.  He  is,  however,  able  to  inform 
us  that,  in  his  day,  the  estates  of  the  Galway  Dominicans 
were  in  the  possession  of  a  certain  Lady  Vesey,  no  doubt  a 
member  of  the  family  of  the  then  Protestant  Bishop  of 
Tuam.  But  He  who  feeds  the  birds  of  the  air  took  the 
Dominican  fathers  of  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill  under  His 
special  protection.  The  weight  of  persecution  which  crushed 
them  to  the  earth  only  helped  to  fill  the  air  with  the  odour 
of  their  sanctity.  Their  virtues  shone  out  with  a  brighter 
lustre  in  the  darkness  of  that  terrible  period.  Many  were 
exiled  ;  some  sought  hospitality  and  protection  in  Spain, 
and  others  in  other  Catholic  countries.  But  the  high 
character  of  many  of  the  exiled  fathers  has  won  the  eulo- 
gistic admiration  of  such  writers  as  Harris  and  De  Burgo. 
The  philosophical  works  of  Dominick  Lynch,  published  in 
four  quarto  volumes,  at  Paris,  secured  for  him  a  high  place 
amongst  the  writers  of  his  age ;  and  we  know  that  his 
connection  with  St.  Thomas's  College,  at  Seville,  as  lecturer, 
professor,  and  regent,  was  such  as  secured  for  him  universal 
esteem  in  that  city. 

Christopher  French,  another  of  the  Galway  exiles, 
professed  divinity  at  Eome,  and  afterwards  at  Osimo,  at 
the  invitation  of  Cardinal  Palivecini.  Subsequently,  as 
Kector  of  the  Irish  College,  he  published  his  Theological 
Theses.  The  numerous  writings  of  Edrnond  de  Burgo, 
another  of  the  eminent  exiles  from  St.  Mary's,  are  referred 
to  in  terms  of  praise  by  Harris  and  O'Heyne.  But  despite 
the  severity  of  the  penal  laws,  we  find  that  early  in 
the  eighteenth  century  the  Dominican  fathers  had  once 
more  found  precarious  shelter  011  the  old  historic  site  of 


228  The  Author  of  the  "  Dies  Tree  " 

St.  Mary's.  This  interesting  fact  is  established  by  the 
inquisition  "  into  all  commonly  reputed  nunneries  or  friaries" 
in  the  town,  which  was  at  the  order  of  the  Government, 
made  by  the  Mayor,  Walter  Taylor,  in  the  year  1731. 
From  the  returns  of  this  zealous  mayor,  we  find  that  the 
friary  was  very  old,  "  but  had  so  cue  repairs  recently  made  in 
it."  That  it  had  "  ten  chambers  and  eight  beds,"  in  which, 
however,  the  friars  were  not  then  found.  Their  chapel  at 
that  period  is  described  as  a  "  large  "  one,  "  with  a  gallery, 
some  formes,  and  an  altar-piece  defaced."  This  large  chapel 
was  replaced  in  1800  by  another,  which  Mr.  Hardiman 
refers  to  as  a  "  neat  and  commodious  building."  But  it  has 
been  reserved  for  our  day  to  see  even  that  replaced  by  one 
more  worthy  of  that  historic  spot,  and  of  the  splendid 
traditions  of  the  fathers  of  St.  Mary's-of-the-Hill. 

J.  FAHEY. 


THE  AUTHOK  OF  THE  DIES 

T)ESPECT  for  the  beliefs  of  others,  when  they  are  neither 
JTL  wicked,  nor  too  unreasonable,  helps  wonderfully  to 
smooth  the  rugged  places  in  life's  path  ;  and  reverence  for 
the  opinions  of  noble  and  learned  men  who  have  passed 
away,  sits  well  on  deep  learning  and  varied  knowledge.  It 
is  an  easy  thing  to  honour  a  clever  man,  but  the  honour  is 
given  much  more  willingly  when  the  cleverness  is  wedded 
to  kindly  ways,  and  to  a  thoughtfulness  for  the  views  and 
ways  of  others.  Questions  have  arisen  at  all  times,  both  in 
science  and  in  history,  over  which  the  minds  of  men  have 
been  divided,  and  for  some  of  them,  many  centuries  have 
not  been  able  yet  to  find  an  answer  that  is  decisive  in  its 
clearness.  In  questions  like  these  it  is  wise  and  kind  to 
reverence  the  opinions  of  others  while  we  earnestly  uphold 
our  own. 

In  the  recent  February  number  of  the  I.  E,  RECORD,  the 
Very  Eev.  Sylvester  Malone  writes  with  his  usual  research 


The  Author  of  the  "  Dies  Ira  "  229 

on  "  The  Sybil  of  the  Dies  Irce"  and  says  incidentally  that 
its  reputed  author  was  Cardinal  Ursinus,  or  Frangipani,  a 
Dominican,    who    died    in    the    year  1291." l   From   these 
words   it   could   be   taken  for  granted  that  there  has  been 
no  question  about  the  authorship  of  this  great  Sequence, 
whereas  quite  the  contrary  is  the  case,  and  Latinus  Cardinal 
Orsiiii  is  so  far  from  being  the  undisputed  writer  of  the  Dies 
Ira,  that  he  seems  to  have  very  little  claim  to  that  honour. 
Merati,  speaking  of  this  Sequence,  says  that  several  have 
been  named  as  its  author  :  "  De  hac  Sequentia  (Dies  Irae) 
quae  dicitur  in  Missa   Defunctorum,   quinarn   fuerit   illius 
auctor  variae  sunt  scriptorum  opiniones.     Leander  Albertus 
Latino  Cardinal!  Ursino  Ord.  Praedicatorum  earn  adscribit  ; 
Lucas    Waddingus    Thomae    de    Celano,    Ord.    Minorum  ; 
alii    apud    eumdem    Waddingum    Sto.    Bonaventurae,    vel 
Mathaeo  Aquasparto,  ex-generalibus  Minorum   et  Cardina- 
libus.   Possevinus   in  Aparatu   Sacro   tribui   ait  Augustino 
Bugellensi,  Pedemontano,  Ord.  S.  Augustini.  Subdens  ibidem 
verum    auctorem    esse    Humbeitum,    quintum   Generalem 
Ord.   Praedicatorum."2     Merati  is  one  of  the  highest  autho- 
rities,  if   not    the    very   highest,   on    all    matters  relating 
to  the  liturgy  and  its  history.     His  opinions  are  always  of 
great  weight,   seeing  that  they  display  that   research  and 
careful  knowledge  of  the  matters  in  question,  which  mark 
the  master  rather  than  the  pedant.     Yet  we  can  see  from 
the    quotation   given    above,   that    he   did    not   think    the 
question    of    the   authorship    of    the    Dies    Ira    could   be 
answered    in    a    single    sentence.       Many    others    besides 
Latinus  Cardinal  Orsini,  have  been  reputed  the  authors  of 
this  Sequence,  St.  Gregory  the  Great  and  St.  Bernard  being 
among  the  number,  and  Merati   did  not   deem  it  wise  to 
decide  in  favour  of  any  one  among  them  all.      The  honour 
ought  to  be  given  to  the  one  among  them  whose  claim  is 
best5  and  we  may  be  able  to  show  that  the  Franciscans  have 
the  highest  right  to  look  on  the  Dies  Irce  as  their  own. 

1  There  is  evidently  here  a  slip  of  the  pen.     Cardinal  Latino  Orsini  must  be 
meant,  as  the  Orsini  and  Frangipani  families  are  quite  distinct  in  Italy,  and  the 
authorship  of  the   "hies  Ira  does  not  ever  seem  to  have  been  ascribed  to  any 
member  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Frangipani. 

2  Merati,  Thesaurus  Sacrorwn  Bitnuin,  vol.  i,,  parte  i.,  tit.  v.,  n.  xiii. 


280  The  Author  of  the  "Dies  Iron  " 

Pope  Benedict  XIV.,1  Merati,  and  Po'ssevinus  name  a 
Dominican  as  the  author  of  this  Sequence,  and  Possevinus 
states  expressly  that  it  was  written  by  Humbert,  the  fifth 
General  of  the  Dominican  Order.  Now  we  know  from 
Cardinal  Bona2  that  this  B.  Humbert  arranged  what  are 
called  the  Processionales  (books  containing  hymns,  litanies, 
and  responsories)  for  the  Dominican  Order ;  but  the  Dies 
Irce  does  not  occur  in  them;  and  we  are  told,  furthermore, 
by  Friar  John,  of  Palencia,  in  his  notes  to  the  Ordinary  of 
the  Friars  Preachers,  that  it  was  in  the  Missals  of  the 
Order,  printed  in  Venice,  this  Sequence  was  for  the  first 
time  inserted.  Now  this  brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
or  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  printing  not  having 
been  invented  until  after  1450,  and  the  first  books  printed 
were  the  Latin  Classics.  We  find  then  the  Dominicans 
themselves  say  that  the  Sequence  Dies  Irce,  was  not  used  by 
them  until  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century;  and  from 
this  it  would  seem  not  to  belong  to  them,  or  if  it  did,  not  to 
have  been  highly  thought  of  by  them,  during  the  two  hundred 
years  which  elapsed  from  the  death  of  Cardinal  Orsini  in 
1291,  to  the  printing  of  their  missals,  in  Venice,  somewhere 
in  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  Franciscans  were  not  equally  careless,  for  there 
exists  in  the  Laurentian  Library  in  Florence,  a  manuscript 
Franciscan  missal,  which  is  certainly  not  later  than  the 
thirteenth  century.  In  this  missal  no  Sequence  is  assigned 
to  any  particular  Mass ;  but  at  the  end  the  Sequence  Victimae 
Paschalis,  and  the  Dies  Irce  are  given.  The  Dies  Irce  is 
the  same  as  we  read  it  at  present,  with  the  exception  of 
the  following  very  slight  and  seemingly  clerical  variations : 
"  Tuba  mirum  sparget  sonum."  "  Judex  ergo  cum  censebit." 
"Quia  sum  causa  tuae  viae."  "Culpa  jubet  vultus  meus." 

We  have  then  the  Sequence  Dies  Irce  in  a  Franciscan 
missal,  not  a  printed  one,  which  could  be  brought  out  in  two 
or  three  months,  but  in  a  manuscript  which  it  probably  took 
years  to  finish,  and  which  was  undoubtedly  written  before 
the  year  1300.  Now  Cardinal  Orsini  died  in  1291,  and  it  is 

1  De  Sacrificio  Missac.         2  Bona,  De  rebus  liturgicis,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  vi.,  n.  6. 


The  Author  of  the  "Dies  Irce  "  231 

most  improbable  that  this  Sequence,  if  it  were  his  work, 
would  find  its  way  into  a  Franciscan  missal  soon  after  his 
death,  or  perhaps  during  his  lifetime;  and  the  improbability 
is  increased  by  the  fact  that  the  members  of  his  own  Order 
did  not  insert  it  in  any  of  their  manuscript  missals.  We  find 
the  Dies  Irce  among  the  Franciscans  nearly  two  hundred 
years  before  it  was  found  among  the  Dominicans  ;  and  the 
Franciscans,  therefore,  have  the  first  right  to  look  on  this 
Sequence  as  their  own.  Manuscripts  were  rare  and  precious 
in  these  olden  days  ;  they  did  not  usually  travel  far  from  the 
place  in  which  they  were  written,  and  they  were  as  jealously 
guarded,  and  as  carefully  hoarded,  as  they  are  at  present  by 
Keligious.  A  Dominican  manuscript  would  not  easily  find 
its  way  into  Franciscan  hands,  for  even  at  that  early  time 
the  struggle  for  supremacy  had  begun  between  these  two 
great  Orders.  The  Franciscans  have  then  first  claim  to 
this  Sequence;  and  if  the  principle,  "Res  sunt  primi  capi- 
entis  "  holds  good,  they  are  the  owners  of  this  noble  prose. 

Who  is  the  Franciscan  to  whom  the  honour  of  the 
authorship  is  to  be  given  ?  The  answer  is  an  easy  one,  for 
the  weight  of  evidence  gives  the  glory  to  Thomas  of  Celano. 
Father  Luke  Wadding  in  his  Annals  says  : — "  Sequentiam 
illam  olim  celebrem  :  Sanctitatis  nova  signa  cecinit  Fr. 
Thomas  a  Celano  cujus  et  ilia  solemnis  mortuorum,  Dies 
Irce,  dies  ilia  opus  est,  licet  alii  tribuere  velint  Fri.  Mathaeo 
Aquaspartano  Cardinal!  ex  Mincritis  assumpto."1  Father 
Francis  Harold  in  his  Epitome  of  Wadding  writes : — 
''  Father  Thomas  a  Celano  .  .  .  cujus  est  etiam  ilia  solemnis 
mortuorum,  Dies  Irce,  dies  ilia,  quae  nunc  in  universalis 
Ecclesiae  usum  transivit."  2  Sbaraglia,  in  his  Bibliotheca 
Franciscana,  says  that  Father  Thomas  a  Celano  is  undoubt- 
edly the  author  of  the  Dies  Irce. 3  Father  Flaminius  a  Latera 
in  his  Manuale  de'  Frati  Minori,  writes  : — "  La  Sequenza 
de'  Morti  Dies  Ira>,  dies  ilia,  fu  composta  da  Fra  Thomaso 
da  Celano.'"  Dr.  Eock,  in  his  Hierurgia,  speaking  of 
the  Dies  Irce,  says  : — "  This  Sequence,  according  to  some, 
issued  from  the  pious  pen  of  Cardinal  Latino  Orsini,  a 

1  Waddiugus,  Annales  Minor.,  vol.  ii.,  Sub  anno  1228,  78. 

2  Haroldus,  Annalium  Epit.,  vol.  i.,  p.  18fi. 

3  Sbarag-lia,  Bibliotheca.  Franci*.  Verb.  Thomas  a  Celano. 
Manuale  de'  Frati  Minori,  p.  267. 


232  The  Author  of  the  "  Dies  Ira  " 

Dominican  Friar,  who  flourished  in  the  thirteenth  century  ; 
according  to  others  it  is  the  production  of  Thomas  de  Celano, 
a  Minorite  who  lived  circa  A.D.  1360  (sic). l  Moritalembert 
writes : — "  Si  St.  Thomas  d'Aquin  lui  donne  (a  la  liturgie) 
le  Lauda  Sion,  et  tout  1'admirable  office  du  St.  Sacrement, 
c'est  un  disciple  de  St.  Fra^ois,  Thomas  de  Celano,  qui 
nous  legue  le  Dies  Iron,  ce  cri  de  sublime  terreur."  : 

Fr.  Mone  in  his  work  on  Mediaeval  Church  Hymns, 
says  distinctly  that  Father  Thomas  of  Celano  wrote  the 
whole  of  the  Dies  Irw,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  six 
verses  beginning  with  Lacrymosa  dies  ilia,  which  were 
taken  from  an  old  Kesponsory." 3  Father  Pamphilus 
a  Magliano,  in  his  work  on  St.  Francis  and  the  Franciscans, 
says  : — "  The  fact  that  the  Dies  Irce  in  the  fourteenth 
century  was  attributed  to  no  one  but  Thomas  of  Celano, 
ought  to  be  reason  enough  to  force  writers  of  the  fifteenth 
and  following  centuries  to  look  for  very  strong  arguments  to 
prove  that  there  was  any  other  author." 

From  all  these  authorities  it  seems  to  be  plain  enough 
that  Father  Thomas  da  Celano  is  undoubtedly  the  author  of 
the  Dies  Irce.  There  has  never  been  any  question  of  his 
being  the  author  of  the  Sequence  Sanctitatis  nova  signa, 
Prodierunt  laude  digna,  Mir  a  valde  et  benigna,  In  Francisco 
credita,  &c.,  which  is  inserted  in  the  Mass  of  St.  Francis 
on  the  4th  October  in  Franciscan  missals  ;  and  having 
written  one,  there  is  less  improbability  of  his  writing 
another.  The  Abruzzi  have  given  birth  to  many  a  poet. 
They  were  there  when  Claudius  strove  to  drain  Lake 
Fucinus.  They  are  there  now  in  the  Pifferari,  who  still 
improvise  their  songs  through  the  streets  of  Kome  ;  and  being 
the  son  of  a  race  of  poets,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  heart, 
which  had  drawn  in  poetry  from  all  the  surroundings  of  his 
early  home,  wou.-d  find  utterance  for  his  thoughts  over  the 
terrors  of  God's  judgment  day,  in  that  cry  of  "lofty  terror" 
which  the  Church  took  up  as  her  own  utterance  when  she 
made  the  Franciscan  Dies  Iroe  a  portion  of  her  liturgy. 

Fr.  E.  B.  FITZMAUEICE,  O.S.F. 

1  Hierurg-ia,  p.  67. 

•  Introduction  a  la  Vie  de  St.  Elisabeth,  p.  74. 

3  Mone,  Ifymni  Latini  ineriii  aevi  e  codd.  MSS.  Friburgi,  1853. 

4  S.  Francesco  e  i  France&cani,  vol.  ii ,  p.  29'2. 


233 


LITEBABY    ORGANIZATION     OF    THE    GEKMAN 
CATHOLICS 

WHILST  the  life  of  the  Church  was  being  openly 
attacked  in  Germany,  by  statesmen  and  politicians, 
a  serious  attempt  was  also  made  in  the  schools  and 
universities  to  sap  and  undermine  her  foundations,  and, 
by  insidious  devices,  to  turn  her  own  children  in  revolt 
against  her.  What  seemed  to  be  the  weak  points  of 
Catholic  defence  were  to  be  carefully  studied,  and  a 
combined  attack  was  to  be  made  from  every  side,  once  open 
war  should  have  been  declared. 

The  Protestants  of  Germany,  who  had  begun  life  with 
the  Bible  as  their  shield,  their  only  refuge  and  rule  of 
faith,  had  found  that,  by  slow  degrees,  the  Bible  too  had 
vanished,  that  it  had  dissolved  before  their  eyes,  under 
the  melting  gaze  of  their  critics,  into  a  mere  human  book, 
made  up  of  the  shreds  and  patches  of  wisdom  that  had 
been  gathered  and  selected  from  the  ancient  philosophies 
and  mythologies  of  the  East.  This  was  the  deception 
which  was  first  effectually  brought  to  their  doors  by  one  of 
the  cleverest  and  most  popular  of  their  writers,  the  great 
master  of  style  and  leader  of  sceptics,  Gotthold  Ephraim 
Lessing,  and  that  now  led  them  away,  like  some  fascinating 
night  fire,  into  the  marshes  and  quicksands  of  unbelief. 
The  source  of  Christian  faith  was  thus  entirely  dried  up.  Its 
stream  was  diverted,  and  seemed  to  have  turned  its  course, 
in  a  full  and  copious  tide,  on  the  Catholic  Church.  It  was, 
undoubtedly,  a  galling  sight  to  German  Protestants  to  see 
the  Catholics  take  up  the  defence  of  the  Bible,  and  hold  the 
fortress  which  they  had  so  shamefully  evacuated.  Such 
audacity  could  not  easily  be  pardoned.  Moreover,  the 
abandonment  of  Scripture,  in  the  sense  of  a  divine  revelation, 
implied  a  host  of  changes  in  the  lives  of  men,  in  their  relations 
to  one  another,  in  their  duties  to  society  and  its  rulers. 
There  should  be  a  total  reconstruction  of  things  on  the 
basis  of  the  new  fashions  in  belief.  The  watchword 


234      Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics 

of    Goethe    should    become    the    national     watchword    of 
Protestantism  :— 

Auch  Ich  soil  Gottgegeb'  ne  Kraft 

Nicht  ungeniitzt  verlieren, 
Und  will  in  Kunst  und  Wissenschaft, 

Wie  immer  protestiren. 

Instead  of  the  articles  of  belief,  which  even  the  so- 
called  Keformation  had  spared,  a  vague  and  empty  confidence 
in  the  infinite  perfectibility  of  man,  as  taught  by  positivists 
and  evolutionists,  was  now  in  vogue.  It  was,  from  a  worldly 
point  of  view,  a  convenient  and  non-exacting  symbol  :— 

"  In  each  soul  is  born  the  pleasure 

Of  yearning  onwards,  upwards,  and  away, 
When  o'er  our  heads,  lost  in  the  vaulted  azure, 
_  The  lark  sends  down  his  nickering  lay ; 
When  over  crags  and  piny  highlands 

The  poising  eagle  slowly  soars  ; 
When  over  plains  and  lakes  and  islands 
The  crane  sails  by  to  other  shores." 

Against  all  these  vague  and  foolish  dreams  of  rationalist 
poets  and  philosophers,  and  all  this  pride  of  learning  and 
criticism  stood  the  Catholic  Church,  erect  and  bold  as  ever? 
yielding  not  a  single  item  of  her  ancient  creed,  and  taunting 
the  Protestant  world  around  her  with  its  base  desertion  of 
the  strongholds  of  religion.  This  challenging  and  defiant 
attitude  brought  upon  the  Catholics  of  Germany  a  torrent 
of  denunciation  and  abuse.  Their  enemies  in  the  political 
world  were  urged  to  all  extremes.  They  were  promised  the 
co-operation  of  all  that  was  learned  and  independent  in  the 
Fatherland.  It  must  be  said,  indeed,  that  they  did  not  need 
much  pressing,  and  that  they  responded  to  the  spur  with  a 
heart  and  a  will  that  could  not  be  mistaken.  The  Catholics 
were  to  be  crushed,  and  to  be  put  down  with  a  strong  hand, 
and  wiped  out  of  the  way  of  rationalist  and  atheistic 
progress.  But  the  Catholics,  as  we  have  said,  were  not 
to  be  so  easily  suppressed.  They  put  on  their  armour 
and  girded  their  loins  for  the  struggle.  They  refused  to 
bow  their  necks  before  the  pagan  idols  that  were  offered  for 
their  homage.  They  put  their  trust  in  Him  alone  whose 


Literary-  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics      235 

cause  they  defended.  To  Him  they  addressed  their  prayers 
and  their  petitions,  that  He  might  give  them  a  heart  and  an 
understanding  to  do  His  will.  On  their  part  they  promised, 
like  the  Israelites  of  old,  to  be  mindful  of  His  name,  and 
steadfast  in  His  praise.  They  pledged  themselves  never  to 
forget  the  God  who  had  brought  them  up  and  the  Church 
that  had  nursed  them.  A  rich  and  glorious  reward  awaited 
their  fidelity.  Once  they  had  entered  on  the  battle  under 
such  conditions,  their  victory  was  assured.  The  beam 
erected  for  their  destruction,  fifty  cubits  high,  was  destined 
to  bear  the  weight  of  very  different  victims. 

THE    GOEKRESGESELLSCHAFT 

It  is  now  more  than  twenty  years  since  the  Catholic 
"  savants  "  and  writers  of  Germany  formed  themselves  into 
a  Society,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  more  effectively  the 
enemies  of  their  faith,  and  of  taking  counsel  together  as  to 
the  line  of  conduct  they  should  pursue,  not  alone  in  defence 
of  the  Church,  but  in  carrying  the  war  into  the  camp  of 
the  enemy.  They  associated  their  new  Society  with  the 
illustrious  name  of  one  of  their  countrymen,  who  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century  held  a  foremost  place  amongst  the 
most  learned  men  in  Europe,  and,  in  the  scientific  as  in  the 
political  world,  was  one  of  the  most  strenuous  champions  of 
the  cause  of  religion  and  Catholicity  that  more  than  half  a 
century  had  known. 

Joseph  Goerres  was  a  native  of  Koblentz  on  the  Rhine. 
From  his  earliest  youth  he  gave  the  clearest  indications  of 
that  penetrating  intellectual  vision  which  later  on  developed 
into  genius.  In  every  department  of  science  with  which  he 
made  an  effort  to  become  familiar,  he  was  soon  looked  up  to 
as  an  authority.  His  studies  in  anatomy,  in  physiology,  in 
art,  in  history  and  in  literature,  were  published  in  such 
rapid  succession,  that  the  world  was  as  much  astonished  at 
the  versatility  as  at  the  industry  of  the  writer.  But  it  was 
probably  as  a  leader  of  thought  in  the  political  world,  as  an 
agitator  and  publicist,  a  practical  philosopher  and  champion 
of  religion,  that  he  acquired  the  most  widespread  fame. 
Napoleon  used  to  call  him  the  "fifth"  of  the  great  powers 


236       Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics 

of  Europe,  he  wielded  such  an  influence,  by  his  character 
and  his  writings,  over  the  minds  of  his  contemporaries. 
The  memories  of  his  labours  and  of  his  imperishable  services 
to  the  Church  inspired  the  new  host  that  now  assembled  to 
defend  the  breach  left  vacant  by  his  death.  What  they  aimed 
at  was  to  avail  themselves  of  the  agency  of  both  science 
and  literature  in  order  to  defend  their  own  faith  and  make 
the  pure  light  of  the  Church  to  shine  with  new  brilliancy 
and  redoubled  intensity  in  the  dark  places  around  them  ;  to 
establish  a  bond  of  union  between  all  the  Catholic  writers  of 
Germany ;  to  help  young  "  savants  "  in  their  researches, 
and  provide  for  them  sufficient  means  to  prosecute  their 
studies  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances  ;  to 
facilitate  the  publication  of  important  works,  which  isolated 
writers  left  to  their  own  resources  could  not  undertake  ;  to 
devise  the  most  effective  means  of  combating  amongst  the 
people  the  effects  of  pernicious  literature. 

This  project  was  submitted  to  mature  and  anxious 
deliberation,  and  the  definite  establishment  of  the  society 
was  agreed  upon  at  the  acutest  stage  of  the  "  Kulturkampf," 
at  a  time  when  priests  were  imprisoned  by  the  hundred,  and 
when  the  enemies  of  the  Church  were  congratulating 
themselves  on  the  approaching  end  of  Catholicism. 

The  "  Goerresgesellschaft "  was  divided  into  four  sections: 
the  section  of  philosophy,  the  section  of  history,  the  section  of 
moral  and  political  sciences,  and  the  section  of  mathematics, 
physics,  and  natural  sciences.  The  section  of  moral  and 
political  sciences  undertook  the  publication  of  a  great 
political,  social  and  economic  dictionary.  This  Slaatslexikon 
was  published  in  fasciculi,  and  is  now  complete  in  three 
enormous  volumes,  the  only  work  of  its  kind  drawn  up  in 
the  spirit  of  Christian  ethics.  It  is  a  splendid  addition 
which  Catholics  have  made  to  the  literature  of  their  country, 
and  holds  an  honoured  place  in  the  libraries  and  homes  of 
Catholics  all  over  Germany  and  Austria.  It  is  a  great  success 
from  every  point  of  view,  and  cannot  fail  to  produce  the  most 
salutary  results.  But  the  section  of  the  society  that  has 
done  the  most  valuable  work  is,  undoubtedly,  the  section  of 
history.  One  of  its  most  important  achievements  is  the 


Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics      237 

establishment  at  Eome  of  an  "  Historical  Institute  "  with  the 
same  objects  as  the  Ecole  Francaise  de  Eome,  viz.,  the  study 
of  the  Vatican  Archives,  and  the  publication  of  all  documents 
that  throw  light  on  the  history  of  the  Church  in  Germany 
or  in  any  other  part  of  the  world  in  which  the  Germans  are 
interested.  In  this  way  they  have  followed  with  care  what- 
ever has  been  done  by  the  governments  of  different  countries 
and  by  the  Protestant  historians  who  came  to  explore  the 
rich  mine  of  documents  that  had  been  stowed  away  for  ages 
in  the  greatest  library  in  the  world. 

Valuable  discoveries  made  by  the  members  of  the  new 
institute  have  been  utilized  by  Janssen,  the  illustrious 
author  of  the  History  of  the  German  People,  who  died  a 
few  years  ago ;  by  Dr.  Ludwig  Pastor,  the  historian  of  the 
Popes;  by  Father  Denifle,  O.P.,  historian  of  the  Universities 
of  the  Middle  Ages;  by  Krauss,Bellesheim,Grauert,Erhardt  — 
all  ardent  and  worthy  successors  of  Hergenrother,  Hefele, 
Moehler,  Hurter,  and  Eaess.  The  defection  of  Dollinger 
only  stimulated  those  who  had  remained  faithful  to  greater 
ardour.  Some  names,  no  doubt,  went  under  in  the  great 
upheaval.  Friederich,  the  well-known  historian  of  Munich, 
was  lost  to  the  Church  ;  so  were  Michelis  of  Braunsberg, 
Shulte  of  Prague,  Eeinkens  of  Breslau,  Eeusch  and  Hilgers 
of  Bonn.  They  fell  away  into  schism,  and  drifted  to  an 
ignominious  end.  But  their  places  were  soon  filled  by  abler 
and  more  conscientious  men.  It  is  probable  that  the  one 
who  gave  the  greatest  impulse  to  the  "  Goerresgesellschaft " 
was  the  late  Mgr.  Janssen,  whose  magnificent  work,  the 
Geschichte  des  Deutchenvolkes,  in  seven  volumes,  has  already 
gone  through  fifteen  editions.  It  deals  with  the  history  of 
the  German  people  during  that  most  momentous  crisis  in 
their  history,  the  period  of  the  so-called  Eeformation.  The 
remarkable  thing  about  this  great  work  is  the  fact,  that 
in  dealing  with  the  lives  and  characteristics  of  the  leading 
reformers,  it  never  advances  a  proposition  without  authentic 
documents  to  prove  it.  In  most  cases,  indeed,  it  allows 
the  documents  to  speak  for  themselves.  It  presents,  more 
over,  a  masterly  review  of  the  social,  artistic,  and  religious 
life  of  Germany  before  and  after  the  days  of  Luther.  No 


238      Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics 

work  that  has  appeared  in  modern  times  created  such  a 
panic  in  the  ranks  of  German  Protestants.  It  was  like  a 
bolt  from  the  blue  exploding  in  the  midst  of  them.  When 
they  had  recovered  from  the  effects  of  their  first  confusion 
they  endeavoured  to  maintain  an  attitude  of  indifference. 
But  the  work  of  Janssen  was  too  solid,  too  imposing  to  be 
ignored.  It  was  rapidly  bought  up,  and  found  its  way  into 
the  academies  and  universities  of  Germany,  Austria,  and 
the  United  States.  It  was  soon  found  to  be  a  terrible 
indictment.  It  drew  the  mask  for  ever  off  the  faces  of  their 
idols,  the  early  reformers,  and  convicted  them  from  their 
own  mouths,  and  from  documents  the  authenticity  of  which 
could  not  be  disputed.  Then  they  stormed,  and  raged,  and 
carried  their  complaints  to  the  foot  of  the  throne.  Here, 
however,  they  got  but  little  encouragement  ;  for  the 
Emperor  Frederick,  then  Crown  Prince  of  Germany,  gave 
them  as  his  answer:  "Let  Protestant  historians  refute 
Janssen  instead  of  abusing  him."  Refutation  then  became 
the  watchword ;  but  many  years  after  the  first  volumes 
had  appeared,  the  refutation  had  made  no  progress.  Eich 
Protestants  in  Germany  and  America  offered  enormous 
premiums  to  the  historian  who  should  write  the  best 
refutation  of  Janssen.  But  the  refutation  has  not  yet 
appeared,  and,  in  all  probability,  its  patrons  will  be  allowed 
to  keep  their  money  in  their  pockets. 

Meanwhile  the  great  historian,  the  most  placid  and  the 
most  amiable  of  men,  pursued  his  course,  and,  year  after 
year,  delivered  a  new  volume  to  the  public.  He  made  no 
accusations,  attacked  nobody,  abstained  from  all  polemical 
disputes,  but  told  his  plain,  unvarnished  tale,  in  the  clear, 
and  forcible  style  of  a  master  in  his  domain,  giving  to  the 
world  innumerable  documents  that  had  seen  the  light  for 
the  first  time,  and  piling  evidence  upon  evidence,  with 
crushing  and  disastrous  effects. 

In  the  year  1891,  the  Catholics  of  the  fatherland  lost  their 
two  most  noble  champions — Windthorst  and  Janssen.  These 
two  men  were  bosom  friends.  They  had  lived  and  worked 
together,  and  had  borne  the  brunt  of  many  a  hard-fought 
battle.  The  "Little  Excellency  of  Hanover,"  the  "Pearl  of 


Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics       239 

Meppen,''  asWindthorst  was  affectionately  called,  was  never  so 
happy  as  when  he  had  Janssen  by  his  side ;  and  when,  year  after 
year,  the  faithful  pair  appeared,  arm  in  arm,  on  the  platforms 
of  the  great  Catholic  congresses,  they  were  received  with 
enthusiastic  cheers,  and  saluted  with  every  demonstration 
of  loyalty  and  gratitude,  as  the  two  leaders  in  the  fight  for 
faith  and  fatherland,  the  liberator  of  the  present  and  the 
liberator  of  the  past;  and  as  they  were  united  during  life, 
so  only  a  few  months  separated  them  in  death.  They  both 
remained  in  harness  to  the  last,  and  as  they  had  gone  up 
the  hill  together,  so  they  went  down  and  vanished  together 
from  the  scene,  amidst  the  mourning  and  prayers  of  a  grateful 
people  whom  they  had  both  so  nobly  served. 

One  of  the  advantages  derived  from  membership  in  the 
Goerres  society  is,  that  when  any  of  the  members  happen  to 
come  across,  in  the  course  of  their  own  researches  in  libraries 
and  archives,  any  documents  or  pieces  of  information,  which 
may  be  of  use  to  one  of  their  colleagues  engaged  on  any 
special  work,  they  undertake  to  communicate  the  fact  to 
him.  This  is  of  great  assistance  to  those  who  have  under- 
taken to  deal  with  a  given  period,  or  with  any  movement  in 
the  intellectual,  religious,  or  political  world.  At  the  annual 
reunions  free  communications  are  made  as  to  the  under- 
takings and  projects  with  which  the  members  are  occupied 
individually.  Much  light  and  encouragement  is  derived 
from  this  confidential  intercourse.  At  the  last  meeting 
of  the  "  Goerresgesellschaft,"  at  Fulda,  the  historical  section 
was  well  represented ;  and  papers  were  read  on  special 
questions  of  historical  importance  by  professors  from  Breslau, 
Paderborn,  Fulda,  Wiirzburg,  &c. 

The  philosophical  section  has  also  done  good  work,  both 
for  philosophical  literature,  and  the  encouragement  of 
philosophical  studies.  It  publishes  an  Annuarium  each 
year,  in  which  the  work  of  the  year  is  reviewed  and  summed 
up,  and  the  works  of  non-catholic  philosophers  are  analyzed 
and  submitted  to  criticism.  The  section  of  science  and 
mathematics  is  still  rather  backward.  The  Germans, 
especially  Catholic  Germans,  have  always  displayed  a 
predilection  for  historical  and  speculative  studies.  In  the 


240        Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics 

exact  sciences  they  have  yet  much  progress  to  make  ;  but 
an  effort  is  now  being  made  to  bring  Germany  into  line,  at 
least,  in  this  respect,  with  Belgium  and  France. 

In  addition  to  the  "Goerresgesellschaft,"  there  are  several 
other  combinations  and  organizations  which  aim  at  the 
development  of  higher  studies,  and  at  the  advancement  of 
literature,  as  an  instrument  of  culture  and  progress  amongst 
Catholics.  There  are  associations  for  the  study  of  Hebrew, 
Coptic,  and  all  Oriental  languages,  and  reunions  in  which 
progress  is  reported,  notes  are  compared,  zeal  is  stimulated. 
This  enables  Catholic  professors  to  watch  with  care  the 
work  that  is  being  so  ardently  pursued  in  Protestant  univer- 
sities, and  to  bring  to  task  those  who  ^make  use  of  their 
knowledge  to  discredit  the  Church  or  any  part  of  its  creed. 
The  Catholic  laity  are  thus  less  exposed  to  the  prevailing 
scepticism,  when  they  know  that  their  clergy  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  most  recent  discoveries ;  that  they  are 
not  inferior  to  their  accusers  in  any  branch  of  learning. 
If  once  the  impression  were  made  upon  them  that 
the  Catholic  clergy  were  behindhand,  retrograde  or  even 
stationary  and  inert,  and  unable  to  appreciate  the  force 
of  their  antagonists,  they  might  feel  tempted  to  waver  in 
their  confidence.  But  as  long  as  they  know  that  the 
defence  of  the  frontier  is  in  safe  hands,  they  go  about  their 
business  with  a  sense  of  perfect  security.  Thousands  of 
them  have  had  just  sufficient  education  in  the  universities 
to  know  the  difference ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  no  small 
importance  that  they  should  have  no  cause  for  alarm. 

In  another  department,  Dr.Kaulen,the  learned  professor  of 
Old  Testament  exegesis,  at  Bonn  University,  a  man  who  has 
weathered  the  storms  of  the  "Kulturkampf,"  and  of  the  old 
Catholic  schism,  and  who,  whilst  others  fell  away  around 
him,  never  wavered  in  his  fidelity  to  the  Church,  has  formed 
a  sort  of  intellectual  joint  stock  company  for  the  correction, 
expansion,  and  republication  of  the  famous  Kirchenlexicon, 
a  most  valuable  dictionary  of  Catholic  theology,  history,  &c. 

Some  years  ago  we  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting,  at 
Freiburg,  in  Baden,  one  of  his  colleagues,  Professor  Schrors, 
of  the  University  of  Bonn,  author  of  a  learned  work  on 


Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics       241 

Hincmar  of  Eheims,  who,  in  his  capacity  as  Professor  of 
Ecclesiastical  History,  was  engaged  by  Dr.  Kaulen  to  revise 
and  correct  the  dates  in  the  historical  articles  of  the 
Kirchenlexicon ;  others  revised  the  dogmatic  expositions ; 
others  the  heresies,  &c.  By  such'  a  judicious  division  of 
labour  the  work  is  being  successfully  revised,  and  the 
old  production  of  Doctors  Weltzer  and  Welte  immensely 
improved. 

THE   JESUITS 

It  was  on  the  17th  of  June,  1872,  that  the  arbitrary 
and  iniquitous  law  expelling  the  Jesuits  from  the  German 
Empire  was  passed  in  the  Keichstag  by  183  votes  to  101. 
In  the  debates  that  took  place  before  the  law  was  carried  the 
great  order  was  nobly  defended  by  the  veteran  founder  of  tho 
Centre  party,  Hermann  von  Mallinckrodt,  by  his  able  and 
energetic  lieutenant,  Ludwig  Windthorst,  by  the  Polish 
deputy,  Niegelowski,  by  Count  Ballestrem,  and  by  Lasker, 
an  enlightened  and  impartial  Jew.  Never  did  Mallinckrodt 
enter  into  the  fight  with  such  keen  and  determined  spirit ; 
never  did  he  cut  with  more  effective  arguments  and  more 
withering  sarcasm  into  the  ranks  of  his  enemies.  There 
was  a  trace  of  bitterness,  mingled  with  contempt,  in 
the  language  of  that  strong  and  serious  man,  as  he 
denounced  the  false  and  hollow  pretensions  of  the  Govern- 
ment, whose  spokesmen  put  forward  pleas  of  patriotism  and 
loyalty,  when  it  was  well  known  that,  in  the  days  of  their 
triumph,  they  aimed  at  establishing,  once  and  for  all,  a 
compact  and  homogeneous  Protestant  empire  in  Northern 
Germany,  and  at  making  perfect  and  complete,  as  they 
conceived  it,  the  work  of  the  Reformation.  But  the 
eloquence  of  Mallinckrodt  and  his  friends  was  lost  upon 
the  fanatics ;  and  what  made  the  trial  more  galling  to 
the  Catholics  was  to  see  amongst  their  bitterest  enemies  the 
Catholic,  Prince  von  Hohenlohe,  now  Chancellor  of  the 
German  Empire,  who  was  then  one  of  the  very  first  to  suggest 
the  expulsion  from  their  country  of  all  the  religious  orders. 
Against  enemies  thus  combined  and  resolute,  arguments 
were  of  no  avail;  and  the  religious  orders  had  to  close  their 

VOL.  XVII.  Q 


242      Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics 

houses,  to  go  forth  from  the  land  of  their  birth,  and  to  face 
the  hard  lot  of  exile  all  over  the  world. 

The  Jesuits,  however  (with  them  alone  we  are  concerned 
here),  faithful  to  the  spirit  of  their  founder,  and  to  the 
traditions  of  their  illustrious  order,  did  not  lose  heart  or 
countenance.  What  was  Germany's  loss  was  a  gain  to 
other  lands,  and  to  the  literature  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
They  established  colleges  at  Ditton  Hall,  in  England  ;  at 
Exaeten,  near  Buremonde,  in  Holland;  at  Wynandsrade,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  and  at  Blyenbeck,  not  far 
from  Cleves.  Some  of  them  went  away  to  Brazil ;  others 
to  the  United  States;  others  to  Ecuador  and  Mexico;  others, 
again,  to  the  Zambesi,  in  Africa.  Those  who  remained  at 
home  took  advantage  of  the  circumstances  to  put  their 
literary  house  in  order,  and  to  give  to  the  world  the  benefit 
of  the  years  of  study  and  thought  which  they  had  devoted 
to  special  subjects  before  their  exile. 

Father  Lehmkuhl  soon  published  his  Theologia  Moralis, 
a  work  which  has  now  a  world-wide  reputation.  Father 
Christian  Pesch  has  already  completed  several  volumes  of 
his  Institutiones  Dogmaticae,  which  have  been  duly  reviewed 
in  our  own  pages.  Fathers  Wiedenmann,  Frins,  Granderath, 
and  Langhurst,  have  been  more  distinguished  as  teachers  in 
the  noviciate  and  colleges  of  their  province  than  as  writers ; 
but  it  is  expected  that  the  valuable  notes  they  have  put 
together  will  some  day  be  added  to  the  permanent  treasures 
of  theological  literature. 

Another  group  of  these  exiled  fathers  set  themselves  to 
bring  together  and  publish  in  a  great  collection  the  acts  and 
decrees  of  all  the  councils  that  have  been  held  in  the  Church 
for  the  past  two  hundred  years.  The  collaborators  in  this 
important  compilation  were  Fathers  Schneemann,  Aymans, 
Esseiva,  and  Granderath.  The  Collectio  Conciliorum  La- 
censis,  so  called,  because  its  editors  belonged  to  the  famous 
house  of  "  Maria  Laach,"  is  now  complete,  and  brings  the 
collection  up  to  date.  It  is  a  worthy  continuation  of  the 
great  collections  of  Labbe,  Hardouin,  Coleti  and  Mansi. 

In  another  department,  Fathers  Comely,  Hummelauer, 
Knabenbauer,  and  Gietmann,  undertook  the  gigantic  labour 


Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics      243 

of  a  complete  exegetical  and  critical  work  on  the  Bible, 
embodying  the  most  recent  discoveries  in  the  archaeology  of 
Scripture,  and  vindicating  its  authority  against  rationalist 
and  agnostic  attacks.  This  Cursus  Scripturae  Sacrae  is  to 
consist,  when  complete,  of  sixty  volumes.  It  will  be  divided 
into  three  parts.  The  first  five  volumes  will  give  the  sacred 
text  in  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin,  with  a  critical  examination 
of  the  sources,  readings,  variants,  editions,  &c.  The  second 
part  will  embrace  sixteen  volumes,  and  deal  with  the 
"  Introduction  to  the  Bible,"  sacred  archaeology,  special 
grammars,  and  dictionaries  of  the  biblical  languages  and 
antiquities.  The  third  part  will  supply  commentaries  on  all 
the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

Another  band  of  Jesuit  workers  have  devoted  themselves 
to  mental  and  natural  philosophy  and  have  acquired  dis- 
tinction in  both.  The  Philosophia  Lacensis  has  now  an 
acknowledged  place  in  the  philosophical  world;  and  the 
names  of  Fathers  Tilmann  Pesch,  Cathrein,  Boedder,  Meyer, 
Epping,  Dressel,  and  Gruber,  are  known  far  and  wide,  as 
authorities  in  various  departments  of  philosophy.  The 
work  of  another  of  these  exiled  Jesuits,  Father  Kolberg,  in 
which  he  treats  of  earthquakes  and  volcanic  eruptions,  has 
attracted  the  attention  and  won  the  praise  of  the  scientific 
world.  Fathers  Epping  and  Strassrueier  are  well-known 
astronomers  who  have  not  only  mastered  the  modern 
developments  of  the  science,  but  have  made  valuable  contri- 
butions to  the  archaeology  of  the  subject.  The  principal  of 
these  is  their  work  entitled  Astronomisches  aus  Babylon,  of 
which  the  Protestant,  Professor  Hoffmann,  wrote  as  follows  in 
the  German  scientific  review,  Natur  :— 

"Kecently  [he  says],  Fathers  Epping  and  Strassmeier,  by  a 
joint  effort,  have  succeeded  in  translating,  and  explaining  some  of 
the  Assyrian  tablets  of  the  British  Museum.  The  enormous 
difficulties  which  this  work  presented  would  appear  almost 
insurmountable,  but  have  not  been  too  much  for  these  two 
learned  explorers,  who  have,  by  their  successful  labours,  rendered 
an  incalculable  service  to  the  science  of  astronomy.  For  although 
these  tablets  date  only  from  the  times  of  the  Seleucides  and 
Arascides,  their  contents  are  so  important  that  they  enable  us  to 
reconstruct  the  whole  system  of  Chaldaean  astronomy." 


Literary  Organization  of  the  German  Catholics 

Father  Strassmeier  has  also  published  an  Assyrian 
Lexicon,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  surest  authorities 
on  Oriental  philology  in  Europe.  Another  Jesuit,  Father 
"Wasmann,  has  turned  his  attention  to  the  science  of 
entomology,  in  which  he  has  made  important  discoveries, 
so  important  as  to  be  pronounced  by  Professor  Forel,  of  the 
University  of  Zurich,  as  "  constituting  one  of  the  most 
marvellous  and  attractive  chapters  in  the  science  of  animal 
psychology." 

In  historical  studies  the  best  known  of  the  German 
Jesuits  is  Father  Ehrle,  the  learned  sub-archivist  of  the 
Vatican,  and  author  of  the  History  of  the  Vatican  Library. 

In  the  department  of  literature  and  literary  criticism, 
the  German  Jesuits  also  hold  a  very  high  place ;  and  it  is 
probably  the  works  that  have  issued  from  this  department 
that  have  exercised  the  greatest  influence  on  the  youth  of 
Germany  at  the  present  day.  The  members  of  the  Order  that 
have  become  best  known,  and  most  highly  distinguished  in 
literature,  are  Fathers  Baumgartner,  Kreiten,Diel,Spillmann, 
Dreves,  and  Gietmann.  The  important  works  of  Father 
Baumgartner,  on  Goethe,  Schiller,  Lessing,  Vondel,  Long- 
fellow, have  placed  him  amongst  the  foremost  literary  men 
of  his  countrj'.  What  gives  to  his  works  a  value  that  is 
quite  uncommon  is  the  fact  that,  besides  being  a  keen  and 
accomplished  judge  of  poetry  and  eloquence,  and  widely 
read  in  the  literatures  of  various  countries,  he  has  also  a 
profound  and  accurate  knowledge  of  Catholic  philosophy 
and  theology.  Father  Kreiten  is  a  lyric  poet  of  acknowledged 
merit,  and  has,  moreover,  published  an  interesting  biography 
of  Clement  Brentano,  and  monographs  on  Moliere  and 
Voltaire.  Father  Dreves  has  written  some  excellent  poetry, 
but  owes  his  reputation  chiefly  to  the  Analecta  Hymnica 
Medii  Aevi,  twenty  volumes  of  which  have  already  appeared 
at  Leipzig,  which  give  proofs  of  industry  and  labour  that 
excite  envy  as  well  as  admiration. 

These  are  the  men  whom  Bismarck  banished  from  their 
native  land,  and  who  have,  we  fear,  bat  little  chance  of 
returning  whilst  their  old  enemy,  Von  Hohenlohe,  holds 
the  reins  of  power  in  the  empire. 


Theological  Notes  245 

THE    "  VOLKSUNIVERSITAT  " 

The  enemies  of  the  Church  had  to  be  met  in  Germany, 
not  only  amongst  the  higher  and  middle  classes,  but  also,  and 
particularly,  amongst  the  people.  Socialist  literature  in 
newspapers  and  pamphlets  was  disseminated  broadcast  for 
the  purpose  of  gaining  over  adherents  to  the  socialist  cause ; 
and  in  order  to  counteract  this  propaganda  similar  action 
had  to  be  resorted  to  by  the  Catholics.  The  work  was  done 
through  the  agency  of  what  is  called  "The  People's  Uni- 
versity," which  has  its  headquarters  at  Munchen-Gladbach, 
in  Westphalia.  But,  inasmuch  as  this  organization  is 
closely  connected  with  the  "  Volksverein,"  or  people's 
political  union,  we  must  hold  over  its  consideration  to  some 
future  time. 

J.  F.  HOGAN. 


Gbeoiogtcal  motes 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

OBLIGATION  OF  CONFESSORS  TO  REPEAT  ABSOLUTION  WHEN 
A  PENITENT,  ALREADY  ABSOLVED,  CONFESSES  A  SIN 
INVOLUNTARILY  OMITTED 

EEV.  DEAR  SIB, — Is  there  any  authority  for  holding  that  a 
confessor  is  not  bound  to  absolve  a  penitent  who,  having  just 
received  absolution,  confesses  a  sin  involuntarily  omitted  in  the 
confession  just  made?  I  have  heard  Gury  quoted  for  this 
opinion  ;  but  I  find  that  he  holds  the  very  contrary. 

GURYANUS. 

1.  If  the  sin  omitted  be  a  venial  sin,  or  a  mortal  sin 
already  directly  remitted,  there  is,  of  course,  as  a  rule,  no 
obligation  to  give  a  second  absolution.  But,  we  may  conceive 
a  case  of  exception  to  this  general  rule.  A  penitent,  in 
preparing  for  confession,  finds  that  his  conscience  is 
burthened  with  venial  sin  only,  and,  therefore,  for  greater 
security,  intends  to  add  to  his  accusation  a  mortal  sin  of  his 
past  life,  already  directly  remitted.  In  making  his  confession, 
however,  he  forgets  to  mention  this  sin,  and  the  confessor 


246  Theological  Notes 

does  not  suggest  such  a  safeguard.  In  such  a  case,  it  may 
sometimes  easily  happen  that  the  validity  of  the  first 
absolution  is  very  doubtful,  owing  to  the  probable  absence  of 
sorrow  for  the  venial  sins  confessed.  It  would,  in  these 
circumstances,  be  an  advantage  to  the  penitent  to  have  a 
second  absolution  given,  in  order  to  make  the  validity  of  the 
sacrament  more  assured ;  and  if  there  were  some  special 
reason  for  desiring  to  place  the  validity  of  the  absolution 
beyond  all  question,  as  in  the  case  of  a  penitent  in  articulo 
mortis,  there  would  be  a  corresponding  obligation  to  repeat 
the  absolution.  Confessors,  usually,  provide  against  the 
occurrence  of  such  a  case  by  suggesting  to  penitents,  who 
confess  venial  sins  only,  to  add  some  sin  of  their  past  lives. 

2.  If  the  sin  omitted  be  a  mortal  sin  not  yet  directly 
remitted  by  sacramental  absolution,  the  confessor  is  bound 
to  repeat  the  absolution.  On  the  one  hand,  the  absolution 
just  given  has  not  reached  this  mortal  sin  directly  ;  on  the 
other,  the  penitent  is  bound  to  obtain  direct  absolution  from 
all  his  mortal  sins  committed  after  baptism.  Nor  should 
the  confessor  defer  the  direct  absolution  of  this  sin  to 
another  time.  The  penitent  has  done  his  part,  and  he  has 
a  right  to  direct  absolution  there  and  then. 

Collet,  Pontas,  Van  der  Yelden,  and  perhaps  a  few  others, 
while  admitting  an  obligation  to  confess  mortal  sins  already 
indirectly  remitted,  denied  any  obligation  to  receive  direct 
absolution  from  them.  According  to  this  teaching,  the 
confessor  would  not  be  bound  to  repeat  the  absolution. 
Gary,  in  the  earlier  editions  of  his  Compendium  TheoL 
Moralis,  held  Collet's  opinion  to  be  probable.  In  later 
editions,  however,  we  find  that  Gury — "  cum  sententia 
communissima  .  .  .  contrapaucos  qui  non  sunt  audiendi  "- 
abandoned  his  former  teaching,  and  maintained  the  necessity 
of  giving  the  second  absolution. 

Gury1  adds,  that  the  confessor  may,  in  the  case  made, 
defer  until  another  confession  the  second  absolution  of  those 
who  are  accustomed  to  confess  to  himself,  and  who  can, 
therefore,  be  directly  absolved  at  the  next  confession  without 
again  accusing  themselves  of  the  sin.  But,  as  Gury  himself 

1  rid.  Gury,  ii.  496. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  247 

remarks,  the  penitent  may  not  return  again.  Then  the  sin 
would  either  remain  without  direct  absolution,  or  the  penitent 
would  be  obliged  to  confess  it  a  second  time.  The  confessor 
has  no  right,  unnecessarily,  to  subject  his  penitent  to  either 
of  these  inconveniences  ;  nor  has  he  any  right  to  compel  his 
penitent  to  return  to  his  tribunal  under  pain  of  incurring 
these  penalties.  His  obvious  duty,  we  think,  is  to  give, 
there  and  then,  a  second  absolution. 

VALIDITY   OF   A  DISPENSATION   IN   BANNS 

BEV.  DEAR  SIR, — Patrick  and  Bridget,  who  are  from 
different  dioceses,  come  to  me  to  be  married.  Patrick 
produces  a  certificate  of  freedom,  made  out  in  these  terms  : — 
"  Liber  est  ad  matrimonium  contrahendum  Gum  quavis  pariter 
liber  a,"  and  endorsed  with  a  dispensation  in  banns  by  the  vicar 
of  his  diocese.  Bridget  produces  foer  dispensation  in  banns  from 
her  vicariate  ;  but  there  is  no  mention  of  Patrick.  The  names 
of  the  contracting  parties  are  not  coupled  in  either  dispensation. 
Have  I  got  a  valid  dispensation  in  banns,  and  can  I  Hcitly  proceed 
with  the  marriage  ceremony?  DEPUTATUS. 

We  may  premise : — 1.  That,  outside  a  case  of  urgent 
necessity,  it  is  gravely  unlawful  for  a  priest  to  officiate  at  a 
marriage  unless  he  has  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  banns 
have  been  proclaimed  or  dispensed  in. 

2.  The  dispensation  in  banns  belongs  to  the  bishop  and 
to  his  vicar-general  de  jure  quasi-ordinario  ;  therefore,  it  is 
not  necessary  for  validity,  however  desirable  it  may  be,  that 
the  dispensation  should  be  in  writing,  or  in  any  particular 
form.     The  dispensation  is  valid  if  the  superior,  in  any  way, 
conveys  his  will  to   dispense.     A   delegate   of  the   bishop 
would,in  dispensing,  be  bound  to  observe  the  conditions  of  his 
delegation,  hence  to  dispense  in  writing  if  this  be  a  condition. 

3.  Where   the    contracting   parties   belong   to  different 
dioceses,  the  custom  in  this  country,  we  believe,  is  to  seek 
two  dispensations  in  banns.     This  custom,  where  it  exists, 
should  be  followed.     But,  according  to  a  probable  opinion, 
a  dispensation  from  one  of  the  ordinaries  is  sufficient,  and, 
of  course,  this  opinion  may,  in  case  of  necessity  or  difficulty, 
be  acted  on, 


248  Theological  Notes 

Now,  in  reply  to  our  correspondent's  question  :— 

1.  If  he  has   no  more  information,  in  regard  to  either 
dispensation   there   can   be  gathered  from  the   documents 
presented  to  him,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  any  evidence 
that  either  dispensation  regards  the  marriage  at  which  he 
is  asked  to  assist.     If  we  understand  our  correspondent's 
case,  Patrick's  document,  as  far  as  appears  on  the  face  of  it, 
may  refer  to  a  marriage  with  Mary  ;  Bridget's  may  refer  to 
her  marriage  with  John.     In  the  hypothesis  made,  therefore, 
no  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  dispensation  for  this  marriage 
has  reached  our  correspondent ;  nor  can  he  assist   at  the 
marriage,  unless  in  case  of  urgent  necessity. 

2.  But,  if  our  correspondent  knows  with  certainty  that 
one  of  the  dispensations — however  imperfectly  it  speaks  for 
itself — really  regards  this  marriage  of  Patrick  with  Bridget, 
he  has  all  the  evidence  necessary  for  proceeding  lawfully  with 
the  marriage.     "Deputatus  "  himself,  for  example,  may  have 
applied,  in  due  form,  giving  names,  &c.,  for  one  of  these 
dispensations;    or  one   of   them   may  Have   been   obtained 
through  the  parish  priest,  who  presumably  gave   due  par- 
ticulars,  and  now  delegates  "Deputatus"  to  assist  at  the 
marriage.     In  either  case  there  can  be  no  reasonable  dcubt 
about  the    dispensation.     No   doubt,   it   is    desirable   that 
these  dispensations  should  always  be   accurately  made  out. 
But   it  is  a  question   of  prudence — on  which  we  have  no 
opinion    to    offer — whether   "  Deputatus  "    should,  if   time 
permits,   insist    on   having    a   properly   filled    dispensation 
obtained,  or  whether  he  should  take  some  other  opportunity, 
v.g.,  at  a  synod  or  a  conference  of  raising  the  question  of  the 
form  of  these  dispensations. 

3.  As  we  have  implied  above,  it  would  in  case  of  necessity 
be  lawful  to  assist  at  this  marriage  without  either  the  pro- 
clamation of,  or  a  dispensation  in  banns.     If,  on  the  one 
hand,  there  exists  a  cause  on  account  of  which  the  bishop 
would  be  bound  to  dispense;1  and  if,  on  the  other,  very  grave 
inconvenience    or   scandal  would   arise  from  deferring   the 
marriage  until  a  dispensation  be  obtained,  the  parish  priest — 

1  For    an    enumeration    of    these   causes,    ri.1.     Lehmkuhl,    ii.    f;76,    St, 
Alphoiisus  VI.,  n.  lOOn. 


Liturgical  Notes  249 

or  his  delegate,  we  presume — may  declare  that  the  law  of 
banns  ceases,  in  quantum  est  necessarium.  This  declaration 
is  not  a  dispensation,  and  it  avails  only  for  the  celebration 
of  the  marriage.  A  dispensation  in  banns  is  still  necessary 
and  should,  therefore,  be  sought  immediately.  Meantime, 
l<  parochus  [aut  sacerdos  assistens]  debet  conjuges  [si  pru- 
denter  fieri  possit]  monere  ut  a  matrimonii  consummatione 
abstineant  donee  proclamationes  suppletae  fuerint,  aut  aliter 
per  Episcopum  sit  provisum." 

D.  MANNIX. 


OUturgfcal  Wotes 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

INDULGENCES   OF   THE    BOSARY 

KEY.  DEAR  SIR, — From  a  leaflet  circulated  by  a  society  calling 
itself  "  The  Association  of  the  Eosary  Crusade  for  the  Souls  in 
Purgatory,"  the  following  list  of  indulgences,  which  are  among 
those  that  can  be  gained  by  members,  is  copied  : — 

"  Besides  Plenary  and  Partial  Indulgences  too  numerous  to 
mention,  2,225  days  for  each  Hail  Mary,  200  years  and  as  many 
quarantines,  or  81,000  days'  Indulgence,  once  a  day  maybe  gained 
by  members  of  the  Eosary  Confraternity  for  carrying  Indulgenced 
Eosary  Beads  about  them  in  honour  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  being 
truly  contrite ;  also  60,000  years  and  as  many  quarantines  for 
saying  five  Mysteries.  This  indulgence  is  quite  authentic.  It 
was  granted,  February  26th,  1491,  by  Innocent  VIII.,  has  been 
confirmed  by  many  Popes,  and  has  never  been  recalled." 

Can  these  indulgences,  especially  the  extraordinary  one  of 
60,000  years  and  as  many  quarantines,  be  regarded  as  "quite 
authentic ' '  ?  INQUIRER. 

In  reply  to  our  correspondent,  we  beg  to  state,  first,  that 
the  Association  referred  to  in  his  question,  having  its  head- 
quarters in  the  Brigittine  Convent,  Syon  Abbey,  Chudleigh, 
Devon,  has  the  written  approval  of  his  Lordship,  the  Bishop 
of  Plymouth,  in  whose  diocese  the  convent  is  situated,  and 
at  least  the  oral  approval  of  His  Holiness  Leo  XIII.  This 
being  so,  statements  contained  in  leaflets,'  pamphlets,  or 
books  regarding  the  advantages  or  privileges  acquired  by 


250  Liturgical  Notes 

membership  must  be  received  with  the  greatest  respect,  and 
must  not  be  rejected  or  condemned  unless  there  is  very 
convincing  evidence  against  them.  It  is  necessary,  secondly, 
to  premise  that  the  indulgences  here  enumerated  are  not 
new  indulgences  specially  granted  to  this  Association  in 
favour  of  the  holy  souls.  In  fact,  as  far  as  we  know,  no  new 
indulgences  have  been  yet  granted  to  this  Association.  But 
membership  of  this  Association  implies,  as  a  preliminary 
condition,  membership  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Rosary, 
as  is  clearly  set  forth  on  the  very  leaflet  from  which  our 
correspondent  copied  the  list  of  indulgences  :— 

"  CONDITIONS    OF    MEMBERSHIP. 

"  1.  To  be  a  registered  member  of  the  Confraternity  of  the 
Eosary.  The  Living  Rosary  does  not  suffice,  nor  that  of  the 
Apostleship  of  Prayer.  Associates  may  belong  to  one  or  the 
other,  but  they  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Confraternity 
of  the  Eosary  founded  by  St.  Dominic. 

"  N.B.  —  Associates  who  may  not  be  able  to  get  registered  per- 
sonally in  the  Confraternity  of  the  Rosary,  can  be  enrolled  at  the 
Abbey.  The  Associate  should  ask  specially  to  be  enrolled  in  the 
Confraternity  if  necessary  "  —  (Extract  from  leaflet.) 


It  is,  therefore,  as  members  of  the  Confraternity  of  the 
Rosary  that  members  of  the  Rosary  Crusade  are  promised 
these  and  other  indulgences.  Hence,  to  find  out  whether 
these  indulgences  are  authentic,  we  must  examine  the 
almost  innumerable  grants  of  indulgences  made  to  the 
Confraternity  of  the  Rosary  by  various  popes  from 
Honorius  III.  to  Leo  XIII.  "We  will  discuss  separately  and 
in  order  the  three  indulgences  mentioned  in  our  correspon- 
dent's question,  and  point  out  the  reasons  why  they  are  to  be 
regarded  authentic  or  otherwise. 

The  first  is  an  indulgence  of  "  2,225  days  for  each 
Hail  Mary."  In  the  first  place,  it  is,  or  should  be, 
understood  that  this  indulgence  for  each  Hail  Mary  is 
gained  only  for  each  Hail  Mary  said  in  reciting  the  Rosary, 
not  for  the  Hail  Marys  said  while  reciting  the  Angelas, 
for  example  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  it  is  understood,  as 
has  been  already  pointed  out,  that  this  indulgence  can  be 
gained  only  by  members  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Hosary. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  251 

Let  us  now  try  to  find  out  what  indulgences  a  member 
of  this  Confraternity  can  gain  for  each  Hail  Mary  said  while 
reciting  the  Kosary,  and  using  properly-indulgenced  beads. 
By  the  Bull,  Splendor  Paternae  Gloriae,1  issued  by 
Innocent  VIII.,  on  the  26th  February,  1491,  an  indulgence 
of  five  years  and  five  quarantines  was  granted  to  the 
members  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Eosary  for  mentioning 
the  Holy  Name  of  Jesus2  at  the  end  of  each  Hail  Mary  while 
saying  the  Kosary  :— 

"  .  .  .  Atque  etiam  si  praedicti  confratres  nomen  Jesus  in 
fine  cujuslibet  Angelicae  Salutionis  nominaverint,  quinque  annos 
et  totidem  quadragenas  similiter  confcedimus." 

This  grant  was  confirmed  by  many  subsequent  popes, 
and  by  Pius  IX.  himself.  It  is,  therefore,  undoubtedly 
genuine  and  authentic.  Though  the  words  of  Innocent  VIII. 
do  not  make  it  quite  clear  whether  the  indulgence  of  five 
years  and  five  quarantines  could  be  gained  for  each  mention 
of  the  Holy  Name  at  the  end  of  the  Hail  Mary  in  the 
Rosary,  or  only  once  for  each  chapelet  or  third  part  of  the 
Rosary,  the  opinion  always  prevailed  that  he  intended  to 
grant  it  for  each  mention  of  the  Holy  Name.  But,  to 
remove  all  doubt,  a  question  was  proposed  to  the  Con- 
gregation of  Indulgences,  the  reply  to  which  was  issued 
on  the  14th  April,  1856,  after  it  had  been  confirmed  by 
His  Holiness  Pius  IX.  : — 

ulndulgentia  quinque  annorum  et  quinque  quadragenarum 
concessa  confratribus  SS.  Bosarii  qui  pronuntiant  SS.  Nomen 
Jcsu  in  fine  cujusque  Ave  Maria  estne  concessa  toties  quoties  et 
quomodo  ? 

"  Sanctitas  sua  praefatas  indulgentias  pro  qualibet  invocatione 
SSmi.  Nominis  Jesu  in  fine  cujuslibet  Angelicae  Salutationis  in 
recitatione  Eosarii  a  confratribus  lucrandas  benigne  in  perpetuum 
concessit." 

*See  BuMurium  Ord.  Pracdicat,  vol.  iv.,  p.  07. 

2  Up  to  this  time  it  was  not  customary,  as  it  is  now,  to  mention  the  Holy 
Name  at  the  end  of  the  Hail  Mary,  and  Innocent  VIII.,  wishing-  to  introduce 
the  custom  among  the  members  of  the  confraternity,  granted  the  above 
indulgence.  From  the  wording  of  the  concession  one  might  infer  that  the 
Holy  Name  should  be  mentioned,  not  as  we  now  do,  at  the  end  of  the  Hail  Mary, 
but  at  the  end  of  the  Holy  Mary.  Nevertheless,  the  indulgence  cannot  at 
present  be  gained  unless  by  reciting  the  Holy  Name  at  the  enc{  of  the  Hail  Mary 
in  the  ordinary  way. 

Deer.  Auth.,  n.  377,  3, 


252  Liturgical  Notes 

This  reply  puts  it  beyond  the  pale  of  doubt  that  a 
member  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Kosary  can  gain,  while 
reciting  the  Kosary,  five  years  and  five  quarantines  for  each 
Hail  Mary  said  in  the  now  usual  way,  that  is,  with  the 
mention  of  the  Holy  Name  at  the  end.  But  5  X  365  +  5 
X  40  =  2025.  And  when  a  member  uses  beads,  having 
the  ordinary  indulgences,  he  gains  an  additional  hundred 
days'  indulgence  for  each  Hail  Mary.  This  makes  2,125 
days  for  each  Hail  Mary,  so  that  there  remain  only  100  to  be 
accounted  for.  In  one  of  the  leaflets  issued  by  this  Associa- 
tion, whose  statements  we  are  examining,  it  is  stated  that 
members  should  possess  beads  having  both  the  Dominican 
and  Brigittine  indulgences  attached.  This,  we  fancy,  will 
account  for  the  remaining  100  days'  indulgence  claimed  for 
the  recital  of  each  Hail  Mary.  The  compiler  of  the  leaflet 
believes  that,  as  the  beads  are  enriched  with  both  indul- 
gences, one  may  gain  both  indulgences  by  the  same  recital 
of  the  beads  ;  and  as  each  indulgence  is  of  100  days  for 
each  Hail  Mary,  this  hypothesis  would  quite  justify  the 
statement  that  an  indulgence  of  2,225  days  can  be  gained 
for  each  Hail  Mary. 

Later  on  we  shall  examine  whether  by  one  recital  of 
the  Kosary,  with  beads  bearing  both  the  Dominican  and 
Brigittine  indulgences,  both  indulgences  can  be  gained. 
We  mention  the  matter  here,  not  for  the  purpose  of  approv- 
ing of  it,  but  merely  for  the  purpose  of  offering  a  reasonable 
method  of  accounting  for  the  missing  100  days,  and  a 
possible  subjective  justification  for  the  compiler  of  the 
leaflet.  To  sum  up,  then  ;  with  regard  to  the  first  indulgence 
mentioned  in  the  question,  it  is  certain  that  2,125 — and  not 
unreasonable  to  believe  that  2,225 — days'  indulgence  for 
each  Hail  Mary  said  while  reciting  the  Kosary  can  be  gained 
by  members  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Kosary. 

The  second  indulgence  is  one  of  "  200  years  and  as  many 
quarantines,  or  81,000  days,"  which  "  may  be  gained  once  a 
day  by  members  of  the  Kosary  Confraternity  for  carrying 
indulgenced  Kosary  beads  about  them  in  honour  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  being  truly  contrite."  Innocent  VIII.,  by 
the  Bull  already  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  indul- 


Answers  to  Correspondents  253 

gence  of  five  years  and  five  quarantines,  granted  to  all  the 
members  of  the  Confraternity  an  indulgence  of  five  years 
and  as  many  quarantines,  to  be  gained  once  each  day,  if  at 
least  contrite,  they  carried  properly  indulgenced  beads 
about  with  them.  The  concession  was  made  in  this 
form  : — 

"  Omnibus  et  singulis  confratribus  et  consororibus  conscriptis, 
vere  poenitentibus,  nunc  et  pro  tempore  existentibus  Eosarium 
deferentibus  centum  annos  et  totidiem  quadragenas  indulgen- 
tiarum  de  injunctis  sibi  penitentiis  misericorditer  in  Domino 
indulgemus." 

This  indulgence  has  likewise  been  confirmed  by  many 
popes.  It  is  found  inserted  in  the  Summary  of  Indulgences, 
issued  on  July  31,  1679,  by  the  authority  of  Innocent  XL, 
and  also  in  the  most  recent  summary,  which  was  issued  on 
September  18,  1862,  under  the  auspices  of  Pius  IX,  In 
this  latter  summary  it  is  made  clear  that  the  indulgence  can 
be  gained  each  day.  The  words  are  : — 

"  Si  contriti  (confratres)  secum  detulerint  Eosarium  in  obse- 
quium  B.  Virginis  semel  in  die  centium  annos  et  totidem 
quadragenas." 

It  is  quite  certain,  therefore,  that  members  of  the 
Confraternity  of  the  Rosary  who  carry  about  with  them 
during  the  day  beads  which  have  received  the  Dominican 
blessing,  gain,  if  contrite,  an  indulgence  of  100  years  and  as 
many  quarantines.  But  in  the  extract  submitted  to  us  it  is 
stated  that  they  gain  just  double  this  indulgence,  or  an 
indulgence  of  200  years  and  as  many  quarantines.  Is  there 
any  authority  other  than  that  of  the  compiler  of  the  leaflet, 
from  which  the  extract  has  been  taken,  for  doubling  this 
indulgence  ?  There  is  authority,  which,  though  insufficient 
to  satisfy  us,  has  satisfied  many  among  whom,  we  may 
presume,  is  the  compiler  of  the  leaflet  in  question.  A  Bull 
is  extant — we  have  ourselves  read  it  in  the  Bullarium  Ord. 
Praed.  as  well  as  in  theActa  Sanctae  Sedis.pro  Societate  SS. 
Eosarii — said  to  have  been  issued  by  Alexander  VI.,  on 
June  13,  1495,  in  which  the  Pope  is  made  to  state  that  he 


254  Liturgical  Notes 

doubles  all  the  indulgences  which  up  to  that  time  had  been 
granted  to  the  Confraternity  of  the  Eosary  :— 

"  Omnes  indulgentias  a  praedecessoribus  nostris  Komanis 
Pontificibus  concessas  (confratribus  et  consororibus  SS.  Eosarii) 
auctoritate  Apostolorum  tenore  praesentium  duplicamus,  perpetuis 
futuris  temporibus  duraturis." 

Now,  the  indulgence  of  100  years  and  as  many  quarantines 
for  carrying  about  the  Eosary  beads,  had  been,  as  we  have 
seen,  granted  by  Alexander's  predecessor,  four  years 
previous  to  the  date  of  this  Bull.  Hence,  if  Alexander's 
concession  be  authentic,  this  indulgence  was  doubled  ;  but 
whether  the  Bull  be  authentic  or  not,  we  contend  that  the 
indulgence  does  not  remain  doubled  at  present.  Some 
hold  that  the  Bull  is  not  authentic,  but  the  most  they 
succeed  in  proving  is  that  it  is  not  certainly  genuine.  While 
others,  and  their  number  as  well  as  their  authority  is  very 
considerable,  show  that  it  is  probably  authentic.  Hence  the 
compiler  of  the  leaflet  would  be  quite  justified  in  holding 
that  Alexander  VI.  doubled  the  indulgence  granted  by 
Innocent  VIII.  But  as  no  mention  is  made  of  this  conces- 
sion of  Alexander's  in  the  Summary  published  by  Innocent  XL 
in  1679,  nor  in  that  published  by  Pius  IX.  in  1862,  we  think 
there  is  little  doubt  that  the  concession,  if  made,  has 
been  withdrawn.  We  shall  see  afterwards  that  Pius  XI. 
did  not  wish  to  withdraw  certain  indulgences  not 
mentioned  in  his  Summary,  but  we  have  no  reason 
for  asserting  the  same  about  Innocent  XI.  He  drew 
up  and  confirmed  an  exhaustive  list  of  the  indulgences 
granted  to  the  Confraternity  of  the  Eosary  by  his  predeces- 
sors; and  we  may  well  believe  that  he  wished  this  Summary 
to  be  regarded  as  containing  all  the  authentic  indulgences 
granted  up  to  that  time.  Besides,  this  concession,  said  to 
have  been  made  by  Alexander  VI.,  is  not  now  recognised  by 
writers— not  even  by  the  compiler  of  this  leaflet — otherwise 
the  indulgence  of  2,225  days  should  be  4,450  days  (practi- 
cally), and  the  indulgence  of  60,000  years  and  as  many 
quarantines  should  be  120,000  years  and  as  many  quaran- 
tines. We  think,  therefore,  that,  though  it  is  not  absolutely 
certain  the  indulgence  is  not  200  years  and  as  many 


Ansivers  to  Correspondents  255 

quarantines,  it  is  much  more  likely  that  it  is  only  one-half 
that. 

The  third  indulgence  to  which  our  correspondent  has 
d  attention  has  excited  more  doubt,  and  created  more 
difficulty  in  the  minds  of  inquirers  than  either  of  the  others, 
e  are  warned  against  accepting  as  genuine  partial  indul- 
gences of  a  thousand  years  or  upwards ;  and  Benedict  XIV.1 
quotes  approvingly  a  writer2    who  declares  "that  conces- 
sions: of  indulgences  of  thousands  of  years  are  incredible, 
and    Ojertainly   improbable."      This    indulgence    is   not,  of 
3ours$,  contained  in  the   Summary  issued   by  Pius  IX.  in 
;  it;  is  not  mentioned  in  the  ordinary  handbooks   on 
;ences  ;  and  even  Dominican  writers 3  do  not  give  it  a 
;  among  the  indulgences  attached   to  the  Confraternity 
of  the  Rosary.     It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  many  refused 
believs  this  indulgence  genuine,  or  that  those  at  the  head 
f  the  pious  Association  responsible  for  the  leaflet,  or  others 
;vho  might  be  expected  to  give  an  expert's  opinion  on  the 
subject,  should  have  been,  for   some  time  past,  inundated 
ith  questions.     For  our  own  part,  we  have  received  very 
lany  similar  to  that  to  which  we  now  reply ;  but,  not  wish- 
ing to  approve  or  condemn  without  plenty  of  reflection,  we 
stained  from  replying  publicly  until  now. 
In    the    first    place,    then,    pace    Benedict    XIV.   and 
Thomasius,  this  indulgence  of  60,000   years  was 
y  granted  by  Innocent  VIII.,  by  the  same  Bull  from 
ch  we  have  already  quoted.     As  the  matter  is  of  such 
',  we  will  quote  his  words  :— 

hristi  fideles  utriusque  sexus  eo  libentius   devotion  is 

isa,  ad  illam  devotissimam  Confraternitatem  de  Eosario  con- 

t,  ac  Conf  ratres  et  Consorores  effici  et  conscribi  concupiscunt, 

Kuberius  celestis  gratiae  dono  conspexerint  se  fore  refectos, 

)mnipotentis  Dei  misericordia  et    Beatorum  Petri  et  Pauli 

lolorum  ejus    auctoritate    confisi,  ac   Beatissimae    Virginis 

riae  meritis  et  intercessionibus,  omnibus  et  singulis  Christi- 

ibus  Confratribus  et  Consororibus  conscriptis,  vere  penitsnti- 

b   Confessis,  Eosarium   quinquagenarium  dicentibus  toties 

[^£e  Synodo,  1.  xiii.,  c.  xviii.,  n.  8. 
Cardinal  Thorn  asius. 

e  wish  the  phrase  ' '  Dominican  writers  "to  be  understood  in  a  very 
Bted  sense,  as  meaning  the  Dominican  writers  whose  works  we  have  read. 


256  Liturgical  Notes 

quoties  id  dixerint,  sexaginta  millia  annorum  et  totidem  quadra- 
genas  Indulgentiarum  de  injunctis  sibi  poenitentiis  misericoditer 
in  Domino  relaxamus  Praesentibus  perpetuis  futuris  temporibus 
duraturis." 

And  not  only  was  it  granted,  as  these  words  abundantly 
show;  it  was  also  confirmed  by  subsequent  popes;  and 
nearly  two  hundred  years  after  it  was  first  granted,  it  wfAS 
included  in  the  Summary  of  Innocent  XL,  published  in 
1679,  and  has  never  since  been  formally  withdrawn.  This 
last  argument,  about  its  not  having  been  formally  ,  with- 
drawn, is  not,  it  is  contended,  a  mere  negative  argument, 
but  a  positive  one,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  very  weighty 
one  ;  for  Clement  VII.  approved  of  a  Bull,  and  allowed  ii  to 
be  issued  in  his  name  on  April  27,  1530,1  in  which  he  is 
represented  as  having  confirmed  all  the  graces,  privileges, 
indulgences,  &a ,  granted  to  the  Confraternity  of  the  Eosary, 
and  as  having  declared  that  these  should  never  be  withdrawn 
nor  suspended,  unless  special  mention  was  made  of  them.2 
Now  if  this  law,  the  promulgation  of  which  we  have  no 
reason  to  doubt,  was  binding  on  the  successors  of  Clement, 
and  if  no  mention  has  been  made  of  the  withdrawal  of  the 
indulgence  of  60,000  years  and  as  many  quarantines,  it 
should  still  remain  as  one  of  the  greatest  privileges  of  the 
Confraternity  of  the  Eosary.  So  far  as  we  know,  this  indul- 
gence has  never  been  explicitly  withdrawn  ;  and,  though 
not  prepared  to  admit  that  subsequent  popes  could  not 
dispense  with  the  rule  made  by  Clement  VII.,  we  think 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  indulgence  still 
exists,  and  is  still  gained  by  those  who  fulfil  the  required 
conditions. 

Against  this  view,  it  may  be  urged  that  this  indulgence 
was  not  included  in  the  Summary  issued  in  1862.  But  it 
maybe  very  well  said,  in  reply,  that  Pius  IX.,  in  issuing  this 
Summary,  did  not  intend  that  it  should  contain  all  the 
indulgences  granted  to  the  Confraternity  of  the  Eosary,  or 
that  his  approval  of  the  indulgences  included  in  this  Summary 

1  Sulla  Ord.  Praed.    Vol.  iv.,  p.  474. 

""  .    .    .   Vetans   ne   sint  revocatae   nee   suspensae,  nisi   facta  de  ei* 
speciali  mentione." 


Answers  to  Correspondents  ....  257 

should  be  equivalent  to  a  condemnation  or  withdrawal  of  all 
indulgences  not  contained  in  it.  It  has  been  expressly 
declared  by  the  Congregation  of  Indulgences,  that  the  Pope 
in  explicitly  approving  this  Summary,  implicitly  approved 
certain  indulgences  contained  in  the  Summary  of  Innocent 
XL,  and  not  included  in  this  one.  It  is  true  that  the 
question,  which  elicited  this  reply  from  the  Congregation, 
referred  only  to  the  indulgences  mentioned  in  the  seventh 
chapter  of  Innocent's  Summary;  and,  consequently,  it  is  only 
to  the  indulgences  mentioned  in  this  chapter  that  the  reply 
of  the  Congregation  directly  refers,  while  the  indulgence 
of  60,000  years  and  as  many  quarantines  is  mentioned,  not 
in  the  seventh,  but  in  the  third  chapter.  But  since  we  know 
that  certain  indulgences  included  in  the  Summary  of  Innocent 
XL,  and  excluded  from  that  of  Pius  IX.,  were  actually 
confirmed,  instead  of  withdrawn  by  the  latter,  it  is  illogical 
to  conclude  that  all  the  other  indulgences  mentioned  in  the 
former  summary,  and  not  mentioned  in  the  latter,  have  been 
withdrawn.  On  the  contrary,  it  may  be  reasonably  con- 
cluded, that,  were  the  Congregation  of  Indulgences  asked 
about  the  indulgences  contained  in  the  other  chapters  of  the 
Summary  of  Innocent  XL,  as  they  were  asked  about  those 
in  the  seventh,  they  would  give  a  similar  reply.  As  we  have 
given  throughout  most  of  the  documents  on  which  we  rely, 
we  will  give  here  the  question  addressed  to  the  Congregation 
of  Indulgences,  and  the  reply  of  the  Congregation:— 

"  Quid  intelligendum  est  per  verba  subsequentia  (caput  VII. 
integrum)  quae  leguntur  sub  tine  num.  2,  cap.  ix.  catalog!  Indul- 
gentiarum  Sanctissimi  Eosarii  a  Sanctitate  Sua  Pio  IX.  confirma- 
tum  ?  An  per  praefata  verba  implicite  confirmentur,  vel  implicite 
excludantura  confirmatione  aliae  indulgentiae  contenfcae  in  cap.  vii. 
Summarii  indulgentiarum  Sanctissimi  Eosarii  ab  Innocentio 
confirmatarum  in  suo  Brevi.  Nuper  pro  parte,  quae  non  expresse 
recensentur  in  Catalogo  indulgentiarum  a  Sanctitate  Sua  Pio  IX  , 
anno  1862,  approbate  ? 

"Affirmative  ad  primam  partem,  Negative  ad  secundam  " 

We  have  said  that  this  indulgence  is  not  referred  to  by 
writers  on  indulgences  as  one  of  those  still  attached  to  the 
Confraternity  of  the  Kosary.  It  becomes  necessary  for  us, 
therefore,  to  offer  some  plausibleexplanation  of  this,  if  as, 

VOL.  XVII.  R 


258  Theological  Notes 

we  have  endeavoured  to  show,  it  is  almost,  if  not  altogether, 
certain,  that  this  indulgence  still  exists.  Two  reasons 
suggest  themselves.  The  first  is,  that  writers,  in  enumerat- 
ing the  indulgences  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Rosary, 
simply  copy  or  classify  the  indulgences  contained  in  the 
Summary  of  Pius  IX.  The  second  reason  is  that  the 
indulgences  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Rosary  contained  in 
this  Summary  are  so  numerous  and  so  ample  that  writers 
hesitate  to  add  to  them  even  from  sources  of  whose 
authenticity  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  For  though 
these  indulgences,  whose  genuineness  we  have  been  examin- 
ing, are  striking,  they  form  but  a  small  part  of  the 
indulgences  which  can  be  gained  by  the  members  of  the 
Confraternity  of  the  Rosary. 

One  word  remains  to  be  said  about  this  great  partial 
indulgence  of  60,000  years.  In  the  original  concession  it  is 
granted  to  those  members  "  who  are  truly  penitent,  and 
have  confessed  their  sins,  as  often  as  they  recite  a  third  part 
of  the  Rosary  "  (vere  poenitentibus  et  confessis  Rosarium 
quinquagenarium  dicentibus,  toties,  quoties  id  dixerint}.  The 
last  clause,  toties,  quoties  id  dixerint,  must  refer  to  some 
specified  time  after  confession  ;  in  all  probability  to  the  day 
of  confession.  At  present,  however,  as  weekly  confession 
suffices  for  gaining  all  the  plenary  indulgences  occurring 
during  the  week,  for  each  of  which  confession  is  a  necessary 
condition,  it  would  seem  that  it  should  suffice  also  for  the 
gaining  of  this  as  often  as  one  recites  the  third  part  of  the 
Rosary.  Not  all  the  members,  then,  of  the  Confraternity 
can  gain  this  indulgence  every  day,  but  only  those  who  are 
in  the  habit  of  making  weekly  confession  of  their  sins. 
Other  members  can  gain  it  on  the  day  of  confession  each 
time  they  recite  the  third  part  of  the  Rosary. 

D.   O'LOAN. 


[     259     ] 

Corresponbence 

THE    MONKS   OF   THE   WEST 

REV.  DEAR  SIR, — A  friend  has  pointed  out  that  in  your 
January  number,  a  reviewer  of  Montalembert's  Monks  of  the 
West,  makes  me  answerable  for  a  mistranslation  of  the  French. 
I  thought  that  the  title-page  of  the  new  edition  made  it  clear 
that  I  had  nothing  whatever  to  say  to  a  revision  of  the  old 
translation.  I  never  saw  a  page  of  it,  and  never  dreamt  of  doing 
more  than  contribute  an  introduction  to  a  reprint.  I  hardly  think, 
therefore,  that  your  reviewer  is  quite  fair  to  me  in  this  matter. 

FRANCIS  A.  GASQUET. 
DOWNSIDE  COLLEGE,  BATH, 
January  31st,  1896. 

[We  are  glad  to  put  on  record  Dr,  Gasquet's  disclaimer.  The  title- 
page  testifies  that  the  work  is  The  Monks  of  the  West,  by  the  Count 
do  Montalembert,  with  an  Introduction  by  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Gasquet,  D.D., 
O.S.B.,  &c.  We  took  it  for  granted  that  Dr.  Gasquet  had  accepted 
responsibility  for  the  text  of  the  work  for  which  he  wrote  a  very  learned 
and  valuable  Introduction.  We  are  happy  to  know  that  that  is  not  the  case. 
He  is  one  of  the  very  last  men  with  whom  we  should  wish  to  find  fault, 
and  it  is  most  satisfactory  to  us  to  know  that  he  does  not  make  himself 
responsible  for  the  mistranslations  to  which  we  referred. — J.  F,  II.] 


Documents 

LETTERS  OF  HIS  HOLINESS  LEO  XIII.  TO  THE  SUPERIOR- 
GENERAL  OF  THE  AUGUSTINIANS  OF  THE  ASSUMPTION,  TO 
THE  BELGIAN  BISHOPS,  AND  TO  THE  GENEEAL  OF  THE 
JESUITS 


PRAEPOSITUM  SODALIUM  AUGUSTINIANORUM  AB  ASSUMPTIONE, 
QUIBUS  COMMENDATUR  EORUMDEM  OPERA  IN  EXCITANDIS 
ORIENTALIBUS  AD  UNITATEM  CATHOLICAM  INSTAURANDAM 

Dilecte  Fili,  salutem  et  Apostolicam  benedictionem.  Adni- 
tentibus  Nobis,  Dei  auspicio  et  gratia,  ut  orientales  gentes  ad 
pristinam  in  Ecclesia  catholica  dignitatem  resurgant,  grata  quidem 
obversatur  cogitationi  opera  Eeligiosorum  Ordinum  qui  eamdem 
in  rem  laboriose  utiliterque  iam  diu  contendunt.  Hos  inter,  sua 
merito  debetur  laus  isti  quoque  Sodalitati,  cui  digne  tu  prae- 


260  Documents 

sides.  Novimus  enim  multiplices  curas  quae  sunt  a  vobis  per 
eas  regiones  susceptae,  quaeque  eo  sane  fructuosiores  eveniunt, 
quo  maiore  commendantur  et  studio  divinae  gloriae  et  fraterna 
erga  dissidentes  caritate.  lamvero  comprobationis  Nostrae  nul- 
lum  videtur  argumentum  neque  iucundius  vobis,  neque  optatius 
fore,  quam  si  eiusdem  studii  operaeque  vestrae  utilitates  vel 
latius  in  Orientalium  bonum  deducamus.  Idque  Nobis  admodum 
placet ;  quo  praesertim  movemur  proposito,  efficiendi  ut  apud 
illos  turn  vetusta  ritualis  disciplina  vigeat,  turn  etiam,  quod 
causae  quam  urgemus  permagni  interest,  adolescentis  aetatis 
institutio  proba  sit  et  conveniens.  Huius  rei  gratia  deliberatum 
est  Nobis,  sedes  eas  quas  ad  Stamboul  in  urbe  Constantinopoli, 
et  ex  adverse  ad  Kadi-Keui,  ubi  Chalcedon  fuit,  habetis,  acces- 
sione  facta  molitionum  ampliari ;  eatenus  scilicet  ut  loca  instru- 
antur  sive  ad  cultum  divinum,  sive  ad  docendum  omnino  apposita. 
Quae  vos  consilia  executuri,  duplex  tenete  praescriptum.  Alterum, 
ut  in  eis  ipsis  sedibus,  praeter  administrationem  spiritualem  quam 
vobis  creditam  volumus  Latinorum,  eamdem  Graecorum  geratis, 
sollemniaque  officia  utroque  seorsum  ritu  apte  et  decore  agenda 
curetis.  Alterum,  ut  adolescentium  commodis  et  ornamento 
quam  optime  consulatis,  non  solum  animorum  cultura  consue- 
tisque  litteris,  sed  graecae  etiam  linguae  et  historiae  patriae 
eruditione  impertita.  Quorum  vero  indoles  et  voluntas  spem 
bonam  afferat  ad  ministeria  sacrorum,  ii  diligentiae  vestrae 
potiorem  habebunt  partem,  ut  accuratius  ad  pietatem,  ad  doc- 
trinam,  ad  ritus  suos  informentur  :  illud  namque  ad  proposita 
assequenda  praesidium  est  vel  maximum,  clerum  indigenum 
rite  educi. 

Omnia  quemadmodum  legitimo  iure  constituantur  et  rata 
sint,  a  Nobis  iam  est  provisum.  Vos  interea  sumite  animos 
ex  benevolentra  et  fiducia  Nostra ;  quae  voluntatis  divinae  est 
declaratio  :  eximiumque  in  hanc  Apostolicam  Sedem  obsequiuin 
quod  adhuc  probastis,  probare  alacres  pergite  atque  in  dies 
augete.  Hac  vobis  mente  hoc  studio  laborantibus,  aderit  certe 
Deus  frugifera  ope  propitius,  neque  deerunt,  eo  aspirante,  qui 
uberiora  praesidia  ad  coepta  ipsa,  provehenda  pii  libentes  sub- 
mittant.  Votorum  sit  auspex  Apostolica  benedictio,  quam  tibi, 
dilecte  fill,  universaeque  Sodalitati  effusam  in  Domino  imper- 
timus. 

Datum  Eomae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  die  n  lulii  anno 
MDCCCXCV,  Pontificatus  Nostri  decimo  octavo. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 


Documents  261 

LITTERAE    SSMI.    DOMINI    N.    LEONIS    XIII.  AD    ORDINARIOS    BELGI    DE 

CAUSA   SOCIALI 

Permoti  Nos  praecipua  quadam  in  nationem  vestram  bene- 
volentia,  atque  complurium  rogatu  civium  adducti,  peculiares  curas 
ad  catholicos  Belgas  gravi  in  re  convertimus.  Plane  intelligitis 
quo  spectemus  :  ad  causam  nempe  socialem,  quae  ardentius  inter 
ipsos  agitata  sic  sollicitat  animos,  ut  allevationem  a  Nobis  cura- 
tionemque  exposcere  videatur.  Bos  ardua  per  se  ipsam  est, 
maioribusque  apud  vos  difficultatibus  implicita :  ad  earn  tamen 
accedere  non  renuimus,  qua  maxim e  parte  cum  religione  et  cum 
officio  muneris  Nostri  necessario  cohaeret.  Nam  in  hoc  pariter 
institutorum  genere,  documenta  sapientiae  christianae,  accom- 
modate ad  tempora  et  mores,  iam  pridem  Nobis  placuit  impertire. 
Gratumque  est  commemorare  non  exiguam  bonorum  segetem  et 
singulis  et  civitatibus  inde  partam,  eamdemque  spe  praecipere  in 
dies  ampliorum.  Etiam  in  catholicis  Belgis,  quorum  sollertia 
ad  huiusmodi  instituta  promovenda  alacris  in  primis  fuerat, 
fructus  provenere ;  non  adeo  tamen  ut  iustae  expectationi,  tarn 
apta  praesertim  regione  et  gente,  congruerent.  Quidnam  rei 
obstiterit,  satis  cognitum  est.  Quum  enim  ipsi,  consiliis  licet 
bonis  impulsi,  etiam  aliis  de  hisce  rebus  sentiendi  agendique 
rationem  inierint,  teneant ;  propterea  factum,  ut  neque  utilitatum 
expetita  vis  dimanare  potuerit  neque  catholicorum  concordia 
integra  permanere.  Hos  Nos  aegre  admodum  ferimus  dissensionis 
exemplum,  novum  quidem  et  male  auspicatum  apud  catholicos 
Belgas  ;  qui  felicis  animorum  ac  frugiferae  coniunctionis  praeclara 
specimina  omni  tempore  ediderunt.  Scilicet,  ut  facta  repetamus 
non  longinquae  memoriae,  luculenter  id  patuit  in  ea  quaestione 
quae  vocata  est  scholaris.  Tune  enim  cuiusvis  ordinis  catholicos 
quum  admirabilis  quidam  concentus  voluntatum  generosaque 
virtus  et  actuosa  inter  se  devinxisset,  eius  maxima  beneficio  con- 
cordiae  successit  res,  cum  dignitate  religionis  et  adolescentiae 
salute. 

lamvero  pro  vestra  prudentia,  Venerabiles  Fratres,  videtis 
ipsi,  quam  periculosas  in  offensiones  greges  vestros,  distractis  in 
diversa  animis,  proclive  sit  publice  et  privatim  delabi;  videtis, 
quam  mature  oporteat  laborantibus  rebus  mederi.  Nos  autem, 
ut  probe  novimus  quo  studio  exardescitis  restituendae  firman  - 
daeque  concordiae,  vos  potissimum  ad  hoc  appellamus  officinal, 
tarn  gloriosum  episcopo  et  sanctum  :  cuius  quidem  certiorem 
eventum  vel  ipsa  suadet  reverentia  ampla  quae  dignitati  vestrae 


262  Documents 

virtutique  istic  merito  adhibetur.  Quamobrem  illud  videtur 
optimum  factu,  vobisque  vehementer  commendatum  volumus,  ut 
simul  in  congressionem,  quam  proxime  fieri  possit,  conveniatis. 
In  ea,  communicatis  inter  vos  sententiis,  licebit  causam,  quanta 
est,  exploratius  pleniusque  cognoscere,  ac  meliora  ad  compo- 
nendam  praesidia  deliberare.  Haec  enim  causa  non  uno  se 
modo  recte  considerantibus  praebet.  Attinet  ea  quidem  ad  bona 
externa,  sed  ad  religionem  moresque  in  primis  attinet,  atque 
etiam  cum  civili  legum  rlisciplina  sponte  copulatur :  ut  denique 
ad  iura  et  officia  omnium  ordinum  late  pertineat.  Evangelica 
porro  iustitiae  et  caritatis  principia  a  Nobis  revocata,  quum  ad 
rem  ipsam  usumque  vitae  transferuntur,  multiplices  privatorum 
rationes  attingere  necesse  est.  Hue  accedunt  quaedam  apud 
Belgas  operum  et  industriae,  dominorum  et  opificum,  omnino 
propriae  conditiones. 

Sunfr  ista  magni  certe  momenti  consiliique,  in  quibus  iudicium 
elaboret  ac  diligentia  vestra,  Venerabiles  Fratres ;  neque  vero 
Nostra  deesse  vobis  consilia  in  re  praesenti  sinemus.  Ita  vobis, 
congressione  peracta,  minus  operosum  erit  atque  erit  tutius,  in 
vestra  quemque  dioecesi  remedia  et  temperamenta  pro  hominibus 
locisque  opportuna  decernere.  Quae  tamen  ipsa  sic  a  vobis 
dirigi,  civibus  idoneis  adiuvantibus,  oportebit,  ut  eo  amplius 
valeant  inter  catholicos  totius  nationis  communiter  ;  ut  videlicet 
catholicorum  actio,  iisdem  profecta  initiis,  iisdemque  viis,  quoad 
fieri  possit,  deducta,  explicetur  ubique  una,  proptereaque  et 
honestate  praestet  et  robore  vigeat  et  solidis  redundet  utilitatibus. 
Nequaquam  vero  id  secundum  vota  net,  nisi  catholici,  quod  maxi- 
mopere  inculcamus,  propriis  ipsorum  opinionibus  studiisque 
posthabitis,  ea  studeant  unice  impenseque  velint  quaecumque 
verius  ad  commune  bonum  conducere  videantur.  Hoc  est,  efficere 
ut  religio  honore  praecellat  suo,  virtutemque  diffundat  insitam, 
rei  quoque  civili,  domesticae,  oeconomicae  mirifice  salutarem : 
ut  in  auctoritatis  publicae  libertatisque,  christiano  more,  concilia- 
tione,  stet  incolume  a  seditione  regnum  ac  tranquillitate  munitum  : 
ut  bona  civitatis  instituta,  maxime  adolesceritium  scholae,  in 
2aelius  provehantur  ;  meliusque  sit  commerciis  atque  artibus,  ope 
praesertim  societatum,  quae  apud  vos  numerantur  vario  proposito 
multae,  quaeque  augeantur  optabile  est,  modo  religione  auspice 
et  fautrice.  Neque  illud  est  ultimum,  efficere  ut  qua  plane  decet 
verecundia  obtemperetur  summis  Dei  consiliis,  qui  in  communi- 
tate  generis  humani  esse  iussit  classium  disparitatem  et  quamdam 


Documents  263 

inter  ipsas  ex  arnica  conspiratione  aequabilitatem  :  ita,  neque 
opifices  observantiam  et  fiduciam  ullo  modo  exuant  in  patronos, 
neque  ab  his  quidquam  erga  illos  desit  iustae  bonitatis  curaeque 
providae.  His  praeeipuis  reruru  capitibus  commune  continetur 
bonum,  cuius  adeptioni  danda  opera  est  :  hinc  mortalis  vitae 
conditioni  solandae  non  vana  fomenta  suppetunt,  ac  merita 
parantur  vitae  caelestis.  Quam  christianae  sapientiae  disciplinam 
si  catholici  studiosius  adamare  atque  exemplo  roborare  suo  insis- 
tant,  illud  etiam  facilius  eveniet,  quod  est  in  spe,  ut  qui  falsa 
opinione  vel  simulata  rerum  specie  decepti,  ab  aequo  rectoque 
deflexerant,  tutelam  et  ductum  Ecclesiae  quaerant  resipiscentes. 

Nemo  sane  erit  catholicus,  aeque  religionis  patriaeque 
diligens,  qui  consultis  prudentiae  vestrae  non  placide  acquiescere 
velit  pleneque  obsequi ;  hoc  penitus  persuaso,  optima  quaeque 
rerum  incrementa,  si  sensim  ac  moderate  inducta,  turn  vere  ad 
stabilitatem  fore  maioremque  esse  in  modum  profutura.  Interea, 
quoniam  incommodi  quod  dolemus  ea  gravitas  est,  quae  cuncta- 
tionem  remedii  non  patiatur,  hoc  ipsum  a  sedatione  animorum 
ducimus  inchoandum.  Quapropter,  Venerabiles  Fratres,  catho- 
licos  Nostro  nomine  hortemini  et  admoneatis  velimus,  ut  iam 
nunc  de  rebus  huiusmodi,  sive  per  conciones  sive  per  ephemerides 
similiave  scripta,  omni  inter  se  controversia  et  disceptatione 
prorsus  abstineant,  eoque  magis  mutuae  parcant  reprehensioni, 
neve  ausint  legitimae  potestatis  iudicium  praevertere.  Turn  vero 
ad  optatum  rei  exitum  omnes  unis  animis  et  fraternis  quam  pote- 
runt  diligentiam  et  operam  vobiscum  conferre  nitantur :  praece- 
datque  Clerus,  cuius  maxime  est  ad  novitates  opinionum  se 
habere  caute,  mitigare  religione  et  conciliare  animos,  de  omciis 
christiani  civis  commonere. 

Illustrem  Belgarum  gentem  singulari  Nos  caritate  et  cura  iam 
diu  complectimur ;  vicissim  ab  ipsa,  cuius  in  anima  religio  calet 
avita,  obsequii  pietatisque  complura  oblata  sunt  testimonia.  Ista 
igitur  hortamenta  et  iussa,  quibus  eumdem  animum  libuit  confir- 
mare,  minime  dubium  quin  catholici  filii  Nostri  eadem  voluntate 
accepturi  sint  religiosissimeque  perfecturi.  Neque  enim  profecto 
id  unquam  committent,  ut  quando,  ex  diuturna  suae  concordiae 
laude,  eo  religionis  statu  publice  utuntur,  quern  sibi  talem  plus 
una  natio  exoptet,  hunc  ipsi  deminuisse  improvidi  discordia  sua 
et  labefactasse  videantur.  At  vero  id  potius  coniunctissimi  agent 
ut  consilia  viresque  omnes  adversus  Socialismi  pravitatem  conver- 
tant,  a  quo  mala  et  damna  maxima  impendere  perspicuum  eat. 


264  Documents 

Nihil  siquidem  ille  cessat  in  religionem  et  in  rem  publicam  turbu- 
lenter  moliri ;  humana  aeque  ac  divina  miscere  iura,  atque 
evangelicae  providentiae  excidere  beneficia  quotidie  contendit. 
Calamitatem  tantam  saepenumero  vox  Nostra  graviterque  est 
persecuta ;  quod  satis  testantur  praescripta,  et  monita,  quae  in 
Litteris  ipsis  Berum  novarum  tribuimus.  Itaque  hue  boni  omnes, 
nullo  partium  discrimine,  animos  intendat  oportet :  ut  nimirum 
pro  Christiana  veritate,  iustitia,  caritate  legitime  propugnantes, 
sacras  Dei  sustineant  patriaeque  rationes,  uncle  salus  et  felicitas 
publica  efflorescit. 

Quarum  rerum  fiduciam  et  expectationem  aequum  est  con- 
silio  praecipue  sollertiaque  vestra  Nos  velle  innixam  ;  propterea 
larga  vobis  divinae  opis  praesidia  irnplorantes,  Apostolicam 
benedictionem  vobismetipsis  et  clero  cuiusque  ac  populo  pera- 
m antes  impertimus. 

Dat.  Eomae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  die  x  lulii  anno  MDCCCXCV, 
Pontificatus  Nostri  decimo  octavo. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 


LITTEEAB  SSMI  PATEIS  D.N.  LEONIS  XIII.  AD  PEAEPOSITUM 
SOCIETATIS  IESU,  DE  PEOVEHENDA  EE  CATHOLICA  APUD 
COPTOS 

Consiliorum  quae  ad  fovendam  in  Coptis  rem  catholicam 
iamdudum  a  Nobis  sunt  instituta,  sane  gratulamur  alumnos 
Societatis  vestrae  sese  fideles  in  primis  exhibere  administros.  Id, 
tametsi  nuper  in  apostolica  ad  illos  epistola  testati  sumus,  libet 
tamen  propriis  ad  te  confirmare  litteris,  postea  quam  per  te  ipsum 
fusiore  notitia  accepimus  quo  cursu  religio  in  natione  feratur. 
Suavissime  enimvero  afiecit  animum  turn  catholicorum  constans 
in  fide  patrum  et  fructuosa  virtus,  turn  ilia  dissidentium  voluntas, 
quae  passim  non  sine  effectu  increbrescit,  unitatis  redintegrandae 
studiosa.  Et  quoniam  coptica  propemodum  videtur  ex  eis  esse 
regionibus,  quas  commonstret  Christus  iam  albas  ad  messem, 
Nostra  sponte  fluit  ad  eumdem  messis  dominum  obsecratio,  velit 
ipse  providus  operarios  roborare  suos  novosque  mittere  propositi 
non  dissimilis. 

Tria  nimirum  sunt  lustra,  quum  Societatis  vestrae  homines, 
voce  excitante  Nostra  et  apostolica  urgente  caritate,  ad  oras  illas 
prompti  et  alacres  contenderunt.  Graves  eorum  assiduosque 
labores,  in  superiore  praesertim  Aegypto  insumptos,  bonae 
admodum  utilitates  consecutae  sunt,  praecipue  quod  attinet  ad 


Documents 

cleri  indigenae  rectam  institutionem,  ad  observantiam  profec- 
tumque  christianae  vitae  in  populo.  Quibus  de  rebus  si  magnam 
Deo  habemus  iure  optimo  gratiam,  non  minorem  ei  et  habemus 
et  profitemur,  quod  inde  praeterea  occultum  quiddam  manare 
novimus,  plus  quarn  dici  possit  efficax  alienis  animis  ad  sinum 
Ecclesiae  catholicae  revocandis.  Verumtamen  huius  exitus 
iucundam  expectationem  diffitendum  non  est  quam  vehementer 
intercipiant  aut  retardent  externae  sectae ;  quippe  prudentia 
saeculi  atque  opibus  abundantes,  per  eadem  loca  scholas  magno 
numero  alunt  suas,  similiaque,  fidei  periculo  et  damno  com- 
modorum  invitamenta  multiplicant.  Certe  quidem,  si  hac 
potissimum  parte  liceret  nostris  conata  adversariorum  acriore  vi 
elidere,  iam  esset  plurimum  ad  laetam  coeptorum  progressionem 
effectum.  Sollicitis  Nobis  eiusdein  necessitatis,  quae  ad  curandum 
valde  est  laboriosa,  tempestivum  affert  spei  solatium,  dilecte  fili, 
hoc  reputare,  quanta  Sodales  vestri  contentione  urgere  decreverint, 
ut  aetati  succrescenti  amplior  copia  fiat  educationis  omnino 
incolumis  ac  salubris.  Ex  eoque  augetur  spes,  quod  ad  scholas 
sustentandas  sacrasve  extruendas  aedes,  nonnulla  rerum  adiu- 
menta  aliqui  ex  ipsis  optimatibus  gentis  copticae,  ut  compertum 
habemus,  pie  sunt  liberaliterque  impensuri  :  quorum  permoti 
exemplo  alii  procul  dubio  ad  eadem  beneficientiae  consilia  sese 
aeque  libentes  adiungent.  Nos  etiam,  quantum  est  facultatis,  in 
idem  statuimus  conferre  opem :  ob  eamque  rein  curabimus  ad  te 
proferri  certam  pecuniae  vim,  quam  tu  Sodalibus  in  ea  ipsa  opera 
opportune  disperties.  Quae  quidem  subsidia  et  quae  optamus 
posse  Nos  deinceps  submittere,  sic  etiam  volumus  apud  Coptos 
haberi  tamquam  peculiaris  providentiae  benevolentiaeque  testi- 
monia,  quae  ipsorum  in  Nos  pietas  et  fiducia  provocavit,  quotidie 
amplius  demeretur.  Nam  per  hos  ipsos  dies  allatum  est,  sancte 
exarsisse  gentis  animos  ad  ea  documenta  quae  in  recenti  epistola 
impertivimus ;  fore  autem  proximis  mensibus,  ut  illinc  ad  Nos 
legatio  adveniat,  quae  coram  testificetur  communem  obsequii 
gratiaeque  voluntatem.  Ista  profecto  sunt  Nobis  gaudio  non 
tenui  ;  neque  id  tantum  catholicorum  causa,  sed  causa  item  ac 
plus  quodammodo  dissiclentium,  quorum  saluti  haucl  parum  certe 
profecturus  est  vividior  illorum  spiritus  religionis  et  caritatis. 
Ex  harum  porro  opportunitate  rerum  apparet,  eos  non  ita  abesse 
a  veri  similitudine,  qui  opinantur,  expetitae  Orientalium  recon- 
ciliationis  eventum  auspicate  a  Coptis  initio  futurum. 

Vides,  dilecte  fili,  huius  quoque  amplitudinem  campi  in  quern 


266  Documents 

Societatis  vestrae  operam  providens  Deus  vocavit :  idemque  facile 
intelligis  qua  opus  sit  virtute,  experrecta,  durata,  indefessa.  Tu 
igitur  cohortari  tuos,  quae  tua  est  navitas  et  prudentia,  Deo  fretus 
ne  desine.  At  pro  Ecclesia  sancta  et  sempiterna  populorurn 
salute  difficultatibus  occurrere  laboresque  excipere  animose,  iam 
vobis  est  in  domesticis  laudibus  ;  divinaeque  augendae  gloriae 
flammas  ipse  legifer  Pater  alumnis  suis  e  caelo  novas  adspirat. 
Nunc  tibi,  rnunerum  lectissimorum  praesidium,  Apostolicam  habe 
benedictionem,  quam  simul  Societati  universae,  in  primisque 
Sodalibus  causae  Coptorum  studentibus  animo  paterno  largimur. 
Datum  Eomae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum,  die  xxxi.  lulii  anno 
MDCCCXCV.,  Pontificatus  Nostri  decimo  octavo. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 

DECEEB  OF  THE  SACKED  CONGREGATION  OF  THE  COUNCIL 
EEGAKDING  THE  APPLICATION  OF  MASSES  FOE  THE  DEAD 
Compendium  facti.  Quum  S.  Congregationi  de  Propaganda 
Fide  loannes  Hofman,  Vicarius  Apostolicus  loci  Chan-Si  Meri- 
dionalis  in  Imperio  Sinensi,  sequens  obtulerit  dubium  : — "An 
Sacerdos  in  exequiis  persolvendis  Missam  celebrans,  non  recepto 
stipendio,  debeat  pro  ipso  defuncto,  vel  potius  pro  aliis  petentibus 
et  eleemosynam  offerentibus  sacrificium  applicare  queat;"  eadem 
S.  C.  quaestionem  S.  C.  Congregationi  pro  congrua  solutione 
remisit. 

Iam  ex  enunciato  dubio  patet,  hie  quaeri  an  Parochus, 
Missionarius  vel  quisque  alius  sacerdos,  rogatus  ut  Missam 
quoque  celebret  in  exequiarum  perfunctione,  quin  eleemosynam 
recipiat,  nee  de  applicanda  Missa  exquiratur,  an  hie  Sacerdos 
annuens  postulationi  et  Missam  celebrans  teneatur  etiam  pro 
defuncto  Sacrificium  offerre,  vel  potius  pro  alio  eleemosynam 
offerente,  vel  in  suam  particularem  intentionem  Missam  applicare 
queat. 

DISCEPTATIO    SYNOPTICA 

Missa  applicanda  videtur.  Eatio  dubitandi  ex  ipso  Eituali 
Eornano  provenit.  In  titulo  enim—  De  Exequiis — haec  habet  : 
"  Quod  antiquissimi  est  instituti,  illud  quantum  fieri  pofcerit 
retineatur,  ut  Missae  praesente  corpore  defuncti  pro  eo  celebrentur, 
antequam  sepulturae  tradatur. "  Cuius  praescriptionis  hanc 
fuisse  mentem  patet,  ut  Missa,  praesente  cadavere  celebretur,  pro 
eo  defuncto  applicanda ;  ait  enim  Eubrica  "pro  eo  celebrentur." 


Documents  267 

Id  aliunde  docet  ipsa  Eitus  natura  non  enim  ad  pompam 
Missae  celebrationem  desiderat,  praecipit  Ecclesia,  sed  plane  in 
bonum  defunct!  spirituale,  in  peccatorum  satisfactionem  particu- 
larem.  Inquam  particular  em,  si  enim  Ecclesia  tantum  exquireret 
fructum  generalem  a  quacumque  Missa  fidelibus  vivis  et  defunctis 
derivatum,  supervacaneum  omnino  esset  instare  ut  Missae 
celebrarentur  praesente  cadavere ;  pompa  enim  et  solemnitas 
augeretur,  sed  fructus  expiatorius  non  augeretur  sane. 

Eo  magis  quod  nimis  urgenda  non  est  ratio  non  accepti 
stipendii,  non  solum  ne  turpis  redoleat  avaritiae  labem,  sed  etiam 
quia  in  eleemosynis  dari  solitis  pro  cadaveris  associatione  et 
exequiis,  commode  comprehenditur  etiam  congrua  retributio  pro 
Missae  applicatione.  In  casu  enim  quo  Missa  exequias  comitetur 
et  compleat,  funebre  ofificium  quid  unum  evadit  ex  integro 
directum  in  satisfactionem  defuncti,  quodque  proinde  una  retri- 
butio et  si  parva,  ad  instar  eleemosynae  Sacerdoti  oblata, 
sufncienter  amplectitur. 

Missa  non  videtur  applicanda.  Sed  contra  est,  in  Missae 
Sacrificio  apprime  considerari  triplicem  fructum  ;  primum, 
generalissimum  cuius  fideles  omnes  fiunt  participes ;  alterum, 
specialissimum,  quo  fruitur  Sacerdos ;  tertium,  qui  dicitur  medius 
quemque  iis  Sacerdos  applicat  pro  quibus  Sacrificium  offert :  ita 
iuxta  communem  Doctorum  sententiam,  uti  videre  est  apud 
Bened.  XIV.  "  De  Sacrif.  Missae  "  lib.  III.,  c.  VIII. 

Hac  de  causa  non  repugnat  quod  Missa  De  Eequie  in  para- 
mentis  nigris  et  proprio  ritu  celebrata,  a  Sacerdote  applicetur 
pro  vivis ;  uti  reposuit  S.  Kituum  Congr.  die  13  Oct.  1856  Dubio : 
"  An  liceat  Sacerdotibus  uti  paramentis  nigris  et  celebrare  Missam 
de  Eequie  ut  satisfaciant  obligationi  quam  susceperunt  celebrandi 
pro  vivis  "  respondens  :  "  Affirmative  modo  non  diverse  praescrip- 
serit  qui  dedit  eleemosynarn."  Item  ex  responsione  eiusdem  S.  C. 
in  die  Commemorationis  Omnium  Fidelium  Defunctorum  possunt 
Missae  applicari  etiam  pro  vivis.  Sacra  vero  C.  Indulgentiarum 
interrogata:  "  Utrum  Sacerdos  satisfaciat  obligationi  celebrandi 
Missam  pro  defuncto,  servando  ritum  feriae  vel  cuiuscumque 
Sancti,  etiamsi  non  sit  semiduplex  aut  duplex  "  die  2  Aprilis  1840, 
respondit :  ' 4  Affirmative . ' ' 

Ee  quidem  vera  Ecclesia  obsecrationibus  et  S.  Liturgiae 
precibus  pro  universis  fidelibus  Deum  deprecatur  in  Sacrificio 
Missae  per  Sacerdotis  ministerium,  unde  significatur  et  obtinetur 
fructus  Missae  generalissimus  in  omnes  christianos  diffusus  ;  sed 


268  Documents 

superest  fructus  medius  a  sacerdote  applicandus  cui  de  iure  vel 
de  eius  voluntate  tribuendus  erit.  Quare  distingui  necessario 
debet  celebratio  Missae  a  Missae  applications  >  ratione  fructus 
spiritualis,  adeo  ut  quis  teneri  potest  ad  celebrandum  Missam, 
sed  non  ad  applicandam.  Quare  Benedictus  XIV.,  in  opere 
citato  1.  c.,  c.  9,  docet  quern  posse  in  legato  condeDdo  Sacerdotem 
adstringere  ad  Missas  celebrandas  et  non  ad  easdem  fundatori 
applicaridas,  vel  pro  certo  numero  solum  exigere  celebrationem, 
non  Missarum  applicationem. 

Ex  principiis  supra  statutis,  at  quaestioni  pressius  pertinens, 
descendit  resppnsio  data  a  S.  C.  S.  Officii  die  1  Septembris  1841 
quaestioni,  an  in  celebrations  nuptiarum  Sacerdos  teneretur  cele- 
brare  pro  sponsis  :  responsum  enim  fuit :  "Sacerdos  non  tenetur 
applicare  pro  sponsis,  nisi  ab  eisdem  eleemosynam  recipiat.' t 
Nihilominus  Eituale  Eomanum  praescribit  quasi  partem  ritus 
nuptial!  s  integrantem  quod  "  Sacerdos  Missam  pro  sponso  et 
sponsa,  ut  in  Missali  Eomano  celebret  .  .  ."  Ecclesia  vero 
suam  obtinet  intentionem  ex  simplici  Missae  celebrationi,  in  qua 
ferventiores  pro  sponsis  Deo  preces  effunduntur  et  benedictiones 
apprecantur.  Item  in  Missa  pro  defunctis  Ecclesia  suo  nomine 
per  ministermm  Sacerdotis  orat  ad  obtinendum  fidelibus  demor- 
tuis  fructum  satisfactorium  et  defuncti  praesente  cadavere, 
peculiares  pro  eodem  offert  in  Sacrificio  Missae  supplicationes. 

Nullus  vero  amplius  videtur  esse  locus  dubitationi,  si  animad- 
vertatur,  verba  Eitualis  Eomani  non  continere  praeceptum,  ut 
Missa  celebretur  pro  defuncto,  eius  praesente  cadavere,  sed 
simpliciter  laudare  morem  et  consuetudinern  seu  "  Quod  antiquis- 
simi  est  instituti  illud  quantum  fieri  poterit,  retineatur  ut 
Missae,  praesente  corpore  defuncti  pro  eo  celebrentur,  antequam 
sepulturae  tradatur." 

Quibus  praenotatis,  quaesitum  fuit  quid  esset  respondendum 
precibus. 

Eesolutio.  Sacra  C.  Concilii,  re  ponderata  sub  die  27  Aprilis 
1895  censuit  respondere  :  Negative  ad  primam  partem,  affirmative 
ad  secundam. 

Ex  quibus  colliges  :  I.  Aliud  esse  celebrare  Missam,  aliud 
applicare  Missam. 

II.  Sacerdotem  posse  applicare  fructum  medium  Missae  pro 
s  a  quibus  eleemosynam  recepit,  etiam  pro  vivis,  quamvis  nigris 

ndutus  paramentis. 

III.  Et  ideo  Sacerdos  in  exequiis  persolvendis  pro  defuncto, 


Documents  269 

sicuti  in  celebratione  nuptiarum,  non  obligatur  applicare  Missam 
pro  eodem  defuncto  vel  pro  sponsis  si  ad  id  stipendium  non 
receperit. 

LETTER  TO  CARDINAL  TASCHEREAU  FROM  THE  SACRED 
CONGREGATION  OF  PROPAGANDA  REGARDING  THE  SCHOOLS 
OF  MANITOBA 

DOMINO    CAEDINALI   ALEXANDEO    TASCHEEAU   AECHIEPISCOPO 

QUEBECENSI,  QUOAD   SCHOLAS    NEUETAS 
EMINENTISSIME    ET   EEVEEENDISSIME    DOMINE 

Sacra  haec  Congregatio,  Fidei  Propagandae  compertum  habet 
quain  graves  catholicis  in  Manitoba  leges  quaedam  acciderint 
circa  scholarum  regimen  ab  illius  Provinciae  Gubernio  recens 
conscitae.  Quod  quidem  eo  magis  dolendum  evenit,  quod  rerum 
conditioni  in  ea  regione  favore  Catholicorum  ex  soleinnibus 
pactionibus  iampridem  constabilitae  refragetur,  florentesque 
ibidem  Catholicae  scholae  in  discrimen  adducantur.  Merito 
proiiide  ad  tarn  grave  periculum  propulsandum  eorum  Catholico- 
rum patrocinium  penes  Foederale  Gubernium  universi  Canadenses 
Antistites  nobilissimus  datis  literis  susceperunt.  .  Nee  violatis 
Catholicorum  iuribus  atque  Episcoporum  conatui  Foederalis 
Gubernii  voluntas  defuit  vel  auctoritas.  Verum  quominus  res  e 
sententia  succederet,  baud  levia  interiecta  obstacula  hactenus 
prohibuere,  Nunc  autem  quum  ex  Eegii  Consilii  privatii  in 
Anglia  data  nuper  sententia  Foederale  Gubernium  ad  hoc  gravissi- 
mum  negotium  pertractandum  certa  auctoritate  muniatur  spei 
locus  est,  ut  res  eo  tandem  evadat,  quo  firmissima  iura,  religionis 
bonum  atque  ipsius  reipublicae  emolumentum  postulant.  Capes- 
senda  tamen  alacriter  opportunitas,  nee  eorum  Catholicorum 
tutela  deserenda.  Quapropter  sacrum  hoc  Consilium,  in  re  tanti 
momenti,  cohibere  vocem  non  potest,  qui  erecta  iam  in  id  catho- 
licorum  ac  praesertim  Episcoporum  Canadensium  studia  confirmet 
magisque  accendat  ;  ac  dum  meritis  honestat  laudibus  sedulam 
in  huiusmodi  causam  iam  collatam  operam,  simul  animum  addit 
ut  pro  viribus  incoeptum  nobilissimum  prosequentes,  ad  felicem 
exitum  perducere  adnitantur. 

Falso  quippe  quorundam  mentibus  ea  opinio  incessit,  nihil 
periculi  in  scholis  quas  neutras  vocant  adesse,  easque  sine  discri- 
mine  a  Catholicis  pueris  posse  frequentari.  Etenim  aliis  omissis 
eae  quae  neutrae  scholae  dicuntur,  eo  ipso  quod  ex  ambitu  suo 
exclusam  una  cum  aliis  verani  etiam  religioneui  faciant,  gravem 


270  Documents 

huic  iniuriam  inferunt,  quum  ab  illo  principe  loco  deturbatur, 
quern  quum  in  omni  humanae  vitae  consuetudine,  turn  maxime 
in  iuventutis  educatione  habere  debet.  Nee  est  asserere  privata 
parentum  cura  huic  defectui  posse  sufficienter  suppleri.  Id 
scilicet  remedium  mali  esse  tantum  ex  parte  poterit  sed  educa- 
tionis  illius  sine  Deo  in  scholis  traditae  vitium  pessimum  non 
excusat.  Cui  et  illud  addatur,  religionis  dignitatem  in  puerorum 
existimatione  imminui  opportere,  si  ilia  veluti  publico  honore 
carentem  intra  domesticos  parietes  relegatam  viderint.  Quid 
vero  si  parentes  desidia  aut  occupationibus  impeditii,  remissius, 
ut  fieri  solet,  agant ;  neque  extra  disciplinam  a  liberis  in  scholis 
habitam,  eorum  religiosam  institutionem,  sive  per  se,  sive  per 
alios  satis  curent  ? 

Quamobrem  nihil  ferme  ad  fidem  praeservandum  in  populis 
consultius  fieri  potest,  hoc  praesertim  tempore  quum  earn  tot 
errorum  procella  impetitam  videamus,  quam  ope  Catholicarum 
scholarum  religionem  ac  pietatem  in  teneris  puerorum  animis 
inserere,  excolere  et  munire,  ita  et  una  cum  litterarum  rudimentis 
ac  liberalioribus  disciplinis  christianae  vitae  instituta  alte  reci- 
piant,  firmaque  in  reliquum  vitae  cursum  retineant.  In  id  operis 
qui  studia  viresque  contulerit,  is  optime  meritus  de  religione  iure 
habeatur. 

Porro  firmissima  haec  principia,  quibus  Canadenses  Episcopi 
tanta  constantia  iugister  insistere,  Sacrum  hoc  Consilium  nunc 
peromvent,  ut  noto  ipsorum  zelo  vehementer  commendet 
Catholicorum  provinciae  Manitobae  iuriam  circa  religiosam 
liberorum  educationem,  defensionem,  ut  haec,  prout  spem  facit 
iustitia  causae,  vindicentur,  ac  gravis  ab  Ecclesia  avertatur  iniuria. 

Interim  manus  tuas  humillime  deosculor. 

Eminentiae  Tuae  humillimus  addictissimus  servus 

CARD.  M.  LEDOCHOWSKI,  Praefectus. 
A.  ABCHIEP.  LABISSEN,  Secretarius. 


DUBIUM   QUOAD    OPEBATIONES  CHIBUBGICAS,    NON  DIBECTE  TEN- 

DENTES   AD   OCCISIONEM   FOETUS  IN   SINU  MATEBNO,  SED  UT 

VIVUS  EDATUR,  QUAMVIS  PBOXIME  MOBITUBUS 
BEATISSIME  PATEB, 

Stephanus  Maria  Alphonsus  Sounois,  Archiepiscopus  Gamer a- 
censis,  ad  pedes  Sanctitatis  Tuae  devotissime  provolutus,  quae 
sequuntur  humiliter  exponit : 

Titius  medicus,  cum  ad  praegnantem  graviter  decumbentem 


Documents  271 

vocabatur,  passim  animadvertebat  lethalis  morbi  causam  aliam 
non  subesse  praeter  ipsam  praegnationem,  hoc  est,  foetus  in 
utero  praesentia.  Una  igitur,  ut  matrem  a  certa  atque  imminent! 
morte  salvaret,  praesto  ipsi  erat  via,  procurandi  scilicet  abortum 
seu  foetus  eiectionem.  Viam  hanc  consueto  ipse  inibat,  adhibitis 
tamen  mediis  et  operationibus,  per  se  atque  immediate  non 
quidem  ad  id  tendentibus,  ut  in  materno  sinu  foetum  occiderent, 
sed  solummodo  ut  vivus,  si  fieri  posset,  ad  lucem  ederetur, 
quamvis  proxime  moriturus,  utpote  qui  immaturus  omnino 
adhuc  esset. 

lamvero  lectis  quae  die  19  Augusti  1888  .Sancta  Sedes  ad 
Cameracenses  Archiepiscopos  rescripsit :  tuto  doceri  non  posse 
licitam  esse  quancumque  operationem  directe  occisivam  foetus, 
etiam  si  hoc  necessarium  foret  ad  matrem  salvandam  :  dubius 
haeret  Titius  circa  liceitatem  operationum  chirurgicarum,  quibus 
non  raro  ipse  abortum  hucusque  procurabat,  ut  praegnantes 
graviter  aegrotantes  salvaret. 

Quare,  ut  conscientiae  suae  consulat  supplex  Titius  petit : 
Utrum  enuntiatas  operationes  in  repetitis  dictis  circumstantiis 
instaurare  tuto  possit. 

Feria  IV.  die  24  lulii  1875. 

In  Congregatione  generali  S.  Eomanae  et  Universalis  inquisi- 
tiones,  proposita  suprascripta  instantia,  Emi  ae  Bmi  Domini 
Cardinales  in  rebus  Fidei  et  morum  Inquisitores  generales,  prae- 
habito  KB.  DD.  Consultorum  voto,  respondendum  decreverunt : 
Negative,  iuxta  alias  decreta,  diei  scilicet  28  Maii  1884  et  19 
Augusti  1888  (1). 

Sequenti  vero  feria  V.  die  25  luli,  in  Audientia  E.  P.  D.  Adses- 
sori  impertita,  Sanctissimus  Dnus  noster  relatam  sibi  Emorum 
Patrum  resolutionem  approbavit. 
L.  ^  S.  los.  MANCINI  Can.  MAGNONI 

S.  Rom.  et  Univ.  Inquisitionis  Notaries. 

THE    GOSPELS   OF  ADVENT   IN   WEST   CONNAUGHT   IRISH 

By  the  kindness  of  the  Editor  of  the  I.  E.  EECOED,  I  am 
enabled  to  submit  to  the  clergy  and  others,  the  following  attempt 
to  translate  into  West  Connaught  colloquial  Irish  the  four 
Gospels  of  Advent.  The  system  of  Irish  spelling  which  I  have 
adopted  is  explained  and  exemplified  in  my  small  work  entitled 
Irish  Pronunciation,  Practice  and  Theory. 

Should  the  present  experiment  prove  successful,  I  propose  to 


272  Documents 

translate  in  a  similar  fashion  the  remaining  Gospels  'of  the 
ecclesiastical  year.  With  a  view  to  this  design,  I  shall  thankfully 
receive  criticisms  on  the  following  page  from  persons  familiar 
with  colloquial  Irish. 

WILLIAM  HAYDEN,  S.J. 
ST.  IGNATIUS'  COLLEGE, 

GALWAY,  October,  1895. 

GOSPEL,  FIRST    SUNDAY    OF    ADVENT. 

(Luke,  xxi.  25-33.) 

In  san  am  shin  durt  isa  lena  yeshgebli  :  bei  couri  in  sa  ngieu 
agus  insa  w/alach  agus  insna  relti ;  agus  bei  anger  na  gmach  er  an 
dala  tre  hachmal  as  horan  na  farege  more,  agus  na  don-dine  eg 
sharegu  tre  a£is  agus  tre  anacht  lesh  na  nihf  a  Mochas  er  an  grine 
go  homlan. 

Mor  corofer  couchti  na  spe?*e,  agus  inshin  feca  shiad  mac  an 
dine  eg  £acht  i  neul,  le  morchouchta  agus  le  morghacht.  Acht 
nuer  a  hosiin  na  nihe  sho  da  winu  fiacegi  soiias,  agus  togigi  souas 
wur  gin,  mor  atii  wur  wousglu  i  ngar  div. 

Agus  do  lauir  she  cosuilacht  Z6 :  fiacegi  an  cran  fige  agus 
chole  chran,  nuer  a  chuirin  shiad  amach  a  dori,  tas  agi  gureb 
,  coiingerach  an  saura;  shivshe  maragena,  nuer  eca  shiv  na  nihe 
sho  da  nimi,  booh  is  agishe  gureb  coiingerach  riocht  de ;  amin^ 
amin,  a^erim  liv  ni  racha  an  ghliin  sho  hart  no  go  wenfer  na  hole 
nihe  sho ;  racha  an  speir  agus  an  tala  hart,  acht  ni  racha  mo 
vrirasa  hart  go  brach. 

GOSPEL,  SECOND    SUNDAY    OF   ADVENT. 

(Matt.  xi.  2-10.) 

In  san  am  shin  nuer  a  chuala  on  i  brisun  ibrachi  Christ  eg 
cur  bert  a  yeshgebel  uei  durt  she  lesh,  an  tusa  an  te  ata  le  £acht, 
no  a  wilimuidne  eg  siiil  le  dine  ele.  agus  eg  fragrii  durt  isa  Z6, 
imigi,  agus  inshigi,  don,  an  rud  do  chualawer,  agus  hanic  shiv. 
fecin  an  dal,  smilin  an  bacach,  glantar  an  loir  closhin  an  bauer, 
asheirin  an  marev,  crivsgilter  an  sishgel  do  na  bochti,  agus  is  bam' 
an  £e  nach  wei  scanel  onamsa.  agus  nuer  imeder  rompa  hosi  isa  ra 
lesh  an  slua  a  div  on  :  ce  fiia  shiv  amach  in  san  wasac  le  fecal, 
</olcach  cra^e  lesh  a  ngi.  acht  ce  fua  shiv  amach  in  san  wasach 
le  fecal,  dine  cliidi  le  edach  bog.  Fiac  is  i  dihi  na  ri  ata  na  dine 
cliidi  le  edi  boga  ;  acht  ce  fua  shiv  amach  le  fecal  ;  Fai,  sha 
aderim  liv,  agus  an  te  ata  nios  mo  na  fai,  mor  is  e  sho  an  te 
era  wil  she  scriofa,  fiac,  fiac  cuirim  mangel  uem,  riv  do  lahir,  a 
yenas  re  do  valac  ruat. 


273     ] 


IRottces  of  Boofis 

THE  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  MANNING,  ARCHBISHOP  OF  WEST- 
MINSTER. By  Edmund  Sheridan  Purcell,  Member  of 
the  Roman  Academy  of  Letters.  2  Vols.  London  : 
Macmillan  &  Co. 

WE  have  read  with  care  these  two  remarkable  volumes,  and, 
whilst  following  with  unflagging  interest  the  narrative  they 
contain,  we  have  endeavoured  to  satisfy  ourselves  as  to  the 
justice  or  injustice  of  the  public  censure  that  has  been  inflicted 
on  their  author  by  reviewers  of  all  kinds,  and  by  organs  of 
opinion  that  have  judged  his  conduct  from  standpoints'  the  most 
divergent  and  dissimilar.  Without  any  desire  whatsoever  to 
question  his  ability  as  a  writer,  his  undoubted  gifts  and  accom- 
plishments, and  his  sincere  faith  as  a  Catholic,  we  are  of  opinion 
that  he  has  been  guilty,  in  this  work,  of  a  series  of  indiscretions 
which  not  only  no  good  Catholic,  but  no  man  of  fine  feeling  or 
charitable  instincts,  could  possibly  have  committed.  He  has, 
however,  been  much  more  than  indiscreet.  He  has  been  unjust, 
shockingly  and  persistently  unjust,  towards  the  memory  of  the 
great  man  who  entrusted  him  with  the  sacred  task  of  laying 
before  his  countrymen  and  before  the  world  the  secrets  of  an 
earthly  pilgrimage  that  had  attracted  the  most  widespread 
attention.  That  delicate  sense  of  honour,  of  gratitude,  of  justice, 
that  was  so  characteristic  of  the  subject  of  his  biography,  seems,  in 
many  cases,  to  have  been  utterly  dead  or  wanting  in  the  biographer. 
Where  a  charitable  interpretation  of  Cardinal  Manning's  motives, 
aims,  and  methods,  was  not  only  possible,  but  natural,  Mr.  Purcell 
in  the  most  unaccountable  way,  almost  as  if  the  Cardinal  were  a 
personal  enemy  of  his,  or  had  done  him  some  grievous  wrong,  at 
once  adopts  an  attitude  of  aggression,  and  imputes  to  the  great 
prince  of  the  Church,  the  vices  that,  of  all  others,  we  are  sur  j, 
were  most  repugnant  to  his  nature.  Thus,  by  innuendo,  by 
suggestion,  by  implication,  sometimes  even  in  so  many  words, 
he  accuses  him  of  double-dealing,  of  a  want  of  candour,  of 
adopting  unscrupulous  methods  in  his  dealings  with  opponents,  of 
jealousy,  of  narrow-mindedness,  of  ambition.  Wherever  obscurity 
of  evidence  makes  it  possible  for  him  to  question  or  circumvent 
the  character  of  the  man  with  whose  reputation  he  deals,  he  does 
it  with  absolute  freedom  and  in  a  spirit  of  undisguised  hostility. 
VOL.  XVII.  S 


274  Notices  of  Books 

If,  in  spite  of  all  that  Mr.  Purcell  could  do,  the  noble  character 
of  the  late  Cardinal  still  forces  itself  upon  the  view  in  a  thousand 
ways  throughout  these  pages,  it  is  because  its  light  could  not 
possibly  have  been  shut  out.  And  there  are  few  who  will  read 
these  weighty  volumes  in  an  impartial  and  unbiassed  spirit  who 
will  not  be  able  to  judge  for  themselves,  and  without  any  further 
evidence  than  that  which  lies  before  them  here,  on  what  a  founda- 
tion of  shadows  and  prejudice  and  injustice,  the  charges  and 
insinuations  of  Mr.  Purcell  are  based.  From  the  beginning  to  the 
end,  the  clearest  proofs  could  be  adduced  that  Manning  never,  in 
the  great  decisions  of  his  life,  acted  under  the  impulse  of  any  but  the 
highest  and  noblest  motives.  In  our  opinion,  abundant  evidence 
of  this  appears  even  in  the  instances  in  which  his  conduct 
is  most  seriously  impugned. 

The  singleness  of  purpose,  the  supernatural  motives,  the  logical 
consistency,  the  acute  sensibility  to  light  and  grace  wherever  seen 
or  felt,  the  promptness  of  will  and  responsiveness  of  heart 
to  anything  that  beckoned  him  onwards,  above  all  the  wonderful 
activity  and  earnestness  of  nature,  the  consuming  charity,  the 
burning  zeal,  the  lofty  conception  of  the  priesthood,  its 
essential  requisites  of  purity  and  holiness,  the  constant  yearning 
for  a  higher  and  more  perfect  life — all  these  things  shine  out  in 
such  a  clear  and  brilliant  light,  that  their  lustre  can  be  in  nowise 
dimmed  by  the  maze  of  indiscretions,  of  innuendoes,  of  imputations, 
of  letters  published  before  their  time,  and  feelings  sorely  wounded, 
in  which  the  author  of  these  volumes  has  endeavoured  to  over- 
cloud them. 

The  interesting  article  which  we  publish  this  month,  written 
by  a  distinguished  member  of  the  congregation  which  Cardinal 
Manning  founded — the  Oblates  of  St.  Charles— makes  it 
unnecessary  for  us  to  enter  into  further  details  about  this 
unfortunate  biography.  We  shall,  therefore,  confine  ourselves 
to  a  few  general  observations  on  what  we  conceive  its  effects  are 
likely  to  be. 

In  the  first  place,  we  think  that, 'though  it  is  calculated  to  give 
pain  to  many  individuals,  it  cannot,  on  the  whole,  do  very  much 
permanent  harm.  The  faith  of  that  Catholic  would  be  very  weak, 
indeed,  who  should  find  a  serious  stumbling-block  in  anything  that 
Mr.  Purcell  has  written.  Pious  souls  who  might  possibly  be 
disedified  at  many  of  his  charges  and  imputations  are  pretty  sure 
to  go  to  better  authorities  than  Mr.  Purcell  to  learn  the  lessons  of 


Notices  of  Books  275 

Cardinal  Manning's  life  and  teaching.  Protestants  may,  indeed, 
find  some  things  in  the  work  to  give  them  pause,  and  turn  them 
against  the  Church  to  which  Cardinal  Manning  bravely  and  un- 
selfishly fought  his  way  ;  but  they  must  also  find  many  things  in 
these  same  volumes  to  attract  their  most  earnest  attention,  to 
convince  them  of  their  illogical  and  unfortunate  position,  and  put 
before  them,  in  a  striking  and  most  impressive  fashion,  the  claims 
of  the  Catholic  Church  to  their  allegiance  and  veneration. 

Again,  nothing  that  Mr.  Purcell  has  written  will  ever  lessen 
the  veneration  and  affection  in  which  Cardinal  Manning  was  held 
by  Irish  Catholics  at  home  and  abroad.  Here  also  Mr.  Purcell 
has  endeavoured  to  sow  the  seeds  of  dissension  and  distrust ;  but 
he  will  not  succeed.  Cardinal  Manning  loved  the  Irish  poor, 
because  he  respected  them  for  the  great  sacrifices  they  had  made, 
and  were  making,  for  their  faith,  and  because  he  had  unbounded 
confidence  in  their  Catholic  instincts  which  always  impelled  them 
to  turn  in  their  trials  and  in  their  doubts  to  the  "  Mother  of  God  " 
and  the  "  Vicar  of  Christ."  When  once  he  became  a  Catholic, 
he  was  so  thorough-going,  so  genuine ;  he  came  over  so  un- 
reservedly, and  threw  himself,  heart  and  soul,  with  such  ardour 
into  all  that  was  Catholic,  never  for  a  moment  hesitating  or 
doubting  or  looking  backwards,  that  the  Irish  felt  as  if  he  were 
one  of  themselves.  The  faith  of  that  trained  dialectician,  that 
clear  and  classical  mind,  that  keen  scrutinizer  of  systems  and  of 
principles,  was  as  simple,  as  unqualified,  as  whole -hearted  as  their 
own.  They  too  loved  him  for  his  faith,  and  for  the  noble  and 
victorious  battle  he  had  fought  on  his  way  to  the  fold  of  Christ. 
Never  in  his  ministry  as  a  bishop  and  a  pastor  did  he  wound  their 
susceptibilities  or  deal  harshly  with  their  faults.  And  his  tender 
regard  for  them,  his  efforts  to  improve  their  lot,  and  his  sympathy 
with  their  struggling  countrymen  the  world  over,  made  a  deep 
and  lasting  impression  on  the  hearts  of  Irishmen  at  home,  and 
in  America,  and  wherever  the  children  of  our  scattered  race  are 
to  be  found.  This  impression,  it  will  take  something  more  than 
the  insinuations  of  Mr.  Purcell  to  obliterate.  Nowhere  was  the 
Cardinal's  loss  so  sincerely  mourned  as  in  Ireland,  and  nowhere 
will  his  memory  continue  to  be  cherished  with  such  reverence 
and  affection. 

Another  good  result  which  we  foresee,  as  the  effect  of  this 
publication,  will  be  a  drawing  more  closely  together  of  the  bonds 
of  fraternal  charity  that  bind  together  all  the  Catholics  of  England, 


276  Notices  of  Books 

in  the  household  of  the  faith,  to  whatever  rank  or  grade  or  section 
they  belong.  No  doubt,  it  may  be  said,  that  since  the  days  of 
St.  Cyprian  and  St.  Augustine,  of  St.  Boniface  and  St.  Virgilius, 
of  St.  Wilfrid  of  York  and  St.  Colraan  of  Lindisfarne,  of  Bossuet 
and  Fenelon,  differences  of  opinion  have  existed  in  the  Church, 
and  provided  they  are  expressed  in  the  language  of  charity,  and 
in  due  submission  to  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Holy  See, 
they  only  prove  the  freedom  which  Catholics  enjoy  within  the 
limits  of  orthodox  faith.  There  is  no  tendency  or  desire  to 
curtail  this  legitimate  freedom.  But  its  exercise  should  not  be 
taken  advantage  of  by  Catholic  writers  to  magnify  and  exag- 
gerate whatever  human  defects  are  sometimes  involved  in  its 
free  indulgence.  We  believe  it  was  the  Emperor  Constantine 
who  said  that  if  any  bishop  in  his  realms  should  prove  guilty  of 
a  fault,  he  would  throw  his  imperial  mantle  around  him,  to  protect 
him  from  the  attacks  and  comments  of  the  world.  This  is, 
indeed,  the  spirit  of  the  Church.  No  such  magnanimity  was 
required  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Purcell ;  for,  in  truth,  there  was  no 
need  for  it.  But  had  there  been,  it  would  have  been  more 
becoming  on  his  part  to  shield  from  slander  and  from  adverse 
criticism,  one  of  the  greatest  bishops  of  the  Church  to  which  he 
belongs,  and  to  which  he  professes  allegiance  and  devotion,  than 
to  hold  him  up  as  being  remarkable  for  those  defects  which,  as  he 
well  knows,  are  most  calculated  to  injure  his  fair  fame  in  the  eyes 
of  his  countrymen.  Here  we  must  leave  Mr.  Purcell,  but  not 
without  expressing  a  hope  in  conclusion,  that  he  is  a  very  rare 
type  amongst  the  Catholics  of  England. 

J.  F.  H. 


USHAW    COLLEGE  :     A    CENTENAEY    MEMOEIAL,    1894. 
Newcastle-on-Tyne  :  Mawson,  Swan,  and  Morgan. 

THIS  handsome  volume,  elaborately  illustrated  and  beautifully 
printed,  is  at  once  an  admirable  Centenary  Memorial,  and  a  work 
of  art  in  the  highest  degree  creditable  to  those  responsible  for  its 
publication.  It  will  be  welcomed  with  delight  by  Ushaw  men 
both  past  and  present,  for  whom  the  past  history,  and  present 
greatness  of  their  Alma  Mater,  as  here  portrayed,  will  be  a  subject 
of  honourable  and  legitimate  pride.  Here  they  will  see  her  in  her 
infancy,  almost  paralyzed  by  poverty,  and  stifled  by  persecution  ; 
while,  side  by  side,  they  can  view  her  as  she  is  at  the  present 
day,  oriumphant  over  the  difficulties  of  the  past,  and  expanded  to 


Notices  of  Books  277 

dimensions  of  veritable  magnificence,  with  towers,  pinnacles,  and 
chapels,  her  grand  array  of  Gothic  buildings,  halls,  cloisters* 
museums,  and  libraries,  crowning  as  a  fair  scholastic  city  one  of 
Durham's  noblest  hills. 

But  though  Ushaw  College  claims  only  one  century  of  life,  the 
roots  of  Ushaw  reach  much  deeper  down.  For  Ushaw  is  but 
Douay  transferred  to  the  north  of  England ;  and  so  the  history 
of  Ushaw  carries  us  back  to  the  days  when  Elizabeth  was  Queen, 
and  Cecil  her  crafty  minister ;  when  William  Allen,  youthful  but 
earnest  and  far-seeing,  conceived  the  idea  of  founding  at  Douay, 
in  connection  with  the  University  there,  a  college,  where  young 
Englishmen  could  receive  the  Catholic  education  which  was  denied 
them  at  home,  and  where  priests  might  be  trained,  with  the 
spirit  and  the  zeal  of  martyrs,  to  serve,  even  at  their  life's  risk, 
the  sorely  tried  and  rapidly  dwindling  Catholic  community  in 
their  native  England.  What  splendid  services  were  rendered  to 
Catholic  interests  by  the  old  college  at  Douay  during  the  two 
hundred  years  of  its  chequered  life ;  what  noble  works,  like  the 
English  version  of  the  Bible,  are  associated  with  its  name  ;  what 
martyrs  it  gave  to  the  Church,  and  how  well  it  fulfilled  its  original 
design  of  educating  good  priests  and  laymen,  is  a  chapter  in 
English  Church  history  too  well  known  to  be  lingered  on  here. 
But  the  French  Eevolution  came,  and  in  its  upheavals  Douayi 
like  so  many  other  venerable  institutions,  went  down.  On 
October  12,  1793,  the  College  was  entered,  seized,  and  formally 
dissolved. 

But  the  Church  in  England  could  not  do  without  Douay  ;  and 
so  those,  who  at  that  time  were  charged  with  the  guardianship 
of  Church  affairs,  resolved  to  start,  this  time  on  English  soil,  a 
college  to  take  the  place  of  Douay,  or  which,  at  any  rate,  would 
serve  until  Douay  should  be,  if  ever,  re-opened.  It  is  impossible 
at  this  distance  of  time  to  realize  the  immense  difficulties  which 
beset  this  undertaking.  The  little  band  of  Catholics,  who 
survived  in  England  after  the  long  struggle  of  the  persecutions, 
were,  like  the  Knights  of  Malta  after  the  celebrated  siege,  still, 
indeed,  in  possession  of  the  fortress,  but  with  resources  exhausted, 
and  ranks  severely  thinned.  The  Catholic  community  was 
neither  ample  nor  wealthy.  Aid  from  the  Government  was  out 
of  the  question  ;  there  was  now  no  Philip  II.  of  Spain  to  lend  a 
helping  hand  ;  there  was  neither  buildings,  nor  money,  nor  visible 
means  of  raising  a  college  adequate  to  England's  wants.  But 


278  Notices  of  Books 

where  there  is  Catholic  faith  there  is  unswerving  hope  even  in 
the  darkest  hour ;  and  not  much  time  was  allowed  to  pass  until 
the  Old  Bishopric  of  Durham  welcomed  and  gave  an  abiding  home 
to  Douay  redivivus. 

The  intermediate  stages  between  the  closing  of  Douay  and 
the  founding  of  Ushaw  College,  are  thus  described  in  this  centenary 
volume : — 

"  Those  who  escaped  and  survived  the  capture  and  sup- 
pression of  the  College  [at  Douay]  made  their  way  as  speedily 
as  possible  to  England,  and  such  as  felt  themselves  called  to 
become  priests  applied  for  help  to  Bishops  Douglas  and  Gibson. 
The  firstcomers  were  kindly  received  by  the  former,  who  accom- 
modated as  many  as  he  could  at  Old  Hall  Green,  a  lay  school 
under  the  management  of  a  Douay  priest,  Mr.  Potier.  But  when 
more  presented  themselves  he  was  unable  to  receive  them. 
Accordingly,  the  northern  students  among  them  turned  to  their 
own  bishop,  and  were  by  him  lodged  at  Tudhoe,  with  the 
Eev.  Mr.  Storey,  who  there  conducted  an  academy  similar  to  that 
of  Old  Hall.  These  young  aspirants,  five  in  number,  were  shortly 
joined  by  a  sixth,  and  the  Eev.  John  Lingard  was  set  in  authority 
over  them.  Six  months  later  the  little  company  of  ecclesiastical 
students  received  orders  to  leave  Mr.  Storey  and  his  boys  at 
Tudhoe,  and  repair  to  Pontop  Hall,  where  the  Eev.  Thomas  Eyre 
was  the  priest  in  charge.  But  this  was  intended  to  be  only  a 
halting-place,  for  in  a  few  weeks  Mr.  Eyre,  appointed  their 
temporary  president,  led  them  to  Crookhall,  where  they  formally 
established  our  College  on  October  15,  1794.  Here  they  were  to 
remain  for  fourteen  years,  until  a  new  and  more  lasting  home 
could  be  provided  for  them." 

This  "new  and  more  lasting  home"  was  to  be  at  Ushaw 
about  six  and  a-half  miles  distant,  whereupon  a  site  of  exceptional 
grandeur,  upon  a  noble  wind-swept  hill,  with  wooded  hills  and 
valleys  filling  the  country  round,  the  building  of  St.  Cuthbert's 
College  was  commenced  in  1804  In  the  meantime  some  events 
of  importance  had  taken  place.  Dr.  Daniel,  the  last  Eector  of 
Douay,  was  appointed  President  at  Crookhall,  and  though  his 
tenor  of  office  was  short,  yet  through  him  we  get  an  unbroken 
line  of  rulers  from  "William  Allen  of  Douay  to  the  present  highly 
esteemed,  and  distinguished  Lord  President,  Dr.  Thomas 
Wilkinson.  The  little  community,  rapidly  enlarging  itself,  had 
in  a  short  time  outgrown  the  accommodation  afforded  by  Crook- 
hall,  so  that  life  there,  by  reason  of  overcrowding  and  other  hard- 
ships, must  have  been  anything  but  comfortable  for  students  and 
professors.  But  these  were  men  with  the  spirit  of  their  Douay 


Notices  of  Books  279 

fathers,  men  of  self-sacrifice,  prepared  to  suffer  with  patience,  and 
endure  without  complaint  the  severest  hardships  in  a  holy  cause. 
Meanwhile  the  creation  of  our  future  Ushaw  stood  in  danger  of 
being  prevented    altogether  by   a  discussion,  which  now  arose, 
as   to   whether   it   would   not   be  more  advisable  to  found  one 
ecclesiastical  college,  near  London,  for  the  whole  of  England — 
something  similar  to  Maynooth  in  Ireland.     But  Dr.  Gibson  who 
governed  the  northern  district,  an  able  man  of  strong  character, 
was  steadfast  in  his  determination  to  have  a  college  in  the  North  ; 
and   to   this  remarkable  man  the  present  renowned  College  of 
St.  Cuthbert  at  Ushaw  owes  its  foundation.    In  1803  he  purchased 
the  present  site,  and  in  the  following  year  began  the  building  of 
the  College  there  :  "  and  while  he  lived  continued  to  watch  over 
its  growth  and  development  with  the  tenderest  care." 
.    In  all  probability,  he  little  dreamed  that  the  institution,  which 
he  began  upon  designs  of  such  modest  pretensions,  would  ever 
expand  to  its  present  degree  of  greatness.     But  a  succession  of 
zealous  and  energetic  presidents,  backed  by  an  equally  zealous 
and   self-denying  Catholic   community,  pushed  on  the  work  of 
improvement  from  year  to  year,  apparently  too  witheut  any  aid 
from  outside,  until  we  reach   the   presidency  of  Dr.  Newsham 
(1837-63),  whose  enterprise  and  singular  business  capacity,  exer- 
cised unremittingly  through  his  long   reign  of  twenty-six  years, 
created  around  the  old  quadrangle,  which  he  found  in  existence, 
that   elaborate    group   of   Gothic   buildings    which    excites   the 
admiration  of  visitors  to  Ushaw  at  the  present  day.     A  detailed 
account  of  the  College  buildings  is  to  be  found  in  this  centenary 
history.     It  is  enough  for  us  to  say  that,  as  a  College,  Ushaw  is 
excellently  well  equipped,  nor  is  there  any  want  of  a  great  College 
which    is     not    here     supplied,    from    chapel    and    library    to 
gymnasium   and    swimming  bath.     The  wonder  of  it  is,  that  a 
creation  so  vast  and  imposing  was  possible  without  state  aid  or 
endowment,  and  with  no  other  resources  than  the  generosity  of 
the  limited  Catholic  body  to  be  found  in  the  North  of  England. 

While  Ushaw  grew  thus  rapidly  and  extensively  in  material 
proportions,  its  collegiate  life  developed  itself  with  corresponding 
vigour.  The  name  of  John  Lingard  alone  would  suffice  to  make 
its  schools  for  ever  memorable.  Always  fortunate,  even  to  the 
present  day,  in  the  possession  of  an  efficient  and  distinguished 
staff,  the  college  continued  to  attract  to  its  halls  students,  both 
lay  and  clerical,  in  ever -increasing  numbers,  until  the  present 


280  Notices  of  Books 

splendid  average  of  three  hundred  was  reached.  Of  Ushaw  at 
the  present  day  we  forbear  to  speak.  Never  in  its  history  was  it 
more  prosperous  and  flourishing  than  it  is  just  now  under  the 
management  of  its  present  venerable  President,  Dr.  Wilkinson, 
Bishop  of  Hexham  and  Newcastle — a  prelate  as  interesting  in  his 
past  history  as  he  is  remarkable  for  his  kindness  of  character  and 
his  success  as  a  ruler.  Its  reputation  as  a  place  of  education  is 
well  known,  and  is  eloquently  testified  to  by  the  success  which 
annually  attends  its  students  at  the  examinations  of  the  London 
University.  The  old  spirit  of  Douay  lives  on  untainted  and 
undecayed  in  Ushaw,  where  you  have  statutes  and  discipline, 
indeed,  but  where  the  members  of  the  community  are  governed 
rather  by  their  individual  self-respect  than  by  rule — a  system 
which  not  only  enhances  the  happiness  of  college  life,  but  has  the 
happiest  effects  in  the  formation  of  character  by  training  young 
men  from  the  outset  in  habits  of  Christian  honour,  integrity,  and 
self-direction.  "  It  is,  moreover,  the  proudest  boast  of  Ushaw, 
and  one  of  her  most  cherished  traditions  that  within  her  halls 
church  student  and  lay  have  ever  lived  in  harmony,  acting  and 
re-acting  on  each  other  to  their  mutual  advantage,  and  laying  the 
foundation  for  after  life  of  a  solid  union  between  priests  and 
people.  May  such  a  fair  fellowship  never  be  dissolved !  "  To 
this  prayer  we  say,  with  great  heartiness,  Amen.  May  the 
future  of  Ushaw  College  be  as  brilliant  as  its  past ;  and  its  second 
century  no  less  remarkable  than  its  first  for  its  record  of 
difficulties  encountered,  and  victories  won  in  the  service  of  God 
and  His  holy  faith. 

M.  F. 

WITH  AN  AMBULANCE  DURING  THE  FRANCO-GERMAN  WAR. 

By  Charles  E.  Eyan,  F.E.C.SL,  M.E.C.P.I.,  Knight  of 

the   Order    of    Louis   II.    of    Bavaria.     London:  John 

Murray,  1896. 

WE  are  indebted  for  this  most  interesting  and  thrilling  volume 
of  personal  experiences,  during  the  great  war,  to  an  Irish  Catholic 
doctor,  brother  of  the  Very  Rev.  Canon  Arthur  Eyan,  of  Thurles, 
and  practising  physician  and  surgeon  in  the  town  of  Tipperary. 
In  a  short  preface,  the  author  modestly  disclaims  all  pretence  to 
literary  merits ;  but,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  written 
on  the  titanic  struggle,  by  writers  of  acknowledged  power,  we 
venture  to  think  that  nothing  more  telling  in  straightforward 
simplicity,  more  graphic  in  its  description  of  the  horrors  of  the 


Notices  of  Books  281 

strife,  more  relieved  by  the  fine  touch  of  an  unconscious  artist, 
has  been  given  to  the  public  on  this  now  historic  theme  than  the 
simple  narrative  we  have  here  before  us.  Dr.  Eyan  tells  us  how, 
in  his  youthful  ardour  and  sympathy  for  the  French  nation,  he 
left  Dublin  on  the  20th  of  August,  1870,  and  went,  alone  and 
without  experience,  to  offer  himself  to  the  ambulance  department 
of  the  French  army  for  immediate  and  active  service.  He  had 
just  finished  his  studies  in  medicine,  and  was  prepared  to  go 
through  the  great  campaign,  and  run  whatever  risks  such  an 
important  step  might  bring  along  with  it.  But  the  French 
authorities  did  not  require  any  assistance.  They  were  quite  well 
equipped,  and  the  ambulance  left  nothing  more  to  be  desired 
than  the  commissariat. 

After  a  good  many  dreary  journeys  from  post  to  pillar,  and 
from  one  office  to  another,  Dr.  Eyan  gave  up  all  immediate  hope 
of  being  employed  by  the  French,  and  joined  the  Anglo-American 
ambulance,  which  did  service  on  both  sides,  and  relieved  the 
sufferers,  no  matter  to  which  nation  they  belonged.  As  in  other 
departments,  the  French  soon  discovered  how  miserably  they 
had  been  provided  for  in  the  matter  of  ambulance  relief ;  and  in 
many  a  battlefield  they  denounced  the  incompetent  managers,  who 
failed  to  realize  their  duties,  and  accepted  with  tears  of  gratitude 
whatever  succour  the  young  Irish  doctor  and  his  colleagues  could 
give  them.  As  a  result  of  one  of  the  engagements  which  preceded 
the  capitulation  of  Sedan,  the  Doctor  tells  us  :— 

"  During  this  murderous  fire  we  received  into  our  hospital 
twenty-eight  officers  of  all  grades  (among  them  two  colonels)  and 
four  hundred  men  of  all  arms.  Occasionally  one  of  the  shells 
which  were  passing  over  us  in  quick  succession  would  fall  short, 
striking  at  one  time  the  roof  of  our  hospital  or  the  stone  battle- 
ments in  front,  at  another  the  earthworks  or  a  tree  within  the 
fort.  One  of  these  shells  burst  at  the  main  entrance,  close  to 
where  I  was  at  work,  killing  two  infirmiers  and  wounding  a 
third — the  first  two  were,  indeed,  reduced  to  a  mass  of  charred 
flesh,  a  sight  of  unspeakable  horror.  Then  came  another  shell, 
and  another,  and  finally  a  full  charge  of  mitrailleuse  bullets, 
which  did  not  make  the  work  of  attending  to  the  sick  particularly 
enjoyable  or  attractive  for  the  time  being." 

Dr.  Eyan's  description  of  Sedan  the  night  before  the  capitulation 
is  most  picturesque  :— 

"  At  last  darkness  set  in.  The  stillness  of  the  night  was 
unbroken  save  for  a  musical  humming  sound,  as  if  from  some 


282  Notices  of  Books 

mighty  hive  of  bees : — it  was  the  murmur  of  voices  resounding  from 
the  hundred  thousand  men  caged  within  the  beleaguered  city. 
As  we  stood  for  a  moment  on  the  battlements,  sniffing  the  cool  air, 
with  which  was  still  intermingled  the  gruesome  odour  of  the 
battlefield,  how  impressive  a  sight  met  our  gaze  ?  Bazeilles  was 
burning.  Its  flames  lit  up  the  sky  brilliantly,  and  brought  out 
into  clear  relief  the  hills  and  valleys  for  miles  around.  They  even 
threw  a  red  glare  over  Sedan  itself ;  while  above  the  site  of  the 
burning  village  there  seemed  to  dance  one  great  pillar  of  fire,  from 
which  tongues  shot  out  quivering  and  rocketing  into  the  atmos- 
phere, as  house  after  house  burst  into  flames." 

Now  and  again  the  Doctor  tells  us  of  some  deeds  of  bravery, 
of  which  he  was  a  witness,  or  about  which  he  had  received  trust- 
worthy information.  The  following  is  one  of  the  most  striking  :— 

"  Whilst  I  was  assisting  in  dressing  a  wounded  soldier,  he  told 
me  the  following  story,  which  was  subsequently  corroborated 
by  one  of  his  officers  who  came  to  see  him.  This  soldier  was 
St.  Aubin  of  the  Third  Chasseurs  d'Afrique.  He  was  only 
twenty-three,  a  tall,  fair,  handsome  fellow.  He  had  been  in 
action  for  seven  hours,  and  had  received  a  bayonet  thrust  through 
the  cheek.  His  horse  was  shot  under  him  during  the  flight  of  the 
French  towards  Sedan  Still  undismayed  he  provided  himself 
with  one  of  the  Chassepots  lying  about,  and  falling  in  with  a 
body  of  marines,  the  best  men  in  the  French  army,  he,  in  company 
with  this  gallant  band,  faced  the  enemy  again.  Numbers  of  his 
companions  fell.  He  himself  got  a  bullet  through  the  right  elbow. 
Promptly  tearing  his  pockethandkerchief  into  strips  with  his 
teeth,  he  tied  up  his  wounds,  and  securing  his  wrist  to  his  belt, 
seized  his  sword,  determined  to  fight  on.  Unfortunately,  the 
fragment  of  a  shell  struck  him  again,  shattering  the  right 
shoulder.  In  this  plight  he  mounted  a  stray  horse,  and  holding 
his  sword  in  his  teeth,  put  spurs  to  his  steed  and  joined  his 
companions  at  Sedan,  where  he  sank  out  of  the  saddle  through 
sheer  exhaustion  and  loss  of  blood.;' 

Dr.  Kyan,  shows  in  very  clear  light,  all  through  his  book,  the 
causes  of  the  French  defeat.  "Nous  sommes  trahis"  was  the 
universal  cry  of  the  soldiers,  betrayed  by  worthless  officers  and 
incompetent  statesmen.  It  is  impossible  for  us,  unfortunately  to 
follow  Dr.  Ryan  through  all  his  adventures  ;  but  we  cannot  resist 
the  temptation  of  reproducing  here,  his  description  of  the  Church 
of  St.  Enverte  at  Orleans,  and  the  Christmas  night  of  1870,  which 
he  spent  there,  in  attendance  on  the  sick  and  wounded  :  — 

"  Along  the  great  nave,  to  the  right  and  left,  are  double  rows 
of  beds,  each  with  its  suffering  occupant.  On  every  pillar  hangs 


Notices  of  Books  283 

a  lamp,  one  to  every  four  beds.  Precisely  the  same  arrangement 
has  been  made  along  the  side  aisles.  Between  every  fourth  and 
fifth  pillar  a  stove  is  burning,  with  the  bright  and  cheery  blaze  of 
a  wood  fire.  Thus,  a  dim  light  is  cast  over  the  beds  of  the 
patients,  but  not  sufficient  to  penetrate  the  gloom  of  the  lofty 
roof.  Impressive  as  the  sight  is,  taken  as  a  whole,  the  deep 
interest  which  it  excites  is  heightened  by  the  thought  that  every 
one  of  these  three  hundred  beds  bears  its  wounded  sufferer, 
and  that  each  sufferer  could  tell  his  own  long  history  of  privation 
and  pain. 

"  Assuredly  the  saddest  congregation  that  this  old  church  has 
ever  held.  Around  the  stoves  are  huddled  knots  of  soldiers, 
French  and  German,  whose  common  affliction  has  changed  bitter 
foes  into  sympathizing  friends.  They  lie  in  all  postures  around 
the  fires,  trying  to  sleep — a  difficult  task,  with  a  broken  arm, 
wrist,  or  rib,  or  with  severe  flesh  wounds ;  and  they  have  no 
covering  of  any  kind,  and  only  a  little  straw  and  the  hard  flags 
to  rest  upon. 

"  Passing  along  the  lines  of  beds  are  Sisters  of  Charity,  who 
administer  every  comfort  they  can,  arrange  the  patients'  beds, 
smoothe  their  pillows,  and  whisper  words  of  solace  and  consola- 
tion. Tn  the  stillness  of  the  Christmas  night,  the  tones  of  agony 
and  suffering  echo  through  the  church,  which  for  centuries  has 
resounded  at  that  hour  with  the  grand  and  solemn  music  of  the 
Midnight  Mass  ...  I  begin  my  rounds,  visiting  first  the 
most  urgent  cases.  To  some  of  the  greatest  sufferers  I  give 
morphia  in  pills,  or  else  introduce  it  in  solution,  under  the  skin, 
by  means  of  a  syringe,  with  a  sharp  perforated  needle  affixed. 
The  effect  is  wonderful.  In  a  few  minutes  they  are  out  of 
pain,  and  fall  asleep  quietly.  In  this  manner  I  am  obliged 
to  silence  those  whose  groans  would  disturb  the  other  patients. 
I  now  go  on  in  succession,  stopping  at  every  bed,  to  satisfy 
myself  as  to  the  condition  of  its  occupant,  giving  medicines 
when  required,  arranging  bandages  here  and  there,  and 
soothing  with  hypnotics  those  whose  wounds  prevent  their 
sleeping. 

;'  This  done,  I  repair  to  the  sacristy,  which  serves  the  purpose 
of  a  surgery  and  a  waiting-room,  and  read  before  the  fire  for  an 
hour,  when  I  return  to  the  church  to  see  that  all  is  right,  and 
that  the  infirmarians  are  awake  and  at  their  posts.  As  I  stand 
in  the  sanctuary  and  listen,  I  can  hear  the  heavy  tread  of  the 
watchers  pacing  to  and  fro  ;  nothing  else,  save  the  heavy  breathing 
of  the  sleepers.  What  a  change  in  less  than  two  hours !  The 
cries  of  pain  are  silenced ;  and  the  restless  day  of  suffering  is 
succeeded  by  a  night  of  calm  repose— a  pleasant  sight  for  the 
surgeon,  and  one  which  is  entirely  due  to  that  friend  of  humanity, 
so  long  as  rightly  administered — the  drug  opium.  To  be  prepared, 
however,  for  emergencies,  I  return  to  my  room  and  lay  out  my 


284  Notices  of  Books 

instruments,  so  as  to  be  ready  for  an  operation,  if  necessary, 
secondary  hemorrhage  and  suchlike  mishaps  being  of  frequent 
occurrence." 

More  than  once,  indeed,  the  Doctor  was  roused  from  his 
slumbers  and  called  to  the  bedside  of  some  agonizing  patient. 
Several  pathetic  stories  are  told  of  the  last  hours  of  these  dying 
heroes.  In  the  midst  of  such  scenes,  hurrying  from  battlefield  to 
battlefield,  the  doctor  went  through  the  campaign,  until  fever 
overtook  him  and  laid  him  low.  He  fulfilled  his  mission  to  the 
end,  and  now,  after  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  tells  his  story 
with  the  modesty  of  a  brave  man  and  the  sincerity  of  one  who 
describes  things  as  he  saw  them.  J.  F.  H. 

THE   BISHOPS   OF  DOWN  AND   CONNOE.    Being  the  Fifth 
Volume   of  an  Historical  Account  of  Down  and  Connor, 
Ancient  and  Modern.     By   the  Rev.  James  O'Laverty, 
M.E.I. A.,    Member     of     the     Royal    Historical      and 
Archaeological  Association  of  Ireland ;  Parish  Priest  of 
Holywood.     Dublin:  James  Duffy  &  Co.,  1895. 
THE  volume  before  us  is  the  fifth  of  a  series  in  which  the  learned 
author  has  given  to  the  public  the  results  of   his  investigations 
into  the  history  and  antiquities  of  his  native  diocese.     The  five 
volumes  together,   as  may  be  seen  in  an  advertisement  printed 
on  another  page,  contain  5,911  crown  octavo  pages,  not  a  single 
one  of  which  is  either  dull  or  uninteresting.     It  is  impossible  for 
anyone  who  has  not  himself  engaged  in  historical  or  antiquarian 
research  to  realize  the  amount  of  patient  labour  involved  in  a 
work  such  as  that  which  Fr.  O'Laverty  has  brought  to  a  successful 
issue.     In  other  countries  a  similar  work,  though  involving  con- 
siderable toil — for  all  writing  is   "a  business  of  watching   and 
sweat  " — would  present  no  difficulty  in  comparison  with  those 
which  Fr.  O'Laverty  had  to  overcome.     For  in  other  countries, 
parochial  registers  have  been  kept  and  preserved  for  centuries ; 
diocesan  archives  are  stored  with  valuable  documents ;  biographies 
of  bishops  and  other  eminent  ecclesiastics  have  been  written,  and 
the  ancient  churches,  monasteries,  and  abbeys  have  been  allowed 
to  remain,  or  at  least  the  records  of  them  have  been  preseryed. 
Hence,  where  such  is  the  state  of  things,  who  would  put  together 
the  records  of  a  diocese  has  his  materials  at  hand,  and  has  but  to 
put  them  together  as  gracefully   and  as  symmetrically  as  he  can. 
But  with  the  historian  of  Down  and  Connor,  things  were  far 


Notices  of  Books  285 

different.  He  found  the  diocesan  and  parochial  archives  prac- 
tically empty,  and  the  ancient  churches  and  monasteries  either 
destroyed  or  in  the  hands  of  the  sect  which  for  nearly  three 
centuries  has  done  its  utmost  to  stifle  Catholicity  in  Antrim  and 
Down.  In  the  preface  to  his  first  volume,  the  author  refers 
to  this  difficulty,  and  to  how  he  overcame  it  :— 

"The  total  want  of  diocesan  and  parochial  records,  except 
those  of  a  few  years'  standing,  will,  in  part,  explain  some  of  the 
difficulties  against  which  I  had  to  contend.  I  am  conscious  at 
least  that  I  spared  no  pains.  I  have  been  in  every  field,  examined 
every  graveyard,  and  conversed  with  every  person  capable 
of  giving  me  the  least  information." 

In  the  preface  to  the  present  volume  he  refers  again  to  the 
difficulties  caused  by  the  want  of  diocesan  documents,  and  to  the 
efforts  he  made  to  supply  their  place  :— 

"  The  compilation  of  such  a  work,  however,  presented 
innumerable  difficulties,  when  the  diocese  had  not  in  its  archives 
a  single  document  antecedent  to  the  present  century.  I  sought 
every  means  within  my  reach  to  supply  the  want,  and  though  I 
have  not  been  so  successful  as  I  would  have  wished,  I  am 
conscious  that  no  incompleteness  arises  from  any  deficiency  of 
zeal  and  energy  on  my  part.  With  an  industry  which  at  least 
deserved  success,  I  have  consulted  every  printed  book  which  I 
thought  might  throw  a  light  on  my  subject,  and  I  have  carefully 
read  through  the  manuscript  registries  of  the  primates  in  Catholic 
times." 

In  addition  to  the  difficulties  intrinsic  to  the  work,  there  were 
others  against  which  our  author  had  to  contend.  He  is  a  parish 
priest  in  sole  charge  of  a  parish  ;  and  as  he  himself  says  in  one 
of  his  prefaces  : — 

14  To  a  parish  priest,  the  collecting  and  arranging  of  historical 
and  antiquarian  papers,  must  necessarily  be  the  employment  of 
only  the  odd  half  hours  which  he  can  snatch  from  his  clerical 
duties." 

Yet,  notwithstanding  difficulties,  both  intrinsic  and  extrinsic, 
and  without  abating  by  a  single  jot  or  tittle  the  faithful  and 
zealous  discharge  of  his  duties  to  his  flock,  Father  O'Laverty  has, 
in  the  space  of  twenty  years — the  first  volume  was  published  in 
1878 — produced  a  work  as  perfect  as  if  it  were  the  fruit  of 
"  learned  leisure,"  and  as  full  as  if  no  other  thought  occupied  his 
mind  during  all  these  years.  He  has  bestowed  a  priceless  favour, 
not  only  on  the  Church  of  Down  and  Connor,  but  on  the  whole 
Irish  Church;  for,  as  he  himself  says,  "  a  complete  history  of  the 


286  Notices  of  Books 

Irish  Church  can  never  be  written  until  after  the  compilation  of 
a  separate  history  of  each  diocese  in  Ireland." 

We  have  dwelt  on  the  labours  of  the  author  rather  than  on 
the  merits  of  his  work,  in  the  hope  that,  by  showing  how  success- 
fully he  has  overcome  apparently  insurmountable  difficulties, 
some  young  priest  who  reads  these  lines  may  be  induced  to 
emulate  the  author,  and  to  resolve  to  do  for  his  native  diocese 
what  Father  O'Laverty  has  done  for  Down  and  Connor.  Zeal, 
patience,  self-denial  are  the  virtues  he  must  bring  to  the  task  : 
the  reward  he  may  expect  is  the  consciousness  of  having  done  a 
service  to  his  country  more  glorious  than  the  gaining  of  battles  • 
of  having  earned  the  gratitude  of  future  ages  ;  and,  should  he 
court  renown,  of  having  erected  to  himself  a  monument  more 
honourable  and  more  enduring  than  marble  or  bronze. 

The  volume  mentioned  at  the  head  of  this  notice  contains  a 
biographical  notice,  as  far  as  existing  materials  permit,  of  every 
bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  as  well  as  of  every  bishop  of  Down 
and  of  every  bishop  of  Connor,  from  the  first  bishops  placed  over 
the  separated  sees  by  St.  Patrick,  down  to  the  present  illustrious 
incumbent  of  the  united  see.  Not  only  were  there  two  distinct 
sees  in  the  beginning,  as  the  present  nomenclature  implies,  but, 
as  we  learn  from  this  volume,  each  at  first  contained  several 
dioceses.  The  process  of  amalgamation,  however,  soon  began, 
and  was  carried  on  until,  perhaps,  about  the  beginning  of  the 
eleventh  century,  when  the  last  of  the  smaller  sees  within  their 
respective  spheres  of  influence  was  absorbed  by  the  sees  of 
Down  and  Connor.  And  at  the  Synod  of  Rath-Breasil,  held  in 
1117  or  1118,  it  was  thought  well  to  unite  even  these  two  sees; 
and  both  sees  being  vacant,  as  both  bishops  had  died  the  very 
year  iu  which  the  synod  was  held,  the  union  was  immediately 
effected,  and  the  name  as  well  as  the  see  of  Down  was  absorbed 
in  that  of  Connor.  The  newly  constituted  diocese  included  the 
northern  portion  of  the  present  county  Derry,  the  whole  of  Antrim, 
and  the  whole  of  Down.  But  when  Malachy  resigned  the  see  of 
Connor,  in  1132,  on  accepting  the  primacy,  he  determined  to  again 
separate  the  diocese,  and  with  a  view  to  this  he  had  his  successor 
in  Connor  appointed  bishop  of  Connor  and  administrator  of 
Down  ;  and  when,  in  1136,  he  resigned  the  primacy,  "  he  comes 
not  to  Connor,  because  in  it  he  had  ordained  a  bishop,  but 
betakes  himself  to  Down,  dividing  the  diocese  as  in  ancient 
days."  l  The  two  dioceses  remained  distinct  for  three  centuries 
1  St.  Bernard,  quoted  by  the  author. 


Notices  of  Books  287 

after  this,  and  were  finally  united  by  the  Holy  See  in  1451. 
Long  before  this,  however,  the  diocese  of  Derry,  as  distinguished 
from  the  diocese  of  Ardstraw,  in  the  south  of  the  county,  had 
been  separated  from  Connor,  and  the  see  of  Dromore  had  been 
reconstituted. 

Many  questions  of  interest  to  the  general  student  of  Irish 
Church  history  are  necessarily  touched  on  by  Fr.  O'Laverty, 
who  everywhere  displays  the  same  thorough  grasp  of 
the  civil  as  well  as  of  the  ecclesiastical  vicissitudes  of 
Ireland;  the  same  accurate  knowledge  of  the  manners,  laws, 
and  customs  of  ancient  Ireland  ;  the  same  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  topographical  boundaries  and  nomenclature 
of  every  part  of  the  country.  The  portion  of  this  volume  dealing 
with  the  times  of  the  persecutions  has  an  absorbing,  though 
melancholy  interest  for  the  Catholic  reader.  The  agony  and 
desolation  of  the  period  are  here  portrayed,  not  in  word-pictures 
nor  in  rhetorical  denunciations,  but  by  the  narration  of  simple 
facts,  which  produce  a  more  real  and  more  lasting  impression 
than  the  most  impassioned  declamation.  Among  these  facts  are 
the  sufferings  and  martyrdom  of  Cornelius  O'Devany,  Bishop  of 
Down  and  Connor,  who  could  say,  after  sentence  of  'death  had 
been  pronounced  against  him,  to  a  pious  matron  who  ministered  to 
his  wants  in  prison  :  "  I  assure  you,  my  child,  that  for  ten  years 
I  have  not  been  so  well,  either  in  bodily  strength  or  in  joy  of 
mind."  There  are  many,  many  points  to  which  we  had  intended 
to  call  attention,  but  this  notice  has  already  run  beyond  bounds, 
and  we  can  do  no  more  than  recommend  the  Bishops  of  Down 
and  Connor,  as  well  as  the  preceding  volumes  of  the  series,  as  a 
work  of  profound  and  lasting  interest  to  the  student  of  Irish 
history.  We  hope  that  God  may  grant  the  author  many  years  of 
life  and  health,  and  enable  him  to  devote  himself,  as  he  has 
hitherto  done,  to  the  noble  task  of  rescuing  his  country's  history 
from  oblivion.  D.  O'L. 

PETRONILLA  AND  OTHEK  STORIES.    By  Eleanor  C.  Donnelly. 

New  York,  Cincinatti,  Chicago  :  Benziger  Brothers. 
THIS  is  an  attractive  volume  of  well-told  stories.  The  stories 
deal  chiefly  with  remarkable  conversions  either  of  heretics  from 
unbelief  to  faith,  or  of  Catholics  from  sin  to  virtue.  While  there 
is  no  attempt  at  elaborate  description  either  of  scenes  or  of  persons, 
yet  each  story  abounds  in  such  happy  descriptive  touches  as  give 


288  Notices  of  Books 

a  picturesqueness  to  the  scenes  and  a  distinct  individuality  to  the 
characters.  In  many  of  them  a  plot  interest  is  introduced  and 
is  well  sustained.  The  sentiments  are  truly  Catholic,  and  are 
evidently  the  emanations  of  a  truly  religious  mind,  desirous  to 
promote  God's  honour  and  man's  spiritual  good. 

The  volume  is  well  suited  to  become  a  Christmas  story-book  for 
Catholic  youth,  for  the  time  at  which  the  actions  described  are 
supposed  to  take  place,  is,  for  the  most  part,  the  sacred  season  of 
Christmas,  and  the  scenes  painted  and  the  ennobling  supernatural 
thoughts  suggested  are  in  strong  contrast  with  the  poisonous 
imagery,  the  false  and  seductive  sophisms  of  the  printed  follies 
with  which  the  world  is  usually  deluged  at  that  season. 

The  book  is  well  printed,  and  is  brought  out  in  a  most  attractive 
style.  P.  M. 

How    TO    ESCAPE    PUEGATOEY!    By  a  Missionary  Priest. 

Dublin  :  M.  H.  Gill  &  Son.     1895. 

WE  have  more  than  once  drawn  attention  to  the  admirable 
series  of  spiritual  books  for  the  people  which  a  "  Missionary 
Priest  "  has  given  to  the  public  within  recent  years  ;  and  all  we 
have  said  in  praise  of  his  former  publications  may  be  repeated 
with  interest  of  this  one.  It  is,  in  our  opinion,  admirably  suited 
to  the  wants  of  the  great  majority  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 
It  is  simple,  earnest,  based  on  sound  doctrine  all  through,  not 
exaggerated  in  any  way.  We  should  like  to  see  it  circulate 
through  every  parish,  and  a  copy  of  it  in  every  home  in  the 
country.  Undoubtedly  it  will  bring  a  blessing  with  it,  if  it  is 
read  with  anything  like  a  religious  disposition.  J.  F.  H, 

THE  IEISH  CATHOLIC  DIEECTOEY  AND  ALMANAC  FOE  1896. 

Dublin  :  James  Duffy  &  Co.,  Limited. 
THE    ENGLISH    CATHOLIC     DIEECTOEY,    ECCLESIASTICAL 

EEGISTEE,  AND  ALMANAC  FOE   1896.       London :  Burns 

and  Gates,  Limited. 

FOR  ecclesiastical,  commercial,  and  business  purposes  of  all 
kinds  that  relate,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  Catholic  clergy  of 
Ireland  and  Great  Britain,  these  two  directories  will  be  found 
full  of  most  useful  information.  They  are  both  now  so  well 
established,  that  we  need  not  do  more  than  say  that  they  may 
be  had  from  any  of  the  principal  booksellers  in  Dublin  and  the 
provinces. 


THE  IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


APRIL,    1896 


KECENT    PROTESTANT    HISTORIANS    OF 
IRELAND x 

IF  nations,  as  well  as  individuals,  could  take  advantage 
of  the  law  of  libel,  Ireland  would  have  some  very 
unanswerable  cases  in  court.  She  has  been,  of  all  lands, 
the  most  and  best  belied.  For  centuries,  so-called  historians 
have  been  busy  defaming  her,  and  have,  by  their  persistent 
misrepresentations,  created  a  prejudice  against  her  which  is 
not  easily  removed.  Her  struggles  for  political  rights  have 
been  denounced  as  rebellions.  Her  attachment  to  her  ancient 
faith  has  been  held  up  to  scorn  as  superstition  and  idolatry 
— and  all  this  has  been  done  by  men  who  made  their  fortunes 
by  the  plunder  of  the  country  they  thus  defame.  But  times 
are  changing,  and  men  must  change  with  them.  The  vulgar 
falsehoods  of  Cambrensus,  of  Fynes  Moryson,  of  Cox  or 
Borlase,  would  not  pass  for  history  in  a  critical  and  some- 
what fastidious  time  like  ours.  The  fate  of  James  A.  Froude 
proves  that  open,  reckless  indifference  to  truth  cannot  be 
indulged  in  with  impunity  at  the  present  day.  And  so?  we 
find,  that  recently  anti-Irish  historians  seek  to  cover  over 
their  misrepresentations  with  a  veneering  of  patriotism  or 
other  worthy  motives;  so  thin,  however,  that  only  the  wilfully 
blind  can  be  deceived  by  it.  Cox  and  Froude  made  no 
secret  of  their  hatred  of  Ireland,  bat  many  of  our  recent 
historians,  while  professing  their  love  for  Ireland — their 

1  The  Church  of  Ireland,  by  T.  Olden,  M.A.    London  :  1892.     The  Ancient 
Irish  Church,  by  John  Healy,  LL.D.     London  :    1892. 

VOL.  XVII.  T 


290  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

concern  for  her  ancient  glory  and  future  fame,  are  shown, 
by  their  works,  to  be  amongst  the  most  inveterate,  and  often 
the  most  contemptible,  of  her  revilers. 

Kecently  an  intelligent  and  respectable  Catholic  lady 
was  travelling  by  train  not  many  miles  from  "  the  beautiful 
city."  Her  sole  companion  in  the  carriage  was  a  Protestant 
parson,  who,  though  advanced  in  years,  is  known  to  devote 
more  of  his  time  to  golf  and  lawn-tennis  than  to  clerical 
duties,  whatever  they  may  happen  to  be.  Fancying  that 
the  lady  was  a  Protestant,  he  began  to  expatiate  on 
the  ignorance  and  superstition  of  Irish  Catholics,  and 
said: — "  In  order  to  get  them  to  read  the  Bible,  we  must 
dress  it  up  in  shamrocks  for  them."  The  lady  at  once 
declared  herself  a  Catholic,  and  his  "  Reverence  "  collapsed. 

The  principle  enunciated  by  this  parson  actuates  nearly 
all  those  who  have  recently  written  the  ecclesiastical  history 
of  Ireland  from  a  Protestant  standpoint ;  and  it  certainly 
seems  to  actuate  the  writers  of  the  works  named  at  the  head 
of  this  paper.  These  writers  are  intensely  patriotic.  They 
are  enamoured  of  the  "  independence  "  of  the  early  Irish 
Church  in  the  days  of  her  freedom  from  State  control. 
Indeed,  Mr.  Olden  piously  deplores  her  lot  when,/'  associated 
as  she  has  been  since  'the  twelfth  century  with  English 
misgovernment,  and  used  by  English  statesmen  too  often 
for  political  ends,  she  seemed  but  to  be  a  creature  of  the 
State." *  It  is  not  recorded  that  those  writers  have  yet 
surrendered  the  rich  livings  which  this  State  connection 
secured  to  them.  This,  however,  may  be  only  a  lack  of 
advertence  on  their  part  to  the  logical  consequences  of 
their  professions ;  or  it  may  be  that  in  the  circumstances 
they  do  not  feel  bound  in  conscience  to  so  heroic  an  act  of 
virtue. 

Messrs.  Olden  and  Healy  are  fair  specimens  of  a  class 
of  writers  now  becoming  very  common,  whose  aim  is  to 
sustain  the  pet  theory  of  Protestant  ecclesiastical  history  of 
Ireland.  The  coarse  mendaciousness  of  the  past  would  now 
be  offensive  to  ears  polite,  and  would,  moreover,  excite  a 

1  Page  403. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  291 

prejudice  against  their  favourite  theory.  TLat  theory  takes 
for  granted  that  St.  Patrick  was  a  full-blown  Protestant, 
quite  independent  of  Rome  ;  in  fact,  quite  as  hostile  to 
Rome  as  Dr.  Day  or  Dr.  Plunket;  that  he  simply  ignored 
all  distinctively  "  Koman "  doctrines ;  that  though  not 
himself  (perhaps)  married,  he  established  here  a  married 
clergy,  who  continued  to  propagate  the  Gospel  after  the 
manner  of  Messrs.  Olden  and  Healy  ;  that  this  blissful  state 
of  "  increase  and  multiply  "  continued  till  the  coming  of  the 
English,  who  robbed  us  of  our  ancient  liberty,  perverted  an 
ancient  faith,  and  made  us,  by  force  and  fraud,  politically, 
slaves  to  the  King  of  England,  and  religiously,  slaves  to  the 
Pope  of  Kome  ;  and  this  slavery,  we  are  told,  continued  till 
we  were  mercifully  rescued  from  it  a  few  centuries  ago  by 
Henry  VIII.  and  Elizabeth,  of  equally  blessed  memory. 

At  the  recent  Protestant  Church  Congress  in  Cork,  this 
theory  was  advocated  with  more  zeal  than  discretion  by 
many  of  the  speakers.  Frequently,  too,  at  meetings  of 
antiquarian  and  archaeological  societies,  we  find  the  same 
theory,  either  taken  for  granted  or  openly  advocated.  It  is 
amusing  sometimes  to  observe  the  action  of  the  members  of 
such  societies.  They  almost  shed  tears  over  the  pages  of 
the  Book  of  Armagh,  or  Kelts.  They  are  in  ecstacies  at 
the  exquisite  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  illumination,  the 
almost  superhuman  fineness,  and  delicacy  and  perfection  of 
the  tracing ;  and  if  anything  savouring  of  Catholicism  is 
noticed,  it  is,  of  course,  at  once  found  to  be  an  interpolation. 
They  examine  with  most  painstaking  interest  all  our 
ancient  ruins.  Every  stone  is  minutely  described.  The 
spots  upon  them  are  numbered  and  photographed.  The 
ivy  leaves  are  carried  off  as  relics ;  but  there  is  seldom 
more  than  a  vague  reference  to  the  original  founders,  and 
never  a  reference  at  all  to  the  vandalism  that  made  them 
what  they  are.  These  ruins  were  once  flourishing  religious 
establishments,  founded  and  maintained  by  the  piety  of  our 
Catholic  forefathers.  They  were  for  centuries  the  homes  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament — the  cloisters  where  the  offices  of  the 
Catholic  Church  were  chanted,  or  the  churches  where 
her  Sacraments  were  administered,  where  her  children 


292  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

worshipped.  All  this  is  passed  over  in  dignified  silence  by 
our  non-Catholic  antiquarians,  and  the  silence  is  acquiesced 
in  by  certain  Catholics  who  are  too  polite  to  hurt  the  feelings 
of  "  our  separated  brethren,"  by  any  reference  to  such 
unpleasant  topics  as  persecutions  or  Penal  Laws.  And  hence 
comes  it,  that  men  like  Messrs.  Olden  and  Healy  are  able 
to  bridge  over  the  facts  of  Irish  ecclesiastical  history  ;  and, 
while  admiring  ecclesiastical  ruins  in  our  time,  are  bold 
enough  to  claim  kindred  in  faith  with  the  men  who  won  for 
Ireland  her  character  of  "  Island  of  Saints."  How  far  such 
writers  deceive  anyone,  may  be  doubtful ;  but  it  is  difficult  to 
fancy  them  themselves  deceived.  They  inherit  the  spoils  as 
well  as  the  theology  of  those  who  laid  our  churches  in  ruins, 
and  they  must,  like  the  hauruspices  of  old,  while  feigning 
admiration  for  the  ruins,  be  secretly  laughing  at  the  game 
they  are  playing. 

In  neither  of  the  books  named  at  the  head  of  this  article 
is  there  really  anything  new.  It  is  the  old,  old  story,  which 
can  be  found  in  fragments  in  the  leaflets  of  the  Irish  Church 
Mission  Society,  in  the  columns  of  Protestant  journals,  in 
the  sermons  of  ignorant  and  aggressive  parsons,  as  well  as 
in  such  books  as  Messrs.  Olden's  and  Healy's.  Dr.  Healy's 
book  is  published  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  and 
can  anything  good  come  from  Nazareth  ?  It  is  evidently 
intended  for  uncritical  readers.  It  is  calculated  to  intensify 
the  prejudices  of  uneducated  Protestants,  to  make  them 
satisfied  with  their  ignorance,  and  to  strengthen  the  barrier 
which  that  ignorance  raises  against  the  entry  into  their 
minds  of  any  ray  of  historical  truth ;  and  this,  too,  on  a 
question  of  vital  importance  to  their  souls.  His  style  is 
declamatory,  his  language  ill-chosen,  his  frequent  use  of  the 
epithet  "  Romish,"  shows  his  refined  taste,  and  gives  also 
a  key  to  the  general  character  of  his  book.  The  book  is 
simply  worthless — a  confused  medley  of  many  topics,  ill- 
assorted,  ill-arranged.  It  confuses  everything  of  which  it 
treats.  It  proves  nothing  except  the  vanity,  the  truculence 
of  the  writer,  and  his  utter  unfitness  for  the  task  of  writing 
an  Irish  ecclesiastical  history. 

Mr.  Olden's  is  a  much  more  pretentious  book.     It  is 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  293 

crammed  with  quotations  from  our  ancient  authorities,  both 
printed  and  manuscript.  It  contains  frequent  references  to 
the  latest  Celtic  researches  of  German  scholars.  In  fact, 
the  whole  field  of  ancient  Irish  history  appears  to  be  a 
beaten  track  to  him.  There  is  an  air  of  erudition  about 
the  book  well  calculated  to  impress  readers  to  whom 
Mr.  Olden's  authorities  are  not  accessible — the  worth  of  his 
quotations,  his  own  weight  as  an  authority,  will  appear  later 
on.  It  is  due  to  him,  however,  to  state,  that  his  book 
is  free  from  that  offensive  coarseness  which  defiles  the 
production  of  the  Kector  of  Kells.  Mr.  Olden  says  :  "  My 
desire  has  been  to  give  a  faithful  presentation  of  the  facts 
in  this  history,  and  to  show  that  the  Church  through  all 
the  changes  of  the  past  has  retained  its  historical  identity, 
and  it  is  now  as  it  has  ever  been,  the  Church  of  Ireland." ] 
And  Mr.  Olden  is  so  pleased  with  his  performance,  so 
satisfied  that  causa  finita  est,  that  in  his  closing  sentence 
he  feels  all  but  certain  that,  "  the  Irish  people  will  in  due 
time  come  to  recognise  the  divine  mission  of  the  Church  of 
Ireland,  and  her  historic  claims ;  and  to  understand  that  by 
her  the  pure  Word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the  Sacraments 
duly  administered  according  to  Christ's  ordinance."2  The 
Irish  people  know  only  too  well  the  "historic  claims"  of 
Mr.  Olden's  Church  of  Ireland.  These  "  claims  "  have  been 
written  in  blood  and  flame  on  the  face  of  the  country,  and 
ere  our  people  "come  to  recognise  the  divine  mission "  of 
such  a  Church,  they  must  have  forgotten  the  sin  in  which 
she  was  conceived,  the  crimes  by  which  she  has  been 
fostered ;  and  they  must  shut  their  eyes  to  the  hypocrisy  of 
her  later-day  assumptions.  Mr.  Olden's  special  pleading  will 
not  bewitch  the  Irish  people  to  the  extent  required  for  all 
this.  His  book  is  decidedly  controversial  (notwithstanding 
his  profession  of  fidelity  to  facts),  and  his  controversial  tactics 
remind  one  forcibly  of  the  Artful  Dodger.  Sometimes 
by  open  statement,  more  frequently  by  covert  insinuation, 
he  charges  Catholics  with  holding  doctrines  which  they 
repudiate,  with  repudiating  doctrines  which  they  hold.  Of 

1  Preface,  page  viii.  2  Page  404. 


294  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

his  teeming  quotations  many  are  altogether  irrelevant,  still 
more  of  them  are  misleading,  and  many  of  them  are  mis- 
quotations. To  -follow  Mr.  Olden  through  this  labyrinth 
would  be  an  endless  task ;  but,  fortunately,  it  is  unnecessary. 
It  will  suffice  to  show,  and  it  can  be  shown  easily,  that 
he  is  unreliable  as  a  guide,  and  that  his  theory  of  Irish 
ecclesiastical  history  is  a- false  theory. 

The  aim  of  Mr.  Olden  in  this  book  is  to  show  that 
St.  Patrick  had  no  connection  with  Eome — that  he  must, 
have  been  hostile  to  Eome ;  and  that  he  infused  into  the 
early  Irish  Church  this  spirit  of  independent  opposition; 
that  Irish  bishops  and  priests  in  those  early  times  went  on 
"marrying,  and  giving  in  marriage  "  as  freely  as  Protestant 
parsons  and  dignitaries  do  in  our  own  day;  and  that  the 
early  Irish  Church  held  "the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  only" 
as  the  sufficient,  and  sole  rule  of  faith  quite  as  tenaciously 
as  the  Eev.  Lavender  Kidds  does.  Any  little  incident  that 
can  be  tortured  into  evidence  for  Mr.  Olden's  theses  is  again 
and  again  repeated  and  magnified,  while  the  overwhelming 
evidence  opposed  to  him  is  kept  cautiously  out  of  view.  No 
doubt,  if  Mr.  Olden  could  succeed  in  establishing  his  theses, 
he  would  have  given  to  the  Irish  Church  a  character  highly 
favourable  to  that  theory  of  Protestant  continuity  advocated 
by  him  at  the  recent  conference  in  Cork,  though  the  long 
break  in  the  chain,  the  number  of  missing  links  would  still 
remain  a  very  serious  difficulty. 

With  the  above-named  object  in  view,  Mr.  Olden  pro- 
ceeds to  mould  St.  Patrick  to  order.  Out  of  the  very 
abundant  early  literature  regarding  the  saint,  he  makes  a 
judicious  selection.  St.  Patrick's  own  writings  he  holds  to 
be  the  only  reliable  material,  and  from  them  he  professes 
to  draw  his  picture  of  the  saint.  The  various  Lives  are 
merely  "  religious  romances"1  "interpolated  to  impose  on 
an  uncritical  and  credulous  people,"  and  it  is  *'  impossible 
to  reconcile  them  with  the  facts  of  history."2  The  Lives 
are,  in  fact,  rank  Popery,  and  Mr.  Olden  conscientiously 
discards  them.  The  Confession  of  St.  Patrick  is  specially 

1  Page  13.  *  Ib. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  29o 

acceptable  to  Mr.  Olden  for  its  non-miraculous  character, 
from  the  simplicity    of   its  style,    "  free    from   the   fables 
and  marvels  of  the  Lives."1      And    yet,    in    the   Confes- 
sion, St.  Patrick  tells  us  that  he  had  a  vision  calling  him 
away  to  escape  from  his  captivity,  and  assuring  him  that  a 
ship   awaited  him  some  two  hundred  miles  away,  which 
would  bear  him  to  his  own  country — all  which  he  found  to 
be  correct.     Surely  this  is  not  an  ordinary  occurrence  ;  it 
borders  on  the  marvellous.     Again,  when  the  ship's  crew 
refused  to  admit  the  saint  on  board,  he   tells   us  in   the 
Confession,   "  I  began  to   pray,  and  before  I  had    finished 
the  prayers  I  heard  one  of  them  calling  me  loudly,  saying, 
' Come  quickly .'"     And  later  on,  when  they  were  starving 
in   the   desert,   food   in   abundance   was  obtained  through 
St.  Patrick's  prayer.     This,  too,  St.  Patrick  records  in  the 
Confession.       These   are    some  of    the    " marvels"  of  the 
Confession;  and  there,  of  course,  they  present  no  difficulty  to 
Mr.  Olden  ;  but  if  recorded  in  the  "Lives,"  they  would  only 
confirm  that  character  of  ''religious   romances"  which  he 
has   given  them.     But,  though   Mr.  Olden    professes   such 
implicit  belief  in  the  Confession,  he  does  not  follow  it  in 
accounting  for  why  the  ship's  crew  took  St.  Patrick  on  board. 
St.  Patrick  himself  clearly  implies  in  the  Confession  that 
their  hearts  were  moved  by  prayer.     "  I  prayed,  and  before 
I  had  finished  the  prayer,  one  of  them  called  loudly,  '  Come 
quickly.'"     Mr.  Olden,  however,  finds  that  the  sailors  had  a 
much  more  practical  motive.      They  had  a  cargo  of  Irish 
dogs,  and  they  wanted  St.  Patrick  to  care  them  !    "  It  would 
appear  therefore,  that  the  dogs  for  which  the  party  on  this 
occasion  were  so  solicitous,  were  the  dogs  of  commerce,  and 
were  on  their  way  to  the  depot,  for  sale  in  the  East  .  .  . 
As  the  servant   of  a  provincial  king,  he  is    familiar  with 
the  management  of  these  valuable  dogs.    There,  is  therefore, 
little  difficulty  in  concluding  that  he  gives  his  services  in 
return  for  his  passage."'     This  is  Irish  ecclesiastical  history 
after  the  manner    of    Sam  Weller.       Now,    where    doea 
Mr.  Olden  find  this  in  the  Confession,  which  is,  according 

1  Page  12.  2  Ta^e  17, 


296  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

to  him,  the  only  reliable  authority?  Even  the  "religious 
romances "  give  him  no  warrant  for  this  profoundly 
philosophical  speculation.  Mr.  Olden  himself  has  all  the 
credit  of  this  very  ingenious  discovery. 

And  not  only  does  Mr.  Olden  condemn  the  Lives  as 
"  romances"  utterly  unreliable,  but  he  holds  that  "no 
criterion  has  yet  been  discovered  by  which  the  true  can  be 
discriminated  from  the  false  "  in  them.1  And  yet  he  has  no 
difficulty  whatever  in  discriminating,  and  in  selecting  as 
reliable  such  portions  of  the  Lives  as  do  not  militate  against 
his  own  peculiar  theory.  He  tells  us  on  the  authority  of  the 
Lives,  that  St.  Patrick  condemned  "  well  worship ;"  that 
he  gave  to  every  church  "the  Books  of  the  Law  and  the 
Books  of  the  Gospel ;  "  that  he  was,  in  fact,  "  the  man  of  the 
Bible."2  He  takes  the  authority  of  the  Lives  for  the 
qualifications  required  by  St.  Patrick  for  a  bishop — "  A  man 
of  one  wife,  unto  whom  hath  been  born  only  one  child."3 
Now,  if  the  "religious  romances"  be  sufficient  authority 
for  such  statements,  why  are  they  not  sufficient  authority 
for  St.  Patrick's  Eoman  Mission  ?  If  Mr.  Olden  have  no 
possible  "  criterion  "  for  discriminating  truth  from  falsehood 
in  the  Lives,  why  does  he  fix  on  the  above  statements  as 
true,  and  reject  the  Roman  Mission  as  false?  Because, 
"  all  looks  yellow  to  the  jaundiced  eye."  Mr.  Olden  will  not 
have  a  Eoman  Mission  for  St.  Patrick;  will  not  have  the 
early  Irish  Church  believing  in  papal  supremacy,  no  matter 
what  the  evidence  in  favour  of  these  facts  be.  That 
evidence  has  been  so  frequently  given  that  Mr.  Olden 
cannot  be  supposed  to  be  ignorant  of  it.  It  was  recently 
given  in  the  I.  E.  RECOED  for  December,  1890,  and 
April,  1891,  in  a  notice  of  Professor  Stokes'  Early  Irish 
Church.  And  Mr.  Olden  is  respectfully  invited  to  consider 
it,  and  to  disprove  it  if  he  can.  That  evidence  proves  that 
the  Roman  Mission  of  St.  Patrick,  and  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  papal  supremacy,  by  the  ancient  Irish  Church,  are 
amongst  the  best  established  facts  of  Irish  ecclesiastical 
history.  St,  Patrick  brought  into  Ireland  the  religious 

1  Page  13.  2  Page  26.  *  Page  29 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  297 

system  in  which  he  had  himself  been  trained,  and  of  that 
system  papal  supremacy  was  notoriously  an  essential  part. 
So  conclusive  is  the  evidence  of  this,  that  it  has  forced 
conviction  upon  the  minds  of  many  Protestant  writers, 
quite  as  orthodox  as  Mr.  Olden — certainly  more  learned  than 
he  appears  to  be,  and  not  less  unfriendly  to  Borne  than  he 
is.  Usher,  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  the  Antiquities, 
distinctly  states  that  St.  Patrick  was  sent  to  Ireland  by 
Pope  Celestine,  and  he  quotes  several  authorities  in 
confirmation  of  .the  statement.  Mr.  Whitley  Stokes,  in 
his  Introduction  to  the  Tripartite  Life?  says  : — "  He 
(St.  Patrick)  had  a  reverent  affection  for  the  Church  of 
Kome,  and  there  is  no  ground  for  disbelieving  his  desire  to 
obtain  Roman  authority  for  his  mission,  or  for  question- 
ing the  authenticity  of  his  decrees  that  difficult  questions 
arising  in  Ireland  should  ultimately  be  referred  to  the 
Apostolic  See."  And  commenting  on  a  passage  from  Probus, 
Mr.  Stokes  says  : — 

"  The  kernel  of  fact  in  this  story  seems  to  be  that  St.  Patrick 
returned  to  Ireland  .  .  .  without  any  commission  from  Eome 
.  .  .  but  met  with  little  success  ;  that  he  attributed  his  failure 
to  want  of  episcopal  consecration  and  Eoman  authority  ;  that,  in 
order  to  remedy  these  defects,  he  went  back  to  Gaul,  intending 
ultimately  to  proceed  to  Eome ;  that  he  spent  some  time  in  study 
with  St.  Germanus  of  Auxerre  ;  that,  hearing  of  the  failure  and 
death  of  Palladius,  who  had  been  sent  on  a  mission  to  Ireland 
by  Pope  Celestinus  (A.D.  431),  he  was  directed  by  Germanus  to 
take  at  once  the  place  of  the  deceased  missionary ;  that  Patrick 
thereupon  relinquished  his  journey  to  Eome,  received  episcopal 
consecration  from  a  Gaulish  Bishop  Matorix,  and  returned  a 
second  time  to  Ireland  about  the  year  432  ...  as  a  missionary 
from  the  Gaulish  Church."2 

In  this  passage  Mr.  Stokes  fully,  though  perhaps 
unconsciously,  admits  St.  Patrick's  Roman  Mission,  for 
St.  Germain  was  a  Papal  Legate  in  Gaul,  and  a  commission 
from  him  would  be  a  commission  from  Rome.  Mr.  Skene, 
in  his  Celtic  Scotland,  makes  practically  the  same  admis- 
sion. He  says  that  St.  Patrick  "  was  a  citizen  of  the  Roman 
province  in  Britain;"3  and,  in  speaking  of  the  Church  in 

1  Page  cxxxv.  2  Page  cxli.  3  Vol.  ii.,  page  19. 


•298  Recent  Protestant  Historian?  of  Ireland 

that  province  he  says  :   "  It  acknowledged  Rome  as  its  head, 
from  which  its  mission  was  supposed  to  be  derived,  and  it 
presented  no  features  of  difference  from  the  Roman  Church 
in  the  other  western  provinces."1     Again,  "  We  find  it  in 
close  connection  with  the  Gallican  Church,  and  regarding  the 
Patriarch  of  Rome  as  the  Head  of  the  Western  Church  and 
the  source  of  ecclesiastical   authority  and  mission.     With 
the  exception  of  the  temporary  prevalence  of  the  Pelagian 
heresy  in  Britain,  we  can  discover  no  trace  of  any  divergence 
between  them  in  doctrine  or  practice."2    No  one  who  wades 
through  Mr.  Olden's  dreary  book,  would  think  of  comparing 
him  with  Mr.  Whitley   Stokes  or   Mr.   Skene.      They  are 
scholars  of  European  fame.     They  have  had  before  them  all 
and  more  than  all  ths  evidence  accessible  to  Mr.  Olden— 
and  their  verdict  on  that  evidence  directly  contradicts  his. 
Now,  according   to  Mr.  Olden  himself,  St.  Patrick  got  his 
theological   training    in    Gaul,    and    most    probably  from 
St.    Martin    of  Tours.      This     St.    Martin   was   so   highly 
respected  in  Rome,  that  his  Life,  we  are  told,  written  by 
Sulpitius  Severus,  made  a  "  fortune  for  the  Roman  book- 
sellers."    And  considering  the  spirit  in  which  the  Popes  of 
that  period  asserted  their   supremacy,  is   it  even  probable 
that  St.  Martin  would  be  a  favourite  in  Rome  if  he  were 
suspected   of  any  lack   of  sympathy  with   this   essentially 
Roman  doctrine  ?     In  determining  the  theological  teaching 
of  that  period,  we  have,  moreover,  the  greatest  lights  of  the 
Christian  Church  to  guide  us.      St.  Augustine,  St.  Ambrose, 
St.  Hilary,  St.  Jerome,  stand  out  as   the  great  teachers  of 
that  period.     The  faith  of  these  great  saints  was  the  faith  of 
St.  Patrick.     There  was  no  other,  then.     And  yet  Mr.  Olden 
asks  us  to  believe  that  St.  Patrick,  who  in  his  youth  took  in 
the  doctrine  of  Papal  authority  from  these  great  saints  ;  who 
saw  that  doctrine  believed  by  all  Christians  in  his  day ;  who 
saw  everywhere  around  him    Papal  authority  enforced  by 
papal  legates,  came  into  Ireland  to  promulgate  a  contradictory 
creed,  and  told  our  forefathers  that  the  Pope  had  really  no 
authority  at  all !     Mr.  Olden  is,  no  doubt,  a  great  man,  but  he 

1  Vol.  i.,  page  2.  2  Pages  5,  0. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  299 

would  require  some  semblance  of  argument  to  sustain  so  very 
improbable  a  theory.  He  fancies  that  he  has  an  argument 
in  the  silence  of  St.  Patrick  himself,  and  in  the  alleged 
chronological  difficulty  of  his  having  a  mission  from 
Pope  Celestine.  The  argument  from  silence  is  in  reality 
no  argument  at  all,  unless  it  be  shown  that  St.  Patrick's 
object  in  writing  required  a  reference  to  his  mission  from 
Eome.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  saint's  writings  to  call 
for  any  mention  of  his  mission,  and  it  is  ridiculous  to 
construct  for  him  a  creed  out  of  what  he  did  not  say.  This 
system  would  carry  Mr.  Olden  too  far.  On  this  system 
what  would  become  of  Mr.  Olden's  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  which  St.  Patrick  does  not  mention  in  the 
Confession?  The  argument  from  silence  would  be  fatal  to 
it.  If  Mr.  Olden's  argument  would  prove  that  St.  Patrick 
had  no  Koman  mission,  it  would  prove  equally  well,  that 
there  was  no  Pope  at  all,  and  no  such  place  as  Kome  in 
St.  Patrick's  time. 

Mr.  Olden's  chronological  difficulty  against  St.  Patrick's 
mission  from  St.  Celestine  is  grounded  on  the  Lives  which 
he  has  so  repeatedly  discarded  as  "  religious  romances," 
"  utterly  unreliable."  From  these  he  deduces  a  peculiar 
theory  (or  rather  adopts  a  theory  suggested  by  others), 
that  our  national  apostle  was  Sen  Patrick  who  preceded 
Palladius,  and  could  have  had  no  connection  with  Pope 
Celestine.  But,  surely,  even  though  Mr.  Olden's  chronology 
were  as  correct  as  it  is  incorrect  and  extravagant,  a  mission 
from  any  other  Pope  would  be  quite  as  Eoman  as  one  from 
St.  Celestine.  And  even  with  the  aid  of  the  Lives  he  has 
not  established  his  theory  of  Sen  Patrick.  Between  the 
failure  of  Palladius  and  the  death  of  Pope  Celestine,  there 
was  abundant  time  for  the  mission  of  St.  Patrick,  and 
our  annalists  who  assert  that  mission  had  evidence  which 
Mr.  Olden  has  not,  and  were  more  likely  than  he  is 
to  interpret  it  correctly.  But,  perhaps,  there  is  nothing 
in  Mr.  Oldeii's  book  more  extravagant  than  his  gross 
misrepresentation  of  St.  Columbanus.  He  says,  "  the 
standpoint  of  Columbanus  as  regards  the  Church  of  the 
Empire  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  claim  he  makes 


300  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

on  behalf  of  the  Irish  Church  as  a  non-Roman  Church," 
&C.1  Now,  where  does  St.  Columbanus  make  this  claim, 
where  does  he  describe  the  Irish  Church  as  non-Eoman  ? 
Nowhere  in  the  writings  of  St  Columbanus  is  there  a 
vestige  of  any  such  claim.  It  would,  on  the  contrary, 
be  difficult  to  find  among  his  contemporaries  a  stronger 
advocate  of  Roman  supremacy  than  St.  Columbanus  was. 
He  addresses  the  Pope  in  language  of  filial  loyalty.  He 
speaks  not  for  himself  alone,  but  for  the  country  to  which 
he  belonged.  He  appeals  to  the  Pope  for  protection,  for 
a  decision  on  a  question  of  discipline.  The  very  fact  of 
his  appeal  refutes  the  calumny  which  Mr.  Olden  seeks  to 
fix  upon  the  saint.  In  the  I.  E.  RECORD  already  referred 
to,2  Mr.  Olden  will  find  his  fancied  argument  from 
St.  Columbanus  effectually  disposed  of. 

The  confusion  which  marks  Mr.  Olden's  treatment  of 
St.  Patrick  becomes  tenfold  confounded  when  he  comes  to 
treat  of  the  early  Irish  saints.  He  follows  the  curious 
catalogue,  first  published  by  Usher,  in  which  the  saints  of 
ancient  Ireland  are  divided  into  three  distinct  orders,  each 
order  extending  over  a  distinct  period  of  an  early  history. 
Amongst  the  saints  of  the  first  order,  living  in  the  first 
period,  the  most  complete  uniformity  in  ritual  and  discipline 
was  observed,  and  they  are  described  as  "most  holy." 
Those  of  the  second  order  departed  somewhat  from  that 
rigid  uniformity  of  ritual  which  the  earlier  saints  observed. 
"  They  had  different  Masses  and  different  rules,"  the 
Catalogue  tells  (it  is  curious  that  Mr.  Olden  translates 
"different  Masses"  by  "different  rites  of  celebration"); 
and  they  are  described  as  "  very  holy."  The  saints  of  the 
third  order  claimed  a  greater  latitude  in  ritual,  and  are 
termed  simply  "holy."  There  is  no  insinuation  of  the 
slightest  divergence  in  faith  amongst  the  classes  described. 
Of  the  saints  of  the  first  order  it  is  said :  "  They  rejected 
not  the  services  and  society  of  women,  because,  founded  on 
the  Rock  Christ,  they  feared  not  the  blast  of  temptation." 
And  this  qualification  Mr.  Olden  clearly  regards  as  the 

1  Page  96.  2  April,  1891,  pages  319-326. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  '301 

positive  note  of  their  transcendant  sanctity.  He  returns  to 
it  again  and  again,  repeats  it  in  various  ways :  "  They 
rejected  not,"  he  says,  "  the  services  of  women,  the  reason 
given  being  that  as  true  believers  they  had  no  need  of  such 
a  precaution."1  The  experience  of  Solomon  would,  however, 
seem  to  suggest  the  "need  of  such  a  precaution;"  and  we  have 
authority,  at  least  as  respectable  as  Mr.  Olden,  for  believing 
that  women  sometimes,  at  least,  help  to  "  make  men  fall 
away."  However,  Mr.  Olden  stands  by  the  Catalogue  ;  and 
the  saints  of  the  second  order,  who  did  reject  the  society  of 
women,  are  scarcely  regarded  by  him  as  within  the  pale  of 
salvation  at  all.  He  says  of  them  :  "  The  avoidance  of  the 
society  and  services  of  women  is  regarded  as  an  evidence 
that  they  were  weaker  in  the  faith  than  their  predecessors."2 
"  The  exclusion  of  women  from  the  domestic  life  of  the  saints 
of  the  second  period  is  one  of  those  marks  of  inferiority 
referred  to  in  the  account  of  them.  It  was  contrary  to  the 
feeling  of  the  Irish  .  .  .  and  seems  to  have  called  forth 
remonstrances  from  the  sex." 2  Clearly,  Mr.  Olden  fully 
sympathizes  with  the  "remonstrances  from  the  sex;"  and 
had  he  been  living  at  that  period  he  would  have  had  no 
part  in  the  asceticism  which  called  forth  the  remonstrance. 
But,  whatever  the  value  of  the  Catalogue  be,  Mr.  Olden 
took  it  from  Usher  ;  and  in  his  enthusiasm  for  "  the  society 
of  women  "  he  should  not  have  shut  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that 
in  the  margin  Usher  gives  a  second  reading,  differing  very 
much  from  the  reading  given  in  his  text.  It  is  this  :  "  They 
did  not  exclude  laymen  nor  women  from  the  churches." 
Now,  this  puts  the  saints  in  a  very  different  light  as  regards 
"the  society  of  women."  "Not  to  exclude  them  from  the 
churches  "  does  not  indicate  any  undue  sentimentality ;  and 
if  the  saints  of  the  first  order  did  no  more  than  this,  they  fall 
far  short  of  Mr.  Olden's  standard  of  sanctity.  And  the 
marginal  reading  appears  in  reality  to  be  the  correct  one ; 
for  the  saints  of  the  second  order  are  evidently  contrasted 
with  those  of  the  first.  The  second  order  rejected  the 
society  of  women;  the  first  order  did  not.  Now,  the 

1  Page  32,  a  page  49,  3  page  67 


302  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

rejection  by  the  second  order  is  explained  as  "excluding  them 
from  the  monasteries."  Therefore,  the  non-rejection  by  the 
first  order  must  mean  not  excluding  them,  as  the  marginal 
reading  puts  it.  No  doubt,  Mr.  Olden  will  adhere  to  the 
reading  in  the  text,  and  will  make  "  the  society  of  women  " 
his  standard  for  determining  the  various  grades  of  sanctity — 
"  a  wholesome  doctrine,  and  very  full  of  comfort,"  for 
gentlemen  of  his  class. 

Now  though  the  saints  of  the  second  order  were  guilty 
of  the  unpardonable  sin  of  "  avoiding  the  society  of 
women,"  Mr.  Olden  admits  that  they  had  some  redeeming 
qualities ;  they  "  were  chiefly  engaged  in  education,  they 
established  schools  which  quickly  became  famous,  and  the 
numbers  who  flocked  to  them  were  very  great,"1  yes;  and, 
"  the  schools  appear  to  have  been  at  this  highest  degree  of 
prosperity,",2  at  this  very  period  when  Mr.  Olden  considers 
the  teachers  so  ungallant.  No  doubt,  tastes  differ ;  but  the 
teachers  of  the  schools  of  that  precise  period,  merited  for 
Ireland  her  proud  title  of  "  Island  of  Saints  and  Scholars," 
and  there  are  wise  people  who  think  that  their  success  was 
greatly  facilitated  by  that  rigid  system  of  exclusion  which 
Mr.  Olden  in  his  zeal  condemns. 

The  saints  of  the  third  order  "  dwelt  in  desert  places, 
and  lived  on  herbs  and  water,  and  the  alms  of  the  faithful. 
They  shunned  private  property."3  It  is  no  wonder  that 
persons  so  circumstanced,  "  avoided  the  society  of  women," 
even  at  the  risk  of  incurring  Mr.  Olden's  high  displeasure. 
"  To  remove  far  from  human  society,  and  dwell  in  solitude, 
given  up  to  meditation  on  divine  things,  was  their  great 
object,"4  according  to  Mr.  Olden ;  but  whatever  he  may  think 
of  their  object,  there  is  no  denying  that  "  the  society  of 
women  "  would  be  a  very  serious  obstacle  to  its  attainment. 
Like  a  man  in  a  wreck,  Mr.  Olden  is  grasping  at  every  little 
straw  that  could  be  tortured  into  an  argument  against 
clerical  celibacy,  and  through  the  films  on  his  eyes,  he  will 
not  see  the  meaning  of  the  Catalogue  he  is  quoting.  Even 
the  very  names  given  should  have  supplied  him  with  a  key 

1  Page  55.  2  Page  f8.  3  Page  71.  4  Page  72. 


'Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  303 

to  its  interpretation — should  have  shown  him  that  the 
saints  of  the  first  order  are  the  great  missionary  bishops 
who  went  about  instructing  the  people,  and  who,  accordingly 
excluded  no  sex  from  their  churches.  Those  of  the  second 
order  are  the  founders  of  the  great  monastic  houses — the 
teachers  of  the  monastic  schools ;  and  believing  that  women 
would  disturb  their  discipline,  and  distract  their  students, 
they  very  properly  excluded  them.  The  saints  of  the  third 
order — a  hopeless  band  in  Mr.  Olden's  estimation — devoted 
their  lives  to  the  sanctification  of  their  own  souls,  after  a 
manner  that  has  the  high  sanction  of  St.  Paul,  and  a  higher 
sanction  still — a  very  adequate  set-off  against  Mr.  Olden's 
disapproval. 

And    as    the    ancient    Irish    saints    cannot   be    got    to 
suit  Mr.    Olden's   tastes,   he   takes   vengeance  on  them  by 
maintaining  that   they  really  were  not  saints   at   all.     He 
fully  adopts  the  opinion  that  "  we  cannot  accept  the  title  of 
Saint  in  Irish  authors,  in  any  other  sense  than  if  we  found 
the  expression  "  of  pious  memory,"  or  "  of  happy  recollection," 
or  "  servant  of  God,"  prefixed  to  the  name  of  anyone  who 
died  a  pious  Christian."1     The  expression  "saint"  is  merely 
equivalent  to  '  servant  of  God.'     The  Irish  saints  were  not 
regarded   as   having   attained    complete    felicity.     On   the 
contrary,   numerous    inscriptions    on  tombstones   ask    for 
prayers    on  their    behalf." x     This  is  a  crushing  argument 
against  our  early  saints  !     After  their  death,  prayers  were 
asked  for  them  !     Then,  according  to  Mr.  Olden,  the   early 
Irish   Christians    believed    that    it    was    "  a   holy   and    a 
wholesome    thought  to   pray   for  the  dead."     Could   it   be 
St.  Patrick  that  taught  them  this  undoubted  article  of  faith  ? 
Rev.  Mr.  Olden  is  not  discreet.     He  may  get  into  trouble 
with  the  General  Synod  for  admitting  that  the  early  Irish 
Church  hold  a  doctrine  so  distinctively  Roman,  as  Prayers 
for   the   dead.     This    admission,   of    course,    involves    the 
doctrine   of  Purgatory,   and   where   will   Mr.  Olden  stop  ? 
Facilis  descensus  Averni — some  one  at  the  General  Synod 
may,  perhaps,  exclaim. 

i  Page  35.  2  Page  37 


304  Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

But  he  has  a  still  more  serious  charge  against  the  early 
Irish  saints.  He  says  :  "  We  do  not  hear  of  remonstrances 
against  heathen  practices  on  the  part  of  the  second  order  of 
saints  .  .  .  and  they  seem  to  have  tolerated  many  things 
which  we  should  have  expected  them  to  oppose."  *  He  does 
not  go  the  length  of  saying  that  St.  Patrick  engrafted 
Christianity  on  pagan  superstition,  but  he  holds  decidedly 
that  the  saints  of  the  second  order  did  so  ;  and  hence,  much 
that  is  half  pagan,  half  Christian,  is  found  in  "the  superstitions 
of  the  Irish  peasantry  of  the  present  day — notably  in  their 
practice  of  "  well- worship," 2  which  has  survived  from 
heathen  times  in  Ireland."3  Now,  the  saints  of  the  second 
order  may  have  done  many  things  that  have  not  come  to 
Mr.  Olden's  knowledge.  Though  a  great  man,  he  has  not 
all  knowledge,  nor  is  his  knowledge  always  accurate,  nor 
always  got  from  reliable  sources.  His  treatment  of  this 
matter  of  "  well- worship  "  is  proof  of  this.  He  knows  well 
— he  cannot  be  ignorant  of  it — that  Irish  peasants  do  not 
worship  wells.  They  worship  God  at  wells  sometimes,  and 
ask  there  the  prayers  of  the  saints  to  whom  the  wells  are 
supposed  to  be  dedicated ;  and  will  Mr,  Olden  tell  us  what  is 
wrong  in  such  a  practice  ?  In  condemnation  of  the  practice, 
Mr.  Olden  quotes,  or  rather  misquotes,  the  Council  of  Aries, 
A.D.  452,  the  Council  of  Tours,  A.D.  567,  and  the  Council 
of  Eouen,  A.D.  692.  The  Councils  of  Aries  and  Tours, 
say  nothing  whatever  of  the  Irish  practice,  and  they  are 
misquoted  by  Mr.  Olden.  As  for  the  Council  of  Kouen, 
Mr.  Olden  cannot  tell  what  it  condemned  or  approved,  for  all 
its  acts  are  lost.  And  though  every  syllable  of  its  acts  is 
lost,  Mr. Olden  innocently  gives  within  inverted  commas — as 
a  genuine  unquestionable  quotation,  as  much  of  these  acts 
as  suits  his  purpose  !  Where  did  he  get  his  quotation  ? 
If  he  had  looked  to  the  original  sources,  rather  than  take 
his  information,  at  second  hand,  from  the  author  of  Eude 
Stone  Monuments,  he  would  not,  in  his  zeal  to  expose  the 
ignorance  of  Irish  peasantry,  have  made  such  a  lamentable 
exhibition  of  his  own. 

i  Page  52,  2  Page  53.  3  Page  54. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  30o 

The  discovery  of  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  .Rouen,  is 
indeed,  a  supreme  effort  of  ingenuity ;  but  Mr.  Olden's  talent 
is  not  thereby  exhausted.  In  speaking  of  some  Englishmen 
who  came  to  Ireland  at  the  time  of  the  Paschal  controversy, 
he  tells  us  that :  "  they  first  landed  in  Connaught,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Shannon."  This  is  a  geographical  discovery 
worthy  of  Captain  Lemuel  Gulliver  himself ;  it  fully  qualifies 
Mr.  Olden  for  an  examinership  under  the  Intermediate 
Board. 

From  the  specimens  already  given  one  can  readily  infer 
that  Mr.  Olden  has  much  quaint  and  curious  information 
to  impart  regarding  our  early  saints;  and  the  reader  of  his 
book  will  be  struck  by  the  formidable  array  of  authorities 
quoted  in  almost  every  page.  Amongst  the  authorities  a 
very  decided  preference  is  shown  for  the  Dictionary  of 
National  Biography.  Now  it  happens  that  the  writer  of 
the  articles  quoted  from  the  Dictionary  is  Mr.  Olden  himself. 
No  doubt  it  is  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Olden  to  be  able  to  quote 
himself,  but  it  would  be,  perhaps,  more  satisfactory  to  the 
reader  if  he  had  quoted  someone  else  ;  and  if  there  be  on 
the  staff  of  the  Dictionary  many  writers  of  the  Olden  calibre 
that  ponderous  publication  will  make  its  way  to  the  literary 
limbo  very  soon. 

J.  MURPHY. 

(To  be  continued.) 


XVlf. 


306     ] 


BISHOP   BUTLEK'S   ANALOGY— II. 

Ill, 

IT  would  be  an  exaggerated,  rather  than  an  erroneous, 
view  that  would  trace  all  the  errors  of  post-Kenaissance 
philosophy  to  a  misapprehension  of  the  province  and  condi- 
tions of  proof,  and  a  perversion  of  the  laws  of  evidence. 
This  was  sometime  a  paradox,  but  now  the  occasion  gives  it 
proof.  Descartes  and  Bacon  stand  at  the  fountain-head  of 
modern  thought,  and  each  in  his  own  way  pollutes  the 
sources  thereof.  Both  alike,  in  spite  of  their  religious  pro- 
fessions, are  typical  sceptics.  Not  merely  in  their  rejection  of 
authority  in  the  sphere  of  mind,  nor  even  in  their  arbitrary 
eclecticism  of  the  faculties  to  be  trusted,  but  in  the  whole 
trend  of  their  thought,  are  these  great  men  the  progenitors 
of  the  "  scientists  "  of  to-day.  The  scientific  contempt  for 
metaphysics,  on  the  one  hand,  so  characteristic  of  latter-day 
"  science,"  and,  on  the  other,  the  subjectivism  which  so 
vitiates  thought  in  Germany,  are  the  natural  outcome  of 
Cartesian  methodic  doubt,  and  the  so  much  vaunted  Baconian 
induction.  "  De  Metaphysica  ne  sis  sollicitus,"  writes  Bacon 
to  Father  Baranzan ;  "  nulla  enim  erit  post  veram  Physicam 
inventam ;  ultra  quam  nihil  prseter  divina."  With  the 
omission  of  the  last  clause,  this  sentence  might  stand  as  the 
watch-word  of  modern  science.  The  "  morale  par  provision  " 
(to  quote  Descartes'  phrase),  which  Bacon  thought  essential, 
has  gone  by  the  board.  His  intellectual  children  contemn 
such  a  half-hearted  and  illogical  concession.  They  push 
his  methods  in  the  sphere  of  religion  with  no  less  vigour 
than  in  the  sphere  of  external  nature.  They  triumphantly 
proclaim  that,  tested  in  the  crucible  of  science,  the  super- 
natural has  been  found  wanting.  Science,  in  its  modern 
conception,  is  thus  necessarily  atheistic,  or,  at  best,  agnostic. 
Descartes,  from  a  somewhat  different  standpoint,  accelerated 
this  sceptical  crisis.  As  Bouillier  justly  says  of  him,  in  the 
History  of  the  Cartesian  Philosophy,  he  has  "  merite  le  titre 

1  Spedding's  Life  and  Letters  of  Bacon,  vol.  vii.,  p.  373. 


Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  "  307 

du  pere  de  la  physique,  aussi  bien  que  celui  du  pere  de  la 
metaphysique  moderne."  l  "  By  establishing,"  says  another 
writer,  "  a  universal  doubt  at  the  threshold  of  knowledge 
as  the  necessary  condition  for  acquiring  philosophical 
cognition,  he  [Descartes]  disastrously  diverted  the  course 
of  scientific  inquiry ;  nay,  more,  he  so  dammed  it  up  at  the 
fountain-head  that  there  would  be  no  escape  save  by  a 
paralogism.  For  he  extended  this  universal  doubt  to  all 
the  faculties  of  the  human  soul ;  so  that,  under  his  guidance, 
the  student  of  philosophy  was  taught  to  doubt,  at  the  outset, 
the  infallibility  of  the  very  media  of  cognition  till  that 
infallibility  had  been  established  by  satisfactory  proof.  But 
such  a  task  is  plainly  impossible  ;  for  proof  of  whatsoever 
kind  presupposes  as  a  conditio  sine  qua  non,  the  infallibility 
of  the  reason."  2 

The  famous  Discours  de  la  Methode  contained  two  latent 
and  apparently  opposite  tendencies,  each  of  which  -has  in 
the  course  of  philosophy,  since  Descartes,  been  fully  developed. 
The  one  led  by  way  of  Berkeley  and  Hume  to  Kant  and 
Idealism ;  while  the  other,  through  De  la  Mettrie  and 
Priestley,  was  developed  into  Materialism.  Monism,  in 
fact,  is  the  only  legitimate  offspring  of  Cartesian  thought 
(harshly  dualistic  though  his  own  system  was),  and 
monistic  the  prevalent  philosophies  of  the  hour  unques- 
tionably are.  There  are  signs,  however,  that  the  reign  of 
scepticism  is  drawing  to  a  close.  What  an  eminent  French 
critic  3  has  happily  called  "  la  banqueroute  de  la  science,"  is 
one  of  these  welcome  signs.  In  the  light  of  the  theories  of 
advanced  science,  it  is  no  longer  spirit  that  seems  vague  and 
illusive,  but  matter — slipping  away  into  "  modes  of  motion,0 
dissolving  into  "  mere  activity,"  and  so  shading  off  towards 
some  great  Eeality  that  is  full  of  life  and  energy — not  matter, 
and  therefore  spirit.  As  an  American  critic  writes  :  "  A  little 
further  through  this  tangle  of  matter,  and  we  may  stand 
on  a  '  peak  of  Darien  '  in  '  wild  surmise  '  '  before  the  ocean  of 
the  Spirit.' "  "Energy,"  "force/1  "necessary  law,"  "  cause"— 

1  Loc.  cit.,  tome  i.,  p.  197. 

2  The  Metaphysics  of  the  School,  by  Thomas  Harper,  S.J.,  ii.,  70. 

3  M.  Brunetiere. 

4  Mr.  T.  T.  Hunger 


308  Bishop  Butlers  "Analogy" 

these  shibboleths  of  modern  science — what  are  they  but 
the  mediaeval  "  metaphysical  entities  "  under  a  new  form  ? 
Of  a  verity  we  are  befooled  by  names. 

"  I  have  never  been  able  [writes  Mr.  Huxley]  to  form  the 
slightest  conception  of  these  *  forces  '  which  the  Materialists  talk 
about,  as  if  they  had  samples  of  them  many  years  in  bottle. 
They  tell  me  that  matter  consists  of  atoms,  which  are  separated 
by  mere  space  devoid  of  contents ;  and  that,  through  this  void, 
radiate  the  attractive  and  repulsive  forces  whereby  the  atoms 
affect  one  another.  If  anybody  can  clearly  conceive  the  nature 
of  these  things,  which  not  only  exist  in  nothingness,  but  pull  and 
push  there  with  great  vigour,  I  envy  him  for  the  possession  of  an 
intellect  of  larger  grasp,  not  only  than  mine,  but  than  that  of 
Leibnitz  or  of  Newton.  To  me  the  '  chimera  bombinans  in  vacuo 
quia  comedit  secundas  intentiones '  of  the  schoolmen,  is  a 
familiar  and  domestic  creature  compared  with  such  '  forces.'"1 

Modern  science  after  three  centuries  of  striking  con- 
quests over  the  material  universe  and  its  laws,  finds  itself 
at  length  in  presence  of  a  mystery,  which  it  is  powerless, 
not  merely  to  pierce  through,  but  even  to  intelligently 
express. 

Butler  (to  connect  this  prelude  with  the  matter  in  hand) 
had  a  most  accurate  understanding  of  the  relative  degrees  of 
proof  which  different  subjects  admitted.  He  was  neither  a 
pure  empiric,  nor  a  blind  follower  of  the  "  high  a  priori 
road."  He  is  constantly,  as  I  showed  in  my  first  paper,2 
dwelling  on  the  "  shortness  of  our  faculties."  "  Indeed," 
he  writes,  "  the  unsatisfactory  nature  of  the  evidence  with 
which  we  are  obliged  to  take  up  in  the  daily  course  of  life, 
is  scarce  to  be  expressed."  His  Analogy  is,  avowedly, 
worked  out  on  the  lines  of  induction,  but  he  never  forgets 
that  theism  has  metaphysical  supports  of  the  strongest  kind. 
With  these  it  was  not  his  business  to  deal  ex  professo.  His 
aim,  on  the  contrary,  was  to  draw  up  a  philosophy  of  religion 
or  belief  which  would  be  of  vital  service  to  the  ordinary  man 
in  the  trials  and  disappointments  that  meet  us  all  in  life. 
Butler's  aim  was  thus  distinctly  practical.  Belief  he  saw 
was  a  necessity  of  life,  and,  consequently,  necessary,  not  for 

1  Collected  Essays,  vol.  ix.,  pp.  131-132. 
3  See  I.  E.  RECORD  for  March. 


Bishop  Butlers  "  Analogy  "  309 

the  philosopher  and  divine  alone,  but  for  all  men.  But  for 
the  generality  of  mankind,  an  a  priori  solution  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  existence  here  and  hereafter,  worked  out  with 
mathematical  rigour — were  such  a  system  possible — is 
simply  out  of  the  question.  The  world  at  large  must  take 
its  religion,  as  it  takes  its  science,  on  authority.  It  would 
be  an  intolerable  condition  of  salvation  that  its  evidences 
should  be  examined.  This,  nevertheless,  was  the  position 
of  the  Reformers,  and  it  is  by  his  semi-conscious  criticism 
of  the  right  of  private  judgment  that  Butler's  thought  gains 
a  great  deal  of  its  strength.  We  do  not,  in  effect,  he  con- 
tends, reach  most  of  our  vital  conclusions  through  syllogisms; 
the  mathematical  is  not  the  only  type  of  reason.  Often  our 
most  cherished  ideals  and  our  surest  hopes  are  those  for 
which,  if  called  on,  we  would  make  the  poorest  defence  at 
the  bar  of  logic. 

"  If  e'er,  when  faith  had  fall'n  asleep, 
I  heard  a  voice  :  «  Believe  no  more,' 
And  heard  an  ever- breaking  shore 
That  tumbled  in  the  Godless  deep, 

A  warmth  within  the  heart  would  melt 

The  freezing  reason's  colder  part ; 

And,  like  a  man  in  wrath,  the  heart. 
Stood  up,  and  answer'd  :  '  I  have  felt.' 

The  meaning  of  this  is,  of  course,  that  the  nearer  we 
approach  to  the  surest  and  most  sacred  truths,  the  more 
these  verities  assume  the  form  of  personal  intuitions,  which 
we  feel  to  be  the  greatest  prizes  of  life,  but  which  we  cannot 
at  the  bidding  of  the  logician  trim  into  any  categorical 
shape.  Conviction,  in  a  word,  pours  into  our  being 
through  every  avenue  of  sense  and  intelligence.  We 
do  not,  for  instance,  in  our  daily  life,  recognise 
conscience  as  the  intellect  dealing  with  the  circumstances 

o 

of   our  conduct  under  the  aspect   of   their  conformity  or 

1  ".Adest  in  intellectu  humano  inclinatio  quaedam  naturalis  a  Sapientis- 
simo  Auctore  indita,  qua  ...  ad  judicia  practica,  quae  vitarn  regendam 
respiciunt,  proferenda  pollemus.  At  id  non  caece  et  sine  motive,  sed  ex  object! 
perspicientia  sive  immediata  ut  in  primis  principiis  moralibus,  sive  mediata 
ut  in  eorum  deductionibus.  Deductiones  autem  ejusmodi  ,  .  .  a  rudibus  etiam 
fiunt." — (Liberators  Ethica,  n.  34,) 


310  Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  " 

non-conformity  to  principles  of  the  moral  code,  but  rather 
as  an  aio-^o-ts  T^S  V^X7?5*  a  kind  of  spiritual  sense,  "  a  still, 
small  voice  ;"  or,  in  Wordsworth's  beautiful  lines  : — 

"  As  God's  most  intimate  presence  in  the  soul, 
And  His  most  perfect  image  in  the  world," 

Headers  of  Newman  will  recall  how  admirably  he  has 
expressed  this  view  of  conscience  as  "the  recognition  of  a 
living  object,  towards  which  it  is  directed." 

"  No  fear  [he  writes]  is  felt  by  anyone  who  recognises  that 
his  conduct  has  not  been  beautiful,  though  he  may  be  mortified  at 
it  himself  if,  perhaps,  he  has  thereby  forfeited  some  advantage. 
But  if  he  has  been  betrayed  into  any  kind  of  immorality,  he  has 
a  lively  sense  of  responsibility  and  guilt,  though  the  act  be  no 
offence  against  society  ;  of  distress  and  apprehension,  even 
though  it  may  be  of  present  service  to  him  ;  of  compunction  and 
regret,  though  in  itself  it  be  most  pleasurable ;  of  confusion  of 
face,  though  it  may  have  no  witness." 

It  is  on  this  account  mainly  that  converts  are  so  seldom 
made  by  an  appeal  to  reason  alone.  Reason,  indeed,  may  do 
much  necessary  preliminary  work  by  a  clearing  and  paving  of 
the  way ;  but  it  is  only  in  the  process  of  moral  life,  that  is,  by 
a  personal  experience  in  a  spirit  of  duty,  that  the  full  import 
of  religious  truth  can  be  realized.  The  highest  act  of  which 
man's  nature  is  capable,  though  a  superlatively  rational  one, 
is  not  an  act  of  reason,  but  an  act  of  faith.  The  error  of 
rationalism  lies  precisely  in  the  denial  of  this.  It  is  Butler's 
great  merit  that  he  recognises  it  fully.  We  are  not,  he  is 
ever  insisting,  mere  minds  for  seeing  and  hearing  truth,  but 
beings  set  in  a  real  world  to  achieve  it.  A  sense  of  the 
presence  of  God,  or  of  the  reality  of  a  future  life,  is,  he 
intimates,  an  achievement  in  morals,  and  not  an  inference 
drawn  by  logical  processes  from  the  nature  of  things.  The 
beauty  of  holiness,  for  example,  you  cannot  prove.  Of 
virtue  it  may  be  said  : — 

"  You  must  love  it  ere  to  you 
It  will  seem  worthy  of  your  love." 

The  best  evidence  for  his  position  in  the  Analogy  is,  then, 
of  a  character  which  Butler  can  do  no  more  than  to  hint  at. 


Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  "  311 

His  reader  must  meet  him  half  way,  if  he  is  to  feel  the  full 
potency  of  his  apparently  stunted  arguments.  His  "  song 
of  thanks  and  praise  "  is  raised  : — 

"  For  those  obstinate  questionings 
Of  sense  and  outward  things, 
Fallings  from  us,  vanishings ; 
Blank  misgivings  of  a  Creature 
Moving  about  in  a  world  not  realized, 
High  instincts  before  which  our  mortal  Nature 
Did  tremble  like  a  guilty  thing  surprised ; 
.  .  .  For  those  first  affections 
Those  shadowy  recollections, 
Which,  be  they  what  they  may, 
Are  yet  the  fountain  light  of  all  our  day 
Are  yet  a  master  light  of  all  our  seeing ; 
Upholds  us,  cherish,  and  have  power  to  make 
Our  noisy  years  seem  moments  in  the  being 
Of  the  eternal  Silence  ..." 

Logically  speaking,  says  Butler,  in  religion,  as  in  all 
other  concerns  of  life,  our  premisses  are  but  probable,  while 
our  conclusions  are  often  certain. 

"The   student   of  Butler   will    [writes   Mr,  Gladstone,  in   a 
passage,  which    though   somewhat   long  I  cannot   refrain   from 
quoting] ,  unless  it  be  his  own   fault,  learn  candour  in  all  its 
breadth,  and  not  to  tamper  with  the. truth;  will  neither  grudge 
admissions,  nor  fret   under  even   cumbrous   reserves.      But   to 
know  what  kinds  and  degrees  of  evidence  to  expect  or  to  ask  in 
matters  of  belief  and  conduct,   and   to  be  in  possession  of  an 
habitual  frame  of  mind  built  on  that  knowledge,  is,  in  my  view, 
the   master  gift   which  the  works  of   Butler  are  calculated   to 
impart.      It    can,    however,  only    be    imparted    to    those    who 
approach  the  study  of  them  as  in  itself  an  undertaking;  who 
knows  that  it  requires  them  to  pursue  it  with  a  whole  heart  and 
mind,  if  they  would  peruse  it  profitably ;    that  it   demands  of 
them  collectedness,  concentration,  and  the  cheerful  resolve  not 
to  be  abashed  or  deterred  by  difficulty.  ...  As  though  he  had 
said  to  us  [goes  on  Mr.  Gladstone,  referring  to  Butler's  doctrine 
of  probability]  this  argument  of  mine,  which  I  am  offering  to  you 
on  behalf  of  belief,  ought  not  to  startle  you  as  a  novelty ;  for  it 
is  the  staff  on  which,  whether  you  have  observed  the  fact  or  not, 
you   are   learning,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  in  the   course  of 
your  daily  life.     Let  us   now  consider  whether  this  undeniable 
statement    has    not    another    aspect,  and    one    revelant   to  the 
present  contention.    If  Butler's  argument  on  his  own  subject  of 
belief  fosters   a  particular  habit  of  mind,  most  precious  in  its 


312  Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  " 

nature ;  and  if  the  evidence  which  he  gathers  is  evidence  of  the 
same  nature  with  the  evidence  on  which  we  act,  and  that  not 
occasionally,  but  habitually,  nay  incessantly,  in  the  daily  course 
of  life,  a  most  important  inference  must  be  drawn,  and  to  the 
following  effect.  Since  the  evidences  of  belief,  are  the  same  in 
character,  He,  who  forms  in  us  a  habit  of  mind  engendered  by 
the  study  of  the  first,  is,  ex  vi  terminorum,  also  forming  in  us  a 
habit  of  mind  equally  appropriate  to  the  evidences,  that  is  to  say, 
the  general  experience,  of  life :  a  habit  well  broken  into  all  forms 
of  difficulty;  not  easily  inflated,  not  easily  abashed;  able  to 
encounter  every  contingency,  to  extract  from  it  the  solution  of 
which  it  may  be  capable ;  or  if  it  yields  none,  then  to  accept  the 
inevitable,  and  to  live  and  act  accordingly.  The  supreme 
excellence  of  this  habit  does  not  lie  in  its  intellectual  triumphs ; 
but  in  its  radical  hostility  to  exaggeration,  in  its  generating 
a  profound  and  invincible  sophrosune.  For,  as  probability  is 
the  guide,  so  exaggeration  is  the  mental  bane,  of  conduct. 
When  we  err  in  thought,  word,  or  act,  it  is  not  usually  that  there 
is  nothing  to  be  said  for  the  alternative  to  which  we  incline, 
but  it  is  that  we  so  exaggerate  the  evidence  we  like  as  to 
transform  it;  and  that  by  transforming  it  we  bewilder  and  befool 
ourselves."1 

Butler  seems  to  me  wonderfully  rich  in  his  power 
of  stimulating  and  nourishing  the  moral  qualities  here 
admirably  outlined.  His  arguments,  even  when  they  do 
not  strengthen  our  reason,  perform  the  more  important 
function  of  nourishing  our  character.  We  feel  constantly 
that  here  is  a  man  who  "  saw  life  steadily.and  saw  it  whole." 
He  deals  with  realities,  and  not  with  apochryphal  idola. 
Sin,  he  warns  us,  is  not  merely  the  depth  of  wickedness,  but 
the  height  of  folly.  In  a  sense  he  adopts  the  Platonic 
dictum  that  "  virtue  is  knowledge,"  though  he  does  not 
forget  to  remind  us  that  it  is  our  will  rather  than  our 
intellect  that  we  are  called  on  to  discipline  in  "  this  proba- 
tionary state."  That  the  world  is  in  a  condition  of  ruin, 
"seams,"  says  Butler,  "the  very  ground  of  the  Christian 
dispensation."  To  restore  this  ruin,  so  far  as  in  him 
lies,  by  a  life  in  conformity  with  the  dictates  of  natural 
and  revealed  religion,  is  the  sole  and  important  duty  of 
man. 


1  Good  Words,  March,  pp.  147- MS. 


'Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  "  313 

IV. 

The  question  remains, — and  it  is,  after  all,  the  real  one  for 
us  to-day — Is  Butler  helpful  to  us  now  ?  The  eighteenth 
century  Zeitgest  was  certainly  different  from  the  atmosphere 
of  our  period.  An  epoch  of  philosophic  thought  of  vast 
reach  and  profound  issues,  has  filled  the  interim  since, 
in  1752,  the  good  Bishop  of  Durham  was  laid  to  rest. 
Especially  in  scientific  conceptions,  a  revolution  has  been 
effected  in  the  past  century  and  a-half,  which  its  prophets 
tell  us,  must  radically  modify  philosophy  and  religion  alike. 
The  theory  of  evolution,  in  particular — if  I  may  be  permitted 
to  connote  by  one  term  the  divergent,  not  to  say,  opposed 
views  which  are  now  labelled  "evolution" — is  understood 
to  have  rendered  the  accepted  Christian  cosmogony  not 
merely  antiquated,  but  absurd.  Nature,  in  the  sense  of  the 
play  of  purely  physical  phenomena  on  the  actual  plane  of 
existence,  is,  for  us,  a  widely  distinct  notion  from  what  it 
was  to  Butler.  Not  the  physical  world  only,  however,  but 
thought  and  feeling,  too,  are,  we  are  told,  the  outcome 
of  processes  of  development  which  can  be  traced  back, 
imperfectly,  indeed,  but  sufficiently,  it  is  contended,  to 
ground  the  idea  of  growth,  to  primitive  origins.  The 
"  synthetic  philosophy  "  of  Herbert  Spencer,  and  the 
studies  of  Max  Miiller  on  comparative  religion,  form,  in 
England,  the  text-books  of  this  train  of  thought.  To  a 
generation,  breathing  an  air  thick-sown  with  speculative 
atoms  of  this  kind,  the  simple  earnestness  and  piety  of  a 
mind  like  Butler's,  with  its  attitude  of  humble  reverence  in 
front  of  the  mysteries  of  nature  and  life,  and  its  vivid  sense 
of  the  evidences  of  design  in  every  phase  of  being,  may 
seem  a  somewhat — shall  I  say  it  ? — old-fashioned  fare. 
None  the  less,  I  make  bold  to  say  that  the  theory  of 
evolution  leaves  the  argument  from  design — on  which 
Butler  so  often,  and  so  rightly,  leans — absolutely  untouched 
where  it  does  not  actually  increase  its  cogency.  This  is  a 
statement  for  which  this  is  not  the  place  to  offer  any- 
thing like  full  evidence.  The  scope  of  the  present  papers, 
however,  permits  a  few  considerations  on  the  matter  to 
be  offered,  especially  as  they  bear  on  Butler's  argument, 


314  Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  " 

The  term  "  evolution,"  it  may  be  at  once  said,  does  not  of 
itself  exclude  the  idea  of  design.  The  word  would,  without 
any  undue  violence  of  language,  fitly  describe  a  process  of 
development  from  a  germ  preordained  to  develop ;  and  it 
is  obvious  that  such  preordination  is  at  least  compatible 
with  the  idea  of  a  preordinating  mind.  Indeed  the  concep- 
tions of  providence,  power,  and  wisdom  implied  in  the 
ordinary  argument  from  design  are  heightened,  if  anything, 
by  this  postulate  of  development  from  an  apparently 
homogenous  rudimentary  form.  Be  that  as  it  may,  however, 
the  common  view  of  evolution  is  that  it  is  an  automatic 
and  unintelligent  process  subject  to  none  but  natural  laws. 
Stated  in  this  form  it  is  apparent  it  leaves  no  room  for  the 
notion  of  design,  inasmuch  as  mind  is  not  the  origin  of  the 
process,  but  a  product  of  it.  This  crude  and  self-  contradictory 
view  of  evolution  is  not  now  held  by  any  scientist  of 
eminence,  in  its  unqualified  shape.  An  agnostic  position  is 
taken  up  either  as  regards  the  beginning  of  the  evolutionary 
process,  or  as  regards  its  destiny.  It  is  admitted,  on  the  one 
hand,  that  the  primitive  germ  protoplasm  is  just  as  much 
in  need  of  explanation,  is,  in  other  words,  no  more  or  no 
less  ultimate  (logically  speaking)  than  any  other  stage  of 
process.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  dawning  on  scientists  that 
even  if  we  admit  that  man  stands  as  a  stage  in  the  order  of 
evolutionary  development,  he  stands  to  it  in  a  relation  that 
forbids  his  being  merged  in  it,  and  exempts  him  from  a  full 
action  of  its  laws,  and  therefore — this  step  is  not  yet  taken, 
but  it  is  inevitable — from  its  destinies.  It  has  been  discovered 
that  because  man  is  the  end  of  the  development  he  is  not 
wholly  in  it — the  product  of  a  process,  and  for  that  very  reason 
cut  off  from  the  process.1  When  man  appears  on  the  stage 
of  life  the  laws  of  evolution  are  reversed.  The  struggle  for 
existence  yields  to  the  sway  of  the  weak.  The  meek  become 
the  inheritors  and  rulers  of  the  earth.  Natural  selection,  if 
it  ever  existed,  gives  way  to  intelligent  choice.  Instinct 
gives  place  to  thought ;  and  automatic  action  to  free  will. 

"There  is  another  fallacy  [writes  Professor  Huxley]   which 
appears  to  me   to  pervade   the  so-called   '  ethics  of  evolution.' 


Professor  Fiske's  able  work,  The  Destiny  of  Man,  passim. 


Bishop  Butler's  "  Analogy  "  315 

It  is  the  notion  that  because,  on  the  whole,  animals  and  plants 
have  advanced  in  perfection  of  organization  by  means  of  the 
struggle  for  existence,  and  the  consequent  '  survival  of  the 
fittest,'  therefore  men  in  society,  men  as  ethical  beings,  must 
look  to  the  same  process  to  help  them  towards  perfection  .  .  . 
As  I  have  already  urged,  the  practice  of  that  which  is  ethically 
best — what  we,  call  goodness  or  virtue — involves  a  course  of 
conduct  which,  in  all  respects,  is  opposed  to  that  which  leads 
to  success  in  the  cosmic  struggle  for  existence.  In  place  of 
ruthless  self-assertion  it  demands  self-restraint;  in  place  of 
thrusting  aside  or  treading  down  all  competitors,  it  requires  that 
the  individual  shall  not  merely  respect,  but  shall  help  his  fellows  ; 
its  influence  is  directed  not  so  much  to  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
as  to  the  fitting  of  as  many  as  possible  to  survive.  It  repudiates 
the  gladiatorial  theory  of  existence." 

Thus  evolution,  as  preached  by  scientists,  hangs,  to 
adopt  a  phrase  of  Newman,  loose  at  both  ends.  It  leaves 
unexplained  the  origin  of  the  process,  and  it  confesses  its 
inability  to  foreshadow  the  destiny  of  its  highest  product. 

"  Go  back  [says  an  American  writer,1  from  whom  I  have 
already  quoted]  to  the  time  when  the  swirl  of  fire-mist  was 
drawing  into  spheres  and  predicate  future  life ;  the  raging 
elements  laugh  you  to  scorn.  Life  from  fire !  No  dream  of 
metempsychosis  is  so  wild  as  that.  You  detect  a  law  of  pro- 
gress ;  but  to  what  are  you  now  listening — to  the  elements,  or  to 
mind  ?  The  elements  can  tell  you  nothing,  but  mind  detects  a 
law  in  the  elements  that  affords  a  ground  for  expectation.  The 
appearance  silences  you ;  the  hint  leads  you  on,  and  you  become, 
perhaps,  a  very  credulous  and  unscientific  believer,  confronted  by 
entirely  scientific  facts  to  the  contrary.  If  one  is  sceptical  of 
the  reality  of  the  spiritual  world  on  scientific  grounds,  or  on  the 
score  of  simple  improbability,  the  best  practical  advice  that  can 
be  given  him  is,  to  transport  himself  back  into  early  geologic  or 
chemic  ages,  and  then  attempt  to  use  a  positive  philosophy  to  find 
out  what  shall  or  not  be,  on  the  ground  of  appearance.  But  I 
yield  too  much.  The  development  of  life  from  nebulous  fire  is  a 
fact  so  immensely  improbable,  that  the  mind  cannot  be  conceived 
as  accepting  it  ...  Shut  off  at  every  stage  of  the  process  from 
the  next  by  its  improbability,  and  only  able  to  accept  it  as  we 
look  back  upon  it,  and  even  then  with  an  essential  unknown 
factor  at  work,  what  right  have  we,  with  so  confounding  a  history 
behind  us,  to  cut  it  short,  and  close  it  up,  with  a  doubt  on  the 
ground  of  improbability." 

1  Mr.  T.  T.  Hunger. 


316  Bishop  Butler  s  *  *  Analogy  " 

The  argument  would  have  been  Butler's,  had  he  to  meet 
the  characteristic  doubts  and  difficulties  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  That  as  it  stands  it  is  so  germane  to  the  very 
texture  of  his  thought  and  view  of  life,  seems  to  me  a 
striking  evidence  of  the  essentially  sound  nature  of  his 
reasoning.  Though  the  whole  modern  controversy  has 
shifted  to  new  ground,  the  reader  of  the  Analogy  will  find 
that  none  of  its  cardinal  trains  of  thought  require  re-state- 
ment, though  here  and  there,  it  is  true,  a  modern  reader  is 
like  to  read  interpretations  into  Butler's  words  which  he  did 
not  intend  to  load  them  with,  but  which  as  surely,  were  he 
living  to-day,  he  would  not  repudiate. 

Apart  from  these  considerations,  however,  Butler  is 
helpful  to  the  modern  reader  on  other  grounds.  A  strong, 
sincere,  and  careful  thinker  is,  in  point  of  fact,  always 
helpful  to  the  student ;  but  the  author  of  the  Analogy  adds 
to  these  intellectual  virtues  a  moral  earnestness  which  gives 
his  thought  an  impressiveness  I,  at  least,  can  find  in  no 
other  non-Catholic  apologist.  He  had  as  a  young  man 
"  designed  the  search  after  truth  as  the  business  of  his  life," 1 
and  he  most  nobly  adhered  to  this  high  vocation.  "  His 
pen,"  writes  Mr.  Gladstone,  without  exaggeration,  "moves 
under  the  very  eye  of  God."  "  Only,"  he  adds,  "  let  a  man 
be  a  genuine  student  of  Butler,  and,  like  every  genuine 
student  in  every  case,  he  will  try  to  contract  a  sympathy 
with  his  author,  which  means,  in  the  case  of  Butler,  a 
sympathy  with  candour,  courage,  faith,  a  deference  to  the 
Eternal,  a  sense  of  the  largeness  of  the  unseen,  and  a 
reverential  sentiment,  always  healthful  for  the  soul,  towards 
the  majestic  shadows  with  which  it  is  encompassed." 

This  is,  assuredly,  no  little  gain  in  an  age  not  overburdened 
with  reverence.  The  Analogy,  in  fact,  is  more  than  a  great 
argument,  it  is  a  revelation  of  character,  and  much  of  its 
strength  comes,  and  quite  legitimately  comes,  from  the 
personality  behind  it.  It  results  that  Butler's  work  has  more 
worth  than  what  I  may  call  its  face-value.  In  morals,  he 
says,  "  ideas  never  are  in  themselves  determinate,  but 

1  So  he  tells  Dr.  Clarke  in  their  famous  correspondence. 


Local  Traces  of  St.  Patrick  317 

become  so  by  the  train    of  reasoning  and  the  place   they 
stand  in."  x 

"  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  [writes  Newman  2]  that  almost 
all  reasons  formally  adduced,  in  moral  inquiries,  are  rather 
specimens  and  symbols  of  the  real  grounds  than  those  grounds 
themselves.  They  do  but  approximate  to  a  representation  of  the 
general  character  of  the  proof  which  the  writer  wishes  to  convey 
to  another's  mind.  They  cannot,  like  mathematical  proof,  be 
passively  followed  with  an  attention  confined  to  what  is  stated, 
and  with  the  admission  of  nothing  but  what  is  urged.  Bather 
they  are  hints  towards,  and  samples  of,  the  true  reasoning,  and 
demand  an  active,  ready,  candid,  and  docile  mind  which  can 
throw  itself  into  what  is  said,  neglect  verbal  difficulties,  and 
pursue  and  carry  out  principles.  This  is  the  true  office  of  a 
writer,  to  excite  and  direct  trains  of  thought." 

This  office  Butler  fulfils  perfectly ;  and  I  fail  to  see  that 
the  lapse  of  time  has  invalidated  or  made  less  salutary  any 
appeal  he  makes  to  our  reason  or  moral  nature,  or  that  it 
is  likely  to  do  so  in  the  future. 

WILLIAM  P.  COYNE. 


LOCAL  TBACES  OF  ST.  PATKICK 

THE  Tripartite  is  the  only  life  of  St.  Patrick  that  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  his  missionary  travels  in  the  territory 
of  Ui  Fidhgeinte.  At  the  time  it  was  written,  the  name  of 
the  territory  and  the  places  connected  with  his  visit  were 
well  known,  and  easily  pointed  out,  though  they  are  no 
longer  to  be  found  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  country, 
and  doubtless  have  disappeared  in  ages  long  gone  by. 
Fortunately,  however,  there  is  another  source  of  informa- 
tion existing  in  the  district,  which  has  come  down  from  the 
far  distant  past,  and  is  still  fresh  and  green  in  the  memories 
of  the  people,  owing  to  frequent  repetition  around  the  fire- 
side during  the  long  winter  evenings.  These  traditions 

1  Preface  to  Sermons. 

2  Sermons  Preached  before  University  of  Oxford.     Ed.  1853,  pp.  271-272. 


318  Local  Traces  of  St.  Patrick 

• 

are  to  be  found  both  diffuse  and  concise  according  to  the 
imagination  of  the  narrator,  but  all  agree  as  to  the  locality 
our  saint  visited,  though  they  differ  widely  as  to  what  took 
place  during  the  visit, 

The  incidental  allusions  in  the  lives  of  the  Irish  saints, 
together  with  these  fireside  stories,  are  valuable  adjuncts  to 
the  Tripartite  in  enabling  us  to  trace  the  route  St.  Patrick 
followed  in  traversing  the  territory  of  Ui  Fidhgeinte. 

This  territory  received  its  name  from  the  descendants  of 
Fiach  Fidhgeinte,1  son  of  Daire  Cearb,  who  was  son  of  Olioll 
Flannbeg,  King  of  Munster,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  third 
century.  The  Munster  book,  as  preserved  in  the  Book  of 
Lecan*  states  that  this  Fiacha  received  the  cognomen  of 
Fidhgeinte,  for  having  constructed  a  wooden  horse  at 
Coleman's8  fair,  which  was  anciently  celebrated  on  the 
Curragh  of  Kildare,  Ui  Fidhgeinte  was  situated  in  the 
present  County  of  Limerick,  being  bounded  on  the  north 
by  the  Shannon,-  extending  westward  to  the  middle  of  the 
Luchra  mountains,  and  on  the  south  by  the  present  County 
Cork.  The  description  of  the  eastern  boundary  is  too  general 
to  be  able  to  fix  it  with  any  degree  of  accuracy.  But  seeing 
that  the  limits  of  the  diocese  of  Limerick,  as  defined  at  the 
Synod  of  Eathbreasail,4  substantially  coincide  with  the 
boundaries  of  Ui  Fidhgeinte,  on  the  north-west  and  south, 
it  may  not  be  rash  to  conjecture  that  the  eastern  frontier  of 
both  was  somewhat  the  same.  If  this  be  so,  the  Mulkern 
river,  Lough  Gur,  Ballynalahagh,  in  the  parish  of  Knockany, 
and  Ardpatrick,  would  mark  its  eastern  bounds.  These 
limits,  however,  are  not  to  be  taken  as  permanent  fixtures, 
as  they  expanded  and  contracted  according  to  the  fortunes 
of  war. 

Inquiring  into  and  examining  the  traditions  that  have 
floated  down  the  stream  of  time,  among  the  inhabitants  of 
this  region,  we  shall  easily  find  the  places  that  were  sancti- 
fied by  our  saint's  presence,  as  every  place  he  visited  the 


1  Annals  of  the  Four  Matters,  vol.  ifi.,  p.  46. 

2  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  vol.  vi.,  app.,  p.  2434. 

3  Chronicon  Scotorum,  p\  243. 

4  Kelly's  Comb.  Ev.,  vol.  ii.,  add.  C> 


Local  Traces  of  St.  Patrick  319 

odour  of  bis  sanctity  remained  behind  him,  and  proud  are 
they  who  can  point  to  such  a  spot  in  their  vicinity. 

Kilteely  is  the  last  place  mentioned  in  the  Tripartite  in 
connection  with  St.  Patrick,  before  he  entered  the  territory 
of  Ui  Fidhgeinte.  Taking  then  that  part  of  the  district 
lying  near  Kilteely  as  a  starting-point,  with  tradition  as  our 
guide,  we  find  traces  of  him  at  Donoghmore,  the  name  itself 
being  a  standing  memorial  of  his  presence.  At  Singland, 
near  the  city  of  Limerick,  a  holy  well  is  pointed  out  as 
sacred  to  his  name  ;  near  it  is  his  rocky  bed,  and  a  little 
further  on  a  grave-yard,  where  once  stood  a  church  dedicated 
to  him,  not  a  vestige  of  which  now  remains.  Turning  to 
the  south-west  of  the  city,  reminiscences  of  him  are  to 
be  found  at  Patrick's  well.  Borrigone,  between  Askeaton, 
and  Shanagolden,  is  the  next  place  where  his  name  appears 
mingled  with  legend.  Knockpatrick,  overlooking  Foynes, 
is  called  after  him,  and  on  its  summit  are  to  be  seen  the 
ruins  of  an  old  church,  a  holy  well,  his  chair  consisting 
of  five  rude  stones,  all  treasured  as  sacred  mementoes  of 
his  visit.  Ardagh,  a  village  about  three  miles  north  of 
Newcastle  west,  is  the  only  place  in  the  south-west  of 
the  county  of  Limerick  where  his  name  lives  in  the 
memories  of  the  people.  Turning  to  the  east  we  find,  in 
the  southern  slope  of  the  hill,  running  between  Knockaderry 
and  Ballingarry,  and  near  the  Clouncagh  church,  a  small 
enclosure  where,  it  is  said,  he  rested  for  a  night.  From 
this,  until  he  came  to  Ardpatrick,  there  does  not  seem  to 
be  any  tradition  surviving,  that  would  connect  him  with  any 
other  locality  in  the  territory.  Scarcely  any  of  these  names 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Tripartite,  but  many  of  them  are 
substitutes  for  the  old  names  mentioned  therein,  as  will 
appear  later  on. 

We  now  take  the  Tripartite  as  our  guide  over  the 
same  region.  When  St.  Patrick  entered  the  territory  of 
Ui  Fidhgeinte  he  was  welcomed  by  the  ruling  chief  Lonan, 
and  entertained  at  a  banquet  on  the  summit  of  Knockea, 
near  Cam  Feradhaigh.  While  the  feast  was  preparing  a 
band  of  strollers  came  to  the  saint, and  asked  him  for  some  of 
the  food.  He  immediately  sent  them  to  Lonan  and  deacon 


320  Looal  Traces'  of  St.  Patrick 

Mantan,  who  were  looking  after  the  preparation  of  the 
repast,  fearing,  perhaps5  if  they  refused,  they  may  spread 
unfavourable  reports  among  the  people  concerning  him, 
which  might  have  the  effect  of  rendering  his  mission  not 
as  successful  as  he  would  wish  it  to  be.  Lonan  and 
Mantan  refused  to  supply  these  suppliants  with  food.  Just 
at  the  time  a  youth  was  ascending  the  slope  of  the  hill 
accompanied  by  his  mother,  carrying  on  her  back  a  cooked 
lamb  for  the  king's  supper.  Patrick  asked  the  youth  for  the 
lamb,  which  he  cheerfully  gave,  though  the  mother  de- 
murred, fearing  the  wrath  of  the  king.  The  strollers 
having  partaken  of  the  food  the  earth  opened  and  swallowed 
them  up,  and  they  were  seen  no  more.  Then  Patrick  informed 
Lonan  and  Manton  of  the  evils  that  would  befall  them  for 
their  obstinacy,  but  Nessan  who  saved  his  honour  should 
be  honoured  among  the  nations.  He  baptized,  and  ordained 
Nessan  a  deacon  ;  and,  having  founded  a  monastery  at 
Mungret,  he  placed  him  over  it,  the  ruins  of  which  are  still 
to  be  seen  about  three  miles  south-west  of  the  city  of 
Limerick.  The  situation  of  Knockea  is  to  be  determined 
from  the  position  of  Cam  Feradhaigh,  which  was  a  well- 
known  historical  spot,  and  the  scene  of  many  a  battle,  as 
our  Annals  furnish  abundant  testimony.  Dr.  O'Donovan 
conjectures  that  it  was  the  ancient  name  of  Seefin,  in  the 
parish  of  Ardpatrick ;  but  in  his  Supplement  to  O'Keilly's 
Irish  Dictionary,  Carn  Feradhaigh  and  Ceann  Abharet,  the 
ancient  name  of  Seefin,  are  mentioned  in  the  same  sentence 
as  being  two  distinct  places  ;  so  that  his  opinion  on 
this  point  is  not  decided  enough  to  carry  conviction. 
Dr.  O'Halloran,1  a  native  of  Limerick,  identified  Carn 
Feradhaigh  with  Knockany,  and  also  Mr.  Hennesey,2 
although  at  first  he  followed  Dr.  O'Donovan  as  to  Seefin. 
Knockea  Hill,  near  Ballingarde,  in  the  parish  of 
Fedamore,  is  probably  the  place  where  Lonan  and  Patrick 
met.  Even  in  our  own  day  this  hill  bears  traces  of  its 
ancient  importance,  as  on  its  summit  appear  the  remains  of 
buildings  of  various  shapes,  and  surrounded  by  a  deep  but 


1  Lenihan's  History  of  Limerick,  page  41. 

2  Chronicon  Scotorum,  page  365. 


Local  Traces  of  St.  Patrick  321 

dry  fosse,  and  a  rampart  of  earth  and  stone  encircles  the 
entire  hill.  The  Knockea  in  the  parish  of  Ardpatrick  is  too 
far  distant  from  Knockany  to  answer  the  description  of  the 
author  of  the  Tripartite. 

St.  Patrick,  after  leaving  Knockea,  travelled  towards  the 
present  city  of  Limerick,  and  spent  some  time  on  the  plain 
at  Donoghmore,  instructing  and  baptizing  the  inhabitants, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  church,  from  which  the  parish 
derives  its  name.  While  in  these  parts,  Cairthen,  son  of 
Blod,  the  senior  of  the  Clan  Toirdhelbhaigh,  whose  terri- 
tory was  at  the  Clare  side  of  the  Shannon,  came  to 
St.  Patrick,  and,  after  making  a  profession  of  faith,  was 
baptized  by  him  at  Singland.  Here  too  he  wrought  a 
miracle  in  favour  of  Cairthen  by  curing  his  son,  Echu 
Ballderg,  from  some  infirmities  he  was  labouring  under  at 
the  time.  The  fame  of  this  miracle  spread  from  one  tribe 
to  another,  and  influenced  the  men  of  North  Munster,  to 
the  north  of  Luimnech,  to  come  in  fleets  of  boats  south- 
wards as  far  as  Donoghmore  of  Magh-aine — that  is,  Dun 
Nocfene — to  meet  St.  Patrick  ;  and  he  baptized  them  at 
Terryglass,  where  he  was  at  the  time.  He  afterwards 
went  to  Finne,  to  the  north-west  of  Donoghmore,  a  hill 
from  which  he  could  see  the  country  to  the  north  of 
Luimnech,  and  blessed  their  land;  and,  pointing  to  the 
green  isle  in  the  west,  in  the  mouth  of  the  sea,  he  said 
that  the  lamp  of  the  people  of  God  shall  come  into  it,  who 
would  be  the  head  of  the  counsel  to  this  district. 

This  event  is  also  recorded  in  the  Life  of  St.  Senan,1  and 
is  worth  quoting  here,  as  it  helps  us  to  identify  the  locality 
from  whence  the  men  of  North  Munster  came,  as  well  as 
the  place  where  they  met  St.  Patrick.  The  passage  is  as 
follows  : — 

"  Now,  the  chief  prophet  and  the  chief  apostle  whom  God 
sent  to  preach  to  Ireland,  even  St.  Patrick,  prophesied  Senan's 
birth.  For  when  Patrick  was  preaching  to  the  Ui  Figenti,  and 
baptizing  them,  at  Donoghmore  of  Cinel  Diue,  the  Corca  Baiscinn 
came,  with  their  king,  Bole,  son  of  Derc,  in  a  great  sea  fleet  over 
Luimnech,  from  the  north  ;  and  they  besought  Patrick  to  preacL 

1  "The  Lives  of  the  Saints,"  Book  of  List-more.     Oxford  Ed.,  pp.  201-202. 
VOL.  XVII.  X 


322  Local  Traces  of  St.  Patrick 

to  them  on  that  day,  and  baptize  them  at  once  ...  St.  Patrick 
repeats  the  order  of  Baptism  on  the  river,  which  was  near  them, 
and  all  the  hosts  were  baptized  therein  .  .  .  Patrick  said  to  the 
Corca  Baiscinn  :  '  Is  there  a  place  near  from  whence  your  district 
will  be  clear  to  me,  so  that  I  myself  may  descry  it  from  my  seat, 
and  bless  it  from  that  spot  ?  '  '  There  is,  forsooth,'  say  they.  '  The 
hill  there ;  that  is,  Fidne.'  St.  Patrick  then  went  to  the  top  of 
Fidne,  and  said  to  them  :  '  Is  this  your  district  to  the  north  of 
Luimnech,  as  far  as  the  ocean,  in  the  west?'  'It  is,'  say  they. 
'  Doth  your  territory,'  said  Patrick,  '  reach  the  mountain  there  in 
the  north,  even  Sliab  Elbe,  in  the  district  of  Corcomruad,  in 
Ninneus  ?'  *  It  reached  not,'  saith  they.  *  It  shall  reach  before  the 
judgment,'  saith  Patrick.  '  Doth  your  territory  reach  the  mountain 
there  in  the  east ;  that  is,  Echtge,  in  the  territory  of  Desa ? '  'It 
reached  not,'  saith  they.  *  It  shall  reach  after  a  long  time,'  saith 
Patrick  .  .  . '  Then  Patrick  blessed  Corca  Baiscinn,  and  said  : 
'  Ye  need  me  not  to  go  with  you  into  your  country,  for  ye  have  a 
child  in  a  woman's  womb,  and  unto  him  your  country  had  been 
given  by  God.  After  him  shall  ye  be,  and  him  shall  ye  serve, 
and  the  race  of  the  Ui  Figenti  .  .  .  And  the  island  there  in  the 
west,  in  the  front  of  the  sea,  that  is,  Iniscathaigh,  is  there  anyone 
dwelling  in  it  ?  '  '  There  is  none,'  say  they  ;  '  for  there  is  a  terrible 
monster  therein,  named  Cathach,  who  doth  not  allow  it  to  be 
inhabited.'  ' 

From  both  these  narratives,  we  infer,  that  the  men  of 
North  Minister  were  natives  of  Corca-Baiscinn,  a  territory 
in  the  south-west  of  the  present  County  Clare,  and  originally 
comprised  the  baronies  of  Clonderlaw,  Moyarta,  and  Ibricen. 
They  came  southwards  across  the  Luimnech,  which  was  the 
ancient  name  of  the  Shannon,  from  the  city  of  Limerick  to 
the  sea,  and  must  have  landed  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of 
Foynes.  Then  they  proceeded  to  Donaghmore  of  Magh-aine* 
or  Cinel  Diue.  These  descriptive  epithets  look  as  if  they 
were  added  to  distinguish  this  Donaghmore  from  another 
in  the  same  territory.  It  might  have  been  in  the  district  of 
Shanagolden,  but  was  destroyed  during  the  Danish  wars. 
After  preaching  and  baptizing  them,  St.  Patrick  went  to  the 
hill  of  Finne  or  Fidne,  from  which  he  saw  their  country 
and  blessed  it.  From  this  hill  he  also  saw  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  Slieve  Elbe — the  ancient  name  of  Slieve  Elva  in  the 
parish  of  Kilonaghan,  barony  of  Burren,  County  Clare; 
SSlieve  Echtge  or  Aughty,  in  the  frontiers  of  Clare  and 
Galway,  and  Scattery  island  in  the  mouth  of  the  Shannon. 


Local  Traces  of  St.  Patrick  323 

Knockpatrick,  overlooking  Foynes,  is  the  only  hill  in  the 
Ui  Fidhgeinte,  from  which  all  these  places,  so  far  distant  from 
each  other,  could  be  seen  at  the  same  time  as  St.  Patrick  saw 
them.  Certainly  not  from  Cahernary,  as  is  suggested  in  the 
letters  written  during  the  Ordnance  Survey,  and  preserved 
in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy. 

St.  Patrick  next  journeyed  to  Luchra,  which  he  did  not 
cross,  but  while  near  it  foretold  the  birth  of  St.  Brendan. 
Luchra  was  the  ancient  name  of  the  mountain  that  over- 
shadowed St.  Ita's  monastery  at  Kileedy.  In  the  Life  of 
St.  Molua,  it  is  stated  that  after  completing  his  studies  at 
Bangor,  he  came  to  Mount  Lucra  where  he  did  not  remain 
very  long.  Ardagh  is  the  only  place  in  the  West  of  the 
County  Limerick  where  St.  Molua1  is  remembered.  He  is 
the  patron  saint  of  that  parish,  where  his  festival  was 
celebrated  on  the  4th  of  August,  but  has  now  fallen  into 
disuse.  Here  also  is  a  holy  well,  bearing  his  name  which  is 
frequented  by  the  inhabitants  principally  on  the  eve  of  his 
festival.  From  this  it  would  seem  that  the  range  of  hills  rising 
up  from  the  plain  near  Drumcollogher,  and  running  round 
the  western  part  of  the  County  Limerick  to  Ardagh,  was 
originally  called  the  Luchra  mountains.  Ardagh  then  must 
be  the  place  near  the  Lucra  mountains  where  St.  Patrick 
foretold  St.  Brendan's  birth,  as  it  is  the  only  place  in  this 
part  of  the  country  as  we  have  seen  where  his  name  lives  in 
story. 

We  next  find  our  saint  on  the  hill  of  Ardpatrick,  laying 
the  foundation  of  a  church,  but  was  prevented  by  Derball, 
the  chieftain  of  the  district.  After  a  little  while,  however, 
Derball  allowed  him  to  proceed  with  his  pious  undertaking, 
provided  he  would  remove  a  mountain  that  obstructed  the 
T.riew  of  Lough  Lunga — a  lake  supposed  to  be  situated  in  the 
barony  of  Fermoy — but  now  dried  up.  When  St.  Patrick 
caused  the  mountain  to  dissolve,  Derball  said  whatever  he 
would  do  he  would  not  believe, 

In  the  foregoing  synopsis  of  the  Tripartite,  it  was  thought 
desirable  to  place  the  "  visit  of  the  men  of  North  Munster," 

1  Lanigan,  led.  History,  vol.  ii.,  page  206. 


324  Local  Traces  of  St.  Patrick 

after  the  baptism  of  Cairthen,"  as  it  appears  to  be  the 
natural  sequence  of  events,  taking  into  account  the  situation 
of  their  respective  territories. 

From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  now  safely  conclude 
that  the  route  St.  Patrick  followed  during  his  missionary 
travels,  in  the  territory  of  Ui  Fidhgeinte,  was  by  Knockea, 
Donaghmore,  Singland,  Mungret,  Patrick's  Well  ;  westward 
along  the  southern  bank  of  the  Shannon  by  Borrigone  and 
Knockpatrick ;  southward  as  far  as  Ardagh ;  eastward  by 
Clouncagh,  and  Ardpatrick,  making  a  detour  of  the  whole 
district.  It  is  wonderful,  indeed,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many 
ages,  after  so  many  cruel  and  desolating  wars,  famine,  and 
plagues,  to  find  the  inhabitants  of  this  region  still  frequenting 
these  hallowed  spots  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  great  St.  Patrick, 
in  obtaining  for  them  the  graces  and  the  favours  they  stand 
in  need  of,  with  a  warmth  of  devotion  and  simplicity  of  faith 
worthy  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Often  too  have  we  seen  the 
aged  and  infirm  from  far-off  lands,  kneeling  at  these  shrines 
wrapped  in  deep  devotion,  where  in  the  bright  morning 
of  their  years,  they  knelt  side  by  side  with  their  parents. 
The  saint  that  can  inspire  such  fervour  in  this  cold  and 
faithless  age  of  ours,  truly  merits  the  encomium  of  one  of  his 
biographers1 — "  A  fair  garden  with  plants  of  virtues  ;  a  vine 
branch  with  fruitfulness  ;  a  flaming  fire  with  the  fervour  of 
the  warming  and  the  heating  of  the  sons  of  life,  for  kindling 
and  illuminating  charity." 

JOHN  BEGLEY,  C.C. 


Lives  of  Irish  Saints,"  Boole  of  Lismorc   Oxford  Edition,  p.  166. 


THE  BIRTHPLACE  OF  MAUKLCE  DE  POKTU 

IT    must   have   happened   to    all   of   us    in    the   passing 
years  to  have  heard  statements  which  startled  us,  and 
made  us  think  for  hours,  or  perhaps  for  days.     In  many 
cases  these  statements  were  made  heedlessly,  and  without  a 
foresight  that  they  were  to  startle  while  they  fell.     A  child 
at  play,  a  flippant  talker  in  his  flow  of  chatter,  a  passer  in 
the  highway,  or  a  lounger  in  the  market-place  may  give 
utterance   to    statements   which,   by   their   newness,  their 
internal  strangeness,  or  their  opposition  to  old  and  cherished 
beliefs  will  startle  us  out  of  the  quiet  sameness  of  our  lives. 
In  many  cases  these  statements  are  plainly  the  outcome  of 
heedlessness,  and  they  do  not,  then,   disturb  us  long,  but 
sometimes  they  fall  from  men  whose  learning  we  know  of, 
whose  utterances  we  have  learned  to  respect ;  and  in  these 
cases  we  have  to  think  a  good  deal  before  our  surprise  can 
pass  away.     Something  like  this  happened  to  us  when,  in 
this  year's  January  number  of  the  I.  E.  KECOED,  we  read  the 
statement  from  the  pen  of  the  Very  Eev.  Dr.  Fahey  of  Grort, 
that  Fr.   Maurice  de  Portu,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  was  a 
native  of  the  diocese  of  Clonfert.     From   our   Franciscan 
childhood  we  had  believed  that  Fr.  Maurice  de  Portu  was  a 
native  of  Cork,  with  all  the  inborn  cleverness  and  subtlety  of 
a  Corkman,  and  with  that  eloquence  which  charms  while  it 
convinces,  owing,  as  we  are  told  in  these  latter  days,  to  the 
possession  by  Cork  county  of  a  famous  stone  in  a  certain 
castle  near  the  banks  of  the  lapsing  Lee.     But  we  were 
startled   out  of  the   quietness   of  our  childhood's  faith   by 
Dr.  Fahey's  statement.     It  was  new  and  entirely  unforeseen, 
but  it  stood  there  in  letters  that  would  not  be  erased.      We 
read  it  over  and  over,  and  it  still  ran  :  "  Few  will  doubt  the 
accuracy  of  Dr.  Lynch,  who  tells  us  on    the  authority  of 
Dr.  John  de  Burgo,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  that  O'Fihely  was 
a  native    of  Clonfert."     Dr.  Lynch,    otherwise    Gratianus 
Lucius,  and  Archbishop  John  de  Burgo,  of  the  Clanricarde 
stock,  were  names  to  conjure  with,  it  seemed  to  us,  and  we 
held  our  breath  and  thought. 


326  The  Birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu 

"  Few  will  doubt  the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Lynch: '  That  was 
the  first  stumbling-block  in  our  way.  The  author  of 
Cambrensis  E versus  ought,  undoubtedly,  to  be  a  great 
authority ;  but  it  struck  us  that  he  did  not  give  the  bitter 
statement  as  his  own,  but  as  hearsay,  on  the  authority  of 
John  de  Burgo,  Archbishop  of  Tuam.  That  was  our  first 
grain  of  comfort.  Archdeacon  Lynch  of  Tuam  would  have 
been  a  strong  opponent  with  whom  to  wrestle ;  but  he  did 
not  make  the  statement  of  himself,  but  fathered  it  on  John 
de  Burgo.  Then  in  Dr.  Benehan's  Collections,  we  came 
across  a  note  by  the  late  Dr.  Daniel  McCarthy,  Bishop  of 
Kerry,  which  reads  thus  :  "  These  extracts  are  inserted  as 
written  by  L.F.B.  (Dr.  Benehan).  It  is  plain  enough  that 
he  does  not  approve  of  all  the  views,  or  agree  in  all  the 
statements  of  Dr.  Lynch."  :  From  this  we  learned  that  one 
as  great  as  Dr.  Benehan  was  found  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of 
Dr.  Lynch.  Dr.  Kelly,  also  the  learned  editor  of  Cambrensis 
Eversus,  doubts  very  often  the  accuracy  of  his  author,  as  a 
glance  at  the  work  will  show.  In  our  case,  however,  there  is 
no  need  of  questioning  the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Lynch,  seeing 
that  he  gives  John  de  Burgo  of  Tuam  as  his  authority,  and 
it  is  with  De  Burgo  that  we  are  practically  left  to  deal. 

Fr.  Maurice  O'Fihely,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  died  in  1513, 
and  John  de  Burgo  was  not  born  until  seventy-seven  years 
after,  in  1590.  So  that  there  could  not  be  any  personal 
knowledge  on  which  John  de  Burgo  could  rest  his  statement 
to  Dr.  Lynch.  In  1614,  John  de  Burgo  went  to  Lisbon,  and 
did  not  return  thence  until  1624,  or  thereabout.  In  Lisbon 
he  could  not  gain  much  information  about  Maurice  de  Portu, 
who  had  lived  chiefly  in  Italy,  and  John  de  Burgo,  as  far  as 
we  could  judge  of  him,  was  not  given  to  historical  inquiry. 
In  1642,  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  but  lived 
for  the  most  part  in  Kilkenny  with  David  Bothe,  the  Bishop 
of  Ossory,  who  was  then  very  old  and  feeble,  and  whose 
place  he  frequently  took  at  public  functions.  In  1646, 
Dr.  De  Burgo  was  translated  from  Clonfert  to  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  Tuam,  and  with  that  year  his  struggle  against 

1  Renahan,  Collections  on  Irish  Church  History,  vol.  i.,  p.  405.  note  §. 


The  Birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu  327 

Cardinal  Rinuccini,  and  all  the  consequent  troubles  of  his  life 
began.  So  many  and  bitter  were  they,  that  it  does  not  seem 
too  much  to  say  that  he  knew  not  thenceforth  one  happy 
day  until  his  death  in  1666.  In  such  a  troubled  life  there 
could  not  be  much  leisure  for  the  study  of  times  that  were. 

In  order  that  John  de  Burgo  of  Tuam  would  have 
weight  before  all  others  as  a  witness  in  the  question  of  the 
birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu,  two  things  are  necessary, 
namely,  that  he  be  truthful,  and  that  he  have  more 
knowledge  of  the  matter  in  question  than  anyone  else  whose 
testimony  can  be  produced.  The  history  of  John  de  Burgo, 
Archbishop  of  Tuam,  does  not  go  far  to  show  that  he  was 
either  truthful  or  trustworthy.  His  public  resistance  in 
the  city  of  Galway  to  the  Nunzio's  interdict,  when  he  went 
so  far  as  to  break  in  the  doors  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Nicholas 
and  then  say  mass  therein,  is  too  glaring  a  fact  to  be  easily 
forgotten.  When  to  this  there  are  added  his  many  changes 
of  front  with  the  changing  of  circumstances,  his  signing  and 
counter-signing  of  documents,  and  his  many  other  acts 
which  tend  to  show  that  he  was  not  always  honest,  we  feel 
that  we  should  prefer  some  more  trustworthy  witness  who 
would  help  to  decide  for  us  the  question  of  the  birthplace  of 
Maurice  de  Portu. 

Together  with  the  unreliableness  which  marked  the  action 
of  John  de  Burgo,  there  seems  also  to  be  a  want  of  that- 
special  knowledge  of  the  question  which  would  give  his 
opinion  weight  over  that  of  others. 

Maurice  de  Portu  was  born  in  1463,  and  John  de 
Burgo  died  two  hundred  and  three  years  afterwards  in  1666, 
a  period  too  long  evidently  for  personal  recollection.  It  was 
probably  after  his  translation  from  Clonfert,  in  1646,  to  the 
see  of  Tuam  that  Dr.  De  Burgo  made  his  statement  about 
his  predecessor,  Fr.  Maurice,  to  John  Lynch,  Archdeacon  of 
Tuam.  The  Archdeacon  and  his  Archbishop  had  not  been 
thrown  much,  before  that  time,  into  one  another's  society. 
After  the  year  1646,  that  is,  one  hundred  and  eighty-four 
years  after  the  event  took  place,  Dr.  De  Burgo  tells 
Dr.  Lynch  about  Maurice  O'Fihely  and  his  birthplace.  To 
say  the  least  of  it,  that  is  a  long  line  of  years  for  one  memory 


328  The  Birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu 

to  reach  through  with  accuracy,  even  under  most  favourable 
conditions ;  and  the  conditions  in  De  Burgo's  case  were  not 
favourable  to  a  far-reaching  remembrance.  He  had  no 
special  means  of  knowing  the  history  of  his  predecessor 
after  such  a  long  period  of  years  :  a  predecessor  too  who  had 
scarcely  lived  in  the  archdiocese.  John  de  Burgo's  brother, 
Hugh,  was  a  Franciscan,  and  must  have  known  something 
about  Maurice  de  Portu,  which  he  may  have  told  to 
Archbishop  De  Burgo ;  but  this  would  scarcely  make  the 
difficulty  easier ;  we  should  still  find  that  we  were  dealing 
with  only  hearsay  testimony,  and  we  can  fairly  ask  for 
stronger  evidence  to  justify  us  in  throwing  aside  all  other 
opinions  on  the  matter  in  question.  John  de  Burgo  is 
neither  so  trustworthy,  nor  so  gifted  with  special  means  of 
knowing  precisely  the  birthplace  of  Dr.  O'Fihely  as  to 
enable  us  to  leave  the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Lynch's  statement 
unquestioned.  We,  therefore,  distinctly  call  that  accuracy 
into  question,  and  say  that,  until  much  stronger  reasons 
are  brought  forward,  we  shall  hold  by  our  old  belief  that 
Maurice  de  Portu  was  born  in  the  county  of  Cork,  and 
not  anywhere  in  the  diocese  of  Clonfert. 

Our  first  reason  for  this  belief  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
family  of  O'Feehily  or  O'Fihely,  had  its  home  not  in 
Gal  way,  but  in  Cork.  Connellan,  in  his  edition  of  the 
Four  Masters,  says  :  u  O'Fichiolla  or  O'Fihellys,  a  name 
anglicized  into  Field,  are  also  given  by  O'Brien  as  chiefs  of 
West  Barryroe." 1  O'Donovan,  in  his  appendix  to  the  Four 
Masters,  tells  us  that  the  territory  of  the  O'Feehilys  was 
in  the  O'Driscolls'  county  :  "  There  had  been  a  family  of 
the  O'Donovaas  seated  in  Tuath-O'Feehily  in  O'Driscoll's 
county."5  Connellan  informs  us  that  "  O'Driscoll  was  chief 
or  prince  of  Corcaluighe,  otherwise  called  Cairbreacha, 
comprising  ancient  Carbery,  an  extensive  territory  in  the 
south-west  of  Cork  .  .  .  The  O'Driscolls  had  the  island  of 
Cape  Clear  and  the  territory  about  the  bay  of  Baltimore."  8 
Archdeacon  Lynch  himself  tells  us  that  :  "  O'Flandra, 

1  Connellan,  Four  Masters,  p.  176,  note  xvi. 

2  O'Donovan,  Four  Masters,  vol.  vi.,  p.  2482. 

3  Connellan,  ibid. 


The  Birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu  329 

O'Fitceallaigh,  O'Dubdaleth,  O'Muredhaigh  et  O'Gillamichel 
dynastae  O'Copbtaidh  :  " l  which  means  that  the  O'Flynns 
of  Arda,  the  O'Fihelys,  the  O'Dowdalls,  the  O'Murrays,  and 
Kilmichaels  were  lords  of  Hy-Cobhtaigh.  O'Brien,  in  his 
Irish  Dictionary,  says  :  The  O'Coffeys  were  :  "  Dynasts,  or 
chiefs  of  the  territory  now  called  Barryroe,  east  and  west,  in 
the  county  of  Cork.  They  were  of  the  Lugadian  race, 
which  gave  the  ancient  name  of  Corcaluighe  to  all  the 
south-west  parts  of  the  County  Cork,  a  name  that  is  now 
reduced  to  only  two  parishes,  separated  by  the  river  Eilean, 
which  forms  the  harbour  of  Baltimore.  .  The  O'Cobthaics 
were  originally  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Lugadian 
families,  being  mentioned,  in  the  first  place,  before  the 
O'Flains  and  O'Driscolls."  2 

These     authorities     prove     clearly     enough    that     the 
O'Fihelys  were  undoubtedly  a  Cork  family,  a  branch  of  the 
Clan  O'Cobhtach,  and  dwelt  in  the  south-west  of  the  county 
near  the  harbour  of  Baltimore.     When  we  find  Dr.  Lynch 
himself  making    this    statement,   we   are    assuredly    fully 
justified  in  asking  from   him   some   authority   beyond   the 
mere  word  of  an  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  for  the  assertion  that 
Fr.  Maurice  de  Portu  was  born  so  far  away  as  Clonfert  from 
the  cradle  of  his  race,  and  the  home  of  his  family.     We  are 
writing   of  an   event   which    took    place   in   the   fifteenth 
century,  before  the  old  Irish  families  had  begun  to  be  driven 
from  their  original  territories,  two  hundred  years  before  the 
date  when  Dr.  Lynch  wrote :  "  Pleraeque  autem  e  memo- 
ratis,   in  isto   poemate,  gentibus,   sub  initio    nuperi   belli, 
non  solum  in  rerum  natura  extiterunt,  sed  etiam  aliae  in 
aliquo  pristinae  ditionis  angulo  perstiterunt,  aliae  latissimis 
latifundiis  potiti  sunt."  3     The  south-west  of  Cork  was  a 
portion  of  the  country  in  which  the  original  owners  seem  to 
have  held  their  place  longest,  being  farther,  perhaps,  from 
the  Pale ;  and  in  1463  the  O'Fihelys  were  still  at  peace  in 
their  home  at  Barryroe.     We  see  no  reason,  then,  why  we 
should  admit,  on  the  word  of  one  who  cannot  be  called  a 

1  Cambrensis  Eversvs,  c.  iii.,  p.  275. 

2  O'Brien,  Irish  Dictionary,  under  "  Cobhtach." 

:J  Cambrensis  Eversus,  vol.  i.,  p.  278.      This  work  was  first  published  in  1662. 


330  The  Birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu 

reliable  authority,  that  Fr.  Maurice  O'Fihely  was  born 
anywhere  except  amongst  his  own  kith  and  kin,  near  the 
harbour  of  Baltimore,  in  the  county  of  Cork. 

There  are  many  learned  men  who  believe  as  we 
do.  Moreri  says :  "  Maurice  de  Portu,  ou  De  Fihely 
ne  proche  de  Baltimore,  dans  le  comte  de  Corck  (sic) 
en  Irlande  entra  dans  1'ordre  des  Freres  Mineurs. 
Son  merite  porta  le  Pape  Jules  II.  le  faire  Archeveque 
de  Toam  (sic)  en  Irlande.  II  morut  dans  le  ville 
de  Galloway  (sic)  le  25  Mai,  1513. '^  MacGeoghan  writes  : 
"  Maurice  O'Fihely,  or  De  Portu,  was  born  near  Baltimore 
in  the  county  of  Cork.  He  was  promoted  to  the  see  of 
Tuam.  He  died  in  Galway  in  May  (1513),  at  the  age  of  fifty 
years,  and  was  interred  in  the  Convent  of  his  Order." ! 
Connellan  makes  the  following  reference  to  him  in  his  notes 
to  the  Four  Masters  :  "  Maurice  O'Fihely,  a  native  of  Cork, 
was  born  at  Baltimore  (the  ancient  seat  of  the  0 'Fihely s) ; 
hence  he  was  called  Maurice  de  Portu.  He  became  a 
Franciscan  friar,  and  was  a  long  time  a  lecturer  in  the 
University  of  Padua."  3  Ware  says  of  him :  "  On  the  26th 
June,  1506,  Maurice  de  Portu,  a  Franciscan  Friar,  was 
advanced  to  the  see  of  Tuam  by  the  provision  of  Pope 
Julius  II.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  learning,  was  born  in 
the  county  of  Cork,  near  Baltimore,  a  town  celebrated  for 
its  fine  harbour  (the  ancient  seat  of  the  O'Fihelys  lying  in 
that  neighbourhood),  from  whence  he  got  the  name,  "De 
Portu,"  although  some  say  he  was  born  at  Down  in  Ulster, 
and  others  at  Galway."4  Fr.  Brennan,  O.S.F.,  speaks  thus  : 
"  Maurice  de  Portu,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  eminent  for  his 
scriptural  illustrations  and  learned  commentaries  on  Scotus, 
flourished  in  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  family  name  was  O'Fihely.  He  was  born  in  the 
county  of  Cork,  near  Baltimore,  a  place  remarkable  for  its 
commodious  and  beautiful  harbour,  on  which  account  he 
was  generally  known  amongst  his  contemporaries  by  the 


1  Moreri,  Diction.  Sistoriq.,  Sup.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  189. 
*  History,  p.  381. 

3  Connellan,  Four  Masters,  p.  181,  in  note. 

4  Ware  (Harris's),  vol.  i.,  p.. 614. 


The  Birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu  331 

distinctive  appellation  of  De  Portu.  .  .  The  Archbishop 
Maurice,  together  with  Thomas  Halsay,  Bishop  of  Leighlin, 
attended  at  the  fifth  Council  of  Latern."1  Meehan  in  his 
Franciscan  Monasteries,  says :  "  I  speak  of  Maurice  O'Fihely. 
From  what  I  have  been  able  to  learn  of  this  wonderful 
scholar,  it  appears  that  he  was  a  native  of  Baltimore  in  the 
county  of  Cork,  and  took  the  surname,  De  Portu,  from  the 
haven  on  which  the  town  is  situated."2  In  the  notes 
from  the  Croker  and  Caulfield  MSS.,  &c.,  published  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Cork  Archaeological  Society,  we  find  the 
following  :  "  Maurice  O'Fihely  (Maurice  de  Portu,  as  he  is 
sometimes  'called,  or  Maurice  Hibernicus  and  Maurice  of 
Ireland),  was  born  in  1463-4,  near  Baltimore  in  this  county 
(Cork],  which  was  celebrated  for  its  fine  harbour,  from 
where  originated  the  addition  of  '  De  Portu/  occasionally 
employed  to  distinguish  him.  .  .  Another  work  of  Maurice's 
was  Dictionarium  Sacrce  Scripturce,  printed,  after  the 
author's  death  in  Venice,  1603,  though  it  is  not  extant 
farther  than  the  letter  E.,  inclusive.  But  among  the  MSS. 
in  the  Bodleian  Library,  there  is  a  copy  of  it  complete  to 
letter  Z.  lona,  at  the  end  of  which  is  :  Expliciunt  distinctions 
Frs.  Mauritii."  3  We  have  still  another  authority  to  give, 
and  it  is  the  most  remarkable  of  all. 

Dr.  Mathew  Kelly  in  his  notes  to  Dr.  Lynch's  famous 
work,  Cambrensis  Eversus,  has  the  following  one  on  the 
passage  given  above,  concerning  the  territory  of  the 
O'Fihelys  :  "  FITHCHEALLAIGH,  .now  anglice  Feehily  and 
Feely.  The  celebrated  Maurice  de  Portu  O'Fihely,  called 
Flos  mundi,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  from  1506  to  1513,  was 
of  this  family.  He  was  born  near  Baltimore,  '  a  town,' 
as  Harris  remarks,  '  celebrated  for  its  fine  harbour,' 
from  which  he  was  known  as  De  Portu."*  From  this 
quotation  it  is  evident  that  Dr.  Kelly  did  not  know  of 
Dr.  Lynch's  statement  that  Fr.  Maurice  de  Portu  was  a 
native  of  the  diocese  of  Clonfert,  and  no  one,  it  seems,  ought 

1  Brennan,  Irish  Ecclesiastical  History,  vol.  ii.,  p.  154. 

2  Meehan,  Fratms.  Monast.    5  edit.  p.  70. 

3  Journal  of  Cork,  Archceological  Society,  November,  1894,  p.   307- 

4  Kelly's  Cambrensis  Erersus,  vol.  i.,  p.  273,  in  note. 


332  The  Birthplace  of  Maurice  de  Portu 

to  have  known  Dr.  Lynch   and   his    writings  better   than 
Dr.  Mathew  Kelly. 

This  article  has  already  reached  farther  than  we  should 
have  wished ;  yet  we  could  not  have  well  left  any  of  it 
unwritten,  The  weight  of  evidence  is  altogether  in  favour 
of  the  Franciscan  belief,  that  Maurice  de  Portu  was  born 
near  Baltimore  in  the  county  of  Cork.  There  stands  against 
this,  the  solitary  statement  of  John  de  Burgo,  made  two 
hundred  years  after  the  birth  of  Fr.  Maurice,  to  Dr.  Lynch, 
Archdeacon  of  Tuam.  Dr.  Lynch  repeats  the  statement,  yet 
tells  us,  several  years  afterwards,  that  the  family  of  the 
O'Fihelys,  belonged  to  the  Clan  Hy  Cobhtach,  which  dwelt 
near  the  harbour  of  Baltimore  in  Cork.  This  slender 
evidence  is  by  far  too  weak  to  lean  on  with  any  safety.  We 
are  consequently  forced  to  doubt  "  the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Lynch 
when  he  tells  us  on  the  authority  of  John  de  Burgo,  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam,  that  O'Fihely  was  a  native  of  the  diocese 
of  Clonfert."  If  Maurice  de  Portu  is  of  Clonfert,  would 
Dr.  Lynch,  John  de  Burgo,  or  Dr.  Fahey,  say  :  De  quo  portu 
in  ea  diocesi  nomen  adeptus  sit?  The  harbours  in  the  diocese 
of  Clonfert  fit  to  give  a  name  to  anyone  are  not  many.  We 
hold,  then,  that  our  own  old  faith  was  best ;  we  see  no  reason 
to  yield  it  up,  and  until  reasons  worthy  of  the  name  are  given, 
we  shall  still  reasonably  believe  that  Fr.  Maurice  O'Fihely, 
Archbishop  of  Tuam,  the  Flos  Mundi  of  his  time,  was  sprung 
from  the  best  and  the  noblest  blood  of  Cork  County;  and  that 
he  drew  his  first  breath,  .said  his  first  prayers,  and  learned 
his  first  lessons  by  the  shores  of  that  noble  and  historic 
harbour, "  Portus  Baltimoriensis  in  Comitatu  Corcagiensi." 

FE.E.  B.  FITZMAUEICE,  O.S.F. 


333 


THE  JEWISH  CANON 


THE  word  canon  (itavtov}  means  originally  a  straight  rod, 
as  the  rod  of  a  shield,  or  a  carpenter's  rule  ;  and, 
metaphorically,  what  serves  to  keep  a  thing  straight,  a 
standard,  a  rule.  From  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  the 
term  was  applied  to  the  collection  of  Sacred  Scriptures  read 
in  public,  and  by  the  later  fathers  to  the  list  or  catalogue  of 
books  received  by  the  Church  as  inspired.  The  reason  for 
both  applications  of  the  term  probably  lies  in  the  fact  that 
these  books  contain  a  rule  of  faith  and  morals;  an  authori- 
tative standard  of  belief  and  action. 

By  the  Jewish  Canon  we  mean  the  list  of  books  received 
as  inspired  by  the  Jewish  Church,  and  it  will  be  the  object 
of  the  present  article  to  trace  the  origin  and  development  of 
that  Canon  from  the  time  of  Moses  till  the  Christian  period. 
The  Jewish  Canon  of  the  Christian  period  presents  no 
difficulty,  for  it  has  remained  unchanged  throughout.  It 
corresponds  exactly  with  the  present  ProtestantCanon  of  the 
Old  Testament,  both  excluding  the  seven  Deuterocanonical 
books  and  the  Deuterocanonical  fragments  of  Esther  and 
Daniel.  Our  inquiry  shall,  therefore,  be  confined  to  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  Canon  in  the  pre-Christian  period  ;  a 
history  which,  unfortunately,  is  involved  in  much  obscurity. 

All  are  agreed  that  from  Abraham,  the  father  of  the 
Jewish  people,  till  Moses,  the  Jews  had  no  Scriptures,  and, 
of  course,  no  Canon.  It  is  commonly  agreed  too,  at  least 
among  Catholics,  that  from  the  time  "  Moses  wrote  the 
words  of  this  Law  in  a  volume  and  finished  it,  and  com- 
manded the  Levites,  who  carried  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  the  Lord,  saying  :  Take  this  book,  and  put  it  in  (or  by) 
the  side  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  your  God, 
that  it  may  be  there  for  a  testimony  against  thee;"and 
"  After  seven  years,  in  the  year  of  remission,  in  the  feast  of 
tabernacles,  when  all  Israel  come  together  to  appear  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  the  place  which  the  Lord  shall 
choose,  thou  shalt  read  the  words  of  this  Law  before  all 
Israel,  in  their  hearing"  (Deut.  xxxi.  24-26,  10-11)  —  from 


334  The  Jewish  Canon 

that  time  what  was  thus  laid  up  by  the  side  of  the  ark  and 
read  for  the  people  was  received  by  the  Jews  as  the  word  of 
God.  We  are  aware  that  there  are  some  even  among 
Catholics  who  deny  this,  and  hold,  like  the  Abbe  Loisy,1  that 
no  portion  of  Jewish  Scripture  was  fully  recognised  till  its 
solemn  canonization  by  Esdras,  in  the  fifth  century  before 
Christ.  Still  we  regard  it  as  certain  that  the  Jews  almost 
immediately  received  the  writings  of  Moses  as  the  word 
of  God.  The  fact  that  Moses,  their  great  deliverer  and 
leader,  whom  they  had  seen  speaking  face  to  face  with  God 
on  Sinai,  was  the  author  ;  that  the  work  stood  in  the  Most 
Holy  Place ;  that  it  was  publicly  read  to  the  people  every 
seven  years  as  the  authoritative  rule  of  faith  and  morals,  all 
this  tends  to  prove  that  the  work  was  at  once  recognised  by 
the  nation  as  the  word  of  God.  The  writings  of  Moses, 
then,  must  have  formed  the  first  Canon  of  the  Jews.2 

During  the  thousand  years  that  intervened  between 
Moses  and  Esdras,  many  new  books  of  Scripture  were 
written,  but  it  has  been  questioned  whether  these  were 
received  soon  after  they  were  written.  Not  a  few  writers, 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  have  held  that  the  Pentateuch  alone 
formed  the  Jewish  Canon  till  the  time  of  Esdras.  Far  more 
probable,  however,  is  the  view  of  those  who  maintain  that 
during  the  period  from  Moses  to  Esdras  there  was  a  gradual 
growth  of  the  Jewish  Canon,  new  books  being  generally 
received  by  the  people  soon  after  they  were  written.  For,  it 
is  not  denied  that  many  of  the  Old  Testament  books  were 
written  during  that  period,  some  of  them,  indeed,  towards  its 
beginning.  Now  is  it  likely  that  for  nearly  a  thousand  years 
God  would  abstain  from  making  known  the  character  of 
those  books,  thus  not  only  depriving  them  of  the  reverence 
that  was  due  to  them,  but  exposing  them  to  neglect  and 
corruption?  And  this  a  priori  probability  of  a  gradual 
growth  of  the  Jewish  Canon  from  Moses  till  Esdras  is  borne 
out  by  many  statements  in  the  sacred  text  itself.  Thus, 

1  Histoire  du  Canon  de  V A.  T.,  p.  53. 

2  We  suppose  here  that  those  writings  were  substantially  the  same  as  the 
Pentateuch,  but  the  arguments  indicated  above  for  the  existence  of  a  Mosaic 
Canon  are  quite  independent  of  the  question  regarding  that  Canon's  extent. 
They  lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  work  of  Moses,  whatever  it  was,  was 
soon  received  as  the  word  of  God. 


The  Jeivish  Canon  335 

when  we  are  told  that  Josue  "  wrote  all  these  things  in  the 
volume  of  the  law  of  the  Lord"  (Jos.  xxiv.  26),  it  seems  to  be 
implied  that  the  Book  of  Josue  was  joined  to  the  books  of 
Moses,  and  side  by  side  with  them  took  its  place  as  a  portion 
of  the  law  of  the  Lord.  So,  too,  when  we  read  that  Samuel 
told  the  people  the  law  of  the  kingdom,  and  wrote  it  in  a 
(Heb.  the)  book,  and  laid  it  up  before  the  Lord,  we  can 
reasonably  conclude  that  this  writing  of  Samuel,  whatever 
its  contents,  was  placed  alongside  the  writings  of  Moses  in 
the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  reverenced  by  the  Jews  as  a  portion 
of  God's  word.  Again,  the  Prophet  Zachary,  writing  more 
than  half  a  century  before  Esdras  returned  from  Babylon, 
speaks  of  the  writings  of  the  former  prophets  as  the  word  of 
God,  and  sets  them  side  by  side  with  the  law  itself:  "  And 
they  made  their  heart  as  the  adamant  stone,  lest  they  should 
hear  the  law,  and  the  words  which  the  Lord  of  Hosts  sent 
in  His  Spirit  by  the  hands  of  the  former  prophets"  (Zach. 
vii.  12).  In  the  face  of  these  texts,  is  there  any  probability 
in  the  view  that  the  Pentateuch  alone  formed  the  Jewish 
Canon  till  the  time  of  Esdras  ? 

And  there  are  other  texts,  which  though  not  so  important 
as  the  preceding,  yet  prove  clearly  that  before  the  time  of 
Esdras  collections  of  the  post-Mosaic  writings  were  made, 
and  held  in  high  esteem.  Thus,  in  Proverbs  xxv.  1,  at  the 
beginning  of  what  seems  to  be  the  third  section  of  the  book, 
we  read :  "  These  also  are  the  parables  of  Solomon,  which 
the  men  of  Ezechias,  King  of  Juda,  copied  out."  Again,  in 
2  Paral.  xxix.  30,  we  are  told,  that:  "Ezechias,  and  the 
princes  commanded  the  Levites  to  praise  the  Lord  with 
the  words  of  David,  and  Asaph  the  seer;"  so  that  in  the 
reign  of  Ezechias  (726-698  B.C.)  there  was  a  collection  of 
parables  or  proverbs  ;  and  not  only  was  there  a  collection  of 
the  Psalms,  but  they  were  already  used  for  liturgical  purposes 
"to  praise  the  Lord."  And  we  know  that  during  the 
Babylonian  captivity  Daniel  must  have  been  acquainted 
with  a  collection  of  the  Scriptures  containing  the  Book  of 
Jeremias,  for  he  tells  us:  "I,  Daniel,  understood  by  books 
(Heb.  the  books)  the  number  of  years  concerning  which  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Jeremias  the  prophet,  that  seventy 


336  The  Jewish  Canon 

years  should  be  accomplished  of  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem  " 
(Dan-  ix.  2).  There  were,  therefore,  besides  the  Pentateuch, 
other  collections  of  sacred  books  before  the  time  of  Esdras ; 
and  some  of  them,  as  we  have  shown,  were  honoured  with  a 
place  beside  the  writings  of  Moses  in  the  most  sacred 
sanctuary  of  the  nation,  while  others  are  put  on  a  par  with 
the  law  itself  by  an  inspired  prophet  writing  more  than 
half  a  century  before  Esdras.  If  we  add  to  all  this,  that  the 
Samaritans  received,  besides  the  Pentateuch,  the  Book  of 
Josue,  corrupted  indeed,,  but  still  an  evidence  that  when 
the  ten  tribes  revolted,  in  975  B.C.,  the  Book  of  Josue  was 
already  on  the  Canon,  we  are  surely  justified  in  concluding 
that  from  Moses  till  Esdras  the  Jewish  Canon  was  gradually 
augmented. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  time  of  Esdras  himself,  who 
returned  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem  about  458  B.C.  Let  us 
endeavour  to  follow  the  history  of  the  Canon,  from  the 
return  of  Esdras  till  the  Christian  period.  It  is  this 
portion  of  the  history  that  is  involved  in  greatest  obscurity, 
and  in  regard  to  it  the  widest  difference  of  opinion  prevails. 
Many  hold  that  Esdras  completed  the  Jewish  Canon,  and 
that  no  book  not  received  by  him  was  ever  after  received  by 
the  Jews.  This  indeed  has  been  the  belief  of  the  Jews, 
at  least  since  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era ;  it  was 
also  the  view  held  by  all  the  fathers  of  the  Church  who 
refer  to  the  question  till  the  seventh  century;  and,  at  least 
in  a  modified  form,  it  is  still  the  more  common  view  among 
Catholics.  And,  though  this  opinion  is  now  abandoned  by 
most  Protestants,  there  is  no  room  for  doubt,  that  the  early 
Eeformers  in  general  accepted  the  Jewish  account  of  the 
completion  of  the  Canon  by  Esdras.  Many  Catholics, 
however,  and  nearly  all  Protestants  of  the  present  day,  deny 
that  the  Canon  was  completed  till  long  after  the  time  of 
Esdras.  As  to  the  actual  date  of  its  completion,  there  is, 
among  these  writers,  the  greatest  difference  of  opinion. 
Some  hold  it  was  completed  before  the  end  of  the  Persian 
period  (332  B.C.)  ;  others,  that  it  was  completed  only  during 
the  period  of  the  Maccabees,  some  time  between  167  and 
100  B.C.  ;  and  others,  again,  date  its  completion  only  from 


The  Jewish  Canon  337 

the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era.  Such  a  difference  of 
opinion  shows  at  once  the  difficulty  of  the  question,  and 
the  scarcity  of  data  to  determine  its  solution. 

Nearly  all  are  agreed  that  Esdras  after  his  return  from 
Babylon  took  an  important  part  in  collecting  and  revising 
the  Scriptures.  So  much,  at  least,  seems  to  follow  from  the 
Jewish  tradition  in  regard  to  his  labours.  Not  only  are  we 
told,  in  the  first  Book  of  Esdras,  that  "  he  was  a  ready 
scribe  in  the  law  of  Moses,"  and  "had  prepared  his  heart 
to  seek  the  law  of  the  Lord  "  (1  Esd.  vii.  6-10),  but  the 
apocryphal  fourth  Book  of  Esdras,  which  dates  from  the 
first  or  second  century  of  the  Christian  era,  and  is  the  work 
of  a  Jew,  represents  him  as  re-writing,  by  inspiration,  all 
the  books  of  the  Jewish  Canon,  after  they  had  perished  in 
the  captivity  (4  Esd.  xiv.  18-47).  The  Talmud,  too,  makes 
frequent  reference  to  his  labours  in  settling  the  Canon. 
It  seems  to  us  that  we  cannot  lightly  throw  aside  as  of  no 
account  this  early  and  universal  tradition  of  the  Jewish 
race,  because  it  happens  to  come  down  to  us  weighted 
with  fabulous  accretions.  There  must  be  some  substratum 
of  truth  for  a  tradition  accepted  by  a  whole  nation,  and 
received  by  the  fathers  of  the  Church  for  six  centuries. 
Josephus,  himself  a  Jewish  priest,  writing  in  the  first 
century  of  the  Christian  era,  confirms  the  tradition  when  he 
tells  us  that  the  Jewish  Canon  was  completed  in  the  time 
of  Artaxerxes,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  Esdras.1 

We  regard  it  as  certain,  therefore,  that  Esdras  took 
an  important  part  in  the  settlement  of  the  Jewish  Canon. 
What  precisely  was  the  extent  of  his  work  in  that  respect 
we  cannot  say  with  certainty.  We  take  it  that  he  collected 
and  revised  all  the  books  already  received  as  inspired  ;  that 
he  canonized  others  already  written  but  for  some  reason 
not  yet  received,  and  that  he  added  his  own  writings  to 
the  collection.  But  his  work  did  not  end  here.  According 
to  a  Jewish  tradition,  which,  indeed,  has  been  questioned, 
but,  in  our  view,  questioned  on  insufficient  grounds,2  Esdras 

1  Joseph,  against  App.,  i.  8. 

2  See  Vigoroux,  Dictionn.  de  la  Bible,  art.      Canon  ;"  Comely,  vol.  i.  22-6  ; 
Wescott,  The  Bible  in  the  Church,  Appendix  A 

VOL.  XVII.  Y 


338  The  Jewish  Canon 

established  a  body  known  as  the  Great  Synagogue.  We 
learn  from  the  Jews  of  the  Middle  Ages  that  this  council  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  members  continued  in  existence 
from  444  B.C.  till  the  time  of  Simon  the  Just,  its  last  head 
(f  292  B.C.),  and  that  it  numbered  among  its  first  members 
not  only  Esdras,  but  also  the  prophets  Aggaeus,  Zachary,  and 
Malachy.  Now,  if  this  Great  Synagogue,  which  wre  take  to 
have  been  the  supreme  council  of  the  Jews  during  the  latter 
half  of  the  Persian  period,  completed  the  Jewish  Canon,  it  is 
quite  conceivable  how  a  later  tradition  might  readily  ascribe 
its  work  to  Esdras,  its  founder  and  first  head.  In  our  view 
this  is  just  what  happened.  Esdras  did  not  complete  the 
Jewish  Canon;  but  the  work  left  unfinished  by  the  great  scribe 
was  completed  by  the  Synagogue  which  he  established.  This 
is  the  only  view  that  seems  to  us  to  meet  all  the  requirements 
of  the  case.  On  the  one  hand,  it  offers  a  satisfactory  explana- 
tion of  the  tradition  regarding  the  labours  of  Esdras  ;  while, 
on  the  other,  it  leaves  us  free  to  hold  that  some  of  the 
books  of  the  Jewish  Canon  may  have  been  written  long 
after  his  time.  This  latter  point  is  not  without  importance, 
in  view  of  the  conclusions  of  Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant 
critics  in  regard  to  some  of  those  books.  A.  Lapide  felt  the 
difficulty  of  explaining  Nehem.  xii.  11-22,  and  solves  it  by 
saying  that  the  verses  were  not  written  by  Nehemias,  but 
by  the  Jewish  Synagogue,  then  infallible,  or  by  some  inspired 
author  after  the  death  of  Esdras  and  Nehemias.  And  Calmet, 
discussing  the  passage  in  1  Paral.  iii.  19-24,  where  the 
descendants  of  Zorobabel  are  named,  is  forced  to  admit 
that  the  passage  could  not  have  been  written  by  Esdras.1 
The  Abbe  Loisy  holds  that  a  number  of  the  books  of  the 
Jewish  Canon  were  not  written  till  after  the  time  of  Esdras, 
and  hence  could  not  have  been  placed  on  the  Canon  by  him ; 
while  Protestant  critics  are  almost  unanimous  at  present 
in  dating  some  of  the  books  of  the  Jewish  Canon  long  after 
the  death  of  Esdras.  Thus  Driver,  summing  up  the  evidence 

1  Comely,  indeed,  while  holding  that  the  Jewish  Canon  was  completed  in 
the  time  of  Esdras  and  Nehemias,  is  prepared  to  admit  that  these  passages 
may  be  interpolations  by  a  later  hand ;  but,  if  so,  then,  in  his  view,  they 
should  be  uncanonical,  and  in  that  case  we  believe  the  Jews  would  never  have 
admitted  them. 


The  Jewish  Canon  339 

drawn  from  the  language  of  the  Book  of  Daniel,  says  :  "The 
verdict  of  the  language  of  Daniel  is  thus  clear.  The  Persian 
words  presuppose  a  period  after  the  Persian  empire  had 
been  well  established ;  the  Greek  words  demand,  the  Hebrew 
supports,  and  the  Aramaic  permits,  a  date  after  the  conquest 
of  Palestine  by  Alexander  the  Great  (332  B.C.)."1 

Our  view,  therefore,  that  the  Canon  was  not  closed  by 
Esdras,  or  Nehemias,  his  contemporary,  but  by  the  Great 
Synagogue,  while  explaining  the  traditions  that  have 
clustered  round  the  name  ot  Esdras,  leaves  us  perfectly 
free  to  admit  that  some  of  the  books  may  have  been 
written  at  a  time  long  subsequent  to  his  death.  Nor  is 
this  view  without  a  foundation  in  Jewish  tradition.  In  the 
Babylonian  Gemara,  or  commentary,  contained  in  the 
Talmud,  several  books  of  the  Jewish  Canon  are  said  to 
have  been  written  by  the  men  of  the  Great  Synagogue;2  and 
though  we  cannot  accept  the  particulars  of  that  tradition, 
the  main  fact  is  probably  correct.  We  hold,  therefore,  that 
while  Esdras  took  an  important  part  in  enlarging  arid 
revising  the  Canon,  he  did  not  complete  it.  Nehemias 
continued  the  work,  and  added  his  own,  and  perhaps  other 
books,  as  may  be  inferred  from  2  Mace.  ii.  13,  where  we 
read,  that  *'  Nehemias  made  a  library,  and  gathered  together 
out  of  the  countries  the  Books  both  of  the  Prophets,  and  of 
David,  and  the  Epistles  of  the  Kings,  and  concerning  holy 
gifts."  Then  the  men  of  the  Great  Synagogue  finished  the 
work,  and  completed  the  Jewish  Canon.  If  this  view  is  the 
correct  one,  the  Jewish  Canon  was  completed  before  292  B.C., 
the  date  of  the  death  of  Simon  the  Just,  after  which  time 
no  book  was  ever  received  by  the  Palestinian  Jews.  Some 
rather  recent  Catholic  writers  in  Germany  (e.g.  Neteler 
and  Danko)  have  concluded  from  2  Mace.  ii.  14,  that  Judas 
Maccabaeus,  or  rather  Judas  the  Essene,  added  some  books 
to  the  Jewish  Canon  after  the  war  with  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
in  the  second  century  before  Christ.  But  all  that  is  stated 
in  that  passage  is,  that  Judas  collected  the  books  lost  during 


1  Driver,  Literature  of  the  Old  Tes'anent.  page  476. 

2  Baba  buthra,  fol.  Ub,  15. t. 


340  The  Jewish  Canon 

the  war;  there  is  not  the  slightest  reason  in  the  text  for 
supposing  he  added  any  new  books. 

Less  probable,  still,  is  the  view  of  those  who  hold  that 
the  Jewish  Canon  was  fluctuating  and  undetermined  as  to 
its  contents,  so  late  as  the  time  of  Christ.1     When  our  Lord 
says  to  the  Jews  :  "  Search  (or  you  search)  the  Scriptures, 
for  you  think  in  them  to  have  life  everlasting  ;  and  the  same 
are   they  that  give  testimony  of  Me "  (John  v.  39),  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  He  refers  to  a  definite  and  determined 
collection,  which  they  were   accustomed   to   read.     In  like 
manner,  when  He  told  the   two   disciples   on   the  way   to 
Emmaus  :  "  These  are   the   words   which  I   spoke   to  you 
while   I  was  yet  with  you,  that  all  things   must  needs  be 
fulfilled  that   are  written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  the 
Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms  concerning  Me"  (Luke  xxiv.  44), 
we  feel  sure  that  He  refers  to  a  definite  collection  of  writings. 
And  this  view  is    strikingly   borne    out  by  the  testimony 
of  Josephus,  writing  in   the  first  century  after  Christ,  who 
tells  us  that  the  Jews  had  not  an  innumerable  number  of 
books   contradicting  each  other,  but  only  twenty-two  books 
embracing    the    history    of    all     past    time,    and    rightly 
believed  to  be  divine.2     And  it  would  seem  that  the  same 
definite  collection  referred  to  by  our  Lord  and   Josephus, 
was  already  in  existence  when  the  Book  of  Ecclesiasticus 
was  translated  into  Greek,  at  the  latest  about  131  B.C.     For 
the  translator,  in  his  preface,  refers  three  different  times 
to  "  the  Law,  and  the  Prophets,  and  the  other  books  that 
were  delivered  to  us  from  our  fathers"  without  deeming  any 
explanation  necessary  as   to  what  books  he  means.     The 
Jewish  Canon,  then,  must  have  been  definitely  settled  long 
before  the  time  of  Christ ;  and  as  we  have  endeavoured  to 
show,  it  was  probably  completed  by  the  Great  Synagogue 
before  292  B.C.3 

1  See,  for  instance,   Catholic  Dictionary,  article   "Canon;"  and  Davidson, 
The  Canon  of  the  Bible,  page  34. 

2  "Apudnos  nequaquam  innumerabilis  est  librorum  multitude  dissentientitim 
et  inter  se  pugnantium.  sed  viginti  duo  dumtaxat  libri  totius  praeteriti  temporis 
historiam     complectentes,     qui    merito     creduntur    divini.'' — Joseph.,     contra 
Appion,  i.  8. 

3  The   fact  that  a  few  Rabbins   after  the   time  of  Christ   questioned  the 
inspiration  of  some  of  the  books,  need  hardly  surprise  us.  when  we  remember 
how  often  the  contents  of  the  Christian  Bible  have  been  challenged  in  later  times. 


The  Jeivish  Canon  341 

Up  to  this  point  we  have  been  speaking  only  of  the 
Canon  that  was  received  by  the  Jews  of  Palestine.  It 
contained  only  what  are  called  the  Protocanonical  Books  of 
the  Old  Testament.  The  Deuterocanonical  Books  of  Tobias, 
Judith,  Wisdom,  Ecclesiasticus,  Baruch,  and  1  and  2 
Maccabees,  together  with  some  fragments  of  Esther  and 
Daniel  were  wanting,  as  they  are  now,  from  the  Jewish  and 
Protestant  Bibles.  We  proceed  now  to  inquire  whether 
this  was  the  only  Canon  of  Scripture  known  and  recognised 
before  the  time  of  Christ.  Jews  and  Protestants  reply  in 
the  affirmative,  and  the  former  receive  no  other  writings  as 
the  word  of  God,  while  the  latter  maintain  that  no  other 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  were  ever  received  before  the 
time  of  Christ,  or  admitted  by  Him  and  His  Apostles. 

It  must  be  carefully  borne  in  mind  here  that  the  canon- 
icity  of  the  Deuterocanonical  books  is  quite  independent  of 
the  question  whether  they  were  received  and  recognised  as 
inspired  before  the  time  of  Christ.  Protestants  cannot,  and 
do  not  deny  the  right  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles  to  place 
these  books  on  the  Canon ;  they  simply  contend  that  these 
books  were  never  received  before  the  time  of  Christ,  nor  by 
Christ  and  His  Apostles.  That  they  were  received  as 
inspired  by  Christ  and  the  Apostles,  all  Catholics  are  agreed ; 
but  we  shall  not  now  dwell  upon  the  point,  since  we  are  not 
treating  of  the  Canon  of  the  Christian  Church.  We  shall 
confine  ourselves  to  the  other  question,  whether  these  books 
were  ever  received  as  the  Word  of  God  before  the  Christian  era. 

On  this  question  various  views  have  been  held  by  Catholic 
writers  since  the  question  began  to  be  closely  examined 
more  than  three  centuries  ago.  Some,  like  Genebrard,  a 
French  Benedictine,  who  died  in  1597,  and  whose  opinion 
is  adopted  by  Vigoroux,1  hold  that  all  the  Jews,  whether 
Palestinian  or  Hellenistic,  received  the  Deuterocanonical 
books  for  more  than  a  century  before  Christ.  These  writers 
maintain  that  it  was  only  after  the  time  of  Christ  the 
Deutero  books  were  rejected,  probably  for  controversial 
reasons,  by  the  Jews  of  Palestine.  It  is  plain  from  what 
we  have  said  already  that  we  cannot  assent  to  this  view. 

1  Diet,  de  la  Bible,  art.  "Canon." 


342  The  Jewish  Canon 

We  believe  that  the  Jews  of  Palestine  never  received  these 
books  as  inspired.  We  readily  admit  that  they  held  them 
in  high  esteem,  and  may  have  regarded  them,  as  Josephus 
seems  to  imply,1  as  of  greater  authority  than  ordinary 
profane  writings ;  but  we  cannot  admit  that  they  ever 
received  them  as  inspired.  If  they  did,  for  what  reason  did 
they  afterwards  reject  them  ?  This  question  has  never  been 
satisfactorily  answered,  and,  in  our  opinion,  cannot  be.  If 
these  books  bore  special  testimony  to  the  Messianic  character 
of  our  Lord  or  to  the  divinity  of  the  Christian  Church,  the 
later  Jews  would  have  had  reason  to  reject  them  ;  but  it  is 
hardly  too  much  to  say  that  many  a  psalm  contains  more 
that  is  offensive  to  Judaism  than  all  the  Deutero  books  of 
the  Old  Testament  together.  We  cannot  admit,  therefore, 
that  the  Palestinian  Jews  ever  received  these  books ;  and 
hence  this  opinion  of  Genebrard,  and  those  who  think  with 
him,  seems  to  us  improbable. 

Another  view,  ably  defended  by  Ubaldi,  is,  that  the 
Deutero  books  were  never  received  as  inspired,  either  by 
Palestinian  or  Hellenistic  Jews  until  the  time  of  Christ. 
According  to  those  who  hold  this  view,  these  books  were 
read,  and  even  inserted  among  the  other  books  in  the  Bible 
of  the  Hellenistic  Jews,  but  they  were  never  admitted  as  of 
divine  authority,  till  accepted  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles. 
This  view  is  much  more  probable  than  the  preceding ;  but, 
for  reasons  that  we  shall  indicate  immediately,  we  cannot 
accept  it. 

The  third  and  most  probable  view  is,  that,  besides  the 
Canon  of  the  Palestinian  Jews,  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
contained  only  the  Protocanonical  books,  there  was  another 
and  more  extensive  Canon  among  the  Hellenistic  Jews, 
which  contained  in  addition  all  the  Deuterocanonical 
books  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  great  argument  for  this 
view  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  Hellenistic  Jews  used  the 
Septuagint  in  which  all  the  Deuterocanonical  books  were 
found,  not  merely  relegated  to  an  appendix,  but  inserted 
among  the  other  books,  as  if  possessing  equal  authority. 

1  Against  App.,  i.  8. 


The  Jewish  Canon  343 

The  significance  of  such  an  arrangement  of  Proto-  and 
Deuterocanonical  books  is  certainly  great,  especially  when 
we  bear  in  mind  how  intensely  the  Jews  reverenced  their 
Scriptures,  and  how  unlikely,  therefore,  it  is  that  they 
would  mix  up  with  them  any  writings  not  recognised  as 
of  equal  authority.  As  to  the  fact  that  the  early  Greek  Bible 
contained  the  Deuterocanonical  books  thus  inserted  among 
the  Protocanonical,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  In  the  earliest 
manuscripts  of  the  Septuagint,  that  have  been  preserved  to 
us,  this  is  the  case.  The  Vatican  manuscript,  which  is 
commonly  held  to  date  from  the  fourth  century,  has  Judith 
and  Tobias  between  Esther  and  Osee,  Wisdom  and  Eccle- 
siasticus  between  Job  and  Esther,  and  Baruch  between 
Jeremias  and  Lamentations.1 

In  like  manner,  though  according  to  different  arrange- 
ments, these  books  are  found  interspersed  among  the  proto- 
canonical  in  the  Codex  Sinaiticus^  also  a  fourth  century 
manuscript,  and  in  the  Codex  Alexandrinus,  which  dates  at 
least  from  the  fifth  century.  And  we  have  incontestable 
evidence  that  at  a  much  earlier  period  still  this  arrangement 
of  the  books  existed  in  the  Greek  Bible.  For  the  Vetus 
Itala  or  old  Latin  translation,  which  was  made  from  the 
Greek,  contains  the  Deuterocanonical  books  interspersed  in 
the  same  way  among  the  Protocanonical.  Now  this  old 
Latin  translation  is  said  by  some  to  have  been  made  by  a 
disciple  of  the  Apostles,  and  at  all  events  it  is  not  later 
than  the  end  of  the  first,  or  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century  of  the  Christian  era  ;  so  that  we  have  unquestionable 
evidence  that  at  that  early  period  the  Deuterocanonical 
books  stood  side  by  side,  apparently  on  an  equal  footing 
with  the  Protocanonical  books  in  the  Gresk  Bible.  But  we 
need  not  dwell  longer  on  this  point,  as  it  is  generally 
admitted,  even  by  Protestants,  that  the  Greek  Bible  for 
more  than  a  century  before  Christ  contained  the  Deutero- 
canonical books  interspersed  among  the  Protocanonical. 
Hence  Davidson,  an  English  Protestant  writer  of  repute, 
in  a  work  published  in  1877,  says  :  "  The  identity  of  the 

1  As  the  end  of  the  manuscript  is  lost,  we  do  not  know  what  position  the 
Books  of  Maccabees  held  in  it. 


344  The  Jewish  Canon 

Palestinian  and  Alexandrian  Canons  must  be  abandoned 
.  .  .  The  very  way  in  which  apocryphal  (so  he  calls 
Deuterocanonical)  are  inserted  among  canonical  books  in 
the  Alexandrian  Canon  shows  the  equal  rank  assigned  to 
both."1 

The  Deuterocanonical  Books,  then,  were  received  by  the 
Hellenistic  Jews,  and  the  Greek  Bible  of  these  Jews  was 
used  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles.  Nor  were  the  first 
Christians  ever  warned  against  the  Deuterocanonical  Books ; 
on  the  contrary,  the  Bible  containing  these  Books  was 
handed  on  to  them  with  apostolic  approval,  and  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  make  numerous  allusions  to  them.2 
From  all  that  has  been  said,  we  are,  surely,  justified  in 
concluding  that  the  Alexandrians  or  Hellenistic  Jews  had  a 
different  Canon  from  the  Palestinian ;  that  their  Canon 
contained  our  Deuterocanonical  Books  which  are  now 
rejected  by  Protestants ;  and  that  these  Books  were  rightly 
received  by  the  Alexandrians  as  divine,  else  they  would 
never  have  been  approved  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles. 

We  have  traced  the  history  of  the  Canon,  first  among  the 
Jews  of  Palestine,  and  then  among  the  Hellenists,  and  it 
only  remains  to  say  a  word  regarding  the  authority  on  which 
the  various  books  were  received.  The  work  of  Moses  was, 
doubtless,  received  at  once  as  the  word  of  God  on  his  own 
authority ;  so,  too,  the  writings  of  many  of  the  prophets 
were  received  as  divine  writings,  probably  because  their 
authors,  whom  the  people  reverenced  and  believed,  declared 
them  to  be  such  ;  in  other  cases,  the  reception  of  the  books 
was  very  likely  the  expression  of  a  popular  consent,  through 
which,  as  in  regard  to  the  books  of  the  New  Testament, 
God  made  His  will  known.  We  cannot  say  how  it  was  that 
the  Alexandrian  Jews  were  led  to  receive  the  Deutero- 
canonical Scriptures ;  but  whatever  may  have  been  their 
reasons,  the  approbation  of  their  Canon  by  the  Apostles 
proves  that  the  Deuterocanonical  Books  were  rightly 
received  by  them  as  divine.  Amid  all  the  obscurity  that 


1  The  Canon  of  the  Bible,  pp.  68-70. 

2  See,  e.g.,  Corn,  i.,  sec.  32,  notes  3  and 


Theological  Notes  345 

hangs  around  the  growth  and  completion  of  the  Canon  of 
the  Old  Testament,  one  thing  cannot  fail  to  strike  the 
Christian  reader  as  a  singular  evidence  of  the  providence 
of  God,  and  a  special  motive  for  gratitude,  that  this  sacred 
legacy  of  God  to  man  has  been  handed  down  to  us  in  its 
integrity  through  so  many  centuries,  the  inspired  record 
of  God's  Church  in  the  past,  and  her  encouragement  and 
consolation  in  the  present. 

JOSEPH  MAcKoKY,  D.D. 


Gbeological  IRotes 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

ABSTINENCE    ON   BLACK  FAST   DAYS 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  painfully  aware  that  very  many 
conscientious  Catholics  are  most  exact,  if  not  scrupulous,  about 
the  observance  of  what  are  termed  the  black  fast  days  of  Lent. 
.  .  .  They  think — whether  as  a  consequence  of  the  rigid  discip- 
line of  the  ancient  Irish^Church,  or  of  the  teaching  of  over-exact 
priests — that  it  is  a  mortal  sin  to  use  milk  in  their  tea  in  the 
ordinary  way  ...  Is  it,  then,  a  mortal  sin  to  use  tea  coloured 
with  milk  on  the  black  fast  days  of  Lent  ?  .  .  .  My  own  opinion 
is  unquestionably  that  it  is  objectively  only  a  venial  sin,  even  in 
the  case  of  a  person  strictly  bound  to  the  Lenten  fast  and 
abstinence. 

A  SUBSCRIBER. 

We  quite  agree  with  our  correspondent  that  the  use  of  a 
little  milk  on  these  black  fast  days  is  not  a  mortal  sin.  We 
should  be  much  surprised  to  find  that  any  priest  differs  with 
him.  At  any  rate,  the  dispute  can  be  settled  by  an  appeal  to 
any  theological  treatise  de  jejunio.  The  obligation  on  these 
black  fast  days  is  nothing  more  than  the  general  obliga- 
tion which  formerly  extended  to  all  the  days  of  Lent, 
and  in  which  theologians  admitted  "  parvitas  inateriae " 
not  merely  in  regard  to  lactitinia,  but  even  in  regard  to 
flesh  meat. 

It  is  equally  evident  that  the  faithful  should  be  instructed 
in  this  and  like  matters,  whenever  there  is  danger  of  their 


346  Theological  Notes 

sinning,  or  sinning  more  grievously,  owing  to  a  false 
conscience :  "  Si  [confessarius],  notet  aliquid  haberi  a 
poenitente  pro  peccato  quod  non  est  peccatum  aut  pro 
mortale,  quod  veniale,  doceat  eum  venitatem,  ne  pergat 
peccare,  ex  conscientia  erronea."  1  The  catechist  or  the 
preacher  should  not  be  more  rigid  than  the  Church.  The 
confessor  should  not,  through  false  economy,  attempt  to 
secure  a  diminution  in  the  number  of  venial  sins,  at  the 
cost  of  even  one  mortal  sin. 

MAY  REGULARS  COMMUNICATE  THE  SICK  AT  THEIR  HOUSES  ? 
EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — May  regulars  in  the  diocese  of  Dublin, 
lawfully,  carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately  to  the  sick  in 
their  own  houses,  and  administer  Holy  Communion  to  them 
without  the  permission  of  the  parish  priest  ?  There  is  no  question 
of  administering  the  Viaticum  or  the  Paschal  Communion. 

A  DUBLIN  PRIEST. 

The  regulars  cannot,  we  think,  unless  in  virtue  of  a 
special  concession  from  the  Holy  See  or  from  the  Archbishop 
of  Dublin,  administer  communion  privately  to  the  sick  in 
their  houses.  It  is  due  to  our  correspondent  that  we  should, 
as  far  as  our  space  permits,  give  the  grounds  on  which  we 
base  our  opinion.  For  our  own  convenience,  we  extend 
somewhat  the  limits  of  his  question. 

It  is  evident  that  our  correspondent's  question  may  be 
raised,  not  merely  in  regard  to  the  members  of  religious 
orders,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  but  also  in  regard  to 
the  members  of  congregations  that  share  the  privileges  and 
restrictions  of  regulars  in  the  administration  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist.  For  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  shall,  like  our  corres- 
pondent, speak  only  of  regulars,  premising,  however,  that 
our  conclusions  apply  to  the  members  of  such  congregations 
as  well. 

We  must,  of  course,  be  understood  to  speak  throughout 

of  those  regulars  only,  who  have  not  the  Cura  Animarum; 

and  of  these  only  in  relation  to  seculars  not  subject  to  them. 

To  obviate  any  misapprehension,  we  are  also  bound  to 

1  Renter,  Neo- Confessarius.     Conf.  Lehmkuhl,  ii.  444. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  347 

state  that  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  what  special  and 
extraordinary  faculties  or  privileges  may  have  been  granted 
to  certain  orders,  or  to  certain  individuals,  by  the  Holy 
See,  or  by  bishops  for  their  own  dioceses.  Any  limita- 
tions, therefore,  that  we  place  on  the  powers  of  the  regulars, 
must  be  interpreted  subject  to  the  proviso  that  they  have 
obtained  no  special  concession  from  the  Holy  See,  or  from 
the  bishop  in  whose  diocese  they  minister. 

Now,  the  right  of  the  regular  clergy  to  carry  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  and  to  communicate  the  sick  in  their  houses, 
may  be  viewed  either — A.  in  regard  to  those  places  in 
which  the  solemnities  of  the  ritual  are  observed  in  carry- 
ing the  Blessed  Sacrament ;  or  B.  in  regard  to  countries 
like  this,  where  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  always  carried 
privately ;  or  finally,  C.  with  reference,  moreover,  to  the 
diocesan  faculties.  We  first  give  our  views  regarding  the 
faculties  of  regulars  in  this  matter  where  the  solemnities  of 
the  ritual  are  still  observed. 

A.  Where  the  solemnities  of  the  ritual  are  still  observed 
by  the  secular  clergy,  has  a  regular,  in  virtue  of  his  privileges 
and  independently  of  the  parish  priest,  a  right  to  communicate 
the  sick  in  their  houses,  1°  publicly,  or,  2°  privately? 
Before  replying  to  these  two  questions,  it  may  be  useful  to 
recall  a  few  points  about  which  no  doubt  can  be  raised. 

(a)  To  administer  communion  lawfully — in  a  church  or 
out  of  it — the  minister  requires  jurisdiction  over  the  person 
receiving.  Suarez  writes: — "  Non  esse  liberum  cuilibet 
sacerdoti  hoc  sacramentum  [i.e.,  Eucharistiam]  ministrare 
sed  solum  habenti  jurisdictionem  respectu  ejus  cui  illud 
administrat  vel  facultatem  ab  eo  qui  talem  jurisdictionem 
habet."  *  And  again: — "  Pascere  gregem  [hoc  Sacramento 
Eucharistiae]  non  est  manus  cujuscunque  sacerdotis  sed 
proprii  pastoris."  2 

(6)  The  common  law  of  the  Church  requires  that  com- 
munion be  taken  to  the  sick,  manifeste  atque  honorifice,  with 
the  solemnity  enjoined  in  the  ritual. 

(c)  Regulars,    as   such,   are   not    pastores  gregis ;    they 

1  De  F.uchar.,  Disp.  72,  Sect,  ii. 


348  Theological  Notes 

cannot,  therefore,  administer  Communion  anywhere  to 
persons  not  subject  to  them,  unless  by  virtue  of  delegation 
or  privilege  from  someone  who  has  himself  the  right  to 
administer  it. 

(d)  By  a  general  privilege  from  the  Holy  See,  regulars 
may  administer  Communion  in  their  oratories  throughout 
the  year,  Easter  Sunday  excepted.  On  the  other  hand, 
they  are  strictly  forbidden  to  administer  the  Viaticum 
or  the  Paschal  Communion  anywhere  to  seculars  not 
subject  to  them. 

A.  (1)  In  answer  to  the  first  question  put  above,  we  say, 
that  regulars  are  forbidden  to  communicate  the  sick  in  their 
houses  publicly,  because  they  are  forbidden  to  carry  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  manifeste  atque  honorifice  to  the  sick 
"  illud  ministerium  [publice  deferendi  S.  Eucharistiam  ad 
aegrotos]  non  comprehenditur  sub  generali  concessione 
[papali]  sed  requiritur  specialis  facultas  vel  Episcopi  vel 
parochi."1 

A.  (2)  But  can  regulars,  by  virtue  of  their  privileges, 
carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately  to  the  sick  ?  Have 
they  a  general  privilege  to  carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
privately  in  those  countries  in  which  the  solemnities  of  the 
ritual  are  still  obligatory  on  secular  priests  ?  Elbel2  contends 
that  they  have,  at  all  events,  with  the  consent  of  the  parish 
priest.  But,  to  us,  it  seems  clear  that  they  have  got  no  such 
privilege;  and  that  for  two  reasons — I.  because  regulars, 
like  seculars,  are  bound  by  the  Rubric  of  the  ritual ;  and 
II.  because  their  jurisdiction  to  dispense  the  Eucharist 
to  seculars  does  not  extend  to  the  administration  of  Holy 
Communion,  in  private  houses,  to  anyone,  ill  or  well. 
These  assertions  are  not  universally  admitted,  and  they 
require  some  proof.  We  take  them  in  order. 

I.  Now,  we  think,  that,  where  the  ritual  is  still  fully 
observed,  regulars,  as  such,  have  no  privilege  of  carrying 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately.  We  give  our  reasons. 

1.  The  decree  of  Innocent  XI.,  12th  February,  1679, 
leaves  no  doubt  about  the  law,  as  affecting  regulars,  in  his 

1  Suarez.  l>e  Virt.  ct  Stat.  Relig.,  lib.  9,  iii.  12. 

2  Theol.  Mor.  Sacram.     Conferen.  xiii.,  Cas.  I. 


Ansivers  to  Correspondents  349 

time.     It  is  worth  remarking,  however,  that  then,  as  now, 
the  matter  was  in  dispute.     The  decree  runs  as  follows  :— 

"  Cum  ad  aures  Sanctissimi  D.  N.  fide  dignorum  testimonium 
pervenerit  etiam  in  illius  [communionis]  administratione  aliquos 
abnsus  inolevisse  videlicet,  quod  aliqui,  non  in  ecclesia  sed  in 
privatis  oratoriis  et  domi  .  .  .  sumant  sacrosanctam  Eucharistiam 
quam  argentea  theca  inclusam  in  crumena  aut  secreto  illis 
deferunt  sacerdotes  saeculares  aut  regulares  .  .  .  Porro  Episcopi 
et  parochi  .  .  .  doceant  in  ecclesii  seu  oratoriis  privatis,  ex  dis- 
pensatione  seu  privilegio  Pontificis  de  manu  sacerdotes  sumendam 
sacratissimam  Eucharistiam  .  .  .  et  ad  eos  [infirmos],  si  ab 
ecclesia  deferatur  publice  et  cum  pompa  juxta  formam  Eitualis 
Eomani  ...  Si  parochi  et  confessarii  etiam  regulares,  aut  que- 
cumque  alii  sacerdotes  secus  egerint  sciant  Deo  Optimo  Maximo 
rationem  reddituros  esse,  neque  defuturam  Episcoporum  et 
Ordinariorum  justam  ac  rigorosam  animadversionem  in  contra- 
facientes,  etiam  regulares,  etiam  Societatis  Jesu  facultate  ipsis 
Episcopis  et  Ordinariis  per  hoc  Decretum  per  Sedem  Apostolicam 
specialiter  attributa."  x 

This  decree  not  merely  forbids  regulars  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  alleged  privilege  of  carrying  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  privately,  but  it  actually  gives  special  powers 
to  the  bishops  enabling  them  to  deal  with  regulars  who 
may  presume  to  do  so. 

2.  The  excommunication  of  Clement  V.  against  religious 
who  presumed  to  administer  Extreme  Unction  or  the 
Eucharist,  "non  habita  parochialis  presbyteri  licentia 
speciali,"  was  understood  to  include  any  communion  of  the 
sick,  whether  the  Blessed  Sacrament  was  taken  publicly  or 
privately  by  the  religious.  Here  are  the  words  of  Vasquez: 
"  Addo  autem  hanc  poenam  imponi  religiosis  sive  sacra- 
mentum  dispensent  in  necessitate  .  .  .  sive  extra  illam, 
sive  publico  sive  secreto  :  nam  verba  legis  generalia  sunt."  2 
And  Suarez  says :  "  Incurritur  haec  excommunicatio  si 
Eucharistia  detur  in  necessitate  per  modum  viatici  (ut 
aliqui  earn  limitant)  sed  in  universum  sive  in  necessitate 
sive  extra  illud  sive  publici  sive  occulti  ministretur."  3  So 
far,  therefore,  from  recognising  any  privilege  by  virtue  of 

1  rid.  apuciN.  R.  Theologique,  1873,  p.  373. 

2  De  Euchar.,  c.  iii.,  n.  33.    . 

3  De  Euchar.,  Disp.  72,  sect.  ii.     The  fact  that  this  excommunication  is  now 
con  siderably  modified,  does  not,  of  course,  let-sen  the  force  of  our  argument. 


350  Theological  Notes 

which  religious  might  carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately 
to  the  sick,  without  the  permission  of  the  parish  priest  or  his 
superiors,  Suarez  and  Vasquez  plainly  teach  that  the  exercise 
of  such  an  alleged  privilege  entailed,  in  their  time,  excom- 
munication. 

3.  If  we  weigh  authorities  in  this  matter,  we  are  led  to 
the  same  conclusion — that  regulars,  as  such,  enjoy  no  exemp- 
tion from  the  prescriptions  of  the  Rubric.  We  select  those 
theologians  who.  being  themselves  members  of  religious 
orders,  maybe  supposed  to  know,  and  to  claim,  the  privileges 
of  regulars.  And  yet  we  find  no  claim  made  for  this  privilege 
to  carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately.  Laymann,1 
Suarez,2  Vasquez,3  Lugo,4  Lacroix,5  Sporer,6  knew  nothing 
of  it ;  Ballerini,7  Gury,8  Aertnys,9  Sabetti,19  do  not  seem 
to  have  any  more  acquaintance  with  this  privilege  than 
their  predecessors.  Lehmkuhl,1  indeed,  seems  to  hesitate  : 
it  is,  however,  significant  that  while  he  appears  unwilling 
to  deny  this  privilege  to  the  regulars,  he  cautiously  abstains 
from  expressly  asserting  its  existence. 

It  is,  indeed,  true  that  many  theologians,  in  defining 
the  powers  of  regulars  as  regards  the  communion  of 
the  sick,  assert  that  it  is  not  lawful  for  regulars  to  carry 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  publicly,  publics  per  pla  teas,  to  the 
sick.  This  may  seem  strange  ;  they  seem  to  imply  that  the 
regulars  may  do  so  privately.  But  a  sufficient  explanation 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  theologians  naturally  had  before 
their  minds  the  public  procession  enjoined  in  the  Eubric,  and 
that  they  claimed  this  as  the  exclusive  right  of  the  parish 
priest.  Whatever  may  be  the  explanation  of  the  frequent 
occurrence  of  this  phrase,  it  is  quite  certain  that,  in  the  minds 
of  the  theologians,  it  did  not  imply  a  privilege  of  carrying  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  privately.  Take  Suarez,  for  example.12 
Suarez  held  that  regulars  had  the  privilege  of  communicating 
seculars,  not  merely  in  their  oratories,  but  in  any  place.  And 
in  discussing  the  question  when  regulars  may  use  their 

1  Lib,  v.,  tract  iv. ,  cap.  7.  7  Ballerini— Palmieri,  iv.,  p.  653. 

2  Loc.  cit.  8  ii.  290,  q.  2. 
8  Loc.  cit.  9  ii.  S3,  q.  4. 

4  Disp.  18,  n.  52,  10  No.  024. 

5  Lib.  H,  part  i.,  479.  1:L  ii.  134,  iii. 

6  Part  ii.,  c.  5,  sect.  i.  12  De  Statu.  Relig.,  lib.  ix.,  cap.  iii.  12. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  351 

privilege  extra  ecclesiam,  he  puts  to  himself  the  question 
"licebit  religoso  ex  vi  hujus  facultatis  deferre  publice 
Eucharistiae  Sacramentum  ad  aegrotos  [qui]  .  .  .  ob 
devotionem  communicant?"  He  answers  in  the  negative, 
and  then,  instead,  suggesting — as  we  might,  perhaps, 
expect  from  the  form  of  the  question — that  regulars  may 
carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately,  he  merely  gives 
the  case  in  which  a  religious  says  Mass  in  a  private  oratory, 
or  by  permission  of  the  bishop,  in  the  private  house.  When 
he  asserts,  therefore,  that  religious  may  not  convey  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  publice  per  plateas  to  the  sick,  whatever  else 
he  means,  he  does  not  intend  to  convey  that  they  may  do 
so  privately.  We  shall  give  one  other  example.  Aertnys * 
writes,  "  non  licet  defere  Eucharistiam  per  vias  et  plateas ;" 
yet  he  manifestly  does  not  imply  a  right  to  carry  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  privately.  He  denies  to  the  regulars 
any  such  privilege. 

To  our  mind  it  is  clear,  for  all  these  reasons,  that  under 
the  common  law  of  the  Church,  regulars  are  not  privileged 
to  carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately  to  the  sick.  This 
is  the  first  assertion  we  undertook  above  to  prove.  We 
denied,  moreover,  that  a  religious,  as  such,  has  the  necessary 
jurisdiction  to  administer  Communion  to  a  sick  person  in  his 
house.  In  other  words,  granted  that  a  religious  is  already 
in  the  house  of  a  sick  person,  and  that  he  has  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  with  him,  we  think  that  he  may  not 
lawfully  administer  Communion  without  the  permission  of 
the  parish  priest  or  the  bishop.  It  is  not  enough  that  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  has  been  lawfully  procured  ;  the  regular 
still  needs,  we  think,  jurisdiction  to  administer  it. 
II.  In  support  of  this  assertion,  we  say  :— 
1.  Theologians  have  commonly  recognised  that  the 
general  privilege  of  regulars  for  the  administration  of 
Communion  extends  only  to  their  own  oratories.  It  should 
be  sufficient  to  mention,  that  this  is  the  interpretation  put 
upon  the  privilege  by  St.  Alphonsus,2  Laymann,3  Lugo,4 
Benedict  XIV.,5  Sponer, 6  Bouix.7  We  may  cite  the  words 

1  ii.  83.  5  De  Syn.,  lib.  9,  cap.  16. 

2  JJeprivil.,  123-  6  De  JSuchar.,  cap.  5,  311. 

s  Lib.  v.,  tract  iv.  7.  7  De  Jure  Reg.,  torn.  2,  part  5,  Sec.  3, 

*  De  E'tchar.,  disp.  17,  31.  cap.  2,  quest.  9. 


352  Theological  Notes 

of  De  Lugo,  by  way  of  example ;  he  is  arguing  against  the 
opinion  of  certain  theologians  who  denied  the  necessity  of 
jurisdiction  for  the  administration  of  the  Eucharist.  He 
says  :  "  [Haec  opinio  est]  contra  omnes  prorsus  theologos 
et  contra  mentem  Pontincum  qui  religiosis  concedunt 
privilegia  ministradi  Eucharitiam  non  subditis  et  hoc  cum 
limitatione  scil.  in  proprius  solum  domibus."1  According, 
therefore,  to  the  teaching  of  De  Lugo,  and  these  other 
theologians,  a  religious,  who  says  Mass  in  the  house,  or 
even  in  the  private  oratory  of  a  secular,  or  who  in  any 
other  way  happens  to  have  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  a 
private  house,  cannot,  by  virtue  of  his  general  privilege, 
administer  Communion  in  that  house ;  he  has  got  no 
privileges,  and  no  jurisdiction  in  a  private  house. 

2.  But  the  Bull,  Magno,  of  Benedict  XIV.  seems  to 
us  to  establish  clearly  that  regulars,  even  though  they  have 
in  some  lawful  manner  procured  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  a 
private  house,  have  no  right  to  administer  Holy  Communion. 
Suarez,  as  we  have  already  said,  and  with  him  very  many 
theologians  had  held,  that  once  a  regular  had  permission 
to  celebrate  Mass  in  a  private  oratory,  or  in  a  private 
house,  he  could,  by  virtue  of  his  privileges,  administer 
Communion  to  anyone  assisting  there  at  Mass.  "  Obtenta 
facultate  ad  faciendum  sacrum  .  .  .  non  erit  necessaria 
specialis  licentia  ad  dandam  Eucharistiam  et  ex  vi 
privilegii  licebit."2  Now  Benedict  XIV.,  while  he  was 
still  Archbishop  of  Bologna,  forbade  any  priest  secular 
or  regular,  celebrating  in  a  private  oratory,  to  administer 
Communion,  unless  with  special  permission  from  the 
Ordinary  or  the  Vicar-General.  Afterwards,  when  he  had 
been  raised  to  the  papal  throne,  he  referred,  in  the  Bull 
above  cited,  to  his  previous  legislation,  and  extended  it  to  the 
whole  Church  :  "Ordinavimus  ne  in  private  oratorio  recipi 
Communio  posset  ab  iis  qui  in  eodem  Missae  inter  sunt 
quam  saecularis  vel  sacerdos  regularis  celebraret  nisi  vel 
nostrarn  vel  Generalis  Vicarii  nostri  licentiam  obtenuisset. 


1  De  £uchar,  xvii,  31. 

2  De  Virt.  et  Stat.  Relig.,  x.,  lib.  ix.,  cap.  iii.  12. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  353 

.  .  .  Neque  etiam  in  praesens  voluntas  Nobis,  aut  ratio  est, 
cur  ab  hoc  systemate  recedamus."  The  point  which  we 
wish  to  make  is,  that  Benedict  XIV.,  against  Suarez,  clearly 
implies  that  a  regular  has  no  general  privilege  by  virtue  of 
which  he  can  everywhere  lawfully  administer  Communion. 
If  he  enjoyed  such  a  general  privilege,  he  would  not  need 
special  permission  to  give  Communion  in  a  private  house  or 
oratory  in  which  he  lawfully  celebrates  ;  nor  could  he  have 
been  restricted  in  the  use  of  his  papal  privilege  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Bologna.  But  it  surely  is  manifest,  that,  if 
a  regular  cannot  give  Communion  in  these  circumstances, 
if  he  has  no  jurisdiction  to  do  so,  he  cannot  administer 
Communion  to  a  sick  person  in  his  house  when  he  brings 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately.  The  fact  that  he  brings 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  with  him  does  not  give  him 
jurisdiction. 

Lehmkuhl1  and  Haine2  clearly  seem  to  be  of  our  opinion 
on  this  point,  as  far  as  the  private  oratory  is  concerned. 
Lehmkuhl  says,  without  distinction  of  seculars  and  regulars, 
that,  unless  permission  is  given  in  the  papal  indult  erecting 
the  oratory,  special  permission  of  the  bishop  is  necessary  in 
order  to  give  Communion  there  lawfully.  In  the  very  same 
context,  he  might  seem  to  suggest  that  a  regular  may, 
relying  merely  on  his  privileges,  privately  carry  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  to  the  sick,  and  administer  it,  without  the  leave 
of  anybody.  That  a  regular,  lawfully  celebrating  in  the 
private  house  or  oratory  of  a  sick  person,  has  not  faculties 
to  administer  Communion  to  that  sick  person ;  but,  that 
the  same  regular,  bringing  the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately 
with  him,  has  faculties  to  administer  Communion  to  the 
same  person,  is  more  than  we  can  comprehend.  To  us, 
it  is  plain  that  the  regular  wants  jurisdiction  equally  in 
both  cases. 

We  think  we  have  now  shown  that,  for  two  reasons — 
either  of  which  would  be  sufficient — regulars  have  not  by 
virtue  of  their  privileges,  and  without  reference  to  the  parish 
priest  or  the  bishop,  the  right  to  communicate  the  sick 

1  ii.  134.  2  Tom.  iii.,  p.  44,  q.  40. 

VOL.  XVII.  Z 


354  Theological  Notes 

privately,  in  those  countries  in  which  solemnities  enjoined  by 
the  Eubric  are  still  observed. 

B.  The  question  remains  :  Does  the  fact  that  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  is  always  carried  privately  in  this  country  give 
the  regulars,  independently  of  their  diocesan  faculties,  and 
of  the  parish  priest's  permission,  the  privilege  in  question  ? 
Haine 1  answers  affirmatively.    He  writes  :  "  Ad  aegrotum 
fob  devotionem]  communicaturum  [regulares  ex  privilegio] 
Eucharistiam  deferre  potest,  si  agatur  de  iis  regionibus  in 
quibus    occulte    deferre   debet."     Lehmkuhl,    as    we   have 
already  said,  appears  to  insinuate,  without  openly  adopting, 
the  same  view.      He  writes  : 2    u  [Kegulares]  non  possunt 
sine  venia  Episcopi  aut  commissione  parochi  ad  aegrotos 
S.  Eucharistiam  (publice)  deferre."     It  is  evident  that  this 
teaching   of  Haine   (and   of  Lehmkuhl)   is   based  on  two 
assumptions :    first,    on    the    contention    of    Suarez,   that 
regulars  have  a  general  privilege  to  administer  Communion 
"  in   omni   loco    decenti,"    and    therefore    have,    even    in 
private   houses,  the  necessary  jurisdiction;  and,   secondly, 
that    regulars,    as    such,    without    any    special    faculties, 
have   a   right  to   carry  the   Blessed   Sacrament   privately. 
Neither  point   can,  we   think,  be   established.     The  truth 
of  both  is   necessary,   if    Haine's    opinion   holds   for   this 
country.     We  have  tried  to  prove  above  that  the  opinion  of 
Suarez  is  untenable  ;  it  is  against  the  opinion  of  De  Lugo, 
and  the  common  teaching  of  theologians  ;   it  is  decisively 
disproved,  on  the  admission  of  Lehmkuhl  himself,  by  the 
Bull  Magno  of  Benedict  XIV.     A  regular,  celebrating  in  a 
private  oratory  in  this  country,  cannot,  without  permission, 
administer   Communion.      His  jurisdiction   to   administer 
Communion,  as  we  have  said,  cannot  be  supplied,  in  this 
country   or    elsewhere,   by   merely   bringing    the    Blessed 
Sacrament  with  him. 

Nor,  can  it  be  contended  that  regulars  in  this  country 
enjoy  any  privileges  proper  to  them,  in  virtue  of  which  they 
can,  without  faculties  from  the  Ordinary,  carry  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  privately.  The  secular  clergy  require  a  dispen- 

iTom.  iii.,  p.  43.  2  Vol.  ii.,  n.  134. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  355 

sation  from  their  bishop.  Regulars,  it  seems  to  us,  equally 
require  a  dispensation.  Haine  appears  to  imply  the  the 
contrary.  But  he  gives  no  reason  for  his  opinion,  and  we 
have  failed  to  find  any. 

C.  Lastly,  we  inquire  whether  the  regulars  of  Dublin 
enjoy  the  privilege  in  question  in  virtue  of  their  diocesan 
faculties.  We  have  seen  a  copy  of  the  ordinary  faculties 
recently  granted  to  the  members  of  religious  orders  and 
congregations  in  the  diocese  of  Dublin.  Among  the  faculties 
granted  we  find: — "Deferendi  Sanctissimum  Sacramentum 
privatim  et  sine  lumine  ad  infirmos,  ubi  hoc  tibi  de  consensu 
eorum  quorum  interest,  licebit."  This  diocesan  faculty  gives 
regulars  permission  to  carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament  privately 
to  the  sick,  but  only  on  condition  that  they  obtain,  moreover, 
the  permission  of  the  parochial,  or  other  clergy  concerned. 
If,  therefore,  the  conclusions  we  have  arrived  at  above  be 
well  founded,  the  regulars  of  Dublin  have  no  right — whether 
from  their  general  privileges,  or  from  the  local  circumstances 
of  this  country,  or  from  their  diocesan  faculties — to  com- 
municate the  sick  in  their  houses  without  the  permission 
eorum  quorum  interest. 

We  may  remark,  in  conclusion,  that  the  granting  of  this 
diocesan  faculty,  and  especially  the  granting  of  it  with  the 
restrictive  clause  de  consensu  eorum  quorum  interest,  points  to 
the  truth  of  the  conclusion  which  we  have  above  endeavoured 
to  prove,  that  regulars  in  this  country  have  no  general 
privilege,  in  virtue  of  which  they  may  carry  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  privately  to  the  sick,  and  administer  Commu- 
nion. If  all  regulars  enjoy  such  a  privilege,  then,  unless 
in  the  case  of  the  Viaticum,  the  restrictive  clause  is 
inoperative,  and  the  grant  itself  unnecessary. 

D.  MANNIX. 


[     356     ] 


XitutQfcal  Wotes1 

THE   MASS   TO  BE    SAID   BY  EXTEEN   PEIESTS   IN   CHURCHES 
AND   PUBLIC   OEATOEIES 

A  DECEEE  Urbis  et  Orbis  on  the  above  subject  has  recently 
been  issued  by  the  Congregation  of  Kites,  and  the  changes 
which  it  introduces  in  the  rules  hitherto  laid  down  are  so 
momentous  and  far-reaching,  that  we  hasten  to  point  them 
out  to  our  readers.  In  the  past  the  general  rule  was  that, 
on  days  of  double  or  equivalent  rite,  a  priest's  Mass  should 
correspond  with  his  office,  no  matter  where  he  might 
celebrate.  To  this  general  rule  some  exceptions  were 
admitted  in  case  a  priest  had  to  celebrate  in  a  church 
or  public  oratory  in  which  the  office  differed  from  bis 
own.  We  will  enumerate  a  few  of  these  exceptions,  in 
order  to  bring  out  more  clearly,  by  way  of  contrast,  the 
full  bearing  of  this  new  decree. 

(a)  When  a  priest,  whether  secular  or  regular,  supplied 
the  place  of  a  parish  priest,  or  other  priest  attached  to  a 
church,  he  was  obliged,  in  all  public  Masses  to  celebrate 
according  to  the  calendar  of  the  Church. 

(b)  Chaplins,  and  confessors  of  nuns  bound  to  the  choral 
recitation   of  the  Divine   Office,  when   celebrating   in  the 
community   chapel,  were   always  permitted,  and   in   some 
cases  obliged,  to  say  the  Mass  corresponding  with  the  office 
recited  by  the  nuns. 

(c)  When   in   the   church,  in  which  a  priest  wished  to 
celebrate,  was  being  solemnized  a  local  feast,  on  account  of 
which  a  considerable  number  of  people  nocked  to  the  church 
to  hear  Mass,  he  was  bound  to  say  the  Mass  of  the  church. 

(d)  When,  on  a  day  of  double  or  equivalent  rite,  the 
colour  required  by  the  office  of  the  church  was  different 
from  that  required  by  the  celebrant's  office,  he  was  obliged 
to  conform  to  the  office  of  the  church,  in  order  to  preserve 
uniformity  of  colour. 

(e)  A  priest,  whether  secular  or  regular,  celebrating  in  a 

1  In  our  contribution  of  last  month  an  obvious  misprint  occurs  on  page  253, 
line  2  from  the  top,.  "  Five  years  and  as  many  quarantines,"  should  be  "  One 
hundred  years  and  as  many  quarantines," 


Liturgical  Notes  357 

church  in  which  the  feast  was  of  a  beatified,  might  not, 
without  a  special  privilege,  celebrate  the  Mass  of  the  feast. 
From  this,  and  the  preceding  rule,  the  curious  consequence 
followed,  that  a  priest  might  sometimes  be  prohibited,  by 
the  rubrical  laws  alone,  from  celebrating  in  a  particular 
church.  For  ex  hypothesi  he  could  not  say  the  Mass  of  the 
beatified,  and  if  the  feast  of  the  beatified  were  of  double  rite, 
and  required  vestments  of  a  different  colour  from  those 
required  by  the  office  of  the  priest,  he  could  not  say  his 
own  Mass,  while  the  rite  of  the  feast  celebrated  in  the 
church  would  prevent  him  from  saying  a  votive  Mass 
requiring  the  same  colour  as  the  feast  of  the  church.  Hence 
in  the  circumstances  he  should  go  elsewhere. 

(/)  In  no  case  might  any  secular  priest  use  the  proper 
missal  of  a  religious  order,  or  any  regular,  a  missal  proper 
to  a  religious  order  other  than  his  own. 

Although,  in  enumerating  these  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule  regarding  the  conformity  of  a  priest's  Mass  with  his 
office,  we  have  abstained  from  details,  we  have  said  enough 
to  show  that  it  was  sometimes  difficult  for  a  priest  to  know 
what  Mass  to  say,  and  even  sometimes  impossible  for  him 
to  say  any  Mass  at  all  in  a  particular  church.  The  numerous 
special  offices  of  both  saints  and  beatified  which  have  been 
granted  in  recent  years  to  religious  orders,  to  particular 
dioceses,  and  even  to  single  churches,  have  served  to  increase 
the  difficulties  and  inconveniences  attending  the  observance 
of  the  established  rules.  Hence  the  Congregation  of  Rites 
fearing  "  that  the  observance  of  these  rules  might  become 
almost  impossible,"  issued  this  new  decree  which  lays  down 
one  clear,  concise,  and  easily-remembered  rule,  admitting  of 
no  exception.  The  old  rule,  which,  however,  as  we  have 
seen  admitted  several  exceptions,  was,  that  a  priest  cele- 
brating Mass  in  a  church  or  public  oratory  in  which  the 
office  differed  from  his  own,  should  say  the  Mass  corres- 
ponding to  his  own  office,  and  take  no  notice  whatsoever  of 
the  office  of  the  church  or  oratory.  The  new  rule,  which 
admits  no  exception,  states  the  very  contrary  of  this,  viz. : — 
that  a  priest,  whether  secular  or  regular,  saying  Mass  in  a 
church  or  public  oratory,  the  office  of  which  differs  from  his 


358  Liturgical  Notes 

own,  is  to  say  the  Mass  Corresponding  to  the  office  of  the 
church  or  oratory,  and  take  no  notice  whatsoever  of  his  own 
office.  Here  are  the  words  of  the  decree  which  establish 
this  new  rule  : — 

"  Omnes  et  singuli  sacerdotes  tarn  saeculares  quam  Eegulares 
ad  ecclesiam  confluentes  vel  ad  oratorium  publicum,  missas  quum 
sanctorum,  turn  Beatorum.  etsi  Eegularium  proprias,  omnino 
celebrant  officio  ejusdem  ecclesiae  vel  oratorii  conformes  sive  illae 
in  Eomano  sive  in  Eegularium  missali  contineantur,  exclusis 
tamen  peculiaribus  ritibus  Ordinum  propriis. 

"Si  vero  in  dicta  ecclesia  vel  oratorio  Officium  ritus  duplici 
inferioris  agatur  unicuique  ex  sacerdotibus  liberum  sit  missam  de 
requie  peragere,  vel  votivam,  vel  etiam  de  occurenti  feria;  iis 
tamen  exceptis  diebus  in  quibus  Eubricae  Missalis  Eomani  vel 
S.  E.  C.  decreta  prohibent.'' 

The  briefest  way  to  state  the  effects  of  this  new 
legislation  is  to  say  that  the  calendar  of  a  church  or  public 
oratory  becomes  the  only  calendar — the  Ordo  unice  servandus 
— for  every  priest,  whether  secular  or  regular,  celebrating 
Mass  in  such  church  or  public  oratory. 

The  decree,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  extract  here  given, 
distinguishes  between  the  case  in  which  the  office  of  the 
church  is  of  double  or  equivalent  rite,  and  that  in  which  it 
is  of  a  rite  lower  than  this.  We,  too,  will  observe  this 
distinction  in  pointing  out  some  of  the  practical  con- 
sequences of  this  new  rule. 

First,  then,  when  the  office  of  the  church  or  public 
oratory  is  of  double  or  equivalent  rite — (a)  all  priests,  whether 
secular  or  regular,  celebrating  therein  are  to  be  guided 
entirely  by  the  calendar  of  that  church  or  oratory.  The 
obligation  of  following  their  own  calendar  is  suspended  for 
the  time,  or  rather,  the  obligation  is  transferred  to  the 
calendar  of  the  church. 

(b)  The  calendar  of  the  church  is  to  be  followed  not 
merely  in  the  selection  of  the  Mass  to  be  celebrated — which 
must,  of  course,  be  the  one  prescribed  for  that  day — but  also 
in  the  manner  of  celebrating  it.  Those  commemorations, 
and  only  those,  prescribed  by  this  calendar  are  to  be  made. 
The  celebrant  is  not  at  liberty  to  make  a  commemoration  of 
his  own  office,  nor  of  an  octave  he  may  be  celebrating,  nor  of 


Liturgical  Notes  359 

a  vigil,  nor  of  a  feria,  unless  such  commemoration  be  among 
those  prescribed  by  the  calendar  of  the  church  in  which  he 
celebrates.  Hence  not  only  the  Mass  itself,  but  the  number 
and  quality  of  the  prayers,  the  introduction  or  exclusion  of 
the  Gloria  or  Credo,  the  Preface — in  a  word,  every  part  of 
the  Mass  is  to  be  said  as  indicated,  either  explicitly  or 
implicitly  in  the  calendar  of  the  church, 

(c)  The  above  rules  hold  whatever  be  the  rite  or  dignity 
enjoyed  by  the  office  of  the  celebrant.    Though  his  office  be  a 
double  of  the  first  or  second  class,  and  that  of  the  church  but 
a  simple  double,  he  must  conform  to  the  office  of  the  church, 
and  not  even  make  a  commemoration  of  his  own  office. 

(d)  These  rules  also  hold,  as  is  expressly  stated  in  the 
decree,  even  when  the  office  of  the  church  is   of  a  beatified. 
In  every  respect,  then,  both  as  to  the  quality  and  rite  of  the 
feasts,  the  calendar  of  the  church  is  to  be  followed. 

(e)  Finally — most  revolutionary  change  of  all — all  priests, 
whether   secular   or  regular,  may,   when   celebrating   in  a 
church  or  oratory  belonging  to  a  religious   order,   use  the 
proper  Missal  of  this  Order,  and  must  use  it  when  it  contains 
a  proper  Mass   of  the  feast,  not  contained  in  the  Roman 
Missal.     In  no  case,  however,  are  the  rites  peculiar  to  some 
of    the    orders   to    be   observed  unless   by  the    respective 
members  of  these  orders. 

Secondly,  when  the  office  of  the  church  or  public  oratory 
is  of  a  rite  lower  than  double,  and  at  the  same  time  does 
not  belong  to  that  class  of  offices,  which  though  of  lower 
than  double  rite  exclude  votive  Masses,  &c.,  the  celebrant  is 
free  to  say  either  the  Mass  of  the  church,  a  votive  Mass, 
a  requiem  Mass,  the  Mass  of  the  occurring  feria,  or  the 
Mass  corresponding  to  his  own  office.  According  to  the  old 
rules,  if  the  celebrant's  office  were  of  double  rite,  even  though 
that  of  the  church  were  semidouble,  he  could  not  say  a 
votive  or  requiem  Mass.  This  is  now  changed  consistently 
with  what  we  have  already  so  often  repeated,  that  the 
calendar  of  the  church  becomes  the  calendar  of  the  celebrant. 
Hence  no  matter  of  what  rite  the  celebrant's  own  office 
may  be,  he  is  as  free  in  the  circumstances  we  are  now 


360  Liturgical  Notes 

contemplating,  to  say  a  requiem  or  votive  Mass,  as  he  would 
be  on  an  ordinary  semi  double  in  his  own  church.  But  if  the 
celebrant  in  these  circumstances  chooses  to  say  the  Mass 
corresponding  to  his  own  office,  can  he  say  it  as  his  own 
calendar  indicates,  that  is,  with  Gloria,  only  one  prayer  (if  of 
double  rite),  Credo,  if  the  quality  of  the  office  requires  it,  &c., 
or  must  he  say  it  as  a  votive  Mass,  without  either  Gloria 
or  Credo,  and  with  at  least  three  prayers?  This  is  an 
interesting  question,  and  one  which  awaits  decision.  For 
our  own  part,  we  believe  that  he  should  say  it  as  a  votive 
Mass  ;  for  it  is  not  the  Mass  prescribed  for  that  day  by  the 
calendar  of  the  church  in  which  he  celebrates  ;  that  calendar 
is  his  calendar  as  far  as  Mass  is  concerned ;  and  when  a 
priest  says  a  Mass  not  in  conformity  with  his  calendar  he 
must  say  it  as  a  votive  Mass. 

By  this  decree  public  oratories  and  churches  are  placed 
on  precisely  the  same  footing,  and  priests  celebrating  in  one 
or  the  other  are  bound  to  conform  to  the  calendar  of  the 
place  wherein  they  celebrate.  Everyone  knows  what  is  meant 
by  a  church,  but  not  everyone  what  is  meant  by  a  public 
oratory.  Instead  of  giving  a  definition  of  a  public  oratory,  we 
will  give  examples  of  oratories  that  are  regarded  as  public  so 
far  as  this  and  similar  decrees  are  concerned.  Such  are  the 
chapels  of  convents,  boarding-schools,  orphanages,  hospi- 
tals, &c.,  which,  though  not  open  to  the  public  at  large,  are 
not,  on  the  other  hand,  intended  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
members  of  a  single  family,  as  private  oratories  are.  In  all 
such  chapels  or  oratories,  then,  the  proper  calendar,  in  so  far 
as  one  exists,  must  be  followed  by  all  priests  celebrating  Mass 
therein.  But  is  there  a  proper  calendar  for  such  chapels 
or  oratories  ?  In  answering  this  question  we  shall  confine 
our  attention  to  the  chapels  of  religious  communities,  both 
because  most  of  the  chapels  which  we  here  treat  as  public 
oratories  belong  to  religious  communities,  and  because  what 
is  said  of  the  chapels  of  religious  communities  will  apply  to 
all  similar  chapels. 

We  begin  with  a  distinction.  Either  the  religious 
community  is  obliged  to  recite  the  Divine  Office,  or  it  is  not. 
If  it  is  obliged  to  recite  the  Divine  Office,  then  all  priests 


Liturgical  Notes  361 

celebrating  Mass  in  any  chapel  or  oratory  pertaining  to  this 
community  must  celebrate  according  to  the  special  calendar 
followed  by  the  community.  >  To  this  class  belong  the  Sisters 
of  the  Assumption,  and  some  convents  of  the  Sisters  of 
St.  Dominic.  In  the  past  as  will  be  seen  by  referring  to  the 
old  rules  regulating  the  celebration  of  Mass  in  alienaecclesia, 
the  chaplain  and  confessor  to  such  a  community,  when 
celebrating  in  the  community  chapel,  were  permitted  to 
follow  the  community  calendar  ;  now,  not  only  the  chaplain 
and  confessor,  but  every  priest  celebrating  in  the  chapel  of 
such  a  community,  is  bound  to  follow  this  calendar. 

When  the  community,  like  most  modern  communities,  is 
not  bound  to  the  recitation  of  the  Divine  Office,  another 
distinction  is  necessary.  For  in  some  congregations  and 
communities  the  calendar  may  be  precisely  the  same  as  the 
calendar  of  the  diocese  in  which  the  house  is  situated,  or 
additions  may  be  made  to  the  diocesan  calendar  either  by 
introducing  additional  feasts,  or  by  raising  the  rite  of  existing 
feasts,  or  by  granting  octaves  to  feasts  which  have  no  octaves 
in  the  diocesan  calendar.  In  the  first  case,  that  is,  when  the 
calendar  of  the  community  is  precisely  the  same  as  the 
diocesan  calendar,  there  is  no  difficulty ;  for  all  priests,  from 
whatever  diocese  they  come,  celebrating  in  a  chapel  of  such 
a  community  follow  on  all  days  in  the  year  the  calendar  of 
the  diocese  in  which  the  chapel  is  situated.  But  religious 
congregations,  and  even  single  communities  have  sometimes 
the  privilege  of  celebrating  special  feasts,  not  contained  in 
the  diocesan  calendar,  or  rather,  the  privilege  of  having 
celebrated  in  their  chapels  the  masses  of  certain  feasts  not 
contained  in  the  diocesan  calendar.  For  example,  con- 
gregations and  single  communities  of  nuns  sometimes  ask 
for  and  obtain  the  privilege  of  having  celebrated  in  their 
chapels  the  Masses  of  the  saints  of  a  particular  religious 
Order,  on  the  days  on  which  the  feasts  of  these  saints  are 
celebrated  by  the  priests  of  that  order.1  In  the  past  this 

1  Thus,  for  example,  some  communities  of  Dominican  nuns,  not  bound  to 
the  recitation  of  the  Divine  Office,  have  obtained  the  privilege  of  having  the 
masses  of  the  Saints  of  the  Dominican  Order  celebrated  in  their  chapels  on  the 
same  days,  and  under  the  same  rite,  as  they  are  celebrated  in  the  churches  of  the 
Dominican  Fathers. 


362  Liturgical  Notes 

privilege  granted  to  the  nuns  imposed  no  obligation  either 
on  the  chaplain,  or  any  priest  celebrating  in  convent  chapel. 
This  is  now  changed.  All  priests  whether  secular  or  regular 
celebrating  in  the  chapel  of  a  convent  such  as  we  are  now 
considering,  on  one  of  these  feast  days  special  to  the  convent, 
must  celebrate  the  Mass  of  that  feast,  according  to  the 
calendar  in  which  the  feast  is  contained.  Hence  before 
celebrating  Mass  in  a  convent  of  this  kind  one  should 
consult  the  calendar  in  which  the  special  feasts  are  mentioned, 
to  see  whether  one  of  them  occurs  on  that  day.  If  one  does 
occur,  he  says  Mass  according  to  the  calendar ;  if  one  does 
not  occur,  he  says  Mass  according  to  the  calendar  of  the 
diocese  in  which  the  convent  is  situated.  Should  any  of 
these  special  feasts  be  celebrated  with  an  octave,  the  Mass  in 
the  convent  chapel  is  to  be  regulated  according  to  the  rules, 
which  will  be  explained  immediately. 

Feasts  are  rarely  raised  for  particular  congregations 
or  communities  to  a  higher  rite  than  that  which  they 
enjoy  in  the  general  calendar,  without  at  the  same  time 
being  granted  the  privilege  of  an  octave.  Hence  we  may 
treat  together  the  two  remaining  cases  of  additions  being 
made  to  the  diocesan  or  general  calendar  in  favour  of 
religious,  merely  remarking  that  if  the  rite  be  raised 
without  the  concession  of  an  octave,  the  priest,  while 
bound  to  celebrate  the  Mass  of  the  feast,  must  infer 
from  the  rite  to  which  it  has  been  raised  the  details 
to  be  observed  in  celebrating.  "When  one  of  these  feasts 
is  celebrated  with  an  octave,  the  first  glance  will  detect 
an  apparent  difficulty.  For  it  would  appear  that  in 
this  case  the  special  calendar  should  mark  de  infra  Oct,  as 
the  Mass  to  be  celebrated  on  each  day  between  the  feast 
day  and  the  eighth  day.  But  when  it  is  remembered,  that 
the  diocesan  calendar  is  also  the  calendar  of  this  chapel,  the 
difficulty  disappears.  For  within  the  octave  the  diocesan 
calendar  is  to  be  combined  with  the  special  calendar ;  the 
former  is  to  be  followed  on  doubles  and  semidoubles,  and 
the  latter  commemorated,  unless  on  doubles  of  the  first  and 
second  class.  On  the  octave  day  itself,  the  special  calendar 
is  to  be  followed,  unless  in  the  diocesan  calendar,  a  feast  or 


Correspondence  363 

office  occurs  which  exclude  the  office  of  an  octave  day, 
such  are  feasts  of  first  and  second  class  rite,  the  office  of 
greater  Sundays,  &C.1 

D.  O'LoAN. 


(Eortespon&ence 

THE    SIBYL   IN   THE    DIES  IRJE 

REV.  DEAR  SIR, — The  learned  Rev.  Fr.  E.  B.  Fitzmaurice, 
0.  S.  F.,  in  the  February  number  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD  took  the 
trouble  of  noticing  a  statement  of  mine  in  the  January  number, 
under  the  above  heading.  In  hurrying  on  to  deal  with  the  Sibyl 
in  the  Dies  Ires,  I  observed  in  passing  that  this  sequence  was 
probably  written  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century.  My  precise 
words  were : — "Its  [Dies  Ira]  reputed  author  was  Cardinal  Ursinus 
or  Frangipani,  a  Dominican,  who  died  in  the  year  1291." 

In  reference  to  this  statement  my  friendly  critic  thus  writes :  — 

"  There  is  evidently  here  a  slip  of  the  pen.  Cardinal  Latino 
Orsini  must  be  meant,  as  the  Orsini  and  Frangipani  are  quite 
distinct  families  in  Italy  ;  and  the  authorship  of  the  Dies  Irce  does 
not  ever  seem  to  have  been  ascribed  to  any  member  of  the 
illustrious  house  of  Frangipani." 

Now,  I  beg  to  submit  evidence  of  there  having  been  no  slip 
on  my  part.  There  is,  indeed,  an  error,  however  happening,  in  the 
date  1291,  which  Fr.  Fitzmaurice  twice  copies ;  the  date  should 
be  1294.  But  if  he  read  Benedict  XIV.,  with  his  own  eyes,  at 
least  carefully,  to  whom  he  refers,  Fr.  Fitzmaurice  would  have 
avoided  the  errors  in  date,  and  have  spared  his  remarks  on  the 
Frangipani.  The  illustrious  Pontiff  in  his  de  Sacrificio  Missae, 
lib.  2,  ch.  5,  No.  18,  devotes  only  a  single  paragraph  to  the  Dies  Ira 
from  which  I  take  the  following  extract : — 

"  Denique  est  Dies  Ira,  Dies  ilia  in  Missa  Defunctorum  quam 
scripsisse  existimatur  Latinus  Cardinalis  Ursinus  seu  Frangipanis 
Ordinis  Praedicatorum,  qui  mortuus  est  anno  1294." 

Now  this  quotation,  while  literally  bearing  out  my  statement, 
directly  contradicts  its  criticism  by  Father  Fitzmaurice.  The 

1  The  Ursuline  nuns  in  every  part  of  the  world  have  the  privilege  of  having 
the  feasts  of  St.  Angela,  St.  Augustine,  and  St.  Ursula  celebrated  as  doubles  of 
the  first  class,  with  an  octave.  This  privilege  was  granted  in  1884  by  the  S.  C. 
of  Rites.  A  similar  privilege  was  granted  by  the  same  Congregation  in  1877  to 
the  Presentation  nuns  in  Ireland  with  regard  to  their  patronal  feast. 


364  Documents 

author  from  whom  this  quotation  is  taken  could  not  have  been 
influenced  by  family  or  religious  bias,  as,  unlike  most  of  the 
witnesses  of  any  weight  on  the  other  side,  he  was  a  secular ;  he 
was  a  Bolognese  who  lived  and  died  in  Italy,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  learned  pontiffs  that  ever  filled  the  Papal  Chair.  He  ought 
to  know  more  than  most  others  about  the  Frangipani  families  in 
general,  and  about  his  brother  Cardinal  Ursinus  in  particular, 
and  I  therefore  conclude,  if  an  evident  slip  has  been  made  over 
the  Frangipani,  it  is  by  him  who  stated  that  the  authorship  of 
the  Dies  Ires  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  been  ascribed  to  any 
member  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Frangipani. 

SYLVESTER  MALONE. 


Documents 

COMMISSION     OF    CARDINALS     APPOINTED    BY    HIS    HOLINESS 
FOR   THE   REUNION   OF   THE    CHURCHES 

MOTUPEOPKIO    SSMI  D.  N.  LEONIS  XIII.  I    DE  COMMISSIONE  PONTIFICIA 
AD  EECONCILIATIONEM  DISSIDENTIUM  CUM  ECCLESIA  FOVENDAM 

Optatissimae  in  una  fide  reconciliationis  earum  gentium,  quae 
a  romana  Ecclesia   matre  non  uno  tempore,  nee  una  de  causa 
secesserunt,  nova  quodammodo  Nos  ponere  initia  et  plena  caritatis 
admovere  invitamenta,  iam  inde  ab  apostolica  epistola  Praeclara, 
studiose  contendimus.     Ad  rem  quidem   earn   sumus   aggressi, 
quae,  ut  alias  monuimus,  diuturni  sit  laboriosique  operis  eadem- 
que    utilitatis    non   ita  proxime   eventurae.      At   vero,    praeter 
summam  divinae  opis  fiduciam,  qua  maxime  sustentamur,  optima 
quaeque   sunt   Nobis   adiumenta   in  id  quaesita ;    in   primisque 
visum   est   pro  gravitate    et    amplitudine    causae    opportunum, 
aliquot  ex  Dilectis  Filiis  Nostris  S.  E.  E.  Cardinalibus  in  com- 
munionem  consiliorum  adsciscere.     Tales  reapse  institutas  apud 
Nos  congressiones,  principio  ad  rationes  ecclesiarum  orientalium 
spectare   voluimus ;    placuitque   propterea    advocare    et    audire 
praesentes    Venerabiles   quoque    Fratres,    earumdem    nationum 
vario  ritu  Patriarchas.     Ita  factum  feliciter,  ut  quaedam  rerum 
capita    sint    a    Nobis,    edita    haud    multo    ante    constitutione 
Orientalium    dignitas    ecclesiarum,    definita    et    decreta :   quae, 
tametsi  per  se  ad  veterem  catholicorum  legitimam  per  Orientem 
disciplinam  conservandam  tuendamque  propius  pertinent,  aeque 


Documents  365 

tamen  unitati  aliis  in  gentibus  redintegrandae  posse  conducere 
manifestum  est.  lamvero  hunc  Nos  primum  reputantes  initarum 
congressionum  fructum,  eisque  continuandis  probe  intelligentes 
quantum  praesidii  ad  ceteras  etiam  propositorum  partes  iure 
liceat  expectari,  idcirco  induximus  animum  illud  providere,  ut 
huiusmodi  institutum  certiore  quodam  pacto  certaque  constantia, 
quamdiu  ipsa  postulaverit  res,  permaneat  vigeatque  secundum 
vota  perutile. 

Itaque  sententiam  Nostram  litteris  hisce  tradentes,  peculiare 
esse  ac  stabile  Consilium,  sive,  uti  loquuntur,  Commissionem 
decernimus  atque  edicimus,  proprio  munere  et  cura  deditam 
reconciliationi  dissidentium  fovendae.  Ea  constabit  ex  nonnullis 
S.  E.  E.  Cardinalibus,  quos  Pontifex  nominatim  designet,  quibus 
ipse  praesit,  quique  coram  eo  states  habeant  conventus.  Pri- 
mosque  ex  instituto  nominamus  : 

MIECISLAUM  LEDOCHOWSKI. 
BENEDICTUM  MAEIAM  LANGENIEUX. 
MABIANUM  EAMPOLLA  DEL  TINDAEO. 
VINCENTIUM  VANNUTELLI. 
ALOISIUM  GALIMBEBTI. 
HEEIBEBTUM  VAUGHAN. 
IOSEPHUM  MABIAM  GEANNIELLO. 

Erunt  praeterea,  ut  sacris  in  Consiliis  urbanis  assolet,  con- 
venienti  numero  Consultores,  item  a  Pontifice  designandi :  in 
quibus  pari  loco  ii  habebuntur  quos  Patriarchae  catholici  orien- 
tales,  tamquam  legates  suos  in  Urbe  consistentes,  singuli  singulos, 
destinaverint.  Consultorum  sit,  doctrinam  suam,  prudentiam, 
rerum  usum  naviter  conferre  cognosceridis  instruendisque  causis 
quae  in  deliberationem  Pontificis  et  Cardinalium,  quos  supra 
diximus,  deferantur :  deferet  autem  ille  ex  Consultoribus,  cui 
Pontifex  mandaverit  eiusdem  Commissionis  esse  ab  actis  ;  cui 
propterea  licebit  eis  ipsis  pontificiis  congressionibus  ex  officio 
interesse. 

Haec  vero  consilia  et  decreta,  quorum  exitum  auspiciis 
providentissimi  Dei  praecipue  commendamus,  rata  firmaque 
consistere  auctoritate  Nostra  volumus  et  iubemus. 

Datum  Eomae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  die  xix  Martii  anno 
MDCCCXCV,  Pontificatus  Nostri  decimo  octavo. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 


366  Documents 

ALLOCUTION   OF   POPE   LEO   XIII.,  DELIVEEED   ON   THE 

29TH   NOVEMBEE,    1895 
ALLOCUTIO  SSMI  D,  N.  LEONIS  XIII.  HAB1TA  DIE  29  NOVEMBEIS    1895 

Europa  omnis  suspensis  expectatione  ac  sollicitudine,  animis. 
ad  propiorum  Orientis  plagam  contuetur,  intestinis  offensionibus 
et  luctuosis  fessam  casibus.  Acerbum  revera  dolendumque  spec- 
taculum,  infecta  sanguine  oppida,  civitates :  ferro  flammisque 
ingentes  pervastati  tractus. — Dum  viri  principes,  quae  eorum 
summa  laus  est,  collatis  invicem  consiliis,  modum  cladibus  et 
securam  incolumitatem  innoxiis  laborant  exposcere,  Nos  quidem 
nequaquam  omifctimus,  quantum  est  in  Nobis,  pro  eadem  caussa 
nobilissima  iustissimaque  contendere.  Videlicet  ante  hos  ipsos 
novissimos  casus,  niti  pro  gente  Armenia  animo  libentissimo 
studuimus,  implorataque  excelsi  Principis  auctoritate,  concor- 
diam,  mansuetudinem,  aequitatem  suasimus.  Quae  quidem 
consilia  Nostra  baud  sane  visa  displicere.  Coepta  persequi 
propositum  est :  nihil  enim  tarn  cupimus,  quam  ut  in  maximi 
imperii  finibus  sua  cuique  incolumitas,  suaque  iura  omnia  salva, 
ut  oportet,  et  sancta  sint.  Interea  Armenorum  afflictis  fortunis 
tempestivum  solatium  a  Nobis  ne  deesset,  opem  ferre  egenis 
maturavimus,  quos  maxime  calamitas  perculisset. 

Nostra  autem  erga  Armenos  studia,  testimonium  et  fructus 
amplissimae  caritatis  sunt,  qua  prosequitur  gentes  ex  Oriente 
universas :  quibuscum,  ut  probe  nostis,  adiumenta  salutis  sem- 
piternae,  quaecumque  in  potestate  sunt  Ecclesiae  catholicae, 
communicare  quidem  et  volumus  et  conamur.  Idcirco,  qui 
Nobiscum  de  fide  discrepant,  revocare  ad  concordiam,  qui 
conveniunt,  devincire  Nobiscum  coniunctius,  itemque  iuvare 
omni  ope  atque  ornare  ingressi  sumus. 

Hac  voluntate  consilioque  litteras  Apostolicas  nuperrime 
dedimus,  ex  quibus  facile  perspiciatur,  quae  mens  Nobis  erga 
Coptos,  qui  animus.  Nimirum  cum  eorum  pietatem  et  rei 
catholicae  per  Aegyptum  explorata  incrementa  haberemus, 
instaurandum  Hierarchiam  coptico  ritu,  dignitatemque  pro 
Coptis  patriarchalem  Sedi  Alexandrinae,  quam  Marcus  evan- 
gelista  nobilitavit  auctor  idemque  pontifex,  restituendum 
curavimus, 

Amplissimum  ordinem  vestrum,  venerabiles  fratres,  supple- 
turis,  adlegere  visum  est  ex  Italia  atque  Imperio  Austriaco,  ex 
Gallia  Hispaniaque  viros  egregios,  quos  Cardinalatus  honore 


Documents  367 

hodierna  die  augeremus,  In  dignitate  episcopal!  sunt  omnes : 
iidemque  gravitate  et  integritate  morum,  doctrinae  laude,  rerum 
usu,  muneribus  sapienter  gestis,  de  re  Christiana,  de  Sede 
Apostolica  optime  meriti.  Hi  autem  sunt  ADOLFUS  LUDOVICUS 
ALBERTUS  PERRAUD,  Episcopus  Augustodunensis,  quem  S.  B.  E. 
Cardinalem  creavimus  et  in  pectore  reservavimus  anno  millesimo 
octingentesimo  nonagesimotertio,  die  decimosexto  lanuarii,  in 
Consistorio  : 

SILVESTER  SEMBRATOWICZ,    Archiepiscopus  Leopoliensis  Buthe- 

norum  : 
FRANCISCUS  SATOLLI,  Archiepiscopus  Tit.  Naupactensis,  Legatus 

Apostolicus   ad   foederatus    Americae    Septentrionalis   civi- 

tates : 

IOANNES  HALLER,  Archiepiscopus  Salisburgensis : 
ANTONIUS  MARIA  CASCAJARES  Y  AZARA,  Archiepiscopus  Valliso- 

letanus : 
HIERONYMUS  MARIA  GOTTI,  Archiepiscopus  Tit.  Petrensis  Inter- 

nuntii  Apostolici  munere  in  Brasilia  functus : 
IOANNES  PETRUS  BOYER,  Archiepiscopus  Bituricensis : 
ACHILLES  MANARA,  Episcopus  Anconitanus  et  Humanus  : 
SALVATOR  CASANAS  Y  PAGES,  Episcopus  Urgellensis : 

Quid  Vobis  videtur? 

Itaque  auctoritate  omnipotentis  Dei,  Sanctorum  Apostolorum 
Petri  et  Pauli  et  Nostra  publicamus  S.  B.  E.  Presbyterurn  Car- 
dinalem 

ALBERTUM  LUDOVICUM  ALBERTUM  PERRAUD 

Insuper  creamus  et  publicamus  S.  B.  E.  Presbyteros  Car- 
dinales 

SILVESTRUM  SEMBRATOWICZ 
FRANCISCUM  SATOLLI 
IOANNEM  HALLER 

ANTONIUM  MARIAM  CASCAJARES  Y  AZARA 
HlERONYMUM  MARIAM  GOTTI 
IOANNEM  PETRUM  BOYER 
ACHILLEM  MANARA 
.  SALVATOREM  CASANAS  Y  PAGES 

Cum  dispensationibus,  derogationibus  et  clausulis  neces- 
sariis  et  opportunis.  In  Nomine  &  Patris  %  et  Filii  ^  et 
Spiritus  ^  Sancti.  Amen, 


368  Documents 

THE    SCAPULAES   OF   THE    HOLY  TEINITT 

INDULTUM  QUO  CONCEDITUB  DISPENSATIO  A  NOVA  BENEDICTIONE  PRO 
SCAPULABIBUS  SSMAE  TRINITATIS,  QUANDO  A  FIDELIBUS  ALIUD 
ASSUMITUR  POST  PRIMUM  ATTRITUM  VEL  CONSUMPTUM 

BEATISSIME  PATER, 

Fr.  Stephanus  a  S.  Corde  Mariae  Ordinis  SSmae  Trinitatis 
Congregationis  Hispanicae  Commissarius  Apostolicus,  ad  pedes 
S.  V.  humiliter  provolutus  exponit  adscriptos  sodalitati  SSmae 
Trinitatis  parvum  habitum  seu  Scapulare  ex  lana  alba  confectum 
cruce  rubra  .  et  caerulea  decoratum  ab  aliquo  Ordinis  superiore 
benedictum  sumere  et  super  se  gestare :  verum  quum  scapulare 
huiusmodi  attritum  vel  consumptum  fuerit  et  aliud  assumatur  de 
nova  benedici  debet,  prouti  expresse  edicitur  in  Summario  Indul- 
gentiarum  concessarum  sodalibus  SSmae  Trinitatis  sub  poena 
amissionis  Indulgentiarum. 

Id  tamen  causa  est,  ut  plures  Christi  fideles  praedictae  sodalitai 
adscripti  saepe  saepius  priventur  Indulgentiis  eidem  concessis. 
Nam  non  semper  praesto  sunt  cuique  fideli  indigenti  novo  Scapulari 
superiores  Ordinis  SSmae  Trinitatis  aut  alii  Sacerdotes  etiam 
saeculares  de  earumdem  superiorum  licentia,  qui  illud  benedicere 
queant.  Quare,  ut  bono  spirituali  adscriptorum  provideatur 
Orator  supplex  adit  S.  V.  quatenus  huic  legi  iterum  benedicendi 
novum  Scapulare  post  primum  a  Sodalibus  assumptum,  benigne 
derogare  dignetur,  ita  ut  in  posterum  quicumque  eorum  primum 
Scapulare  susceperit  benedictum,  si  hoc  ita  attritum  vel  consump- 
tum fuerit,  ut  primam  formam  amiserit,  aliud  ipsis  assumere 
detur,  etiam  non  benedictum  absque  amissione  Indulgentiarum  ; 
et  ita  etiam  uniformitas  habebitur  quoad  hoc  Scapulare,  cum 
omnia  aliarum  diversarum  Confraternitatum  Scapularia  non 
benedicantur  nisi  prima  vice  tantum,  idest  quando  primitus 
imponuntur,  facta  cuilibet  adscriptorum  potestate  aliud  postea 
assumendi  ubsque  nova  benedictione. 
Et  Deus  etc. 

S.  C.  Indulgentiis  sacrisque  Eeliquiis  praeposita,  utendo  facul- 
tatibus, a  SS.  D.  N.  Leone  PP.  XIII  sibi  specialiter  tributis,  attentis 
expositis,  et  praesertim,  ut  etiam  quoad  Scapulare  Sanctissimae 
Trinitatis  inducatur  uniformitas  pro  aliis,  et  in  primis  pro 
Carmelitico,  existens,  quae  nonnisi  prima  vice  benedicuntur,  idest 
quando  primitus  Christifidelibus  imponuntur  benigne  annuit  pro 
gratia  iuxta  preces.  Contrariis  quibuscumque  non  obstantibus. 

Datum  Eomae  ex  Secretaria  eiusdem  S.  Congregationis  di§ 
24  Augusti  1895. 


Documents  369 

DECISION  OF  THE  SACKED  CONGREGATION  OF  BISHOPS  AND 
REGULARS  REGARDING  THE  USE  OF  THE  TELEPHONE  IN 
CALLING  THE  CONFESSOR  WHO  LIVES  AT  A  DISTANCE  FROM 
A  CONVENT 

INDULGETUR  FACULTAS  APPELLANDI  PER  "  TELEFONA,"  CONFESSA- 
RIUM  QUI  LONGE  DISTAT  A  MONASTERIO  RELIGIOSARUM 

BEATISSIME  PATER, 

Episcopus  Canariensis  ad  Sanctitatis  Vestrae  pedes  provolutus, 
reverenter  exponit :  quod  quum  confessarius  monialium  Cister- 
ciensium  strictioris  observantiae  longe  a  monasterio  dictarum 
monialium  commoretur,  contingere  potest,  ut  baud  diu  accidit, 
quamdam  monialium  sine  religionis  adiutorio  e  vita  cedere. 
Quam  ob  rem,  ne  ob  distantiam  similia  renoventur,  Orator  rogatus 
est  indulgendi  ut  a  monasterio  ad  domum  confessarii  uti  possit 
novo  invento,  quod  vulgo  Telefono  appellatur.  Nihilominus  pro 
rei  novitate,  ex  qua  certe,  licet  maxima  adhibeatur  diligentia, 
pericula  oriri  possent,  censuit  Sacrae  Congregationis  sententiam 
expetere,  antequam  boc  concedat.  Quare  etc. 

Vigore  specialium  facultatum  a  Sanctissimo  Domino  nostro 
concessarum,  Sacra  Congregatio  Eminentissimorum  et  Reveren- 
dissimorum  S.  R.  C.  Cardinalium  negotiis  et  consultationibus 
Episcoporum  et  Eegularium  praeposita,  Episcopo  oratori  facu1- 
tatem  benigne  tribuit  super  praemissis,  attenta  necessitate  ad 
effectum  Vicarium  dumtaxat  advertendi,  iuxta  preces  providendi, 
praescriptis  debitis  cautelis  ne  aliquod  inconveniens  oriatur  ;  ac 
praecipue  ut  in  actu  advocandi  per  enunciatum  medium  Vicarium 
duae  adsint  ex  probis  et  senioribus  Monialibus,  quae  verba 
audiant :  super  quibus  Episcopi  conscientia  onerata  remaneat : 
contrariis  quibuscumque  non  obstantibus. 

Romae,  20  Martii  1895. 

I.  CARD.  VERGA,  Praef. 

LETTER  OF   HIS  HOLINESS  LEO  XIII.  TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE 
DUTCH  NEWSPAPER  DE  TIJD 

Egregium  sane  id  est  atque  bonorum  comprobatione  dignutn 
quod  anno  iam  exeunte  quinquagesimo.  ex  quo  istius  Ephemeridis 
initia  sunt  posita,  hanc  vos  memoriam  habere  et  celebrare 
faustarn  velitis.  Nuncius  rei  accidit  Nobis  iucundus.  Novimus 
enim  quae  proposita,  inde  a  primordiis,  scriptores  eius  tenuerint 
VOL.  XVII.  2  A 


370  Documents 

et  quas  "ediderint  multis  modis  utilitates.     In  observantia  nimi- 
rum   ac   disciplina  Ecclesiae    matris  omni   fide  constantes,  sic 
rationes  dignitatemque  rei  catholicae  assidue  spectaverurit,  ut  ea 
simul  studiose  curarint  quaecumque  ad  rei  civilis  vel  honestatem 
vel  prosperitatem  conducerent.     Ipsorumque  praeclara  est  laus, 
tum    de    Hierarchia    instauranda,    gravissimo   quidem   negotio, 
prudenter  feliciterque  contendisse,  tum  pro  veritate  institutisque 
catholicis    adversus   multiplicem    errorem    saeculi  magno  opere 
propugnasse.     Haec  autem  quae  dicimus,   superiora  praesertim 
tempera  respicientes,  volumus  eadem  ad  vos  pari  hire  conversa, 
dilecti  filii,  qui  priorum  vestigiis  religiose  ingressi,  eadem  atque 
illi   studia   animo   erecto  profitemini   aemulaque  actione  iamdiu 
probatis.      Et    quoniam    vobis    est    optatissimum,    expectationi 
Nostrae    cumulatiore    in    dies    fructu    respondere,    hoc    ipsum 
minime    profecto    defuerit,  si    vos    causa   religionis,  quae  boni 
communis  eadem  est  causa,  defensores  habere  pergat  non  modo 
ardore  animi  strenuos,   sed  etiam    iis  praesidiis  maxime  confi- 
dentes  quae  divina  Evangelii  praescripta  atque  huiusce  Apostc- 
licae  Sedis  documenta  peropportune  suppeditant.     In  quo  facile 
quidem  videtis,  res  ut  sunt  apud  vos,  muneris  vestri  officium  ncn 
ultimum  esse,  omni  occasione  diligenter  uti  qua  liceat  firmamen- 
tum   admovere   lumenque   afferre  animis   de   religione   sollicitis 
Hinc  spem  bonam  Nosmetipsi  alimus,  vestram  iudicii  operaeque 
sollertiam  baud  minimum  habere  virtutis  posse  ad  Nostra  quoque 
provehenda  consilia ;  qua  videlicet  parte  nunc  impensius  nitimur 
reconciliationem    fovere    in    christianis    gentibus   quae   unitatis 
catholicae    sunt    expertes.      Hoc    autem    doctrinae    caput,   de 
unitate  fidei  et  communionis  quam  in  Ecclesia  inesse  sua  Christus 
omnino  constituit,  satis  crebram   et  convenientem  tractationern, 
sive  ad  tuendum  sive  ad  illustrandum,  exposcit.     Quippe  hoc  est 
quod  variis  artibus  antiquus  humani  generis  hostis  impugn  are 
acrius  consuevit,  nefarie  fidens  se,  sectatorum  Christi  discissis 
animis,  Christum  ipsum  eiusque  redemptionis  opus  usquequaque 
eversurum :  nullo  enim  pacto  neque  in  se  neque  in  mystico  suo 
corpore  divisus  est  Christus.     Ita  vos  similesque  homines  catho- 
licos,  qui  scriptis  vel  quotidie  vel  ex  intervallo  emittendis  dant 
operam,  coeptis  velle    Nostris  maiorem  in  modum  obsecundare 
pro   certo   habemus.      Quo   rectius   id  vero   utiliusque   eveniat, 
studete    naviter  vos   aeque   et  illi,  vehementer  hortainur,  cum 
doctrinae  sincerae  solidaeque  instructu  copiam  coniungere  pru- 
dentiae,   aequitatis,   concordiae ;    quarum     munere    laudum,   et 


Documents  371 

omnia  devitentur  quae  offensiones  in  nostris  contentionesque 
serere  possint,  et  multo  augeantur  eorumdem  vires  ac  decus,  cum 
alienis  agentium.  Hoc  amplius,  talium  scriptorum  prorsus  esse 
debet,  sacrorum  Antistitum  vereri  maxime  auctoritatem,  persequi 
ductum,  desideriis  ipsis  concedere ;  id  quod  adhuc  vos  praesti- 
tisse,  dileeti  filii,  iure  gratulamur,  perindeque  agnoscimus  quasi 
argumentum  uberioris  gratiae  quae  laboribus  vestris  sit  apud 
Deum  itemque  apud  homines  in  posterum  obventura.  Nos 
interea,  ut  fateamur  quod  in  animo  est,  erga  nationem  vestram, 
generosam  ingenio  gestisque  rebus  nobilem,  voluntate  admodurn 
propensa  movemur,  nee  unquam  de  ipsa  nisi  magno  cum  desi- 
derio  recordamur.  Memoria  nempe  subit  quum  earn  Willibrordus, 
apostolic  exempli  vir,  a  Sergio  I  decessore  Nostri  Archiepiscopus 
Frisiorum  consecratus  sacroque  pallio  insignitus,  velut  felicem 
agrum  subegit  Christo  ac  diu  multumque  excoluit ;  quam  eamdem 
non  pauca  saecula  et  integritate  fidei  et  digna  praestantia  operum 
florentem,  Ecclesia  catholica  habuit  carissimam.  Qui  deinceps 
successere  casus  !  Quae  autem  miserentis  Dei  in  Neerlandiam 
benignitas  !  Est  enim  pergratum  videre  in  ea  ut,  acres  post  hiemes 
ac  procellas,  lux  veritatis  et  gratiae  pristina  sensim  recepta  sit, 
quotidieque,  in  iuris  potestatisque  publicae  aequitate,  increscat. 
At  vero  quantum  in  communibus  votis  supersit,  probe  intelligitis, 
dilecti  filii,  ac  sentitis  ipsi,  pro  ea  quae  vos  tenet  urgetque  patria 
et  Christiana  caritas.  Agite  igitur,  cursum  auspiciis  novis  repe- 
tentes,  instate  propositis,  alacritatem  intendite :  ut  optimos 
vestrae  operae  fructus  cives  omnes  largius  percipiant,  ii  in  primis 
qui  de  fide  dissentiunt.  Quorum  in  causa  hoc  habetote  tamquam 
documentorum  summam,  studia  vestra  non  tarn  esse  oportere 
de  adversariis  coarguendis  et  revincendis,  quam  de  fratribus, 
eisque  non  una  spectatis  laude,  ad  veritandem  invitandis,  ad 
sinumque  reducendis  eiusdem  matris.  lam  vobis,  prout  valde 
precamur,  aspiret  Deus  et  adsit  continua  ope ;  cuius  accipite 
pignus  in  Apostolica  benedictione  quam  singulis  effusa  caritate 
impertimus. 

Datum  Bomae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  die  xv  decembris  anno 
MDCCCXCV,  Pontificatus  Nostri  decimo  octavo. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 


372 


Progress  of  tbe  Cburcb 

GEBMANY,    ITALY,   BULGAEIA 
GERMANY 

ABOUT  a  year  ago  a  distinguished  officer  of  a  Saxon  cavalry 
regiment,  Prince  Frederick  of  Schonburg-Waldenburg, 
abjured  the  Protestant  heresy,  and  joined  the  Catholic  Church. 
When  he  made  known  his  decision,  his  father  strongly  remon- 
strated with  him,  and  asked  him,  at  least,  to  defer  his  secession 
until  he  should  have  made  a  more  mature  and  systematic  study 
of  the  claims  of  Catholicism  on  his  conscience.  To  this  the 
young  man  consented,  and,  for  a  considerable  time,  he  was 
placed  in  charge  of  a  Protestant  minister,  who  was  to  press  upon 
his  mind  all  the  Protestant  objections  against  Catholic  doctrine, 
and  plead  as  eloquently  as  possible  whatever  historical,  social, 
or  political  reasons  could  deter  him  from  following  the  resolution 
he  had  taken.  At  the  end  of  the  period  of  probation  Prince 
Frederick  remained  as  steadfast  as  ever,  and  seemed  only 
more  than  ever  confirmed  in  his  purpose  of  becoming  a  Catholic 
He  felt  convinced  that  the  truth  was  to  be  found  in  the  Catholic 
Church  alone,  and,  come  what  might,  he  would  go  whither  his 
mind  and  conscience  led  him. 

A.S  a  result  of  this  final  resolution,  he  was  turned  out  of  his 
father  s  house,  and  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  and  odious 
persecution.  He  took  refuge  for  a  while  with  friends  of  his  at 
Vienna,  Prince  Clary  and  his  family.  But  the  Protestant  pastors 
of  Saxony  pursued  him  there,  and  opened  negotiations  with  the 
medical  authorities  of  the  city  to  have  him  declared  a  madman, 
and  confined  in  a  lunatic  asylum.  He  left  Vienna,  however,  am 
spent  some  time  at  the  house  of  another  friend,  Baron  Von  Gagern, 
in  Carynthia.  Meanwhile  the  enlightened  chiefs  of  the  Saxoi 
army  dismissed  him  from  his  commission,  on  the  grounds  thai 
his  action  in  becoming  a  Catholic  was  dishonourable  and  un- 
patriotic. .  He  was  thus  deprived  of  every  means  of  existence, 
and  completely  boycotted  by  his  relatives.  He  was  not, 
however,  left  without  friends;  and  the  barbarous  persecu- 
tion he  had  suffered  soon  became  known  in  Catholi( 
circles.  The  Catholics  were  naturally  indignant  at  his 
treatment;  and  the  good  Prince-Regent  of  Bavaria,  faithful 
the  Catholic  instincts  of  his  family,  invited  him  to  join  a  Bavarh 


Progress  of  the  Church.  373 

regiment,  and  gave  him  a  higher  commission  than  the  one  he  held 
in  the  army  from  which  he  was  excluded.  No  act  of  the  Prince- 
Kegent  has  been  more  popular  in  Bavaria,  and  he  has  received 
enthusiastic  congratulations  from  all  parts  of  Germany,  Austria, 
and  Hungary. 

The  lectures  on  toleration  and  liberty  to  which  Catholics  are 
treated,  with  such  an  air  of  superiority,  by  Protestant  writers, 
should  find,  in  the  future,  a  most  happy  illustration  in  this  case 
of  refined  bigotry.  What  a  shout  of  horror  and  indignation 
would  go  up  from  the  breasts  of  pious  and  enlightened  Protestants, 
if  an  officer,  say,  in  the  Spanish  army,  or  in  France,  or  Italy, 
had  become  a  Protestant,  and  was  treated  by  his  relatives,  and 
by  his  superiors  with  such  unqualified  rigour.  We  should  surely 
hear  something  about  the  Inquisition,  and  about  St.  Bartholomew's 
Day.  Liberty  of  conscience,  and  liberty  of  thought,  the  right  of 
private  judgment,  the  great  conquest  of  modern  civilization,  the 
birthright  of  all  free  men,  all  that  the  sons  of  the  Eeformation, 
and  the  sons  of  the  revolution  hold  dear,  would  be  considered  to 
be  in  jeopardy.  The  unqualified  obligations  arising  from  liberty, 
the  strict  duties  of  toleration  are  binding,  of  course,  only  on 
Catholics.  They  are  to  bind  Protestants  only  when  it  suits 
them. 

Another  example  of  toleration  occurred  during  the  past  year 
in  the  case  of  the  prosecution  of  the  religious  Alexian  Brothers, 
who  had  charge  of  an  asylum  at  Mellage  in  the  Ehine  Province. 
These  brothers  were  accused  of  the  most  wanton  cruelty  in  the 
treatment  of  their  patients,  of  beating  them,  and  subjecting  them 
to  constant  douches  of  cold  water,  and  of  sometimes  plunging 
them  into  a  reservoir,  and  forcing  them  to  remain  under  the 
surface  until  they  were  nearly  suffocated.  As  calumny  travels 
quickly,  these  stories  were  rapidly  conveyed  ;  and  we  found  them 
in  the  London  Times  and  the  Eevieio  of  Bevieivs,  accompanied  by 
appropriate  expressions  of  horror.  When  the  case  was  tried, 
however,  it  was  found  that  there  was  not  a  particle  of  foundation 
for  the  stories,  and  the  wretched  witness  on  whose  testimony 
they  were  based,  was  convicted  of  open  perjury  instead. 

A  trial  of  a  different  kind  was  that  of  a  priest  named  Burtz, 
who  was  recently  prosecuted  for  robbery,  and  condemned  to 
fifteen  months  imprisonment  and  a  heavy  fine.  He  had  been 
called  to  attend  a  wealthy  man  at  his  death-bed.  This  man  had 
made  his  will,  and  had  disposed  amongst  other  things  of  a  certain 


374  Progress  of  the  Church. 

specified  number  of  shares,  the  bonds  of  which  were  in  a  safe  in 
his  room.  After  the  death  of  the  testator,  the  safe  was  examined, 
and  it  was  found  that  several  of  the  shares  were  missing.  The 
matter  was  investigated,  and  a  servant  stated  she  had  seen  the 
parish  priest  open  the  safe  on  the  occasion  of  one  of  his  visits. 
The  parish  priest  was  then  asked  for  an  explanation,  and  he 
replied  that  he  knew  nothing  about  the  matter.  On  further  investi- 
gation, however,  it  was  found  that  these  very  shares  had  been 
sold  by  the  parish  priest,  and  that  the  money  value  of  them  had 
been  handed  over  to  him.  On  the  strength  of  this  discovery, 
the  priest  was  prosecuted.  He  denied  that  he  stole  the  shares, 
and  so  convinced  were  the  local  authorities  of  his  honesty  that 
they  at  once  acquitted  him.  The  government  prosecutor,  how- 
ever, took  the  matter  to  a  higher  court,  where  he  secured  the 
condemnation  mentioned  above.  Then  a  letter  was  published 
which  prevented  the  Protestants  from  rejoicing  too  much.  It 
came  from  a  Protestant  gentleman,  who  said  that  he  felt  bound 
in  justice  to  the  condemned  priest  to  make  it  known  that  he  had 
received  the  value  of  these  shares  as  restitution  or  conscience 
money.  It  had  been  sent  to  him  by  the  dying  man  through  the 
priest,  to  whom  alone  he  would  entrust  it.  The  only  means  by 
which  this  adjustment  of  some  old  transactions  could  be  made 
was  by  selling  some  of  the  shares.  The  amount  of  the  conscience 
money  corresponded  exactly  with  the  value  of  the  shares  stolen. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  no  wonder  the  Court  of  Appeal 
at  Berlin  quashed  the  sentence,  and  sent  home  the  faithful  pastor 
to  receive  an  enthusiastic  ovation  from  his  people. 

The  old  political  enemies  of  the  German  Catholics  are  faring 
badly  as  time  goes  on.  At  the  time  of  the  "  Kulturkampf,"  the 
most  powerful  newspaper  in  the  new  empire  was  the  Kreitzzeitung. 
Indeed  it  remained  up  to  a  short  time  ago  the  official  organ  of 
the  out-and-out  Conservative  and  Protestant  party.  A  few 
months  ago,  however,  its  editor,  Baron  Von  Hammerstein, 
thought  it  well  to  put  the  frontier  between  himself  and  the 
Prussian  police.  He  decamped  with  a  large  sum  of  money, 
after  having  cajoled  aud  robbed  quite  a  number  of  people.  The 
confidential  correspondence  which  he  carried  on  for  years  with 
the  leaders  of  the  Conservative  party  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Liberals,  whether  by  accident  or  by  design,  we  are  not  informed. 
These  gentlemen  had  little  respect  for  the  confidential  nature  of 
such  important  documents,  and  they  are  gradually  giving  them 


Progress  of  the  Church  375 

to  the  public,  to  the  great  consternation  and  alarm  of  all  the 
former  correspondents  of  the  confidential  editor.  Thus  an 
important  letter  of  the  famous  Pastor  Stoecker,  once  the  most 
influential  of  court  chaplains,  was  betrayed  to  the  public,  and 
some  of  the  most  unexpected  and  acutely  interesting  criticisms 
of  the  young  Emperor  that  have  appeared  since  his  accession, 
were  revealed  to  the  world  and  to  the  Emperor  himself.  On 
account  of  these  revelations,  the  Conservatives  have  excluded 
Pastor  Stoecker  from  their  supreme  committee  of  eleven,  and  the 
Pastor,  on  his  part,  has  thrown  in  his  lot  with  the  Christian 
Socialists,  who  have  welcomed  him  with  open  arms.  There  is 
thus  a  great  split  in  the  ranks  of  the  Conservatives. 

But  lest  the  Liberals  should  have  any  unfair  advantage,  a 
number  of  most  lamentable  mishaps  have  occurred  to  their 
party  also.  In  the  first  place,  their  principal  agent  at  Berlin, 
Fritz  Friedmann,  lawyer  and  politician,  absconded  recently, 
leaving  debts  of  over  a  million  marks  to  his  account.  This 
counterbalances  to  a  certain  extent  the  action  of  Baron 
Von  Hammerstein.  Again,  Baron  Buol-Berenberg,  a  stalwart 
Catholic,  member  of  the  centre  party,  was  re-elected 
president  of  the  Reichstag  by  a  large  majority.  This  was 
a  great  change  from  the  old  times,  and  is  duly  appreciated 
by  politicians  as  well  as  by  churchmen.  Time  brings  about 
many  changes,  and  the  preponderance  of  the  centre  party  in 
Germany,  and  the  great  influence  they  now  wield,  is  a  lesson 
to  all  statesmen  who  may,  in  the  future,  take  it  into  their 
wise  heads  to  enter  into  a  struggle  with  the  Catholics  of  the 
srman  fatherland. 

ITALY 

The  Italian  pretensions  which  led  to  the  war  with  Abyssinia 
are  very  much  like  the  claims  which  England  asserts  over  the 
Transvaal.  For  certain  mercantile  advantages  granted  to  Italy, 
King  Menelik  received  from  the  Italian  Government  a  large 
supply  of  arms  and  ammunition,  a  considerable  portion  of  this 
consignment  having  originally  belonged  to  the  Papal  arsenal. 
According  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  arranged  by  Count 
Antonelli  with  the  Abyssinian  Government,  an  undertaking  was 
given  to  King  Menelik  that  the  services  of  Italian  diplomatic 
agents  should  be  at  his  disposal  in  all  his  relations  with  foreign 
nations ;  but,  as  the  Italians  say,  traduttore  traditore.  The 


376  Progress  of  the  Church 

secretary  employed  to  translate  this  document  from  Abyssinian 
into  Italian  so  construed  the  Italian  version,  that  it  conveyed  an 
obligation  on  the  part  of  Menelik  to  employ  only  Italian  diplo- 
matic agents,  and  as  a  result  to  hold  no  communication  with 
foreign  powers  without  Italian  approval.  Insisting  upon  this 
false  rendering  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  the  Italians  declared 
war.  The  result,  so  far,  is  now  well  known  ;  and  whilst  everyone 
must  pity  the  unfortunate  soldiers  and  officers  who  lost  their 
lives,  and  sympathize  with  their  sorrowing  relatives  at  home,  no 
Catholic  can  entertain  the  slightest  sympathy  either  for  the 
House  of  Savoy  or  for  the  Italian  Government.  Born  in  injus- 
tice and  wrong,  it  is  only  to  be  expected  that  the  new  Italian 
kingdom  should  remain  faithful  to  its  principles.  It  has  not  been 
found  so  easy,  however,  to  rob  King  Menelik  as  King  Ferdinand 
of  Naples  or  Pope  Pius  IX.  One  of  the  most  important  results 
of  the  disaster  is  the  fall  of  Signer  Crispi,  who  did  not  long 
survive  the  speech  he  delivered  on  the  20th  of  September  last. 
Crispi  has  not  crushed  the  Church,  nor  succeeded  in  persuading 
his  countrymen  that  the  Catholic  clergy  are  foreigners  in  their 
own  land,  and  conspirators  by  nature.  He  was  the  con- 
spirator against  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  the  people,  and 
as  such  he  has  been  cast  aside,  let  us  hope  never  to  return. 
He  was  one  of  those  who  went  about,  in  former  times,  denounc- 
ing the  tyranny  of  the  rulers  of  Naples  and  Eome.  Now  there 
was  no  charge  levelled  against  the  Neapolitan  Government  that 
was  not  repeated  with  interest  against  Crispi  himself.  Let  us 
hear  the  language  of  an  English  sympathizer  with  Italian 
Badicals,  writing  in  the  Contemporary  Beview  of  last  August:  — 

''The  Government  of  Francesco  Crispi  has  sent  the  country 
back  sixty  years.  By  him,  and  through  him,  all  the  old  instru- 
ments of  torture  are  in  use.  Spies  fill  the  cities ;  detectives 
scour  the  fields ;  informers  listen  to  all  speech,  public  and 
private :  literary  clubs  and  co-operative  societies  are  arbi- 
trarily dissolved  ;  packed  juries  convict,  venal  judges  sentence ; 
military  courts  imprison  civilians,  civil  courts  judge  homi- 
cidal officers  ;  time-serving  prefects  deny  the  franchise 
to  all  independent  thinkers,  and  manipulate  the  electoral 
lists  to  suit  their  governments ;  lads,  as  they  come  sing- 
ing through  the  country  lanes,  are  arrested  if  the  song 
is  of  liberty:  little  children  writing  in  chalk  on  the  town 
wall  are  sent  to  prison  for  forty-five  days.  There  is  a  reign  of 
terror  from  Alps  to  Etna,  and  the  police,  armed  to  the  teeth, 
swarm  everywhere,  and  the  prisons  are  crowded  with  innocent 


Progress  of  the  Church  377 

citizens.  The  country  has  gone  back  to  the  worst  days  of 
Austrian  tyranny,  and  the  name  of  the  tyrant  is  ostensibly 
Humbert  of  Savoy,  in  reality  Francesco  Crispi.  Meanwhile  there 
is  no  check  whatever  on  the  caprices  and  coercion  of  his  rule.  It 
is  already  stated  that  to  procure  funds,  nominally  for  Africa, 
actually  for  the  elections,  confiscated  church  property,  now  state 
property,  is  to  be  largely,  and  without  the  consent  of  Parlia- 
ment, illegally  sold.  .  .  In  the  establishment  of  the  '  domicilio 
coatto '  he  has  created  a  system  of  punishments  for  offences  of 
opinion  which  has  no  equal  except  in  the  Siberian  deportations 
of  the  Russian  police." 

Such  is  the  description  given  us  of  this  great  apostle  of  liberty 
by  an  English  writer  who  has  but  little  sympathy  with  the 
Catholic  church.  Nevertheless  those  English  newspapers  that 
made  the  welkin  ring  when  Poerio  was  imprisoned,  and  little 
Mortar  a  was  held  under  the  guardianship  of  the  Pope,  were 
ominously  silent  as  to  the  proceedings  of  Crispi.  Here  too,  as  in 
Germany,  there  is  a  double  standard.  Protestants  and  Free- 
masons may  do  with  propriety  whatever  suits  them. 

BULGAEIA. 

The  unfortunate  prince  who  has  sold  the  birthright  of  his  little 
son  for  a  mess  of  potage,  has  for  the  moment  received  his  reward, 
e  recognition  of  the  Czar  and  of  the  Sultan  has  crowned  the 
•ansaction  by  which  the  soul  of  an  innocent  child  was  bartered 
r  a  tottering  throne.  Little  Prince  Boris  is  now  formally 
ived  into  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church,  and  his  perjured  and 
ishonoured  father  has  dared  to  invoke  the  blessing  of  the  King 
of  kings  on  an  act  of  treachery  and  cowardice  that  has  disgusted 
the  world.  Princess  Maria  Lousa  has  left  Bulgaria,  and  taken 
with  her  her  younger  child,  Cirillus.  A  writer  in  the  Osser- 
vatore  Romano  describes  the  heart-rending  scene  during  which 
the  little  prince  was  dragged  from  his  mother's  arms.  The  brave 
mother  resisted  to  the  last,  yielding  only  to  violence,  and  when 
the  attendants  of  the  prince  succeeded  in  snatching  away  her 
child  she  fell  into  a  fainting  fit  and  remained  unconscious  for 
upwards  of  two  hours.  She  then  made  immediate  preparations 
to  leave  Bulgaria.  Her  husband  accompanied  her  to  the  frontier, 
begging  with  tears  in  his  eyes  to  be  forgiven.  She,  however, 
declined  to  listen  to  his  entreaties,  and  repeatedly  declared  that 
she  would  never  again  set  foot  on  Bulgarian  soil.  Her  father,  the 
Duke  of  Parma,  declared  that  neither  he  nor  his  family  would 
have  anything  more  to  say  to  the  Prince  of  Bulgaria. 

J.    F.    HOGAN, 


[     378     ] 


TRotices  of  Boofca 

POPULAE  INSTEUCTIONS  ON  MAEEIAGE.  By  Very  Eev.  Fr. 
Girardey,  C.SS.E.,  Provincial  of  the  St.  Louis  Province. 
New  York  :  Benziger  Brothers,  1896. 

"THE  best  goods  are  made  up  in  small  parcels."  We 
will  not  discuss  the  general  application  of  this  adage ;  but 
we  may  say  of  Fr.  Girardey's  work,  that  the  best  things 
on  the  married  state  are  found  in  his  little  book.  The 
subject  is  certainly  interesting  ;  it  is  delicate ;  in  our  days 
it  is  pre-eminently  practical.  Interesting — who  could  doubt  it  ? 
It  interests  husbands  and  wives,  young  men  and  young  women, 
children,  society,  the  whole  Church.  Interesting  in  itself,  the 
treatment  by  Father  Girardey  adds  to  its  interest.  He  is  indeed 
to  be  congratulated  on  the  delicacy  with  which  he  treats  this  very 
delicate  subject.  He  has  known  how  to  make  the  Holy  Ghost 
speak  where  he  would  have  feared  to  have  formed  the  sentences 
himself.  Hence,  his  work  may  safely  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
anyone,  and  deserves  to  see  realized  the  title  Popular.  The  sub- 
ject is  practical,  and  so  treated  that  the  book  is  brimful  of  practical 
matter.  It  is  the  fruit,  not  simply  of  the  study  of  theology ; 
it  is  the  study  of  men,  the  study  of  the  requirements  and  the 
dangers  of  our  own  times.  No  doubt,  the  force  of  these  instruc- 
tions will  be  felt  more  keenly  in  countries  where  a  systematic 
attempt  is  being  made  to  degrade  marriage  than  in  those  in 
which  faith  rules  the  masses.  Nevertheless,  even  in  the  latter 
the  time  has  come  to  use  preventative  measures,  and  the  pro- 
pagation of  this  little  book  is  certainly  one. 

The  author  begins  by  paying  a  worthy  tribute  to  virginity, 
and  then  turns  to  that  state  to  which  "  nearly  everyone  is  called." 
He  bases  his  assertion  on  the  words  of  St.  Augustine  :  "Matrimony 
is  to  the  whole  human  race  what  food  is  to  the  body."  He  puts 
before  his  readers,  in  a  clear  and  simple  style,  the  dignity  and 
holiness  of  marriage :  holy  in  its  Founder  .  .  .  in  its  meaning  .  .  . 
in  its  means  .  .  .  in  its  effects  .  .  .  in  its  end  and  object.  The 
chapter  on  Indissolubility  is  admirable,  and  up  to  date.  Besides 
proving  this  essential  quality  of  matrimony,  he  gives  six  excellent 
reasons  to  show  why  it  should  be  so.  He  deals  with  the  ordinary 
impediments  briefly,  yet  very  clearly.  He  gives,  as  we  should 
have  expected,  a  special  chapter  to  mixed  marriages,  recognising. 


Notices  of  Books  379 

as  he  should,  the  evils  of  which  they  are  the  pregnant  source.  He 
shows  that  the  mixed  marriages  were  reprobated  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  are  reprobated  in  the  New :  they  were  reprobated  by 
the  fathers  and  ancient  councils  ;  they  are  reprobated  by  the 
Church  ;to-day.  He  asks,  and  answers  fully,  the  question,  Why 
are  mixed  marriages  reprobated  by  the  Church  ? 

Chapter  V.  has  a  very  catching  title — "How  to  Get  Married." 
He  sets  off  with  an  admirable  passage  from  St.  John  Chrysostorn, 
which  concludes  :  "Whenever,  therefore,  you  think  of  marrying, 
look  well  to  the  laws  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  to  the  laws  of  the 
land ;  because  it  is  by  the  laws  of  the  Church  that  God  will  judge 
you.  When  you  offend  the  civil  law,  your  punishment  is  but 
temporal,  perhaps  only  a  fine  in  money ;  but  if  you  trample  on 
the  laws  of  the  Church,  it  is  your  soul  that  will  be  punished,  and 
there  is  the  fire  that  is  everlasting  "  (p.  59).  This  chapter  is  full 
of  excellent  counsels.  He  approves  of  the  old  fashion  of  "match- 
making," and  faces  boldly  the  modern  substitute,  company  keep- 
ing. For  this  he  gives  the  most  wise  rules  :  would  that  they 
were  observed. 

The  chapters — "  Duties  of  the  Married,"  and  "  Duties  of 
Parents  "  are  worthy  of  all  praise.  The  good  husband,  will  read 
with  satisfaction  :  "  In  a  word,  so  conduct  yourself,  that  your 
wife  may  ever  with  reason  look  up  to  you  with  respect  and  vene- 
ration, and  sincerely  and  deservedly  believe  you  to  be  the  best,  the 
most  upright,  the  most  virtuous,  and  the  most  religious  husband 
in  the  world  "  (p.  82).  He  concludes  his  description  of  the  duties 
of  a  wife  in  somewhat  similar  terms.  In  Chapter  VII.  he  enters 
into  the  details  of  duties  of  parents,  toward  their  children, 
reserving  for  the  last  chapter  the  important  question  of  Christian 
education.  He  does  not  mince  his  words  in  telling  parents  the 
full  extent  of  their  obligation,  to  send  their  children  to  Catholic 
schools  ;  nor  does  he  forget  to  impress  on  all,  whether  parents  or 
not,  the  necessity  of  supporting  Catholic  education. 

It  is  not  possible  in  a  short  notice,  to  show  the  ease  with  which 
the  author  communicates  knowledge,  and  the  happy  way  in  which 
he  illustrates  what  he  teaches.  For  ourselves,  having  taken  up 
the  book  to  see  what  it  was  like,  we  were  sweetly  drawn  to  read 
it  all.  There  are  some  very  useful  tracts  added;  such  as,  "Rule 
of  life  for  the  young,"  "Examination  of  conscience,"  &c.  Popular 
Instructions  on  Marriage,  if  reduced  to  practice,  would  save  and 
sanctify  the  world.  J.  M, 


380  Notices  of  Books 

A  BRIEF  TEXT-BOOK  OF  MORAL  PHILOSOPHY.  By  Kev. 
Charles  Coppens,  S.J.  New  York :  Catholic  School 
Company,  28  Barclay  St. 

To  set  forth  the  reason  for  the  publication  of  this  Brief 
Outline  of  Moral  Philosophy,  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  from 
the  author's  Preface  :— 

"  Questions  of  ethics,  which  in  former  times  were  left  to  the 
close  scientific  treatment  of  specialists,  are  at  the  present  day 
freely  discussed  among  all  classes  of  society,  in  newspapers 
and  popular  magazines,  in  the  workshop,  and  in  the  parlour. 
Extravagant  notions  of  individual  and  social  rights  are  circulated, 
while  the  rash  speculations  of  so-called  scientists  are  sapping  in 
many  minds  the  very  foundations  of  morality.  Never  before  has 
there  been  a  more  urgent  call  on  the  part  of  the  people,  for  the 
lucid  supposition  and  the  correct  application  of  sound  moral 
principles." 

This  little  book  is  a  very  praiseworthy  and,  we  think,  a  very 
successful  attempt  to  meet  that  urgent  call.  The  author  does 
not  claim  too  much  when  he  says  that  the  little  volume  contains 
a  clear,  simple,  and  systematic  explanation  of  the  ethical  doctrines 
taught  by  the  greatest  minds  of  the  past  ages,  and  lately  most 
highly  recommended  by  our  Supreme  Pontiff,  the  illustrious  Leo 
XIII."  A  treatise,  like  the  present,  so  well  calculated  to  spread 
the  knowledge  of  ethical  truths  is  to  be  warmly  welcomed.  It 
may,  perhaps,  be  too  much  to  expect  that  it  will  find  its  way  into 
the  workshop,  the  parlour,  and  the  editor's  sanctum,  and  wean 
from  the  error  of  their  ways  those  who  are  advocating  dangerous 
or  immoral  theories.  To  the  old  it  can  do  no  harm,  at  all  events, 
and  it  may  do  some  good ;  but  what  is  much  more  important,  it 
is  likely  to  be  of  immense  advantage  to  the  young.  It  is  so  easily 
read  and  so  easily  understood,  that  it  is  extremely  well  suited 
for  boys  and  girls  in  colleges  and  academies.  If  true  ethical 
principles  are  instilled  into  the  minds  of  the  young,  when  their 
minds  are  so  easily  formed,  there  need  be  no  concern  for  the 
future,  either  of  Church  or  state.  The  youth  of  to-day  will  be 
the  journalists,  politicians,  legislators,  and — most  important  of 
all — the  voters  of  the  future. 

It  may  seem  hypercritical  to  notice  omissions  in  a  little  bool 
of   167   pages,    including  alphabetical   index,      Still   we  shoulc 
like  to  see  a  more  clear  and  emphatic  assertion  of  the  entii 
absence  of  right  in  the  state  to  interfere  with  the   marriage-bone 


Notices  of  Books  381 

Such  an  emphatic  assertion  is  specially  called  for  as  the  vast 
majority  of  Fr.  Coppens'  readers  are  or  will  be  citizens  of  the 
great  Western  Eepublic,  in  many  states  of  which  the  hideous 
laxity  of  the  divorce  laws  is  not  merely  an  evil  but  a  disgrace. 

The  treatment  of  communism  and  socialism  is  very  satis- 
factory, Mr.  Henry  George  is  very  well  answered.  From  his 
own  example  it  is  shown  that  appropriation  by  occupation  is  a 
valid  title  to  the  raw  material.  Fr.  Coppens'  attitude,  too,  on 
the  education  question  is  that  of  uncompromizing  orthodoxy. 

M.  B. 

ON    THE    KoAD    TO   KOME,  AND    HOW    TWO   BEOTHEES  GOT 

THEEE.     By  William  Richards.     New  York :  Benziger 
Brothers. 

AN  interesting  lecture,  in  which  the  author  tells  the  story  of 
his  conversion  to  the  Catholic  faith.  The  story  cannot  fail  to 
excite,  in  the  heart  of  the  Catholic  reader,  feelings  of  deep 
sympathy  for  his  separated  brethren  in  the  difficulties  they  have 
to  contend  with  in  their  search  after  truth,  owing  to  the  preju- 
dices against  the  Catholic  Church  that  early  training  and  life- 
long associations  have  almost  indelibly  impressed  on  their  minds. 

P.  M. 

ASCETICAL  WOEKS  OF  ST.  ALPHONSUS  LiGUOEi.  Letters, 
Part  II.  Special  Correspondence.  Translated  from  the 
Italian,  by  the  Eev.  Arthur  Coghlan,  C.SS.R.  New 
York,  Cincinnati,  Chicago :  Benziger  Bros.  Dublin  ; 
M.  H.  Gill  and  Son. 

ON  the  occasion  of  the  Centenary  of  the  death  of  St. 
Alphonsus  Liguori,  an  American  Redemptorist  conceived  the 
pious  and  appropriate  plan  of  shedding  new  lustre  on  the 
memory  of  the  saint  by  translating  all  his  ascetical  works  into 
English,  and  publishing  them.  This  laborious  task  he  has  now 
very  nearly  accomplished ;  for  we  have  before  us  the  twenty- 
first  volume  ;  and  the  series  will  be  complete  in  twenty -four. 
This  volume  contains  what  is  designated  as  the  "  special  cor- 
respondence "  of  the  saint ;  and  it  is  particularly  important ; 
because  it  embraces  the  letters  written  by  St.  Alphonsus  in 
support  of  his  system  of  moral  theology,  and  those  he  wrote  for 
the  direction  of  the  printing  of  his  works.  These  letters  give  us 


382  Notices  of  Books 

a  very  graphic  picture  of  the  difficulties  with  which  St.  Liguori 
had  to  contend  when  defending  his  opinions.  By  some  he  was 
considered  too  rigorous,  by  others  too  lax.  But,  in  spite  of  all 
attacks,  he  maintained  his  good  humour,  and  stuck  to  the  golden 
mean  which  he  had  adopted  from  the  first.  In  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  written  in  July,  1765,  he  says  : — 

"I  wish  to  give  you  a  laugh.  I  have  heard  that  at  Naples 
our  good  Father  Caldarera  wept  over  my  fate.  He  looks  upon 
me  as  damned,  because,  forsooth,  I  do  not  follow  the  rigorist 
doctrine  which  he  espoused  in  a  conversation  with  the  Oratorian 
Fathers  of  Borne,  who  make  it  their  boast  that  they  defend  this 
beautiful  teaching.  «  Poor  old  man,'  said  Father  Caldarera, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  '  he  will  damn  himself  on  account  of  this 
opinion  of  his.' 

"  That  I  have  good  reasons  to  fear  on  account  of  my  real  sins, 
I  acknowledge;  but  I  cannot  damn  myself  by  reason  of  this 
opinion ;  because  I  hold  it  for  certain.  In  my  diocese  I  refuse 
the  faculty  of  hearing  confessions  to  anyone  who  follows  the 
rigorist  opinion  :  for  I  regard  it  as  false  and  pernicious  to  the 
welfare  of  souls.  These  anti-probabilists  imagine  they  are 
seeking  the  honour  of  God,  and  they  do  not  wish  to  see  that  in 
contemning  the  Probabilists  they  are  maintaining  their  own 
opinion,  and  flattering  their  own  self-love.  As  though  one  could 
not  become  holy  without  following  their  rigorism,  which  is  driving 
souls  either  to  despair  or  to  laxity.  And,  indeed,  it  is  an  easy 
thing  for  a  person  to  become  lax  when  he  perceives  himself  too 
much  hemmed  in  by  the  obligations  of  conscience." 

In  writing  to  his  publishers  in  the  same  year,  he  says  : — 

"  I  hear  that  in  France  the  work  of  Lacroix,  annotated  by 
Father  Zaccaria,  and  likewise  all  copies  of  Busenbaum,  have  been 
burnt,  on  account  of  a  certain  proposition  found  in  Busenbaum, 
namely,  "  licet  occidere  principem  si  vult  in  juste  auferre  vitam." 
However,  with  the  limitation  which  Busenbaum  attaches  to  it — 
nisi  timeantur  majora  incommoda,  the  proposition  is  not  at  all 
condemnable.  For  this  very  thing  I  hear  they  have  burnt  the  work 
of  Lacroix ;  and,  for  the  same  reason,  they  will  also  burn  my 
book.  Take  care  then  not  to  send  any  copies  of  it  into  France." 

These  volumes  are  very  well  turned  out,  in  good  type,  and  on 
excellent  paper.  The  translation  frequently  offers  us  foreign 
constructions  and  locutions,  which  may  be  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  the  work  has  been  rapidly  executed.  But,  on 
whole,  it  is  most  readable,  clear,  and  correct. 

J.  F.  H. 


Notices  of  Boohs  383 

THE  BRAY  CATHOLIC  MONITOR*  A  Parish  Magazine, 
published  Monthly.  Price  One  Penny.  Published  at 
the  Presbytery,  Herbert-road,  Bray. 

THIS  is,  in  many  respects,  a  very  interesting  publication.     It 
aims  at  keeping  a  faithful  record  of  everything  that  interests  the 
parish  and  locality  in  which  it  is  published,  and  at  supplying,  at 
the  same  time,   a  varied  programme  of   literature  of  a  lighter 
kind,  calculated  to  interest  a  wider  circle,  and  to  give  an  opening 
to  native  talent  which  may  lead  to  important  developments  in 
the   course   of  time.     If   such   a   journal   had   been   kept  some 
hundreds  of  years  ago,  with  what  avidity  it  would  be  read  and 
scrutinized   at   the   present   day  ?     It   would,   undoubtedly,    be 
considered,  from  an  historical  and  archaeological  point  of  view,  a 
real  treasure.     No  doubt  the  daily  newspapers  supply  a  great 
deal  of  local  news  in  later  times  ;  but  it  is  only  those  who  have 
been  compelled  by  duty  to  consult  the  back  files  of  newspapers, 
and  search  in  them  for  an  account  of  some  local  transactions  of 
historic  value  who  know  how  wearisome  and,  often  too,   how 
profitless  is  the  task.     In  a  magazine  such  as  this,  besides  being 
sure   of    finding   what   one   is   looking   for,    his   search   will  be 
immensely  facilitated  by  the  convenient  size  of  the  publication 
and  the  table  -of  contents  with  which  it  is  sure  to  be  enriched. 
It  is,  no  doubt,  a  rather  bold  venture  for  Bray  to  start  a  magazine 
of  tbis  kind,  and  the  enterprise  of  its  promoters  deserves  success. 
We  are  aware  that  in  other  countries  several  towns  have  joined 
in  maintaining  a  journal  of  this  kind.     The  literary  part  would 
be  common  to  all — and  each  of  the  localities  interested  would 
get  space  for  local  records  in   proportion  to  the  number  of  its 
subscribers.     Those   who  are  interested  in  the  local  history  of 
Wicklow  and  Wexford — and  what  counties  in  Ireland  have  more 
glorious  memories  attaching  to  them  ? — might   lend   a   helping 
hand   to   Bray   to   maintain  this   journal,  and   make   it   a   real 
treasury  of  local  history  and  native  literary  value. 

J.  F.  H. 

THE   COMEDY  OF   ENGLISH  PROTESTANTISM.     Edited  by 

A.  F.  Marshall,  B.A.,  Oxon.     Benziger  Brothers. 
THE  fact  that  there  is  a  new  revised  edition  of  a  work  which 
appeared   in   1893    ought   to   be   a   sufficient   indication  of  its 
merits.     The  author  wishes  to  point  out  the  inconsistencies  of 


384  Notices  of  Books 

our  Anglican  neighbours.  This  he  does  in  a  truly  ingenious 
manner.  He  represents  a  grand  council  assembled  in  Exeter 
Hall,  London,  with  a  view  to  restoring  all  the  sects  in  Great 
Britain  to  the  embrace  of  their  mother,  the  Church  of  England. 
Seven  delegates  are  chosen  to  expound  sectarian  theology.  These 
carry  on  a  disputation,  in  form  not  so  very  unlike  the  mode  of  argu- 
ment common  in  the  schools.  The  Low  Church  delegate  appeals 
to  all  dissenters  to  come  inside  the  really  expansive  National 
Church.  The  Broad  Church  delegate,  with  equal  earnestness, 
exhorts  all  dissenters  to  remain  outside  that  institution.  The 
Low  Churchman  had  argued,  that,  as  the  Church  was  most 
comprehensive,  therefore  in  its  charity  it  included  all  the  shades 
of  non-conformism ;  while  the  Broad  Churchman  had  argued, 
that,  if  it  were  so  comprehensive,  it  could  not  exclude  the 
very  people  whom  it  already  included.  Ritualists,  Wesleyans, 
Salvationists,  and  all  the  other  sects,  whether  home-made  or 
imported,  have  their  opinions  put  forward  by  their  respective 
delegates,  who  very  ably  refute  one  another.  Thus  the  author 
conveys  the  idea,  that  the  Church  of  England  is  little  better 
than  a  chaos  of  opinion ;  and,  that  its  clergy  sit  loosely  to  any 
dogmatic  belief  whatever,  drawing  themselves  up  only  when 
there  is  danger  of  offending  the  susceptibilities  of  the  wealthy 
members  of  their  flock.  Unity  and  Catholicity  go  hand  in  hand; 
so,  too,  do  Catholicity  and  continuity,  and  unity  is  only  possible 
under  a  guiding  authority.  There  is  no  such  authority  in  the 
Church  of  England;  and  the  result  is,  that  each  man  is  his  own 
supreme  Pontiff ;  in  other  words,  a  complete  Church  in  himself. 

W.   D 


THE   IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


MAY,    1896 


KELIGIOUS  BIGOTRY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

WE  are  told  that  Pope  Pius  IX.  was  accustomed  to  say 
that  only  in  America  was  he  truly  Pope.  In  no  other 
country,  it  can  be  safely  said,  did  he  enjoy  fuller  liberty  in 
the  exercise  of  his  exalted  office.  In  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  we  find  this  brief  but  comprehensive 
declaration  :  "  Congress  shall  make  no  law  restricting  the 
establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise 
thereof."  By  this  fundamental  law  the  State  disclaims  all 
authority  in  spirituals,  while  at  the  same  time  it  fully 
recognises  the  independence  and  freedom  of  the  spiritual 
order,  and  its  obligation  to  protect  and  defend  the  Church 
in  the  peaceable  exercise  of  her  spiritual  freedom.  Nor  can 
it  be  said  that  the  founders  of  the  Republic  intended  to 
pronounce  all  religions,  whether  true  or  false,  equal  before 
God.  They  merely  declared  them  equal  before  the  law ; 
and  laid  down  the  equitable  principle  that  the  civil  govern- 
ment, adhering  strictly  to  its  own  sphere  of  political 
duty,  pledged  itself  not  to  interfere  with  religious  matters, 
which  it  rightly  viewed  as  entirely  without  the  bounds  of 
its  competency. 

Jn  the  enjoyment  of  this  liberty,  guaranteed  to  her  by 
the  civil  government,  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United 
States  during  the  century  that  is  drawing  to  a  close,  has 
progressed  in  membership,  in  wealth,  and  in  influence,  as  in 
no  other  country  in  the  world.  In  1785,  Bishop  Carroll 
estimated  the  number  of  Catholics  in  the  United  States  at 

VOL.  XVII.  2  B 


386  Eeligicus  Bigotry  in  the  United  States 

26,000.*     He  himself  was  the  only  bishop.     There  were  no 
Catholic  schools,  no  colleges,  no  religious  houses,  and  only 
a  few  priests  scattered  here  and  there  through  the  colonies. 
According   to   Hoffman's    Catholic  Directory  for  this  year, 
we  have  in  the  United  States — 14  archbishops,  69  bishops, 
10,348  priests,  9,501  churches,  108  seminaries,  3,361  parish 
schools,  243  orphan  asylums,  836  charitable  institutions,  and 
a  Catholic  population  of  9,410,790.     That  the  Church  has 
sustained   some   losses   in    the    United    States,   cannot   be 
wondered  at,  if  we  take  into  account  the  conditions  of  the 
country.      These    losses    have   been   by  many  writers   and 
speakers  grossly  exaggerated.      Dr.  Gilmary  Shea,  who  was 
unquestionably   the    best    Catholic    authority    on    Church 
history  we  ever  had  in  this  country,  working  from  the  official 
statistics  of  immigration   since    1820,  calculating  the  per- 
centage of  Catholic  immigrants,  and  allowing  for  each  decade 
a  natural  increase  of  one-third  over  the  total  figures  with 
which  the  decade  starts,  estimates  that  the  Catholic  popula- 
tion in  1890  ought  to  be    10,627,000.      According   to  this 
system  of  calculation  the  Catholic  population  in  1895  ought 
to  be  12,500,000.     We  need  scarcely  say  that  there  are  some 
good    authorities    who    believe    that    we    have    12,000,000 
Catholics  in  the  country  to-day.2     Again  these  losses  have 
been  in  great  measure    compensated  for  by  most  valuable 
acquisitions.      Here,  as   in   England    during   this  century, 
those  who,  led  by  conviction,  bravety  avowed  their  faith  in 
the   unpopular    creed     of    the    Catholic  Church,   were,  as 
a  rule,  men  and  women  of  blameless  lives,  of  untarnished 
reputation,  of  great  learning  and  study  ;  whereas  those  who 
left  the  Church  were  often  persons  of  questionable  morality 
and  inconstant  character,  whose  lives  were  never  a  credit  to 
the  Church  to  which  they  professed  to  belong. 

The  progress  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States 
has  not  been  over  a  path  bestrewn  with  roses.  Many  and 
serious  were  the  difficulties  to  be  surmounted,  and  not  least 

1  This  estimate  did  not  include  the  French  and  other  Catholics  in  the.  West, 
who  numbered  probably  10,000. 

2  Dr.  Thomas  O' Gorman  in  his  recently  published  History  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  the  United  States  (page  498),  says  : — "  I  venture  to  say  that  we  have 
to-day  12,000,000  of  Catholics." 


Religious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States  387 

amongst  them  was  the  religious  bigotry  and  ignorant 
prejudice  against  the  Catholic  Church,  which  the  colonists 
brought  with  them  from  England,  and  which  base  and 
designing  men  have  fomented  and  kept  alive  down  to  the 
present  time. 

As  long  as. England  ruled  the  American  colonies  there 
was  little  toleration  for  Catholics.  When  we  read  in  all  the 
Protestant  histories  of  the  United  States  that  New  England 
was  the  cradle-land  of  our  liberties,  civil  and  religious,  we 
are  forcibly  reminded  of  the  saying  of  Talleyrand,  that  history 
is  "  a  conspiracy  against  truth."  The  Puritans  who  settled 
in  New  England,  and  who  had  fled  from  religious  tyranny— 
and  who,  we  might  naturally  expect,  would  spurn  that 
which  had  exiled  them — were  yet  so  imbued  with  the 
intolerant  spirit  of  the  so-called  Reformation  that  they 
re-enacted,  on  American  soil,  the  odious  intolerance  of  their 
mother  country.  They  relentlessly  persecuted  the  Catholics, 
who,  like  themselves,  had  been  the  victims  of  religious 
fanaticism  in  England  and  Ireland,  and  had  hoped  to  find  in 
the  new  country  to  which  they  had  come  a  safe  asylum  and 
a  happy  home.  Nor  were  the  members  of  the  Church  of 
England,  who  settled  in  Virginia,  less  violent  in  their  hatred 
and  persecution  of  Catholics  than  their  dissenting  friends  in 
New  England.  The  only  denominations  in  the  thirteen 
original  colonies  who,  when  they  had  it  in  their  power  to 
persecute  those  differing  from  them  in  religious  belief, 
abstained  from  so  doing,  were  the  Quakers  and  the  Catholics. 
In  1681  William  Penn,  an  English  Quaker,  founded  the 
colony  of  Pennsylvania,  as  an  asylum  for  his  persecuted 
English  brethren,  and  granted  full  religious  toleration  to  every 
denomination.  Although  some  of  Penn's  colonists  bitterly 
opposed  him  in  his  toleration  of  Catholics,  and  although 
complaints  were  frequently  made  against  him  to  the  home 
government  on  this  ground,  still  he  never  wavered  in  his 
adherence  to  that  religious  toleration  which  was  the  first 
enactment  of  his  colony. 

We  find  also  that  while   Thomas   Dongan,1  a   County 

1  His  father  was  Sir  John  Dongan  of  Castledown,  and  one  of  his  maternal 
uncles  was  the  famous  Richard  Talbot,  Earl  of  TyrconnelL 


388  Religious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States 

Kildare  man,  was  Governor  of  New  York  (1682  to  1688),  he 
granted  the  fullest  religious  liberty  to  all  denominations. 
In  the  first  legislative  Assembly  in  New  York  (October  17, 
1683)  under  Dongan's  administration,  it  was  enacted  "  that 
no  person  or  persons  which  profess  faith  in  God  by  Jesus 
Christ  shall  at  any  time  be  anyways  molested,  punished, 
disquieted,  or  called  in  question  for  any  difference  of  opinion, 
or  matter  of  religious  concernment,  who  do  not  actually 
disturb  the  civil  peace  of  the  province." 

The  only  other  instance  of  religious  toleration  that  we 
find  in  the  history  of  the  colonies  is  that  afforded  by  the 
Catholic  colony  of  Maryland.  This  colony  was  founded  in 
1634  by  the  Catholic  Lord  Baltimore,  who  appointed  his 
brother,  Leonard  Calvert,  governor.  One  of  the  first  acts  of 
that  governor  was  to  proclaim  to  the  world  that  in  the  little 
colony  of  Maryland  no  man  should  ever  be  persecuted  for 
his  religious  belief.  Let  Bancroft,  the  American  Protestant 
historian,  describe  the  effects  of  this  policy  : — 

"  Emigrants  arrived  from  every  clime,  and  the  colonial 
Legislature  extended  its  sympathies  to  many  nations,  as  well  as 
to  many  sects.  From  France  came  Huguenots;  from  Germany, 
from  Holland,  from  Sweden,  from  Finland — I  believe  from 
Piedmont — the  children  of  misfortune  sought  protection  under  the 
tolerant  sceptre  of  the  Eoman  Catholic.  .  .  .  Within  six 
months  it  (the  colony)  had  advanced  more  than  Virginia  had 
done  in  as  many  years.  ...  Under  the  munificence  and 
superintending  mildness  of  Lord  Baltimore  a  dreary  wilderness 
was  soon  quickened  with  the  swarming  life  and  activity  of 
prosperous  settlements;  the  Eoman  Catholics,  who  were  oppressed 
by  the  laws  of  England,  were  sure  to  find  a  peaceful  asylum  in  the 
quiet  harbours  of  the  Chesapeake ;  and  there  too  Protestants 
were  sheltered  against  Protestant  intolerance.  Such  were 
the  beautiful  auspices  under  which  Maryland  started  into 
being,  .  .  ,  Its  history  is  the  history  of  benevolence,  gratitude, 
and  toleration."  x 

To  the  undying  dishonour  of  the  Protestants  to  whom 
the  Catholics  of  Maryland  granted  full  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  be  it  said,  that  no  sooner  had  they  outnumbered  the 
Catholics,  and  gained  the  ascendancy  in  the  colony,  than 
they  disfranchised  and  proscribed  the  Catholic  settlers. 

1  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  i.,  ch.  vii. 


Eeligious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States  389 

Act  passed  by  the  Legislature,  in  October,  1704,  "to  prevent 
the  growth  of  popery  within  the  province,"  was  as  inhuman 
and  as  infamous  as  any  enactment  in  the  penal  laws  of  old 
England.  These  persecutions  grew  in  severity  until  the 
Catholic  colonists  of  Maryland  were  compelled  in  self- 
defence  to  appeal  to  the  English  throne  for  protection  from 
the  people  whom  they  invited  into  their  colony  to  share  in 
their  liberty. 

The  services  rendered  by  Catholics  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution  did  much  to  remove  the  distrust  with  which 
they  were  regarded  by  their  Protestant  fellow-citizens,  and 
to  obliterate  the  ignorant  prejudice  and  bitter  fanaticism 
which  disgraced  our  colonial  history.  Although  in  most  of 
the  colonies  the  Catholic  religion  was  proscribed,  and  the 
Catholics  deprived  of  their  civil  rights  ;  and  although  the 
Continental  Congress  of  1774,  in  its  address  to  the  people 
of  Great  Britain,  protested  against  the  "  Quebec  Act," 
which  granted  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  Catholics  of 
Canada;  still  when  the  trumpet  of  freedom  was  sounded, 
when  from  the  steeple  of  the  old  State  House  in  Philadelphia 
rang  out  the  silver  tones  of  that  famous  bell,  which  "  pro- 
claimed liberty  throughout  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof,"  the  Catholics  buried  the  remembrance  of  their 
wrongs,  and  espoused  the  cause  of  freedom. 

"  Their  blood  flowed  as  freely  [wrote  the  great  Archbishop 
Carroll,  after  the  struggle  was  over],  in  proportion  to  their 
numbers,  to  cement  the  fabric  of  independence,  as  that  of  any  of 
their  fellow-citizens.  They  concurred  with,  perhaps,  greater 
unanimity  than  any  other  body  of  men  in  recommending  and 
promoting  that  Government,  from  whose  influence  America 
anticipates  all  the  blessings  of  justice,  peace,  plenty,  good  order, 
and  civil  and  religious  liberty." 

Catholics  could  not  well  be  denied  a  share  in  the  civil 
and  religious  liberty  which  had  been  won  by  their  co- 
operation. Accordingly  we  find  that  the  convention  which 
met  in  Philadelphia,  in  1787,  laid  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  the  broad  and  deep  foundations  of  religious 
equality  by  the  sixth  article,  abolishing  religious  tests  as  a 
qualification  for  any  office  or  public  trust ;  and  the  first 


390  Eeligious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States 

Congress  affirmed  the  incompetency  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment in  religion  by  the  passing  of  the  first  amendment : 
"  Congress  shall  make  no  laws  respecting  an  establishment 
of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof."  But 
bigotry  does  not  die  quickly.  It  was  extremely  difficult  to 
break  down  the  barriers  of  exclusiveness  which  fanaticism 
had  raised  against  the  just  claims  of  Catholics  ;  and  although 
the  laws  of  the  different  States  ought  to  be  in  harmony 
with  the  principles  of  religious  toleration  and  equality 
embodied  in  the  Constitution,  still  many  of  the  States — as 
New  York,  North  Carolina,  New  Jersey,  and  New  Hamp- 
shire— long  refused  the  Catholics  civil  and  political  rights. 
Gradually  a  more  tolerant  spirit  manifested  itself,  kindlier 
feelings  prevailed,  these  restrictions  were  removed,  and 
religious  equality  became  universal  and  complete  throughout 
the  Union. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  the  great 
number  of  immigrants,  many  of  them  Irish  Catholics, 
who  flocked  to  this  country,  excited  the  jealousy  of  the 
descendants  of  the  former  colonists,  and  called  into  exist- 
ence the  politico-religious  movement  known  as  "  Native 
Americanism,"  which  degenerated  by  a  natural  process  into 
"  kuow-notbingism."  The  pastoral  letter  issued  by  the  first 
Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  (1829)  alluded  to  the  anti- 
Catholic  feeling  then  prevalent,  in  these  words  : — 

"We  notice  with  regret  a  spirit  exhibited  by  some  of  the 
conductors  of  the  Press  engaged  in  the  interests  of  those  brethren 
separated  from  our  communion,  which  has  within  a  few  years 
become  more  unkind  and  unjust  in  our  regard.  Not  only  do  they 
assail  us  and  our  institutions  in  a  style  of  vituperation  and 
offence,  misrepresent  our  tenets,  vilify  our  practices,  repeat  the 
hundred-times-refuted  calumnies  of  the  days  of  angry  and  bitter 
contention  in  other  lands,  but  they  have  even  denounced  you 
and  us  as  enemies  of  the  liberties  of  the  republic,  and  have 
openly  proclaimed  the  fancied  necessity  of  obstructing  our 
progress,  and  of  using  their  best  efforts  to  extirpate  our  religion." 

The  anti-Catholic  sentiment,  fomented  by  harangues 
from  Protestant  preachers,  culminated  in  fierce  riots  at 
Philadelphia,  in  1844.  Two  Catholic  churches  in  that  city, 
as  well  as  the  convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  were 


Eeligious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States  391 

burned  by  the  fanatics.  In  New  York  the  firmness  of  the 
illustrious  Bishop  Hughes  saved  the  city  from  similar 
outrages.  The  Native  American  party  called  a  public 
meeting,  whose  object  was  arson  and  murder.  Bishop 
Hughes  advised  the  people  to  defend  their  property.  An 
Irish  society,  in  New  York,  resolved  that  in  case  a  single 
church  was  attacked,  buildings  should  be  fired  in  all 
quarters  and  the  city  involved  in  a  general  conflagration. 
The  Native  American  meeting  was  never  held,  and  the 
city  was  saved. 

Similar  outbursts  of  bigotry  occurred  in  Charleston, 
Massachusetts,  when  the  Ursuline  convent  was  burned  in 
1834 ;  in  Newark,  New  Jersey,  when  Catholic  churches 
were  destroyed ;  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  several 
Cathdlics  were  killed,  in  1855  ;  and  in  several  other  towns 
throughout  the  country.  It  must  be  said,  in  justice  to  the 
American  people,  that  the  great  majority  of  them  never 
sympathized  with  the  wretched  fanatics  who  were  guilty  of 
those  disgraceful  crimes.  The  know-nothing  movement 
was  as  much  political  as  anti-Catholic.  In  fact,  its  primary 
object  was  to  secure  to  native-born  Protestants  a  monopoly 
of  the  offices  and  the  exclusive  right  to  enjoy  the  public 
service-money.  Greed  and  selfishness,  therefore,  were  the 
motives  that  influenced  its  adherents ;  lust  of  power  was 
their  ruling  passion  ;  for  any  form  of  religion  they  cared 
little ;  they  thought  the  principal  end  they  had  in  view 
would  be  more  easily  attained  by  slandering  and  assailing 
the  Catholics,  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  do  so.  Dis- 
appointed and  obscure  politicians  were  mainly  accountable 
for  the  disgraceful  misrepresentations  of  the  Church 
spread  broadcast  through  the  country  by  this  prescriptive 
society,  and  for  the  outrages  committed  by  its  fanatical 
adherents. 

When  the  civil  war  broke  out,  in  1861,  no  one  objected 
to  the  religion  professed  by  Sheridan,  Shields,  Corcoran, 
Meagher,  Eosencrans,  Meade,  and  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
Catholics  who  fought  for  the  Union,  No  one  objected  to 
the  offices  held  by  our  Catholic  soldiers  who  followed  the 
flag  of  the  Union  from  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  to  the 


392  Religious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States 

surrender  at  Appomattox.  No  one  objected  to  the  ministra- 
tions of  the  Catholic  sisters,  who  during  those  terrible 
years  of  strife  and  bloodshed  risked  their  lives  to  soothe  and 
solace  our  wounded  soldiers,  in  the  camp,  in  the  hospitals, 
and  in  the  prisons. 

The  self-sacrifice  and  patriotism  displayed  by  the  members 
of  the  Catholic  Church  during  that  war  did  much  to  remove 
the  ignorant  prejudice  of  many  non-Catholics  ;  and  for  a 
number  of  years  after  the  war  we  hear  of  no  antagonism  to 
Catholics  because  of  their  religion.  In  recent  years,  how- 
ever, the  enemies  of  the  Church  seem  to  be  reverting  to 
their  old  tricks,  fomenting  religious  bigotry,  and  disturbing 
the  peace  of  the  community,  by  representing  the  Catholic 
Church  as  a  religious  system  hostile  to  free  institutions,  and 
the  enemy  of  enlightenment  and  progress.  From  pulpit  and 
press,  and  from  the  lodges  of  secret  societies,  are  poured 
forth  the  same  old  charges,  refuted  a  hundred  times  over  ; 
the  same  misrepresentations,  revilings,  and  indecencies  that 
have  been  the  stock-in-trade  of  the  Church's  enemies  for 
centuries.  The  most  aggressive,  the  vilest,  and  most  virulent 
of  the  anti-Catholic  societies  which  have  been  organized  in 
recent  years  is  the  so-called  "  American  Protective  Associa- 
tion," commonly  known  as  the  "  A.P.A."  This  is  a  secret, 
oath-bound,  politico- sectarian  society,  organised  for  the 
purpose  of  excluding  Catholics  from  holding  offices  in 
national,  state,  or  municipal  government,  and  from  enjoying 
the  other  rights  incident  to  American  citizenship.  Its 
members  bind  themselves  under  oath  not  only  to  exclude 
Catholics  from  office,  but  not  even  to  employ  them  in  the 
meanest  capacity.  Their  oath,  therefore,  binds  them  to 
nullify  the  constitutional  guarantee  of  the  freedom  of 
conscience.  No  wonder  that  the  celebrated  Englishman, 
Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  should  be  astonished  at  finding  such  a 
society  in  the  free  soil  of  America  : — 

"We  rid  ourselves  of  it  [i.e.,  the  demon  of  bigotry]. so  long 
ago  in  the  old  country  [he  says] ,  that  it  was  startling  to  find 
that  it  had  simply  migrated  to  the  New  "World.  No-Popery 
fanaticism  died  fifty  years  ago  in  England.  We  imagined  it  dead 
and  buried.  But  here  is  the  vampire  thing  making  night  hideous 


Religious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States  393 

by  re-visiting  the  pale  glimpses  of  the  moon  in  Western  America. 
It  is  the  same  old  demon,  with  its  familiar  hoofs,  and  horns,  and 
tail,  scaring  the  old  women  of  both  sexes  with  the  bogey  of 
impending  massacre,  and  of  the  domination  of  sixty  millions  by 
six." 

The  existence  of  such  a  society  is  cause  not  only  for 
astonishment,  but  also  for  shame.  It  is  humiliating  for 
Americans  to  reflect  that,  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  nowhere  else  save  in  the  United  States  can  the 
spectacle  be  seen  of  an  attempt  to  proscribe  and  disfranchise 
men  because  of  their  religious  belief;  nowhere  else  do  we 
find  men  so  dead  to  sensibility,  to  any  sense  of  honour  and 
humanity,  as  to  enter  a  conspiracy  against  the  rights,  the 
liberties,  and  the  lives  of  a  portion  of  their  fellow-citizens. 
If  the  American  people  are  not  more  vigorous  in  their 
denunciation,  and  more  energetic  in  their  efforts  for  the 
extirpation  of  this  unconstitutional  and  unchristian  organi- 
zation, the  record  of  its  deeds  will  be  the  darkest  page  in 
our  country's  history. 

The  members  of  this  contemptible  society  are  not  all 
Americans.  In  some  districts  the  majority  are  Orangemen  ; 
and  Orangeism  is  synonymous  with  religious  bigotry  the 
world  over.  The  Orangeman  has  introduced  into  Canada- 
and  the  United  States  the  bitter  feuds  of  the  old  country. 
He  is  the  foe  of  freedom  in  America,  as  well  as  in  Ireland. 
While  boasting  of  his  patriotism,  he  betrays  every  cause  and 
every  country.  He  is  a  "  conditional  loyalist  "  here  as  in 
Ireland — patriotic  only  just  as  long  as  Protestant  supremacy 
lasts,  and  he  can  persecute  Catholics.  Allied  with  the 
Orangeman  in  this  nefarious  work  is  the  petty  politician. 
Not  one  politician  of  national  reputation  in  the  United 
States  is  a  member  of  the  order.  It  is  only  the  narrow,  base, 
and  ignorant  politician,  whose  only  hope  of  preferment  lies 
in  the  secret  workings  of  this  dark-lantern  society,  that 
disgraces  the  name  of  American  by  allying  himself  with 
such  an  unpatriotic  and  un-American  organization. 

Another  friend  of  the  A  P.A.  is  the  hypocrital  preacher. 
In  justice  to  the  really  intelligent  and  most  influential 
Protestant  clergymen  of  America,  it  must  be  said  that  they 


394  Religious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States 

have  repudiated  this  vile  organization,  and  denounced  it 
publicly  and  privately;  but  the  backwood  preachers,  with 
little  education,  and  less  religion,  who  have  ceased  long  ago 
to  instruct  their  people  in  religious  matters,  and  have  taken 
to  "entertaining"  their  congregations  by  discussing  the 
personal  scandals  of  the  day  and  the  latest  prize  fights,  find 
it  a  good  drawing  card  to  indulge  now  and  then  in  inflam- 
matory harangues  against  "  Romanism."  Since  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  depend  principally  for  their  knowledge 
of  right  and  wrong,  falsehood  arid  truth,  upon  the  character 
of  the  instruction  they  receive  from  their  religious  teachers, 
we  cannot  wonder,  that  among  the  people  who  take  their 
ideas  of  the  Catholic  Church  from  these  "reverend"  gentle- 
men, there  exists  much  prejudice  against  the  Church,  and 
many  sympathizers  with  the  A.P.A. 

Americans  are,  as  a  rule,  fair-minded,  but  we  must  not 
forget  that  for  generations  the  English-speaking  world  ha? 
been  taught,  by  literature  and  tradition,  that  the  teachings 
of  the  Catholic  Church  are  contrary  to  the  political  and 
social  ideas  generally  accepted  among  civilized  people :  and 
although  not  more  than  fourteen  millions  out  of  our  sixty- 
five  millions  of  people  are  communicants  of  any  Protestant 
•denomination,  still  the  sympathies  of  the  masses  of  the 
American  people  are  Protestant,  their  teaching  has  been  in 
great  measure  Protestant,  and  they  still  entertain,  to  some 
extent,  the  traditional  Protestant  view  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Moreover,  the  marvellous  growth  of  the  Church 
in  this  country  has  excited  the  jealousy,  if  not  the  appre- 
hensions, of  the  sects,  who  believe  that  her  advancement 
means  their  destruction.  These  facts  may  account,  in  some 
measure,  for  the  action  of  some  Americans,  who,  though  not 
approving  of  the  principles  of  the  A. P.  A.,  are  still  slow  to 
condemn  it. 

The  A.P.A.,  of  course,  must  give  some  reasons  for  its 
existence. 

"The  lion  rends  its  prey,  and  gives  no  reason  for  doing  so 
[says  Cardinal  Newman]  ;  but  man  cannot  persecute  without 
assigning  to  himself  a  reason  for  his  act ;  he  must  settle  it  with 
his  conscience ;  he  must  have  sufficient  reasons ;  and,  if  good 


Religious  Bigotry  in  the  United  States  395 

reasons  are  not  forthcoming,  there  is  no  help  for  it,  he  must  put 
up  with  bad.  How  to  conflict  with  the  moral  influence  of  the 
Church,  being  taken  as  the  problem  to  be  solved,  nothing  is  left 
for  him  but  to  misstate  and  defame ;  there  is  no  alternative. 
Tame  facts,  elaborate  inductions,  subtle  presumption,  will  not 
avail  with  many.  Something  which  will  cut  a  dash,  something 
gaudy  and  staring,  something  inflammatory,  is  the  rhetoric  in 
request."  1 

This  is  precisely  the  position  of  the  enemies  of  the 
Church  in  America,  as  it  was  their  position  in  England 
when  the  great  Cardinal  wrote  these  words.  The  most 
vile  and  abominable  slanders  are  circulated  about  Catholics. 
Their  Church  is  represented  as  an  enemy  of  education,  of 
social  order,  and  of  the  free  institutions  of  the  country. 
Catholics  are  said  to  owe  an  allegiance  to  the  Pope,  which 
conflicts  with  their  allegiance  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  They  are  accused  of  plotting  to  unite 
Church  and  State  in  the  country,  although  no  class  in  the 
community  is  more  heartily  in  favour  of  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State  in  this  country.  These,  and  numberless 
other  charges,  which  have  been  refuted  again  and  again,  not 
only  by  the  statements  of  those  who  are  competent  to  speak 
for  the  Church,  but  also  by  the  actions  of  Catholics  in  this 
Republic,  are  repeated  day  after  day,  and  year  after  year, 
and  are  believed  by  the  ignorant  and  unthinking. 

We  have  no  doubt  whatever  but  this  outburst  of  bigotry 
will  soon  disappear;  these  calumnies  will  melt  away  under 
the  sunlight  of  truth  ;  and  as  the  Church's  influence  extends, 
and  her  teachings  become  better  known,  kindlier  and  more 
tolerant  feelings  will  prevail.  Catholics,  at  any  rate,  have 
reason  to  be  proud  of  their  record  in  this  country.  They  have 
always  been  the  friends  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  They 
were  the  first  in  the  country  to  make  freedom  of  conscience 
an  organic  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  State.  They  have 
never  persecuted  or  proscribed  those  who  differed  from  them 
in  religious  belief.  Forgetful  alike  of  the  wrongs  they  have 
suffered,  and  the  absurd  prejudices  against  them,  they  were 
never  found  wanting  in  fidelity  to  their  country  ;  and  should 

1  Lecture  on  Prejudice,  addressed  to  the  Brothers  of  the  Oratory. 


396  The  Philosophy  of  Habit 

our  freedom  be  again  imperilled,  they  are  ready  to  pledge 
anew  their  lives  and  fortunes.  They  have  been  loyal  to 
their  Church,  and  have  made  many  sacrifices — social, 
political,  and  pecuniary — in  proof  of  that  loyalty.  They 
manfully  professed  their  belief  in  the  days  of  trial.  The 
hundreds  of  Catholic  institutions  that  dot  this  broad  land 
from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  from  St.  Paul  to  New 
Orleans,  tell  the  same  tale  of  constant  effort,  constant 
sacrifice  in  the  cause  of  God  and  humanity;  and  if  called 
on  to  make  further  sacrifices  for  religion,  the  Catholics 
of  this  Kepublic  will  make  them  as  cheerfully  and  bravely 
as  they  have  done  in  the  past. 

P.  GRIFF Y. 


THE    PHILOSOPHY   OF    HABIT 

WE  very  often  hear  and  speak  much  about  habits ; 
about  our  own  habits,  and  the  habits  of  others.  We 
hold  them  up  for  criticism,  approve  or  disapprove  of  them. 
Yet,  with  all  this  we  seldom  apply  our  minds  to  consider 
what  habits  are.  They  are  so  familiar  to  us,  that  we  seem  to 
take  it  for  granted  that  we  sufficiently  know  what  they  are. 
But  do  we  know  what  they  are  ?  Do  we  know  what  is 
necessary  to  form  habits,  either  good  or  evil ;  and  when 
formed,  what  is  necessary  to  preserve  them,  or  root  them 
out?  Is  it  not  often  a  difficulty  to  know  by  what  means  we 
can  get  rid  of  an  evil  habit  or  acquire  a  good  one  ?  It  is  on 
account  of  the  importance  of  these  simple  questions  :  What 
are  habits  ?  how  are  they  formed  ?  and  how  can  they  be  got 
rid  of?  that  the  following  remarks  on  the  philosophy  of 
habits  may  be  of  interest  to  readers  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD. 
Habit,  from  the  Latin  habere,  is  a  quality  by  which  a  sub- 
ject is  disposed,  or  has  itself  in  some  special  way,  either  in 
regard  to  itself  or  to  some  other.  Before  any  composite 
being  is  constituted  in  existence,  previous  dispositions  are 
required  in  its  component  parts,  so  that  they  may  fitly  unite 


The  Philosophy  of  Habit  397 

to  form  the  new  being ;  and  these  dispositions  continue  to 
remain  in  the  united  parts  as  long  as  the  being  continues 
to  exist.  The  moment  they  cease,  the  being  for  whose 
continued  existence  they  are  necessary  also  ceases.  These 
dispositions  are  called  habits,  because  they  are  had  by  the 
subject,  and  they  dispose  the  subject  in  itself.  Nor  can 
they  be  removed  except  with  difficulty,  for  each  being  clings 
to  its  existence ;  and  hence  those  dispositions  necessary  for 
existence  last  as  long  as  the  being  itself. 

But  these  modifications  of  the  subject  in  itself  are  habits 
only  in  a  wide  sense.  The  strict  sense  of  the  term  habit  is 
confined  to  the  disposition  or  modification  of  the  subject  in 
reference  to  something  else.  When  any  being,  and  more 
especially  any  rational  being,  begins  to  exist,  it  does  not 
exist  as  a  mere  unit,  claiming  exclusion  from  all  others,  but 
it  forms  one  of  the  many  that  together  constitute  the  harmony 
and  perfection  of  the  universe.  It  has  its  own  essence  by 
which  it  is  specifically  distinct  from  others  of  a  different 
essence ;  it  has  its  own  individual  properties  by  which  it  is 
individually  separate  from  others,  and  it  has  subsistence  of 
its  own,  by  which  it  exists  independently  of  others.  Its 
nature  or  essence  seeks  to  act,  but  of  itself  it  cannot.  It 
requires  some  means  or  channels  through  which  to  put  forth 
its  active  power,  and  these  means  are  the  faculties  with  which 
the  nature  or  essence  of  each  one  is  endowed.  If  the  nature- 
varies  the  faculties  also  vary.  In  some  natures  the  faculties 
are  determined  to  one  individual  object,  and  beyond  that 
object  they  are  unable  to  go  ;  while  in  other  natures  the 
faculties  are  not  determined  to  one ;  they  can  tend  to  one  or 
to  many,  or  they  can  withdraw  themselves  from  them  all. 
An  example  of  the  former  are  the  sensitive  faculties  of 
brutes.  They  of  necessity  tend  to  one  object,  the  sensible 
good  now  present;  and  an  example  of  the  latter  are  the 
rational  faculties  of  man,  the  intellect  and  will.  They  have 
truth  and  good  for  their  object,  but  they  are  not  necessarily 
determined  to  any  particular  truth  or  good.  The  intellect 
need  not  necessarily  consider  this  or  that  truth,  nor  need 
the  will  necessarily  seek  this  or  that  good. 

It  is  this  want  of  determination  in  the  rational  faculties 


398  The  Philosophy  of  Habit 

of  man  to  their  proper  objects  that  necessitates  the  existence 
of  some  new  quality  or  disposition,  by  which  they  are  facili- 
tated, and  rendered  prompt  in  tending  to  their  proper  objects. 
The  will,  for  instance,  is  not  always  ready  to  seek  the  good 
required ;  it  often  with  difficulty  does  so ;  sometimes  it  is 
.scarcely  able  to  do  so  at  all  ;  and,  therefore,  it  requires  some 
new  quality  to  enable  it  to  seek  its  proper  good  with  ease 
and  promptitude.  In  like  manner,  the  intellect  has  often 
difficulty  in  considering  the  required  truths  :  and,  therefore, 
it  also  requires  to  be  disposed  so  as  to  be  able  to  dwell  with 
facility  on  the  truths  that  require  consideration.  These 
qualities,  by  which  the  faculties  are  disposed  to  tend  to  given 
objects,  are  habits.  By  them  the  faculties  have  some  new 
qualities  superadded  to  themselves,  the  qualities  of  prompti- 
tude and  facility  in  tending  to  their  proper  objects.  Hence 
the  habits  are  qualities  added  to  the  faculties  of  the  soul— 
the  intellect  and  will — and  to  all  those  faculties  that  are 
subject  to  the  intellect  and  will,  enabling  them  to  tend  with 
prompitude,  ease,  and  facility  to  their  proper  objects.  The 
faculties  have  in  themselves  the  power  to  act,  the  habits 
dispose  them  to  act,  and  are  necessary  if  the  faculties  are 
undetermined  to  act. 

Habits  may,  then,  be  considered  as  disposing  the  subject 
in  itself,  or  as  disposing  the  faculties  to  tend  to  some  special 
objects.  These  objects  are  manifold,  and  the  faculties  tend 
to  them  by  different  acts,  which  acts,  in  turn,  cause  different 
habits.  Hence,  according  as  the  objects  of  the  faculties 
.are  different,  the  habits  that  dispose  the  faculties  are  also 
different.  Again,  there  are  some  objects,  so  proportioned  to 
man's  nature,  that  his  perfection  is  increased  by  their  pos- 
session ;  and  thus  man's  seeking  to  acquire  them  is  lawful 
and  good  :  while  there  are  other  objects,  the  possession  of 
which  is  injurious  to  man;  and  his  seeking  them  is,  therefore, 
unlawful  and  evil.  Those  habits  that  dispose  man  to  seek 
the  former  objects  are  good  habits ;  those  that  dispose  him 
to  seek  the  latter  are  evil  habits.  All  habits  are,  therefore, 
not  the  same,  nor  is  the  cause  of  all  habits  the  same.  Some 
are  had  from  nature,  and  are  found  in  every  individual ; 
,as  for  instance,  all  possessing  the  use  of  reason  at  once 


The  Philosophy  of  Habit  399 

assent  to  certain  first  principles ;  some  are  also  naturally 
had,  but  only  by  certain  individuals,  owing  to  their  natural 
dispositions  of  mind  or  body ;  but  the  usual  and  more 
common  way  of  acquiring  habits  is  by  the  repetition  of 
the  same  act.  Each  act  produces  a  certain  aptitude  or 
propension  in  the  faculty  from  which  it  proceeds,  and  by 
the  repetition  of  the  same  act  the  faculty  finally  becomes  so 
disposed,  that  it  can  with  ease  perform  those  acts  it  could 
before  only  with  difficulty  attempt.  And  this  holds  good 
for  evil  as  well  as  for  good  habits.  There  are  some 
faculties  that  are  so  susceptible  to  impressions  of  particular 
acts,  that  often  one  single  act  without  any  repetition 
is  sufficient  to  produce  a  habit,  while  other  faculties 
require  numberless  repetitions  of  the  same  act  before 
any  new  habit  is  acquired.  The  intellect  can  at  first 
sight  assent  to  a  self-evident  truth,  and  ever  afterwards 
assent  to  the  same  truth  with  the  greatest  facility ;  whereas 
those  of  a  weak  memory  can  only  with  difficulty,  and  with 
much  labour,  acquire  the  habit  of  remembering  certain 
things- 

Habits  can  be  increased  in  two  ways  :  first,  in  their 
greater  or  less  proportion  to  the  objects  of  the  faculties  in 
which  they  are  subjected  ;  and  as  that  proportion  often  varies, 
habits  can  be  greater  or  less.  They  increase  according  as 
the  due  proportion  increases,  and  diminish  according  to  its 
decrease.  As,  for  instance,  the  habit  of  any  science  is 
perfect  where  all  the  objects  of  that  science  are  known  arid 
retained  with  facility,  and  it  is  imperfect  when  only  some 
objects  are  known,  and  the  mind  has  difficulty  in  considering 
them ;  so  also  the  habit  of  any  virtue — humility,  for  instance — 
is  perfect  when  it  enables  the  faculty  in  which  it  is  subjected 
to  exercise  itself  in  regard  to  all  those  things,  and  in  all 
those  occasions  where  humility  ought  to  be  practised ;  it  is 
less  perfect  if  it  enables  one  to  exercise  it  only  in  some 
inopportune  times  and  places;  and  imperfect,  or  perhaps  not 
had  at  all,  if  it  be  exercised  only  in  matters  that  require  no 
humility.  Secondly,  habits  are  more  or  less  perfect,  accord- 
ing to  their  greater  or  less  intensity.  Habits  are  not 
determined  and  indivisible  forms  that  never  vary.  They  can 


400  The  Philosophy  of  Habi  t 

be  greater  or  less,  according  to  their  greater  or  less  participa- 
tion by  the  faculties,  just  as  colour  can  be  greater  or  less  in 
different  bodies.  Hence  the  intensity  of  habits  is  caused  by 
the  different  degrees  in  which  they  are  participated  by  their 
subjects.  A  habit  may  be  very  strong  in  one,  so  strong  that 
it  almost  becomes  master  of  him,  and  the  same  specific 
habit  may  be  very  weak  in  another.  The  same  habit  is  in 
both,  but  one  participates  more  fully  in  it  than  the  other ; 
it  is  more  intense  in  one  than  in  the  other. 

Habits,  once  perfectly  acquired,  become  so  fixed  and 
impressed  on  their  subjects  that  it  is  difficult  to  root  them 
out,  and  owing  to  the  infirmity  of  our  fallen  nature  this  is 
specially  the  case  with  evil  habits.  They  often  cling  with 
such  a  firm  grasp  to  man's  powers  of  soul  and  body  that  they 
weaken  his  energy  of  intellect  and  will,  and  tend  to  bring 
every  faculty  in  man  to  subserve  their  end.  It  often 
becomes  a  puzzle  to  man  how  to  get  rid  of  them.  He 
wishes  to  do  so,  often  at  any  cost;  yet  he  cannot.  They 
have  so  mastered  him  that  he  is  unable  to  do  anything 
but  obey  them.  When  in  such  a  position  he  may  not  be 
accountable  for  the  acts  he  performs  in  virtue  of  them,  for 
often  they  derange  his  reason,  and  take  from  him  the  power 
of  judging  rightly  ;  but  he  may  have  been  accountable  for 
the  acts  by  which  he  acquired  them,  and  if  his  reason 
remains  he  then  becomes  accountable  for  the  acts  done  in 
virtue  of  them.  These  habits  were  not  acquired  all  at  once. 
They  began  by  acts :  they  grew  and  became  strong  by  the 
repetition  of  the  same  acts ;  and  the  means  to  get  rid  of 
them  is  by  ceasing  to  perform  acts  proper  to  them,  or  by 
performing  contrary  acts.  This  each  one  can  do,  no  matter, 
how  far  his  evil  habits  may  have  led  him,  unless  in  the  case 
where  they  have  taken  away  the  use  of  reason.  He  can 
cease  to  perform  acts  proper  to  his  evil  habits,  or  he  can 
perform  acts  contrary  to  them  ;  with  difficulty,  no  doubt,  in 
the  beginning,  but  by  repetition  such  acts  will  become  easy 
and  cause  pleasure,  and  what  greater  pleasure  can  one  have 
than  to  know  he  is  doing  that  which  God  requires  from 
him;  namely,  to  root  out  and  destroy  evil,  and  to  plant 
good. 


The  Philosophy  of  Habit  401 

But  it  does  not  follow  that  an  evil  habit  always  includes 
sin.  The  sin  arising  from  it  may  be  forgiven  and  the  evil 
habit  remain.  The  sinner  may  have  the  greatest  possible 
hatred  for  the  sin  that  his  evil  habit  induced  him  to  commit 
He  may  detest  it  either  because  it  is  degrading  to  himself, 
or  because  it  is  offensive  to  God,  and  thus  have  true  contrition 
for  it,  and  at  the  same  time  have  within  him  the  burning 
fire  of  his  evil  habit.  This  truth  is  of  great  importance 
when  there  is  question  of  a  habitual  sinner.  Sin  is  one 
thing ;  the  habit  of  sin  is  another.  Sin  is  the  denial  of  the 
creature's  subjection  to  God's  law,  the  habit  of  sin  is  the 
propension  caused  by  repeated  acts  of  sin  in  our  sensitive 
or  rational  appetites  to  seek  and  possess  those  things  that 
God's  law  forbids. 

But  this  propension  or  facility  to  act  is  not  act,  and  the 
sin  which  is  the  effect  of  past  acts  may  be  blotted  out  and 
the  facility  of  sin  remain.  With  this  facility  man  is  more 
liable  to  sin  in  future,  but  no  one  can  assert  that  he  will 
infallibly  do  so,  and  the  habitual  sinner  may  be  perfectly 
sincere  in  saying  that  he  will  never  commit  sin  again 
though  that  same  day  he  may  again  fall.  He  may  be  now 
determined  to  use  the  necessary  means  to  resist  and  get  rid 
of  his  evil  habit,  and  if  he  is,  he  deserves  to  be  treated  as 
such.  Let  him  not  be  denied  the  means  most  efficacious  to 
strengthen  him  to  do  so.  If  he  be  now  truly  anxious  to 
get  rid  of  his  evil  habits  and  acquire  good  ones,  why  refuse 
him  the  means  on  the  supposition  that  perhaps  he  will  soon 
after  give  way  to  his  evil  habit  again  ?  May  not  his  future 
fall  be  owing  to  the  want  of  the  help  that  was  refused  him  ? 

Good  habits  can  be  lost  ;  first,  by  contrary  evil  acts,  and 
secondly,  by  not  continuing  to  perform  proportionate  good 
acts.  It  is  not  enough  to  acquire  a  good  habit.  It  will  not 
last  long  unless  one  performs  the  acts  proper  to  it.  If  one 
neglects  to  do  so  the  many  obstacles  that  are  ever  in  the  way 
of  good  daily  increase  and  multiply,  till  finally  they  banish 
the  good  habit  it  took  so  much  time  and  labour  to  acquire. 
If,  for  instance,  one  has  acquired  the  habit  of  constant 
prayer,  he  must  continue  to  perform  acts  of  that  good  habit, 
otherwise  the  many  things  that  hinder  prayer  and  take  the 

VOL.  XVII.  2  C 


402  The  Philosophy  of  Habit 

mind  away  from  union  with  God  will  daily  become  stronger, 
and  obtain  more  influence  over  the  mind  till,  in  the  end, 
they  destroy  the  good  habit  altogether.  These  good  acts 
must  be  proportionate  to  the  habit  from  which  they  proceed. 
If  they  are  equally  intense,  or  by  some  additional  effort  are 
rendered  more  intense,  they  then  preserve  and  increase  the 
habit  ;  they  fix  and  impress  it  more  deeply  in  the  faculty. 
But  if  they  are  less  intense  they  tend  to  weaken  the  habit, 
and  by  degrees  destroy  it.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the  saying 
of  spiritual  writers,  "not  to  advance  is  to  go  backwards," 
is  to  be  understood.  All  our  actions  that  proceed  from  our 
good  habits  are  greater  or  less  in  intensity  than  the  habits 
from  which  they  proceed,  or  they  are  equal  in  intensity  to 
them.  If  they  are  equal  or  greater,  we,  whether  we  know  it 
or  not,  make  progress,  for  our  good  habits  then  become  more 
perfect,  and  our  aptitude  to  good  increases;  but  if  our  actions 
are  less  intense,  our  good  habits  gradually  become  weaker, 
and  we  go  backwards. 

Such  is  the  teaching  of  philosophy  on  habits.  They  are 
qualities,  difficult  to  remove,  that  dispose  a  subject  either 
in  reference  to  itself  or  to  something  else.  Their  proper 
subjects  are  the  faculties  of  the  soul,  but  they  can  also  be  in 
the  sensible  faculties,  inasmuch  as  these  are  subject  to 
reason.  When  habits  dispose  the  faculties  to  seek  good 
objects,  or  to  act  conformably  to  reason,  they  are  good ; 
but  when  they  dispose  the  faculties  to  bad  objects,  or  to 
act  in  opposition  to  reason,  they  are  bad.  Bad  habits 
are  not  always  sinful,  even  when  they  are  caused  by  sin. 
The  sin  may  be  forgiven,  and  the  habit  may  remain.  Some 
habits  are  had  from  nature,  and  are  common  to  all ;  but  the 
general  cause  of  habit  is  the  repetition  of  acts.  The  means 
to  get  rid  of  them  is  by  ceasing  to  perform  acts  proportionate 
to  them,  or  by  performing  acts  contrary  to  them.  God,  too, 
by  a  single  act  of  His  all-powerful  will  can  produce  good 
habits  in  us  and  destroy  evil  ones,  and  that  He  may  do  so 
should  be  the  constant  prayer  of  each  Christian  soul. 

P.  T.  BURKE,  O.D.C. 


[  403  ] 


ST.  CATHALDUS  OF  TARANTO. 

"  Me  tulit  Hiberne:  Solymae  traxere.     Tarentum 
Nunc  tenet.     Huic-ritus,  dogmata,  jura  dedi.'5 

A  BOUT  seven  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ  a 
-LA.  band~of  Spartan  adventurers  founded  the  city  of  Tarentum. 
In  retaliation  for  the  insults  and  wrongs  that  were  inflicted 
on  them  at  home,  on  account  of  their  Parthenian  origin, 
they  conspired  against  their  native  government ;  but,  failing 
to  accompli  sh]jtheir  designs,  they  were  driven  out  of  Greece, 
and  condemned,  with  their  leader,  Phalanthus,  to  perpetual 
exile.  They  betook  themselves,  in  their  misfortune,  to  the 
northern  part  of  Magna  Graecia,  and  settled  by  the  shores 
of  the  great  gulf  of  the  Ionian  Sea.  After  searching  for  a 
site  that  mightfprove  favourable  to  commerce,  they  fixed  on 
the  isthmus  that  separated  the  large  bay  from  the  little 
harbour  now  known  as  the  "  Mare  Piccolo."  There  were 
some  scattered  houses  already  there,  and  as  these  were 
steadily  ^growing  into  a  town,  the  place  was  called  after 
Taras  the  Giant,  a  fabulous  son  of  Neptune,  who,  according 
to  superstitious  traditions,  had  banished  fever  and  pestilence 
from  the  marshes  around.  The  Parthenians  took  possession 
of  the  settlement,  and,  by  their  enterprise  and  intelligence, 
laid  the  foundations  of  a  city  which  grew,  in  after  years,  to 
splendid  proportions. 

We  know  not  how  long  Tarentum — Lacedemonian 
Tarentum,  as  it  was  called  by  Horace — preserved  the 
simplicity  of  its  Spartan  manners  ;  but  we  know  that,  like 
Sybaris,  Metapontum,  and  the  other  cities  of  the  great 
Grecian  colony,  it  became  famous  in  history  for  its  luxury 
and  corruption.  The  country  around  it  was  uncommonly 
fertile.  The  fleeces1  of  the  sheep  that  grazed  on  the  banks 
of  the  Galaesus,  which  flows  into  its  harbour,  were  of  a  finer 
texture  than  those  of  Apulia  ;  and  the  ll  rnurex,"  which  gave 
-to  its  wool  the  famous  red-purple  dye,  abounded  in  the  seas 

1  "IJnde  si  parcae  prohibent  uniqua 
Dulce  peilitis  ovibus  G-alaeci 
FTumen  et  regna  petam,  Laconi 

R ura  Phalantho."  (HorJ 


404  St.  Catlialdus  of  Taranto 

around.  Its  honey  rivalled  that  of  the  mountain  of 
Hymettus ;  and  it  was  in  the  midst  of  the  vineyards  of 
Aulon,1  which  rose  in  fertile  slopes  behind  it,  that  was  to  be 
found  that  spot  of  earth  that  was  so  dear  to  Horace  :— 

4 '  Ille  terrarum  mlhi  praeter  omnes 
Angulus  ridet." 

These,  and  many  other  resources  on  sea  and  land,  became, 
in  the  hands  of  the  sturdy  Greeks,  the  materials  of  an 
extensive  trade,  which  brought  with  it,  in  the  course  of  a 
century  or  two,  a  tide  of  wealth  and  prosperity  that  was 
scarcely  surpassed  by  any  other  city  in  Southern  Italy.  It 
reached  the  summit  of  its  splendour  under  Archytas,  its 
famous  philosopher  and  lawgiver,  and  under  his  wise  rule 
assumed  the  proportions  of  a  vast  and  magnificent  city.  It 
had  its  temples,  its  schools,  its  theatres,  its  baths,  its 
palaces.  When  Plato  came  from  Athens  to  visit  it,  its 
buildings  displayed  the  classic  symmetry  so  pleasing  to  the 
eye  of  the  great  philosopher,  the  ideal  line  of  Grecian 
architecture,  the  line  that  evokes  life,  and  gives  a  form  which 
Plato  and  his  disciples  regarded  as  eternal. 

The  lives  of  the  people  accorded  well  with  these  outward 
evidences  of  prosperity.  But  from  prosperity  to  vice  the 
road  is  wide  and  the  distance  short.  That  road  the  people 
of  Tarentum  travelled,  till  they  vied  with  their  neighbours 
of  Sybaris  in  luxury  and  crime.2  Then  trouble  came  upon 
them,  and  they  had  good  reason  to  regret  the  departed 
virtues  of  the  race  from  which  they  sprung.  In  their 
extremity  they  sought  the  aid  of  the  King  of  Epirus  ;  but, 
in  spite  of  his  daring  and  bravery,  Pyrrhus  was  driven  back 
to  Greece.  And  now  one  of  those  strange  developments  of 
fortune  which  sometimes  mark  with  a  touch  of  irony  the 
vicissitudes  of  history  occurred  to  the  Greeks  of  Tarentum. 

1  Horace  was  not  the  only  one  to  praise  the  wines  of  Aulon ;  Martial  also, 
writes  :  — 

"  Nobilis  et  lanis  et  felix  vitibus  Aulon 
Det  pretiosa  tibi  vellera,  vina  mini." 

"  Sulmonius   the    poet,    following   the   example   of  Juvenal,    calls    it    the 
"  drunken  Tiirentum  :" 

"  Et  Sybaris  sequitur  luxu,  madidique  Tarento." 

It  was  also  called  "  molle  Tarentum  "  by  Horace,  and  "  imbelle  Tarentum  " 
by  him  and  others. 


St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto  405 

Its  foremost  citizens  were  banished  by  the  inexorable  Consul 
Pacuvius,  and  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  the  very  land 
from  which  their  forefathers  had  been  expelled.  As 
unwilling  as  were  the  original  Spartans  to  leave  their  native 
Lacedemonia,  just  as  unwilling  were  their  descendants 
to  return  to  it.  Indeed  they  felt  this  exile  more  keenly 
than  if  they  had  been  driven  to  any  other  country.  The 
poet  Leonidas  gave  expression  to  the  general  sentiment  of 
the  exiles  when  he  said1  : — "  I  languish  far  from  the  land 
of  Italy,  and  from  Tarentum  my  country — and  this  banish- 
ment is  more  bitter  to  me  than  death." 

After  the  defeat  of  Pyrrhus,  the  Tarentines  next  put 
their  trust  in  Hannibal  ;  but  Hannibal,  who  at  one  time 
seemed  to  have  secured  the  whole  of  Southern  Italy  against 
Home,  was  obliged  to  return  to  Carthage,  and  old  Fabius 
"  Cunctator  " 2  was  entrusted  with  the  task  of  chastising 
the  Tarentines. 

The  city  was  now  subjected  to  one  of  those  systematic 
forms  of  pillage  peculiar  to  the  old  Eoman  Eepublic. 
Thirty  thousand  of  its  citizens  were  sold  as  slaves.  Its 
treasures  of  gold  and  silver  were  transferred  to  Rome,  where 
they  exercised  an  immediate  effect  on  the  currency  and 
money-market  'of  the  empire.  Its  temples  and  theatres 
were  despoiled  of  their  statues  and  of  their  paintings.  The 
superstitious  old  general  respected  only  the  figures  of  those 
divinities  that  were  represented  in  an  attitude  of  anger — 
Jupiter,  launching  his  thunderbolts  against  some  rebel  of 
earth  or  of  Olympus  ;  Apollo,  piercing  with  his  darts  the 
children  of  Niobe  ;  Perseus,  despatching  the  Gorgon  with 
his  dagger ;  Hercules,  trampling  on  the  Amazon  ;  Minerva, 
threatening  Medusa  with  her  spear,  or  changing  Arachne 
into  a  spider.  He  gave  expression  in.  a  few  pregnant  but 
tragic  words  to  the  dispositions  of  Pagan  Borne  towards  her 
vanquished  rebels,  when  he  said  :  "  Let  us  leave  to  the 
Tarentines  their  irritated  gods."  3 

IToXXor  a?r'   traXias1  Kei/zat  %dovbs,  €<TC  Tapdvra<f 
TlaTprjs,  rcore   depot  mKporcpov  fra;/arco. 

2  It  was  Ennius,  also  a  Calabrian,  who  wrote  of  Fabius  : — 

"  Umis  homo  nobis  cunctando  restituit  rem." 

3  "  Deos   iratos  Tarentinis  relinquamus."      See  Plutarch's  Lives,  vol.  i., 
p.  405. 


406  St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto 

From  its  capture  by  Fabius  down  to  the  early  days  of 
Christianity,  Tarentum  dwindled  into  comparative  insignifi- 
cance. As  a  part  of  its  punishment,  Brundusium  was 
substituted  for  it  as  a  port  of  embarcation  for  the  East.  Its 
trade  was  ruined  by  this  unfortunate  change,  and  it  has 
never  since  recovered  from  the  blow  which  shattered  the 
very  foundation  of  its  mercantile  prosperity. 

Who  was  the  first  to  preach  Christianity  to  the  citizens 
of  Tarentum  ?  At  what  period  were  they  converted  ?  Did 
they  remain  steadfast  after  their  first  conversion,  or  did  they 
fall  back  again  into  paganism,  and  require  to  be  rescued  a 
second  time  ?  These  are  questions  which  are  involved  in 
great  obscurity,  and  have  given  rise  to  a  great  amount  of 
research  and  speculation  amongst  the  native  historians  of 
Calabria.  We  can  only  give  what  appears  to  be  the  general 
conclusion  at  which  they  have  arrived. 

A  tradition  of  immemorial  standing  seems  to  ascribe  the 
first  conversion  of  Tarentum  to  St.  Peter  and  his  disciple 
and  companion,  St.  Mark.  Seeing  that  it  is  held  by  many 
writers1  that  St.  Peter  paid  two  visits  to  Kome,  during  the 
second  of  which  he  suffered  martyrdom,  it  is  natural  enough 
to  suppose  that,  on  his  way  to  or  from  the  East,  he  may 
have  passed  through  Tarentum,  and  have  preached  the 
good  tidings  of  Christianity  to  its  people.  However  this 
may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  seeds  of  Christian  life  did 
not  take' deep  root  there  on  its  first  sowing,  and  that  in  the 
political  turmoil  which  followed  the  transfer  of  the  seat  of 
Empire  to  Constantinople,  its  young  shoots  were  almost 
completely  smothered.  In  these  disturbances  Tarentum 
passed  from  Romans  to  Greeks,  and  from  Greeks  to  Romans. 
It  was  handed  about  to  all  kinds  of  freebooters.  For  a  time 
it  was  held  by  Belisarius  for  Justinian  ;  then  it  was  occupied 
by  Totila  and  his  Goths.  These  in  their  turn  were  expelled 
by  the  Imperial  arms,  and  the  citadel  was  held  for  the  empire 
until  the  arrival  of  the  Longobardi,  whose  commander, 
Romoald  (Duke  of  Beneventum)  got  possession  of  the  town 
and  province. 

1  Cf .    St.  Pierre   et    Ics   Premieres    Annees    dit    Christicoiisinc,     par    L'Abbe 
C.  Fonard,  p.  546. 


St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto  407 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  such  stormy  conditions  of 
life  were  not  very  favourable  to  the  spread  of  Christianity. 
No  wonder,  therefore,  that  little  trace  should  have  been 
found  of  the  Christian  settlement  that  had  once  been 
established  at  Tarentum  when  St.  Cathaldus  first  appeared 
within  its  walls. 

That  St.  Cathaldus  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  is  a  fact 
which  cannot  be  seriously  questioned.  Indeed  it  is  not 
denied  by  anybody  worthy  of  a  moment's  notice.  It  has 
been  the  constant  tradition  of  the  Church  of  Tarentum  ;  and 
in  every  history  of  the  city  or  of  its  apostle  that  is  of  Italian 
origin,  there  is  but  one  voice  as  to  the  country  from  which 
St.  Cathaldus  came.1  The  most  valuable  biography  of  the 
saiat  which  we  possess  was  written  in  the  seventeenth 
century  by  an  Italian  Franciscan  named  Bartolomeo  Moroni, 
As  this  work  professes  to  be  based  on  very  ancient  codices 
and  manuscripts  of  the  Church  of  Taranto,  we  must  con- 
clude that  it  contains  a  good  deal  that  is  accurate  and 
trustworthy,  whilst  a  very  cursory  examination  is  sufficient 
to  convince  us  that  fable  and  fiction  have  entered  not  a 
little  into  its  composition.  It  tells  us,  at  all  events,  that 
Cathaldus  was  a  native  of  Ireland  ;  that  he  was  born  at 
a  place  called  Kachau  according  to  some,  at  Cathandum 
according  to  others ;  that  as  a  happy  augury  of  his  future 
mission  to  the  half  Greek,  half  Italian  city  of  Taranto,  his 
father's  name  was  Euchus,  and  his  mother's  Achlena  or 
Athena.2 

1  Johannis  Juvenis,  "  De  Antiquitate  et  Varia  Fortuna  Tarentinorum  "  in 
Burman's,  Thesaurus  Antiqnitatum  Italiae,  vol.  ix.,  page  139.  Petrus  de 
Natalibus,  "  Catalogus  Sanctorum  Italiae,"  Tarentina  Metropolis.  Ughelli, 
"Italia  Sacra,"  Episcopi  Tarentini.  See  also  Ussher,  JBrit.  JSccl.  Antiquitates, 
page  390  ;  and  Lanigan,  Eccl.  His.,  vol.  iii.,  page  124. 

2  "  Fuit  Cathaldus  ex  Hibernia,  quae  in  occiduomari  trans  Brittanniam  sita  ; 
insula  quidem  Britannia  plus  parte  minor,  sed  par  omnino  ei  vel  ubertate  agri, 
vel  pecoris  foecunditate  ;  atque  etiam  tempore  soli,  caeli  dementia  et  aeris 
seremtate  nobilior.  Patriam  ejus  nonnulli  Rachau  fuisse  affirmant,  in  Momoniae 
partibus  quondam  non  obscuri  nominis  urbem  :  moti  fortasse  quod  in  multis. 
libris  Cathaldus  Kachau  scriptum  reperitur  alii  dicunt  esse  Cathandum  quod 
mihi  profecto  magis  verisimile  videtur.  Unius  enim  mutatione  literae  ex 
Catando  Cataldutn  deduces.  Neque  enim  ut  civis  sed  ut  Rachauensis  Ecclesiae 
Praesul  ab  urbe  Rachau  cognomen  accepit.  .  .  .  Parentes  autem  Cataldi  sine 
controversia  Euchum  et  Achlenam  faciunt,  sive  Athenam,  utrumque  nomen 
Graecis  litteris  auspicatum  ;  quod  et  pietatis  et  sapientiae  symbolum  praeseferat. 
e>uX;/»enim  Graece  oratio  'A^vq  sapientianuncupatur."  Moroni's  Vita  S.  Cathatdo, 
in  Colgan's  A  A.  SS.,  page  546. 


408  St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto 

A  good  deal  of  discussion  has  been  indulged  in  as  to  the 
identity  of  his  birthplace.  The  general  opinion  seems  to  be 
that  Kachau  was  the  place  from  which  he  took  his  title  as 
bishop,  and  that  Cathandum  was  the  place  of  his  birth.  This 
Cathandum  is  supposed  to  be  identified  either  with  ''  Bally- 
cahill,"  in  the  Ormond  district  of  North  Tipperary,  and  in 
the  diocese  of  Killaloe,  or  with  a  place  of  the  same  name  not 
far  from  Thurles,  in  the  diocese  of  Cashel.1  As  for  Rachau, 
it  is  believed  to  be  intended  either  for  Eahan  in  the  King's  Co., 
where  St.  Carthage  had  his  famous  monastery,  and  where 
he  ruled  as  a  bishop  before  his  expulsion  by  the  Hy  Niall  of 
Meath,  or  for  one  of  the  numerous  places  called  Kath  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  Lismore;2  or,  finally,  as  Lanigan 
thinks  probable,  the  place  now  called  Shanraghan  in 
Southern  Tipperary  and  on  the  confines  of  Waterford. 
It  is  distinctly  stated  that  the  place  was,  at  all  events,  in 
the  province  of  Munster,  and  not  far  from  Lismore.3 
Nothing  more  precise  can  be  laid  down  with  certainty. 

What  does  not,  however,  admit  of  the  slightest  doubt,  is 
the  fact  that  St.  Cathaldus  was  surrounded  by  spiritual  and 
religious  influences  of  a  very  special  kind  from  his  infancy 
upwards.  These  influences  found  in  his  soul  a  most  sympa- 
thetic response,  and  when  they  had  lifted  the  thoughts  and 
aspirations  of  this  fair  youth  above  earthly  things,  he  was 
sent  by  his  parents  to  the  neighbouring  school  of  Lismore. 
This  school,  although  it  had  been  established  only  for  a  very 
short  time,  had  already  acquired  widespread  fame,  and  had 
attracted  students  from  all  parts  of  England  and  Scotland, 
and  from  several  continental  countries  besides. 

What  a  busy  place  this  famous  southern  university  must 
have  been  in  the  days  of  its  prosperity  !  When  we  read  the 

1  Moroni    says,  speaking  of  Lismore  and  Cathandum,   "  Brevissimum  est 
enim  inter  utramque  urbem  spatium  interjectum." 

2  "  It  is,"  writes  Dr.   Healy,   "still  very  difficult  to  ascertain  the  exact 
locality  of  this  city  of  Kachau.  There  was,  as  we  know  from  the  Four  Masters,  a 
mountain  in  this  district,  about  six  miles  north  of  Dungarvan,  which  was  called 
Slieve  Cua,  now  slieve  Gua.     There  must  have  been  an  old  church  in  the  district 
also  ;  for  there  is  a  parish  called  SKevegue,  and  if  there  Avas  a  rath  named  from 
the  territory  it  would  be  Eathcua,  or  Eachua,  as  any  Irish  scholar  will  readily 
admit.   ...  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Eachau  of  the  saint's  life  is  simply 
another  form  of  Eathcua."— Ireland's  Ancient  Schools  and  Scholars,  page  462. 

3  See  Lanigan's   Ecclesiastical  Hirtory,   vol.   iii.,   page    125,   and  Ireland's 
Ancient  Schools  and  Scholars,  by  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Healy,  Coadjutor  Bishop  of 
Clonfert,  pages  458,  459. 


St.  Catlialdus  of  Taranto  409 

account  of  it  that  has  come  down  to  us,  glorified  though  it 
may  be,  and  exaggerated,  as  no  doubt  it  is,  by  the  imagina- 
tions of  its  admirers,  writing,  some  of  them,  centuries  after 
its  decay,  and  seeing  it  chiefly  through  the  scholars  and 
apostles  that  it  produced,  we  cannot  help  being  struck  by 
the  features  of  resemblance,  and  yet  the  strong  contrast,  it 
presents  with  those  Grecian  cities  that,  in  far-off  times, 
gathered  to  their  academies  and  their  market-places  the 
elite  of  the  world — orators,  poets,  artists,  grammarians, 
philosophers,  all  who  valued  culture  or  knew  the  price  of 
.intellectual  superiorit3r.  Lismore  had  no  spacious  halls,  no 
classic  colonnades,  no  statues,  or  fountains,  or  stately 
temples.  Its  houses  of  residence  were  of  the  simplest  and 
most  primitive  description,  and  its  halls  were  in  keeping 
with  these,  mere  wooden  structures,  intended  only  to  shut 
off  the  elements,  but  without  any  claim  or  pretence  to 
artistic  design.  And  yet  Lismore  had  something  more 
valuable  than  the  attractions  of  either  architecture  or 
i  luxury.  It  possessed  that  which  has  ever  proved  the  magnet 
of  the  philosopher  and  the  theologian — truth,  namely,  and 
truth  illumined  by  the  halo  of  religion.  It  sheltered  also 
in  its  humble  halls  whatever  knowledge  remained  in  a 
barbarous  age  of  those  rules  of  art  that  had  already  shed 
such  lustre  on  Greece  and  Borne.,  or  had  been  fostered  in 
Ireland  itself  according  to  principles  and  a  system  of  native 
conception.  Hence  it  drew  around  it  a  crowd  of  foreigners — 
Saxons  and  Britons,  Franks  and  Teutons,  Sicambrians  and 
Helvetians,  Arvernians  and  Bohemians: — 

"  Undique  conveniunt  proceres  quos  dulce  trahebat 
Discendi  stadium,  major  num  cognita  virtus 
An  laudata  foret.     Celeres  vastissima  Eheni 
Jam  vada  Teutonici,  jam  deseruere  Sicambri. 
Mittit  ah  extreme  gelidos  Aquilone  Boemos 
Albis,  et  Arverni  coeunt,  Batavique  frequentes, 
Et  quicumque  colunt  alta  sub  rape  Gehennas. 
Non  omnes  prospectat  Arar,  Ehodanique  fluenta 
Helvetica  ;  multos  desiderat  ultima  Thule. 
Certatim  hi  properant,  diverse  tramite  ad  urbem 
Lesmoriam,  juvenis  primes  ubi  transigit  annos."1 

1  These  lines  are  taken  from   a    metrical  Life   of   St.  Cathaldus,   entitled 
(.athal'iiados,     which     was     composed    by    Bona venture    Moroni,    brother    of 


410  St.  Catlialdus  of  Taranto 

At  Lismore  Cathaldus  edified  his  brethren  by  his  extra- 
ordinary piety  as  well  as  by  his  great  love  of  study.  In  due 
time  he  passed  from  the  student's  bench  to  the  master's 
chair,  and  whilst  he  taught  in  the  schools,  he  was  not 
unmindful  of  the  world's  needs.  He  raised  a  church  at 
Lismore  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  perpetual  memory  of 
His  Virgin  Mother.  Frequent  miracles  bore  testimony  at 
this  period  to  the  interior  sanctity  of  the  young  professor. 
So  great  was  the  admiration  of  the  people  for  him  that  one 
of  the  princes  in  the  neighbourhood  grew  jealous  of  his 
influence,  and  denounced  him  to  the  King  of  Munster  as  a 
magician,  who  aimed  at  subverting  established  authority 
and  setting  up  his  own  in  its  place.  The  King  accordingly 
sent  his  fleet  to  Lismore,  where  Cathaldus  was  taken 
prisoner  and  confined  in  a  dungeon  until  some  favourable 
opportunity  should  oifer  to  have  him  conveyed  into  perpetual 
exile.  The  King,  however,  soon  found  what  a  mistake  he  had 
committed,  and,  instead  of  banishing  Cathaldus,  he  offered 
him  the  territory  of  Rachau,  which  belonged  to  Meltridis,1 
the  Prince  who  had  denounced  him,  and  who  was  now  over- 
taken by  death  in  the  midst  of  his  intrigues.  Cathaldus 
refused  the  temporal  honours  which  the  King  was  anxious  to 
confer  upon  him,  and  proclaimed  that  he  vowed  his  life  to 
religion,  and  sought  no  other  honours.  He  was,  therefore, 
raised  to  the  episcopate,  and  constituted  the  chief  spiritual 
ruler  of  the  extensive  territory  of  the  deceased  Meltridis, 
whose  tanist  rights  were  made  over  on  the  church. 

After  Cathaldus  had  ruled  the  see  of  Kachau  for  some 
years,  he  resolved  to  set  out  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem. 
He  committed  the  care  of  his  diocese  to  his  neighbouring 
bishops,  and  set  sail,  without  any  retinue,  for  the  Holy 

Bartolomeo,  the  author  of  the  prose  Life.  See  Ussher's  Antiqxitatcs,  page  895. 
Compare  Dion  Chrysostom's  description  of  the  Museum  of  Alexandria  in  the 
days  of  its  prosperity.  "  I  see  amongst  you  not  Greeks  only,  or  Italians, 
or  merely  Syrians,  Lybians,  Cilieians,  Ethiopians  and  Arabians,  but 
Bactrians  and  Scythians,  Persians  and  Indians,  who  now  together  into  this  city, 
and  are  always  with  you." — Orat.  Ilpus  'AAe^av,  page  252. 

1  This  Meltridis  is  usually  identified  with  Maeloctride,  who  was  Prince  of 
Desi,  and  died  about  670.  This  would  seem  to  justify  the  supposition  that 
Rachan  was  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Lismore.  It  is  said,  indeed, 
that  it  was  this  very  Maeloctride  who  granted  to  St.  Carthage  the  site  of  the 
famous  monastery. 


St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto  411 

Land.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  accompanied  by  his- 
brother,  Donatus,  who  afterwards  became  Bishop  of  Lupiaer 
now  Lecce,  in  Calabria.  In  due  course  he  reached  his 
destination,  and  had  the  supreme  happiness  of  kneeling  at 
the  great  sepulchre,  or  as  Tasso  expresses  it  :— 

"  D'adorar  la  Gran  Tomba  e  sciorre  il  voto." 

With  all  the  love  and  reverence  of  a  pilgrim  he  sought 
out  the  holy  places  that  had  been  sanctified  by  the  presence 
of  his  Heavenly  Master ;  and  so  great  was  his  joy  to  live 
in  these  solitudes,  and  dwell  on  the  mysteries  of  man's 
salvation,  amidst  the  very  scenes  in  which  it  had  been 
accomplished,  that  he  earnestly  desired  and  prayed  to  be 
relieved  of  his  episcopal  burden,  and  allowed  to  live  and  die 
in  the  desert  in  which  our  Lord  had  fasted,  or  in  some  one 
of  the  retreats  that  had  been  made  sacred  for  ever  by 
His  earthly  presence.  Whilst  engaged  in  earnest  prayer  on 
these  thoughts,  his  soul  was  invaded  by  a  supernatural  light, 
which  made  clear  to  him  that  Providence  had  other  designs 
about  him.  He  accordingly  started  on  the  journey  that 
Heaven  had  marked  out  for  him  ;  and,  having  been  ship- 
wrecked in  the  Gulf  of  Taranto,  he  was  cast  ashore  not  far 
from  the  city  of  which  he  was  to  become  the  apostle  and 
the  bishop.  The  cave  in  which  he  first  took  refuge  is  still 
to  be  seen  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Otranto,  not  far  from 
the  point  of  the  Japygian  promontory. 

The  shipwrecked  pilgrim,  henceforward  an  apostle,  soon 
madehis  way  to  the  eastern  gate  of  Tarentum.  At  the  entrance 
of  the  city  a  blind  man  was  to  be  seen,  asking  for  assistance 
from  those  who  passed  by.  His  condition  was  symbolical 
of  the  darkness  that  prevailed  within.  Cathaldus  addressed 
him,  spoke  to  him  of  Christ  and  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  and,, 
as  he  found  him  amenable  to  Christian  teaching,  he  instructed 
him  in  the  mysteries  of  salvation  ;  and  whilst  he  imparted  to 
him  the  light  of  grace  through  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism r 
he  restored  to  him  the  light  of  natural  vision  through  that 
supernatural  power  that  had  been  vouchsafed  to  him.  This 
whole  circumstance  was  regarded  as  a  happy  omen,  and  as 
a  symbol  of  the  change  to  be  wrought  by  the  apostle  within 
the  city. 


412  St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto 

A  parallel  has  sometimes  been  drawn  between  tbe  condi- 
tion of  Taranto,  when  St.  Cathaldus  first  entered  its  gates, 
with  that  of  Athens  when  it  was  first  visited  by  St.  Paul. 
The  parallel  holds  good  in  some  respects,  but  not  in  all. 
Taranto  was,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  deeply  plunged 
in  paganism  as  Athens  was.  There  was  scarcely  a  vestige 
left  of  the  early  religious  settlement  that  had  been  made 
there  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Mark,  or  by  whoever  had 
preached  the  Gospel  to  its  people  in  early  times.  Paganism 
reigned  supreme ;  but,  in  so  far  as  it  constituted  a  religion 
at  all,  it  was  paganism  in  its  most  corrupt  and  repel- 
lent form.  The  days  of  Archytas  and  of  Pythagoras  were 
now  left  far  behind.  The  artistic  splendour  which  had 
never  entirely  disappeared  from  Athens,  had  long  since 
vanished  from  Taranto.  There  was  no  culture  now,  but 
ignorance  and  barbarism,  the  result  of  centuries  of  war  and 
strife.  With  minds  thus  steeped  in  ignorance,  with  hearts 
corrupted  by  licence  and  perverted  by  superstition,  the 
people  of  this  neglected  city  did  not  offer  a  very  encouraging 
prospect  to  the  new  missionary  who  appeared  amongst 
them.  His  success,  nevertheless,  was  greater  than  that  of 
St.  Paul  at  the  capital  of  Greece.  He  won  his  way  to  the 
hearts  of  the  people  by  his  eloquence,  his  zeal,  his  power  of 
working  miracles ;  and  when  the  prejudice  entertained 
against  his  person  and  epeech  was  once  removed,  the  divine 
origin  of  the  Gospel  that  he  preached  was  acknowledged 
readily  enough.  We  have,  unfortunately,  but  very  meagre 
details  as  to  the  methods  of  his  apostolate ;  but  we  are 
assured,  at  all  events,  that  they  were  so  effective  as  to  win 
over  the  whole  city  in  a  few  years.  Certain  it  is  that 
Cathaldus  was  acknowledged  without  dispute,  during  his 
own  lifetime,  as  Bishop  of  Tarentum,  and  that  he  has  ever 
since  been  revered  as  the  founder  of  the  Tarentine  Church* 
and  the  patron  saint  of  the  converted  city. 

It  is  said  that  when  the  saint  felt  that  his  death  was  at 
hand,  he  called  around  him  his  priests  and  deacons  and  the 
chief  men  of  the  city,  and  earnestly  exhorted  them  to  remain 
faithful  to  his  teaching. 

"I  know  [he  said],  that  when  I  am  gone  dreadful  and 
relentless  enemies  shall  rise  up  against  you,  and  endeavour,  by 


St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto  413 

heretical  sophistry,  to  tear  asunder  the  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  lead  astray  the  flock  which  I  brought  together  with 
such  pains.  Against  these  enemies  of  your  faith  and  of  the 
Christian  religion,  I  entreat  you  to  strengthen  the  minds  of  the 
people  by  your  own  firmness,  ever  mindful  of  my  labours  and 
vigils."  l 

The  remains  of  the  holy  Bishop  were  committed,  at  his 
own  request,  to  their  native  earth  in  his  Cathedral  Church. 
They  were  enclosed  in  a  marble  tomb,  portion  of  which  is 
still  preserved.  For  some  time  the  exact  position  of  this 
tomb  was  unknown,  but  when  Archbishop  Drogonus  of 
Tarentum  was  restoring  the  cathedral,  in  the  eleventh 
century,  the  tomb  was  discovered.  It  was  opened  by  the 
Archbishop,  and  the  body  of  the  saint  was  found  well 
preserved.  A  golden  cross  had  been  attached  to  the  body  of 
the  saint  at  the  time  of  his  burial.  This  also  was  discovered, 
and  found  to  bear  upon  it  the  name  of  Cathaldus.  The 
relics  of  the  saint  were  then  encased  and  preserved  in  the 
high  altar  of  the  cathedral.  During  the;  pontificate  of 
Eugenius  III.  they  were  transferred  to  a  beautiful  silver 
shrine  adorned  with  gems  and  precious  stones.  A  silver 
statue  of  Cathaldus  was  also  cast,  and  erected  in  the  church. 
These  and  many  other  memorials  of  the  saint  are  still  to  be 
seen,  and  are  held  in  great  veneration  by  the  people  of 
Taranto. 

The  miracles  attributed  to  the  saints  of  the  Church  are 
often  spoken  of  with  derision  by  those  who  regard  them- 
selves as  the  children  of  light.  These,  whilst  they  minister 
to  their  own  vanity,  and  fancy  that  nature  has  taken  them 
specially  into  her  confidence,  revealing  her  inmost  secrets 
to  their  ardent  gaze,  sometimes  succeed  in  deceiving  others  : 
but  they  deceive  themselves  more  than  all.  Indeed  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  conceive  how  those  early  saints  could 
have  succeeded  in  winning  over  to  Christianity,  in  the  space 
of  a  few  years,  whole  cities  and  districts  that  had  hitherto 
been  steeped  in  vice  and  superstition,  without  the  power  of 
working  miracles.  When  that  power  is  once  granted,  the 

1  "  Sed  mine  futurum  certe  scio  utpost  obitum  meum  immanes  in  vos  atque 
iiifestissimi  hostes  insurgant,  qui  kaereticis  cavillationibu*  Eeclesiae  Catholicae 
membra  discerpere  conaiites,"  &c.  (See  Moroni's  Life.~) 


414  St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto 

-explanation  of  wholesale  conversion  becomes  easy  and  plain. 
Something  is  necessary  to  strike  and  astonish  the  multitude, 
and  when  wonder  and  alarm  have  become  general,  half  the 
battle  is  already  gained. 

That  St.  Cathaldus  possessed  this  power  in  a  high 
degree,  is  testified  not  only  in  the  records  of  his  life,1  but 
still  more  authentically  in  the  wholesale  nature  of  the 
(Conversions  that  he  wrought,  and  the  unfading  memory  he 
left  impressed  on  the  city  to  which  he  ministered.  The 
veneration  for  Cathaldus  was  not  confined  to  Tarentum 
alone.  It  spread  far  and  wide  through  Italy,  Greece,  and 
-the  Ionian  islands.  The  village  of  Castello  San  Cataldo  on 
•the  Ionian  coast,  midway  between  Brindisi  and  Otranto, 
perpetuates  his  name.  Chapels  dedicated  to  the  saint, 
.or  statues  erected  in  his  honour,  may  be  seen  in  many 
•of  the  neighbouring  towns  of  Calabria.  The  Cathedral 
of  Taranto  itself  is,  however,  his  greatest  monument. 
_M.  Paul  Bourget,  the  famous  French  Academician,  who 
recently  visited  these  southern  shores,  speaks  of  it  as  "la 
Jbelle  cathedrale  Normande  vouee  a  San  Cataldo,  1'apotre 
irlandais  du  pays."  2  It  is  a  Norman  cathedral,  but  many 
of  the  distinctive  features  of  Norman  architecture  have 
given  way  to  new  designs,  which  make  of  it  a  curious 
mixture  of  many  styles.  The  interior  of  the  church, 
however,  is  ve,ry  rich,  many  of  the  chapels  being  profusely 
inlaid  with  "pietra  dura."  The  shrine  and  statue  of  the 
saint  are  particularly  fine.  Notwithstanding  the  series  of 
successive  influences,  and  of  rival  civilizations  that  have 
passed  over  these  southern  lands,  Greek,  Roman,  Byzantine, 
Saracen,  Norman,  Teuton,  and  later  Italian,  M.  Bourget 
is  impressed,  and  not  without  reason,  at  the  indelible 
impress  that  was  made  upon  them  by  his  Norman  country- 
men. 


1  Johannes     Juvenis    says    of    him  : — "  Neque     praetermittendum     est, 
saepius  quamplurima  miracula  Deum  per  sanctum  sunm  fuisse  operatum  :    nam 
et  caecis  visum,  surdis,  auditum,  mutis  loquelam,  paralyticis,  leprosis  et  alio 
morbo  laborantibus  multis  sanitatem  restituit." 

"  De  Antiquitate  et  Varia  fortuna  Tarentinorum,  "  in  vol.  ix.  of  Burmann's 
thesaurus  Antiquitatiun  Italiac,  p.  145, 

2  Sensations  d'ltalie,  p.  299. 


St.  Cathaldus  of  Taranto  415 

The  Cathedral  of  Otranto,  built  by  Eoger  Duke  of 
Calabria,  son  of  Robert  Guiscard,  still  maintaining  its  noble 
severity  in  the  midst  of  ruin  and  decay,  is  a  proof  of  this 
time-defying  impress.  There  is  scarcely  a  trace  to  be  found 
in  any  of  these  towns  of  the  old  Grecian  or  Roman  monu- 
ments. They  have  been  utterly  swept  away;  but  the 
Norman  tower  still  lifts  it  head,  defying  the  centuries  and 
resting  on  the  faultless  arch  that  time  seems  powerless  to 
disturb.  To  the  onlooker  it  conveys  something  of  the 
austere  but  truthful  lesson  that  is  inscribed  within  on  the 
tomb  of  one  of  its  bishops  :— 

DECIPIMUR  VOTIS.       TRADUNT  NOS  TEMPORA.       SED  MORS 
DELENIT    CURAS.       ANXIA    VITA    NIHIL. 

This  same  endurance  of  the  Norman  buildings  is  noticed 
all  over  the  province  from  Brindisi  to  Reggio.  M.  Bourget 
was  particularly  struck  with  it  at  Lecce,  the  modern 
capital  of  the  "  Terra  di  Otranto."  There,  a  little  outside 
the  city,  Tancred  had  built  a  church,  which  was  dedicated 
to  St.  Nicholas  and  St.  Cathaldus.  It  is  now  surrounded 
by  a  large  cemetery,  for  which  it  serves  as  a  mortuary 
chapel.  In  speaking  of  this  interesting  building  M.  Bourget 
says  : — 

"  If  ever  I  regretted  not  having  received  that  special  education 
which  enables  one  to  discern  at  first  sight  the  technical  value  of 
a  piece  of  architecture,  it  was  long  ago  in  England,  in  face  of  one 
of  those  great  cathedrals,  like  Canterbury,  and  it  was  here,  in 
view  of  this  Norman  facade.  I  felt  that  it  was  really  fine.  But 
such  sensations,  when  not  supported  by  some  exact  idea  of 
their  cause,  remain  incomplete,  as  when  one  listens  to  music 
without  a  knowledge  of  harmony,  or  reads  verses  without  possess- 
ing the  secret  of  metre.  And  yet  I  was  fascinated  by  these  two 
doors — one  in  front,  the  other  at  the  side ;  by  the  noble  simplicity 
of  the  arch,  and  the  elegance,  still  intact,  of  the  arabesques. 
It  is  possible  that  I  may  not  have  been  so  vividly  impressed,  were 
it  not  that  the  church  arose,  solitary  and  silent,  in  the  midst  of 
this  '  Campo  Santo,'  and  that  the  memory  of  its  founder,  Tancred, 
had  been  inscribed  on  its  architrave  in  leonine  verse."  l 

As  for  Taranto  itself,  M.  Bourget  tells  us  that,  notwith- 
standing some  remnants  of  its  Norman  pride,  it  has 

1  Smsations  d' Italic,  page  233. 


416  St.  Catlialdus  of  Taranto 

fallen,  at  the  present  day,  into  utter  and  almost  absolute 
decay  :— 

"  Fallen,  indeed,  it  is  l  [he  writes] ;  for  this  modern  Taranto, 
to  which  I  have  just  paid  a  lengthened  visit,  has  not  even  the 
charm  of  unconsoled  decay,  which  makes  of  Otranto's  lonely 
pile  something  greater  and  more  splendid  than  a  ruin.  Those 
who  have  gone  to  that  point  of  Sicily  which  looks  across  towards 
Carthage,  may  remember  that  little  hill  of  Selinonte,  and  how 
much  more  majestic  its  temples,  shattered  by  an  earthquake, 
appear  now,  in  their  total  wreck,  than  they  did  when  their  colon- 
nades looked  out  in  defiance  over  that  African  sea  in  which  the 
Punic  galleys  were  arrayed.  The  worst  decline  is  that  which 
survives  itself  in  mediocrity.  Confined  almost  exclusively  to  the 
island  that  served  merely  as  an  acropolis  to  the  ancient  city, 
modern  Taranto  is  built  of  sordid  houses,  which  are  divided  by 
streets  that  seem  narrower  than  even  the  narrowest  calle  in 
Venice.  The  people  who  dwell  in  these  houses,  and  circulate 
through  these  oppressive  passages,  look  pale  and  sickly.  Living 
almost  exclusively  on  fish,  they  are  subject  to  many  diseases, 
and  one  would  look  in  vain  amongst  them  for  a  single  type  of 
that  grace  which  they  know  so  well  how  to  impart  to  the  little 
statues  in  tcrra-coita  in  which  they  deal  so  largely."  2 

The  misery  of  the  city  itself  contrasts  rather  strangely 
with  the  scenery  of  the  country  that  stretches  away  towards 
the  east.  As  one  approaches  Otranto  the  plain  becomes 
a  vast  field  of  olives  and  of  orange-trees.  It  reminds 
M.  Bourget  of  the  valley  between  Malaga  and  Bobadilla,  in 
Spain,  one  of  the  most  picturesque  sights  in  Europe.  But, 
through  good  or  ill,  the  faith  of  the  people  of  Taranto  has 
never  varied  since  their  final  conversion.  They  have  seen 
many  changes,  from  the  days  of  Robert  Guiscard  to  those 
of  Napoleon ;  but  they  still  adhere  to  the  creed  of  the 
Koman  Church,  and  of  the  Church  of  St.  Patrick  and 
St.  Cathaldus. 

J.  F.  HOGAN. 


1  Sensations  d' Italic,  page  286. 

2  Sensations  d"1  Italic. 

An  Office  of  St.  Cataldo  was  granted  to  the  diocese  of  Taranto  by  Pope 
Gregory  XIII.,  through  Cardinal  Sirleti,  in  the  year  1580.  In  this  office  we 
reai:  "  Gauile,  felix  Hibernia,  de  qua  proles  alma  progreditur,  quae  Tarento 
ferens  praesidia,  bona  cuncta  sibi  consequitur." 


I     417     ] 


THE   ORIGIN,   PURPOSE,   AND   NECESSITY  OF 
MISSIONS 

IT  is  now  about  forty  years  since  missions  were  first 
introduced  into  Ireland,  and  since  that  time  great  and 
beneficial  have  been  their  results  amongst  our  people. 
Sinners  have  been  converted,  "  absentees "  have  been 
brought  back,  dissensions  have  been  allayed,  the  ignorant 
instructed,  the  lukewarm  and  the  careless  aroused,  the  good 
made  better  still,  and  all  led  up  to  a  more  faithful  fulfilment 
of  all  their  duties.  Hence  it  is  that,  considering  their 
effects,  spiritual  writers  tell  us  that  a  mission  or  a  retreat  is, 
in  the  ordinary  range  of  God's  providence,  the  greatest  grace 
He  can  send  to  any  parish,  or  confer  upon  any  people ;  that 
nothing,  as  St.  Liguori  tells  us,  tends  more  than  missions 
or  retreats  to  enlighten  the  minds  of  men,  to  purify  corrupt 
hearts,  and  to  lead  all  to  the  practices  of  a  truly  Christian 
life.  Missions  are  times  of  extraordinary  and  superabundant 
graces,  and  St.  Bernard  tells  us,  that  God  reserves  even  his 
choicest  and  most  special  graces  for  the  days  of  missions 
and  retreats.  And  this  is  why  our  holy  mother  the 
Church  encourages,  blesses,  and  grants  them  indulgences — 
viz.,  their  merit  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  all  that  they 
do  for  the  sanctification  and  salvation  of  souls. 

Pope  Paul  III.  commended  the  spiritual  exercises  of 
St.  Ignatius  as  "  being  full  of  piety  and  sanctity,  and  very 
useful  and  salutary  for  the  edification  and  spiritual  advance- 
ment of  the  faithful."  And  what  are  missions  but  the  spiritual 
exercises  accommodated  to  the  wants  and  capacities  of  the 
people  at  large  ?  Leo  XII.  granted  a  plenary  indulgence  to 
the  missions  given  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  Gregory  XVI. 
extended  this  indulgence  to  the  infirm,  who  could  not  go  to 
the  church,  but  fulfilled  the  conditions  at  their  homes  ;  and 
in  1834  the  same  Pontiff  extended  the  plenary  indulgence 
to  missions  given  by  others  than  the  Jesuits.  Moreover, 
the  Church  has  approved  of  many  orders,  whose  object  is 
to  give  missions,  and  has  granted  them  many  privileges. 
Benedict  XIV.  wrote  strongly  in  favour  of  missions.  The 
VOL.  xvii.  2  D 


418       The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions 

following  is  one  of  the  many  beautiful  expressions  of  this 
great  Pope  relative  to  them  : — "  Et  profecto  Viri  Missionarii 
rnerito  comparantur  Joanni  Apostolo,  ejusque  sociis,  qui 
acciti  fuerunt  ex  alia  navi,  ut  operam  suam  praeberent  Petro 
atque  Andreae  in  mari  laborantibus,  ita  ut  rion  possent  ob 
copiam  incredibilem  piscium  retia  deducere."  Pius  IX.,  of 
blessed  memory,  says  that  missions  are  very  useful  for 
promoting  piety,  and  for  exciting  to  salutary  penance 
sinners,  and  wicked  men  who  have  lived  a  long  time  in  the 
habit  of  vice ;  and,  writing  to  the  bishops  of  Austria,  the  same 
pontiff  said  that,  as  missions  do  much  to  revive  the  spirit  of 
faith  and  of  religion  amongst  the  people,  and  to  bring  them 
back  to  sentiments  of  virtue  and  salvation,  it  was  his  most 
ardent  desire  that  they  should  be  multiplied  as  much  as 
possible. 

Then  the  bishops  in  all  Catholic  countries  have  always 
shown  great  solicitude  for  the  work  of  missions.  In  the 
Acta  et  Decreta  of  the  Second  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore 
there  is  a  whole  chapter  on  missions— showing  their  great 
utility,  and  exhorting  pastors  to  have  them  at  stated  times. 
In  the  Synod  of  Maynooth  the  Irish  bishops  speak  of 
missions  as  means  of  promoting  faith  and  piety  amongst 
the  people ;  and  not  only  that,  but  in  order  that  missions 
may  the  more  effectually  produce  the  effects  for  which  they 
are  intended,  certain  regulations  are  laid  down  concerning 
them.  Even  laymen  have  written  in  praise  of  missions. 
The  Minister  Portalis,  in  a  report  to  the  Emperor 
Tsapoleon  L,  tells  him  that  missions  have  been  for  a  long 
time  known  in  the  Church  ;  that  they  do  much  good,  and 
that  they  have  produced  effects  as  salutary  for  the  State  as 
for  religion  ;  so  that  from  this  approbation  given  them  by 
popes,  arid  bishops,  and  ministers  of  State,  we  may  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  missions  are,  at  least,  useful,  if  not 
sometimes  necessary. 

As  to  the  utility  of  missions,  it  may  be  seen  from  various 
points  of  view  ;  and  here  we  may  remind  ourselves  again  of 
what  a  mission  is :  that  it  is  a  course  of  religious  exercises 
given  for  the  benefit  of  the  faithful  of  a  certain  parish  or 
district ;  that  to  these  exercises  great  graces  are  attached, 


The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions      419 

so  that  a  mission  becomes,  if  I  may  use  the  expression, 

a  complete  collection  of  graces  for    the  people.     And  first 

amongst  these  would  come  the   course  of  sermons  on  the 

great  truths,  which  is  a  great  grace  in  itself,  and  which  must 

do  much  to  enlighten  the  people's  minds,  to  confirm  and 

quicken  their  faith,  and   turn    their    wills  away  from  evil 

and  to  the  practice  of  piety  and  of  good.    The  Word  of  God, 

as  preached  by  His  ministers,  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  His 

gifts    to   men  ;  and  here   that    divine  Word  turns   on   the 

most  important  subjects  that  can  ever  occupy  the  attention 

of  man — the  end  of  life,  sin,  eternal  punishment  or  reward. 

And  that  the  sermons  may   bring  about  their  effect  more 

securely,  they  are  so  arranged,  that  all  the  important  subjects 

follow    each    other    in    natural    sequence ;    so   that   each 

succeeding  one  confirms   and  sends  fully  home  to  the  soul 

the  one  that  has  gone   before.      Then  they  are    preached 

by  strange  voices,  and  by  persons  generally  free  from  all 

local  interests  ;  and  the  sermons  follow  each  other  in  such 

rapid  succession,  night  after  night,  that  before  one  can  be 

forgotten,  there  is  another  making  its  way  with  the  same 

strong  eternal  accents  into  the  soul.     In  this  way  a  mission 

becomes  for  the  people  what  a  retreat  is  to  the  clergy  or 

religious  communities — a  time    of  serious  thought,  with  all 

the  lights  and  graces  that  flow  therefrom,     Anql  the  Holy 

Ohost  assures  us  that  the  want   of  serious  thought  is  the 

cause    of    much    disorder,    and    of    many    sins.      "  With 

desolation,"  says  the  prophet  Jeremias,  "  is  the  whole  land 

made  desolate,  because  there  is   none  that  considereth  in 

the  heart."     Besides  the  sermons  on  the  great  truths,  there 

are  also  sermons  on  sins  and  virtues  in  particular,  on  the 

duties  of  the  various  states  of  life,  on   devotions,  and  the 

means   of  perseverance;  so   that   people  of  every  age  and 

class  must   be  benefited   by  this  course  of  preaching — old 

and  young,  rich  and  poor,  but  particularly  the  young. 

Not  less  important,  perhaps,  are  the  instructions  that 
are  given  during  the  mission  to  prepare  the  people  for 
the  worthy  reception  of  the  sacraments,  and  to  enlighten 
them  upon  the  duties  of  their  everyday  lives.  From 
these  everyone  can  take  away  something  that  is  tangible, 


420       The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions 

and  something  that  will  be  likely  always  to  bear  fruit. 
These  instructions  are  listened  to  with  great  interest ;  for 
after  all,  the  people's  stock  of  religious  knowledge  is  not 
very  great,  and  is  often  over-estimated.  Many  have 
forgotten  the  simple  truths  of  the  Catechism,  and  some 
have  never  learned  them  well.  Then  the  sermons  and 
instructions  at  a  mission  have  this  additional  advantage,  the 
extraordinary  attendance  of  the  people  who  come  to  hear 
them.  As  a  rule,  they  come  in  great  numbers,  and  go  on 
increasing,  day  by  day,  to  the  end.  In  this  way  many  hear 
the  Word  of  God  who  stand  much  in  need  of  it,  and  who 
cannot  be  reached,  or  got  in  well  at  any  other  time ;  and 
thus,  in  this  matter,  is  truly  verified  the  principle — that 
"  what  is  good,  becomes  a  better  thing  when  it  takes  in  a 
greater  number."  And  what  can  be  more  salutary  for  the 
people  than  to  hear  the  Word  of  God  ?  Eeligion  and  all  its 
blessings  come  to  us  through  that  same  Divine  Word,  as 
St.  Paul  tells  us,  when  he  says  :  "  Faith  cometh  by  hearing, 
and  hearing  by  the  Word  of  God." 

After  the  sermons  and  instructions  the  next  great  benefit 
of  a  mission  is,  the  opportunity  it  gives  of  making  an  extra- 
ordinary, or  a  general  confession,  and  above  all  of  repairing 
invalid  or  sacrilegious  confessions.     And  taking  into  account 
the  weakness  of  human  nature,  the  strength  of  temptation, 
the    surroundings    in   the    world,   the    innate    difficulty   of 
confession  itself,  there  will  always   be   more  or  less  some- 
thing of  this  evil  of  bad  confessions — and  especially  where 
confessors    are    few,  the   evil   may  be   found    in   the  best 
regulated  parishes — even  where  the  pastor  is  most  zealous 
and  active,  and  thinks  it,  perhaps,  impossible,    because  of 
the  confidence  his  people  have  in  him.     This  it  was  that 
led  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  to  establish  the  Congregation  of  th< 
Missions,  the  experience  he  had  of  the  number  of  sacrileges 
that  are   committed  in    the   reception   of  the   Sacraments 
even  by  people  who  had  the  reputation  of  leading  good  lives 
And  St.  Leonard,  of  Port-Maurice,  the  famous  Francises 
missionary,  used  to  say  that  he  believed  that  one-third  oi 
the  confessions  made  in  his  time  were  bad.     St.  Alphonsi 
Liguori   had   the    same   experience,  and  to   meet  the  evil 


The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions       421 

properly  and  to  cure  it  successfully,  laid  down  particular 
rules  of  action  for  the  priests  of  his  congregation.  He  says 
those  who  give  missions  ought  to  show  great  kindness,  pity, 
compassion,  even  tenderness  to  their  penitents,  particularly 
to  the  poor  and  uneducated,  and  warns  them  against  being 
harsh  or  snappish  in  the  sacred  tribunal.  Again,  priests 
of  age  and  experience  say  that  the  years  following  first 
Communion  are,  for  young  people,  a  critical  time  in  life, 
and  when  it  would  be  well  for  them,  sometimes,  to  have 
an  opportunity  of  meeting  with  a  strange  confessor. 

And  even  though  there  were  no  bad  confessions  to  be 
repaired,  no  negligences  or  defects  in  former  confessions  to 
be  looked  into,  there  is  given,  at  least,  an  opportunity  of 
making  a  general  confession,  which  is  often  useful,  which 
many  may  wish  to  make,  and  which  often  means  for  them 
a  completely  new  start  in  the  Christian  life.  For  at  no 
time,  as  a  rule,  are  confessions  made  so  complete,  so  sincere, 
and  so  contrite,  as  at  the  time  of  a  mission.  People  then, 
generally,  settle  everything  they  have  any  doubts  or  mis- 
givings about.  Confessions  made  at  the  missions  are  like 
land-marks  in  the  course  of  life.  As  a  rule,  people,  in  looking 
back,  do  not  want  to  go  beyond  them  ;  and  this  in  itself 
ought  to  make  things  more  easy  for  the  ordinary  confessor 
in  cases  of  absence  from  the  sacraments,  and  when  attending 
the  dying.  Besides,  there  is  less  difficulty  in  bringing  oneself 
to  go  to  confession  in  a  mission  than  at  another  time. 
The  grace  of  God  abounds,  the  Divine  Word  makes  itself 
felt  in  souls,  the  example  of  so  many  approaching  the 
sacraments,  the  talk  about  the  mission,  the  air  of.  piety  that 
is  about — all  these  things  give  courage  to  poor  sinners  and 
"absentees"  to  come  back  to  God,  break  off  their  evil 
habits,  and  remove  the  occasions  of  sin ;  and  thus  is  brought 
about  the  great  end  of  the  mission,  the  conversion  of  sinners, 
which,  as  St.  Liguori  tells  us,  is  the  greatest  benefit  that 
God  can  bestow  upon  man. 

"It  is  certain  [he  says]  that  the  conversion  of  sinners  is  the 
greatest  benefit  God  can  bestow  upon  man  ;  but  the  conversion 
of  sinners  is  precisely  the  end  of  the  missions  ;  for  by  the  instruc- 
tions and  sermons  of  the  missions,  they  are  convinced  of  the 


422       The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions 

malice  of  sin,  of  the  importance  of  salvation,  and  of  the  goodness 
of  God;  and  thus  their  hearts  are  changed,  the  bonds  of  vicious 
Habits  are  broken,  and  they  begin  to  live  like  Christians." 

And  not  only  are  sinners  converted,  but  the  lukewarm 
are  stirred  up,  and  the  pious  and  the  good  made  more  pious 
and  virtuous  still.  In  this  manner  is  brought  about,  for 
each  soul  in  the  parish,  the  end  and  object  of  the  mission, 
viz.,  reparation  for  the  past  ;  the  beginning  of  a  new  and 
better  life,  in  every  respect,  for  the  time  to  come ;  and  hence 
St.  Liguori  gives  it  as  his  conviction,  that  those  who  die 
within  the  year  after  making  the  mission  shall  be  almost 
infallibly  saved. 

Other  advantages  of  the  mission  are  :  the  number  of  sins 
presented  by  it ;  the  cessation  of  sin  while  it  continues  ;  all 
the  fervent  prayers  that  are  said  during  it ;  the  example  of 
so  many  going  to  confession  ;  and,  above  all,  the  number  of 
Holy  Communions  received — all  these  things  must  have  an 
influence  for  good,  riot  only  on  the  parish  as  a  whole,  but  on 
each  individual  soul  in  it  as  well.  Thus  do  missions,  and 
especially  here  in  Ireland,  quicken  the  faith  of  the  people, 
and,  above  all,  elevate  and  keep  up  tha  tone  of  morality 
amongst  them. 

Four  things,  we  are  told,  are  required — that  the  family, 
the  parish,  the  city,  the  country,  may  be  blessed  and  happy ; 
and  these  four  are— the  practice  of  religious  duties,  chaste 
morals,  the  observance  of  justice,  and  peace  and  concord. 
And  the  mission  has  no  other  object  in  view  than  to  bring 
about  these  blessed  ends.  Its  object  is  to  improve  and 
sanctify  each  individual,  by  bringing  him  up  to  a  faithful 
observance  of  his  various  duties  ;  in  sanctifying  the  individual 
to  sanctify  the  family  ;  and  to  sanctify  the  family  is  to  save 
society  and  the  world ;  and  thus  the  mission  enters  into 
and  strives  to  carry  out  the  teaching  of  our  Holy  Father, 
Pope  Leo  XIII.,  whose  object  is  to  elevate  and  sanctify 
society  by  sanctifying  the  family ;  and  thus  to  bring  about 
that  much-needed  social  regeneration  about  which  there  is 
so  much  thought  and  discussion  in  our  time.  Hence  it  is 
that  the  enemies  of  religion  and  order  have  always  been 
opposed  to  missions.  On  the  occasion  of  the  great  Jubilee 


The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions       423 

in  1775,  many  missions  were  given  in  Paris ;  and  D'Alembert 
seeing  their  good  effects,  writing  to  the  impious  Voltaire, 
said :  "  This  Jubilee  has  put  us  back  more  than  half  a 
century  ;  another  such  Jubilee,  and  our  cause  is  lost." 

As  to  the  necessity  of  missions,  their  necessity  will  appear 
from  their  utility,  particularly  if  there  has  not  been  one  for 
a  long  time.  I  do  not  mean,  of  course,  to  say  that  missions 
are  an  absolute  necessity,  as  though  people  could  not  be 
saved  without  them.  We  all  know  that  people  have  been, 
are  now,  and  will  to  the  end  of  time,  be  saved  without  ever 
having  had  a  mission.  But  what  is  meant  is,  that  for  some, 
perhaps  for  many,  a  mission  is  necessary  ;  that  is,  they  will 
not  be  saved  without  it.  Such,  at  ]east,  is  the  experience 
of  those  engaged  in  the  work  of  missions,  and  who  have  left 
us  their  written  testimony  concerning  them.  And  just  as 
a  retreat  is  necessary  from  time  to  time  for  priests  and 
religious,  that  the  proper  spirit  may  be  kept  up,  and  fidelity 
to  duty  maintained  (and  we  all  know  how  necessary  these 
few  days  of  retreat  are),  so,  in  the  same  way,  a  mission,  or 
something  like  it,  is  necessary  occasionally  for  people  living- 
in  the  world  surrounded  by  its  dangers  and  temptations, 
immersed  in  its  anxieties  and  cares,  and,  perhaps,  in  an 
utter  forgetfulness  of  salvation.  Often  there  are  people 
neglecting  their  Easter  duty  ;  a  long  time  away  from  the 
sacraments  ;  persons  addicted  to  the  habits  of  sin  ;  frequent- 
ing the  occasions  of  sin  ;  persons  making  bad  confessions; 
neglectful  of  their  various  duties  ;  and  to  bring  back  all  these 
to  a  better  manner  of  life  very  often  some  extraordinary 
grace  is  required,  such  as  that  of  a  mission.  And  hence 
the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Mechlin  (1843)  did  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  the  people  of  every  parish  are  entitled,  at  least, 
ex  caritate,  to  have  the  benefit  of  a  mission. 

Besides,  there  is  necessary  also,  from  time  to  time,  even 
for  the  good,  that  renewal  in  the  spirit  of  the  Christian 
life,  of  which  the  Apostle  speaks  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians  :  "  And  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind, 
and  put  on  the  new  man,  who  is  created  according  to  justice 
and  holiness  of  truth."  This  renewal  of  spirit  is  necessary 
at  intervals,  for  all,  because  of  the  downward  tendency 


424       The   Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions 

of  human  nature,  and  very  often  the  most  strenuous  efforts 
of  the  local  clergy  are  not  sufficient  to  bring  this  about. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  sometimes  having  recourse  to  a 
mission,  which  may  be  called  the  extraordinary  ministry 
of  the  Church,  to  help  the  pastor  in  saving  souls,  and 
especially  those  whom,  perhaps,  the  ordinary  ministry 
cannot  reach. 

As  to  how  often  a  mission  ought  to  be  given  in  a  parish, 
there  is,  perhaps,  some  variety  of  opinion ;  wherever  there  is 
diocesan  legislation  on  the  subject,  of  course,  the  matter  is 
settled  for  such  dioceses  ;  but  all  seem  to  agree  that,  from 
five  to  seven  or  eight  years,  would  not  be  too  often  to  have 
a  mission.  St.  Liguori  would  seem  to  wish  them  oftener. 
He  says :  "An  interval  of  three  years  is  quite  sufficient;  for, 
ordinarily  speaking,  in  that  space  of  time  many  forget  the 
sermons  of  the  missions,  many  relapse  into  sin,  and  very 
many  fall  into  tepidity.  A  new  mission  will  renew  the 
fervour  of  the  tepid,  and  will  restore  God's  grace  to  those 
who  have  relapsed." 

"With  regard  to  the  objections  that  are  brought,  or  rather 
used  to  be  brought,  against  missions.  Some  say:  "They 
do  no  good;  many  soon  fall  away,  and  things  are  much 
the  same  after  the  mission  as  before."  Well,  we  sometimes 
fail  ourselves  after  retreat,  and  do  we,  therefore,  say  the 
jetreat  was  useless,  confession  has  done  us  no  good  ?  Not 
until  the  judgment  day  will  be  seen  the  amount  of  good 
done  by  missions  ;  and,  granting  that  many  fall  away  after 
them,  still  a  great  deal  has  been  done  in  getting  many  into 
the  state  of  grace,  and  friendship  with  God,  which  in  itself 
is  a  priceless  boon,  even  though  it  should  last  but  for  one 
hour.  The  mission  has  done  more  good  by  repairing  bad 
confessions,  by  making  reparation  to  God  and  men,  by 
preventing  sin,  by  engraving  more  deeply  on  the  hearts  of 
all  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  the  thought  of  salvation, 
and  by  bringing  many  to  lead  better  lives  than  they  led 
before. 

"  The  missioners  absolve  relapsing  sinners,  who  would 
require  a  long  probation  before  they  could  be  safely  absolved." 
To  this  we  may  say  that,  length  of  time  is  not  the  only  means 


The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions       425 

of  ascertaining  the  dispositions  of  a  penitent  ;  that  with  the 
graces  of  the  mission ,  and  its  surroundings  he  may  come  to 
have  the  very  best  dispositions  in  a  short  time.  St.  Cyprian 
tells  us  that  charity  is  perfected,  not  so  much  by  length  of 
time,  as  by  the  efficacy  of  grace;  and  St.  Thomas  says: 
"  God  sometimes  infuses  so  much  compunction  into  the 
hearts  of  sinners,  that  they  instantly  acquire  perfect  sanctity." 
Hence  in  a  Synod  of  the  Bishops  of  Flanders,  held  at 
Brussels,  the  following  decree  was  made  :  "  The  confessor, 
in  the  case  of  great  sinners,  even  when  they  are  backsliders, 
should  not  ask  that  they  should  perform  works  of  penance 
for  a  notable  time;  but  he  should,  with  the  Christian  fathers, 
be  mindful  that  God,  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  considers 
not  the  measure  of  time,  but  of  sorrow." 

"My  parish  does  not  want  a  mission;  I  know  all  the 
people,  and  everything  is  in  good  order  ;  I  work  hard  myself.'' 
Well,  as  stated  before,  even  in  the  best  worked  and  best 
regulated  parishes,  extraordinary  means  are  sometimes  good, 
and  may  be  even  necessary  to  help  the  pastor  in  his  ordinary 
work.  After  all,  it  is  only  Christ  could  say:  "I  know  My 
sheep."  The  pastor  may  know  his  people  well,  and  yet  may 
not  see  beyond  the  surface  of  their  hearts,  without  knowing, 
or  suspecting  even,  what  may  be  concealed  beneath. 

"The  missionaries  gain  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and 
lessen  the  authority  of  the  pastor."  Well,  that  is  not  true; 
on  the  contrary, the  people,  as  a  rule,  are  most  grateful  to  the 
pastor  for  providing  for  them  the  benefit  of  a  mission,  and 
when  it  is  over,  he  is  more  esteemed  and  loved  by  his 
people. 

Finally,  it  is  said  that,  ct  missions  are  troublesome,  and 
too  expensive."  With  regard  to  the  trouble,  there  is  no  true 
good  to  be  attained  in  this  world  without  it.  If  we  only  go 
stop  for  a  night  with  a  friend,  it  gives  trouble.  Besides,  there 
is  no  need  to  go  to  very  great  trouble  about  the  mission ; 
and,  we  may  suppose,  it  is  the  wish  of  those  who  give 
missions  not  to  give  or  cause  unnecessary  inconvenience. 
As  to  the  expense,  it  need  not  be  very  great.  There  is  no 
necessity  for  grand  dinners,  costly  wines,  delicate  sweets  ; 
and  there  is  no  parish  so  poor,  or  people  so  ungenerous,  as 


426       The  Origin,  Purpose,  and  Necessity  of  Missions 

that  they  will  not  willingly  contribute  all  that  is  required  to 
cover  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  mission  itself.  There  was 
scarcely  ever  a  mission  given  yet  that,  rightly  managed,  did 
not  pay  its  own  expenses ;  and  a  priest  of  the  Kedemptorist 
Order,  writing  lately  on  this  subject,  tells  us  that  he  took  part 
in  five  hundred  and  forty-seven  missions,  and  out  of  that 
number  he  does  not  remember  a  single  one  that  did  not 
more  than  defray  the  ordinary  expenses,  and  that  without 
any  particular  effort  being  made  to  raise  money  for  that 
object. 

Such  are  some  of  the  reasons  for,  and  some  of  the 
objections  against,  missions  ;  and,  taking  all  in  all,  I  think 
there  are  few  that  will  deny  that  missions  are,  in  all  cases, 
useful,  and  not  unfrequently  necessary ;  and  that  this  is 
more  than  ever  true  in  our  own  country  at  the  present  time, 
when  we  stand  so  much  in  need  of  Christian  concord,  and 
when  the  faith  and  religion  of  the  people  are  exposed  to 
dangers  more  serious,  it  may  be,  than  any  with  which  they 
were  assailed  in  former  times.  At  the  present  time,  more 
than  ever  in  this  country,  are  verified  the  words  of  the 
bishops  in  the  Synod  of  Maynooth,  that  missions  are  means 
of  promoting  faith  and  piety  among  the  people ;  and  the 
teaching  of  Pius  IX.,  that  they  preserve  the  spirit  of  faith 
and  religion,  and  that,  therefore,  it  was  his  most  ardent 
desire  that  they  should  be  multiplied  as  much  as  possible. 

J.  LENNOX 


427 


NOTES  ON  LOCA.L  HISTOEY 

A  FEW  years  ago  when  the  rents  of  Irish  land  holdings 
were  being  adjusted  according  to  law,  the  land- 
valuers  here  and  there  came  upon  spots  of  extra  luxuriant 
soil,  where  there  was  neither  rath,  ncr  liss,  nor  sign  of 
circular  mound;  and  the  question  was  naturally  asked  how 
did  it  come  to  pass,  that  such  favoured  and  fertile  soil  was 
sometimes  to  be  found,  in  patches  of  even  less  than  a 
quarter  of  an  acre  in  area,  in  the  now  cut-away  bog  or 
mountain  side.  The  land-valuers,  sometimes  skilled  and 
scientific  men,  at  once  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  these 
were  once — and,  of  course,  are  so  still — the  resting-places  of 
men  and  women  who  once  trod  this  earth.  There  was  no 
stone  turned  eastward,  to  mark  their  graves  ;  cattle  and 
sheep,  and  horses  browsed  upon  the  sacred  earth,  unsheltered 
by  mur,  or  mound,  or  fence.  How  many  such  forgotten 
and  forlorn  specks,  on  hill  and  vale,  in  holy  Ireland,  no  one 
can  tell.  Does  the  green  grass  now  bud  forth  in  spring  and 
summer  from  soil  enriched  by  the  smouldering  ashes  of  our 
Pagan  ancestors?  or  is  it  rather  a  holy  growth,  springing 
forth  in  full  verdure,  from  the  bones  of  our  holy  men,  and 
pious  women  long  since  reduced  to  their  primeval  dust  ? 
Was  the  vesper  bell  once  here  tolled?  Was  the  holy  Mass 
here  said,  and  the  psalter  sung?  None  can  tell.  No 
record  remains  to  tell  us  of  the  prayers  here  poured  forth, 
of  the  fastings  and  mortifications  here  practised,  of  the 
poverty  relieved,  and  sorrow  assuaged.  If  all  the  places 
the  names  of  which  now  begin  with  the  prefix  "kill"  (cill) 
had  once  their  little  church,  where  pious  worshippers  once 
gathered  to  hear  the  Sunday  Mass,  the  number  of  such  holy 
spots  is  almost  legion.  The  churches  of  Patrician  times, 
and  for  long  after,  were  often  little  better  than  the  present 
mud  cabin,  if  at  all  as  good.  The  places  in  which  our 
ancestors  worshipped  in  centuries  long  after,  and  down  even 
to  the  end  of  the  last  century,  were  not  often  better. 

Ireland's  early  apostles  built  their  little  churches,  for  the 
most  part  of  wattles  sunk  into  the  earth,  and  plastered  over 


428  Notes  on  Local  History 

with  mud,  or  covered  with  sods  dug  out  of  the  green  turf, 
and,  perhaps,  then  thatched  with  straw.  And  who  can  deny 
that  those  were  comfortable  edifices  wherein  to  give  glory 
to  God  ?  Even  the  early  cathedrals  were  built  and  roofed 
of  such  perishable  materials.  Hence  do  we  so  often  find  in 
our  early  chronicles,  that  the  church  and  monastery  of  such 
and  such  a  place  was  burned,  and  that  sometimes  as  often 
as  three  times  in  the  same  week.  It  cannot  be  wondered 
at  that  ecclesiastical  buildings  constructed  of  such  fragile 
materials  have  often  left  behind  them  no  visible  trace 
of  their  once  great  renown,  and  that  when  their  sites 
did  not  become  the  receptacles  of  the  ashes  of  the  dead,  or 
did  not  so  continue  down  to  modern  times,  they  should 
have  vanished  entirely  from  the  memory  of  our  forefathers. 
Hence,  had  not  the  record  been  written,  and  fortunately 
preserved,  of  places  as  renowned,  even  as  Lismore,  they 
would  have  long  ere  now  escaped  memory.  But  when  those 
blessed  sites  were  made  the  burial-places  of  the  dead  ;  when, 
besides,  the  stone-built,  but  yet  unpretentious  church,  took 
the  place  of  its  mud  and  wattle  predecessor,  when  too  if  it 
had  the  ill  luck  of  falling  a  victim  to  the  devastating  inroads 
of  the  Danes,  or  local  marauding  chieftain,  it  was  again 
patched  up,  and  as  time  marked  its  decay,  it  was  again 
rebuilt  in  a  style  more  in  harmony  with  advancing  civiliza- 
tion, it  has  generally  lived  to  tell  its  own  tale.  Of  this 
class  are  the  once  well-known  spots  of  which  I  shall  here 
endeavour  to  give  a  brief  outline. 

Magh  Femin,  or  the  plain  of  Femin,  is,  according  to 
Dr.  Lanigan,  the  learned  and  critical  ecclesiastical  historian  of 
ancient  Ireland,  that  portion  of  the  diocese  of  Lismore,  but 
in  the  County  Tipperary,  which  lies  south-west  of  the  river 
Suir.  It  is  very  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  ancient  Irish 
Annals.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Galtee  moun- 
tains, on  the  south  by  those  of  Knockmaeldown,  on  the 
west  by  the  County  Cork,  on  the  east  by  the  river  Suir.  It 
is  a  beautiful  fertile  valley,  whose  rich  lands  for  centuries 
past  have  like  most  parts  of  Old  Ireland  become  the 
possession  of  the  foreigner.  It  bears  the  marks  of  Cromwell's 
.bloody  track,  and  the  house  in  which  he  slept  for  a  night  is 


Notes  on  Local  History  429 

still  pointed  out  in  the  neat  town  of  Clogheen.  The  fine 
castle  of  the  Everards  at  Burntcourt  foresaw  the  approach 
of  his  devastating  hand,  and  before  the  spoiler  had  time  to 
batter  it,  its  owner  set  it  on  fire  to  spare  him  the  satisfaction, 
though  it  had  been  erected  but  a  few  years  before,  A.D.  1641. 
Going  westwards  he  rested  a  few  nights  in  the  castle  of  the 
White  Knight  at  Kilberny,1  from  thence  to  Mitchelstown, 
where  was  another  castle  of  MacGibbon,  the  White  Knight, 
which  afterwards  became  the  property  of  the  Kingstons. 
Here  are  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  monastery  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  railway  station,  at  the  south-west  end  of  the 
town.  It  was  founded  by  St.  Abban,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
seventh  century,  though,  strange  to  say,  there  is  little  or 
no  tradition  of  him  now  in  the  locality.  St.  Fionchu,  or 
Fanaghan,  as  he  is  now  called,  in  all  probability  succeeded 
him.  His  festival  is  celebrated  on  the  25th  of  November, 
which  is  observed  as  a  holiday  in  the  parish  of  Mitchels- 
town, when  great  numbers  of  people  from  the  surrounding 
districts  come  to  give  rounds  at  his  well,  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  east  of  the  Catholic  Church.  There  is  a  life  of  him 
in  the  Book  of  Lismore,  in  which  some  very  wonderful 
things  are  related.  The  Martyrology  of  Donegal  says,  that 
he  used  to  sleep  the  first  night  with  every  corpse  buried  in 
his  church,  and  for  seven  years,  he  lived  in  a  little  cell  with 
a  stone  above  his  head,  and  another  under  his  feet,  and  his 
arms  resting  on  crooks  fastened  in  the  wall  at  either  side, 
without  ever  touching  the  ground.  An  old  poet  com- 
memorates the  fact  in  the  following  quatrain  :— 

Caris  Fionchu  Bri  gobhan  Fionchu  of  Brigown  loves 

Bennact  losa  ar  a  anmain ;  The  blessing  of  Jesus  on  his  soul; 

Seact  m-bliadhna  ar  a  corra-  Seven  years  was  he  on  his  hooks 

nuibh 

Can  a  tuinsiomh  re  talmain.  Without  his  touching  the  ground 

His  memory  will  be  long  venerated  in  Mitchelstown. 
St.  Abban,  however,  was  the  founder  of  Brigown.  The 
learned  Colgan  has  a  long  life  of  him  in  his  great  work  Acta 
Sanctorum,  March  16th,  from  which  a  lev/  facts  will  be  of 

1  The  White  Knight  died  here  April  15th,  1007. 


430  Notes  on  Local  History. 

interest.  He  was  born  in  Leinster,  of  royal  parentage,  his 
father,  Cormac  being  king  of  that  province.  His  mother's 
name  was  Mella,  sister  of  Bishop  Ibar.  She  was  in  so  great 
travail  at  his  birth,  that  her  life  was  almost  despaired  of. 
She  sent  for  her  brother  Ibar,  whom  when  he  had  come  into 
her  presence  she  thus  addressed  in  her  own  vernacular  :— 

Easpoc  lobair  dom  cabhair       Bishop  Ibar  help  me, 

'Se  ro  fhidir  mo  runa,  Thou  knowest  my  condition, 

Cuingheadh  diolghadh  mo        Obtain  the  remission  of  my  sins, 

cionadh 
Eomgabsad  iodhain  gura.          Sharp  pains  have  siezed  me. 

Eo  fhreagair  an  t-caspoc.       The  Bishop  replied  : — 
Easpoc  lobhair  atfharadh         Bishop  Ibar  will  help  thee 
Kod  gabsad  iodhain  gura  Sharp  pains  have  seized  thee 

Beara  mac  uasal,  amhra  Thou  shalt  bring  forth  a  noble 

wonderful  son 
Eod  cabhra  ri  na  n-dula.  The  King  of  the  Elements  will 

help  thee. 

Then  she  brought  forth  her  holy  child  without  pain,  who 
ivas  immediately  baptized,  and  called  Abban.  He  was  nursed 
carefully,  and  when  twelve  years  of  age  was  sent  to  school 
to  his  uncle,  Bishop  Ibar,  at  his  famous  monastery  of 
Beg-Crin,  on  the  coast  of  Wexford.  There  is  no  means  of 
determining  the  exact  date.  He  soon  made  great  progress 
in  the  study  of  Sacred  Scripture  ;  was  humble,  pious,  and 
grave  beyond  his  years  ;  so  much  so  that  when  Ibar  was 
now  about  to  go  to  Koine,  he  appointed  him  to  take  his 
place  at  the  head  of  his  school  and  monastery.  Abban, 
however,  was  not  content  to  remain  behind  ;  he  too  longed 
to  visit  Home,  the  seat  and  centre  of  Catholicity.  Accor- 
dingly when  Ibar  had  got  ready  with  the  disciples  whom  he 
had  chosen  to  accompany  him,  Abban  followed  them  to  the 
shore,  and  as  they  went  on  board  he  fell  asleep.  They  had 
not  gone  far,  however,  when  Abban  was  awakened  by  an 
angel,  and  in  his  eagerness  to  accompany  them,  in  imitation 
of  his  Divine  Master,  and  full  of  confidence  in  the  Divine 
assistance,  walked  quickly  upon  the  surface  of  the  sea  until 
he  reached  the  ship.  His  brethren,  seeing  the  great  miracle 
wrought  in  his  favour,  wrere  rilled  with  amazement,  and 


•    Notes  on  Local  History  431 

welcomed  him  on  board.  After  many  miraculous  incidents 
in  going  and  returning  from  Rome,  he  landed  safely  in 
Ireland,  most  likely  on  the  Wexford  coast.  He  now  travelled 
through  a  great  part  of  Leinster  and  Munster,  preaching  the 
Gospel  with  great  success.  One  of  the  first  churches  he 
founded  was  that  of  Brigown,  near  Mitchelstown,  called 
Kilnamarblian ,  the  church  of  the  dead.  The  ruins  of  a 
church  and  round  tower  are  still  to  be  seen  there,  but  its 
subsequent  history  shares  that  obscurity  in  which  so  many 
more  of  Ireland's  monastic  institutions  are  now  wrapt  up. 

The  next  church  founded  by  him  was  at  the  foot  (the 
radices,  the  ancient  life  says)  of  Sliav  Grott,  the  name  by 
which  the  Galtee  mountains  are  called  in  all  old  Irish  annals. 
This  church  when  completed  he  placed  in  charge  of  a  holy 
disciple  named  Becan.     Three  miles  east  of  Mitchelstown,  at 
the  foot  of  Sliav  Grott,  there  is  a  village  called  Kilbenny, 
where   are  the    ruins  of    an   old  church  with   a  cemetery 
attached.  Dr.  Joyce,  in  his  Irish  Names  of  Places,  derives  this 
word  from  the  Irish  word  coill,  a  wood,  and  beithne,  the 
birch  tree  ;  and  because  a  stream  flows  by,  he  thinks  this 
derivation  the  more  probable,  as  birchwood  generally  grows 
beside  streams  and  in  marshy  places.     There  is  a  stream,  to 
be  sure,  but  no  birch-wood,  and  it   is  only  an  assumption 
that   there    ever    was.     Would    not    the    true,    or,   at   all 
events,  the  most  probable  derivation  of  the  word,  appear  to 
be  the  Church  of  Becan.     Gill  is  the  Irish  for  church ;  and 
Becan,    according   to   Colgan,  was   placed    in   charge  of  a 
church  at  the  foot  of  Sliav  Grott.     Putting  the  two  words 
into  one,  we  get  Kilbecan ;  that  is,  the  Church  of  Becan. 
The  letter   c   in   Becan,  according   to   Irish   usage,  was  in 
process  of  time  modified,  and  became  h,  or  entirely  silent ; 
and  taking  the  vocable  Becani  for  a  Latin  genitive,  we  get 
Kilbehenny  in  English,  and  in  its  contracted  form  Kilbenny, 
as  it  is  called  to-day.     There  is  a  village  called  Kilpeacon, 
which    Father    O'Hanlon  locates   in  the  barony  of    Clan- 
william,  County  Tipperary,  but  Lewis1  has  it  in  the  County 
Limerick,  within  four  miles  of  the  city,  at  least  a  dozen  miles 

1  Topographical  Dictionary,  vii.,  p,  198. 


432  Notes  on  Local  History 

from  Sliav  Grott.  St.  Becan  practised  great  austerities  and 
mortifications.  He  used  to  recite  the  whole  of  the  psalter 
every  day  lying  on  his  back  on  a  bare  stone  flag  outside  his 
church.  One  time  Diarmaid,  high  King  of  Ireland,  accom- 
panied by  St.  Columcille  visited  him.  Diarmaid  had  some 
time  before  killed  his  own  son  in  a  fit  of  passion,  and  being 
overpowered  with  grief  for  the  crime  he  had  committed,  as 
well  as  for  the  loss  of  his  son,  sought  relief  from  Columcille. 
The  saint  told  him  of  the  great  sanctity  and  miraculous 
power  of  Becan,  and  having  compassion  on  him,  advised 
him  to  go  seek  relief  from  him,  and  that  he  himself  would 
accompany  him.  Having  set  out  on  their  journey,  they 
reached  Kilbenny  after  a  few  days'  travelling.  Becan 
happened  to  be  building  a  fence  on  a  very  rainy  day. 
Seeing  Diarmaid  approaching,  he  knew  at  once  by  divine 
inspiration  the  crime  which  he  had  committed,  and  calling 
him  murderer,  commanded  him  instantly  to  fall  upon  his 
knees.  Columcille,  however,  interceded,  and  earnestly 
sought  relief  for  him.  At  the  entreaties  of  Columcille, 
Becan's  heart  was  moved  ;  he  prayed  earnestly  to  God  for 
him,  and  by  his  prayers  restored  his  sen  to  life  to  the 
great  joy  of  both. 

St.  Abban  founded  two  other  great  monasteries  at  the 
foot  of  Sliav  Grott,  namely,  Cluainard  Mabecoc  and  Finglas, 
the  former  of  which  the  writer  of  Abban's  life  must  at 
some  time  have  visited;  for  he  says,  "he  could  confidently 
assert  that  he  had  never  heard  of  a  more  religious  com- 
munity, or  seen  a  more  beautiful  and  regular  monastery." 
They  are  not,  however,  well  identified.1 

There  is  a  legend  in  the  life  of  St.  Abban,  that  there  was 
•  a  huge  cat,  as  big  as  an  ox,  which  devastated  the  country 
for  miles  round.  The  people  in  their  sore  distress  sought 
relief  from  Abban.  They  represented  to  him  the  great 
numbers  of  kith  and  kin  who  had  been  devoured  by  this 
terrible  beast,  the  great  injury  done  their  cattle,  and  the 
universal  terror  that  his  presence  inspired.  He  had  a  fiery 
head,  a  fiery  tail,  and  very  long  nails  ;  swords  or  spears  had 

1  See  words  "Cluainard"  and  "FingTas"  in  Supplement  to  CfReily's  Irish 
Dictionary,  by  O'Donovan. 


Notes  on  Local  History  433 

no  more  effect  upon  him  than  they  would  upon  a  stone. 
Abban,  relying  on  the  divine  assistance,  went  to  his  den, 
accompanied  by  a  great  crowd  of  people  ;  at  the  holy  man's 
approach,  this  furious  beast  came  out  to  meet  him,  meek  as 
a  lamb,  and  prostrated  himself  before  him.  Then  having 
procured  strong  iron  chains,  he  bound  him  firmly,  and  fixed 
him  until  the  end  of  the  world  at  the  bottom  of  some  one  of 
the1  three  lakes  in  the  Galtee  mountains.  The  writer  of 
Abban's  life  says,  that  this  occurred  at  the  River  Brosnagh, 
but  as  he  does  not  mention  the  particular  lake  in  which 
the  monster  was  bound  for  ever,  it  can  be  no  other  than  some 
of  the  Galtee  lakes,  as  tradition  has  it.  The  condemned 
cat  is,  however,  permitted  once  in  every  seventy  years, 
on  Easter  Sunday  morning,  to  rise  to  the  surface  of  the 
lake,  when  a  great  commotion  is  made  in  the  waters,  even 
to  the  present  day,  all  which,  except  the  rising  to  the  surface 
on  Easter  Sunday,  rather  than  on  any  other  day  of  the  year, 
corraspond  exactly  with  the  legend  given  in  the  original  life.2 
Abban  is  also,  perhaps  from  this  circumstance,  or  perhaps 
from  the  many  other  dangers  which  he  escaped  at  sea,  the 
patron  of  voyagers.  In  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  his  Life,  it  is 
related  that  an  angel  from  heaven  announced  to  him  that 
anyone  when  going  to  sea  who  would  invoke  his  aid  in 
the  name  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  saying,  "  Currach 
Abbain  ar  an  inn  is  muinter  ihion  Abbain  ann;"  that  is, 
"  Abban's  ship  on  the  sea,  and  Abban's  fair  family  in  it," 
would  never  be  drowned  on  that  voyage.  Abban  performed 
many  other  miracles,  and  founded  many  other  churches  in 
the  provinces  of  Munster  and  Leinster.  He  migrated  to 
heaven  about  the  end  of  the  seventh  century.  About  a  mile 
east  of  Kilkenny,  in  the  County  Tipperary,  is  a  townland 
called  Kiltankin.  Tradition  has  it  that  there  was  once  a 
church  here,  and  its  site  is  marked  on  the  Ordnance  map  for 
the  County  Tipperary,  perhaps  founded  by  some  of  Abban's 
disciples ;  but  to  what  saint  dedicated,  has  long  since 
escaped  the  memory  of  men.  Skeheenarinka  is  said  to  have 
its  church  too.  In  the  penal  days,  perhaps  the  caves  of 

1  Loch  Muscraig-he. 

2  I  heard  this  story  at  school  at  the  foot  of  Sliav  Grot. 
VOL.  XVII.  2  E 


434  Notes  on  Local  History 

Mitchelstown,1  in  the  adjacent  townland  of  Coolagarranroe, 
might  have  been  utilized  as  a  safe  retreat  for  the  celebration 
of  the  divine  mysteries. 

Two  miles  southwards,  in  the  townland  of  Templetenny, 
are  the  ruins  of  a  church  with  cemetery  attached.  It  is 
thought  to  have  been  once  a  'Franciscan  friary.  A  few  words 
from  a  letter  of  the  learned  Dr.  O'Donovan  may  be  worth 
reproducing  here.  "  The  natives  of  this  parish  pronounce 
its  name  as  if  written  Tempul  a  tuinne  ;  but  the  meaning  is 
not  clear  to  us,  and  we  have  not  time  or  books  to  speculate 
on  it  here.  The  old  church  of  Templetenny  is  built  in  a 
very  mean  style  of  architecture,  and  presents  but  little  to 
interest  the  architectural  antiquary."  After  giving  its 
dimensions,  he  concludes,  "  the  walls  of  the  choir  are  nearly 
all  now  destroyed." 

One  mile  eastward,  and  about  the  same  due  north  from 
Ballyporeen,  is  the  village  of  Carrigvasteale.  Before  the 
erection  of  the  present  parochial  church  of  Ballyporeen,3 
the  "  City  of  the  Wedding,"  there  was  a  church  here  ;  but 
when  erected  it  is  impossible  to  tell.  The  oldest  inhabitants 
of  the  parish  attended  Mass  here;  but  no  trace  of  its 
existence  is  now  left,  and  even  the  village  or  long  row  of 
houses  which  as  late  as  1731  had  a  population  of  fifty-eight 
has  entirely  disappeared.  There  is  an  inscription  on  a 
tombstone  in  the  old  church-yard  of  Bally sheehan,  a  mile 
south-east  of  the  village  of  Burntcourt,  which  might  go  to 
show,  it  was  not  in  existence  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
It  is  as  follows :  "  Pray  for  the  soul  of  the  Rev.  James 
Hyland,  parish  priest,  of  Shanraghan,  Ballysheehan,  and 
Templetenny,  who  died  .  .  .  1703,  aged  90  years."  This 
is  not  however,  a  conclusive  proof  of  its  non-existence,  at 
the  time ;  for  the  name  Templetonny  might  have  been 
retained  notwithstanding,  as  it  is  in  the  Catholic  Directory 
even  to  the  present  time.  An  event  which  occurred  in  the  . 
year  of  the  Rebellion,  1798  is  worth  recording.  Some  young 

1  The   Caves   of  Mitchelstowii  are   in  the  Co.  Tipperary   and  parish  of 
Ballyporeen,  only  one  mile  due  west  of  the  village  of  Burntcourt. 

2  J.  O'Donovan,  5th  September,  1840. 

3  The  Church  of  Ballyporeen  was  built  in  1828,  improved  and  restored  in 
181U-1895. 


Notes  on  Local  History  435 

men  of  the  Society  of  the  United  Irishmen  had  made  a  raid 
for  arms  in  the  County  Limerick,  and  had  taken  some  from 
a  Mr.  Massey.  On  the  Sunday  following,  Mr.  Massey  with 
a  company  of  soldiers  surrounded  the  Church,  when  the 
people  were  hearing  Mass,  and  threatened  to  set  it  (a 
thatched  one)  on  fire  without  allowing  anyone  to  escape 
but  the  women.  A  few  men  escaped  who  had  covered 
themselves  with  cloaks  obtained  by  fair  or  foul  means  from 
the  women.  Nothing  could  describe  the  terror  of  the  men 
now  left  behind  awaiting  immediate  destruction.  The 
celebrant,  the  Rev.  Eoger  M'Craith,  however,  showed  such 
courage  and  presence  of  mind,  and  pleaded  the  people's 
cause  so  forcibly,  telling  them  what  a  wicked  deed  it  would 
be,  to  destroy  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  few  of  whom,  if 
any  at  all,  were  then  present,  that  all  were  allowed  to  go  in 
the  end.  Massey  and  his  soldiery,  however,  did  all  they 
could  afterwards,  to  find  out  the  guilty  parties  in  their  own 
homes,  and  failing  in  this,  burned  their  houses  and  corn 
instead. 

About  a  mile  east  of  Ballyporeen,  there  is  a  vague 
edition  in  the  townland  of  Kilcaroon,  that  there  was  some 
dnd  of  church  at  one  time  there;  but  there  being  no  ruin 
)f  any  kind  left,  nothing  more  is  known  of  it.  A  Father 
'hite1  is  said  to  have  ministered  to  the  spiritual  necessities 
)f  the  people  in  the  Penal  times ;  perhaps  the  famous 
Fesuit  of  that  name. 

The  ruins  of  the  old  church  and   monastery   of   Shan- 
jhan,  half  a  mile  west  of  Clogheen,  are  the  next  to  claim 
btention.     There  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  was  here  a 
tonastery  at  one  time.     It  is  said  to  have  been  dedicated 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.     A  huge  stump  of  masonry  at 
e  south  side  of  the  old  church  surely  formed  part  of  the 

1  A  family  named  White  lived  in  Kilcarroon  until  very  recently.  This 
imily  was  a  branch  of  the  Whites  of  Clonmel,  who  gave  so  many  distinguished 
clesiastics  to  the  Church  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries.  The  see  of 
raterford  was  governed  by  Dr.  James  White,  Vicar- Apostolic,  towards  the 
ose  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  and  the  beginning  of  that  of  James  I.,  and  when 
xe  short  respite  which  the  Catholics  enjoyed  from  persecution  passed  away, 
id  the  penal  laws  were  again  vigorously  enforced,  Dr.  White  would  naturally 
ek  refuge  with  his  kinsmen  in  the  solitary  glen  of  Kilcarroon.  See  Cambrensis 
versus,  vol.  iii.,  Appendix. 


436  Notes  on  Local  History 

building.  When  Lismore  was  in  its  glory,  Shanraghan 
wo  aid  appear  to  have  been  an  important  place  too. 
Dr.  Lanigan  and  Father  O'Hanlan  seem  somewhat  inclined 
to  the  opinion,  that  this  was  once  the  church  and  monastery 
of  St.  Cataldus.1  Dr.  Healy2  would  think,  that  both  should 
be  sought  rather  a  few  miles  north-west  of  Dungarvan,  in 
the  mountainous  district  of  Sliav-gua.  On  close  examina- 
tion, however,  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  Shanraghan  is 
the  sacred  spot.  Cataldus  after  having  taught  with  great 
eclat  in  the  schools  of  Lismore,  was  appointed  Bishop  of 
Rachan,  not  far  from  Lismore.  Now  this  Rachan  is  only 
four  or  five  miles  across  the  Knockmaeldown  mountains  from 
Lismore,  and  there  is  no  other  place,  perhaps,  in  the  whole 
of  Munster  called  by  the  name.  What  appears  to  have 
given  rise  to  the  diversity  of  opinion  is  the  word  Rachan, 
which  has  been  found  spelled  with  the  letter  u  final  instead 
of  n,  which  two  letters,  everyone  knows,  are,  even  at  the 
present  day,  confounded,  no  distinction  at  all  being  observable 
between  them  on  account  of  the  careless  manner  in  which 
the  letter  n  is  generally  formed.  And  if  these  two  letters  are 
even  now  so  indistinguishable,  especially  at  the  end  of  words, 
what  can  be  more  probable  than  that  the  ancient  waiter  of 
Cataldus'  Life,  who  was  besides  entirely  ignorant  of  the 
topography  of  the  place,  wrote  one  for  the  other,  or  formed 
the  letter  n  exactly  as  u,  just  as  many  do  knowingly  and 
willingly  every  day.  Ch,  or  c  aspirated  in  the  middle  of  an 
Irish  word,  is  pronounced  like  h,  and  in  English  is  written  gh. 
The  prefix  shan  is  the  English  equivalent  for  sen,  modern 
Irish  sean,  signifying  old,  that  is,  old  Rahan,  or  Shanraghan, 
as  it  is  spelled  to-day.  It  is  singular, however,  that  Colgan  was 
not  better  able  to  identify  this  place,  for  he  got  his  informa- 
tion, as  to  any  further  light  that  could  be  obtained  about  the 
saints,  whose  lives  he  was  engaged  in  compiling,  at  Louvain, 
about  the  year  1646,  from  the  Irish  bishops.  Dr.  Comerford, 
who  was  then  Bishop  of  Lismore,  and,  of  course,  of  Waterford 

1  Cataldus  is  the  Latin  form  of  the  name.     The  old  Irish  form  would  be 
Catald,  modernized  Cahal  or  Cahil,  a  family  name  which  still  survives  in  the 
locality. 

2  Ireland's  Ancient  Schools  and  Scholars.. 


Notes  on  Local  History  437 

too,  for  (the  two  sees  had  been  united  two  hundred  years 
before),  sent  him,  at  Louvain,  all  the  information  he  gives  in 
his  notes,  as  to  the  identification  of  Rahan.  Colgan,  indeed, 
is  in  favour  of  Eahan,  which  he  writes  Seanrachan,  in 
English  Shanraghan  ;  but  the  wonder  is,  that  he  could  have 
any  doubt  of  it,  unless,  the  Bishop  too,  Dr.  Comerford,  shared 
the  same  doubt.  As  the  times,  however,  were  disturbed, 
being  the  time  of  the  Confederate  War,  it  can  be  easily 
imagined,  that  Dr.  Comerford  and  his  clergy  had  business 
of  far  greater  importance  to  concern  themselves  about  besides 
antiquities.  Cataldus  was  born  in  the  early  part  of  the 
seventh  century,  in  the  province  of  Munster,  and  in  the 
territory  of  the  Decies.  He  received  a  good  education,  and 
taught  at  Lismore  for  some  years  with  great  eclat  English, 
French,  and  Teutonic  students  came  in  great  numbers  to 
study  under  him.  Dr.  Healy  calls  him  the  "Glory  of  the 
school  of  Lismore."  After  some  years  he  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Shanraghan,1  which  was  called  a  city,2  though 
indeed  there  is  little  appearance  of  a  city  about  it  to  day. 
But  if  we  bear  in  mind  what  cities  were  in  those  days, 
perhaps  a  small  cluster  of  mud  cabins,  roofed  with  wattles  and 
covered  over  with  sods  of  earth  or  shingle,  we  can  easily 
understand  how  all  traces  of  a  city  could  have,  even  long 
before  Colgan' s  time,  departed.  He  now  resolved  to  go  on  a 
pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  a  very  usual  thing  in  these  days  of 
primitive  fervour.  After  many  incidents,  going  and  returning, 
his  ship  was  wrecked  in  the  Gulf  of  Taranto,  not  far  from  the 
city  of  the  same  name.  The  inhabitants  of  this  place  were 
then  very  much  given  to  vice.  They  begged  him  to  stay  with 
them  and  become  their  bishop.  After  much  reluctance  he 
consented.  Being  on  fire  with  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  the 
souls  of  this  wicked  people,  he  spared  no  pains  and  feared  no 
danger  for  the  glory  of  his  Divine  Master.  He  healed  all 
manner  of  diseases,  and  even  raised  the  dead  to  life.  In  a 
short  time  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them  entirely 

1  Bishops  in  those  days  were  very  numerous,  and  their  territorial  jurisdiction 
well  defined. 

"We  have  no  information  of  when  this  city  ceased  to  exist,  or  whether 
Cataldus  had  a  successor  there. 


438  Notes  on  Local  History 

converted  from  the  wicked  lives  they  had  hitherto  been 
leading,  and  towards  the  close  of  the  seventh  century  he 
resigned  his  spirit  in  peace  to  his  Maker.  His  remains 
were  buried  beneath  a  marble  flag  in  the  cathedral 
church  of  his  adoption.  Miracles  were  performed  over 
his  tomb,  so  that  all  proclaimed  him  a  saint.  After  the 
lapse  of  two  hundred  or  more  years,  and  when  £he  exact 
spot  which  contained  his  ashes  had  faded  from  memory, 
some  workmen  digging  the  foundation  of  a  new  church 
came  upon  the  marble  slab  which  enclosed  his  tomb,  and 
sending  for  the  Bishop,  Dragonus,  they  opened  it,  and  found 
within,  the  relics  of  the  holy  man,  with  a  gold  cross  bearing 
the  inscription,  Cataldus  Eachan,  Cataldus  of  Shanraghan. 
A  silver  statue  was  then  constructed,  and  portion  of  his 
relics  placed  within  it,  and  the  gold  cross  hung  round  its 
neck,  with  the  inscription  in  large  letters,  Cathaldus  Eachan. 
The  Eev.  Professor  Mahaffy,  of  Trinity  College,  saw  this 
statue,  and  read  the  legend,  four  or  five  years  ago,  and  gave 
a  very  interesting  account  of  it  at  a  meeting  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy,  reported  in  the  Freeman's  Journal.  The 
church  of  Shanraghan  is  also  remarkable,  as  the  burial-place 
of  Father  Sheehy,  the  last  Irish  priest  put  to  death  for  his 
religion.  Here  is  the  inscription  on  his  tomb :  "Here 
lieth  the  remains  of  the  Eev.  Nicholas  Sheehy,  parish  priest 
of  Shanraghan,  Ballysheehan,  and  Templetenny.  He  died 
March  15th,  1766  ;  aged  38  years.  S.  Jackson  fecit."  A 
suberb  monument,  in  the  form  of  an  Irish  cross  was  erected 
to  his  memory  in  1871,  in  front  of  the  beautiful  Gothic 
church  of  Clogheen.  Many  interesting  stories  of  his  hair- 
breadth escapes  from  his  enemies,  are  still  told  by  the  people, 
but  respect  for  the  I.  E.  RECOED'S  valuable  space  compels 
me  to  withhold  them  at  present. 

PATEICK  LONEEGAN,  C.C. 


[     439     ] 


ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

PAYMENT     OF    THE    CATHEDBATICUM 

REV.  DEAR  SIR,  —  In  a  diocese  where  the  priests  of  the 
different  parishes  are  paid,  pro  rata  out  of  a  common  parochial 
fund,  is  a  parish  priest  acting  justly  with  his  curate  in  paying 
the  cathedraticum  out  of  this  undivided  fund  when  the  major  et 
sanior  pars  of  the  parish  priests  of  the  diocese  pay  it  out  of  their 
own  allotted  portions  of  it  ? 

An  answer  to  the  above  question  in  the  I.  E,  RECORD  will 
kindly  oblige,  yours  faithfully,  SACERDOS. 

This  is  a  matter  for  diocesan  legislation.  The  diversity 
of  practice  in  the  diocese  seems  to  indicate  that  the  parish 
priest  is,  under  the  present  arrangement,  acting  within  his 
right. 

BANNS  ;   QUASI-DOMICILE  ;    MATRIMONIAL   CONSENT 

REV.  DEAR  SIR,  —  Kindly  answer  the  following  questions  in 
the  next,  or  some  issue  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD,  and  oblige  yours 
faithfully,  P.  P. 

1.  I  belong  to  a  diocese  in  which  the  banns  are  never  published, 
but  a  dispensation  in  them  is  granted  by  the  vicar  of  the  district. 
A  bishop  has  power  from  the  Council  of  Trent  to  dispense  in  the 
banns  ex  justa  causa,  and,  of  course,  the  vicar  has  the  same 
power.  Now,  when  a  parish  priest  applies  for  a  dispensation  in 
banns,  must  he,  for  its  validity,  mention  one  of  the  causes,  which 
are  given  by  theologians  ?  I  ask  the  question,  because  the 
majority  of  the  priests  of  this  diocese,  if  not  all,  never  assign  a 
cause,  but  ask  the  vicar  to  dispense  in  the  following  or  similar 
terms:  "In  bannis  cum  N.  et  N.  dispensare  dignare;"  'and  the 
dispensation  is  granted.  The  same  practice  also  obtains  in  a 
neighbouring  diocese.  I  believe  that,  in  those  dioceses  in  which 
the  banns  are  not  published,  the  eleemosyna  given  to  the  bishop, 

1  In  oar  contribution  to  the  April  number,  the  quotation  from  Suarez,  at 
the  foot  of  page  349,  should  read  :  "  Non  tantum  incurritur  haec  excommunicatio 
si  Eucharistia  detur  in  necessitate  per  modum  viatici  (ut  aliqui  earn  liinitant) 
sed  in  universum  sive  in  necessitate,  sive  extra  illam,  sive  publice,  sive  occulte 
mmistretur." 

The  reader  will  have  readily  corrected  other  typographical  errors  which, 
unfortunately,  found  their  way  into  the  same  contribution. 


440  Theological  Notes 

is   the    causa   dispensandi.     If  so,   should   it    be    stated    in    the 
application,  or  is  it  sufficient  to  hand  it  to  the  vicar  ? 

2.  In  1867  an  Instruction  was  issued  by  the  Sacred  Congre- 
gation and  subsequently  transmitted  to  the  Irish  bishops.     The 
words  of  the  Instruction  are  as  follows :   "  Ad  constituendum  quasi- 
domicilium  duo  simul  requiruntur :  habitatio  nempe  in  eo   loco 
ubi  malrimonium  contrahitur,  atque  animus  ibidem  permanendi 
per  majorem  anni  partem."     Does  it  follow  from  this  Instruction 
that  a  parish  priest    cannot  marry    a  female  who   has   only  -a 
quasi-domicile  in  his  parish,  outside  that  parish  ?     If  so,  several 
marriages   are   invalid,    as   parish   priests   marry   outside    their 
parishes  not  only  those  who  have  domiciles,  but  quasi-domiciles  in 
them. 

3.  It  would  seem  that  parties  are  married,  when  to  the  interro- 
gation of  the  priest  "  N.  wilt  thou  take  N.  here  present  for  thy 
lawful  wife,"  &c.,  and.  "  N.  wilt  thou  take  N.  here  present  for  thy 
lawful  husband,"  each  answers,    "I  will."     The  consent  is  then 
mutually  given,  and  it  is  the  only  form  of  consent  given  in  the 
Eoman  ritual.     If  they  are  then  married,  what  is  the  meaning  of 
the  further  consent  given  in  our  ritual,  viz.,   "I,  N.,  take  N.  to 
my  wedded  wife,  &c."      "I,  N.,  take  thee  N.,   to  my  wedded 
husband,"  &c. 

1.  The  bishop  or  his  delegate  can  validly  dispense  in 
banns  ob  justam  causam,  even  though  the  cause  be  not 
mentioned  in  the  petition  for  the  dispensation.  In  the 
dioceso  of  our  correspondent,  as  the  banns  are  never 
proclaimed,  the  bishop  has,  of  course,  satisfied  himself  that 
there  is  in  every  case  a  sufficient  cause  for  dispensing.  No 
question,  therefore,  of  invalidity  ex  defectu  causae  can  be 
raised. 

But,  tbere  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  the  petition  for 
the  dispensation  should  not  be  filled  up  properly,  giving — 
(1)  the  names  of  the  contracting  parties — unless  the  cause 
assigned  be  defamatory ;  (2)  the  number  of  proclamations 
in  which  the  dispensation  is  sought ;  (3)  the  cause  or 
causes  ;  (4)  the  date  and  the  name  and  address  of  the 
sender. 

2.  We  find  that  this  question  was  raised  by  Dr.  Murray 1 

1  DC  Imped.  Mat.,  page  152,  n.  373 


Answers  to  Correspondents  441 

soon  after  the  transmission  of  this  Instruction  to  the  Irish 
bishops.  '*  Yideretur,"  he  writes,  "  ex  verbis  Instructions, 
parochum  quasi-domicilii  non  posse  partes  in  matrimonium 
conjungere  extra  parochiam,  in  qua  alterutra  pars  quasi- 
domicilium  habet  .  .  .  Sed  nescio  an  S.  Congregatio 
hanc  cJausulam  tanquam  exclusoriam  interponere  voluerit.'  l 
But  the  unanimous  teaching  of  theologians  and  the 
practice  of  the  Church  has  long  since  settled  any  doubt 
that  may  have  existed.  The  parish  priest  of  either  of  the 
contracting  parties  can  validly  assist  at  their  marriage 
anywhere  ;  and  this  is  true  equally  of  the  parochus  domicilii 
and  of  the  parochus  quasi-domicilii.  Lehmkuhl  puts  this 
teaching  clearly :  "  Illud  discrimen  inter  vagos  et  inter  eos 
qui  certum  domicilium  aut  quasi-domicilium  habent  existit 
quod  posteriores  coram  suo  parocho  aut  ejus  delegate  ubique 
valide  contrahere  possunt  :  vagi  autem  non  possunt  contra- 
here  nisi  coram  parocho  ejusque  delegate  illius  loci  ubi 
reipsa  contracturi  sunt,  nisi  forte  in  illo  loco  lex  Tridentina 
vi  sua  destituta  est."2 

And  if  our  correspondent  read  the  Instruction  in  the 
light  of  the  question3  to  which  it  is  a  reply,  he  will  admit 
that  Lehmkuhl's  teaching  is  not  a  departure  from  the 
teaching  of  the  Instruction  itself.  We  learn  from  the 
petition  that  the  bishops  at  the  Synod  of  Maynooth  unani- 
mously held  that  persons  may  validly  contract  marriage 
before  the  parochus  domicilii  aut  quasi-domicilii.  They 
differed,  however,  as  to  whether  a  marriage  may  be  validly 
contracted  in  presence  of  a  parish  priest  in  whose  parish 
one  of  the  parties  has  resided  for  one  month.  On  this 
point,  and  en  it  alone,  they  sought  information. 

Now,  it  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  S.  Congre- 
gation (1)  answered  a  question  that  had  not  been  asked,  viz. : 
Can  the  parochus  quasi-domicilii  validly  assist  extra  paro- 
chiam ?  And  (2)  that,  in  doing  so,  the  Congregation,  without 
a  word  of  explanation  or  comment ,  reversed  the  unanimous 
teaching  of  theologians,  and  brushed  aside  the  unanimous 

1  Loc.  cit.  2  ii.  776. 

:{  The  qiiestion  and  the  Instruction  will  be  found  in  the  Acta  et  Dccrcta  of 
the  Maynooth  Synod.  Appendix  xxvi. 


442  Theological  Notes 

opinion    of    the    bishops    assembled     at     the     Synod     of 
Maynooth. 

The  Sacred  Congregation  merely  decided  that  a  month's 
residence  in  a  parish  does  not  constitute  the  parish  priest 
of  that  parish  one's  proprius  parochus,  in  ordine  ad 
matrimonium ;  that  a  quasi-domicile,  at  least,  is  necessary. 
Then  in  defining  the  conditions  for  a  quasi-domicile,  ie., 
(1)  "  habitatio  in  eo  loco  ubi  contrahitur  atque,"  (2)  "  animus 
ibidem  permanendi  per  majqrem  anni  partem,"  the  Congre- 
gation referred  expressly  to  the  normal  case  only  in  which 
the  marriage  is  celebrated  in  the  parish  of  one  of  the 
contracting  persons.  According  to  the  express  teaching  of 
the  Instruction  a  parish  priest,  therefore,  can,  within  his 
own  parish,  assist  at  a  marriage  as  the  parochus  quasi 
domicilii,  provided  the  above  conditions  are  verified  in  case 
of  either  of  the  parties.  We  know  otherwise — and  indeed, 
as  we  have  seen,  it  is  tacitly  allowed  in  this  very  Instruc- 
tion— that  the  right  of  the  parochus  quasi  domicilii  to  assist 
at  a  marriage  is  not  restricted  to  his  own  parish. 

3.  The  marriage  contract  is,  of  course,  complete  as  soon 
as  the  consent  of  both  parties  is  given  in  the  form  prescribed 
in  the  Roman  ritual.  The  additional  form  found  in  our 
ritual  is  not  intended  to  express  a  "  further"  or  second  and 
distinct  consent ;  it  is  merely  a  repetition,  and  a  more  full 
and  impressive  expression,  of  the  consent  already  given. 

To  this  and  like  ceremonies  the  Council  of  Trent  refers, 
when,  having  described  the  marriage  rite  as  found  in 
the  Roman  ritual,  it  adds  :  "  Si  quae  provinciae  aliis  ultra 
praedictas  laudabilibus  consuetudinibus  et  ceremoniis  hac  in 
se  utuntur,  eas  omnino  retineri  sancta  synodus  vehementer 
optat."1 

D.  MANNIX. 


1  Sess.  24,  c.i.,  De  Ecf.  Mat. 

[All  communications  should  be  authenticated  with  the  name  and  address  of 
the  writer,  not  necessarily  for  publication.  We  cannot  undertake  to  print 
communications  that  are  absolutely  anonymous. — ED.  I.  E.  R.] 


[     443     ] 

liturgical  IRotes1 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

THE    BLESSING   OF   DOLOE  BEADS 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — Please  answer  the  following  questions  :  — 

1.  Is  the  power  to  bless  Dolor  Beads  contained  in  the  usual! 
Propaganda  faculties  "  Indulgentiae  quas  S.S.  Pontifex,"  &c.  ? 

2.  If  contained,  is  there  a  special  form  required,  or  will  the- 
Sign  of  the  Cross  be  enough  ? 

3.  The  teaching  in  the  I.  E.  KECORD  of  1884,  page  805,  is- 
not  in  keeping  with   the  teaching  of   the   I.  E.  KECORD,   1895r 
page  1043.     Kindly   state    which   teaching   is   the   safe  one  to- 
follow.  SACERDOS. 

The  first  two  questions  have  been  fully  answered  in  the 
number  of  the  I.  E.  EECOED  of  1895  to  which  our  corres- 
pondent refers  in  his  third  question.  Here,  then,  we  shall 
merely  indicate  the  answers  already  given  at  more  length. 

1.  Yes. 

2.  The  Sign  of  the  Cross  is  not  enough  ;  the  special  form 
employed  by  the  Servites,  and  given  in  the  Appendix  to  the 
Koman  Eitual,  must  be  used. 

3.  We  have  not  at  hand  a  copy  of  the  I.  E.  EECOED 
of  1884,  but  as  the  "  teaching  of  the  I.  E.  EECOED  of  1895  " 
is   largely  based   on   a   document    published  several  years 
subsequent   to   1884,   we   deem    the    apparent,    or   actual,, 
contradiction  immaterial. 

SOLUTION   OF   A   DIFFICULTY    EEGAEDING    THE    MASS   TO 
BE    SAID   IN   ECCLESIA  ALIENA 

When  treating  in  last  month's  issue  of  the  I.  E.  EECOED- 
of  the  new  decree  regarding  the  Mass  to  be  said  by  extern 
priests  in  church  and  public  oratories,  we  pointed  out  that 
when  the  office  of  the  churches  or  public  oratory  is  of  semi- 
double  rite,  the  visitor  can  say  a  votive  or  Eequiem  Mass, 
or  the  Mass  of  the  church,  &c.  But  should  he  elect  to  say 
the  Mass  corresponding  with  his  own  office,  we  asked 
should  he  say  it  as  a  festive  Mass,  or  as  a  votive  Mass ;  and 


444  Correspondence 

in  reply  to  this  question  we  wrote  :  "  This  is  an  interesting 
question,  and  one  which  awaits  decision."  The  decision 
has  been  already  given,  and  is  to  the  effect  that  the 
•celebrant  when  he  says  the  Mass  corresponding  with  his 
own  office,  is  to  say  it,  not  as  a  votive,  but  as  a  festive 
Mass  ;  and,  consequently,  is  to  follow  his  own  Or  do 
regarding  the  various  parts  of  the  Mass.  We  subjoin  the 
question  addressed  to  the  Congregation  of  Bites  on  this 
point,  together  with  the  reply  of  the  Congregation  :— 

Ex  S.  E.  C.  Decreto  die  9  Decembris,  1895,  circa  cele- 
hrationem  missae  in  ecclesia  aliena  videtur  sacerdos  habens 
festum  duplex  T.  classis  non  posse  celebrare  nisi  more  votivo 
missam  conformem  suo  officio,  quando  ritus  alienae  ecclesiae 
permittit  missas  de  Requie  et  Votivas.  Quid  agendum  in  casu  ? 

Eesp.  Missa  officio  conformis  sive  de  semiduplici,  sive  de 
quocunque  duplici,  et  in  casu,  est  f estiva ;  proinde  non  est  votiva, 
nee  more  votivo  est  dicenda.  Die  14  Martii,  1896, 

D.  O'LoAN. 


Cortesponbence 

THE    BIRTHPLACE    OF    MAURICE    DE    PORTU 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — In  an  article  on  the  "Franciscan  Monastery 
of  Galway,"  which  you  did  me  the  favour  of  publishing  in  the 
January  number  of  the  I.  E.  EECORD,  I  made  a  passing  reference 
to  the  birthplace  of  Maurice  O 'Finely,  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 
and  also  to  the  place  of  his  interment  at  Galway.  The  brief 
reference  to  his  birthplace  was  as  follows: — "Few  will  doubt 
the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Lynch,1  who  tells  us  on  the  authority  of 
Dr.  John  de  Burgo,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  that  O'Fihely  was 
a  native  of  Clonfert." 

The  contributor  of  an  article  on  the  "  Birthplace  of  Maurice 
de  Portu,"  in  the  April  number  of  the  I.  E.  EECORD,  states  that  he 
has  been  "  startled  "  by  this  statement  "  out  of  the  quiet  sameness 
of  his  life."  This  result  was,  perhaps,  undesirable  ;  it  was  cer- 
tainly unforeseen  ;  but  it  is  absolutely  affecting  to  be  assured 
that  by  this  statement  he  was  even  "  startled  out  of  the  quietness 
of  his  childhood's  faith."  Let  me  reassure  him  a  little  by  stating 

1  Hist.  Eccl.  Hib.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  715. 


Correspondence  445 

that  I  share  his  admiration  of  the  name  and  fame  of  '*  Flos 
Mundi,"  no  matter  where  his  birthplace  may  have  been.  And 
though  feelirg  that  the  western  province  may  claim  the  honour 
of  his  birthplace,  I  plead  that  the  claim  is  consistent  with  the 
fullest  admiration  of  the  brilliancy  of  our  gifted  fellow-country- 
men, who,  to  use  the  picturesque  language  of  your  correspondent, 
live  by  the  beautiful  valleys  of  the  "  lapsing  "  Lee. 

Irish  scholars  have  hitherto  received  the  statements  of 
Dr.  Lynch  with  respect.  He  did  more,  perhaps,  than  any  writer 
of  his  age  to  refute  the  calumnies  that  had  been  published 
against  our  country.  Hardirnan  l  refers  to  him  as  a  man  dis- 
tinguished for  a  love  of  "  humanity  and  country  ;  "  and  D'Arcy 
Magee 2  tells  us  that — "  the  one  virtue,  an'  uncompromising 
devotion  to  truth  .  .  .  was  his  great  characteristic." 

Dr.  Kelly,  who  is  quoted  as  unfavourable  to  Lynch's 
accuracy,  has  recorded  his  estimate  of  Lynch's  character  in 
words  too  clear  for  misrepresentation.  He  says  :  "  John  Lynch 
was  one  of  those  eminent  men  who  rose  with  such  promise  about 
the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  within  less  than  half  a  century 
restored,  both  at  home  and  in  foreign  universities,  the  literary 
honour  of  their  country."  3  Yet  your  correspondent  devotes  a 
long  paragraph  to  weaken  his  authority.  He  is  unwilling  to 
accept  the  authority  of  this  accomplished  scholar,  even  on 
the  simple  question  of  fact,  as  ta  whether  or  not  he  received 
from  his  Archbishop  this  information  regarding  O 'Finely 's  birth- 
place. 

Your  contributor  admits,  however,  that  the  scope  of  his  inquiry 
might  be  limited  ;  and  to  quote  his  own  words,  that  "it  is  with 
De  Burgo  he  is  practically  left  to  deal."  We  venture  to  assert 
that  it  would  be  desirable  he  should  attempt  to  "  deal"  with  that 
eminent  ecclesiastic  in  a  manner  that  would  be  more  consistent 
with  historical  accuracy  and  Christian  charity. 

He  suggests  that  John  de  Burgo  was  neither  "  truthful  nor 
trustworthy  ;  "  he  refers  to  what  he  is  pleased  to  designate  as 
<l  the  unreliableness  which  marked  his  action  ;  "  he  suggests  that 
he  was  not  always  "  honest;  "  he  charges  him  with  "  signing  and 
countersigning  documents."  This  is,  indeed,  a  severe  indictment 
against  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  and,  if  verified,  would  cast  a 
deep  shadow  on  his  veracity,  as  it  undoubtedly  does  upon  his 

1  Hist.  Gal.,  Appendix.  2  Irish  JF>iters. 

3  Introduction,  Cambrensis  Eversus. 


446  Correspondence 

'character.  But,  fortunately  for  De  Burgo's  character,  it  is  not 
verified.  Such  charges  might  not  be  made,  even  if  true,  against 
the  humblest  without  urgent  necessity.  Here  we  are  invited  to 
accept  them  without  a  particle  of  evidence  against  an  archbishop, 
and  for  no  higher  or  better  purpose  than  that  your  contributor 
may  live  on  in  the  simple  faith  of  his  "  Franciscan  childhood." 

But  perhaps  your  contributor's  reference  to  the  "  glaring  fact" 
of  De  Burgo's  opposition  to  Einuccini,  whom  he  is  graciously 
pleased  to  constitute  a  "  cardinal,"  should  be  accepted  as  conclu- 
sive proof  of  those  charges.  He  tells  us  that  from  that  date 
De  Burgo  "  knew  not  one  happy  day  till  his  death,  in  1666." 
We  cannot,  with  your  contributor,  deny  a  share  of  happiness 
to  the  brave  confessors  of  our  faith ;  and  De  Burgo,  during  the 
years  referred  to,  was  a  confessor  of  the  faith l  whose  fidelity 
was  tested  by  imprisonments  and  exile,  borne  in  a  spirit  of 
Christian  heroism. 

And  are  we  to  be  asked  to  accept  his  opposition  to  the  Nuncio 
.as  a  proof  of  "  untruthfulness "  or  "dishonesty"?  If  such 
opposition  were  to  be  regarded  as  a  proof  of  those  painful 
charges  in  De  Burgo's  case,  it  would  be  equally  conclusive 
against  the  other  prelates  who  supported  him  in  his  opposition,3 
"  persuaded  thereto  by  the  arguments  of  others,  and  the  apparent 
rectitude  of  the  proceeding."  Their  policy  might  have  been 
unwise  or  censurable ;  but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  "  that  the 
best  theologians  were  maintaining  different  opinions  on  the 
validity  of  the  interdict,"  4  and  that  the  Nuncio  was  opposed  by 
several  prelates,  amongst  whom  were  the  Bishop  of  Kilmacduagh 
and  the  saintly  Bishop  of  Killala,  and  by  many  military  leaders, 
.and  by  a  powerful  section  of  the  laity.  With  Dr.  Lynch,  they 
saw  this  glaring  fact  in  a  different  light. 

During  De  Burgo's  long  and  laborious  connection  with  the 
Confederate  Council,  we  find  his  name  affixed  to  several  official 
documents  with  the  signatures  of  some  of  the  most  eminent 
men  of  the  period.  In  Sir  T.  Gilbert's  valuable  History  of  the 
Confederation,  many  of  those  interesting  documents  are  re- 
produced, signed  by  Mountgarrett,  and  "countersigned"  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Armagh,  John  de  Burgo,  and  other  high  officers 
of  the  Confederate  Council . 

1  0' Burke,  Arch.  Tuam.  page  163. 

2  Lynch,  Eccl.  Hist.  ffib.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  763. 

3  Kir  wan,  Vita. 

4  Father  Meehan. 


Correspondence  447 

Such  was  the  place  of  trust  and  honour  held  in  the  councils  of 
the  nation  by  an  archbishop  against  whom  your  contributor  brings 
his  charges  of  ''dishonesty"  and  "  untruthf  ulness. '  Even  the 
Nuncio  spoke  of  him  as  a  "  man  of  mature  judgment  and  upright 
intentions." 

If    De   Burgo   were    "  untruthful  " — if   his   testimony   on   a 
question   of   some    importance   and  of  much  interest  were  un- 
reliable—then   it    would    be    of     little     importance    what    his 
opportunities  were  of  acquiring  information  on  that  or  any  other 
question.     Yet   your   correspondent    is    pleased    to    urge    that 
De  Burgo  could  have  no  special  knowledge  on  this  particular 
question  of  0 'Finery's  birthplace.  He  urges  that  De  Burgo  was  not 
given  to  historical  inquiry.     And  he  limits  his  connection  with 
Clonfert  to  the  period  of  his  studies  abroad,  and  to  the  time  of  his 
-connection  with  the  Confederate  Assembly,  when  he  was  neces- 
.sarily  away  from  his  diocese  !    Such  reasoning  merits  little  notice. 
This  charge  of  ignorance  of  history,  made  against  one  who 
won  academic  honours  at  Lisbon,  at  Evora,  and  Salamanca,  is  but 
a  shading  off  of  the  picture  of  De  Burgo  which  your  contributor 
had  already  outlined.     And  as  regards  De  Burgo's  alleged  absence 
>m  Clonfert,  your  contributor  seems  to  ignore  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  native  of  Clonfert.     Does  he  forget  that  he  was  connected 
with  the  most  influential  families  in  the  diocese  ?     He  spent  his 
early  years  to  the  age  of  twenty  in  Clonfert,  only  to  return  again 
on  the  completion  of  his  ecclesiastical  studies,  and  labour  there 
.as  a  missionary  priest.     His  connection  with  his  native  diocese  as 
a  missionary  priest  and  "  Vicar  Apostolic  ".does  not  seem  to  have 
been  interrupted  from  1624  till  1641,  the  period  of  his  appoint- 
ment  as   bishop.     Here,  indeed,  were   ample   opportunities  for 
acquiring  a  most  "  special  knowledge  of  this  question,"  which 
must  have  been  preserved  amongst  the  traditions  of  his  people. 
A  Franciscan  monastery  existed  then  near  Clonfert,  of  which  his 
friends,  the  De  Burgos,  were  the  generous  patrons,  and  within 
which  he  was  himself  consecrated  bishop.     It  looked  down  on  the 
waters    of  the  "lapsing"  Shannon,  and  was  known  under  the 
•designation  of  "  Conventus  de  portu  puro."     As  your  correspon- 
dent is  fastidious  on  the  question  of  "harbours,"  I  shall  leave 
him — if  so  inclined — to  question  the  propriety  of  the  designation. 
For  me  the  fact  is  sufficient.   The  fathers  of  the  Abbey  "De  Portu  " 
should  have  been  familiar  with  the  early  history  of  0' Finely.     And 
it  is  no  subject  of  surprise  that   so  distinguished  an  alumnus 


448  Correspondence 

should  have  been  referred  to  abroad  under  the  title  of  an  Abbey, 
which  might  be  regarded  as  the  religious  home  of  his  childhood. 
De  Burgo  could,  therefore,  speak  with  exceptional  authority  on 
the  subject  of  O'Fihely's  birthplace. 

Your  correspondent  is  at  much  pains  to  prove  that  the  Clan 
O'Fihely  had  their  ancestral  possessions  not  in  Galway,  but  in 
Cork,  a  fact  which  no  one  has  questioned.  From  this  fact  he 
arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  Maurice  de  Portu  could  only  be 
born  "  near  the  harbour  of  Baltimore,  in  the  County  of  Cork." 
Who  knew  better  than  our  Annalists1  of  the  history  of  the  Clan 
O'Fihely?  Yet,  while  they  record  the  death  of  O'Fihely,  and 
refer  in  terms  of  high  praise  to  his  public  career,  they  are  entirely 
silent  as  to  his  birthplace. 

Dr.  Lynch  carefully  enumerates  this  tribe  amongst  the  minor 
clans  of  South  Western  Cork;'2  and  yet  he  accepts  De  Burgo 's 
opinion  as  to  the  birthplace  of  Maurice  O'Fihely  in  Clonfert,  and 
not  in  Cork,  and  he  does  this  with  a  full  knowledge  of  Ware's 
opinion  on  the  question. 

There  was  no  lawT  known  to  bard  or  Brehon  which  wrould 
require  O'Fihely's  parents  to  reside  within  their  ancestral 
territory;  and  the  migration  of  individuals  and  of  sections  of 
clans  from  one  territory  to  another,  was  quite  frequent  in  our 
country  from  very  remote  periods.3  Should  your  contributor  refer 
to  the  pages  of  Cronnoly  and  O'Hart,  he  will  see  that  sections 
of  the  O'Fihely  clan  had  settled  down  in  Eoscommon  and  Clare 
in  dangerous  proximity  to  Clonfert. 

Your  contributor  appeals  to  some  authorities  in  direct  support 
of  his  contention,  that  O'Fihely  was  born  amongst  his  "  kith  and 
kin/'  near  Baltimore,  County  Cork.  Foremost  amongst  those 
we  may  place  MacGeoghegan,  Dr.  Kelly,  and  Connellan,  editor  of 
the  Four  Masters/'  But  we  find  that  all  three  refer  to  Ware  in 
support  of  their  statements.  Ware  may,  therefore,  be  regarded 
as  the  chief  authority  in  favour  of  this  opinion.  But  even  Ware 
offered  but  a  qualified  opinion  on  the  claims  of  Baltimore  by 
stating  that  two  other  provinces  also  claimed  the  honour  of 
Finely  s  birthplace.  It  cannot  be  urged  that  those  writers,  by 
following  Ware,  rejected  the  opinion  of  Lyndh.  They  wrote  in 

1  Annals  of  Lough  Ce,  vol.  iL.page  215  ;  Four  Masters,  A.D.  1513. 

2  Camb,  Erersus,  vol.  L,  page  275. 

3  Hi<t.  Clan  Eoghan,  page  266. 

4  Irish  Pedigrees,  page  217. 

5M'Geoghan,  page  381;    Camb.  Eversis,  vol.  i.,  page  275  ;    Four  Masters, 
page  181. 


Correspondence  449 

ignorance  of  that  opinion.  His  manuscript  history  of  our  bishops 
in  which  it  is  recorded  was  never  published.  Its  very  existence 
was  unknown  until  it  was  recently  discovered  in  Trinity  College 
Library,  where  it  is  still  preserved. 

Cardinal  Moran,  whose  intimate  knowledge  of  Irish  history 
your  correspondent  may  not  question,  has  recorded  his  opinion  of 
the  value  of  that  discovery  in  relation  to  this  particular  question. 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  quote  his  words.  After  referring  to  the 
controversy,  he  writes  :—"  Lynch's  MS.,  which  has  only  of  late 
come  to  light,  seems  to  settle  the  controversy,  for  it  expressly 
states  that  Dr.  0' Finely  was  born  in  Clonfert,  in  the  province  of 
Connaught.  The  MS.  adds,  that  the  Convent  of  the  Conventual 
Franciscans,  Kenillihin,  near  Clonfert,  was  styled  for  the  same 
reason,  Conventus  de  portu  puro ;  and  that  the  Archbishop 
derived  from  that  town  the  surname  by  which  he  was  known 
in  his  Order.  Dr.  Lynch  further  writes,  that  Dr.  John  de  Burgo, 
who  had  been  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  and  was  raised  to  the  see  of 
St.  Jarlath,  during  the  eventful  period  of  the  Irish  Confederation, 
communicated  to  him  this  fact  regarding  the  birth-place  of  his 
illustrious  predecessor."  l 

We  cannot  assume  that  the  accomplished  writer  whom  I  quote 
was  not  familiar  with  De  Burgo's  career.  Yet  we  do  not  find  that 
he  is  "startled"  by  the  "  glaring  "  fact  of  his  opposition  to  the 
Nuncio.  In  this  clear  expression  of  opinion  we  discover  no  want  of 
confidence  in  De  Burgo's  u  truthfulness,"  no  lurking  suspicion  of 
his  "honesty,"  and  no  doubt  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  his  information 
regarding  O'Fihely's  birthplace.  Maziere  Brady,2  not  merely 
adopts  the  learned  Cardinal's  opinion,  but  even  borrows  the 
emphatic  language  in  which  that  opinion  is  recorded.  And  though 
Brady  has  written  at  some  length  of  John  de  Burgo,3  he  utters  no 
word  offensive  or  insulting  to  his  memory.  He  manifests  no 
desire  to  mar  the  graceful  and  merited  tribute  which  the  learned 
)'Flaherty  would  reverently  place  upon  his  tomb  : 

"  Post  sex  undecies  sexcentas  milleque  brumas 

Aprilis  quarta  proximiore  die 
In  coena  Domini,  Dominus  Tuamensis  Jesu 
Fit  commensalis,  cui  famulatus  erat."  4 

I  remain,  Eev.  dear  Sir,  yours  very  respectfully, 

J.  FAHEY. 
GOET,  llth  April,  1896. 

1  Monasticon  Hib.  Moran,  page  212.  *  Ibid.,  page  144. 

2  Epis.  Sue.,  page  132.  4  Irish  tiist.,  Meehan,  page  130. 
VOL.  XVII.  2  F 


[     450     ] 


Document* 

LETTER  OF  THE  SACRED  CONGREGATION  OF  PROPAGANDA 
GRANTING  TO  MAYNOOTH  COLLEGE  POWER  TO  CONFER 
DEGREES 

S.    CONGREGAZIONE    DE    PROPAGANDA    FIDE 

(Protocollo  No.  17187.) 

EOMA,  li  29  Marzo,  1896. 

Oggctto.  Sul  privilegio  accordato  al  Coll.  di  Maynooth  di 
conferire  i  gradi  accademici 

EME.  AC  EME.  DNE.  Mi.  OBME., 

Eminentiae  tuae  significo  in  Plenaria  Congregatione  horum 
Einorum  Patrum  hujus  S.  Consilii,  habita  die  9  vertentis  Martii, 
in  examen  revocatam  fuisse  petitionem  ab  Hiberniae  Episcopis 
factam  circa  collationem  graduurn  academicorum  in  Collegio 
S.  Patritii  de  Maynooth.  Ad  dubium  propositum  :  "An,  quo- 
modo  et  pro  quibus  Facultatibus  Collegium  Maynootiuanum 
S.  Patritii  insigniri  priviligio  debeat  conferendi  gradus  aca- 
demicos."  Emi  Patres  respondendum  censuerunt ;  Affirmative  pro 
priviligio  conferendi  gradum  baccalaureatus  in  Facultate  Philoso- 
phica  et  omnes  gradus  academicos  in  Facultate  Theologica. 
Mentem  tamen  iidem  Emi  Patres  addiderunt,  ut  nempe  Hiber- 
niae Episcopi  invitarentur  ad  redigendum  appositum  Studiorum 
Statutura  pro  memorato  Collegio,  in  quo  Statute,  inter  alia, 
sequentia  determinari  debeant : 

1.  Norninatio  cujusdam  Rectoris  seu  Praefecti  studiis  regundis 
qui  advigilet  circa  rectam  studiorum  ration  em,   ac  circa  obser- 
vantiarn  regularum  quae  statuentur. 

2.  Designatur  praeses  examinum  seu  experimentorum,  cujus 
sit   consilium  examinatorum  pro  opportunitate  convocare  atque 
praesideat  sessionibus  examinum. 

3.  Determinentur  qui  munus  speciale  habeant  conferendi  atque 
authendicandi  diplomata ;  quae  redegenda  erunt  juxta  appositum 
modulum. 

4.  Determinandus  erit  examinatorum  numerus,    qui  experi- 
mentis   pro    singulis   gradibus   adesse  debebunt ;    eosdem    vero, 
quantum  fieri  poterit,  Doctorali  laurea  insignitos  esse  oportet. 

5.  Accurate  statuatur  modus  ferendi  suffragia,  aliaeque  omnes 


Documents  451 

conditiones     pro     adprobatione    requisitae    diligenter    clareque 
proponantur. 

6.  Normaecertae  constabilianturpro  nominati one  Prof essorum. 

7.  Kegula  statuatur  exhibendi  tertio  quoque  anno  S.  Congrega- 
tion! Fidei  Propagandae  relationem  super  collatis  gradibus. 

In  hujusmodi  statutis  inserantur  Kegulae  pro  studiis  mode- 
randis  in  articulos  accurate  divisae,  verum  conformes  in  substantia 
Us  quae  jam  exhibitae  fuerunt  Sacrae  Congregation!.  Haec  statuta 
infra  annum  ad  Sacram  Congregationem  examinanda  atque 
adprobanda  mittentur ;  collegium  tamen  jam  munc  priviligio 
gaudeat  gradus  conferendi.  Hanc  vero  Einorum  sententiani 
relatam  Summo  Pontifici  in  Audientia,  diei  13  ejusdem  labentis 
Martii,  Sanctitas  Sua  in  omnibus  adprobavit. 

Hujusmodi  priviligium  per  Aplicas  Litteras  in  forma  Brevis 
confirrnabitur  suo  ternpore,  mempe  post  praesentationem  Statu- 
torurri,  de  quibus  supra.  Interim  ut  ad  redigenda  eadem 
Statuta  norma  aliqua  habeatur  heic  adjicio  examplar  Constitu- 
tionum  Universitatis  Ottawiensis.  Ego  vero  manus  tuas  humillime 
deosculor. 

Eminentiae  Tuae, 

humillimus  devotissimus  Servus, 

M.  CARD.  LEDOCHOWSKI,  Prcef. 
A.  ARCHIEP.  LARISSEN,  Seer. 

N.B. — Exemplar  constitutionum,  de  quo  in  Epistola  perveniet 
ad  A.  T.  separatim  ab  hac. 

Dno.  CARD.  MICHAEL:  LOGUE, 

Archiepiscopo  Armacano. 


DECREE    OF     THE    SACRED     CONGREGATION   OF    BISHOPS    AND 
REGULARS    REGARDING  NUNS   AND    OTHER   PIOUS  WOMEN 
WHO   ACT   AS   QUESTERS   FOR   CHARITABLE   WORKS 
DECRETUM 

Singular!  quidem  protectione  et  auxilio  dignae  semet  exhibent 
mulieres  illae,  quae  in  pi  is  religiosisque  Institutis  Deo  se  devovent 
ut  in  proximorum  bonum  longe  lateque  opera  misericordiae 
exerceant  nedum  directe,  sed  stipem  etiam  iisdem  operibus  sus- 
tentandis  quaerit  antes,  atque  egregiam  eapropter  humilitatis, 
patientiae,  charitatis  aliarumque  virtutum  laudem  praeseferentes. 
Cum  tamen  hoc  colligendarum  eleemosynarum  ministerium  prae 


452  Documents 

muliebri  quaeritantium  indole  ac  hodierna  humanae  societatis 
conditione  periculis  baud  vacet  nisi  opportunis  cautelis  commu- 
niatur,  Sacra  Congregatio  Episcoporum  et  Eegularium  nonnullis 
Episcopis  petentibus,  re  diligenter  et  mature  perpensa,  baec  quae 
sequuntur  statuit  ac  decrevit. 

I.  In  votorum    simplicium  Institutis  opus  quaeritandi  elee- 
mosynas  alumnae  non  aggrediantur  nisi   in  spiritu  fidei,  quod 
stipem  non  sibi  quaerant  sed  ipsi  Cbristo  lesu,  memores  verborum 
eius :    Quamdiu  fecistis  uni  ex  his  fratribus  meis  minimis,  mihi 
fecistis.     Praeterea  Ordinaries  locorum,  etiamsi  eorum  territoria 
pertranseant,    obsequio,   reverentia    et   devotione    prosequantur 
tamquam  parentes  et   patronos,   quos   adeant   cum  fiducia  pro 
consilio,  auxilio  ac  praesidio  in  qualibet  necessitate. 

II.  lisdem   votorum   simplicium    Sororibus  non   liceat   elee- 
mosynas  quaerere  sive  intra,  dioecesim  in  qua  ipsae  resident,  sive 
extra  sine  licentia  Ordinarii  loci  respectivae  residentiae. 

III.  Stipem   quaesiturae   extra    dioecesim    respectivae   resi- 
dentiae   licentiam   obtinere    insuper   debent    ab   Ordinario  loci 
in  quo  eleemosynarum  quaeritare  desiderant, 

IV.  Nihil    tamen    impedit,    quominus     Superiorissae,    nulla 
petita  licentia,  ad   sublevandam   domuum   vel  piorum    operum, 
quibus  praesunt  inopiam,  possint  eleemosynas  undequaque  sponte 
oblatas  accepto  habere,  vel  etiam  per  literas  impetrare  ab  honestis 
ac    benevolis    personis     quibuscumque,    usquedum    a    legitimo 
superiore  rationabili  ex  causa  non  probibeantur. 

V.  Ordinarius  loci,  in  quo  extat  domus  Sororum  quaeritare 
volentium,  licentiam  eis   non  concedat,  1°  si   de  vera  domus  vel 
pii  operis  necessitate  sibi  non  constet ;  2°  si  quaeritatio  commode 
fieri  possit  per  alios  ab  ipsomet  Ordinario  designandos.     Si  autem 
necessitati    occurri  valeat  per    quaeritationem    in   loco,  in  quo 
Sorores    resident,     vel    infra    propriam     dioecesim,    Ordinarius 
licentiam   eisdem  non  impertiatur  eleemosynas  colligendi  extra 
dioecesim, 

VI.  Utraque  licentia    tiadatur  gratis  et  in   scriptis,  in  qua 
quilibet  Ordinarius  leges  et  conditiones  imponere  poterit,  quas 
pro  locorum,  temporum  et  personarum  adiunctis  magis  opporturias 
in  Domino    iudicaverit.     Licentia  vero  Ordinarii  piae    Sororum 
domus  contineat  literas  vel   commissorias  ad    parochos  aliasve 
prudentes  personas  pro  Sororibus  quaeritantibus  intra  dioecesim, 
vel    commendatitias     ad    Ordinarios    aliarum    dioecesium    pro 
Sororibus   extra    propriam     diocesim   quaeritantibus.     In   literis 


Documents  453 

commissoriis  mandetur  parochis  aliisve  probis  personis,  ut  con- 
siliis  et  meliori  qua  possunt  opera  praesto  sint  Sororibus,  earum 
agendi  rationem  invigilent.  et  si  quid  in  eis  minus  rectum 
resciverint,  statim  ipsi  Ordinario  referant.  In  commendatiis 
exorentur  Ordinarii  locorum,  ut  in  sua  quisque  dioecesi  Sorores 
ad  quaeritandum  admissas  protegat  ac  adiuvet  ac  si  sibi  subditas 
eas  haberet. 

VII.  Quisque  loci  Ordinarius  sorores  ex  aliena  dioecesi 
advenientes  ad  eleemosynas  colligendas  non  admittat,  nisi  prius 
eaedem  licentiam  proprii  Ordinarii  sibi  exhibuerint.  Sororibus 
vero  huiusmodi  ;licentiam  exhibitionis  ipse  suam,  si  lubeat, 
impertiatur  licentiam  quaeritandi  in  propria  dioecesi.  Ubi 
autem  Sorores,  etiamsi  utraque  licentia  praeditae,  in  eleemosyna- 
rum  queastu  male  se  gerant,  statim  in  propriam  domum  eas  redire 
Ordinarius  iubeat,  opportunisque  etiam  mediis  si  opus  fuerit 
compellat. 

VIII.  Superiorissae,  praes^rtim  extra  locum  ubi  domus  habent, 
numquam  ad  eleemosynas  quaerendas  mittant  Sorores,  nisi  binas 
aetate  et  animo  maturas,  intra  dioecesim  non  ultra  mensem,  extra 
dioecesim  non  ultra  duos  menses,  et  semper  ea  pecuniae  summa 
instructas  qua,  inopinato  quocumque  casu  cogente,  possint  statim 
domum  redire.  Sorores  quaeritantes  semper  et  ubique  ea  qua 
decet,  modestia  eniteant,  virorum  familiaritatem  et  sermones 
inutiles  caveant ;  clamores,  tabernas  aliaque  loca  incongrua 
evitent ;  nee  in  domibus  longiorem  moram  faciant,  quam  sit 
necessarium  pro  expectandis  eleemosynis.  Singulae  nunquam 
incedant,  neque  ab  invicem  separentur,  nisi  necessitate  impellente. 
Iter  facientes,  si  commode,  fieri  poterit,  utantur  via  ferrea :  sed 
quantum  possunt,  de  nocte,  neque  ab  uno  loco  discedant,  neque 
ad  alium  perveniant.  De  suo  adventu  future  praemoneant  ilium, 
cui  datae  sunt  Episcopi  literae  ;  eique  cum  pervenerint  se  sistant 
precesque  adhibeant,  ut  intercedat  pro  invenienda  hospitalitate 
apud  aliquod  pium  foeminarum  Institutum,  vel  saltern  apud 
aliquam  honestam  mulierem,  nunquam  vero  in  domo  ubi  possint 
in  aliquod  periculum  offendere.  Matutinas  ac  vespertinas  preces 
non  omittant :  quotidie  de  mane  aliquam  ex  vicinioribus  ecclesiis 
petant,  ibique  Sacro  assistant  :  singulis  hebdomadis  Poenitentiae 
et  Eucharistiae  sacramentis  reficiantur.  Ante  solis  ortum  et  post 
occasum  eleemosynas  per  loca  non  quaeritent.  Elapso  tempore 
ad  quaeritandum  eis  praefixo,  sine  ulla  mora  ad  propriam 
Superiorissam  recto  tramite  remigrent.  Eleemosynas  numquam 


454  Documents 

arroganter  vel  tamquam  debitas  postulent,  sed  breviter  et 
humiliter  sua  et  piorum  operum  exposita  inopia,  si  quid  sponte 
offertur  accipiant,  secus  patienter  divinae  Providentiae  confidant. 
Alias  normas  opportunas,  quae  a  propria  Superiorissa  dari  poterunt, 
adamussim  observent. 

Datum  Bomae  ex  Secretaria  memoratae  S.  Congregationis 
Episcoporum  et  Eegularium  die  27  martii  1896. 

I.  CARD.  VERGA,  Praef. 

A.  CAN.  BOCAFOGLIC,  Sub-Sec. 

DECISION  REGARDING  THE  DEPENDENCE  OF  NUNS  ON  THE 

ORDINARY  OF  THE  DIOCESE 
CANAEIEN.     DUBIUM     QUOAD     DEPENDENTIAM     RELIGJOSARUM    AB 

ORDINARIO  DIOECES1S,  IN  QUA  MORANTUR 
BEATISSIME  PATER, 

Fr.  Josephus,  Episcopus  Canariensis,  ad  Sanctitatis  Vestrae 
pedes  humiliter  provolutus,  exponit  : 

Non  clare  video  relationes,  quae  haberi  debent  inter  Ordi- 
narium  et  Sorores,  quarum  Institutionis  non  sunt  viri  qui  eas 
gubernent,  etsi  Insfcitutio  ab  Ecclesia  approbata  fuerit ;  praecipue 
vero  quoad  eas  quae  nee  a  viris  propriae  Institutionis,  eo  quod 
hi  minime  existant,  reguntur,  nee  ab  Ecclesia  adhuc  approbatum 
sit  eorum  Institutum.  Esto  sint  exemptae  huiusmodi  Sorores 
quoad  potestatem  dominativam,  ex  obedientiae  voto  ortam,  cer- 
tum  esse  videtur  eas  tali  exemptione  non  gaudere  respectu  habito 
ad  Ordinarium,  in  cuius  dioecesi  morantur,  quoad  potestatem 
iurisdictionis  regimenque  externum.  Nunc  vero  in  praxi  habent 
Sorores,  de  quibus  agitur,  quod  illarum  Superiorissae  Generales 
eas  ex  una  in  aliam  domum  alterius  dioecesis  transferant, 
subalternasque  Superiorissas  instituant,  ab  officio  absolvant,  quin 
in  nullo  Ordinariis  subiiciant  tales  absolutiones,  istitutiones , 
translationes  ;  imo  nee  eos  consulant,  nee  conscios  faciant. 

Ita  accidit  in  hac  mea  dioecesi  quoad  Sorores,  quibus  de 
los  ancianos  desamparados  nomen  est,  atque  eas  quae  hjias 
de  Christo  nuncupantur.  Dubium  augetur  penes  has  ultimas, 
ideo  quod,  cum  ab  Ecclesia  nondum  approbata  sit  ipsarum 
institutio,  nullum  canonicum  fulcimentum  rationemque  earum 
regularis  existentiae  habeant,  in  hac  exordii  periodo,  praeter  ilia 
quae  ab  Ordinarii  auctoritate  derivantur. 

His  expositis,  Sanctitatem  Vestram  humiliter  rogo,  quatenus 
mihi  solvere  dignetur  sequens  dubium  : 

Utrum    Superiorissae    Generales,   de    quibus    est   sermo    in 


Documents 


455 


praecedenti  expositione,  saltern  illae  quarum  Institutum  appro - 
bationem  Sanctae  ^edis  adhuc  desiderat,  quoties  aliquam 
Sororem  ex  una  in  aliam  domum  alterius  dioecesis  transferre,  vel 
Superiorissam  subalternam  instituere,  sive  ab  officio  absolvere 
velint,  rem  cum  Ordinariis  in  quorum  dioecesibus  domus 
istae  inveniantur  conferre  debent,  illorum  confirmationem 
obtinere,  saltern  assensum,  vel  illos  de  re  conscios  facere  ? 

Et  Deus  .  .  .  etc. 

Sacra  Congregatio  Eminentissimorum  et  Rsverendissimorum, 
S.  E.  E.  Cardinalium  negotiis  et  consultationibus  Episcoporum 
et  Regularium  praeposita,  proposito  Dubio  censuit  rescribendum, 
prout  rescripsit : 

<4Superiorissas  Generales,  in  easibus  dequibus  agitur,  uti  jure 
suo ;  et  sufficere  ut  eaedem  Superiorissae,  ratione  dumtaxat  con- 
venientiae,  Episcopum  loci  de  dictis  dispositionibus  certiorem 
reddant." 

Romae,  9  Aprilis  1895. 

I.  CARD.  VERGA,  Praef edits. 


INDULGENCES  ATTACHED   TO  THE    PKAYER   TO   THE   BLESSED 

VIRGIN   FOR   THE    REUNION   OF   THE    CHURCHES 

RESCRIPTUM  QUO  ADNECTUNTUR  INDULGENTIAE  ORATIONI  AD  MARIAM 

VIRG.  PRO  REDITU  ECCLESIARUM  DISSIDENTIUM  AD  FIDEI  UNITATEM 


BMO.    PADRE. 

II  Presidente  del  Circolo 
Cattolico  sotto  il  titolo  dell' 
Immacolata  esistente  in  Roma, 
a  nome  della  Sezione  che  si 
occupa  della  Preghiera  Continua, 
umilmente  prostrato  al  bacio 
del  S.  Piede,  implora  dalla  S.  V. 
la  grazia  di  una  qualche  Indul- 
genza  per  la  recita  della  qui 
sotto  unita  preghiera,dettata  da 
Sua  Eminenza  Rma  il  Vicario 
di  Roma,  allo  scopo  di  ottenere 
da  Dio,  per  1'  intercessione  della 
SSiiia  Vergine,  il  ritorno  delle 
Chiese  dissidenti  all'  unita  della 
Tede,  cotanto  bramata  e  pro- 
mossa  dalla  S.  V. 


The  President  of  the  Circle 
called  the  "  Immacolata,"  in 
Rome,  in  the  name  of  the  sec- 
tion that  has  charge  of  the 
"  Continual  Prayer,"  humbly 
prostrate  at  the  feet  of  your 
Holiness  implores  the  favour  of 
some  indulgence  for  the  recitation 
of  the  following  prayer,  dictated 
by  his  Eminence  the  Cardinal 
Vicar  of  Rome,  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  from  God,  through 
the  intercession  of  the  Most 
Holy  Virgin,  the  return  of  the 
dissident  Churches  to  that 
unity  of  faith  so  much  desired 
and  promoted  by  your  Holiness. 


456 


Documents 


THE  PRAYER 

ORAZIONE    A     MARIA    SANTISSIMA   PER   IL     RITORNO     DELLE     CHIESE 
DISSIDENTI   ALI/UNITA   DELLA   FEDE 


Vergine  Immacolata,  Voi  che 
per  singolar  priviiegio  di  grazia 
foste  preservata  dalla  colpa 
originate,  guardate  pietosa  ai 
nostri  dissidenti  fratelli,  die 
son  pur  vostri  figli,  e  li  richia- 
mate  al  centre  dell'unita.  Anche 
lontani,  hanno  serbato  a  Voi, 
Madre,  la  piii  tenera  devozione ; 
Voi  generosa  qual  siete,  ne  li 
compensate,  impetrando  ad  essi 
la  conversione. 


Vittoriosa  dell'infernale  ser- 
pente,  fin  dal  principio  della 
vostra  esistenza,  rinnovate  ora 
che  piii  stringe  la  necessita,  gli 
antichi  trionfi.  Se  i  nostri  infe- 
lici  fratelli  giacciono  tuttordivisi 
dal  comun  Padre,  e  opera  del 
nemico.  Voi  dunque  smasche- 
rate  le  insidie,  sgomentate  le 
schiere  di  lui,  sicche  vedano  essi 
finalmente  come  non  sia  pos- 
sibile  il  conseguimento  della 
salvezza  fuor  dell'unione  col 
Successore  di  S.  Pietro. 


Voi  che  nella  pienezza  de'doni 
glorificaste  fin  dall'origine  la 
potenza  di  Lui,  che  opero  in 
Voi  maraviglie  si  grandi,  glori- 
ficate  il  Figlio  vostro,  all'unico 
ovile  di  Lui  sotto  la  guida  del 
Pastore  universale  che  in  terra 
ne  sostiene  le  veci,  ricondu- 


0  Immaculate  Virgin !  thou 
who,  through  a  singular  privi- 
lege of  grace,  wast  preserved 
free  from  original  sin,  look 
down  in  pity  on  our  dissenting 
brethren,  who  are  still  thy  sons, 
and  call  them  back  to  the  centre 
of  unity.  Though  far  away, 
they  have  retained  for  thee, 
0  Mother !  the  most  tender 
devotion.  Do  thou,  in  thy 
generosity,  reward  them  for 
it  by  interceding  for  their  con- 
version. 

Victorious  over  the  infernal 
serpent  from  the  first  moment 
of  thy  existence,  now  that  the 
necessity  presses  more  urgently, 
renew  thy  ancient  triumphs! 
If  our  unfortunate  brethren 
remain  at  this  moment  cut 
off  from  the  common  father, 
it  is  the  work  of  the  enemy. 
Do  thou  unmask  his  snares, 
and  terrify  his  legions,  in  order 
that  those  who  are  separated 
from  us  may  see,  at  last,  that 
the  attainment  of  salvation  is 
impossible  outside  of  union 
with  the  successor  of  St.  Peter. 

0  thou  who,  in  the  fulness 
of  thy  gifts,  didst  glorify  from 
the  beginning  the  power  of  Him 
who  wrought  in  thee  such  great 
and  wonderful  things,  glorify 
now  thy  Son  by  calling  back 
the  straying  sheep  to  His  only 
fold,  under  the  guidance  of  the 


Documents  457 

cendo  le  pecorelle  smarrite,  e  universal  shepherd,  who  holds 
sia  vostra  gloria,  oVergine,  come  His  place  on  earth.  And  as  it 
d'aver  sterminato  dal  mondo  was  thy  glory,  O  Virgin,  to 
tutti  quanti  gli  errori,  cosi  have  exterminated  all  errors 
d'avere  estinti  gli  scismi  e  ripor-  from  the  world,  so  may  it  yet 
tata  all' universe  la  pace.  be  thine  to  have  extinguished 

schisms,     and     brought     back 
peace  to  the  universe. 

EX    AUDIENTIA    SSM.    DIE    1    FEBR.  1896 

Sanctissimus  Dominus  Noster  Leo  Pp.  XIII  omnibus  utriusque 
sexus  Christifidelibus,  qui  corde  saltern  contrito  ac  devote  superius 
exhibitam  orationem  recitaverint,  Indulgentiam  tercentum  dierum 
semel  in  die  lucrandam  benigne  concessit.  Praesenti  in  per- 
petuum  valituro  absque  ulla  Brevis  expeditione.  Contrariis 
quibuscumque  non  obstantibus.  Datum  Eomae  ex  Secretaria 
S.  Congregationis  Indulgenitis  Sacrisque  Eeliquiis  praepositae 
die  21  Februarii  1896. 

ANDREAS  CARD.  STEINHUBER,  Praefectus. 
L.*S. 

•!«  ALEXANDER,  ARCHIEP.  NICOP.,  Secretarius. 


RE-ERECTION    OF   THE    STATIONS   OF   THE    CROSS 

DE   NOVO     CONSENSU      EORUM     AD       QUOS     PERTINET    IN     CASU     QUO 
STATIONES    VIAE    CRUCIS     RENOVENTUR 

Die  11  lanuarii  1896, 

ORD.  MIN.  S.  FRANCISCI 

Fr.  Eaphael  ab  Aureliano  Proc.  Gen.  Ord.  Min.  huic  S.  Indul- 
gentiarum  Congregation!  sequentia  humiliter  exponit : 

Pro  legitima  Stationum  Viae  Crucis  erectione,  S.  Sedes  plura 
sapienter  constituit  observanda  sub  poena  nullitatis.  Nam 
statuit  "  quod  in  erigendis  eiusmodi  Stationibus,  tarn  Sacerdotis 
erigentis  deputatio  ac  Superioris  localis  consensus,  quam  respectivi 
Ordinarii  vel  Antistitis  et  Parochi,  necnon  Superiorum  Ecclesiae, 
Monasterii,  Hospitalis  et  loci  pii,  ubi  eiusmodi  erectio  fieri  con- 
tigerit,  deputatio,  consensus  et  licentia  in  scriptis,  et  non  aliter, 
expediri,  et  quandocuinque  opus  fuerit  exhiberi  debeant,  sub 
poena  nullitatis  ipsiusmet  erectionis,  ipso  facto  incurrendae." 
Modo  Orator  petit  a  S.  C.  solutionem  dubii  sequentis  : 

Utrum   in    casu  quo,  ob  Crucium  vetustatem,  vel   ob  aliam 


458  Documents 

iustam  causam  renovari  debeant  Stationes  Viae  Crucis,  in  eadem 
Ecclesia  sive  Oratorio,  ir:  quo  rite  cum  omnibus  documentis,  ut 
supra  a  S.  Sede  praescriptis,  erectae  reperiebantur,  praefata 
omnia  et  singula  documenta  denuo  sive  oretenus  sive  in  scriptis 
postulanda  sint ;  vel  sufficiat  tantummodo  ut  novarum  stationum 
benedictio  fiat  a  Sacerdote  ad  id  legitime  deputato  ? 

S.  Congregatio  Indulgentiis  Sacrisque  Esliquiis  praeposita,, 
relato  dubio  respondit  die  11  lanuarii  1896  : 

Dummodo  praesumi  possit  perseverare  consensum  eorum 
ad  quos  pertinet,  Negative  quoad  lam  part.,  quoad  2am  sufficere 
tantummodo  novarum  Crucium  benedictionem. 

Datum  Ecmae  ex  Secretaria  eiusdern  S.  C.  die  et  anno  ut 
supra. 

ANDEEAS  CAKD.  STEINHUBEB,  Praefectus. 
L.  &  S. 

%<  ALEXANDER,  AECHIEP.  NICOP,  Secretarius. 


DECEEE  OF  THE  SACKED  CONGREGATION  OF  KITES  REGARDING 
THE  CARRYING  OF  IMAGES  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  IN 
PROCESSION  WITH  THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT 

ALMERIEN.     DUBIUM    QUOAD    DELATIONEM   IMAGINIS  B.  V.  MARIAE   IN 
PROCESSIONIBUS    CUM    SSMO.    SACEAMENTO 

In  Oppido  vulgo  Gergal  Dioeceseos  Almeriensis  in  Hispania, 
mos  est  ut  Dominica  secunda  Mensis  Septembris  in  honorem 
Beatae  Mariae  Virginis,  vespertinis  horis  fiat  processio  religiosa, 
in  qua  Imagines  sive  Reliquiae  ipsius  Beatae  Virginis,  Sancti 
losephi  ac  aliorum  Sanctorum  circumferantur,  una  cum 
Augustissimo  Eucharistiae  Sacramento.  Hinc  parochus  eiusdem 
Oppidi  dubitans,  an  huiusmodi  praxis  sit  plane  conformis  Eubricis 
ac  Decretis,  a  S.  E.  Congregatione  sequentis  Dubii  solutionem 
humillime  nagitayit,  nimirum : 

Utrum  extra  festum  Corporis  Christi  eiusque  octavam,  liceat 
in  honorem  Beatae  Mariae  Virginis  aut  Sanctorum  in  Vespertinis 
processionibus  deferre  Sanctissimum  Eucharistiae  Sacramentum, 
et  etiam  Imagines  sive  Eeliquias  ipsius  Beatae  Virginis  ac 
Sanctorum  ? 

Sacra  porro  Eituum  Congregatio  ad  relationem  infrascripti 
Secretarii,  audito  voto  Commisaionis  Liturgicae,  omnibus  mature 
expensis,  rescribendum  censuit  : 


Documents  45  91 

Ad  Dubiuni  :  Affirmative  de  consensu  Ordinarii  quoad  primam 
par  tern  :  Negative  quoad  secundam. 
Atque  ita  servari  mandavit. 
Die  31  lanuarii  1896. 

CAT.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.R.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  ^  S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  S.R.C.,  Secretarius. 


THE    USE    OF   THE    HOLY  OILS   OF     THE     PEECEDING  YEAE   IN 

THE   BLESSING   OF   THE    FONT 

ANNECIEN.    DUBIUM  QUOAD  USUM  SS.  OLEORUM,  ANNI  PRAECEDENTISr 
IN    BENEDICTIONE    FONTIS 

Instante  Eemo.  Dno.  Episcopo  Anneciensi ;  ut  in  universis 
Paroeciis  suae  Dioeceseos,  de  Apostolica  venia  permittatur  usus 
sacrorum  Oleorum,  anno  praecedente  benedictorum,  usque  ad 
Sabbatum  ante  Pentecosten  exclusive,  ne  eo  tempore  absint  a 
propriis  Paroeciis  Kectores  vel  Vicarii,  quorum  ministerio  Christi- 
fideles  egent  :  S.  E.  Congregatio  referente  subscripto  Secretario, 
iuxta  votum  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  rescribendum  censuit : 
"  Parochus  curet,  ut  Presbyter,  vel  clericus,  si  possibile  sit  in 
>acris  constitutus,  nova  Olea  Sacra  recipiat.  •  Quod  si  aliquod 
adhuc  extet  impedimentum,  idem  Parochus  vel  per  se,  vel  per 
alium  Sacerdotem  benedicat  fontem,  sine  sacrorum  OJeorum 
infusione,  quae  privatim  opportune  tempore  net ;  nisi  aliquem 
baptizare  debeat,  tune  enim  in  ipsa  benedictione  solemni  vetera 
)lea  infundat."  Atque  ita  servari  mandavit. 

Die  31  lanuarii  1896. 

C.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.R.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  &  J5.  ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI  Secretarius. 


THE  SINGING  OF  HYMNS  IN  THE  VEENACULAE  DTJEING  MASS 

BISARCHIEN.       DUBIUM      QUOAD     CANTUM     PRECUM     VEL    HYMNORUM 
LINGUA    VERNACULA    TEMPORE    MISSAE 

Eector  Parochialis  Ecclesiae  loci  vulgo  Ozieri,  intra  fines 
Dioeceseos  Bisarchien.  in  Sardinia,  de  consensu  suiEeihiEpiscopi, 
a  Sacra  Eituum  Congregatione  sequentis  Dubii  solution  em 
humillime  postulavit,  nimirum  : 

An  in  eadem  Parochiali   Ecclesia  a   ndelibus  intra  Missam 


460  Documents 

cam  possint  iuxta  antiquum  morem,  a  nonnullis  annis  interruptum, 
preces  vel  hymni  lingua  vernacula  compositi  in  honorem  Sancti 
vel  Mysterii,  cuius  festum  agitur. 

Sacra  porro  Eituum  Congregatio,  referente  subscript©  Secre- 
tario,  atque  exquisito  voto  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  rescribendum 
censuit  : 

"  Affirmative  de  consensu  Ordinarii  quoad  Missam  privatam  ; 
Negative  quoad  Missam  solemnem  sive  cantatam,  iuxta  Ordina- 
tionis  pro  Musica  Sacra  Articulum  septimum  et  octavum,  non 
obstante  Decreto  21  Iuniil879  dato  et  aliis  quibuscumque. " 

Atque  ita  servari  mandavit. 

Die  31  lanuarii  1896. 

C.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.R.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  *S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  Secretarius. 


DECREE     RELATING     TO    THE     ANNIVERSARY     OF    THE 
DEDICATION    OF   A    CHDRCH 

DECRETUM    GENERALE    ANNIVERSARII    DEDICATIONS    ECCLESIAE 

Ad  omnes  in  posterum  controversias  circa  Anniversarium 
Dedicationis  Ecclesiae  penitus  evellendas,  S.  E.  Cong.  Comitiis 
pro  nova  Collectione  authentica  Decretorum  evulganda,  subsig- 
nata  die  ad  Vaticanum  habitis,  statuit  ac  declaravit :  I.  Dedica- 
tionem  Ecclesiae,  eiusque  proinde  Anniversarium  esse  festum 
Domini.  II.  Hinc  Ecclesiae  propriae  Anniversarium,  iuxta 
Eubricas  solemnius  et  primarium,  aliis  quibuscumque  locorum 
festis,  etiam  Patroni  et  Titularis,  esse  per  se  praeferendum,  tarn 
in  occursu  quam  in  concursu :  permitti  nihilominus,  ut  Patroni 
festum,  cuiuscumque  sit  personalis  dignitatis,  ratione  feriationis 
praedicto  Anniversario  praeferatur.  III.  Anniversarium  vero 
Dedicationis  Ecclesiae  non  proprie,  uti  secundarium  habendum 
€sse,  etsi  cum  aliis  quibuscumque  festis  occurrat  vel  concurrat, 
.servandas  esse  Eubricas  et  Decretum  Gener.  super  primariis  et 
secundariis  festis.  IV.  Eiusdem  autem  Dedicationis  Ecclesiae 
sive  propriae  sive  non  propriae,  Anniversario  occurrente,  vel 
•concurrente,  cum  festis  solemnioribus  universalis  Ecclesiae,  haec 
semper  illi  praevaleie,  personali  etiam  dignitate  posthabita, 
iuxta  Eubricas.  V.  Quamvis  fixa  esse  debeat  ilia  dies  anniver- 
saria  Dedicationis  Ecclesiae,  quae  infra  annum  a  consecratione 
recurrit  ;  nihilominus  Episcopo  Ecclesiam  consecranti  ius 


Documents  461 

inhaerere,  iuxfca  Decreta  alias  edita,  aliam  diem  fixam,  vel  etiam 
Dominicam,  dummodo  in  consecrationis  actu,  seligendi  pro  illius 
Anniversario  quotannis  solemnius  celebrando :  exceptis  duplicibus 
primae  et  secundae  classis  universalis  Ecclesiae,  nee  non  qui- 
buscumque  Dominicis  privilegiatis,  et  duplicibus  primae  classic 
Ecclesiarum  particularium. 

Atque  ita  servari  mandavit. 

Die  4  Februarii  1896. 

CAI.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.B.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  *S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  S.B.C.,  Secretarius. 

DECISIONS   EEGAEDING    THE   DIVINE   OFFICE 

R.  Dnus.  losephus  Precerutti,  Dioeceseos  Viglevanensis,  cui 
munus  incumbit  redigendi  quotannis  kalendarium  dioecesanum, 
de  consensu  Rmi  Ordinarii  a  Sacrorum  Rituum  Congregatione 
insequentium  dubiorum  solutionom  enixe  flagitavit,  nimirum  : 

I.  In  kalendario  Dioecesos  Viglevanensis  non  rara  occurrunt 
eodem  die  duo  festa  primaria,  vel  duo  secundaria,  eiusdem  ritus 
et  classis,   sed   diversae   dignitatis,    quorum    unum   est   mobile, 
alterum  affixum   diei  mensis ;    quaeritur   cuinam  festo  in   hisce 
casibus  competat  praecedentia  ? 

II.  Quid  agendum  de  festo  Dedications  Basilicarum  SS.  Petri 
et  Pauli  Apost.,  perpetuo  impedito  in  Kalendario  Dioecesano,  cum 
ei  locus  non  suppetat  ? 

III.  Ex  Litteris  Apostolicis  in  forma  Brevis  Pii  Papae  VI., 
in  Dioecesi  Viglevanen,   et   aliis  Dioecesibus  Pedemontanis,   die 
decimaquinta  lanuarii  celebratur  festum  Translationis  Reliquia- 
rum  Sancti  Mauritii  Martyris,   Patroni  Principalis  Pedemontii : 
sub   ritu   duplici   primae   classis   cum   Octava  ;  quum   vero   die 
22  Septembris  agatur  festum  Sancti  Mauritii  et   Soc.  Mm.,  sub 
ritu  duplici  maiori,  quaeritur  an  hoc  alterum  festum  habendum 
sit  tanquam  primarium  in  casu  ? 

IV.  In  Ecclesiis  Parochialibus  nullam  habeiitibus  Chori  obli- 
gationem,  et    in    quibus   tamen    decantantur    Vesperae    diebus 
festivis  absque  Completorio,  ipsae  Vesperae  in  festo  Purifications 
B.  Mariae  Virginis   concludendae   sunt   cum    Antiphona :  Alma 
Redemptoris  Mater  vel  cum  altera  :  Ave,  Eegiua  Coelorum  ? 

V.  An    servari    possit    immemorabilis    consuetudo,    qua    in 
Officiis  Defunctorum,  quae  peraguntur  infra  annum  cum  aliqua 


462  Documents 

solemnitate,  praesertim  diebus  obitus  et  Anniversariis,  semper 
-decantetur  primum  Nocturum  cum  Laudibus  recitatis,  non 
omisso  cantu  Invitatorii :  Venite  exultemus  ? 

Sacra  autem  Eituum  Congregatio,  ad  relationem  subscript! 
Secretarii,  exquisita  Commissionis  Liturgicae  sententia,  reque 
mature  perpensa,  respondendum  censuit : 

Ad  I.  Ex  duobus  festis  primarius  aut  secundarius  eiusdem 
ritus  et  classis,  praecedentia  competit  digniori :  in  paritate  vero 
dignitatis  competit  festo,  diei  mensis  affixo. 

Ad  II.  Festum  de  quo  agitur,  ex  communi  lege  ad  instar 
simplicis  perpetuo  redigendum  foret ;  verum  de  special!  gratia 
reponatur  prima  die,  a  duplici  minore  libera,  et  festum  semi- 
duplex  fiat  simplex. 

Ad  III.  Affirmative. 

Ad  IV.  Affirmative  ad  primarn  partem :  Negative  ad  se- 
-cundam. 

Ad  V.  Serventur  Eubricae  Eitualis  et  Breviarii  Eomani. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit  et  servari  mandavit  die  21  Febr.  1896. 

C.  CAKD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.  E.  C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  *S. 

ALOISIUS  TEIPEPI,  Secretarius. 


THE  PEECEDENCE    OF  THE  TERTIAEIES    OF    ST.  FEANCIS  OVEE 

THOSE    OF  ST.  DOMINIC 

MONOPOLITANA   PEAECEDENTIAE  :  IN  OPPIDO  FOSANO  IUS  PEACEDEND 
COMPETIT  TEETIAEIIS  S.  FEANCISCI 

Ad  Instantiam  Prioris  Tertii  Ordinis  S.  Dominici  in  oppido 
Fosano,  dioecesis  Monopolitanae,  canonice  erecti,  Sacra  Eituum 
Congregatio  in  Ordinariis  Comitiis  Eotalibus,  subsignata  die  ad 
Vaticanum  habitis  coram  infrascripto  Cardinal!,  eidem '  S.  Con- 
gregationi  Praefecto,  ad  dubium  :  "An  ius  praecedendi  competat 
Tertiariis  S.  Dominici,  vel  Tertiariis  S.  Francisci  in  casu,  et  in 
praedicto  oppido  ?  respondendum  censuit  :  Attentis  constitutio- 
nibus  Gregorii  XIII  et  Urban!  VIII ,  nee  non  Decreto  S.  Con- 
gregationis  Episcoporum  et  Eegularium  die  4  Septembris  1733  : 
Negative  ad  primam  partem,  Affirmative  ad  secundam." 
Atque  ita  rescripsit,  Die  8  Februarii  1896. 

CAT.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.  B.  (7.,  Praef. 
L.  «  S. 

ALOISIUS  TEIPEPI,  Secretarius. 


Documen  ts  463 

PRECEDENCE    OF   FESTIVALS   WITHIN  AN   OCTAVE 
DUBIA  QUOAD  DIES  INFRA  OCTAVAM  FESTI  PRIMARII  VEL  SECUNDARII 

Quidam  Sacrarum  Coeremoniarum  magistri,  quibus  kalen- 
daria  particularia  disponere  commissum  est,  Sacram  Eituum 
Congregationem  pro  insequentium  Dubiorum  resolutione  humi- 
liter  rogarunt.  nimirum. 

I.  An  dies  infra  octavam  Festi  primarii  vel  secundarii  cedant 
semiduplici  occurrenti  ? 

II.  Utrum  dies   sequatur    rationem    sui    Festi   primarii   vel 
secundarii  ? 

Et  Sacra  Congregatio,  referente  subscripts  Secretario,  et 
audito  voto  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  omnibus  rite  perpensis, 
rescribendum  censuit  : 

Ad.  I.  "  Dies  infra  octavam  quamcumque  tamquam  secunda- 
rios  habendos  esse,  et  cedere  cuicumque  semiduplici  occurrenti." 

Ad.  II.  "Affirmative,  nempe  :  Diem  Octavam  esse  primariam 
vel  secundariam,  prout  Festum,  ad  quod  ilia  pertinet,  primarium 
vel  secundarium  est." 

Atque  ita  rescripsit. 

Die  21  Februarii  1896. 

CAI.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  Praefectus. 
L.*S. 

A.  TRIPEPI,  Secretarius. 


MODIFICATION    OF    LETTEES   FOE    THE    CONCESSION    OF 
MATEIMONIAL   DISPENSATIONS 

MODIFICATIONS  S     AD      LITTERAS      APOSTOLICAS       PRO      CONCESSIONE 
DISPENSATIONUM    MATRIMONIALIUM 

In   Litteris  Apostolicis,  quibus  a  Dataria  Apostolica  conce- 
duntur  dispensationes  matrimoniales  : 

I.  Omittantur  abhinc  sequentes  clausulae  :  (a)  Si  veniam  a  te 
petierit  humiliter;  (b)  Eecepto  prius  ab  eo  iuramento,  quod,  non 
sub  spe  facilius  habendi  dispensationem  huiusmodi,  incestum  vel 
adulterium    huiusmodi    commiserint,    quodque    talia    numquam 
deinceps  committant,  neque  committentibus  praestabunt  auxilium 
vel    favorem  ;    (c)  Peractis  ab  iis  duabus  sacramentalibus  con- 
fessionibus. 

II.  In    iisdem    litteris  tollantur  sequentia  verba  :    Volumus 
quod    si    tu    aliquid  muneris    vel  praemii  exigere  aut  oblatum 
recipere  praesumpseris,  absolutio  aut  dispensatio  nullius  sit  roboris 


464  Documents 

aut  moment! ;  et  dicatur  vetito  omnino  ne  aliquid  muneris  aut 
praemii  exigere,  aut  oblatum  recipere  praesumpseris. 

III.  Tollatur    clausula :    Dummodo   in   praefata  separatione 
permanserit,    et    dicatur    eius   vice  :     Kemoto,    quatenus  adsifc 
scandalo,  praesertim  per  separationem,  tempore  tibi  beneviso,  si 
fieri  potest. 

IV.  Clausulae  :  Si  preces  veritate  niti  repereris  substituatur 
haec  alia  :  Si  vera  sint  exposita. 

V.  Ubi  dicitur  :  Absolvas  sive  per  te  sive  per  alium  in  forma 
Ecclesiae  consueta,   dicatur  :  Hac  vice  tantum  per  te  sive  per 
alium  absolvas. 

Die  28  Augusti  1895. 

B.  CARD.  MONACO. 


INSTRUCTION  OF  HIS  HOLINESS  POPE  LEO  XIII.  TO  THE 
PATRIARCHS,  BISHOPS,  AND  APOSTOLIC  DELEGATES  OF 
THE  EAST 

DE     RATIONE     CONCORDI     REI     CATHOLICAE     APUD     ORIENTALES 
PROVEHENDAE 

LEO     PP.      XIII. 
MOTU  PROPRIO 

Auspicia  rerum  secunda  quae  Nobis,  Orientem  christianum 
apostolica  providentia  respicientibus,  divina  gratia  benignissime 
obtulit,  animum  sane  confirmant  augentque  ut  incepta  Nostra 
omni  contentione  et  spe  persequamur.  Editis  quidem  nonnullis 
actis,  praesertim  Constitutione  Orientalium  anno  MDCCCLXXXXIV, 
iam  quaedam  sunt  a  Nobis  opportune  declarata  et  decreta ;  quae 
aliis  alia  modis  conducerent  simul  ad  studium  decusque  pristinum 
religionis  in  eis  gentibus  excitandum,  ad  earumdem  coniunctionem 
cum  Petri  Cathedra  obstringendam,  ad  recoiiciliationem  fovendam 
dissidentium.  Quo  tamen  instituta  consilia  rectius  in  dies  proce^ 
dant  uberiusque  eveniant,  optimum  factu  ducimus  aliquot  capita 
raescriptorum  hortationumque  subiicere,  tamquam  eiusdem. 
additamentum  Constitutionis ;  quatenus  nimirum  attinet  ad 
communem  sentiendi  agendique  rationem,  quae  tantis  procurandis 
rebus  maiorem  in  modum  est  necessaria. — Nam  apud  Orientales 
singularis  omnino  et  hominum  et  regionum  conditio  a  longinqua 
antiquitate  occurrit  Ecclesiae.  Scilicet  persaepe  in  uno  eodemque 
loco  aeque  obtinent  dissimiles  iique  legitimi  sacrorum  ritus,  prop- 
tereaque  totidem  sunt  ritu  vario  antistites  pluresque  singulis 


Documents  405 

administri ;  accedunt  non  pauci  numero  sacerdotes  latini,  quos  in 
illorum  arliutorium  et  levamen1  Apostolica  Sedes  mittere  con- 
suevit :  sunt  praeterea  qui,  ad  firmamentum  unitatis  catholicae, 
delegate  a  romano  Pontifice  funguntur  munere,  eius  mandata 
faciunt,  voluntatem  interpretantur.  Eos  igitur  in  suis  quemque 
partibus  obeundis  nisi  eadem  sancta  mens  et  salutaris,  omni 
privata  causa  posthabita,  moveat,  nisi  eadem  in  fratrum  morem 
affectio  consociet,  non  ita  quidem  laboribus  et  expectationi 
responsurus  est  utilitatum  proventus.  Intima  vero  voluntatum 
coniunctio  et  consentio  propositorum,  sicut  Dei  ministros  maxime 
decet,  ita  in  opinione  hominum  adeo  Ecclesiam  catholicam 
commendare  solet,  ut  filios  discordes  non  semel  ad  sinurn  eius 
suavi  quodam  incitamento  vel  ipsa  reduxerit. 

Huiusce  rei  aequum  est  antecedere  exemplum  pariter  in 
Delegatis  Nostris  atque  in  Venerabilibus  Fratribus  Patriarchis, 
quum  ceteris  gradu  et  potestate  antecedant :  ad  eosque  singnla- 
riter  spectare  videtur  commonitio  Apostoli :  Caritat6  fraternitatis 
invicem  diligentes.  honore  invicem  praev ententes.2  Hinc  sane 
excellent! a  iidem  haurient  bona,  atque  illud,  tarn  optabile  in 
praesentia,  ut  suam  ipsorum  dignitatem  melius  possint  ac  felicius 
tueri.  Siquidem  initarum  rerum  cursus  in  rei  catholicae  prof  ectum, 
vehementer  exposcit  ut  eorum  personis  muniisque  sua  stet  omni 
ex  parte  commendatio  atque  etiam  in  dies  accrescat.  Id  Nobis- 
metipsis  adeo  cordi  est,  ut  quasdam  cogitationes  et  curas  in  hoc 
item  genere  optime  collocatas  censuerimus.  Nee  enim  quern quam 
fugere  potest  quantum  deceat  et  oninino  expediat,  apud  catholicos 
nullum  dignitati  patriarchali  deesse  ex  eis  praesidiis  ornamentis- 
que  quibus  ilia  abunde  utitur  apud  dissidentes.  Exploratum  esfc 
autem,  Sedis  Apostolicae  eo  amplius  ibidem  florere  nomen 
maioremque  simul  explicari  virtutem,  quo  plus  honestamenti 
legatis  eius  comitetur.  Quapropter  induximus  anirnum  sic  emcere 
ut  in  hoc  aptius  utrisque, Patriarchis  et  Delegatis,  esset  cocsultum, 
eoque  simul  piorum  emolumenta  operum  augerentur  ecclesiis. 
Eeapse  quidem  certain  illis  vim  subsidiorum  annuam,catholicorum 
liberalitate  pia  adiutante,  decrevimus,  attribuimus. 

lamvero  fidenti  fraternoque,  prout  'diximus,  animo  studeant 
Patriarchae  communionem  consiliorum  in  maioribus  rebus  habere 
per  litteras  cum  Delegatis  Nostris  :  eo  praeterea  commodo,  ut  quae 
negotia  ad  Apostolicam  Sedem  delaturi  sint,expeditius  procedant  et 
transigantur.  Unum  autem  est  quod,  pro  gravitate  sua,  singular! 

1  Const.  Benedict!  xiv.  Dcmandat'int. 

2  Rom.  xii.  10. 

VOL.  XVII.  2  G 


466  Documents 

Nostro  non  modo  hortatu  sed  iussu  dignum  existimemus  :  vide- 
licet   ut    Patriarchae     congressiones     actitent     cum     Delegatis 
Apostolicis,  binas  saltern,  quotannis,  quo  tempore  et  loco  inter 
ipsos  convenerit.      Ea   res,    ubi   rite   sit   acta,    plus   quam  dici 
possit  devinciet  benevolentia  animos,  viamque  muniet  ad  persi- 
milem  agendi  tenorem.     Ita  in  Domino  congressis  primum  erit 
provincias  sibi  creditas  generatim  prospicere,  et  considerare  quo 
statu   sit   atque   honore    in    illis    religio,    qui    progressus    inter 
catholicos     facti,     quaenam     ipsorum     maximeque     cleri     erga 
dissentientes    studia,    quaenam    in    his     voluntas     requirendae 
unitatis,     aliaque     ad    cognoscendum     peropportuna.       Exinde 
se  dabunt  res  propriae   et   peculiares,   in  quibus   deliberantium 
prudentia  ususque  elaboret.     Atque  episcoporum  provincialium 
causas,  si  quae  sint,  licebit,  accurate  expensas,  ex  aequo  et  bono 
componere  :  eis  tamen  salvis  atque  integris  quae  iuris  sunt  sacri 
Consilii   christiano   nomini   propagando.      Turn    vero    de    recta 
fidelium  administratione,  de  cleri  disciplina,  de  monachorum  vel 
aliis  piorum  institutis,  de  missionum  necessitatibus,  de  cultus  divini 
decore,  de  cognatisque  agetur  rebus,  quae  diligentisshne  cautis- 
simeque  sunt  reputandae  :  certis  autem  et  communibus,  quoad  fieri 
possit,  rationibus  providendum  est  ut  religio  catholica  et  partos 
fructus  conservet  et  multo  capiat  anipliores.     Nobis  tria  maxime 
accommodata   in   medium   proferre    libet,    seu   verius   revocare, 
quum  fere  eadem  alias  per  occasionem  attigerimus.     Est  primum, 
oportere  curas  exquisitas  in  eo  impendi  ut  alumni  sacri  ordinis  ad 
doctrinam,  ad  vitae  sanctimoniam,  ad  sacrorum  peritiam  optime 
informentur  et  excolantur.     Collatis  vero  consiliis,  facilius  certe 
liquebit  quemadmodum  singulis  Patriarchis  sua  sint  probe  consti- 
tuta  seminaria  clericorum,  sensimque  amplificentur  et  vigeant : 
ita  plane,  ut  ea  demum  existat  operariorum  evangelicorum  copia 
et  praestantia,  quae  messi  sumciat  augescenti,  quaeque  nomini 
catholico   reverentiam    adiiciat.     Expetito    rei    eventui   bene  .ii 
favere  poterunt  sacerdotes  nativi,  quos  Roma  ex  propriis  gentium 
collegiis   crebro   in    orientem    remittit,  non  tenui   censu   ingenii 
virtutisque  animi  instructos.    De  hoc  ipso  bene  admodum  Delegati 
Apostolici  merebuntur,   si  curaverint  ut  etiam  ex  latinis  idonei 
viri    advocentur    qui    parati    sint    adiutricem    operam     clericis 
erudiendis  conferre.     Hie  Nos  facere  quidem  non  possumus  quin 
merita  honestemus  laud  nonnullas  Eeligiosorum  familias,  quarum 
sedulae  alacritati  multam   in   eo   genere   ab   orientalibus   tribui 
gratiam  iam  diu  est  Nobis  compertum.     Alterum  est,  nee  minore 


Documents  467 

profeeto  diligentia  dignum,  de  puerilis  educationis  sustinendis 
multiplicandisque  scholis.  Per  se  apparet  quanti  illud  sit  ponderis 
ut  primae  aetatulae,  una  cum  litterarum  primordiis,  ne  quid 
imbibant  veritati  institutisque  catholicis  adversum ;  eo  vel  magis 
quod  contra  filii  tenebrarnm,  prudentia  pollentes  et  opibus, 
eadem  in  re  enitantur  quotidie  impensins.  Necesse  est  igitur 
ipsa  sanae  doctrinae  prinoipia  et  religionis  amor  ita  in  molles 
anirnos  infundantur,  ut  eos  afficiant  innutriantque  penitus 
ad  catholicam  professionem :  neque  aliorum  certe  vel  studi- 
osior  in  hac  parte  vel  fructuosior  erit  industria,  quam  eorum 
quj.  sese  bono  peuritiae  sacris  in  sodalitatibus  devoverunt. 
Quin  etiam  ex  huiusmodi  disciplina,  in  qua  qui  religionem 
moresque  tradunt,  suo  ipsi  facto  plus  tradunt  quam  prae- 
•ceptionibus,  id  facile  est  profecturum,  ut  spei  optimae  alumni 
semina  sacerdotii  religiosaeve  perfectionis  mature  excipiant  et 
colant :  plures  autem  utriusque  sexus  indigenas  ita  succrescere, 
non  una  de  causa  omnino  laetabile  et  perutile  est.  Tertio  videtur 
loco  pariter  esse  frugiferum,  operam  dari  ut  ephemerides  similesve 
ex  intervallo  paginae,  scienter  moderateque  factae,  fusius  pervul- 
gentur.  Tales  quippe  scriptiones,  uti  tempora  sunt  ac  mores, 
religioni  percomrnode  inserviunt,  sive  ad  refellenda  quae  calumnia 
vel  error  in  earn  confingant,  sive  ad  fidele  ipsius  studium  alendum 
in  animis  atque  incitandum  :  id  praesertim  ubi  non  ita  frequens 
copia  sit  sacerdotis,  pabulum  doctrinae  et  hortationis  sanctae 
impertientis.  Nee  praetereundum,  quod  catholici  scriptis  iis 
legendis  ea  cognoscunt  quae  variis  in  locis  quoquo  modo  contin- 
.gant,  cum  religionis  connexa  rationibus  :  cuiusmodi  sunt  fratrum 
egregie  facta  vel  coepta,  impendentia  a  fallaciis  adversariorum 
pericula,  pastorum  suorum  et  Apostolicae  Sede  laboriosae  curae, 
Ecclesiae  succedentes  dolores  et  gaudia  ;  quae  identidem  cognita 
profeeto  adiumenta  bona  suppeditant  iniitationis,  caritatis, 
generosae  in  fide  ^constantiae.  Istud  Nos  triplex  praesidiorum 
genus  particulatim  commonstravimus,  spe  magna  ducti,  ex  iis 
potissimum  satis  multa  effectum  iri  secundum  vota ;  ob  eamque 
causam  auxilia  ipsorum  operum  Nos  quoque  pro  facultate  sub- 
mittere  cogitamus.  Id  autern  tempore  ac  loco  fiet  Nostros  per 
Delegates  :  quorum  denique  erit  summam  rerum  in  eisdem  con- 
-gressionibus  actarum  ad  Apostolicam  Sedem  referre. 

Consequitur  de  ratione  omciorum  quae  Delegatis  ipsis  inter- 
cedant  cum  eis  qui  Missionibus  per  easdem  regiones  praesunt. 
Hinirne  quidem  dubitandum  quin  alteri  atque  alteri,  probe 


468  Documents 

memores  cuius  nomine  et  potestate  sint  eodem  missi,  et  qua 
saluberrima  causa  una  debeant  conspirare,  veram  quae  secundum 
Deuin  est  concordiam  quum  in  sententiis  turn  in  actione,  custodire 
inviolatam  contendant.  Attamen  adtotiusrei  meliorem  temper  a- 
tionem,  visum  est  immutare  nonnulla  de  iuris  or  dine  adhuc 
recepto :  eaque  decreto  proprio  iam  constitui  iussimus  per  sacrum 
Consilium  christiano  nomini  propagando.  Omni  igitur  prudentia 
et  ope  Delegati  in  id  incumbant,  ut  quaecumque  ab  Apostolica 
Sede  et  illo  decreto  et  subinde  pro  temporibus  similiter  edicentur, 
ea  plenum  habeant  exitum.  Eursus  in  idem  congruant  Superiores 
Missionum  sollertia  et  obternperatione  sua  :  maioris  momenti  res 
ad  earumdem  procurationem  pertinentes,  nisi  rogatis  illis  et 
approbantibus,  ne  aggrediantur,  eosque  ipsos  velint  habere  ex 
officio  conscios,  negotiis  incidentibus  quae  opus  sit  ad  Apostolicam 
Sedem  transmitti.  Delegati  porro  suum  esse  meminerint  evigi- 
lare,  providere,  instare  ut  Constitutionis  Orientalium  praescriptis 
integre  omnibus  quos  ilia  attingunt  religioseque  pareatur.  In  quo 
praecipue  fiat  ut  nihil  admodum  de  se  desiderari  sinant  latinorum 
Instituta,  quae  multis  locis  tantopere  student  rei  catholicae  incre- 
mentis.  Quippe  rei  catholicae  valde  nimirum  interest  earn  omnino 
tolli  ac  dilui  opinionem  quae  quosdam  ex  orientalibus  antehac 
tenuit,  perinde  ac  si  de  ipsorum  iure,  de  privilegiis,  de  rituali 
consuetudine  vellent  latini  detractum  quidquam  aut  deminutem. 
lidem  Delegati  peculiarem  vigilantiam  cum  benevolentia  adhibeant 
presbyteris  latinis  qui  missio  nali  munere  in  suae  ditionis  locis- 
versentur.  Eis  consilio  et  auctoritate  adsint  per  difficultates  in 
quas  vel  a  rebus  vel  ab  hominibus  non  raro  incurrunt  atque  ad 
ministerii  apostolici  ubertatern  suadere  ne  desinant  summam  cum 
oriental!  clero  consensionem  et  gratiam  :  quam  quidem  apte  con- 
ciliabunt  sibi  et  retinebunt,  ipsorum  turn  linguae  moribusque 
assuescendo,  turn  tradita  a  maioribus  sacra  instituta  honore  debito 
prosequentes.  Hue  autem  nihil  certe  tarn  valeat  quam  specimen 
concordiae  benevolentiaeque,  quod  ipsi  praebeant  Delegati  et 
ceteri  qui  sub  eis  cum  auctoritate  sunt ; '  id  quod  graviter  supra 
admonuimus.  Neque  vero  talis  animi  prodendi  ac  testificandi 
defuturae  sunt  opportunitates.  Praeclara  ilia,  si  per  solemnem 
aliquam  celebritatem  faciles  libentesque  sacris  ritibus  orientalium 
intersit ;  ac  vicissim  si  eos  ad  sacra  latino  ritu  sollemnia  nonnun- 
quam  invitent.  Id  autem  in  primis  decuerit,  valdeque  fieri  opta- 
mus,  quotiescumque  Ecclesiae  vel  romani  Pontificis  causa  insignior 
quaepiam  agatur  caeremonia.  Ex  eo  namque  feliciter  potest 


Notices  of  Books  469 

runtime  observantiae  caritatisque  foveri  studium,  dum  eiusdem 
fidei  et  communionis  vincula  in  amore  communis  matris  robo- 
rantur,  dumque  augetur  obsequium  ac  pietas  erga  Successorem 
beati  Petri,  eum  nempe  quern  Christus  Dorainus  centrum  con- 
stituit  sanctae  salutarisque  unitatis, 

Quae  igitur  hisce  litteris  motu  proprio  significavimus,  decla- 
vimus,  statuimus,  rata  omnia  firmaque  permanere  auctoritate 
Nostra  volumus  et  iubemus. 

Datum  Eomae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  die  xix  martii  anno 
MDDCCXCVI,  Pontificatus  Nostri  decimo  nono. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 


IRotices  of  Boofes 

FAITH  AND  SCIENCE.  By  Henry  F.  Brownson.  Detroit : 
H.  F.  Brownson. 

THIS  is  a  remarkable  book,  both  on  account  of  the  importance 
of  the  subject  and  of  the  originality  of  the  treatment.  A  mere 
enunciation  of  the  problem  which  the  learned  author  undertakes 
to  solve  will  be  sufficient  to  manifest  its  importance.  In  the 
opening  chapter  we  are  told  that  in  the  belief  of  our  age.  "  reason 
and  faith,  science  and  revelation,  conservatism  and  progress, 
authority  and  liberty  are  regarded  to  a  great  extent  as  antagonistic 
terms,  as  necessarily  irreconcilable,  and  union  and  peace  between 
their  respective  adherents  as  utterly  impossible."  To  give  the 
philosophic  principles  on  which  these  apparently  antagonistic 
terms  and  doctrines  must  be  harmonized,  is  the  task  to  which  the 
author  applies  himself.  To  this  task  Mr.  Brownson  brings  a  vast 
store  of  philosophical  learning,  and  it  would  not  be  easy  to  find 
any  similar  work  in  which  the  fundamental  principle  and  the 
logical  tendency  of  almost  all  modern  philosophic  creeds  are  more 
ably,  clearly,  and  succinctly  stated.  His  is  undoubtedly  a  mind  of 
broad  view  and  great  philosophic  grasp,  and  his  work  is  stamped 
with  a  marked  originality  of  thought  and  treatment  that  gives  a 
wonderful  fascination  to  its  pages,  even  where  the  reader  may  not 
be  disposed  to  agree  with  the  doctrines  and  principles  of  the 
writer. 

Chapters   II.    and   III.    are   taken    up   with   the   statement, 


470  Notices  of  Books 

explanation,  and  defence  of  the  principles  of  the  philosophy  which 
the  author  follows  in  the  solution  of  the  problem.  Eejecting  the 
primum  philosophicum  of  the  pure  ontologists  as  logically  leading 
to  pantheism,  and  that  of  the  pure  psychologists  as  logically 
leading  to  egoism,  he  proceeds  to  show  that  the  true  starting- 
point  of  philosophy  is  to  be  got  at  by  a  careful  analysis  of  what  is 
affirmed  in  intuition.  From  this  analysis  he  maintains  that  there- 
is  affirmed  to  us  in  intuition  the  principles  of  all  the  real  and  of 
all  the  knowable,  and  of  all  the  knowable  because  of  all  the  real. 
Whatever  is  real  is  either  God  or  creature,  either  being  or 
existences ;  or,  as  we  would  say,  either  ens  necessarium  or  ens 
contingens.  Now  in  intuition  there  is  affirmed  to  us  simultaneously 
necessary  being,  under  the  form  of  what  are  called  absolute 
ideas — the  one,  the  universal,  the  eternal,  the  immutable,  the 
perfect;  the  soul's  consciousness  of  its  own  existence:  and  the 
real  relation  of  the  dependence  of  the  soul  and  of  all  created 
things  from  being  by  the  creative  and  conservative  act  of  being. 
Hence  the  ontological  and  psychological  are  not  derived  one  from, 
the  ot^ier,  but  are  given  simultaneously  in  one  and  the  same 
intuition,  and  are  given  in  their  true  synthesis  or  real  relation 
according  to  which  the  ontological  ens  necessarium  creates 
existences,  entia  contingentia.  The  philosophy  built  on  this 
principle  is  named  "  synthetic  philosophy." 

To  this  doctrine  it  is  usually  objected  that  according  to  it  we. 
have  even  in  this  life  an  intuition  of  God.  The  objection  arises. 
from  a  misconception  of  the  author's  terminology.  By  intuition 
the  author  means  not  immediate  vision,  not  an  intellectual  act  at 
all,  but  the  objective  reality  affirmed  to  the  mind  by  God 
antecedently  to  all  experience — the  a  priori  element  of  our  knowT- 
ledge — the  reality  constantly  shining  before  our  mind  to  become 
aware  of  whose  contents  all  science,  all  intellectual  efforts  tend. 
But  the  nature  of  the  contents  of  the  intuition,  the  mind  on  its- 
part  does  not  see  immediately,  but  only  by  reflection.  From  this 
objection  I  believe  the  author  completely  vindicates  his  system. 
As  regards  the  principle  itself,  a  good  deal  can  be  said  for  it. 
There  is  no  doubt  about  the  fact  that  the  world  is  contingent  and 
depends  for  existence  on  the  creative  act  cf  being.  All  the  author 
seems  to  contend  for  is  that  the  world,  as  it  is,  is  presented  to  the 
mind  for  its  consideration  in  ideal  intuition.  If  the  world  does 
not  shine  before  the  mind  as  contingent  and  dependent  from 
being,  how  can  the  mind  ever  conclude  from  a  consideration  of 


Notices  of  Books  471 

the  world  its  contingency  and  the  necessity  of  a  creator  ?  But 
the  author  does  not  contend  that  the  mind  on  its  part  sees 
immediately  that  the  world  is  contingent,  much  less  does  he 
contend  that  the  mind  sees  immediately  God,  as  He  is  in  Himself, 
for  God  as  He  is  in  Himself  is  not  presented  to  the  mind  in  the 
ideal  intuition,  but  God  as  He  manifests  Himself  in  the  world;  i.  e., 
under  the  aspect  of  necessary  being  producing  and  sustaining  the 
world  by  the  creative  and  conservative  act,  nor  does  he  contend 
that  the  mind  sees  immediately  God  as  necessary  being.  This  is 
affirmed  to  the  mind  in  intuition ;  but  the  mind  on  its  part  cannot 
immediately  affirm  the  same,  it  can  do  so  only  by  reflection.  And  as 
yet  the  mind  is  only  in  potentia  to  reflection.  That  it  may  actually 
reflect  there  was  necessary,  in  the  case  of  the  intelligible,  for 
the  first  man  an  immediate  revelation,  through  means  of  language, 
from  God ;  and  for  all  other  men  there  is  requisite  a  handing 
down,  by  means  of  language,  of  that  primitive  revelation.  This 
looks  very  like  traditionalism,  and  is  the  really  weak  point  of  the 
system.  True,  the  author  does  not  require  revelation  as  the  basis 
of  assent  in  case  of  the  intelligible,  but  only  as  a  condition  to 
enable  man's  mind  to  think,  as  a  means  of  producing  advertence. 
But  yet  we  do  not  see  how,  even  in  this  form,  the  doctrine  escapes 
the  error  of  the  traditionalists.  The  Church,  speaking  of  man  in 
the  present  state,  has  declared  that  he  can  by  reason  alone  gain 
a  certain  knowledge  of  God's  existence.  But  here  we  are  told 
man  cannot  do  any  such  thing.  For  he  never  would,  and  never 
could,  think  of  God  at  all,  had  he  not  received  a  primitive 
revelation  of  God's  existence,  and  had  not  that  revelation  been 
preserved  to  all  men  by  means  of  language. 

It  is  true  that  man  cannot  advert  unless  he  does  advert,  and 
that  he  will  not  advert  unless  something  outside  him  arouses  the 
activity  of  his  mind.  "  Prima  cogitatio  alicujus  rei  non  est  in 
potestate  hominis."  It  is  true  also  that,  in  case  of  the  many, 
that  something  must  be  a  revelation  or  tradition  for  a  great  many 
truths  of  the  natural  order.  And  as  far  as  the  fact  is  concerned, 
it  is  true  that  Adam  did  receive  a  revelation  of  God's  existence 
and  that  some  glimmering  of  that  primeval  light  may  have  always 
remained  among  the  Gentiles.  But  since  the  Church  has  defined 
that  man  by  reason  alone  can  gain  certain  knowledge  of  God's 
existence  it  must  follow  that  he  can,  and  will ,  advert  to  God's 
existence  independently  of  a  primitive  revelation.  Cardinal 
Franzelin  appears  to  teach  that  the  advertence  in  this  case  arises 


472  Notices  of  Books 

spontaneously  from  the  action  of  the  visible  world  upon  the  mind. 
"  Prima  ilia  obscura  et  confusa  idea  ac  notitia  Dei  ex  attentione  ad 
creaturas  communis  est  generi  humano,  adeoque  omnibus  ratione 
utentibus,  unde  ex  ipsa  universalitate  intelligitur  velut  sponte  et 
indeliberate  aboriri."  It  is  a  disputed  question  how  far  instruction 
:s  necessary  in  order  that  a  man  may  come  to  the  full  use  of 
reason.  But  if  you  suppose  a  man  to  have  come  to  the  use  of 
reason,  whether  with  or  without  instruction,  then  it  is  not  true  to 
say  that  he  can  think  of  nothing  except  of  what  is  brought  under 
his  notice  by  instruction.  And  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  theologians  appears  to  be  that  a  man  who  has  come  to  the 
use  of  reason,  even  though  he  never  heard  of  the  existence  of 
God,  can  by  reason  alone,  without  revelation  or  tradition,  gain  a 
certain  knowledge  of  God's  existence.  But  advertence  to  God's 
existence  is  the  first  step  to  that  knowledge.  Therefore 
advertence  is  possible  for  man  without  revelation,  the  idea  of 
God  being  brought  under  his  notice  by  the  visible  world  around 
him. 

There  are  some  other  things  in  the  book  with  which  we  would 
not  agree  ;  but  what  we  have  noticed  appear  to  be  the  cardinal 
points  of  the  system.  We  shall  merely  say  in  conclusion,  that  the 
book  will  repay  a  careful  study. 

P.  M. 

CHEISTIAN  EEUNION.      By  William  Delany,  S.J.     Dublin  : 

Fallen  &  Co. 

THIS  is  a  neatly  bound  volume,  containing  three  sermons, 
which  were  preached  by  the  reverend  author  in  St.  Francis 
Xavier's,  Dublin,  in  October,  1895.  He  deals  in  a  most  masterly 
fashion  with  the  question  of  the  Reunion  of  Christendom.  He 
shows  that  such  a  reunion  is  not  merely  the  dream  of  a  wild 
enthusiast,  but  a  thing  which  is  quite  feasible  in  this  world  of 
fact.  And  as  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  misconception  regarding 
what  is  signified  by  the  phrase,  Christian  Eeunion,  he  undertakes 
to  put  before  us  its  genuine  meaning.  Eeunion  is  a  very  general 
term,  but  qualified  as  it  is  in  the  present  instance  it  has  a  most 
specific  application.  It  has  reference  to  the  threefold  unity 
established  by  Christ — unity  in  faith,  unity  in  worship,  and  unity 
in  government.  Such  unity  exists  only  in  the  Catholic  Church  : 
in  vain  we  seek  for  it  in  the  other  Churches,  which  call  themselves 
Christian  ;  this  unity  is  really  the  banner  of  Christ,  and  hence 
enrolment  under  it  is  essential. 


Notices  of  Books  473 

We  heartily  congratulate  Dr.  Delany  for  his  logical  treatment 
of  a  subject  beset  with  so  many  difficulties,  and  we  feel  assured 
that  these  sermons  will  enable  those  who  read  them  to  understand 
more  fully,  and  better  appreciate,  the  happy  security  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  We  take  it  for  granted  that  the  absence  of  the  diocesan 
imprimatur  is  a  mere  oversight. 

W.  D. 

ENGLAND'S  DARLING.     By  Alfred  Austin.     Third  Edition. 
London:  Macmillan  &  Co.     1896. 

IT  is  indeed  a  surprising  fact,  as  Mr.  Austin  notes  in  his 
graceful  preface,  that,  during  the  ten  hundred  years  which  have 
elapsed  since  the  saintly  Alfred  founded  and  consolidated  the 
empire  of  his  country,  no  bard  has  essayed  the  proud  and 
patriotic  task  of  enshrining  the  memory  of  the  great  poet  king 
in  a  poem  worthy  of  such  a  high  theme.  It  cannot,  surely,  be 
that  "  the  homely  beauty  of  the  good  old  cause  is  gone,"  that 
patriotic  feeling  has  decayed,  or  that  the  reverence  for  a  prince 
of  such  sterling  worth  is  not  deep  enough  to  move  to  song.  In 
the  volume  before  us  the  Poet  Laureate  has  attempted  to  fill  this 
empty  niche  in  a  gallery  of  commanding  characters,  and  while 
thus  commemorating  the  national  hero  of  his  country,  he 
celebrates  at  once  his  own  namesake  and  his  favourite  hero  in 
history.  The  poem  is  a  short  four-act  drama  founded  on  the 
leading  events  of  King  Alfred's  life-time.  The  task  was  a  truly 
difficult  one  in  view  of  the  numerous  traits  of  the  monarch's 
complex  character  ;  and,  to  our  thinking,  the  author  has  succeeded 
best  where  he  delineates  the  gentler  aspects  of  Alfred's  many- 
sided  personality.  We  prefer  the  chronicling  scholar  and 
minstrel-king  to  the  f oiler  of  Vikings  and  vigorous  statesmen. 
Our  opinion  harmonizes  too  with  our  conception  of  Mr.  Austin's 
Muse,  which  is  essentially  quiet  and  gentle,  a  haunter  of  old 
gardens  and  the  by-places  of  country  life.  The  lyrics,  which 
are  the  happiest  part  of  the  work,  have  the  breezy,  greenwood 
flavour  about  them  which  none  but  a  forester  of  England  can 
effectively  catch.  Would  there  were  more  of  these  quaint 
gammer-rhymes  !  Of  individual  scenes,  Act  III.,  Scene  4,  is  the 
most  poetic,  and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  least  dramatic. 
There  we  find  the  great  Alfred  teaching  a  little  Danish  maiden  to 
read  in  the  forest  of  Selwood,  and,  when  the  lesson  is  over, 
taking  instruction  himself  in  the  names  and  virtues  of  quite  a 


474  Notices  of  Books 

host  of  leaves  and  simples.  The  scene  is  full  of  pastoral  grace, 
calling  to  mind  the  atmosphere  of  As  You  Like  It,  where  they 
fleet  the  time  as  in  the  golden  world,  and  shows  a  marvellous 
knowledge  of  herbs  and  their  uses  which  one  may  learn  from  as 
well  as  enjoy.  We  remark,  with  pleasure,  that  Mr.  Austin 
manifests  a  sympathetic  and  peculiar  acquaintance  with  a  region 
of  natural  life  to  which  Shakespeare  was  greatly  a  stranger — the 
world  of  birds.  The  drama  has  many  original  pictures  of  bird- 
life  with  which  the  lover  of  nature  will  be  charmed.  The 
meeting  of  Edgiva  for  the  first  time  with  Alfred,  as  king,  is  a 
scene  which  gave  scope  for  fine  dramatic  handling  which  the 
writer  has  not  availed  of ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  final  scene  is 
managed  with  great  spirit  and  original  effect.  That  Mr.  Austin's 
hand  and  vision  have  not  lost  their  cunning,  may  be  inferred  from 
such  exquisite  pictures  as  these  : 

' '  A  mottled  trout 
Flashed  like  a  flying  shadow  through  the  stream  ;" 

' '  A  feeding  Kingfisher 
Jewelled  the  air  a  moment  and  is  gone." 

The  large  use  of  Saxon  language  and  idiom  throughout  the 
poem  adds  much  to  the  vividness  of  the  presentment  of  old 
times  and  manners.  We  cannot  pass  from  the  volume  without 
calling  attention  to  the  Elegy  on  Tennyson  which  is  appended, — 
"  The  Passing  of  Merlin."  Like  the  "  Adonais  "  of  Shelley,  and 
the  "  Thyrsis  "of  M.  Arnold,  it  is  the  beautiful  tribute  of  a  poet 
to  the  memory  of  a  brother-poet  who,  in  the  writer's  words,  is 
now  healed  from  : 

•'  The  long  deep  questionings,  that  plough 
The  forehead  of  age,  but  bring  no  harvest  to  the  brow." 

HUNOLT'S    SEKMONS  :    Vols.   XL-XII. ;    THE   CHRISTIAN'S 

MODEL.     Translated  from  the  original  German  Edition 

of  Augsburg  and  Wiirtzburg,   1748.      By  Reverend   J. 

Allen,  D.D.      New  York:    Benziger  Brothers. 

THE  Eev.  Dr.  Allen  is  to  be  congratulated  on  having  brought 

to    a    happy    completion    his    excellent    translation    of    these 

wonderful  Sermons,     The  undertaking  was  certainly  great  and 

laborious,  but  the  result  more  than  justifies  it.     Dr.  Allen  has 

conferred  an  inestimable  boon   on   English  speaking  people  by 

presenting  them  with  these  masterpieces  of  sacred  eloquence  in  a 

beautiful  English  dress.     The  translation  has  all  the  freedom 


Notices  of  Books 

and  clearness  of  diction  of  an  original  work.  We  are  never 
discouraged  in  the  perusal  of  these  Sermons  by  the  stiffness  and 
laboured  appearance  of  style,  nor  by  the  obscurity  of  diction 
which  render  many  translations  rather  dry  and  tedious  reading. 

Equally  deserving  of  congratulation  is  the  excellent  firm  of 
New  York  Catholic  Publishers,  Messrs.  Benziger  Brothers,  for 
the  truly  admirable  manner  in  which  the  volumes  are  presented 
to  the  public.  No  words  of  praise  could  exceed  the  merits  of 
their  work.  The  paper,  the  printing,  the  binding,  the  whole  get- 
up  of  the  volumes  indicate  first-class  workmanship. 

The  whole  series  of  the  great  Jesuit  preacher,  Dr  Hunolt's 
Sermons,  as  translated  by  Dr.  Allen,  consists  of  twelve  large 
volumes.  The  Sermons  treat  of  six  great  classes  of  subjects. 
To  each  class  of  subject  two  volumes  are  devoted,  and  the 
Sermons,  generally  about  seventy-six  in  number,  dealing  with  each 
class,  are  adapted  for  all  the  Sundays  and  Holidays  of  the  year. 
Thus,  the  two  volumes  dealing  with  each  of  the  six  great 
subjects,  furnish  a  complete  set  of  Sermons  for  all  the  Sundays- 
and  Holidays  of  the  year.  Vols.  I.,  II.,  treat  of  the  "  Christian 
State  of  Life;"  Vols.  III.,  IV.,  the  "Bad  Christian;"  Vols. 
V.,  VI.,  the  "Penitent  Christian;"  Vols.  VII.,  VIII.,  the 
"Good  Christian;"  Vols.  IX.,  X.,  the  "  Christian's  Last 
End  ;"  Vols.  XL,  XII.,  the  "  Christian's  Model." 

Calling  the  two  volumes  dealing  with  one  class  of  subject  a 
set,  we  find  that  each  set  is  furnished  with  a  full  index  of  all  the 
Sermons,  and  an  alphabetical  index  of  the  principal  subjects 
treated  in  the  set.  In  addition  to  this,  Vol.  XII.  has  two  magni- 
ficent indexes  of  the  whole  work — one  arranged  alphabetically, 
the  other  according  to  the  Sundays  and  Feasts  of  the  year.  To 
add  still  more  to  the  convenience  of  those  who  wish  to  consult 
the  work,  great  care  has  been  bestowed  on  the  arrangement 
of  each  sermon.  In  separate  paragraphs  are  given  the  subject, 
the  text,  a  short  introduction,  the  plan  of  the  discourse.  In  the 
body  of  the  sermon  the  point  treated  of  in  each  paragraph  is 
announced  in  a  marginal  note  at  the  opening  of  the  paragraph. 
Lastly,  in  the  footnotes  is  given  the  Latin  version  of  the  numerous 
texts  of  Scripture  and  of  the  many  apt  quotations  from  the 
Fathers  in  which  each  sermon  abounds. 

Turning  now  to  the  volumes  before  us,  we  find  they  contain 
seventy-four  panegyrics  and  moral  discourses  on  the  life  and 
death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  on  the  example  and  virtues  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  of  some  of  the  great  saints. 


476  Notices  of  Books 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  give,  by  description,  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  excellence  of  these  sermons.  The  object  of  a  sermon 
being  the  instruction  of  the  faithful,  that  sermon  will  approach 
nearest  to  perfection  that  conveys  the  truths  of  our  holy  religion 
in  the  manner  in  which  they  will  be  most  easily  understood  and 
best  retained  by  all.  To  gain  this  end,  a  simple  intelligible  plan  ; 
an  orderly  treatment ;  clear,  simple,  and  forcible  language  are 
requisite.  In  these  particulars  Father  Hunolt's  Sermons  need 
fear  no  rivals. 

In  the  opening  of  the  sermon  he  takes  the  congregation 
entirely  into  his  confidence.  He  states  plainly  and  simply  the 
subject  onewhich  he  is  about  to  speak,  and  the  plan  of  treatment 
he  is  to  follow.  He  handles  every  subject  in  the  most  natural 
and  logical  order.  He  brings  each  point  home  to  our  minds 
with  a  force  and  directness  that  could  not  be  surpassed.  The 
force  and  directness  spring  from  the  earnestness  of  the  preacher, 
from,  the  simplicity  and  strength  of  his  faith,  and  from  the 
intensity  of  his  devotion — qualities  that  manifest  themselves  in 
every  page  and  almost  in  every  word. 

The  language  is  always  simple  and  clear,  and  each  sermon  is 
enriched  with  a  wealth  of  illustration  that  is  ever  homely  and 
forcible.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  sermons  is 
the  solidity  of  the  instruction.  There  is  no  mere  word-painting, 
no  mere  eloquence  of  language,  but  there  is  ever  the  eloquence  of 
noble  thoughts  full  of  faith  and  piety.  The  preacher  speaks  to 
the  intellect  more  than  to  the  heart.  His  efforts  tend  to  convince 
and  persuade  rather  than  to  move. 

We  can  safely  predict  that  no  priest  will  ever  regret  having 
purchased  at  least  one  set  (that  is.  two  volumes)  of  these  magnifi- 
cent sermons. 

P.  M. 

LYRA  HIEBATICA  :  Poems  on  the  Priesthood.  Collected 
by  the  Kev.  T.  E.  Bridgett,  C.SS.E.  London  :  Burns  & 
Gates,  Limited. 

THIS  little  book,  devoted  to  poems  on  the  Priesthood,  is 
designed  by  the  Author  to  prove  serviceable  to  three  classes  of 
persons — the  laity,  who  are  a  "  royal  priesthood;"  ecclesiastical 
students  ;  and  priests.  It  embraces  poetry  on  the  Dignity  and 
Duties  of  the  Priesthood,  on  Saintly  Priests,  on  Phases  of  Priestly 
Life,  and  Priestly  Devotions.  The  list  of  authors  from  whose 


Notices  of  Books  477 

works  the  selection  has  been  made  comprises  as  many  as  thirty- 
seven  names,  including  such  old  favourites  as  Father  Faber, 
Father  Caswell,  Cardinal  Newman,  and  Miss  Proctor.  We  can 
heartily  recommend  this  beautiful  and  varied  compilation  to  our 
readers ;  and,  with  the  Author,  we  trust  it  may  find  a  place  on 
the  prie-dieu  rather  than  on  the  library-shelf. 


AKE  ANGLICAN  ORDERS  VALID  ?    By  Kev.  J.  M'Devitt,  D.D. 
Dublin  :  Sealy,  Bryers  &  Walker. 

THIS  opportune,  interesting,  and  lucid  brochure  supplies,  for 
the  popular  reader  in  these  countries,  a  want  that  has  been 
keenly  felt.  No  compact,  well-ordered  treatment  of  the  much- 
debated  question  of .  the  validity  of  Anglican  Orders  was  easily 
accessible  to  the  general  public.  In  controversial  works,  it  has 
been  discussed  often  and  exhaustively ;  but,  too  frequently,  heat 
and  bias  obscured  the  issues.  Again,  in  magazines  and  pamphlets, 
it  is  usually  one  side  only  of  the  difficulty  that  is  touched  ; 
whereas,  it  is  easy  to  see,  that  the  controversy  is  a  triangular 
one.  It  has  a  dogmatic  side,  a  moral  side,  and  an  historical  side. 
Everything  that  the  popular  mind  craves  to  know  on  the  subject 
is  touched  upon,  in  an  entertaining  way,  by  Dr.  M'Devitt.  If 
we  had  any  reservation  to  make  in  extending  our  warm  praise  to 
this  useful  and  much-needed  little  volume,  the  Imprimatur  of  the 
Archbishop  and  the  Nihil  Obstat  of  Father  Finlay  would  be 
sufficient  to  reverse  such  an  erroneous  judgment.  We  can  assure 
our  readers  that,  both  in  plan  of  treatment  and  in  matter,  this 
scholarly  production  far  exceeds  any  expectations  its  modest 
proportions  would  suggest.  The  important  points  are  set  out  in 
italics,  and  then  convincingly  proved ;  while  the  diction  and  the 
order  of  matter  are  in  the  author's  best  style.  Possibly,  indeed, 
a  hypercritical  censor  might  regard  as  a  parodox  the  following 
statement : — The  Irish  Protestant  Bishops  have  Apostolical  succes- 
sion, but  not  valid  Orders ;  but  the  sense  is  obvious.  The 
minimum  of  intention  required  in  the  minister  of  a  Sacrament  is 
incorrectly  stated,  at  page  36  ;  and  the  last  sentence  but  one,  on 
page  74,  enunciates  a  proposition,  both  logically  and  theologically 
untenable. 

E.  M. 


478  Notices  of  Books 

PEOPLE'S   EDITION  OF   THE    LIVES   OF   THE    SAINTS.    By 

Eev.  Alban  Butler.      London :  Burns  &  Gates.     New 

York  :   Benziger  Brothers. 

THE  best  thanks  of  the  Catholic  public  are  due  to  Messrs. 
Burns  &  Gates  for  bringing  within  the  easy  reach  of  all  an 
excellent  popular  edition  of  the  well-known  Lives  of  the  Saints, 
by  Kev.  Alban  Butler.  It  is  unnecessary  to  speak  of  the  intrinsic 
merits  of  Butler's  Lives.  The  Lives  are  long  before  th  puonc, 
and  the  esteem  in  which  they  have  ever  been  held  proves  their 
excellence.  Excellent,  however,  as  they  are,  they  were  not, 
owing  to  their  cost,  within  reach  of  many.  Messrs.  Burns  & 
Gates  have  removed  that  excuse.  No  one  can  any  longer  complain 
that  Butler's  Lives  are  beyond  his  reach. 

The  edition  is  to  consist  of  twelve  volumes,  each  volume 
containing  the  Lives  of  the  Saints  for  one  month.  Six  are  already 
before  the  public,  and  they  deserve  the  highest  commendation  for 
the  excellent  workmanship  they  display.  The  artistic  style  in 
•which  they  are  presented  will,  we  feel  confident,  secure  them  a 
wide  and  ready  acceptance  with  the  public.  They  are  tastefully 
'bound  in  red  cloth,  with  gilt  lettering  on  the  back,  and  a  plain 
•cross  on  the  cover  proclaims  the  sacred  nature  of  the  contents. 
In  size  each  volume  might  be  called  a  pocket  edition  of  the 
Lives  of  the  Saints  for  a  month,  and  yet  when  we  turn  to  the 
inside  we  find  the  paper  and  printing  excellent.  They  are 
exceedingly  cheap,  each  volume  costing  but  one  shilling  and 
sixpence. 

The  edition  when  complete  will  form  an  excellent  one  for 
parochial  libraries,  and  should  soon  find  its  way  to  every 
•Catholic  home. 

P.  M. 

EATHEE  EUENISS  AND  HIS  WOEK  FOE  CHILDEEN.  By 
Eev.  T.  Livius,  C.SS.E.  London  and  Leamington  :  Art 
and  Book  Co.  1896. 

FATHER  FURNISS  is  still  remembered  by  a  great  many  persons 
in  Ireland.  After  he  joined  the  Eedemptorist  Fathers  he  came 
frequently  to  give  missions  in  this  country.  Most  of  his  little 
books  were  published  by  James  Duffy,  in  Dublin,  and  we  have  it 
on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Duffy's  successors  that  upwards  of  four 
million  copies  of  his  booklets  for  children  had  been  sold  in  their 
.establishment.  Many  who  never  saw  the  author,  know  him, 


Notices  of  Books  479 

-therefore,  through  his  writings.  To  us  the"  very  mention  of  the 
name  of  Father  Furniss  recalls  most  vividly  The  House  of 
Death,  The  Terrible  Judgment,  The  Light  of  Hell,  The 
Sad  Child,  The  Book  of  the  Dying,  all  of  which,  a  good 
many  years  ago,  had  the  effect  of  inspiring  us  with  a  very  whole- 
some fear  of  the  other  world,  and,  we  trust,  a  not  less  salutary 
'Contempt  for  the  vanity  and  folly  of  this  one.  Of  the  remarkable 
man,  whose  special  mission  seemed  to  have  been  to  awaken  in 
/the  hearts  of  children  a  powerful  sense  of  the  supernatural,  Father 
Livius  gives  us,  in  this  little  volume,  an  interesting  sketch. 
There  are  some  attractive  and  amusing  details  of  the  early  life 
and  characteristics  of  Father  Furniss.  The  chapters  on  his 
missions  and  method  of  preaching,  and  the  one  on  his  books  will 
also  be  found  worth  perusal.  We  believe  that  Father  Furniss  did  a 
great  work  during  his  life ;  that  he  laboured  with  particular 
success  in  keeping  alive  the  fire  of  religion  amongst  the  poor  and 
the  uninstructed ;  that  he  never  spared  a  delicate  frame  when 
once  he  had  put  his  hand  to  the  work.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent  men  in  the  Catholic  Church  of  England  in  his  day, 
and  richly  deserved  some  lasting  memorial.  Father  Livius  has 
now  definitely  enshrined  his  memory  in  this  little  volume,  to 
which  we  sincerely  wish  a  wide  circulation. 

THE  BANQUET  OF  THE  ANGELS.  Preparation  and  Thanks- 
giving for  Holy  Communion.  Edited  and  Translated 
by  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Porter,  S.J.,  Archbishop  of  Bombay. 
London  :  Burns  &  Gates. 

MANY  of  our  readers  are  already  acquainted  with  the  contents 
-of  this  little  work.  As  a  book  of  devotion  for  the  people  it 
ought  to  have  a  very  wide  sale.  Catholics  have  much  reason  to 
be  thankful  that  such  works  as  this  are  becoming  more  plentiful. 
Some  years  ago  it  was  almost  impossible  to  get  more  than  one 
book  on  the  subject  with  which  this  one  deals ;  now  there  are 
several,  and  this  is  one  of  the  best  of  them. 

JESUS  :   His   LIFE  IN   THE  VEEY  WOKDS   OF   THE  FOUR 

GOSPELS.     A  Diatessaron.     By  Henry  Beauclerk,   S.J. 

London :    Burns    &     Gates.     New    York,    Cincinnati : 

Benziger,  Brothers. 

THE  compiler  of  this  work  undertakes  to  give  us  a  life  of  our 
Lord  in  the  words  of  the  Gospels.  This  task  he  has  admirably 


480  Notices  of  Books 

executed.  He  divides  the  narrative  into  six  parts,  of  which  one 
is  devoted  to  the  hidden  life  of  Christ ;  one  to  each  of  the  three 
years  of  His  public  life  ;  one  to  His  Passion  and  Death ;  and 
one  to  the  Eesurrection,  Ascension,  and  the  Descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  In  this  last  part  the  compiler  wisely  supplements 
the  Gospel  account  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles -and  1  Cor.  So 
full  is  the  narrative,  that  the  minutest  details  given  in  the  Gospels 
are  not  omitted.  When  an  event  is  narrated  by  more  than  one 
evangelist,  we  have  the  fuller  account  in  the  narrative,  and  a 
reference  to  the  parallel  passage  in  the  margin.  To  elucidate  the 
difficult  poitions  of  the  narrative  we  have  occasional  footnotes, 
which  are  concise  and  satisfactory. 

The  book  should  be  much  availed  of  for  spiritual  reading,  for 
what  book  could  be  more  suitable  for  this  purpose  than  the  Life 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  words  of  God.  It  should  also  prove  a 
valuable  aid  in  the  comparative  study  of  the  Gospels.  The 
sequence  of  events  is  given  according  to  some  well  supported 
system  of  chronology,  and  there  is  not  a  single  text  in  the  four 
Gospels  which  is  not  either  inserted  in  the  narrative,  or  referred 
to  in  the  margin.  This  modern  "  Diatessaron "  deserves  to 

become  popular. 

E.  S. 


[We  intend  to  publish  in  our  next  number  the  list  of  a  hundred  good  books 
for  young  priests,  for  which  we  were  asked  during  the  year  by  "  Neo-Sacerdos." 
— ED.-I.  E.  R.] 


THE   IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


JUNE,    1896 

WILL    THE   POPE    EBGAIN    HIS    TEMPOEAL 
POWEE  ? 

IT  is  by  no  means  a  rash  or  optimistic  assertion  to  say  that, 
before  many  years  have  passed  over  our  heads,  the 
States  of  the  Church  will  be  handed  over  by  their  present 
possessors  to  their  lawful  owner,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter, 
the  Pope  of  Eome.  Eead  diligently,  the  signs  of  the  times 
are  all  pointing  to  this  very  desirable  solution  of  the  long- 
standing question  between  Church  and  State  in  Italy. 
There  cannot  be  the  least  doubt,  that,  sooner  or  later,  the 
Church  will  have  her  stolen  property  restored  to  her,  and 
that  her  despoilers  will  beat  an  ignominous  retreat  from  the 
Holy  City  which  they  have  but  too  long  encumbered  with 
their  sacrilegious  presence.  Amongst  even  the  best  of 
Catholics  there  may  be  a  lingering  doubt  as  to  the  final 
restitution  of  the  Papal  possessions  to  their  legitimate  king 
and  ruler,  the  Holy  Father,  by  the  government  of  the  fair 
Italian  land.  They  say,  after  so  many  years  of  occupation, 
the  majority  of  the  Italian  nation  would  be  against  giving 
up  what  they  have  gained  after  many  a  hard-fought  battle, 
and  many  a  large  disbursement  from  the  coffers  of  the  State. 
No  matter  what  the  feelings  of  many  of  Italian  birth  may 
be  on  this  point,  the  fact  still  remains,  that  circumstances, 
brought  about  by  an  Omnipotent  Power,  that  ever  guards 
the  destinies  of  the  Catholic  Church,  will,  in  the  long  run, 
compel  King  Humbert  and  his  followers  to  yield  up  their  ill- 
gotten  gains  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  whom  they  ruthlessly 

VOL.  XVII.  2  H 


482          Will  the  Pope  regain  his  Temporal  Fewer  ? 

despoiled  and  robbed  of  them.  The  lesson,  the  sad  lesson 
indeed,  of  history  taught  to  all  those  who,  in  different 
centuries  of  her  long  life,  laid  sacrilegious  hands  on  the 
property  of  God's  Church  will  have  to  be  learned,  and  that 
deeply  and  bitterly,  by  the  present  usurpers  of  Kome,  the 
home  and  city  of  the  Koman  Pontiffs.  God's  ways  and 
dealings  with  men  may  be  slow,  but  they  are  none  the  less 
sure  and  effective,  The  glorious  day  is  not  far  off  when  the 
venerable  prisoner  of  the  Vatican  will  walk  forth  from  his 
place  of  captivity,  and  be  hailed  and  greeted  by  a  grateful 
and  joyful  people,  PS  their  supreme  temporal  as  well  as 
spiritual  lord  and  master. 

No  one  boasting  of  the  gift  of  reason,  can  consider  the 
present  situation  in  Italy,  without  exclaiming,  truly  Digitus 
Dei  est  hie.  United  Italy  has  become  an  utter  impossibility, 
owing  to  circumstances  brought  about  by  a  power  far  other 
than  human.  For  twenty-five  and  more  long  years,  have  the 
promoters  and  abettors  of  Italian  unity  striven  to  realize  their 
great,  yet  absurd  ideals.  They  set  out  from  Turin  on  their 
mission  of  compulsory  annexation  and  spoliation,  fully 
determined  on  making  Italy  a  nation,  recognising  one  king 
and  one  flag.  She  should'take  her  place,  as  one  vast  kingdom, 
one  in  mind  and  in  heart,  in  the  councils  of  the  great 
nations  of  the  earth.  Money  was  lavishly  spent  to  procure 
the  support  of  those  whose  pockets  got  the  better  of  their 
principles.  And  what  may  not  be  said  of  the  promises  made 
to  those,  who  would  throw  in  their  lot  with  the  followers 
of  the  tri-coloured  flag.  United  Italy  would  mean  Italy 
prosperous,  independent,  free,  a  source  of  fear  and  terror  to 
the  nations  that  stir  up  her  wrath,  and  a  powerful  ally 
to  those  that  court  her  friendship.  Freedom  of  thought 
and  of  .action,  liberation  from  the  thraldom  of  the  Popes 
and  Bourbons,  the  sweeping  away  of  old  conservatism,  and 
the  planting  in  its  stead  of  progressive,  modern  liberalism, 
would  be  the  happy  results.  Your  homes,  they  said,  will  be 
miniature  havens  of  rest,  comfort  and  happiness ;  you  wil) 
want  for  nothing  this  world  can  give ;  we  shall  lead  you 
safely  on  to  the  promised  land,  when  Kome  has  become  the 
realization  of  our  day-dreams,  the  capital  of  an  United  Italy. 


Will  the  Pope  regain  his  Temporal  Potver  ?          483 

With  such  promises  no  wonder  they  carried  the  day,  and 
easily  effected  their  fell  purpose  of  making  the  venerable 
Pius  IX.  their  prisoner,  and  safely  enclosing  him  within  the 
four  walls  of  the  Vatican.  They  have  done  their  utmost 
to  fulfil  the  promises  they  made  to  an  unsuspecting  and 
volatile  people,  but  with  what  success  facts  patent  and 
•evident  fully  attest.  Utter  failure  to  carry  out  even  one  of 
those  specious  promises  has  marked  every  step  taken  by  the 
Government  of  so-called  Italian  Unity  since  its  advent  to 
Kome.  How  can  a  government  forced  upon  a  people,  and 
not  of  the  people,  hold  out  long  against  the  fate  that 
inevitably  awaits  it  ?  Financially  in  a  state  of  bankruptcy, 
morally  far  below  the  lowest  social  standard,  hopelessly 
•sunk  in  a  chronic  state  of  inability  to  satisfy  the  just 
•demands  of  a  long-suffering  and  indulgent  people,  it  must  of 
necessity  ere  long  dash  itself  to  pieces  on  the  many  rocks 
that  menace  it  with  imminent  destruction. 

The  Catholic,  as  well  as  many  Liberal  and  anti-clerical 
papers,  point  to  Africa  as  the  rock  on  which  the  Italian 
ship  of  state  must  inevitably  become  a  total  wreck.  Here 
we  have  a  pauper  nation  waging  war  against  brethren  of  a 
darker  hue,  but  with  a  more  fully  replenished  war-chest  and 
a  more  numerous  and  efficient  army  to  back  the  cause  they 
have  at  heart,  the  preservation  of  their  country  from  the 
inroads  and  usurpation  of  their  enemies.  How  can  a 
country  on  the  verge  of  a  great  revolution  afford  to  continue 
an  evidently  unjust  war  away  from  home  when  their  own 
children  are  already  threatening  her  overthrow  within  the 
very  walls  of  her  possessions  ?  Italy  at  the  present  moment 
may  well  be  compared  to  the  blindfolded  person  playing  the 
well-known  game  of  "  blind-man's  buff,"  and  endeavouring 
to  catch  someone  to  release  her  from  her  harassing  position. 
She  is  trying,  might  and  main,  to  obtain  the  powerful  aid  of 
England  in  her  African  war,  and  she  is  coquetting  with 
William  of  Germany,  as  recent  events  at  Venice  fully 
prove,  to  gain  the  Teuton's  assistance  in  her  hour  of  need. 
Disaster  after  disaster  has  crippled  her  forces  in  Abyssinia, 
and  made  her  the  laughing-stock  of  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
She  went  to  fleece  the  African  in  his  home,  and  has  got 


484          Will  the  Pope  regain  his  Temporal  Power  ? 

pitifully  shorn.  Were  her  house  at  home  in  this  sunny, 
southern  land  in  order,  we  might  afford  to  forget  her 
reverses  abroad,  or  at  least  hope  that  victory  may  soon 
crown  her  arms  on  the  hot  sands  of  Africa.  But  she  is 
between  two  fires,  and  from  one  or  the  other  she  cannot 
escape  destruction.  I  cannot  conceive  it  possible  for  anyone 
having  the  slightest  idea  of  things,  as  they  exist  ip.  Italy 
to-day,  coming  to  any  other  conclusion  than  thai/ United 
Italy  is  on  the  point  of  giving  up  the  ghost.  TJie  people 
are  heart-sick  and  tired  of  seeing  the  promises  of  better 
times  and  days,  held  out  to  them,  vanish  into  thin  air. 
Where  are  the  harbours  that  were  to  be  filled  with  ships, 
laden  with  golden  grain  and  rich  merchandise  ?  They  are 
mere  places  of  call  for  fishing  smacks  and  passing  steamers. 
Fair  they  are,  indeed,  to  look  at  from  an  aesthetic  point  of 
view,  but  sepulchral  and  melancholy  to  the  eye  of  the 
merchant  whose  dreams  of  riches  and  wealth  lie  buried 
there.  Commerce  exists  only  in  name,  and,  as  a  con- 
sequence, poverty  and  misery  claim  this  heaven-blessed 
country  as  their  happy  hunting-ground.  Liberty,  the 
promised  liberty,  is  but  a  phantom,  a  misnomer.  The 
people  are  bound  by  chains  of  iron  which  must,  some  day, 
be  burst  asunder.  The  morsel  of  bread  they  put  in  their 
mouths  is  so  heavily  taxed  that  its  value  is  equal  to 
many  a  luxury  in  the  good  old  times,  when  the  Pope 
was  their  temporal  sovereign.  There  is  scarcely  a  neces- 
sary of  life  left  untaxed,  so  much  so  that  they  will  have 
to  put  a  tax  on  every  son  and  daughter  of  this  moribund 
United  Italy,  who  is  gifted  with  the  use  of  reason. 
The  people  are  driven  to  despair  and  recklessness,, 
because,  now  at  the  eleventh  hour,  they  see  the  bad  and 
foolish  exchange  they  made,  when  they  left  their  old  love,. 
the  good  old  Pontiff  of  holy  memory,  Pius  IX.,  for  the  new, 
the  renegade,  Victor  Emmanuel. 

And  look  at  the  peace,  contentment,  and  high-toned 
morality  that  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  Italian's- 
usurpation  of  Korne  and  the  Papal  States.  Instead 
of  making  Italy  a  model  nation,  its  present  rulers 
and  their  predecessors  have  made  it  a  ^by-word  and 


Will  the  Pope  regain  his  Temporal  Power  ?          485 

thing  of  loathing  amongst  the  nations  of  the  earth,  a 
veritable  sodom  and  gomorrah  of  sin  and  iniquity.  The 
awakening  has  come ;  the  eyes  of  the  deluded  people  have 
been  opened  to  a  full  sense  of  the  pitiable  position,  in  which 
their  would-be  saviours  .have  placed  them  ;  and  vengeance, 
dire  and  dreadful,  on  their  deceivers  is  stamped  upon  their 
faces.  Instead  of  the  cry  taught  them  in  the  childhood  of 
their  nationhood,  "  Abasso  il  Papa,  la  Chiesa,"  &c.,  "Down 
with  the  Pope,  the  Church,"  &c.,  we  hear,  "Down  with  the 
enemies  of  the  people,  long  live  the  Pope,"  resounding 
through  the  cities  and  towns,  and  mostly  in  Rome,  the 
centre  of  united,  or  to  spea*k  more  truly,  very  much  dis- 
united Italy.  The  good  God  who  protects  His  Church 
from  the  hands  of  her  most  powerful  enemies,  has  permitted 
the  Italian  Government  to  run  the  length  of  its  tether  ;  but, 
now,  its  day  of  dissolution  has  come  ;  and,  like  many  others 
of  its  kind,  it  must  go  the  way  of  all  enemies  of  God's  Holy 
Church,  and  he  swallowed  up,  by  force  of  circumstances,  in 
utter  oblivion  and  ignominy.  Thus,  her  ruinous  and  fatal 
colonial  policy,  and  the  unrest  and  dissatisfaction  of  her 
people  at  home,  are  the  means  in  God's  providence,  whereby 
the  destruction  of  a  kingdom,  born  of  deceit  and  treachery, 
and  existing  only  by  oppression  and  rapine,  will  be 
accomplished.  The  strain  has  become  unbearable,  and  a 
sudden  and  sure  collapse  of  Italian  unity  must  be  the  one 
and  logical  result  of  a  kingdom  divided  against  itself. 

The  cry  of  decentralization,  heard  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land,  and  supported  by  ominous  menaces 
of  enforcing  the  demand  by  fire  and  sword,  is  proof 
positive  of  the  perilous  position  of  King  Humbert  and  his 
Government.  Sicily  has  been  for  some  time  in  a  state  of 
political  eruption.  Troops  have  been  poured  into  it  to 
preserve  the  public  peace,  but  they  cannot  still  the  "vox 
populi,"  crying  out  for  freedom  that  rings  throughout  the 
country,  without  one  discordant  note.  The  Anarchist  and 
KepubHcan  are  organizing  their  forces  in  preparation  for 
the  day  of  retribution,  as  they  call  it,  when  a  down-trodden, 
discontented,  and  disappointed  people,  will  rise  up  in  their 
wrath,  and  demand  from  their  deceivers  their  just  pound  of 


486          Will  the  Pope  regain  his  Temporal  Power  ? 

flesh,  and  must  have  it  at  all  costs.  The  Government  is 
well  aware  of  the  fact,  that  a  great  conspiracy  is  undermining 
the  already  enfeebled  hold  it  possesses  over  the  country ; 
but  it  is  powerless  to  check  its  progress.  Italy  has  too 
many  irons  in  the  fire  at  the  present  moment ;  and  we 
know  what  usually  follows  from  such  an  absurd  and  ruinous 
policy.  War  in  Africa,  and  Italy  the  loser,  frequent  outbreaks 
in  her  cities  and  towns  of  popular  indignation  against  the 
iniquitous  laws  that  serve  only  to  drain  the  very  life-blood 
out  of  the  veins  of  her  subjects,  her  empty  coffers  to  be 
repleted,  and  no  kind  friend  willing  to  give  her  financial 
assistance,  for  the  security  is  not  good  enough,  as  she  is  on 
the  verge  of  complete  bankruptcy — are  the  nuts  she  has  to 
crack.  Another  thorn  in  her  already  lacerated  side,  is  the 
wonderful  Catholic  awakening  amongst  the  children  of  the 
Church.  The  lesson  taught  the  Liberals  by  the  Catholic  or 
Clerical  party  at  the  last  municipal  elections  throughout  the 
whole  kingdom,  has  not  been,  and  cannot  be,  forgotten.  The 
selected  candidates  of  the  Catholics  were  returned  by 
immense  and  striking  majorities  over  their  Liberal  oppo- 
nents. If  a  straw  shows  how  the  wind  blows,  surely  this 
•unanimous  voice  of  the  people  in  favour  of  the  candidates 
favourable  to  the  evacuation  of  Rome,  by  the  Piedmontese 
usurpers,  and  its  restoration  to  the  Venerable  Pontiff, 
imprisoned  in  the  Vatican,  is  conclusive  evidence  that  a 
return  to  the  state  of  things,  as  they  existed  before 
1870,  is  ardently  and  confidently  desired  by  them,  "  Vox 
populi,  vox  Dei,"  and  "  He  is  mighty,  and  will  prevail.'* 
The  signs  of  the  times  teach  us,  then,  that  we  Catholics, 
may,  with  good  reason,  look  forward  to  a  speedy  and 
glorious  deliverance  of  our  Holy  Mother,  the  Church  of 
God,  from  the  hands  of  her  enemies,  who  have  long  kept 
her  in  bondage  and  slavery. 

We  must  not  hearken  to  those  who  would  persuade 
us  that  the  dark  cloud  now  hanging  over  Italy  is  but  a 
passing  one  to  which  there  is  a  bright  silver  lining,. 
History  tells  us  that  the  Church  has  always  witnessed  the 
downfall  and  utter  route  of  her  sworn  and  most  relentless 
enemies.  This  is  not  the  first  time  that  the  Church  has, 


Will  the  Pope  regain  his  Temporal  Power  ?          487 

had  to  endure  persecution,  and  the  presence  of  the  stranger 
in  her  capital.  What  became  of  them  ?  Did  they  crush 
her  completely  under  foot.  No ;  phoenix-like  she  rose, 
glorious  and  triumphant,  from  the  ashes  to  which  her 
enemies  plainly  dreamt  they  had  reduced  her.  The  great 
writer,  De  Maistre,  speaks  of  "  the  old  Pontiff,  who  always 
returns  to  the  Vatican."  Thirty-eight  occupants  of  the 
See  of  Peter  have  been  driven  from  Rome  by  the  relentless 
cruelty  of.  their  persecutors,  but  "  the  Pope  always  returns 
to  the  Vatican."  The  secret  of  the  Church's  repeated 
victories  over  the,  humanly-speaking,  overwhelming  and 
irresistible  forces  of  the  enemy,  is  this,  that  God  is  ever 
with  His  Church  in  her  hour  of  need  and  danger,  and  "  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her."  What  past 
centuries  have  witnessed,  as  the  inevitable  result,  in  the 
many  conflicts  between  the  Church  and  her  would-be 
oppressors,  the  present  generation  will  see  happily  con- 
summated— the  complete  triumph  of  the  Church,  and  the 
ignominious  and  wholesale  destruction  of  her  enemies. 
I  verily  believe  it  would  be  an  act  of  want  of  confidence, 
to  put  it  mildly,  in  the  omnipotent  power  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  the  Protector  of  the  Catholic  Church  through  all 
ages,  to  even  think  that  her  lost  possessions,  so  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  fulfilment  of  her  Divine  mission  amongst 
the  children  of  men,  will  not  be  restored  to  her. 

Let  me  conclude  this  paper  on  a  question  which  I  have 
regarded  only  from  a  common-sense  point  of  view,  guided 
in  my  conclusions  by  the  many  indications  of  approaching 
death  which  awaits  the  present  kingdom  of  a  so-called 
United  Italy,  by  a  quotation  from  Ugo  Foscolo,  who  was 
not  by  any  means  a  friend  of  the  Papacy  in  its  temporal 
aspect.  "We,  Italians,  will,  and  we  ought  to  will  it — even 
to  the  shedding  of  the  last  drop  of  our  blood — that  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff,  who  is  the  supreme  guardian  of  the 
religion  of  Europe,  an  elective  and  Italian  Prince,  should 
not  only  exist  and  reign,  but  that  he  should  always  reign 
in  Italy  defended  by  Italians."  Would  that  the  present 
generation  of  Italians  were  to  take  this  lesson,  from  the  lips 
of  an  antagonist,  to  heart,  and  bring  about  a  consummation 


488  Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

the  whole  Catholic  world  wishes  from  the  depths  of  its 
large  heart — the  restoration  of  the  Papal  States,  and  their 
Capital,  Kome,  to  their  legitimate  and  rightful  king,  the 
Pope,  Christ's  Vicar  upon  earth. 

JOSEPH  A.  KNOWLES,  O.S.A. 


KECENT   PKOTESTANT    HISTOKIANS    OF 
IKEIAKD1 

II. 

ME.  OLDEN'S  chapter  on  the  "  Constitution  of  the 
Church  "  is  by  far  the  most  extraordinary  one  in  his 
extraordinary  book.  According  to  him,  the  Church  in  Ireland 
was  simply  a  creature  of  circumstances:  "Whatever  the 
form  of  Church  government  with  which  St.  Patrick  was 
acquainted,  or  whatever  Irish  ecclesiastics  of  later  times 
may  have  seen  elsewhere,  had  little  influence  in  determining 
the  organization  of  the  Irish  Church.  Its  constitution  grew 
out  of  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  placed." 2  If  we 
are  to  believe  St.  Paul,  our  Lord  established  in  His  Church 
a  governing  body — a  regular  hierarchy.  "  And  He  gave 
some  Apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  others  some 
evangelists,  and  others  some  pastors,  and  some  doctors " 
(Eph.  iv.  11).  And  the  object  is,  we  are  clearly  told,  that 
we  should  be  all  kept  in  unity  of  faith  in  a  "  body  being 
compacted  and  fitly  joined  together."  But  if  we  are  rather 
to  believe  Mr,  Olden,  the  Church  of  Ireland,  while,  perhaps, 
admitting  in  theory  the  theology  of  St.  Paul  in  practice, 
"  had  its  own  Church  government  and  organization,  which 
were  absolutely  unique." 3  Its  greatest  saints  attained  per- 
fection by  walking  in  "the  broad  pleasant  road;"  and  its 
unity  was  secured  by  the  members  agreeing  to  differ.  No 

*The  Church  of  Ireland,  by  T.  Olden,  M.A.     The  Ancient  Church  of  Ireland, 
by  John  Healy,  LL.D.     London:    1892. 

2  Page  110.. 

3  Page  145. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  489 

doubt  there  is  a  so-called  Church  of  Ireland  to  which 
Mr.  Olden's  description  applies,  but  St.  Patrick  is  in  no 
sense  responsible  for  it.  It  came  eleven  centuries  later  on. 
But  the  one  thing  in  the  "Constitution  of  the  Church" 
that  excites  Mr.  Olden's  admiration  is  the  marriage  of  the 
clergy.  Evidently  he  regards  this  as  the  corner-stone — the 
articulus  stantis  aut  cadentis  Ecclesiae.  He  says,  "  That 
the  clergy  were  permitted  to  marry,  is  capable  of  abundant 
proof."  *  It  would  be  charitable  to  Mr.  Olden  to  suppose  that 
he  was  ignorant  of  the  discipline  of  the  Church  when  he  wrote 
the  above  sentence,  but  no  amount  of  charity  would  excuse 
one  so  ignorant  for  attempting  to  write  on  such  a  subject. 
Mr.  Olden  may  describe  the  Church  of  St.  Patrick  as  the 
creature  of  circumstances  ;  but  anyone  with  common  sense 
will  say  that  St.  Patrick  brought  into  Ireland  the  religious 
system  in  which  he  was  himself  trained.  The  Rev.  Canon 
Courtenay  Moore,  M.A.,  puts  this  matter  very  clearly  and 
very  fairly  thus  :— 

."The  people  referred  to  [persons  of  Mr.  Olden's  views] 
have,  as  a  rule,  little  or  no  acquaintance  with  the  belief  and 
ritual  of  the  Church  of  the  fifth  century,  and  they,  therefore, 
forget,  or  fail  to  recognise,  that  St.  Patrick  naturally  believed  and 
worshipped  as  his  fellow-churchmen  of  his  own  time  believed  and 
worshipped,  and  as  he  had  been  taught  to^do,  when  being  trained 
and  prepared  for  his  mission.  You  may  accept  this,  therefore, 
as  a  sound  principle  of  criticism  to  guide  you  here,  that  St.  Patrick, 
living  in  the  fifth  century,  naturally  was  ecclesiastically  in  touch 
with  the  churchmen  of  his  own  time,  and  believed  and  worshipped 
as  Christians  in  the  fifth  century  did  .  ,  .  What  the  current 
tone  of  faith  and  ritual  of  that  period  was,  is  a  matter  of  Church 
history,  and  can  be  ascertained  with  little  difficulty  from  the 
ecclesiastical  literature  of  the  time,"2 

Now,  did  clerical  celibacy  form  part  of  that  religious 
system,  in  which  St.  Patrick  was  trained  ?  For,  if  it  did, 
he  must  have  introduced  it  into  Ireland.  Most  assuredly 
it  did  ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  most  notorious  facts  in 
ecclesiastical  history. 

At  the  very  time  that  St.  Patrick  was  preparing  for 
his  mission,  and  during  the  early  years  of  his  mission 

1  Page  121.  -  St.  Patrick's  Liturgy,  page  9. 


490  Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

here,  some  of  the  most  stringent  enactments   on  clerical 
celibacy  appeared.     The  celebrated  letter  .of  Pope  Siricius 
to  lieimerius,  Bishop  of  Taragona,  insisting  on  the  deposi- 
tion and  degradation  of  incontinent  clerics  was  written  in 
A.D.  885.    Innocent  L,  in  A.D.  405,  repeated  and  confirmed 
the  same  penalties  against  persons  of  the  same  class.     And 
at  the  very  time  that  St.  Patrick  was  labouring  in  Ireland, 
Leo  L,  in  A.D.  443,  re-affirmed  the  legislation  of  his  prede- 
cessors.    And  in  these  letters  the  Popes  made  no  new  law ; 
they  merely  promulgated  what  was  notoriously  the  common 
law   of    the    Church,    frequently   formulated    in   synods  iu 
various  parts  of  the  Church  long  previous  to  that  time.     In 
fact,  the  voice  of  ecclesiastical  authority  at  that  period  is  so 
pronounced  on  clerical  celibacy,  that  it  is  amazing  how  even 
Mr.  Olden  can  be  ignorant  on  the  question.     The  motive  of 
this  stringent  law  was,  no  doubt,  the  great  purity  required 
in  those  who  offered  up  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  and  its  foundation 
lay  far  back  and  deep  down  in  Apostolic  tradition.     No  one 
can  read  the  New  Testament  without  being  struck  by  the 
decided  preference  shown  in  it  for  the  celibate  life.     Our 
Blessed  Lord  chose  for  Himself,  a  virgin  Mother,  a  virgin 
precursor,  and  a  virgin  as  His  most  beloved  disciple.     His 
reference  to  those  who  have  made  themselves  eunuchs  for 
the  kingdom  of   heaven  implies  a  blessing  on  their  state. 
The  example  of  St.  Paul  is  also  significant,  and  still  more- 
significant   is   his   desire   that   all  men   should   follow   his 
example  ;  whilst  the  vision  of  the  virgins  in  the  Apocalypse, 
"  who  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  He  goeth,"  is  a  clear 
recognition,    even    in    heaven,   of    the   superior   merit    of 
virginity. 

All  this,  of  course,  implied  no  censure  on  the 
married  state,  which  was  good  in  itself,  and  ordained  and 
blessed  by  God,  but  it  clearly  implies  that  the  state  of 
celibacy  is  better,  and  especially  in  this,  that  because  of  its 
freedom  from  secular  cares  and  family  ties,  it  affords  greater 
facility  for  the  service  of  God.  This  state  then  specially 
recommended  itself  to  the  clergy,  whose  time  should  be 
wholly  devoted  to  God's  service.  The  Apostles  gave  up  all 
things  to  follow  their  Divine  Master,  and  they  were  deemed 


Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  491 

the  fittest  fellow-labourers  of  che  Apostles,  who,  divested  of 
secular  cares;  and  living  in  perpetual  continence,  were  thus 
a  model  of  virtue  to  their  flocks,  and  untramelled  in  the 
discharge  of  their  sacred  duties.  And  hence  as  far  back  as 
we  go  into  the  early  history  of  the  Church  and  on  to  the 
time  of  the  Apostles,,  we  shall  find  clerical  celibacy  or 
continence  observed  as  a  rule.  At  first  it  may  have  been 
but  a  custom  founded  on  the  example  and  encouraged  by 
the  teaching  of  the.  Apostles,  but  it  gradually  grew  into  a 
law. 

Amongst  the  early  converts  to  the  faith  it  was  often 
difficult  to  find  men  endowed  with  the  qualifications  neces- 
sary for  the  responsible  office  of  priest  or  bishop,  and  as 
Paganism  discouraged  celibacy,  the  difficulty  of  finding  such  a 
one  amongst  the  unmarried  was  rendered  still  greater.  Hence 
it  often  became  necessary  to  ordain  as  priests  and  bishops 
men  who  had  been  married,  provided  they  were  within 
the  limit  laid  down  by  St.  Paul :— that  is,  that  they  were 
only  once  married—"  the  husband  of  one  wife,"  and  such 
ordinations  may  still  be  permitted  for  a  sufficient  cause,  and 
with  the  precautions  required  by  ecclesiastical  law.  But 
even  in  these  cases  the  persons  so  ordained  observed  con- 
tinence from  the  time  of  their  ordination.  Most  Protestant 
writers,  and  some  Catholic  also,  hold  that  priests  and  bishops 
ordained  after  marriage  were  not  bound  to  observe  conti- 
nence. This  opinion  will  be  discussed  later  on,  and  it  will 
be  seen  that  it  has  no  argument  in  its  support.  But  though 
married  men  were  thus  sometimes  ordained,  marriage  after 
ordination  was  not  permitted.  And  so  stringent  was  this 
prohibition,  that  there  is  not,  at  least  in  the  Western  Church, 
a  single  instance  in  which  the  marriage  of  a  priest  or 
bishop,  after  ordination,  was  permitted  or  tolerated.  Will 
Mr.  Olden  consider  this  statement,  and  see  whether  he 
can  refute  it.  In  some  places  the  obligation  of  celibacy 
extended  to  those  even  in  Minor  Orders,  while  in  some 
few  places  sub-deaconship  was  regarded  as  exempt.  This 
is  the  earliest  stage  in  the  history  of  clerical  celibacy,  and 
we  find  abundant  evidence  of  it  in  the  earliest  Christian 
writings. 


492  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

Amongst  the  writings  attributed  to  St.  Clement  of  Kome, 
are  the  letters  on  Virginity,  and  those  addressed  to  "  James 
the  brother  of  the  Lord."  Dr.  Lightfoot  denies  the  genuine- 
ness of  those  letters,  though  he  admits  that  the  two  on 
Virginity,  and  the  first  to  James,  date  from  the  middle  of 
the  second  century.  The  second  letter  to  James  is,  he  says,  as 
late  as  the  fourth  century.  Villecourt,  Beelen,  and  Moehler, 
hold  the  letters  on  Virginity  to  be  quite  genuine,  and  these 
writers  are  each  quite  as  eminent  as  Dr.  Lightfoot.  And 
there  really  seems  to  be  no  solid  reason  for  post-dating  the 
second  letter  to  James ;  it  is  a  continuation  of  the  first, 
resembling  it  in  matter  and  in  style.  In  the  first  letter  on 
Virginity,  the  writer  extols  the  virtue  of  chastity,  and  speaks 
of  it  as  a  great  safeguard  against  the  snares  of  the  Evil  One. 
In  the  second  letter  he  maintains,  among  other  things,  that 
men  who  have  made  vows  of  chastity  should  be  specially  on 
their  guard  against  the  society  of  persons  of  the  opposite  sex ; 
and  he  describes  the  virtue  itself  as  the  girdle  by  which  the 
loins  of  the  priest  should  be  bound.  And  in  the  second 
letter  to  James,  he  says,  with  reference  to  married  priests  :— 
"  But  if  it  shall  happen  that  a  minister  of  the  altar  shall, 
after  his  ordination,  enter  the  bed-room  of  his  wife,  let  him 
not  enter  the  sanctuary,  nor  be  the  bearer  of  the  Holy 
Sacrifice."  This  is  a  very  decided  testimony  in  favour  of 
clerical  continence,  coming,  too,  according  to  very  competent 
critics,  from  one  who  was  a  disciple  of  St.  Peter,  and  certainly 
as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  second  century. 

The  teaching  of  Tertullian  comes  next  in  the  order  of 
time,  and  is  equally  clear  on  clerical  continence.  In 
his  book,  De  Exhortatione  Caxtitatis,  addressed  to  a 
friend,  whose  wife  had  recently  died,  Tertullian  wishes 
to  dissuade  his  friend  from  a  second  marriage.  And 
one  of  his  arguments  is  based  on  the  punishment 
inflicted  on  priests  who  would  contract  such  marriages — 
they  would  be  cut  off  from  the  service  of  the  Altar ; 
and  Tertullian  warns  his  friend  against  an  act  that  entails 
such  penalty.  He  anticipates  an  objection  that  it  was 
lawful  to  marry,  by  saying :  "  Yes :  It  was  lawful  even 
for  an  Apostle  to  marry.  It  was  lawful  for  him  to 


Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  493 

live  by  the  Gospel,  but  he  who  did  not  so  use  his  right 
when  he  had  occasion,  calls  on  us  to  follow  his  own 
example/'  And  he  concludes  the  Exhortatio  with  these 
remarkable  words  : — '  *  How  many  are  there  in  Ecclesiastical 
Orders  given  up  to  continence,  who  have  preferred  to  be 
espoused  to  God,  who  have  done  honour  to  their  flesh, 
putting  to  death  in  themselves  concupiscence,  and  all  that 
which  could  not  be  admitted  into  paradise."  1  And  a  few 
years  later,  when  Tertullian  was  himself  ordained  a  priest  at 
Carthage,  he  proved  his  consistency  by  separating  from  his. 
wife  from  the  date  of  his  ordination. 

The  other  great  light  of  the  second  century  is  Origen,. 
and  his  testimony  to  clerical  celibacy  is  equally  clear.  In 
his  4th  Homily  on  Leviticus,  while  explaining  the  vestments 
of  the  Jewish  priesthood,  and  describing  the  linen  girdle,  he 
applies  the  words  to  the  priests  of  the  New  Law,  and  adds  : 
"For  above  all  things,  the  priest  wrho  stands  at  God's  altar 
must  wear  the  girdle  of  chastity."  And  in  the  19th  Homily 
on  Jeremias,  he  so  extols  chastity  as  to  claim  a  special  glory 
in  heaven  for  those  who  consecrate  themselves  to  God  by 
lives  of  celibacy ;  and  by  his  self-mutilation,  following  the 
literal  interpretation  of  Matt.  xix.  12,  he  has  given  conclu- 
sive proof  that  he  was  terribly  in  earnest  as  an  advocate  of 
clerical  celibacy.  Thus,  then,  the  earliest  Christian  writings 
that  have  come  down  to  us,  from  post-Apostolic  times,  bear 
unequivocal  testimony  to  the  discipline  of  celibacy;  and  the 
writers  following  so  closely  on  the  Apostolic  age  could  not. 
be  mistaken  as  to  the  tradition  on  the  subject. 

As  already  stated,  in  this  early  period  married  men  may 
be,  and  many  were,  ordained ;  but  they  observed  continence 
after  ordination,  and,  if  they  failed  to  do  so,  they  were 
inhibited  from  all  priestly  functions;  and  marriage  after 
ordination  was  in  no  case  permitted.  In  times  of  primitive 
fervour  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  maintain  this  rigid 
discipline;  but  as  time  went  on  fervour  gradually  cooled 
down,  and  we  find  already  at  the  close  of  the  third  century, 
that  great  abuses  had  crept  in,  and  many  persons  were 

^De  Ex.  Cast.,  c.  8-13. 


494    '         Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

claiming  for  themselves  the  latitude  permitted  by  Ecclesias- 
tical Law  to  those  only  who  were  in  Minor  Orders.  We 
find  thus  early  many  deacons,  priests,  and  some  bishops 
cohabiting  with  the  wives  whom  they  had  married  before 
ordination,  though  the  prohibition  of  marriage  after  ordina- 
tion was  still  strictly  observed.  The  abuses  were  prevalent 
mostly  in  the  Eastern  Church,  though  it  is  clear  from  the 
stringent  laws  subsequently  passed,  that  the  abuses  began 
to  multiply  in  the  West  also  about  the  close  of  the  third 
century.  And,  accordingly,  we  find  that  about  this  time  the 
hitherto  unwritten  law  was  formally  set  forth  in  synodal 
decrees ;  and  in  the  language  in  which  the  abuses  are 
condemned,  we  have  the  clearest  proof  of  the  existence  of 
the  law  that  was  thus  violated. 

The  first  synodal  law  known  to  us  on  clerical  celibacy  is 
that  of  the  Council  of  Elvira  in  Spain,  A.D.  305.     The  33rd 
Canon   of  that    Council    commands    bishops,   priests,    and 
deacons  who  had  been  married   to   observe  absolute  con- 
tinence, and  condemns  them  to  be  degraded  from  their  state 
if  they  disobey.     The  6th  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Aries, 
A.D.  314,  repeats  this  law  in  almost  the  same  words.     And 
while  celibacy  was  thus  rigorously  enforced  in  the  West, 
signs  of  a  laxer  discipline  were  already  appearing  in  the  East. 
The  Synod  of  Ancyra,  in  G-alatia,  A.D.  314,  in  its  10th  Canon, 
decreed  that  deacons  may  marry  after  ordination,  provided 
that  at  the  time  of  their  election  they  notified  to  the  ordain- 
ing bishop  their  intention  of  getting  married  their  inability 
to  lead  a  celibate  life.     In  this  case,  the  bishop,  by  ordaining 
them  after  such  notice,  is  supposed  to  dispense  with  the  law 
of  celibacy  for  them  ;  but  if  they  receive  deaconship  without 
giving  such  notice,  they  are  bound  to  continence,  and  are  to 
be  degraded  if  they  violate  their  obligation.     This  is  the 
earliest  known  synodal  enactment  on  celibacy  in  the  Eastern 
Church,  and  it  is  clearly  a  departure  from  the  more  ancient 
discipline.     There  is,  however,  no  evidence  that  the  decree 
prevailed    outside    the    Province    of   Ancyra,    and   it   was 
annulled  at  the   Synod  of  Trullo.      The  Council  of  Neo- 
Cesarea,  A.D.  317,  in  its  1st  Canon,  decreed:  "If  a  priest 
shall   marry,  he   shall   be   cut   off  from   the  ranks   of  the 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  495 

•clergy."  Here  there  is  question  of  marriage  after  ordina- 
tion ;  the  Council  says  nothing  of  those  who  were  married 
previous  to  ordination.  The  3rd  Canon  of  the  General 
Council  of  Nice,  A.D.  325,  absolutely  forbids  a  bishop, 
priest  or  deacon  or  any  other  cleric  from  having  living  with 
him  in  his  house  any  female  except  his  mother,  sister,  aunt, 
or  some  such  person  as  is  beyond  all  suspicion.  The  Canon 
refers  especially  to  females  called  subintroductae,  and  writers 
are  somewhat  puzzled  as  to  the  precise  character  of  the 
persons  so  named.  They  appear  to  have  been  consecrated 
virgins  of  some  sort,  bound  to  the  cleric  by  some  sort  of 
spiritual  tie,  and  acting  somewhat  in  the  capacity  of  house- 
keeper. The  custom  of  permitting  such  persons  to  live 
with  ecclesiastics  was  very  ancient ;  good,  perhaps,  in  theory, 
but  eminently  dangerous  in  practice,  as  events  proved:  for 
it  led  to  such  grave  scandals  as  to  call  imperatively  for  the 
stringent  legislation  of  Nice,  and  of  many  subsequent 
Councils  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West.  The  Council 
says  nothing  of  married  or  unmarried  clergy,  but  it  tends  to 
confirm  what  we  know  to  be  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
by  its  supreme  care  to  protect  the  clergy  from  even  the 
suspicion  of  incontinence.  The  26th  of  the  Apostolic 
Canons  forbids  the  marriage  of  all  clerics  in  any  higher 
order  than  that  of  Lector.  And  as  these  Canons  date  from 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  they  may  be  fairly  taken  as 
representing  the  discipline  of  that  time.  Some  additional 
light  is  thrown  on  this  matter  by  the  case  of  Synesuis,  who, 
in  A.D.  410,  refused  the  Bishopric  of  Ptolemais,  on  the 
grounds  that  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  cohabit  with  his 
wife  after  his  consecration  : — a  clear  proof  that  such  cohabi- 
tation was  against  ecclesiastical  law. 

From  this  abstract  of  the  legislation  of  the  Eastern 
'Church,  it  is  certain — (1)  that  marriage  after  ordination 
was  absolutely  and  always  forbidden  ;  (2)  that  many  married 
persons  were  ordained  as  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons ; 
(3)  that  bishops  were  required  to  separate  from  their  wives 
after  consecration.  The  case  of  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen  is 
quoted  as  opposed  to  this  last  statement.  It  is  alleged  that 
he  was  the  son  of  a  bishop,  and  born  after  his  father's 


496  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

consecration.     He  was,  it  is  true,  the  son  of  a  bishop,  but 
the  Bollandists  have  proved  conclusively  that  he  was  born 
long  before  his  father's  consecration.     It  has  been  already 
stated  that   most   Protestant   writers,  and  some  Catholic, 
also   maintain   that   priests   and    deacons    married    before 
ordination  were  not  bound  to  observe  continence,  and  they 
seek  in  the  early  Councils  grounds  to  justify  this  opinion. 
The  4th  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Gangre,  in  Paphlegonia, 
says :  "  If  anyone  shall  think  that  one  ought  not  assist  at 
the  Mass  of  a  married  priest,  let  him  be  excommunicated." 
And  here  we  are  told  is  a  conclusive  argument  against  the 
obligation  of  continence.   But,  surely,  there  is  no  foundation 
in  this  Canon  for  such  an  inference.     The  Canon  proves 
what  everyone  admits,  that  there  were  married  priests,  but 
it  says  nothing  as  to  whether  they  did  or  did  not  observe 
continence  after  ordination.     Moreover,  this  precise  Canon 
was  aimed  at  the  followers  of  Eustathius  of  Sebaste,  who 
condemned  marriage  absolutely,  and  many  of  whom  refused 
to  hear  Mass  in  the  same  Church  as  a  married  person.    The 
Canon  therefore  proves  nothing  against  clerical  continence. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  6th  of  the  Apostolic  Canons,  which 
is   also   quoted   as   against   the   obligation    of    continence. 
It  says  : — "  A  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon,  who  on  pretence  of 
piety  shall  cast  off  his  wife,  shall  be  excommunicated,  and 
if  he  persist  in  his  rejection  of  her,  let  him  be  deposed." 
Here  again  there  is  nothing  said  for  or  against  continence 
after  ordination.     Persons  who  were  married  before  ordina- 
tion were  clearly  bound  to  maintain  their  wives,  and  as  the 
subsequent  ordination  did  not  annul  the  marriage,  the  obliga- 
tion of  maintaining  the  wife  remained  in  full  force,  side  by  side 
with  the  obligation  of  continence.     The  two  obligations  are 
quite  compatible,  and  the  Canon  is  directed  against  those  who 
without  a  justifying  cause  seek  to  escape  from  one  of  these 
obligations.     But  the  only  semblance  of  an  argument  against 
the  obligation  of  continence  after  ordination  is  supplied  by 
the  ecclesiastical  historian,  Socrates.    In  the  Ilth  chapter  of 
the  1st  book  of  his  History,  he  says  : — "  It  seemed  good  to 
the  Bishops  [at  Nicea]  to   introduce  a  new  law  into  the 
Church,   that    .    ,    .    bishops,   priests,   and  deacons  should 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  497 

not  cohabit  with  the  wives  whom  before  ordination  they 
had  married."  And  when  the  law  was  proposed  in  the 
Council,  he  tells  that,  "Paphnutius  arose,  and  cried  out 
vehemently  (literally  bawled  out),  that  this  heavy  yoke 
should  not  be  imposed  on  clerics  and  priests  ;  that  it  was 
sufficient  according  to  the  ancient  tradition  of  the  Church, 
that  those  who  were  enrolled  amongst  the  clergy  should  not 
afterwards  marry;  but  that  none  of  those  should  be  separated 
from  their  wives  who  had  been  lawfully  married  while 
laymen."  He  adds  that  the  advice  of  Paphnutius  was 
unanimously  adopted,  and  that  the  question  of  cohabitation 
or  non-cohabitation  was  left  to  each  individual's  choice. 

This  statement  is  regarded  by  non-Catholic  writers 
as  conclusive  proof  against  the  discipline  of  celibacy  in 
the  early  Church,  arid  as  fatal  to  the  view  that  celibacy 
is  founded  on  apostolical  tradition.  Now  the  text,  if 
reliable  at  all,  is  for  non-Catholics  a  two-edged  sword, 
for  it  would  prove  that  marriage  after  ordination  was 
prohibited  according  to  ancient  tradition,  while  the 
utmost  it  could  prove  against  celibacy  is,  that  persons 
married  before  ordination  were  not  bound  to  observe 
continence.  And  some  few  Catholic  writers,  Heffele  and 
Doellinger  amongst  them,  maintain  this  view.  Of  the 
Catholic  writers  who  maintain  the  unrestricted  obligation 
of  celibacy,  some  explain  the  difficulty  by  saying  that 
Paphnutius  merely  suggested  to  the  Council  to  adopt  the 
lesser  of  two  evils.  The  number  of  married  and  incontinent 
clerics  was,  we  are  told,  so  great,  that  a  schism  would 
probably  result  from  an  attempt  to  compel  them  to  separate 
from  their  wives,  and  hence  Paphnutius  advised  the  prudent 
course,  to  tolerate  for  a  time  an  evil  which  could  not  then  be 
eradicated. 

This  explanation  is  unsatisfactory,  and  the  temporizing 
which  it  attributes  to  Paphnutius  is  very  unlike  his  character, 
as  given  by  Socrates.  He  was  brought  up  in  a  monastery 
from  his  youth,  and  was  trained  in  the  most  rigorous 
asceticism.  He  was  a  man  of  great  personal  holiness; 
a  worker  of  miracles,  according  to  Socrates.  He  had 
suffered  exile,  and  even  mutilation  for  the  faith,  and  had  one 

VOL.  XVII.  2  I 


498  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

of  his  eyes  put  out  in  the  persecution  of  Maximin.     It  is 
very  improbable  that  such  a  man  would  advocate  (violently , 
according  to  Socrates)  a  discipline  lax  in  itself,  and  a  fruitful 
source  of  scandal  to  the  priesthood.      Then  in  the  Acts  of 
Nicea  there  is  no  reference  whatever  to  this  incident.     On 
the     contrary,    the     Canon     already     quoted     indicates    a 
strong  tendency  to  this  rigorous  enforcement  of  celibacy. 
Moreover,  the  same  Canon  mentions  a  class  of  persons  who 
are  to  be  excluded  from  the  houses  of  priests,  and  a  class  of 
persons  who  are  permitted    to  remain   there  ;  and   if  the 
tradition  and  the  discipline  were  as  Paphnutius  is  alleged 
to  have  said,  is  it  not  surprising  that  the  wife  of  the  priest 
should  not  be  named  amongst  those  who  are  to  be  permitted 
to   remain?     This   is   an   unaccountable   omission   on   the 
supposition  of  the  truth  of  the  statement  made  by  Socrates. 
Eusebius    who    was    present    at    the     Council,     and    was 
notoriously  active  in   its  deliberations,   was   a  well-known 
advocate   of    celibacy,    and    it    is    very    improbable    that 
he    would    permit    to     pass    unchallenged    the    statement 
attributed   to   Paphnutius  ;    and    it    is    strange     too    that 
no  reference    is    made   to   it   in     any   of  his    voluminous 
writings.     A  statement  so  beset  with  improbabilities  should 
be  accepted  only  on  authority  that  is  above  suspicion ;  and 
Socrates  is  not  above  suspicion.     He  was  a  layman  practising 
as   a   lawyer  at  Constantinople,   a  friend  of  many  courtly 
clerics,  and  more  than  suspected  of  Novatian  sympathies. 
He  displays  either  great  bias  or  lamentable  want  of  judgment 
by  saying  that  the  alleged  defence  of  clerical  incontinence  by 
Paphnutius  "  tended   to   the   good  of  the  Church  and  the 
honour  of  the  priesthood."      Then  he  wrote  his  History, 
more  than  one  hundred  years  after  the  Council  of  Nicea; 
and  in  the  introductory  chapter  to  his  Second  Book,  he  says 
that  in  the  compilation  of  his  First  and  Second  Book  he 
was    deceived    by  his    authorities.      Now    the    statement 
regarding  Paphnutius  occurs  in  the  llth  chapter  of  the  First 
Book.     And  may  it  not  then  be  an  instance  of  that  deception 
of  which  he  complains  ?     It  is  quite  certain  that  he  was  either 
deceived   or   deceiving,  for  he  is  directly  contradicted  by 
authority  that  is  above  all  suspicion. 


"Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  499 

St.  Epiphanius,  the  Bishop  of  Salamis,  was  one  of  themost 
celebrated  of  the  early  fathers.  He  was  about  fifteen  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Nicea.  He  must,  therefore, 
have  been  acquainted  with  many  of  those  who  were  present 
at  that  Council.  And  he  is  known  to  have  been  an  intimate 
personal  friend  of  at  least  three  of  them.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  piety,  learning,  and  ability;  he  was  a  friend  and 
correspondent  of  learned  men,  like  St.  Jerome  and  Pope 
Damasus  ;  and  of  ascetics  like  Hilarion  and  Pachomius.  By 
his  episcopal  brethren,  as  well  as  in  monastic  circles,  he  was 
held  in  the  highest  veneration.  In  all  the  ecclesiastical 
controversies  of  the  time,  and  they  were  many  and  compli- 
cated, his  voice  was  heard  with  effect,  and  always  on  the 
side  of  unflinching  orthodoxy.  He  had  been  many  years  in 
Palestine,  was  in  Egypt  and  in  Rome.  He  was,  therefore, 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  dicipline  of  East  and  West,  and, 
from  his  character,  he  must  be  a  perfectly  reliable  witness. 

On  the  question  of  celibacy  he  says: — "The  priesthood 
is  made  up  from  the  class  of  virgins,  and  if  not  of  virgins, 
at  least  of  those  who  do  not  cohabit  with  their  wives  ;  or 
of  those  who,  after  the  death  of  a  first  wife,  live  in 
widowhood."1  And  in  his  book,  De  Haeresi*  speaking  of 
married  men,  raised,  in  cases  of  necessity,  to  the  priesthood, 
he  says:  "After  our  Lord's  coming,  the  divine  discipline 
excludes  from  the  priesthood  persons  who  had  been  married 
a  second  time  ; "  and,  he  says,  the  Church  is  most  careful 
in  the  enforcement  of  that  discipline.  And  he  adds  :— 
•"  And,  moreover,  even  he  who  is  married,  and  still  begets 
children,  even  though  the  husband  of  one  wife,  is  not 
admitted  to  the  order  of  deacon,  priest,  bishop,  or  sub-deacon; 
but  only  he  is  to  be  admitted  who  observes  continence  in  a 
first  marriage,  or  lives  in  widowhood  after  it,  which  is  the 
rule  in  all  places  where  the  ecclesiastical  canons  are  duly 
observed."  And  the  saint  anticipates  an  objection  thus : — 
"  But  you  will  say  that  in  some  places  priests,  deacons,  and 
sub-deacons  beget  children.  I  answer  :  this  is  not  on  the 
-authority  of  the  canons,  but  through  the  culpable  negligence 

1  Exp.  Doct.  Christ,  No.  21,  2  C.  59,  N.  4. 


500  Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

of  those  who  should  enforce  the  law."  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  then,  that  in  the  time  of  St.  Epiphanius,  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons  were  bound  to  observe  celibacy  or 
continence  ;  and  its  observance  was  not  a  matter  of  custom 
or  free  choice ;  they  were  bound  to  it  by  the  ecclesiastical 
canons,  wherever  they  were  rightly  enforced.  He  admits- 
that  there  were  abuses  ;  but  they  were  recognised  as  abuses,, 
and  are  attributed  to  the  guilty  negligence  of  those  who 
should  have  enforced  the  observance  of  the  law. 

The  character  of  Epiphanius,  and  his  means  of 
forming  a  correct  judgment  on  this  precise  question  render 
his  testimony  absolutely  certain.  And  his  testimony 
brands  as  historically  false  the  statement  of  Socratesr 
that  the  obligation  of  continence  was  a  "  new  law."  It 
is  also  certain  that  the  discipline  of  celibacy  was  not 
as  Paphnutius  is  alleged  to  have  described  it,  at  Nicea ; 
and  considering  the  many  incoherencies  of  the  story  itself, 
and  the  character  of  Paphnutius,  it  is  all  but  certain 
that  he  did  not  use  the  words  attributed  to  him  at  all, 
St.  Jerome  fully  confirms  the  testimony  of  Epiphanius.  No- 
one  can  question  St.  Jerome's  authority  as  a  witness  to  the- 
discipline  of  East  and  West.  In  his  first  letter  against 
Vigilantius,  he  says  :  "  Alas  !  that  this  man  is  said  to  have  as- 
sharers  in  his  guilt  some  bishops  (if,  indeed,  they  can  be 
called  bishops)  who  refuse  to  ordain  deacons  unless  they  be 
married."  And  after  condemning  this  conduct  in  no  stinted 
terms,  he  says  :  "  What  then  are  the  Churches  of  the  East 
to  do  ?  What  those  of  Egypt  ?  What  those  of  the  Apostolic- 
See,  which  receive  among  the  priesthood  only  virgins,  or 
continent,  or  those  who,  if  married,  cease  to,act  the  husband." 
The  saint  goes  on  with  his  wonted  vehemence  to  say  that 
the  incontinence  advocated  by  Vigilantius  would  reduce  the 
clergy  to  the  level  of  brute  beasts,  and  leave  them  like  hogs 
wallowing  in  the  niire. 

It  is  quite  easy,  but  quite  unnecessary,  to  multiply 
testimony  as  to  the  discipline  of  the  Oriental  Church 
at  this  period.  The  evidence  already  adduced  proves 
conclusively  that  celibacy  for  the  unmarried  clergy,  and 
continence  for  those  married  before  ordination,  was  the 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  501 

law.  No  doubt,  as  the  saints  admit,  the  law  was  violated, 
and  in  some  places  through  the  culpable  negligence  of 
bishops  the  Canons  were  not  enforced,  and  these  abuses 
continued  notwithstanding  the  protests  of  many  holy  and 
learned  bishops,  until  they  were  to  some  extent  legalized  in 
the  Synod  of  Trullo.  That  Synod  repeated  the  ancient 
prohibition  of  marriage  after  ordination.  It  ordered  that 
bishops  married  before  ordination  should  after  consecration 
separate  from  their  wives,  who  were  to  enter  a  convent  at  a 
distance  from,  the  episcopal  residence.  And  it  permitted 
priests  and  deacons  married  before  ordination  to  cohabit  freely 
with  their  wives.  This  has  since  continued  to  be  the  law 
of  the  Greek  Church  ;  a  law  to  which  much  of  the  degrada- 
tion of  that  Church  is  justly  attributable.  The  Canons  of 
Trullo  have  been  tolerated,  but  never  sanctioned  by  the 
Holy  See. 

In  the  Western  Church,  under  the  eye  of  the  Supreme 
Pastor,  celibacy  was  from  the  earliest  times  rigorously 
enforced.  As  St.  Jerome  says,  the  circumstances  of  various 
missions  often  necessitated  the  ordination  of  married  men, 
but  they  were  strictly  bound  to  observe  continence,  and  no 
relaxation  in  the  law  was  tolerated.  As  before  stated,  the 
law  of  celibacy  already  established  by  custom  had  its  earliest 
written  expression  in  the  Spanish  Synod  of  Elvira,  A.D.  305, 
and  in  A.D.  314  it  was  repeated  in  the  French  Synod  of 
Aries.  And  soon  after  we  find  it  authoritatively  promul- 
gated, urbi  et  orbi,  by  Pope  Siricius,  A.D.  385,  in  his  letter 
to  Heimerius,  Bishop  of  Tarragona,  in  Spain.  This  bishop 
had  in  the  previous  year  sent  to  Pope  Damasus  what  appears 
to  have  been  a  regular  relatio  status  of  his  diocese  (Siricius 
in  his  reply  calls  it  "  Fraternitatis  tuae  relatio  ").  He  disclosed 
to  the  Pope  the  existence  of  several  abuses  in  his  diocese, 
and  sought  instruction  as  to  how  they  were  to  be  remedied. 
One  of  his  difficulties  was  that  some  priests  and  deacons 
led  incontinent  lives,  and  sought  to  justify  their  misconduct 
by  the  example  of  the  priests  of  the  old  law.  Pope 
Damasus  was  dead  when  the  letter  reached  Borne,  and  the 
reply  to  it  was  one  of  the  first  official  acts  of  the  new  Pope 
Siricius.  The  Pope  laments  that  anyone  of  the  ecclesiastical 


502  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

order  should  be  open  to  the  charges  brought  against  them  by 
the  bishop.  In  vain,  he  says,  do  they  appeal  to  the  example 
of  the  Jewish  priests,  to  whom  marriage  was  permitted,  that, 
the  succession  of  the  priesthood  may  be  preserved  in  the 
tribe  of  Levi ;  and  even  they  were  warned  to  be  holy,  as  the 
Lord  their  God  was  holy,  and  were  bound  to  live  in  the 
temple,  and  to  observe  continence  during  their  year  of 
ministration  : — 

"  Wherefore  [the  Pope  says] ,  since  our  Lord  Jesus 
honoured  us  by  His  coming,  He  declares  in  the  Gospel  that  He 
has  come  to  perfect  the  law ;  and,  accordingly,  He  wished'to  show 
forth  in  His  Church  the  beauty  of  chastity,  that,  on  His  second 
coming,  she  may  be  found,  as  the  Apostle  describes  her,  without 
spot  or  wrinkle  ;  on  which  account  we,  priests,  are  all  bound  by 
an  inviolable  law  to  observe,  from  the  day  of  our  ordination, 
moderation  and  continence,  that  we  may  in  all  things  please  God 
by  the  sacrifice  which  we  daily  offer  to  Him  .  .  .  And  as  there 
are  some,  as  your  Holiness  says,  who  are  sorry  for  their  guilt,  and 
plead  ignorance,  we  decree  that  mercy  shall  be  extended  to  them 
to  this  extent,  that  they  shall  be  permitted  to  remain  in  their 
present  rank,  without  any  hope  of  promotion,  provided,  however, 
that  they  live  in  strict  continence  for  the  future.  But  as  to  those 
who  persevere  in  their  sin,  and  rely  on  the  Old  Law  for  their 
justification,  be  it  known  to  them  that,  by  the  authority  of  the 
Apostolic  See,  they  are  degraded  from  all  ecclesiastical  honours, 
of  which  they  have  shown  themselves  unworthy ;  and  that  they 
shall  never  touch  again  the  Sacred  Mysteries,  of  which,  for  the 
sake  of  impure  pleasures,  they  have  deprived  themselves.  And  the 
instances  we  are  now  considering  warn  us  to  take  precaution 
for  the  future  .  .  .  Be  it  known  to  every  bishop,  priest,  and 
deacon,  who  shall  be  found  so  guilty,  that  they  are  to  expect  no 
indulgence  from  us ;  for  the  wounds  that  do  not  yield  to  soothing 
medicine,  must  be  cut  out  with  the  knife." 

He  concludes  by  exhorting  Heimerius  to  have  this  decree 
published  in  the  other  provinces  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  and 
in  Southern  Gaul.  This  is  not  the  introduction  of  a  new 
law.  It  is  the  first  written  expression  by  any  of  the  popes 
that  has  come  down  to  us  of  a  law  already  firmly  established 
by  custom,  and  recognised  as  binding.  The  words  of  the  Pope 
show  that  no  new  law  was  introduced.  There  are  two 
classes  of  delinquents  contemplated.  Some  professed  their 
sorrow,  and  pleaded  ignorance  ;  and  with  these  the  Pope 
professes  to  deal  mercifully  by  merely  allowing  them  to 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  503 

continue  in  their  present  rank,  without  hope  of  promotion  ; 
and  this  too  only  on  condition  of  living  in  strict  continence 
henceforward.  Now,  if  these  men  were  not  guilty  of  even 
a  material  violation  of  a  law,  why  are  they  punished  so 
severely  by  being  shut  out  from  all  hope  of  promotion,  and 
how  can  such  treatment  be  deemed  merciful  ?  Again,  delin- 
quents of  another  class,  who,  without  any  expression  of 
sorrow,  persist  in  their  incontinence,  are  sentenced  to  degra- 
dation, the  severest  penalty  known  to  ecclesiastical  law. 
Both  classes  are  punished  for  their  conduct  in  the  past; 
but  if  during  that  past  there  was  no  law  prohibiting  their 
manner  of  living,  why  are  they  punished  for  that  manner  of 
living  ? 

Again,  Heimerius,  in  his  letter,  complained  of  their 
conduct  to  the  Pope,  and  the  letter  of  Siricius  is  the  answer 
to  that  complaint.  But  if  up  to  that  time  there  had  been 
no  law  rendering  celibacy  obligatory,  there  would  be  no 
ground  for  the  complaint,  nor  any  justification  for  the 
punishment  decreed.  Moreover,  the  Pope  distinctly  says : 
"  Wherefore  we  priests  are  bound  by  an  inviolable  law,"  &c- 
This  is  a  law  already  existing,  not  the  framing  of  anew  law; 
arid  if  there  had  not  been  a  law  of  celibacy  well  recognised 
as  obligatory,  we  could  not  explain  that  strictness  in  its 
observance  so  rigidly  uniform,  that  there  is  not  a  single 
instance — at  least  in  the  Western  Church — of  a  bishop,  priest, 
or  deacon  permitted  with  impunity  to  depart  from  its  observ- 
ance. The  synods  already  quoted  prove  the  existence  of  the 
law  long  before  the  letter  of  Pope  Siricius.  The  2nd  Council 
of  Carthage,  A.D.  387  ;  the  1st  of  Toledo,  A.D.  400  ;  the  3rd  of 
Carthage,  A.D.  401 — all  promulgate  the  law  contained  in  the 
letter  of  Pope  Siricius.  Pope  Innocent  1.,  in  A.D.  405,  wrote 
his  two  celebrated  letters  to  Victricius  of  Rouen,  and 
Exuperius  of  Toulouse,  laying  down  the  law  on  celibacy,  in 
almost  the  same  words  as  Pope  Siricius.  Leo  the  Great,  in 
a  letter  to  Kusticus,  Bishop  of  Narbonne,  and  Gregory  the 
Great,  in  his  letter  to  Leo,  Bishop  of  Catania,  promulgate 
the  same  law  as  Siricius,  and  extend  its  obligation  to  sub- 
deacons,  who  were  in  some  places  considered  hitherto 
exempt  on  the  ground  that  their  duties  did  not  bring  them 


504  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

into  immediate  contact  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass. 
And  at  the  Council  of  Agde,  A.D.  506,  and  at  several  other 
councils  of  the  same  period,  we  find  regulations  made 
binding  even  those  in  minor  orders  to  observe  continence, 
and  refusing  them  even  clerical  tonsure  if  they  do  not 
promise  to  observe  it. 

Such  was  the  discipline   of  celibacy  when   St.  Patrick 

came  to  Ireland.     It  was  a  rigid  law,  stringently  enforced 

on  all  persons  in  Holy  Orders,  faithfully  observed  by  every 

priest  worthy  of  his  sacred  character,  and  never  violated 

with    impunity    by    anyone.      And   at    the   very   time    of 

St.  Patrick's  coming  this  law  was  being  extended  so  as  to 

embrace  even  those  in  minor  orders,  and  so  to  exclude  all 

but  celibates  from  the  service  of  the  Church.     A  married 

man  may  at  that  time  be  ordained,  as  he  may  now  even, 

pre-supposing  the  conditions  required  by  Canon  Law.     But 

such  a  person,  then  as  well  as  now,  was  bound  to  observe 

continence,  and  would  be  punished  then  as  well  as  now  if 

he  were  found  unfaithful  to  his  obligation.     And  then  as 

well  as  now  marriage  after  ordination  was  not  to  be  thought 

of.    This  was  the  discipline  in  which  St.  Patrick  was  trained. 

It  was  the  only  discipline  known  to  him,  the  only  discipline 

tolerated  in  his  time  as  consistent  with  the  priestly  state. 

And,  surely,  it  is  only  common  sense  to  say,  that  such  was 

the  discipline  introduced  to  his  neophytes  by  St.  Patrick,  the 

disciple,  friend,   and   companion    of  saints   who  were  the 

guardians  and  champions  of  that  discipline — he  himself  a 

brilliant  example  of  it  by  the  purity  and    sanctity  of  his 

life.     And  in  the  Confession,  which  Mr.  Olden  professes  to 

accept  as  trustworthy,  the  saint   himself,  in  recording  the 

happy  fruits  of  his  labours,  says  :  "  The  sons  of  the  Scots, 

and  the  daughters  of  the  chieftains  are  seen  to  be  monks 

and  virgins  of  Christ."     This  is  more  than  an  indication, 

it   is   a   proof,    that   St.  Patrick  introduced   the    discipline 

of  celibacy  into  the  Church  he  had  founded,  out  of  which 

grew   that   great   monastic   Church    which    for    so    many 

ages    was    the   model,   the    light,    and   glory   of  Western 

Europe. 

When  Mr.  Olden  says  :  "  That  the  clergy  were  permitted 


• 


Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  505 

io  marry,  is  capable  of  abundant  proof,"1  he  cannot  be 
speaking  of  abuses  opposed  to  and  condemned  by  ecclesias- 
tical law.  He  must  mean  that  the  marriage  of  priests  was 
in  accordance  with  ecclesiastical  law;  he  must  mean,  and 
he  does  mean,  that  persons  in  Holy  Orders  were  permitted 
to  marry  even  after  ordination,  and  were  bound  by  no 
obligation  of  celibacy  or  continence.  This  is  the  meaning  of 
Mr.  Olden's  statement — a  statement  so  notoriously,  so 
ridiculously  false,  that  no  one  but  an  ignorant  man  could 
make  it.  No  student  of  ecclesiastical  history  can  deny  that 
the  law  of  celibacy  was  often  violated,  as  indeed  every  other 
law  of  the  Church  has  been.  There  were  gross  and 
scandalous  abuses  ;  there  have  been  bad  priests  since  the 
days  of  Judas  Iscariot  ;  but  the  misconduct  of  individuals 
is  no  argument  against  the  existence  of  laws  regulating  the 
conduct  of  priests  as  a  body.  The  Eastern  emperors  had 
frequently  sought  to  induce  or  compel  many  successive 
Popes  to  sanction  the  lax  legislation  of  the  Synod  of  Trullo, 
but  the  Popes,  faithful  to  their  trust,  as  guardians  of  priestly 
purity,  resisted  all  such  attempts,  even  when  resistance 
involved  serious  risk  to  their  lives.  That  the  discipline  of 
celibacy  was  well  maintained  during  the  sixth,  seventh,  and 
eighth  centuries,  we  learn  from  the  legislation  of  various 
synods  in  France,  Spain,  and  Italy,  in  these  centuries.  But 
it  could  hardly  be  expected  that  the  West  should  escape  the 
evil  influence  of  the  bad  example  set  by  the  Synod  of  Trullo. 
And  accordingly  we  find  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  ninth 
century,  great  abuses  had  already  become  prevalent.  The 
north-eastern  provinces  of  Italy  seem  to  have  caught  the 
contagion  earliest,  owing  to  the  proximity  of  the  Greek 
Church.  The  clergy  of  Verona  earned  for  themselves  an 
infamous  notoriety,  not  only  because  of  their  incontinence, 
but  also  by  reason  of  their  hypocrisy  in  seeking  to  justify 
themselves,  appealing,  as  the  holy  Bishop  Ratherius  says,  to 
the  custom  of  their  predecessors,  which  was  merely  rebellion 
against  their  Bishop,  and  treason  against  the  Canons  of  the 
•Church.  Throughout  Northern  Italy,  Germany,  France, 

1  Page  121. 


t 
506  Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

England,  the  evil  of  clerical  incontinence  became  in  the 
eleventh  century  so  sadly  prevalent,  that  several  successive 
Popes  directed  all  their  energy  to  its  extirpation.  The 
struggle  was  a  long  and  bitter  one,  but  God  mercifully 
protected  His  Church  against  the  wickedness  of  some  of  her 
consecrated  sons  ;  and  in  what  seemed  to  be  the  supreme 
moment  of  her  contest  with  the  powers  of  darkness. 
Hildebrand,  the  great  champion  of  clerical  celibacy  arose, 
and  by  his  zeal,  indomitable  energy  and  perseverance, 
secured  the  triumph  of  the  Church  over  the  vice  of 
incontinence,  though  the  victory  cost  him  his  life.  The 
abuses  which  existed  during  this  long  period  were  recognised, 
as  abuses  were  denounced  and  condemned  as  such  ;  and  the 
delinquents  were  punished  as  far  as  ecclesiastical  law  could 
enforce  its  penalties  ;  but  to  quote  such  abuses  as  an  argument 
against  the  obligation  of  celibacy  in  former  times,  would  be 
as  unreasonable  as  to  quote  the  misconduct  of  the  worthies 
of  the  Priest  Protection  Society  as  proof  that  the  law  of 
celibacy  is  not  binding  in  our  own  time. 

In  Ireland  a  considerable  relaxation  of  discipline  arose 
as  a  result  of  the  Danish  invasion  ;  but  even  in  those  "  dark 
and  evil  days,"  the  Irish  priesthood  was  singularly  pure. 
It  can  be  safely  asserted,  that  in  no  part  of  the  Church  was 
the  foul  cancer  of  clerical  incontinence  less  prevalent  than 
in  Ireland  ;  and  even  though  it  had  been  prevalent,  its 
prevalence  would  afford  no  grounds  for  the  extravagant 
statement  of  Mr.  Olden,  that  "the  clergy  were  permitted  to 
marry."  The  "  abundant  proof"  adduced  by  Mr.  Olden  is, 
indeed,  a  curious  specimen  of  his  logic,  made  up  of  rambling 
incoherent  assertions,  groundless  inferences,  mistranslations, 
and  misquotations.  In  most  instances  he  must  be  quoting 
at  second  hand,  for  had  he  seen  the  originals,  he  could  not 
be  so  foolishly  reckless  in  his  abuse  of  them.  Here  is  a 
specimen  of  Mr.  Olden's  "  abundant  proof."  "  The  mention 
by  St.  Patrick  of  his  clerical  parentage  is  well  known." 
The  confession  to  which  Mr.  Olden  is  referring  states  that 
St.  Patrick's  father,  Calpurnius,  was  a  Deacon  (or  Decurio, 

'Page  121. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  507 

perhaps) ;    and   his    grandfather,  Potitus  (or,  according  to- 
the  Book  of  Armagh,   his  great-grandfather,    Odisseus),   a 
priest.      And    hence,   Mr.    Olden  infers   that  the  Catholic 
discipline  was   not   then   admitted.     But  were  Calpurnius 
and    Potitus     married    before     or    after    ordination  ;    and 
did    they   observe    continence  after  ordination.      On  these 
questions   the    Confession  is   silent,    and   Mr.  Olden  casts 
no  light.      If  they  were   married   before  ordination,    and 
then  observed  continence,  there  was  nothing  in  their  con- 
duct inconsistent  with  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  we  are 
bound    to    hold    that    Calpurnius    and    Potitus    complied 
with    the   discipline   of  their   time,  unless   there  be  some 
reason  to   think   that   they   departed   from   it.      No   atom 
of    evidence   of    that   sort   is   adduced,   and   none   can   be 
adduced,  and  so  Mr.   Olden's  leading  argument  is  simply 
worthless.     Some  few  years  ago  the  Rev.   Thomas  Lloyd 
Coughlan,  LL.D.,  was  labouring  as  a  priest  in  the  diocese  of 
Cloyne.     He  had  been  previously  a  Protestant  parson,  and 
a   fellow-labourer  of  Mr.   Olden's.      Some    years    after  his 
reception  into  the  Catholic  Church,  and  after  the  death  of 
his  wife,  he  was  ordained  a  priest,  and  while  he  was  on  the 
Cloyne  Mission  as  a  priest,  one  of  his  two  sons  was  a  highly 
respectable  Catholic  priest  on  the  English  mission  (and  is 
so  still),  and  the  other  was   a   Protestant   parson.     Will 
Mr.  Olden  maintain  that  because  Father  Coughlan,  junior, 
is  the  son  of  a  priest,  therefore  the  discipline  of  celibacy  is 
not  enforced  in  the  Catholic  Church  in  our  time  ?     Cardinal 
Manning   and   Cardinal   Weld   were  married    men.      Will 
Mr.  Olden  hence  infer  that  celibacy  is  not  obligatory  on  priests 
in  our  time  ?     It  would  be  just  as  good,  and  just  as  bad,  an 
argument  as  that  adduced  by  him  from  the  "  parentage  " 
of  St.  Patrick.     Again,  Mr.  Olden  "  represents  St.  Patrick  as 
laying  down  the  qualification  for  a  bishop,  that  he  must  be 
the  husband  of  one  wife."     The  reference  here  is  manifestly 
to  St.  Paul  (1  Timothy  iii.  2,  and  Titus  i.  6);  and  the  texts 
are   interpreted  by  Mr.  Olden  and  writers   of  his  class  to 
mean,  not  that  a  person  once  married  may  become  a  bishop, 

1  Page  121. 


-508  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

but  that  he  must  be  once  married  in  order  to  become  a 
bishop — that  marriage  is  an  absolutely  necessary  qualification 
for  the  episcopal  office,  If  this  be  so  then,  what  about 
St.  Paul  himself,  and  St.  John,  and  the  other  Apostles,  none 
of  whom  as  far  as  we  know,  was  married  except  St.  Peter? 
Were  they,  as  bishops,  up  to  Mr.  Olden's  standard  ?  If 
Mr.  Olden  be  correct  in  his  inference  from  St.  Paul,,  then 
St.  Paul  by  his  own  action  repudiated  his  own  teaching. 
Mr.  Olden's  interpretation  of  1  Tim.  iii.  2,  is  ridiculed  by 
the  ablest  Protestant  commentators.  Dean  Alford  says 
of  it : — "  This  hardly  needs  serious  refutation.  .  .  .  The 
view  which  must  be  adopted  is,  to  candidates  for  the 
•episcopate,  St.  Paul  forbids  second  marriage.  He  requires 
of  them  pre-eminent  chastity,  and  abstinence  from  a  licence 
which  is  allowed  to  other  Christians.''  The  Speaker's 
Commentary  says :  "  The  precept  does  not  require  a  bishop  to 
be  married,  which  St.  Paul  himself,  and  probably  Timothy, 
was  not."  And  it  is  curious  and  instructive,  that  while 
both  commentators  differ  from  Mr.  Olden  in  giving  the  true 
sense  of  St.  Paul's  text,  they  are  both  as  ready  as  Mr.  Olden 
is  to  grant  the  utmost  matrimonial  licence  to  the  would-be 
successors  of  the  Apostles  in  our  day  ;  and  this  on  the  sole 
argument,  tempora  mutantur. 

But  it  is  in  dealing  with  our  own  ancient  records  that 
Mr.  Olden's  inductive  and  inventive  faculties  become 
conspicuous.  He  says  :  "  The  synod  attributed  to  him 
{St.  Patrick)  Auxilius  and  Isserninus  gives  directions  as 
to  the  dress  of  a  clergyman's  wife."  Now  Mr.  Olden  must 
be  aware  that  a  married  man  may  be  ordained,  on 
certain  well-known  conditions — one  of  them  being  the 
observance  of  continence  after  ordination  ;  and  if  there 
were  any  such  in  Ireland  at  the  date  of  the  canon 
referred  to,  it  is  no  wonder  that  laws  should  be  made 
to  regulate  the  action  of  their  wives  ;  and  it  is  only  a 
logician  like  Mr.  Olden  that  would  find  in  such  legislation  an 
argument  against  celibacy.  Moreover,  why  does  Mr.  Olden 
say  that  the  canon  refers  to  a  "  clergyman's  wife1'  ? 

1  Page  121. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  509* 

In  only  ancient  manuscript  (that  used  by  Spelman)  does  the 
expression  "  uxor  ejus  "  occur.  In  the  "  Collectio  Hib." 
Canon,  which  is  the  most  ancient  and  most  accurate  version  f 
it  is  simply  "  uxor  ;"  and  a  Vatican  MS.  of  the  tenth  century 
gives  the  same  reading,  "  a  wife,  a  married  woman;"  and  thus 
the  ground  for  Mr.  Olden's  argument  is  completely  cut 
away.  The  canon  regulates  the  dress  of  married  women, 
a  very  usual  thing  in  early  Ecclesiastical  Law,  and  even 
in  Civil  Law. 

Mr.  Olden's  argument  from  the  Brehon  Laws  is  also 
worthless.  In  the  text  to  which  he  refers,1  there  is  not  a  word 
about  a  married  bishop.  The  text  says  that  "  a  stumbling 
bishop  may  be  degraded  ;"  and  the  Commentary,  which  is 
much  later  than  the  text,  explains  the  stumbling  to  mean 
the  crime  of  adultery.  Later  on  ktbe  Commentary  speaks  of 
a  virgin  bishop,  and  of  a  bishop  the  husband  of  one  wife ; 
but  the  question  recurs,  when  was  the  bishop  ordained  ?  was 
it  before  or  after  marriage  ?  and  did  he  observe  continence  ? 
OQ  these  questions  neither  text  or  Commentary  throws  the 
least  light.  Neither  does  Mr.  Olden,  And  there  is  abundant 
evidence,  that  celibacy  was  enforced  and  observed  in  Ireland 
at  the  time  when  the  Brehon  Law  Commentary  is  supposed 
to  have  been  written.  Like  other  early  missionaries  going 
to  preach  among  Pagans,  St.  Patrick  was,  perhaps,  forced 
by  circumstances  to  ordain  persons  who  had  been  married. 
Fiec,  of  Sletty,  is  an  instance.  The  Scriptural  reference  to 
such  persons,  "the  husband  of  one  wife,"  is  explained  in 
Wurtzburg  Gloss.,  an  early  Irish  authority,  thus  :  "  husband 
before  receiving  Orders,  after  baptism."  How  long  the 
custom  of  ordaining  such  persons  continued,  is  a  matter  of 
speculation  :  but  the  Commentary  on  the  Brehon  Law  was 
written  within  the  precise  period,  when  the  custom  may 
be  supposed  to  have  existed,  that  is  between  St.  Patrick's 
time  and  the  early  part  of  the  seventh  century.  It  is  not 
surprising,  then,  that  the  Commentary  written  in  that  period 
should  distinguish  between  a  virgin  bishop  and  a  bishop 
the  husband  of  one  wife  :  husband  in  the  sense  already 

1  Stnchus  Mor,  vol.  i.,  p.  521. 


510  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

explained.  But  the  distinction  implies  no  departure  from 
the  discipline  of  celibacy.  The  Penitentialj  Canons  of 
St.  Pinian,  of  Clonard,  put  this  matter  beyond  doubt. 
Canon  27,  says  : — 

"  Si  quis  Clericus,  Diaconus  aut  alicujus  gradus,  et  laicus 
ante,  cum  filiis  et  filiabus  suis  et  clientella  sua  propria  habitat, 
et  redeat  ad  Carnale  desiderium,  et  genuerit  filium  clientella  sua 
sciat  se  ruina  maxima  cecidisse,  non  minus  peccatum  ejus  ut 
esset  clericus  ex  juventute  sua  et  cum  puella  aliena  peccasset, 
quia  post  votum  suum  peccaverunt.  Et  postquam  consecrati 
sunt  et  tune  votum  suum  irritum  ficerunt." 

The  canon  then  lays  down  the  penance  for  such  a  crime. 
The  Penitentiary  of  St.  Columbanus  gives  this  canon  a 
rsomewhat  less  involved  form,  and  also  with  a  severer 
penance.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  Irish  discipline  for 
the  very  class  of  persons  on  whom  Mr.  Olden  bases  his 
.argument — the  very  class  contemplated  in  the  Brehon  Law 
Commentary.  A  man  who  had  been  married,  and  had 
children  before  his  ordination,  and  who  after  ordination 
•cohabited  with  his  wife,  was,  according  to  Irish  Canon  Law, 
deemed  just  as  guilty,  and  punished  just  as  severely,  as  if, 
having  never  been  married,  he  had  been  guilty  of  fornication. 
The  sin  of  such  a  person  is  technically  called  in  the  canons, 
peccatum  sub  gradu,  and  is  always  punished  with  extreme 
severity.  Mr.  Olden  (probably  to  exhibit  his  erudition), 
is  very  fond  of  referring  to  Wasserschleben,  and  he  would 
find  the  canons  alluded  to  in  that  author's  Bussardnungen, 
at  page  114,  356,  and  408. 

But  the  most  extraordinary  specimen  of  Mr.  Olden's 
•"  abundant  proof,"  is  that  which  he  deduces  from  the  Book 
of  Leinster.  That  book  he  says,  "  contains  two  curious 
lists,  one  being  that  of  sons  of  Irish  saints  .  .  ,  the  other 
of  the  daughters  of  Irish  saints.  .  .  The  author  of  these 
lists  could  not  possibly  have  had  any  idea  that  there  was 
the  least  impropriety  in  saints  marrying."1  This  is  an 
amazing  specimen  of  logic  :  "  Impropriety  in  saints  marry- 
ing ! "  Who  maintains  that  there  is  ?  This  is  a  specimen 
-of  the  "  Artful  Dodger  "  logic.  Mr.  Olden  here  insinuates 

1  Page  122. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  511 

that  the  upholders  of  clerical   celibacy  cannot  admit  that 
married  persons  can  be  saints.     He  cannot  be  serious  !    The 
Blessed  Virgin  was  married,  so  was  St.  Elizabeth,  St.  Helena, 
St.  Monica,  St.  Margaret,  St.  Francis  Borgia,  and  numbers 
of  others  in  every  age  of  the  Church,  and  the  discipline  of 
celibacy  is   in   no   way   affected   by  their   marriage.     The 
question  is  not  of  the  marriage  of  saints,  but  of  the  marriage 
of  priests  and  bishops — a  question  not  at  all  touched  by  the 
lists  of  the  Book  of  Leinster.     Worse  still.     In  his  zeal  to 
find   an  argument   against   celibacy   he   mistranslates   the 
text  of  the  Book  of  Leinster.     The  lists  do  not  give  "the 
sons  and  daughters  of  Irish  saints,"  but  sons  and  daughters, 
saints.    The  lists  enumerate  a  number  of  sons  and  daughters 
whose  proper  names  are  not  given,  but  who  are  called  after 
their  parents,  such  as  Mac  Luigne,  Ingin  Cainig,  &c.;  and  the 
children,  not  the  parents,  are  the  saints.      But  even  the 
mistranslation  does  not  improve  Mr.  Olden 's  argument.     It 
is  bad  in  either  case.     For,  if  the  parents  are  the  saints, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  lists  to  show  that  any  of  them  was 
ordained ;  and  if  the  children  are  the  saints,  there  is  nothing 
in  the  lists  to  show  that  any  of  them  was  married,  and  thus 
Mr.  Olden's  fine  argument  crumbles  like  a  house  of  cards. 
There  is  not  a  syllable  in  either  list  bearing  on  the  discipline 
of  celibacy. 

The  next  specimen  of  Mr.  Olden's  abundant  proof  is 
a  worthy  sequel  to  the  above.  "  Thus  in  the  time  of 
Gregory  IX.  (1227-1241),  the  Bishop  of  Connor  makes 
humble  supplication  that  the  see  being  vacant,  he  was  elected 
by  the  Canons,  being  '  the  son  of  a  priest  and  begotten  in 
priesthood,'  and  being  overcome  by  the  urgency  of  the 
Canons  he  consented,  and  at  the  time  of  his  confirmation 
declared  falsely  that  he  was  begotten  in  lawful  matrimony, 
and  was  then  consecrated  and  held  the  bishopric  for  five 
years."1  This  man  was  deposed  by  Pope  Gregory,  and 
Mr.  Olden  adds  :  "  It  will  be  observed  that  the  Canons,  who 
must  have  known  his  history,  -urged  him  to  accept  the 
office."  Now  this  extract  proves  the  exact  reverse  of 

1  Page  122. 


512  Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

Mr.  Olden's  contention.  It  proves  that  the  son  of  a  priest 
born  in  priesthood  is  not  considered  as  born  in  "  lawful 
wedlock."  Then  the  marriage  of  a  priest  (for  Mr.  Olden  is 
referring  to  marriage)  was  not  considered  "lawful  wedlock." 
Consequent^,  Mr.  Olden  is  wrong  in  saying  that  it  was  per- 
mitted. But  Mr.  Olden  says,  "the  Canons  must  have  known 
his  history."  What  evidence  has  he  for  this  statement  ?" 
Not  a  particle.  On  the  contrary,  the  very  letter  of  the  Pope,, 
from  which  Mr.  Olden  got  his  information,  clearly  implies 
that  the  Canons  did  not  know  the  secret  history  of  the  man 
they  elected.  This  man's  own  statement  is  that  he  "yielded 
to  the  urgency  of  the  Canons,  and  consented  to  his  election, 
though  he  himself  was  aware  of  his  irregularity."  There  i& 
nothing,  therefore,  to  implicate  the  Canons  in  the  matter, 
and  no  grounds  for  Mr.  Olden's  uncharitable  aspersion  on 
them.  It  is  another  instance  of  his  unscrupulous  manipula- 
tions of  his  authorities. 

One  other,  and  that  the  crowning  specimen  of  Mr.  Olden's 
"  abundant  proof,"  remains  to  be  considered.  Mr.  Olden 
says  :— 

"  It  is  strange  that  there  should  be  such  unwillingness  to 
admit  a  historical  fact.  .  .  .  The  late  Professor  0' Curry  in. 
his  lectures  at  the  Catholic  University,  having  occasion  to  refer 
to  '  Conn  of  the  Poor,'  an  eminent  member  of  the  Community  at 
Clonmacnoise,  informed  his  audience  that  Conn  was  a  'lay 
religious.'  But  this  well-known  Irish  scholar  must  have  known 
that  Conn  was  Bishop  of  Clonmacnoise,  and  that  he  was  a 
married  man."1 

Mr.  Olden,  who  is  shocked  at  the  "  unwillingness  to 
admit  a  historical  fact,"  is  here  labouring  to  establish  a  his- 
torical falsehood.  Conn-na-Mbocht  was  not  Bishop  of 
Clonmacnoise,  nor  of  any  other  place.  And  if  Mr.  Olden  were 
an  "  Irish  scholar  "  he  would  not  mistranslate  a  short  plain 
sentence  from  the  Chronicon  Scotorum.  In  that  sentence 
Oenagan,  and  not  Conn-na-Mbocht,  is  the  Bishop  of  Clon- 
macnoise. Conn  is  only  incidentally  mentioned  as  a  relative 
of  Oenagan ;  and  neither  in  that  sentence,  nor  in  any  other  of 
Mr.  Olden's  authorities,  is  Conn  said  to  be  a  bishop.  Another 

1  Page  123. 


Recent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland  513 

"  well-known  Irish  scholar,  Petrie,  agrees  with  Professor 
O'Curry  in  saying  that  Conn  was  not  a  bishop.  A  list  of  the 
bishops  of  Clonmacnoise,  compiled  by  Petrie,  and  in  his  own 
handwriting,  is  now  in  the  Koyal  Irish  Academy.  In  this 
list,  Oenagan  is  given  as  bishop,  and  the  sentence  from  the 
Chronicon  Scotorum  is  given  in  full.  There  is  a  foot-note 
also  in  Petrie' s  handwriting,  referring  to  Conn-na-Mbocht, 
which  says  that  "he  flourished  in  the  eleventh  century  ;  but 
we  are  not  informed  (that  I  can  find)  of  the  time  of  his 
decease,  or  as  to  what  rank  he  held  in  the  Church." 
Therefore  Petrie  did  not  believe  Conn  to  be  a  bishop,  and 
when  Petrie  and  O'Curry  agree  in  contradicting  Mr.  Olden, 
as  to  the  translation  of  the  passage  from  the  Chronicon 
Scotorum,  Mr.  Olden  as  an  authority  vanishes.  %Thus 
then,  Mr.  Olden's  "  abundant  proof  that  the  clergy  were 
permitted  to  marry,"  dwindles  down  into  a  series  of 
groundless  assertions,  mistranslation,  and  manipulations  of 
texts,  misrepresentations  of  Irish  and  general  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  and  the  statement  he  undertook  to  prove  is  false 
in  every  particular. 

Mr.  Olden  is  a  man  of  great  research,  intimately 
acquainted  with  all  our  ancient  annals.  Would  he  not  try 
and  find  amongst  them  a  description  of  the  obsequies  of  a 
bishop's  wife  ?  Could  he  not  unearth  an  early  bishop's 
will,  that  we  may  know  what  provision  he  made  for  his 
disconsolate  widow  and  children  ?  Very  recently  the  public 
papers  gave  an  account  of  the  probate  of  the  will  of  an 
Archbishop  of  Mr.  Olden's  "Church  of  Ireland,"  and  one  of  the 
most  interesting  items  in  it  was  the  disposal  by  "His  Grace  " 
of  some  thousands  of  pounds  secured  to  him  by  his  marriage 
settlement.  And  later  still,  the  immediate  s  accessor  of 
this  same  Archbishop,  on  taking  leave  of  his  former  flock, 
moved  his  audience  almost  to  tears  by  his  pathetic  allusion 
to  the  probability  of  his  soon  returning  to  lay  his  bones 
amongst  them  beside  those  of  his  dear  departed  wife.  And 
little  more  than  a  year  ago,  another  bishop  of  Mr.  Olden's 
Church  "  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord,"  at  the  ripe  age  of  75, 
while  actually  spending  his  honeymoon  in  a  Dublin  hotel. 
Would  Mr.  Olden  try  and  find  a  parallel  for  either  of  these 

VOL.  XVII.  2  K 


514  Eecent  Protestant  Historians  of  Ireland 

cases  in  Irish  ecclesiastical  history  before  the  time  of 
Henry 'VIII.  ?  Such  a  parallel  would  do  much  more  for  him 
than  the  case  of  Conn-na-Mbocht. 

But  it  is  really  surprising,  after  all,  why  Mr.  Olden 
should  labour  so  much  to  break  down  clerical  celibacy. 
No  matter  how  stringent  the  law  of  celibacy  binding 
Catholic  priests  be,  Mr.  Olden,  not  being  a  priest,  is  in  no 
sense  affected  by  it.  And  this  his  Church  fully  recognises 
by  giving  her  ministers  the  most  unlimited  matrimonial 
license.  Indeed  the  author  of  the  Comedy  of  Convocation. 
did  not  exaggerate  when  he  said  that  he  always  regarded 
the  ceremony  of  ordination  by  a  Protestant  Bishop  as 
equivalent  to  a  certificate,  that  the  candidate  for  orders  had 
an  undoubted  vocation  for  matrimony.  Mr.  Olden  is  quite 
free  to  vindicate  that  unrestricted  liberty  for  himself  and  for 
his  clerical  brethren.  No  one  seems  disposed  to  deny  it  to 
them ;  but  his  attempt  to  secure  it  for  priests  is  a  ludicrous 
failure.  He  has  gone  beyond  his  depth.  Without  the 
requisite  knowledge  he  has  undertaken  to  write  on  a  complex 
and  difficult  question,  with  the  result  that,  while  professing 
to  know  almost  everything,  he  is  proved  to  know  scarcely 
anything.  In  a  letter  to  the  pompous  and  ignorant 
Vigil antius,  St.  Jerome  once  said  :  "  I  do  not  blame  the  good 
Paulinus  for  introducing  you  to  me,  but  I  blame  myself 
for  mistaking  you  for  a  scholar  .  .  .  Go  to  school,  learn 
what  the  grammarians,  what  the  rhetoricians  have  to  say ; 
learn  something  from  the  philosophers ;  and  when  you 
have  learned  so  much,  learn  to  hold  your  tongue."  The 
application  is  easy. 

J.  MURPHY. 
(To  be  continued.) 


I     515     ] 


THEOBALD  MATHEW  UNION 

IT  having  been  for  a  long  time  past  painfully  manifest  to 
some  of  those  priests  who  are  not  alone  interested,  but 
•engaged,  in  temperance  work  in  the  South,  that  the  movement 
was  making  no  headway  against  the  tide  of  intemperance, 
but  was  rather  retrograding,  they  held  a  private  conference 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  steps,  if  any,  could 
be  taken  with  a  view  to  arrest  this  downward  tendency. 
After  considerable  discussion  and  anxious  thought,  not 
unaccompanied  by  some  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  those  less 
sanguine,  they  resolved  to  invite  all  those  of  their  brethren 
known  to  be  temperance  advocates,  to  come  together,  and 
discuss  the  subject,  and  see  if  some  plan  could  not  be 
devised  and  adopted  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  In 
pursuance  of  this  arrangement,  a  private  circular  was  drawn 
up  and  issued  by  one  of  their  body  :  the  following  is  a  copy 
ofit:- 

DONERAILE,  CO.   CORK, 

15th  April,  1896. 

DEAR  EEV.  FATHER, — It  is  proposed  to  form  an  inter-diocesan 
'Society  of  'Priests  who  are  total  abstainers  (quite  distinct  from 
•existing  temperance  organizations),  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuat- 
ing the  work  of  the  immortal  Theobald  Mathew ;  and  it  is 
suggested,  in  order  to  keep  that  idea  more  prominently  before 
our  own  minds  as  well  as  the  minds  of  others,  that  the  Society 
should  bear  his  name — a  name  held  in  the  deepest  reverence  and 
affection  by  all  Irishmen  to  this  day,  even  though  his  principles 
are,  alas !  by  the  majority  of  them,  forgotten,  or  at  least 
abandoned. 

It  is  superfluous  to  point  out  that  the  position  of  the 
temperance  movement  at  the  present  time  throughout  the 
country  is  one  of  impotency  ;  that  it  is  utterly  unable  to  cope 
with  the  drink  evil ;  and  that  this  deplorable  state  of  things  will 
surely  continue  so  long  as  the  priests,  without  whom  no 
movement  can  prosper  in  Ireland,  hold  aloof  from  it ;  and  that  its 
only  chance  of  success  lies  in  their  banding  themselves  together, 
and  taking  their  natural  place  in  the  vanguard.  This  must  be 
done  without  delay,  unless,  indeed,  the  cause  is  to  be  forsaken, 
and  the  battle  lost. 

^  It  would  be  premature  at  this  juncture  to  formulate  rules  : 
this  can  best  be  done  at  our  first  Meeting,  of  which  due  notice 


516  Theobald  Mathew  Union 

will  be  given  you.  But  our  rules  will  be  very  few  and  very 
simple.  There  will  be,  of  course,  the  rule  of  total  abstinence 
without  which  no  one  shall  be  eligible.  Then,  possibly,  the  members 
may  arrange  to  hold  an  Annual  Congress  or  Convention,  say,  in 
Cork  (the  city  of  Theobald  Mathew's  adoption),  on  the  10th 
October  (his  birthday) ;  but  this  and  such-like  matters  of  detail 
must  be  left  to  the  members  themselves. 

I  have  been  requested  to  ask  you,  as  a  total  abstainer,  to  lend 
your  name,  and  to  give  us  your  valued  co-operation.  1  should, 
therefore,  take  it  as  a  great  favour,  if  you  would  kindly  let  me 
know,  at  your  earliest  convenience,  how  far  you  approve  of  the 
proposed  "  Union,"  and  whether  you  have  any  suggestions  to 
make  regarding  it." 

I  am,  with  much  respect, 

"  Your  faithful  servant  in  Christ, 

WALTER  O'BRIEN,  C.C.  (Sec^ro  tern.). 

P.  8. — Already  we  have  received  promises  of  support  from  very 
influential  quarters. 

Any  little  doubt  we  might  have  entertained  as  to  the 
reception  this  circular  might  meet  with  was  quickly  dis- 
pelled. Each  post  brought  most  encouraging  replies,  and 
from  all  quarters.  A  very  eminent  Churchman  [we  are  not 
at  liberty  to  quote  names]  wrote : — "  The  idea  [the  proposed 
**  Union"]  is  a  good  one.  For  many  years  I  have  been 
convinced  that  to  make  any  substantial  impression  on  the 
drinking  habits  of  our  people  an  example  of  self-denial  must 
be  given  by  the  clergy."  A  well-known  Dublin  priest  hailed 
the  "Union"  as  "a  grand  work,"  and  expressed  a  hope 
that  it  would  not  be  confined  to  the  Munster  province,  but 
be  made  a  national  move.  A  Southern  Priest  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  "  the  Temperance  cause  will  never  make  any 
headway  until  there  is  an  Association  of  priest-abstainers." 
Another  says  : — "  I  consider  that  good  is  bound  to  result 
from  any  project  that  serves  to  bring  together  priests 
interested  in  Total  Abstinence."  And  so  on ;  these  are  but 
samples  of  many  others. 

Some  of  the  addressees  complained  that  the  circular  was 
vague,  that  it  put  forth  no  "  plan  of  campaign,"  and  that  they 
did  not  know  what  was  to  be  the  modus  agendi.  To  these  we 
reply:  this  is  precisely  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  asked  to 


Theobald  Mathew  Union  517 

meet.  It  would  have  been  deemed  impertinent,  and  rightly 
so,  on  our  part  if  we  had  drafted  such  a  plan  for  wiser  heads 
than  our  own.  But,  lest  they  should  think  that  our  mind  is 
a  blank  on  the  subject,  and  that  we  are  merely  groping  in  the 
dark,  and  know  not  what  ought  to  be  done,  let  us  give  it  as 
our  opinion  that  mere  sermonizing  on  drunkenness  will 
never  eradicate  it :  we  must  do  something  practical,  and  to 
that  end  we  would  suggest  the  adoption  of  some,  if  not  all, 
of  the  following  means  : — (1)  To  form  a  sound,  healthy 
public  opinion  on  the  evils  of  drinking,  physical  as  well  as 
moral,  and  for  this  purpose  to  circulate  temperance  litera- 
ture. (2)  To  establish  the  League  of  the  Cross  in  every 
parish.  (3)  To  open  a  Temperance  Hall  in  every  town,  and, 
where  possible,  to  have  a  Refreshment  Stall  in  connection 
with  it.  (4)  To  influence  the  magistrates  to  rigorously 
oppose  new  licences,  and  to  cut  down  the  present  number, 
gradually,  by  50  per  cent.  (5)  To  try  to  get  seven-day 
licenses  changed  into  six-day,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the 
bona  fide  traveller  abuse.  (6)  To  oppose  women,  especially 
young  ones,  having  licenses :  the  "  new  woman  "  may  be 
able  to  manage  a  bicycle,  but  certainly  not  a  public-house. 
(7)  To  get  the  doctors  to  cease  ordering  stimulants  so 
recklessly. 

But  if  we  go  on  at  this  rate,  even  our  friends  who  called 
for  a  plan  will  cry,  '•  halt."  If  they  consider  ours  unwork- 
able, we  would  ask  them  to  draw  up  a  better  one,  which 
they  easily  can,  for  the  above  is  a  mere  skeleton  which  we 
have  not  space  here  to.  clothe  with  flesh. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  said  that  thus  far  we  are  at  best  but  a 
pusillus  grex  ;  yet,  little  flocks  have  ere  now  proved  them- 
selves wonderfully  successful  and  prolific  ;  and  though  our 
numbers  are  small,  they  are,  at  least,  greater  than  those  of 
the  Apostolic  College,  and  if  we  cannot  promise  ourselves 
an  increase  similar  to  theirs,  we  may,  at  all  events,  con- 
fidently reckon  on  receiving  numeric  strength  proportioned 
to  the  need  we  have  of  it. 

It  will  be  observed  from  the  circular  itself  that  it  was 
addressed  to  those  priests  only  who  are  Total  Abstainers 
(or  rather  whom  we  understood  to  be  such);  but  as  our 


518  Theobald  Matheiv  Union 

knowledge  was  limited  to  those  of  our  own  diocese,  and  a 
few  beyond  it  in  the  neighbouring  ones,  there  are,  doubtless, 
up  and  down  the  country  many  whom  we  have  not  the 
privilege  of  knowing,  and  these  we  now  seek  to  reach 
through  your  widely-circulating  pages,  and  we  would  ask 
them  to  kindly  consider  it  as  personally  sent  to  themselves 
and  to  communicate  with  us,  so  that  North  and  South, 
East  and  West,  may  be  knitted  together.  To  those  who 
are  not  living  in  the  South,  let  it  not  be  a  difficulty  that 
Cork  is  named  for  the  Annual  Congress,  for  although  it  is, 
without  doubt,  the  most  appropriate  place  for  it,  closely 
identified  as  it  was  with  Theobald  Mathew,  we  can,  never- 
theless, if  the  members  think  fit,  occasionally  go  elsewhere 
just  as  he  himself  did.  Arid  even  if  they  never  attend  a 
Congress,  the  very  insertion  of  their  names  on  the  Eoll  of 
Members  will  give  strength  to  the  "  Union  "  and  encourage- 
ment to  its  Associates,  showing  them  that  if,  perchance, 
they  are  isolated  in  point  of  location,  they  are  by  no  means 
so  in  spirit,  but  are  joined  heart  and  soul  by  many  others 
like-minded  as  themselves. 

To  such  of  the  brethren  as  are  not  Total  Abstainers, 
especially  those  who  are  young  in  the  ministry,  we  would  also 
here  address  ourselves,  and  beg  of  them  to  regard  the 
circular  as  an  invitation  to  join  us,  and  as  coming  to  them 
not  from  us,  but  from  a  higher  source.  We  are  said  to 
"  have  left  all  things  to  follow  Christ ;"  is  it  not  a  pity, 
then,  to  spoil  the  fulness  of  this  sacrifice  by  retaining  the 
use  of  this  superfluity,  this  luxury,  viz.,  intoxicating  drink, 
which  bars  us  from  going  before  our  people,  and  leading  them 
into  the  more  perfect  way  ?  for  we  believe  that  if  they  gave 
up  drink,  Ireland  would  be  the  flower-garden  of  the  Church. 
"  It  is  good,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  not  to  eat  flesh,  and  not  to 
drink  wine,  nor  anything  whereby  thy  brother  is  off ended 
or  scandalized  or  made  weak."  (Rom.  xiv.  21.)  What  text 
more  applicable  to  us  ?  It  is  the  very  raison  d'etre  of  our 
society,  for  although  "  all  things  are  lawful  to  us,  not  all 
things  are  expedient  to  us,"  by  reason  of  our  environment. 
'"'  Moderation "  is  a  beautiful  sentiment,  and  true ;  but  it 
requires  very  little  experience  to  prove  that,  as  applied  to 


Theobald  Mathew  Union  519 

our  people  in  the  matter  of  drink,  it  is  the  merest  theory ; 
in  hundreds — nay,  in  thousands — of  cases  ihey  know  no  via 
media  between  Total  Abstinence  and  excess.  Let  me  here 
quote  Cardinal  Manning.  He  is  dead,  but  his  words  live : — 

"  Temperance  is  good,  Total  Abstinence  is  better.  All  are 
bound  to  Temperance ;  no  one  is  bound  to  Total  Abstinence ;  it 
is  the  free  choice  of  those  who  aspire  to  the  higher  life.  Happy 
are  they  who  have  taken  this  pledge,  not  for  any  need  of  their 
own,  but  to  save  others  by  their  example  from  spiritual  death. 
And  happy  above  all  are  the  pastors  who  go  before  their  flocks  in 
the  League  of  the  Cross" 

In  the  days  of  old,  God  said  to  a  Jewish  priest :  *'  You 
shall  not  drink  wine,  nor  anything  that  may  make  drunk 
when  you  enter  into  the  tabernacle."  (Lev-  x.  9.)  And 
again:  "  No  priest  shall  drink  wine  when  he  is  to  go  into 
the  inner  court."  (Ezekiel  xliv.  21.)  If  these  words  were 
addressed  to  mere  Jewish  priests,  what  about  the  Christian 
priest,  who  is  ever  before  the  tabernacle,  and  always  in  the 
"inner  court"? 

One  reason  which  many  priests,  both  old  and  young, 
allege — and,  let  us  admit,  aver  in  perfect  honesty — prevents 
them  from  becoming  Total  Abstainers,  is  that  of  health : 
they  say  drink  is  necessary  for  them.  That  this  is  an 
egregious  fallacy,  we  believe  as  firmly  as  that  tobacco  and 
snuff  are  also  unnecessaries.  But  we  shall  not  ask  them  to 
accept  our  ipse  dixit  on  the  point.  We  should  like  to  refer 
them  to  a  little  booklet  recently  issued,  called  Doctors  and 
Drinking,  wherein  are  reflected  the  opinions  of  men  of 
European  fame  in  the  medical  profession  on  this  subject, 
which  they  have  made  a  specialty.  We  would  wish  that 
all  our  readers  had  a  copy  of  it,  and  studied  it;  but  lest 
they  should  not  happen  to  come  across  it,  we  shall  insert 
here  a  few  short  quotations  as  samples.  Sir  Henry 
Thompson,  M.D.,  says :— - 

"  Let  us  put  alcoholic  liquor  in  its  proper  place,  namely, 
among  the  luxuries,  not  the  necessaries  oi  life.  Don't  take  your 
daily  glass  of  wine  under  any  pretext  of 'its  doing  yon  good.  Take 
it  frankly  as  a  luxury,  and  one  which  must  be  paid  for  ;  and, 
generally  speaking,  loss  of  health,  or  of  mental  power,  or  of 


520  Theobald  Mathew  Union 

calmness  of  temper  or  of  judgment  is  the  price.  I  am  quite 
satisfied  that  fermented  liquor  of  any  kind  is  unnecessary  as  an 
article  of  diet." 

Sir  Henry  Holland,  M.D.,  says  :— 

"  If  any  man  supposes  that  daily  drink,  even  in  small 
quantities,  is  conducive  to  health,  that  man  is  deluded." 

Sir  William  Gull,  M.D.,  says  :— 

"  It  is  one  of  the  commonest  things  that  persons  are  injured 
by  drink  without  being  drunkards.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  injury 
done  to  health  by  the  habitual  use  of  wine,  even  in  so-called 
moderate  quantities.  I  would  like  to  say  that  a  very  large  number 
of  people  are  dying  day  by  day  poisoned  by  alcohol.  I  think,  as  a 
rule,  you  may  stop  the  supply  of  alcohol  at  once  without  injury." 

So  much  for  this  pamphlet.  Let  us  add  the  opinion  of 
Sir  Benjamin  Ward  Richardson,  M.D.,  the  highest  living 
authority  on  alcohol :  it  was  given  to  the  writer  personally 
in  reply  to  the  following  question  :— 

"  May  persons,  even  old  persons,  accustomed  to  taking 
alcoholic  drinks  daily, .  disc  ontinue  them,  with  perfect  safety, 
entirely,  and  at  once  ?  " 

His  reply  was  : — 

"  I  never  saw  the  least  injury  to  result  from  the  absolute 
discontinuance  of  alcoholic  drinks,  at  once,  either  in  the  old  or 
the  young." 

If  the  opinions  of  such  men  as  these  do  not  bring  home 
conviction  to  the  mind,  nothing  that  we  can  say  is  likely,  we 
fear,  to  achieve  that  end. 

We  cannot  refrain,  here  and  in  this  connection,  from 
solemnly  arraigning  the  medical  profession  at  the  bar  of 
Divine  Justice,  and  charging  its  members  (with  a  few 
honourable  exceptions)  with  being  in  a  large  measure  the 
fons  et  origo  of  our  drinking  habits,  by  reason  of  their 
unscientific  and  unscrupulous  prescription  of  stimulants. 
This  is  strong  language,  is  it  not  ?  Listen  to  what  some  of 
their  own  body  say  of  them : — 

"  No  medical  man  should  prescribe  alcohol  without  a  sense  of 
the  gravest  responsibility.  There  was  a  time  when  medical 


Theobald  Mathew  Union  521 

men  gave  alcohol  right  and  left  in  a  manner  that  was  simply 
disgraceful." 

"  An  altogether  unjustifiable  amount  of  indiscriminate  stimulant 
ordering  is  indulged  in  by  physicians." 

"  Nothing  in  the  annals  of  quackery  can  be  more  truly 
empirical  than  the  mode  in  which  fermented  liquors  are  directed, 
or  permitted,  to  be  taken  by  a  large  proportion  of  medical 
practitioners." 

It  but  remains  for  us  to  say  that  this  "Theobald  Mathew 
Union  "  has  no  connection  with  the  League  of  the  Cross  or 
any  other  Temperance  organisation.  They  are  for  the 
people ;  this  is  for  ourselves.  It  is,  of  course,  more  than 
probable  that  priests  who  are  members  of  it  will  not  rest 
satisfied  until  they  have  introduced  the  blessings  of  a  Total 
Abstinence  Society  among  their  flocks,  or,  if  a  Temperance 
Association  already  exists  in  their  parishes,  that  they  will  be 
more  active  and  zealous  than  ever  in  working  it  up  and 
making  it  a  success. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  express  a  hope  that  before  we 
assemble  for  our  first  Congress,  our  numbers  may  be  largely 
augmented.  We  do  not  altogether  despair  of  ultimately 
seeing  many  hundred  names  on  our  Roll  of  Members,  which, 
after  all,  should  not  be  thought  an  over-sanguine  expectation 
when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  there  are  more  than  three 
thousand  priests  in  Ireland.  But  until  some  such  general 
move. as  this  takes  place  among  the  clergy,  the  temperance 
cause  will  be,  we  fear,  what  it  has  ever  been,  for  similar 
reasons,  a  sad  failure.  We  are  not  here  expressing  merely 
our  own  opinion,  which  is  valueless,  but  that  of  wiser  heads 
whose  hairs  have  grown  grey  in  the  service,  and  that 
opinion  is  borne  out  by  the  success  which  has  attended 
Temperance  organisation  in  America.  What  has  been 
done  there  could  surely  be  done  here,  and  more  easily. 
And  now,  with  the  writing  of  this  paper,  our  role  is 
played.  We  are  merely  the  mouthpiece  of  others  whose 
names  carry  weight  among  the  brethren,  and  to  whose 
personal  influence  with  them  we  look  for  the  success  which, 
we  trust,  may  attend  the  "  Union." 

Gor  Jesu  flagrans  amore  nostri,  inflamma  cor  nostrum 
amore  Tui. 

WALTER  O'BRIEN,  C.C. 


522 


SENECA:  HIS  SPANISH  TEANSLATOKS1 

IT  is  commonly  said  that  Spain  is  a  proud  nation — that 
her  sons  and  daughters  are  distinguished  from  other 
peoples  by  high-spirited — nay,  arrogant — assumption,  and  by 
an  audacious  and  insolent  bearing,  especially  in  their 
relations  with  foreigners.  How  far  these  statements  are 
correct,  the  writer  does  not  presume  to  determine,  as  he  has 
had  little  opportunity  of  testing  them  by  actual  observation 
or  experience,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  national  prejudice 
has  given  some  occasion  to  impressions  so  unfavourable  to 
that  nation  which,  as  it  is  the  most  Catholic,  should  be  the 
most  Christian  of  all  the  nations  of  Europe.  But  it  appears 
to  him  that,  at  all  events,  Spaniards  are  proud,  in  a  mitigated 
sense,  of  the  term — proud  of  their  country,  so  rich  in  natural 
gifts;  proud  of  their  race,  so  nobly  endowed  with  the  noblest 
talents  ;  proud  of  an  illustrious,  a  glorious  past.  This,  as 
we  may  term  it,  lawful  and  justifiable,  though  enthusiastic 
pride,  appears,  we  might  say,  in  every  page  of  their  grand 
old  classic,  Father  Juan  Mariana,  and  of  his  worthy  con- 
tinuator,  the  Greek-loving  Father  Joseph  Minana  and 
Don  Manuel  de  la  Vega,  of  the  former  of  whom  we  read  in 
his  biography,  "  So  great  was  his  love  of  the  Greek  language, 
that  at  the  hour  of  his  death  he  recited  the  '  Oar  Father  *' 
in  Greek."5  This  honest  and  natural  pride  is  well 
expressed,  and,  we  might  say  well  defended,  by  a  living 
Spanish  professor  of  St.  Isidore's  Institution,  Do  Felixn 
de  Casado,  who,  in  his  Promptuario  de  Historia,  thus 
writes  :— 

''There  are  three  features  of  the  Spanish  nation  which, 
through  the  whole  course  of  its  history,  seem  to  form  its 
special  physiognomy  and  the  spring  of  all  its  grand  transac- 
tions :  the  religious  sentiment,  without  which  Spain,  like  Syria, 
Egypt,  and  Barbary,  would  have  ceased  to  be  a  nation  ;  the  love 

1  Seneca  :    Tragedias — Traduccion  eii  verso,  por  Don  Anyelo    Lasso  de   la 
Vega.     Madrid,  1894. 

2  '•  De  tal  modo  amaba  esta  lenyua  (Griega)  quo  en  la  bora  de  su  muerfcs 
rezo  la  oracion  dominical  en  griego." 


Seneca  :  his  Spanish  Translators  523 

of  country,  for  whose  independence  our  ancestors  fought  for  two 
centuries  against  the  Eomans — one  century  against  the  Goths, 
and  eight  centuries  against  the  Arabs  ;  and,  in  fine,  monarchy, 
which  has  given  to  us  leaders  in  war,  sages  who  adorned  their 
times,  consummate  politicians,  illustrious  patrons  of  arts  and 
letters,  famous  legislators,  and,  in  fine,  saints  whose  virtues  and 
self-denial  we  venerate  on  our  altars.  Guzman  the  Good,  sacri- 
ficing his  son  on  the  altars  of  the  country,  lest  he  should  be 
faithless  to  the  oath  given  to  the  king  to  defend  Tarifa,  might  be 
the  emblem  of  the  national  character." 

It  is  needless  to  remark  that  one  of  the  great  glories 
of  Spain  is  the  splendid  literary  ability  of  its  sons  and 
daughters.  What  magnificent  works  have  been  produced 
by  Spaniards1  in  all  ages  !  What  other  country,  for  example, 
could  lay  claim  to  the  names  of  such  female  writers  as 
Donna  Isabel  de  Joya,  who,  having  obtained  extraordinary 
distinction  in  Spain,  passed  over  to  Kome  in  the  Pontificate 
of  Paul  III.,  and  there,  in  presence  of  the  Cardinals,  and,  as 
we  were  informed,  to  their  complete  satisfaction,  explained 
many  difficult  points  in  the  works  of  our  own  subtle  country- 
man, John  Duns  Scotus— as  Donna  Louisa  Sigea— who  in 
the  same  century  was  distinguished  as  an  eminent  linguist, 
and  who  being  perfectly  skilled  in  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew, 
Arabic,  and  Syriac,  addressed  a  lengthened  letter  in  these 
five  most  difficult  languages  to  the  reigning  Pope  Paul  III., 
as  St.  Theresa,  whose  literary  works  are,  perhaps,  more 

1  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  Castilian  literature  owes  not  a  little  to 
illustrious  Irish  writers,  who,  though  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  were,  by 
their  industry  and  talents,  enabled  to  acquire  so  extensive  and  perfect  a  know- 
ledge of  Spanish  as  to  present  important  and  lasting  additions  to  the  literature 
of  their  adopted  country.  Witness,  for  example,  the  case  of  the  celebrated 
Augustinian,  Father  Christoval  O'Malley,  who,  about  the  middle  of  last  century, 
was  eminently  distinguished  for  his  elegant  compositions  in  the  elegant 
Castilian.  In  the  preface  of  a  work  of  his,  published  at  Madrid,  in  1752,  he 
says  :  ' '  Nadie  estraue  que  siendo  yo  (con  mucha  dicha  mia)  Irlandes  de  Nacion 
me  haya  metido  a  escribir  en  Espaiiol  porque  fuera  de  la  apreciable  descendentia 
que  de  los  Espaiioles  nos  conceden  las  Historias  se  puede  decir  que  la  lengua 
Castellana  para  mi  Viene  a  ser  lengua  matema  pues  me  la  enseno  mi  amada 
madre  la  Religion  en  esta  santa  provincia  de  Castilla."  That  Irish  students 
were  in  Spain  an  important  body,  and  that  they  exercised  a  great  influence  even 
on  Spanish  university  life,  is  evident  from  Spanish  works  of  the  period.  In  the 
first  chapter  of  what  we  may  term  the  Spanish  romance  of  Gil  Bias  de  Santillane, 
we  see  an  allusion  to  this  fact,  expressed  in  a  somewhat  humorous  style : 
"  Encontrabame  algunas  veces  con  ciertas  figuras  Irlandeses  no,  menos  escolas- 
ti/ados  que  yo  y  entonces  era  indispensable  disputar.  Que  voces  !  que  patadas  L 
que  gestos  !  que  con  tors  iones!"—  Islet's  J'ersioii. 


524  Seneca :  his  Spanish  Translators 

surprising  than    those    stupendous    monastic   creations    of 
which  her  office  reminds  us. 

We  are  not,  then,  surprised  to  find  that  in  their  honest 
pride  Spaniards  have  long  memories.  They  fondly  treasure 
the  memory  of  later  literary  leaders,  but  they  do  not  forget 
more  ancient,  and  perhaps  more  distinguished,  ornaments  of 
their  race.  We  know,  in  fact,  that  the  influence  exercised 
by  Spanish  genius  on  ancient  classical  Latin  literature  was 
remarkable  and  extraordinary.  Few  other  portions  of  Roman 
territory  were  so  distinguished  for  valuable  contributions  to 
this  department  as  the  great  Western  Peninsula.  With  the 
exception  of  the  great  lights  which  shone  forth  in  the  golden 
age,  few  Latin  authors  could  surpass  the  illustrious  writers 
produced  by  Spain — writers  whose  works  have  attained  the 
highest  pinnacle  of  classical  perfection,  and  which  alone 
would  be  sufficient  to  render  Latin  literature  worthy  of  an 
everlasting  duration.  The  Senecas,  the  Lucans,  the  Martials, 
the  Quintilians,  and  many  others,  all  Spanish-born,  have 
acquired  the  strongest  titles  to  the  fame  of  the  highest 
literary  excellence.  Nor  is  this  pride  of  the  Spanish  nation 
a  mere  sentimental  feeling.  An  industrious  and  brilliant 
Spanish  litterateur,  Don  Angelo  Lasso  de  la  Vega,  has 
devoted  a  great  portion  of  his  time  and  his  talents  in 
demonstrating  the  claims  of  these  illustrious  classics  to 
the  esteem  of  posterity.  His  Traduccion  en  Verso,  of  the 
celebrated  Medea  of  Seneca  may  be  regarded  an  act  of 
literary  devotion  of  a  modern  Spaniard  towards  that  ancient 
Spanish  classic  who,  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Guadalquivir, 
in  the  third  year  of  our  era,  after  a  varied  life,  above  all  dis- 
tinguished for  the  performance  of  literary  wonders  in  rhetoric, 
poetry,  and  philosophy,  perished  by  the  order  of  that  same 
monster  to  whom  our  own  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  owed  their 
death.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  the  great  difficulty 
encountered  by  this  learned  and  painstaking  Spaniard,  Don 
Angelo  de  la  Vega,  in  translating  a  work  of  such  a  nature  as 
Seneca's  Medea.  It  might  be  safely  said  that,  in  compari- 
son, a  translation  of  the  older  Medea  of  Euripides  is  but 
child's  play.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have  had  in  English 
many  translations  in  verse  of  the  pla)Ts  of  Euripides,  without 


Seneca  :  his  Spanish  Translators  525 

at  all  speaking  of  numerous  prose  versions.  We  have 
had  metrical  translations  by  Potter,  by  Woodhall,  and 
by  Milman  ;  but  how  many  have  attempted  a  similar 
version  of  the  difficult  and  philosophical  Medea  of  Seneca. 
"  Yet,"  as  Don  Angelo  de  Vega  remarks,  "  the  Latin 
Medea  is  worthy  of  being  studied  and  regarded,  with 
reason,  as  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  very  best,  of 
the  tragedies  attributed  to  the  famous  Cordovan.  In  it 
the  true  poet  is  more  striking  than  even  the  dramatic 
author."  ; 

Most  classical  readers  are  well  acquainted  with  that 
wondrous  tragedy  composed  much  more  than  two  thousand 
years  ago  by  the  great  Greek  poet  whose  work  has  been 
the  wonder  of  his  own  and  all  succeeding  ages.  No  doubt 
the  sonorous  and  majestic  Greek  language  has  added  to  it  a 
charm  which  cannot  be  resisted.  The  subject  is,  indeed, 
one  of  harrowing  interest,  and  is  thus  neatly  expressed  by 
the  Spanish  translator  :— 

"  After  the  death  of  Pelias,  Jason  dwelt  with  his  spouse 
and  children  in  Corinth.  Creon  having  chosen  him  for 
son-in-law,  Medea  received  from  her  husband  a  declaration 
of  divorce,  and  from  the  king  an  order  to  look  for  another 
residence.  She  procured  the  favour  of  an  additional  day  to- 
prepare,  as  it  were,  for  her  departure,  and  availed  herself 
of  this  delay  in  order  to  s  end  to  Crensa,  the  bethrothed 
of  Jason,  a  robe  and  a  chaplet  (in  acknowledgment  of  the 
favour)  which  she  puts  on  and  perishes.  Creon,  also 
approaching  his  daughter,  is  destroyed,  and  Medea,  having 
slaughtered  her  children,  escapes  to  Athens  carried  through 
the  air." 


It  is  stated  by  an  intelligent  living  critic  (Professor 
K.  C.  Jebb),  that  "  of  the  three  great  Greek  tragedians, 
Euripides  has  been  the  most  generally  popular ;  his  home- 
liness and  his  unrestrained  pathos  bring  him  nearer  to 
every-day  life."  This  description  is  signally  applicable  to 
his  Medea,  and,  to  quote  but  one  instance,  we  see  it 
illustrated  in  the  passage  beginning  line  45  (Person's  ed.), 
where  the  nurse,  soliloquizing  on  the  domestic  misfortunes 


.526  Seneca  :  his  Spanish  Translators 

of  her  mistress,  and  seeing  the  children  come  from  their 
playthings,  bursts  out  :  — 

"  But  lo  !  returning  from  their  sport,  her  sons 

Draw  near  ;  they  think  not  of  their  mother's  woes 
For  youthful  souls  are  strangers  to  affliction."  J 

And,  we  might  say,  in  the  same  scene  after  descanting  to 
the  tutor  on  the  enormity  of  Jason's  conduct,  she  thus 
addresses  the  children  :  — 

"  Hear,  O  ye  children,  how  your  father's  soul 
Is  turned  against  you  :  still  that  he  may  perish 
I  do  not  pray,  because  he  is  my  lord  ; 
Yet  treacherous  to  his  friends  hath  he  been  found."5 

Here  is  true  pa  thos,  and  the  tutor  makes  the  homely  and 
somewhat  materialistic  reply  :  — 

"  Who  is  not  treacherous?     Hast  thou  lived  so  long 
Without  discerning  how  self-love  prevails 
O'er  social?     Some  by  glory,  some  by  gain, 
Are  prompted.     Then  what  wonder,  for  the  sake 
Of  a  new  consort,  if  the  father  slight 
These  children  ?"  3 

But  in  the  lines  of  Seneca  there  appears  to  be  a  much 
greater  display  of  art  —  a  much  greater  array  of  technical 
and.  scientific  knowledge.  "  Seneca,"  as  Don  Angelo  de 
Vega  says,  "  es  un  autor  sententioso  dado  ahacer  philosophos 
a  sus  personages  en  los  que  amengua  la  fuerza  de  la  expresion 
cuando  sola  la  pasion  debe  hablar."  Hence  the  difficulty 
encountered  by  the  devoted  Spanish  critic  in  preparing 
a  verse  translation  of  the  Medea  of  his  classic  idol. 
"Euripides,"  says  Professor  Jebb,  "has  pathos  and  home- 
liness." He  is,  therefore,  in  comparison  easily  rendered 
into  a  foreign  language.  For  the  past  two  thousand  years 


6'iSe  Traidfs  €K  rpox&v  7re7rau/zeW 

fj-rjrpbs  ouSei/  fwoovjjifvoi 
Vfct  yap  (ppovrls  OVK  a\yelv  (pi\el. 

2  a>  TfK.v\  aKovf  $'  oios  (Is  v/zas  Trarrjp  ; 
oiXoiro  fifv  /i»),  dea-iroTijs  yap  eaT  epos 
arap  KQKOS  y:u>v  els  (piXovs  d\irrK€Tai. 

ris  S'oi^i  6vr\rw  ;  dpn  yr/i/a>0-Kei?  roSe  ; 
wy  TTO.S  TIS  avrbv  TOV  TreXay  /JLO\\OV 


Seneca  :  his  Spanish  Translators  527 

there  has,  indeed,  been  no  lack  of  such  translations.  Before 
that  period  the  ancient  poet  Q.  Ennius,  as  quoted  by  Cicero 
(Ad  Herennium),  supplied  a  translation  of  the  Medea  and 
the  passage  : 

"  Ah  !  would  to  heaven,  the  Argo  ne'er  had  urged 
Its  rapid  voyage  to  the  Colchian  strand 
'Twixt  the  Cyaneen  rocks,  nor  had  the  pine 
Been  felled  in  Pelion's  forest,"  '  &c. 

was  rendered  by  the  words  reproduced  by  Person:  — 

"  Utinam  ne  in  nemore  Pelio  securibus 
Caesa  cecidisset  abjegna  ad  terram  trabes 
Neve  inde  navis  inchoandae  exordium 
Coepisset,  &c." 

"Seneca,"  says  De  Vega,  <(is  sententious  and  philosophical; 
he  is  an  elaborate  and  a  learned  poet,  and  therefore  we  can 
conceive  the  extent  of  the  labour  which  the  Spanish  critic 
imposed  on  himself."  That  Seneca  is  thus  superior  to  his 
Grecian  predecessor,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  prove.  As 
to  arrangement  of  his  dialogue  he  stands  unquestionably 
high.  Take,  for  instance,  the  interview  between  Medea 
and  Creon,in  which  after  his  declaration  of  her  banishment, 
she  boldly  asks  :  — 

"Quod  crimen  aut  quae  culpa  multatur  fuga? 
(Creon)  Quae  causa  pellat,  innocens  mulier  rogat 
(Med.)  Si  judicas,  cognosce  ;  si  regnas,  jube. 

Qui  statuit  aliquid,  parte  inaudita  altera 
Aequum  licet  statuerit  haud  aequus  fuit." 

Here  is  the  sententious,  the  elaborate,  the  philosophical 
poet,  far  superior,  as  we  conceive,  to  Euripides  in  presenting 
the  same  scene.  For  their  deep  learning  the  lines  of 
Seneca  are  to  be  highly  prized.  We  would  refer  to  two  or 
three  passages  —  for  example  to  the  monologue  of  Medea  at 
the  commencement  of  the  tragedy,  to  the  Epithalamum  of 
the  Chorus,  and  to  the  address  of  Medea  to  Creon  beginning 
with  the  lines  (verse  205)  :  — 

"  Difficile  quam  sit  animum  ab  ira  flectere 
Jam  concitatum,  quamque  regale  hoc  putet 
Sceptris  superbas  quisquis  admovet  manus 
Qua  cepit  ire." 


€S  CUKV)  K.T.A. 


528  Seneca  :  Ms  Spanish  Translators 

The  whole  speech,  ending  at  line  250,  is  most  learned  and 
philosophical,  every  line  as  she  advances  abounding  in 
profound  classical  allusions,  and  dexterously  terminates  in 
the  appeal  :— 

"  Terra  hac  miseriis  angtilum  et  sedem  rogo 
Latebrasque  viles  (urbe  si  pelli  placet) 
Detur  remotus  aliquis  in  regno  locus  ;" 

a  petition  thus  rendered  by  De  Vega  : — 

"  Un  pedazo  de  tierra  solo  otorgame. 
En  el  mi  vida  solitaria  pase 
Si  de  aqui  me  destierras,  no  me  niegues, 
Un  refugio  no  mas,  el  mas  distante, 
En  toda  la  extesion  de  tus  Estados 
Esta  corta  merced  no  has  de  rehusarme." 

We  might  quote  many  more  passages  from  the  laborious 
work  of  Don  Angel  de  la  Vega,  this  great  enthusiast  for 
the  literary  glory  of  Spain,  but  we  have  said  enough  to 
prove  that  Seneca  is  a  writer  of  high  classical  excellence,  and 
one  whose  works  both  in  verse  and  prose  merit  from  our 
generation  a  portion,  at  least,  of  the  attention  paid  to  them 
in  past  ages.  "  For,"  as  De  Vega  in  his  preface  reminds 
us,  "  from  an  early  period  in  the  Middle  Ages  Seneca  was 
lauded  and  esteemed  by  the  learned  both  as  a  philosopher  and 
a  poet.  The  most  distinguished  writers  of  the  Court  or 
Don  John  II.  translated  extensively  his  Latin  works,  nor 
did  they  omit  to  render  into  the  vernacular  after  the  example 
of  the  Italians,  the  tragedies  of  the  Cordovan  poet." 

A.  MACATJLAY,  P.P. 


[     529     ] 


A  HUNDRED  GOOD  BOOKS  FOR  YOUNG  PRIESTS 

SPECIAL1 

1.  The  Douay  Bible. 

2.  Missale  Eomanum. 

3.  Eituale  Eomanum. 

4.  The  Imitation  of  Christ. 

5.  Memoriale  Vitae  Sacerdotalis. 

6.  Acta  et  Decreta  Synodi  Manutianae. 

DOGMATIC   THEOLOGY2 

7.  Praelectiones  Theologicae.     PERRONE.     4  vols. 

8.  Theologiae  Dogniaticae  Compendium.     HURTER.    SJvols. 

9.  Summa  Theologica  SANCTI  THOMAE  AQUINATIS.     8  vols. 

10.  BILLUART  :  Cursus  Theologiae.     10  vols. 

11.  FRANZELIN  :   De  Deo     Uno;     De    Deo   Trino;   De    Verbo 

Incarnate ;  De  Divina  Traditione  et  Scriptura.     4  vols. 

12.  MAZZELLA  :  De  Gratia ;  De  Ecclesia.     2  vols. 

13.  MURRAY  :  De  Ecclesia  Christi.     3  vols. 

MOEAL  THEOLOGY3 

14.  Theologia  Moralis.     GURY-BALLERINI.     2  vols. 

15.  Theologia  Moralis.     LEHMKUKL.     2  vols. 

16.  Theologia  Moralis.     St.  ALPHON&US  LIGUORI.     6  vols. 

17.  De  Actibus  Humanis,     WALSH.     1  vol. 

18.  De  Impediments  et  Dispensationibus  Matrimonialibus.  FEIJE. 

1vol. 

19.  CROLLY  :    De    Justitia    et    Jure.      De    Contractibus.      De 

Eestitutione.     3  vols. 

1  We  take  it  for  granted  that,  in  addition   to   the  Breviary,  every  young 
priest  has  secured  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  and  a  Manual  of  Piety 
containing  the  form  of  morning  and  night  prayers,  &c. 

2  "We  give  here  Perron  e  and  Hurter,  as  being  the  elementary  treatises  most 
generally  in  use ;  but  several  other  compendiums  of  Dogmatic  Theology  are 
also  highly  recommended,  such  as  Schouppe's  Elementa  Theologiae  Dogmaticae; 
Father   Bernard  Tape's,  Ins titituti ones  Theologicae;    Father  David's   Theologia 
Dogmatica  Gene  raits,  and  the  Praelectiones   Dogmaticae   (not  yet  complete)   of 
Father  Pesch,  S.J.     Any  two  sets  of  these  will  satisfy  the  purpose  we  have  in 
view.     We  may  also  recommend  under  this  heading,   The,  Relations  of  Church 
to  Society,  by  Father  Edmund  O'Reilly,   S.J.,  recently  re-edited  by  Father 
Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

3  Those  who  cannot  easily  procure  the  work  of  St.  Alphonsus  might  find  it 
possible  to  invest  in  the  treatise  by  Father  Joseph  Aertnys,  C.SS.R.,  entitled 
Theologia  Moralis  juxta  Doctrinam  Sancti  A.lphcnsi.    2  vols.    This  is  an  admirable 
work,  and  we  should  not  hesitate  to  include  it  in  our  list  were  we  not  obliged  to 
confine  ourselves  within  narrow  limits. 

VOL.  XVII.  2  L 


530          A  Hundred  Good  Books  for  Young  Priests 

20.  Les    Indulgences,     Leur     Nature     et     Leur     Usage.      By 

E.  P.  BEEINGEE.      Translated  by  E.  E.  Abt  and  Feyerstein. 

2  vols.     Paris  :  Lethielleux. 

CANON   LAW1 

21.  Praelectiones   Juris   Canonici   ad    Usum    Sem.    S.     Sulpitii. 

3  vols. 

22.  CEAISSON  :  Manuale  Totius  Juris  Canonici.     3  vols. 

SACRED    SCRIPTURE  2 

23.  Biblia  Sacra.     The  Latin  Vulgate. 

24.  LAMY  :  Introductio  in  Sacram  Scripturam.     2  vols. 

25.  MENOCHIUS  :  Expositio  Totius  Scripturae.     3  vols. 

2t5.  M'EviLLY  :  Commentaries  on  the  Gospels,  Epistles,  and  Acts 
of  the  Apostles.     6  vols. 

27.  ESTIUS  :  In  Omnes  Canonicas  Apostolorum  Epistolas.    3  vols. 

28.  PICONIO  :  Triplex  Expositio.     3  vols. 

29.  BELLAEMINE  :  Explanatio  in  Psalmos.     1  vol. 

30.  MACAETHY  :  Epistles  and   Gospels  of  the  Sundays  through- 

out the  Year.     2  vols. 

31.  STEENKISTE  :  Commentarius  in  Omnes   Sancti   Pauli   Epis- 

tolas.    2  vols.     In  Actus  Apostolorum,     1  vol. 

32.  Concordance.     DUTEIPON. 

RUBRICS  AND  LITURGY 

33.  Pontificale  Eomanum.     Caerimoniale  Episcoporum.     2  vols. 

34.  DE  HEEDT  :  Sacrae  Liturgiae  Praxis.     3  vols. 

35.  O'KANE  :  Notes  on  the  Eubrics  of  the  Eoman  Eitual. 

36.  O'LEAEY  :  Pontificalia.  The  Ceremonies  of  Ordination.  2  vols. 

37.  O'LoAN :  The  Ceremonies  of  Some  Ecclesiastical  Functions. 

38.  Dom  GUEEANGEE  :  The  Liturgical  Year. 

1  For  the  Canonical  aspects  of  Matrimony  we  recommend  Mgr.  Gasparri's 
"  Tractatus  Canonicus  de  Matrimonio,"  2  vols.  Those  who  have  the  works  of 
DeAngelis,  or  of  Father  Santi,  could  easily  dispense  with  Craisson  orlcard. 

•  -  It  would  be  a  great  advantage  to  any  priest  also  to  have  the  work  of 
Maldonatus,  Comment arium  in  Quatuor  Evangelistas,  and,  if  possible,  the 
Commentary  of  Cornelius  A  Lapide.  We  hesitate,  however,  to  place  them  on 
the  list,  as  we  wish  to  keep  within  moderate  bounds.  We  should  not  fail  to 
recommend  the  works  of  the  Abbe  Vigouroux,  and  especially  La  JBible  et  Les 
Decouvertes  Modcrnes.  On  some  fundamental  questions  the  Spicilegium  Dogmatico- 
Biblicum  of  Father  Joseph  Corluy,  S.  J.,  is  particularly  good.  On  the  Psalms, 
besides  Bellarmine's,  the  best  short  commentaries  are  those  of  Father  Schouppe 
and  St.  Liguori.  A  very  useful  and  practical  little  volume  is  that  recently 
published  by  Father  Kenelm  Vaughan,  entitled,  A  Scripture  Text-Book. 


A  Hundred  Good  Books  for  Young  Priests          531 

39.  Hierurgia,    or    The    Holy     Sacrifice     of     the    Mass.      By 

Dr.  DANIEL  BOCK.     2  vols. 

PASTORAL   THEOLOGY 

40.  Homo  Apostolicus.     ST.  LIGUORI. 

41.  JOSEPH  FRASSINETTI  :    The    New    Parish    Priests'    Manual. 

Translated  from  the  Italian  by  Canon  Hutch. 

42.  Fr.   BENEDICT   VALUY,    S.J. :    Directorium    Sacerdotale.     A 

Guide  for  Priests. 

43.  Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 

44.  GAUME  :  Catechism  of  Perseverance.     4  vols. 

APOLOGETICS 

45.  PAUL    SCHANZ,   D.D.  :     A     Christian   Apology.     Translated 

from  the  German,  by  Glancy  and  Schobel.     3  vols. 

46.  Natural    and    Eevealed     Eeligion,     by     Mgr.     HETTINGEK. 

Translated  by  Bowden. 

47.  WISEMAN  :  Eelations  between  Science  and  Revealed  Religion. 

48.  MOLLOY  :  Geology  and  Revelation. 

49.  MANNING  :  Religio  Viatoris. 

50.  NEWMAN  :  Grammar  of  Assent. 

CONTROVERSIAL 
•51.  WISEMAN  :  Lectures  on  the  Church. 

52.  NEWMAN  :    Apologia.      Present    Position    of     Catholics    in 

England. 

53.  MILNER  :  End  of  Religious  Controversy. 

PATROL OGY 

54.  JOSEPH    FESSLER  :      Institutiones     Patrologiae,    Innsbruck. 

2   vols. 

HISTORY 

55.  FREDET  :  Ancient  and  Modern  History.     2  vols. 

56.  ALZOG  :  Universal  Church  History.    4  vols.    Or,  The  General 

History  of  the  Church.     By  the  Abbe  Darras.     Translated 
from  the  French  by  Archbishop  Spalding. 

57.  GILMARTIN'S  Manual  of  Church  History.     2  vols. 

58.  BRENNAN'S  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland.     1  vol. 
>59.  MALONE'S  Church  History  of  Ireland.     2  vols. 

60.  St.  Patrick,  Apostle  of  Ireland.      By  Rev.   JOHN  MORRIS,  of 
the  Oratory. 


532          A  Hundred  Good  Books  for  Young  Priests 

61.  HAVERTY'S  History  of  Ireland,  1vol.     Or  Joyc'es,  2  vols. 

62.  LINGARD'S  History  of  England. 

63.  MONTALEMBERT  :  Monks  of  the  West.     6  vols. 

64.  Ireland's  Ancient  Schools  and  Scholars.     1  vol.    By  the  Most 

Eev.  Dr.  HEALY,  Coadjutor-Bishop  of  Clonfert. 

65.  Cromwell  in  Ireland.     By  Eev.  DENIS  MURPHY,  S.J.     1  vol. 

66.  Battle  of  the  Faith  in  Ireland.     By  Canon  O'EouRKE.     1  vol. 

67.  Young  Ireland.     By  Sir  CHARLES  GAVAN  DUFFY. 

68.  New  Ireland.     By  A.  M.  SULLIVAN. 

69.  History   of    the    Catholic    Church    in    Scotland.     By    Dr. 

BELLESHEIM.     Translated  by  Dr.   Oswald  Hunter  Blair, 
O.S.B. 

PHILOSOPHY 

70.  ZIGLIARA  :  Summa  Philosophica.     3  vols. 

71.  BALHES  :  Fundamental  Philosophy.     2  vols. 

72.  Fr.  HARPER,  S.J.  :  The  Metaphysics  of  the  Schools,      3  vols. 

73.  Political  Economy.      By  C.  S.  DEVAS.      (Stonyhurst  Series.) 

74.  W.  G.  WARD  :  The  Philosophy  of  Theism. 

HOMILETICS  2 

75.  POTTER  :  Sacred  Eloquence. 

76.  LOHNER  :  Manuel  du  Predicateur.     3  vols. 

77.  St.  LIGUORI  :  Sermons  for  Sundays  and  Holidays. 

78.  McNAMARA  :  Programmes  of  Sermons  and  Instructions. 

79.  BOURDALOUE.     Sermons  for  Sundays  and  Festivals. 

80.  MASSILLON.     Conferences. 

81.  Eepertorium  Oratoris  Sacri.     4  vols. 

SPIEITUAL3 

82.  The  Life  of  Our  Life.     By  Father  Coleridge,  S.J.    2  vols. 

83.  The  Spiritual  Combat.     By  LAURENCE  SCUPOLI. 

84.  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola. 

1  "We  strongly  recommend  to  all  priests  who  are  specially  interested  in  the 
study  of  Irish  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  work  of  Dr.  Lanigan,  entitled,  Ecclesias- 
tical History  of  Ireland,  in  4  vols.     This  work  is  now  out  of  print,  but  can  be 
got  frequently  at  auctions.     Another  most  valuable  work  which  is  out  of  print, 
but  can  be  similarly  obtained,  is  that  of  Cardinal  Moran,  entitled,   Essays  on  the 
Origin,  Doctrines,   and  Dicipline  of  the  Early   Irish    Church.      An  invaluable 
repertory  of  information  and  work  of  reference  for  the  early  ecclesiastical  history 
of  Ireland  is  Canon  O'Hanlon's  Lives  of  the  Irish  Saints. 

2  "We  may  also  mention  the  excellent  series  of  Sermons  of  Father  Hunolt,  S.  J., 
translated   into   English  by  the   Rev.    J.  Allen,  D.D.,  also  a  recent  work  of 
much  value,  entitled,  Sermons,  by  the  Very  Rev.  Arthur  Canon  Ryan,  President 
of  St.  Patrick's  College,  Thurles. 

3  Although  the  works  of  Didon,  Fouard,  Maas,  on  the  Life  of  Our  Lord,, 


A  Hundred  Good  Books  for  Young  Priests  533 

B5.  Christian  Perfection.     By  Fr.  ALPHONSUS  KODEIGUEZ. 

86.  Meditations  for  the  Use  of  the  Secular  Clergy.  Translated 
from  the  French  of  Father  Chaignon,  S.J.,  2  vols. ;  or, 
Practical  Meditations  for  Every  Day  in  the  Year,  2  vols. 

•87.    SCHOUPPE  :  Meditationes  Sacerdotales. 

88.  The   Divine   Office.     Translated   from   the   French   of   the 

Abbe  BACUEZ. 

89.  Zeal  in  the  Ministry,  from  the  French  of  the  Abbe  Dubois. 

SACKED   MUSIC 

90.  F.  X.  HABEEL  :  Magister  Choralis. 

91.  Graduale.     Antiphonarium. 

92.  Officium  Defunctorum  et  Ordo  Exsequiarum.    Edited  by  His 

Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

SECULAR   MUSIC 
'93.  MOOEE'S  Melodies.     The  Spirit  of  the  Nation. 

LITERATURE 

94.  A  collection  of  British  Poets,  including  Shakespeare,  Milton, 

Pope,  Byron,  Wordsworth,  Burns,  Tennyson. 

95.  A  collection  of  British  Prose  Writers,  including  Addison, 

Dickens,  Thackeray,  Scott,  Macaulay,  Carlyle. 

96.  The  Divine  Comedy  of  Dante. 

97.  The  Prose   Works  of  Miss  Edgeworth,  Samuel  Lover,  and 

Charles  Kickham. 

98.  The  Poems  of  Mangan,  D'Arcy  M'Gee,  and  Aubrey  de  Vere. 

99.  The  Cabinet  of  Irish  Literature. 

100.  A  Good  English  Pronouncing  Dictionary. 

We  are  quite  sure  that  many  of  our  readers  will  consider  that 
several  important  works  have  been  omitted  from  this  list  which 
should  have  been  mentioned,  and  that  some,  at  least,  have  been 
recommended  which  might  as  well  have  been  left  out.  There  may, 

might  be  included  in  our  list  of  Scriptural  authors,  they  may  be  very  appro- 
priately mentioned  here  as  well. 

Of  course  the  lives  of  the  saints  are  also  most  necessary ;  particularly 
those  of  such  saints  as  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  St.  Liguori,  St.  Vincent  de  Paul, 
St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  St.  Theresa, 
The  Cure  of  Ars,  &c.,  and  some,  at  least,  of  our  native  Irish  saints.  Want  of 
space  alone  prevents  us  from  including  the  spiritual  works  of  St.  Francis 
of  Sales,  especially  his  treatises  on  the  Love  of  God  and  on  A  Devout  Life  ;  also 
the  Selva  and  Way  of  Salvation  of  St.  Liguori,  and  the  Hidden  Treasure  of 
St.  Leonard  of  Port  Maurice,  besides  several  of  the  works  of  Father  Faber 
.and  Cardinal  Manning1. 


534  Theological  Notes 

indeed,  be  some  fault  to  find  with  details ;  but,  in  the  main, 
we  think  that  we  have  given  a  place  to  all  the  works  that 
are  essential  to  a  priest  for  the  ordinary  discharge  of  his 
functions.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  we  were  asked 
not  for  the  hundred  best  books,  but  for  a  hundred  good  books ; 
and  that  our  object  was  not  to  make  recommendations  for  the 
ideal  library  of  a  priest,  but  for  the  library  of  a  young  priest 
beginning  life,  who,  either  during  his  student  days  or  afterwards, 
might  be  induced  to  spend  his  money  on  works  of  less  urgent 
necessity,  whilst  he  had  made  no  provision  for  the  essential 
requirements  of  the  ministry.  We  have,  therefore,  confined  our- 
selves almost  to  the  minimum,  and  we  are  of  opinion  that  until 
most  of  the  works  included  in  our  list  are  procured,  money  should 
not  be  wasted  on  others.  Of  course,  no  hard-and-fast  lines  can  be 
laid  down  as  to  individual  works,  and  if  anyone  has  any  fault  to 
find  with  our  list,  or  any  suggestions  to  make,  we  shall  feel  only 
too  happy  to  give  him  an  opportunity  of  expressing  his  views  in 
the  pages  of  the  I.  E.  EECORD.  If  we  were  not  limited  to  a  hundred 
books,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  we  should  have  made  our  list 
much  larger,  and  that  we  should  have  extended  it  particularly  in 
the  departments  of  Dogmatic  Theology,  Scripture,  History,  and 
Literature.  Taking  all  things  into  account,  however,  we  think 
that  the  zealous  correspondent  who  first  asked  us  for  this  list  was. 
right  in  confining  himself  and  us  to  a  hundred  good  books. 

ED.  I.  E.  E. 


ftbeological  IRotes 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

TESTIMONIAL  LETTERS  OF  POSTULANTS  ENTERING-  RELIGION 
EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — 1.  Is  it  contrary  to  ecclesiastical  custom  for 
a  curate  of  a  neighbouring  parish  to  come  into  a  parish,  the 
parish  priest  and  his  highly-respected  curate  being  present,  and 
to  personally  convey  a  respectable  parishioner's  daughter  to  the 
convent  for  the  purpose  of  entering  religion  ?  Is  this  a  matter 
not  likely  to  lessen  the  parochial  clergy,  who  were  never  consulted? 
Is  it  a  matter  that  the  parish  priest  should  pass  over  ?  or  would 
he  be  conscientiously  bound  to  ask  the  superioress  that  a  repetition 
may  not  occur  ?  I  assume,  of  course,  that  the  parochial  clergy 
are  willing  and  ready  to  act  in  every  way  for  the  young  lady  and 
parents,  if  only  asked  or  consulted. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  535 

2.  Is  it  in  no  way  contrary  to  Canon  Law  and  to  ecclesiastical 
usage,  that  the  entry  into  religion  should  be  kept  as  a  dead  secret 
from  the  parish  priest  ?  and  is  there  no  testimonial  necessary  as 
to  the  postulant's  ante  actam  vitam  et  mores  ?  Is  it  only  required 
that  the  novice  should  have  the  consent  of  her  parents  and  the 
approval  of  her  confessor,  to  be  ushered  into  the  religious  life  by 
any  friendly  priest  who  may  offer  his  services  for  the  occasion? 
—Yours  sincerely,  SUBSCRIBER. 

We  abstain  from  discussing  the  questions  of  mere 
ecclesiastical  usage  or  etiquette  raised  by  our  correspon- 
dent. Our  opinion  in  these  matters  could  not  increase 
or  dimmish  the  weight  of  his  own.  As  regards  the  strict 
law  of  the  case,  we  think  that  religious  superiors  are  bound 
to  make  inquiries  regarding  the  antecedents  of  their 
postulants ;  but  the  parish  priest  of  the  postulant  cannot 
claim  the  exclusive  right  to  supply  this  information.  We 
take  it  that  our  correspondent's  chief  difficulty  is  this. 
Testimonial  letters  are,  he  rightly  assumes,  required  by 
postulants  entering  religious  communities  of  men.  Is  the 
same  true  of  postulants  entering  convents  of  nuns  ?  And 
by  whom  should  the  testimonial  letters  be  given  ? 

To  clear  up  this  difficulty  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish 
(1)  between  religious  orders  or  congregations  of  men  and  of 
women ;  and  (2)  between  religious  orders  in  the  strict  sense 
and  other  congregations. 

The  present  discipline  as  regards  those  entering  any 
order  or  congregation  of  men  is  clearly  set  forth  in  the  decree 
Eomani  Pontifices,  25th  January,  1848  : — 

' '  In  [quocumque  ordine,  Congregatione,  Societate,  Institute, 
monasterio,  domo,  sive  in  iis  emittantur  vota  solemnia,  Rive 
simplicia  .  .  .  nemo  ad  habitum  admittatur  absque  testimonialibus 
literis  turn  Ordinarii  origmis  turn  etiam  Ordinarii  loci,  in  quo 
postulans  post  expletum  decimum  quintum  .annum  aetatis  suae 
ultra  annum  moratus  fuerit. 

"  Ordinarii  in  praefatis  literis  testimonialibus  postquam  dili- 
genter  exquisiverint  etiam  per  secretas  informationes  de  postulantis 
qualilatibus,  referre  debeant  de  ejus  natalibus,  aetate,  moribus, 
vita  fama,  conditione,  educatione,  scientia,  an  sit  inquisitus 
aliqua  censura,  irregularitate,  aut  alio  canonico  impedimento 
irretitus,  aere  alieno  gravatus  vel  reddendae  alicujus  administra- 
tionis  rationi  obnoxius." 


536  Theological  Notes 

From  a  subsequent  declaration  of  Pius  IX.  1st  May,  1851, 
we  learn  that,  if  the  Ordinary  is  unable  or  unwilling  to 
give  testimonial  letters,  postulants  may  be  admitted, 

"  Dummodo  tamen  testimonialium  defectui  per  aliaui  accura- 
tum  informationem,  et  fide  dignam  relationem  suppleatur  .  .  . 
et  postulantes  antequam  ad  habitum  admittantur,  maneant 
saltern  per  tres  menses  in  conventu,  ibique  diligenter,  probentur."  ' 

(a)  The  superiors  of  orders  or  congregations,  before 
admitting  a  postulant,  are,  therefore,  bound  to  seek  infor- 
mation regarding  his  antecedents,  qualifications,  and 
dispositions,  and  this  information  is  to  be  furnished  by 
testimonial  letters  from  the  bishop  of  the  postulant.  The 
bishop,  of  course,  will  sometimes  have  to  rely  on  the 
testimony  of  the  parish  priest.  In  the  event  of  the  bishop 
not  granting  testimonials,  the  superiors  of  the  religious 
order  are  bound  to  seek  information  elsewhere,  and  they 
would,  in  many  cases,  naturally  seek  it  from  the  parish 
priest  of  the  postulant. 

The  legislation  of  Pius  IX.  does  not  affect  nuns,  whether 
their  vows  be  solemn  or  simple.  The  admission  of  postulants 
into  orders  of  nuns  with  solemn  vows  is  regulated  by  the 
Council  of  Trent,  Sess.  25.  De  Eegul.  :— 

"  San  eta  Synodus  statuit  atque  decernit,  ut  si  puella  quae 
habitum  regularem  suscipere  vomerit,  major  duodecem2  annis  sit, 
non  ante  eum  suscipiat  nee  postea  ipsa  vel  alia  professionem 
emittat,  quam  exploraverit  episcopus,  vel  eo  absente  vel  impedito 
ejus  vicarius  .  .  .  virginis  voluntatem  diligenter  .  .  .  habueritque 
conditiones  requisitas  juxta  monasterii  illius  et  ordinis  regulam, 
necnon  monasterium  fuerit  idoneum,  libere  ei  profited  liceat." 

(a)  For  those,  therefore,  entering  orders  of  nuns  that 
have  solemn  vows,  testimonial  letters  from  the  bishop  are 
not  necessary,  (b)  The  superiors,  however,  are  bound  to 
make  suitable  inquiries  regarding  the  postulants,  (c)  There 
is  no  rule  of  common  law  obliging  them  to  make  these 
inquiries  from  the  parish  priest  or  the  bishop  of  the  postulant. 
(d)  To  give  a  better  opportunity  of  learning  the  antecedents 
of  postulants,  and  of  proving  their  dispositions,  they  are  not 

1  Vid.  Lucidi,  De  Visitatione  Sacrorum  Liminum,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  86-98. 

2  By  a  decree  S.  Cong.  Episc.  et  Reg.,  May  23rd,  1659,  the  age  is  raised  to 
fifteen  complete. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  537 

Tisually  admitted  to  the  novitiate  for  several  months  after 
entering  the  convent. 

These  provisions  of  the  Council  of  Trent  are  not  strictly 
binding  on  those  orders  of  nuns  whose  vows  are  not  solemn. 
But,  manifestly,  it  is  expedient  that  the  same  care  and 
supervision  should  be  exercised  on  the  admission  of  their 
novices,  and  so  we  find  that  the  provisions  of  Trent  are 
followed  in  most,  if  not  all,  congregations. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  admission  of  postulants  only  in 
so  far  as  it  is  affected  by  the  common  law.  In  particular 
-orders  or  dioceses  there  may,  of  course,  be  special  legislation 
which  would  modify  what  we  have  said. 

TWO   HONORARIA.   ON    SUNDAYS 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — 1.  When  is  it  lawful  to  take  a  second 
•stipend  for  the  application  of  the  Mass  on  Sundays  or  holidays  ? 
2.  Is  it  lawful  to  take  a  stipend  for  the  second  Mass  on 
Sunday,  when  one  has  not  said  his  first  Mass  for  a  stipend  ? 

BlNANS. 

1.  The    general  rule    is    that,   even    when   one  binates 
lawfully,  it   is   de  jure  ecclesiastico  unlawful  to  take  two 
stipends  for  the  application  of  the  Mass  on  the  same  day. 
The  following  cases,  however,  are  exceptions  :  (a)  a  priest 
may   take   three    stipends    for    the    three  Masses  that  he 
celebrates  on  Christmas  Day  ;  (b)  a  parish  priest  who  has 
two  parishes,  and  finds  it  necessary  to  binate,  may  fulfil  both 
his  obligations  of  celebrating  pro  populo,  though,  of  course, 
he  virtually  receives  a  stipend  for  each  of  the  Masses.     The 
same  would  hold  of  a  bishop  who  might  find  it  necessary  to 
binate  in  order  to  fulfil  his  obligation  to  his  diocese,  and  to 
•a  parish  that  he  retains  in  his  own  hands ;  (c)  any  priest 
may  take  a  second  stipend  in  virtue  of  a  papal  indult  or  a 
dispensation.     Some  bishops,  in  virtue  of  special  faculties, 
•can  grant  such  a  dispensation. 

2.  This  question    has   been    answered    more  than  once 
in  the  I.  E.  RECORD,  and  we  see  no  reason  to  depart  from  the 
•answers  given.     It  is,  we  believe,  lawful  to  take  the  stipend 
for  either  of  the  Masses,  provided  no  stipend  be  taken  for 

other.      The   obvious  intent  of  the  prohibition  is  to 


538  Liturgical  Notes 

remove  the  temptation  to  binate  intuitu  stipendii.  This 
end  is  fully  attained  by  merely  forbidding  the  taking  of  two 
stipends ;  nor  does  it  seem  in  any  way  necessary  or  useful  to 
forbid  a  stipend  for  the  second  Mass  absolutely.  Again,  if  a 
parish  priest  says  two  Masses  on  Sunday,  the  first  in  a 
convent  or  in  a  private  oratory,  the  second  in  his  church 
coram  populo,  few,  we  think,  would  contend  that  he  is  bound 
to  apply  the  first  Mass,  pro  populo.  And  yet  if  he  discharges 
his  obligation  of  celebrating  pro  populo  at  his  second  Mass, 
he  will  really  take  a  stipend  for  his  second  Mass.  According 
to  our  view,  it  would  be  not  merely  lawful  for  him  to  offer 
the  second  Mass,  pro  populo^  and  therefore  to  take  a  stipend 
for  it,  but  it  would  be  obligatory  on  him  to  do  so  ;  for  the 
Mass  pro  populo  should  be  said  in  ecclesia  parochiali. 

D.  MANNIX. 


Xiturglcal  IRotes 

ANSWERS  TO  CORRESPONDENTS 

THE  MEANING  OF  THE  TEEM  "QUABANTINE"  IN  INDULGENCES 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — In  the  elaborate  mathematical  calculation 
of  Indulgences  entered  into  by  your  highly  distinguished  contri- 
butor of  Liturgical  Notes  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  I.  E.  EECORD,  I 
noticed  that  an  indulgence  of  five  years  and  five  quarantines  is 
expressed  by  the  formula,  5  X  365  +  5  X  40  -—  2025  days. 

It  would  appear  from  this  equation  that,  in  the  opinion  of 
your  learned  contributor,  the  expression  five  years  and  five 
quarantines  is  synonymous  with  five  years  and  two  hundred 
days  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  five  quarantines  is  a  less  clear 
way  of  expressing  two  hundred  days. 

That  explanation  of  quarantines  is  often  given  in  sermons,  and 
I  have  sometimes  seen  it  stated  in  books,  but  I  always  believed 
that  quarantines  were  certain  periods  of  forty  days  in  a  term  of 
canonical  penance,  during  which  the  penitent  was  bound  to 
undergo  penances  of  a  more  severe  kind  than  during  the  rest  of 
the  term.  An  indulgence  of  five  quarantines  would,  therefore,  mean 


Answers  to  Correspondents  539 

a  remission  of  as  much  temporal  punishment  as  would  have  been 
remitted  by  the  performance  of  the  extra  severe  penances  imposed 
during  five  such  periods  of  forty  days  each.  It  would  be  mani- 
festly misleading  to  add  200  days  of  such  penance  to  1,825  days  of 
ordinary  canonical  penance  and  represent  the  total  2,025  days ; 
and,  morever,  unless  the  same  200  days  should  be  twice  reckoned, 
there  would  be  in  reality  only  1,825  days  of  penance. 

1  have  also  heard  it  contended  that  these  periods  of  40  days- 
more  rigid  penance  corresponded  with  the  season  of  Lent  in  each 
year. 

Perhaps  you  would  be  good  enough  to  explain  what  is  meant 
by  a  quarantine  in  the  next  issue  of  the  I.  E.  EECOBD,  and  oblige 
many  of  your  readers  as  well  as 

Yours  sincerely, 

E.  H.  L. 

We  are  not  quite  certain  whether  our  esteemed  cor- 
respondent's communication  is  intended  as  a  criticism  on 
"  the  elaborate  mathematical  calculation "  to  which  he 
refers,  or  on  our  interpretation  of  the  term  "  quarantine," 
or  whether  it  was  dictated  by  a  genuine  desire  to  obtain 
information.  We  shall  accept  it  as  if  the  last-mentioned 
motive  were  the  only  one  which  influenced  the  writer,  and 
will  lay  before  him  and  the  others  of  our  readers,  in  whose 
behalf  he  writes,  the  little  information  regarding  the  signi- 
fication of  the  term  "  quarantine  "  which  we  have  been  able 
to  pick  up.  We  fear,  however,  that  we  must  adopt  that 
explanation  which  "is  often  given  in  sermons,  and  is 
sometimes  seen  stated  in  books,"  and  we  beg  to  express  a 
hope  that  our  correspondent  will  not  reject  it  merely  on  this 
account.  For  whatever  he  may  think,  we  are  in  a  position 
to  know  that  statements  made  in  sermons  or  in  books  are 
not  necessarily  false. 

The  older  theologians  when  discussing  partial  indulgences 
were  wont  to  distinguish  between  the  Quadragena,  the 
Carena,  and  the  Septena.  All  agree  that  the  first  of  these, 
the  Quadragena,  which  is  the  same  as  our  quarantine,  is  a 
period  of  forty  days.  Hence,  according  to  the  theologians, 
five  quarantines  is  a  "  way  of  expressing  two  hundred 
days."  It  may  be  a  "less  clear  "  way  of  expressing  this  ; 


540  Liturgical  Notes 

nay,  it  may  even  be  a  clumsy  way  of  expressing  it,  but  the 
formula  has  been  consecrated  by  usage,  and  even  though  we 
joined  with  our  correspondent  in  protesting  against  its 
use  in  this  sense,  we  hardly  think  the  Congregation  of 
Indulgences  would  be  moved  by  our  united  protest.  We 
might  quote  many  eminent  theologians  in  support  of  the 
above  statement,  regarding  the  meaning  of  the  term 
Quadragena,  or  quarantine,  but  we  will  content  ourselves 
by  giving  the  words  of  Collet  :x 

"  Indulgentia  quadragenae,  sen  ut  alii  brevius  loquuntur, 
•quadragena,  est  remissio  tantae  poenae  temporalis,  quanta  in  Dei 
judicio  remissa  fuisset  per  poenitentiam  communem  quadraginta 
dierum  olim  ex  prascripto  canonum  pro  quibusdam  peccatio  ad 
implendam." 

The  words  per  poenitentiam  communem,  together  with 
those  that  follow,  show  clearly  that  a  quarantine  is  equivalent 
to  the  ordinary  penance  of  forty  days  formerly  prescribed  by 
the  penitential  canons  for  certain  less  grievous  offences. 
This  meaning  is  emphasized  by  Collet  in  the  paragraph 
immediately  following  the  one  already  quoted : — 

"  Dixi  [he  says]  per  poenitentiam  communem  :  Indulgentia 
enim  qua  remittebatur  rigorosior  poenitentia  quadraginta  dierum 
in  pane  et  aqua  sicut  et  eadem  poenitentia,  Carena,  seu  Carenae 
Indulgentia,  vocatur.  Carenae  enim  juxta  plures  dicitur  a 
>carentia  cibus  et  potus,  queis  uti  homines  consueverunt."  2 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  our  correspondent's 
•definition  of  "  quarantine "  applies  almost  exactly  to 
"  carentine "  (if  we  may  be  allowed  thus  to  Anglicize 
carena),  and,  consequently,  that  he  was  too  hasty  in  rejecting 
the  definition  of  quarantine,  often  given  by  preachers  and 
writers,  merely  because  it  did  not  correspond  with  his  own. 
But  it  is  not  merely  in  his  definition  of  quarantine  that  our 
•correspondent  errs  :  he  errs,  also,  in  believing  that  in  an 
indulgence  for  a  number  of  years  and  an  equal  number  of 
quarantines,  the  quarantines  are  parts  of  the  years  ;  that  is, 
are  forty  days  of  each  year,  corresponding,  according  to  his 

1  De  Indulgentiis,  cap.  i,,  n.  11. 

2  Ibidem,  n.  12. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  541 

idea  of  quarantine,  to  forty  days  of  a  more  rigorous  kind  of 
penance.  This  at  least  seems  to  be  his  meaning,  when  he 
says  :— 

"  And,  moreover,  unless  the  same  200  days  be  twice  reckoned 
there  would  be  in  reality  only  1,825  days." 

That  is  to  say,  according  to  our  correspondent,  in  five 
years  and  five  quarantines  there  are  not  2,025  days,  but  only 
1,825  ;  or,  in  other  words,  in  five  years  and  five  quarantines 
there  is  exactly  the  same  number  of  days  as  in  five  years 
without  the  quarantines.  Obviously,  if  this  were  so,  "five 
years  and  five  quarantines"  would  be  a  very  much  "less 
clear  "  way  of  expressing  five  years.  We  beg  to  state,  how- 
ever, that  in  all  indulgences  of  this  form  the  years  are 
integral  periods  of  365  days,  and  the  quarantines  are 
additional  periods  of  40  days  each. 

BEADS  ENKICHED   WITH  VAEIOUS   INDULGENCES 

In  a  recent  issue  of  the  I.  E.  RECOBD  we  referred  to- 
an  opinion  according  to  which  one  recital  of  the  beads  is 
sufficient  for  gaining  all  the  various  indulgences  which  may 
be  attached  to  the  beads,  and  we  then  promised  to  examine 
this  opinion  on  some  future  occasion.  We  take  this  oppor- 
tunity of  fulfilling  our  promise. 

In  the  introduction  to  the  Acta  Sanctae  Sedis  pro 
Societate  SS.  Bosarii,1  the  following  statement  is  made  : — 

"  Coronae  benedictae  a  sacerdote  Ordinis  Praedicatorum,  ipso 
istius  benedictionis  facto  non  solum  habent  indulgentias  Eosarianos 
sed  etiam  simul  omnes  indulgentias  coronae  S.  Birgittae  adnexas 
(Benedictus  XIII.  decreto  S.  C.  Indulg.  13  April,  1726,  et  Pius 
IX.  decreto  S.  C.  Indulg.  18  Sept.,  1862).  Et  tune  una  et  eadem 
recitatione  Christfideles  possunt  lucrari  turn  Rosarianas  turn 
Birgittinas  Indulgentias." 

Eegarding  this  extract,  we  beg  to  remark,  first,  that 
although  taken  from  a  work  entitled  the  Acta  Sanctae 
Sedis,  &c.,  it  pretends  to  no  greater  authority  than  if  it 
were  taken  from  the  work  of  any  private  author  ;  and, 
secondly,  that  the  authorities  quoted  in  the  extract  are 

Cap.  v.,  n.  95,  p.  42. 


542  Liturgical  Notes 

quoted  in  support  of  the  statement  regarding  the  powers  of 
the  members  of  the  Dominican  Order ;  and,  consequently 
that  the  last  statement  which  alone  concerns  us,  rests  on 
the  sole  unsupported  authority  of  the  compiler  of  this  work. 
We  beg  to  say,  however,  that  although  the  decrees  here 
cited  do  not  seem  to  have  any  bearing  on  the  question  now 
-under  discussion,  we  have  examined  them  carefully.  Whether 
they  actually  support  the  statement  in  support  of  which 
they  seem  to  be  quoted  does  not,  as  has  been  already  stated, 
concern  us  at  present ;  but,  beyond  all  doubt,  they  give 
•absolutely  no  support  to  the  statement  that  by  a  single 
recitation  of  beads,  having  both  the  Dominican  and  Brigittine 
indulgences,  one  gains  both.  The  statement,  then,  so  far  as 
it  is  contained  in  the  extract  we  have  given,  has  only  the 
authority  of  the  compiler. 

For  the  directly  opposite  opinion,  we  can  quote  no  less 
an  authority  than  the  Congregation  of  Indulgences  itself, 
whose  decrees  are  every  one  confirmed  by  the  Pope.  To 
this  question  :— 

"An  uni  et  eidem  rei,  puta,  uni  coronae  possint  applicar 
indulgentiae  diversae,  v.g.  indulgentiae  dictae  Apostolicae,  et 
indulgentiae  dictae  S.  Brigittae?  " 

the  Congregation  on  February  29,  1820,  issued  the  following 
reply  :— 

"  Affirmative,  dummodo  ad  eas  lucrandas  renoventur  opera 
injuncta  iterabilia."  1 

This  reply  is  merely  in  accordance  with  a  fixed  principle 
regarding  the  gaining  of  indulgences,  namely,  that  when 
Tarious  indulgences  are  attached  to  the  performance  of  a 
certain  work  which  can  be  repeated  several  times  in  a  day, 
the  work  must  be  repeated  for  the  gaining  of  each 
indulgence. 

It  may  be  argued,  however,  that  as  the  Acta  Sanctae 
Sedis,  &c.,  from  which  the  extract  is  taken,  was  published 
in  1890,  whereas  the  decree  of  the  Congregation  of  Indul- 
gences which  contradicts  this  opinion  was  issued  as  early  as 
1820,  there  may  be  a  later  decree  justifying  the  statement 

1  Deer.  Auth.,  n.  249,  ad  3. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  543 

made  in  the  Acta,  &c.  This  is  a  reasonable  argument,  and 
requires  to  be  met,  and  although  it  is  proverbially  difficult 
to  prove  a  negative,  we  do  not  despair  of  convincing  our 
readers  that  no  decree  issued  by  the  Congregation  of 
Indulgences  since  the  year  1820,  either  contradicts  or 
modifies  the  decree  issued  on  February  29th  of  that  year. 

Had  such  a  decree  been  issued,  we  should  have  expected 
the  compiler  of  the  Acta,  &c.,  to  refer  to  it  in  support  of 
his  statement.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  he  quotes  neither 
decree  nor  author.  We  should  also  expect  that  such  a  decree, 
if  issued,  could  not  have  escaped  Father  Beringer,  S.J.,  for 
some  time  Consultor  of  this  very  Congregation  of  Indulgences, 
and  the  author  of  the  most  complete  work  on  indulgences 
ever  offered  to  the  public.  Yet  this  learned  and  painstaking 
author  says,  in  the  tenth  edition  of  his  work,  from  which 
the  French  translation,  published  in  1890,  now  before  us, 
was  made  : — 

"  Nous  avons  deja  dit  plus  haut  qu'un  seul  et  meme  chapelet 
peut  recevoir  non  seulment  les  indulgences  de  Sainte-Brigitte  mais 
encore  celles  des  Dominicain,  des  Crosiers,  et  les  indulgences 
apostolique,  pourvu,  qus'ils  soient  benits  par  des  pretres  ayants  les 
pouvoirs  necessaries  ;  mais  on  ne  peut  point  par  une  seul  recitation 
du  chapelet  gagner  tons  ces  indulgences  a  lafois" 

We  conclude,  therefore,  with  the  Congregation  of 
Indulgences  and  Beringer,  that  by  one  recital  of  the  beads 
only  one  set  of  indulgences  is  gained,  no  matter  how  many 
the  beads  may  have  had  attached  to  them. 

What,  then,  is  the  advantage,  it  may  be  asked,  of  having 
several  indulgences  attached  to  the  same  beads  ?  There  are 
several,  but  we  will  mention  only  one,  which,  however,  is 
peculiar  to  the  members  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Kosary. 
Suppose  a  member  of  this  Confraternity  has  beads  bearing  the 
Dominican  indulgences,  and  the  Crosier  indulgences.  Inas- 
much as  they  have  the  latter  indulgences  he  gains  five 
hundred  days'  indulgence  for  each  Our  Father,  and  each 
Hail  Mary,  whether  he  says  five  decades  consecutively,  or 
only  one  decade,  or  whether  he  says  only  one  single  Our 
Father,  or  one  Hail  Mary.  And  inasmuch  as  these  same 
beads  possess  the  Dominican  indulgences,  he  gains  an 


544  Liturgical  Notes 

indulgence  of  one  hundred  years,  each  day,  by  carrying  them 
about  his  person,  and  moreover,  gains  the  many  other  indul- 
gences which  members  of  this  confraternity  can  gain  by 
using  beads  having  the  Dominican  blessing. 

D.  O'LoAN. 


CHOEAL   DEESS   OF   MONSIGNOEI 

BEV.  DEAR  SIR, — Would  you  kindly  say  what  ought  to  be  th& 
choral  dress  of  the  different  classes  of  Monsignori  who  will  take 
part  in  the  ceremonies  and  meetings  of  the  Members  of  th& 
Maynooth  Union,  on  the  23rd  June,  I  mean  those  who  do  not 
belong  to  the  Archdiocese  of  Dublin. 

MONSIGNORE. 

May  14,  1896. 

If  the  Monsignore  is  a  domestic  prelate,  his  choral  dress- 
should  be  a  violet  cassock,  with  train  (which,  however,  must 
not  be  allowed  to  flow) ;  cincture  of  violet  silk ;  rochet,  if 
mentioned  in  the  brief ;  violet  mantelletta,  and  violet  tuft 
in  beretta.  If  the  Monsignore  is  not  a  domestic  prelate, 
but  only  a  Cameriere,  i.e.,  private  chamberlain  or  super- 
numerary chaplain  to  the  Pope,  then  his  proper  dress  in 
choir  is — violet-  cassock,  without  train;  narrow  violet 
cincture,  with  tassels;  and  violet  mantellone.  All  these 
things  are  fully  explained  in  an  admirable  work  entitled 
Pontificalia  by  the  Eev.  P.  O'Leary,  Dean  of  Maynooth 
College,  recently  published  by  Messrs.  Browne  and  Nolan> 
Limited. 

ED.  I.  E.  E. 


545     ] 


.Correspondence 

THE   BIRTHPLACE    OF   MAURICE   DE    PORTU 

DEAR  KEY.  SIR, — Historical  questions  which  have  long  been 
in  dispute  do  not  usually  of  themselves  afford  a  motive  of  banter 
or  ridicule.  The  very  best  cause  may  have  a  weak  defender. 
The  weakness  is  his  own,  however,  not  that  of  the  cause  for 
which  he  stands  ;  and  strong  adversaries  ought  not  to  stay  to  laugh 
at  the  weakness  of  the  man,  when  they  could  bring  argument  to 
bear  against  his  cause. 

Cardinal  Moran,  in  his  edition  of  Archdall's  Monasticon,  has 
the  following  note  on  that  portion  of  his  author's  text  which 
treats  of  the  Franciscan  Convent  of  Galway  : — 

"  Much  controversy  has  arisen  as  to  the  birthplace  of  the  illus- 
trious Archbishop  of  Tuam,  Dr  O 'Finely,  referred  to  in  these 
extracts.  Cotton  writes  that  *  three  of  the  provinces  of  Ireland 
contended  for  the  honour  of  his  birth.'1  The  generally  received 
opinion  is  that  of  Ware,  that  he  was  born  in  Baltimore,  in  the 
county  of  Cork,  and  from  that  small  port-town  he  derived  the 
surname  of  a  Portu,  by  which  he  is  usually  designated  in  the 
annals  of  the  Franciscan  Order.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  however, 
that  Ware  in  the  first  edition  of  his  work,  wrote  that  the  Arch- 
bishop was  said  to  have  been  born  in  the  province  of  Connaught. 
Lynch's  MS.,  which  has  only  of  late  come  to  light,  seems  to  settle 
the  controversy,  for  he  expressly  states  that  Dr.  O'Fihely  was 
born  at  Clonfert,  in  the  province  of  Connaught.  The  MS.  adds 
that  the  Convent  of  Conventual  Franciscans,  Kenalthein,  near 
Clonfert,  was  styled  for  the  same  reason  Conventus  de  Portu  puro, 
and  thus  the  Archbishop  derived  from  that  town  the  surname 
by  which  he  was  known  in  his  Order.  Dr.  Lynch  further  writes 
that  John  de  Burgo,  who  had  been  bishop  of  Clonfert,  and  was 
raised  to  the  see  of  St.  Jarlath  during  the  eventful  period  of  the 
Irish  Confederation,  communicated  to  him  this  fact  regarding  the 
birthplace  of  his  illustrious  predecessor."  2 

This  note  seems  to  sum  up  all  the  authority  that  can  be  brought 
forward  in  support  of  the  statement  that  Father  Maurice  de  Portu 
was  a  native  of  Clonfert.  We  shall  test  the  worth  of  the  note 
later  on  ;  meanwhile  we  must  remark  that  Cardinal  Moran  states 
"  the  generally  received  opinion  is  that  of  Ware,"  and  he  adds 
that  Ware,  in  his  second  edition,  suppressed  the  statement  he 

1  Fasti,  p.  11. 

2  Card.  Moran's  Archdall's  Monasticon,  vol  ii.,  p.  212. 

VOL.  XVII.  2  M 


546  Correspondence 

had  made  in  his  first  edition,  viz.,  that  : — "  the  Archbishop 
was  born  in  the  province  of  Connaught."  An  authority  as  careful 
as  Ware  would  not  have  made  such  a  suppression  without  good 
reason  to  believe  that  the  former  statement  did  not  deserve  repe- 
tition. There  is  nothing  in  this  note  of  Cardinal  Moran  to  justify 
the  rejection  of  what  he  calls  the  generally  received  opinion,  and 
the  one  which  Ware,  on  second  thought  considered  the  best. 
The  note  leaves  us  where  we  were  at  first,  still  dealing  with  the 
hearsay  evidence  of  Dr.  Lynch,  who  says  that  he  heard  Dr.  John 
de  Burgo  say  that  Dr.  O'Fihely  was  a  native  of  Clonfert.  To 
more  than  this  the  evidence,  as  set  forth  in  the  note,  does  not 
amount,  no  matter  how  it  may  be  considered.  The  spoken  word 
of  John  de  Burgo  is  the  only  authority  given  for  the  rejection  of 
the  "  generally  received  opinion." 

In  favour  of  this  general  opinion  we  alleged  the  Franciscan 
belief  that  Father  Maurice  de  Portu  was  a  native  of  Cork.  Let 
us  suppose  that  this  belief  is  only  traditionary,  yet  even  in  this 
case  it  ought  to  be  of  very  great  weight.  Franciscans  ought  to 
know  something  about  a  Franciscan,  and,  caeteris  paribus,  they 
ought  generally  to  be  better  authorities  on  Franciscan  questions 
than  those  who  are  not  Franciscans.  The  history  of  the 
Franciscans  has  not  been  written  too  carelessly,  and  many  of 
their  beliefs  and  practices  have  been  worthy  of  world-wide 
acceptance.  In  all  cases,  indeed,  a  well-established  tradition  is 
worthy  of  respect.  The  Church  herself  is  deeply  indebted  to  her 
great  traditions.  Were,  then,  the  Franciscan  belief  about  the 
birthplace  of  Father  Maurice  de  Portu  only  a  tradition,  it  would 
be  deserving  of  respect  rather  than  ridicule.  But  when  this 
belief  is  upheld  by  the  authority  of  one  who,  in  history  as  in  many 
other  matters,  must  be  looked  up  to  by  friend  and  foe  alike,  the 
belief  becomes  almost  an  established  truth.  No  one  can  make 
light  of  the  opinions  of  Father  Luke  Wadding  on  questions  of 
Franciscan  history,  yet  on  the  question  of  the  birthplace  of 
Father  Maurice  de  Portu,  Father  Wadding  writes  : — "  Populum 
autem  vel  locum  nativum  Mauritii  Portum  esse  a  quo  cognomi- 
natur  De  Portu,  a  Duno  versus  Adriam,  duabus  vel  tribus  leucis 
distantem,  autumat  Cavellus  vir  doctus  illius  regionis.  Camden 
[item] .  .  .  Sed  portum  hunc  verius  alii  in  Momoniae  provincia 
constituunt. "  1  Father  Luke  Wadding  was  the  historian  of  his 
Order,  and  specially  qualified,  therefore,  to  speak  on  matters 

1  Scoti  Opera.  Edit.  Wadding  I,  1639.     Vol.  i.,  p.  2. 


Correspondence  547 

of  Franciscan  history,  As  editor  also  of  Father  Maurice's 
Commentaries  on  Scotus  he  had  a  motive  for  knowing  the  history 
of  Dr.  O 'Finely,  which  certainly  was  not  given  to  Dr.  John 
de  Burgo  ;  and,  owing  to  his  many  friends  and  helpers  through- 
out Europe,  he  had  facilities  for  gaining  information  on  any 
subject  beyond  what  many  men  can  have.  When,  then,  after  passing 
n  review  the  opinions  held  by  others  about  the  birthplace  of  the 
renowned  Franciscan,  with  whose  work  he  was  so  familiar, 
Father  Wadding  thought  it  just  and  right  to  say  : — "Sed  portum 
hunc  Mauritii  VEBIUS  alii  in  Momoniae  provincia  constituunt," 
we  are  justified,  assuredly,  in  believing  that  Father  Maurice 
O'Fihely  was  not  born  in  the  diocese  of  Clonfert.  Father  Luke 
could  not  have  rejected  the  other  opinions  which  he  knew  and 
shad  considered,  without  good  reason  for  such  rejection,  and  few 
venture  to  say  that  the  spoken  statement  of  John  de  Burgo, 
on  a  question  of  Franciscan  history,  is  of  greater  weight  than 
the  well-considered  opinion  of  Father  Luke  Wadding,  the  historian 
of  the  Franciscan  Order. 

Having  thus  established,  on  the  highest  authority,  that  Father 
Maurice  O 'Finely  was  a  native  of  Munster,  we  naturally  and  law- 
fully look  for  his  birthplace  to  the  locality  in  Munster,  which 
was  the  seat  of  the  family  of  the  O'Fihelys.  Portions  of  this 
clan  may, undoubtedly,  have  migrated  to  Eoscommon  and  to  Clare, 
but  unless  it  can  be  shown  distinctly  that  such  migration  took 
place  before  the  year  1463,  when  Father  Maurice  was  born, the  fact 
of  the  migration  does  not  tell  against  us.  We  know,  on  the 
authority  of  Dr.  Lynch,  that  even  in  1650,  many  of  the  Irish 
families  were  still  in  their  original  localities,  and  we  are  justified, 
therefore,  in  holding  that  Maurice  O'Fihely,  in  1463  was  born  in 
Barryroe,  the  ancient  seat  of  his  kith  and  kin. 

With  regard  to  the  assertion,  that  the  Convent  of  Kenalehan 
near  Clonfert,  was  called  Conventus  de  Portu,  and  that  Father 
Maurice  was  an  alumnus  of  the  Abbey,  and  took  his  surname 
therefrom,  we  can  fortunately  quote  the  words  of  Dr.  Lynch 
in  the  MS.  Historia  Ecclesiastica  referred  to  by  Very  Eev. 
Dr.  Fahey.  Dr.  Lynch  says  : — 

"  Sexto  Junii,  1506  (Tabularum  Rornanarum  verba  sunt)  per 
obitum  D.Phillippi  Archiepi  de  persona  Eevdi.  patris  fratris 
Mauritii  0  Portu  Ord.  Minorum  Archieptui  Tuam  a  Julio  II  pro- 
visum  est,  qui,  ante  ordinem  religiosum  initum,  Mauritius  Fildaeus, 
HiberniceOphihilla,  dictus  Cluanfertae  (ut  nupera  nupero  Archiep. 


548  Correspondence 

Tuam,  Joanne  de  Burgo  accepi)  natus,  et  ab  Abbatia  Cluanfertensi 
a  Portu  puro  dicta  cognomen  a  Portu  nactus.  Waraeo  tamen  (qui 
eum  in  comitatu  Galviensi  natum,  ut  ferebatur,  fuisse,  in  priore 
editione  dixit)  asserente  ilium  in  Comitatu  Corcagiensi  prope 
Baltimoram  portum  celebrem  natum  fuisse.  Certe  Conventus 
Kenalfhehin  Cluanfertae  finitimus  ad  Conventuales'attinebat,  et 
cum  Mauritius  inter  Conventuales  in  Italia  deguerit,  par  est  ut 
credamus  eum  illius  Conventus  religiosis  se  juvenem  aggregasse 
.  .  .  cum  annos  a  juventute  40  in  Italia  inter  patres  Conventuales 
versaretur  et  in  universitate  Patavina  publice  theologiam  diu 
profiteretur. M1 

This  quotation  from  Dr.  Lynch  does  not  by  any  means  settle 
the  controversy.  Dr.  Lynch  sets  the  statement  of  Ware  against 
that  of  John  de  Burgo,  and  tells  us,  what  we  have  already  learned 
from  the  note  in  the  Monasticon,  that  Ware's  opinion  about 
Galway  as  the  birthplace  of  Father  Maurice  was  rejected  on 
consideration  for  the  one  which  gave  the  honour  to  Baltimore. 
Dr.  Lynch  evidently  did  not  know  of  Father  Wadding's  opinion, 
although  dated  from  1639. 

It  is  stated  in  the  note  we  have  given  above  from  Dr.  Moran's. 
Archdall : — "  The  MS.  adds,  that  the  Convent  of  Conventual 
Franciscans,  Kenalthein,  near  Clonfert,  was  styled  for  the  same 
reason,  Conventus  de  Portu  puro,"  and  we  find  now  that  the  MS. 
does  not  add  any  such  thing.  "  Ab  Abbatia  Cluanfertensi  a  Portu 
puro  dicta,"  are  the  words  of  Dr.  Lynch,  and  he  refers  plainly  to 
the  Abbey  of  Clonfert,  not  to  the  neighbouring  Convent  of 
Kenalehan.  That  this  is  so,  the  following  note  in  Archdall 
clearly  proves  :  "St.  Brendan  was  trained  by  St.  Ita  .  ,  .  He 
founded  the  see  of  Clonfert  in  the  year  558,  and  established  here 
at  the  same  time  the  monastery,  which  in  after  times  received  the 
name  De  Portu  Puro,  where  three  thousand  religious  served 
God  under  his  rule."2  From  this  we  see  that  the  Abbey  of 
Clonfert  de  Portu  puro  was  founded  more  than  six  centuries 
before  St.  Francis  or  the  Franciscans  were  heard  of ;  that  it  was 
not  then  a  Franciscan  convent,  and  did  not  become  a  Franciscan 
convent  in  later  times  ;  for  Archdall,  in  the  text,  tells  us  that  the 
successors  of  St.  Brendan,  "  in  course  of  time  followed  the  rule  of 
St.  Augustine;"  3  and  also  says,  "Henry  O'Gormacain  was  abbot 
at  the  time  of  the  general  suppression  of  monasteries  :  he  never 

1  Lynch's  MS.  Hist.  Eccl.  Sib,,  vol.  ii.,  p.  715,  et  scqq. 

2  Card.  Moran's  ArchdalTs  Monasticon,  vol.  ii.,  p.  19U,  note  10. 

3  Monasticon,  ubi  supra,  200. 


Correspondence  549 

surrendered  the  abbey  .  .  .  Immediately  on  the  decease  of 
Henry,  William  O'Gormacain  procured  the  Abbey  from  the  Pope, 
and -kept  quiet  possession  thereof,  till  about  the  year  1567."1 
Ware  also  states  that  the  Abbey  of  Clonfert,  "  al.  de  Portu  puro 
B.V.M."  belonged  to  the  Canons  Eegular  of  St.  Augustine.2 
This  being  the  case,  we  say  that,  since  the  Abbey  of  Clonfert. 
both  during  the  lifetime  of  Father  Maurice  de  Portu,  and  for  fifty- 
four  years  after  his  death,  was  in  possession  of  the  Canons  Eegular 
of  St.  Augustine,  there  is  no  likelihood  that  he  took  his  surname 
from  that  Abbey.  The  established  custom  in  the  Franciscan 
Order  was,  and  is,  that  in  all  cases  where  the  family  name  is 
dropped  by  a  friar,  that  of  his  birthplace  is  taken  up  instead. 
Hence  Father  Wadding  wrote,  "  Populum  autem  vel  locum  nativum 
Mauritii,"  in.  the  understanding  that  either  should  of  necessity 
be  meant.  Furthermore,  it  is  not  likely  that  a  Franciscan,  in 
opposition  to  this  custom,  would  go  a-begging  a  surname  from  an 
Augustinian  Abbey,  and  such  a  Franciscan  too  as  Father  Maurice 
O'Fihely. 

Does  it  not  look  very  much  like  begging  the  question  to  say 
that  Father  Maurice  took  his  surname  from  a  certain  place  before 
it  had  been  established  beyond  doubt  that  he  was  born  in  that 
place  ?  Until  we  know  where  he  was  born  it  is  useless  to  ask 
whence  he  got  his  surname.  If  Dr.  Lynch  had  proved  that 
Clonfert  were  the  birthplace  of  Father  Maurice,  then  his  reason- 
ing about  the  surname  from  the  Abbey  de  Portu  puro  might  hold 
good  if  he  were  an  Augustinian,  but  not  in  the  present  case. 

There  seems  to  be  another  mistake  in  Dr.  Lynch's  text,  where 
he  says  :  "  Cum  annos  a  juventute  quadraginta  in  Italia  inter  PP. 
Conventuales  versaretur."  Father  Maurice  O'Fihely  was  born 
in  1463,  and  was  raised  to  the  Archbishopric  of  Tuam  in  1506. 
Counting  back  forty  years  from  1506,  we  reach  the  year  1466, 
when  Maurice  O'Fihely  was  only  three  years  old,  an  age  at 
which  "  the  fathers  of  the  Abbey  de  Portu  "  could  have  very 
little  early  history  of  O'Fihely  with  which  to  be  familiar,  and  at 
which  he  could  not  be  an  alumnus  of  their  house.  Father  John 
Carriers,  so  intimate  a  friend  of  Father  Maurice  as  to  have  received 
six  hundred  letters  from  him,  tells  us  that  Father  Maurice  died 
"  cum  nondum  quinquagesimum  aetatis  annum  attigisset,"  3  and 
the  death  took  place  in  Galway  on  the  25th  May,  1513.  If, 

1  Ibid.,  p.  203. 

'•'Ware's A ntiquitics,  p.  Q67. 

3  Ware's  Bishops,  and  Dr.  Lynch' s  MS. 


550  Correspondence 

then.  Maurice  O'Fihely  left  Ireland  for  Italy  when  he  was  only 
three  years  of  age,  how  many  about  Clonfert  (in  the  supposition 
that  he  was  born  there)  could  remember  anything  of  the  -child 
who  had  left  them  long  before  he  was  able  to  do  anything 
that  could  impress  his  memory  on  his  neighbours'  mind  ?  And 
on  what  local  authority  could  Dr.  John  de  Burgo,  one  hundred 
and  ninety  years  after  the  fact,  assert  that  Father  Maurice  de 
Porfcu  was  born  in  Clonfert  ?  Even  in  this  year  of  grace,  with 
all  our  registration  of  births  to  help  us,  it  would  not  be  an  easy 
thing  to  find  out  the  birthplace  of  one  who  had  left  this  country 
for  Italy  in  1706  (i.e.,  one  hundred  and  ninety  years  ago),  being 
then  a  child  of  only  three  years.  The  ipse  dixit  of  Dr.  de  Burgo 
must  have  rare  weight  when,  under  such  circumstances,  it  is 
taken  as  quite  sufficient  evidence  for  a  matter  which  took  place 
so  far  beyond  the  reach  of  his  own,  or  his  neighbours'  memory. g] 
Ware  and  Wadding  are  professed  historians  of  the  matters 
about  which  they  write.  They  both  ex  professo  enter  into  the 
question  of  the  birthplace  of  Father  Maurice  O'Fihely,  surnamed 
de  Portu.  Father  Wadding,  after  due  consideration,  rejects  all 
opinions  except  the  one  which  holds  for  Munster.  Ware  rejects 
his  own  earlier  opinion,  and  settles  on  Baltimore,  in  Co.  Cork,  as 
the  birthplace  of  De  Portu.  Yet  we  are  told  that  Dr.  de  Burgo's- 
spoken  word,  without  any  proof,  without  a  line  of  writing,  is 
evidence  enough  to  settle  the  controversy  in  opposition  to  these 
two  great  authorities  on  Irish  Episcopal  and  Irish  Franciscan 
history.  We  cannot,  under  the  circumstances,  accept  the  mere 
word  of  Dr.  John  de  Burgo  as  sufficient  authority,  and,  for  the 
second  time,  in  this  question  of  Franciscan  history,  we  say  that 
we  believe  the  birthplace  of  Father  Maurice  O'Fihely  to  be  Portus 
Baltimoriensis  in  Comitatu  Corcagiensi.1 

Fr.  E.  B.  FITZMAUEICE,  O.S.F. 


THE   NECESSITY   OF   MISSIONS 

EEV.  DEAK  SIR, — In  Eev.  Father  J.  Lennon's  very  practical 
article  on  Missions  in  the  I.  E.  EECORD,  May,  1896, 1  find  one  word 
on  which  much  depends,  and  the  sense  of  which,  therefore,  needs 
a  clear  determination,  "A  mission,"  he  says,  "  is  a  course  of 
religious  exercises  given  for  the  benefit  of  the^faithful  of  a  certain 

1  "We  have  deliberately  left  unnoticed  florae  things  in  which  Dr.  Fahey 
called  us  to  task.  Should  Dr .  Fahey  wish  it,  we  shall  give  what  we  considered 
our  authorities  for  the  statements  which  we  made. 


Correspondence  551 

parish  or  district}.  Now,  the  sense  of  the  word  district  needs 
to  be  determined.  It  may  mean  a  district  in  a  large  parish, 
or  a  district  including  many  parishes.  In  this  sense  it  would  be 
what  is  called  a  central  mission.  Father  Lennon  can  hardly  mean  a 
central  mission,  for  he  very  rightly  shows  that  the  force  of  the 
sermons  is  in  the  natural  sequence  of  subjects ;  and,  hence,  a 
mission  is  for  the  people  what  a  retreat  is  for  ourselves.2 
As,  then,  to  give  this  wide  sense  to  the  word  district  would  be 
positively  injurious  to  missions,  you  will  allow  me  to  give  the 
words  of  St.  Alphonsus  which  embody  not  only  his  own  long 
experience,  but  also  that  of  other  missionaries.  In  a  chapter, 
"  General  Remarks  about  the  Giving  of  Missions,"  he  writes  : — 

"  When  a  mission  is  given  in  a  church  for  several  neighbouring 
places,  it  happens  that  the  greater  part  of  those  that  come  from 
the  surrounding  villages  do  not  hear  all  the  sermons ;  they 
scarcely  hear  two  or  three  of  them.  .  .  .  Such  a  mission  may  be 
useful  to  the  devout,  but  not  to  others  who  stand  most  in  need  of 
it.  ...  But  when  the  mission  is  given  in  the  place  itself,  and  all 
attend  it,  men,  women,  children,  and  although  they  may  attend 
through  human  respect,  lest  others  may  point  them  out,  yet  they 
do  actually  attend,  and,  as  we  know  from  experience,  God 
touches  their  hearts."  3 

Again,  in  his  Eeflections  Useful  for  Bishops,  we  read  :— 

"  It  is,  therefore,  advisable  that  the  bishop  should  have  a 
mission  ...  in  every  village,  however  small  it  may  be.  I  say 
this,  because  there  are  missionaries  who,  in  districts  where  small 
villages  are  close  to  one  another,  are  accustomed  to  give  one 
mission  in  a  central  place  for  all  at  the  same  time.  I  respect 
their  zeal  in  wishing  to  sanctify  all  these  souls  at  the  same  time  ; 
but  I  do  not  approve  of  their  method,  and  I  would  ask  the 
bishops,  through  their  zeal  for  the  glory  of  Jesus  Christ,  not  to 
be  satisfied  with  missions  thus  given  in  groups  ;  they  should  take 
care  that  each  place,  however  small  it  may  be,  should  have  its 
own  mission  ;  .  .  .  for  we  know  that  if  a  mission  is  given  for 
several  parishes,  those  gotoitwhoneed  it  least.  Ispeakfrom  expe- 
rience. We  have  seen  many  places  where  it  was  said  a  mission 
had  been  given  ;  but  because  it  had  been  given  in  some  central 
church,  or  because  the  time  allotted  to  it  was  too  short,  we  found 
the  people  as  abandoned  as  if  no  mission  had  ever  been  given. "  * 

The  opinion  of  the  holy  doctor  is,  therefore,  clearly  against 
central  missions,  or  district  missions,  if  we  take  the  word  in  its 
wide  sense. — I  remain,  dear  Rev.  Sir,  yours  very  sincerely, 

EOMA,  May  11, 1896.  J.  M. 

1  I'age  118.  3Cent.  Edition,  vol.  xv.,  page  285. 

2  Page  419.  4  Cent.  Edition,  viol,  xvii.,  page  465. 


I     552 


Documents 

LETTER    OF   HIS    HOLINESS    POPE    LEO   XIII.  TO   THE    BISHOPS 

OF   HUNGARY 

SANCTISSIMI  DOMINI  NOSTKI  LEONIS  DIVINA  PBOVIDENTIA  PAPAE  XIII. 
EPISTOLA  AD  EPISCOPOS  HUNGABIAE  DILECTIS  FILIIS  NOSTBIS 
S.  B.  E.  PBESBYTERIS  CAKDINALIBUS  CLAUDIO  VASZABY  ABCHIE- 
PISCOPO  STBIGONIENSI  LAUBENTIO  SCHLAUCH  EPISCOPO  MAGNO- 
VABADINENSI  LAT.  BIT.  CETEBISQUE  VENEBABILIBUS  FBATBIBUS 
HUNGAEIAE  EPISCOPIS 

LEO    PP.    XIII. 

DILECTI    FILII     NOSTBI     ET     VENEBABILES      FBATBES     SALUTEM      ET 
APOSTOLICAM   BENEDICTIONEM 

Insignes  Deo  aeterno  grates  tota  Hungaria  singularibus  cum 
laetitiis  agendas  iure  vos  optimo  decrevistis.  Deo  quippe,  statori 
providentissimo  et  conservator!  regnorum,  si  qua  unquam  natio, 
vestra  maxime  referre  debet  vim  magnam  beneficiorum,  non  pauca 
iam  saecula  difficilesque  percasus,  acceptam  :  quibus  recolendis 
celebrandisque  beneficiis  peraptum  obvenit  tempus,patriaevestrae 
natali  felicissime  redeunte.  In  eo  namque  estis  ut  annum  nume- 
retis  millesimum  ex  quo  maiores  illi  domicilia  sedesque  suas  istis 
in  regionibus  collocaverunt,  atque  res  coepit  Hungarica.  Consti- 
tuta  sollemnia  nihil  dubitamus  quin  dignum  plane  exitum 
honestissimaeque  fecundum  utilitatis  sint  habitura.  Neque  enim 
esse  ullus  potest  sincera  caritate  civis,  quern  non  decora  tangant 
communis  patriae,  et  cui  non  acres  admoveat  imitandi  stimulos 
avita  rerum  gestarum  gloria  publice  revocata.  Ad  haec  accessio 
nobilis  net  ex  consentiente  suffragio  excultarum  quotquot  sunt 
gentium,  quae  gaudia  vestra  amice  consociantes,  regnuin  certe 
gratulabuntur  aptis  legibus  institutisque  conditum,  civili  prudentia 
et  virtute  bellica  conservatum,  multis  egregie  factis  in  hanc  pro- 
vectum  diuturnitatem  et  amplitudinem.  Nobismetipsis  tana 
iucunda  accidit  faustitas  vestra  quam  quae  incundissima,  nee 
quidquam  optatius  est  quam  vobiscum,  Venerabiles  Fratres, 
praesentes  in  populo  vestro  mente  animoque  versari.  Facit  hoc 
praecipue  turn  Nostra  erga  Hungarian!  catholicam  peculiaris 
propensio  eb  cura,  turn  vero  ipsius  in  hanc  Apostolicam  Sedem 
atque  in  Nos  plane  studiosa  voluntas,  crebris  significationibus 
declarata.  Inter  cetera,  postremis  hisce  annis  frequentes  Hun- 
garos  Eoma  vidit,  vobis  rite  ducentibus,  ad  sepulcra  Apostolorum 


Documents  553 

Principum  venerabundos ;  vidimus  Nos  coram  effuses,  quum 
testimonia  fidei,  obsequii,  amoris,  communi  popularium  nomine, 
exhiberent  pulcherrima.  Nee  defuit  eis  benevolentia  Nostra  et 
opportunae  exhortationis  alloquium,  ut  aniinos  in  officiis  sanctae 
professionis  confirmaremus  :  quamquam  id  consulto  uberiusque 
praestitimus  nationi  universae,  litteris  ad  vos  semel  atque  iterum 
datis.  Nunc  autem,  quandoquidem  commeminisse  iuvat  qua 
verecundia  et  gratia  clerus  bonique  omnes  ilia  paterni  animi  argu- 
menta  acceperint,  rursus  ad  vos,  interpres  caritatis  Nostrae,  haec 
epistola  adveniat  ;  quae,  favente  Deo,  saecularis  celebritatis  et 
laetitiam  augeat  et  fructus  multiplicet. 

In  tota  rerum  serie  quarum  apud  vos  commernoratio  cultu 
magnifico  apparatur,  religionis  catholicae  ea  omnino  elucet  atque 
•eminet  virtus,  quae  optima  est  incolumitatis  publicae  conciliatrix 
bonorumque  omne  genus  parens  vel  fautrix  in  populis.  Sane,  quod 
prudentiores  vestrarum  rerum  scriptores  aiunt,  occupatas  istic 
regiones  natio  Hungarorum  nee  diu  nee  prospere  tenuisset, 
nisi  earn  doctrina  et  gratia  evangelica,  iugo  superstitionis 
exemptam,  monendo  ac  mitigando,  ad  ilia  adduxisset,  iura  gentium 
vereri,  laedere  neminem,  clementiam  induere,  colere  studia  pacis, 
principibus  tamquam  Deo  subesse,  fraternitatem  domi  forisque 
exercere.  Admirabili  modo,  in  Geiza  duce  et  in  primoribus  gentis, 
catholicae  fidei  apud  vos  consecrata  sunt  initia  ;  agente  in  primis 
sancto  episcopo  Adalberto,  viro  apostolicis  laboribus  et  martyrii 
•denique  laurea  clarissimo.  Quae  quidem  initia  tanto  praestantiora 
•extiterunt,  quanto  et  tempora  et  loca  periculosius  patebant  funesto 
cum  Ecclesia  romana  dissidio  ab  orientalibus  erumpenti.  Coepta 
paths  institit  perfecitque  Stephanus,  christianus  princeps  specta- 
tissimi  exempli,  divinae  in  vos  benignitatis  consiliis  magno  animi 
•et  operae  ardore  obsecutus.  Qui  merito  gentis  vestrae  nrrnamen- 
tum  praecipuum  ac  lumen  ideo  salutatur,  quod  earn,  religionis 
verae  beneficio,  11011  inodo  ad  sempiternae  adeptionem  salutis, 
summum  bonorum  omnium,  instruxit,  sed  ceteris  etiam  expeten- 
darum  rerum  praesidiis  auxit  et  nobilitavit.  Eo  ipso  principe,  qui 
pietate  excelsa  sceptrum  suum  augustae  Dei  Matri  es  beatissimo 
Petro  oblatum  dedicatumque  voluit,  inita  est  inter  romanos 
Pontifices  et  reges  populumque  Hungariae  ilia  studiorum  officio- 
rumque  vicissitude,  quae  a  Nobis  alias  est  collaudata.  Eiusdem 
-coniunctionis  sacratum  quasi  vinculum  adperpetuitatem  fuit  corona 
regia,  Christi  Servatoris  et  Apostolorum  iconibus  distincta,  quam 
Stephano  Silvester  II  decessor  Noster  dono  misit,  quum  regium 


554  Documents 

ei  attribuit  nomen,  quod  apud  vos  Christ i  fidem  longe  lateque 
diffuderit.1  Illud  autem  est  commemoratu  dignum,  quod  simul 
Hungarorum  comprobat  in  obsequio  Petri  constantiam^ut  scilicet 
eadem  corona  varias  gravesque  temporum  procellas  salvapertulerit, 
pristine  fulgens  honore,  perinde  semper  habita  religioseque  custo- 
dita  tamquam  regni  decus  maximum  et  praesidium. 

Eiusmodi  auspiciis  factum  est,  ut  crescens  opibus  Hungaria 
easdem  ingressa  sit  vias  quibus  populi  incedebant  christianae 
Europae  adolescentis,  et  proprium  generis  ingenium,  validum 
erectumque,eo  felicius  ad  omnem  virtutis  humanitatisque  appulerit 
laudem.  Inde,  praeter  commoda  et  ornamenta  cetera,  baud 
exiguus  provenit  hominum  numerus,  qui  sanctitatevitae,  doctrina, 
litteris,  artibus,  gestis  muneribus,  semetipsos  et  patriam  verissirne 
illustrarunt.  Atque  rem  sane  optimam  ii  moliuntur,  qui,  ut  allatum 
est,  talium  religionis  promeritorum  selectamcopiam,  monumentis 
ex  oblivione  et  silentio  eductis,  in  lucem  per  sollemnia  ipsa  pro- 
ferendam  oculisque  exponendamcurant.  Porro  monumenta  litte- 
rarum,  quum  vestra,  turn  ea  quibus  apostolica  Nostra  tabularia 
abundant,  summa  consensione  illud  testantur  quod  permagni 
interest,  praesertim  hoc  tempore,  reputare,  Videlicet  quales 
fuerint  apud  maiores  vestros  Ecclesiae  partes  in  iure  publico  sive 
constituendo  sive  administrando ;  eius  certe  sapientia,  disciplina, 
aequitas,  cunctis  ordinibus  libentissimis,  usquequaque  influxit. 
Civilis  praeterea  libertatis,  pro  qua  populus  vester  nunquam 
destitit  propugnare,  Poutifices  romani  tutores  vindicesque  se, 
quodcumque  ilia  in  periculum  ac  discrimen  vocata  est,  vel  rogati 
vel  ultro  praebuerunt.  Id  saepius  olim  accidit  ;  tune  in  primis, 
quum  impetus  acerrimorum  fidei  sanctae  hostium  oportuit  refutari. 
Qua  in  parte  nemo  quidem  unus  non  consenserit.  clades  teterrimas, 
quae  simul  plerisque  ex  occidente  populis  imminebant,  Hungarorum 
constantia  invicta  esse  depulsas ;  nulli  tamen  obscurum  est,  ad 
earn  eventuum  felicitatem  decessores  Nostros  contulisse  multum, 
suppeditata  pecunia,  missis  auxiliis,  conciliatis  foederibus,  praesidio 
caelesti  exorato.  Id  potissimum  praestitit  Innocentius  XI ;  cuius 
perennat  nomen,  ab  utroque  clarum  insigni  facto,  liberata  nempe 
circumsedentibus  infeste  armis  Vindobona,  et  Buda,  urbe  primaria 
vestra,  post  diutinam  oppressionem.  magnifice  vindicata.  Item 
Gregorio  XIII  immortale  in  gentem  vestram  stat  meritum.  Quum 
enim  et  istic,  ob  studia  novarum  rerum  ex  nnitimis  infusa  populis, 
religio  graviter  laboraret,  saluberrimum  ille  consilium,  quod  iam, 

1  Clemens  XIII  P.  M.  in  alloc.  Si  qui  militari,  die  1  oct.  an.  MDCCLVIII. 


Documents  555 

aliis  pro  nationibus  sapienter  liberaiiterque  perfecerat,  idem  pro 
Hungaria,  tamquam  insigni  et  amplo  christiani  orbis  membro,  sus- 
cepit.  Scilicet  collegium  vobis  in  Urbe  condidit,  quod  deinde 
Germanico  adiungendum  censuit,  in  quo  delecti  alumni  ad 
doctrinas  virtutesque  sacerdotio  dignas  exquisitius  instituti, 
operam  ecclesiis  vestris  fructuosiorem  aliquando  navarent :  id 
quod  non  intermissa  ubertate  evenit,  multis  etiam  eductis  qui 
episcopalem  gradum  magna  laude  parique  Ecclesiae  et  civitatis 
decore  tenuerunt. 

Isthaec  Nos  similiaque  beneficia  quae  continua  Ecclesiae 
gratia  sunt  in  genus  vestrum  profecta,  libentes  agnovimus  non  tarn 
esse  patriis  consignata  fastis,  quam  in  animis  civium  alte  manere 
insculpta.  Instar  omnium  locuples  testis  est,  inde  a  saeculo 
quinto  decimo,  Joannes  ille  Hunyades,  cuius  consilium  et  fortitudi- 
nem  nunquam  Hungaria  non  efferet  memor :  is  igitur  grate 
diserteque  affirmavit :  Haec  patria,  nisi  stetisset  fide,  opibus,  reort 
non  fuisset  statura  :  eodemque  regni  moderatore,  ordines  cuncti, 
communi  ad  Nicolaum  V  epistola,  professi  sunt :  Utcumque  sumus, 
Apostolica  maxime  gratia  enutriti  consistimus.  Quibus  testifica- 
tionibus  tantum  abest  ut  consecutae  aetates  quidquam  ademerint 
ponderis,  ut  non  minimum  potius  addidisse,  beneficiis  auctis, 
videantur. — Emergitque  in  Hungaris,  quemadmodum  id  sempe 
magno  opere  enisi  sint,  praecipuaeque  sibi  duxerint  gloriae,  u 
regnum  suum  Apostolicae  Sedi,  tamquam  peculiare  et  deditissi- 
mum,  quam  maxime  obstrictum  tenerent.  Huic  rei  complura 
quidem  ex  actis  publicis  suffragantur  ;  vel  litterae  a  regibus  et 
optimatibus  ad  Pontifices  romanos  summa  cum  pietate  perscriptae, 
vel  exempla  magnanimae  strenuaeque  virtutis,  quae,  ante  etiam 
quam  contra  irruentes  Mahometanorum  copias  contenderet,  suppe- 
tias  venit  Ecclesiae,  ad  iura  eius  tutanda  ulciscendasve  perduel- 
lium  iniurias.  At,  ne  fusius  ea  persequamur,  satis  loquuntur  quae 
multis  modis  intercessere  officia  regi  Ludovico  Magno,  cum  Inno- 
centio  VI  et  Urbano  V,  plena  fidei  et  observantiae,  plena  benevo- 
lentiae  et  laudis.  Eaque  sunt  commemorabilia  quae  Mathias  rex 
Paulo  II  rescripsit,  adhortaiiti  ut  nomini  catholico,  ab  Hussitis  in 
Bohemia  afflicto,  ope  valida  subveniret :  Ego  me,  inquit,  sanctae 
romanae  Ecclesiae  et  vestrae  Beatitudini,  una  cum  regno  meo  totum 
dedicavi.  Nihil  mihi  tarn  arduum,  nihil  adeo  periculosum 
Dei  in  terris  Vicar  ius,  immo  Deus  ipse  iubere  potest,  quod 
suscipere  non  pium  et  salutare  existimem,  quod  non  intrepidus 
\iggrediar,  praesertim  ubi  de  solidanda  fide  catholica  et  de 


4556  Documents 

•  contundenda  perfidia  impiorum  agitur...Quibuscumque  reli- 
gionis  hostibus  occurrere  opus  cst,  ecce  Matthias  simul  et 
Hung  aria...  Aposiolicae  Sedi  et  vestrae  Beatitudini  devoti  manent, 
aeternumque  manebunt.  Nee  vero  vel  regis  dictis  vel  Pontificis 
expectation!  res  defuit ;  manetque  posteritati  gravissimum  docu- 
mentum.  Hue  praeterea  spectant,  tamquam  fidelis  admodum 
voluntatis  praemia,  eae  commendationes  non  paucae  nee  mediocres, 
•quibus  ab  hac  Sede  Aposfcolica  dignatum  est  genus  vestrum  ;• 
singulares  item  honores  ac  privilegia,  quae  vestris  regibus  ab  ipsa 
sunt  impertita.  Libet  autem  Nobis,  praesentemque  celebritatem 
•omnino  addscet,  illustriorem  quamdam  paginam  excitare  ex  amplo 
diplomate,  quo  Clemens  XIII  Mariae  Theresiae,  reginae  Hun- 
gariae,  eique  in  eodem  regno  successuris  appellationem  Regis 
Apostolici,  privilegio  vel  consuetudine  inductam,  pro  potestate 
•confirmavit.  Hoc  igitur  Pontificis  praeconio,  ut  iam  patres  atque 
avi,  nepotes  ipsi  fruantur  :  "  Florentissimum  Hungariae  regnum, 
ad  christianae  ditionis  et  gloriae  terminos  proferendos,  vel  propter 
bellicosissimae  gentis  fortitudinem  omnium  aptissimum,  vel 
propter  locorum  naturam  opportunissimum  adhuc  quidem  sempei 
habitum  est  et  fuit.  Neque  vero  quisquam  ignorat  quam  multa 
•et  quam  egregia  facinora  pro  tuenda  propagandaque  lesu  Christi 
religione  gessit  nobilissima  Hungarorum  gens  ;  quam  saepe 
manus  conseruit  cum  teterrimis  hostibus,  iisdemque  ad  communem 
christianae  reipublicae  perniciem  erumpentibus  suo  veluti  corpore 
aditum  iiiterclusit,  maximasque  de  illis  victorias  reportavit. 
Oelebrantur  ea  quidem  fama,  clarissimisque  prodita  sunt  monu- 
mentis  litterarum.  At  silentio  nullo  modo  praeterire  possumus 
.Stephanum  ilium  sanctissimum  fortissimumque  Hungariae 
principem,  cuius  memoriam  caelestibus  honoribus  consecratam 
atque  in  Sanctorum  numero  collocatam  rite  veneramur. 
Eius  autem  virtutis,  sanctitatis,  fortitudinis  vestigia  extant 
istis  in  locis  ad  laudem  Hungarici  nominis  sempiternam.. 
Neque  eius  pulcherrima  exempla  virtutum  reliqui  in  regno 
successores  non  sunt  perpetuis  temporibus  imitati.  Quamo- 
brem  nemini  mirum  videri  debet,  si  romani  Pontificis  Hungaricam 
nationem  eiusdemque  principes  et  reges,  ob  maxima  et  egregia 
illorum  erga  catholicam  fidem  et  romanam  Sedem  merita,  amplis- 
simis  semper  laudibus  ac  privileges  condecoraverint.  Quale  est 
illud  in  primis  sane  honoritatem,  quod  ante  reges,  quando 
prodeunt  in  publicum,  tamquam  splendissimum  Apostolatus 
insigne,  Crux  praeferatur,  idque  ut  ostendatur  Hungaricam 


Documents  557 

nationem  atque  eius  reges  gloriari  unice  in  Cruce  D.  N.  lesu  Christ! ;. 
utque  in  eo  signo  pro  catholica  fide  et  dimicare  semper  et  vincere 
consuevisse."  1 

lamvero,  quamquam  tarn  praeclaris  hominum  ac  rerum> 
recordationibus  sollemnia  commendari  vestra  magnisque  laetitiae 
significationibus  exornari  perpulcrum  est,  res  tamen  ipsa  suadet 
ut  aliquid  spectetur  amplius,  quod  fluxum  non  sit  idemque  com- 
muni  bono  solida  afferat  incrementa.  Caput  est,  ut  se  respiciat 
Hungaria  :  et  conscientia  nobilitatis  religiosissimorum  patrum 
impulsa,  nee  ignara  temporum,  ad  proposita  digna  nitatur.  Voa 
nimirum,  cuiuscumque  ordinis  estis,  appellat  cohortatio  Apostoli : 
State  in  fide,  viriliter  agite  et  confortamini  ; 2  eique  concinat  sane 
oportet  una  mens  omnium  et  vox  :  Teneamus  spei  nostrae  confes- 
sionem  indeclinabilem  ;3  Non  inferaramus  crimen  gloriae  nostrae.* 
Saeculi  cursum  universe  contuentibus  dolendum  certe,  Venerabiles 
Fratres,  homines  passim  esse,  eosque  in  sinu  Ecclesiae  nutritos,. 
qui  religionem  catholicam  neque  opinione  neque  actione  vitae- 
proinde  colant  ac  digna  est  paremve  propemodum  faciant  cuilibet- 
religionis  formae,  atque  etiam  suspectam  invisamque  habeant. 
Vix  autern  attinet  dicere  quale  illud  sit,  praestantissimam  hanc 
patrum  her  edit  at  ein  degeneri  sensu  repudiare,  et  quam  ingrati 
sit  improvidique  animi  beneficia  eius,  turn  diu  parta  agnoscere 
nolle,  turn  in  posterum  expectanda  negligere.  Siquidem  in 
sapientia  institutisque  catholicis  virtus  et  efficientia  inest,  prout 
initio  monuimus,  mira  prorsus  et  multiplex  ad  humanae  societa- 
tis  bonum;  neque  ea  cum  aetatibus  exarescit,  sed  eadem  semper 
et  vivida,  novis  item  temporibus,  modo  ne  opprimatur,  constanter 
est  profutura.  Quod  propius  attinget  populum  vestrum,  iam  ei 
Nos  de  religione,  per  superiores  litteras  adsimilesque  curas,  satis 
consuluisse  existimamus,  aeque  periculis  denunciatis  ab  ilia 
prohibendis,  aeque  adiumentis  propositis  quae  ad  eius  libertatem 
dignitatemque  aptius  conducerent.  Et  quoniam  a  re  religiosa 
res  civilis  dissociare  nequit,  huic  etiam  curationem  opemque 
afferre,  quod  plane  cohaeret  cum  Apostolico  officio,  vehementer 
studuimus.  Nam  quae  Nobis  visum  est  convenienter  temporibus 
vestris  identidem  suadere  et  praescribere,  ea  non  exiguam  partem, 
ut  probe  meministis,  publicae  quoque  saluti  ac  prosperitati  verte- 
bant.  Quod  si,  hoc  ipso  in  genere,  coniuncta  bonorum  studia 

^-Epist.  Qiium  multa  alia  die  xix   aug.  an   MDCCLVIII. 

2  1  Cor.  xvi.  13. 

3Hebr.  x.  23. 

4  1  Machab.  ix.  10. 


568  Documents 

impensius  quotidie  consiliis  monitisque  Nostris  sint  responsura, 
quidni  earn  spem  amplectamur  quae  ex  hac  saeculari  memoria 
laetior  efflorescit  et  quasi  praelucet  ad  communium  votorum 
exitum  maturandum  ?  Nemini  sane  civi  optimo  non  id 
in  votis  fuerit,  ut,  sublatis  dissentiendi  causis  suus  Eccle- 
siae  ne  abnuatur  honos,  ex  quo  pariter  civitati  luculentius 
niteat  suus,  in  foedere  ductuque  avitae  religionis.  Inde  net  ut 
.auctoritas  potestatum,  mutua  ordinum  officia  institutio  adoles- 
centiae,  talia  plura  recte  se  tueantur  in  veritate,  in  iustitia,  in 
caritate  ;  his  enim  maxim  e  fundamentis  praesidiisque  civitates 
nituntur  ac  vigent.  Quae  complexio  bonorum  ut  apud  vos 
habeatur  qualis  clariore  patrum  memoria  fuit,  id  certe  valiturum 
non  minime  est,  si  pietatis  affectio  erga  romanam  Ecclesiam, 
novis  veluti  auspiciis,  ab  eorum  exempla  incitamenta  capiat. 
Opportune  quidem  in  publicis  gaudiis  illud  etiam  indictum 
novimus,  ut  honorincentissimum  Stephani  diadema  insueta  pompa 
per  urbem  principem,  ad  Sedem  Comitiorum  dedicandam,  certa  die 
deferatur ;  nihil  quippe  cum  gloria  nationis  regumque  vestrorum 
tarn  est  connexum,  nihil  cum  recta  civilis  rei  temperatione  tarn 
congruit,  quam  sacrum  illud  regiae  potestatis  insigne.  At  vero 
spe  libet  praesumere  duplex  praestabile  emolumentum  ex  ilia 
re  facile  oriturum.  Alterum,  ut  in  ordinibus  atque  in  multudine 
eo  magis  sacramentum  firmetur  obsequii  fideique  in  augustam 
Domum  Habsburgensem,  quae  idem  diadema,  ultro  sibi  a  maiori- 
bus  vestris  delatum,  ad  felicitatem  regni  perpetuo  gessit ;  alterum, 
quod  est  huius  propositi,  ut  copulata  recordatio  iutimae  patrum 
cum  Cathedra  Petri  necessitudinis,  quae  per  ipsum  pontificale 
donarium  rata  sanctaque  extitit,  iisdem  vinclis  stabilitatem  addat 
et  robur. 

Sciat  autem  gens  Hungarorum  illustris  omnino  se  posse  ac 
debere  auctoritati  et  gratiae  confidere  Sedes  Apostolicae :  quae 
nee  immemor  erit  unquam  rerum  ab  ipsa  pro  catholico  nomine 
praeclare  gestarum,  et  pristinum  erga  ipsam  animum  providentiae 
indulgentiaeque  maternae  retinet,  retinebit.  Quantum  est  in 
Nobis,  si  quidquam  adhuc  vestra  causa  curavimus  et  effecimus, 
ea  Deus  perbenigne  ad  successum  foveat,  Nobisque  consilio  et  ope 
sua  sic  adsit,  ut  liceat  eo  vel  amplius  rationibus  vestris  gratificari. 
Per  hanc  praesertim  faustitatem  respiciat  Ille  praesentissimo 
numine  Begem  vestrum  Apostolicurn,  ordines  clerum,  populurn 
universum  ;  faciatque  affluentes  eorum  copia  bonorum,  quae  ipsa 
nationibis  regnisque  promisit  custodientibus  iustitiam  et  pacem. 


Documents  559 

Vos  aeque  respiciat  omnes  magna  Domina  vestra  Maria,  unaqua 
Stephanus  et  Adalbertus,  iidem  regni  apostoli  et  patroni  caelestes  ; 
quorum  salutari  tutel,  ab  avis  et  maioribus  tantopere  explorata, 
cumulatiore  in  dies  fructu  laetemini.  Singulare  votum  summa 
caritate  adiicimus.  Fiat  nimirum  ut  cives  omnes,  quos  unus 
eiusdem  patriae  commovet  amor  eademque  publicae  gratulationis 
causa  fraterno  more  coniungit,  eos  una  eademque  fides  in  felici 
complexu  Ecclesiae  matris  aliquando  devinciat. 

Vos  autem,  Venerabiles  Fratres,  omni  vigilantia  diligentiaque 
pergite,  at  facitis,  de  populo  vestro  et  de  civitate  mereri  optime  : 
auspicemque  divinorum  munerum  et  peculiaris  benevoluntiae 
Nostrae  testem,  Apostolicam  benedictionem  habete,  quam  singulis 
vobis  cunctaeque  Hungariae  laetanti  amantissime  impertimus. 

Datum  Eomae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  die  1  Maii  anno 
JUDCCCLXXXXVI,  Pontificatus  Nostri  decimo  nono. 

LEO   PP.  XIII. 


LETTEE   OF   HIS   HOLINESS   POPE  LEO  XIII.  ON  "  PILGRIMAGES 
TO  THE  HOLY  LAND  " 

LEO   PP.    XIII. 
AD    PEEPETUAM    BEI    MEMOBIAM 

Eomanorum  Pontificum  Praedecessorum  Nostrorum  vestigiis 
insistentes,  qui  iugiter  pias  ad  sancta  Palaestinae  loca  Christian- 
orum  peregrinationes  commendarunt  atque  indulgentiis  foverunt, 
iam  inde  ab  anno  MDCCCLXXXII  peregrinationes  expiatorias  cura 
patrum  Augustinianorum  ab  Assumptione  suscipiendas,  et  mentis 
laudum  praeconiis  prosequuti  sumus,  et  per  litteras  Nostras  die 
VI  martii  mensis  datas,  spiritualibus  quibusdam  peculiaribus 
gratiis  decoravimus.  Expectationi  autem  Nostrae  plane  respondit 
eventus.  Sequentibus  enirn  annis  erga  purpurata  Divino  Sanguine 
loca,  fidelium  studium  in  Gallia  potissimum  excitatum  atque 
auctum ;  Episcopi,  Sacerdotes,  laici,  plura  Christianorum  millia 
dictis  peregrinationibus  nomen  dare  properarunt  ;  horum 
exemplis  Christi  fideles  in  Oriente  degentes  in  fide  sunt  con- 
firinati ;  denique  mirabilis  huiusmodi  Orientalium  cum  Occiden- 
talibus  consensus  suavi  animum  Nostrum  laetitia  replevit,  et  in 
spem  optimam  erexit.  Et  sane  auctore  et  auspice  dilecto  filio 
Francisco  Picard  Praeposito  generali  Augustinianorum  ab 
Assumptione  qui  quindecim  annorum  spatio  expiatoriis  hisce 
peregrinationibus  egregia  quidem  laude  praefuit,  erectum  est 


560  Documents 

Hierosolymae  hospitium  Nostrae  Dominae,  sacra  et  civili  auctori- 
tate    probatum,  pro    peregrinis   excipiendis,  aperta   ibidem   pia 
domus  studiorum  pro  religiosis  ab  Assumptione  ;  habitus  Eucha- 
risticus  Conventus  pluribus  adstantibus  Patriarchis  et  Antistitibus 
turn  latini  ritus,  turn  orientalis,  positusque    auspicatissiraa  ilia 
occasione  primus  lapis  Ecclesiae  Nostrae  Dominae  Galliarum  per 
Cardinalem  Apostolicae   Sedis  legatum ;    tandem  illud  templum 
modo  absolutum  et  structura  praenobile  sedes  est,  turn  opens 
piacularium  precum  peregrinationum    memoratarum,   turn  piae 
Associationis   canonice  ibi   institutae  pro  suffragiis  rite  ferendis 
animabus  fidelium  defunctorum  ex  Ecclesiis  turn  Orientis,  cum 
Occidentis,  quae  purgatorio  in  igne  detineantur.     lamvero  quum 
ipse   Praepositus   Generalis    Augustinianorum    ab    Assumptione 
enixas  Nobis  humiliter  preces  adhibuerit  ut  Indulgentias,  singulis- 
annis,  vi  supradictarum  litterarum  Nostrarum,  iis  peregrinationi- 
bus  concessas  in  perpetuum  elargiri  nonnullaque  addere  privilegia 
de  benignitate  apostolica  velimus,  Nos  ut  tam  frugiferae  pietatis 
opera  maiora  favente  Domino  suscipiant  incrementa,  et  praesertim 
preces  quae  dictorum  Operum  cura  pro  Ecclesiarum  Unione  ad 
Deum   iuxta   mentem   Nostram   effunduntur  uberiori  riant  cum 
animarum  fructu,  piis  his  votis  annuendum  propensa  voluntate 
existimavimus.     Itaque  tam    religiosos   patres   ab  Assumptione 
quibus   earumdem   peregrinationum    regimen   est   demandatum, 
quam  fideles  qui  in  exercitium   pietatis,  obedientiae,  mortinca- 
tionis,  et  abnegationis  sui  ipsius   simulque  in  spiritu  charitatis  et 
precum,  idem  iter  suscipiant,  peculiari    benevolentia  complecti 
volentes  et  a  quibusvis  excommunicationis  et  interdicti  aliisque 
ecclesiasticis  sententiis,  censuris  et  poenis  quovis  modo  vel  quavis 
de  causa  latis,  si  quas  forte  incurrerint,  huius  tantum  rei  gratia 
absolventes  et  absolutes  fore  censentes,  Apostolica  nostra  auctori- 
tate  preasentium  tenore,  ad  nutum  Sedis  Apostolicae,  haec  quae 
infrascripta  sunt  concedimus  atque  indulgemus.     Nimirum  omni- 
bus et  singulis  ndelibus  qui  nunc  et  in  posterum  quolibet  anno 
expiatoriam  huiusmodi  peregrinationem   susceperint,  et  in  ipso 
iteneris  ingressu  Moderator!  pro  tempore  debitam  obedientiam 
professi  sint,  plenariam  concedimus  Indulgentiam  pro  discessus, 
ac  pro  die  ab  unoquoque  eligendo  durante  peregrinatione,  dum- 
modo    rite    confessi    sacraque    Communione   refecfci    aliquamdiu 
iuxta  Roman  i  Pontificis  mentem  orent  pro  extirpatione  haeresum, 
sanctaeque   Ecclesiae   necessitatibus   et  exaltatione.     Has  vero 
conditiones  adiectas  volumus  aliis  omnibus  plenariis  indulgentiis 


Documents  561 

infra  concedendis,  quas  universas  in  suffragium  etiam  converti 
posse  permittimus  fidelium  omnium  qui  pie  ex  hac  vita  excesse- 
runt.  Illis  autem  qui  domi  detenti  per  alios  a  se  missos,  vel  per 
eleemosynas,  vel  in  alio  modo  suffragati  fuerunt  cuilibet  e  pere- 
grinationibus  memoratis,  et  illis  etiam  qui  spiritu  iuncti  cum 
peregrinantibus  sibi  indicant  aliquem  mortificationis  aut  pietatis 
actum  quotidie  exercendum,  tempore  quo  respectiva  peregrinati© 
perduraverit,  nempe  abstinentiam  aliquam,  Missae  auditionem, 
exercitium  Viae  Crucis,  recitationem  Rosarii,  vel  septem  psalmo- 
rum  poenitentialium,  aut  alicuius  e  parvis  Omciis  approbatis, 
plenariam  Indulgentiam  concedimus  lucrandam  ad  libitum  une 
e  diebus  festis  durante  respectivae  peregrination! s  spatio  occur- 
rentibus.  Quo  vero  consultum  sit  earumdem  peregrination  urn 
tempori,  concedimus  ut  quotidie  in  navi,  servatis  servandis, 
sacrum  fieri  possit,  et  sacra  petentibus  Cornmunio  distribui. 
Potestatem  pariter  facimus  Moderator!  pro  tempore  cuiusque 
peregrinationis  in  posterum  peragendae  et  aliquot  sacerdotibus  ad 
confessiones  approbatis,  ab  eodem  designandis,  excipiendi  pere- 
grinantium  confessiones.  Pro  mulieribus  tamen,  excepto  aegrarum 
decumbentium  casu,  volumus  adhiberi  ut  in  exedris,  apto  in  loco 
ponendam  cratem,  quae  sacerdotem  a  poenitente  seiungat.  Et 
ne  peregrinantes  careant  beneficio  exercitii  Viae  Crucis  turn  in 
navi,  turn  ubi  ilia  non  habeatur  canonice  erecta,  concedimus  ut 
ipsi  lucrari  valeant  indulgentias  omnes  eidem  exercitio  adnexas, 
si  illud  obeant  coram  praelala  vectibili  Cruce.  Cum  vero  ad  loca 
sancta  pervenerint  indulgemus  ut  peregrinantes  apud  unum- 
quodque  Sanctuarium  quod  visitaverint,  eas  omnes  indulgentias 
assequi  valeant,  quas  lucraturi  forent  si  praecipuo  eiusdem  Sanc- 
tuarii  festo  interessent.  Quod  si  alicuius  ex  Sanctuariis  angus- 
tiae  nee  universes  fortasse  admittant  peregrines,  nee  sinant 
sacerdotes  omnes  peregrinantes  ibi  Sacrum  facere,  decernimus  ut 
respectivae  peregrinationis  Moderator  rem  agat  cum  Patriarcha 
Hierosolymitano,  cui,  dummodo  locorum  Mores,  et  incolarum 
ingenium  istaec  citra  ullam  offensionem  perfici  patiantur,  Apos- 
tolica  Nostra  auctoritate,  praesentium  vi  facultatem  committimus, 
impertiendi  veniam  ex  qua  Missae  sub  aperto  coelo  ibi  fieri 
servatis  servandis  queant,  et  sacra  peregrinis  Eucharistia  diriberi, 
ita  ut  per  haec  indulgentia  visitationi  illius  sanctuarii  adnexae 
perinde  acquirantur,  ac  si  Sanctuarium  fuisse  reapse  visitatum. 
Tandem,  de  Apostolicae  similiter  potestatis  Nostrae  plenitudine, 
praesentium  vi,  itemque  in  perpetuum,  in  Sanctuarium  quod  ante 

VOL.  XVII.  2  N 


562  Documents 

memoravimus,  Hierosolymae  erectum,  Nostrae  Dominae  Gallia- 
rum,  indulgentiam  plenarium  transferrimus  Virginis  Sepulchre 
adnexam,  quod  a  Schismaticis  detinetur  et  gravi  absque  discrimine 
a  piis  peregrinantibus  visitari  nequit.  Haec  concedimus  atque 
indulgemus  decernentes  praesentes  Nostras  litteras  firmas,  validas 
et  efficaces  existere  et  fore,  suosque  plenarios  et  integros  effectus 
sortiri  et  obtinere,  illisque  ad  quos  spectat  et  in  posterum  spectare 
poterit  in  omnibus  plenissime  suffragan,  sicque  in  praemissis  per 
quoscumque  ludices  ordinaries  et  delegates  iudicari  et  definiri 
debere,  atque  irritum  et  inane  si  secus  super  his  a  quoquam 
quavis  auctoritate  scienter  vel  ignoranter  contigeret  attentari. 
Non  obstantibus  Nostra  et  Cancellariae  Apostolicae  regula  de  non 
concedendis  indulgentiis  ad  instar,  aliisque  Constitutionibus  et 
Ordinationibus  Apostolicis  ceterisque  contrariis  quibuscumque. 
Volumus  autem  et  praesentium  litterarum  transumptis  seu 
exemplis  etiam  impressis,  manu  alicuius  Notarii  publici  sub- 
scriptis  et  sigillo  personae  in  ecclesiastica  dignitate  constitutae 
munitis  eadem  prorsus  adhibeatur  fides,  quae  adhiberetur  ipsis 
praesentibus  si  forent  exhibitae  vel  ostensae. 

Datum  Eomae,  apud  Sanctum  Petrum,  sub  annulo  Piscatoris 
die  xvin  aprilis  MDCCCXCVI,  Pontificatus  Nostri  anno  decimo 
nono. 

C.  CARD,  DE  RUGGIERO. 
Locus  f&  Sigilli. 


LETTER  OF  HIS  HOLINESS  POPE  LEO  XIII.  TO  CARDINAL 
GOOSENS,  ARCHBISHOP  OF  MECHLIN,  ON  THE  USE  OF  THE 
LATIN  LANGUAGE  IN  PHILOSOPHICAL  STUDIES  AT  LOQVAIN 

DILECTO    FILIO    NOSTRO    PETRO    LAMBERTO    S.  R.  E.  CARD.    GOOSENS 
ARCHIEPISCOPO     MECHLINIENSI 

DILECTE  FILI   NOSTER,     SALUTEM   ET    APOSTOLICAM    BENEDICTIONEM. 

Probe  nosti  qua  firma  ac  studiosa  voluntate  propositum 
Nostrum  prosecuti  hucusque  simus,  quod  jam  Pontificatus  initio 
Praedecessori  Tuo  significavimus,  de  amplificandis  in  isto 
perillustri  Lovaniensi  Athenaeo  philosophiae  studiis,  ut  Belgica 
etiam  juventus  de  solidis  uberibusque  fructibus  particeps  fieret, 
quos  ex  restauratione  christianae  philosophiae  ad  mentem  Divi 
Thomae  a  nobis  firmiter  intentos  ubique  terramm  jam  ex  parte, 
Deo  favente,  in  bonum  Ecclesiae  et  civilis  societatis  obtentos 
fuisse  laetamur,  uberioresque  in  dies  obventuros  certo  confidimus. 


Documents  563 

Opportunis  praecipuum  in  hunc  scopum  adhortationibus 
Nostris  et  pluries  datis  epistolis.  Nos  minime  latet,  qua  actuosa 
propensione  ac  zelo  morem  gesserint,  Te  quidem  duce,  dilectissimi 
omnes  Belgii  Episcopi,  aliique  e  clero  et  laicis  viri  praeclarissimi, 
ita  ut  in  Lovaniensi  Universitate  nedum  philosophiae  studia 
reapse  amplificata  fuerint,  sed  etiam,  quod  in  votis  erat,  singularis 
Schola  quae  Divo  Thomae  inscribitur,  paucis  abhinc  annis  insti- 
tuta  sit,  eique  adnexuni  Seminarium  pro  Dioecesium  clericis  ingenio 
ac  pietate  praestantioribus. 

Debitas  laudes  hac  arrepta  occasione  Tibi,  singulisque  Praesu- 
libus,  aliisque  catholicis  viris  pro  in  id  collatis  officiis,  curis  et 
sumptibus,  iterum  ex  animo  rependere  pergratum  est. 

Quos  interea  fructus  inde  maximos  in  Domino  auspicari  fas 
est,  ut  firmius  ac  securius  caperentur,  leges  et  praescripta  turn 
Scholae  turn  Seminarii  Nobis  deferenda  injunximus,  quae  collatis 
consiliis  Lovanii  confecta,  revisa  jam  et  probata  per  S.  Studiis 
regundis  praepositam  Congregationem,  Nostra  auctoritate  mense 
Julio  superioris  anni  sancita  fuere. 

De  quorum  fideli  executione  peculiarem  commendationem 
facere  baud  ducimus,  quum  omnes  Episcopos  libentissime  et 
grato  animo  ea  accepisse  testentur  litterae  collectim  Nobis  datae 
mense  Octobri  nuper  elapso. 

Si  quae  caeterum  exorta  sunt  dubia  in  nonnullis  articulis  inter- 
pretandis,  Nostram  mentem  Tibi  patefacere  jam  commisimus 
per  dilectum  Filium  Nostrum  Card,  ejusdem  Congregationis 
Praefectum  spesque  affulget  fore  ut  omnia  quam  citius 
componantur. 

Attamen  unum  prae  omnibus  per  has  Nostras  Litteras  special! 
modo  commendandum  censemus,  ut  nempe  in  lectionibus  habendis, 
iis  quidem  exceptis,  quae  scientias  naturales,  quas  vocant,  his- 
toriamque  respiciunt,  latina  lingua  adhibeatur  :  hujusmodi  enim 
latini  sermonis  usum  in  statutis  praescribendum  expressa  Nostra 
mandavimus  voluntate,  a  qua  nullo  modo  recedendum  omnes 
admonitos  volumus  sive  institutores  sive  alumnos. 

Quo  enim  pacto  serio  et  solide  in  Divi  Thomae  et  scholasti- 
corum  doctrinam  incumbere  alumni  poterunt,  eorumque 
immo^talia  evolvere  voluinina,  latine  conscripta,  hujus  idiomatis 
nescii  ? 

Impervii  profecto  iis  semper  erunt  electissimi  scientiae  thesauri 
inibi  per  saecula  a  summis  ingeniis  congesti ! 

Nee  institutoribus  ipsis  facilis  res  erit,  si  scholae  conceptus, 


564  Documents 

axiomata,  terminos  vel  ipsos  vernacula  lingua  explanare  conentui\ 
Viros  autem  altioris  eruditionis  ac  scientia  vere  praestantes, 
quales  thomisticae  scholae  alumnos  optamus,  vel  maxime  dedecet 
latinam  linguam  non  callere,  praesertim  si  de  clericis  agitur. 
Ecclesiae  mancipatis  cui  proprium  est  Latii  sermone  a  saeculisuti 
et  gloriari.  Quod  laicos  autem  attinet,  quorum  solidior  in 
philosophicis  disciplinis  institutio  Nobis  efciam  cordi  est,  eos 
a  Thomisticae  scholae  frequentia  latini  sermonis  usus  arcere  non 
debet,  sed  potius  allicere,  si  serio  scientiae  inhiant  possessui  et 
honoribus.  Quam  forsan  ab  initio  cursuum  invenient  difficultatem 
cito  evincent,  prout  exemplum  probat  alumnorum,  qui  ex  diversis 
regionibus  et  linguis  Urbem  conveniunt  innumeri,  ut  scientiis 
vacent,  quae  semper  latine  explanantui. 

Spe  certa  igitur  Nos  nitimur,  ut  si  execution!  debito,  quo  par 
est,  obsequio  mandentur  omnia,  quae  vel  commendanda  vel  prae- 
scribenda  significavimus,  ex  alumnis  qui  Thomisticae  Scholae 
cursus  Lovanii  rite  celebraverint,  strenuus  profecto,  licet  initio 
exiguus,  brevi  efformari  poterit  virorum  numerus,  qui  omnis 
philosophiae  apparatu  apprime  instruct!,  in  Dioecesibus  praesto 
esse  Episcopis  possint,  et  adjutores  validissimi  hac  temporum 
pravitate  ut  contra  innumeros  veritatis,  praesertim  fidei,  hostes 
vel  ipsis  scientiae  armis  invicti  sese  opponant  et  erigant. 

Primitias  uberemque  horum  fructuum  copiam  ut  colligant 
nedum  Episcopi  sed  et  omnes  Belgicae,  Nobis  dilectissimae-, 
nationis  civium  ordines  enixe  a  Deo  adprecamur,  medio  et  auctore 
ipso  sanctissimo  scholarum  Magistro,  qui  suis  favoribus  Thomis- 
ticae Lovaniensis  scholae  alumnos,  in  Ecclesiae  spem  et  christianae 
philosophiae  jura  succrescentes,  profecto  e  coelo  amplecti  non 
desinet,  ita  ut  omnibus,  qui  optime  de  eorum  institutione  meriti 
fuerint,  datum  tandem  sit  de  assiduis  in  hoc  nobilissimum  opus 
praestitis  curis,  pretiosis  inde  manantibus  beneficiis  satis- 
comperisari  ac  in  Domino  abunde  solari. 

Auspicem  interim  divinorum  munerum  et  praecipuae  benevo- 
lentiae  Nostrae  testem  Tibi  Dilecte  Fili  Nosteiytuisin  Episcopate 
Collegis,  moderatoribus,  institutoribus,  ac  alumnis  universis 
Lovaniensis  Athenaei,  Scholae  praesertim  Divi  Thomae  Bene- 
dictionem  effusa  caritate  impertimus. 

Datum  Eomae  apud  S.  Petrurn  die  6a  Februarii  1896,, 
Pontificatus  Nostri  anno  decimo  octavo. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 


Documents  565 

DECREE  OF   THE    INQUISITION   CONDEMNING  CERTAIN   ABUSES 

IN   FRANCE 
DECBETUM    SANCTAE    ROMANAE    ET   UN1VERSALIS    INQUISITIONIS 

Feria  IV.  die  15  Aprilis,  1896 

Ad  caeteros  effrenes  abusus,  quibus  damnatum  iam  conventi- 
culum,  apud  paroeciam  de  Loigny  in  dioecesi  Carnutensi 
congregatum,  proprias  visiones,  revelationes  et  prophetias,  sed 
verissime  incredibilia  deliramenta,  in  vulgus  iactare  et  praefracte 
defendere,  nee  veritati,  nee  honori  sacrae  hierarchiae  debito  par- 
cendo,  plures  per  annos  perditissime  consueverat,  novissime 
accessit  audax  f acinus,  nee  oculis  credendum,  sed  numero 
octogesimo  quinto  ephemeridis  cui  titulus  Les  Annales  de  Loigny 
contentum,  confictorum,  scilicet  ex  integro  actorum,  ac  si  habita 
fuerint  in  consistoriis  pontificii  diebus  vigesimonono  Novembris 
et  secundo  Decembris  1895  habitis.  Eorum  vero  actorum 
summa  nempe  fuerit  oraculum  viva  Summi  Pontificis  voce  pro- 
latum,  quo  praedicta  ephemeris  approbaretur ;  approbaretur 
insuper  societas  ilia  quae  sibi  assumpsit  nomen  Des  E pauses  du 
Sacre-CcRur  de  Jesus  Penitent,  eiusdemque  societatis  opera ; 
irritaretur  etiam  interdictio  lata  ab  Ordinario  Carnutensi  in 
Mathildem  Marchat,  quae  sibi  nomen  attribuit  Maria  lenuefae ; 
restitueretur  mulier  ilia  ad  sacra  tamquam  ex  iustitia,  et  praetensae 
illius  visiones  uti  divinae  recognoscerentur. 

Licet  autem  fideles  per  haec  mendacia  quominus  decipiantur, 
turn  per  acta  Ordinarii  Carnutensis,  ab  hac  Suprema  Congrega- 
tione  probata  et  confirmata,  turn  maxime  per  decretum,  quo 
mendax  ilia  ac  impudens  libellorum  seu  annalium  loigniensium 
series  iam  a  die  27  lunii  1894  proscripta  fuit,  satis  consultum 
videri  possit ;  attamen  super  hac  nova  fraude  decipiendis  incautis 
visum  est  expedire,  ut  nova  declaratione  occurratur. 

Sacra  igitur  haec  Suprema  S.  O.  contra  haereticam  pravitatern 
Congregatio,  de  expresso  SS.mi  D.  N.  Leonis  Papae  XIII.  man- 
date, omnibus  et  singulis  Christifidelibus  delarat  atque  significat, 
acta  consistoriipontiticii  in  recensito  libello  relata  conficta  omnino 
esse  et  commentitia ;  atque  pro  confictis  et  commentitiis  habenda 
esse  praecipit  et  mandat. 

Ad  haec,  proscriptionem  annalium  loigniensium,  de  qua  supra, 
firmam  inanere ;  numerum  eorundem  annalium  octogesimum 
quintum  superius  memoratum  ementita  consistoriorum  acta  cum 
pluribus  aliis  reprobatione  dignis  referentem,  prohiberi  et  esse 


566  Documents 

prohibitum  ;  quaecumque  hucusque  sive  ab  Ordinario  Carnutensi 
sive  a  Sancta  Sede  in  pseudocommunitatem  de  Loigny  decreta 
fuerunt,  rata  et  firma  haberi ;  mulierem  de  qua  supra  a  sacra - 
mentorum  susceptione  manere  interdictam,  reservata  Summo 
Pontifici,  praeterquam  in  mortis  articulo  cam  absolvendi,  si  poeni- 
tuerit,  potestate;  visiones,  revelationes,  prophetias,  loignienses 
falsas  et  confictas  esse  et  pro  falsis  et  confictas  esse  ab  unoquoque 
habendas  ;  fautores  in  eo  mendacii  opere,  cuiuscumque  sexus 
conditionis  et  dignitatis,  assentientes,  adhaerentes,  auxilium 
quomodocumque  aut  sunragium  ferentes,  absolutionis  nisi  resi- 
puerint,  aliorumque  sacramentorum  recipiendorura  esse  omnino 
incapaces. 

Atque  haec  omnia  praescriptis  modis  publicari  mandavit. 
L.  %  S. 

los.  MANCINI,  S.  Eom.  et  Univ.  Inquisitionis, 
No  tarius. 

THE    FEAST   OF   ST.    THOMAS   OF   CANTEBBURY 

DECBETUM  QUO  FESTUM  S.  THOMAE  EPISCOPI  CANTUABIENSIS  ET 
MAETYKIS  EVEHITUK  AD  BITUM  DUPLICEM  MINOBEM  PBO 
UNIVEBSA  ECCLESIA 

Sanctissimus  Dominus  Noster  Leo  Papa  XIII,  referente 
infrascripto  Cardinali  Sacrae  Eituum  Congregation!  Praefecto, 
communia  vota  Emorum  et  Emorum  Patrum  Sacris  tuendis 
Eitibus  praepositorum,  libenter  excipiens,  festum  Sancti  Thomae 
Bpiscopi  Cantuariensis  et  Martyris  ad  ritum  duplicem  minorem 
minorem  pro  universa  Ecclesia  evehere  dignatus  est ;  .illudque 
sub  praedicto  ritu  in  Calendario  universal!  et  in  novis  editionibus- 
Breviarii  Eomani  deinceps  inscribi  decrevit.  Contrariis  non 
obstantibus  quibuscumque. 

Die  24  Februarii  1896. 

CAI.  CABD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.B.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  *  S. 

ALOISIUS  TBIPEPI,  Secretarius. 

THE  BISHOP  AND  HIS  CANONS,  BLESSING  WITH  THE  PYXIS,. 
BLESSING  OF  A  CHUECH  AND  CEMETEKY 

Emus  Dnus  Marianus  Palermo,  Episcopus  Platien.  a  Sacra 
Eituum  Congregatione  sequentium  Dubiorum  solutionem  humil- 
lime  flagitavit,  nimirum  : 

I.  An  in  accessu  Episcopi   Ordinarii   ad   Ecclesiam   Cathe- 


Documents  567 

dralem,  rei  divinae  peragendae  causa,  sive  ipse  celebraturus  sit, 
sive  alter,  aera  turris  campanariae  pulsari  debeant  ? 

II.  Utrum  in  casu  teneantur  Canonici  Episcopum,  cappa  vel 
habitu  chorali  indutum,  comitari  et  deducere  ? 

III.  An  in  expositione  privata,  quandc  populus  benedicitur 
cum  Sanctissimo  Eucharistiae  Sacramento,  pyxide  clausa,  ipsa 
pyxis  cooperienda  sit  velo  humerali  ? 

IV.  Utrum  benedicto  coemeterio,   censeri   debeat   benedicta 
etiam  Ecclesia,  eidem  adnexa,  et  viceversa  ? 

Sacra  porro  Kituum  Congregatio,  ad  relationem  subscript! 
Secretarii,  exquisito  voto  alterius  ex  Apostolicarum  Caeremo- 
niarum  Magistris,  Dubiis  accurate  perpensis,  respondendum 
censuit  : 

Ad  I.  Affirmative,  ad  normam  Coeremonialis  Episcoporum. 

Ad  II.  Stetur  Coefemoniali  et  Decretis. 

Ad  III.  Affirmative,  iuxta  Decretum  in  una  Meliten.  23 
Februarii  1839. 

Ad  IV.  Negative  ad  utrumque. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit.     Die  21  Februarii  1896. 

C.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.  E.  C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  *S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  Secretarius. 

INTONATION   OF   THE    "  GLORIA  "    AND    " CREDO  " 
ROMANA    QUOAD    INTONATIONEM    HYMNI    ANGELICI,    ALIASQUE 

A  Sacra  Eituum  Congregatione  postulaverunt  plurimi :  An 
intonationes  Hymni  angelici  ac  Symboli,  necnon  smgulae  mo- 
dulationes  a  CeJebrante  in  Missa  cantata  exequendae,  videlicet 
Orationum,  Praefationis,  Orationis  Dominicae  et  cum  relativis 
responsionibus  ad  chorum  pertinentibus,  ex  praecepto  servari 
debeant  prout  iacent  in  Missali.  an  mutari  potius  valeant,  iuxta 
consuetudinem  quarumdam  Ecclesiarum  ? 

Et  eadem  S.  Eituum  Congregatio,  audito  voto  Commissionis 
liturgicae,  reque  mature  perpensa,  censuit  rescribendum :  Affir- 
mative ad  primam  parcem :  Negative  ad  secundam,  et  quam- 
cumque  contrariam  consuetudinem  esse  eliminandam  iuxta  Decretum 
21  Aprilis,  1873.  Atque  ita  rescripsit  ac  servari  mandavit. 

Die  14  Martii  1896. 

C.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  SM.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  *  is. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  Secretarius. 


568  Documents 

MATKIMONIAL   DISPENSATIONS 

WTTERAE  EMI  PRO-DATARII  QUOAD  DISPENSATIONES  MATRIMONIALES 
PERILLUSTRIS  ET  BEVERENDISSIME  DOMINE, 

Petitionum  copia  pro  obtinendis  matrimonialibus  dispensa- 
tionibus  super  impedimento  primi  tangentis  secundum  consan- 
guinitatis  gradum  Sanctissimi  Principis  Domini  Nostri  Leonis 
Papae  XIII.  mentem.  ingluvie  malorum  percrebescente,  perculit. 
Etenim  animadvertens  indulgendo  buiusmodi  concessionibus, 
effraenata  licentia,  quae  de  die  in  diem  augetur,  baudquaquam 
eompescitur ;  eo  quod  occasio  continua,  commodum  earn  impune 
satisfaciendi  allectant  nupturientes  spe  etiam  modo  coniugali 
occulturos  infelices  effectus,  atque  reatus,  qui  iam  praecesserunt. 

Ne  vero  Sanctitatis  Suae  indulgentia  praebeatur  occasio 
salutarern  disciplinam  labefactandi,  quae  a  sanctitate  sacramenti 
iubetur,  et  tantum  prodest  morum  integritati,  societatis  bono  et 
Tegetiorum  corporum  incremento,  onerat  Episcoporum  con- 
scientiam,  ut  sedulo  invigilent,  ne  Sanctae  Sedis  precantes 
accedant,  nisi  verae  causae  canonicae  iure  commendent,  et 
litteris  manu  propria  exaratis  rationes  in  quolibet  casu  explicent, 
nee  non  circumstantias,  quibus  putent  gratiam  esse  concedendam. 
Tali  modo  Summus  Pontifex  tutior  annuet  petitionibus,  quoties 
agnoscet  necessitatem  eo  obstrictiorem,  quo  artes  erunt  minores 
alio  modo  consulendi. 

Pro  certo  babeo  Amplitudinem  Tuam  omnibus  viribus  ela- 
boraturam,  ut  Sanctitatis  Suae  vota  praeoptatum  finem  habeant. 
Interim  meae  observantiae  sensus  Tibi  profiteer,  atque  cuncta 
adprecor  a  Domino. 

Datum  Bomae  ex  .ZEdibus  Nostris  die  19  lunii  1895. 

Amplitudinis  Tuae. 

Servus  verus 
A.  CARD.  BIANCHI  P.  D. 


CONDEMNATION   OF  THBEE  SOCIETIES  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES 

DAMNANTUR    TRES    SOCIETATES    IN    STATIBUS    UNITIS    AMERICAE 

SEPTENTRIONALIS 
ILLUSTRISSIME  AC  EEVERENDISSIME  DOMINE, 

Amplitudinem  Tuam  profecto  non  latet,  Eeverendissimos 
Arcbiepi scopes  in  ecclesiasticis  Provinciis  istius  Foederatae  Eei- 
ytiblicae  constitutes  in  suis  conventibus  egisse  de  tribus,  quae 
istic  evaluerunt  Societatibus,  Sociorum  nempe  singularium  (Odd 


Documents  569 

Fellows),  Filiorum  temperantiae  (Sons  of  temperance)  et  Equi- 
tum  Pythiae  (Knights  of  Pithias)  atque  unanimi  consensu  rem 
iam  iudicio  Sedis  Apostolicae  detulisse.  Porro  Sanctissimus 
Dominus  Noster  quaestionem  examinandam  tradidit  Eeverendis- 
sirrris  et  Eminentissimis  DD.  S.  E.  E.  Cardinalibus  una  mecum 
Inquisitoribus  generalibus.  Hi  vero  general!  Congregatione 
Feria  IV.  die  20  lunii  1894,  confirmantes  iudicium  de  aliquibus 
ipsismet  Societatibus  alias  latum,  decreverunt. 

Cunctis  per  istius  regionis  Ordinariis  esse  omnino  conniten- 
dum,  ut  fideles  a  tribus  Societatibus  praedictis  et  ab  unaquaque 
earum  arceantur,  eaque  de  re  fideles  ipsos  esse  monendos  :  et 
si  monitione  insuper  habita,  velint  adhuc  eisdem  Societatibus 
adhaerere,  nee  ab  illis  cum  effectu  separari,  a  perceptione  sacra- 
mentorum  esse  arcendos. 

Sanctissimus  Dominus  Noster  sententiam  hanc  plene  con- 
firmavit  et  ratam  habuit.  Quae  idcirco  per  praesentes  Amplitudini 
Tuae  significantur,  ut  per  te  nota  fiat  cunctis  istarum  regionum 
Archiepiscopis,  Episcopis,  aliisque  locorum  Ordinariis  et  pro  bono 
animarum  regimine  ad  effectum  deducatur. 

Interim  fausta  atque  felicia  ornnia  tibi  a  Deo  O.M.  precor. 
Eomae,  20  Augusti  1894. 

L.  M.  CABD.  MONACO. 

POWER     OF  BISHOPS   TO    DISPENSE    IN   LAWS    OF    FAST     AND 
ABSTINENCE,   OR   PERMIT   ANTICIPATION 

DUBIA      QUOAD      DECRETUM      DE      LEGE     IEIUNII      ET     ABSTINENTIAE 
ANTICIPANDA,    VEL    DlSPENSANDA    AB    EPISCOPIS  L 

Feria  IV  die  18  Martii  1896. 

Post  latum  feria  IV  die  V  Decembris  1894  Supremae  huius 
Congregationis  S.  0.  Decretum,  quod  incipit  Cum  recenter,  quo 
facultas  fit  locorum  Ordinariis  anticipandi  in  alium  diem,  vel 
etiam,  gravissimis  de  causis,  dispensandi  super  ieiunii  et  absti- 
nentiae  lege,  occasione  solemnitatum  in  vetitum  aliquem  diem 
incidentium,  a  pluribus  locis  circa  eiusdem  Decreti  genuinum 
sensum  dubia  proposita  fuere  quae  sequuntur  : 

I.  Utrum  ad  hoc,  ut  Episcopus  dispensare  valeat,  ad  tramitem 
Decreti,  necesse  sit  ut  festum  celebretur  magno  populorum  con- 
cursu  ? 

II.  Utrum  Episcopus  dispensare  possit  quando  agitur  tantum 

1  Decretum  hoc  babes  Vol.  xxvii.,  512. 


570  Documents 

de  festis  duplicis  praecepti,  an  etiam  quando  agitur  de  alio  festo 
vel  de  alia  catholica  solemnitate,  ex.  gr.  de  centenariis,  de  pere- 
grinationibus  et  similibus  ? 

III.  Quomodo  sit  intelligendus  magnus  populorum  concur  sus, 
an    populorum    extraneorum    vel    etiam   eiusdem   civitatis   aut 
loci  ? 

IV.  Utrum   inter   causas    gravissimas,    ob    quas    Episcopus 
non  solum  anticipare,    sed    etiam    dispensare    potest,  assignari 
valeat    grave    periculum    quod     abstinentia     anticipanda    non 
observetur  ? 

V.  Utrum  in  diebus  exceptis,  ieiunio  consecratis,  vetitum  sit 
Episcopis  tantum  dispensare  super  abstinentia,  vel   etiam  illam 
anticipare  ? 

VI.  Utrum  ex  rationabili  causa  possit  Episcopus  committere- 
Parochis,  ut  ipsi  assignent  diem   in  quo  anticipari  debeat  absti- 
nentia ? 

Quibus  dubiis,  ad  examen  sedulo  vocatis  in  Congregatione 
General!  habita  feria  IV,  die  18  Martii  1896  Emi  ac  Emi  Domini 
Cardinales  Inquisitores  Generales,  praehabito  voto  DD.  Consul- 
torum,  respondendum  mandarunt : 

Ad  I.  Affirmative. 

Ad  II.  Negative  ad  primam  par  tern  ;  Affirmative  ad  secundam  ; 
modo  adsit  magnus  populorum  concur sus. 

Ad  III.  Attentis  omnibus ,  intelligi  potest  etiam  de  concur  su 
civitatis  aut  loci,  facto  verbo  cum  Sanctissimo. 

Ad  IV.  Affirmative,  modo  periculum  sit  generate. 

Ad  V.  Affirmative,  scilicet  utrumque  vetitum  est  Episcopis. 

Ad  VI.  Affirmative. 

Sequent!  vero  feria  VI  die  2Q  eiusdem  rnensis  SSmus  Dominus 
Noster  Leo  divina  Providentia  Papa  XIII,  in  solita  audientia, 
E.P.D.  Assessori  impertita.  relatas  sibi  Emorum  Patrum  resolu- 
tiones,  benigne  approbare  et  confirmare  dignatus  est. 


THE   MEANING   OF    "  CONDIMENTA  EX 

LITTEBAE    EMI    CARDINALIS    MONACO    LA    VALLETTA    AD    ORDINARIUM 
ALEXANDBINUM,    QUOAD    CONDIMENTA   EX    ADIPE 

Die  25  Martii  1895. 

Litteris  ab  Amplitudine  Tua  ad  E.  P.  D.  Commissarium  huius- 
Supremae  Congregationis,  datis  sub  die  12  mensis  decurrentis 
respondeo,  certiorem  faciendo  eamdem  A.  Tuam  quod  feria  IV. 


Notices  of  Books  571 


1  Mail  1889,  proposito  dubio,  an  locutio  condimenta  ex 
adhibita  in  coiicessione  indultorum  pro  quadragesima  et  condi- 
menta infra  annum,  intelligenda  esset  ex  adipe  cuiuscunique 
anwialis  ;  Emi  DD.  Cardinales,  una  mecum  Inquisitores  Gene- 
rales,  responderunt  :  Affirmative. 

CARD.  MONACO  LA  VALLETTA. 


IRotices  of  Boohs 

ST.  PETEE,  HIS  NAME  AND  HIS  OFFICE.     By  T.  W.  Allies, 

K.C.S.G.    With  a  Preface  by  the  Kev.  Luke  Kivington, 

M.A.      Catholic  Truth  Society,  London. 

IN  the  history  of  theological  literature  the  name  of  T.  W.  Allies- 
will  be  long  associated  with  at  least  one  point  of  Catholic  doctrine, 
le  Primacy  of  St.  Peter  and  his  successor  the  Eoman  Pontiff, 
Mr.  Allies  is  himself  a  convert  to  the  Catholic  Church.  Jn  an  auto- 
biography of  exceptional  interest  and  ability,  A  Life's  Decision^ 
he  has  left  us  a  history  of  his  religious  opinions;  and  it  is  curious 
to  observe  therein  that  the  point  of  Catholic  doctrine  most  debated 
by  him  before  his  conversion  was  this  very  dogma  of  the  Primacy 
which  his  powerful  intellect  and  vigorous  pen  have  since  done  so 
much  to  elucidate  and  confirm.  With  true  stragetic  insight  he 
has  seized  upon  this  fact,  that  in  the  controversy  between  Catholics 
and  non- Catholics,  the  fundamental  and  decisive  question  is 
this — Whether  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  is,  or  is  not,  by  Divine 
ordinance  the  Head  and  Euler  of  the  Church  of  Christ  ? 

The  historical  argument  for  the  primacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiff, 
Mr.  Allies  has  made  the  work  of  a  lifetime.  The  subject  was  a 
vast  one;  the  wide  field  to  be  travelled;  the  complicated  character 
of  the  episodes  and  incidents  entering  into  the  argument  requiring 
for  its  successful  treatment  not  only  great  learning  and  research, 
but  intellectual  gifts  of  a  very  rare  order  indeed.  The  man, 
however,  was  equal  to  the  task,  and  his  noble  work,  The  Formation 
of  Christendom,  now  universally  recognised  as  a  master-piece  of 
historical  treatment,  will  remain  a  magnificent  monument  to  the 
author's  devoted  labours  in  the  interest  of  Christian  truth. 

The  Formation  of  Christendom  is  now,  by  the  kindness  of  the 
author,  appearing  in  a  popular  and  cheap  edition,  and  in  view  of 


572  Notices  of  Books 

this  fact  the  publication,  by  the  Catholic  Truth  Society,  of  the 
book  at  the  head  of  this  notice,  St.  Peter,  his  Name  and  his  Office, 
in  which  Mr.  Allies  carries  the  argument  back  into  Scripture,  is 
particularly  opportune.  The  two  works,  St.  Peter,  his  Name  and 
his  Office,  and  The  Formation  of  Christendom,  taken  together, 
furnish  an  argument  upon  a  cardinal  dogma  as  convincing  and 
conclusive,  as  it  is  exhaustive  and  scientifically  complete. 

We  confess  we  took  up  the  book  under  notice,  St.  Peter,  his 
Name  and  his  Office,  with  the  greatest  interest,  for  we  had  been 
long  anxious  to  hear  the  author  of  The  Formation  of  Christendom 
upon  the  scriptural  argument  for  St.  Peter's  primacy.  We  had 
formed  high  anticipations  of  its  merits.  We  have  not  been 
disappointed.  The  work  to  our  mind  is  perfect,  nor  can  we 
conceive  how  it  is  possible  for  anyone  to  improve  on  it. 

The  testimony  to  St.  Peter's  primacy,  borne  by  the  inspired 
word  of  God,  is  here  presented  in  its  completest  form.  \Ve  have 
first  an  excellent  chapter  on  "  The  Name  of  Peter,  promised,  con- 
ferred, and  explained ;  "  then  a  second,  of  equal  excellence,  on 
"  The  Education  and  final  Designation  of  Peter  to  be  the  ruler  who 
should  confirm  his  brethren  ;  "  a  third,  perhaps  the  very  best,  on 
"  The  Investiture  of  St.  Peter;"  a  fourth,  of  singular  power,  upon 
u  The  Correspondence  and  Equivalence  of  the  great  Texts  con- 
cerning Peter  ;  "  then  a  chapter  on  "  Peter's  Primacy,  as  exhibited 
in  the  Acts,"  which  it  is  a  delight  to  read ;  and  yet  a  sixth  of 
equal  fascination  on  "  The  Testimony  of  St.  Paul  to  St.  Peter's 
Primacy  ;  a  seventh  chapter  upon  "  The  Primacy  of  Peter  involved 
in  fche  four-fold  Unity  of  Christ's  Kingdom ;  "  followed  by  a 
chapter  in  which  all  are  gathered  up, »'  Summary  of  the  Proof  given 
for  St.  Peter's  Primacy;"  with  a  concluding  chapter  on  "The 
Nature,  Multiplicity,  and  Force  of  Proof  for  St.  Peter's  Primacy." 
It  is  not  possible  to  analyze  here  these  various  sections,  nor  is  it 
possible  by  mere  extracts  to  convey  any  idea  of  the  excellence  of 
the  work  as  a  whole  :  for,  as  Mr.  Allies  so  often  remarks,  it  is  not 
merely  any  one  text,  no  matter  how  clear  and  emphatic,  taken  by 
itself,  but  the  mass  of  evidence  arising  out  of  so  many  texts,  and 
in  such  different  circumstances,  that  makes  the  argument  so 
irresistible.  But  this  we  shall  venture  to  say,  that  even  learned 
theologians  will  be  surprised  to  find  in  how  many  ways,  hitherto 
unobserved  by  them,  the  Sacred  Scriptures  bear  significant 
testimony  to  St.  Peter's  Primacy.  In  the  main  the  writer  follows 
Father  Passaglia's  great  book  on  the  Primacy  of  St.  Peter ;  but 


Notices  of  Books  573 

in  every  page  of  the  work  the  author  has  new  light  of  his  own 
to  illumine  the  argument. 

The  author's  style,  direct  and  vigorous,  is  a  reflection  of  his 
mind.  A  lover  of  truth,  he  has  an  eye  for  what  is  the  central 
point  in  a  controversy  or  argument,  and  like  a  great  general  brings 
all  his  powers  to  bear  upon  it,  working  out  his  conclusions  with  a 
completeness  and  spring-tide  force  and  momentum  impossible  to 
withstand.  Father  Luke  Eivington,  in  the  admirable  preface  which 
he  has  written  for  this  edition,  bears  personal  testimony  to  the 
argumentative  force  of  the  present  work,  when  he  says  : — "  The 
present  writer  is  able  to  say  that  the  Anglican  theory  of  Church 
government  never  seemed  to  him  secure  after  the  day  when  he 
finished  a  careful  perusal  of  the  following  pages.  It  seemed  that 
the  papal  theory  ought  to  be  found  at  work  in  the  Church,  since 
it  stands  out  so  plainly  in  Holy  Scripture." 

We  are  not  surprised  at  this  statement.  It  would  be  difficult 
for  any  candid  mind  to  remain  unimpressed  by  the  reasoning  in 
this  excellent  work.  We  warmly  recommend  it  to  students  of 
theology,  confident  that  they  will  find  nothing  equal  to  it  in  the 
English  language,  nor  anything  on  the  same  subject  superior  to 
it  in  any  language. 

M.  F. 

STUDIES  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.     By  the  Eev.  James 
H.  O'Donnell,  Watertown,  Connecticut.    With  an  Intro- 
duction,  by  the  Very   Eev.    John   A.   Mulcahy,   V.G., 
Hartford.     West  Chester,  New  York.     1895. 
THIS  is  a  series  of  catechetical  instructions  on  the  New  Testa- 
'ment  intended  for  the  laity.     It  explains  in  clear  and  accurate 
language  the  Catholic  teaching  on  the  nature  of  Scripture  and 
Inspiration,  the  Canon  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  New  Testament 
in  particular,  the  Manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
authority  of  the  Scripture  as  a  rule  of  faith.     It  then  deals  with 
each  part  of  the  New  Testament,  giving  a  short  introduction  to 
each   of   the   Gospels   and    Epistles,    and  an   exposition  of   the 
principal  points  of  doctrine  in  each.     It  then  supplies  a  short 
biography  of  each  of  the  personages  mentioned  in  the  text,  and 
concludes  with  some  chapters  on  the  chronology  of  the  Life  of 
Christ,  on  the  discourses,  the  parables,  the  miracles,  the  pro- 
phecies of  our  Lord.     It  is  an  admirable  book  for  the  laity,  and 
will  be  found  most  useful  to  priests  who  are  occupied  in  the  work 


574  Notices  of  Books 

of  expounding  the  Christian  doctrine  to  advanced  pupils  in 
ischools  and  colleges,  as  well  as  to  Sunday  classes  in  the  Church. 
We  heartily  recommend  it  for  this  purpose. 

J.  F.  H. 

JEWELS    OF    THE    "  IMITATION."      By   Percy   Fitzgerald. 
London  :  Burns  and  Gates. 

ME.  FITZGEEALD  has  given  us  in  this  small  volume  a  brief 
commentary  on  some  of  the  most  striking  things  in  the  Imitation 
of  Christ,  a  work  in  connection  with  which  his  name  has  already 
been  honourably  known  to  Catholic  readers.  This  very  pretty 
volume  is  worthy  of  the  Imitation  in  every  way,  and  all  lovers  of 
the  great  work  of  Thomas  A  Kempis  will  read  Mr.  Fitzgerald's 
.appreciation  of  it  with  interest  and  sympathy. 

THE  DEVOTION  TO  THE  HEART  OF  JESUS.  With  an  Intro- 
duction on  the  History  of  Jansenism.  By  the  late 
John  Bernard  Dalgairns,  Priest  of  the  Oratory  of 
St.  Philip  Neri.  London  and  Leamington :  Art  and 
Book  Company,  1896. 

THIS  is  a  very  opportune  republication  of  the  excellent  work 
of  Father  Dalgairns — a  work  so  well  known  and  so  often  praised 
that  it  needs  no  further  encomiums  from  us.  It  will  be  sufficient 
to  remind  our  readers  that  the  history  of  the  devotion  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  our  Lord  is  very  fully  set  forth  in  these  pages, 
and  that  the  meaning  of  the  devotion,  as  understood  and  approved 
by  the  Church,  is  clearly  and  succinctly  explained.  The  intro- 
ductory chapters  on  the  spirit  of  Jansenism  as  manifested  in  its 
history,  will  always  be  read  with  interest  and  profit  by  those  who 
have  the  care  or  the  direction  of  souls.  The  preface  to  the  first 
edition  briefly  reminds  us  of  the  great  outcry  that  was  raised  in 
the  Protestant  Church  when  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
began  to  take  root  and  to  expand  in  England. 

"Though  the  present  work  is  not  strictly  devotional,"  wrote 
Father  Dalgairns,  "the  author  has  felt  so  averse  to  introduce 
controversy  into  it,  that  he  has  preferred  to  relegate  to  the 
preface  even  a. passing  notice  of  what  might  tend  to  provoke  it. 
The  question  here  raised  as  to  the  wonderful  spread  of  the 
devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  has  been  answered  in  a  far  different 
from  that  proposed  in  this,  volumn.  Some  of  our  readers 


Notices  of  Books  575 

may  remember  an  article  which  appeared  in  the  British  Critic  for 
January,  1839,  on  the  revival  of  Jesuitism.  When  it  is  said  that 
the  writer  of  the  article  looks  upon  "Blair's"  in  Scotland, 
"  Ushaw "  near  Durham,  and  even  the  harmless  schools  for 
female  children  of  St.  Aloysius  in  Camden  Town,  as  "  Jesuit 
Colleges,"  and  represents  Maynooth  as  under  Jesuit  influence, 
the  reader  will  be  prepared  for  any  amount  of  blunder,  however 
preposterous.  Yet  the  following  astonishing  sentiment  will  be 
far  more  than  the  utmost  stretch  of  his  imagination  could  have 
anticipated.  Speaking  of  the  rapid  propagation  of  the  devotion 
to  the  Sacred  Heart,  he  puts  and  answers  the  following  question: — 
•"  If  the  visions  of  Sister  Mary  Magdalen  are  neither  of  Divine 
revelation,  nor  proposed  as  an  article  of  Divine  faith,  why  have 
Popes  and  princes,  Italian  stonemasons  and  Irish  bricklayers, 
French  abbes  and  Prussian  bishops,  cast  their  heads  together  to 
send  them  through  the  world  ?  The  plain  truth  may  be  read  in 
letters  of  blood  in  more  than  one  country  in  Europe." 

What  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  can  have  to  do  with 
bloodshed  is,  indeed,  a  mystery,  until  the  writer  goes  on  to  allude 
to  revolutions,  such  as  those  of  Belgium  and  of  France  in  1830, 
and  to  civil  wars  like  that  of  Don  Carlos  in  Spain.  From  the 
context  of  the  article  of  which  this  sentence  is  the  peroration,  we 
gather  that  the  reviewer  considers  that  the  Society  of  Jesus  is  the 
agent  of  all  rebellious  and  political  convulsions  throughout  the 
world,  and,  consequently,  that  confraternities  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
which  he  looks  upon  simply  as  Jesuit  organs,  are  their  secret 
political  agents.  In  another  place,  in  speaking  of  those  associa- 
tions, he  asks: — "Why  must  the  name  of  every  member  be 
registered,  and  a  report  be  remitted  to  Borne  of  each  incorporated 
station  ?  "  The  answer  he  puts  in  italics  : — "  There  was  never  yet 
such  secret  organization  without  conspiracy  behind." 

To  all  such  hallucination  Father  Dalgairns  gives  a  brief  but 
telling  answer.  We  cordially  recommend  this  sixth  edition  of  the 
work,  and  we  believe  that  priests  who  have  a  sermon,  or  a  series 
of  sermons,  to  deliver  on  the  "Sacred  Heart,"  could  not  do  better 
than  read  and  master  the  contents  of  this  small  volume. 

A  YACHTING  CRUISE  TO  NORWAY.     By  the  Clergyman  and 

the  Lawyer.     London  :  Fisher  Unwin. 
A  CLERGYMAN  and  a  lawyer,  both  well  worn  out  by  a  hard 
year's  work,  decide  to  spend  their  holidays  in  Norway  together. 


576  Notices  of  Books 

This  volume  contains  an  account  of  their  experiences.  It  gives 
an  interesting  description  of  some  of  the  Fjords,  and  a  pretty 
vivid  account  of  life  on  board  the  steamer,  on  both  the  outward 
and  homeward  journeys.  There  are  two  classes  of  persons  who 
might  read  this  work  with  interest — viz.,  those  who  have  been  to 
Norway  and  those  who  have  not.  Those  who  have  already  seen 
the  Fjords  will,  doubtless,  recognise  many  things  with  which 
they  are  already  familiar.  Those  who  have  not  been  to  Norway 
may  still  be  subdivided  into  those  who  intend  to  go  there,  and 
those  who,  like  the  present  writer,  do  not.  It  is  chiefly  to  tha 
former  that  we  recommend  the  book. 

THE  CATECHISM  OF  MECHLIN.  Translated  by  a  Catholic 
Priest.  With  Episcopal  approbation.  Published  by 
M.  Kearney,  Washington,  1895. 

IT  would  be  an  advantage  to  have  something  more  definite  by 
way  of  approbation  of  such  a  work  as  this  than  the  mere  general 
assertion  that  some  bishop  has  approved  it.  We  have  glanced 
over  its  contents,  which  seem  to  us  fairly  accurate  and  full; 
but  the  English  rendering  of  the  original  text  appears  wanting  in 
one  of  the  essential  requisites  of  a  catechism,  viz.,  clearness. 
In  any  case  the  work  does  not  seem  specially  suitable  to  this- 
country. 

THE  BANQUET  OF  THE  ANGELS  ;  or,  PEEPAEATION  AND 
THANKSGIVING  FOE  HOLY  COMMUNION.  Edited  and 
translated  by  the  Most  Eev.  Dr.  Porter,  S.  J.,  Archbishop 
of  Bombay.  London  :  Burns  &  Gates. 

THIS  little  volume  is  intended  chiefly  for  people  in  the  world, 
and  contains  an  excellent  series  of  considerations  and  meditations 
suitable  for  the  solemn  occasion  of  Holy  Communion.  It  will 
enable  communicants  to  approach  the  altar  with  a  due  sense  of 
the  majesty  and  goodness  of  God,  and  to  remain  in  intimate 
communication  with  Him  after  the  reception  of  the  Sacrament  of 
His  love.  The  thoughts  suggested  are  admirably  adapted  to  the 
purpose  in  view.  We  have  no  doubt  that  this  beautiful  little 
volume  will  have  a  very  wide  circulation. 


THE   IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 

JULY,    1896 

ST.  AUGUSTINE'S  FOET,  GAL  WAY 

QTEPHEN  LYNCH  FITZ-DOMINIC  stood  foremost 
O  amongst  the  distinguished  citizens  of  Galway,  in  the 
opening  of  the  sixteenth  century.  He  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  securing  for  his  native  city  the  privileges  of  the 
wardenship.  He  shared  with  his  generous  father  the  credit 
of  completing  the  south  aisle  of  the  collegiate  church  of 
St.  Nicholas,  and  of  erecting  the  collegiate  residence  for  the 
vicars  and  wardens.  He  founded  an  hospital  and  an  hospice 
for  the  poor.  He  was  elected  to  hold  the  distinguished 
office  of  mayor  of  the  town,  in  the  year  1505.  And 
again,  in  the  year  1509,  the  same  honour  was  conferred 
upon  him  by  his  grateful  townsmen.  And  it  is  also  note- 
worthy that  he  signalized  those  terms  of  his  municipal 
authority  by  enacting  and  enforcing  many  salutary  bye-laws, 
which  were  eminently  calculated  to  promote  the  social  and 
moral  well-being  of  the  citizens.  He  seems  to  have  been 
amongst  the  earliest  of  those  energetic  and  enterprising 
Galway  men,  under  whom  the  famous  commercial  relations 
of  the  city  with  Spain  grew  into  national  importance.  He 
found  time  to  attend  to  his  extensive  commercial  interests, 
though  engaged  in  the  important  works  of  charity  and 
benevolence  to  which  we  have  referred. 

Early  in  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Stephen 

Lynch,  leaving  his  wife   and  Galway  friends  behind  him, 

sailed  for  Spain  for  a  cargo  of  the  rich  wines  of  that  favoured 

land.     As  his  good  ship  bore  him  away  from  the   fading 

VOL.  xvii,  2  o 


578  St.  Augustine's  Forty  Galway 

outlines  of  his  native  town,  he  felt  that  he  carried  away  with 
him  the  good  wishes  of  his  fellow-citizens.  No  doubt  he 
felt  also  that  the  prayers  of  his  virtuous  wife,  Margaret  Athy, 
would  be  daily  offered  for  his  welfare  until  his  return,  and 
before  the  altars  of  those  churches  that  he  loved  so  well. 
But  he  could  not  anticipate  that  when  he  would  next  see 
the  churches  of  Galway,  another  religious  establishment, 
which  would  rival  in  beauty  those  already  erected  there, 
would  claim  his  wife  as  foundress. 

We  are  informed   in  the  Monasticon  Hibernicum,  that 
Margaret    Athy,   wife   of   Stephen    Lynch    Fitz-Dominic, 
founded,   at    Galway,   a    monastery    and    church    for    the 
Augustinian  Fathers,  at  the  "  earnest  solicitation  of  Kichard 
Nangle,  a  friar  of  the  same  Order,  who  afterwards  became 
Archbishop  of  Tuarn."     Though  we  do  not  find  the  name 
of  Nangle  mentioned  on  any  catalogue  or  history   of  the 
archbishops  of  that  see,  which  we  have  been  able  to  consult, 
the  remainder  of  the  entry  may,  we  think,  be  accepted  as 
historically  accurate.     We  are  told  by  Hardiman,  that  the 
foundations  of  this  important  work  were  laid  in  the  year 
1508 ;  though  O'Flaherty  gives  us  the  year  1506  as  the  date 
of  its  erection.     Perhaps  we  may  not  accept  either  date  as 
more  than   proximately  accurate.     The  period  at  least  is 
fixed  with  certainty  by  Lynch's  voyage  to  Spain.  The  works, 
extensive   and  important   as   they   were,  must   have   been 
pushed  forward  with  extraordinary  energy  by  his  amiable 
and   charitable    lady,   as    the    church    and    steeple    were 
completed  on  the  occasion  of  his  return.     We  can  realize 
the  surprise  and  joy  which  it  must  have  occasioned  him. 
Once  within  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  frowning  peaks  of 
Burren,  his  eyes  must  have  sought  with  thankfulness  the 
familiar  outlines    of   the     Church   of    St.  Nicholas   and   of 
St.  Mary's  of  the  Hill.     He  may  naturally  have  attributed 
the  success  of  his  enterprise,  and  his  escapes  from  many 
perils  of  land  and  sea,  to  the  patronage  of  her  who  is  hailed 
"  Star  of  the   Sea,"  and  to  the  prayers  of  his  dear  patron 
St.  Nicholas  of  Myra  ;  and  now,  as  their  spires  and  pinnacles 
are  become  more  clearly  outlined  in  the  diminishing  distance, 
they  seem  to  give  him  a  glad  welcome  on  his  return, 


St.  Augustine  s  Fort,  Galway  579 

Meantime  the  graceful  outline  of  another  church,  with 
tower  and  tapering  spire,  catches  his  attention  on  the 
opposite  headland.  It  seems  to  have  arisen  there  as  if  by 
magic  since  his  departure.  Has  Galway  acquired  some  new 
religious  patrons  since  his  departure,  of  whom  he  as  yet 
knows  nothing?  Great,  indeed,  must  have  been  his 
curiosity,  to  know  by  what  friendly  hands  it  could  have 
been  erected,  and  in  so  short  a  time ;  and  deep  must  have 
been  his  gratified  astonishment,  when,  on  setting  foot  on 
shore,  he  found  that  the  charity  and  energy  of  his  good  wife 
were  the  magical  influences  by  which  this  new  religious 
undertaking  was  carried  so  near  its  completion.  We  think 
those  events  may  have  occurred  within  the  first  and  second 
periods  of  his  mayoralty. 

The  site  for  the  new  monastery  was  well  selected.  It 
was  an  elevated  promontory,  which  runs  into  the  sea  on  the 
south-east  side  of  the  town.  And  so  the  monastery  of 
St.  Augustine  would  guard  the  approach  to  the  city  on  the 
east,  as  did  St.  Mary's  of  the  Hill  on  the  west.  On  its 
northern  side  is  a  lake,  the  waters  of  which  are  connected 
with  the  sea  by  a  wide  strait.  The  only  approach  by  land 
to  the  new  monastery  was  on  the  eastern  side.  From  its 
elevated  position  it  commanded  a  splendid  view  of  the  city, 
from  which  it  was  separated  by  about  a  mile,  and  of  the 
ocean,  far  away  to  where  the  Arran  Islands  lie,  as  specks  on 
the  bosom  of  the  western  sea. 

But  the  site  was  eligible  even  on  other  grounds.  There 
was  in  the  locality  "  a  spring  called  St.  Augustine's  Well, 
the  waters  whereof  wrought  miraculous  cures."  This  holy 
well  was  much  resorted  to  by  pious  pilgrims  on  the  Feast  of 
St.  Augustine.  And  we  find  strong  evidence  of  a  popular 
and  prevalent  faith  in  the  reputed  miraculous  cures  at  this 
holy  well,  down  to  comparatively  modern  times.  We  find 
in  0' Flaherty,  a  document  in  which  one  of  those  miraculous 
cures  at  St.  Augustine's  Well  is  attested  by  the  signatures 
of  several  witnesses.  It  is  dated  "  Galway,  23rd  June, 
1673,"  and  was  long  preserved  in  the  Augustinian  convent. 
It  bears  the  signatures  of  the  Warden  of  Galway,  Mathew 
Lynch,  and  of  the  Priors  of  the  Dominican  and  Augustinian 


580  St.  Augustine's  Fort,  Galway 

Convents,   and   others.      It    affords,   at    least,    interesting 
evidence  of  the  faith  of  the  people  of  Galway  even  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  in  the  efficacy  of  the  prayers  of  the  great 
and  holy  Bishop  of  Hippo  Eegius.     A  writer  named  Lubius 
is  quoted  by  Hardiman  as  stating  that  the  monastery  was 
erected  quite  close  to    the  holy  well.     But  the   writer  was 
in  error  regarding   its   particular   position.     The  well  was 
situated  on  the  north-east  of   the  monastery,  and  on  the 
shore  of  the  adjoining  lake- 
Such  was  the  site  which  Margaret  Athy  selected  for  the 
Augustinian  monastery  and  church.     All  anticipated  many 
advantages  to  religion  from  this  new  establishment.     But 
none  was  so  likely  to  entertain  those  pious  hopes  as  Lynch 
himself,   who   was   so   closely   connected   with   the   recent 
religious  development  of  the  city.     We  are  not,  therefore, 
surprised  to  find  it  recorded  that  he  himself  completed  and 
endowed  the  Augustinian  monastery  with  which  the  name 
of  his  wife  was  to  be  for  ever  associated.     His  endowments 
consisted  of  "rents  and  lan<Js." 

We  are  assured  that  this  good  lady  made  a  pilgrimage 
to  St.  James's  shrine  in  Gallicia.  She  was  probably 
accompanied  by  her  husband,  who  was  familiar  with  the 
religious  and  social  history  of  Spain.  She  had  determined 
subsequently  to  visit  the  Holy  Land,  but  the  accomplishment 
of  that  pious  but  arduous  purpose  was  rendered  impossible 
by  her  illness  and  death. 

The  "  rents  and  lands,"  so  generously  conferred  by 
Stephen  Lynch  on  the  Augustinian  monastery,  were  not  to 
form  its  sole  endowment.  In  a  few  years  after,  we  find 
it  had  secured  an  equally  generous  benefactor  in  the 
person  of  Richard  Edmond  De  Burgo.  In  the  year 
1517  he  conferred  on  Kichard  Nagle  of  the  convent,  and 
on  Donat  O'Mailey,  its  prior,  and  their  successors,  "in  fee, 
and  perpetual  alms  for  ever,  his  parish  church  of  Koscam  in 
the  diocese  of  Enaghdane,  with  the  cemetery  on  the  west 
part  of  the  wall  of  the  said  church,  a  certain  parcel  of  land 
named  the  same,  called  Ternahalla,  situate  in  breadth  to 
the  great  stone,  in  the  west  of  Ternahalla,  and  in  length, 
from  the  sea  upwards  to  the  wall  near  the  wood;''  "and 


St.  Augustine's  Fort,  Gahvay  581 

also  another  large  tract  commonly  called  Gortantagarfc, 
with  liberty  of  pasture  for  eight  cows,  and  six  horses,  to 
pray  for  the  souls  of  his  parents,  himself,  and  his  successors." 
This  singular  grant  received  the  official  confirmation  of 
the  Archbishop,  and  was  also  authenticated  by  the  seal 
of  Henry  Brangan  Warden  of  Galway.  The  subsequent 
litigation  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  instituted  by 
Edmond  T)e  Burgo  for  the  "  unjust  alienation "  of  the 
Vicarage  of  Koscam,  give  those  particulars  a  special 
historical  value. 

These  facts  alone  would  be  amply  sufficient  to  prove 
that  the  Augustinian  monastery  at  Galway  was  a  foundation 
of  importance.  It  was  worthy  of  the  spirited  Catholic 
community  amongst  whom  it  was  established.  Mr.Hardiman 
assures  us,  that  "the  Augustinian  convent  of  Galway  ranked 
next  in  importance  to  that  of  Dublin." 

Under  Elizabeth  the  convent  was  dissolved.  On  the 
9th  of  March,  1570,  a  portion  of  its  property  was  conferred 
.on  the  Corporation  of  the  town,  which  had  already  obtained 
"  leases  in  reversion  of  the  possessions  of  the  monastery  " 
of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic.  On  the  llth  of  September, 
1578,  the  grant  was  renewed  for  a  period  of  forty  years. 
But  on  the  accession  of  James  I.  the  alienation  of  the 
convent  possessions  was  rendered  complete  and  permanent. 
On  the  llth  of  February,  1603,  the  possessions  of  the 
Augustinian  convent  were  conferred  by  royal  grant  on 
Sir  George  Carew,  "his  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever."  The 
fathers  had  been  previously  expelled,  and  sought  such 
shelter  within  the  town  as  their  friends  were  able  to 
provide  for  them. 

Just  a  few  years  previously  the  elevated  grounds  of 
the  monastery  were  the  scene  of  the  cruel  butchery  of 
several  soldiers  of  the  ill-starred  Armada.  Their  vessel 
had  been  wrecked  off  the  coast,  and  they  "  escaped  the 
dangers  of  the  raging  sea  only  to  meet  on  their  landing  a 
fate  more  implacable,  in  the  person  of  the  Viceroy  William 
Fitzwilliam,  by  whose  order  many  of  them  were  basely 
butchered."  So  wrote  Gratianus  Lucius  of  this  sad  and 
cruel  massacre.  And  he  quotes  Camden  as  his  authority 


582  Si.  Augustine's  Fort,  Galway 

for  stating  that  Fitzwilliam  had  come  to  Galway  on  the 
occasion,  only  with  the  "purpose  of  seizing  whatever  of 
Spanish  property  was  cast  on  shore.  Irritated,  however,  at 
finding  no  valuable  booty,  the  shipwrecked  Spaniards  were 
doomed  to  perish."  But  they  perished  consoled  by  the 
ministrations  of  the  Augustinian  Fathers,  and  the  public 
sympathy  of  the  Catholics  of  the  town.  "  The  Augustinian 
friars  who  served  them  as  chaplains  exhorted  them  to  meet 
the  death  struggle  bravely,  when  they  were  led  out  south  of 
the  city  of  St.  Augustine's  Hill,  where  they  were  decapitated 
in  1588."  Here  we  have  again  quoted  Gratianus  Lucius. 
And  he  adds  that  they  died  amidst  "the  murmurs  and 
lamentations  of  the  people."  He  also  records  the  heroic 
and  charitable  action  of  the  ladies  of  Galway  on  the  occasion. 
"  The  matrons  of  Galway  piously  prepared  winding  sheets  " 
to  prepare  the  bodies  for  interment.  Only  two  of  the 
foreigners  succeeded  in  escaping  the  Viceroy's  vengeance. 
They  lay  concealed  in  the  town  ;  and,  after  evading  the 
vigilance  of  the  authorities  for  a  considerable  period,  were 
finally  conveyed  to  Spain. 

In  1600  the  fortifications  of  Galway  occupied  the  special 
attention  of  Mountjoy,  the  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland.  Indeed, 
the  mission  of  the  Armada  was  made  by  the  bigots  of  the 
period  the  pretext  for  exaggerated  fears  of  a  foreign  invasion 
in  the  interests  of  the  Catholics,  as  well  as  for  the  adoption  of 
measures  against  the  Catholics  equally  aggressive  and  unjust. 
And  by  order  of  the  deputy  the  foundations  of  a  new  and 
important  fort  were  laid  on  the  grounds  of  St.  Augustine's 
monastery. 

As  the  works  progressed  the  monastery  was  partially 
destroyed;  but  the  church  was  spared,  only  that  it  might 
be  converted  into  an  arsenel  for  the  use  of  the  fort.  So 
energetically  were  the  works  pushed  forward,  that  they  were 
nearly  completed  on  the  occasion  of  his  next  visit  on  the 
18th  November,  1602,  On  this  occasion  he  was  satisfied  of 
the  important  strategetic  position  which  the  fort  occupied,  a 
position  which  commanded  both  the  bay  and  the  town,  and 
one  from  which  "  the  descent  of  foreign  enemies  might  best 
be  prevented."  In  this  opinion  his  lordship  is  sustained  by 


St.  Augustine's  Fort,  Galway  •">*:> 

military  experts,  even  to  our  own  time  ;  St.  Augustine's  fort 
has  been  maintained  to  our  time  as  the  Citadel  of  Galway, 
affected  only  by  such  changes  as  military  service  has 
sanctioned  ;  and  it  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important 
military  stations  on  the  western  coast. 

The  features  of  the  new  fort  of  which  we  speak  were 
common  to  the  military  forts  of  the  period.  It  consisted 
of  an  extensive  quadrangular  inclosure  of  massive  masonry 
which  rose  to  a  height  of  eighteen  feet.  It  had  also  massive 
bulwarks  projecting  from  its  angles,  and  the  customary 
"  vaulted  sallies  "  and  "  passages  between  the  walls."  This 
inclosure  was  protected  on  the  outside  by  a  deep  ditch, 
which  was  spanned  by  a  draw-bridge  on  the  eastern  side, 
the  only  side  on  which  the  fort  was  accessible  by  land.  The 
desecrated  church  of  the  Angus tinians  which  stood  within 
the  quadrangle,  and  was  utilized  as  a  magazine  and  arsenal, 
had  "  apartments  for  soldiers  "  erected  against  its  northern 
side.  The  Commander's  residence  stood  adjoining  it ;  and 
it  seems  exceedingly  probable  that  this  building  was  only  a 
portion  of  the  monastery  which  escaped  destruction. 

When  Sir  Francis  Willoughby  was  appointed  Governor  of 
St.  Augustine's  Fort,  it  was  regarded  by  him  as  one  of  the 
most  ''complete  fortifications  in  the  Kingdom."  On  his 
departure  to  Dublin,  in  October,  1641,  the  command  of  the 
fort  was  entrusted  to  his  son,  Captain  Anthony  Willoughby, 
a  rash  and  incompetent  soldier,  and  a  man  who  "  signalized 
his  brief  tenure  of  authority  by  the  perpetration  of  such 
outrages  against  the  town  and  district,  as  excited  general 
indignation."  He  "  imprisoned  some  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
placed  guards  of  musketeers  on  their  goods  and  ships;"  nay, 
he  had  unoffending  citizens  arrested  and  executed  without 
a  trial.  He  placed  the  city  practically  in  a  stage  of  siege. 
He  sanctioned  the  establishment  of  a  hostile  garrison  at 
St.  Mary's  of  the  Hill,  in  the  western  suburb,  and  another 
at  Castle-gate,  on  the  north-east.  He  plundered  the  district 
of  a  thousand  sheep  and  two  hundred  head  of  cattle.  Sir 
Kichard  Blake,  of  Hidfry,  and  his  tenantry,  were  amongst 
the  chief  victims  of  those  lawless  raids,  which  even  the 
influence  of  Lord  Clanricarde,  Governor  of  the  county,  was 
powerless  to  restrain. 


584  St.  Augustine  s  Fort,  Galway 

In  April,  1643,  Col.  Burke  who  had  been  appointed 
Commander  of  the  Confederate  troops  in  the  western 
province  proceeded  to  lay  siege  to  the  fort.  He  was 
supported  by  the  principal  gentlemen  of  the  county.  On 
the  20th  of  June  following,  Willoughby  surrendered  the  fort 
to  the  Confederates.  And  Willoughby  had  no  sooner  handed 
over  the  fortress  to  his  victorious  opponents,  than  it  was 
ordered  by  the  Supreme  Council  to  be  destroyed  as  a  fort. 
No  sooner,  however,  had  the  fort  been  vacated  by  the 
garrison,  than  the  Augustinian  Fathers  returned  to  repair 
and  to  occupy  once  more  their  beloved  monastery. 

But  in  the  year  1652  the  municipality,  apprehensive  that 
the  parliamentary  troops  should  seize  and  utilize  it  as  a  fort 
against  the  town,  solicited  the  Fathers'  consent  to  have  the 
church  and  monastery  razed  to  the  ground.  The  repre- 
sentation made  was  in  every  respect  similar  to  that  made  to 
the  Dominican  Fathers  of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Hill,  and  the 
representation  was  made  by  the  Corporation  on  exactly  the 
same  conditions.  They  bound  themselves  by  a  formal  deed 
to  have  both  church  and  monastery  re-erected  at  the  expense 
of  the  Corporation,  on  the  restoration  of  peace.  Generously 
did  the  Fathers  of  St.  Augustine's  Fort  make  the  sacrifice 
which  the  safety  of  their  co-religionists  and  fellow-townsmen 
demanded;  not  without  an  earnest  hope,  however,  that 
the  longed-for  peace  would  soon  be  established,  and  their 
beloved  church  and  monastery  once  more  rebuilt.  But 
alas!  St.  Augustine's  Fort  was  soon  in  possession  of  the 
enemy — and  all  hope  vanished  of  the  dawn  of  the  expected 
peace.  And  "Fort  Hill"  was  to  know  no  more  of  the 
"Vesper  Bell"  or  "Matin  Song;"  and  even  to  our  time 
the  roll  of  musketry  and  the  boom  of  the  cannon  continue  to 
be  heard  from  its  heights.  And  though  the  written  under- 
taking of  the  Corporation  to  re-erect  the  church  and 
monastery  has  never  been  literally  realized,  it  is  at  least  a 
beautiful  historical  evidence  of  the  noble  purpose  of  the 
citizens  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  self-sacrificing  patriotism 
of  the  fathers  on  the  other.  Mr.  Hardiman  assures  us  that  the 
document  was  in  possession  of  the  Augustinians  at  Galway 
even  in  his  time. 


St.  Augustine  s  Fort,  Galway  585 

After  the  first  fury  of  the  Cromwellian  persecution  had 
exhausted  itself,  the  outcast  fathers  sought  and  found 
precarious  protection  within  the  city  walls.  In  the  face  of 
legal  prohibitions  and  penalties,  a  residence  and  unpretentious 
chapel  were  provided  for  them  in  "  Back  Street,"  in  which 
a  small  community  was  able  to  practise  their  religious 
observances,  and  minister  stealthily  to  the  faithful. 

In  1731  their  presence  there  was  officially  represented 
to  the  Irish  Executive  of  the  day  by  these  charged  with 
instituting  the  inquisition.  In  Galway  the  inglorious  duty 
was  entrusted  to  the  Mayor,  Walter  Taylor,  on  whose 
testimony  it  appears  that  the  said  house  was  converted  to  a 
friary  many  years  ago,  and  before  the  reign  of  King  George 
the  First.  The  friary  "  had  seven  chambers  and  nine  beds," 
but  the  inquisitors  failed  to  find  the  friars  there.  In  the 
little  chapel  they  only  found  a  few  forms.  The  altars  and 
pictures  were  removed. 

Soon  after,  the  fathers  were  able  to  come  forth  from  their 
retirement  in  Back  Street,  and  establish  themselves  in 
Middle  Street,  then  a  central  and  prominent  portion  of  the 
town.  Here  they  have  continued  to  reside  to  our  time. 
Their  splendid  residence,  and  the  fine  early  English  Church, 
which  have  been  erected  there,  speak  eloquently  of  the 
public  spirit  of  the  Galway  Catholics  of  our  century,  and  of 
their  attachment  to  the  faithful  fathers  of  St.  Augustine's 
Order. 

J.  FAHEY,  D.D. 


[     586     ] 


EIGHTS  AND  LIMITS  OF  CONSCIENCE 

IT  has  always  been,  as  it  ever  must  be,  a  difficulty  of  the 
first  magnitude  to  reconcile  the  rights  of  conscience 
with  the  rights  of  law  or  authority,  and  mark  their  respective 
limits.  A  judge  is  not  always  at  hand,  and  the  advocates,  in 
their  special  pleadings,  push  their  demands  to  extremes. 
For,  while  the  arguments  of  one  side  would  lead  to  the 
suppression  of  law,  those  of  the  other  nearly  always  end 
in  what  would  be  the  destruction  of  conscience.  Who  is 
to  regulate  their  claims  ?  How  is  the  balance,  which  really 
exists  between  them,  to  be  maintained?  Both  cannot 
dictate  with  equal  and  clashing  command ;  which  of  the 
two  then  is  to  give  the  final  order  ?  The  first  reply  to  these 
questions  comes  prompt,  and  sounds  clear:— 

"  Whatever  creed  be  taught,  or  land  be  trod, 
Man's  conscience  is  the  oracle  of  God." 

This  would  be  the  answer  of  the  majority,  the  spon- 
taneous rejoinder,  not  only  of  the  unlearned  and  easily- 
led  multitude,  but  also  of  cultured  and  well-disciplined 
minds.  What  they  feel,  the  poet  has  tersely  and  pointedly 
expressed.  For  the  couplet  is  little  else  than  the  versi- 
fication of  the  popular  and  theological  phrases  ;  conscience 
is  the  immediate  judge  of  action,  the  sole  arbiter  of  right 
and  wrong,  the  court  to  which  the  last  appeal  is  carried  in 
questions  of  moral  law,  natural,  divine,  or  positive,  and 
from  which  there  can  be  no  release.  Its  rule  is  outside  of, 
and  beyond,  the  civil  order.  "  If  it  be  just  in  the  sight  of 
God,  to  hear  you  rather  than  God,  judge  ye;  for  us,  we  cannot 
but  speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen  and  heard."  This 
is  the  language  of  the  heralds  of  Christianity  in  their  first 
brush  with  the  state  authorities ;  this  is  the  action  of 
preachers,  whose  fundamental  doctrine  it  was,  that  subjects 
are  to  obey  the  powers  that  be.  Nor  can  parental  authority 
hold  its  own  against  the  voice  of  conscience:  "We  are 
bound  to  obey  our  parents  and  lawful  superiors  in  all 
that  is  not  sin"  No  commands  are  more  coercive  than 


flights  and  Limits  of  Conscience  587 

those  of  the  civil,  nor  more  binding  than  those  of  parental 
authority ;  and  if  concience  is  above  these,  it  shows  that 
its  dictates  must  stand  against  the  dictates  of  any  earthly 
power  whatsoever.  The  approval  of  the  world  will  not 
justify  the  morality  of  an  act  which  conscience  condemns, 
and  its  single  vote  is  enough  to  overcome  and  silence  the 
most  unanimous  and  uncompromising  fiat.  Before  entering 
on  the  consideration  of  these  statements,  I  will  prepare  the 
way  with  one  or  two  remarks  which  have  a  most  important 
bearing  upon  what  is  to  follow. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  conscience  is  an  act  of  reason. 
It  is  not  an  instinct.  It  is  not  a  kind  of  impulsive  darting 
forward,  as  soon  as  the  object  appears  in  sight.  From 
the  necessity,  in  which  it  is  sometimes  placed,  of  acting 
without  being  able  to  take  counsel,  from  the  rapidity  of  its 
decisions  and  their  instantaneous  execution,  I  am  afraid,  that 
conscience  has  come  to  be  regarded  by  many  as  a  kind  of 
wound-up  machine,  ready  and  impatient  for  action.  Touch 
a  spring,  pull  a  cord,  and  it  constrains  the  human  frame 
at  once,  and  of  necessity,  to  set  itsell  in  motion.  But  this 
is  a  caricature.  For  a  true  conscience  is  slow  in  its 
movements,  and  never  in  a  hurry,  unless  promptitude  is  the 
word,  to  proceed  to  deeds.  It  requires  the  understanding 
to  be  clear  and  steady;  it  calls  for  all  the  evidence  available; 
it  takes  its  time  in  the  examination,  and,  oftener  than  not, 
so  far  as  it  is  concerned  itself,  it  withholds  its  judgment. 
Nor  would  it  be  more  foolish  in  a  builder  to  set  down  an 
estimate  and  act  upon  it,  before  he  has  worked  it  out  by 
calculation,  than  it  would  be  criminal  in  anyone  to  allow 
his  conscience  to  come  to  a  practical  decision,  before  his 
reason  has  had  time  to  get  a  clear  view  of  the  moral  principles 
which  underlie  the  case,  and  has  been  able  in  their  light  to 
test  its  value. 

In  this  respect,  conscience  is  the  same  as  judgment — 
this  is  my  second  remark — and  the  individual  conscience 
works  on  parallel  lines  with  private  judgment.  Under 
suitable  restrictions,  both  admit  of  the  same  explanations. 
If  one  is  to  be  approved,  the  other  cannot  be  condemned, 
for  they  are  in  reality  two  departments  or  functions  in  the 


588  Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience 

same  faculty.  They  derive  their  action  from  reason,  which 
forms  a  conscience  as  it  forms  a  judgment.  Only  when 
they  are  formed,  they  appear  as  two  distinct  kinds  of  acts. 
This,  however,  is  due  to  a  difference  in  their  respective 
objects.  In  the  one  case  it  is  a  truth  discovered,  and  the 
private  judgment  is  an  assent  to  it ;  in  the  other,  it  is  a 
right  thing  to  be  done,  or  a  wrong  thing  to  be  avoided,  and 
conscience  gives  the  command  to  act,  or  to  refrain.  Any 
difference,  therefore,  which  may  be  noted  in  them,  comes 
from  their  object  only,  and  not  from  themselves  or  their 
cause,  or  the  process  of  their  formation.  In  these  respects 
they  are  both  the  same,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  the 
defenders  of  private  judgment  are,  in  general,  the  supporters 
of  conscience  as  an  absolute  and  independent  master ;  why 
the  Catholic  Church,  which  is  founded  on  authority,  checks 
the  excessive  claims  of  conscience  by  the  stronger  bonds  of 
the  law. 

To  put  the  matter  logically — although  I  should  have 
preferred  not  to  do  so — every  decision  of  conscience,  like 
every  determination  of  private  judgment,  is  the  conclusion, 
as  such,  of  a  syllogism.  There  is  the  major  premiss :  an 
article  of  faith;  "The  Bible  is  the  word  of  God;"  or  a 
principle  of  morality,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal."  There  is  the 
minor  premiss,  which  comes  before  the  reason  in  a  concrete 
way  as  a  question  :  "  The  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity  is 
taught  in  the  Bible,"  or,  "  I  am  starving,  can  I  take  some 
bread  ? "  And  there  is  the  connection,  natural  and  reaL 
between  the  major  premiss  and  the  minor.  Likewise,  the 
principle,  contained  in  either  of  the  major  premisses,  is  clear 
and  evident  to  the  understanding,  and  by  their  nature,  the 
value  of  the  other  two  propositions  is  altogether  unknown,  and 
is  treated  with  real  or  assumed  doubt.  The  words  of  Christ 
are  true ;  He  said,  "  This  is  My  body,  and  this  is  My  blood." 
The  Catholic,  guided  by  authority,  accepts  the  logical 
sequence  ;  the  Protestant  allows  his  reason  to  form,  not  an 
authoritative,  but  a  private  judgment.  Again  :  "  Schism  is 
unlawful ;  "  for  state  reasons,  a  child  already  baptized,  and 
proclaimed  a  Catholic,  is  anointed  according  to  a  schismatic 
rite,  in  sign  of  his  conversion  to  the  schism.  Such  an  act  is 


Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience  589 

condemned  by  Leo  XIII.  and  the  whole  world,  as  against 
the  principles  of  morality  ;  the  reason  of  Ferdinand  of 
Bulgaria  forms  his  conscience  in  favour  of  it.  Universally, 
there  is  an  agreement  as  to  the  principles  respectively  of 
faith  and  morality ;  the  divergence  arises  from  the  difference 
of  view  in  regard  to  the  concrete  facts,  and  the  relation  in 
which  they  stand  to  the  principles. 

Whether,  therefore,  we  consider  conscience  as  a  natural 
or  an  artificial  agent,  one  point  is  manifest ;  in  its  judgments 
on  the  higher  moral  principles,  it  is  infallible.  These  are  as 
present  to  the  reason  as  it  is  present  to  itself;  they  are  a 
part  of  its  natural  equipment,  and  can  no  more  be  separated 
from  it  than  instinct  from  animal  intelligence,  or,  as  the 
principles  of  demonstration,  inherent  in  the  mind,  born 
with  it,  guiding  it,  are  essential  for  the  pursuit  and  attain- 
ment of  truth,  so  the  principles  of  right  and  wrong,  equally 
constituent  parts  of  nature,  are  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
proper  regulation  of  conduct.  The  reason,  so  to  speak, 
gazes  upon  them  ;  it  beholds  them  as  unerring  standards  of 
moral  measurement.  And,  even  when  it  turns  away  or 
closes  its  eyes,  for  the  purpose  of  shutting  them  off,  it  sees 
and  feels  in  the  enforced  darkness,  the  outlines,  however 
faint,  of  their  image.  "  Our  intuitions,"  says  W.  S.  Lilly,1 
l(  of  right  and  wrong  are  first  principles,  anterior  to  all 
systems,  just  as  are  the  intuitions  of  existence  and  of 
number." 

This  is  the  first,  the  inalienable  right  of  conscience;  but  it 
is  also  its  first  law.  In  this  case  infallibility  is  co-extensive 
with  the  obligations  of  obedience.  There  can  be  no  right 
without  a  corresponding  duty.  And  the  monarch,  whose 
very  existence  is  derived  from  the  idea  and  aims  of  a 
community,  as  he  thereby  possesses  the  right  to  rule  his 
people,  so  he  is  thereby  bound  to  advance  their  interests 
and  protect  them  from  wrong. 

Whether  I  am  justified  in  thus  bringing  the  fundamental 
principles  of  morals  under  the  action  of  conscience,  I  hesi- 
tate to  say.  For  myself,  I  should  prefer  to  appropriate 

1  Eight  and  Wrong,  chap,  iv.,  p.  98.   Cf.  St.  Thomas,  JDe  Verit.,  qt.  xvii-  a.  2.] 


590  Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience 

them  to  a  function  of  the  reason  other  than  conscience. 
For  the  more  we  divide  off  and  classify  the  different  acts 
of  the  reason,  and  group  them  together  in  their  various 
kinds,  the  more  precise  will  be  our  knowledge,  and  the 
more  accurate  our  explanations.  Of  course,  we  can  split 
too  often,  and  specialize  too  much.  But  in  the  'case  of 
conscience,  we  do  not  seem  to  run  any  such  risk.  There  is 
a  general  feeling  that  a  distinction  should  be  made.  The 
scholastic  moralists,  notably  St.  Thomas,  have  invented  or 
adopted  a  particular  name — synderesis — to  express  the  per- 
ception and  infallibility  of  the  mind  in  regard  to  the  first 
moral  principles.  And,  in  our  own  days,  philosophers 
speak  of  a  moral  sense,  to  distinguish  the  habitual  and 
unfailing  exercise  of  the  moral  reason  from  its  particular 
and  insecure  exercise  as  conscience. 

The  special,  if  not  the  exclusive,  province  of  conscience 
is  reality.  Synderesis  deals  with  things  in  the  abstract ; 
conscience  has  to  do  with  facts.  When  the  reason  exerts 
itself  as  a  moral  sense,  arid  wishes  to  be  absolutely  sure  of  its 
object,  it  can  separate  the  true  from  the  false  and  doubtful ; 
it  can  make  an  abstract  of  the  former,  and  suppress,  or 
ignore,  or  put  out  of  court,  the  latter.  And  thus  it  arrives 
at  a  certain  truth,  But  when  it  is  to  be  exercised  as  con- 
science, it  cannot  leave  out,  or  under-  or  over-estimate  any 
one  item.  The  object  of  its  judgment  is  concrete :  an 
actual  fact,  an  event,  an  action  done  or  to  be  done, 
an  historical  reality ;  and  it  must  remain  as  it  is,  a  compound 
of  factors,  which  hold  together,  and  combine  in  .one,  each  in 
its  proper  place,  or  are  in  contradiction  to  one  another,  and 
ought  not  to  be  associated ;  or,  what  is  more  usual,  are. 
partly  in  agreement,  and  partly  discordant.  In  a  moral 
case,  as  it  comes  under  the  judgment  of  conscience,  there 
are  no  ifs,  or  suppositions,  or  purities.  There  are  realities, 
arid  realities  only,  all  mixed  up  together ;  and  to  omit  one 
point,  or  neglect  it,  or  put  it  out  of  the  way,  or  change  its 
place  and  relation,  or  give  to  it  a  less  important  or  a  more 
important  share  in  the  whole  than  belongs  to  it  as  a  reality, 
would  be  to  change  and  destroy  the  case,  and  to  substitute 
for  the  truth  a  falsehood  or  a  counterfeit.  To  alter  circum- 


Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience  591 

stances  is  to  alter  facts.  To  quote  W.  S.  Lilly :  "  Morality 
is  a  practical  science.  Its  subject  is  man,  as  he  lives,  moves, 
and  has  his  being  in  the  well-nigh  infinite  complexity  of 
social  relations.  Its  conclusions,  therefore,  must  have  to 
do  with  the  concrete,  the  conditioned,  for  it  is  the  science 
of  human  life." 

Take,  then,  any  particular  case  of  conscience ;  consider 
it  in  all  its  accumulations,  perplexities,  and  generally  con- 
tending elements ;  and  see  what  becomes  of  its  supporters' 
attempt  to  make  it  the  supreme  and  final  judge  of  morality. 
Examine  its  title  in  the  light  of  Newman's  Apologia.    If  one 
succeeds  by  the  aid  of  his  own  individual  reason,  assisted 
by  grace,  do  not  a  thousand  fail  ?    What  is  a  girl  to  do  who, 
brought  up  in  a  Catholic  convent,  and  converted  in  mind, 
wishes  to  make  an  open  and  solemn  profession  of  her  faith  ? 
Her  parents  or    guardians  forbid  it.      She  will  be  driven 
from  home.     If  she  waits  but  a  few  years,  she  will  have 
reached  the  age  of  independence,  when  her  choice  can  do 
her  no  harm.     But  conscience  cannot  wait ;  it  must  decide 
now.     Meanwhile,  therefore,  is  she  to  break  with  home,  or 
to  go  on  dissembling,  playing   the    hypocrite,   at   least  in 
form?     And  in  that  long  space  of  time,  and  those  many 
wanderings,   when   the   enlightened   reason   is   dissatisfied 
with  one  form  of  religion,  but  does  not  feel  the  obligation 
of   embracing   another,  what   is   to   be  done — give  up  the 
living,  the  ecclesiastical  duties  ?     That  would  be  premature. 
Continue  as  formerly  ?     Does  not  that  seem  like  hypocrisy, 
or   acting   with   but   half  a   faith  ?      Or,  if   the   rights   of 
conscience,  each  one  for  himself,  are  to  be  insisted  on,  are 
we  to  allow  the  professional  thief  to  be  the  judge  of  his  own 
or  of  another's  morality  ?     We  are  told  that  he  considers  his 
calling  to  be  as  honest  and   as   honourable   as   that   of  a 
magistrate  or  a  minister  of  religion.     Will  God  accept  his 
judgment,  supposing  it  to  be  that  of  his  conscience  ?     Will 
He  approve  of  it  any  more  than  He  approved  of  the  action 
and  conscience  of  those  who,  in  putting  His  followers  to 
death,  think  (conscientiously,  no  doubt)  they  are  doing  a 
service  to  Him  ?    In  these  and  similar  cases  I  am  quite  sure 
that  every  prudent  man  would  recommend  the  individuals 


592  Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience 

in  question  to  follow  the  advice  of  St.  Augustine :  Do 
not  form  your  own  conscience,  nor  allow  it  to  decide  for 
you,  but  leave  its  formation  to  the  judgment  of  the  more 
enlightened,  the  more  experienced,  to  those  who  know  the 
intricate  and  difficult  windings  of  morality,  and  are  practised 
in  them.  And  he  would  condemn  as  culpable  the  resolution 
to  act  in  submission  to  a  private  conscience,  if  its  mandates 
were  against  the  authority  of  other  and  more  competent 
judges. 

For  this  conviction  I  have  already  provided  the  reason. 
Everyone  is  liable  to  error  in  apprehending,  and,  above  all, 
in  estimating  the  moral  value  of  an  action.  Not  only  is  he 
liable,  but  in  every  case  he  is  certain,  to  make  a  mistake  of 
greater  or  less  magnitude.  For  the  more  particular  and 
individual  the  subject,  the  more  special  is  the  knowledge 
required  for  its  investigation,  the  more  expert  should  be  the 
judge.  Arid  no  one  will  assign  to  the  private  conscience  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  more  than  the  main  principles 
of  conduct,  or  say  that  generally  it  is  experienced  in  other 
cases  than  its  own. 

And  even  when  the  details  are  known,  and.  their  worth 
determined  by  themselves,  it  is  seldom  or  never  within  the 
power  of  a  single  man  to  find  for  the  act  its  proper  place  in 
the  higher  morality.  One  person  will,  under  the  influence 
of  a  craving  stomach,  walk  into  a  baker's  shop  and  take  a 
loaf,  justifying  his  action  on  the  ground  that  self-preserva- 
tion is  the  first  of  all  laws.  Another  will  suffer  and  die 
rather  than  do  what  to  him  is  a  manifest  injustice.  Clearly 
the  two,  although  they  take  the  same  view  of  the  fact  of  the 
principle  as  separate  objects  for  judgment,  do  not  see  the. 
same  connection  or  disconnection  between  them.  A  philan- 
thropist, like  Cardinal  Manning,  throws  the  burden  of 
supplying  the  ''living  wage"  on  to  the  employer;  a  states- 
man, like  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  thinks  that  it  is  a 
question  of  free  contract,  or  that  the  responsibility  falls 
upon  the  labourer.  And  so  the  reason,  acting  as  conscience, 
in  its  knowledge  and  judgment  of  moral  facts,  is  universally 
and  on  all  sides  open  to  error ;  nor  is  there  a  single  indi- 
vidual, who,  without  a  special  power  not  his  own,  can  escape 


ttig'his  and  Limits  of  Conscience 

from  the  effects  of  his  nature,  and  the  verdict  of  experience, 
that  every  man  is  not  only  prone  to  go  astray,  but  actually 
does  wander  in  the  moral  as  well  as  mental  judgments  of 
his  reason. 

This  conviction  will  be  driven  more  home,  if,  from  the 
maze-like  appearance  of  the  external  deed,  we  pass  on  to 
consider  the  make  and  character  of  the  person  whose 
conscience  is  said  to  be  the  judge.  That  "  no  two  persons 
are  made  alike,"  is  a  common  saying.  If  you  wish  to  know 
how  many  diversities  of  men  there  are,  count  the  number  of 
persons  that  are  and  have  been.  How,  then,  can  anyone 
assume,  to  start  with,  that  his  view  of  a  moral  act  is  the 
right  one,  and  his  summary  of  moral  circumstances  beyond 
dispute?  Should  he  not  set  out  with  the  supposition,  that 
there  are  other  perceptions  of  right  and  wrong  besides  his 
own ;  that  moral  knowledge  is  stored  in  other  treasuries 
besides  his  soul ;  that  his  information  is  less  in  amount 
and  quality  than  that  possessed  by  his  fellow-men  ;  and  that, 
unless  forced  by  the  instant  pressure  of  circumstances  to  go 
into  action,  it  is  his  duty  to  wait,  to  consult,  to  be  ready 
beforehand  to  learn  that  others  are  right,  that  he  is  wrong, 
and  willing,  should  the  judgments  of  others  disagree  with 
his,  to  give  them  the  lead,  and,  in  a  practical  way,  allow 
their  conscience  to  form  his  own,  to  become  for  him  the 
last,  final,  supreme  judge  of  his  moral  conduct? 

This  evidently  is  the  intention  of  nature,  of  God's  will, 
as  manifest  in  human  nature.  We  are  not  our  own  makers. 
What  we  are,  and  as  we  are,  is  the  work  of  an  agent  quite 
outside  ourselves — an  agent  that  does  not  consult  us,  nor 
so  much  as  consider  our  personal  interests  of  paramount 
or  of  any  great  importance.  This  agent  is  nature,  and  it  is 
the  original  framer  of  body  and  soul,  of  intellectual  faculties, 
and  moral  qualities.  As  the  human  body  is  individualized 
by  certain  peculiarities,  so  the  mind,  when  it  comes  into 
being,  possesses  in  itself,  or  receives  from  its  physical  condi- 
tions, a  personal  self-temperament,  characteristics,  tenden- 
cies, the  germs  of  intellectual  thought,  the  seed  of  moral 
actions  and  habits.  We  can  see  the  peculiarities  in  the 
body,  note,  and  measure,  and  name  them.  In  the  under- 

VOL.  XVII.  2  P 


594  Rights  and  Limits  of  Conscience 

standing  or  the  will  we  cannot  see  them  with  the  eye  or 
mind,  but  we  can  discern  them  in  their  effects.     And  we 
can  be    certain,   that    they    are    the    products   of   nature, 
because  they  appear  antecedently  to  any  exercise  of  personal 
reason    or   strength,  as   the    spontaneous   output   of  mere 
natural  forces.     From  the  undeveloped  child  proceed  actions 
which  are  of  nature's  own  making.     They  are  instinctive  or 
mechanical ;    and,  acting  with  the  precision  and  force  of  the 
instinct  of  a  machine,  they  tell  us  at  once  of  the  untrained, 
uneducated    speciality    of    the    powers    from    which  they 
proceed.       Indeed,    so    precise    are    they,    so    regular,    so 
uniform,  that,  like  the  laws  of  nature,  they  are  prophetic  of 
the  future  ;  so  that  it  has  become  quite  a  common  and  an 
easy  practice  to  forecast  the  father  in  the  boy.     It  is  nature, 
therefore,  that  is  responsible  for  the  many  varieties  in  men, 
for  the  accepted  fact,  that  no  two  men  are  alike  in  mind  or 
reason ;  that  they  differ  in  principle,  in  charactr,  in  tendency, 
as  they  do  in  outward  shape ;  so  that,  unless  we  make  the 
standard  of  morals  entirely  subjective   and  personal,  and 
unless  we  make  it  vary   as  the  opinions,  whims,  passions, 
the  likes  and  disKkes — yea,  the  vices  and  immoral  principles — 
of  men  differ,  we  shall  credit  nature  with  intending  that  we 
are   not  to   rely  upon  the  judgment   of  a   single,  isolated 
conscience,  but,  distrusting  ourselves,  to  trust  rather  to  the 
reasons  and  decisions  of  our  more  capable  fellows. 

Man's  second  maker  is  heredity.  Between  this  and 
nature  the  boundaries  cannot  be  fixed.  But  no  one 
can  deny  the  fact — and,  least  of  all,  an  evolutionist— 
that  many  and  powerful  forces  in  an  individual's  con- 
stitution come  to  him  by  inheritance.  Here,  as  in 
the  work  of  nature,  we  can  somewhat  detect  the 
influence  and  range  of  inherited  qualities  in  the "  body. 
Tailless  cats,  many-feathered  pigeons,  six-fingered  hands, 
consumption,  short-sightedness,  are  some  of  the  countless 
phenomena  in  descendants,  which  have  been  accurately,  by  a 
chain  of  physical  evidence,  connected  with  the  characteristic 
varieties  of  ancestors.  And  were  it  possible  to  bring  the 
intellectual  and  moral  qualities  under  the  microscope  or  the 
dividing  knife,  we  should  be  able  at  times  to  trace  the 


Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience  595 

connection  between  the  virtues  of  a  father  and  the  morality 
of  a  son,  as  between  a  parent's  drunken  habits  and  his 
offspring's  fondness  for  intoxicating  drinks.  Whether  there 
is  something  first  inherent,  and  then  passed  on,  like  original 
sin,  from  soul  to  soul,  or  whether  the  souls  of  two  children 
remain  the  same  in  substance  and  habits,  the  differences  being 
in  the  bodily  organs,  of  which  the  mind  and  the  will  are  to 
make  use,  cannot  as  yet  be  decided.  Certain  it  is,  that 
differences  do  exist  in  the  body,  in  the  mind,  and  in  the  will 
physica],  mental,  moral  varieties ;  certain  it  is  too,  that  these 
mental  and  moral  varieties  have  been  and  are,  like  those  of 
the  body,  cultivated  by  natural  and  artificial  selections, 
and  under  these  circumstances  transmitted  from  parent  to 
child. 

And  all  these  varieties,  as  well  in  their  origin  as  in  their 
development  and  establishment,  are  not  the  work  of  nature, 
but  of  the  individual,  consciously  determining  himself  and  his 
offspring,  or  being  the  unconscious  causes  of  many  responsible 
variations  in  his  race.  Eacial,  national,  family  likenesses 
and  divergencies  can  be  thus  accounted  for — I.  do  not  say 
entirely,  but  fundamentally.  In  this  way,  we  might  explain, 
in  part,  the  decree  of  God,  to  visit  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
upon  their  children.  Something  offensive,  morally  offensive, 
must  be  transmitted  by  the  fathers  to  their  children.  It 
originated  in  the  parent,  as  the  first  sin  in  Adam,  and  it  is 
found  in  the  children.  Explain  it,  how  we  will — into  these 
it  comes  by  heredity ;  in  these  it  is  ;  in  these  it  remains  ; 
in  these  God  sees  it ;  in  these  it  offends  God,  and  con- 
sequently makes  these,  as  descendants,  liable  in  justice  to  the 
same  punishment  as  their  ancestors.  Nor,  as  the  history  of 
man  testifies,  does  our  moral  inheritance  improve.  It  grew 
worse  from  age  to  age,  and,  but  for  God's  intervention, 
would  still  be  prone  to  greater  evil.  And  so,  heredity  joins 
nature  in  warning  us  against  the  judgments  of  a  private 
conscience,  and  telling  us  that  it  must  have  recourse,  if  it 
would  work  justice,  and  avoid  iniquity,  to  the  conscience  of 
others,  to  be  counter-balanced,  checked,  and  rectified. 

The  moral  qualities  thus  acquired  from  nature  and 
progenitors,  determine,  in  the  first  place,  the  medium  or 


596  Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience 

surroundings,  and  these  again  react  and  form  the  mental 
and  moral  habits.  At  one  time  or  another  in  the  course 
of  his  career  everyone  has  the  opportunity  and  the  power 
of  fixing  his  position  in  life.  He  may  be  placed  in  circum- 
stances which  do  not  suit  him,  against  which  he  rebels,  and 
from  which  he  seeks  to  be  free.  But  this  cannot  be  for 
a  life-time  ;  it  lasts  for  a  while ;  longer  for  a  man  of  weak 
character,  and  shorter  for  one  of  independent  mind  and 
resources.  In  the  selection  of  the  position,  the  chief 
resolving  factors  will  be  the  inherited  acquirements  of 
nature  and  race.  These  have  been  burning  in  him  from 
childhood,  like  so  many  fires.  They  are  springs,  which  may 
be  kept  under  restraint,  be  bent  back,  or  otherwise,  against 
their  nature  and  tending  force,  but  which,  at  the  same  time, 
protest,  as  it  were,  struggle,  use  their  tensions,  and  reserve 
their  forces  for  a  mighty  bound,  as  soon  as  the  artificial  and 
unnatural  bonds  are  removed.  Macaulay  and  Dickens  were 
intended  for  the  bar,  but  their  genius  declared  for  literature. 
Dr.  Jameson  has  found  the  battle-field  a  more  congenial 
sphere  for  the  successful  exercise  of  his  talents  than  the 
consulting  room.  And  Tallyrand,  as  a  sign  of  the  future 
diplomatist  of  Macchiavelian  type,  opposed  his  introduction 
to  the  priesthood,  and  freed  himself  from  its  shackles  as 
soon  as  Napoleon  wanted  a  trustworthy  but  unprincipled 
agent.  When  each  one  finds  his  own  sphere,  and  settles 
down  to  his  surroundings, these  become  incentives,  stimulants, 
developing,  shaping  forces,  which  bring  out  the  full  power  of 
the  natural  parental  gifts,  fix  them,  harden  them,  make  them 
unchangeable.  The  immovability  and  obstinacy  of  old  age 
is  only  one  instance  of  this  logical  process.  It  might  be 
exemplified  in  every  profession  of  life,  and  is  synonymous 
with  that  straight,  narrow,  exclusive  mode  of  viewing  men 
and  things,  which  renders  us  so  incapable  of  reasoning 
aright,  and  of  relying  upon  the  justice  and  rectitude  of  the 
single  voice  of  our  own  conscience. 

These  elements  of  nature,  heredity,  and  medium,  form, 
when  put  together,  and  properly  proportioned,  a  man's 
character.  Personality  is  described  by  scholastic  philo- 
sophers as  that  in  a  single  human  being,  which  he  has  alone, 


Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience  597 

and  which  is  altogether  incapable  of  being  transferred  to 
another.  Character  is  the  expression  or  realization  of 
personality.  It  is  made  up  in  one,  with  exactly  the 
same  kind  of  elements  as  it  is  in  another.  But  these 
elements  are  differently  proportioned,  are  weaker  or  stronger, 
and  diversely  related  in  such  a  way,  that  the  resultant  from 
the  union  and  manner  of  combination  is  in  no  two  cases 
the  same.  The  ingredients  are  the  same  ;  the  outcome  of  their 
blending  and  mixture  is  different.  Each  has  a  peculiarity, 
which  is  a  characteristic  stamp,  note,  mark,  and  is  not 
to  be  found  in  another  of  the  same  kind.  And,  as  no  one 
person  is  a  full  or  perfect  representative  man,  and  by  the  mere 
fact  that  he  is  a  person,  single,  individual,  alone,  we  have  to 
discover  in  him  what  is  excessive  or  extravagant,  and  modify 
his  ordinary  qualities,  in  order  to  get  at  the  true  man;  so  no 
one's  judgment,  whether  it  be  in  decision  of  a  doctrinal  or  a 
moral  question,  is  an  adequate  expression  of  the  truth  ;  and 
the  individual  properties  of  his  reason  and  his  will  must  be 
tested  by  the  knowledge,  experience,  and  authority  of  other 
human  powers,  if  we  are  to  arrive  at  the  genuine  moral 
dictates  of  a  time  conscience. 

Against  these  arguments  I  know  of  only  one  real 
objection.  It  may  be  stated  thus  : — The  individual's  con- 
science is,  after  all  has  been  said  and  done,  the  ultimate 
judge.  When  advice  has  been  taken,  when  the  consciences 
of  others  have  been  ascertained,  when  the  law  is  known, 
it  is  the  individual  reason,  which  adjudicates  on  the  merits 
of  what  has  been  submitted  to  it,  and  the  individual's 
conscience,  which  declares  the  final  sentence.  They  are 
the  collectors  of  evidence  ;  it  accepts,  examines,  and  decides. 
Nor  can  it  throw  the  responsibility  of  the  decision  on  to  the 
views  and  judgment  of  others.  St.  Peter  was  confronted 
with  arguments  in  a  similar  manner.  He  did  not  dispute 
their  value ;  he  did  not  gainsay  their  worth.  He  seems 
even  to  imply,  that  their  reasoning  was  good  and  justifiable 
for  themselves,  sufficient  to  determine  their  own  action,  but 
not  enough  to  determine  for  him.  His  words  seem  to 
sanction  the  idea,  that,  as  their  conscience  could  determine 
for  them,  so  his  must  determine  for  Mm  :  "If  it  be  lawful  in 


598  Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience 

the  sight  of  God  to  hear  you  rather  than  God,  judge  ye  "- 
be  you  the  judges — for  us,  the  contrary  holds  good.  And, 
when  it  is  a  question  of  union  by  marriage  or  free  love,  of 
taking  an  oath  or  making  an  affirmation,  of  adopting 
one  form  of  religion  or  another,  of  prosecuting  a  thief  or 
condoning  his  crime  (apart  from  the  legal  consequences), 
it  is  the  conscience  of  the  agent  which  must  give  the  final 
word  for  action  or  remission,  for  one  line  of  conduct 
or  another.  So  that,  even  where  personal  reasons  are  com- 
pared with  the  opinions  of  others,  the  individual  conscience 
is  the  discriminating  and  supreme  judge. 

It  should  be  noted,  in  the  first  place,  that  if  the  individual 
conscience  is  not,  as  confessedly  it  is  not,  a  competent  judge 
in  the  case  of  absolute  truth,  we  should,  unless  important 
evidence  to  the  contrary  were  to  negative  it,  expect,  that  it 
would  also  be  incapable  of  settling  the  truth  of  a  particular 
idea,  or  the  moral  worth  of  a  particular  action.  Antecedently, 
at  least,  morality,  and  the  judge  of  morality,  are  the  same 
universally.  In  the  next  place,  it  may  be  asked,  whether 
in  the  foregoing  argument,  as  it  is  usually  presented,  an 
important  factor  of  conscience  has  not  been  overlooked. 
Certainly,  it  will  be  allowed,  that  the  individual  conscience 
does  not,  in  every  instance,  justify  the  individual  as  against 
the  judgment  of  others.  Saul,  on  account  of  the  prolonged 
absence  of  Samuel,  thought  himself  conscientiously  freed 
from  the  obligation  of  waiting  for  the  prophet,  and  felt 
conscientiously  that  he  might  offer  the  sacrifice  himself. 
But  we  know,  on  divine  authority,  that  his  action,  conscien- 
tious as  it  was,  was  a  great  offence  in  the  sight  of  God, 
and  stained  his  soul  with  a  mortal  guilt.  Nor  would 
anyone  say,  that  a  child  is  justified  in  deciding  for 
itself  in  accordance  with  its  own  conscience  as  against 
the  advice  or  commands  of  its  parents  and  aged  friends. 
And,  if  it  be  urged,  that  the  reason  for  filial  submission  are 
clear  in  the  case,  may  it  not  also  be  said  at  once  that  the 
reasons  which  avail  against  the  child  are  equally  available 
against  the  right  of  a  private  conscience  to  decide  for  itself 
in  opposition  to  the  world?  My  own  conviction  is,  that 
the  child  has  ^  better  case  than  the  maji.  And  I  3,1$ 


Eights  and  Limits  of  Conscience  599 

persuaded  that  the  disproportion  between  the  child  and  its 
parents  is  immeasurably  less  than  that  between  the  adult's 
conscience  and  the  judgment  of  the  universe  ;  and,  con- 
sequently, that  the  child's  offence  and  moral  guilt  are  slight, 
and  as  nothing  compared  to  the  sin  of  his  elder ;  and,  as  no 
one  would  commend  the  child  for  demanding  reasons,  and 
waiting  till  it  could  accurately  take  in  their  value,  but 
everyone  would  look  for  an  instant  submission,  even  without 
the  enlightenment  of  the  child,  or  against  its  own  judgment; 
so  it  is  not  too  much  to  require  of  the  adult  that  he  submit 
his  conscience  to  others  without,  and  at  times,  against  his 
religious  convictions. 

In  other  words,  I  am  arguing,  apart  from  special  examples, 
for  the  claims  of  authority  over  the  private  conscience  as  over 
private  judgment.     This  is  the  principle  which  is  left  out  of 
account.     And   yet    it   is    one   of  the   most   fundamental, 
essential,    and  most  frequently  recurring   of  moral  pheno- 
mena.    When  a  case  is  presented  to  the  individual,  and  he 
surveys  it  for  judgment,  the  weight  of  the  law  accompanies 
it.     The  word,  the  prestige,  the  person,  the  authority  of  the 
law,  and  the  lawgiver   stands  before  him  ;  he  cannot   help 
seeing  them,  and  feeling  their  superiority.     As  a  rule,  if 
not   always,   he   cannot   but   feel   his   own  inferiority,   his 
insufficiency  in  knowledge,  in  range  of  vision,  in  accuracy  of 
judgment,  in  freedom  from  personal  bias.     He  cannot  but 
be  aware  of  incompetency,  arising  from  individual  causes — 
nature,  heredity,  education,  surroundings,  passion,  prejudice, 
self-interest.     And  his  antecedent  conclusion  is,  that,  as  the 
law    and   authority  are  right   in   themselves,  so  they  will 
be   right   in  this    particular    case.      They    have   a   higher 
claim  to  utter  the  last  and  supreme  judgment  than  he  can 
possibly  have.     So  that,  if,  according  to  his  own   making 
out   and    summary,    he  arrives   at  a  practical    conclusion 
contrary  to  theirs,  the   odds  are,  most  highly,  in  favour   of 
them  and  against  him..     Nay,  for  him  to  act  conscientiously 
against  such  authorit}'',  he  would  require  to  have  on  his  side 
a  reason,  an  argument,  an   authority  superior  to  the  law, 
whose  mandate  he  contravenes.    And  for  the  most  important 
decisions  of  practical  morality,  be  will  not  find  these  in  his. 


600  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Slieeliy 

own  individual  private  conscience.  The  individual  con- 
science, therefore,  has  not,  any  more  than  private  judgment, 
any  right  in  presence  of  natural  or  divine  law ;  it  has  only 
the  duty  of  submission.  Nor  can  it  stand  by  itself 
against  the  just  mandates  of  positive  law,  ecclesiastical, 
or  civil. 

JAMES  V.  WARWICK. 


THE  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  FATHEK  SHEEHY 

THE  sufferings  which  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  endured 
for  their  faith,  even  until  very  recently  are  so  well  known 
to  all  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  them  here,  beyond 
a  few  broad  facts  which  may  help  us  to  understand  better  the 
exact  condition  of  the  Catholic  people  of  Ireland  at  the  time 
of  Father  Sheehy's  birth.  Everyone  knows  that  the  Treaty 
of  Limerick,  which  guaranteed  full  liberty  of  conscience  to 
all  King  William's  new  subjects,  was  no  sooner. signed  than 
violated.  Though  personally  adverse  to  persecution  for 
conscience'  sake,  he  was  powerless  as  to  the  observance  of 
the  stipulations  he  had  signed  and  approved  in  regard  there- 
to. He  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  faction  who  thirsted  for 
Catholic  blood.  The  Penal  Laws  were  now  renewed  in  all 
their  vigour,  so  that  the  period  between  the  Treaty  of 
Limerick,  1691,  and  the  accession  of  George  III.,  1760, 
was  the  time  that,  perhaps,  above  any  other,  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland  were  most  persecuted.  The  political  aspect  too 
was  gloomy  in  the  extreme.  The  flower  of  the  Irish  nation, 
the  soldiers  who  fought  so  bravely  at  Limerick  for  their 
religion  and  their  King,  James  II. ,  now  sought  service  on 
the  Continent.  The  Catholic  wealthy  classes  also,  harassed 
in  every  possible  way,  sought  a  freer  atmosphere  abroad,  so 
that,  it  was  computed,  that  at  this  time  there  were  400,000 
Irish, between  soldiers  and  civilians,  on  the  Continent;  whilst 
the  total  population,  between  Protestants  and  Catholics  at 
home,  was,  according  to  Thomas  Dobbs,  in  1712,  2,099,094, 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  601 

and  the  hearth  money  collectors  in  1767,  2,544,276.  The 
total  number  of  Catholics  according  to  these  statistics  (it 
may  be  assumed,  fairly  reliable)  was  something  like  2,000,000 
during  the  same  period.  Reduced  to  the  lowest  condition 
of  abject  slavery,  deprived  of  arms,  of  education,  of  the  right 
to  vote,  their  children  encouraged  to  rebel  against  them,  and 
by  conforming  to  the  Protestant  religion  inherit,  or  become 
at  once  thereby  the  legal  owners  of,  their  property;  they 
seemed  to  console  themselves  by  singing  the  praises  of  their 
exiled  King.  Indeed,  if  we  may  take  the  number  of  Jacobite 
songs,  both  in  manuscript  and  print,  as  evidence  of  their 
hopes  that  their  King  would  soon  return  at  the  head  of  their 
exiled  countrymen,  backed  by  a  foreign  army,  and  wear  the 
crown  of  Ireland,  they  must  have  been  a  very  credulous 
people 

The  Catholic  priesthood  were  supposed  to  have  no  exist- 
ence during  the  greater  part  of  this  time.  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, one  after  another,  were  passed  for  their  entire 
expatriation.  They  were  compelled  to  leave  the  kingdom  by 
a  certain  date,  under  penalty  of  death.  The  same  price  was 
offered  for  the  head  of  a  priest,  wolf,  or  tory.  The  Catholics 
were  forbidden  to  go  abroad  for  the  education  denied  them 
at  home.  Priests  returning  from  the  Continent  in  disguise 
were  strictly  watched,  seized,  and  hanged.  Yet  Catholic 
young  men  were  always  found  to  brave  the  perils  of  the  deep 
from  spies  and  pirates,  and  having  received  ordination  on 
the  Continent,  came  back  to  receive  the  martyr's  crown. 
All  Irish  histories,  whether  written  from  the  Catholic  or 
Protestant  standpoint,  afford  evidence  in  abundance  of  the 
number  of  Catholic  priests,  regular  and  secular,  who,  during 
this  time  sacrificed,  their  lives  for  their  faith.  The  laws, 
however,  were  not  sometimes  carried  out ;  the  clergy  were, 
at  times,  if  not  openly  permitted  to  exercise  their  sacred 
ministry,  at  least  oftentimes  secretly  connived  at. 

In  1742,  Lord  Chesterfield  came  over  to  Ireland  as  Lord 
Lieutenant,  bearing  what  might  be  called  a  message  of 
peace.  The  Pretender,  Prince  Charles  Edward,  had  actually 
taken  the  field  in  Scotland,  at  the  head  of  some  of  the  Irish 
officers  who  had  come  flushed  with  victory  from  the  battle 


602  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  SheeJnj 

of  Fontenoy,  and  it  was  thought  necessary  to  let  the  Penal 
Laws  lapse,  at  all  events,  for  the  present.  Father  Sheehy1 
was  a  boy  of  about  sixteen  years  about  this  time,  having 
been  born  at  Fethard,  Co.  Tipperary,  in  1728,  according  to 
Dr.  Madden.  Some  say,  however,  that  he  was  a  native  of 
the  parish  of  Cullen,  Co.  Tipperary,  not  far  from  Limerick 
Junction.  Evidence  is  strongest  with  Madden,  who 
received  all  his  information  from  those  who  knew  Father 
Sheehy,  when  he  ministered  to  them  as  his  parishioners  in 
his  parish  of  Shanraghan  ;  from  his  relatives  who  were  then 
living,  and  from  the  short  newspaper  accounts  of  his  life 
and  tragic  end.  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  ever  met  one  who 
knew  Father  Sheehy,  though,  if  I  had  thought  of  it,  I  might 
have  found  one  or  more  old  enough  some  thirty-five  years 
ago  to  have  seen  and  conversed  with  him.  There  is, 
however,  but  one  link  between  me  and  those  who  knew  him. 
Mr.  M'Grath,  a  land-surveyor,  from  whom  Dr.  Madden 
received  much  of  his  information,  had  a  daughter, 
Mrs.  Mooney,  living  in  Clogheen,  perhaps  as  late  as  1870. 
Her  father  was  one  of  Father  Sheehy's  parishioners,  and  was 
old  enough  at  the  time  of  his  execution  to  remember  him.  I 
knew,  and  still  remember,  Mrs.  Mooney  well.  There  is  a 
Mrs.  Kiely  still  living  far  up  on  the  slopes  of  the  Galtees, 

1  Here  is  his  pedigree  :  — 

JOHN  SHEEHY     =     HOXOEIA  SULLIVAN 


I  I  I  I 

Francis  Bryan  William  Roger 

of  G-lenaheira,  near 
Commeragh  Mountains, 

Co.  Waterford 
Rev.  Nicholas  Wil 


iam  of  Bawnf  awne 

Edmund  =  Margret  Sullivan 


James  (Colonel) 


nel) 

Robert 

Mary           Ellen,  married 

I 

Edmund  Power 

ibert 

1 
Michael 

1 
Margret 

1 
Ellen 

1 
Maryanne 

Ro 

Margret,  Countess  of  Blessington,  grand -daughter  of  Edmund  Sheehy, 
who  was  hanged.  See  Cabinet  of  Irish  Literature,  vol.  ii.,  page  317,  and 
Mr.  Montgomery's  article  in  June  number  of  New  Ireland  Review. 

Some  now  distant  relatives  of  Father  Sheehy  still  live  at  Appleton, 
Co.  Limerick,  and  the  vestments  in  which  he  last  celebrated  are  kept  there. 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  603 

who  told  me  that  she  remembered  her  grandmother  telling 
her,  that  Father  Sheehy  baptized  a  child  in  her  house  at 
Toormore,  near  Burntcourt  when  he  was  on  the  run.  I 
have,  of  course,  heard  many  others  say,  over  and  over,  that 
they  remember3d  people  say  they  knew  him. 

He  was  sent  at  an  early  age  to  France  to  study  for  the 
priesthood.  At  what  particular  college  he  studied,  and  what 
year  he  returned,  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  It  is  almost 
certain  that  he  was  Parish  Priest  of  Shanraghan,  in  1755. 
He  succeeded  Father  Glison,  who  died  that  year,  and  in 
death  sleeps  beside  him.  He  was  therefore  eleven  years 
Parish  Priest  of  Shanraghan  (Clogheen)  ;  and  if  Newcastle 
was  not  connected  with  Shanraghan  during  these  eleven 
years,  he  must  have  ministered  in  the  parish  of  Newcastle 
also,  either  as  Parish  Priest  or  Curate,  for  a  short  time  before, 
as  it  is  said  that  he  succeeded  in  abolishing  tithes  there  for 
ever. 

It  was,  it  may  be  assumed,  a  time  of  comparative  calm 
when  Nicholas  Sheehy  first  commenced  his  missionary  life. 
The  Catholics  were  allowed  to  attend  Mass  openly,  even  in 
the  towns  and  cities,  but  they  must  not  ring  bells,  or  build 
pretentious  churches  in  the  public  highways.  The  penal 
laws  remained  on  the  Statute-book,  to  be  put  in  motion 
when  the  Pretender  was  coming  over,  or  Protestant  ascen- 
dancy in  danger.  These  laws  could  be  put  in  motion  at  a 
moment's  notice,  at  the  requisition  of  any  local  squire  or 
tithe  proctor,  and  the  poor  Catholics  had  to  go  again  into 
the  woods  and  glens  and  keep  careful  watch  during  Mass, 
lest  they  should  be  surprised  by  the  enemy.  An  English 
tourist  describes  one  of  these  Mass  meetings  in  1746,  "  The 
poorer  sort  of  Irish  natives  are  Roman  Catholics,  who 
make  no  scruple  [toleration  was  advancing  at  this  time]  to 
assemble  in  the  open  field.  As  we  passed  yesterday  in  by  a 
bye-road,  we  saw  a  priest  under  a  tree,  with  a  large  assembly 
about  him,  celebrating  Mass  in  his  proper  habit,  and,  though, 
at  a  great  distance  from  him,  we  heard  him  distinctly."1 

There  is  a  very  interesting  story  of  the  penal  times  told 
in  Blake  Forster's  Irish  Chieftains  ;  or,  a  Struggle  for  the 

1  Cromirelliim  Scl-fteinenf,  page  16g. 


604  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

Crown,  page  565,  note.  A  poor  way-worn  man  came  one 
day  with  a  letter  to  the  O'Conor,  of  Sylane,  about  three 
miles  from  Tuam,  county  Galway.  The  letter  was  from  a 
bishop.  Mr.  O'Conor  read  it,  and  engaged  him  on  the 
spot.  He  attended  at  table,  polished  the  boots,  and  per- 
formed other  kinds  of  menial  offices.  On  Sunday  the  bell 
was  rung,  and  all  the  household  entered  a  hollowed  sandpit 
near  the  house,  the  surrounding  tenants  also  got  word,  and 
assembled  at  the  meeting -place.  An  humble  altar  was  here 
erected,  and  holy  Mass  was  offered  by  him  who  had  been 
engaged  as  a  servant,  and  immediately  all  left  as'secretly  as 
possible  for  their  homes.  This  pit  is  called  Cais  an  aiffrion, 
the  Mass  Pit.  There  are  many  such  places,  called  by 
different  names,  where  Mass  was  offered  in  days  gone  by. 
There  are  two  such,  at  least,  in  the  parish  in  which  Father 
Sheehy  ministered  ;  they  are  still  called,  Clock  an  Tigherna, 
the  Lord's  Stone,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of 
Ballyporeen,  and  Sean  AUoir,  Old  Altar,  half  a  mile 
to  the  North.  There  is  no  tradition,  however,  that 
Father  Sheehy  was  ever  obliged  to  celebrate  the  Divine 
Mysteries  at  either  of  them.  Yet,  shortly  before  his 
appointment  to  the  pastoral  office,  1750,  it  was  declared 
from  the  judicial  bench,  that  the  law  did  not  presume  a 
papist  to  be  in  the  whole  of  Ireland.  In  the  same  year  also 
Dr.  Butler,  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  May  19fch,  dates  a  pastoral 
letter,  e  loco  refugii  nostri ;  and  again,  he  arranged  that  the 
bishops  of  Munster  should  meet  him  at  Thurles,  1755,  to 
consult  with  him  about  some  disciplinary  matters ;  the 
time  threatening  to  be  troublesome,  none  of  them  attended.1 
The  fact  was,  the  poor  people,  so  long  oppressed  by  the 
excessive  demands  of  landlords  and  tithe  proctors,  were 
beginning  to  combine  in  secret  against  them.  The  bishops 
and  parochial  clergy,  as  the  pastors  of  the  disaffected,  who, 
though  for  the  most  part  Catholics,  were  aided  by  their 
Protestant  brethren,  who  felt  the  scourge,  in  point  of 
excessive  rents  at  least,  equally  with  themselves,  were  singled 
out  for  persecution.  In  addition  to  what  had  been  hitherto 

1  Renehaiis  MS.,  page  317, 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Slieehy  605 

exacted  of  them,  they  were  now  to  be  deprived  of  the  right 
to  graze  land  which  had  been  heretofore  held  in  common. 
The  labouring  classes  were  left  without  employment,  or  to 
eke  out  a  miserable  existence  on  a  wage  of  a  few  pence 
a-day.  The  poor  creatures  weighed  down  with  the  oppres- 
sion of  centuries,  were  either  too  poor  or  had  no  confidence 
in  the  law,  to  seek  redress.  Goldsmith,  with  becoming 
sympathy,  tells  their  sad  tale  in  The  Traveller,  thus  :— 

"  .  .  .  I  behold  a  factious  band  agree, 
To  call  it  freedom  when  themselves  are  free  : 
Each  wanton  judge  new  penal  statutes  draw, 
Laws  grind  the  poor,  and  rich  men  rule  the  law." 

Bands  of  young  men  called  Whiteboys,  from  wearing 
white  shirts  over  their  ordinary  dress ;  and  Levellers — from 
throwing  down  the  fences,  which  the  landlords  erected  to 
deprive  them  of  the  use  of  commons,  or  free  lands,  until 
then  the  property  of  no  one,  but  of  the  community  in 
general — assembled  at  night,  Cattle  were  houghed,  grazing 
land  was  ploughed  up,  and  many  of  the  ruling  oligarchy 
received  rough  treatment.  Meetings  were  held  at  night, 
wherein  their  plans  were  laid.  This  agitation,  with  all  the 
outbursts  of  lawlessness  attendant  on  such  modes  of  seeking 
redress,  soon  spread  through  all  Munster.  A  people  thus 
deprived  of  the  right  to  live  in  the  land  which  God  gave 
them  will  seek  redress  in  any  way  open  to  them.  They 
cannot,  indeed,  be  defended  in  the  houghing  of  cattle, 
burning  of  houses,  &c.  ;  but  no  one  can  say  they  were 
wrong  in  throwing  down  fences  which  were  erected  to 
deprive  them  of  the  land  which  their  forefathers  possessed 
in  common  from  time  immemorial. 

The  words  of  Mr.  Griffith,  an  enlightened  and  liberal 
Protestant,  who  appears  to  have  been  an  excise  officer,  and 
witness  of  these  transactions,  are  worthy  of  note.  In  a 
letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Toler,  High  Sheriff  for  the  County 
Tipperary  at  the  time  of  Father  Sheehy's  trial,  he  says  :— 

"  They  [the  Whiteboys]  levelled  the  fences,  and  I  highly 
applaud  them  for  their  spirit  in  so  doing,  and  assure  you, 
Mr.  Toler,  had  I  been  in  their  situation,  as  legal  redress  was  out 
of  the  question,  I  would  have  acted  in  the  same  manner  they  did. 
From  prostrating  those  fences,  they  were  called  Levellers,  and 


606  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

afterwards,  from  wearing  their  shirts  outside  their  clothes,  to 
disguise  themselves,  they  were  called  Whiteboys ;  and  this  was 
the  whole  of  what  furnished  matter  for  the  Munster  Plot,  and 
which,  in  my  opinion,  entitles  it  to  a  place  under  the  head,  great 
events  from  little  causes. 

"  Keports  at  this  time  were  industriously  circulated  that  the 
papists  in  the  Kingdom  had  privately  agreed  to  rise  on  a  night 
prefixed,  to  massacre  all  the  Protestants  in  the  Kingdom.  In 
order  to  support  this  idea,  the  houses  of  the  Protestants  in 
Waterford,  Kilkenny,  and  other  places,  were  chalked  in  the  night, 
in  order  to  alarm  them  by  letting  them  see,  that  they  were 
marked  out  as  victims  of  assassination.  The  affidavit  which  was 
made  relative  to  the  four  French  officers,  and  the  report  of  the 
intended  massacre  were  in  the  minds  of  the  people  corroborated 
by  this  last  circumstance  of  marking  the  Protestant  doors. 
Confidence  was  now  destroyed  between  subject  and  subject,  and 
confusion  followed.  The  citizens  of  Dublin  prepared  for  the 
dreadful  attack.  On  the  evening  preceding  the  fatal  night, 
some  citizens  took  a  last  farewell  of  their  dearest  friends  ;  others 
flew  to  arms,  and  sat  up  the  whole  night,  expecting  every  instant 
the  awful  signal.  Though  disappointed,  still  the  tools  of  the 
persecuting  party  kept  up  the  alarm  by  anonymous  letters.  One 
letter  was  sent  to  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  of  Limerick, 
threatening  to  make  the  streets  of  that  city  flow  with  Protestant 
blood. 

if  For  the  author  of  this  a  reward  of  £500  was  offered.  Such 
a  sum  soon  discovered  him,  and  he  was  found  to  be  one  of  the 
most  zealous  tools  of  the  persecutors  ;  yet  this  incendiary  was 
allowed  to  make  his  escape  on  account  of  his  connections.  The 
terrors  of  the  threatened  massacre  did  not,  however,  subside  on 
the  discovery  of  this  miscreant.  Kilkenny  and  Waterford  were 
in  an  uproar.  In  the  latter  city  the  Protestant  inhabitants 
assembled  frequently  in  the  town  hall,  completely  armed,  and 
sat  up  a  whole  night.  They  entered  into  a  resolution,  and  publicly 
avowed  that  upon  the  least  stir  being  made  by  any  of  the  Papists, 
they  would  sally  forth,  and  destroy  them  all,  by  way  of  prevention. 

"  Thus  was  every  engine  at  work  to  raise  groundless  fears  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  for  more  than  two  years,  when  several 
gentlemen  who  lived  in  and  about  Clonmel  were  marked  out  for 
destruction,  in  the  list  of  whom  was  the  present  Lord  Dunboyne. 
Had  his  lordship  been  hanged  and  quartered  at  that  time  (I 
must  observe  en  passant),  the  Church  of  England  would  have 
lost  a  valuable  member  at  the  present  day,  and  a  young  lady  a 
most  affectionate  husband.  Among  some  poor  wretches  who 
were  treated  with  for  evidence,  was  a  drivelling,  begging  idiot. 
Though  a  half  fool,  he  was  much  disliked  for  some  petty  thefts 
that  he  had  been  guilty  of.  He  was  a  foundling,  and  got  his 
name  from  the  bridge  on  which  he  had  been  exposed.  He  grew 
up  a  beggar,  and  I  often  gave  him  charity." 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  697 

So  far  Mr.  Amyas  Griffith.  Bridge  now  disappeared. 
Some  thought  he  had  been  removed  by  Father  Sheehy's 
enemies,  in  order  to  have  him  tried  and  hanged  for  his 
murder,  as  he  actually  was  subsequently ;  others  that  he 
had  been  murdered,  in  order  to  prevent  him  giving  evidence 
against  Father  Sheeby  and  the  Whiteboys.  That  Bridge  was 
really  murdered,  I  am  able  to  affirm  from  the  dying  declara- 
tions of  both  his  murderers,  who  were  arraigned  at  the  assizes 
held  at  Nenagh,  not  long  after  Father  Sheehy's  execution, 
and  copies  of  which  were  kindly  furnished  me,  a  few  years 
ago,  by  Mr.  Ffrench  Mullen,  J.P.,  Blackrock,  since  deceased. 

That  Father  Sheehy  had  strong  sympathies  with  his 
downtrodden  parishioners,  no  doubt  can  be  entertained.  He 
had  successfully  resisted  the  payment  of  tithes  in  the 
neighbouring  parish  of  Newcastle,  where  there  was  no 
Protestant  congregation ;  and  now,  when  a  new  impost  of 
five  shillings  for  every  Catholic  marriage  was  sought  to  be 
levied  off  his  poor  parishioners  by  the  local  tithe  proctor,  his 
heart  was  stung  to  resentment.  Meetings  of  his  parishioners 
were  held,  at  which  he  certainly  attended,  to  devise  means  of 
resisting  this  iniquitous  tax.  A  charge  of  fomenting  a  Popish 
plot  was  trumped  up  against  him,  at  the  assizes  held  in 
Clonmel,  May  23rd,  1763.  At  the  same  assizes  a  true  bill  was 
found  against  Michael  Quinlan,  Popish  priest,  for  having,  at 
Aughnacartyand  other  places  exercised  the  office  and  functions 
of  a  Popish  priest,  against  the  peace  and  statute,  &c. 

At  the  Summer  Assizes,  1764,  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Sheehy 
was  again  indicted,  together  with  several  of  his  parishioners. 
Indeed  all  the  indictments  sworn  against  him  and  his 
parishioners  between  the  years  1763-1767  would  fill  volumes. 
Knowing  the  unrelenting  hatred  borne  towards  him  by  the 
squireocracy,  he,  at  the  solicitation  of  his  friends,  secreted 
himself  for  a  while ;  but,  finding  that  a  reward  of  £300  was 
offered  for  his  apprehension,  and  that  his  parishioners,  who 
were  supposed  to  harbour  him,  were  searched  both  by  day 
and  night,  and  continually  exposed  to  the  greatest  indignities 
by  a  cruel  and  unsympathetic  soldiery,  he  wrote  to  Chief 
Secretary  Waite,  offering  to  surrender  on  condition  of  being 
tried,  not  at  Clonmel,  where  his  enemies  were  all-powerful, 


608  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheeliy 

but  in  Dublin,  where  he  expected  to  be  able  to  prove  his 
innocence.1  This  offer  was  accepted,  and  having  been  pro- 
vided with  a  ten  pound  note  and  a  good  horse  by  Cornelius 
O'Callaghan,  he  set  out  for  Dublin.  Before  his  surrender, 
it  should  be  remarked  that  he  had  been  for  a  long  time 
seeking  shelter  with  his  parishioners,  until  they  were  so 
harassed  by  the  soldiery  that  he  was  at  last  obliged  to 
take  shelter  with  a  Protestant  gentleman,  living  beside 
the  graveyard  of  Shanraghan,  where  his  mortal  remains 
sleep  to-day.  During  the  day  he  lay  concealed  in  a  vault, 
but  at  night  he  was  comfortably  provided  with  a  bed  in  the 
house  of  his  Protestant  friend.  No  one  was  made  aware  of 
his  presence  but  the  gentleman's  wife,  who  sent  her  children 
away  early  in  the  morning  to  school,  lest  they  should  in  any 
way  be  made  aware  of  the  presence  of  their  parents'  protege. 
This  family,  or  their  immediate  descendants,  continued  to 
reside  in  the  same  house  until  1852,  when  the  present 
occupier,  Mr.  Coughlan,  purchased  their  interest.  In  recog- 
nition of  his  services,  Father  Sheehy,  before  his  execu- 
tion, bequeathed  to  Mr.  Griffith  his  watch,  which  a  woman 
still  living  assures  me  she  often  saw  with  his  grandson, 
Mr.  Samuel  Griffith.  The  following  proclamation,  taken 
from  the  Cork  Chronicle,  or  Universal  Register,  printed  and 
published  by  George  Busteed,  No,  31,  Vol.  II.,  February, 
1765,  was  issued  for  his  apprehension  :— 

PROCLAMATION 

Whereas  Nicholas  Sheeny,'  Popish  Priest  of  Shandrahan  (sic) 
in  the  County  of  Tipperary,  stands  indicted  at  an  Assizes  and 

1  I  have  not  "been  able  to  find  Father  Sheehy's  letter  to  Chief  Secretary 
Waite,  but  the  Chief  Secretary's  letter,  accepting  his  terms  of  surrender,  is  as 
follows : — 

"  March  5,   1765. 

"  SIE, — Yesterday  I  received  your  letter  from  Ballyporeen,  with  the  two 
papers  enclosed  therein,  and  having  laid  the  same  before  the  Lords  Justices, 
their  Excellencies  have  commanded  me  to  acquaint  you,  that  if  you  surrender 
yourself  to  Mr.  O'Callagban,  you  may  depend  upon  his  receiving  and  treating 
you  with  all  civility,  and  that  you  will  by  him  be  transmitted  in  the  most 
private  manner  to  Dublin,  with  the  utmost  security  and  safety  to  your 
person.  I  write  to  him  for  that  purpose  this  night,  by  order  of  the  Lords 
Justices,  and  you  may  be  ass \ired  that  upon  your  arrival  here,  you  will  meet  not 
only  with  tin- justice  you  desire,  but  with  such  further  regard  as  your  candid 
behaviour  may  deserve." — Book  of  Entries,  Civil  Petitions,  Lecky's  History  of 
Ireland  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  vol  ii.,  page  42,  note. 

2  The  present  Lord  Lismore  told  me  that  his  grandfather,  the  first  Lord 
Lismore,  knowing  what  was  in  store  for  Father  Sheehy,  offered  him  £100  to 
leave  the  country,  but  he  refused. 


Tfie  Life  and  Death  of  Father  S/ieehy  609 

General  Gaol  Delivery,  held  for  the  said  County,  the  twenty- 
eighth  day  of  March,  for  High  Treason  and  Eebellion  : 

And  whereas  the  said  Nicholas  Sheehy  has  since  absconded, 
and  we  have  received  information  upon  oath  that  he  is  concealed  in 
some  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  has  since  been  concerned  in 
several  treasonable  practices  to  raise  a  rebellion  in  this  kingdom; 
We,  the  Lord  Justice  and  Council,  do  hereby  publish  and  declare 
that  if  any  person  or  persons  do,  within  the  space  of  six  calendar 
months  from  the  date  of  this  our  proclamation,  apprehend  the 
said  Nicholas  Sheehy,  and  lodge  him  in  any  one  of  His  Majesty's 
prisons  in  this  kingdom,  they  shall  receive  as  a  reward  the  sum  of 
Three  Hundred  Pounds  sterling,  and  we  hereby  strictly  charge  and 
command  all  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Mayors,  Sheriffs,  Bailiffs,  and 
all  others  of  His  Majesty's  loving  subjects,  that  they  do  use 
their  utmost  endeavours  to  have  the  said  Nicholas  Sheehy 
apprehended. 

Given  at  the  Council  Chamber,  Dublin,  February  16th,  1765, 
signed : — 

BOWES  EDWAED  WILLIS. 

C.  WM.  FENTON 

KILDARE  ARTHUR  MALONE 

WESTMEATH  A.  TREVOR 

GRANDISON  NATH.  CLEMENTS 

CARRICK  C.  GARDNIER 

ARRAN  BEN.  BARTON 

PHILLIP  LISDALE  FRANCIS  ANDREWS 

JOHN  GOXE  JOHN  HELY  HUTCHESON 
KICHARD  ASTON 

GOD  SAVE  THE  KING. 


Father  Sheehy  was  confined  for  a  few  days  in  Dublin 
Castle;  but  so  confident  of  his  innocence  was  he,  and  so 
assured  were  the  officials  of  the  Castle  that  he  would  not 
flee  from  justice,  that  he  was  allowed  to  go  at  large  until  the 
day  of  his  trial,  February  the  10th,  1766,  in  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench.  After  a  trial  of  fourteen  hours'  duration,  he 
was  honourably  acquitted.  But  no  sooner  had  the  verdict 
been  pronounced,  than  a  fresh  charge,  now  of  the  murder  of 
John  Bridge,  was  brought  against  him  by  his  enemies  at 
home.  He  was,  therefore,  immediately  committed  to  New- 
gate, and  after  two  or  three  days'  imprisonment  was  brought 
back  to  Clonmel,  to  stand  his  trial  for  murder.  Father 
Sheehy  had  been  made  aware  of  this,  by  a  man  from 

VOL.  XVII.  2  Q 


6lO  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheeliy 

Clogheen,  named  Martin  O'Brien,  and  was  strongly  advised 
to  fly  to  some  foreign  country,  whilst  it  was  yet  in  his  power. 
Confident  of  his  innocence  of  such  a  foul  crime,  he  laughed 
at  the  idea,  simply  remarking  that  they  wanted  to  frighten 
him  out  of  the  country.  Before  he  left  Clogheen,  he  had  no 
knowledge  whatever  that  such  a  crime  had  been  ever  com- 
mitted. This  was  positively  asserted  by  Jeremiah  M'Grath, 
of  Clogheen ;  and  indeed  the  strongest  proof  of  his 
innocence  was  the  fact,  that  he  did  not  fly  whilst  he  was 
at  large  in  Dublin,  especially  as  he  was  well  aware 
of  the  relentless  animosity  of  his  enemies  in  and  around 
Clonmel. 

He  was  now  conveyed  on  horseback,  under  a  strong 
military  escort,  to  Clonmel,  with  his  arms  pinioned  and  his 
feet  tied  under  the  horse's  belly.  In  the  gaol  which  then 
stood  in  High-street,  he  was  treated  with  the  utmost  rigour. 
In  this  sad  state  he  was  visited  by  a  friend,  to  whom  he 
showed  his  feet,  swollen  and  lacerated  from  the  cords  with 
which  they  had  been  tied,  on  his  way  from  Dublin.  He  bore 
his  heartrending  condition,  however,  most  courageously, 
confidently  remarking  to  his  friend  that  he  would  defeat 
his  enemies  again. 

On  the  12th  March,  1766,  Father  Sheehy  was  put  on  his 
trial  before  the  Kt.  Hon.  Lord  H.  E.  J.  Clayton,  by  special 
commission  appointed  to  try  the  Whiteboys.  Counsel  for 
the  prosecution — Edward  Maloney,  Godfrey  Lill,  George 
Smith,  William  Henry.  I  cannot  find  whether  Father 
Sheehy  was  represented  by  counsel,  though  he  was 
represented  by  attorney,  Mr.  Sparrow.  The  following  is  the 
list  of  the  jury  empanelled.  It  is  beyond  all  doubt,  having 
been  admitted  by  friend  and  foe  alike,  as  shall  be  seen 
afterwards,  that  this  jury,  with  the  exception  of  one, 
or  perhaps  two,  were  visibly  punished  by  the  hand  of 
God:— 

NAMES   OF   JUEOES  THEIR   DEATHS 

1.  JONATHAN  WELLINGTON  -  Died  in  a  fit. 

2.  ALEXANDER  HOOPS         -  Drowned 

3.  EGBERT  GOING  -  Died  suddenly. 

4.  EDWARD  DAWSON  -  Killed  by  his  horse. 

5.  OSBORNE  TUHILL  -  Cut  his  throat. 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehij  611 

6.  EGBERT  SHAW  -  Choked  at  dinner. 

7.  JOHN  FERNS  -  Died  mad. 

8.  JOHN  DUNVILLE  -  Disfigured  in  a  fearful  way. 

9.  HUMPHREY  MUMSKIN  -  Died  a  beggar. 

10.  ADAM  DUNINEAD  -     Died  a  natural  death. 

11 -     Killed  by  his  horse  at  Nenagh. 

12.  JOSEPH  TENNISON  -     Death  unknown. 

Sixty  jurors  were  summoned  by  Mr.  Toler,  High  Sheriff, 
every  one  of  whom  answered  to.  his  name.  Twenty  were 
challenged  by  the  defendant.  The  trial  lasted  for  five  or  six 
hours-  Father  Sheehy  and  a  man  named  Edmund  Meighan 
were  tried  the  same  day,  Meighan  having  been  called  first. 
The  same  witnesses  gave  evidence  in  both  cases.  Most  of  the 
witnesses  against  him  at  the  Dublin  trial  now  came  forward 
again.  There  were  besides,  three  fresh  witnesses — one  a 
woman  of  bad  repute,  named  "  Moll  Dunlea,"  alias  Mrs.  Mary 
Brady;  John  Toohy,  previously  imprisoned  in  Kilkenny 
for  horse-stealing ;  and  John  Lonergan,  who  afterwards 
enlisted,  and  died  of  some  loathsome  disease  in  Barrack- 
street,  Dublin,  It  must  be  remarked  that  there  were  no 
shorthand  writers  in  those  days,  and  no  daily,  or  even  weekly 
journals.  Notes  of  the  trial  were,  however,  taken  by  one  of 
the  jury,  and  communicated  to  the  Gentleman's  and  London 
Magazine,  for  June,  1766.  This  report,  to  say  the  least, 
is  suspicious,  as  written  by  one  of  a  jury  who  were  either 
overawed  by  the  violence  and  threats  of  those  who  thirsted 
for  their  victim's  blood,  or  were  themselves  actuated  by  the 
same  feelings.  The  town  of  Clonmel  was  in  a  state  of  the 
greatest  excitement.  A  popular  priest,  well  known  for  miles 
around,  was  on  his  trial,  if  not  for  actual  murder,  at  least 
for  aiding  and  abetting  it.  His  personal  friends  were 
terrorized  from  coming  forward  to  give  evidence  on  his 
behalf  by  a  brutal  soldiery,  who  were  completely  in  the 
hands  of  his  mortal  enemies,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hewetson, 
Mr.  Maud,  and  John  Bagwell.  The  latter  had  resolved  that 
the  man  who  in  those  terrible  times  had  stood  between  them 
and  their  oppressed  tithe-makers  and  rent-payers  should 
not  escape  their  clutches.  The  following  verses,  which  I 
have  taken  down  from  the  dictation  of  James  Power,  of 
Whitechurch,  parish  of  Aglish,  Co.  Waterford,  will  help  to 


612  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

show   the   popular  estimate   of    their  hatred  of   Nicholas 
Sheehy  :  — 


CeA-o  5"L6i|\e  te  1ofA  Tli  geAt  HA  n-T>AonAcc, 
te  "beAnjAiogAn  HA 


5A1[mi    CA|\    rni1Alb, 

F 


A'f  ie  Father  geAl  Sheehy 
UA  'f  t1A  T^AiceAf  fo  nAoif 

jAltA-pmc  A'f  rneijAti5  A  5-ctiiAiiimeAtA  cum 


t),  tobcA,  AgUf   teACA   OJACA 
A'f    CAOJAA   O'tl    fpeijA   50    C1OCA1X)    OjACA, 

A'f  An  An  ctn-o  eite  -oe'n  c-fAtnAil-  iu 
AJA  Bagwell  Aguf  Maud, 

^O   -O-COgAlt)    Atl    flAC    'f   '11A  fA1]Age  lAT), 

'TlA  -o-cemce  CAOJ\A  tjeAjAgA, 

An  fu-o  nAc  bei-6  fA§Ait  cAfA-6  AC  A. 

50  LuAin  IA  'n 


A  party  of  horse  surrounded  the  court,  excluding  anyone 
who  might  be  supposed  to  have  any  sympathy  with  the 
accused  ;  and  so  great  was  the  terror  inspired,  that  many  of 
Father  Sheehy's  friends  and  most  important  witnesses  fled 
from  the  town.2 

FOB   THE    PEOSECUTION 

The  first  witness  sworn  was  :  — 

JOHN  TOOHY.  —  He  (witness)  knew  John  Bridge;  he  is  dead; 
was  killed  by  Edward  Meighan  by  a  stroke  of  a  bill-hook  on  the 
head,  at  Shanbally,  and  died  instantly  ;  went  a  small  way  out  of 
the  house  where  a  great  number  were  assembled  ;  saw  Edward 
Meighan,  the  prisoner,  Nicholas  Sheehy,  Edward  Prendergast, 
and  many  others  drawn  up  in  a  rank,  as  if  to  be  reckoned.  John 
Bridge  went  towards  the  people,  and  joined  them.  Nicholas 
Sheehy  tendered  an  oath  to  John  Bridge,  to  deny  his  examina- 
tion, who  refused  to  take  it  ;  on  his  refusal;  Pierce  Byrne  struck 
him  with  a  flail,  which  he  defended  with  his  left  hand  ;.  then  the 
prisoner  (Edward  Meighan)  struck  Bridge  with  a  bill-hook,  which, 
to  his  recollection,  clove  the  skull  ;  Bridge  fell  down  dead 
instantly.  The  same  persons,  in  about  half-an-hour  afterwards, 
buried  him  in  a  ploughed  field  at  Ballybuskin  (most  likely  Bally- 
sheehan),  about  two  miles  from  the  place  of  the  murder.  An 
oath  was  then  tendered  by  Nicholas  Sheehy  to  all  present,  not  to 
disclose  what  had  passed  that  night  ;  to  be  true  to  the  King  of 
France,  and  Shaun  Meskill  (the  leader  of  the  Whiteboys),  and 
children,  which  oath,  most  or  all  of  them  did  take.  At  the  time 
of  bringing  the  body  a  little  boy  name  John  Lonergan  was  hiding 

1  This  poem  is  much  longer,     I  may  find  the  remainder  hereafter. 

2  Lecky,  History  of  Ireland,  vol.  ii.,  page  43. 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy.  613 

in  the  ditch  ;  believes  he  could  not  see  him  killed  or  where  he 
was  buried,  but  could  see  the  people  carrying  the  body. 

Cross-examined. — Came  from  Kilcrow  (Kilroe) ;  has  been  in 
gaol  for  about  four  months  ;  was  sent  to  gaol  the  20th  September ; 
first  gave  examinations  against  the  prisoner  about  a  month  after 
committal;  committed  for  horse-stealing  the  28th  of  October, 
176* ;  knew  not  of  any  reward  to  be  offered  by  Government ; 
remembers  Clogheen  fair,  but  not  the  day  ;  Bridge  was  killed 
about  ten  or  eleven  at  night ;  was  employed  to  carry  letters  to 
and  from  the  Whiteboys  ;  believes  there  were  a  hundred  present 
when  the  murder  was  committed ;  in  his  evidence  in  Dublin  said 
the  house  was  within  a  musket-shot  of  the  place  of  burial ;  knew 
the  prisoners  by  seeing  them  at  several  meetings  of  the  White  - 
boys ;  gave  in  examinations  against  the  Whiteboys  about  a 
month  after  committal,  and  after  the  murder,  a  short  time  before 
he  went  to  Dublin. 

JOHN  LONERGAN  [Guinan  was  his  proper  name],  sworn. — 
Knows  the  prisoner  ;  saw  him  in  October,  1764,  between 
Mr.  Callaghan's  [I  am  nearly  certain  grandfather  of  the  present 
Lord  Lismore]  and  Father  Sheehy's.  Saw  several  in  company 
with  the  prisoner ;  to  wit,  Thomas  M'Grath,  John  Butler, 
Nicholas  Sheehy,  and  many  others,  on  the  high  road  to 
Shanbally.  When  first  saw  them,  slipped  into  a  trench,  being 
afraid  of  his  life.  Discovered  by  Thomas  M'Grath.  Was  then 
put  behind  Nicholas  Sheehy  on  horseback.  Saw  them  carry  a 
dead  body,  rolled  up  in  a  caddow,  on  the  side  of  the  horse  next 
to  him.  Was  not  carried  far,  when  he  was  put  down  behind 
Nicholas  Sheehy.  Knew  John  Bridge,  but  did  not  know  he  was 
the  corpse.  [This  latter  is  falsified.  The  boy  swore  that  the 
head  of  the  corpse  had  been  cloven  nearly  in  two,  and  was  that 
of  John  Bridge.]  E.EM. 

Nicholas  Sheehy  gave  him  three  half-crowns,  and  desired 
him  not  to  talk  of  what  he  saw.  Is  not  very  certain  of 
the  time  of  the  murder  of  Bridge,  but  heard  he  was  murdered. 
Believes  it  was  about  the  1st  of  November  two  years.  Was  sent 
by  his  uncle,  Michael  Guinan,  to  John  Bridge  for  a  pistol.  On 
the  same  night  he  saw  the  corpse.  Heard  that  Bridge  was  killed 
the  very  same  night,  very  soon  after. 

Cross-examined. — Saw  the  corpse  after  midnight.  It  was 
neither  very  dark  nor  very  light.  Believes  it  was  Sunday  night, 
because  he  saw  the  people  going  to  Mass,  about  three  weeks 
before  Christmas.  People  go  to  Mass  on  holidays  as  well  as 
Sundays  ;  therefore  it  might  be  a  holiday.  Did  not  know  the 
length  of  a  week. 

MARY  BRADY  (commonly  called  Moll  Dunlea),  sworn. — She 
lived  with  her  mother  in  Clogheen.  Michael  Kearney  was  in 
her  house  in  October,  1764,  and  was  called  upon  by  Nicholas 
Sheehy.  Nicholas  Sheehy  said  Kearney  was  to  go  with  him  that 


614  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

night.  Followed  them  to  Shanbally.  Saw  a  man  wrapped  in  a 
blanket,  dead ;  saw  Nicholas  Sheehy  there  and  others,  about  a 
hundred  ;  saw  a  billhook  in  the  prisoner's  (Edward  Meighan) 
hand.  Prisoner  made  an  attempt  to  strike  the  corpse  in  the 
blanket.  About  eight  days  after  the  body  of  Bridge  was  taken 
up  from  where  it  had  been  first  laid,  and  buried  in  Ballysheehan. 
Nicholas  Sheehy  tendered  an  oath  on  the  cross,  at  the  first  and 
second  burial,  never  to  discover.  The  prisoner  was  sworn  at 
both  burials.  Heard  him  say  it  was  John  Bridge. 

Cross-examined. — She  remembers  it  was  in  October,  Knows 
not  when  the  Fair  of  Clogheen  is  held.  Says  it  was  four  days 
before  Lieutenant  Chaloner  went  to  Clogheen.  Went  after 
Kearney,  by  whom  she  had  a  child,  to  Ballyhuskin.  Kearney 
had  no  certain  residence,  but  was  at  her  mother's  house  the 
night  Sheehy  called  on  him.  He  (Kearney)  was  present  at  the 
burial.  Many  other  women  were  there.  She  was  admitted,  as 
Michael  Kearney  was  such  as  they  imagined.  Kearney  swore 
her.  There  were  some  women  from  Clogheen  there ;  none 
prevented.  Thinks  Ballysheehan  about  three  miles  from 
Clogheen. 

FOR   THE    TRAVERSER 

The  reader  will  observe,  by  the  discrepancy  of  dates, 
how  the  testimony  of  the  last  witness,  at  least,  is  upset  by 
that  of  the  witnesses  now  sworn. 

GREGORY  FLANNERY,  sworn. — He  knew  Michael  Kearney  ; 
saw  him,  April,  1763,  in  Dublin.  Went  to  borrow  money  from 
Councillor  O'Callaghan,1  who  gave  him  £60  in  cash.  Saw  him  go 
aboard  a  ship  bound  for  Bristol  ;  saw  the  ship  sail  below  the  wall 
(I  suppose  the  North  Wall).  Never  heard  of  him  since  he  left  the 
kingdom,  about  the  22nd  or  23rd  of  April,  1763. 

Cross-examined. — He  might  have  returned  since  without  his 
knowledge  ;  he  lived  in  Dublin  ten  years,  but  never  resided  in 
the  County  Tipperary. 

THOMAS  GORMAN,  sworn. — Knew  Michael  Kearney  twent}' 
years ;  saw  him  in  February  or  March,  1763  ;  heard  Kearney 
went  abroad,  and  received  a  letter  from  him  dated  7th  May,  1763, 
from  London ;  received  several  other  letters  till  September  or 
October,  1763,  when  he  said  he  was  going  to  Jamaica ;  never  saw 
him  since  in  the  country,  and  believes  if  he  had  returned  he 
would  have  seen  him. 

1  Councillor  O'Callaghan  was  the  personal  friend  of  Sir  Toby  Butler, 
Solicitor -General  for  Ireland  in  King-  James's  Government,  and  having  been  at 
Limerick  during  the  Siege  of  169) ,  had  most  likely  a  hand  in  drawing  up  the 
Articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Limerick.  If  this  be  the  same  he  must  have  been 
then  a  very  old  man.  His  remains  are  interred  in  the  Lismore  family  vault, 
in  Shanraghan  churchyard,  with  a  very  long  Latin  inscription  on  a  marble 
slab,  facing  one  as  he  enters  the  vault.  I  have  since  foimd  that  there  were 
two  Councillors  of  the  name. 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy.  615 

HENRY  KEATING,  sworn. — Knew  Michael  Kearney  in  Jamaica, 
the  beginning  of  March,  1764  ;  saw  him  first  there  in  December, 
1763  ;  witness  returned  in  April,  1764 ;  has  been  in  Clonmel 
since  ;  believes  he  would  have  seen  Kearney  if  he  returned  ;  it 
was  Michael  Kearney,  of  Clogheen. 

Cross-examined. — Knew  the  County  Tipperary  sixteen  years; 
heard  there  was  another  Michael  Kearney. 

DENIS  M'GRATH,  sworn. — Lives  at  Clogheen  since  he  was 
born  ;  knew  Michael  Kearney  ;  left  Clogheen  the  15th  of  April, 
1763;  he  was  the  same  Michael  Kearney  that  kept  Mary  Brady. 

Cross-examined. — Witness  is  a  brother  to  Thomas  M'Grath,  a 
prisoner;  Michael  Kearney  set  off  for  Dublin  the  15th  April, 

1763  ;  he  received  a  letter  in  six   or  eight  days  from  Dublin ; 
received  letters  from  London  the  May  following ;  is  sure  Kearney 
did  not  return  after  he  first  went  off. 

DANIEL  KEEFE,  sworn. — Lived  in  Clogheen  fifteen  years; 
knew  Kearney  since  1752  ;  heard  he  was  in  Jamaica  ;  quitted  on 
account  of  money  due  ;  sure  if  he  was  in  Clogheen  he  must  have 
seen  him  unless  he  kept  his  room  ;  he  had  a  child  by  Mary 
Brady. 

ANN  HULLAN  (mother  of  Mary  Brady,  alias  Moll  Dunlea), 
sworn. — Eemernbers  the  fair  of  Clogheen,  1764 ;  knows 
Mary  Brady  (her  daughter),  who  lived  with  witness  in  October, 

1764  ;  the  fair  is  in  October  ;  she  lived  with  her  mother ;  was  at 
the  fair  ;  lay  in  her  own  house  the  night  before  the  fair  ;  lay  for 
two  nights  before  the  fair  with  her  two  daughters — Mary  Brady, 
one  of  the  daughters,  Eleanor  Dunlea  the  other ;   lay  in  her  own 
house  with  her   two  daughters  in  one  bed ;  they   went  to  bed 
about  eight  or  nine  o'clock  two  nights  before  the  fair  ;  Mary  Brady 
remained  the  whole  of  the  three  nights  in  bed  ;  could  not  be  out 
of  bed  without  her  knowing  it ;   knows  not  whether  Mary  Brady 
be  married  ;  she  is  not  to  be  believed  on  her  oath ;  three  years 
next  Easter  since  Michael  Kearney  left  Clogheen ;  he  was  not  at 
her  house  at  any  time  in  1764. 

ELEANOR  DUNLEA  (sister  of  Mary  Brady),  sworn. — Knows 
Mary  Brady  ;  the  fair  in  Clogheen  before  All-holland  tide  (sic.) ; 
a  fair  there  every  year  in  October ;  lay  the  fair  night  in 
bed  with  Mary  Brady  and  her  mother,  and  the  night  before  and 
the  night  before  that,  and  the  night  after  the  fair ;  went  to  bed 
at  seven  ;  went  to  bed  together  ;  has  known  Michael  Kearney ; 
does  not  remember  his  ever  spending  a  night  in  her  house ;  it 
was  usual  with  the  family  to  go  to  bed  early. 

Eight  more  witnesses  were  sworn,  arid  gave  evidence  for 
the  defence.  It  would  be  tedious  to  give  their  testimony 
within  the  limits  at  my  disposal.  If  the  reader  is  curious 
enough  he  can  read  Dr.  Madden's  Lives  and  Times  of  the 


616  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy. 

United  Irishmen,  First  Series,  pages  47-48.  On  the  evidence 
of  three  such  witnesses,  and  of  such  blackened  characters — 
viz.,  Toohy,  Lonergan,  and  Mary  Brady — the  prisoner, 
Edward  Meighan,  was  found  guilty,  notwithstanding  the 
overwhelming  evidence  to  the  contrary. 

The  Kev.  Nicholas  Sheehy  was  now  to  take  his  place  in 
the  dock,  if  not  for  the  open  crime  of  murder,  at  least  for 
abbetting  and  conniving  at  it.  The  evidence  on  both  trials 
was  the  same.  Several  of  Father  Sheehy's  parishioners 
came  forward,  in  the  face  of  the  greatest  threats  and  terrors, 
to  save,  if  possible,  the  life  of  their  Pastor.  Fearing, 
however,  to  imperil  their  lives,  he  declined  their  services, 
relying  principally  on  the  evidence  of  two  most  respectable, 
and  he  thought  unimpeachable  witnesses,  Messrs.  Keating 
and  Herbert,  whose  character  he  thought  would  shield  them 
from  the  wiles  of  his  enemies.  Father  Sheehy's  innocence 
^\as  completely  established  by  the  former,  whose  character 
formed  a  striking  contrast  with  that  of  his  prosecutors. 
Having  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court  that  the 
prisoner,  Father  Sheehy,  had  been  in  his  house  at  Tubrid, 
six  miles  away  from  the  place  of  the  alleged  murder,  and  on 
the  same  night,  the  Kev.  Mr.  Hewetson  stood  up  in  court, 
and  after  looking  at  a  paper  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  said 
that  the  witness  had  been  concerned  in  the  murder  of 
a  Sergeant  at  Newmarket,  upon  which  Mr.  Keating  was 
immediately  hurried  to  Kilkenny  gaol,  the  crime  alleged 
having  been  committed  in  that  county.  By  this  proceeding 
the  accused  was  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  his  testimony,  and 
that  of  many  others  who  had  come  forward  to  give  similar 
evidence,  but  immediately  withdrew  for  fear  of  meeting  with 
the  same  treatment.  The  second  witness  upon  whom 
Father  Sheehy  relied  much  was  a  respectable  gentleman 
farmer,  named  Herbert,  who  came  to  the  assizes  to  give 
evidence  similar  to  that  of  Keating,  but  being  a  Protestant, 
Father  Sheehy's  enemies  dreaded  his  testimony  all  the 
more.  It  was  pretended  that  bills  of  high  treason  had 
been  found  against  him.  The  witness  Toohy  was  sent 
against  him,  accompanied  by  Mr.  BagneJl ;  when  taken  he 
became  witness  for  the  Crown,  for  what  reason  may 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy.  617 

be  easily  determined.  A  party  of  horse  surrounded  the 
court,  admitting  and  excluding  whom  they  thought  fit. 
Sir  Thomas  Maud,  of  Father  Sheehy's  enemies  perhaps  the 
most  violent,  scampered  the  streets  at  the  head  of  a  band  of 
soldiers,  entering  lodging-houses,  challenging  all  newcomers, 
menacing  his  friends  and  encouraging  his  enemies.  Even 
his  attorney  was  obliged  to  steal  out  of  the  town  at  night, 
and  hurry  away  to  Dublin  with  the  greatest  possible  speed. 

Another  witness  still  remained ;  it  was  the  Eight  Rev. 
Dr.  Egan.  Upon  him,  Father  Sheehy  called  to  speak  to  his 
character  as  a  man  of  loyalty,  but  he  refused.  Dr.  Madden 
says  :— 

"  The  cold  dull  shade  of  the  Catholic  aristocracy,  the 
influence  of  the  friendship  of  Lord  Kenmare,  the  fear  of  the 
consequences  attendant  on  the  perjured  informations,  which  went 
to  implicate  Dr.  Butler,'  the  Eoman  Catholic  Archbishop  of 
Cashel,  in  the  crime  of  treason,  it  is  to  be  feared  prevented 
Dr.  Egan  from  coming  forward  on  behalf  of  a  person  who  had 
the  character  of  an  agitating  priest,  one  who  was  inimical  to 
tithe  proctors  and  the  oppressors  of  the  poor,  and  most  obnoxious 
to  the  latter  and  their  powerful  protectors  in  the  commission  of 
the  peace."  i 

Dr.  Madden,  however,  is  wrong,  if  he  supposes  that 
Dr.  Egan  was  bishop.  He  was,  in  all  probability, 
Vicar-General,  having  been  appointed  P.P.  of  Clonmel  in 
1754. 2  It  is  strange  that  so  much  confusion  exists  as  to 
the  appointments  of  the  bishops  of  Waterford  in  the  second 
fifty  years  of  the  last  century.  In  no  Church  history,  as  far 
as  I  know,  is  the  list  correct.  Even  the  contemporary 
journals  seem  to  make  Dr.  Egan  bishop  at  this  time.  A 
few  extracts  from  the  Rev.  Thomas  England's  Life  of 
Father  O'Leary?  cannot  fail  to  be  of  interest.  After 
referring  to  Dr.  Butler,  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  Dr.  England 
continues  :— 

"  Another  not  less  good  and  valuable  man  was  Dr.  Egan, 
who  governed  the  united  dioceses  of  Waterford  and  Lismore. 
Dr.  Egan  resided  principally  in  Clonmel,  and  was  the  first  Catholic 

1  United  Irishmen,  First  Series,  page  49. 

2  Journal  of  the  Waterford  and  South  East  of  Ireland  Archccoloqjcal  Society, 
vol.  i.,  pp.  433-144. 

8  Pages  73-74, 


618  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

clergyman  in  Ireland  since  the  Keformation  who  was  permitted 
to  assist  criminals  under  sentence  of  death  previously  to  their 
execution.  He  was  not  excelled  by  any  of  his  contemporaries  in 
the  extent  of  his  theological  learning,  the  correct  views  which  he 
took  of  every  subject  that  was  brought  under  his  consideration, 
and  above  all,  in  the  extreme  interest  which  his  society  and 
conversation  were  always  known  to  inspire.  Among  his  intimate 
friends  in  the  political  world  he  reckoned  the  late  Lord  Avonmore, 
the  late  Earl  of  Shannon,  the  late  Chancellor  Ponsonby, 
Mr.  Henry  Grattan,  John  Hely  Hutchison,  Mr.Curran — in  a  word, 
his  acquaintance  was  anxiously  courted  by  the  various  judges  and 
lawyers  who  visited  Clonmel  at  the  season  of  the  Assizes ;  and  it 
was  no  unfrequent  circumstance  that  the  judges,  disregarding  the 
pomp  and  pageantry  that  surrounded  them  at  all  times  whilst  on 
circuit,  retired  from  state  and  bustle  to  the  private  and  interesting 
circle  which  was  always  found  in  the  Catholic  bishop's  parlour. 

"  By  these  visitors,  and  they  were  men  able  to  distinguish 
between  merit  and  pretension,  Dr.  Egan  was  admitted  to  be  one 
of  the  most  universal  scholars  and  one  of  the  clearest  reasoners 
of  his  day.  His  death  took  place  in  1797  whilst  the  Assizes  were 
holding  in  Clonmel,  and  on  the  day  of  his  interment  the  courts 
were  adjourned  by  the  desire  of  the  judges,  that  opportunity  may 
therefore  be  afforded  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Bar  and  the  Grand 
Jury  to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  a  man 
universally  esteemed  and  respected.  The  concourse  of  persons 
of  every  class  and  description  who  crowded  to  join  the  melancholy 
procession  which  accompanied  his  remains  to  the  grave  was 
without  example,  and  bespoke  the  deep  and  sincere  feeling  his 
death  excited,  and  the  recollection  of  his  virtues  deserved." 

That  he  was  also  a  man  of  influence  in  ecclesiastical 
circles  maybe  judged  from  two  letters  of  his,  dated  Clonmel, 
8th  and  16th  July  respectively,  Kenehan's  Church  History, 
pages  365-368. 

The  penal  laws  enacted  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  prohibiting  bishops,  vicar-generals,  religious  orders 
of  men,  and  all  persons  exercising  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
were  still  on  the  statute  book,  and  could  at  a  moment's 
notice  be  put  again  in  force  against  an  obnoxious  bishop,  as 
well  as  against  an  agitating  priest.  Bishops  and  their  vicars 
were  thankful  for  small  favours,  even  for  the  right  to  live,  or 
permission  to  dwell  in  the  country  where  they  exercised 
their  jurisdiction,  and  from  the  character  given  above  of 
Dr.  William  Egan,  he  certainly  was  not  the  man  to  cross  the 
path  of  the  authorities.  Yet  if  he  considered  his  evidence 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  619 

necessary  to  save  the  life  of  his  fellow-priest,  it  is  hard  to 
conceive  how  he  could  in  honour  or  conscience  refuse  it. 
Dr.  Madden,  too,  states  in  a  note,  that  as  the  corpse  of 
Father  Sheehy  was  borne  away  through  the  town  to  its  last 
resting-place  to  Shanraghan,  some  of  those  in  the  melancholy 
procession  smeared  the  door-posts  of  Dr.  Egan's  house  with 
the  blood  still  reeking  from  his  body.  The  melancholy  fact 
is  also  borne  out  by  tradition.  Some  say  it  was  done  by 
Father  Sheehy's  own  sister.  There  is  an  old  Irish  caoin, 
said  to  be  the  work  of  his  own  sister,  in  which  it  is  positively 
asserted  that  it  was  his  own  bishop,  Dr.  Creagh,  who  also 
lived  in  Clonmel,  and  his  vicar,  Dr.  Egan,  for  he  was  not  yet 
bishop,  that  sold  him.  I  have  written  down  a  few  stanzas 
of  this  caoin  from  the  dictation  of  Mrs.  Drummy,  a  native 
of  the  parish  of  Clogheen,  but  now  resident  in  the  parish 
of  Aglish  :— 

A  HlAij\e  11i  "Dm  iite  A  50  11-1111615  -oic  ope, 

O'n  pApA  Af  5PA111  O  CjAlOp:  O|\C  ; 

coicceAn,  "oo  cLogAn  HA  rnit,ce; 
jv&ftiA  lonntic  HA  f5<vpj\Ai5  teiu  cor66e, 
te  eA^t/A  50  j\Aib  gob  teACAin  one 

"DA  CAnCAC  ATI  C-AOlteAC, 

111  An  A  bei-6  An  cj\ocAine  riA  n-'OAOineA>6. 


A    ACA1]\  tllctAf    1110    CAf    C]A01t)e  CU, 

111  A]\  T)O  rug  HA  black  hounds  -ponn  A 

Eg-an1  Ajii]-  AH  C|\CAC  t>o  -oiot  en, 

Bagwell  A^ny  Maud  -oo  cpAit>  AH  c|\oiT)e  AgAr, 

A11  T)1Al')Al"L  Ag  ]T]\ACAT)  A|"  11AC  "OCAl-b  A11  "Oiot,  e. 

A  Bagwell  Agti]-  Maud 
O,  50  11-1111615  x>ic  o|\nAil). 


11  An.  CA^ATO  Y$OC  AII^A  nnf5  11  A  "Lion  -on  ic 

A511T  111  A  CA^An,  11A|\  ClUJMT)  A  J-CnOTOe  A^AU, 

O  T>A  g-cnenn  "01  fAoi  'n  cAoilb  cLe  AJ;AU. 

5O  niAjVb^lT)  t)O  CAppAt  gA1l  -JTIOf  "OO'll  I'AOJJAL  Til, 

T;O  nAiV)  ^tnt  t)o  cum  Ann  Aon-tinn  -oo  Lcmo, 
T)o  CHA1111  Ag  AII  polAi|\  Aiinn§  AH  f  A  beiu, 

AgUf  11A  pACAlli  "OlllJA  A]\  fUT)  11A 

A  AuAijA  11ioctAf  ei|\i§  f  UAf  A-O 

Cin|\  tumiT)  -oo  teme  gte-geAt  A-p  -o'  61-015  be 

AbAin  teo  ei|M5  50  -oci  An 

>O  t>'  cpeA'OA  An  c-A]rp|Aon, 

AbAin  teo  50  -o-CAnAig  cu  A5 
•OAinroeom  Bagwell  A^nf  Maud, 

ctux)  eile  -oo  '-oeA-pcAnAVb  HlAtl/iii§ce. 


Father  Sheehy  was  found  "guilty  on  the  evidence  of  a 

1  Egan  was  the  parish  priest  of  Clonmel.     Creagh  was  bishop,  and  lived 
nearly  all  his  life  in  Clonmel. 


620  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

convicted  horse-stealer,  a  vagrant  of  bad  repute,  and  a  woman 
whom  he  was  obliged  to  denounce  for  a  life  of  debauchery. 
He  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered, 
which  sentence  was  carried  out  on  the  15th  March,  1766. 
His  head  was  spiked  on  a  pinnacle,  according  to  the  usual 
custom  in  those  days,  and  so  continued  for  twenty  years, 
until  it  was  finally  given  to  his  sister,  and  consigned  to  its 
last  resting-place  in  the  old  graveyard  of  Shanraghan. 
Though  it  is  asserted  by  Mrs.  Sadlier  in  her  interesting 
little  work,  the  Fate  of  Father  Sheehy,  that  he  had  the 
assistance  of  a  priest,  Father  Doyle,  parish  priest  of  Ardfinan, 
at  the  place  of  execution,  yet  it  is  by  no  means  certain. 
According  to  tradition  it  is  very  doubtful.  He  met  his  fate 
with  great  courage  and  intrepidity;  and  it  is  said,  that  seeing 
Mary  Brady,  alias  Moll  Dunlea,  in  the  crowd  gathered  to 
witness  his  execution,  he  addressed  to  her  these  words  in 
the  vernacular :  A  TTL\i}\e  Hi  TDinn'leA  -pAogAl  pvoA  CU^AC. 
Whether  it  is  that  his  prayer  was  heard,  or  from  what  other 
cause,  Moll  Dunlea  lived  to  a  great  old  age,  until  she  was  as 
little  as  a  hen.  Mr.  Jeremiah  M'Grath,  already  alluded  to, 
saw  her  in  Clogheen,  1798,  then  a  very  old  woman.  No 
woman  of  the  name  of  Dunlea  has  ever  been  called  Mary 
since  for  many  miles  round  the  parish  in  which  Father 
Sheehy  ministered.  On  the  west  side  of  the  belfry  of  the 
ruined  church  of  Shanraghan,  at  an  elevation  of  about 
twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  from  the  ground,  there  is  a  figure 
of  a  human  head  cut  in  red  sandstone  fixed  in  the  wall.  It 
may,  possibly,  have  been  put  there  to  represent  the  head  of 
Father  Sheehy,  when  it  had  not  yet  been  placed  in  its  last 
resting-place.  I  have  often  made  inquiries  of  the  oldest 
inhabitants  of  the  place,  when  attending  funerals  there,  but 
have  never  been  able  to  discover  what  it  represents. 

On  the  eve  of  his  execution,  Father  Sheehy  addressed  the 
following  letter  to  Major  Sirr  :— 

To  JOHN  SIRR,  ESQ.,  DUBLIN. 

CLONMEL,  Friday  Morning, 

March  Uth,  1766. 

DEAR  SIR, — To-morrow  I  am  to  be  executed,  thanks  be  to  the 
Almighty  God,  with  whom  I  hope  to  be  for  evermore.     I  would 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  621 

not  change  my  lot  with  the  highest  now  in  the  kingdom.  I  die 
innocent  of  the  facts  for  which  I  am  sentenced.  The  Lord  have 
mercy  on  my  soul.  I  beseech  the  great  Creator,  that  for  your 
benevolence  to  me,  He  will  grant  you  grace  to  make  such  use  of 
your  time  here,  that  you  may  see  and  enjoy  Him  hereafter. 
Remember  me  to  Mr.  Waite,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Speaker,  and 
the  Judges  of  the  King's  Bench  ;  may  God  bless  them  !  Recom- 
mend to  them  all  under  the  same  charge  with  me  ;  they  are 
innocent  of  the  murder  ;  the  prosecutors  swore  wrongfully  and 
falsely  ;  God  forgive  them.  The  accusers  and  the  accused  are 
equally  ignorant  of  the  fact,  as  I  have  been  informed,  but  after 
such  a  manner  I  received  the  information  that  I  cannot  make 
use  of  it  for  my  own  preservation  ;  the  fact  is,  that  John  Bridge 
was  destroyed  by  two  alone,  who  strangled  him  on  Wednesday 
night,  the  24th  October,  1764.  I  was  then  from  home,  and  only 
returned  home  the  28th,  and  heard  that  he  had  disappeared. 
Various  were  the  reports,  which  to  believe  I  could  not  pretend 
to,  until  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty,  one  accused  himself  of  the 
said  fact.  May  God  grant  the  guilty  true  repentance,  and 
preserve  the  innocent.  I  recommend  them  to  your  care.  I  have 
relied  very  much  on  Mr.  Waite's  promise.  I  hope  no  more  priests 
will  be  distressed  for  their  religion,  and  that  the  Roman  Catholics 
of  this  Kingdom  will  be  countenanced  by  the  Government,  as  I 
was  promised  by  Mr.  Waite  would  be  the  case,  if  I  proved  my 
innocence.  I  am  now  to  appear  before  the  Divine  Tribunal,  and 
declare  that  I  was  unacquainted  with  Mary  Butler,  alias  Casey, 
and  John  Toohy,  never  having  spoken  to,  or  having  seen  either  of 
them,  to  the  best  of  my  memory,  before  I  saw  them  in  the  King's 
Bench  last  February.  May  God  forgive  them,  and  bless  them, 
you,  and  all  mankind,  are  the  earnest  and  fervent  prayers  of 

Dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obliged  humble  servant, 

NICHOLAS  SHEEHY. 

The  first  question  that  here  presents  itself  is,  is  this 
letter  authentic  ?  It  throws  a  new  light  on  the  whole 
preceding  trial,  as  the  glaring  midsummer's  sun  dispels  the 
morning  mist,  not  allowing  even  the  smallest  atoms  of 
vanishing  vapour  to  remain.  At  the  trial  it  was  sworn  that 
the  murder  of  John  Bridge  was  committed  in  the  presence 
of  a  whole  crowd  of  people,  and  on  the  night  of  the  28th  of 
October,  instead  of,  as  stated  by  Father  Sheehy  on  the  24th. 
The  next  question  is,  How  did  he  obtain  this  knowledge  ? 
Dr.  Madden  has  taken  great  pains  to  answer  both  these 
questions.  When  collecting  his  information,  many  of 


622  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

Father  Sbeehy's  relatives  were  then  living  :  the  Countess  of 
Blessington,  great  grandniece  of  Father  Sheehy,  and  whose 
own  grandfather  Edmond  Sheehy,  was  executed  for  the  same 
crime,  gave  him  much  information.  One  and  all  of  them 
declared  it  to  be  their  opinion,  that  the  letter  was  authentic. 
Father  Sheehy  was  succeeded  as  parish  priest  of  the  parish 
which  he  governed,  by  the  Kev.  James  Keating,1  who  before 
was  his  curate ;  Dr.  Flannery,  afterwards  parish  priest  of 
St.  Mary's,  Clonmel,  was  his  curate  again.  Both  of  them 
believed  in  the  authenticity  of  the  letter.  Dr.  Egan,  parish 
priest  of  St.  Mary's  at  the  time  of  Father  Sheehy's  execution, 
and  four  years  afterwards  Coadjutor  Bishop,  believed  it  to  be 
authentic.  It  bears,  even  on  the  face  of  it,  the  appearance  of 
authenticity. 

But  how  did  Father  Sheehy  discover  that  the  deed  was 
done  by  two  alone?  Dr.  Madden,  Dr.  Curry,  and  Amyas 
Griffith  are  of  opinion  that  the  knowledge  of  the  foul  deed 
was  communicated  to  him  under  the  seal  of  the  confessional ; 
the  former  thinks  in  real  earnest,  but  the  two  latter  for  far 
different  ends.  If  the  letter  be  authentic,  as  I  think  may  be 
taken  now  as  proved,  and  discloses  the  real  truth,  neither 
the  prosecuting  party,  nor  the  prosecuted,  had  the  least 
knowledge  of  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  and  yet  for  this 
loss  of  one  life,  five  were  sacrificed  innocently  :  namely, 
Father  Sheehy,  Edward  Meighan,  Edmund  Sheehy  (nephew 
of  Father  Sheehy),  James  Buxton,  and  James  Farrell;  the 
three  latter  in  the  market-place  of  Clogheen,  on  the  3rd  May, 
1766. 

In  December,  1889,  there  appeared  a  few  letters  in  the 
Freeman  s  Journal,  relative  to  the  death  of  this  John  Bridge. 
As  a  native  of  the  parish  of  which  Father  Sheehy  was 
pastor,  and  a  priest  on  the  mission  there  for  nearly  ten  years, 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  the  traditions  that  still 
lived  with  regard  to  this  melancholy  transaction.  I  wrote 
a  short  note  to  contradict  a  statement,  to  the  effect  that 


1  The  Rev.  James  Keating's  name  is  the  first  in  the  old  Baptismal 
Register  kept  in  the  parish  church  Clogheen.  It  begins  with  1777,  but  much 
of  it  has  been  lost.  Had  it  been  looked  after  in  time,  it  might  now  contain  the 
autograph  of  Father  Sheehy. 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  623 

Bridge  was  not  murdered  at  all.     After  a  few  days,  I  received 
the  following  letter  : — 

"    BELLEVUE,  BLACKROCK,  Co.  DUBLIN, 

SQth  December,  1889. 

DEAR  EEV.  Sm,  — It  was  only  on  last  night  my  attention  was 
called  to  your  letter  of  the  26th  inst.,  appearing  in  the  Freeman 
of  last  Saturday,  the  28th  December,  1889.  In  corroboration  of 
the  statement  in  Father  Sheehy's  letter  to  John  Sirr,  Esq.,  written 
on  the  morning  of  Friday,  March  14th,  1766,  the  day  before 
Father  Sheehy's  execution,  I  send  to  you  a  copy  of  the  dying 
declaration  of  Denis  Dwyer,  who  was  executed  on  the  25th  day 
of  April,  1768.  I  made  the  copy  from  the  original  document 
now  in  the  possession  of  William  J.  Fitzpatrick,  Esq.,  49,  Fitz- 
william-square,  West,  Dublin.  Madden  and  Curry  are  wrong  in 
stating  that  at  the  trial  in  Clonmel,  Eoger  Keating,  of  Knocka,  was 
examined  for  the  defence.  When  it  became  known  that  he  and 
James  Nagle,  of  Garnevilla,  could  clearly  prove  an  alibi,  they 
were,  before  they  could  give  evidence,  arrested,  and  hurried  off  to 
Kilkenny  Gaol  on  a  false  charge  of  murder.  Daniel  Toler,  of 
Graigue,  was  High  Sheriff  of  the  Co.  Tipperary  in  1766. 
Believe  me,  yours  respectfully, 

MARTIN  JOSEPH  FFKENCH. 

Unfortunate!}',  I' cannot  find  the  declaration  here  referred 
to  amongst  my  books  or  papers ;  but  I  remember  enough  of 
it  for  my  purpose.  Denis  Dwyer  and,  perhaps,  another, 
were  tried  for  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  at  the  Assizes 
held  in  Nenagh,  1768.  Dwyer  was  found  guilty.  At  the 
place  of  execution,  he  confessed  his  guilt,  and  that  the 
murder  was  committed  in  the  Co.  Cork,  which  adjoins  the 
parish  of  which  Father  Sheehy  was  pastor.  Now,  if  as  my 
correspondent  says,  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  held  the  original — and 
Mr.  Fitzpatrick  was  no  mean  judge  of  the  originality  and 
authenticity  of  such  documents — a  new  light  is  thrown 
upon  the  whole  proceedings  in  which  they  were  never  pre- 
sented to  the  public  before.  Granting,  or  rather  accepting 
the  authenticity  of  this  document,  the  whole  trial  of  Father 
Sheehy,  Meighan,  Edmund  Sheehy,  Buxton,  and  Farrell, 
was  one  of  the  foulest  crimes  that  ever  stained  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  law  in  Ireland.  A  dying  man  can  have  no 
reason  for  confessing  himself  guilty  of  a  crime  which  he 
never  committed;  moreover,  he  says  he  committed  the 


624  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

murder  in  the  Co.  Cork,  which  is  only  about  three  miles 
due  west  of  Shanbally,  where  Father  Sheehy  lived,  and 
where  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution  swore  the  crime 
had  been  committed.  This  is  also  consistent  with  the 
statement  in  Father  Sheehy's  letter  to  Major  Sirr,  on  the 
day  before  his  execution.  It  is  also  consistent  with  the 
statements  of  the  witnesses  for  the  defence,  which  went 
only  to  rebut  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution,  and  if  the 
evidence  of  Keating  and  Nagle  were  permitted  to  be  given, 
to  prove  an  alibi  for  Father  Sheehy,  on  the  night  of  the 
alleged  commission  of  the  crime. 

On  the  28th  December,  1889,  I  received  another  letter 
from  Patrick  Traynor,  Bookseller,  28  and  30,  Essex-quay, 
Dublin.  In  this  letter  he  writes  : — 

"  The  Eev.  Denis  Murphy,  S.J.  [lately  deceased],  Milltown- 
park,  Dublin,  now  has  all  the  late  Dr.  E.  E.  Madden' s  collection 
of  materials  as  to  the  life,  death,  &c.,  of  the  Eev.  Father  Sheehy, 
with  all  the  songs,  poems,  &c.,  which  were  written  about  him  at 
the  time.  I  obtained  them  for  him  from  Dr.  Madden's  son, 
Dr.  Thomas  More  Madden,  as  I  came  across  them  when  I  was 
making  out  a  catalogue  of  his  library  for  auction  two  years  ago." 

At  the  first  opportunity  I  got  a  loan  of  them  from  the 
learned  and  ever-to-be-lamented  Jesuit  Father,  and  to  him 
I  am  indebted  for  a  great  part  of  my  information.  He 
stated  that,  besides  the  contemporary  accounts  of  these 
lamentable  proceedings  as  furnished  by  the  servile,  con- 
temptible, anti-Catholic,  and  virulently  anti-Irish  press  of 
the  day  (no  Catholic  or  pro-Irish  press  dare  then  appear), 
there  were  three  Irish  songs  or  caoins  which  he  was  unable 
to  find.  They  are,  in  all  probability,  identical  with  those,  a 
portion  of  which  have  already  been  inserted,  and  a  third 
which  a  Mrs.  M'Grath,  of  Lyrefime,  Ballyporeen,  since 
deceased,  repeated  for  me ;  but  I  did  not,  I  am  now  sorry,  take 
down.  The  old  race  of  Irish  people,  who  inherit  somewhat 
the  spirit  of  the  ancient  bards  and  seanachies  of  Ireland, 
have  already  disappeared  from  most  parts  of  our  country. 

A  great  portion  of  very  valuable  information  relative  to 
those  terrible  times,  and  still  more  terrible  proceedings,  have 
been  kindly  supplied  me  by  Mr.  James  Hickey,  ecclesiastical 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  625 

student,  now  of  Ushaw  College,  England,  but  a  native 
of  Lisfuncheon,  Clogheen,  within  a  short  distance  of  where 
Father  Sheehy  lived.  His  information  is  unexceptional, 
hoth  on  account  of  the  interest  he  has  taken  in  the  history 
of  his  native  parish,  and  his  correct  views  on  the  history  of 
these  troublesome  times,  acquired  by  years  of  diligent  study 
and  extensive  research. 

It  is  difficult  for  me  to  know  what  to  leave  out,  and  what 
to  insert,  with  regard  to  these  melancholy  proceedings, 
within  the  large  amount  of  space  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal 
by  the  learned  and  patriotic  editor  of  the  I.  E.  KECOKD.  I 
can  but  now  call  attention,  very  briefly,  to  the  great  straits  to 
which  those  who  played  so  great  a  part  in  hounding  Father 
Sheehy  to  death,  had  recourse,  in  order  to  give  to  their  cruel 
machinations  a  show  of  justification.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Buxton,  and  James  Farrell 
were  also  executed  for  the  murder  of  Bridge  in  May,  1766, 
in  the  market-place  of  Clogheen.  Each  of  them  made  a 
public  declaration  before  his  execution.  The  first,  Edmund 
Sheehy,  declared  : — 

"  I  was  often  attacked  during  my  confinement  in  Kilkenny  by 
the  Kev.  Lawrence  Broderick  and  the  Eev.  John  Hewson  [sic],  to 
make  useful  discoveries,  by  bringing  in  men  of  weight  and  fortune, 
that  there  was  an  intended  rebellion  and  massacre,  French 
officers,  commissions,  and  money  paid,  and  by  so  doing,  they 
would  procure  my  pardon,  difficult  as  it  was  The  day  after  my 
trial  Edmund  Bagwell  came  to  me  from  the  Grand  Jury,  and  told 
me  if  I  would  put  these  matters  in  a  clear  light  that  I  would  get 
my  pardon.  I  made  answer,  that  I  would  tell  the  truth,  which 
would  not  be  heard.  Sir  William  Parkerson  and  Mr.  Matthew 
Bunbury  came  to  me  the  same  evening  with  words  to  the  same 
purpose,  to  which  I  replied  as  before.  Nothing  on  this  occasion 
would  give  sufficient  content,  without  my  proving  the  above,  and 
that  the  priest  [Sheehy]  died  with  a  lie  in  his  mouth,  which  was 
the  phrase  Mr.  Hewetson  made  use  of. 

"  Signed  by  me  this  2nd  May,  1766. 

"  EDMUND  SHEEHY. 

"  Present — JAMES  BUXTON, 

"JAMES  FARRELL." 

From  declaration  of  James  Buxton  : — 

"  Thirdly.     That  last  Lent  Assizes  in  Kilkenny,  where  I  stood 
indicted,  and  was  arraigned  for  the  battle  of  Newmarket,  that 
VOL,  XVII,  2  B 


626  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheeluj 

the  Rev.  John  Hewetson,  Rev.  Lawrence  Broderick  tampered 
with  me  for  six  hours  and  more,  setting  forth  the  little  chance  I 
had  for  my  life,  there  at  Kilkenny ;  and  though  I  should,  that  I 
would  have  none  at  all  in  Clonmel ;  but  that  they  would  write  to 
Lord  Carrick  immediately  to  procure  my  freedom,  if  I  would  turn 
approver,  and  swear  to  an  intended  rebellion,  treasonable  con- 
spiracies, and  a  massacre,  against  the  principal  Roman  Catholic 
clergy,  and  gentlemen  of  my  country,  whose  names  they  had  set 
down  in  a  long  piece  of  paper ;  but  wanted  me  particularly  to 
swear  against  Squire  Wyse,  Phillip  Long,  Dominick  Farrell, 
Martin  Murphy,  Doctor  Creagh  [bishop  of  Waterford],  and 
Michael  Lee,  and  that  I  should  also  swear,  the  priest  [Sheehy] 
died  with  a  lie  in  his  mouth. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  this  2nd  day  of  May,  1766. 

"  JAMES  BUXTON. 
"  Present — EDWARD  SHEEHY, 
"  JAMES  FARRELL." 

From  James  Farrell's  declaration  : — 

"';'..  I  therefore  think  it  conscionable  to  declare  what  the 
following  gentlemen  wanted  me  to  do,  in  order  to  spill  innocent 
blood,  which  was  not  in  the  power  of  any  man  living  to  perform 
[sic].  [Unfortunately  it  was  done].  These  are  the  gentlemen  as 
follows : — The  Rev.  John  Hewetson,  John  Bagwell,  Matthew 
Bunbury,  Mr.  Toler,  William  Bagnell,  Edmund  Bagnell,  and 
some  of  the  light  horse  officers.  The  day  I  was  condemned,  they 
came  along  with  me  from  the  court-house  to  the  gaol,  where  they 
carried  me  into  a  room,  and  told  me  it  was  in  my  power  to  save 
my  life.  I  asked  them  how  ?  If  I  swore  against  the  following 
persons  they  could  get  my  pardon.  The  people  are  as  follows  : — 
Martin  Murphy,  and  Phillip  Long,  both  of  Waterford,  and  some 
other  merchants  of  Cork  ;  likewise  Bishop  Creagh,  and  Lord 
Dunboyne's  brother,  and  a  good  many  other  clergymen  .  .  . 
If  in  case  they  should  get  a  person  to  do  all  these  things,  it  would 
not  do  without  swearing  to  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  to  corro- 
borate with  the  rest  of  the  informers  and  strengthen  their 
evidence. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  this  30th  day  of  April,  1766. 

"JAMES  FARRELL. 
"  In  the  presence  of  us  :  EDWARD  SHEEHY, 

"  JAMES  BUXTON, 

"  CATHERINE  FARRELL." 

The  reader  can  now  estimate  the  trial  of  Father  Sheehy 
and  the  other  unfortunate  but  certainly  innocent  men,  who 
suffered  the  penalty  of  death  for  this  pretended  murder, 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  627 

Even  the  servile  and  contemptible  press  found  it  hard  to 
give  these  wicked  proceedings  a  show  of  justification.  Take 
the  following,  from  Exshaw's  Magazine  for  March,  1766, 
Saturday  15th  : — 

"  Mr.  Nicholas  Sheehy,  whom  we  mentioned  in  page  127,  being 
lately  transmitted  to  'Clonmel,  has  since  been  tried  there  and 
convicted  with  one  Edmund  Meighan,  of  Clogheen,  of  the  murder 
of  John  Bridge.  To  this  the  evidence  led  which  appeared  against 
him,  on  his  trial  in  the  King's  Bench.  The  prisoners  at  their  own 
request  were  separately  tried,  and  by  different  juries.  In  the 
course  of  the  trial,  an  alibi  was  attempted  to  be  proved  ;  but  in 
this  they  failed." 

The  alibi  was  not  permitted  to  be  proved.     Further  on : — 

"  Their  execution  was  on  this  day,  and  their  trial  the  Thursday 
before.  The  military  were  obliged  to  attend,  in  order  to  preserve 
the  peace,  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  justice. " 

Again,  page  191 : — 

"  The  accounts  in  the  public  papers  relative  to  Sheehy 's  trial, 
condemnation,  and  execution,  are  true  ;  although  they  are  not  set 
forth  in  regular  order,  by  what  we  can  learn  from  several  who 
attended  the  trial,  which  lasted  about  five  hours." 

After  a  short  summary  of  the  evidence  for  the  Crown, 
the  writer  goes  on  to  describe  the  circumstances  of  the  time 
and  place  of  the  alleged  murder,  and  continues  : — 

"  The  priest  was  not  present  or  did  not  see  this  transaction, 
but  was  in  the  company,  and  immediately  came  up  and  approved 
of  what  was  done  by  saying  it  was  well  done,  and  that  every 
informer,  who  was  an  enemy  to  the  French  King,  ought  to  be 
served  so  ;  and  ordered  the  body  to  be  wrapped  up  in  an  old 
blanket,  which  was  done,  and  thrown  across  a  horse  by  one  of 
the  Whiteboys,  when  they,  all  together,  went  to  bury  the  corpse, 
within  a  mile  of  where  the  fact  was  committed. 

"  No  witnesses  ever  appeared  more  concurrent  in  their  testi- 
mony ;  no  prevarication,  no  contradiction  ;  as  fair  a  trial  as  ever 
criminals  had.  Sheehy  examined  twelve  witnesses,  which  proved 
very  unfavourable  to  him,  as  they  corroborated  and  strengthened 
the  testimony  given  for  the  Crown.  They  endeavoured  to  prove 
an  alibi,  in  which  they  failed,  and  that  no  credit  was  to  be  given 
to  the  witnesses  of  the  crown,  one  being  a  whore,  and  Toohy  a 
rogue,  and  Lonergan  only  a  little  boy.  The  priest  confessed  that 
he  had  been  guilty  of  crimes  which  deserved  death,  both  at  the 
time  of  his  condemnation  and  that  of  his  sentence  ;  but  the 
crimes  for  which  he  was  to  suffer,  he  declared  himsQlf  innocent 


628  The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

of.  He  said  but  little  at  the  gallows.  His  and  Meighan's  head 
were  spiked  upon  the  gaol  of  Clonmel,  the  25th  of  last  month, 
where  they  remain  a  shocking  spectacle.  The  trial  was  on  the 
12th  March.  The  reasonable  and  thinking  part  of  the  Papists  of 
this  country  are  of  opinion  his  sentence  was  most  equitable, 
while  the  ignorant  are  taught  to  consider  this  transaction  in  the 
light  of  a  persecution,  which,  from  the  indulgence  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  toleration  allowed,  ought  to  jbe  very  distant  from 
their  thoughts." 

Next  there  is  a  letter  addressed  to  the  publisher  : — 

"TO    THE    PUBLISHER 

'•  SIR, — As  I  have  read  in  your  Magazine  for  March  the  only 
circumstantial  account  of  our  proceedings  at  the  Assizes  of 
Clonmel,  which  in  time  may  be  consulted  as  authentic,  and  as 
the  validity  of  the  whole  must  depend  on  the  parts,  I  shall  beg 
leave  to  point  out  one  particular  of  this  case,  which,  if  not 
corrected,  may  prejudice  the  whole  narrative.  What  I  particu- 
larly point  at  is  the  relation  of  the  testimony  given  by  John 
Lonergan,  when  it  is  said  that,  riding  behind  the  priest,  he  saw 
the  corpse,  with  its  head  out  of  the  caddow,  and,  although 
the  head  was  almost  split  in  two,  and  all  bloody,  he  knew  it  to 
be  the  head  of  John  Bridge.  Now,  as  this  transaction  was  in  the 
night,  between  the  hours  of  eleven  and  twelve,  it  must  be 
concluded  that  there  was  not  sufficient  light  to  give  a  person, 
even  on  foot,  an  opportunity  to  make  this  distinction,  which 
must  have  been  more  difficult  to  a  person  on  horseback. 
Therefore,  to  prevent  this  apparent  mistake  from  destroying  the 
credibility  of  the  relation,  which  in  every  other  particular 
is  consonant  to  truth,  I  have  sent  you  a  more  circumstantial 
account,  taken  from  notes  penned  in  the  court  (not  depen- 
dent on  memory),  with  some  other  papers  necessary  to 
show  the  tendency  of  these  unfortunate  people's  designs, 
and  the  cause  they  had  engaged  in,  which  in  charity  we  must 
suppose  they  could  not  have  been  brought  to  consent  to,  or  in  their 
consciences  to  have  approved,  but  from  the  influence  their  Church 
pretends  to  exercise  over  them  (unhappy,  infatuated  people). 
Let  this  be  a  caution  to,g — t  [sic]  not  to  be  inattentive  to  informa- 
tions when  laid  before  them,  which,  perhaps,  at  first  view,  may 
appear  of  little  importance,  which  if  neglected,  will  naturally 
discourage  the  well-intentioned  both  to  king  and  country  from 
proceeding  in  what  otherwise  they  might  be  of  service.  It  is  true 
such  informers  as  generally  appear  in  that  character  are  not  to 
be  encouraged,  but  no  other  motive  but  what  has  already  been 
mentioned  ought  to  be  attended  to.  In  1764  an  affidavit  was 
made  of  the  arrival  of  four  French  officers  on  the  coast  of 
Wexford  ;  pray,  what  inquiry  was  made  after  them  ?  Had  they 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  629 

been  detected,  perhaps  deluded  people  could  not  have  been  brought 
to  swear  allegiance  to  the  French  king,  though  pressed  to  it  by 
their  priest.  A  neglect  of  this  sort  gave  the  Scots  an  opportunity 
of  near  overturning  the  State,  and  destroying  for  us  what  the 
revolution  did,  and  reduce  us  again  to  a  people  rather  scourged 
than  governed  by  blind  zeal  and  lawless  power.  You  must 
remember  that  not  many  years  since,  some  had  insinuated  them- 
selves into  power,  and  were  admitted  into  confidence,  which  gave 
them  a  boldness  to  assume  a  gratitude  which  had  no  other 
appearance  than  in  the  newspapers,  with  which  the  Dublin 
Journal  was  frequently  filled  ;  how  far  they  have  since  behaved 
agreeable  to  these  protestations,  the  acts  of  these  days  but  too 
fatally  show  ;  from  henceforward  let  the  great  know  from  whom 
they  are  to  expect  support  to  their  measure. 

"  A  LOVER  OF  LIBERTY,  HIS  COUNTRY,  AND  HIS  KING." 

The  account  which  I  have  given  of  this  terrible  tragedy 
and  unwonted  sacrifice  of  innocent  human  lives  will  be 
fittingly  brought  to  an  end,  by  giving  here,  a  contemporary 
account  of  it  by  an  enlightened  and  upright  Protestant, 
Mr.  Amyias  Griffith,  who  was  an  eye-witness.  He  was  not 
a  relative  of  Mr.  Griffith  of  Shanraghan,  who  befriended 
"Father  Sheehy,  when  it  would  have  been  almost  death  to  do 
so,  but  one  who  from  the  position  he  held  (that  of  an  excise 
officer)  and  the  part  of  the  country  he  came  from,  it  is 
thought  the  North  could  not  be  accused  of  partiality.  A 
portion  of  this  letter  has  already  been  quoted.  As  it  runs  to 
almost  the  length  of  this  entire  paper,  I  can  only  quote  a 
few  pages.  It  begins  as  follows  : — 

"  TO  DANIEL  TOLER,  ESQ.,  RELATIVE  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  THE 
REV.  NICHOLAS  SHEEHY,  &C. 

"  SIR, — As  you  were  High  Sheriff  of  the  County  Tipperary 
when  the  unfortunate  Mr.  Sheehy  suffered,  I  must  take  the 
liberty  of  addressing  this  letter  to  you,  on  the  subject  to  which  I 
am  more  particularly  led  in  consequence  of  your  declaration 
sometime  since  in  the  senate  of  the  nation,  relative  to  the  justice 
of  his  fate.  However,  I  would  not  wish  you  should  conceive  the 
most  distant  idea,  that  I  intend  to  cast  any  reflection  whatever 
on  your  character.  Your  existence,  Sir,  at  this  day,  perhaps,  is 
the  best  proof  of  your  innocence  of  his  blood ;  for  indeed,  I 
might  now  truly  say,  that  out  of  his  persecutors,  there  is  not  an 
individual  but  has  visited  that  bourne  from  whence  no  traveller 
returns.  Be  assured,  Sir,  no  person  can  be  less  superstitious 

Griffith's    Tracts,  page  227- 


630  fhe  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy 

than  I  am  ;  though  I  firmly  believe  a  Supreme  Being  regards  the" 
actions  of  men,  and  I  firmly  believe  that  there  is  a  hereafter. 
Did  Providence  resign  this  world  to  chance,  revealed  religion 
could  never  stand  its  ground ;  and  all  the  writings  and  preachings 
of  divines  would  be  vain.  But  the  finger  of  God  is  frequently 
legible  ;  we  trace  proofs  of  its  progress,  of  the  existence  and 
attributes,  not  less  demonstrative  than  those  of  Sacred  Writ,  or 
the  universal  voice  of  nature." 

Page  239  :— 

"  Now,  Mr.  Toler,  I  have  so  far  proceeded  on  the  authority  of 
Protestant  writers,  on  a  transaction  similar  to  the  Munster  Plot, 
for  which  Mr.  Sheehy  and  others  suffered  death.  You  must  now 
give  me  leave  to  state  some  facts  by  way  of  parody,  which  are  in 
my  own  recollection,  and  well  known  to  every  gentleman  of 
information  who  lived  in  the  County  Tipperary  at  that  period. 
The  Boman  Catholics  imprudently  at  that  time  made  great 
exertions  at  a  contested  election  in  favour  of  a  gentleman  whose 
mild  principles  conciliated  their  affections.  This,  perhaps,  they 
were  the  more  induced  to  through  resentment  to  some  intolerant 
gentlemen  who  were  in  opposition  to  their  favourite,  and  avowed 
enemies  to  their  profession.  Some  time  after  an  affidavit  was 
made  (by  whom  I  know  not)  that  four  French  officers  had  landed 
in  the  West  of  Ireland.  These  four  officers,  it  was  given  out, 
came  over  to  raise  a  rebellion  and  to  get  all  the  Protestants  in 
the  Kingdom  massacred.  At  this  time  it  had  become  fashionable 
to  take  in  and  annex  to  their  estates  large  tracts  of  land  which 
lay  in  commonage  from  time  immemorial ;  perhaps  this  was 
done  on  the  same  principle  that  the  Lords  Justices  formerly 
acted.  You  need  not  be  informed,  Mr.  Toler,  that  land  situated 
near  commonage  sets  dearer  on  that  account." 

What  comes  next  has  been  anticipated.  He  next  deals 
with  the  character  of  the  witnesses,  and,  except  Mary  Brady 
(Moll  Dunlea),  to  whom  Father  Sheehy  himself,  from  the 
place  of  execution,  wished  a  long  life,  describes  their 
miserable  end,  as  the  just  judgment  of  God  upon  them. 
The  fate  of  the  perjured  jury  that  swore  away  so  many 
innocent  lives,  and  those  who  acted  a  principal  part  in  this 
terrible  tragedy  must  be  given  in  his  own  words  : — 

"  Out  of  all  those  who  were  so  active  in  spilling  his  blood,  is 
there  an  individual  living  this  day,  Mr.  Toler  ?  Will  you  account 
me  superstitious  for  saying  that  this  might  be  a  judgment  of  God  ? 
The  judge  who  tried  him,  instructed  his  prosecutors,  and  connected 
their  zig-zag  evidence — that  judge  is  now  no  more.  Sir  Thomas 


The  Life  and  Death  of  Father  Sheehy  631 

Maud  was  the  man  who  impanelled  the  jury  (who  ever  since 
were  proverbially  partial)  ;  need  I  tsll  you  of  the  manner  of  his 
death  — that  his  eyes  dropped  out  of  their  sockets — that  the  stench 
in  his  room  was  imolerable.  Need  I  tell  you  the  fate  of  William 
Bagwell,  Lord  Carrick,  &c.  Need  I  point  out  the  many  who  fell 
victims  to  the  Herodian  distemper  ?  Recollect,  Mr.  Toler,  the 
names  of  the  petit  jurors,  and  the  manner  of  their  deaths. 
Jonathan  Wellington,  of  Castle  Wellington,  was  one  of  them; 
as  well  as  I  can  recollect  he  was  a  particular  acquaintance  of 
yours.  Do  you  remember  he  dropped  dead  in  a  necessary  ? 
Sandy  Hoops  was  another  :  he  was  drowned  in  a  ford  over  which 
his  servant  passed  with  ease  ;  Robert  Going  died  suddenly ;  Edward 
Dawson  was  killed  by  his  horse  ;  an  assistant  in  cavalry,  I  forget 
his  name,  was  thrown  by  his  horse,  and  dragged  into  the  town  of 
Nenagh,  with  his  legs  fastened  in  the  stirrups — a  spectacle  of  horror. 
In,  short,  Mr.  Toler,  all  the  jury  are  dead ;  and  what  is  more 
extraordinary,  they  all  got  sudden  deaths.  A  little  after 
Mr.  Sheehy's  execution,  a  Special  Commission  was  issued  for  the 
trial  of  others  who  had  been  apprehended.  At  this  Commission, 
Messrs.  Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Buxton,  and  John  (James  it 
should  be)  Farrell  were  convicted.  To  dwell  on  the  trial,  and 
point  out  absurdities  and  inconsistencies  is  unnecessary  ;  all  I 
believe  that  is  necessary  is,  that  after  their  execution,  one  of  the 
prosecutors,  of  the  name  of  Bier,  publicly  declared  that  they  were 
unjustly  executed,  and  that  nothing  but  the  most  imminent 
danger  his  own  life  was  in,  from  the  threatened  oaths  of  false 
witnesses,  could  have  prevailed  on  him  to  become  an  evidence. 
This  man,  and  Mr.  Herbert,  who  was  induced  also  to  appear 
against  them,  from  the  same  motives,  died  in  some  time  after  of 
the  disease  they  call  a  broken  heart.  As  all  those  who  suffered 
for  Gates'  plot  died  protesting  their  innocence,  so  did  those  also 
who  were  executed  for  the  Munster  Plot.  It  is  unnecessary,  I 
know,  to  insert  for  your  perusal  their  dying  declarations ;  you 
witnessed  their  last  appeals  to  the  tribunal  of  the  Eternal  God, 
that  they  were  perfectly  innocent  of  the  crimes  laid  to  their 
charge  You  witnessed  them,  I  say,  Mr.  Toler,  at  the  awful  hour 
of  their  death.  However,  as  this  letter  will  fall  into  other  hands, 
and  that  it  is  necessary  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  trans- 
action, as  a  warning  to  posterity  never  to  fall  into  so  barbarous  a 
delusion,  I  shall  give  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Buxton  and  Mr.  Farrell 
at  large,  particularly  as  they  set  the  conduct  of  their  persecutors 
in  a  light  exactly  similar  to  that  of  Shaftesbury  and  his  brethren 
in  iniquity." 

Then  follows  their  dying  declaration.  A  century  and 
a-half  will  soon  have  now  passed  since  this  terrible  sacrifice 
of  human  life  took  place.  People  may  now  look  back  upon 
these  events  with  amazement,  when  the  local  magistrates, 


632  The  Prophecy  regarding  the  Popes 

landlords,  grand  jurors,  and  even  petty  jurors,  wielded  the 
power  of  life  and  death  over  the  poor  down-trodden  Irish 
people,  and,  as  we  have  evidence  here  sufficient,  influenced 
the  judge  on  the  bench,  and  made  him  deliver  the  verdict 
that  suited  them.  Those  evil  days  are  gone  for  ever.  If, 
perhaps,  people  be  found  to  doubt  the  prudence  of  the  part 
that  the  pastor  of  Shanraghan  acted  in  telling  his  people 
they  had  the  right  to  live,  there  is  no  one  but  must  admire 
the  courage  and  consistency  with  which  he  met  his  fate. 

PATRICK  LONERG-AN,  C.C. 


THE    PEOPHECY   EEGAKDING   THE    POPES 
ATTRIBUTED  TO  ST.  MALACHY 

THE  text  of  the  famous  prophecy,  attributed  to  St.Malachy, 
which  we  print  underneath,  was  first  published  by  the 
Benedictine,  Arnold  Wion,  in  his  famous  work  entitled 
Lignum  Vitae,  which  appeared  at  Venice,  in  the  year  [595. 
Wion  attributes  the  prophecy  to  St.  Malachy,  Archbishop  of 
Armagh,  the  contemporary  and  friend  of  St.  Bernard.  He 
gives,  however,  no  proof  of  its  authenticity,  and  many 
writers  have  regarded  it  as  a  spurious  document.  If  it 
be  authentic,  it  is  certainly  curious  that  Wion  says  not  a 
word  as  to  the  history  of  the  MSS.  from  which  he  professes 
to  have  taken  it,  and  still  more  curious  that  it  should 
have  remained  unknown  and  unpublished  for  four  hundred 
and  forty-seven  years  after  the  death  of  the  saint  to  whom 
it  is  attributed.  St.  Bernard,  who  wrote  the  Life  of 
St.  Malachy,  says  not  a  word  about  it,  although  he 
mentions  several  other  prophecies  of  his  friend.  It  will 
also  be  noticed  that  the  devices  set  down  to  the  Popes  who 
lived  before  1595  are  far  more  exact  and  appropriate  than 
most  of  those  which  apply  to  subsequent  Popes.  Never- 
theless, it  must  be  admitted  that  many  of  these  are  also 
quite  expressive.  The  "  Crux  de  Cruce  "  of  Pius  IX.  could 
scarcely  have  been  more  accurate,  as  the  emblem  of  the  house 
of  Savoy  is  a  white  cross,  whilst  the  "  Lumen  in  Coelo  "  of 


Attributed  to  St.  MalacKy 


(533 


Leo  XIII.  has  also  been  thoroughly  verified  in  every  respect. 
The  "  Aquila  Kapax  "  of  Pius  VII.  and  "  Jucunditas  Crucis  " 
of  Innocent  X.  are  also  very  remarkable.  One  finds  it 
difficult  to  explain  how  a  spurious  prophecy  could  have  been 
verified  to  such  an  extent.  And  yet  a  great  number  of 
ecclesiastical  historians  either  ignore  the  document  or 
expressly  denounce  it  as  a  concoction.  Such  well-known 
ecclesiastical  annalists  as  Baronius,  Sponde,  Einaldi,  make 
no  allusion  whatever  to  the  prophecy.  Moreri,  Novaes,  and 
Angelo  Gastaldi  regard  it  as  certainly  spurious.  Two 
Frenchmen,  Fran£on  Carriere  and  Claude  Menestrier,  have 
written  pamphlets  in  refutation  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
document,  and  set  forth  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
believed  it  to  have  been  concocted.  Nothing,  however,  has 
ever  been  conclusively  proved  regarding  it  one  way  or  the 
ether. 


NAMES   OF    THE    POPES 

CELESTINE  II.,  1143 
Lucius  II.,  1144 

EUGENE  III..  1145 
ANASTASIUS  IV.,  1153 
ADRIAN  IV.,  1154 
VICTOR  IV.,  1159 

PASCAL  III.,  1164 
CALLIXTUS  III.,  1168 

ALE  XANDER  III . ,  1 1 5  9 


PROPHETIC  DEVICE 

Ex  Castro  Tiberis 
Iiiiiiticics  cxpttlsHs 

Ex  magnitudine  montis 
Abbas  Snburranus 
De  rure  Albo 
De  tetro  Careers 

De  via,  Tramtibcrina 
De  Panitonia  Tnm-lae 

/..'•  mtxct'e  cnstode 


Lucius  III.,         1181       Lttji-  in  Uxtio 


URBAN  III., 


1185       Sits  tit  Cribro 


GREGORY VIII.,  1187       £in<ix 


CLEMENT  III.,     118"      De  sc/tota  e.n 


REASON  OF  THE  DEVICE 

Born  at  Citta  di  CasteUo, 

on  the  Tibiir. 
His     family     name     was 

Gerard   Caccianemici. 
Born  at  Montemagno. 
Named  Corrado  di  Suburra 
Born  at  St.  Albans. 
Cardinal  of   St.  Nicholas 

in  Carcere. 
Cardinal  of  S.  Maria   in 

Trastevere. 
He  was  a  Hungarian,  and 

Cardinal  -  Bishop         of 

Tusculum. 
His     family     name     was 

Paperoni,  from  Paporo, 

a  goose. 
His   name  was   Umbaldo 

Allucingoli,  and  he  was 

Cardinal  -  Bishop         of 

Ostia. 
He  belonged  to  the  family 

of  the  Crivelli.     Sieves 

and    riddles    are    often 

made  of  pigskin. 
He  was   Cardinal  of  San 

Lorenzo,  in  Lucina,  and 

on    the    shield    of    his 

family  arms  there  were 

two  swords. 
He  belonged  to  the  family 

of  Scolari. 


634 


The  Prophecy  regarding  the  Popes 


NAMES  OF   THE   POPES 

CELESTINE  III.,  1191 
INNOCENT  III.,  1198 
HONOEIUS  III.,  1216 
GEEGOEY  IX.,  1227 

CELESTINE  IV.,  1241 
INNOCENT  IV.,  1243 
ALEXANDER  IV.  ,1254 
UEBAN  IV.,  1261 

CLEMENT  IV.,  1265 
GEEGOEY  X.,  1271 

INNOCENT  V.,  1276 
ADEIAN  V.,  1276 

JOHN  XXL,  1276 
NICHOLAS  III.,  1277 


PEOPHETIC   DEVICE 

DC  rare  Jiorc/tui 
Comes  siffiiattis 
Canonicus  de  latere 
Avis  Ostiensis 

Leo  Sabinus 
Comes  Laurentius 

Siynnm  Ostlensc 
Jerusalem  Campania 

Draco  depresses 
Anguinem  vir 

Concionator  Gallus 
Sonus  Comes 

Piscator  Tuscus 
Rosa  composita 


MAETIN  IV.,        1281       Ex  telonio  Liliacei  Martini 


HONOEIUS  IV.,    1285      Ex  Rosa  Lconina 


NICHOLAS  IV.,     1288 
CELESTINE  V.,     1294 


BONIFACE  VIII.,  1294 
BENEDICT  XL,  1303 
CLEMENT  V,,  1305 


Picus  inter  escas 
Ex  ercmo  Cclsus 


JEx  nndarum  benedictione 
Concionator  Pataracus 
DC  Fasciis  Aquitanicis 


JOHN  XXII.,       1316      De  Sutore 


NICHOLAS  V.,  1328 
BENEDICT  XII. ,  1334 
CLEMENT  VI.,  1342 


Corvus  schismaticus 
Frigidus  Abbas 
Ex  Rosa  Atrebatensi 


INNOCENT  VI.,     1352      De  montibus  Pamarchii 


EEASOX  OF  THE  DEVICE 

Belonged  to  the  family  of 

Bobo. 
He  was  one  of  the  Counts 

of  Segni. 
He  was  a   Canon   of   St. 

John  Latran. 
There  was  an  eagle  in  the 

family  arms,  and  Pope 

Gregory  had  been  Car- 
dinal-Bishop of  Ostia. 
He  was  Bishop  of  Sabina, 

and    belonged     to    the 

family  of   Castiglioni. 
Count  of   Lavagna,    ( '.ir- 

dinal   of   San   Lorenzo, 

in  Lucina. 
Cardinal-Bishop  of  Ostin, 

and  one  of  the  Counts 

of  Segni. 
Was  born  in  Champagne, 

and  was    Patriarch    of 

Jerusalem. 
Family  arms — a   dragon, 

killed  by  an  eagle. 
Belonged  to  the  family  of 

Visconti. 

A  French  Dominican. 
Belonged  to  the  Ottoboni. 

Counts  of  Lavagna. 
Peter,  Bishop  of  Tusculum. 
A  rose  in  the  family  arms, 

and       was       surnamed 

"  Composto." 
Treasurer    of   St.    Martin 

of   Tours,    with   a  lily 

in  family  arms. 
A  rose,  sustained  by  two 

lions  on  the  shield. 
Born  at  Ascoli,  in  Picenum. 
"Was    a     poor    Monk    in 

the    mountains   of    the 

Abbruzzi  when  he  was 

made  Pope. 
Benedict  Cajetan.    Waves 

in  the  family  arms. 
A    Dominican,    born     at 

Patara. 
A  native  of  Gascony,  with 

three     ribands    in    the 

arms. 
The  son  of  James  Ossa,  a 

shoemaker. 

Antipope,  bornatCorbaro. 
Abbot  of  Font-Froide. 
Bishop  of  Arras,  with  six 

roses  on  the  shield. 
Was   Cardinal,    with   the 

title  of  St.  Pammachius. 


Attributed  to  St.  Malachy 


635 


NAMES   OF   THE    POPES  PROPHETIC    DEVICE 

URBAN  V.,  1362  Gallus  Vicecomes 

GREGORY  XI.,     1370  N'ovus  de  virgine  forti 

CLEMENT  VII.,   1378  De  Critce  Apostolica, 

BENEDICT  XIII.,  1394  Luna  Cosmcdina 

CLEMENT  VIII. ,  1424  Schisma  fiarcinonicum 

URBAN  VI.,          1378  De  Inferno  Prignani 


BONIFACE  IX.,    1389 
INNOCENT  VII.,  1404 


GREGORY  XII.,  1406 
ALEXANDER  V.,  1409 
JOHN  XXIII.,  1410 


Cubus  de  inixtione 
De  weliore  sidere 


Nauta  de  Pontc  Nigro 
Flagellum  Solis 
Ccrvus  Sircnae 


MARTIN  V.,          1417       Corona  veil  aurei 


EUGENE  IV.,       1431 
FELIX  V.,  1439 


Lupa  coelestina 
Amator  Crucis 


NICHOLAS  V.,       1447      De  modicitate  Lunae 


CALLIXTUS  III.,  1455 
Pius  II.,  1458 


J?os  pascens 

De  Capra  et  Albergo 


PAUL  II.,  1464  De  cervo  et  leone 

SiXTUsIV.,         1471  Piscator  Minorita 

INNOCENT  VIII.  ,1484  Praecursor  Siciliae 

ALEXANDER  VI.,  1492  Bos  albanus  in  portu 


REASON  OF  THE  DEVICE 

A  Frenchman,    who  had 

been     Nuncio     at    the 

Republic  of  the  Viscemti . 
Cardinal   Beaufort,    with 

the    title    Santa  Maria 

Nuova. 
Cardinal  of  the  Church  of 

the    Twelve    Apostles. 

A  cross  in  the  arms. 
His  name  was  Peter   of 

Luni,  and  his  Church  as 

Cardinal,   Santa  Muria, 

in  Cosmedino. 
Antipope.    Native  of  Bar- 
celona. 
His  name  was  Bartolomeo 

Prignani,    and    was    a 

native    of    the    district 

called  Inferno 
Mingled  dice  in  the  arms. 
Belonged  to  the  family  of 

Migliorati,   who  had   a 

star  in  their  arms. 
Had    a    benefice    in    the 

Church  of  Negrepont. 
Arms— the  sun  scourging 

the  planets. 
Born  at  Naples  (Parthe- 

nope),  and  Cardinal  of 

St.  Eustachius. 
Arms — a  crown.     He  was 

Cardinal  of  St.  George, 

in  Velabro. 

A  she-wolf  in  the  arms. 
He  was  Amadeus  of  Savoy. 

A  cross  in  the  family 

arms. 
He  belonged  to  an  humble 

family   of    Sarzauo,    in 

the  Luni  territory. 
A  grazing  ox  on  the  arms. 
Secretary     of     Cardinals 

Capranica  &  Albergati. 
Held  the  Benefice  of  St. 

Cervia,  and  was  Cardinal 

of  St.  Mark's  (the  lion 

being    the    emblem    of 

St.  Mark). 
Son  of  a  fisherman,  and 

of  the  Order  of  Friars 

Minor. 
His  Christian  name  was 

John   Baptist,    and  he 

was    Chaplain    to    the 

King  of  Sicily. 
Arms — an  ox  on  the  shield. 

He  was  Bishop  of  Al- 

bano  and  Porto. 


636 


The  Prophecy  regarding  the  Popes 


NAMES   OF   THE    POPES  PROPHETIC    DEVICE 

Pius  III.,  1503  DC parvo  homing 

JULIUS  II.,  1503  frttetut  Jovis  juvabit 

LEO  X.,  1513  DC  craticula politiiuia 

ADRIAN  VI.,  1522  Leo  Florentines 

CLEMENT  VII.,  1523  Flos  pilae 

PAUL  III.,  153-4  Hyacinthas  Medico  nun 

JULIUS  III.,  1550  De  Corona  Montana 

MARCELLUS  II.,  1555  Frumentumflocculum 

PAUL  IV.,  1555  Defide  Petri 

Pius  IV.,  1559  Acsculapii  pharmaeum 

Pius  V.,  1566  Angelas  nemorosus 

GREGORY XIII.,  1572  Medium  corpus  pilarum 

SIXTUS  V.,  1585  A*is  in  -mcdietatc  siyni 


URBAN  VII.,       1590 

GREGORY  XIV. ,  1590 
INNOCENT  IX.,  1591 
CLEMENT  VIII.,  1592 
LEO  XL,  1605 

PAUL  V.,  1005 

GREGORY  XV.,  1621 
URBAN  VIII. ,  1623 
INNOCENT  X.,  164-4 


DC  2foYe  Cocli 

De  antimiitute  urbis 
Pin  deltas  in  bcllo 
Crux  Romulea 
Uttdosua  vir 
Gens  perversa 

In  tribulatione  pads 
Lillian  et  rosa 
Jucunditas  Cruets 


REASON  OF  THE  DEVICE 

He  was  adopted  by  the 
family  of  Piccolomini. 

An  oak  tree  on  the  arms. 
The  oak  was  sacred  to 
Jupiter. 

He  was  the  son  of  Laurenzo 
de  Medicis  (craticula) 
and  a  pupil  of  Politia.ii. 

His  father's  name  was 
Florenzis,  and  had  a  lion 
in  the  family  arms. 

A  head  and  a  rose  in  the 
family  arms. 

Hyacinth  flowers  in  the 
arms,  and  he  was  Car- 
dinal of  the  Church  of 
SS.Cosmus  &Damianus. 

Belonged  to  the  family  of 
Delmonte,  who  had  two 
crowns  in  their  arms. 

An  ear  of  wheat  in  the 
arms.  Reigned  only 
twenty-two  days. 

His  name  was  Peter  Caraff  a 
(Cara-fe),  and  he  was  a 
promoter  of  the  Inqui- 
sition. 

Belonged  to  the  family  of 
Medicis. 

His  Christian  name  was 
Michael,  and  he  was 
born  at  Bosco. 

Three  balls  and  half  the 
body  of  a  dragon  in  the 
arms. 

An  axe,  piercing  a  lion,  in 
the  arms  (the  lion  being 
one  of  the  signs  of  the 
Zodiac). 

Born  at  Rossano,  remark- 
able for  a  kind  of  manna 
that  is  to  be  found  there. 

Born  at  Orvieto,  called  the 
"Urbs  vetus." 

Born  at  Bologna,  a  city 
pious  in  time  of  war. 

In  the  arms,  a  band  of 
argent  crossed  with  bars. 

Reigned  only  twenty-five 
days. 

A  dragon  and  an  eagle  in 
the  arms. 

An  Apostle  of  peace. 

Three  bees  in  the  arms. 

Was  elected  on  the  14th 
of  September,  feast  of 
the  Exaltation  of  the 
Holy  Cross. 


Attributed  to  St.  Malachy 


637 


NAMES   OP   THE    POPES 

Al.KXANDER    VII., 

1655 

CLEMENT  IX.,     1667 


CLEMENT  X., 


PROPHETIC  DEVICE 


Gustos 
Sydus  olornm 
Deflnmine 


INNOCENT  XL,     1G76      Bullua  i 


ALEXANDER  VIII.,          Pocnitentia  gloriosa 

1689 
INNOCENT  XII.,  1691      Rastrum  in porta 


CLEMENT  XI.,  1700 
INNOCENT  XIII. ,  1721 
BENEDICT  XIII.,  1724 


Flores  circttmdati 
De  bona  religions 
Miles  in  bello 


CLEMENT  XII.,    1730      Columna  excelsa 


BENEDICT  XIV.,  1740 
CLEMENT  XIII.,  1758 

CLEMENT  XIV.,  1769 
Pius  VI.,  1775 

Pius  VII.,  1800 


LEO  XII.,  1823 

Pius  VIII.,         1829 
GREGORY  XVI.,  1831 


Animal  rnrale 
Rosa  Umbriae 

L'rsus  velox  or  visits  relax 
Peregrines  ^Lpostolicns 
Aquila  rapctx 


Canis  et  coluber 

J'ir  religiostis 

De  balneis  Etruriae 


Pius  IX., 


LEO  XIII., 


1846       Crux  de  Cruce 


1878       Lumen  in  Coelo 


REASON  OF  THE  DEVICE 

A  star  and  six  hills  in  the 
arms. 

Occupied  at  the  Conclave 
the  room  of  the  "  swans. 

Was  born  during  an  inun- 
dation of  the  Tibur. 

A  lion  and  an  eagle  in  the 
arms. 

Was  elected  on  the  feast 
of  St.  Bruno. 

Parlant  figures  in  the  arms. 
Belonged  to  the  family 
of  Pignatelli. 

A  garland  in  the  arms. 

Regarded  as  a  saint. 

War  in  Italy  during  his 
reign. 

Raised  several  monuments 
in  Rome. 

Indefatigable  at  work. 

Belonged  to  the  family  of 
Rezzonico. 

Was  prompt  in  his  deci- 
sions. 

Went  to  Vienna  to  meet 
Joseph  II. 

Was  taken  off  by  Napo- 
leon, whose  emblem  was 
an  eagle. 

Was  faithful  and  prudent. 

Remarkable  for  his  piety. 

Was  a  Camaldolese  Monk. 
Camaldoli  is  in  Tuscany. 

Endured  severe  persecu- 
tion, chiefly  from  the 
House  of  Savoy,  whose 
emblem  is  a  cross. 

In  the  arms  of  the  Pecci 
family  is  a  star  shining 
in  the  heavens. 


The  devices  of  future  Popes  are  :— 

Ignis  ardens. 
Heligio  depopulata. 
Fides  intrepida. 
Pastor  Angelicus. 
Pastor  et  Nauta. 
Flos  florum. 
De  medietate  Lunae. 
De  labor e  soils. 
De  gloria  olivae. 

The  prophecy  ends   in   the   words  : — "  In   persecutione 
extrema  Sacrae  Bcinajiae  Ecclesiae,  sedebit  Petrus  Eomanus 


638  The  Prophecy  regarding  the  Popes,  d-c. 

qui  pascet  oves  in  multis  tribulationibus,  quibus  transactis, 
civitas  septicollis  diruetur,  et  judex  tremendus  judicabit 
populum  suum.  Amen." 

Moreri,  in  his  famous  Dictionnaire  Ifistorique,  puts 
the  objections  against  it  as  forcibly  as  anybody ;  but  it  will 
be  seen  that  his  objections  are  by  no  means  conclusive. 
He  says  : — 

"  On  attribue  a  Saint  Malachie  une  Prophetie  des  Papes 
depuis  Celestin  II.,  jusqu'  a  la  fin  du  monde  :  mais  les  savants 
n'ignorent  pas  que  c'est  un  ouvrage  fabrique  pendant  le  conclave 
de  1'an  1590,  par  les  partisans  du  Cardinal  Simoncelli,  qui  le 
designerent  par  ces  mots  4  De  Antiquitate  Urbis  '  parce  qu'il 
etait  d'Orvieto,  que  Ton  appelait  en  Latin  '  Urbs  Vetus."  II  est 
certain  que  pas  un  auteur  n'a  parle  de  ces  proprieties  avant 
Arnould  de  Wyon,  Eeligieux  de  l'0rdre-de  St.  Benoit.  II  etait 
Flamand,  de  la  ville  de  Douay,  et,  a  cause  des  troubles  qui 
arriverent  en  son  pays,  il  se  retira  en  Italic  et  entra  dans  la 
Congregation  de  Saint  Justine  de  Padoue,  dite  du  Mont  Cassin." 

And  further  on  : — 

"  Nul  auteur  de  ce  temps-la  n'en  parle.  Ni  Othon  de 
Frisinghen,  ni  Jean  de  Sarisbery,  Eveque  de  Chartres,  ni  Pierre  le 
Venerable,  Abbe  de  Cluny.  Tant  d'autres  qui  ont  ecrit  au 
sujet  des  Papes,  depuis  la  mort  de  Saint  Malachie,  n'en  disent 
rien ;  ni  le  continuateur  de  Marianus  Scotus,  ni  Bordini,  ni  Platine, 
ni  Papyre  Masson,  ni  Onuphre  Panvini,  ni  Joannel  qui  ecrivit 
1'an  1570.  Les  Irlandais  qui  ont  pris  soin  d'ecrire  les  merveilles 
des  Saints  de  leur  pais,  et  qui  ont  donne  au  public  les  Vies  de 
Saint  Patrice,  de  Saint  Colombe,  Abbe,  et  de  Sainte  Brigitte  du 
meme  pais,  comme  de  trois  prophetes  dont  ils  ont  rapporte  les 
revelations,  n'ont  rien  dit  de  celle  de  Saint  Malachie  .  .  .  Ainsi, 
ce  silence  de  quatre  cents  ans,  et  de  tant  d'auteurs  eclaires,  est 
un  fort  prejuge  pour  la  supposition  de  cette  prophetic.  Au  reste 
il  y  a  des  erreurs  et  des  anachronismes  dans  ses  predictions. 
Huit  Antipapes  y  sont  meles  avec  les  Papes  legitimes." 

With  regard  to  the  explanation  of  the  devices  in  each 
case,  Wion  states  that  it  had  been  given,  previous  to  the  time 
of  his  writing,  for  the  Popes  from  Celestine  II.  to  Clement 
VIII. ,  by  the  Dominican,  Ciaconi ;  but  it  has  never  been 
discovered  in  any  of  the  works  or  manuscripts  of  Ciaconi, 
and  it  is  suspected  that  it  had  its  origin  at  the  same  time 
as  the  prophecy.  "Whilst  the  weight  of  probability  seems, 


Liturgical  Notes  639 

indeed,  to  indicate  that  the  prophecy  itself  is  spurious,  it 
cannot  he  proved  to  be  so  beyond  all  question.  Hence  those 
who  take  for  granted  the  honesty  of  the  writer  who  first 
gave  it  to  the  world  in  print,  will  feel  themselves  justified 
in  continuing  to  attribute  the  Prophecy  to  St.  Malachy,  in 
spite  of  anything  that  has  been  written  to  the  contrary. 

J.  F.  HOGAN. 


ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

PREACHING    "  CORAM    SS.    SACRAMENTO " 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — For  years  I  have  remarked  a  considerable 
variety  of  both  opinion  and  practice  concerning  the  modus 
vestiendi,  when  a  priest  has  to  preach  before  the  Most  Holy 
Sacrament,  exposed  upon  the  altars. 

This  variety,  not  to  say  discrepancy,  may  arise  partly  from 
the  uncertain  or  sparse  manner  in  which  the  Rubricists  treat 
the  subject,  or  from  a  diversity  of  custom  prevailing  in  different 
places. 

However,  it  cannot  be  questioned  that  uniformity  in  Ireland 
is  desirable  on  a  subject  of  no  small  importance :  hence,  I 
venture  to  suggest,  as  a  very  old  subscriber  and  occasional 
contributor  to  the  I.  E.  EECORD,  that  Ireland's  Alma  Mater 
should  speak  and  direct  the  clergy  on  this  matter.  Let  me, 
therefore,  premise  a  few  points  : — 

1.  Such  occasions  arise,  not  only  when  a  sermon  is  preached 
during  an  ordinary  Quarant'  Ore,  at  least  in  some  Irish  dioceses 
(when,  of  course,  the  Most  Holy  Sacrament  is  veiled),  but  also 
on  other  exceptional  occasions,  and  on  Holy  Thursday,  when  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  is  reposing  on  an  altar,  very  often  in  or  very 
near  the  sanctuary  itself. 

2.  It  is  assumed  that  the  preacher,  whether  secular  or  regular, 
will  never  speak  with  head  covered ;    and,  in  the  case  of  the 
former,  at  least,  will  always  wear  a  cotta  or  surplice. 

3.  Also  it  is  understood  that  the  sermon  should  be  applicable, 


640  Liturgical  Notes 

in  some  sense,  to  the  Eeal   Presence   or  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Eucharist,  and  never  be  of  long  duration. 

Now,  taking  these  points  as  granted,  or  outside  any  serious 
controversy,  some  more  explicit  direction  seems  wanted  on  three 
points  of  variance  :— 

1.  Should  a  secular  priest,  hesides  the  surplice,  also  wear  a 
stole  (outside  Rome)  ? 

2.  Should  a  regular  wear,  over  the  habit  of  his  order — (a)  a 
surpli'ce,  and  (6)  a  stole  ? 

3.  Is  any  difference  of  vestiture  permissible,  supposing,  as  in 
the  case  of  Maunday  Thursday,  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  not 
actually  exposed,  but  reposing  in  the  closed  urn,  whether  within 
the  sanctuary  or  in  a  side  chapel  ? 

To  show  the  reader  that  the  question  is  not  quite  so  simple 
as  it  at  first  sight  appears,  I  shall  quote  one  of  our  best  authori- 
ties, who,  writing  on  the  Clementine  Instruction,  has  the 
following  passage,  the  salient  points  of  which  I  have  presumed 
to  italicize  : — 

u  Tempore,  quo  durabit  eadem  oratio  (XL  horarum), 
districte  interdicitur  praedicare  ;  verum  si  quis,  ad  fovendam 
fidelium  erga  SS.  Sacramentum  devotionem,  brevem  concionem 
post  Yesperas  instituere  velit,  licentiam  a  Nobis  (a  Pontifice),  aut 
a  S.  Excell.  Nostro  Vice-Gerente,  etiam  pro  ecclesiis  regularium, 
et  quomodocunque  privilegiatis  petere  debebit,  et  non  modo  in 
expositions  XL  horarium,  sed  etiam  in  qualibet  expositions  ;  quae 
licentia  dari  debet  in  scriptis.  Praedicaturus  autem  in  ordine 
saltern  diaconali  erit,  atque  superpelliceo  indutus,  QUAMVIS  KEGU- 
LARIS  SIT,  sed  sine  stola,  capite  discooperto,  prope  altare,  in 
quo  SSmum,  manet  expositum,  atque  tandem  in  eo  situ,  ut  audi- 
tores  non  adducat  ad  actus  irreverentiae,  convertendo  terga 
ad  Sacramentum." — (Schneider,  Manuale  Sacerdotum  Inst. 
Clemen,  xxxii.)  And  to  the  words,  ^capite  discooperto"  he 
subjoins  a  note,  "  Nunquam  licet  coram  SSrno.  coricionari  tecto 
capite,  etiamsi  SS.  Sacramentum  velo  serico  obductum  fuerit 
(S.R.C.  22  Sept.  1837)  ;  velum  cathedrae  debet  esse  coloris  albi 
(S.E.C.  9  Apl.  1808)." 

U.  E.  U- 

If  the  extract  from  Schneider,  with  which  our  cor- 
respondent has  favoured  us,  were  an  accurate  exposition  of 
the  general  law  of  the  Church  regarding  preaching  in 
presence  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  during  any  and  every 


Answers  to  Correspondents  641 

exposition,  there  would  be  no  room  left  for:  difference  of 
practice  or  difference  of  opinion  on  the  points  which  he 
raises.  For  in  the  extract  it  is  clearly  and  explicitly  stated 
that  no  priest,  whether  secular  or  regular,  should  wear 
a  stole  while  preaching  in  the  presence  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  exposed  ;  and  that  every  priest,  whether  secular 
or  regular,  should,  in  the  same  circumstances,  wear  a 
surplice ;  and,  furthermore,  as  the  same  reverences  are 
due  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament  on  Holy  Thursday,  though 
shut  up  in  the  capsule,  as  if  it  were  fully  exposed,  it 
would  follow  that  the  rules  laid  down  in  this  extract 
would  apply  in  this  case  as  well.  But  the  extract  in 
question  does  not  pretend  to  be  an  exposition,  whether 
accurate  or  otherwise,  of  the  general  law  of  the  Church, 
nor  do  the  rules  which  it  contains  apply  to  preaching 
in  presence  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  during  any 
and  every  exposition.  The  extract,  as  is  implied  in  our 
correspondent's  question,  is  a  verbatim  extract  from  the 
Instructio  Clementina,  which,  as  G-ardellini  has  abundantly 
shown,  is  obligatory  only  in  Borne,  and,  even  there,  only 
during  the  solemn  exposition  for  the  devotion  of  the  Forty 
Hours.  Hence  in  Eome  during  an  exposition  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  other  than  for  the  Forty  Hours,  or  for  some 
other  purpose,  the  preacher,  if  he  be  a  secular,  wears  a 
surplice  (and  may  wear  a  stole) ; 1  if  a  regular,  he  may  preach 
in  the  habit  of  his  Order  without  either  surplice  or  stole. 
To  confirm  what  we  have  just  said,  we  give  the  following 
extracts  from  Gardellini's  explanation  of  the  Instructio 
Clementina : — 

"Alibi  tamen,  extra  Urbem  scilicet,  ubi  earn  (stolam) 
adhibendi  in  concionibus  invaluit  usus,  etiamsi  conciones 
habeantur  coram  Sacramento  aut  patente,  aut  velc  obducto, 
poterunt  concionatores  ab  hujusmodi  more  non  declinare." 3 

Wherever,  therefore,  outside  Eome,  it  is  customary  for 
a  preacher  to  wear  a  stole  on  other  occasions,  he  may  wear 


1  Unless  in  Rome. 
3  Sect,  xxxii.,  u.  6, 

VOL.  XVII.  2  S 


642  Liturgical  Notes 

it  also  while  preaching  in  presence  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
exposed. 

"  Ex  his  igitur  patet  Monaohos  et  Eeligiosos  mendicantes 
superpelliceo  uti  debere  dumtaxat  si  Eomae  concionaturi  sint 
coram  Sacramento  exposito  pro  Oratione  quadraginta  horarum 
ex  peculiar!  lege  Clementinae  Instructionis."1 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  that  regulars  whose  religious 
habit  differs  not  at  all,  or  but  slightly,  from  the  soutane  of 
the  secular  clergy,  must,  like  seculars,  wear  the  surplice 
while  preaching  in  presence  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

It  is  usual  to  place  a  veil  or  screen  in  front  of  the 
monstrance  when  there  is  to  be  a  sermon  or  instruction 
during  exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  this  should 
be  done  if  the  sermon  is  to  be  of  considerable  duration,  or 
on  a  subject  not  directly  connected  with  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment, or  if  announcements  are  to  be  made  to  the  people  ; 
but  when  the  preacher  purposes  to  give  a  brief  exhortation 
on  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
use  the  veil.  In  this  case  the  preacher  should  take  care  not 
to  turn  his  back  towards  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

From  what  has  just  been  stated  it  is  plainly  unnecessary 
to  make  any  distinction  in  this  matter  between  Holy 
Thursday  and  occasions  when  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is 
publicly  exposed  in  the  monstrance. 

D.  O'LoAN. 


1  Ibid. 


t     643 


^Documents 

IMPORTANT    DECLAEATION   OF   THE   BISHOPS   OF   IRELAND   ON" 
THE    IRISH   EDUCATION   BILL 

UNDER  the  presidency  of  his  Eminence  Cardinal 
Logue,  a  meeting  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the 
Catholic  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  Ireland  was  held 
on  the  22nd  May  at  the  Catholic  University,  Stephen's- 
green. 

The  following  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  :— 

"  That  we,  the  members  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the 
Irish  Catholic  Bishops,  having  given  the  fullest  consideration  to 
the  Bill  now  before  Parliament,  '  to  amend  and  explain  the  Irish 
Education  Act  of  1892,'  regret  that  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  express 
our  entire  disapproval  of  it. 

"  Amongst  other  grounds  of  objection  we  have  to  state  that, 
in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  letter  addressed  in  our  name 
by  his  Eminence  Cardinal  Logue  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant  before 
this  Bill  was  introduced,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  settled  policy 
of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Ireland  as  expressed  in  a  letter 
addressed  by  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  Ireland  to  the 
Right  Hon.  Sir  George  Grey,  Bart.,  in  the  year  1866,  we  firmly 
protest  against  public  funds  being  voted  for  primary  education  in 
Ireland  to  schools  open  to  children  of  different  religious  denomina- 
tions without  giving  these  children  the  protection  of  a  conscience 
clause. 

"  We  further  think  it  is  our  duty  to  express  the  opinion  that 
it  is  highly  objectionable  to  attempt  to  deal  in  Parliament  with  a 
question  of  this  kind,  involving  principles  of  great  importance  and 
affecting  large  interests,  under  a  kind  of  penal  arrangement  which 
refuses  to  redress  serious  grievances  unless  we  forego  our  right  to 
effectual  Parliamentary  discussion  of  them. 

"  &  MICHAEL  CARDINAL  LOGUE,  Chairman. 
11  ^  F.  J.  M'CoKMACK,  i          Hon. 
11  jfc  JOHN  HEALY,  >    Secretaries." 


644  Documents 

LETTER     OF     HIS     HOLINESS     POPE     LEO     XIII.     TO     THE 
ABBE   VIGOUROUX 

DILECTO  FILIO  FULCRANO  VIGOUEOUX  PRESBYTERO  SULPICIANO 

LEO    PP.    XIII. 

DILECTE  FILI 
SALUTEM  ET  APOSTOLICAM  BENEDICTIONEM, 

Magni  ponderis  opus  Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible,  quod  ita  est 
a  te  institutum  ut  disciplinarum  omnium  subsidiis  volumen 
divinum  vindicetur  atque  illustretur,  praecipua  Nos  gratia  iam 
turn  complexi  sumus  quum  prima  eiusdem  ordireris  consilia. 
Praeter  ipsam  rei  praestantiam,  occurrebant  cogitationi  et  nova 
laus  inde  obventura  catholicorum  ingeniis,  et  solidae  utilitates 
quae  possent  non  ad  vestrates  tantum  defluere,  sed  eo  vel  latius 
redundare.  Fiduciamque  exitus  illud  augebat,  quod  operis 
summam  et  procurationem  gereres  tu,  cuius  exquisitam  eru- 
ditionem,  perspicax  cum  temperatione  iudicium,  dignumque  in 
Ecclesiae  documenta  obsequium  edita  scripta  dudum  probaverant. 
Eisdem  de  causis  nequaquam  defuisse  tibi  poterant  vel  Episco- 
porum  suffragia,  vel  hortationes  doctorum  hominum,  quorum 
etiam  satis  multi,  non  minus  exemplo  tuo  quam  nomine  excitati, 
adiungere  se  tibi  socios  laborum  et  meriti  facile  voluerunt. 

Est  igitur  Nobis  iucundum,  communium  curarum  et  fructuum 
haud  exiguam  partem  iam  esse  in  medium  prolatam,  quae,  sicut 
compertum  habemus,  non  rnodo  expectationi  plane  congruent, 
verum  etiamplenae  absolutaeque  rei  acuere  desiderium  videatur. 

Sane,  quod  in  uno  eodemque  oper  digesta  et  prompta  suppedi- 
tentur  quaecumque  sacris  Bibliis  pernoscendis  esse  usui  possint, 
eaque  deducta  potissimum  ex  veterum  copiosa  sapientia,  quam 
tamen  recentiorum  compleant  honestae  accessiones,  hoc  demum 
est  aeque  de  religione  ac  de  studiis  optimis  praeclare  mereri. 
Sic,  dilecte  fili,  ex  tua  sociorumque  assiduitate  et  industria  fieri 
perlibentes  videmus,  quod  in  encyclicis  litteris  Providcntissimus 
Deus  vehementer  Ipsi  suasimus,  ut  multo  plures  catholici 
divinarum  Litterarum  cultui  providere,  quum  accomodate  ad 
tempora,  turn  omnino  ad  praescripta  in  eisdem  litteris  tradita, 
studiose  contendant. 

Quapropter  admodum  placet  commendationem  vobis  Nottram 
peculiar!  testimonio  significare,  eamque  optamus  adeo  in  animis 
vestris  divina  cum  gratia  posse,  ut  confirmatis  auctisque  viribus 
persequaemini  incepta  et  feliciter  perficiatis. 


Documents  645 

Quod  vero  te  proprie  attingit,  dilecte  fili,  perge  religiosae 
Sodalitate  tuae  ornamentum  opemque  afferre  ;  excultisque  a  te 
ipso  alumnis  nihil  sit  potius,  quam  ut,  per  tuae  vestigiae  dis- 
ciplinae,  rei  biblicae  incrementa  quotidie  efficiant  docendo  et 
scribendo  uberiora. 

lam  tibi,  eisque  singulis  quos  consortes  habes  egregii  labor- 
iosique  propositi,  caelestium  munerum  auspicem,  Apostolicara 
benedictionem  effusa  caritate  impertimus. 

Datum  Komae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  die  in  februari,  anno 
MDCCCXCVI,  Pontiflcatus  Nostri  decimo  octavo. 

LEONE  XIII. 


DECISION  OF  THE  CONGREGATION  OF  BISHOPS  AND  REGULARS 
REGARDING  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD  NUNS  AND  THE  BISHOP 
OF  NANCY 

Die  27  Martii,  1896. 

Ad  reducendas  ad  rectum  virtutis  tramitem  lapsas  puellas  et 
ad  protegendas  periclitantes,  Eosa  Virginia  Pelletier,  postea  Soror 
Maria  a  S.  Euphrasia,  Congregationem  Sororum  cum  votis  simpli- 
cibus  a  Bono  Pastore  nuncupatam  fundavit  an.  1835  cum  domo 
Matrice  in  civitate  Andegavensi.  Huiusmodi  Institutum,  depen- 
dens  a  Superiorissa  generali,  in  praefata  domo  residente,  et  quod 
suas  Constitutiones  a  S.  Congne  EE.  et  Kegul.  approbatas  habuit, 
brevi  floruit  et  dilatatum  est  fere  per  totum  orbem,  opere  et 
solertia  praesertim  piae  Fundatricis,  quae  Generalem  obtinuit 
Praefecturam  usque  ad  annum  1868,  quo  diem  ipsa  vidit  supre- 
mum. 

Inter  domos  quae  specialem  sollicitudinem  piae  Institutricis 
prorneruerunt,  ilia  profecto  accensenda  est  quae  in  civitate 
Nanceyensi  usque  ab  an.  1835  erecta  fuit.  Haec  enim,  superata 
oppositione  auctoritatis  ecclesiasticae  localis.  quae  ipsius  depen- 
dentiam  a  domo-Matrice  Andegavensi  renuebat,  et  aliis  passim 
enatis  dimcultatibus,  ita  Deo  adiuvante  prospere  crevit,  ut 
ultimis  temporibus  necesse  fuerit  aedincium  novis  construc- 
tion ibus  ampliare. 

Haec  nova  opera  actuali  Episcopo  Nanceyensi  occasionem 
praebuerunt  tria  decreta  contra  sorores  praedictas  emanandi ; 
in  horum  primo  sub  die  19  Feb.  1894,  operum  suspensione 
imposita,  Episcopus  iubebat  sorores  exhibere  turn  plantam 
graphicam  novarum  constructionum,  turn  libros  rationum  redi- 


646  Documents 

tuum  domus  et  expensarum  in  iam  factis  operibus,  exigens 
deinde  syngrapham ,  a  Superiorissa  local!  subscriptam  et  Gene- 
ralissae  approbatione  munitam,  in  qua  designata  esset  summa 
pecuniae  a  Conservatorio  egressuris  puellis  cum  suppellectili 
tradendae :  in  aliis  duobus  decretis  sub  die  19  Martii  successivi 
Episcopus,  adhaerens  Const.  Greg.  XV.  Inscrutabili  an.  1622  et 
statutis  dioecesanis  circa  Congregationes  religiosas  feminarum, 
adstringebat  memoratam  Superiorissam  ad  tradendos  pro  examine 
Commission!,  ab  Episcopo  deputatae  libros  administrations, 
regesta,  libros  computorum,  et  insuper  ad  exhibendum  intra  5 
dies  elenchum  puellarum  ingressarum  et  egressarum  a  die  1  Ian. 

1893  et  ad  docendum  quam  pecuniae  summam  hae  in  suo  egressu 
habuissent. 

Contra  huiusmodi  Episcopi  agendi  rationem  Sorores  per 
suum  Emum  Protectorem  ad  S.  Congregationem  querelas  detul 
erunt,  asserentes  quod  Episcopus  iam  erat  edoctus  de  novis  con- 
structionibus  et  expensis  factis  et  quod  finis  huius  postulationis 
seu  vexationis  erat  novarn  Sororibus  imponere  obligationem  ; 
nempe  eas  cogere  ad  determinatam  pecuniae  summam  puellis 
poenitentibus,  ab  Institute  egressuris,  relinquendam,  quam 
obligationem  absque  gravi  praeiudicio,  imo  ruina  Congnis 
assumere  nequibant. 

Huiusmodi  recursus  pro  informatione  et  voto  ablegatus  est 
Episcopo   Nanceyensi,    qui  in  literis  responsivis  diei  31  Martii 

1894  plura  contra  sorores  adduxit  et  illud  praecipue  quod  hae 
pecuniam  Congnis  dilapidarsnt,  dum  enim  Superiorissa  edixerat 
pro  novis  constructionibus  summam  libel.     160,000  sufficientem 
evadere,  ex  documentis  scatebat  de  facto  libel.    300,000  expensas 
fuisse  ;  et  interea,  subdebat  Episcopus  in  hisce  literis,  eleemosy- 
nae   pauperibus   denegantur,    puellis   egressuris   nulla    pecuniae 
summa  datur  pro  honesta  earum  collocatione,  et  in  Conservatorio 
potius   quam   pietati   et   morali    puellarum    education!,    tantum 
pecuniae  comparandae  intenditur. 

Hisce  literis  acceptis  et  rebus  sedulo  pensatis  S.  Congregatio 
die  27  April.  1894  sequens  edidit  rescriptum :  "  Scribatur  Epis- 
copo Nanceyen.  ad  mentem  :  mens  est  ...  Quoad  onus  Monialibus 
impositum  administration! s  libros  Ordinario  exhibendi,  non  posse 
enunciatas  Moniales  obstringi  ad  huiusmodi  libros  exhibendos, 
ex  eo  quod  singula  Monasteria  quolibet  anno  respectivarum 
domorum  Superiorissae  general!  rationes  reddunt,  quae  postquam 
ab  Ordinario  domus  principis  approbatae  fuerint,  statis  tempori- 


Documents  647 

bus  a  Constitutionibus  praefixis  ad  S.  C.  Episc.  et  Regular, 
transmittuntur.  Quo  vero  ad  Superiorissae  Monasterii  Nanceyen. 
ac  Superiorissae  Provincialis  remotionem,  Episcopi  votis  annul 
non  posse  ;  cum  enim  agatur  de  re,  quae  internum  regrimen 
respicit,  ad  petitam  remofcionem  procedi  nequit,  quin  inquisitio 
formalis  super  earumdem  agendi  ratione  praecedat.  Nee  aliter 
sentiendum  esse  de  obligatione  Monialibus  imponenda,  tradendi 
nempe  cum  supellectili  aliquam  pecuniae  summam  orphanis  et 
aliis  puellis  e  Monasterio  egressuris ;  agitur  enim  de  onere  ad 
quod  obligari  nequeunt ;  cum  neque  per  Constitutiones,  neque 
per  consuetudinem  teneantur." 

Communicato  relate  rescripto  Episcopus  non  acquievit,  sed 
instetit,  ut  ad  normam  supra  citatae  Bullae  Gregorianae  et 
aliarum  decisionum,  iterum  ad  trutinam  in  Congne  generali 
revocarentur  quaestiones  per  dictum  rescriptum  iam  resolutae, 
ipsum  praesertim  impugnans  circa  denegatum  ius  sibi  ostendendi 
libros  administrationis  ex  parte  sororum  et  novam  introductam 
praxim  quae  plura  inconvenientia  parit  :  quoad  assignationem 
seu  dotationem  puellis  egressuris  faciendam,  Episcopus  ait,  nedum 
a  principiis  Christianae  charitatis,  sed  ab  ipsa  iustitia  id  praecipi. 

Hisce  habitis  observationibus,  S.  Congregatio  censuit  morem 
gerere  Episcopi  circa  propositionem  causae  in  generalibus  comitiis 
per  sequens  rescriptum :  u  Quod  attinet  exhibifcionem  librorum 
administrationis  et  rationum  redditionem  praxis  haec  est ;  ut 
scilicet  quaelibet  Superiorissa  in  singulis  annis  rationes  respec- 
tivae  domus  non  alii  quam  Superiorissae  Generali  reddere  tene- 
atur ;  quae  ab  Ordinario  domus  principis  approbatae  cum  fuerint, 
ad  hanc  S.  C.  EE.  RR.  quolibet  triennio  transmittendae  sunt ; 
quin  huiusmodi  praxim  infirmare  vel  mutare  valeant  exempla  et 
auctoritates  ab  Amplitudine  tua  in  contrarium  adducta  ;  haec 
siquidem,  uti  obiter  legenti  patent,  Monasteria  Monialium  votorum 
solemnium  respiciunt,  quae  authonoma  sunt  et  ab  invicem  inde- 
pendentia ;  non  vero  recentiora  instituta,  quae  Superiorissam 
generalem  et  domum  principem  habent.  Etenim  quoad  haec 
Instituta  ea,  quae  S.  C.  per  epistolam  diei  6  Maii  Amplitudini 
tuae  significavit,  praescripta  sunt  ,  .  .  Ob  rationes  in  praecedenti 
epistola  allatas,  S.  C.  admittere  nequit  principium  ab  Amplitu- 
dine tua  propugnatum,  scilicet  Moniales  teneri  orfanis  aliisque 
puellis  e  pia  domo  egressuris,  una  cum  suppellectili  aliquam 
pecuniae  summam  titulo  dotis  suppeditare  ;  admisso  enim  huius-, 
modi  principio  puellae  omnes  ius  sibi  arrogare  praesumerent, 


648  Documents 

Verumtamen  si  mox  exposita  non  arrident,  et  Amplitude  tua  in 
proposito  persistit,  per  epistolam  diei  8  lunii  expresso,  ut  nempe 
controversia  in  plenariis  Emorum  Patrum  comitiis  discutienda 
proponatur,  grave  ne  sit  S.  C.  hac  super  re  certiorem  reddere." 

DISCEPTATIO    SYNOPTICA 

Episcopi  De/ensio.  Episcopi  patronus  in  tres  partes  suam 
orationem  dispescit.  In  harum  prima  contendit  Instituta 
votorum  simplicium  semper  subiecta  fuisse  Episcopis  loci  in  quo 
extabant,  etiam  quoad  bonorurn  administrationem.  Distinguit 
duas  epochas,  idest  ante  et  post  perturbationem  gallicam  :  quoad 
primam  adnotat,  quod,  ut  ut  per  Constit.  S.  Pii  V.  Circa  Pastoralis 
haec  instituta  evanescere  debuissent,  tamen  de  facto  tolerata  sunt, 
cum  conditione  tamen  plenae  dependentiae  ab  Episcopis  localibus, 
etiam  quoad  internum  regimen,  ac  si  ageretur  de  institutis 
dioecesanis.  Id  scatere  ait  ex  Instit.  eccles.  XXIX.  num.  13 
Bened.  XIV.  et  ex  percelebri  eius  Bulla  Quamvis  lusto,  ubi 
signanter  quoad  virgines  Anglican  as  institutum  votorum  simpli- 
cium docet  quod — sint  iurisdictioni  Ordinariae  Episcoporum 
subditae,  in  quorum  dioecesibus  sunt.  Has  autem  expressiones 
importare  in  Episcopo  ius  vigilantiae  super  administrationem 
.  bonorum  nedum  tradi  a  Beinfestuel  Ius  canon,  univ.  lib.  III.  tit. 
36.  §  5.  et  a  Fagnano  in  cap.  4  de  Relig.  domib.  §  31,  sed  etiam 
erui  sustinet  ex  eo  quod  Episcopus  huiusmodi  iure  potiatur  etiam 
quoad  instituta  a  sua  iurisdictione  exempta  ad  disposita  per 
Cone.  Trid.  in  sess.  22  cap.  9  de  Be/or,  et  per  Bullam  Gregorianam 
Inscrutabili. 

Quin  id  repeti  possit  ex  facto  quod  haec  Instituta  generalem 
Antistitam  non  haberent,  nam,  omissis  aliis  exemplis  ad  hoc 
refutandum  patronus  profert  exemplum  nuper  relati  Instituti 
Virginum  Anglicanarum,  quae  quamvis  haberent  Superiorissam 
g-meralem,  tamen,  hoc  non  obstante,  Pontifex  expresse  declarat 
in  memorata  Bulla,  per  hoc  nullimode  derogatum  fuisse  Epis- 
coporum iurisdictioni  in  singulas  domos. 

Postea  patronus  digrediens  ad  secundam  epocham  nempe 
post  perturbationem  Gallicam,  animadvertit  S.  Sedem  semper 
caute  et  cum  haesitatione  processisse  in  approbatione  Institutorum 
votorum  simplicium,  et  in  concessione  Superiorissae  generalis,  et 
quando  id  peregit,  continue  integrum  voluisse  ius  Episcoporum 
iocalium  circa  vigilantiam  in  administratione  bonorum  Instituti 
et  circa  huius  subiectionem  eorum  iurisdictioni. 


Documents  649 

Probat  id  auctoritate  Lucidi  cle  visitations  SS.  LL.  vol.  2,  cap. 
5,  art.  4,  §  355  et  360  et  varia  adducit  exempla  ex  quibus  constat 
quod  decretum  laudis  vel  approbatio  novi  Instituti  facta  fuit  cum 
clausula — salva  omnimoda  iurisdictione  Antistitum  localium. 
Haec  clausula  apposita  fuit  in  approbatione  Instituti  Boni 
Pastoris  et  dein  huius  intrinseca  constitutio  a  S.  Sede  assumpta 
et  prolata  fuit  tamquam  exemplar  subiectionis  locorum  Ordinariis 
pro  aliis  Institutis,  uti  colligi  dicit  ex  Bizzarri  Collect,  pag,  776. 
Quin  imo,  addit  patronus,  in  nonnullorum  Institutorum  appro- 
batione uti  in  illo  filiarum  S.  Annae  expresse  additum  fuit  per  hoc 
nullimode  derogatum  fuisse  tutelae  quam  ss.  Canones  tribuunt 
Episcopis  super  bonis  temporalibus  respectivarum  domorum. 

Proinde  concludit,  principium  a  S.  Sede  admissum  hoc  fuisse  : 
nempe  excludere  Episcopum  Domus  Matricis  a  quacumque  in- 
gerentia  in  institutis  aliarum  dioecesum  et  illi  solum  servare  ceu 
Delegate  Apostolico  praesidentiam  in  Capitulis  generalibus. 

Tandem  ad  evincendum,  subiectionem  respectivarum  domo- 
rum Episcopis  localibus  quoad  administrationem  bonorum  usque 
adhuc  vigere,  plurium  canonistarum  doctrinam  refert  (TAicidi  I. 
cit.  art.  6,  §  428-29  ;  Santi  Praelect.  iur.  can.  ad  tit.  36  lib.  III.  ; 
De  Angelis,  etc.)  contendens  nullum  exemplum  adinveniri  restric- 
tionis  auctoritatis  Episcopalis  localis  circa  dicta  Instituta.  E 
contra  ex  recenti  approbatione  cuiusdam  Instituti  et  ex  nuper- 
rima  decisione  S.  Congnis  EE.  et  EE.  a  S.  Pontifice  approbata, 
principium  dependentiae  Institutorum  votorum  simplicium  ab 
Ordinariis  localibus  omnino  sancitum  fuisse  :  hinc  deducit  praxim 
invocatarn  in  relato  Eescripto  S.  Congnis  sub  die  5  Maii,  1894, 
ceu  novam  et  nunc  primitus  introductam  censendam  esse  pro- 
indeque  reiiciendam. 

In  secunda  parte  suae  allegationis  Episcopi  patronus  ostendere 
sategit  incommoda  ex  citato  rescripto  provenientia,  et  cautelas 
seu  fraena  in  ipso  statuta ;  interventus  nempe  Episcopi  Domus- 
Matris  et  approbationis  triennalis  S.  Congregationis  evadere 
penitus  insufficientia.  Sane  cum  respectivae  domus  maxime  sint 
dissitae  et  ab  Episcopo  domus  Matris  et  potiori  iure  a  S.  Congne, 
haec  distantia  efficit  ut  irrepentes  abusus  in  administratione,  sive 
circa  expensas  ordinarias  infra  annum,  sive  circa  extraordinarias, 
neque  praeveniri  neque  detegi  aut  corrigi  valeant,  aut  detectae 
sontes  puniri  :  ad  hoc  enim  obtinendum  requireretur  praesentia 
Episcopi  Domus-Matris  in  respectivis  institutis,  quod  cum  im- 
possibile  evadat,  necesse  est  ut  tutela  administrationis  singularum 
domorum  relinquatur  Episcopis  localibus, 


650  Documents 

Quin  aliquid  suffragetur  quod  Episcopus  Domus-Matris  prae- 
fatos  abusus  praecavere  posset  utendo  opera  Episcoporum 
localium  ;  reponit  enim  patronus,  quod  hoc  sistema  esset  nimis 
longum  et  parum  conveniens  pro  Episcopis  localibus  ;  et  dein  in 
citata  hypothesi,  vel  Episcopus  Domus-Matris  aliorum  Episco- 
porum sententiam  sequitur,  et  tune  idem  est  ac  in  manu  ipsorum 
relinquere  tutelam  homorum,  vel  non  sequitur,  et  tune  lites  et 
discordias  exoriri  necesse  est. 

Tandem  patronus  refutat,  nixus  auctoritate  Lucidi,  supra 
relati,  obiectionem,  nempe  quod  dependentia  singularum  domo- 
rum  ab  Episcopis  localibus  in  administratione  bonorum  evellat 
unitatem  Instituti  et  enumerat  iura  quae  secumfert  ab  eo  defensa 
tutela  episcopalis. 

Ad  tertiam  et  ultimarn  partem  suae  allegationis  deveniens 
patronus  propugnat,  quod  Institutum  Boni  Pastoris  in  civitate 
Nanceyensi  tenetur  puellas  ab  eo  egressuras  et  honeste  collocare 
et  congruam  suppellectilem  cum  determinata  pecuniae  sum  ma 
eis  tradere.  Quoad  primum  dicit  liquido  scatere  ex  Constitutioni- 
bus  Instituti  ibi — egredientes  puellae  vd  tradentur  in  manibus 
parentum,  vel  honeste  collocabuntur,  vel  matrimonio  iungentur 
quando  yropitia  sese  obtulerlt  occasio. 

Quoad  alterum  patronus  sustinet  Institutum  obligatum 
manere  ad  praestationem  pecuniae  cum  congrua  supellectili  ex 
triplici  titulo :  1.  ex  titulo  charitatis  christianae,  quae  exigit  ut 
egressis  puellis  in  earum  inopia  succurratur ;  2.  ex  titulo  iusti 
salarii,  quidquid  enim  Institutum  Nanceyense  lucratur,  provenit 
ex  labore  puellarum  hospitio  receptarum  ;  3.  ratione  usus  vigentis 
in  Institute  iuxta  confessionem  Antistitae  Generalis,  a  qua  certe 
eximi  non  potest  Communitas  Nanceyensis  quae  in  splendida 
aedificia  plus  quam  quinque  centena  libellarum  millia  sumptuose 
expendit. 

Iura  Sororum  Boni  Pastoris.  Ex  adverse  Sorores  mordicus 
obsistunt  partis  contrariae  praetentionibus,  sustinentes  neque 
subiectas  esse  Ordinario  dioecesano  quoad  bonorum  administra- 
tionem,  neque  teneri  puellas  in  earum  egressu  honeste  collocare 
eisque  congruam  supellectilem  cum  determinata  pecuniae  summa 
tradere. 

Et  quoad  primum  ipsae  respuunt  aequivocationem,  in  quam 
dicunt  incidissi  adversae  partis  patronum,  applicando  Institutis 
votorum  simplicium  ea  iuris  capita,  quae  expresse  statuta  sunt 
pro  Monialibus  votorum  solemnium  et  clausurae  papali  subiectis 


Documents  651 

quae  differentia  inter  simplicem  religiosam  et  Monialem  est  tarn 
patula  res,  ut  neque  ipsum  vulgus  fugiat,  quamvis  iuris  canonici 
ignarum.  Et  reapse,  pergunt  Sorores,  si  horum  duorum  entium 
natura  perpendatur,  cito  apparet  maxima  inter  se  differentia, 
Moniales  vi  votorum  solemnium  stricte  spectant  ad  statum  reli- 
giosum,  habent  regulas  Ordinum  primitivorum,  subduntur  rigori 
ss.  canonum  circa  proprietatis  abdicationem  et  clausuram  papalem 
et  communicant,  iuxta  earum  capacitatem,  de  privilegiis  Ordinum 
religiosorum.  E  contra  Sorores  votorum  simplicium,  attenta 
horum  non  solemnitate  reguntur  iure  novo  per  quod  antiquus 
rigor  ss.  canonum  temperatur  ;  hinc  conservant  dominium 
radicale  bonorum,  subduntur  clausurae  tantum  episcopali  et 
ordinario  solum  passivae,  et  habent  generalitium  regimen  :  et 
quamvis  usque  a  medio  saeculo  habeant  approbationem  apostoli- 
carn  in  forma  simpliciter  communi  et  sint  sub  directa  S.  Sedis 
tutela,  attenta  tamen  earum  incompleta  natura  quoad  statum 
religiosum,  participare  non  valent  de  privilegiis  a  iure  Ordinibus 
religiosis  concessis. 

Ex  praemissis  deducunt,  textus  iuris  ex  adverse  allegatos,  ad 
reclamandam  vigilantiam  in  administratione  bonorum,  expresse 
emanatos  pro  Monialibus  votorum  solemnium,  aptari  non  posse 
In stitutis  votorum  simplicium  quin  incurratur  in  iuris  corrupt elam. 
Et  quod  reapse  non  aptantur  Institutis  votorum  simplicium 
confirmant  1.  Ex  impossibilitate  ex  parte  S.  Sedis  hos  actus 
emanandi  pro  dictis  Institutis  ;  2,  ex  causa  finali  quae  has  dispo- 
sitiones  determinavit  ;  et  3  ex  incompatibilitate  praescriptionum 
cum  potestate  dominativa  horum  Institutorum. 

Expendentes  primum  Bullam  Greg.  XV  Inscrutabili  datam 
sub  die  5  Feb.  1622  carpunt  adversum  patronum  deducentem  ex 
facto  quod  in  Ipsa  nulla  distinctio  fit  inter  instituta  primi  generis 
et  Coinmunitatem  votorum  simplicium  cum  Superiorissa  generali, 
etiam  huic  applicari  debere  ;  huic  distinction!,  reponunt  Sorores, 
locus  fieri  nequibat  ea  simplici  ratione,  quod  praefata  Communitas 
tune  non  aderat.  Antiquior  enim  Institutio  votorum  simplicium 
est  ilia  filiarum  S.  Vincentii  de  Paulis  ab  Episcopis  approbata 
an.  1633  et  a  Clem.  X.  recognita  an  1668.  Sed  dato  et  non  con- 
cesso  quod  huiusmodi  Instituta,  etiam  tune  existerent,  praefata 
Bulla  ipsis  extendi  non  potest,  quia  Bulla  loquens  de  uno  Institute, 
evidenter  alterum  diversae  naturae  excludebat  et  scitum  quod 
a  divcrsis  non  fit  illatio. 

TJlterius  notant  sorores,  quod  S.  Sedes  in  approbatione  Constir 


652  Documents 

tutionum  Institutorum  votorum  simplicium,  usque  ad  medietatem 
huius  saeculi  semper  apponere  consuevit  clausulam—  Non 
intendimus  tamen  Conservatorium  approbare.  lam  vero  teste 
Bened.  XIV  haec  clausula  semper  refertur  ad  conservatorium 
vel  Monasterium  mulierum  sine  clausura  viventium ;  hinc  nisi  per 
absurdurn  Bulla  Gregoriana,  cuius  finis  erat  providere  custodiae 
diligentissimaeGl&Msm&Q  ad  praescriptum  Bonifacii  VIII,  Concilii 
Trid.  et  Constitut.  S.  Pii  V  Circa  Pastoralis,  invocari  potest  pro 
Monasteriis  mulierum  sine  clausura  viventium. 

Et  quod  Pontifex  unice  intenderet  providere  custodiae  clau- 
surae,  et  hinc  solum  de  Monialibus  loqueretur,  liquet  ex  verbis 
initialibus  Bullae  ut  Virginum  Deo  sacrarum  Monasteries  diligenter 
custodiantur — ex  reformatione  illarum  dispositionum,  quae  ad 
clausuram  referuntur,  uti  nempe  circa  Confessores,  administra- 
tionem  bonorum,  electiones,  ex  insertione  decretorum  Concilii 
Trid.  quoad  Moniales,  et  denique  ex  praesentia  Praelati  Regularis 
in  redditione  rationum  Administrationis  Episcopis  loci.  lam  vero 
Sorores  non  fruuntur  exemptione  Regularium,  non  habent  clau- 
suram papalem,  non  Praelatos  Regulares,  et  hinc  ipsis  praefata 
Bulla  applicari  nequit. 

Neque  valet  regerere  quod  applicatio  Bullae  quoad  redditionem 
rationum  administrationis  Episcopis  localibus,  sicut  utilis  evadit 
pro  Monialibus,  ita  evaderet  pro  Sororibus  ;  nam  cum  hae  post 
approbationem  Episcopi  domus-Matris,  teneantur  redditionem 
rationum  earum  administrationis  ita  approbatam  exhibere 
S,  Congregationi,  si  novae  dein  revisioni  ordinariorum  localium 
subiicerentur,  eveniente  diversitate  iudiciorum  circa  approba- 
tionem, nimis  essent  impeditae  in  administratione,  et  sic 
odiosum  gravamen  haberent. 

Quare  iure  merito,  concludunt  Sorores,  haec  S.  Congregatio 
EpiscopoNanceyensi  rescripsit — Hoc  onus  Sororibus  imponi  nequit. 
Secus  enim  revocandum  fuisset  ius  novum  pro  Institutis  votorum 
simplicium ;  ad  huius  enim  iuris  tramitem,  potestas  dominativa 
seu  administrandi  bona  temporalia,  ex  natura  rei  ad  Communi- 
tatem  spectans,  est  una  ex  functionibus  vitalibus  ipsius  et  per 
canonicam  electionem  ad  formam  Constitutionurn  transfertur  in 
Superiorissam  generalem,  et  haec  potestas  auferri  nequit,  quin 
natura  Instituti  destruatur.  Hinc  quamvis  in  Apostolica 
approbatione  Constitutionum  addatur — salva  Ordinariorum  iuris- 
dictione  iuxta  ss.  canones — per  hoc  non  restringitur  potestas 
Superiori^sae  generalis,  siquidern  potesta,s  iuris dictionalis  toto 


Documents  653 

caelo  ctiftert  a  dominativa,  cum  ilia  circa  spiritualia  et  haec 
circa  temporalia  seu  administrationem  bonorum  versetur ;  quod 
confirmatur  ex  declaratione  S.  Congregationis  Concilii  ubi  Verba 
Tridentini  quoad  Monasteria  Monialium — ab  Episcopis  tamquam 
Sanctae  Sedis  delegatis  gubernantur — ait  esse  intelligenda  de 
regimine  spirituali  et  non  temporali.  Hoc  posito,  Sorores  per- 
gunt,  administratio  bonorum  in  Institutis  votorum  simplicium 
competens  potestati  dominativae  Superiorissae  generalis  necesse 
est  ut  libera  sit  et  perfecta,  secus  finem  suum  non  consequeretur. 
Sed  si  haec  administratio  subiiceretur  praescriptionibus  Bullae 
Inscrutabili  seu  revision!  Episcoporum  localium,  potestas  domi- 
nativa  Superiorissae  generalis  pene  evanesceret.  1.  Quia  tot 
administrationes  ab  ipsa  independentes  haberentur,  quot  essent 
domus  Episcopis  localibus  subiectae,  nempe  160  aut  180  super 
200  fundationibus.  2.  Quia  Superiorissa  impediretur  disponere 
de  bonis  unius  Communitatis  favore  alterius,  vel  in  bonum  generate 
Instituti  pro  novis  fundationibus ;  Episcopi  enim  locales  possent 
iubere,  ut  reditus  a  respectiva  Communitate  non  exeant. 

Hue  oratione  perducta,  Sorores  dicunt,  allegationem  adversarii 
iam  esse  penitus  refutatam,  cum  sit  demolita  basis,  super  qua  fuit 
constructa,  nempe  applicatio  Bullae  Inscrutabili ;  attamen  deli- 
bando  alia  iuris  capita  ex  adverse  deducta  etiam  his  respondent. 

Quoad  Bullam  Quamvis  lusto,  etiam  ex  ipsa  rubrica  patere 
aiunt,  emissam  fuisse  taxative  pro  Virginibus  Anglicanis,  et  hinc 
applicari  non  posse  Institutis  votorum  simplicium  in  genere.  Et 
quamvis  Lucidi  in  opere  citato  t.  2.  p.  274  earn  traducat  tamquam 
fundamentum  super  quo  alia  Instituta — totum  aedificium  religiosi 
regiminis  possunt  extruere,  tamen  1.  c.  p.  327  addit  quod  Pontifex 
S.  M.  Pius  IX. — huic  praescriptioni  derogatum  esse  voluit — et  de 
facto  S.  C.  a  pluribus  annis  recessit  ab  imponendo  supradictam 
dependentiam,  quin  imo  in  nupera  approbatione  per  organum 
S.  C.  de  Propaganda  Fide  data  Constitutionibus  Virginum  Angli- 
canarum,  definitive  suppressa  fuit  ilia  omnimoda  dependentia, 
quam  nunc  praetendit  Episcopus  Nanceyensis. 

Quoad  textus  ex  adverse  prolatos  Clementinae  Const.  Quia 
contingit  Cone.  Trid.  cap.  8  sess.  22  et  Fagnani  in  Cap.  4  de  Reg. 
dom.,  observant  quod  hi  textus  taxative  referuntur  ad  hospitalia 
et  loca  pia  et  probabiliter  absolute  applicari  nequeunt  ne  ipsis 
quidem  Eegularibus,  stante  exceptione  in  praefata  Clementina — • 
praemissa  vero  ad  hospitalia  militarium  ordinum  aut  religiosorum 
extendi  minime  volumus.  Eodem  calculo  contendunt  habendas 


654  Documents 

esse  decisiones  SS.  Congnum,  quas  adversarius  profert,  quia, 
ipso  fatente,  fundantur  in  Bulla  Inscrutabili,  quae  iuxta  superius 
exposita,  Institutes  votorum  simplicium  non  est  applicabilis. 
Tandem  Sorores  quoad  auctoritates  Doctorum  exprobrant 
exprobrant  adversario,  quod  ipse  aequivocans  in  falsa  applica- 
tione  pluries  citatae  Bullae,  referat  tantum  sibi  sententias  faventes 
et  sileat  de  contrariis  suo  themati. 

Post  haec  Sorores  gradum  faciunt  ad  alteram  quaestionem,  et 
penitus  reiectis  accusationibus  ex  adverso  contra  ipsas  motis, 
utpote  fundatis  in  testibus  vel  suspectis,  vel  colludentibus 
proindeque  nulla  fide  dignis,  pro  virili  parte  evincere  obnituntur 
egredientes  ex  Institute  puellas,  neque  honeste  collocare,  neque 
eis  suppellectilem  cum  determinata  pecuniae  summa  subininis- 
trare  teneri. 

1.  Non  adstringi,  dicunt,  titulo  charitatis,  quia  charitatis 
omcium  ex  earurn  Institute  est  tantum  in  hospitando  puellas, 
unde  hospitio  receptae  puellae,  liospitatae  nuncupantur  :  ex  hoc 
autem  charitativo  omcio  nulla  alia  obligatio  gigni  valet ;  sicuti 
piae  personae  dantes  eleemosynam  cogi  nequeunt  post  factam 
eleemosyriarn  ad  honeste  collocandos  pauperes,  qui  earn  accepe- 
runt,  et  sicuti  hospitalia  aegros  convalescentes  dimittentia,  in 
eoruin  egressu  ex  valetudiiiario  adstringi  nequeunt  ad  eis 
pecuniam  cum  congrua  suppellectili  tradendem,  vel  ad  honestam 
positionem  procurandam. 

Neque  2.  dicunt,  obligari  possunt  ex  Constitutionibus  sive 
antiquis,  sive  novis,  quia  hae  circa  hunc  charitatis  ordinern  nihil 
praescribunt.  Quin  imo  haec  nova  obligatio  cum  Instituti  statu, 
quod  anno  1893  recensebat  plus  quam  35885  personas  et  182 
Communitates  distributas  per  totum  fere  orbem  in  29  Provincias, 
prorsus  evaderet  incompossibilis  :  quamvis  enim,  attenta  Modera- 
tricum  solertia  in  respectivis  domibus  reditus  pro  earum 
manutentione  sumcientes  sint,  tamen  si  etiam  consulendum  foret 
honestae  collocationi  receptarum  puellarum  in  earum  egressu, 
quae  anno  1893  in  hospitio  20,000  numerabantur,  nemo  non  videt 
quod  status  oeconomicus  Instituti,  brevi  ad  ruinam  vergeret. 

His  utrinque  compendiatim  relatis,  enodanda  proposita  fuere 
sequentia 

DUBIA 

I.  "An  et  quorcodo  Communitas  Boni  Pastoris  Nanceyensis- 
subiici  debeat  Ordinario  Dioecesano  quoad  bonorum  adrmnistra- 
tionem?  " 


Documents  655 

II.  "An  ct  quomodo  Sorores  Boni  Pastoris  Instituti  Nan- 
ceyensis,  teneantur  honeste  collocare  hospitatas  puellas  in  earum 
egressu  ex  Conservatorio,  eisque  cum  supellectili  congruam 
pecuniae  summam  tradere?  " 

EESOLUTIO.  S.  Congregatio  Episc,  et  Eegular.  re  discussa  sub 
di  27  Martii,  1896,  respondit : 

Ad  I.  Negative  in  omnibus. 

Ad  II.  Non  teneri. 

Ex  QUIBUS  COLLIGES  :  I.  maximum  discrimen  intercedere 
inter  Moniales  votorum  solemnium,  et  recentem  institutionem 
Sororum  votorum  simplicium.  II] ae  stricte  pertinent  ad  statum 
religiosum,  sunt  subiectae  rigori  ss.  canonurn,  turn  circa  abdica- 
tionem  proprietatis,  turn  circa  observantiam  clausurae  papalis  ; 
efformant  domos  inter  se  autonomas  et  independentes,  et 
participant  pro  sua  capacitate  de  privilegiis  Ordinum  stricte 
regularium.  E  contra  Sorores  lato  sensu  pertinent  ad  statum 
religiosum,  retinent  radicale  dominium  bonorum,  subduntur 
tantum  clausurae  episcopali  et  ordinario  solum  passivae,  habent 
generalitium  regimen,  et  per  se  non  communicant  de  privilegiis 
Ordinum  Eegularium. 

II.  Hinc  sequi,  quod  iuris  dispositiones  editae  pro  Institutis 
votorum    solemnium,    non    semper    accommodantur     Institutis 
votorum  simplicium,  cum  sint  duo  entia  diversae  naturae  :  iam 
vero  Const.  Greg.  XV.  Inscrutabili,   sive  ex  tempore  quo  edita 
fuit,  sive  ex  fine  sibi  proposito,  sive  ex  citationibus  in  ea  allegatis, 
evidenter  emanata  erat  proMonialibus  tantum  votorum  solemnium, 
et  nonnisi  iniuria  invocari  poterat  pro  Institute  Boni  Pastoris. 

III.  Posita  natura  diversa  horum  Institutorum,  necesse  est, 
ut  etiam  diverso  iure  regantur  :  proinde  sicuti  Moniales  votorum 
solemnium    subduntur    rigori    ss.    canonum,   ita   pro   Institutis 
votorum  simplicium  hoc  rigore  remisso,  novumius  est  introduction. 
Administratores  bonorum  Monialium  tenentur  rationem  reddere 
singulis     annis    Episcopis    localibus    cum    interventu    Praelati 
Eegularis ;    ex   adverso   respectiva   Sororum   Instituta  exhibent 
rationem  administrationis  non  Episcopis  localibus,  sed  Superior- 
issae    generali,   quae   postea   earn   submittit    pro    approbatione 
Ordinario    Domus    Matricis,    transmittendam    de    triennio     ad 
trienniurn  ad  S.  Sedem  :  et  hoc  descendit  ex  potestae  dominativa, 
una  ex  functionibus  potioribes  horum  Institutorum,  reservata  ob 
Generalitium  regimen  praefatae  Superiorissae ;  it  sorores  quamvis 
obnoxiae  sint  locorum  Ordinariis  quoad  iurisdictionem,  tamen 


656  fiotittmertte 

sunt    exemptae    quoad    bonorum    administrationem,    domorum 
gubernium,  et  internam  directionem. 

Hie  abs  re  non  erit  nonnulla  (ex  Bizzarri  Collectanea  in  usum 
Seer.  S.  Congnis  EE.  et  Beg.  edit.  1863)  referre,  quae  ius  novum 
sancivit  circa  exemptionem  Institutorum  votorum  simplicium  ab 
Ordinariorum  iurisdictione,  quoad  bonorum  ipsorum  administra- 
tionem 1°.  Innoc.  X.  in  Brevi  Commissi  Nobis  sub  die  30  lulii 
J647  pro  presbyteris  Doctrinae  Christianae  inter  privilegia  eis 
concessa,  quorum  communicationem  obtinuit  Congregatio 
SS.  Kedemptoris,  statuit — quoad  bonorum  temporalem  administra- 
tionem, domorum  gubernium,  Superiorum  electiones  etc.  quod 
Ordinarii  nullatenus  possint  sese  in  Us  ingerere  out  executioncs 
decretorum  .  .  .  nisi  in  casibus  a  iure  permissis  (opere  cit.  pay. 
477).  Casus  autem  a  iure  permissi,  ut  ait  praefatus  auctor  in 
notis,  sunt  designati  a  Condi.  Trid.  sess.  6.  de  He/or,  cap.  7.  sess. 
7.  de  Reform,  cap.  14.  sess.  13  de  Be/or,  capp.  1.  et  5  sess.  25  de 
Begular. 

2.  Bened.  XIV.  in  Brevi  Emanavit    nuper  sub  die  1758  con- 
firmavit  resolutionem  editam  a  Commissione  Cardinalium,  a  se 
deputata  ad  decidendas  nonnullas  controversias  inter  Archiepis- 
copum  Limanum  et  Patres  Congnis  Oratorii  dictae  dioecesis  ;  et 
quoad  administrationem  bonorum  confirmavit  responsum  ad  4. 
dubium.     An   interiores   oeconomiae    Congnis   quoad  expensas  et 
computa  .  .  .  sint  subiectae  directioni  Einscopi :  ad  4.  Negative  in 
omnibus  (op.  cit.  pag.  481). 

3.  Leo  XII  Brevi  Cum  sicut  diei  30  lanuarii  1828  (op.  cit. 
pag.  479  in  notis)  confirmavit  resolutiones  editas  in  Messanen. 
lurisdictionis    super    domibus    Oratorii    et     hinc    illam     quoad 
administrationem  bonorum  ad  3.  dubium — An  liceat  Archiepiscopo 
recipere  computa  administrations  gestae  pro  aedificatione  ecclesiae 
Ven.  Cong.  Oratorii,  seu  potius  computa  pro  quacumque  administra- 
tione  reddenda  sint  eidem  Congregationi  in  casu  ;  die  15  Dec,  1826 
referente  Emo   Pacca,   negative  in   omnibus  et  amplius  (op.  cit. 
pag.  53). 

4.  Greg.   XVI  sub   die  3   Maii  1839  exequi  mandavit  resolu- 
tionem editam  in   Pinerolien,    quoad   exceptionem  ab   Ordinario 
quoad  4.  dubium — An  et  quomodo  Congregatio  Oblatorum  subiectd 
sit  iurisdictioni  Ordinarii  seu  an  et  quomodo  Episcopus,  tamquam 
Delegatus  S.  Sedis,  visitationem  facere  possit.     Die  26  Aprilis  1839 
referente  Emo  Polidori  Affirmative  quoad  ecclesiam,  negative  quoad 
Collegionim  et  disciplinare  Congnis  regimen  et  administrationem 


The  "Imprimatur"  of  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin      657 

iuxta  Const.  Innoc.'X  editam  pro  Congne  Doctrinae  Christianae 
quae  incipit  Commissi  Nobis  30  lulii  1647,  salvo  iure  agcndi 
auctoritate  clelegata  iuxta  SS.  canones  (op.  cit.  patj.  479). 

5.  Alexander  VII  Cons.  Ex  commissi  nobis  22  Feb.  1655  pro 
Lazaristis,  Pius  VI  et  Pius  VII  similibus  decretis  pro  Congre- 
gationibus  Passionis  D.  N.  I.  C.  et  SSmi  Eedemptoris,  relictis 
his  Institutis  sub  iurisdictione  Ordinariorurn,  ea  declararunt 
exempta  quoad  bonoruin  adrninistrationem  (op.  cit.  pag. 
467-77). 

Ex  hucusque  relatis  apostolicis  dispositionibus,  quae  potiora 
votorum  simplicium  instituta  attingunt,  ita  concludit  citatus 
auctor— Hacc  normam  praebere  possnnt,  quoad  iura  Episcoporum 
in  alia  Instituta,  seu  Congnes  non  exemptas,  ab  Apostolica  Sede 
approbatas,  nisi  aliter  in  respectivis  Constitutionibus  a  S.  Sede 
co-nfirmatis  praescriptum  fuerit.  (pp.  cit.  pag.  482). ' 


THE    IMPRIMATUR    OF    THE    ARCHBISHOP    OF 
DUBLIN 

IN  a  Notice,  in  the  May  issue  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD,  of  a  recently 
published  work  on  Anglican  Orders,  attention  was  called  to 
the  fact  that  the  work  bore  the  Imprimatur  of  his  Grace  the 
Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

We  are  requested  by  the  Archbishop  to  state  that  not  merely 
was  his  Imprimatur  attached  to  the  work  in  question  without 
any  authorisation  from  him,  but  that  the  Imprimatur  was  not 
even  asked  for. 

ED.  I.  E.  R. 


VOL.  XVII.  2  T 


I     658 


IRotices  of  Boohs 

A  CHEISTIAN  APOLOGY.      By  Paul   Schanz,  D.D. ;  D.Pb. 

Translated  by  Eev.  Michael  F.  Glancey  and  Eev.  Victor 

J.  Schobel,  D.D.      Fr.  Pustet  &  Co.      New  York  and 

Cincinnati. 

THE  title  of  the  work  bespeaks  a  giant  venture,  especially 
when  we  find  that  the  author  undertakes  a  Catholic  apology  as 
well ;  that  is,  a  defence  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  the  one  true 
Church  founded  by  Christ.  At  the  present  day,  such  an  effort, 
if  it  be  a  prudent  one,  is  above  all  praise ;  and  we  must  say  that 
Dr.  Schanz  did  not  act  imprudently  when  he  determined  to  put 
his  shoulder  to  "the  wheel. 

The  work  is  divided  into  three  volumes,  the  first  having  for 
its  subsidiary  title,  "God  and  Nature  ;"  the  second,  "God  and 
Eevelation  ;"  and  the  third,  "  God  and  the  Church." 

The  first  volume  has  for  its  object  "  To  prove  that  the 
existence  of  God  is  the  necessary  outcome  of  a  reasonable  view 
of  the  world."  It  opens  with  two  chapters  of  an  introductory 
character,  which  deal  with  the  nature  and  history  of  Christian 
Apologetics,  the  second  being  specially  interesting.  Then  come 
two  chapters  on  Beligion  in  its  relation  to  history  and  to 
man. 

In  Chapter  III.  the  author  proves  religion  in  some  sense  to  be 
a  universal  fact,  and  thus  has  an  argument,  Ex  consensu,  for  its 
existence. 

In  Chapter  IV.  he  deals  with  the  origin  of  religion.  To  be 
candid,  we  consider  this  chapter  unsatisfactory.  Towards  the 
end  he  says  :  "  The  religion  that  generally  goes  by  the  name  of 
'Natural  Religion'  does  not  exist  in  history."  True;  but  there 
is  a  natural  religion  which  is  not  "  a  negation  of  supernatural 
religion,"  though  it  may  not  be  the  religion  of  history.  The 
author  takes  no  account  of  this,  at  least  possible,  religion,  with 
the  result,  that  his  arguments  are  shorn  of  half  their  force,  and 
his  manner  of  treatment  of  half  its  clearness.  After  a 
parenthetical  chapter  on  "  Ontologism  and  Traditionalism,"  he 
sets  about  his  task  in  real  earnest — the  task  of  proving  that  the 
world  calls  for  the  God  of  the  Theist. 

He  first  takes  up  the  argument  from  motion  and  imperfection, 
but,  of  course,  more  as  an  argumentum  ad  hominem  than  on  strict 


Notices  of  Books  579 

metaphysical  grounds.  He  takes  his  stand  on  the  conclusions  of 
science,  and  shows  how  science  itself  tends  to  prove  an  unmoved, 
self-existing  cause.  He  naturally  touches  on  the  question  of  the 
possibility  of  an  eternal  creation,  and  by  no  means  relishes  such 
an  idea.  If  the  actual  eternity  of  the  world  is  possible,  "  then," 
he  says,  "  reason  would  be  delivered  up  to  monism  and  all  its 
consequences."  We  fail  to  see  how  this  result  is  necessary. 
Granted  an  eternal  world,  eternal  matter,  what  has  supported  it 
from  all  eternity  ?  What  supports  it  now?  Not  itself,  certainly, 
for  matter  is  perpetually  changing,  and  what  changes  cannot  be 
self-supporting. 

The  next  chapter  deals  with  life,  and  contains  a  masterly 
refutation  of  the  theory  of  "  Spontaneous  Generation"  in  all  its 
moods  and  tenses.  The  cause  of  life,  therefore,  must  be,  of 
itself,  living  and  actual,  the  living  God.  Having  proved  so  much, 
the  author  next  takes  up  the  various  forms  of  life,  and  in 
the  following  two  chapters  deals  with  the  "  Evolution  of  Species," 
giving  the  pride  of  place  to  Darwinism.  An  immense  store  of 
scientific  knowledge,  a  mind  formed  for  order,  and  an  eye  for 
seeing  where  to  strike  with  best  effect,  are  all  brought  into  play, 
with  the  result  that  when  one  has  come  to  the  end,  he  feels  quite 
at  ease  on  the  question  of  evolution.  "  Not  proven  "  is  the  verdict 
against  the  evolution  of  even  one  species  from  another.  Hence 
animal  and  rational  life  must  have  come  from  a  spiritual,  intelli- 
gent, and  personal  First  Cause.  Then  comes  a  fascinating  chapter 
on  the  argument  from  design.  The  author  shows  how  the 
naturalist  plays  into  the  hands  of  the  Theist  for  purpose  and 
design  "  from  out  of  his  work,  as  naturally  as  the  fruit  from  the 
tree."  The  Creator  must,  therefore,  be  wise  and  good.  The  last 
stage  of  the  cosmological  argument  is  built  upon  the  fact  of 
"Virtue  and  Eeward ;  "  and  since  this  argument  postulates  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  this  latter  question  gets  a  special  chapter 
which  is  a  fitting  ending  to  a  grandly-developed  argument.  Thus, 
slowly,  methodically,  and  surely,  the  author  has  done  his 
first  business  by  proving  that  "  the  existence  of  God  is  a  necessary 
outcome  of  a  reasonable  view  of  the  world." 

Before  passing  on  to  the  second  part,  however,  he  very 
properly  deals  with  the  relation  between  the  biblical  account  of 
the  creation  and  the  discoveries  of  natural  science.  The  principal 
questions  discussed  are  the  Mosaic  account  of  creation,  the  unity 
and  age  of  the  human  race,  and  the  Deluge.  The  author  goes 


660  Notices  of  Books 

into  the  question  of  the  "  Six  Days  "  very  fully,  and,  having 
criticized  the  different  modes  of  reconciliation,  he  gives  the  pre- 
ference to  St.  Augustine's  "  Idealistic  theory;  "  but,  at  the  same 
time,  thinks  that  there  was  a  successive  creation.  Hence  the 
Mosaic  account,  "though  ethical,  is  not  really  arbitrary." 
We  do  not,  however,  consider  that  he  has  succeeded  in  ousting 
the  "  Period  theory." 

In  order  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  science,  he  considers  that 
we  must  date  the  flood  1,000  or  2,000  years  further  back ;  a 
concession  easily  made  considering  the  uncertain  character  of 
Old  Testament  chronology.  Moreover,  he  thinks  it  certain  that 
the  deluge  was  not  universal,  either  as  regards  the  earth  itself  or 
as  regards  animals.  He  is  even  inclined  to  hold,  as  more  or  less 
probable,  that  it  did  not  extend  to  all  men,  ' '  though  the  survivors 
are  actually  numbered,  and  the  phrase  omnis  homo  recurs  four 
times."  We  certainly  cannot  agree  with  him  here.  His  attempt 
at  explaining  the  purpose  of  the  deluge  in  this  hypothesis  is  a 
very  lame  one.  Besides,  though  Semitic  egotism  might  explain 
omnis  homo  in  a  particular  sense,  if  there  were  question  of  an 
ordinary  narrative,  such  an  explanation  cannot  be  admitted 
where  there  is  question  of  a  narrative  destined  in  God's  providence 
to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  all  men,  Chamites  as  well  as  Sethites. 
Moreover,  such  an  interpretation  is  not  necessary  on  the  author's 
own  admission.  Why,  then,  foist  it  on  the  sacred  text  ? 

The  second  volume  deals  with  supernatural  revelation, 
especially  the  revelation  through  Jesus  Christ.  The  author 
devotes  a  good  deal  of  space  to  the  history  of  religion  amongst 
the  different  races,  and  rightly  holds  this  important,  as  it  shows 
that,  in  the  matter  of  religion,  evolution  has  turned  back  upon 
itself,  the  course  having  been  from  Monotheism  to  Polytheism, 
from  purity  to  corruption.  Now,  spontaneous  generation  has 
never  been  heard  of  in  the  case  of  religion.  Hence,  the  analogy 
of  history  claims  for  religion  a  supernatural  genesis,  a  primaeval 
revelation.  The  history  of  the  people  of  Israel  is  the  most 
important  chapter  in  the  section,  as  it  entails  a  consideration 
of  the  trustworthiness  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  an  examination 
of  the  different  theories  about  the  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch, 
a  question  which  at  present  "  overshadows  the  whole  field  of 
Old  Testament  criticism."  After  a  most  exhaustive  treatment 
of  the  Eabbinistic  theories,  he  concludes  with  reason  that 
they  are  not  proved,  and  never  can  be ;  hence,  the  authorship 
advocated  by  history  and  tradition  holds  good, 


Notices  of  Books  661 

He  now  enters  into  the  body  of  the  work.  It  is  aa  undoubted 
fact,  "  that  Jesus  Christ  lived,"'  and,  "  that  the  great  religion 
called  Christianity  began  with  Him."  Now,  the  Christian  dogma 
is  so  sublime,  that  it  "  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  the  product  of  any 
human  mind."  Hence,  "  Christ  is  unintelligible,  unless  He  was 
an  extraordinary  ambassador  sent  from  God."  He  next  establishes 
the  possibility,  antecedent  probability,  and  necessity  of  revelation. 
But,  how  is  reason  to  know  a  true  revelation  ?  The  answer 
makes  it  necessary  to  deal  with  miracles  and  prophecies  ;  and  on 
the  former  question  especially,  the  author  treats  us  to  a  grand 
dissertation.  The  next  question  naturally  is  the  ' '  Trustworthiness 
of  Holy  Scripture,"  and  more  particularly  of  the  New  Testament. 
To  the  latter  aspect  of  the  question,  we  consider  the  author 
might  have  devoted  more  space. 

Of  course,  for  a  Catholic  at  least,  the  Bible  is  something  more 
than  a  mere  history,  and  hence  the  question  of  Inspiration 
naturally  finds  a  place  here.  The  author  advocates  merely 
sententious  inspiration  "  in  such  matters  as  profane  science  and 
history."  We  must  confess  that  we  do  not  think  he  has  proved 
his  thesis.  "  The  sole  reason  of  the  various  discrepancies,  he 
[St.  Augustine]  says,  lies  in  the  action  of  the  writers,  which  was 
influenced  by  the  scope  and  tendency  of  their  writings.  What  is 
this,  but  asserting  in  principle  the  presence  of  a  human  element  ?" 
Granted  :  but  must  the  divine  element  cease  where  the  human 
element  begins  ?  Cannot  the  Holy  Spirit  accommodate  Himself 
to  different  human  elements  ? 

The  great  question  that  now  demands  attention  is  that  of  the 
Synoptic  Gospels  in  their  relation  to  one  another,  and  to  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John.  Here  again  the  author  shows  how  deftly  he  can 
thrust  and  parry.  The  conclusion  must  be  accepted,  that  "  the 
authors  are  apostles  and  their  disciples."  Hence,  "  the  Gospels, 
even  apart  from  inspiration,  are  worthy  of  the  highest  authority 
for  a  life  of  Jesus."  Then  comes  a  sketch  of  the  Life  of  Jesus. 
When  was  He  born?  It  is  historically  certain  "that  Herod 
died  at  the  Easter  of  750."  Hence,  "  the  beginning  of  750  or 
the  end  of  749  must  be  set  down  as  the  year  of  our  Lord's  birth," 
and  not  earlier  ?  But,  then,  how  can  we  find  time  for  "  the 
presentation,  the  coming  of  the  wise  men,  and  the  Flight  into 
Egypt  ?"  Towards  the  end  of  the  chapter  he  deals  with  the  fact 
of  the  Kesurrection,  and  simply  crushes  tbe  groundless  theories 
of  the  infidel. 


662  Notices  of  Books 

But  who  was  Jesus  ?  And  what  was  He  ?  These  questions 
are  fitly  answered  by  the  belief  of  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles, 
and  by  His  own  doctrine  and  works.  The  following  two  chapters 
have  these  criteria  for  their  subject-matter.  The  volume  closes 
with  an  attempt  at  depicting  the  character  of  Jesus,  by  a  study  "  of 
the  two  natures  and  their  mutual  relations."  It  is  a  sublime, 
Christian  dissertation,  and  a  fit  ending  to  a  sublime  Christian 
apology. 

The  exigencies  of  space  will  not  allow  us  more  than  a  passing 
notice  of  the  third  volume.  It  is  a  "  Catholic  "  apology.  In  the 
introductory  chapter,  the  two  great  characteristics  of  Catholic 
dogma,  conservatism  and  progress,  are  admirably  set  forth. 
The  order  of  treatment  seems  to  us  highly  commendable.  Christ, 
the  Godman  established  a  visible  society,  and  it  is  to  be  recog- 
nised by  four  distinctive  marks,  which  marks  are  to  be  found 
only  in  the  Catholic  Church.  "  Apostolicity,"  is  dealt  with  at 
great  length,  and  rightly  so.  Perhaps,  it  would  have  been  just 
as  well  to  have  discussed  "  Sanctity  "  immediately  after  the  other 
three  ;  then,  the  necessity  of  membership  would  naturally  follow 
"Unity,"  while  "Infallibility  "  would  logically  come  after  "Unity," 
"  Catholicity,"  and  ''Apostolicity"  combined.  Next  comes  the 
question  of  "  Scripture  and  Tradition,"  which  the  author  deals  with 
most  exhaustively,  perhaps  even  unnecessarily  so,  considering  the 
present  condition  of  Christian  controversy.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  question  of  "  The  Primacy  of  St.  Peter"  might  have  been 
dealt  with  at  greater  length  ;  but  the  chapter  on  "  The  Primacy 
of  the  Pope  "  is  a  most  complete  and  masterly  defence  of  the 
Catholic  position.  The  same  is  to  be  said  of  the  following 
chapter,  which  deals  with  the  Pope's  Infallibility.  A  superb 
defence  of  the  thesis  that  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  pioneer  and 
the  mainstay  of  true  civilization  brings  the  author's  work  to  a 
close.  Two  chapters  are  added  by  the  translators,  by  way  of 
appendices — one  dealing  with  "  The  Anglican  View  of  the  Pope's 
Primacy,"  the  other  with  the  question  of  "  Christian  Eeunion." 

When  we  first  got  the  book  into  our  hands,  and  saw  the  title, 
we  were  prepared  for  an  incomplete  apology,  either  in  the  matter 
embraced  or  in  the  treatment  of  the  different  questions.  So 
judicious,  however,  is  the  author  in  his  selection  of  the  points  of 
attack  and  defence,  and  such  consummate  generalship  does  he 
display  in  marshalling  his  countless  forces,  that  now,  when  we 
have  come  to  the  end,  all  idea  of  incompleteness  has  passed  from 


Notices  of  Books  663 

our  minds.     The  work  fully  deserves  its  title,  and  that  is  saying 
a  good  deal. 

As  we  read  the  book  we  forgot  that  we  were  reading  a  trans- 
lation, so  smooth  and  majestic,  and  genuinely  English,  is  the 
run  of  every  line  and  sentence.  We  are  glad  that  the  translators 
have  given  us  only  the  ideas  of  the  author ;  a  good  translator 
may  not  go  any  farther.  We  consider  the  preface  to  the  second 
volume  as  clear  and  comprehensive  as  it  is  timely ;  and  we 
consider,  moreover,  that  the  partial  re -arrangement  and  number- 
ing of  the  paragraphs  in  the  third  volume  is  a  decided  improve- 
ment. Their  task  of  translating  was  evidently  no  easy  one  ; 
their  success  bespeaks  the  greater  merit. 

If  we  had  transcribed  our  feelings  when  we  found,  on  coming 
to  page  257  of  Vol.  I.,  that  two  blocks,  which  should  naturally 
find  their  place  in  the  second  volume,  had  been  imported  to  do 
duty  for  two  blocks  absent  from  the  first,  we  fear  our  criticism 
should  have  been  somewhat  caustic,  On  consideration,  however, 
we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  exchange  belongs  to  the 
category  of  pure  mistakes ;  and  yet  truth  compels  us  to  declare 
that  the  great  variety  and  irregularity  in  the  print  cannot  be 
relegated  to  the  same  charitable  region.  Otherwise  the  work  of 
the  publishers  is  eminently  satisfactory. 

D.  D. 

THEOLOGIA  NATUKALIS,  SIVE  PHILOSOPHIA  DE  DEO,  IN 
USUM  SCHOLARUM.  Auctore,  Bernado  Boedder,  S.J., 
cum  approbatione  Kevmi.  Archiep.  Friburg.  Friborgi 
Brisgoviae  :  Sumptibus  Herder. 

THE  publication  of  this  book  is  sure  to  re-awaken  the  chorus 
of  praise  with  which  the  learned  Stonyhurst  professor  was  greeted 
on  the  appearance  of  his  Psycliologia  Bationalis  about  a  year 
previously.  When  certain  Jesuits  of  the  German  province  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  bringing  out  a  complete  course  of  philosophy 
in  six  convenient  volumes,  they  naturally  looked  to  their  distin- 
guished countryman  in  England — the  author  of  the  Stonyhurst 
Natural  Theology— &$  a  most  useful  colleague.  The  Psycliologia 
Rationalis,  together  with  the  present  volume,  abundantly  show 
their  wisdom  in  making  the  choice,  and  their  good  fortune  in 
securing  his  co-operation. 

Natural  Theology  is  a  subject  that  always  possesses  a  peculiar 
attraction  for  the  human  mind.  It  is  a  treatise  about  God, 


664  Notices  of  Books 

differing  from  Dogmatic  Theology  in  this,  that  the  conclusions 
which  it  contains  are  deducible  from  truths  known  from  reason, 
and  must  be  proved  by  reason  alone.  In  other  treatises  we  may 
be  engaged  in  considering  particular  classes  of  causes,  or  kinds  of 
beings,  things  not  so  far  removed  from  ourselves ;  but  here  we  have 
to  investigate  the  existence,  nature,  and  attributes  of  the  Being  of 
beings  and  Cause  of  causes.  Other  treatises  are  concerned  with 
finite  things  ;  here  we  are  confronted  with  the  infinite.  It  is 
then  that  we  realize  most  forcibly  what  pigmies  we  are,  and  how 
impotent  our  reason  is  to  comprehend  the  infinite  and  eternal. 

As  we  proceed,  we  meet  with  several  truths  that  are  with 
difficulty  reconciled ;  but  it  is  this  that  constitutes  the  attraction  ; 
for  the  mind  is  stimulated  to  grapple  with  difficulties  that  seem 
insurmountable,  and  with  problems  that  seem  to  defy  solution. 

The  scope  and  plan  of  the  work  is  shown  clearly  at  the  begin- 
ning by  a  table  of  contents  and  a  list  of  the  fifty-three  theses, 
proved  and  defended  in  the  book.  These  theses  embrace  the 
whole  range  of  propositions  usually  to  be  found  in  treatises  on 
Natural  Theology,  together  with  some  that  are  to  be  met  with 
but  rarely,  and  a  few  that,  in  form  at  least,  are  entirely  due  to 
the  author.  In  the  case  of  each,  the  true  doctrine  is  fully 
explained  and  contrasted  with  the  various  opposing  errors ; 
numerous  proofs,  expressed  in  a  concise  and  forcible  manner,  are 
given  for  each ;  and  they  are  all  defended  against  the  most 
formidable  argument  advanced  by  the  advocates  of  error. 
Arguments  of  English-speaking  antagonists  are  frequently  dealt 
with,  and  a  special  appendix  is  given  to  the  refutation  of  the 
reasons  which  Herbert  Spencer  borrowed  from  Mansel  for  the 
support  of  Agnosticism. 

This  book  is  by  no  means  a  mere  translation  of  the  Natitral 
Theology  by  the  same  author.  The  latter  is  written  in  a  popular 
style  for  the  general  public,  but  the  present  work  is  for  the  use 
of  schools  ;  and  in  order  and  arrangement  of  theses,  in  clearness 
and  fulness  of  exposition ,  in  wealth  of  arguments  and  copiousness 
of  objections  it  answers  its  purpose  admirably. 

In  page  102  he  expresses  his  disagreement  with  an  opinion 
put  forth  in  the  former  work,  and  we  agree  with  him  that  second 
thoughts  are  best. 

It  is  almost  a  pity  to  find  fault  with  anything  in  so  excellent 
a  hand-book,  but  there  seems  a  want  of  consistency  in  theses 
30,  31,  and  32,  and  we  cannot  at  all  agree  with  thesis  49,  dealing 


Notices  of  Boohs  665 

with  the  manner  in  which  God  concurs  with  free  causes.  The 
author,  who,  of  course,  is  a  thoroughgoing  Molinist,  weakens 
his  case  by  holding  more  than  is  necessary  for  the  defence  of  his 
view.  One  could  be  a  good  Molinist  vrhile  holding  the  proposition 
which  is  declared  to  be  only  with  difficulty  reconcilable  with 
several  evident  truths,  and  moreover  to  be  opposed  to  the  doctrine 
of  St.  Thomas.  We  are  convinced  that  the  system  propounded 
by  Father  Boedder  is  much  more  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of 
St.  Thomas,  and  is  in  apparently  hopeless  conflict  with  one 
truth  in  addition  to  the  several  with  which  the  condemned 
proposition  is  with  difficulty  reconcilable.  A  Molinist  need  not 
reject  entirely  and  utterly  the  special  physical  premoving 
concursus  ;  and  if  he  need  not  he  should  not. 

It  seems  to  us,  moreover,  that  entirely  too  much  importance 
is  given  to  this  matter,  and  that  much  that  is  contained  in  this 
hand-book  "  in  usum  scholarum  "  may  with  profit  be  left  to  those 
who  have  to  fathom  the  profundities  of  Scholastic  Theology. 

M.  B. 

FOUK  HUMOEISTS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTUKY.   Lectures 

delivered  at  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain,  in 
January  and  February,  1895.  By  W.  S.  Lilly,  Hon. 
Fellow  of  Peterhouse,  Cambridge.  London  :  John 
Murray.  1895. 

MR.  LILLY  was  already  well  known  as  an  essayist  and  writer 
on  historical  and  philosophical  questions  ;  by  the  publication  of 
this  volume  he  takes  a  foremost  place  amongst  the  literary  critics 
of  his  time.  We  have  read  these  lectures  with  no  common 
satisfaction ;  and  the  pleasure  they  have  given  us  is  chiefly 
derived  from  the  fact  that  their  author  is  a  man  with  a  code,  a 
definite  set  of  principles,  a  perfectly  clear  conception  of  what  the 
duties  of  a  critic  demand.  He  puts  aside  with  prompt  but  courteous 
decision  the  views  and  principles  that  have  guided  most  of  his 
fellow-critics  in  recent  times.  He  does  not  believe  that  the  critic 
who  confines  himself  to  the  task  of  presenting  the  salient  features 
of  a  work,  and  of  merely  classifying  authors  according  to  their 
powers  and  tendencies  and  aptitudes,  has  fulfilled  his  duty.  Nor 
does  he  concern  himself  merely  with  what  one  of  the  critics  has 
very  aptly  described  as  "  that  fine  effluence  of  the  whole  artistic 
nature  which  can  hardly  be  analyzed,  and  which  we  term  style.'' 
Mr.  Lilly  seeks  for  truth  as  well  as  for  beauty,  and  it  is  mainly 


666  Notices  of  Books 

by  the  test  of  truth  and  of  fidelity  to  truth  in  man  himself,  in 
society,  and  in  external  nature,  that  he  judges  the  intellectual 
and  aesthetic  productions  of  his  time.  One  is  deeply  impressed 
in  reading  these  lectures  with  the  wide  range  of  Mr.  Lilly's 
culture  and  critical  vision.  He  is  deeply  read  in  all  the  great 
literatures  of  Europe  ;  and  the  incidental  contrasts  which  he 
frequently  draws  between  the  works  he  holds  under  examination, 
and  works  of  the  same  kind,  in  the  literatures  of  France,  Germany, 
Spain,  Italy,  lend  a  special  interest  to  these  lectures. 

In  his  first  lecture,  which  is  devoted  to  Dickens,  Mr.  Lilly 
defines  what  he  understands  by  a  humorist.  In  the  main  he 
accepts  Thackeray's  definition  or  rather  description  :— 

"  The  humorous  writer  [Thackeray  tells  us]  proposes  to 
awaken  and  direct  your  love,  your  pity,  your  kindness — your 
scorn  for  untruth,  pretension,  imposture — your  tenderness  for  the 
weak,  the  poor,  the  oppressed,  the  unhappy.  To  the  best  of  his 
means  and  ability,  he  comments  on  all  the  ordinary  actions  and 
passions  of  life  almost.  He  takes  upon  himself  to  be  the  week- 
day preacher,  so  to  speak." 

This  description  Mr.  Lilly  summarizes  by  saying  : — "  The 
humorist  is  an  artist  who  playfully  gives  us  his  intuition  of  the 
world  and  of  human  life." 

In  the  light  of  this  rather  serious  conception  of  humour, 
Mr.  Lilly  passes  in  review  four  of  the  principal  English  writers  of 
the  nineteenth  century — Dickens,  Thackeray,  George  Eliot,  and 
Carlyle. 

We  cannot,  in  a  brief  notice  such  as  this,  do  anything  like 
adequate  justice  to  the  consummate  skill,  the  admirable  taste, 
the  penetrating  discernment  with  which  Mr.  Lilly  has  performed 
his  task.  We  can  only  draw  attention  to  a  few  of  the  most 
striking  passages.  In  dealing  with  the  works  of  Dickens,  . 
Mr.  Lilly  expresses  his  conviction  that,  owing  to  certain  defects 
the  productions  of  the  most  popular  novelist  of  his  day  are 
destined,  in  the  course  of  time,  to  fall  into  neglect  and  oblivion. 
They  have  not  that  power  to  charm  (when  once  read,  and  if  ever 
again  casually  taken  up)  which  marks  the  work  of  genius  and  of 
art  as  opposed  to  the  work  of  talent  and  of  handicraft. 

11  Dickens  conquered  me  certainly  as  a  boy.  I  now  go  back 
to  him  with  an  effort.  I  have  looked  through  twenty  odd  volumes 
of  his  in  preparation  for  this  lecture.  It  is  the  first  time  for  some 


Notices  of  Books  667 

years  that  I  have  opened  him.  And  I  confess  I  marvel  at  the 
fascination  which  he  once  had  for  me.  1  stand  aghast  at  the 
inane  insignificance  of  most  of  his  personages,  at  the  vapid 
vulgarity  of  most  of  his  incidents,  at  the  consummate  crudity  of 
much  of  his  thought,  at  the  intolerable  ineptness  of  much  of  his 
diction.  He  was  constantly  talking — at  least  in  his  later  years — 
of  his  art.  He  seems  to  me  one  of  the  least  artistic  writers." 

And  further  on  :— 

4 '  The  higher  art  which  he  tried  to  grasp  ever  eluded  him. 
There  is  an  absence  of  composition  in  his  work.  There  is  no 
play  of  light  and  shade.  There  is  no  proportion,  no  per- 
spective. His  books  cannot  be  said  to  be  composed.  They  are 
improvised." 

And  yet  Mr.  Lilly  does  full  justice  to  the  extraordinary  powers 
of  caricature,  of  burlesque,  and  of  pathos  with  which  Dickens 
was  endowed,  as  well  as  to  the  lofty  motives  which  inspired  the 
greater  part  of  his  work. 

In  his  lecture  on  Thackeray,  Mr.  Lilly  enters  into  a  long 
discussion  on  the  principles  of  romantic  fiction  as  represented  by 
the  French  school  and  by  Taine,  the  great  French  literary  critic 
who  died  a  short  time  ago,  and  those  adopted  by  English  novelists 
and  English  literary  critics.  The  fundamental  difference  is  that 
the  French  maintain  that  the  essential  object  of  a  novel  is  to  be 
amusing  and  polite :  that  it  is  "  art  for  the  sake  of  art,"  and 
should  not  be  employed  for  any  other  purpose  ;  in  a  word,  that 
the  novelist  is  merely  a  psychologist.  Mr.  Lilly,  on  the  other 
hand,  maintains  that  the  novel  is  not  and  should  not  be  inde- 
pendent of  the  great  laws  and  principles  of  ethics. 

"  There  must  be  an  ethical  element  in  a  novel  if  it  is  to  be 
true  to  human  life,  if  it  is  to  be  really  human.  For  man  is  an 
ethical  animal.  That  is  his  great  distinction  among  the  animals. 
Of  all  human  ideals  the  moral  comes  first,  because  all  other  ideals 
hold  of  it.  The  moral  ideal  embraces  our  entire  being,  all  other 
ideals  are  only  segments  thereof.  The  morality  of  a  novel  may  be 
true  or  false.  It  may  refine  and  elevate.  It  may  disturb  and 
darken  the  judgment  by  flattering  the  passions.  But  a  morality 
of  some  sort,  true  or  false,  genuine  or  spurious,  it  must  have." 

Having  ably,  and  in  our  opinion  splendidly,  established  this 
thesis,  Mr.  Lilly  proceeds  to  an  analysis  of  the  works  of  Thackeray, 
and  brings  into  strong  relief  the  critical,  cynical,  rather  pessimistic 


668  '  Notices  of  Books 

turn  of  mind  of  the  great  novelist,  who  saw  good  and  evil  pretty 
well  combined  in  all  grades  of  society,  and  whose  most  character- 
istic estimate  of  mankind  in  general  is  to  be  found  in  A  Novel 
without  a  Hero. 

Mr.  Lilly,  in  his  lecture  on  George  Eliot,  discusses  some 
questions  which  also  lie  at  the  very  foundation  of  literary  failure 
or  success  which  are  treated  in  a  style  quite  worthy  of  the  theme. 
Indeed  the  great  satisfaction  one  feels  in  reading  these  lectures 
arises  from  the  fact  that  the  voice  of  the  philosopher,  as  well  as  of 
the  literary  critic,  is  distinctly  audible  in  every  page ;  and  of  a 
philosopher,  moreover,  who  seems  well  grounded  in  Catholic 
principles,  and  who  is  not  afraid  to  appeal  when  the  occasion  calls 
for  it,  and  in  the  presence  of  an  audience  mainly  Protestant,  to 
the  authority  of  Cardinal  Newman,  or  of  Father  Dalgairns,  or  of 
Pope  Leo  XIII. 

One  of  the  best  of  the  lectures  is  that  on  Carlyle.  It  has  far 
more  substance  in  it  than  any  of  the  essays  written  on  the  same 
subject  by  the  ordinary  critics  :  far  more  even  than  the  essay  of 
Eussell  Lowell,  who  was  certainly  the  greatest  of  the  critics  who 
wrote  in  the  English  language  during  the  nineteenth  century. 
Mr.  Lilly's  estimate  is  fairer  to  Carlyle  than  Lowell's.  The  life- 
work  of  the  "  sage  of  Chelsea  "  is  presented  in  a  more  welcome 
light  than  that  to  which  the  general  reader  is  accustomed.  The 
faults  of  the  famous  cynic  are  mildly  dealt  with  ;  whilst  the 
indiscretion  of  Froude,  in  dealing  with  his  biography,  is  touched 
off  in  language  that  might  easily  have  been  applied  to  the  author 
of  the  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning  ;— 

"  Is  there  any  of  us  who  could  endure  the  test  of  the  lurid 
glare  of  publicity  cast  upon  our  most  private  thoughts,  our  most 
unguarded  and  undisciplined  utterances  ?  I  am  sure  I  could  not. 
I  do  not  believe  anyone  could.  Should  we  like  such  thoughts 
and  utterances  to  be  published  to  the  world  ?  Would  it  be  fair 
to  us  ?  Would  it  give  a  really  true  impression  of  us  ?  Consider 
the  magnifying  effect  of  print  ?  A  word  harmless,  or  almost 
harmless,  in  conversation,  or  even  in  a  letter  or  a  diary,  often 
acquires  a  sinister  significance  in  the  fierce  light  which  beats  upon 
a  book.  I  protest  against  the  cynicism  to  which  nothing  is 
sacred.  These  great  principles  of  reticence,  reverence,  reserve, 
which,  as  I  said  in  a  former  lecture,  have  their  endless  applica- 
tions in  civilized  life,  assuredly  come  in  here.  I  know  of  no 
worse  sign  of  the  times  than  the  prurient  curiosity  just  now  so 
rife  about  the  petty  details — if  scandalous,  so  much  the  better — 


Notices  of  Books  669 

in  the  lives  of  eminent  persons.     I  know  of  no  more  ignominious 
occupation  than  theirs  who  minister  to  it : — 

For  now  the  poet  cannot  die, 

Nor  leave  his  music  as  of  old  ; 

But  round  him,  ere  he  scarce  be  cold, 
Begin  the  scandal  and  the  cry. 

Proclaim  the  faults  he  would  not  show, 

Break  lock  and  key.     Betray  the  trust. 

Keep  nothing  sacred.     'Tis  but  just 
The  many-headed  beast  should  know." 

We  heartily  recommend  these  admirable  lectures  to  all 
students  of  English  literature,  and  to  all  who  would  go  beneath 
the  surface  in  reading  works  of  fiction. 

J.  F.  H. 

PEOPLE'S  EDITION  OF   THE   LIVES  OF   THE    SAINTS.    By 
Kev.  Alban  Butler.     Burns  &  Gates  :   London. 

IT  is  a  sure  truism  to  assert  that  our  age  is  a  reading  age. 
Almost  everyone  now-a-days  has  sufficient  education  to  read, 
and  the  capability  engenders  a  desire  for  the  act.  While  the 
desire  is  there,  men  will  seek  means  of  gratifying  it.  It  is  then 
of  the  highest  importance  that  the  books  supplied  to  men  to 
enable  them  to  gratify  this  desire  be  such  as  will  afford  them 
healthy  and  solid  mental  food.  For  on  our  reading  will  largely 
depend  the  nature  of  our  thoughts  and  reflections.  These 
thoughts  and  reflections,  in  turn,  become  for  the  mind  what  food 
is  for  the  body.  On  them  will  depend  whether  the  intellect 
becomes  sound  in  principle,  correct  in  judgment,  and  energetic 
in  action,  or  vitiated,  erroneous,  and  feeble,  and  whether  the 
affections  become  healthy  and  spiritual  or  worldly  and  carnal. 

We  make  these  remarks  as  introductory  to  the  notice  of  a 
work  deserving  of  the  highest  praise  which  Messrs.  Burns  & 
Gates  have  been  engaged  upon  for  some  time  past,  and  which 
they  have  now  brought  to  a  happy  completion.  This  work 
consisted  in  giving  to  the  public  in  a  cheap  handy  form  an 
excellent  edition  of  the  well-known  Lives  of  the  Saints  by 
Eev.  Alban  Butler.  Some  time  ago  we  had  occasion  to  notice 
the  first  six  volumes  of  the  edition,  and  we  then  called  attention 
to  the  excellent  manner  in  which  Messrs.  Burns  &  Gates  were 
performing  their  task.  The  work  is  now  complete.  The  twelve 
volumes  are  before  us,  and,  for  perfection  of  workmanship 
combined  with  artistic  beauty,  are  deserving  of  the  highest 


670  Notices  of  Books 

praise.  The  edition  contains,  in  addition  to  the  account  of  the  life 
of  each  saint,  an  excellent  preface  and  the  learned  introduction  of 
the  author.  Each  volume  is  enriched  with  copious  notes  full  of 
interesting  matter,  and  showing  great  learning  and  a  vast  amount 
of  out-of-the-way  knowledge  not  easily  found  elsewhere.  The 
edition  will  be  found  in  every  respect  worthy  of  the  subject,  and 
worthy  of  the  firm  that  produced  it,  and  cannot  fail  to  command 
a  wide  and  ready  acceptance  with  the  public.  And,  indeed,  to 
borrow  a  phrase  from  the  introduction,  "  an  undertaking  of  this 
kind  does  not  stand  in  need  of  an  apology."  For  if  all  history 
possesses  such  charms  and  advantages  as  to  be  always  sure  to 
find  readers,  that  particular  department  of  history,  known  as 
biography,  has  such  an  interest  for  man  as  to  require  merely  to 
be  known  in  order  to  be  sought  after  and  read  for  the  pleasure, 
the  instruction,  and  the  improvement  it  affords ;  for 

"  Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime." 

If  this  be  true  of  the  biographies  of  all  great  men,  what  an 
interest  for  the  Christian  must  the  lives  of  the  confessors,  the 
martyrs,  and  the  saints  of  the  Church  possess  ?  The  saints  are 
the  true  heroes  of  the  world.  They  were  men  like  ourselves, 
struggling  for  the  same  ends,  opposed  by  the  same  difficulties, 
buoyed  up  by  the  same  hopes,  and  supported  by  the  same  means. 
They  were  conquerors  in  that  struggle.  They  are  now  enjoying 
the  happy  fruits  of  victory.  For  us  who  are  engaged  in  the 
same  struggle  the  study  of  their  lives  and  of  their  heroic  acts  is 
interesting,  advantageous,  and  necessary :  interesting,  since  they 
were  heroes  ;  advantageous,  since  they  were  victors  ;  and  neces- 
sary since  they  must  be  our  models.  The  necessity  is  rendered 
all  the  greater  now-a-days  when  people  of  all  grades  of  society 
indulge  so  largely  in  the  reading  of  profane  and  light,  if  not 
dangerous,  literature.  Such  literature  tends  to  give  a  worldly 
cast  to  our  thoughts,  and  its  influence  must  be  counteracted.  A 
means  of  counteracting  it  is  found  in  the  practice  of  pious 
reading  and  meditation.  Of  pious  reading,  perhaps  the  most 
suitable  kind  is  that  of  authentic  and  well-written  lives  of  the 
saints.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  the  saints  themselves,  and  such 
was  their  practice. 

Perhaps  no  words  could  more  suitably  express  this  truth  than 
the  beautiful  words  of  the  Preface  of  this  edition.  l '  Worldly  and 
tepid  Christians  stand  certainly  in  the  utmost  need  of  this  help 


Notices  of  Books  671 

to  virtue.  The  world  is  a  whirlpool  of  business,  pleasure,  and 
sin.  Its  torrent  is  always  beating  upon  their  hearts,  ready  to 
break  in  and  bury  them  under  its  flood,  unless  frequent  pious 
reading  and  consideration  oppose  a  strong  fence  to  its  waves. 
The  more  deeply  a  person  is  immersed  in  its  tumultuous  cares 
so  much  the  greater  ought  to  be  his  solicitude  to  find  leisure 
to  breathe,  after  the  fatigues  and  dissipation  of  business  and 
company ;  to  plunge  his  heart,  by  secret  prayer,  in  the  ocean  of 
the  divine  immensity ;  and  by  pious  reading,  to  afford  his  soul 
some  spiritual  reflection." 

We  sincerely  wish  that  many  may  avail  themselves  of  the 
golden  opportunity  which  Messrs.  Burns  &  Gates  have  offered 
them,  to  make  themselves  familiar  with  the  grandest  monument 
of  greatness  that  the  world  possesses — the  history  of  the  heroic 
lives  of  the  saints  of  the  Church.  P.  M 

A  VISIT  TO  EUROPE  AND  THE  HOLY  LAND.     By  Kev.  II.  F. 

Fairbanks.     Benziger  Brothers  :  New  York,  Cincinnati, 

and  Chicago.     1896. 

IN  the  year  1884  three  priests  from  the  diocese  of  Milwaukee, 
in  the  United  States,  paid  a  visit  to  Europe  and  the  Holy  Land. 
This  work  is  a  record  of  the  visit,  written  by  one  of  the  three.  It 
is  an  interesting  book  in  many  respects.  Although  it  contains 
nothing  positively  new,  except  indeed  the  individual  impressions 
of  a  writer  who  had  never  before  been  out  of  America,  still  it 
presents  old  things  in  a  new  light ;  and  one  feels  particularly 
happy  in  reading  its  pages  on  account  of  the  strong  tone  of 
Catholic  faith  that  distinguishes  them.  The  author  very  justly 
says  in  the  preface  : — 

"  I  am  aware  of  the  fact  that  many  books  have  been  written 
on  European  and  Palestine  travel ;  but  it  is  well  known  that 
hardly  any  of  them  have  been  written  by  Catholic  Americans. 
Our  people,  both  Catholics  and  non-Catholics,  have  read  too 
many  books  of  travel  written  by  dishonest  writers,  or  else  by 
those  who  are  so  narrow  in  their  views,  and  so  ill-informed  with 
reference  to  the  countries  through  which  they  passed,  that  their 
statements  and  '  facts  '  have  been  a  mere  travesty  of  truth.  I  am . 
convinced  that  there  has  been  in  America  a  long-existing  need, 
but  a  poor  supply,  of  books  of  travel  written  by  travellers  who 
are  able  to  see  with  honest  eyes,  and  who  do  not  go  abroad  with 
preconceived  prejudices,  which  they  are  determined  to  confirm 
by  perverted  facts  and  short-sighted  observations." 

This  is  a  view  which  might  easily  embrace  other  countries 


672  Notices  of  Books 

besides  America.  Hence  we  are  glad,  for  our  part,  to  welcome 
this  effort  at  a  new  departure.  The  work  is  written  in  excellent 
taste,  and  shows  a  thorough  appreciation  of  the  good  qualities, 
as  well  as  of  the  defects  that  characterize  the  people  of  this  part 
of  the  world.  The  plates  are  excellent,  and,  on  the  whole,  the 
work  has  been  admirably  produced. 

SERMONS  ON  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN  MARY.  By  Very  Eev. 
D.  J.  M'Dermott,  Kector  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.  New  York,  Cincinnati,  and  Chicago : 
Benziger  Brothers. 

THE  praises  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  have  been  uttered  in  so 
many  tongues  and  by  so  many  eloquent  voices  since  she  stood  at 
the  foot  of  the  Cross,  that  one  could  scarcely  expect  anything 
very  new  in  this  fresh  volume  of  sermons  which  is  entirely 
devoted  to  her.  The  thoughts,  indeed,  are  not  new ;  but  they 
are  presented  to  us  in  fresh  and  striking  language,  and  in  words 
that  are  true  to  the  modern  ear.  "  Non  nova  sed  nove  "  seems 
to  be  the  motto  of  the  author.  And  why  should  not  the  idiom 
and  the  dialect  of  the  present  age  be  made  to  resound  to  the 
glory  of  the  "  Mother  of  God"  as  well  as  those  of  the  past? 
It  is  one  of  her  glories  that  she  is  celebrated  and  magnified  by 
every  generation,  and  by  each  one  in  its  special  form.  The 
author  of  these  beautiful  sermons  has  done  his  part  towards 
her ;  and  from  the  first  we  can  see  that  his  labour  has  been  a 
"labour  of  love."  There  is  a  genuine  tone  of  sincerity  in  these 
sermons.  The  earnestness  they  breathe  has  an  American  flavour 
which  gives  them  reality  and  freshness.  Any  priest  who  has  to 
preach  frequently  during  the  month  of  May  might  profitably 
invest  in  them. 


THE   IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


AUGUST,    1896 


CAKDINAL     MOKAN'S     "HISTOKY     OF     THE 
CATHOLIC  CHUKCH  IN  AU  STEAL  ASIA  "' 

IT  has  been  remarked  that,  with  additional  labours,  men 
acquire  increased  energy.  Of  this  truth,  the  book  before 
us  is  a  striking  illustration.  A  monumental  compilation, 
extending  over  eight  hundred  pages  quarto,  almost  every 
one  of  which  bears  evidence  of  careful  research,  it  has 
emanated  from  the  pen  of  a  ruler  whose  pressing  adminis- 
trative duties  run  the  circuit  of  each  year.  The  intervals  of 
repose  due  to  the  labours  of  his  exalted  office,  his  Eminence 
Cardinal  Moran  has  devoted  to  writing  a  history  which, 
far  from  betraying  the  faults  of  hasty  workmanship,  is  an 
exhaustive  and  scholarly  survey  of  the  progress  of  Catholicity 
in  the  Southern  Continent. 

The  Church  in  Australia  and  Tasmania  is  not  a  native 
growth.  With  a  few  striking  exceptions  to  be  noted 
hereafter,  all  the  missions  devoted  to  the  evangelization 
of  the  aborigines  have  hitherto  failed.  The  following 
extract  from  a  letter,  addressed  in  1843  by  a  Passionist 
missionary  in  Queensland  to  the  Archbishop  of  Sydney, 

1  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia,  from  authentic  sources,  contain- 
ing many  original  and  official  documents  in  connection  with  the  Church  in  Australia, 
besides  others  from  the  archives  of  Jlonte,  Westminster,  and  Lublin,  which  are  here 
presented  to  the  public  for  the  first  time.  By  Patrick  Francis  Cardinal  Moran, 
Archbishop  of  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  (i,  vols^J,  profusely  illustrated.  The 
Oceanic  Publishing  Company,  Limited,  146,  Clarence -street,  Sydney,  Australia  ; 
Woodward-street,  Wellington,  New  Zealand.  All  rights  reserved. 

VOL.  XVII.  2  U 


674  Cardinal  Morans 

explains   some   of    the    difficulties    in    the    way    of    their 
conversion : — 

"  The  aboriginals  already  can  understand  us  when  we  speak 
to  them  on  the  ordinary  matters  of  everyday  life.  It  will  take  a 
long  time,  however,  and  constant  application,  before  we  will  be 
able  to  learn  the  language  well ;  for  the  natives  are  by  nature 
inconstant  and  prone  to  laziness,  and  they  frequently  leave  us, 
and  wander  from  tribe  to  tribe  for  several  days,  and  even  for  a 
month.  Indeed  it  is  at  present  two  months  since  we  have  had 
an  opportunity  of  talking  with  them,  for  they  set  off  with  their 
wives  and  children  for  other  islands,  and  I  may  say  with  truth 
that  in"  the  seven  months  we  have  been  here,  the  natives  have 
not  been  with  us  for  more  than  two  months  and  a-half.  On  one 
occasion,  when  they  were  not  going  to  a  great  distance,  I  ventured 
to  accompany  them,  but  I  saw  that  they  were  not  pleased." 

After  paying  a  tribute  to  the  kindly  dispositions  of  those 
natives  to  the  missionaries,  the  zealous  father  goes  on  to 
say: — 

"  I  am  confident  that  all  those  will  be  Christians,  but  not  till 
after  three  or  four  years,  unless  they  receive  very  special  grace 
from  God,  because,  it  is  not  only  difficult  to  remove  the  prejudices 
rooted  in  their  minds,  but  as  far  as  I  can  understand,  they  look 
for  practical  and  material  arguments  which  alone  can  convince 
them.  .  .  .  These  poor  aboriginals  have  naturally  strong  passions 
and  depraved  inclinations.  Among  these  evil  dispositions  of  the 
natives,  I  may  mention  an  extreme  sloth  and  laziness  in  every- 
thing, a  habit  of  fickleness  and  double-dealing,  an  uncontrollable 
vindictiveness,  so  much  so  that  they  will  stop  at  nothing  in  the 
pursuit  of  revenge  :  they  are  deceitful  and  cunning,  and  prone  to 
lying  ;  they  are  insatiable  in  extreme  gluttony,  and,  if  possible, 
will  sleep  both  by  day  and  by  night." 

Contact  with  the  white  population  has  acted  very 
injuriously  on  the  natives.  Since  the  advent  of  the  white 
man,  they  have  been  steadily  decaying  in  character  and 
numbers,  and  their  utter  extinction  would  seem  to  be  only 
a  matter  of  time. 

There  are,  it  appears,  only  two1  successful  native 
missions  at  present  in  all  Australia,  and  both  are  in  regions 
which  have  few  attractions  for  Europeans.  One  of  those 
was  founded  by  the  Austrian  Jesuits  in  1891,  in  the  trying 

1  We  should,  perhaps,  say  three,  for  within  the  past  few  years  the  Trappists 
have  established  a  native  mission  in  N.  Western  Australia  which  so  far  promises 
satisfactory  results. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    675 

climate  of  Northern  Australia,  on  the  right  bank   of  the 
Daly  Kiver : — 

'*  Here  at  last  [writes  the  author]  the  fathers  have  met  with 
results  that  console  them  and  repay  them  for  so  much  labour 
and  suffering.  .  .  .  On  the  Daly  Eiver  Settlement,  the  blacks 
show  themselves  perfectly  capable  of  appreciating  the  benefits  of 
civilization.  ...  A  small  nucleus  of  earnest  but  pious  Christians 
has  been  formed  ;  the  Sacraments  are  frequently  received,  pagan 
customs  abandoned,  Christian  marriages  celebrated,  Christian 
families  founded,  and  on  the  Daly,  as  formerly  among  the  Indians 
of  the  backwoods  of  America,  or  in  the  reduction  of  Peraquay, 
the  traveller  will  feel  his  heart  touched,  and  his  eyes  suffused 
with  tears,  as  he  hears  in  a  tongue  unknown  to  him  the  Kyrie, 
the  Gloria,  and  the  Creed,  the  Benediction  hymns  sung  by  fresh 
young  voices  to  music  familiar  to  European  ears." 

Few  chapters  in  this  work  are  more  interesting  than 
that  which  sketches  the  rise  of  what  may  now  be  called 
the  great  Benedictine  Abbey  of  New  Novica  (Western 
Australia),  the  inmates  of  which  have  for  several  years  past 
been  devoting  themselves,  with  marvellous  success,  to  the 
instruction  of  the  natives  in  religion  and  the  arts  of  civilized 
life.  It  was  founded  by  a  Spanish  Benedictine,  Dom 
Salvado,  who  is  now  the  mitred  abbot  of  New  Novica.  He 
came  to  Western  Australia  in  1846,  in  company  with  the 
first  bishop  of  this  extensive  district,  and  in  conjunction 
with  a  brother  Benedictine,  Dom  Sevra,  commenced  a 
mission  to  the  central  aboriginals. 

"  In  the  month  of  February,  1846,  they  set  out  from  Perth  in 
search  of  a  site  for  the  missionary  settlement  .  .  .  For  some 
weeks  the  only  food  on  which  the  monks  and  their  companions 
subsisted  was  a  little  rice  and  the  lizards  and  the  insects  picked 
up  in  the  bush.  Dom  Salvado  was  sent  to  Perth  to  appeal  to 
the  bishop  for  relief.  So  sad  was  the  plight  of  raggedness  to 
which  the  good  missionary  was  reduced,  that  he  had  to  halt  at 
Barden's  Hill,  a  mile  or  so  from  the  city,  till  some  remedy  could 
be  applied  to  his  tattered  garments.  A  Catholic  lady  in  Perth 
provided  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  sewed  together  a  new  cassock,  and 
thus  enabled  him  to  enter  the  city  in  decent  garb.  But  the 
bishop  could  give  him  no  aid.  Nemo  dat  quod  non  habet.  At  the 
suggestion  of  some  Protestant  sympathisers  a  concert  was  given. 
Dom  Salvado  was  an  accomplished  musician.  A  Jewish  citizen 
became  the  chief  patron  of  the  musical  entertainment.  The 
Protestant  minister  lent  his  piano,  and  on  a  memorable  evening 


676  Cardinal  Moran's 

the  missionary  for  three  hours  discoursed  most  eloquent  music, 
charming  the  Perth  audience,  and  with  the  result  of  obtaining 
sufficient  funds  to  relieve  the  pressing  wants  of  the  Benedictine 
settlement  ...  On  the  1st  March,  1847,  about  84  miles 
north-west  of  Perth,  on  the  Moore  River,  were  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  great  Benedictine  monastery,  to  which  was  given  the 
name  of  New  Novica." 

This  was  the  humble  beginning  of  what  is  now  compar- 
able to  one  of  the  great  mediaeval  monasteries,  "  with  its 
20,000  sheep,  250  horses,  300  head  of  cattle,  70  bee-hives, 
and  50  acres  of  enclosed  garden,  in  which  the  vines,  oranges, 
lemons,  and  other  fruits  are  cultivated.  The  fathers  hold 
20,000  acres  in  fee-simple,  and  about  300,000  acres  of  lease- 
hold, for  which  £1,000  is  annually  paid  to  the  Government." 
The  natives  are  taught  to  work  as  well  as  to  pray.  They 
are  found  capable  of  learning  telegraphy  and  music,  and  the 
black  eleven  from  New  Novica  are  generally  victorious  in 
their  occasional  cricket  matches  with  the  Perth  team. 

The  Maori,  as  the  aboriginals  of  New  Zealand  are 
called,  present  an  altogether  different  history.  They  did  not 
surrender  the  land  of  their  inheritance  without  a  fierce 
struggle.  They  still  remain  an  integral  part  of  the  popula- 
tion, and  thousands  of  them  have  accepted  the  Catholic 
faith.  The  work  of  evangelizing  this  brave  and  intelligent 
race  has  been  mainly  accomplished  by  the  Marist  fathers 
who  arrived  in  New  Zealand  in  1837.  But  the  missionary 
who  of  all  others  deserves  to  be  called  the  Apostle  of  the 
Maoris  was  a  secular  priest,  the  Very  Rev.  James  M'Donald, 
a  native  of  the  County  Kilkenny.  He  arrived  in  the  colony 
in  1850. 

"  Under  four  successive  bishops  he  held  the  office  of  vicar- 
general  for  the  Maori  population  of  the  Auckland  diocese.  For 
more  than  thirty  years  he  may  be  said  to  have  made  himself  all 
in  all  with  them,  the  better  to  gain  their  hearts  to  Christ.  He 
adopted  their  habit  of  life,  travelled  from  place  to  place  with 
them,  and  partook  only  of  their  food  of  fish  and  rice.  During 
that  time  he  never  tasted  any  spirituous  drink  .  .  .  The  theatre 
of  his  toils  and  travels  extended  from  the  borders  of  Taranaki 
and  Hawke's  Bay  to  the  North  Cape,  a  district  400  miles 
in  extent.  Over  this  wide  expanse  the  Maoris  are  scattered  in 
small  groups,  and  have  their  rude  abodes  in  places  difficult  of 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    677 

access.  He  erected  several  small  wooden  oratories,  where  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  could  be  offered,  but  himself  moved  from  place  to 
place,  the  open  canopy  of  heaven,  or  at  best  a  Maori  tent,  being 
his  only  shelter  all  the  year  long.  By  faculty  from  the  Holy  See 
he  administered  the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation." 

In  1885  the  Maori  population  in  the  diocese  of  Auckland 
amounted  to  36,000,  of  whom  4,000  were  Catholics.  Four 
priests  from  St.  Joseph's,  Mill  Hill,  were  then  labouring 
among  them  with  considerable  success.  In  1890  there  were 
10,000  natives  in  the  diocese  of  Wellington,  of  whom  2,000 
were  Catholics.  Here  four  of  the  Marist  fathers  were  then 
in  charge  of  the  Maori  mission.  Those  missions  were  in  a 
much  more  flourishing  condition  before  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  in  1860.  In  an  official  statement  sent  to  Kome,  in  1871, 
Dr.  Croke,  who  was  Bishop  of  Auckland  from  1870  to  1874, 
wrote :  "I visited  a  district  lately  where,  twenty-five  years  ago, 
there  were  5,000  Catholic  Maoris ;  in  1863  there  were  1,500 ;  I 
found  only  one,  and  he  was  living  with  the  priest."  But, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  above  statistics,  there  has  set  in 
a  steady  reaction,  and,  though  it  is  not  likely  that  the  natives 
will  ever  recover  their  lost  earthly  inheritance,  we  are 
warranted  in  hoping  that  they  will  come  into  a  better 
possession. 

Catholicity  first  came  to  Australia  in  a  convict  ship,  and, 
on  the  whole,  has  progressed  apace  with  the  rise  of  the 
colony  from  a  convict  settlement  to  a  great  and  prosperous 
continent.  The  first  Catholics  of  Australia  were  convicts, 
so  were  the  first  priests.  Sydney  had  scarcely  assumed 
the  dimensions  of  a  city  when  it  included  the  walls  of  a 
Catholic  Cathedral,  which,  after  varying  fortunes,  attained 
at  length  its  completion  on  a  scale  of  splendour  worthy 
the  capital  of  New  South  Wales.  When,  in  1839,  Melbourne 
consisted  of  a  few  rudely-constructed  houses,  a  shed  did 
duty  for  a  church ;  to-day  this  fair  city  of  the  south  presents 
no  more  imposing  structure  than  St,  Patrick's  Cathedral, 
"  which  looms  above  Melbourne — a  structure  massive, 
isolated,  and  grand,  like  the  communion  it  represents." 
So  it  was  throughout  all  Australia.  A  settlement  was  no 
sooner  formed  than  the  priest  came  and  erected  an  altar 


678  Cardinal  Moran's 

to  God,  at  first  in  some  rude  enclosure,  which  soon  made 
way  for  a  stately  church.  Not,  indeed,  that  a  sufficient 
supply  of  priests  was  always  at  hand.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed that  the  influx  of  missionaries  did  not  keep  pace 
with  the  tide  of  immigration :  nor  was  this  possible,  con- 
sidering that  the  discovery  of  gold  in  1851  brought  new 
arrivals  into  Victoria  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  a-day.  In 
the  early  days  of  her  history,  and  indeed  all  through  the  first 
half  of  this  century,  the  harvest  in  Australia  was  great, 
and  the  labourers  few.  But  of  those  few  mostly  all  were 
giants,  the  records  of  whose  labours  will  not  perish.  They 
made  long  journeys  through  the  trackless  bush ;  often  slept 
under  cover  of  the  glittering  heavens,  "  with  the  earth  for  a 
couch  and  the  saddle  for  a  pillow ; "  and  often  returned  in 
rags  from  the  missionary  centre  from  which  they  started. 
They  fought  and  conquered  the  tyranny  and  insolence  of 
Government  officials,  rescued  children  from  the  grip  of  their 
proselytizing  agents,  and  repelled  calumny  with  voice  and 
pen. 

In  the  work  of  organizing  the  young  Church  of 
Australasia,  Irish  nuns  took  a  part  which  is  duly  appreciated 
by  his  Eminence  Cardinal  Moran.  They  left  Dublin,  Cork, 
Carlow,  and  Westport,  not  knowing  whither  they  were 
going,  trusting  under  God  to  the  guidance  of  some  pioneer 
bishop  ;  and  though  it  happened  that  priests  failed  in  par- 
ticular districts,  there  is  no  instance  recorded  of  the  Sisters 
having  relinquished  their  charge.  In  a  country  where 
teachers  were  few  and  inefficient,  the  Sisters  were  welcomed 
by  Protestants  as  much  as  by  Catholics,  and  to-day  their 
convents  are  spread  like  a  network  throughout  the  whole 
Australian  Church.  Even  in  Western  Australia,  from  which 
the  first  bishop  was  obliged  to  retire,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy 
stuck  to  their  little  convent,  and  were  numerous  enough, 
after  a  stay  of  twelve  years,  to  send  a  foundation  to 
Melbourne  in  1857-  Neither  has  the  author  failed  to 
recognise  the  services  of  individual  laymen,  who,  when  they 
amassed  fortunes,  and  rose  to  eminence  in  the  land  of  their 
adoption,  were  only  too  proud  to  use  their  means  and  their 
influence  in  the  interests  of  the  Church.  Notable  among 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     679 

these  was  Sir  John  O'Shanassy,  a  native  of  Tipperary,  who 
arrived  in  Melbourne  with  his  young  wife,  15th  Nov.,  1839. 
"Next  Sunday  they  assisted  at  Mass,  and  Mrs.  O'Shanassy 
wept  the  whole  time,  seeing  how  poor  the  chapel  was, 
and  how  miserable  were  all  the  surroundings  of  the  Holy 
Sacrifice."  It  was  such  faith  as  this,  carried  from  Ireland  in 
the  hearts  of  her  exiled  children,  that  laid  the  solid  foundation 
of  what  is  now  the  great  Australasian  Church.  This  much 
the  Archbishop  of  Melbourne  confesses  in  the  beautiful 
letter  which  he  wrote  in  reply  to  the  invitation  sent  him  by 
the  Secretaries  of  the  Maynooth  Centenary  Celebration  to  be 
present  and  to  preach  on  that  historic  occasion:  "Need  I 
say  that  Ireland — Catholic  Ireland — has  supplied  the  vast 
majority  of  the  faithful  members  of  the  Church  [in  Australia]. 
By  them  principally,  here,  as  at  home,  our  cathedrals  and 
churches,  and  convents  and  schools,  have  been  built  and 
maintained."1 

Doubtless,  his  Eminence  found  it  a  labour  of  love  to 
sketch  what  is  really  a  development  of  Irish  faith  trans- 
planted to  a  foreign  soil.  The  Celtic  nature  and  sympathies 
of  the  author  have  not,  however,  blinded  him  to  the  just 
claims  of  other  nationalities,  and  whatever  faults  may  be 
found  with  his  book,  no  critic  can  accuse  him  of  undue 
partiality  in  his  estimate  of  the  "  faithful  Irish  priests  '' 
who  left  home  and  kindred  to  minister  to  their  countrymen 
at  the  Antipodes.  To  the  labours  of  his  two  illustrious 
predecessors  in  the  see  of  Sydney,  Dr.  Polding  and 
Dr.  Vaughan,  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Ullathorne,  whose 
autobiography  is  one  of  the  great  sources  of  Australian 
Church  history,  and  to  the  services  of  the  many  zealous 
missionaries  who  came  from  Spain,  Italy,  Austria,  France, 
and  Germany,  to  assist  in  the  Australian  Mission,  Cardinal 
Moran  does  unstinted  justice.  With  the  genuine  instinct  of 
the  historian,  the  author  has  been  all  through  his  work  at 
pains  to  state  facts.  Nor  does  he  ask  the  reader  to  take 
those  on  his  own  testimony.  The  pages  of  his  book  are 
literally  strewn  with  copies  of  original  documents,  which 
are  so  numerous  and  comprehensive  as  to  be  able,  almost 

1  See  Record  of  Maynooth  Centenary  Celebration,  page  40. 


680  Cardinal  Morarts 

by  themselves,  to  tell  the  whole  history  of  the  Australian 
Church.  They  tell  very  much  about  the  English  Bene- 
dictine who  was  the  first  Bishop  and  Archbishop  of  Sydney, 
so  much  as  to  make  the  statement  credible,  that  "  no  man 
in  modern  times  has  accomplished  so  much  for  the  Church 
of  God  with  comparatively  such  small  means  as  Archbishop 
Folding;"  they  unfold  a  tale  of  convict  horrors,  relieved 
only  by  the  figure  of  Dr.  Ullathorne,  another  English 
Benedictine,  who  carried  tidings  of  hope  to  men  considered 
already  "  damned  j"1  they  present  the  details  of  the  "  great 
work"  accomplished  by  Dr.  Vaughan,  also  a  son  of 
St.  Benedict,  during  the  ten  years  of  his  episcopal  admi- 
nistration ;  but  their  burden  is  that  Irish  pastors,  priests, 
and  laymen  were  the  main  factors  under  God  in  the 
organization  and  progress  of  the  Australian  Church. 

With  this  brief  description  of  the  general  character  of 
the  work  and  its  contents,  we  may  now  pass  to  a  more 
detailed  sampling  of  the  materials  which  the  learned  author 
has  woven  into  the  web  of  history.  To  the  development  of 
the  Church  in  New  South  Wales,  Tasmania,  South  Australia, 
Western  Australia,  Queensland,  Victoria,  and  New  Zealand, 
separate  chapters  are  devoted.  The  parent  colony  of  New 
South  Wales,  where  the  mustard  seed  was  first  sown  under 
very  depressing  conditions,  naturally  occupies  the  foremost 
place.  It  was  only  in  1770  that  Botany  Bay  was  discovered 
by  Captain  Cook.  When  a  few  years  later  the  declaration 
of  American  Independence  stopped  the  transportation  of 
convicts  to  the  New  World,  this  savage  region  was  con- 
sidered remote  enough  from  civilization  to  be  a  suitable 
abode  for  the  refuse  of  mankind.  Thither,  accordingly,  in 
1788,  were  sent  504  male  and  192  female  convicts  in  charge 
of  212  officers  and  marines.  The  convict  settlement  was 
established  not  exactly  at  Botany  Bay,  but  some  miles 
northward  on  the  shores  of  Port  Jackson,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  harbours  in  the  world.  Such  was  the  humble 


i  General  Holt  states  that  when  the  bell  rang  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning1, 
the  order  was  given  to  the  convicts  in  Norfolk  Island,  "turn  out,  you  damned 
souls."  Another  writer  calls  this  same  island,  the  abode  of  the  "doubly- 
damned," 


"History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    681 

beginning  of  Sydney,  which  'was  the  name  given  to  the 
settlement  in  honour  of  Viscount  Sydney,  at  that  time 
Secretary  of  the  Admiralty.  The  first  ship,  laden  with 
Irish  convicts,  154  in  number,  who  were  almost  all  Catholic, 
arrived  here  in  1791.  The  Kebellion  of  1798  contributed  a 
large  addition  of  Irishmen  called  convicts,  but  mostly  all 
respectable  men,  who  were  condemned  to  this  den  of 
infamy  without  a  fair  trial.  In  1800  there  were  about 
GOO  Irish  Catholics  among  the  convict  population  of  Sydney. 
For  the  religious  wants  of  those  poor  Irish  exiles  there 
was  no  provision  of  any  kind,  nor,  indeed,  was  there  much 
consideration  given  by  the  Home  Government  to  the 
spiritual  wants  of  any  denomination  in  the  settlement.  "  In 
the  establishment  of  the  convict  settlement  at  Botany  Bay, 
the  Home  Government  bad  given  but  little  thought  to 
religion.  At  the  last  moment,  before  the  fleet  had  set  sail, 
the  appointment  of  a  Protestant  missionary  was  forced 
upon  them  by  the  remonstrance  of  the  philanthropist 
Howard,  .  .  .  and  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson,  a  Methodist  Minister, 
was  officially  named  chaplain  to  the  settlement." *  Not 
finding  his  ministrations  much  in  favour,  the  chaplain  took 
to  the  cultivation  of  oranges,  soon  made  a  fortune,  and 
retired  from  Sydney  in  1800.  He  was  succeeded  by  a  man 
of  the  name  of  Marsden,  originally  a  blacksmith  in  a  York- 
shire village,  who  left  the  forge  for  the  mission  of  preaching 
the  Gospel.  "  For  thirty  years  he  may  be  said  to  have  had 
complete  control  over  the  educational  and  religious  interests 
of  the  colonists.  He  devoted  a  good  deal  of  his  attention 
to  develop  the  wool  trade,  and  to  promote  the  breed  of  sheep, 
and  thus  contributed  not  a  little  to  Australian  prosperity."  2 
The  commandant  had  charge  of  the  religious  services 
on  the  hulks.  He  usually  deputed  a  convict  to  read  the 
service,  and  one  of  those  frequently  employed  in  the  high 
office  was  Barrington,:t  the  famous  London  pickpocket,  who, 
it  must  be  said,  had  mended  his  ways  since  he  "  left  his 
country  for  his  country's  good."  To  add  to  the  evils  of  the 

!Page  8. 

2  Page  10. 

3  See  Hogan's  Irish  in  Australia,  page  185. 


682  Cardinal  Morarts 

convict  system,  rum  it  appears,  was  for  a  considerable  time 
the  only  currency  in  the  colony.  In  the  absence  of  efficient 
religious  ministrations,  what  more  was  required  to  reduce 
this  class  of  people  to  the  lowest  degree  of  moral  degradation. 
"  Licentiousness  and  immorality  became  the  order  of  the 
day." x 

We  are  asked  by  the  author  to  try  and  imagine  the 
condition  of  the  poor  Irish  Catholic  convicts  in  the  midst  of 
such  surroundings.  But  their  only  trial  was  not  to  be  left 
without  a  priest.  They  were  compelled  under  pain  of  being 
flogged  to  attend  such  Protestant  service  as  was  provided  :— 

"  During  the  past  years  a  controversy  has  been  carried  on 
from  time  to  time  in  the  public  press  regarding  the  enforced 
attendance  of  the' Catholic  convicts  at  the  Protestant  service  in 
the  old  colonial  days  .  .  .  And  yet,  viewing  the  question 
solely  in  the  light  of  historic  truth,  and  considering  it  merely  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  no  doubt  can  be  entertained  that  such  a  state- 
ment is  correct  .  .  .  The  testimony  of  Mr.  Justice  Therry  in 
his  published  Reminiscences  of  New  South  Wales  should  suffice 
to  set  the  question  at  rest,  for  in  his  judicial  position  he  had  the 
fullest  opportunity  of  obtaining  accurate  information  on  the 
matter.  He  writes  at  page  145  :  '  In  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century,  the  local  Government  of  New  South  Wales  promulgated 
a  regulation  that  the  whole  prison  population  indiscriminately 
should  attend  the  Church  of  England  under  penalty  of  twenty- 
five  lashes  for  the  first  refusal,  fifty  for  the  second,  and  trans- 
portation to  a  penal  settlement2  for  the  third  refusal.'  ' 

This  form  of  persecution  was  regularly  carried  out  down 
to  1814,  and  as  late  as  1825  individual  cases  of  such  com- 
pulsion are  recorded.  It  was  not  until  1820  that  Catholic 
chaplains  were  first  appointed  to  minister,  with  many 
restrictions,  to  the  wants  of  the  Catholic  population,  which 
now  numbered  about  ten  thousand.  This  first  period  of 
Australian  Church  history,  viz.,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Convict  Settlement  to  the  arrival  of  the  Fathers  Therry  and 
Connolly,  in  1820,  the  author  thus  characterizes  :— 

"  The  first  period,  which  was  one  of  open  persecution,  corres- 
ponds to  that  of  the  Catacombs  in  the  history  of  the  Universal 

iPage   20. 

2  Norfolk  Island  was  one  of  those  penal  settlements. 

3  Page  15. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    683 

Church.  In  the  mysterious  designs  of  Divine  Providence  we 
often  find  that  the  greatest  works  of  God's  mercy,  destined  to 
achieve  the  grandest  and  happiest  results,  are  cradled  amid  the 
storms  of  persecution.  In  the  annals  of  Christendom  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  another  Church  whose  beginnings  were  more 
lowly  than  those  of  our  Australian  continent,  or  whose  founda- 
tions were  so  cemented  with  the  tears  of  the  sorrowing  faithful. 
During  this  trying  period  a  few  convict  priests,  like  the  clergy  of 
the  second  century,  who  were  enslaved  in  the  Thracian  quarries, 
ministered  the  consolations  of  religion  for  the  most  part  stealthily 
to  the  suffering  members  of  the  scattered  flock.  Another  priest 
who  ventured  to  devote  his  life  to  the  spiritual  interests  of  the 
poor  sufferers,  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Government  a  worse 
than  convict  treatment,  being  thrown  into  prison,  and  banished 
from  the  Colony  like  an  outcast  or  a  slave."  l 

The  convict  priests  referred  to  above  were  Father  Harold, 
Father  Dixon,  and  Father  O'Neil,  who  were  all  transported 
for  alleged  but  utterly  unfounded  complicity  in  the  Rebellion 
of  '98.  Father  Harold  was  parish  priest  of  Saggart, 
Dublin.  He  was  arrested  at  the  altar,  and  after  being 
kept  several  months  in  jail  was,  "without  further  trial," 
shipped  on  board  the  convict  vessel,  the  '  Minerva,'  for 
Botany  Bay."  Though  most  willing  to  minister  to  the 
Catholic  convicts,  he  was  not  allowed  this  consolation.  He 
returned  to  Dublin  in  1810,  and  was  appointed  parish  priest 
of  Kilcullen.  Father  Dixon  was  curate  of  Crossabeg,  in  tbe 
county  of  Wexford,  and  is  described  as  the  "  meekest  of 
men."  He  arrived  in  Sydney  in  1800,  and  returned  to 
Ireland  in  1808.  Father  O'Neil  was  parish  priest  of 
Ballymacoda,  in  the  diocese  of  Cloyne.  The  sickening 
details  of  the  tortures  inflicted  upon  him  in  the  Ball-alley 
of  Youghal,  as  given  here  in  his  own  words  are  a  terrible 
commentary  on  the  English  administration  of  justice  in 
those  days  : — 

"  Immediately  upon  my  arrest  [he  says]  I  was  brought  into 
Youghal,  where,  without  any  previous  trial,  I  was  confined  in  a  loath- 
some receptacle  of  the  barrack,  called  the  Black  Hole,  rendered 
still  more  offensive  by  the  stench  of  the  common  necessary  adjoin- 
ing it.  In  that  dungeon  I  remained  from  Friday  until  Monday, 
when  I  was  conducted  to  the  ball-alley,  to  receive  my  punishment. 

1  Page  24. 


684  Cardinal  Morals 

No  trial  had  yet  intervened,  or  ever  after.  I  was  stripped  and 
tied  up.  Six  soldiers  stood  forth  for  this  operation,  some  of 
them  right-handed,  some  of  them  left-handed,  two  at  a  time  (as  I 
judged  by  the  quickness  of  the  lashes),  and  relieved  at  intervals, 
until  I  had  received  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  lashes,  so 
vigorously  and  deeply  inflicted,  that  my  back  and  the  points  of 
my  shoulders  were  quite  bared  of  the  flesh."  1 

He  was  transported  to  Sydney  in  1801,  and  returned  to 
take  charge  of  his  old  parish  in  1803.  While  in  Australia 
he  devoted  his  attention  to  the  conversion  of  the  natives. 

The  other  priest  mentioned  above  as  having  been 
banished  from  the  colony,  was  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Flynne, 
whose  interesting  career  occupies  an  entire  chapter.  He 
left  the  Cistercian  Order,  with  the  permission  of  the  Propa- 
ganda, to  devote  himself  to  the  Australian  Mission.  Although 
he  was  fully  authorized  by  the  Propaganda,  having  been 
appointed  Prefect  Apostolic  of  New  Holland,  he  was  unable 
to  obtain  official  recognition  from  the  Colonial  Secretary. 
He  set  out  at  length,  in  1817,  without  having  received  any 
formal  appointment,  as  chaplain.  "  His  stay  was  short. 
The  Governor,  under  the  pretext  that  he  had  not  obtained 
the  approval  of  the  English  Government  before  setting  out, 
ordered  him  to  quit  the  country.  During  the  time  that  he 
remained  he  baptized  a  considerable  number,  and  confirmed 
many."  2  A  remarkable  incident  occurred  in  connection  with 
his  departure : — 

'•  When  Father  Flynne  was  ordered  to  quit  the  colony  he  lay 
concealed  for  several  weeks  in  the  house  of  Mr.  William  Davis. 
...  It  was  situated  in  Harrington-street,  on  the  site  now 
occupied  by  St.  Patrick's  Church  and  the  Convent  of  the  Sisters 
of  Mercy.  Here  Fr.  Flynne  secretly  administered  the  Sacraments. 
...  At  length  many  of  the  leading  colonists,  of  every  denomi- 
nation, presented  a  petition  to  the  Governor,  asking  his  authoriza- 
tion that  the  priest  might  be  allowed,  for  a  time,  to  minister  to 
the  wants  of  the  Catholic  community.  So  confident  was  Father 
Flynne  of  this  prayer  being  granted  by  the  Governor,  that  he 
ventured  from  his  hiding-place,  and  appeared  once  again  among 
the  citizens.  He  had  miscalculated,  however,  the  religious  temper 
of  the  officers  of  the  Crown.  By  order  of  the  Governor  he  was 
at  once  seized,  and,  without  being  permitted  to  return  to  his 

1  Page  45. 

2  He  had  the  special  faculty  of  administering  Confirmation. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    685 

dwelling,  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  strictly  guarded  there,  till, 
after  a  few  weeks,  he  was  flung  into  a  sailing  vessel,  and  shipped 
back  as  a  prisoner  and  an  outcast  to  London.  The  sacred  pyx, 
with  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  remained  enshrined  in  a  cedar 
tabernacle  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Davis.  For  more  than  two  years, 
till  after  the  arrival  of  Fathers  Henry  and  Connolly,  the  taper  or 
the  lamp  was  kept  continually  burning  before  it.  A  few  Catholics 
came  by  turns  to  offer  the  homage  of  their  adoration  and  love."  1 

Dr.  .Folding,  in  one  of  his  official  reports,  stated  that  the 
sacred  particles  at  the  end  of  this  time  were  found  free  from 
any  sign  of  corruption. 

A  young  Cork  priest,  who  heard  of  the  dire  distress  to 
which  the  Catholic  convicts  in  Sydney  were  reduced  after 
the  expulsion  of  Father  Flynne,  forthwith  volunteered  for 
this  destitute  mission.  Owing  to  a  discussion  in  Parliament, 
occasioned  by  the  scandalous  treatment  of  the  expelled 
prefect  Apostolic,  his  services  were  formally  accepted,  and 
the  record  of  his  labours  reads  like  the  story  of  an  apostle's 
triumph.  The  Kev.  John  Joseph  Therry  was  educated  in 
Carlow  College,  and  ordained  priest  in  1816.  He  arrived  in 
the  colony  in  1820.  From  1820  to  1826  he  was  the  only 
priest  in  Australia.  Father  Connolly,  from  the  diocese  of 
Kildare,  who  was  also  appointed  chaplain  by  the  Home 
Government,  devoted  himself  to  the  Tasmanian  Mission. 
Father  Therry's  work  included  : — (1)  The  visitation  of  the 
prisons ;  (2)  the  building  of  churches  and  schools  ;  (3)  the 
rescuing  of  children  from  Protestant  orphanages;  (4)  the 
visiting  of  individual  families  scattered  over  the  vast  terri- 
tories of  New  South  Wales.  The  white  population  of  the 
colony  consisted  at  this  time — (1)  Of  the  official  class,  who 
were  all  Protestants ;  (2)  of  convicts  still  undergoing 
sentence;  (3)  of  emancipists  or  ex-convicts ;  (4)  of  immigrants. 
The  latter  element  was  at  this  date  comparatively  small. 
The  first  Catholic  official,  Mr.  Justice  Therry,  arrived  in 
1829,  and  Mrs.  Therry's  head-dress  was  the  first  "  bonnet  " 
seen  in  the  Catholic  congregation  of  Sydney.  Father 
Therry's  labours  were  simply  prodigious.  The  most 
harassing  restrictions  were  imposed  upon  him  by  officials 
who  brought  with  them  from  England  a  traditional  hatred 

i  Page  65. 


686  Cardinal  Moran's 

of  Catholicity.  But  he  was  not  a  man  to  shirk  a  conflict. 
When  refused  access  to  the  proselytizing  orphanages  he 
scaled  the  walls.  When  the  duty  of  attending  the  sick  was 
pressing  he  flung  red-tapism  to  the  winds.  He  managed  to 
survive  the  withdrawal  of  his  little  salary  of  £100  per  annum. 
His  indomitable  courage  inspired  his  flock  with  enthusiasm, 
and,  calculating  on  their  support,  he  set  about  building  a 
church  on  a  scale  of  splendour  which,  indeed,  looked  foolish 
enough  in  those  days.  Although  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
promotion  did  not  for  one  reason  or  another  reward  the 
labours  of  the  first  Apostle  of  Australia,  there  is  not  in  the 
long  gallery  of  portraits  presented  to  our  view  in  the  pages 
of  Cardinal  Moran's  History  a  more  inspiring  picture  than 
that  of  the  aged  Archpriest  Therry,  who,  after  being  relegated 
to  a  secondary  post  on  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Ullathorne,  in  1833, 
laboured  with  undiminished  zeal,  first  in  Campbeltown, 
and  afterwards  in  Tasmania,  until  the  strong  frame  of  the 
brave  Cork  priest,  who  breasted  the  torrent l  to  reach  a 
dying  member  of  the  flock,  was  to  be  seen  "  pallid  and 
emaciated,  and  so  weak  that  he  was  unable  to  lift  the  food 
to  his  mouth."  Towards  the  close  of  his  life  he  returned  to 
Sydney,  and  was  appointed  Archpriest  by  Dr.  Folding.  He 
devoted  whatever  means  he  had  to  the  completion  of  the 
cathedral,  which  forty  years  before  he  commenced  to  build 
on  what  was  at  that  time  the  most  desolate  moral  waste  on 
God's  earth.  His  death  occurred  in  1864. 

Father  Therry's  active  career  covers  more  than  the 
second  period  of  Australian  Church  history.  This  period, 
which  extended  from  1820  to  1850,  was,  according  to  the 
author, 

"  One  of  partial  tolerance,  which  witnessed  a  small  measure  of 
recognition  graciously  extended  to  the  Catholic  Church.  A  few 

1  One  of  the  many  instances  of  Father  Theriy's  zeal  is  the  following: — 
"  On  his  way  to  attend  a  dying  man  he  came,  at  the  close  of  a  long  day's 
journey,  to  the  side  of  a  great  raging  torrent,  which  his  horse  was  unable  to 
cross,  and  on  which  no  boat  could  live.  Setting  a  cord,  thrown  over  by  means 
of  a  stone,  he  drew  up  a  rope,  tied  it  round  his  body,  leaped  into  the  stream, 
and  was  dragged  through  the  dangerous  passage  by  men  on  the  shore.  With- 
out stopping  for  rest  or  change  of  clothing,  he  mounted  another  horse,  and 
arrived  in  time  to  brina:  the  consolations  of  religion  to  the  poor  convict," 
(Page  94.) 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     687 

priests  were  appointed  as  chaplains,  and  received  small  salaries  ; 
but  all  the  influence  and  prestige  of  the  Government,  and  all  the 
wealth  of  the  colony,  were  thrown  in  the  scales  of  Protestant 
ascendancy,  and  men  in  official  position  left  nothing  undone  to 
thwart  the  Catholic  Church  in  her  mission  of  enlightenment  and 
peace."  1 

It  was  during  this  time,  notwithstanding  those  many 
adverse  influences,  that  the  Catholic  Church  was  organized  in 
New  South  Wales.  Of  the  many  other  Irish  priests  who 
laboured  in  the  Colony  during  the  second  period,  perhaps 
the  most  distinguished  was  Father  MacEucro,  a  native  of 
Cashel,  and  a  graduate  of  Maynooth.  He  arrived  in  1832, 
and  "  for  thirty-six  years  was  a  leading  figure  in  Church 
matters  in  New  South  Wales."  While  in  Norfolk  Island, 
he  found  time  to  write  a  book  entitled  The  Wanderings  of 
the  Human  Mind  in  Searching  the  Scriptures,  which  was 
printed  in  Sydney  in  1841.  It  is  dedicated  to  the  students 
of  the  Koyal  College  of  St.  Patrick,  Maynooth.  He  took  a 
leading  part  in  the  anti-convict  agitation,  and  is  reported  by 
the  author  of  the  Irish  in  Australia,  to  have  declared  at  a 
public  meeting  in  1849,  that  "  rather  than  submit  to  the 
treatment  they  were  then  receiving  from  the  Imperial 
Government,  they  would  follow  the  example  of  the  American 
colonists  in  1776,  and  proclaim  their  independence."  In 
1868,  according  to  the  same  author,  the  last  convict  ship 
quitted  the  shores  of  Australia.  But  the  two  men  who 
contributed  most  during  this  period  to  give  shape  to  catho- 
licity were  the  two  English  Benedictines,  Dr.  Folding  and 
Dr.Ullathorne.  The  latter  arrived  in  1833,  and  was  appointed 
Vicar-General  of  New  Holland  by  the  Bishop  of  Mauritius, 
who  then  held  jurisdiction  over  Australia.  He  returned 
to  England  in  1836,  to  advocate  the  claims  of  the  Australian 
mission,  and  enlist  recruits  in  the  service  of  the  ministry. 
On  arriving  in  London,  he  published  his  Catholic  Mission  to 
Australia,  in  which  he  depicted  the  horrors  of  the  transpor- 
tation system.  The  nature  of  the  subject  did  not  require 
the  glowing  style  of  Dr.  Ullathorne  to  catch  the  ear  of  the 
English  public,  who  were  now  for  the  first  time  made 

i  Page  25. 


688  Cardinal  Moran's 

of  the  "  hell  upon  earth  "  which  existed  at  the  antipodes. 
Subscriptions  for  the  aid  of  the  Mission  poured  in  to  the 
amount  of  thousands.  What  he  could  not  get  in  England, 
he  found  in  Ireland;  namely,  a  sufficient  number  of  volunteers 
for  the  convict  mission. 

Here  is  an  abridged  account  of  his  visit  to  Maynooth  :— 

"  In  St.  Patrick's  College,  Maynooth,  he  was  no  less  successful. 
Among  those  who  volunteered  for  the  Sydney  Mission  was 
the  Eev.  Edward  M'Cabe,  then  a  senior  student,  and  subse- 
quently Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Dublin.  He  himself  related 
to  the  writer  of  these  pages  that  he  accompanied  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  (subsequently  Vicar-General  of  Melbourne) 
to  Archbishop  Murray  to  request  the  necessary  permission.  The 
Eev.  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  was  on  the  same  errand,  and  was  the  first 
to  present  himself  before  the  Archbishop.  His  petition  was 
granted.  When  the  Rev.  Mr.  M'Cabe  entered  and  stated  his 
request,  the  Archbishop  asked  what  was  to  become  of  Dublin, 
and  the  message  was  soon  after  conveyed  to  him,  that  His  Grace 
could  not  grant  his  request,  so  great  was  the  enthusiasm  for 
missionary  enterprise  stirred  up  at  this  time  among  the  youthful 
Levites  at  Maynooth,  and  so  many  were  the  volunteers  for 
Australia,  that  the  design  was  formed  of  instituting  a  Foreign 
Missionary  College,  and  very  soon  the  first  beginnings  were  made 
by  Father  Hand  of  that  provincial  scheme  to  which  the  English- 
speaking  missions  throughout  the  world  owe  so  much,  and  which 
at  length  took  shape  on  the  1st  November,  1842,  in  the  great 
College  of  All  Hallows." 

As  a  result  of  his  visit,  1838  witnessed  a  large  influx 
of  missionaries  to  Australia.  In  the  same  year  he 
returned  himself,  bringing  with  him  to  the  Colony  a 
community  of  the  Irish  Sisters  of  Charity,  the  first  nuns 
who  devoted  themselves  to  the  service  of  Christ  under 
the  Southern  Cross.  Dr.  Ullathorne  visited  England 
again  in  1840.  For  reasons  which  are  fully  explained,  he 
refused  to  return,  although  pressed  to  assume  the  mitre  of 
Adelaide  which  was  erected  into  an  episcopal  see  in  1842. 

Dr.  Polding  arrived  in  the  Colony  in  1835,  having  been 
appointed  Bishop  of  Hiera  Caesarea,  and  Vicar- Apostolic  with 
jurisdiction  over  the  whole  Australian  Continent.  For  the 
next  forty-two  years  he  stands  out  the  grand  central  figure 
in  Australian  Church  history.  Of  the  twenty  chapters 
which  make  up  Cardinal  Morari's  book,  no  less  than  four 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  *    698 

are  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  the  career  of  Dr.  Folding 
They  are  a  touching  record  of  missionary  toil : — 

"  The  way  in  which  he  multiplied  his  energies  struck  the 
colony  with  amazement.  What  above  all  things  kindled  his  zeal 
was  the  state  of  the  convict  population.  Assisted  by  one  or  two 
priests,  he  raised  his  altar  one  day  in  a  gaol,  another  day  in  the 
convict  barracks,  another  at  the  penal  settlement  of  Goat  Island, 
another  at  the  great  female  house  of  correction,  another  at  the 
establishment  for  juvenile  convicts. "1 

He  established  retreats  for  the  newly-arrived  convicts, 
and  we  are  informed  that  "  between  the  years  1836  and  1841 
no  fewer  than  seven  thousand  convicts  passed  ten  days  in 
those  pious  exercises  of  retreat."  This  was,  it  appears, 
only  a  fraction  of  his  official  work.  At  the  time  of  his 
arrival  there  were  some  twenty  thousand  Catholics  scattered 
over  the  vast  territory  under  his  jurisdiction  :— 

"  The  zealous  prelate  [we  read  at  page  199]  did  not  confine 
his  attention  to  the  convicts,  or  to  the  faithful  in  the  settled  dis- 
tricts around  Sydney.  He  travelled  far  and  wide  through  the 
bush  wherever  Catholic  families  could  be  found,  and  like  a  true 
missionary,  spared  no  fatigue  when  there  was  question  of  winning 
souls  to  Christ.  His  tact  and  courtesy,  no  less  than  the  happy 
results  of  his  relations  with  the  convicts,  won  for  him  the  esteem 
of  all  classes  and  denominations." 

Hence  the  Anglican  body  tried  in  vain  to  assert  their 
exclusive  right  to  State  aid.  That  excellent  Governor, 
Sir  Richard  Bourke,  had  an  Act  passed  in  1836,  which 
allotted  substantial  assistance  to  the  Catholic  body  in 
building  churches  and  maintaining  their  clergy.  So  much 
progress  did  religion  make  under  Dr.  Folding's  rule,  that 
in  1842  the  Holy  See  found  it  expedient  to  establish  the 
hierarchy  in  Australia.  In  1843,  Dr.  Folding  returned 
from  a  visit  to  Rome,  Archbishop  of  Sydney.  In  the  same 
year,  Adelaide  and  Hobart  were  constituted  suffragan  sees 
to  the  premier  city.  A  third  see  was  erected  in  1847, 
namely,  that  of  Melbourne.  All  those  three  became  after- 
wards archiepiscopal  centres,  but  Sydney  could  afford  to 
part  with  them,  for  under  the  mother  province  there  are 

1  Dr.  Ullathorne,  in  The  Tablet  of  24th  March,  1877. 
VOL.  XVII.  2  X 


690  Cardinal  Moraris 

to-day  no  less  than  six  suffragan  dioceses,  all  in  New  South 
Wales  ;  namely,  Maitland,  Goulburn,  Bathurst,  Armidale, 
Wileania,  and  Graft  on.  The  first  four  of  these  were  erected 
during  the  reign  of  Dr.  Polding.  Dr.  Murray,  a  native 
of  Wicklow,  was  appointed  first  Bishop  of  Maitland  in 
1865.  He  had  been  educated  at  the  Propaganda.  Goulburn 
was  erected  into  a  diocese  in  1864.  The  onerous  duty 
of  ruling  and  organizing  this  extensive  district  devolved 
on  Dr.  Lanigan,  who  after  spending  eleven  years  in  his 
native  diocese  of  Cashel,  volunteered  for  the  Australian 
Mission  in  1859.  He  was  educated  in  Maynooth,  and  by  an 
oversight  his  name  was  omitted  from  the  list  of  bishops 
educated  in  Maynooth,  which  is  printed  in  the  Centenary 
Histcry  of  Maynooth  College.  The  first  Bishop  of  Bathurst 
was  Dr.  Mathew  Quinn,  a  Dublin  priest  who  had  been 
educated  in  the  Propaganda.  He  was  consecrated  in  1865. 
The  Rev.  Timothy  O'Mahony,  a  native  of  Cork,  who,  after 
completing  his  course  in  the  Irish  College,  Rome,  had  spent 
twenty  years  on  the  mission  in  his  native  diocese,  was 
appointed  first  Bishop  of  Armidale  in  1869. 

The  latter  half  alone  of  Dr.  Folding's  career  almost  coin- 
cides with  what  the  most  eminent  author  calls  the  third 
period  of  Australian  Church  history  (1850-1880). 

"  A  period  of  nominal  religious  equality  commenced  about  the 
year  1850,  and  may  be  said  to  have  continued  for  about  thirty 
years.  I  say  a  nominal  religious  equality,  for,  despite  the  repeated 
declarations  that  all  religions  were  equal  before  the  law,  many  of 
the  men  who  wielded  political  influence  in  the  State  displayed  an 
intense  irreligious  and  anti-national  bitterness  of  hatred  against 
everything  Catholic,  and  made  the  Irish  name  in  a  special  manner 
the  object  of  their  assault." 

This  description  of  the  general  character  of  the  third 
period  of  Australian  Church  history  only  throws  in  stronger 
light  the  wonderful  progress  of  religion  during  Dr.  Folding's 
episcopate.  Many,  however,  were  the  reverses  which  the 
cause  he  had  so  much  at  heart  sustained  during  his  career. 
In  1862  State  aid  was  withdrawn  from  all  religious  denomi- 
nations in  New  South  Wales.  In  1865  St.  Mary's  Cathedral, 
commenced  so  long  ago  by  Father  Therry,  was  completely 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     691 

destroyed  by  fire,  entailing  a  loss  of  some  £150,000.      Other 
trials  are  enumerated  in  the  following  paragraph  :— 

"  Universally  respected  as  he  was  by  all  sections  of  the 
community,  and  beloved  by  his  own  flock,  it  came  to  pass  that, 
though  religion  continued  to  flourish  more  and  more  every  day, 
yet  every  auxiliary  upon  which  he  seemed  to  rely  for  success, 
and  every  pillar  of  support  upon  which  he  rested,  crumbled  to 
dust.  The  Christian  Brothers'  schools,  on  which  he  rested  his 
hopes  for  the  education  of  youth,  were  closed  in  a  few  months. 
The  Passionist  Fathers,  whom  he  conducted  to  Australia  to 
evangelize  the  aboriginals,  felt  compelled  to  enter  on  other  fields 
of  labour.  His  seminary  failed,  his  college  failed,  his  monastic 
cathedral  failed,  his  long-cherished  scheme  of  setting  the  seal  of 
the  Benedictine  Order  on  the  whole  Australian  Church,  melted 
away  like  an  idle  dream." 

Archbishop  Folding  died  in  1877.  Four  years  before 
Providence  sent  him  a  coadjutor  after  his  own  heart,  a 
Benedictine,  and  a  type  of  man  which  any  country  might  be 
proud  to  own.  During  his  too  brief  episcopacy  of  ten  years 
(1873-1883)  the  Most  Eev.  Dr.  Eoger  Bede  Vaughan  left  a 
lasting  impress  of  his  genius  and  zeal  on  the  Australian 
Church.  Two  works  chiefly  engaged  his  attention  ;  namely, 
the  completion  of  the  new  cathedral,  which  was  commenced 
in  1866,  and  the  cause  of  Christian  education.  In  1882 
St.  Mary's  was  advanced  enough  to  be  fit  for  solemn  dedica- 
tion, and  up  to  that  time  had  absorbed  the  enormous  sum 
of  £102,763,  nearly  the  half  of  which  had  been  collected  by 
the  energy  of  Dr.  Vaughan  during  the  preseding  five  years. 
His  published  Pastorals  and  Speeches  on  Education  remain 
to  plead  the  cause  which  he  advocated  with  the  most  persis- 
tent enthusiasm.  During  the  latter  half  of  1879  he  issued 
no  less  than  five  of  these  pastorals,  the  last  of  them  being 
a  scathing  reply  to  Sir  Henry  Parkes,  who  had  accused  the 
"  audacious  prelate "  of  seditious  teaching.  With  equal 
courage  and  success  he  disposed,  in  1875,  of  the  Anglican 
Bishop  Parker,  who,  in  a  public  speech,  gave  utterance  to 
the  unhappy  statement  that  the  claims  of  the  Catholic  Church 
were  founded  upon  "  frauds  and  forgeries."  Four  luminous 
and  eloquent  conferences  on  "  The  Church  of  Christ,"  first 
delivered  and  afterwards  published,  were  the  form  of  reply 


692  Cardinal  Moran's 

given  to  this  silly  charge  by  the  indefatigable  Archbishop. 
The  following  statistics  need  no  commentary : — 

"In  1873  there  were  in  the  diocese  90  churches  or  chapels; 
in  1883  the  number  had  increased  to  120.  The  schools  in  1873 
numbered  82,  whilst  in  1883  they  had  grown  to  102.  Eleven  of 
these  schools  were  taught  by  religious  orders  of  men,  with  3,270 
pupils ;  while  69  were  taught  by  religious  orders  of  women,  with 
8,546  pupils." 

On  the  19th  April,  1883,  Dr.  Vaughan  left  Sydney  on  a 
visit  to  Europe.  He  was  not  destined  to  return  to  the 
field  of  his  labours  for  he  died,  shortly  after  landing  in  his 
native  England,  at  Ince  Blundel,  the  residence  of  his 
aunt. 

At  the  request  of  the  suffragan  bishops  of  the  province 
of  Sydney,  his  Holiness  Pope  Leo  XIII.  selected  as  his 
successor  a  man  whom  his  nationality,  education,  and 
experience  eminently  fitted  to  assume  the  government  of 
the  vacant  see.  The  reputation  for  learning  and  wisdom  of 
Patrick  Francis  Moran,  Bishop  of  Ossory,  was  long  estab- 
lished before  his  elevation  to  the  Sacred  College  of  Cardinals 
in  1885,  just  one  year  after  his  translation  to  Sydney.  The 
History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia,  which  will 
rescue  from  oblivion  a  tale  of  Catholic  progress  as  marvellous 
as  any  recorded  in  the  annals  of  Church  history,  is  only  one 
of  a  series  of  historical  works  with  which  his  Eminence  has 
enriched  our  Catholic  literature.  He  is  too  modest  to  be 
the  historian  of  his  own  labours,  but  we  gather  something 
of  them  from  a  speech  made  by  the  late  Eight  Hon. 
William  Bede  Dalley,  in  1887,  at  a  meeting  held  in 
St.  Mary's  Cathedral  to  inaugurate  a  centenary  memorial 
commemorative  of  the  first  Australian  Settlement  :— 

"  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind  [said 
the  distinguished  orator]  to  take  a  rapid  glance  at  what  you 
have  actually  accomplished  since  you  have  been  called  to  occupy 
your  present  position.  You  have  introduced  and  given  a  home  to 
the  Vincentian  Fathers  of  St.  Augustine's  at  Balmain  ;  the  Fathers 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  Eaidwick  and  Britany  ;  the  Irish  Christian 
Brothers  at  Balmain  East,  and  the  Brothers  of  St.  Patrick  at 
Eedfern  ;  the  Sisters  of  our  Lady  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  Botany ; 
the  Carmelite  Nuns  at  the  Warren,  at  Cook's  River ;  the  Nursing 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     693 

Sisters  at  Petersham,  and  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor  at  the 
Home  for  Aged  Poor  at  Leichbart  ...  In  the  erection  of  23 
new  churches  there  has  been  an  expenditure  of  £51,950.  On 
10  church  schools  there  has  been  spent  £13,590.  On  the  erection 
of  14  Catholic  schools  there  has  been  an  expenditure  of  £107,020. 
The  building  of  94  convents  has  cost  £71,790.  Fifteen  presby- 
teries have  been  built  at  a  cost  of  £22,320.  Eight  charitable 
institutions  have  cost  £24,900." 

This  speech,  it  will  be  observed  was  made  in  1887. 
1889  witnessed  the  opening  of  St.  Patrick's  Ecclesiastical 
College  at  Manly,  which  had  been  erected  at  a  cost  of 
£65,000.  In  1892  there  were  within  its  walls  as  many 
as  forty-eight  ecclesiastical  students  preparing  themselves 
to  assist  in  gathering  in  the  great  spiritual  harvest  which 
has  sprung  up  from  the  good  seed  carried  to  New  South 
Wales  from  holy  Ireland. 

Cardinal  Moran's  advent  to  the  Colony  will  be  identified 
with  the  opening  of  the  fourth  period  of  Australian  Church 
history,  which,  to  quote  the  words  of  his  Eminence,  is  "  one 
of  comparative  calm,"  the  anti-Catholic  storm  having,  it 
appears,  spent  its  fury  about  1880.  It  will,  we  think, 
be  also  known  as  a  period  of  internal  organization.  A 
plenary  Synod,  attended  by  almost  all  the  bishops  and 
vicars-apostolic  of  'Australasia,  was  held  in  1885,  which 
enacted  several  wise  decrees  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  time. 
From  Archbishop  Carr's  letter  already  referred  to,  we  infer 
that  the  present  year  will  witness  another  such  assemblage 
which  will  be  attended  by  "one  cardinal,  six  archbishops, 
twenty-five  bishops,  together  with  vicars-apostolic,  and 
representatives  of  the  secular  clergy,  and  of  almost  all  the 
religious  orders  in  the  Church."  This  reminds  us  that  if  we 
are  to  keep  our  remarks  within  a  reasonable  compass,  it  is 
time  to  turn  our  attention  to  the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
Church  in  the  other  provinces  of  Australasia. 

T.  P.  GlLMAETIN. 


694     ] 


THE  ANGLO-IRISH  DIALECT 

THNGLISH  philology  has  during  the  past  fifty  years 
_Lj  occupied  attention  without  stint.  The  publications  of 
the  various  early  text  and  dialect  societies  have  thrown  a 
flood  of  light  on  the  past  and  present  condition  of  the 
language,  and,  thanks  to  the  labours  of  Marsh,  Latham, 
Skeat,  and  Morris,  our  grammar  is  at  last  put  on  a  scientific 
basis.  But  while  libraries  have  been  ransacked,  and 
ploughmen  bothered  by  eager  students,  it  is  a  strange  fact 
that  the  Anglo-Irish  dialect  has  been  entirely  overlooked. 
The  superiority  which  Englishmen  assume  regarding  all 
things  Irish  has,  probably,  something  to  say  to  this.  The 
Irish  dialect,  forsooth,  any  scribe  is  competent  to  write  in 
that.  The  thing  is  as  easy  as  lying.  Convert  the  second 
vowel  into  a,1  the  third  into  oi,  throw  in  an  occasional 
"  arrah  "  and  "  shure,"  add  a  few  touches  about  the  pig 
and  the  "  praaste,"  and  the  language  is  true  to  life.  Yet 
the  stolid  gravity  of  the  Saxon  would  be  sorely  tried  by  the 
efforts  of  a  Corkonian  to  develop  out  of  his  inner  con- 
sciousness the  speech  of  the  Yorkshire  yokels.  Not  being 
commended  by  fashion  across  the  Channel,  the  dialect  has 
not  attracted  the  notice  of  scholars  at  home.  Irishmen  are 
in  too  great  hurry  getting  rid  of  "  the  brogue"  to  stop  and 
examine  it.  A  small  vocabulary  of  Antrim  words,  contri- 
buted to  the  English  Dialect  Journal,  and  a  short  paper  on 
the  dialect  of  Forth  and  Bargy,  read  by  Dr.  Russell,  of 
Maynooth,  at  the  British  Association  Meeting,  1857,  com- 
prise the  whole  literature  of  the  subject.  Any  description, 
therefore,  of  this  terra  incognita  must  be  subject  to  modi- 
fication or  enlargement  by  further  inquiry.  Besides,  the 
writer  cannot  claim  any  exceptional  opportunities  beyond 
those  afforded  by  that  venerable  institution  in  Maynooth 
College,  the  "night  batch." 

English  has  become  the  language  of  Ireland  at  large 
only  within  the  present  century.  Two  generations  ago 
Irish  was  spoken  up  to  the  very  walls  of  Dublin,  and  old 

*  Rudyard  Kipling  makes  his  Irishman  talk  of  the  "  Quaan." 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  695 

people  may  still  be  found  within  a  few  miles  of  the  capital 
who  understand  though  they  cannot  speak  it.  But,  though 
Irish  was  the  prevailing  language,  the  old  English  colonists 
struggled  hard  to  maintain,  with  their  political  power,  their 
own  speech;  and  it  is  curious  to  find,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  English  spoken  in  parts  of  Cork,  Tipperary,  and 
Kilkenny,  which  were  mostly  outside  the  Pale,  as  well  as  in 
all  the  cities  and  large  towns.  The  events  of  the  seventeenth 
century  scarcely  disturbed  the  linguistic  balance;  it  was 
only  the  National  schools,  the  famines,  and  the  clearances 
of  our  own  time,  that  finally  turned  the  scale  in  favour  of 
English.  Looking,  then,  to  what  may  be  termed  the  philo- 
logical strata,  we  find  that  English  predominates ;  yet 
Irish  crops  out  in  our  pronunciation,  in  our  vocabulary,  our 
grammar,  and  our  idioms.  Traces  of  the  Lowland  Scotch, 
introduced  by  the  Ulster  planters,  exist  in  the  speech  of 
that  province.  But  the  most  characteristic  element  in  the 
formation  (to  return  to  our  simile)  is  the  large  proportion 
of  old  English  imbedded  in  our  modern  or  literary  speech. 
This,  it  will  be  found,  has  much  more  in  common  with  the 
South- Western  dialect,  still  spoken  in  Devon  and  Somerset, 
than  with  the  Midland,  from  which  literary  English  is 
descended.  Moreover,  the  history  of  the  dialect  settles  any 
doubt  there  may  be  as  to  its  nature.  We  have,  unfortu- 
nately, few  fragments  of  the  English  of  the  colonists,  but 
sufficient  to  show  its  character  and  relationship.  Here,  for 
instance,  is  a  stanza  written  by  "  frere  Michel  Kyldare,"  in 
the  early  years  of  the  fourteenth  century  : — 

"  Ihesu,  King  of  heven  fre, 
Ever  i-blessid  mot  thou  be. 
Loverd,  I  besech  the, 

to  me  thou  tak  hede. 
From  dedlich  sinne  thou  gem  me, 

while  I  libbe  on  lede. 
The  maid  fre,  that  here  the 

so  sweetlich  under  wede, 
Do  us  to  se  the  Trinite, 

al  we  habbeth  nede."1 

The  passive  participle* 'i-blessid,"  the  adjectives  "dedlich" 

i  tfeliquac  Antique?,  ii.  193. 


696  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

and"sweetlich,"but,  above  all,  the  personal  suffix  eth  of  "hab- 
beth,"  the  hall-mark  of  Southern  English,  determine  beyond 
question  the  language  of  the  early  settlers,  and  the  part  of 
England  whence  they  came.  There  is  evidence  that  this  dialect 
long  flourished  in  Ireland.  Traces  of  it  are  constantly  found 
in  the  literary  English  of  the  Pale,  in  State  Papers,  and  in  the 
documents  of  our  municipal  corporations.  As  late  as  1543 
we  meet  in  a  petition  of  Tipperary  freeholders  presented  to 
Henry  VIII.,  such  forms  as  "  felith,"  "restith,"  "  hathe," 
&c.,  in  the  third  person  plural.  At  the  end  of  the  last  cen- 
tury Malone,  the  celebrated  Shakesperian  commentator, 
wiote  :  "  At  this  day  in  Ireland,  much  of  the  language  of  the 
age  of  Elizabeth  is  yet  retained."1  By  "the  language  of  the  age 
of  Elizabeth,"  Malone  obviously  meant  provincial  English; 
and  in  this  sense  only  is  the  statement  intelligible.  Indeed, 
within  the  past  fifty  years  this  old  English  continued  in  parts 
of  the  country  in  a  wondrous  state  of  preservation.2  It  is 
true  that  we  do  not  find  the  phonetic  characteristics  of  the 
Southern  dialect,  such  as  the  substitution  of  v  and  z  for/ and 
s,  but  their  absence  is  due  to  the  influence  of  Irish,  the 
second  sound  not  existing  in  that  language,  and  the  first 
only  under  modified  conditions.  Besides,  it  will  be  observed 
that  when  this  influence  was  least,  the  substitution  regularly 
occurs.3 

While  not  professing  to  write  a  grammar  of  the 
dialect,  it  will  be  convenient  to  follow  the  order  of  gram- 
marians, and  treat  the  matter  under  the  heads — orthoepy, 
vocabulary,  and  grammatical  forms. 

OKTHOEPY 

In  the  pronunciation  of  vowels,  two  distinct  tendencies 
may  be  observed  in  Ireland  :  the  tendency  to  lengthen,  and 
the  tendency  to  substitute.  As  examples  of  the  former 
we  may  cite  "charming,"  "  aygent,"  "  endayvours," 
"Eleezabeth,"  "  farneeliar,"  "sawft,"  "wynd,"  sometimes  the 
vowel  is  lengthened  into  a  diphthong:  "sowl,"  "  Good-boy" 

1  Henry  F.,  i.  2. 

2  See  Dr,  Russell's  paper  on  the  Barony  of  Forth  speech,  in  the  first  number 
of  the  Atlantis,  1858, 

3  Ibid. 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  697 

(bye),  "Dwoyer."  Occasionally  we  meet  with  an  opposite 
current:  «'  byes  "  for  "boys,"  "avide"  for  "avoid."  The 
tendency  to  substitute  some  vowel-sounds  for  others,  is 
as  marked,  perhaps,  in  England  as  in  Ireland  ;  but  as  it  takes 
a  different  direction  with  us,  a  detailed  explanation  is 
necessary  : — 

A . — E  is  substituted  for  this  vowel  occasionally ; 
e.g.,  "  eat,"  for  "  ate  ;  "  "  breek,"  for  "  break  ;"  "  Meery,"  for 
"  Mary."  The  change  of  a  into  o  is  very  common  in  the 
North  of  Ireland  ;  a  Northern  friend  used  to  speak  of  the 
redoubtable  Irish  hero  as  "  Con  of  the  Hundred  Bottles." 

E.—We  find  a  for  e  (N.  of  I.)  "  sarvint,"  "  larnin,"— this 
especially  in  the  final  syllable  (W.  of  I.)  "  He's  verra  sorra." 
The  secondary  sound  of  a  is  still  commoner  ;  in  fact,  it  is  one 
of  our  most  notable  characteristics:  "say"  (sea),  "  tay '' 
"plaise,"  "mate"  (meat).  J  for  e  is  universal,"  rint," 
"  frind,"  "  instid,"  "min."  U  for  e  occurs  but  rarely, 
"  nuver,"  "  study  "  (steady). 

I. — E  for  i  obtains  everywhere  :  "  sence,"  led,"  "mericle," 
"  sperit."  The  Scotch  u  for  i  is  found  where  we  should  look 
for  it,  in  the  North,  "wall11  for  "  will;"  "  Multn "  for 
«'  Milton." 

0. — A  for  o  is  occasionally  met  with  (S.  of  I.)  "  frasht  " 
(frost);  also  e  for  o,  "folly"  for  "follow,"  "  windee  "  for 
"  window,"  and  very  frequently  u  for  o,  "  flure,"  "  doore." 

U. — The  different  sounds  of  this  vowel  are  often  inter- 
changed. On  the  one  hand,  we  hear  "  fut  "  (foot),  "  sut  " 
(soot);  on  the  other,  "  yoong,"  "  soon  "  (son),  u  becomes  i  in 
"  sich."  The  consonantal  peculiarities  are  such  as  we  might 
expect  from  the  application  of  the  Celtic  phonetic  system  to 
English. 

1.  The  Irish   have  a  strong    preference    for    aspirates, 
d   and  t  become  dh    and    th  ;  "  murdher,"    "  bewildher," 
"thruth,"  "  bether ;"  ,9  becomes  sh,  "  losht,"   "  shlippers,"  * 
and  w,fw,  or  hw,  "  fwhen,"  "  Cappaghfwhoite,"  "  hwhat." 

2.  Certain  sounds  are  disliked  :    F,  for  instance,  in  con- 

1  The  reader  will  remember  the  comment  of  the  late  Fr.  Healy,  on  Lord  M.'s 
story.  "  I  threw,"  said  his  Lordship,  "  my  shlipper  afther  the  bnde,"  "  Pity, 
my  Lord,  you  didn't  throw  your  brogue  also." 


698  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

nection  with  some  vowels  is  dropped,  and  according  to  the 
well-known  law,  compensation  is  made  by  lengthening  the 
vowel.  The  change  effected  is  equivalent  to  pronouncing 
v&sw;  e.g.,  "abowe,"  "awide,"  "wote."  I  remember  hearing 
a  Galway  student  ask  for  "  a  bottle  o'wink."  The  Irish,  like 
the  Scotch,  find  an  almost  insuperable  difficulty  in  the 
obscure  sound  of  r  and  I ;  e.g.,  "  farm,"  "warm,"  "  elm" 
"  realm."  It  was  sworn  at  the  Mitchelstown  inquest  that  a 
prominent  M.P.,  exciting  the  people  against  the  police,  said 
14  Keep  ferrum,  men."  A  sound  that  gives  still  more  trouble 
is  the  diphthong  "  eu  "  (=  u  in  pure).  Even  in  Irish,  where 
it  appears  as  iu  long,  it  was  never  popular,  judging  from  the 
small  number  of  words  in  which  it  occurs.  Hence  we  find 
various  dodges  employed  for  getting  over  it.  Sometimes  it 
is  converted  into  oo,  "  oo  "  (you),  "  stoodent ;"  sometimes 
into  i,  tf  minit "  (minute) ;  more  often  the  discord — musically 
speaking — is  prepared,  and  the  preceding  consonant 
changed,  ''jew"  for  "due,"  "  sojers  "  for  "soldiers."  In 
Meath,  Kildare,  and  Carlow,  we  hear  "  opportkunity," 
"  forkune;"  this  is  local,  but  "  opportchunity,"  "  fortchune," 
"  garjun,"  "  Tchoosday,"  "diocese  of  Tchoom,"  &c.,  are 
universal.  Among  the  minor  phenomena  which  may  be 
explained  by  the  principle  we  are  discussing,  is  the 
clipping  of  g  in  present  participles;  "  atin  "  "  dhrinkin;" 
of  d,  "an,"  "hansome;"  ofZ,  "ony,"  faut." 

VOCABULAEY 

We  do  not  propose  to  take  into  account  the  Irish  words 
incorporated  in  our  dialect.  For  the  most  part  they  are  not 
quite  naturalized,  and  their  number  varies  according  to  the 
proximity  or  remoteness  of  Irish-speaking  districts ;  yet  it 
is  certain  that  many  of  them  will  remain,  inasmuch  as  they 
express  peculiar  wants,  notions,  or  shades  of  meaning.  To 
pass  over  the  names  of  objects  of  common  use,  we  may 
instance  the  whole  class  of  diminutives  in  een ;  e.g. , 
"caubeen,''  "gombeen,"  "shebeen."  The  delicate  flavour 
of  contempt  conveyed  by  this  suffix  cannot  be  adequately 
represented  in  English,  and  we  are  obliged  to  import  even 
into  our  literary  dialect,  such  mongrels  as  "  squireen/' 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  699 

"  jackeen,"  &C.1  But  distinctive  as  the  Irish  is,  it  is  not  the 
most  characteristic  element  of  our  vocabulary.  We  are 
proverbially  a  people  of  long  memories,  and  most  of  the 
peculiarities  of  our  speech  will  be  found  to  be  old  English 
survivals.  While  this  is  especially  true  of  our  grammar, 
it  holds  also  of  our  vocabulary.  This  portion  of  our  subject 
may  therefore  be  dealt  with  in  the  following  lines :  old 
words ;  old  pronunciation ;  old  senses  of  words,  to  which  may 
be  added  peculiar  uses  of  words. 

(a)  Old  words. — Very  many  are  still  current  in  out-of- 
the-way  places.    From  a  long  list  we  select  the  following  as 
the  most  representative  ;  "  afeared,"  "afire  "  (on  fire),  "axe' 
(ask),  "baulk"  (to   hinder),    "budge"  (to  stir),  "childer" 
(pi.  of  child),  "dag"  (a  hatchet),  "disrernernber,"  "forenint" 
(opposite),  "forbye"  (beside),  "gom"  (simpleton),  "gorsoon" 
(a   boy,   A.-N.   gargori),    "  haggart "    (A-S.   haeggarth,  hay 
yard),  "  hames  "  (the  rigid  part  of  a  horse-collar),  "  huxter," 
"indite"  (dictate)  "  keeler  "  (a  shallow  milk-tub),  "meares" 
(bounds),    "  misfortunate,"     "near"    (miserly),    "  nevves " 
(nephews,  latter  from  A.-N.  the  Irish  term  from  A.-S.  nefan 
after  neues),  "  park"  (a  small  field),  "  pill"  (a  tidal  creek), 
"passage"  (a  ferry-:  cf.  Passage  East,  Passage  West),  "to 
priest"  (the   verb   "to   bishop,'*   is   found  in    Stanihurst), 
''  rocket  "  (a  child's  dress),  "  ruination,"  "  settle"  (a  combi- 
nation of  bench  and  bed,   A.-S.   setille,  Lat.  sedillia),  "to 
skope "  (to  leap  about,  Co.  Waterford  fishermen  use  it  of 
fishing   here   and   there,  instead    of  in   the   same    place), 
"  skillet  "   (a  small  pot),  "  slobbery,"  "  sporge,  "  "  stim  "  (a 
piece,   bit,    usthim   o'sinse "),  "soil"  (cut  grass),  "troth," 
"  tundish  "  (a  small  funnel),  "  wake,"  "  wood  quest." 

(b)  Old  pronunciation. — Many  of  thepeculiarities  described 
above  are  not  native  born  ;  they  are  simply  conservations. 
Indeed  it  is  highly  probable  that  our  brogue  keeps  much 
closer  to  old  English  than  the  standard  pronunciation  does. 
Sir  Henry  Irving's  rendering  of  Macbeth  would  be  barely 
intelligible  to  Shakespere,  while  (as  far  as  we  can  be  certain 

1  It  is  curious  to  note  that  some  Irish  words  made  their  way  into  English  at 
an  early  date.  In  A  Lytell  Geste  of  Robyn  If  ode,  11,144,  we  meet  "  gillore," 
or  as  it  is  now  spelled  "gaTore."  Other  examples  are  '•  bother,"  "brogues" 
and  "  smithereens," 


700  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

in  matters  phonetic),  Mike  O'Brien  would  be  readily  under- 
stood. Take,  for  example,  two  of  the  most  marked  Hiber- 
nicisms — the  substitution  of  a  for  e  in  such  words  as  fear, 
speak,  tea,  eating,  and  of  oo  for  o,  and  u  in  Eome,  done,  love, 
&c.  In  Hamlet,  iii  2,  146,  we  have  : — 

"  Where  love  is  great,  the  littlest  doubts  are  fear  ; 
Where  little  fears  grow  great,  great  love  grows  there." 

The  rhyming  "fear,"  with  "  there,"  and  the  double  assonance 
with  " great,"  prove  that  Shakespere  would  say  "fare,"  not 
"  feer."  Again  a  few  lines  lower  :— 

"  I  do  believe  you  think  what  now  you  speak; 
But  what  we  do  determine  oft  we  break." 

Pope's  well-known  couplet : — 

"  Where  thou  great  Anna,  wrhom  these  realms  obey, 
Dost  sometimes  counsel  take,  and  sometimes  tea  ;" 

and  Goldsmith's  : — 

"  Why  this  is  good  eating ! 
Your  own,  I  suppose,  or  is  it  in  waiting?  " 

show  that  this  pronunciation  was  classic  for  more  than  a 
century  later.  That  our  preference  for  the  sound  oo  is 
mainly  traditional,  may  be  equally  well  established.  In 
King  John,  iii.  2,  we  find  :— 

"  O,  lawful  let  it  be, 
That  I  have  room  with  Eome  to  curse  a  while  !" 

And  in  the  play  scene  in  Hamlet,  to  which  1  have  referred, 
"love"  rhymes  with  "prove"  and  "move,"  "done"  with 
a  moon,"  and  "  propose"  with  "  lose."  Parallel  instances 
will  be  found  in  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  iii.  2,  74,  v.  i., 
271,  284,  &c. 

But  these  examples  are  by  no  means  isolated.  Our 
"wrack"  (wreck),  "  wrastling,"  "  yallow,"  and  the  like, 
will  be  amply  vindicated  by  reference  to  old  writers.1  Here 
are  two  vulgarities  worth  noting  : — 

"  About  the  wood  go  swifter  than  the  ivind, 
And  Helena  of  Athens  look  thou  find."  ' 

1  In  the  first  editions  of  Shakespere,  wrack  is  the  almost  invariable  spoiling. 
For  others  see  Mandeville,  passim, 

2  4  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  iii.  2,  94. 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  701 

And 

"None  of  noble  sort 
Would  so  offend  a  virgin  and  extort 
A  poor  soul's  patience  all  to  make  you  sport."* 

We  had  not  always  jointly  with  the  Scotch  a  monopoly 
of  the  rolling  r.  From  such  spellings  as  "  arum,"  "  worrum," 
*'  farim,"  it  is  clear  that  the  burr  was  once  heard  beside  the 
Thames  as  well  as  on  the  Tweed  and  Shannon.  The 
scansion  of 

"  After  the  prompter  for  our  entrance,"2 

"  The  safety  and  health  of  this  whole  state,"  3 

"  And  lasting  in  her  sad  remembrance," 

shows  that  our  inserting  an  additional  syllable  into 
"entrance,"  "  safety,"  and  "remembrance"  is  sanctioned 
by  high  authority.  In  our  accentuation  also  very  many 
relics  of  the  past  may  be  detected  by  the  careful  observer, 
Shakespere's  putting  the  accent  on  the  penult  of  "  contrary." 

"  You  must  contrary  me  !    marry,  'tis  true."  5 

is  only  what  it  is  done  in  Ireland  every  day.  The  tendency 
to  drive  back  the  accent  to  the  beginning  of  the  word  has  not 
reached  us  in  "  centenary,"  '*  character,"  "demonstration," 
"illustration,"  "inventory,"  "opposite,15  "record"  (noun), 
and  many  others  ;  yet  in  our  national  cussedness  (to  borrow 
a  word  from  Mark  Twain)  we  insist  on  "  committee," 
"  religion,"  &c. 

(c)  Old  senses  of  words. — Many  words  whose  meaning 
in  England  has  been  enlarged  or  narrowed,  or  changed 
altogether,  still  circulate  with  us  at  what  may  be  called 
their  face  value.  "Admiration"  retains  in  many  places  its 
etymological  sense  of  "  wonder."  Shakespere's  use  of 
"blood"  for  "passion"6  is  not  yet  obsolete: — "His  blood 
was  up;"  "  doubt5"  as  of  old,  often  implies  "fear,"  and 
"jealousy,"  "suspicion;"  "kind,"  in  its  broad  meaning  of 
secundum  naturam,  is  current  everywhere,  "  a  kind  horse," 
"  kind  land,"  &c.  The  causal  use  of  "  learn "  may  be 

1  Ibid.,  159,  100.  4  Twelfth  Xiyht,  i.  1,  33. 

~  Macbeth,  i.  5,  37.  5  Romeo  and  Juliet,  i.  5. 

a  Hamlet,  i.  3,  21.  "  e.g.,  Lear,  iv.  2,  64. 


702  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

noticed  in  the  common  interrogatory,  "  Who  learned  you 
that  ? "  We  hear  that  So-and-so's  corn  was  "  lodged," 
and  that  his  "  next "  (nearest)  neighbour  was  looking 
for  "  majority"  (superiority)  over  him.  In  an  old  chronicle 1 
we  read,  "  Then  came  into  Inglond  Kynge  Jamys  of 
Skotland  with  a  pouar.  of  men."  This  strange  use  of  the 
word  lingered  in  literary  English  down  to  Shakespere's 
time,2  and  to  this  day  a  large  crowd  is  in  Ireland,  "  a  power 
of  people."  We  are  provoked  to  smile  when  we  hear  old 
folk  talk  of  "the  quality"  (i.e.,  gentry),  quite  forgetting 
that  the  best  writers  of  the  seventeenth  century  used 
the  word  in  this  sense.  To  inflict  suspension  is  still  "  to 
silence;"  an  epidemic  is  always  "the  sickness,"3  and 
Mother  Seigel's  remedy  has  no  "  virtue  "  in  it. 

(d)  Peculiar  uses  of  words. — Partly  owing  to  our  imperfect 
grasp  of  English,  and  partly  to  the  general  law  of  dis- 
integration, we  have  given  to  a  large  number  of  words  a 
local  force  and  value.  An  Irish  Member  of  Parliament 
recently  invited  to  speak  in  a  provincial  town  in  England, 
wrote  to  say  that  the  date  would  answer  him  very  well. 
We  may  hear,  any  day,  "  Norry,  'twould  be  more 
answerable  for  you  to  do  what  I  tell  you."  The  term 
"  bad  "  means  with  us  physical  as  well  as  moral  malady, 
and  "boy"  includes  men  under  forty.  The  counterpart  of 
this  is  found  in  several  localities  in  England,  where  "  girl " 
is  applied  to  every  unmarried  woman.  On  the  same 
principle,  a  full  grown  tree  remains  in  the  North  of  Ireland, 
a  "  bush."  Speaking  of  the  North,  sometime  since  a  party 
of  drunken  Orangemen  got  upset  into  a  ditch,  and 
Mr.  Labouchere  learned  from  the  occurrence  what  exactly 
they  meant  by  "  lining  the  ditches  " — "  ditch  "  in  England 
signifying  a  trench,  never  a  fence.  But  while  it  requires 
considerable  physique  to  line  the  ditch,  the  feat  is  not  to  be 
compared  with  that  suggested  by  the  Cork  waiter  :  "  'Tis 
better  for  you  '  carry  '  the  horse  to  Blarney  than  go  by 

1  Brit.  Mus.  Cotton  Vesp.  A.  xxv. 

2  Macbeth,  iv.  3,  185.     Hamlet,  iv.  4,  9,  &c. 

13  From  some  acts  of  the  Kilkenny  Corporation,  in  1604,  we  find  that  the 
terrible  typhus  or  "sweating  sickness  "  of  that  year  was  called  "  the  sickness," 
Clyncs  Annals  ;  Irish  Archceological  Publications,  pp,  63-64. 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  .    703 

train."  It  will  be  seen  from  these  examples  that  the 
application  of  the  words  is  increased  rather  than  limited,  and 
this  is  the  general  tendency.  The  floor  of  the  third  story  is 
still  "  the  ground,"  and  this  abused  word  is  also  made  to  do 
duty  for  "  land,"  "  a  good  bit  of  ground."  "  For  his  good  " 
has  an  old  English  flavour  about  it,  but  I  have  sought  the 
phrase,  in  vain,  in  Shakespere,  and  other  Elizabethian  writers. 
Another  curious  extension  of  meaning,  but  a  local  one,  is 
the  Tyrone  "  name  "  for  "  mention."  "  I  named  it  to  him." 
A  few  miles  further  North,  "  sore  "  is  applied  to  the  weather  : 
"  a  sore  day,"  i.e.,  a  wet  or  generally  disagreeable  one. 
"Sick"  is  co-extensive  with  "ill,"  whereas  its  ordinary 
equivalent  in  England  is  "  nausea  "  "  Perish,"  and  its 
cousin-german  "kill,"  do  not  in  Ireland  connote  death; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  "shot"  always  means  "  shot  dead." 
Perhaps  even  more  curious  than  any  of  these  is  the  use  of 
"  right"  for  its  co-relative  "  duty"  :  "he  had  a  right  to  do 
it ;  i.e.,  "he  had  a  duty  to  do  it;"  "he  ought  to  have 
done  it."  This  very  peculiar  idiom  is  clearly  traceable  to  the 
Irish,  since  ce^vju;  is  at  once  "  duty"  and  "  right." 

While  the  general  tendency  is  to  enlarge  the  application 
of  words,  the  exceptions  are  numerous  and  important. 
"  Means  "  with  us  is  limited  to  one  end — money-making — 
and  is,  therefore,  identical  with  "  capital."  The  verse  so  dear 
to  schoolmasters  : 

"  Let  lovely  lilacs  line  Lee's  lonely  lane," 

is  simply  mystifying  to  Irish  lads.  If  it  ended  with  "  Lee's 
lonely  boreheen,"  it  would  convey  some  meaning,  for  who 
ever  saw  a  lane  in  Ireland  that  was  not  lined  rather  with 
houses?  "Mad,"  though  signifying  every  degree  of  anger, 
from  irritation  to  phrenzy,  rarely,  if  ever,  has  its  normal 
sense  of  violent  insanity.  lt  Suited,"  in  many  places,  means 
pleased.  The  people  of  Armagh,  it  is  said,  are  greatly 
suited  with  their  cathedral.  "  Tradesmen,"  which  in 
England  means  "  traders  "  simply,  becomes  a  convenient 
name  for  one  of  the  clear-cut  steps  of  our  social  pyramid, 
to  wit,  the  artisan,  higher  than  the  labouring  class,  yet 
beneath — much  beneath — the  bourgeoisie.  A  word  which 


704    .  The  Very  Rev,  Matthew  Kelly,  D.D., 

has  wandered  far  from  its  original  meaning  is  "warrant." 
With  the  adjective  "  good  "  it  signifies,  in  many  parts  of  the 
South,  a  capable  or  obliging  person.  "  He  has  a  good 
warrant  to  do  it,"  meaning  that  he  was  skilful  or  willing  in 
the  doing  of  it.  "  Wish  "  is  equivalent  to  "good  wish" 
or  "liking."  "  He  has  a  wish  for  you;  "  the  comparison  of 
which  is,  "  He  has  a  great  wish,"  and  "  He  has  the  greatest 
wish  for  you."  These,  and  several  other  peculiar  uses  which 
might  be  mentioned,  throw  light  in  many  a  curious  way  on 
Irish  character  and  temperament.  "  Beggar  "  is  a  word 
rarely  uttered  by  Irish  mouths  ;  it  is  always  "  a  poor  man  " 
or  "  a  poor  woman."  "  Poor  "  with  us  is  a  term  of  endear- 
ment,1 not  as,  in  England,  one  of  depreciation  ;  and  nothing 
can  better  express  the  interval  between  the  two  peoples. 
Indeed,  speaking  generally,  words  are  often  better  exponents 
of  character  than  sentences,  or  even  actions  :  they  are  more 
spontaneous,  less  premeditated. 

WILLIAM  BURKE, 


THE  VEKY  KEY.  MATTHEW  KELLY,  D.D., 
PKOFESSOE,  MAYNOOTH  COLLEGE  AND 
CANON  OF  OSSOEY 

A  SKETCH  of  the  life  and  literary  labours  of  this 
distinguished  son  of  Ossory — the  joint  production  of 
two  dear  friends,  Bishop  McCarthy  and  Professor  Jennings 
—was  published  as  an  introduction  to  Dr.  Kelly's  Disser- 
tations on  Irish  Church  History.*  As  the  work  is  now  out 
of  print,  it  may  be  interesting  and  useful  to  the  younger 
generation  of  Irish  ecclesiastics  to  have,  in  the  pages  of  the 
I.  E.  RECORD,  an  account  of  the  life  and  publications  of 
Dr.  Matthew  Kelly. 


1  The  greatest  of  our  annalists,  Michael  O'Clery,  loved  to  style  himself  a 
bj\AUAi|\  boctr. — See  Introduction  to  Four  Masters,  O'Donovan's  edition. 

2  Dublin  :   Duffy  &  Co.,  1864. 


Professor,  Maynooth  College  and  Canon  of  Ossory     705 

He  was  born  in  Maudlin-street,  Kilkenny,  on  the  21st 
September,  1814,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of  James  Kelly 
and  Margaret  Sanphy.  The  loyal  and  determined  action  of 
the  people  of  South  Kilkenny  during  the  tithe  agitation, 
culminating  in  the  affray  at  Carrickshock,  gave  a  great 
impetus  to  the  movement  for  the  abolition  of  that  iniquitous 
tithe  system.  It  is  not  so  generally  known  that  Kilkenny 
had,  as  far  back  as  1780,  been  taking  a  prominent  part  in 
the  anti-tithe  agitation.  Dr.  Kelly  has  the  following  note, 
page  137,  of  his  edition  of  0' Sullivan  Beare's  Catholic 
History  of  Ireland: — "  Down  to  a  late  period,  the  priests,  in 
some  places  at  least,  used  to  collect,  after  baptizing  a  child, 
the  minister's  baptism  money.  I  know  a  man  who  claimed 
for  himself  the  honour  of  having  been  the  first  in  Kilkenny 
who  refused  to  allow  the  priest  to  act  as  the  minister's  proctor." 
This  was  in  the  year  1780.  The  man  who  saved  the  priests 
from  having  to  act  as  tithe-proctors  was  Dr.  Kelly's  grand- 
father. 

Dr.  Kelly's  uncle  was  the  Most  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly,  the 
patriotic  Bishop  of  Waterford,  who,  in  union  with  O'Connell, 
was  the  great  means  of  carrying  the  Stuart  Election  to  a 
successful  issue,  and  the  cause  of  Catholic  Emancipation  to 
the  eve  of  victory,  in  1826.  "  To  many  it  will  appear  a  fact 
worthy  of  record,"  writes  Bishop  McCarthy,  "  that  the 
house  in  which  Matthew  Kelly  first  drew  breath  was  next 
to  the  humble  cottage  where  the  immortal  De  Burgo, 
Bishop  of  Ossory,  lived  and  died,  and  that  his  earliest 
instructor  was  the  Rev.  M.  J.  Brennan,  O.S.F.,  author  of  The 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland. 

.  About  the  age  of  seven,  young  Kelly  became  a  pupil  of  the 
diocesan  seminary  in  his  native  city,  and  continued  the  usual 
course  of  studies  there  till  he  entered  Maynooth  as  a  student 
of  philosophy,  in  1831,  at  the  early  age  of  seventeen.  His' 
friend,  Professor  Jennings,  thus  describes  the  impression  made 
on  him  by  Dr.  Kelly's  first  examination  :  "  His  youth  and 
unassuming  manners  added  in  no  slight  degree  to  the  claims 
which  talent  ever  displays  ;  and  the  clearness,  succinctness 
and  modesty  in  that  of  his  answering,  clothed,  as  it  was,  in 
the  purest  Latin,  testified  at  once  to  the  worth  of  his 
VOL.  XVII.  2  Y 


706  The  Very  Rev.  Matthew  Kelhj,  D.D., 

character,  the  solidity  of  his  judgment,  and  the  rarity  of  his 
accomplishments." 

The  after-collegiate  career  of  Dr.  Kelly  was  equally 
brilliant.  In  the  register  of  literary  honours  his  name  is 
first  in  every  department  until  his  election  as  a  Dunboyne 
student  in  1836.  From  1836  to  1841,  he  was  successively 
professor  of  philosophy  and  theology  in  the  Irish  College, 
Paris,  where  his  sweetness  and  urbanity  of  manner,  coupled 
with  his  high  attainments  as  professor,  won  for  him  the 
esteem  and  admiration  of  all  who  studied  Under  him.  In 
1841,  he  returned  to  his  Alma  Mater,  and  was  appointed  to 
the  chair  of  Belles  Lettres  and  French ;  and  on  the  10th 
October,  1857,  was  promoted  to  the  chair  of  Ecclesiastical 
History.  This  was  a  position  for  which  he  was  admirably 
qualified.  Those  who  read  under  him  speak  gratefully  of  the 
patient  and  untiring  care  with  which  he  attended  to  their 
advancement :  no  labour  that  zeal  could  call  forth — no 
assistance  that  knowledge  could  render — no  inducement  to 
study,  that  friendship  could  suggest  or  ingenuity  discover, 
were  wanting  on  his  part  to  make  the  young  clerics  under 
him  studious  and  accomplished. 

And  yet,  amid  the  continual  and  manifold  labours  of  the 
professor,  he  found,  or  rather  made,  time  for  the  no  less  . 
arduous  pursuits  of  the  author.  His  heart  was  passionately 
attached  to  Ireland.  He  loved  her  with  all  the  earnestness 
of  his  nature ;  and  nothing  pleased  him  more  than  to  pore 
over  her  chequered  history.  To  that  history  his  rich  intellect 
and  immense  research  have  left  many  and  important  con- 
tributions— the  edition  of  Lynch's  Cambrensis  Eversus,  with 
translation  and  notes  ;  an  edition  of  White's  Apologia,  up  to 
that  time  unpublished ;  an  edition  of  0' Sullivan  Beare's 
Historiae  Catholicae  Hiberniae  Compendium;  the  Martyro- 
logy  of  Tallacht,  with  interesting  sketches  of  the  lives  of 
the  patron  saints  of  the  various  dioceses  in  Ireland. 
Dr.  Kelly  was  also  a  frequent  contributor  to  The  Dublin 
Review,  The  Rambler,  Duffy's  Magazine,  and  other  Catholic 
periodicals.  The  principal  essays  have  been  published  in  a 
collected  form,  under  the  title  of  Dissertations  on  Irish 
Church  History,  and  edited  by  his  friend  and  fellow-professor. 


Professor,  Maynooth  College  and  Canon  of  Ossory      707 

Bishop  McCarthy,  of  Kerry.     It  is  a  work  that  should  be 
found  in  the  library  of  every  Irish  priest. 

The  Dissertations,  as  well  as  other  literary  productions  of 
this  distinguished  son  of  Ossory,  display  a  remarkable  clearness 
of  diction,  accuracy  of  information,  deep  and  original  research, 
and  a  correctness  of  judgment  that  has  since  stood  the  test 
of  many  a  fierce  controversy.  We  shall  only  instance  his 
defence  of  the  Christian  origin  and  uses  of  our  round 
towers ;  his  Church  of  St.  Patrick,  in  reply  to  H.  J.  Monck 
Mason ;  his  Irish  Church,  in  reply  to  Palmer  ;  and 
his  invaluable  chapter  on  the  attempted  introduction  of 
Protestantism  into  Ireland.  Indeed,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to 
style  Dr.  Kelly,  equally  with  Lanigan,  the  father  of  Irish 
ecclesiastical  history.  The  constant  references  made  to  his 
writings  in  all  the  historical  treatises  published  since  his 
death  are  a  convincing  proof  of  this  assertion.  By  Arch- 
bishop Cullen  they  were  referred  to  in  terms  of  the  highest 
praise.  The  following  tribute  is  from  the  Quarterly  Eeview  :- 
"  Mr.  Matthew  Kelly,  of  Maynooth,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
republication  of  Lynch,  must  be  named  as  one  of  the  most 
independent  and  inquiring  minds  that  have  yet  taken  in 
hand  the  mysterious  lore  of  ancient  Erin."  x 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  appointed  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity  in  1854.  In  1857  he  was  invited  to  accept  the  office 
of  vice-rector  of  the  Catholic  University  ;  but  although  he  had 
from  the  commencement  taken  a  warm  interest  in  the  pro- 
gress of  that  institution,  his  already  failing  health  prevented 
him  from  undertaking  the  charge.  In  the  spring  of  1858, 
his  health  began  rapidly  to  decline,  and  he  had  a  conscious- 
ness of  his  approaching  end  long  before  his  friends  appre- 
hended a  fatal  result.  Bishop  McCarthy  informs  us  that  he 
found  the  following  prayer  in  the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Kelly, 
at  the  end  of  an  extract  from  an  old  Irish  martyrology  : — 
"  Omnes  Sancti  Hiberniae,  Patris  nostri  et  vestri  Patricii 
filii  filiaeque,  orate  pro  nobis  ut  et  in  mundo  futuro  concives 
nascamur.  De  profundis  ;  amice  lector."  "  We  all  die,  and 
like  waters  that  return  no  more,  we  fall  down  into  the 
earth "  (2  Kings  xiv.  14).  This  last  sentence  he  wrote 

i  Vol.  xciii.,  p.  4,  article  "  The  Four  Masters.'1 


708  The  Very  Rev.  Matthew  Kelly,  l).D.> 

frequently  in  the  margin  of  the  books  he  was  studying  at 
the  time,  and  spoke  often  of  its  exquisite  beauty  and  rhythm. 
No  doubt,  the  sweeter  sounds  of  the  words  for  him  arose 
from  a  foreboding  that  he  was  soon  to  fall  down  into  the 
earth,  in  the  firm  hope  of  a  blessed  resurrection. 

The  summer  of  1858  was  spent  on  the  Continent,  by  the 
advice  of  his  medical  attendants.  The  trip,  however,  was  not 
a  mere  matter  of  relaxation.  For  him  there  was  no  rest, 
no  amusement  apart  from  the  study  of  Irish  history. 
Accordingly,  we  find  his  steps,  in  company  with  his  friend, 
Dr.  McCarthy,  directed  towards  three  of  the  most  celebrated 
continental  shrines  of  the  old  Irish  saints — Fridolin,  Fintan, 
and  Gall.  A  melancholy  interest  attaches  itself  to  his 
beautiful  description  of  the  two  former  shrines,  now  published 
for  the  first  time.  The  pen  fell  from  the  hand  of  the  ardent 
scribe,  and  the  grand  brain  was  stilled  for  ever,  before  the 
sketch  could  be  completed.  He  returned  to  Ireland  in 
September,  hardly,  if  at  all,  improved  in  health.  In  October 
his  sickness  seemed  to  increase  constantly ;  on  Friday,  the 
'29th  day  of  that  month,  he  had  the  happiness  of  receiving 
from  his  brother,  Very  Kev.  John  Kelly,  P.P.,  Castlecomer, 
the  last  rites  of  the  Church ;  and  on  Saturday  he  calmly 
expired,  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Kelly's  remains  are  interred  in  the  cemetery  of 
Maynooth  College,  next  to  the  grave  of  a  former  president, 
the  Very  Kev.  L.  F.  Eenehan,  to  whose  Collections  of  Irish 
Church  History  he  contributed,  teste  Dr.  McCarthy,  valuable 
notes  and  assistance. 

"  It  is,"  writes  Dr.  McCarthy  in  his  preface  to  the 
Collections,  "  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  whole  work  was 
not  edited  by  him,  for  no  man  living  was  more  competent 
to  the  task,  having  devoted,  or  rather  sacrificed,  his  life  to 
the  study  of  Irish  history." 

Dr.  Kelly  was  a  most  accurate  writer.  In  his  note  to 
the  life  of  Primate  Creagh,  he  gives  the  correct  date,  1564, 
for  the  Archbishop's  first  captivity.  Had  he  lived  he  would 
scarcely  have  allowed  the  quotation  from  Sander's  to  stand 
unchallenged,  in  which  it  is  stated1  that  Dr,  Creagh  was 

1  Hist.  Enyl.  EC  form,.  1.  iii.,  p.  3^0, 


Professor,  Maynooth  College  and  Canon  of  Ossory     709 

pressed,  when  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  London,  to  preside 
at  the  consecration  of  Parker,  in  1559.  The  Irish  Primate 
was  not  himself  consecrated  till  March,  1564.  The  reprint 
of  the  article  on  "  The  Synod  of  Cashel  and  the  English 
Invasion,"  has,  by  an  oversight  on  the  part  of  the  editor, 
in  addition  to  some  errors  of  date,  the  name  of  the  Irish 
King,  Turlough  O'Connor,  as  the  monarch  to  whom  Pope 
Gregory  VII.  addressed  the  letter  for  the  pacification  and 
reformation  of  Ireland,  in  1084.  The  correct  name  was 
Turlough  O'Brien. 

DR.   KELLY'S  VISIT  TO  THE  SHRINES  OF  SAINTS  FRIDOLIN 
AND  FINTAN 

By  previous  arrangement  we  met  at  Basle,  as  the  most  con- 
venient point  for  our  intended  visit  to  St.  Gall.  Neither  of  us 
expected  to  see  at  Basle  anything  except  the  hall  of  the  council 
that  might  interest  us,  but  both  were  agreeably  surprised  on 
finding  that  the  cathedral  is  not  only  kept  in  very  decent  order, 
but  that  it  still  retains  many  statues,  including  those  of 
St.  George,  St.  Martin,  and  the  Virgin  Mother  of  God,  uninjured  ; 
and  that  in  the  hall  of  the  General  Council,  to  the  rere  of  the 
chancel,  there  is,  besides  several  articles  of  ancient  church 
furniture,  a  collection  of  casts  of  all  the  sculpture  in  the  church 
itself,  which  enables  the  visitor  at  a  glance  to  study  the  monu- 
ments of  Catholic  piety  and  genius,  and  inspires  a  prayer  that 
those  who  preserve  may  one  day,  by  God's  grace,  learn  once  more 
to  revere  the  works  of  their  fathers.  From  what  we  know  of 
Scotland  and  of  our  own  country,  we  certainly  did  not  expect  to 
find  so  much  to  please  in  reformed  Basle,  and  as  we  stood  on  the 
battlements  of  the  rock  from  which  the  cathedral  looks  down  on 
the  broad  and  rapid  Rhine,  and  thought  of  the  succession  of  Irish 
Apostles  who  had  preached  the  Gospel  for  many  centuries  to  the 
natives  along  its  banks,  there  was  reason  to  thank  Heaven  for  the 
miraculous  preservation  of  the  faith  in  our  own  mother-land, 
which  may,  perhaps,  yet  welcome  back  to  the  one  fold  the  erring 
descendants  of  those  whom  she  converted.  A  mistake  had  nearly 
sent  us  from  Basle  by  the  ordinary  route  of  tourists  to  Zurich. 
No  one  could  understand  what  brought  us  to  Seckingen,  a  small 
town  on  the  Rhine,  twenty  English  miles  by  rail  above  Basle. 
But  though  not  in  the  guise  of  pilgrims,  we  wished  to  see  the  church 
of  an  Irish  saint,  whose  office  is  still  recited  on  the  6th  of  February 
by  the  eight  hundred  parish  priests  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Friburg 
in  which  the  church  is  situated,  and  by  the  clergy  of  several  other 
dioceses  in  Germany  and  France.  His  name,  however,  is  known 
to  scholars,  or  perhaps  antiquarians  in  his  native  land.  If  any 


710  The  Very  Bev.  Matthew  Kelly,  D.D., 

Irish  Catholic  tourist  should  be  induced  by  this  notice  to  stop  at 
Seckingen  for  a  few  hours,  and  visit  the  Church  of  St.  Fridolin, 
he  will  have  a  pleasant  memory  to  treasure  up  on  his  return — 
the  name  of  the  saint  is  as  familiar  on  the  lips  of  the  children  as 
St.  Patrick  is  at  home — his  native  country  and  merits  recorded 
in  verbal  and  written  description  by  the  kind  and  zealous  parish 
priest,  who  was  ever  joyed  to  meet  two  Irish  priests  at  the  shrine 
of  his  patron,  the  apostle  of  Southern  Germany,  as  he  has  justly 
styled  him  on  a  little  picture  which  he  presented  to  us.  In  the 
sacristy  we  saw  the  massive  silver  shrine  containing  the  relics  of 
the  saint — the  relics  of  St.  Hilary  which  he  brought  with  him 
to  Seckingen--  a  curious  glass  vase  which  he  received  from  one  of 
the  earliest  Christian  kings  of  France,  and  other  articles  whose 
appearance  does  not  belie  the  tradition  that  they  were  once  in 
the  saint's  possession.  Neither  of  us  pretends  to  be  an  artist, 
but  it  requires  little  skill  to  keep  impressed  on  the  memory  the 
majestic  statue  of  the  saint,  the  elegant  proportions  of  his  church, 
and  the  graceful  towers  rising  over  the  Ehine  which  at  one  time 
encircled  it,  but  was  in  the  lapse  of  ages  turned  into  one  channel, 
ever  murmuring  and  dashing  its  sea-green  wave  under  the 
antique  covered  bridge,  which  at  this  point  connects  the  vine- 
clad  hills  of  Baden  and  Switzerland.  It  was  painfully  evident 
that  the  interior  of  the  church  had  lost  some  of  its  ancient 
splendour.  It  had  been  once  the  church  of  a  prince,  or  rather 
princess  of  the  German  Empire.  In  the  wall  of  the  right  aisle  a 
plain  marble  slab  tells  its  subsequent  fate,  the  inscription  is  in 
German,  to  the  following  effect  : — "Here  lies  the  Princess  Abbess 
of  the  Convent  of  St.  Fridolin  of  Seckingen,  Maria  Anna  Freginn 
Von  Hornstein  Gomngen."  She  survived  the  suppression  (by  the 
Ehinebund  Act  of  1805)  of  her  convent,  which  had  flourished 
uninterrupted  since  the  sixth  century.  She  died  in  1805,  beloved 
by  her  subjects.  "  Melius  est,"  says  the  Scripture  lesson  of  the 
day  of  our  visit,  "  ire  ad  domum  luctus  quam  ad  domum 
convivii  :  in  ilia  enim  finis  admonetur  cunctorurn  hominum:" 
"It  is  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning  than  to  the  house  of 
feasting;  for  in  that  we  are  put  in  mind  of  the  end  of  all" 
(Eccl.  vii.  3). 

The  saint's  life  had  been  written  by  Walter,  a  monk  of 
Seckingen-on-the-Ehine,  the  latest  of  the  foundations  in  Germany, 
where  he  died,  and  was  buried  in  538. 

Fridolin  came  of  a  noble  Irish  family,  and  renouncing  the 
wealth  and  prospects  of  this  world,  was  ordained  priest.  But 
the  wordly  spirit  pursued  him,  and  his  great  talents  and  success 
in  preaching  became  his  snare.  Entering  into  himself,  he  dis- 
covered that  under  the  guise  of  zeal  for  souls  he  had  harboured 
a  secret  ambition  and  love  of  notoriety.  He,  therefore,  determined 
to  pass  over  into  Gaul,  and  there,  all  unknown,  to  continue  his 
ministry.  After  many  wanderings,  he  fixed  his  residence  at 


Professor,  Naynootli  College  and  Canon  of  Ossory      711 

Poitiers,  a  place  already  celebrated  by  reason  of  the  sanctity, 
labours,  and  writings  of  the  great  St.  Hilary,  the  Athanasius  of 
the  West.  The  monastery  of  that  eminent  saint  had  been  laid  in 
ruins,  in  409,  probably  by  the  Arian  Visigoths,  and  his  relics  lay 
lost  and  forgotten  under  the  rubbish.  Fridolin  conceived  an 
urgent  desire  to  find  the  body  of  the  holy  Bishop,  and  to  rebuild 
his  church.  St.  Hilary  is  said  to  have  appeared  to  him  in  a 
dream,  announcing  to  him  that  his  wish  was  on  the  eve  of  being 
accomplished.  Fridolin  accordingly  presented  himself  before  the 
Bishop  of  Poitiers ;  and  it  was,  probably,  in  consequence  of  the 
heavenly  communication  which  he  detailed,  that  the  Bishop 
became  animated  with  a  special  devotion  towards  his  saintly 
predecessor,  and  communicated  it  to  his  flock. 

He  made  Fridolin  Abbot  of  the  ruined  monastery,  and  went 
with  him  to  the  Court  of  Clovis  to  solicit  his  aid  in  restoring  it. 
By  the  royal  gifts  with  which  they  returned  the  ruins  were 
cleared,  the  shrine  of  St.  Hilary  discovered,  the  relics  translated 
into  a  worthier  receptacle,  and  a  new  church  vigorously  begun. 
Sometime  after,  St.  Hilary  appeared  again  to  Fridolin,  summon- 
ing him  away  to  fresh  fields  of  labour  which  were  to  terminate 
in  an  island  on  the  Ehine.  He  obeyed,  notwithstanding  the 
laments  of  the  inhabitants  of  Poitiers,  and  went  forth,  carrying 
with  him  a  portion  of  the  relics  of  St.  Hilary. 

First,  he  built  a  convent  on  the  banks  of  the  Moselle,  at  a 
place  which  he  called  Helera,  now  Eller  (an  evident  contraction 
of  the  saint's  name),  between  Coblentz  and  Treves,  more 
accurately  between  Cochern  and  Zell.  The  monastery  is  destroyed, 
but  the  church  still  contains  a  portion  of  the  relics  of  St.  Hilary. 
(See,  for  the  whole  account,  Goschler,  Diet.  Encyl  de  la  Theol. 
Catholique,  art.  "  Fridolin.) 

From  that  point  he  commenced  a  series  of  apostolic  wander- 
ing and  church  buildings,  always  naming  his  foundations  after 
the  saint  he  loved  so  well,  and  leaving  in  them  some  of  his  relics. 
The  churches  of  St.  Hilary  in  Vosges,  at  Strasburg,  at  Coire, 
finally  at  Seckingen,  where  he  found  the  river-island  indicated  to 
him,  attest  the  zeal,  and  the  constancy  of  his  devotion.  The 
rude  herdsmen  of  this  last-named  place  drove  him  away  by  force  ; 
but  he  applied  a  second  time  to  Co  vis,  who  made  him  a  donation 
of  land,  threatening  with  death  any  who  should  disturb  him. 
Here  then  St.  Fridolin  made  his  last  foundation — a  convent  for 
holy  women— and  died  there,  as  was  said  above,  towards  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century. 

From  Seckingen  we  continued  our  course  along  the  Ehine  to 
the  Benedictine  Convent  of  Eheinau,  where  an  Irish  saint,  Fintan, 
a  Leinster  prince,  had  been  honoured  as  principal  patron  for 
more  than  one  thousand  years.  But  if  some  kind  dispensation  of 
God  does  not  change  the  hearts  of  the  rulers  of  the  Canton  in 
which  it  lies,  the  same  inscription  in  which  Maria  Anna  tells  the 


712  The  Very  Eev.  Matthew  Kelly,  D.D., 

fate  of  her  Convent  of  Seckingen  will  suit  the  tomb  of  the 
present  venerable  Superior  of  Eheinau,  and  another  monument  of 
the  services  of  poor  Ireland  to  Germany  and  Switzerland  will  be 
extinguished  for  ever.  Before  the  French  Eevolution  the  Abbot 
of  Kheinau  was  a  prince  of  the  empire,  governing  with  supreme 
power  a  little  territory  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  Ehine.  After 
the  battle  of  Zurich,  in  1790,  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Eussians 
and  Austrians  from  Switzerland,  the  convent  itself  and  part  of 
its  territory  were  given  to  Zurich  by  the  victorious  French,  who 
had  already  expelled  the  monks  and  plundered  some  of  their 
property.  In  1803,  however,  Napoleon  restored  part  of  the 
property,  and  all  the  surviving  monks  except  two  returned. 
Since  the  year  1835,  the  Canton  of  Zurich  has  prohibited  the 
reception  of  any  novices,  with  the  view  of  seizing  all  the  property 
of  the  convent  in  the  Canton,  including  the  invaluable  treasures 
in  the  library  and  museum,  of  which  it  took  a  full  inventory  in 
1834.  You  know  the  feeling  which  alternately  freezes  and 
excites  the  blood  when  we  walk  the  ruins  of  the  cloisters  at 
home.  Here  there  is  something  worse — a  cold-blooded  unsleep- 
ing injustice.  A  small  State,  the  only  Catholic  parish  in  Zurich, 
with  its  seven  hundred  souls,  is  thrown  by  the  fate  of  war  into 
the  hands  of  enemies,  ashamed  or  afraid  to  deprive  it  at  one 
blow  of  its  ornament,  its  very  life,  the  monastery  to  which  it 
owes  its  existence  and  its  faith.  The  Eepublicans  of  beautiful 
Zurich  have  doomed  Eheinau  to  slow  death,  evidences  of  which 
meet  you  at  every  step  in  the  convent.  There  remain  now  only 
about  a  dozen  monks — the  youngest  more  than  fifty  years  of  age. 
At  the  conventual  High  Mass  which  we  heard,  the  superb  stalls 
in  the  sanctuary  were  nearly  empty — there  being  only  a  single 
assistant  to  the  celebrant,  with  two  little  boys  ;  the  tremulous 
tones  of  age  at  the  office  barely  filling  the  choir  ;  the  tear  starting 
to  the  eye  when  any  allusion  was  made  to  the  fate  of  their 
house,  the  gravestones  in  the  cloister  of  those  who  have  died 
since  Zurich  decreed  that  the  house  itself  must  die,  and  the 
places  marked  for  those  that  remain,  all  filled  us  with  a  sadness 
that  neither  the  genuine  hospitality  of  the  brethren,  nor  the 
charming  site  of  their  house,  nor  its  perfect  adaptation  for  all  the. 
functions  which  a  great  monastery  of  Benedictines  should  exercise, 
nor  the  image  of  our  own  St.  Fintan,  meeting  us  at  every  step, 
could  enable  us  to  shake  off.  You  may  guess  our  feelings  when 
we  looked  from  our  place  in  the  choir  on  the  two  monuments 
that  adorn  it — St.  Benedict  on  one  side,  and  St.  Fintan  on  the 
other,  with  his  regal  crozier  in  his  hand,  the  pilgrim's  staff  on 
his  shoulder,  and  the  dove  at  his  ear — an  exquisite  statue. 

We  are  in  no  humour  at  present  to  give  an  account  of  Eheinau, 
or  of  its  patron,  St.  Fintan.  He  was  taken  prisoner  by  the 
Northmen  at  the  close  of  the  eighth  century— escaped  and 
travelled  further  through  France,  Germany,  and  Switzerland,  to 


Professor,  Maynooth  College  and  Canon  of  Ossory      713 

Rome ;  returned,  and  saw  in  a  vision  the  place  destined  for  his 
resurrection,  the  Island  of  Eheinau,  on  the  Rhine  ;  lived  for  ten 
years  according  to  the  rule,  and,  then  for  fifteen  as  an  anchorite, 
in  a  cell  on  the  spot  where  his  altar  now  stands  in  the  church. 
Part  of  his  relics  were  destroyed  at  the  Reformation  during  a 
temporary  occupation  of  the  monastery  by  the  Zwinglians,  but 
much  was  preserved,  and  we  offered  up  a  prayer  before  them  for 
ourselves,  our  country,  and  the  preservation  of  the  monastery. 
In  the  sacristy  is  preserved  a  large  goblet  of  wood  delicately 
worked  and  encased  in  silver.  On  the  festival  of  St.  Fintan,  the 
15th  October,  this  goblet  has  been,  tradition  says,  for  a  thousand 
years  produced  in  the  refectory ;  and  all  the  brotherhood,  in 
the  rich  red  wine  of  their  neighbourhood,  drink  to  his  memory, 
and  invoke  the  blessing  of  their  glorious  Irish  founder  and 
protector." 

The  learned  editor  of  the  I.  E.  KECORD  has  a  very 
instructive  and  interesting  notice  of  St.  Fintan,  in  the  May 
number,  1893.  From  it  we  learn  that  in  1862,  by  an  agree- 
ment between  the  Governments  of  Germany  and  Switzerland 
the  property  of  the  monastery  was  confiscated  on  both  sides 
of  the  Ehine.  "  Its  fine  library,  containing  manuscripts, 
some  of  which  date  back  to  the  ninth  century,  its  cabinet 
of  archaeology  and  natural  history,  its  pictures  and  engrav- 
ings, and  articles  of  antique  furniture,  were  transferred  to 
the  public  library  and  museum  of  Zurich." 

It  is  a  satisfaction,  however,  to  know  that  the  sons  of 
St.  Fintan  did  not  allow  themselves  to  be  completely 
suppressed.  Like  their  sainted  founder,  they  transferred 
their  services  to  other  regions  in  the  far  west,  where  they 
would  be  more  useful  and  appreciated.  The  ruling  Abbot 
of  the  Community,  which  was  founded  in  Spencer  County, 
Indiana,  is  Fintan  Mundweiler,  Abbot  of  the  Benedictine 
Monastery  of  St.  Menrad. 

N.  MURPHY,  P.P, 


[     714 


MEDITATION  AND  PKEACHING 

THE  object  of  this  paper  is  to  inquire  whether  there  is  a 
necessary  connection  between  Meditation  and  Preach- 
ing. To  establish  such  a  connection  we  should  be  able  to 
lay  down  as  a  basis  that  meditation,  considered  in  itself,  is 
necessary  for  all  Christian  adults.  We,  therefore,  begin 
with  this  proposition. 

We  take  it  for  granted  that  there  is  a  divine  precept 
obliging  all  to  ask  God  for  necessary  graces.  We  likewise 
take  it  for  granted  that  in  all  prayers  of  petition  worthy  of 
the  name  there  must  be  some  mental  act,  and  this  too  is 
included  in  the  precept.  But  is  there  also  a  divine  precept 
obliging  all  to  make  mental  prayer  or  meditation  ?  Is  there 
a  divine  precept  obliging  the  faithful  to  give  some  time  to 
the  special  consideration  of  the  truths  of  our  holy  religion, 
in  order  to  discharge  rightly  their  duties  ?  As  far  as  we  ' 
know  there  is  no  such  precept.  Hence,  if  meditation  be 
necessary,  there  can  only  be  question  of  a  moral  necessity. 

Suarez  is  very  decided  in  his  manner  of  declaring  that 
there  is  no  precept,  either  positive  or  natural,  by  which  wre 
are  bound  to  make  meditation.  This  he  holds  to  be  true 
even  of  persons  called  to  perfection.  But,  at  the  same  time, 
he  asserts  and  proves  that  meditation,  taken,  of  course,  in 
a  wide  sense,  is  morally  necessary  for  all.  Here  are  his 
words  : — "  Dicendum  est  praeter  praeceptum  divinurn 
supra  declaratum  (de  oratione  petitionis)  nullum  esse 
praeceptum  divinum,  vel  naturale  quo  per  se  obligemur  ad 
spiritualem.  .  .  .  Meditationem  sed  solum  quantum 
oportuerit  ad  alia  praecepta  observanda." *  And  at  the  end 
of  the  chapter: — "Ex  his  colligitur  orationem  mentalem, 
quantum  ex  se  est,  ad  omnes  fideles  cujuscunque  status  sint 
pertinere  posse ;  i.e.,  ab  omnibus  exerceri  posse,  et  omnibus 
proponi  debere  tanquam  aptissimum  medium  et  moraliter 
necessarium  ad  vitae  puritatem,  quod  cum  proportione  cum 
quolibet  personarum  statu  conjungi  potest.  Itatque  licet 
dicetur  esse  in  consilio,  ut  excludatur  proprium  et  vigorosum 

1  De  Orat.  Ment.,  torn,  xiii.,  cap.  iv.,  No.  4.     Venetiis,  1743. 


Meditation  and  Preaching  715 

praeceptum,  non  tamen  est  ex  iis  consiliis  quae  constituunt 
diversurn  statum  inter  fideles,  vel  ad  determinatum  statum 
pertinent,  sed  ex  his  quae  omnibus  accommodari  possunt." 
Having  explained  the  sense  of  some  citations,  he  continues  : 
— "  Batio  vero  est,  quia  sicut  fides  omnibus  communis  est, 
et  quia  sicut  fides  est  fundamentum  et  quasi  radix  justitiae, 
ita  consideratio  mysteriorum  fidei  est  magnum  adjumentum 
ad  conservandam  et  augendam  justitiam,  quo  adjutorio 
omnes  indigent.  Item  nullus  vel  propter  imperitiam  vel 
propter  occupationem  excusari  potest  quia  omnibus  potest 
accommodari."  l 

He  felt  that  he  had  put  the  moral  necessity  of  meditation 
strongly  when  he  declared  that  it  applied  to  all,  and  that  he 
accepted  none.  Hence,  in  the  chapter  that  follows,  he  shows 
clearly  the  universal  application  of  this  teaching;  and  of 
this  we  will  give  a  brief  synopsis. 

There  are,  he  says,  certain  moral  circumstances  which 
are  in  close  connection  with  mental  prayer ;  namely,  the 
circumstance  of  the  person,  of  the  time,  place,  and  matter, 
mode,  means.  He  discusses  each,  and  shows  that  no  solid 
objection  can  be  made  under  any  of  these  heads.  Not  on 
the  part  of — 

1.  The  person,  since  no  special  condition  or  quality  is 
required  ;   "  omnis   ennui  homo  potens  uti  ratione  et   fide 
capax  est  alicujus  gradus  orationis."  2     Even  sinners  are  not 
excluded  although  meditation  is  a  conversation  with  God.3 

2.  The  time  for  mental  prayer  can  be  made  at  any  time, 
even  during  our  occupations.      It  is  only  required  that  we 
collect  our  thoughts  for  a  short  time,  and  lift  up  our  hearts  to 
God.     He  says  that  this  method  is  most  fruitful,  but  he  adds 
that  the  success  of  this  method,  demands  in  practice  some 
more  formal  mental  prayer.    "  Moraliter  loquendo  necesse  est 
ad  alterum  orandi  modum  recurrere  .    .    .    ut  recte  monuit 
Bonaventura  .  .  .  et   consulit  optime  Augustinus  .    .    .  et 
non  potest  tarn  actuosa  esse  vita,  quae  non  relinquat  aliquod 
tempus  diei  vacuum  in  quo  posset  homo  in  aula  mentes  de 
Deo  et  deseipso  et  de  actionibus  suis   recogitare   et   bona 
proponere  ac  recta  ordinare."  * 

1  L.c.,  No.  9.        2  Cap.  v.,  No.  2.         3  Ibid.,  No.  3.        4 Ibid.,  Nos.  5,  6,  7. 


710  Meditation  and  Preaching 

3.  The    place. — "  Etenim    quod    attinet    ad    materiam 
moralem,  certum  est,  nullum  locum  quantumvis  sordidum 
et  vilem  seu  infimum  esse  ex  parte  sua  ineptum  ad  orationem 
mentalem ;   but  a  long  prayer  would  evidently   require   a 
solitary  and  quiet  place."  1 

4.  The  end:   for   this  is  simply  proposing  to  ourselves 
some  special  fruit,  such  as  to  strengthen  ourselves  to  sin  no 
more,  to  increase  in  divine  love,  to  imitate  our  Blessed  Lord, 
which  purposes  are  within  the  reach  of  all. 

5.  The  matter  :  for  this  is  so  abundant  and  varied  that 
it  is  easy  for  each  one  to  find  what  suits   him.     He  will 
naturally  choose  that  which  helps  most  towards  the  end, 
which  he  proposes  to  himself. 

6.  The  mode.  —  "A.d.  hanc  circumstantiam  pertinent  ut 
haec  oratio  humiliter^fidenter,  pure  et  instanter  fiat."'"     No 
particular   position   of  the  body  is   required,    "  quia  haec 
oratio    non    exercetur    per    corpus."      Nevertheless,3    the 
external    appearance    should   show    forth    due    reverence, 
submission,  and  humility.4 

7.  The  means. — "  Constat   enim   totum    hoc    negotium 
maxime  pendere  ex  divinis  auxiliis ;   quia  est  valde  super- 
naturale  et  in  illo  ordine  valde  perfectum   et  spirituale."5 
Each  one,  however,  should  use  the  faculties  which  God  has 
given  him,  and  hear  him  who  speaks  in  God's  name. 

Whether,  therefore,  we  consider  the  person  who  makes 
meditation,  or  the  circumstances  of  time,  place,  end,  matter, 
means,  we  find  that  since  all  are  within  the  reach  of  all,  all 
can  make  meditation. 

St.  Alphonsus  reduces  to  one  paragraph  the  teaching  of 
many  theologians: — "Although,"  he  says,  "meditation  is 
not  necessary  for  salvation  in  the  same  way  as  prayer  of 
petition,  nevertheless,  from  the  very  necessity  of  prayer  of 
petition  arises  the  moral  necessity  of  mental  prayer  ;  for  he 
who  does  not  meditate  either  does  not  pray  at  all,  or  prays 
with  difficulty ;  because,  not  meditating,  he  sees  but  little 
the  needs  of  his  soul,  and  the  dangers  which  surround  him ; 
yea,  he  sees  but  little  the  necessity  in  which  he  is  to  pray, 

1  Ibid.,  No.  9.          2  No.  15.          :5  No.  20.         ±No.  21.          5  No.  24, 


Meditation  and  Preaching  717 

and  this  is  why  the  Holy  Ghost  says  : — '  Desolatione  desolata 
est  omnis  terra,  quia  nullus  est  qui  segogitet  corde.'  (Jer.  12.) 
Hence,  a  learned  theologian  used  to  say,  that  sin  and  certain 
exercises  of  piety  may  be  found  in  the  same  person,  but 
not  sin  and  mental  prayer,  for  he  will  give  up  either  mental 
prayer  or  sin.  This  explains  why  the  devil  labours  more  to 
prevent  meditation  than  any  other  exercise."  * 

The  learned  theologian  to  whom  the  saint  refers  is  the 
Venerable  Januarius  Maria  Sarnelli,  who  may,  with  good 
reason  be  called  the  Apostle  of  Mental  Prayer.  In  his  work, 
II  Hondo  Santificato,  he  shows  that  the  saving  and  sancti- 
fying of  the  world  is  to  be  carried  out  through  the  exercise 
of  meditation.  His  writings  on  this  subject  induced  many 
bishops  to  introduce  the  practice  of  meditation  in  common 
into  their  dioceses,  and  to  the  same  we  may  well  attribute 
the  Brief  of  Bened.  XIV.,  Quemadmodum. 

In  this  work,  II  Hondo  Santificato,  Venerable  Father 
Sarnelli  first  of  all  explains  what  he  understands  by 
meditation  for  all.  "I  wish  you  to  remember,  "he  says,  "that 
in  treating  of  the  necessity  of  mental  prayer  for  seculars,  I 
do  not  pretend  that  they  should  make  it  according  to  fixed 
rules  and  method  :  I  mean  that  they  should  often  raise  their 
minds  to  their  Creator  to  recognise  His  greatness,  His 
providence,  and  His  goodness,  and  by  so  doing,  fear  Him, 
love  Him,  and  expect  graces  from  His  divine  hands  :  I  mean 
that  they  should  think  of  the  malice  of  sin  in  order  to  detest 
it  ;  of  the  sacraments,  in  order  to  receive  them  ;  of  the  last 
things  that  they  may  abstain  from  evil  ;  of  the  life  and 
passion  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  they  may  imitate  His  example 
and  ask  for  grace." 2 

He  shows  the  necessity  of  meditation  from  our  exterior 
circumstances  and  from  our  interior  propensity  to  evil.  We 
are  surrounded  by  temptation ;  we  have  within  us  a  pro- 
pensity to  forbidden  pleasures,  which,  being  represented 
to  the  senses,  excite  the  appetite ;  the  appetite  dazzles 
the  intellect,  and  the  apprehensive  power  of  the  soul 
fixes  itself  on  the  object  presented  to  it ;  the  will  finds 

1  Istruzione  pratiea  our  li  coiifessoi'i,  torn,  ill.,  ap.  1,  §  1. 

2  Vol.  i,,  par,  2,  c.  1." 


718  Meditation  and  Preaching 

satisfaction,  and  then  follows  the  consent.  "  Unusquisque 
tentatur  a  concupiscentia  sua,  abstractas  et  illectue." 
(St.  Jas.  i.  14.)  Now,  how  are  we  to  restrain  this  dis- 
orderly appetite  and  strengthen  our  will?  By  the 
consideration  of  the  eternal  truths.  Again,  the  object  for 
which  we  strive  is  invisible.  There  is,  therefore,  no  way 
left  us  to  keeplt  in  view  but  by  meditation.  Again  he  asks, 
who  is  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  lack  of  faith  is  the  prolific 
source  of  all  irregularities  ?  Men  believe,  but  they  forget 
God  and  their  souls  ;  they  accept  the  great  truths,  but  they 
are  not  penetrated  by  them,  and  why  ?  For  want  of  con- 
sideration. It  is  consideration  which  lights  up  the  soul,  and 
makes  living  and  operative  the  faith  which  is  within  it. 

And  to  take  a  common-sense  view  of  the  matter,  choose 
any  important  affair  which  is  surrounded  with  difficulties, 
and  in  the  carrying  out  of  which  you  have  to  meet  and 
defeat  powerful  enemies.  Must  you  not,  as  a  matter  of 
sheer  necessity,  consider  all  the  bearings  of  this  affair,  weigh 
all  the  difficulties,  lay  out  carefully  your  plans  to  defeat  the 
machinations  of  your  enemies,  and  finally  resolve  to  act,  and 
if  needs  be,  call  on  others  to  assist  you  ?  Has  not  all  this, 
and  even  more,  to  be  done  by  the  man  who  wishes  to  save 
his  soul  ?  And  for  this  is  not  meditation  necessary  ? 

Suarez  reminded  us  that  a  sinner  is  not  excluded  from 
meditation,  and  with  reason.  For  there  be  no  conversion 
without  a  horror  of  sin — no  horror  of  sin  without  realizing 
its  malice  and  terrible  consequences — no  realization,  accord- 
ing to  ordinary  ways,  without  consideration.  "  Intellectus 
cogitabundus  est  principium  boni,"]  And  consideration 
wnich  is  needed  for  conversion  is  needed  that  conversion 
may  be  permanent.  This  is  why  Apostolic  men  have  ever 
striven  to  induce  converted  sinners  to  meditate. 

This  venerable  father  cites  a  passage  of  Rev.  Father 
Nepeu  which  will  serve  as  a  resume  and  conclusion : — 

"  A  man  [he  says]  in  order  to  save  his  soul,  should  know  his 
duties,  and  perform  them  ;  his  perseverance  in  these  duties  will 
not  be  constant,  if  he  does  not  love  them  ;  he  will  not  love  them, 
if  he  does  not  understand  their  excellence,  justice,  and  utility, 

1  St.  Augustine. 


Meditation  and  Preaching  719 

Now  this  knowledge  is  the  fruit  of  meditation.  If  we  were  all 
persuaded  of  the  excellence  of  the  law  of  God,  of  the  greatness  of 
eternity,  of  the  gravity  of  the  punishment  with  which  sinners  are 
menaced,  should  we  dare  to  violate  the  divine  law?  How,  then, 
does  it  happen  that  objects  which  are  so  great  themselves,  and  in 
regard  to  us,  make  so  little  impression  upon  us?  Is  it  not  because 
we  are  not  sufficiently  persuaded  of  their  greatness  ?  And  what 
is  there  that  can  persuade  us,  if  it  be  not  serious  reflection  and 
frequent  meditation  ?  Therefore  it  is  that  God  recommends  with 
so  much  force  to  His  people  to  ever  meditate  on  His  law." 

An  objection. — But  some  may  say :  What  need  to  write 
on  a  matter  which  is  so  clear  ?  We  answer  that  it  is  well 
to  emphasize  its  importance.  Others  will  say  that  whatever 
may  be  held  with  regard  to  this  proposition,  in  practice 
comparatively  few  can  make  meditation.  This  objection  has 
been  made  frequently,  and  we  are  not  putting  it  too  strongly. 
Our  answer  is  that  not  only  all -can,  but  all  actually  do  make 
meditation.  To  go  to  the  root  of  the  difficulty  we  will 
consider  the  case  of  those  who  are  illiterate. 

Take,  for  example,  a  servant  girl  who  has  never  been  to 
school.  She  has  come  to  an  age  when  the  natural  instinct 
which  seeks  admiration  grows  strong  within  her.  She 
wishes  to  be  admired.  For  this  she  must  dress  and 
show  herself.  Hence,  long  before  the  summer  she  lays 
out  all  her  plans  as  to  how  money  is  to  be  procured;  what 
she  will  buy  ;  how  it  will  be  made  up ;  where  she  will  go  ; 
and,  in  imagination,  she  is  already  in  her  new  finery ;  and 
she  almost  blushes  at  an  admiration  of  which  she  fancies 
herself  the  object.  Is  not  this  a  meditation?  Had  she 
only  considered  the  instruction  of  her  pastor  on  Grace — 
had  she  planned  how  she  might  increase  the  beauty  of  this 
heavenly  garment  of  her  soul,  she  would  have  made  a 
spiritual  meditation. 

If  we  take  the  opposite  extreme,  we  shall  find  a  like 
result.  See  that  weak  old  man  who  sits  pensive  in  his 
cabin,  while  tears  steal  down  his  aged  cheeks.  Let  us  read 
his  thoughts.  He  has  had  bad  news  from  Australia.  A 
dearly-loved  son  is  lying  dangerously  ill ;  perhaps  he  is  dead, 
and  the  mind  of  this,  his  old  father,  runs  back  to  days  when 
he  was  a  child.  He  seems  to  see  him  again  as  he  grows  up, 


720  Meditation  and  Preaching 

as  he  begins  to  help  him  ;  the  boy  was  always  so  good,  so 
respectful,  so  dutiful.  Then  he  remembers  his  last  day  at 
home — the  sad  parting,  the  last  embrace,  the  last  look,  and 
the  agony  which  seized  his  soul.  Then  followed  the  long 
expectation,  and  then  the  reception  of  the  first  letter.  He 
remembers  every  line,  and  there  was  always  something  in 
his  letters  for  his  old  father.  Poor  man,  he  goes  in  spirit  to 
the  bedside  of  his  dying  son,  to  thank  him  and  to  bless  him. 
Is  not  this  a  meditation  ?  Make  only  one  change  :  put  in  the 
place  of  the  son  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  then  what  a 
perfect  meditation  would  he  not  have  made  ! 

We  cannot  doubt  that  all  who  have  the  use  of  reason 
and  faith  can  meditate  ;  it  is  for  us  to  persuade  them  to 
choose  the  right  subjects.  And  this  leads  us  to  the  main 
question,  namely,  the  connection  between  meditation  and 
preaching.  Meditation,  then,  is  necessary  for  all.  We  now 
proceed  to  examine  whether  there  is  a  necessary  connection 
between  it  and  preaching.  We  venture  to  affirm  that  there 
is  both  a  general  and  a  particular  connection. 

The  general  connection  is  founded  on  the  holiness  which 
the  sacerdotal  state  demands, 

"Meditation  [says  Ven.  Father  Sarnelli]  is  more  rigorously 
necessary  for  ecclesiastics  and  for  religious  than  for  ordinary 
Christians,  because  of  the  greater  obligation  which  they  have  to 
correspond  with  divine  grace,  to  live  according  to  the  divine  law, 
and  to  tend  to  perfection.  This  is  especially  true  of  a  preacher,  in 
whom  holiness  of  life  is  an  essential  element.  The  circular  letter 
of  the  S.  Cong,  of  Bishops  and  Eegulars  puts,  in  the  first  place, 
that  a  sacred  orator  should  be  endowed  with  sincere  Christian 
piety  and  a  great  love  for  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  without  which 
he  would  be  no  more  than  aes  sonans  et  cymbalum  tianiens,  and 
could  never  have  that  true  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
salvation  of  souls  which  should  be  the  sole  end  and  motive  of  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel.  And  this  Christian  piety,  so  necessary 
to  Christian  preachers,  should  shine  forth  also  in  their  external 
conduct."  * 

Now,  according  to  the  common  opinion  of  the  masters 
of  the  spiritual  life,  this  holiness  is  not  possible  without  medi- 
tation. The  Kev.  Father  Chaignon,  S.J.,  goes  the  length  of 
saying  :  "  The  burden  of  all  that  has  been  written  on  retreats 

i  July  31,  1894. 


Meditation  and  Preaching  7121 

and  mental  prayer,  since  the  days  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo, 
would  seem  to  be  this  :  "  If  a  man  is  a  priest  only  by  ordi- 
nation, so  he  is  a  good  priest  only  by  prayer."1  The 
strength  of  such  language  at  first  sight  staggers  one. 
Nevertheless  we  dare  not  tax  it  with  exaggeration,  when 
we  find  a  most  learned  and  venerable  prelate  commenting 
thus  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  Timothy :  "  In  truth,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  without  proper  attention  to  this  holy 
exercise  of  mental  prayer,  the  salvation  of  a  pastor  of  souls 
is  morally  impossible  ;  in  other  words,  he  will  scarcely  be 
saved  without  it."2  Moreover,  we  have  the  public  declara- 
tion of  the  bishops  of  Ireland,  assembled  in  council:  "  Et 
ne  tentationibus  et  periculis  quae  undique  grassantur 
succumbant,  ut  labores  et  onera  ordinis  clericalis  strenue 
perferant  .  .  .  ut  gratias  uberes  a  Patre  luminum  descen- 
dere  faciant,  oratione  indesinenter  insistant,  et  mentalem, 
sine  qua,  Pastor  animarum  salutem  vix  consequi  potest 
quotidie  exercere  non  omittant.  Volumus  igitur  ut  mane  ad 
similoram  in  pia  oratione  semper  sese  exerceant." 3 

But  let  us  come  to  the  particular  or  direct  connection. 
A  preacher  has  not  only  need  of  meditation  for  his  own 
satisfaction,  but  also  that  he  may  communicate  to  others  the 
light  which  enlightens  him,  and-  the  fire  that  burns  in  his 
soul;  or,  as  St.  Charles  Borromeo  puts  it,  he  should  make 
the  divine  food  of  the  Word  of  God  first  part  of  himself,  and 
then  communicate  it  to  God's  children,  thus  imitating  a 
mother  who  makes  the  food  of  her  infant  first  part  of  her 
own  substance,  and  then  gives  it  to  her  little  one.  He 
should,  as  it  were,  digest  the  food  for  his  hearers. 
"  Disciplinae  enim  cibus,"  the  saint  writes,  "  qui  populo 
proponitur,  mente  propria,  quasi  stomacho  concoctus,  vires 
majores  habet  ad  omnem  sanctam  commotionem."  In 
other  words,  the  preacher  should  in  meditation  make  the 
subject  thoroughly  his  own.  Hence,  St.  Charles  goes  on 
to  show  that  having  studied  and  arranged  his  sermon, 
the  preacher  should  meditate  on  each  part  separately  : 

1  Mcd.  Sacred  In tr.,  p.  7. 

2  His  Grace  Dr.  MacEvilly,  1  Ep.,  cap.  v» 
»J£injnoot/i,  1875,  p.  96,  No.  90. 

*Acta  Eccl  ,  Mediol :  Pans,  iv.,  Inair.  Prac.L  Verbi,  Die. 

VOL.  XVII.  2  Z 


722  Meditation  and  Preaching 

"  Singulas  concionis  partes  quas  ammo  concepit,  etiam  atque 
etiam  meditabitur."  Qua  meditatiorie  ita  sese  religiose 
afficere  conabitur,  ut  audientium  animos  mentesque  ad  ilium 
ipsum  pietatis  affectura  sanctique  agendeardorem,  quantum 
in  se  est,  excitet.  Maxime  vero  nocte  quae  concionis  diem 
praecedit  earn  preparationem  ad  hibebit."  And  the  reason 
is  easily  found,  since  "  ut  sanctas  cornmotiones  in  aliis 
excetit,  tales  primo  animo  suo  ipse  concipiet  atque  in  sese 
excitabit."  1  It  is  in  tbis  same  sense  we  are  to  understand 
tbe  words  of  the  Synod  of  Maynooth :  "Ut  ex  oratione 
(Pastores)  hauriant  quod  in  populum  redundant. ":  In  a 
•word,  the  preacher  should  in  the  fire  of  meditation  inflame 
his  own  heart  before  he  attempts  to  set  the  hearts  of  others 
on  fire. 

And  if  we  study  the  lives  of  truly  apostolic  men,  shall  we 
not  find  that  it  was  in  meditation  before  the  tabernacle,  or 
at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  that  they  formed  the  darts  with 
which  they  wounded  the  hearts  of  their  hearers  with  divi tie 
love?  "Your  best  rule,"  said  Blessed  John  of  Airla  to  a 
preacher,  "  is  to  love  Jesus  Christ  ardently."  And  is  this 
possible  without  meditating  on  the  claims  which  He  has  on 
our  love.  "  He,"  says  St.  Gregory,  "  that  is  not  on  fire  does 
not  inflame  others."  In  like  manner,  St,  Francis  de  Sales 
declared  that  the  words  of  the  preacher  "  should  be  inflamed 
with  divine  charity,  and  should  come  from  the  heart  rather 
than  the  mouth."  St.  Alphonsus,  who  cites  these  authors, 
adds:  "He  only  who  speaks  from  the  heart,  that  is,  who 
feels  and  practises  which  he  preaches,  will  touch  the  hearts 
of  others,  and  move  them  to  love  God.  Hence,  according 
to  the  words  of  our  Blessed  Lord  :  "  That  which  ye  hear  in 
the  ear,  preach  on  the  house-top,"  the  preacher  should  have 
an  affection  for  mental  prayer  in  which  to  excite  the 
sentiments  that  he  will  afterwards  communicate  to  others. 
Mental  prayer  is  that  blessed  furnace  in  which  sacred  orators 
are  inflamed  with  divine  love.  It  is  in  mental  prayer  they 
form  the  fiery  darts  with  which  they  wound  the  hearts  of 
their  hearers.3 

1  Acla  F.ccL,  Medial :  Pars,  iv.,  Instr.  Pracd.  Verli.  Lie. 

-  Cent.  Edit.,  vol.  ±ii.,  p.  267.,  vol.  xv  ,  p.  55:  3  Ibid. 


Meditation  and  Preaching  723 

And  now,  if  we  for  a  short  time  limit  our  con- 
siderations to  pastors  only,  we  shall  find  another  direct 
and  necessary  connection  between  meditation  and  preach- 
ing. The  pastor,  because  he  is  pastor,  should  supply 
food  to  his  lambs  and  to  his  sheep.  This  would  be  the 
case,  even  had  we  no  ecclesiastical  law  enforcing  the 
obligation.  Now  this  giving  food  is  nothing  else  than 
giving  matter  for  meditation.  We  do  not  speak  of  any 
new  obligation  ;  but  the  fact  that  meditation  is  necessary 
for  all,  is  a  special  argument  to  press  home  still  more  an 
obligation  already  existing.  It  puts  in  a  new  light  the 
pastor's  obligation  to  catechize,  to  instruct,  to  preach.  It, 
moreover,  reminds  the  pastor  that  meditation  itself  should 
be  a  subject  about  which  he  should  speak  frequently.  For 
he  has  not  only  to  give  the  matter,  but  also  the  form. 
This  applies  especially  to  his  office  towards  the  illiterate. 
To  instruct  the  more  educated  in  the  method  of  making 
meditation  is  easy  ;  it  is  not  so  where  there  is  question  of 
the  ignorant,  but  a  zealous  pastor  who  is  convinced  of  the 
necessity  of  meditation  for  all  his  people  will  find  means  to 
teach  them,  for  the  charity  of  a  father  is  ingenious.  The 
means  used  by  St.  Alphonsus  are  both  interesting  and 
instructive.  He  believed  firmly  that  if  he  could  get  persons 
who  were  converted  during  a  mission  to  make  mental 
prayer,  their  perseverance  was  secured.  Hence  his  charity 
made  use  of  everything  to  produce  this  good  result. 

1.  He  would  have  the  Angelus  rung  three  times  a-day, 
that  all  might  meditate  a  little  on  the  Incarnation. 

2.  He  would  have  crosses  erected,  not  only  in  and  near 
the  churches,  but  also  on  the  roadside,  that  all  might  be 
frequently  reminded  of  the  Passion  of  our  Blessed  Lord. 

3.  He  would  have  in  every  home  pious  pictures  which 
would  remind  the  people  to  lift  up  their  minds  and  hearts 
to  God,  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  to  the  angels  and  saints. 

4.  He  composed,  set  to  music,  and  sang  with  the  people 
pious  canticles.      In  this  he  had  a  double  intention  ;   he 
wished  to  replace  dangerous  songs  by  pious  ones,  and  he 
wished  to  make  these  pious  songs  a  sort  of  meditation.     For 
example,  he  would  himself  sing  a  mystery  of  the  Passion, 


724  Meditation  and  Preaching 

then  the  people  would  acknowledge   the  share  they  had 
taken  in  the  sufferings  of  our  Lord.     Thus: — 

Alpkonsus.  "My  Jesus,  say  what  wretch  has  dared, 

Thy  sacred  hands  to  bind  ; 
And  who  has  dared  to  buffet  so 
Thy  face  so  meek  and  kind  ? 

People.  'Tis  I  have  thus  ungrateful  been, 

Yet  Jesus  pity  take  ; 
0  spare  and  pardon  me,  my  Lord, 
For  Thy  sweet  mercy's  sake  !  "  l 

In  like  manner  he  went  through  the  principal  scenes  in 
the  dolorous  life  of  our  Blessed  Lord,  and  it  is  easy  to 
conceive  how  deep  an  impression  this  made  on  his  [hearers' 
minds,  and  how  the  thoughts  afterwards  would  revive, 
and  the  words  return  to  their  lips. 

5.  He  would  have  the  Way  of  the  Cross  erected  at  least 
in  every  church.     He  frequently  recommended  the  salutary 
exercise,  and  even   made  it  with  the  people,  for    he    was 
convinced   that    there  was  no   better  way  of   popularizing 
meditation  on  the  Passion;  and  this  is  the 'most  life-giving 
subject  of  all. 

6.  He   always   explained   the  Mysteries  of  the   Eosary 
when  he  recited  it  with  the  people,  and  this  even  when  he 
was  aware  that  they  knew  these  mysteries  already  ;  for  the 
Kosary  rightly  recited  is  a  beautiful  meditation  on  the  life 
of  our  Blessed  Lord  and  His  Blessed  Mother. 

7.  St.  Alphonsus  entered  into  the  most  ordinary  details 
of  every-day  life,  and   showed  the  people  how  from  their 
occupations  and  the  things  which  met  their  eyes,  they  might 
raise    their   minds   and   hearts   to   God,   and  might   make 
meditation.     For  example  :  "  When  you  see  hay,  a  cave,  a 
manger,  think  of  the  Infant  Jesus  in  the  stable  at  Bethlehem. 
.  .  .  When  you  see  cords,  thorns,  nails,  pieces  of  wood, 
reflect  on  the  sorrows  and  death  of  our  Blessed  Eedeemer. 
.  .  .  When  you  hear  birds  singing,  say :  My  soul,  hear  how 
these  little  creatures  praise  God,  their  Maker,  and  what  are 
you  doing  ?  "  &c. 

1  In  Italian,  the  refrain  is  mucli  shorter  and  easily  learned  : — 
"  Sono  stato  io  ingrato 
Ah  Dio  mio,  perdon,  pieta." 


Meditation  and  Preaching  725 

Last  of  all,  he  made  a  supreme  effort  to  get  pastors  to 
introduce  into  their  churches  meditation  in  common  every 
day,  and,  if  this  were  not  possible,  then  to  induce  the  people 
to  make  it  in  their  own  homes.  In  all  this  he  was  but 
faithfully  carrying  out  the  will  of  Benedict  XIV.,  who,  in  his 
brief,  Quemadmodum,  exhorted  all  pastors  to  do  likewise, 
and  opened  the  treasure  of  the  Church  to  those  who  teach 
how  to  make  meditation,  and  to  those  who  learn  to  make  it. 
The  Sovereign  Pontiff  calls  this  exercise  "  salutare  et  neces- 
sarium  .  .  .  ascentio  animae  de  terristibus  ad  coelestia  .  .  . 
ea  propter  venerabiles  fratres,  rogamus  et  in  Domino 
hortamur  ut  .  .  .  omnes  Christifideles  uniuscujusque 
curae  commissos,  quos  in  unum  convenire  contigerit  in 
mentalis  orationis  studio  erudire,  sine  per  alios  preitos 
erudire  faciant  atque  ad  illarn  frequentandam  accedere, 
necessitatem,  utilitalemque  proponere  indulgentiarum 
thesauros  .  .  .  explicare  curent."  ± 

In  writing  this  article  an  objection  which  already 
presented  itself  to  the  mind  of  Venerable  Father  Sarnelli  kept 
coming  before  my  mind ;  namely :  if  we  cannot  be  saved  with- 
out mental  prayer,  a  great  many  will  be  damned,  since  but 
comparatively  few  Christians  make  it.  I  would  fain  hope  that 
where  faith  is  vigorous  many  make  meditation  in  the  sense 
above  explained.  It  is  for  us  to  strive  to  increase  the 
number.  In  any  case,  it  is  for  us  and  for  our  people  to  strive 
to  enter  by  the  narrow  gate  :  "  Contendite  intrare  per 
august  am  portam."  : 

J.  MAGNIEE,  C.SS.E. 


1  Qiicmailmodum,  16  Dec.  1746.     In  this   Brief  Benedict  XIV.  renewed  all 
the  indulgences  granted  by  his  predecessors,  and  added  :   1 .  A  plenary  indulgence 
once  a  month  to  those  who  make  half-an-hour's,  or,  at  least,  a-quarter  of  an 
hour's  meditation  each  day.  2.  An  indulgence  of  seven  years  and  seven  quarantines 
to  those  who  teach  others  how  to  meditate,  and  if  they  do  so  assiduously  for  a 
month  a  plenary  indulgence.     2.  The  same  indulgences  are  granted  to  those 
who  attend  instructions  to  learn  this  truly  divine  art. 

2  St,  Luc.  xiv. ;  St.  Matt.  vii. 


[     726     ] 


PHILOSOPHY  AND  LETTEKS 

THE  association  between  thought  and  expression  is  so 
close,  that  it  is  hard  to  establish  their  mutual  relations  ; 
one  is  the  outward  growth  of  the  other,  and  the  verbum 
mentale  of  other  minds  is  beyond  our  ken,  unless  in  so  far 
as  it  finds  visible  form  in  oral  expression,  or  in  that  fixed 
speech  which  is  perpetuated  through  the  medium  of  letters. 
The  soul  of  all  writing  is  the  thought  beneath  it  ;  and  as 
physical  energy  is  specified  and  bounded  by  the  form  that 
controls  and  animates  it,  being  more  or  less  noble  according 
to  the  dignity  of  the  principle  that  gives  it  act  and  ease, 
so  the  ultimate  criterion  of  the  worth  of  literature  is  always 
found  in  the  truth  and  beauty  of  the  concepts,  whose 
externation  is  its  scope  and  argument.  As  it  would  be  a 
monstrous  perversion  of  order  to  imagine  a  higher  soul  in  a 
lower  organism,  or  a  more  perfect  body  as  the  place  of 
residence  of  a  lesser  form,  so  it  is  outside  the  harmony  of 
things,  that  finer  thoughts  should  be  concealed  beneath 
humbler  expression,  or  that  unworthy  arguments  should 
find  a  voice  above  their  worth,  and  control  the  service  of 
words  that  were  destined  to  better  uses.  "  Spirits  are  not 
finely  touched  but  to  nobler  issues,"  is  one  of  the  deepest 
causes  given  us  by  the  master-poet ;  and  the  principle  may 
be  extended  to  the  whole  circle  of  natural  gifts.  The  issue 
of  thought  is  ultimately  action,  and  the  immediate  and 
formal  action  is  expression,  and  the  noble  issue  should  be 
that  where  concepts  have  upon  them  the  touch  of  finer 
truth  and  firmer  analysis,  they  ought,  as  a  consequence,  to 
be  rich  in  harmonious  utterance,  and  strong  with  the  best 
vigour  of  words.  A  defect  in  their  relation  is  an  artistic 
want ;  the  fine  proportions  of  the  mental  word  are  lost  in  the 
process  of  action,  and  the  canvas  fails  in  its  representation  of 
the  mind  of  the  master.  The  saddest  consequences  come 
from  this  defect ;  the  truth  suffers  by  imperfect  rendering,  and 
loses  the  energy  by  which  it  prevails  against  every  species  of 
error.  A  meagre  and  jejune  sentence  can  no  more  present 
the  full  proportions  of  a  beautiful  thought  than  a  silhouette 


Philosophy  and  Letters  727 

of  the  Laocoon  can  give  us  the  marvellous  group  in  the 
Vatican  :  it  wants  detail,  it  needs  all  that  really  shows  us 
the  agony,  the  effort,  the  truth  of  the  position  of  those  in 
the  grasp  of  death.  A  sentence  that  gives  only  an  aspect 
of  truth  is  not  true ;  it  must  give  all,  for  in  this  matter  also, 
evil  is  from  any  defect.  Truth  is  what  is ;  and  only  that 
writing  which  represents  its  absolute  totality,  is  a  worthy 
herald  of  its  message.  There  must  be  absolute  equation,  or 
there  is  none,  as  the  very  notion  is  one  and  indivisible. 

Now  every  truth  has  an  intrinsic  splendour  which  must 
find  a  place  in  its  fitting  expression.  This  sheen  and  glow 
is  the  very  evidence  by  which  it  is  known,  the  fulgur 
veritatis  by  which  it  lights  up  the  intellect,  and  kindles  all 
its  fires.  As  a  truth  is  more  fundamental,  it  is  intrinsically 
more  evident ;  it  has  in  itself  more  beauty,  more  proportion ; 
it  approximates  more  to  the  eternal  beauty  ;  and  if  it  is 
apprehended  in  the  measure  of  its  worth,  it  ought  issue  in 
nobler  language,  and  its  lamps  ought  shine  beneath  every 
word  that  endeavours  to  express  it.  This  necessary 
association  is  beautifully  depicted  by  Horace  in  the  first 
book  of  his  Satires  :— 

"  Ingenium  cui  sit,  cui  mens  divior  atque  os 
Magna  Sonatarum." 

The  union  is  indispensable  for  the  ideal  writer ;  genius, 
aptly  defined  as  the  defined  mind,  and  then  the  gift  of 
commensurate  language,  where  sublime  thoughts  find  outlet 
in  words,  worthy  of  the  burden  they  bear.  These  principles 
give  us  a  criterion  by  which  we  may  judge  of  a  writer,  and 
as  they  affect  the  very  nature  of  his  science,  they  must  be  of 
universal  application.  Everyone  who  undertakes  literary 
work  must  have  as  a  necessary  antecedent  condition  some 
thought  to  communicate,  and  the  success  with  which  he 
transfers  it  into  language  is  the  measure  of  his  work  in  his 
calling.  The  noblest  thoughts  cannot  save  an  author  from 
contempt,  if  he  is  not  master  of  a  style  that  is  equal  to  the 
weight  it  carries ;  and  all  the  beauties  of  composition  are 
nothing  worth,  unless  there  is  some  gold  beneath  them  as 
the  source  of  their  glitter.  When  these  two  gifts  a.re  united, 


728  Philosophy  and  Letters 

then  we  have  reached  the  definition  of  the  ideal  writer  who 
has  found  his  true  vocation  in  interpreting  himself  to  the 
world. 

The  perfect  union  of  great  thoughts,  and  perfect 
expression  is  hard  to  find  in  the  catalogue  of  famous 
authors.  By  great  thoughts  we  mean  those  perceptions  of 
truth  which  lie  deepest  down  in  inquiry,  and  to  which 
others  must  turn  for  their  ultimate  worth  and  significance. 
They  explain  and  interpret  all  that  is  individual  and  partial, 
and  are  the  limits  where  analysis  must  rest,  as  there  is  no 
farther  ground  for  division  ;  they  are  the  units  of  intellec- 
tual enumeration,  and  beyond  them  we  may  not  go.  The 
history  of  these  concepts  is  the  story  of  philosophy,  whose 
province  is  to  seek  ultimate  reasons,  and  reduce  them  to 
scientific  form;  it  does  not  delay  with  appearances,  but 
endeavours  to  pierce  them,  and  see  the  substantial  truth 
beneath.  Its  passion  is  knowledge  ;  it  cares  not  for  joy  or 
sorrow,  triumph  or  defeat ;  it  wants  to  understand  the 
definition  of  these  experiences,  and  when  this  is  found  it 
rests  content.  The  very  act  of  knowing  must  be  examined, 
the  process  of  thought,  the  hidden  relations  between  ideas, 
the  mysterious  border-land  between  thought  and  sense, 
between  imagination  and  intellect,  must  be  analyzed  and 
explored,  and  a  theory  deduced  by  which  all  the  mystic  and 
silent  procedure  can  be  seen  as  on  a  map.  Short  of  this 
philosophy  will  not  rest  content.  The  world  around  us  is 
but  a  sublime  problem  to  this  all-questioning  science ;  the 
sunshine  is  not  for  enjoyment,  but  for  more  subtle  study 
than  can  be  had  through  the  spectrum  ;  it  heeds  not  the 
odour  of  a  flower,  but  coldly  settles  the  degree  of  life  that 
can  be  suitably  attributed  to  it ;  and  so,  through  the  whole 
universe  of  things  it  seeks  only  to  know  the  secret  spring  of 
life  and  action,  and  reduce  all  phenomena  to  a  cold  catalogue 
of  metaphysical  principles  which  are  the  trophies  of  this 
intellectual  conquest. 

Now,  the  literary  process  is  the  reverse  of  all  this,  while 
it  rests  on  thought,  and  acts  through  words,  yet  its  formal 
function  is  altogether  other  than  that  of  philosophy. 
Literature  deals  with  effects,  and  not  with  causes ;  its  forte 


Philosophy  and  Letters  729 

is  descriptive,  and  it  has  little  concern  with  the  hidden 
springs  from  which  phenomena  rise;  it  loves  synthesis,  and 
has  no  leesing  for  that  laborious  analysis  in  which  philosophy 
lives  and  moves.  It  studies  history  with  an  eye  to  the 
picturesque  grouping  of  personalities,  and  thinks  of  its 
science  only  in  so  far  as  it  helps  dramatic  presentation  and 
gives  colour  to  the  narrative.  It  muses  over  the  works  of 
nature,  and  never  gives  a  thought  to  the  matter  and  form  that, 
they  say,  are  the  metaphysical  elements  into  which  material 
thing  must  be  resolved ;  it  loves  the  beauty  of  flowers,  and 
exults  in  the  music  of  the  ever-changing  waves ;  it  is  a 
"  lord  of  language,"  a  "  landscape-lover,"  and  its  triumphs 
serve  to  make  us  love  all  that  is  beautiful,  and  all  that  is 
true,  even  though  our  shallow  views  cannot  see  into  the 
heart  of  the  things  which  are  become  so  dear  to  us.  The 
history  of  letters  from  the  beginning  bears  out  this  opinion. 
The  singers  who  have  won  immortality  worked  in  this 
fashion,  and  reached  the  very  summits  of  fame  through 
these  principles. 

In  the  very  dawn  of  literature,  Homer  sang  of  arms  and 
the  men  who  bore  them  ;  his  hexameters  pass  over  life  and 
its  exterior  interests,  like-  a  ship  over  the  waters  of  the 
Aegean,  making  music  as  they  pass.  Pride  and  courage, 
and  glory  and  defeat,  are  his  themes,  and  he  never  delays  to 
spoil  his  epic  with  discussions  of  principles  ;  he  deals  with 
men  and  nature  as  he  found  them,  and  became  the  first  of 
poets  while  remaining  always,  as  Mr.  Gladstone  says,  the 
most  objective  of  singers.  In  him  are  united  all  the 
characteristics  of  a  great  literary  man  :  perfect  language, 
faultless  metre,  glowing  description,  and  yet  not  a  trace  of 
philosophy,  not  an  echo  of  deeper  thoughts.  Yet  in  him 
there  is  truth ;  in  his  mighty  poem  we  find  that  equation 
between  his  subject  and  its  treatment  which  makes  his  lines 
historic  testimonies,  and  his  word  a  witness  to  a  civilization 
that  was  one  of  the  elements  from  which  our  own  world  has 
been  evolved.  In  contrast  to  him,  we  have  the  early  Ionic 
philosopher,  who  sought  out  the  hidden  meanings  of  the 
facts  which  he  assumed,  and  whose  speech  is  short  and 
sententious,  without  form,  and  vojd  of  harrnony  ancl 


730  Philosophy  and  Letters 

lustre.  The  rival  systems  could  not  be  better  presented 
than  by  reading  together  his  words,  where  we  see  the  glowing 
skies,  and  hear  the  harmonious  ocean,  and  the  shock  of 
battle,  and  the  sharp  phrases  of  Thales  of  Miletus,  who 
began  to  stammer  about  the  elements  of  things,  and  give  an 
analysis  of  natural  forces.  In  one  we  see  the  glorious 
morning  of  letters,  in  the  other  the  half  lights  that  ushered 
in  those  philosophical  systems  which  afterwards  grew  to 
the  full  sunshine  of  the  schools  of  Greece  and  Eome. 

The  contents  of  these  early  times  continued  always  as 
characteristic  of  these  two  different  intellectual  methods: 
philosophy  never  knew  the  art  of  expression  ;  literature 
always  avoided  the  search  into  principles.  When  a  dramatic 
author,  like  Euripides,  began  to  philosophize,  he  ceased  to 
be  great  in  his  own  art,  and  demonstrated  the  absolute 
autonomy  which  is  the  real  strength  of  either  school.  Now 
and  again  there  seemed  for  a  moment  an  alliance  between 
them,  when  in  the  hands  of  a  Plato,  deeper  thought  put  on 
the  dress  of  perfect  expression,  and  called  to  its  aid  the 
potent  arm  of  the  imagination  ;  but  while  this  union  made 
Plato  divine,  it  did  not  change  the  essential  character  of 
philosophy,  which  resumed  its  natural  style  in  Aristotle,  nor 
of  letters  which  remain  to  this  day  what  they  were  in  the 
beginning,  the  mirror  in  which  the  universally  assumed 
aspects  of  nature  and  life  find  their  true  reflection.  The 
application  of  this  theory  to  the  supreme  literature  of  the 
Scripture  bears  out  its  truth  and  illustrates  it.  In  the 
sacred  writing  we  have  the  highest  form  of  letters,  the  most 
perfect  example  of  the  use  of  words,  and  at  the  same  time, 
the  perfect  absence  of  what  we  have  ventured  to  define  as 
the  philosophical  spirit.  No  doubt  the  hagiographi  give 
us  the  truest  and  most  ultimate  theory  of  life  and  death, 
and  explain  with  absolute  finality  the  beginnings  and  the 
issues  of  things ;  but  this  wisdom  has  not  been  attained  by 
philosophical  process,  it  was  communicated  from  without, 
and  with  respect  to  the  writers  was  as  objective  as  the  hills 
of  Palestine  or  the  gardens  of  Engaddi. 

The  concept  of  revealed  doctrine,  received  through  the 
Bidden  process  of  inspiration,  wa,s  a  theme  Developed  in  the 


Philosophy  and  Letters  731 

sacred  pages,  with  all  the  individuality  of  ideal  literature, 
with  all  the  personal  colour  of  a  poem.  No  fixed  formulae 
hamper  the  free  genius  of  Isaias  or  David  :  they  speak  of 
their  experiences,  of  their  visions,  and  their  magnificent 
phraseology  has  all  the  energy  and  grace  and  form  of  the 
most  perfect  literary  composition.  They  communicate  the 
sublimest  doctrine,  they  express  the  hidden  mysteries  of 
their  own  hearts,  they  bewail  sins,  or  denounce  the  evils  of 
the  times,  or  see  the  glorious  visions  of  the  future;  but  their 
essential  style  is  a  perfect  synthesis,  and  we  cannot  see  a  trace 
of  the  analytical  process  that  is  peculiar  to  the  methods  of 
ths  philosophers.  In  the  Book  of  Job  there  are  passages 
that  savour  of  the  schools,  but  these  are  written  with  such 
vivid  force  that  they  reach  the  absolute  heights  of  letters 
while  going  down  to  the  very  roots  of  human  inquiry.  In 
Genesis  we  have  philosophy  enough,  or  at  least  material 
for  metaphysical  speculation,  but  there  is  no  laborious  inves- 
tigation, no  stilted  phrasing,  no  definition.  The  fact  of 
creation  is  affirmed,  the  objective  truth  of  a  graduated 
evolution  is  outlined,  but  we  are  not  told  what  creation 
means,  and  the  primeval  protoplasm  is  passed  over  without 
any  direct  statement  of  its  nature  or  constituents.  This 
truth  runs  through  all  the  books  of  Scripture  ;  the  farthest 
facts  of  speculation  are  asserted,  but  the  writers  did  not 
reach  them  through  laborious  process ;  they,  as  it  were, 
imbued  them  through  divine  illumination,  and  then  had  the 
mission  to  reduce  their  concepts  to  literary  form,  and  found 
these  perfect  words  of  which  the  Psalmist  speaks,  eloquia 
Domini,  eloquia  casta,  which  left  the  Scriptures  up  to  the 
level  of  ideal  literature. 

The  motive  of  the  sacred  writings  made  this  style  a 
necessity  ;  their  scope  is  to  make  known  the  Divine  Will, 
and  give  a  theory  of  life  which  was  destined  to  become  the 
wisdom  of  all  men.  If  this  wisdom  were  communicated  in 
the  esoteric  fashion  of  the  schools,  it  would  be  caviare  to  the 
multitude,  it  never  could  serve  the  purpose  of  popular 
religion  and  popular  education.  If  the  phrase  were  not 
such  as  to  please  the  ear  as  well  as  the  intellect,  they 
would  haye  had  an  antecedent  impediment  to  their  general 


732  Philosophy  and  Letters 

acceptance,  and  never  could  become  a  popular  manual  of 
religion.  They  were  written  for  a  people  whose  national 
life  they  mirrored  ;  they  were  Jewish  literature  as  well  as 
Jewish  theology,  and  were  written  to  preserve  the  national 
spirit  in  all  its  extensive  meaning.  A  school  of  philosophy 
has  never  yet  became  a  national  force ;  a  school  of  letters 
by  its  very  nature  passes  into  the  speech  and  thought  of  a 
people,  and  becomes  their  strength  and  glory  ;  it  forms  their 
ideals,  and  educates  the  whole  heart  of  the  race.  This  the 
Holy  Scriptures  did  at  their  first  writing  :  they  were  the 
first  books  read  by  the  child  ;  they  were  the  last  study  of  the 
sage  and  prophet  ;  they  became  the  language  of  the  nation, 
their  consolation  in  captivity,  their  glory  in  days  of  strength 
and  dominion. 

With  us  the  Old  Testament  has  not  the  force  it  wielded 
among  the  people  whose  literature  it  became,  but  still  it  is 
always  true  that  where  its  literary  beauty  is  more  felt,  there 
its  immediate  effects  are  more  evident.  Although  weakened 
and  diluted  by  the  process  of  translation,  yet,  in  England, 
its  power  has  made  a  modern  language,  and  its  reading  has 
formed  the  character  of  a  great  people.  Its  philosophical 
message  has  been  misinterpreted,  its  spirit  has  been 
outraged  by  heresy  and  schism,  but  its  distinctive  power  as 
a  species  of  literature  has  been  in  evidence  at  every  turn  of 
growth  of  the  national  mind.  This  shows  to  demonstration 
that  its  formal  strength  as  a  form  of  composition  arises  from 
the  supreme  perfection  of  its  parts  taken  as  a  literary  work, 
and  can  be  explained  only  in  relation  to  the  magical  effects 
that  ensue  when  great  thoughts  immediately  issue  in  words 
worthy  of  their  beauty  and  strength. 

The  New  Testament  was  written  with  the  same  scope  of 
reaching  the  popular  mind,  and  its  admirable  simplicity  and 
limpid  clearness  and  directness  admirably  reach  upon  this 
end.  The  wonderful  story  of  the  Incarnation,  the  strength 
of  the  narrative  of  the  public  life  of  our  Blessed  Lord,  the 
precis  of  His  sermons  and  parables,  are  the  very  perfection 
of  that  literature  that  forms  the  minds  and  hearts  of  all  the 
people.  The  Evangelists  deal  with  the  highest  and  most 
Abstruse  doctrines  by  the  way  of  direct  statement ;  they  do 


Philosophy  and  Letters  733 

not  stay  to  explain  or  philosophize,  nor  weaken  their 
presentation  by  the  elaborate  examination  of  the  points  at 
issue.  They  recount  the  miracles  that  proved  the  divine 
nature  of  Christ,  and  simply  chronicle  that  the  multitude 
believed  in  Him  because  of  them ;  they  never  breathe  a 
word  of  the  definition  of  the  miraculous,  its  various  species, 
its  worth  as  an  argument,  and  all  the  other  questions  that 
later  on  exercised  the  logical  acumen  of  the  schools ;  they 
state  the  fact,  and  so  keep  to  the  essential  condition  of  lite- 
rary treatment.  Then  their  style  is  not  spoiled  by  set 
formulae  :  it  changes  with  their  theme  ;  it  rises  and  falls  with 
their  thoughts ;  it  is  measured  by  their  personal  culture  ; 
it  reflects  their  individual  character,  and  indicates  to  every 
reader  the  transparent  honesty  of  the  men  who,  with  such 
a  scheme,  yet  preserved  the  simplicity  and  calm  of  those 
who  were  merely  witnesses,  and  where  efficacy  in  the 
work  of  their  mission  came  from  the  grace  of  Him  who  sent 
them  to  evangelize  the  world. 

In  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  the  literary  form  is  more 
apparent  than  in  the  others.  By  this  we  do  not  mean  to  say 
that  it  has  upon  it  as  much  of  the  mechanism  of  letters  as 
that  of  the  polished  physician  of  Antioch,  St.  Luke  ;  but  the 
point  of  view  of  the  beloved  disciple  brings  his  literary 
methods  more  into  evidence.  The  opening  words  are  the 
clearest  evidence  of  this.  The  highest  point  of  Platonic 
philosophy  was  reached  in  the  excogitation  of  the  \oyos; 
nothing  higher  was  ever  attained  by  the  spirit  of  philosophy  ; 
it  was  the  ultimate  boundary  reached  by  the  intrepid 
Grecian  intellect,  and  was  the  crown  of  centuries  of  sublime 
speculation  and  analysis.  As  apprehended  by  Plato,  it 
was  clouded  and  obscured  by  the  mists  that  are  always 
upon  the  heights  of  mere  natural  thought ;  it  was  seen 
darkly,  and  its  true  proportions  were  unknown.  St.  John 
reaches  the  same  heights  without  an  effort ;  his  intellect 
suffered  with  the  light  of  revelation,  sees  what  Plato 
only  reasoned,  and  all  the  mists  vanish  as  he  writes  the 
last  word  of  the  writing  that  philosophy  could  never  finish. 
Kai  #eo9  rjv  6  \6yo$. 

When  the  deposit  of  revelation  reached  its  term  at  the 


734  Philosophy  and  Letters 

death  of  St.  John,  then  the  needs  of  the  Church  were 
provided  for  by  a  succession  of  writers,  whose  mission  was 
to  interpret  and  apply  to  the  changing  conditions  of 
history,  the  sublime  truths  on  which  the  economy  of 
Christianity  is  built.  It  would  seem  to  be  the  spirit  of  the 
sacred  writers  to  give  an  open  to  the  virtue  of  faith  even  in 
the  material  of  revelation  ;  their  statements  at  times  have 
that  versatility  of  meaning  which  falls  short  of  demonstration 
with  respect  to  their  true  signification ;  and  this  renders  the 
work  of  apologists  a  positive  necessity  for  the  safe-guarding 
of  the  purity  of  doctrine. 

From  the  very  opening  century  of  our  era  doubts  and 
misunderstanding  prevailed  among  those  who  professed  the 
Christian  name ;  schism  and  heresies  began  early  to  split 
up  the  new  religion  into  sections,  and  the  most  fundamental 
doctrines  became  the  source  of  contention  and  feud.  The 
mission  of  the  orthodox  writers  was  to  voice  the  true  tradition, 
and  communicate  the  abiding  spirit  of  truth  to  the  divided 
factions  who  rent  asunder  the  Church  of  Christ.  Their 
methods  would  appear  to  be  those  of  the  Sacred  Scripture  ; 
they  delivered  their  message  with  an  eye  to  popular 
acceptation,  and  with  a  minimum  of  subtlety,  and  scarcely 
a  trace  of  that  analytical  method  which  later  on  became 
the  characteristic  of  Christian  defence.  They  used  all  the 
weapons  of  the  literary  armoury  ;  eloquence  rose  to  its 
spring-tide  in  Tertullian  and  Chrysostom,  whose  writings, 
even  now,  are  more  suited  to  the  needs  of  practical  and 
popular  ministry  than  to  the  hair-splitting  pastimes  of 
teachers  of  logic,  who  care  nothing  for  golden  words,  or  for  • 
the  art  of  reducing  thought  to  its  perfect  expression. 

The  absence  of  philosophical  phrases  bearing  an  uni- 
versally accepted  meaning,  was  often  felt  as  a  weakness  in 
these  days  of  real  warfare  ;  the  confusion  of  ovcrla  and  <£uo-i? 
lessens  the  practical  value  of  many  patristic  writings,  even 
to  this  day;  yet  their  splendid  rhetoric  and  profusion  of 
literary  form  must  have  been  a  supreme  source  of  strength 
'in  those  distant  ages,  when  the  cult  of  classical  authors  was 
yet  a  living  force,  and  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of 
ideal  letters  were  at  the  command  of  the  enemies  of  the 


Philosophy  and  Letters  735 

truth.  If  they  had  delayed  over  definitions,  and  encumbered 
the  mind  of  their  simple  people  with  the  help  of  analytical 
reasoning,  their  work  would  hardly  have  had  the  conspicuous 
triumph  that  attended  their  more  human  methods.  They 
felt  that  the  truth  was  to  be  made  known ;  that  all  the 
evidence  of  Scripture  and  thought  should  be  massed  and 
concentrated  in  this  supreme  position  :  their  scope  was  not 
to  establish  a  school  of  tactics,  but  rather  to  sustain  all  the 
weight  of  wars  in  practical  conflict ;  and,  instead  of  giving 
theories  of  thought,  they  used  the  thought  itself,  and  faced 
all  the  realities  of  intellectual  life  in  the  attainment  of  their 
sacred  purpose.  These  were,  surely,  perilous  times  ;  the 
enemy  were  at  the  very  gates  of  the  citadel ;  the  hearts  of 
God's  creatures  had  been  turned  from  His  service,  and 
innured  to  the  contradiction  of  His  will  by  all  the  apparatus 
of  a  humanism  the  most  intense  and  the  most  stubborn  that 
ever  has  been  or  will  be ;  and  against  this  redoubtable  array 
the  few  leaders  of  the  army  of  the  cross  had  to  contend, 
and  in  the  fray  they  were  victors.  Their  victory,  indeed, 
was  not  theirs  ;  in  no  time  can  the  contradiction  of  the 
cross  be  evacuated,  and  any  flesh  glorify  itself;  but  in  their 
battles,  in  which  they  were  winning  the  world  to  the 
Crucified,  their  methods  of  warfare  bear  upon  them  the 
sanction  of  the  great  Master  they  served,  and  so  may  point 
a  lesson  to  all  who  follow  in  their  work  and  ministry. 

Among  the  fathers  who  have  followed  this  method  of 
Christian  defence,  the  first  place  is  assured  to  St.  Augustine. 
The  perfect  form  with  which  he  presents  the  mysteries  of 
revealed  truth  must  be  acknowledged  by  all  who  have  made 
any  study  of  his  works.  Every  resource  of  language  and 
style  is  used  by  this  perfect  literary  man,  to  sustain  the 
whole  frontier  line  of  theological  battle.  Whether  he  is 
occupied  with  Julian,  or  with  the  slow  intelligences  of  some  of 
his  own  brethren,  he  is  always  ready  with  eloquence  and  wit 
to  make  clearer  the  mysteries  of  faith,  and  expound  the 
difficult  places  of  Scripture  ;  his  matter  is  not  less  profound 
because  he  places  it  within  the  reach  of  the  most  casual 
reader.  He  uses  every  natural  gift  to  attain  the  purposes  of 
his  ministry ;  imagination  is  not  laid  aside  in  the  treatment 


736  Philosophy  and  Letters 

of  the  deepest  points  of  doctrine,  and  he  delights  while  he 
instructs  and  edifies.  Under  his  pen  the  last  traditions  ol 
Latinity  are  revived,  and  the  language  that  conserved  the 
splendid  wine  of  error  began  to  sparkle  with  the  better 
vintages  of  the  Gospel.  While  he  excites  wonder  by  his 
marvellous  mastery  over  the  sacred  writers,  our  admiration 
is  still  further  roused  by  the  artistic  faculty  with  which  he 
weaves  testimonies  into  his  works,  making  an  unbroken 
narrative  out  of  the  numberless  citations  with  which  he 
fortifies  his  positions.  His  controversial  writings  are  as 
fresh  to-day  as  when  they  were  written ;  the  scientific 
correctness  of  them  makes  his  tracts  living  manuals  of 
theology,  and  the  charm  of  their  style  relieves  that  heavi- 
ness which  makes  the  reading  of  such  treatises  ordinarily 
a  labour  rather  than  a  delight.  A  student  of  ordinary 
calibre  may  read  the  twenty-four  chapters  De  Gratia  et 
Libero  Arbitrio  in  an  afternoon,  and  he  will  learn  from  it 
not  alone  the  sum  total  of  the  teaching  of  the  Church  on 
these  cardinal  q?jestions,  but  may  see  also  at  work  a  great 
original  thinker,  a  perfect  literary  man,  whose  methods  of 
composition  remain  as  models  for  all  who  undertake  similiar 
duties  with  respect  to  their  own  times.  Though  deep  as  the 
themes  he  treats  of,  yet  he  is  clear,  because  of  his  gift  of 
expression  ;  he  cannot  explain  mysteries,  but  he  places  the 
proof  of  their  reality  in  such  sunshine,  that  one  is  bound  to 
acknowledge  the  fact  of  their  revelation.  This  was  the 
scope  proposed  to  him  by  his  position  and  circumstances, 
and  attaining  this  he  reached  upon  the  farthest  success  that 
could  attend  his  intellectual  apostleship.  Being  an  original 
thinker,  St.  Augustine  had  that  dash  and  initiatif  that  can 
dare  new  opinions,  and  hazard  new  enterprises.  His  work 
De  Genesi  ad  Litteram  is  a  grand  specimen  of  intellectual 
hardihood,  and  from  this  fact,  perhaps,  is  most  delightful 
reading.  He  reviewed  it  with  great  severity  in  his 
Retractations,  yet  it  remains  a  splendid  monument  to  his 
mental  power  and  literary  finish.  Its  thirty-seven  short 
chapters  are  a  fascinating  performance  ;  they  touch  about 
every  point  of  faith  and  doubt,  and  examine  with  extraor- 
dinary insight  questions  that  then,  as  now,  are  the  centre 


Philosophy  and  Letters  737 

of  extensive  speculation.  His  theory  of  creation  anticipates 
by  fifteen  centuries  some  popular  theories  of  our  own  times , 
which,  while  they  find  in  his  words  support  for  their  positive 
aspects,  will  look  in  vain  for  any  expression  that  can  justify 
their  negations  of  Christian  doctrine  and  sound  philosophy. 

His  work  that 'has  most  of  the  special  notes  of  literature, 
is,  beyond  doubt,  the  books  of  his  Confessions.  What  he 
did  for  dogma  elsewhere  he  has  done  here  for  ethical  science. 
In  other  places  he  transcribed  the  Scripture ;  here  he  tran- 
scribes his  own  heart.  He  gives  us  a  chart  of  human 
impulse  and  action  ;  he  marks  the  shallows  and  the  reefs, 
and  vivifies  the  whole  by  that  infusion  of  his  personality 
which,  if  it  proves  his  humility  and  sorrow,  shows  also  his 
unerring  literary  instinct.  This  is  the  reason  of  the  hold 
upon  human  hearts  of  this  masterpiece  of  ascetic  theology  ; 
it  not  only  teaches  lessons  that  may  never  be  forgotten,  but 
its  truths  are  like  the  winged  words  of  Homer — they  carry 
far,  and  hold  fast  when  they  arrive.  The  contrast  between 
philosophy  and  letters  cannot  be  better  seen  than  in  the 
relations  between  this  golden  book  and  the  leaden  treatises 
in  which  the  casuists  endeavour  to  codify  moral  science,  and 
bring  its  principles  within  the  reach  of  professional  students. 
The  uses  of  both  are  evident ;  the  need  of  some  system  of 
practical  ethics  is  a  positive  necessity  for  the  judicial  func- 
tions so  essentially  joined  to  the  priesthood  ;  but  for  other 
applications,  for  purposes  of  instruction  and  missionary 
labour,  how  necessary  to  know  that  moral  theology  is 
susceptible  of  rhetorical  treatment,  and  that  its  cold  principles 
may  be  reduced  to  formulae  that  set  hearts  on  fire. 

Many  a  student,  as  he  reads  the  principles  of  human  acts 
or  of  justice  in  his  Gury  or  Lehmkuhl,  wonders  whether  he 
could  find  material  for  a  sermon  in  these  truths ;  he  asks 
"  if  these  dead  bones  can  live;"  and  for  an  answer,  I  should 
direct  him  to  this  throbbing,  pulsating  volume  where,  under 
the  story  of  the  deeds  and  misdeeds  of  a  typical  life,  he  hears 
the  heart-beats  of  Augustine,  and  finds  shame  and  sorrow, 
justice  and  injustice,  despair  and  rapture,  voiced  in  language 
that  appears  to  reach  the  very  limits  of  perfect  express:OLi. 
In  his  work  on  The  City  of  God  he  has  done  as  much  ft  r 
VOL.  XVII.  3  A 


738  Philosophy  and  Letters 

history;  he  gives  life  to  the  series  of  facts  that  are  the 
material  of  every  chronicle  by  his  mastery  of  the  central 
ideas  that  all  human  energy  subserves.  He  groups  a  century 
of  events  into  a  page,  and  seeks  out  the  true  meaning 
towards  which  all  the  variety  of  the  world's  action  converges, 
uniting  itself  into  one  purpose  in  the  supreme  ideas  of 
Divine  Providence.  In  this  we  perceive  the  same  talent  of 
letters  that  underlies  his  work  in  other  departments,  and  it 
gives  us  a  signal  instance  of  the  success  that  always  attends 
the  happy  union  of  philosophy  with  the  spirit  of  literature. 

It  is  a  pity  that  our  educational  methods  do  not  pay  more 
attention  to  this  secret  of  his  power.  This  want  may  explain 
the  poverty  of  our  times  in  works  that  would  really  bring 
the  message  of  the  Church  within  the  radius  of  popular 
esteem,  and  form  the  common  mind  of  our  age  upon  the 
ideals  of  those  greater  truths  whose  strength  might  sustain, 
with  greater  success  than  now  obtains,  Catholic  faith  and 
Christian  morality  amid  all  the  dangers  of  the  times  in 
which  we  live.  Catholic  educational  methods  have  been 
determined  by  the  influence  of  a  school  that  arose  towards 
the  close  of  the  patristic  era,  and  whose  ways  are  entirely 
distinct  *  from  those  of  the  masters  who  preceded  it.  It 
would  be  hard  to  conceive  works  more  opposed  in  their 
procedure  than  those  that  issued  from  the  schools  and  the 
volumes  that  came  from  the  hands  of  St.  Augustine  Or 
St.  Bernard. 

The  scholastic  masters  seemed  to  have  learned  to  despise 
all  that  gave  charm  and  beauty  to  the  worka  of  the  fathers  ; 
they  reserved  their  methods  while  conserving  their  strength, 
that  now  became  the  peculiar  note  of  the  learned,  rather 
than  the  common  possession  of  all  who  loved  the  truth. 
The  object  of  one  was  to  found  a  few  select  minds  in  the 
perfect  knowledge  of  revealed  truth  ;  the  scope  of  the  other 
was  more  generous  and  expansive,  and  would  bring  the 
same  strength  into  every  life  and  every  humble  mind.  If 
ever  the  philosophic  spirit  reached  its  zenith,  it  was  surely 
in  those  mediaeval  universities  where,  from  one  end  of  the 
academic  year  to  the  other,  the  classes  rang  with  the  changes 
of  the  new  phraseology ;  where  the  quiddities,  and  forms. 


Philosophy  and  Letters  739 

and  essences  were  the  eternal  burden  of  lectures  and  con- 
versation. Everything  in  the  world  of  spirit  and  in  the 
circle  of  natural  forces  was  subjected  to  a  rigid  inquiry  that 
ended,  at  best,  in  a  barren,  personal  knowledge,  and  scarcely 
ever  grew  into  that  spirit  of  intellectual  charity  that  enriches 
others  with  our  own  gains.  The  gift  of  literary  expression 
was  despised,  a  vocabulary  as  narrow  as  could  be  conceived 
was  instituted  as  the  medium  of  this  bloodless  teaching ;  and 
at  the  end  of  his  course,  a  student  was  a  closed  book  to  the 
world,  whose  ignorance  he  was  bound  to  lessen,  whose 
power  and  happiness  and  intelligence  he  was  bound  to 
increase. 

The  imagination  seemed  to  die  in  this  learned  world,  all 
the  influences  that  civilize  and  refine  (save,  of  course,  these 
of  religion)  had  no  open  for  their  beneficent  action;  and  after 
years  of  patient  study,  men  rose  from  the  round  of  such 
a  life  with  no  brighter  light  in  their  eyes,  with  no  more 
symmetry  of  thought,  and  with  as  sordid  a  speech,  and  as 
proletarian  a  point  of  view,  as  if  they  had  been  learning 
to  plough  during  the  years  that  were  given  to  the  culture  of 
their  souls.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  reason  alone  was  to 
these  great  teachers  the  only  faculty  of  the  soul,  as  if  the 
beautiful  were  not  as  real  as  the  true,  as  if  the  imagination 
were  not  as  necessary  a  factor  in  human  cognition  as  the 
intellectus  possibilis,  and  as  if  the  ideal  education  should  not 
develop  the  entire  potency  of  its  subject,  and  not  merely  a 
notable  section  of  it.  On  the  meagre  fare  of  syllogisms  and 
distinctions,  no  man  ever  grew  to  his  full  stature,  and  a 
perfect  educational  system  should  educe  all  that  is  in  our 
nature,  bring  it  into  play  and  view,  and  so  realize  among  its 
scholars,  the  totus  teresque  of  the  Latin  poet. 

No  one  has  the  hardihood  to  deny  the  greatness  of  the 
scholastics  :  friend  and  foe  alike  acknowledge  their  accuracy, 
their  profound  reasoning  and  inexorable  logic,  which  has 
raised  an  impregnable  defence  around  the  total  circuit  of 
Christian  doctrine.  Their  greatest  accomplishment  in 
conciliating  Aristotle  with  Catholic  dogma  is  one  of  the 
marvels  of  the  history  of  thought ;  they  wrenched  him  from 
his  native  element,  and  lifted  him  up  to  the  purer  air  of 


740  Philosophy  and  Letters 

revealed  wisdom,  and  they  justly  claim  an  undisputed 
inheritance  of  all  the  wisdom  of  him  whom  Dante  finally  calls 
il  maestro  di  Color  chi  sanno.  But  the  wealth  of  the 
Stagirite  does  not  exhaust  the  treasury  of  human  thought ; 
other  schools  have  been  enriched  from  other  sources,  and  the 
true  heirs  of  all  the  ages  are  those  whose  riches  have  been 
amassed  by  the  conquests  of  all  the  thinkers  of  all  time. 

It  may  be  but  a  dream  to  imagine  that  we  shall  ever 
see  the  scholastic  system  reduced  to  literary  form  ;  but  this 
is  a  fact  outside  controversy,  that  its  efficacy  for  purposes  of 
instruction  suffers  from  this  want,  and  its  wisdom  can  never 
become  the  possession  of  those  who  most  need  it,  because  of 
the  inaccessible  prison  wherein  its  style  has  immured  it.  If 
some  genius  would  arise  who  could  clothe  the  principles  of 
St.  Thomas  with  all  that  outward  majesty  which  their 
sovereign  truth  demands,  he  would  do  more  to  spread  the 
empire  of  true  philosophy  than  can  be  accomplished  by  a 
legion  of  teachers  with  the  forces  now  at  their  command. 
This  strength  has  been  the  reason  of  the  headway  made  by 
modern  schools ;  their  leaders  were  original  thinkers,  who 
spoke  with  the  enthusiasm  that  found  the  best  possible 
expression  for  their  concepts.  Personal  colour  was  infused 
into  their  books,  and  the  masters  were  loved  at  the  same 
time  that  their  teaching  was  accepted. 

We  have  been  recently  struck  with  a  letter  of  Bossuet 
to  a  disciple  of  Malebranche,  in  which  the  great  orator 
wrote  : — "  II  vous  vois  done  tout  livre  a  votre  maitre,  tout 
enivre,  de  ses  pensees,  tout  ebloue  de  ses  expressions ;"  and 
this  he  pointed  out  as  the  secret  of  the  popularity  of  a 
system  that  had  little  else  to  sustain  it.  This  great  critic 
wrote  of  the  true  province  of  rhetoric  in  philosophical 
studies  when,  in  his  letter  to  Innocent  XI.,  he  sketched  th< 
outline  of  a  liberal  education.  Having  asserted  the  need 
dialectics  as  the  foundation  of  sound  thought,  he  adds  :- 
"  Ex  quo  fonte  Rhetoricam  exurgere  jussimus,  quae  nudij 
argumentis,  quasi  ossibus  nervisque  a  Dialectica  compactif 
et  camera  et  spiritum  et  niotum  inderet;  nee  fuco  depinxi- 
mus  sed  verum  colorem  nitoremque  dedimus  ex  i] 
veritate  efflorescent  em."  Whether  he  really  did  all  this  i] 


Philosophy  and  Letters  741 

the  system  used  in  the  training  of  his  royal  pupil,  the 
Dauphin  of  France,  is  a  question  that  need  not  be  settled 
here;  but,  beyond  doubt,  he  stated  a  true  principle,  and  one 
whose  force  has  not  grown  less  in  the  interval  between  his 
and  our  own  age.  It  is  especially  applicable  to  our  present 
concern ;  in  manuals  of  Catholic  philosophy  we  have 
enough  of  bone  and  muscle,  but  there  is  a  lamentable 
want  of  colour  and  outline,  and  absolutely  none  of  that 
splendour  which  should  accompany  the  presence  of  truth. 

That  the  Thomistic  system  is  the  absolutely  true  phi- 
losophy, is  a  recognised  fact  in  our  Catholic  schools  ;  it  s 
imposed  by  the  authority  of  the  Holy  See,  and  is  taught 
by  our  professors  with  implicit  confidence  in  its  principles 
and  conclusions  ;  but  they  must  be  the  first  to  admit  the 
difficulty  of  adapting  it  to  the  living  language  that  is  the 
only  vehicle  of  our  modern  thoughts,  and  the  recognised 
instrument  of  all  our  affairs.  If  it  is  always  true  that  studia 
abeunt  in  mores,  the  system  of  study  is  defective  whose 
outlet  is  rather  into  the  thoughts  and  manners  of  the 
twelfth  century  than  our  own.  There  is  no  want  in  our 
modern  languages  which  makes  them  unworthy  mediums 
for  any  thought ;  in  the  hands  of  a  master  they  are  capable 
of  harmonies  equal  to  those  of  any  classic  tongue,  and  for 
us  they  have  the  supreme  fitness  for  use  which  comes  from 
their  origin  and  growth  among  ourselves  and  the  world  we 
live  in. 

If  scholasticism  should  find  an  interpreter  who 
would  give  its  subtleties  modern  dress  and  contemporary 
application,  who  would  illustrate  all  its  arguments  with  the 
aid  of  the  scientific  and  social  development  of  our  era,  it  is 
safe  to  say  its  popularity  would  immeasurably  increase  in 
the  schools  and  out  of  them,  and  its  truth  would  soon 
become  a  living  force  in  living  hands  rather  than  an 
obsolete  method  of  old-world  thinkers,  whose  age  and  whose 
civilization  have  long  since  passed  away.  Brought  into 
immediate  relation  with  our  actual  circumstances,  the 
passage  from  philosophy  to  life  would  not  be  the  violent 
revolution  that  it  now  nearly  always  must  be ;  but  study 
would  be  an  initial  process,  whose  force  by  a  gradual 


742  Philosophy  and  Letters 

progress  would  be  transformed  into  character,  and  so  pass 
into  the  practical  work  of  the  living  world  around  us.  As 
it  is,  few  would  say  that  this  essential  condition  of  real 
education  is  ordinarily  attained  with  respect  to  scholastic 
philosophy ;  and  the  fault  lies,  not  with  the  doctrine,  but 
with  the  system  through  which  it  is  communicated.  A  mind 
stored  with  the  wisdom  of  the  schools  generally  thinks 
better  and  deeper  than  one  shaped  by  other  masters  ;  but 
the  results  are  not  equal  to  the  worth  of  the  agent ;  he 
cannot  bring  into  view  what  he  has  got  to  show  ;  to  the  end 
he  is  encumbered  with  the  scaffolding,  and  barbarous 
sentences  and  antiquated  quotations  hide  the  height  and 
depth  and  symmetry  of  his  intellectual  structure.  This 
would  not  be  so  if  he  had  learned  the  wisdom  of  the 
ancients  through  the  help  of  modern  ways  ;  if  he  had  the 
double  strength  of  philosophy  and  letters  he  would  learn  to 
adapt  his  mind  to  his  material  conditions,  and  his  learning 
would  not  be  a  stranger,  but  in  speech  and  manner  a 
thorough  citizen  of  the  actual  world  of  to-day. 

The  question  now  comes :  Can  this  be  done  ?  Can  the  set 
forms  of  expression,  consecrated  by  the  usage  of  centuries 
and  the  authority  of  so  many  masters,  find  fit  equivalents 
in  our  modern  tongues?  have  our  new  vocabularies  the 
strength  to  bear  up  the  weight  of  all  the  schools?  This  is  a 
query  that  must  be  satisfied,  and  really  it  appears  to  be  a 
very  easy  objection.  Are  our  modern  minds  able  to  sustain 
the  great  thoughts  of  past  centuries  ?  No  one  will  dream  of 
answering  this  except  in  one  way ;  and  if  the  relations  of 
thought  and  expression  are  such  as  we  have  noted  above, 
it  issafe  to  assert  that  suitable  words  will  not  be  beyond 
the  capacity  of  at  least  some  of  the  more  gifted  modern 
thinkers.  If  Wordsworth  in  his  Ode  on  Intimations  of 
Immortality  could  give  Plato  such  perfect  voice,  the  same 
faculty  might  have  done  as  much  for  other  systems,  and 
bring  them  within  the  reach  of  modern  appreciation. 
What  Gioberti  and  Eosmini  have  done  for  a  fantastic 
ontology  cannot  be  beyond  the  reach  of  those  who  hold 
the  truer  psychology  of  St.  Thomas ;  and  if  this  is  to  hold 
its  own  on  the  field  of  controversy,  something  similar  must 
be  done  for  it. 


Philosophy  and  Letters  743 

In  our  own  language,  Cardinal  Newman  has  shown  how 
to  reduce  philosophical  inquiry  to  literary  form,  and  in  the 
Grammar  of  Assent  has  set  the  example  for  all  who 
may  wish  to  undertake  similar  work.  In  every  part  of  this 
wonderful  composition,  one  sees  the  lustre  of  letters 
brightening  and  vivifying  its  theme,  even  in  the  opening 
chapters,  whose  matter  is  sufficiently  dry,  and  whose 
theories,  by  the  way,  are  at  times  scarcely  satisfactory, 
one  feels  the  magical  influence  of  the  literary  power  of 
the  great  Oratorian,  and  it  is  hard  to  interrupt  the  reading 
of  the  harmonious  sentences.  When  he  comes  to  the  appli- 
cation of  his  principles,  then  the  real  fascination  commences; 
all  the  resources  of  his  erudition  and  genius  are  brought  into 
play ;  he  attacks  his  subject  with  the  elan  of  personal 
enthusiasm,  and  seems  to  capture  positions  as  much  for 
himself  as  for  the  interests  of  those  for  whom  he  writes. 
This  infusion  of  his  own  character  gives  life  to  his  specula- 
tion, and  awakens  sympathy  in  its  results.  His  chapter  on 
Informal  Inference  is  a  perfect  symphony  in  words ;  it  is 
philosophy  reduced  to  the  harmonies  and  melodies  of  lan- 
guage ;  it  has  all  the  chiaro-oscuro  which  catches  the  weak- 
ness and  strength  of  his  motif,  and  results  in  its  absolute 
presentation.  What  a  pity  that  he  should  not  have  treated 
other  sections  of  philosophy  as  he  has  treated  this ;  then, 
indeed,  we  should  have  a  manual  whose  beauty  might  con- 
ciliate the  world  to  our  systems,  and  whose  study  would 
equip  our  students  for  every  duty  that  awaits  them  when 
school  is  over  and  life  begins. 

Another  signal  example  of  the  happy  results  of  the  union 
of  philosophy  and  letters  is  given  us  in  the  life  and  work  of 
Leo  XIII.  His  mind  has  been  formed  by  the  life- long  and 
enthusiastic  study  of  the  classics,  as  well  as  by  the  sterner 
discipline  of  severer  studies  ;  and  the  pontificate  which  has 
had  such  extraordinary  success  is  the  best  proof  of  the 
wisdom  of  his  intellectual  methods.  His  songs  and  poems 
are  models  of  form,  and  are  touched  with  that  grace  that 
can  come  only  from  natural  gifts  assiduously  cultivated,  and 
his  genius  has  been  able  for  the  more  difficult  task  of  con- 
ciliating this  power  of  utterance  to  the  publications  that  are 


744  Philosophy  and  Letters 

the  best  monument  to  his  greatness  as  a  Pope.    His  encycli- 
cals have  been  distinguished  by  their  polish  and  elegance, 
and  whether  their  theme  is  philosophy  or  theology,  or  the 
urgent,  solid,  logical  questions  of  the  day,  they  all  sparkle 
with  brilliant  literary  traits,  which  have  assured  them  a 
popularity  that  is  world- wide.    Eecommended  by  this  beauty 
of  style,  his  teaching  has  penetrated  every  circle  and  every 
class ;  it  is  said  some  of  his  Apostolic  letters  are  read  in  an 
English  University  as  models  of  the  best  Latinity,  and  this 
is  a  triumph  for  all  who  believe  in  the  alliance  of  the  two 
forces  which  have  made  him  so  truly  great.     During  his 
reign  he  has  urged  the  absolute  necessity  of  literary  studies 
as   a  preparation    for    the    priesthood,  and    in    Koine   he 
himself  has  furthered  the  study  of  Dante  to  the  degree  of 
founding  an   academy  for   the   reading   and   interpretation 
of    the     Commedia.       From     his     supreme     position     he 
knows  the   power  and  strength  which  have  been  assured 
to    the    enemies    of    the    Church    by  their    more    liberal 
culture  of  literary  studies,  and  he  wishes  the  household  of 
the  faith  to  be  secured  in  public  esteem  by  our  mastery  of 
all  the  resources  of  Christian  civilization.     Our  age  is  not 
noted  for  the  outcome  of  its  philosophical  labours  ;  it  has 
been,  outside  Catholic  schools,  dominated  by  the  rational- 
istic tendency  which  has  grown  so  strong  under  the  influence 
of  false   principles  in   religion   and   government ;    but   its 
literary  activity  is  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  man.    It 
is  truer  now  than  in  the  time  of  Solomon,  that  of  making 
books  there  is  no  end,  and  the  amount  of  really  good  literary 
work  that  is  done  every  day  in  journalism,  and  science,  and 
the  purer  forms  of  letters,  is  beyond  belief.     Every  artifice 
of  style  is  used  to  make  books  popular,  and  win  readers  from 
every  class ;  and  this  is  the  source  of  the  strength  of  modern 
writers.     Their  philosophy  is  superficial ;  their  scope  is  to 
catch  the  living  manners,  to  trace  the  progress  of  passion, 
and  the  vicissitudes  of  the  persons  they  depict,  and  their 
tone  and  tendency  is  largely  responsible  for  the  disastrous 
condition  of  society  in  every  land.  Why  cannot  these  sources 
of  strength  be  turned  to  the  defence  of  true  principles  and 
Catholic  thought  ?     Why  must  the  generic  force  of  letters  be 


Philosophy  and  Letters  745 

always  specified  by  their  application  to  the  destruction 
rather  than  the  saving  of  the  religious  energy  of  the  world  ? 
If  half  the  finish  and  lustre  of  our  secular  literature  were  to 
be  found  in  religious  manuals,  it  is  safe  to  say  their  readers 
would  be  doubled,  and  their  fruit  more  extensive  than  it  is 
to-day.  If  our  sermons  had  upon  them  the  evidences  of 
scholarship  that  is  so  easily  observed  in  the  pronouncements 
and  allocutions  of  the  letters  of  political  life,  there  would  be 
more  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  more  religious 
spirit  in  our  congregations. 

If  we  are  content  with  our  impregnable  position,  with 
our  settled  and  secure  system  and  principles,  and  have  no 
care  for  their  concrete  realization  in  the  world  of  souls,  then, 
of  course,  our  silence  is  not  considered  a  defect,  and  will  not 
have  a  suitable  remedy.  But  if  we  ambition  to  be  a 
factor  in  the  formation  of  opinion,  we  must  show  our  light 
before  men,  not  as  a  sign  of  personal  accomplishments,  but 
that  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven  may  be  glorified ;  and 
this,  in  turn,  can  only  be  done  when  Catholic  philosophy 
leagues  itself  with  the  spirit  of  modern  letters,  and  enlists 
its  strength  in  the  defence  of  the  truth  that  alone  can  serve 
the  world.  But  how  may  this  be  done?  In  the  absence  of 
really  great  manuals  we  may  only  conjecture  a  solution 
of  the  trouble.  It  would  seem  that  the  matter  rests 
in  the  hands  of  individual  professors.  If  they  have 
assimilated  the  spirit  of  letters,  we  may  assume  they 
will  infuse  themselves  into  their  lectures,  and  communicate 
to  their  students  the  strength  that  comes  from  the 
personal  influence  of  a  fine  teacher.  If  they  have 
read  the  great  masters  who  have  treated  in  the  spirit  of 
original  inquiry  the  questions  that  are  the  subject-matter 
for  class  work,  they  will  have  been  enriched  by  their  phrase, 
and  the  eloquence  of  Plato  or  Tully  will  eke  out  the  dry 
and  sapless  style  which  unfortunately  obtains  in  our  text- 
books. If  the  teacher,  further,  has  learned  not  alone  philo- 
sophy, but  to  philosophize,  which  is  quite  another  thing,  he 
will  have  the  tact  to  apply  to  the  phenomena  of  life  and 
action  the  principles  he  sustains  ;  he  will  show  their  truth 
in  relation  to  practical  affairs  ;  he  will  explain  the  rnaster§ 


746  Philosophy  and  Letters 

of  prose  and  poetry  in  their  light,  and  in  this  way  make  of 
them  a  key  to  the  real  interpretation  of  the  world.  The 
system  that  makes  the  classics  mere  grammar  exercises  has 
destroyed  their  true  meaning.  They  were  written  by  men 
of  genius,  who  implicitly,  at  least,  made  of  them  the  channel 
by  which  they  explained  their  lives  and  defended  their 
principles  ;  and  unless  they  are  understood  in  this  light, 
they  are  only  half  known,  and  are  no  help  in  the  work  of 
education.  I  think  a  true  school  of  philosophy  ought 
to  complete  our  literary  training.  Great  authors  are  the 
true  historians  of  human  opinions.  They  are  an  authentic 
source  of  information  with  respect  to  the  true  resources  of 
our  species.  To  apply  philosophy  to  their  texts  would  be  a 
compendious  method  of  applying  it  to  life,  and  would  be 
safer  than  more  immediate  touch  with  its  realities. 

This  way  of  philosophical  study  would  be  within  the 
reach  of  all  who  have  had  a  fairly  generous  training,  and 
would  perfect  the  habit,  which  every  educated  man  ought 
somehow  acquire,  of  making  his  knowledge  an  actual  factor 
in  every  work  he  undertakes.  The  scholastic  gives  us  the 
ideal  world  ;  man  is  the  animal  rationale,  and  matter  is  the 
principium  individuationis.  Literature  shows  this  being 
in  action — the  subject  of  sorrow  and  joy — and  traces  the 
progress  of  liberty  under  certain  controlling  conditions. 
The  teachings  of  the  schools  are  like  the  rayons  catho- 
diques ;  they  pierce  the  hidden  meanings  of  things,  but 
result  only  in  a  negative  of  the  most  meagre  outline. 
Literature  is  the  photograph  that  catches  every  external 
characteristic — the  colour,  the  pose,  the  ensemble — which 
makes  us  love  or  hate  those  it  represents.  It  is  easy  to  see 
how  one  supplements  the  other,  and  how  both  are  needed  if 
we  want  to  know  all  that  can  be  known  on  the  subject  of  our 
studies.  Hitherto  it  would  seem  they  have  been  too  much 
apart,  and  both  have  lost  from  this  fatal  independence. 
The  books  that  lie  on  every  table,  and  are  in  the  hands  of 
every  reader,  are  not  those  that  safely  guide  the  popular 
mind;  and  the  writings  whose  firm  grasp  of  fundamental 
principles  might  assure  the  world  correct  ideas  of  life  and 
fluty,  these  are  Jaid  away  on  the  bopk-shelves  of  the  learned, 


Philosophy  and  Letters  747 

hidden  in  the  darkness  of  a  dead  language,  and  altogether 
outside  the  reach  of  those  who  have  most  need  of  them. 
Let  them  come  forth  from  their  forced  inaction,  and  take 
their  part  in  the  struggles  of  to-day.  The  strength  of  the 
heroes  of  the  world  is  always  strong  ;  but,  it  may  be,  if  one 
of  the  potent  warriors  who  fought  before  Windy  Troy 
were  matched  against  the  last  private  of  a  modern  regiment, 
Homeric  prowess  might  avail  him  little.  If  mediaeval 
wisdom  is  to  be  triumphant  in  our  times,  it  must  fight  in 
modern  fashion,  and  accommodate  itself  to  the  present 
conditions  of  war.  If  not,  it  runs  the  risk  of  being  left 
outside  the  field,  or  else  worsted  in  the  battle.  This  union 
between  philosophy  and  letters  was  the  ideal  of  Horace  : — 

"  Scribendi  recte  sapere  est  et  principium  et  fons  : 
Hem  tibi  Socraticae  poterunt  ostendere  chartae  : 
Verbaque  provisam  rem  non  invita  sequentur." 

And  these  words  should  embolden  some  gifted  thinker  to 
undertake  so  useful  a  task  as  that  we  have  endeavoured  to 
outline  in  this  paper.  Its  worthy  accomplishment  would 
extend  the  empire  of  philosophy,  and  bring  many  rebellious 
minds  under  its  beneficent  influence,  while  it  would  ennoble 
and  strengthen  letters  by  an  alliance  with  the  invincible 
forces  of  correct  thought. 

A.  WALSH,  O.S.A. 


[     748     ] 


Documents 

ENCYCLICAL   LETTEE   OF   POPE    LEO    XIII.    ON    THE    UNITY    OF 

THE    CHUECH 

To  OUE  VENEBABLE  BRETHREN 

THE  PATRIARCHS,  PRIMATES,  ARCHBISHOPS,  BISHOPS,  AND 
OTHER  ORDINARIES  IN  PEACE  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  THE 
APOSTOLIC  SEE. 

LEO  XIII. 
VENERABLE  BRETHREN,  HEALTH  AND  BENEDICTION 

1.  It  is  sufficiently  well  known  unto  you  that  no  small  share 
of  Our  thoughts  and  of  Our  care  is  devoted  to  Our  endeavour 
to  bring  back  to  the  fold,  placed  under  the  guardianship  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Chief  Pastor  of  souls,  sheep  that  have  strayed. 
Bent  upon  this,  We  have  thought  it  most  conducive  to  this 
salutary  end  and  purpose  to  describe  the  exemplar  and,  as  it 
were,  the  lineaments,  of  the  Church.  Amongst  these  the  most 
worthy  of  Our  chief  consideration  is  Unity.  This  the  Divine 
Author  impressed  on  it  as  a  lasting  sign  of  truth  and  of  uncon- 
querable strength.  The  essential  beauty  and  comeliness  of  the 
Church  ought  greatly  to  influence  the  minds  of  those  who  consider 
it.  Nor  is  it  improbable  that  ignorance  may  be  dispelled  by  the 
consideration  ;  that  false  ideas  and  prejudices  may  be  dissipated 
from  the  minds  chiefly  of  those  who  find  themselves  in  error 
without  fault  of  theirs  ;  and  that  even  a  love  for  the  Church  may 
be  stirred  up  in  the  souls  of  men,  like  unto  that  charity  where- 
with Christ  loved  and  united  Himself  to  that  spouse  redeemed  by 
His  precious  blood.  "  Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  delivered 
Himself  up  for  it  "  (Bph.  v.  25). 

If  those  about  to  come  back  to  their  most  loving  mother  (not 
yet  fully  known,  or  culpably  abandoned)  should  perceive  that 
their  return  involves,  not  indeed  the  shedding  of  their  blood  (at 
which  price  nevertheless  the  Church  was  bought  by  Jesus  Christ), 
but  some  lesser  trouble  and  labour,  let  them  clearly  understand 
that  this  burden  has  been  laid  on  them,  not  by  the  will  of  man, 
but  by  the  will  and  command  of  God.  They  may  thus,  by  the 
help  of  heavenly  grace,  realize  and  feel  the  truth  of  the  divine 
saying  :  "  My  yoke  is  sweet,  and  My  burden  light "  (Matt.  xi.  30). 

"Wherefore,  having   put    all   Our   hope    in    the    "  Father  of 


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lights/'  from  whom  u  cometh  every  best  gift  and  every  perfect 
gift"  (James  i.  17) — from  Him,  namely,  who  alone  "gives 
the  increase  "  (1  Cor.  iii,  6) — We  earnestly  pray  that  He  will 
graciously  grant  Us  the  power  of  bringing  conviction  home  to  the 
minds  of  men. 

HUMAN   CO-OPEKATION 

2.  Although  God  can  do  by  His  own  power  all  that  is  effected 
by   created  natures,  nevertheless  in  the  counsels   of  His  loving 
Providence   He    has    preferred    to    help    men    by   the    instru- 
mentality of  men.     And,  as  in   the  natural  order,  He  does  not 
usually  give  full  perfection  except  by  means  of  man's  work  and 
action,   so  also  He   makes  use  of   human  aid   for   that   which 
lies    beyond    the   limits    of    nature ;    that    is    to  say,  for    the 
sanctification  and  salvation    of    souls.      But  it  is  obvious  that 
nothing  can  be  communicated  amongst  men  save  by  means  of 
external  things  which  the  senses  can  perceive.     For  this  reason 
the  Son  of  God  assumed  human  nature — "  who,  being  in  the 
form  of  God  .  .  .  emptied  Himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant, 
being  made  in  the  likeness  of  man  "  (Philipp,  ii.  6,  7) ;  and  thus, 
living  on  earth,  He  taught  His    doctrine    and   gave  His  laws, 
conversing  with  men. 

THE    CHURCH    ALWAYS    VISIBLE 

3.  And,  since  it  was  necessary  that  His  divine  mission  should 
be  perpetuated  to  the  end  of  time,  He  took  to  Himself  disciples, 
trained  by  Himself,  and  made  them  partakers  of  His  own  autho- 
rity.    And,  when  He  had  invoked  upon  them  from  Heaven  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  He  bade  them  go  through  the  whole  world,  and 
faithfully  preach  to  all  nations  what  He  had  taught  and  what  He 
had   commanded,  so  that  by   the    profession   of   His   doctrine, 
and  the  observance  of  His  laws,  the  human  race  might  attain  to 
holiness  on  earth  and  never-ending  happiness  in  heaven.     In  this 
wise,  and  on  this  principle,  the  Church  was  begotten.     If  we 
consider  the  chief  end  of  this  Church,  and  the  proximate  efficient 
causes  of  salvation,  it  is  undoubtedly  spiritual ;  but  in  regard  to 
those  who  constitute  it,  and  to  the  things  which  lead  to  these 
spiritual  gifts,  it  is  external,  and  necessarily  visible.  The  Apostles 
received  a  mission  to  teach  by  visible  and  audible  signs,  and  they 
discharged  their  mission  only  by  words  and  acts  which  certainly 
appealed  to  the    senses.      So    that    their    voices,   falling  upon 


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the  ears  of  those  who  heard  them,  begot  faith  in  souls  : 
"  Faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  Christ  " 
(Rom.  x.  17).  And  faith  itself;  that  is,  assent  given  to  the  first 
and  supreme  truth,  though  residing  essentially  in  the  intellect, 
must  be  manifested  by  outward  profession  :  "  For  with  the  heart 
we  believe  unto  justice,  but  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made 
unto  salvation  "  (Rom.  x.  10).  In  the  same  way  in  man,  nothing 
is  more  internal  than  heavenly  grace,  which  begets  sanctity  ; 
but  the  ordinary  and  chief  means  of  obtaining  grace  are  external ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  Sacraments,  which  are  administered  by 
men  specially  chosen  for  that  purpose,  by  means  of  certain 
ordinances. 

Jesus  Christ  commanded  His  Apostles,  and  their  successors 
to  the  end  of  time,  to  teach  and  rule  the  nations.  He  ordered 
the  nations  to  accept  their  teaching  and  obey  their  authority. 
But  this  correlation  of  rights  and  duties  in  the  Christian 
commonwealth  not  only  could  not  have  been  made  permanent, 
but  could  not  even  have  been  initiated,  except  through  the 
senses,  which  are  of  all  things  the  messengers  and  interpreters. 

For  this  reason  the  Church  is  so  often  called  in  Holy  Writ  a 
body,  and  even  the  body  of  Christ :  "  Now,  you  are  the  body  of 
Christ "  (1  Cor.  xii.  27).  And  precisely  because  it  is  a  body  is 
the  Church  visible  ;  and  because  it  is  the  body  of  Christ,  is  it 
living  and  energizing ;  because  by  the  infusion  of  His  power  Christ 
guards  and  sustains  it,  just  as  the  vine  gives  nourishment,  and 
renders  fruitful  the  branches  united  to  it.  And  as  in  animals  the 
vital  principle  is  unseen  and  invisible,  and  is  evidenced  and 
manifested  by  the  movements  and  action  of  the  members,  so  the 
principle  of  supernatural  life  in  the  Church  is  clearly  shown  in 
that  which  is  done  by  it. 

From  this  it  follows  that  those  who  arbitrarily  conjure  up  and 
picture  to  themselves  a  hidden  and  invisible  Church,  are  in 
grievous  and  pernicious  error  :  as  also  are  those  who  regard  the 
Church  as  a  human  institution  which  claims  a  certain  obedience 
in  discipline  and  external  duties,  but  which  is  without  the 
perennial  communication  of  the  gifts  of  divine  grace,  and  with- 
out all  that  which  testifies  by  constant  and  undoubted  signs  to 
the  existence  of  that  life  which  is  drawn  from  God.  It  is 
assuredly  as  impossible  that  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  can  be 
the  one  or  the  other,  as  that  man  should  be  a  body  alone  or  a  soul 
alone.  The  connection  and  union  of  both  elements  is  as 


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absolutely  necessary  to  the  true  Church  as  the  intimate  union 
of  the  soul  and  body  is  to  human  nature.  The  Church  is  not 
something  dead  :  it  is  the  body  of  Christ  endowed  with  super- 
natural life.  As  Christ,  the  Head  and  Exemplar,  is  not  wholly 
in  His  visible  human  nature,  which  Photinians  and  Nestorians 
assert,  nor  wholly  in  the  invisible  divine  nature,  as  the  Monophy- 
sites  hold,  but  is  one,  from  and  in  both  natures,  visible  and 
invisible  ;  so  the  mystical  body  of  Christ  is  the  true  Church,  only 
because  its  visible  parts  draw  life  and  power  from  the  super- 
natural gifts  and  other  things  whence  spring  their  very  nature 
and  essence.  But  since  the  Church  is  siwh  by  divine  will  and 
constitution,  such,  it  must  uniformly  remain  to  the  end  of  time. 
If  it  did  not,  then  it  would  not  have  been  founded  as  perpetual, 
and  the  end  set  before  it  would  have  been  limited  to  some  certain 
place  and  to  some  certain  period  of  time ;  both  of  which  are 
contrary  to  the  truth.  The  union  consequently  of  visible  and 
invisible  elements,  because  it  harmonizes  with  the  natural  order 
and  by  God's  will  belongs  to  the  very  essence  of  the  Church, 
must  necessarily  remain  so  long  as  the  Church  itself  shall  endure. 
Wherefore  Chrysostom  writes :  "  Secede  not  from  the  Church  ; 
for  nothing  is  stronger  than  the  Church.  Thy  hope  is  the 
Church  ;  thy  salvation  is  the  Church  ;  thy  refuge  is  the  Church. 
It  is  higher  than  the  heavens  and  wider  than  the  earth.  It 
never  grows  old,  but  is  ever  full  of  vigour.  Wherefore  holy  writ 
pointing  to  its  strength  and  stability  calls  it  a  mountain  "  (Horn. 
De  capto  Eutropio,  n.  6). 

Also  Augustine  says  :  "  Unbelievers  think  that  the  Christian 
religion  will  last  for  a  certain  period  in  the  world  and  will  then 
disappear.  But  it  will  remain  as  long  as  the  sun — as  long  as  the 
sun  rises  and  sets  :  that  is,  as  long  as  the  ages  of  time  shall  roll, 
the  Church  of  God — the  true  body  of  Christ  on  earth — will  not 
disappear"  (In  Psalm  Ixxi.,  n.  8.  And  in  another  place  :  "  The 
Church  will  totter  if  its  foundation  shakes  ;  but  how  can  Christ 
be  moved?  .  .  .  Christ  remaining  immovable,  it  (the  Church) 
shall  never  be  shaken.  Where  are  they  that  say  that  the  Church 
has  disappeared  from  the  world,  when  it  cannot  even  be 
shaken?  "  (Etiarratio  in  Psalm  ciii.,  Sermo  ii.,  n.  5). 

He  who  seeks  the  truth  must  be  guided  by  these  fundamental 
principles.  That  is  to  say,  that  Christ  the  Lord  instituted  and 
formed  the  Church :  wherefore  when  we  are  asked  what  its 
nature  is,  the  main  thing  is  to  see  what  Christ  wished,  and  what 


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in  fact,  He  did.  Judged  by  such  a  criterion,  it  is  the  unity  of  the 
Church  which  must  be  principally  considered ;  and  of  this, 
for  the  general  good,  it  has  seemed  useful  to  speak  in  this 
Encyclical. 

HOW    CHRIST    MADE    HIS    CHUECH 

4.  It  is  so  evident  from  the  clear  and  frequent  testimonies  of 
Holy  Writ  that  the  true  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  one,  that  no 
Christian  can  dare  to  deny  it.  But  in  judging  and  determining 
the  nature  of  this  unity  many  have  erred  in  various  ways.  Not 
the  foundation  of  the  Church  alone,  but  its  whole  constitution, 
belongs  to  the  class  of  things  effected  by  Christ's  free  choice. 
For  this  reason  the  entire  case  must  be  judged  by  what  was 
actually  done.  We  must  consequently  investigate  not  how  the 
Church  may  possibly  be  one,  but  how  He,  who  founded  it,  willed 
that  it  should  be  one. 

But  when  we  consider  what  was  actually  done,  we  find  that 
Jesus  Christ  did  not,  in  point  of  fact,  institute  a  Church  to 
embrace  several  communities  similar  in  nature,  but  in  themselves 
distinct,  and  lacking  those  bonds  which  render  the  Church 
unique  and  indivisible  after  that  manner  in  which  in  the  symbol 
of  our  faith  we  profess  :  "  I  believe  in  one  Church." 

"  The  Church  in  respect  of  its  unity  belongs  to  the  category 
of  things  indivisible  by  nature,  though  heretics  try  to  divide  it 
into  many  parts.  .  .  .  We  say,  therefore,  that  the  Catholic 
Church  is  unique  in  its  essence,  in  its  doctrine,  in  its  origin,  and 
in  its  excellence.  .  .  .  Furthermore,  the  eminence  of  the 
Church  arises  from  its  unity,  as  the  principle  of  its  constitution — 
a  unity  surpassing  all  else,  and  having  nothing  like  unto  it  or 
equal  to  it."  (S.  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Stromatum,  lib.  viii.,  c.  17). 
For  this  reason  Christ,  speaking  of  this  mystical  edifice,  mentions 
only  one  Church,  which  He  calls  His  own — "  I  will  build  My 
Church."  Any  other  Church  except  this  one,  since  it  has  not 
been  founded  by  Christ,  cannot  be  the  true  Church.  This 
becomes  even  more  evident  when  the  purpose  of  the  Divine 
Founder  is  considered.  For  what  did  Christ,  the  Lord,  ask  ? 
What  did  He  wish  in  regard  to  the  Church  founded,  or  about  to 
be  founded  ?  This  :  to  transmit  to  it  the  same  mission  and  the 
same  mandate  which  He  had  received  from  the  Father,  that  they 
should  be  perpetuated.  This  He  clearly  resolved  to  do  :  this  He 
actually  did.  "  As  the  Father  hath  sent  Me,  I  also  send  you  " 


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(John  xx.  21).  "As  Thou  hast  sent  Me  into  the  world,  I  also 
have  sent  them  into  the  world  "  (John  xvii.  18). 

But  the  mission  of  Christ  is  to  save  that  which  had  perished  : 
that  is  to  say,  not  some  nations  or  peoples,  but  the  whole  human 
race,  without  distinction  of  time  or  place.  "  The  Son  of  Man  came 
that  the  world  might  be  saved  by  Him  "  (John  iii.  17).  "For 
there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given  to  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved  "  (Acts  iv.  12).  The  Church,  therefore,  is  bound 
to  communicate  without  stint  to  all  men,  and  to  transmit  through 
all  ages,  the  salvation  effected  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  blessings 
flowing  therefrom.  Wherefore,  by  the  will  of  its  Founder,  it  is 
necessary  that  this  Church  should  be  one  in  all  lands  and  at  all 
times.  To  justify  the  existence  of  more  than  one  Church  it 
would  be  necessary  to  go  outside  this  world,  and  to  create  a 
new  and  unheard-of  race  of  men. 

That  the  one  Church  should  embrace  all  men  everywhere  and 
at  all  times,  was  seen  and  foretold  by  Isaias,  when  looking  into 
the  future  he  saw  the  appearance  of  a  mountain  conspicuous  by 
its  all-surpassing  altitude,  which  set  forth  the  image  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord — that  is  of  the  Church.  "  And  in  the  last  days  the 
mountain  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  prepared  on  the  top 
of  the  mountains  "  (Isa.  ii.  2). 

But  this  mountain  which  towers  over  all  other  mountains  is 
one ;  and  the  house  of  the  Lord  to  which  all  nations  shall  co^ne 
to  seek  the  rule  of  living  is  also  one.  "  And  all  nations  shall  flow 
into  it.  And  many  people  shall  go,  and  say :  Come,  and  let  us  go  up 
to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob, 
and  He  will  teach  us  His  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  His  paths  " 
(ibid.,  ii.  2-3). 

Explaining  this  passage,  Optatus  of  Milevissays:  "It  is  written 
in  the  prophet  Isaias  :  '  From  Sion  the  law  shall  go  forth,  and 
the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem.'  For  it  is  not  on  Mount 
Sion  that  Isaias  sees  the  valley,  but  on  the  holy  mountain,  that 
is,  the  Church,  which  has  raised  itself  conspicuously  throughout 
the  entire  Eoman  world  under  the  whole  heavens  .  .  .  The 
Church  is,  therefore,  the  spiritual  Sion  in  which  Christ  has  been 
constituted  King  by  God  the  Father,  and  which  exists  throughout 
the  entire  earth,  on  which  there  is  but  one  Catholic  Church." 
(De  Schism  Donatist,  lib.  iii.,  n.  2).  And  Augustine  says  :  "  What 
can  be  so  manifest  as  a  mountain,  or  so  well  known  ?  There  are, 
it  is  true,  mountains  which  are  unknown  because  they  are 

VOL.  XVII.  3  B 


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situated  in  some  remote  part  of  the  earth.  .  .  .  But  this 
mountain  is  not  unknown  ;  for  it  has  filled  the  whole  face  of  the 
world,  and  about  this  it  is  said  that  it  is  prepared  on  the  summit 
of  the  mountains"  (In  Ep.  Joan,  tract  i.,  n.  13). 

CHKIST  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH 

5.  Furthermore,  the  Son  of  God  decreed  that   the   Church 
should    be    His    mystical    body,    with    which    He    should    be 
united  as  the  Head,  after  the  manner  of  the  human  body  which 
He  assumed,  to  which  the  natural  head  is  physiologically  united. 
As  He  took  to  Himself  a  mortal  body,  which  He  gave  to  suffering 
and  death  in  order  to  pay  the  price  of  man's  redemption,  so  also 
He  has  one  mystical  body  in  which  and  through    which    He 
renders  men  partakers  of  holiness  and  of  eternal  salvation.     God 
"  hath  made  Him  (Christ)  head  over  all  the  Church,  which  is  His 
body"  (Eph.  i.  22-23).  Scattered  and  separated  members  cannot 
possibly  cohere  with  the  head  so   as  to  make  one  body.     But 
St.  Paul  says:  "All  the  members  of  the  body,  whereas  they  are 
many,  yet  are  one  body,  so  also  is  Christ  "  (1  Cor.  xii.  12).    Where- 
fore this  mystical  body  he  declares  is  "  compacted  and  fitly  jointed 
together.     The  head,  Christ :  from  whom  the  whole  body,  being 
compacted  and  fitly  jointed  together,  by  what  every  joint  supplieth 
according  to  the  operation  in  the  measure  of  every  part  "  (Eph.  iv. 
15-16).     And   so   dispersed  members,    separated    one   from  the 
other,  cannot  be  united  with  one  and  the  same  head.      "  There 
is  one  God,  and  one  Christ ;  and  His  Church  is  one  and  the  faith 
is  one  ;  and  one  the  people,  joined  together  in  the  solid  unity  of 
the  body  in  the  bond  of  concord.     This  unity  cannot  be  broken, 
nor  the  one  body  divided  by  the  separation  of  its  constituent 
parts  "  (S.  Cyprianus,  De  Caih.  Eccl.  Unitate,  n.  23).    And  to  set 
forth  more  clearly  the  unity  of  the  Church,  he  makes  use  of  the 
illustration    of    a    living  body,   the   members   of   which   cannot 
possibly  live  unless  united  to  the  head,  and  drawing  from  it  their 
vital  force.     Separated  from  the  head  they  must  of  necessity  die. 
"  The  Church,"  he  says,  "  cannot  be  divided  into  parts  by  the 
separation   and  cutting  asunder  of  its  members.     What   is  cut 
away  from  the  mother  cannot   live    or   breathe    apart"  (ibid.). 
What  similarity  is  there  between  a  dead  and  a  living  body?  "  For 
no  man  ever  hated  his  own  flesh,  but  nourisheth  and  cherisheth 
it,  as  also  Christ  doth  the    Church  :    because  we  are  members 
of  His  body,  of  His  flesh,  and  of  His  bones  "  (Eph.  v.  29-30). 


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Another  head  like  to  Christ  must  be  invented — that  is,  another 
Christ — if  besides  the  one  Church,  which  is  His  body,  men  wish 
to  set  up  another.  "  See  what  you  must  beware  of — see  what  you 
must  avoid — see  what  you  must  dread.  It  happens  that,  as  in  the 
human  body,  some  member  may  be  cut  off — a  hand,  a  finger,  a  foot. 
Does  the  soul  follow  the  amputated  member  ?  As  long  as  it  was 
in  the  body,  it  lived;  separated,  it  forfeits  its  life.  So  the 
Christian  is  a  Catholic  as  long  as  he  lives  in  the  body :  cut  off 
from  it  he  becomes  a  heretic — the  life  of  the  spirit  follows  not  the 
amputated  member  "  (St.  Augustinus,  Sermo  cclxvii.,  n.  4). 

The  Church  of  Christ,  therefore,  is  one  and  the  same  for  ever  : 
those  who  leave  1)5  depart  from  the  will  and  command  of  Christ, 
the  Lord  —leaving  the  path  of  salvation  they  enter  on  that 
of  perdition.  "  Whosoever  is  separated  from  the  Church  is  united 
to  an  adulteress.  He  has  cut  himself  off  from  the  promises  of  the 
Church;  and  he  who  leaves  the  Church  of  Christ  cannot  arrive  at 
the  rewards  of  Christ.  .  .  .  He  who  observes  not  this  unity 
observes  not  the  law  of  God,  holds  not  the  faith  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  clings  not  to  life  and  salvation  "  (S.  Cyprianus,  De 
Cath.  Eccl  Unitate,  n.  6). 

UNITY   IN    FAITH 

6.  But  He,  indeed,  who  made  this  one  Church,  also  gave  it 
unity,  that  is,  He  made  it  such  that  all  who  are  to  belong 
to  it  must  be  united  by  the  closest  bonds,  so  as  to  form  one 
society,  one  kingdom,  one  body — "  one  body  and  one  spirit,  as 
you  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling"  (Eph.  iv.  4).  Jesus 
Christ,  when  His  death  was  nigh  at  hand,  declared  His  will  in  this 
matter,  and  solemnly  offered  it  up,  thus  addressing  His  Father : 
"  Not  for  them  only  do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  who  through 
their  word  shall  believe  in  Me  .  .  .  that  they  also  may  be  one  in 
Us  ...  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one"  (John  xvii. 
20,  21-23).  Yea,  He  commanded  that  this  unity  should  be  so 
closely  knit  and  so  perfect  amongst  His  followers,  that  it  might, 
in  some  measure,  shadow  forth  the  union  between  Himself  and 
His  Father  :  "  I  pray  that  they  all  may  be  one  as  Thou  Father  in 
Me,  and  I  in  Thee"  (ibid.  21). 

Agreement  and  union  of  minds  is  the  necessary  foundation  of 
this  perfect  concord  amongst  men,  from  which  concurrence  of 
wills  and  similarity  of  action  are  the  natural  results.  Wherefore, 
in  His  divine  wisdom,  He  ordaaned  in  His  Church  Unity  of  Faith  : 
a  virtue  which  is  the  first  of  those  bonds  which  unite  man  to 


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God,  and  whence  we  receive  the  name  of  the  faithful — "one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism"  (Eph.  iv.  5).  That  is  :  as  there  is  one 
Lord  and  one  baptism,  so  should  all  Christians,  without  exception, 
have  but  one  faith.  And  so  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  not  merely  begs, 
but  entreats  and  implores  Christians  to  be  all  of  the  same  mind, 
and  to  avoid  difference  of  opinions  :  "  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by 
the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  all  speak  the  same 
thing,  and  that  there  be  no  schisms  amongst  you,  and  that  you  be 
perfect  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment  "  (1  Cor.  i.  10). 
Such  passages  certainly  need  no  interpreter  :  they  speak  clearly 
enough  for  themselves.  Besides,  all  who  profess  Christianity 
allow  that  there  can  be  but  one  faith.  It  is  of  the  greatest 
importance,  and  indeed  of  absolute  necessity,  as  to  which  many 
are  deceived  that  the  nature  and  character  of  this  unity  should 
be  recognised.  And,  as  We  have  already  stated,  this  is  not  to  be 
ascertained  by  conjecture,  but  by  the  certain  knowledge  of  what 
was  done  :  that  is,  by  seeking  for  and  ascertaining  what  kind  of 
unity  in  faith  has  been  commanded  by  Jesus  Christ. 
(To  be  continued.) 


RESOLUTION     OF    THE    TEISH     HIEBAECHY     EEGAEDING     THE 
EDUCATION  BILL 

AT  the  Annual  June  Meeting  of  the  Irish  Bishops,  held 
in  St.  Patrick's  College,  Maynooth,  on  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday,  the  23rd  and  24th  of  June,  the  following 
statement  in  reference  to  the  Irish  Education  Bill,  recently 
introduced  by  the  Government,  was  unanimously  adopted, 
and  ordered  to  be  published  :— 

We,  the  Catholic  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  Ireland,  having 
fully  considered  the  Bill  recently  introduced  into  Parliament  "  To 
Amend  and  Explain  the  Irish  Education  Act  of  1892,"  beg  to 
express  our  entire  concurrence  in  the  disapproval  of  it  already 
published  by  the  Standing  Committee  of  our  body  in  the  resolu- 
tion adopted  by  the  Standing  Committee  on  the  29th  of  last 
month. 

The  resolution  of  the  Standing  Committee  is  as  follows  :— 

"  Eesolved — That  we,  the  members  of  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee of  the  Irish  Catholic  Bishops,  having  given  the  fullest 


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Consideration  to  the  Bill  now  before  Parliament  '  To  Amend  and 
Explain  the  Irish  Education  Act  of  1892,'  regret  that  we  feel  it 
our  duty  to  express  our  entire  disapproval  of  it. 

"  Amongst  other  grounds  of  objection  we  have  to  state  that, 
in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  letter  addressed  in  our  name 
by  his  Eminence  Cardinal  Logue  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant  before 
this  Bill  was  introduced,  and  in  pursuance  of  the  settled  policy 
of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Ireland,  as  expressed  in  a  letter 
addressed  by  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  Ireland  to  the 
Eight  Hon.  Sir  George  Grey,  Bart.,  in  the  year  1866,  we  firmly 
protest  against  public  funds  being  voted  for  primary  education  in 
Ireland  to  schools,  open  to  children  of  different  religious  denomina- 
tions without  giving  these  children  the  protection  of  a  conscience 
clause. 

"  We  further  think  it  our  duty  to  express  the  opinion  that 
it  is  highly  objectionable  to  attempt  to  deal  in  Parliament  with  a 
question  of  this  kind,  involving  principles  of  great  importance  and 
affecting  large  interests,  under  a  kind  of  penal  arrangement  which 
refuses  to  redress  serious  grievances  unless  we  forego  our  right  to 
effectual  Parliamentary  discussion  of  them." 

1.  It  is  important  to  observe  that  the  Standing  Committee  in 
their  resolution  state  that  they  had  been  at  the  pains  to  give 
timely  information  as  to  the  views  of  the  bishops  on  the  matter 
to  the  Government,  through  his  Excellency  the  Lord  Lieutenant, 
even  before  the  Bill  was  introduced  into  Parliament ;  and  they 
make  it  clear  that  in  insisting  on  a  Conscience  Clause  in  the  Bill 
in  question  they  only  followed  consistently  the  course  which 
necessity  had  imposed  upon  the  Catholic  Bishops  of  Ireland  for 
a  very  long  period. 

We  are  happy  to  find  that  the  opinion  of  our  Catholic  people 
has  gone  with  that  action  of  their  Bishops.  Nor  has  any 
attempt  been  made  on  any  side  to  defend  by  argument  the 
omission  of  a  Conscience  Clause,  which  in  many  parts  of  Ireland 
is  the  only  safeguard  that  parents  have  for  the  religious  faith  of 
their  children  in  schools  that  are  open  to  pupils  of  different  reli- 
gious denominations.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  the  motive  of  this 
omission.  We  cannot  attribute  it  to  any  desire  to  advance  the 
interests  of  proselytizing  schools  ;  yet  there  can  be  little  doubt  of 
its  efficacy  for  that  purpose. 

Nor  are  we  less  perplexed  if  we  refer  to  the  debate  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  the  15th  June,  1892,  when  the  principal 
Act  was  being  discussed.  On  that  occasion  the  acceptance 
of  a  Conscience  Clause  was  made  by  the  then  Conservative 


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Government  the  sine  qua  non  of  any  concession  to  Catholic 
schools,  and  it  was  only  when  Mr.  Sexton,  at  that  time  Member 
for  West  Belfast,  announced  the  willingness  of  these  schools  to 
work  under  such  a  clause  that  Mr.  Jackson,  the  Chief  Secretary 
for  Ireland  at  the  time,  agreed  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  Board 
of  National  Education. 

The  following  extract  from  the  speech  of  the  Chief  Secretary 
on  that  occasion  is  interesting  : — 

"  I  say  we  are  face  to  face  with  a  new  set  of  circumstances, 
and,  as  far  as  I  know,  we  are  face  to  face  with  a  new  position  in 
this  respect.  It  has  been  made  clear  to-day  by  the  hon.  member 
or  West  Belfast  that,  whatever  doubt  there  may  have  been,  there 
is  none  now  as  to  whether  these  schools  [the  Christian  Brothers] 
were  willing  to  bring  themselves  under  the  full  control  of  a 
Conscience  Clause,  so  that  there  could  be  no  question  of  danger 
to  the  conscience  of  any  child  whose  religion  was  different.  .  .  . 
As  I  understand  it,  the  hon.  member  for  West  Belfast,  in  view  of 
the  altered  conditions,  said  distinctly  that  these  schools  are  quite 
willing  to  accept  a  Conscience  Clause,  and  bring  themselves 
within  the  rules,  and  so  make  it  quite  clear  that  there  is  no 
question  of  religious  instruction,  other  than  that  to  which  the 
parents  agree,  within  the  period  of  secular  instruction.  He  puts 
the  question  to  me  whether  under  these  altered  conditions  the 
time  has  not  arrived  when  the  Education  Commissioners  might 
consider  whether  a  clause  such  as  he  intimated  as  existing  in  the 
Intermediate  Education  Act  should  not  be  embodied  in  the  rules 
of  the  department,  so  as  to  enable  these  schools  to  participate  in 
the  grant.  I  feel  that  we  should  try,  if  we  can,  to  find  some  plan, 
not  of  making  an  exception  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  but  of 
bringing  all  elementary  schools  into  line,  and  I  feel  that  I  am 
unable  to  resist  the  appeal  that  the  question  shall  be  considered 
by  the  Commissioners." 

In  the  face  of  these  declarations  it  is  entirely  unintelligible 
that  the  same  Party  when  they  come  to  deal  practically  with  the 
same  question,  should  of  their  own  motion  exclude  from  their 
solution  the  very  Conscience  Clause  which  in  1892  they  deemed 
so  important  that  even  the  preliminary  steps  towards  a  settle- 
ment could  not  be  taken  without  it. 

Whence  has  the  change  come?  Assuredly  from  no  one 
speaking  on  behalf  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland.  We  can  hardly 
believe  that  it  has  been  dictated  by  the  Church  Education 
Society.  Yet  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  that  body,  which  we 
brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant  in  the  month  of 
April  last,  is  the  only  public  utterance  that  we  have  met  with  in 


Documents  759 

favour  of  the  total  change  which  the  Government  now  propose 
to  make  in  their  own  position.  If  it  were  not  an  Irish 
and  Catholic  question,  one  would  be  astonished  at  so  much 
inconsistency  in  responsible  statesmen. 

2.  In  the  above  quotation  from  Mr.  Jackson's  speech,  it  will 
be  observed  that  he  attaches  great  importance  to  bringing  all 
elementary  schools  into  line  with  the  general  primary  education 
of  the  country.  How  far,  on  educational  grounds,  such  uniformity 
is  desirable,  is  another  question  We  only  wish  to  note  the  fact 
that  the  Government  of  1892  regarded  it  as  one  of  the  essential 
conditions  of  the  solution  of  the  question.  In  the  same  speech 
Mr.  Jackson  said  : — 

"  Any  minister  who  is  charged  with  the  responsibility  of 
caring  for  education  in  Ireland,  would,  of  cou-rse,  be  only  too  glad 
if  some  plan  could  be  found  by  which  the  elementary  education 
would  be  brought  into  line,  and  there  should  be  no  question  of 
denomination  or  of  the  separation  of  schools.  I  think  it  is  quite 
clear  that  it  is  impossible  to  make  exceptions." 

With  such  a  declaration  on  record  we  have  to  express  our 
utter  surprise  at  finding  that  the  only  solution  which  the  same 
Party  have  to  offer  of  the  same  question,  is  to  propose  to  do  the 
very  thing  which  they  declared  it  impossible  to  do ;  that  is,  to 
proceed  by  way  of  exception. 

The  proposal  of  the  Bill  now  before  Parliament  is,  not  to  bring 
all  elementary  schools  in  Ireland  into  line,  but  to  set  up,  side  by 
side  with  the  National  Schools,  another  set  of  schools  exceptional 
in  every  possible  way — under  a  separate  educational  authority, 
subject  to  inspection  different  in  kind,  and  made  by  different 
persons,  and  paid  on  a  different  principle.  If  the  problem  were 
to  make  the  greatest  exceptions  possible,  to  break  up  and  diversify 
to  the  greatest  extent  the  elementary  education  of  the  country, 
the  solution  of  the  Government  would  be  perfect.  But  then  it 
should  be  allowed  that,  as  far  as  regards  the  fundamental  con- 
ditions of  the  case,  their  views  must  have  undergone  considerable 
change  since  1892. 

Now,  we  think  that  in  the  main  they  were  right  in  1892  ;  that 
a  Conscience  Clause  is  absolutely  necessary  in  the  peculiar 
condition  of  this  country,  and  that  it  was  much  more  statesman- 
like to  seek  a  solution  of  the  problem  through  a  modification  of 
the  rules  of  the  National  Board,  which  would  lead  to  a  reasonable 
uniformity,  than  through  the  introduction,  under  exceptional  and 
unfavourable  circumstances,  of  all  kinds  and  classes  of  schools. 


760  Documents 

3.  We  regard  the  terms  offered  in  this  Bill  to  Denominational 
schools,  as  not  much  less  than  an  affront.     In  Denominational, 
that  is  religious,  schools,  it  is   proposed  to  pay  10s.  per  head, 
whereas  in   ordinary  National  schools  a  sum  of  £2  Os.  lOrf.  is 
paid  for  each  child.     Is  not  this  imposing  a  penalty  on  religion  ? 
If  the    school  is  fit  to  be  recognised    and  paid  at    all,  on  what 
principle  is  its  payment  cut  down  to  one-third  of  that  of  other 
schools,  without  any  reference  to  the  quality  of  its  work? 

Is  not  this  the  very  grievance  of  the  Voluntary  schools  in 
England — that  they  are  paid  inadequately  because  they  retain 
their  independence  in  teaching  ?  And  does  it  not  seem  somewhat 
strange  that  the  Government  which  is  engaged  in  a  laudable 
attempt  in  England  to  remove  or  abate  that  grievance,  should  be 
engaged  at  the  same  time  in  an  attempt  to  set  it  up  in  Ireland. 

4.  There  are  many  other  objections  in  detail,  which  we  might 
urge  against  this  Bill.     For  instance,  it  is  proposed  to  make  these 
"  efficient  schools  "  dependent  on  the   Lord  Lieutenant  entirely, 
without,  as  far  as  we  know,  any  rules  to  guide  him,  or  to  protect 
the  schools,    in   the   exercise   of  his   discretion,  in  granting   or 
withdrawing  a  certificate.     We  think  this  power,  which  might 
practically  be  one  of  life  or  death,  over  such  schools  excessive  and 
dangerous;  and  hence  we   consider   that  the  Commissioners  of 
National  Education,  or  some  such  responsible  Board,  if  anyone, 
should  be  invested  with  it. 

5.  As  we  read  the  Bill  it  provides  for  Denominational  schools 
only   in   places  to  which  Compulsory   Education  applies.     We 
regard  this  partial  treatment  of  the  question  as  most  objectionable. 
If  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  Bill  were  to  extend  educa- 
tion  and    improve   it,    they   would    adopt   a   uniform     scheme 
throughout  the  country ;  but  the  limitations   under  which  this 
halting  measure  is  applied,  would  suggest  that  it   is   given  not 
on  its  merits,  but  for  other  purposes. 

6.  Incidentally  we  have  noted  the  insufficiency  of  the  capita- 
tion grant  in  "  efficient   schools."     If  they  were  to  accept  this 
grant,  these  schools  will  probably  have  ultimately  to  depend  on 
it  largely  for  their  maintenance,  with  the  result  that  they  will  be 
starved,  and  their  educational  work  lowered. 

Everyone  interested  in  education  knows  that  the  work  of 
carrying  on  efficient  schools  is  becoming  daily  more  expensive. 
A  very  enlightened  movement  is  widening  and  deepening  the 
course  of  studies  in  primary  schools,  and  the  Parliamentary  grant 
for  the  purpose  shows  a  corresponding  increase.  If  the  vast 


Documents  761 

majority  of  the  schools  of  the  country  participate  in  this  increased 
grant,  they  must  necessarily  overbear,  or  crush  out,  the  Denomi- 
national schools,  which  with  their  miserable  pittance  will  be 
subjected  to  an  intolerable  strain. 

7.  We  feel  called  upon  also  to  protest  against  those  provisions 
of  the  Bill  which  propose  to  invest  the  Commissioners  of  National 
Education  with  the  power  of  overriding  the  action  of  the  local 
representative  bodies  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  Ireland.    We  should 
in  any  case  regard  such  provisions  as  open  to  very  grave  objection. 
But  we  regard  them  as  utterly  indefensible  in  the  present  case, 
in  view  of  the  serious  difficulties  that  cannot  fail  to  arise  if  the 
compulsory  powers  of  the  Act  of   1892  are  to  be  exercised  by 
committees  constituted  without  reference  to  the  constitutionally 
expressed  wishes  of  the  people,  and  in  opposition  to  them. 

8.  From  these  criticisms  it  is  evident  that  even  if  a  Conscience 
Clause  were  introduced,  there  would  still  remain  grave,  and,  from 
our  point  of  view,  insurmountable  objections  to  the  Bill  on  the 
whole. 

We  regard  it  as  bad  in  principle  and  unsatisfactory  in  most  of 
its  details,  and  we  consider  it  much  better  for  our  Catholic  schools 
to  bear  still  longer  the  unequal  treatment  to  which  they  are  sub- 
jected, and  depend  on  the  generosity  of  their  fellow-countrymen 
to  maintain  them  in  their  struggle  for  freedom  of  education,  than 
to  accept  a  settlement  such  as  this. 

9.  As  for  a  suggestion  that  has  been  made  as  to  dropping  the 
contentious  clauses  of  the  Bill,  and  going  on  with  the  rest,  we 
have  only  to  remark,  that  if  by  the  contentious  clauses  are  meant 
those  that  deal  with  Denominational  schools,  we  cannot  imagine 
any  readier  way  of  rendering  the  rest  of  the  Bill  contentious  than 
to  drop  them.     We  are  all  ready  to  give   "  compulsion"  a  fair 
trial,  but  if  our  Catholic  schools,  particularly  in  the  towns  and 
cities,  are  excluded  from  all  participation  in  public  grants  for 
education,  then  we  are  convinced  that  all  attempts  to  enforce 
compulsion  would  be  doomed  to  failure,  and  might  stir  up  very 
angry  feelings  in  the  people.     On  these  terms,  then,  we  cannot 
regard  any  part  of  this  Bill  as  non-contentious. 

(Signed),     &  MICHAEL     CABDINAL     LOGUE,     Archbishop    of 

Armagh,  Primate  of  All  Ireland,  Chairman. 
%*  F.   J.   M'CoKMACK,   Bishop    of\ 

Galway  and  Kilmacduagh,  Secretaries 

•fc  JOHN  HEALY,  Coadjutor  Bishop  j   to  the  Meeting. 
of  Clonfert,  ' 


762  Documents 

ADMONITION   ADDKESSED   BY   THE   BISHOPS  TO  THE  CATHOLIC 
NATIONAL    SCHOOL    TEACHERS 

AT  the  Meeting  of  the  Irish  Bishops  held  in  Maynooth  on 
Tuesday  and  Wednesday,  the  23rd  and  24th  June,  the 
following  solemn  admonition  to  the  Catholic  National 
School  Teachers  of  Ireland  was  unanimously  adopted  and 
ordered  to  be  published  :— 

The  Bishops  of  Ireland  feel  it  their  duty,  in  consequence  of 
the  tone  and  character  of  the  language  made  use  of  on  certain 
public  occasions  of  recent  date,  to  address  a  few  words  of  paternal 
admonition  to  the  Catholic  National  Teachers  of  Ireland.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  Bishops  have  sympathized  with 
the  teachers  in  every  legimate  effort  to  improve  their  position  and 
secure  adequate  remuneration  for  their  arduous  labours,  and  they 
bear  willing  testimony  to  the  highly  satisfactory  manner  in  which 
the  teachers  as  a  body  have  always  discharged  their  duties,  and 
especially  to  the  cordial  and  earnest  zeal  with  which  they  have 
co-operated  with  the  clergy  in  the  important  work  of  giving 
thorough  religious  instruction  to  the  children  attending  their 
schools. 

This  catechetical  instruction  the  Bishops  must  regard  as  an 
essential  part  of  the  duty  of  every  National  Teacher — a  duty  which 
they  owe,  as  instructors  of  youth,  to  God,  to  their  country,  and  to 
the  parents  of  the  children.  Hence  the  Bishops  have  observed 
with  great  regret  that  efforts  have  in  certain  quarters  been  recently 
made  to  induce  our  Catholic  teachers  to  repudiate  this  obligation, 
and  confine  themselves  exclusively  to  the  secular  instruction  of 
the  pupils  committed  to  their  care. 

We  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  real  danger  of  our  Catholic 
teachers  allowing  themselves  to  be  led  away  from  the  zealous 
and  loyal  discharge  of  their  duties  by  those  advocates  of  a  purely 
secular  and  godless  system  of  education.  It  cannot  be  necessary 
for  us  to  point  out  that  the  support  or  advocacy  of  any  such  system 
would  be  wholly  inconsistent  with  their  plain  duty  as  Catholic 
Teachers,  and  that  the  known  supporters  of  such  a  system 
could  never  be  regarded  by  the  Bishops  as  good  Catholics 
— obedient  to  the  Church's  teaching,  and  worthy  of  being  intrusted 
with  the  instruction  and  moral  guidance  of  our  Catholic  children. 

We  are  satisfied,  however,  that  this  clear  and  authoritative 
statement  of  Catholic  principle  will  be  quite  sufficient  to  secure 


Documents  763 

the  obedience  of  our  Catholic  teachers,  and  will  also  serve  to  put 
them  on  their  guard  against  the  wiles  and  sophisms  of  men  who 
have  no  claim  whatever  to  act  either  as  their  guides  or  their 
spokesmen,  especially  where  the  highest  interests  of  religion 
and  morality  are  at  stake. 

They  are  unsafe  and  dangerous  guides  for  our  Catholic  teachers, 
and  the  acceptance  of  their  doctrines  on  such  questions  must 
inevitably  result  in  consequences  injurious  not  only  to  Catholic 
teaching,  but  also  to  the  best  interests  of  the  teachers  themselves. 

The  Bishops,  and  the  Bishops  alone,  are  by  Divine  right  the 
guides  and  counsellors  of  Catholic  teachers  in  relation  to  all  such 
questions  in  which  the  religious  interests  of  their  flocks  are  con- 
cerned, and  they  feel  confident  that  the  teachers  will  listen  to 
these  words  of  friendly  warning  in  that  spirit  of  docility  and 
obedience  which  has  hitherto  characterized  the  conduct  of  the 
Catholic  teachers  of  Ireland. 

(Signed),     *fc  MICHAEL     CARDINAL     LOGUE,    Archbishop    of 
Armagh,  Primate  of  All  Ireland.  Chairman. 

%  F.  J.   M'CoRMACK,  Bishop    oh 


Galway  and  Kilmacduagh, 

JOHN  HEALY,  Coadjutor  Bishop 
of  Clonfert, 


Secretaries 
to  the  Meeting. 


[     764     ] 


IHoticcs  of  Boofts 

HlSTOKY   OF   THE    GERMAN   PEOPLE   AT   THE    CLOSE    OF  THE 

MIDDLE  AGES.  By  Johannes  Janssen.  Translated  from 
the  Gerinan,  by  M.  A.  Mitchell  and  0.  M.  Christie. 
Vol.  I.  London :  Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Triibner  &  Co. 
1896. 

IN  a  recent  article  on  the  German  Catholics  we  called 
attention  to  the  splendid  work  done  for  Catholic  literature  in 
recent  times  by  the  well-known  historian,  Doctor  Janssen.  We 
are  glad  to  welcome  two  volumes  of  his  History  of  the  German 
People,  in  the  English  translation,  which  has  been  forwarded  to 
us  by  Messrs.  Kegan  Paul,  Trench  &  Co.  We  believe  that 
there  is  scarcely  any  German  ecclesiastical  writer  of  the  present 
century  held  in  such  universal  esteem  and  veneration  by  all 
classes  of  his  Catholic  countrymen  as  the  author  of  this  work. 
His  name  is  known  and  loved  wherever  German  Catholics  are  to 
be  found  ;  for  he  was  one  of  the  most  learned  and  the  most 
powerful  of  their  champions  at  a  time  when  they  needed  a  strong 
and  capable  defender.  But  admiration  and  regard  for  this  gifted 
historian  will  no  longer  be  confined  to  Germany.  The  English 
translation  of  his  works,  which  is  now  begun,  will  make  him 
known  far  beyond  the  frontiers  of  the  fatherland.  These  first 
two  volumes  deal  with  one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  in  the 
history  of  Europe.  They  take  a  general  survey  of  the  state  of 
Germany,  intellectual,  social,  moral,  and  artistic,  at  the  close  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  The  first  volume  opens  with  an  admirable 
chapter  on  "  The  Spread  of  the  Art  of  Printing."  The  three 
following  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  condition  of  education  in 
all  its  grades,  primary,  intermediate,  and  university.  Architec- 
ture, sculpture,  and  painting,  wood  and  copper  engraving,  music, 
and  literature,  are  dealt  with  in  a  series  of  chapters  literally 
full  of  interest  and  fascination. 

In  the  second  volume  Dr.  Janssen  draws  for  us  a  graphic 
picture  of  the  condition  of  the  artisans  of  those  days,  and 
contrasts  their  lot  with  that  of  workmen  of  the  same  class  in 
the  nineteenth  century.  He  tells  us  of  the  methods  by  which 
commerce  and  capital  were  regulated,  and  contrasts  the  spirit  of 
equity  that  prevailed  with  the  tyranny  that  is  now  completely 
legalized  under  the  mantle  of  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity. 


Notices  of  Books  765 

The  final  chapters  of  the  second  volume  deal  with  the 
influence  of  the  old  Eoman  Empire  on  the  judicature  and 
constitution  of  the  German  States.  These  too  are  exceedingly 
interesting,  and  the  subject  is  treated  with  great  clearness, 
ability,  and  learning.  We  are  sorry  to  say  that  the  translation 
stops  short,  for  the  present,  at  the  point  at  which  the  greatest 
interest  for  Catholics  begins  ;  and  we  sincerely  hope  that  the 
gentlemen  who  have  given  such  an  excellent  translation  of  the 
first  two  volumes,  may  see  their  way  to  present  to  English 
readers  the  remaining  portion  of  Dr.  Janssen's  great  work,  the 
portion  particularly  that  deals  with  the  engrossing  subject  of 
the  Eeforrnation.  Dr.  Janssen  has  been  called  the  Lingard  of 
Germany ;  and  the  title  is  honourable  both  to  Janssen  and  to 
Lingard ;  for  there  are  features  of  difference  as  well  as  of 
resemblance  between  the  works  of  these  two  great  historians. 
Dr.  Janssen  is  more  given  to  research  and  to  the  presentation 
of  original  documents  and  authorities  in  the  body  of  his  work  ; 
yet  now  and  then  he  rises  to  something  that  reminds  us  of  the 
stately  and  flowing  style  of  the  English  historian.  A  passage 
from  the  Introduction  to  the  first  volume  will  enable  our 
readers  to  judge  : — 

"  Towards  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  [writes 
Dr.  Janssen]  the  intellectual  life  of  the  German  people,  as 
indeed  that  of  all  Christendom,  entered  upon  a  new  period  of 
development,  through  Johann  Gutenberg's  invention  of  the 
printing  press  and  the  use  of  movable  type. 

"  This  invention,  the  mightiest  and  most  important  in  the 
history  of  civilization,  gave,  as  it  were,  wings  to  the  human 
mind,  and  supplied  the  best  means  of  preserving,  multiplying, 
and  disseminating  every  product  of  the  intellect.  It  sharpened 
and  stimulated  thought  by  facilitating  its  interchange;  it 
encouraged  and  extended  literary  traffic  in  a  hitherto  undreamt- 
of manner,  and  made  science  and  art  accessible  to  all  classes  of 
society.  In  the  words  of  a  contemporary  of  Gutenberg's,  '  it 
furnished  a  mighty  double-edged  sword  for  the  freedom  of 
mankind  ;  one,  however,  which  could  strike  alike  for  good  or 
evil,  for  truth  and  error,  for  sin  and  virtue,'  For  the  German 
nation  this  invention  was  coincident  with  the  life  and  labours  of 
a  man  who  as  ecclesiastical  reformer  and  professor  of  theology, 
classics,  and  mathematics,  no  less  than  as  a  statesman,  stands 
out  as  'an  intellectual  giant  in  the  background  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  This  man  was  the  German  Cardinal,  Nicholas  Krebs, 
named  disarms,  from  Cues,  near  Treves." 

Then  follows  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  the  great  Cardinal,  which 


766  Notices  of  Books 

is  a  model  of  literary  skill,  and  forms  an  admirable  introduction 
to  one  of  the  greatest  historical  works  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

J.  F.  H. 


THE  END  OF  KELIGIOUS  CONTBOVEBSY.  By  Bishop  Milner. 
Edited  by  Rev.  Luke  Kivington.  London  :  Catholic 
Truth  Society.  Price  One  Shilling. 

THE  English  "  Catholic  Truth  Society"  has  already  conferred 
many  benefits  on  the  whole  English-speaking  community,  but 
we  doubt  if  it  ever  has  rendered  a  greater  service  than  the 
republication,  at  so  cheap  a  price,  of  this  admirable  work  of 
Dr.  Milner.  The  work  itself  is  regarded  so  much  in  the  light  of 
a  classic  by  all  Catholics,  that  we  have  only  to  draw  attention  to 
the  fact  that  it  is  now  once  more  within  easy  reach  of  the  clergy 
and  of  all  who  may  desire  a  short  but  well-reasoned  explanation 
and  defence  of  the  Catholic  creed.  The  editor,  in  an  able 
introduction,  successfully  vindicates  Dr.  Milner's  work  against 
the  attack  made  upon  it  by  Dr.  Salmon  in  his  volume  on  The 
Infallibility  of  the  Church. 

THE  FAITH  OF  OUB  FATHEBS.  By  James  Cardinal  Gibbons. 
Baltimore  :  John  Murphy  &  Co.  47th  Edition.  250th 
thousand. 

THIS  is  another  republication,  and  one  that  we  heartily 
welcome.  The  Faith  of  Our  Fathers  has  proved  one  of  the 
most  successful  books  of  this  century.  The  simplicity  and 
clearness  of  the  style,  and  the  sincerity  and  ability  of  the  writer, 
as  well  as  the  position  of  authority  which  he  holds  in  the 
American  Church,  have  gained  for  it  an  almost  limitless  number 
of  readers.  There  is  no  better  work  to  place  in  the  hands  of 
Protestants  who  show  any  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
teaching  of  the  Church, 

THE  CLONGOWNIAN.    June,  1896.    Dublin:  M,  &  S.  Eaton. 

THE  second  and  midsummer  number  of  the  Clongownian 
amply  sustains  the  high  promise  and  character  of  the  first.  As 
a  College  journal  it  is  almost  perfect,  well  written,  and  beautifully 


Notices  of  Books  767 

illustrated.  A  diary  of  the  half-year's  exercises  is  given,  and  it 
strikes  one  at  once  on  reading  it  that  the  system  which  combines 
so  much  physical  and  mental  recreation  with  such  solid  and 
abiding  results  must  be  an  ideal  one.  In  fact,  an  outsider  cannot 
lay  down  the  volume  without  yielding  to  a  feeling  of  regret  that 
it  has  not  been  his  good  fortune  to  spend  the  years  of  boyhood 
in  the  shadow  of  the  towers  of  Clongowes  and  the  elms  which 
Cardinal  Newman  is  said  to  have  envied  so  much.  A  good 
article  on  "  The  Irish  Bar  as  a  Profession  "  appears  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Carton,  Q.C.,  and  all  Irishmen  will  take  a  deep 
interest  in  the  brief  sketches  and  clear  photographs  of 
Dr.  Fitzpatrick,  biographer  of  J.  K.  L.,  and  of  Rev.  Denis  Murphy, 
S.J.,  the  great  Celtic  scholar,  who  passed  so  quickly  from  us 
while  labouring  at  his  noble  work,  Our  Martyrs,  both  of  them 
old  alumni  of  Clongowes  Wood.  In  fact,  the  magazine  which 
records  the  present  and  past  glories  of  Ireland's  premier  school, 
cannot  be  deficient  in  wide  interest,  for  Clongowes  is  a  home  of 
glorious  traditions,  the  Alma  Mater  of  true  patriots  and  cultured 
priests. 

ETHEL'S  BOOK  OK  TALES  OF  THE  ANGELS.      F.  W.  Faber, 
D.D.     New  Edition.     London  :  Burns  &  Gates. 

WE  have  before  us  a  cheap — half-a-crown — reprint  of  one  of 
Father  Faber's  beautiful  works,  comprising  four  tales  about  the 
Angels,  rich  in  imaginative  vision,  and  full  of  a  rare,  spiritual 
insight   and  practical   wisdom.     The   wonderland   of   the   poet 
seems  ever  to  have  haunted  the  holy  author  from  the  days  when 
the  seer  of  Rydal  Mount  acknowledged  him  as  a  rival  in  intensity 
of  natural  observation,  and  in  this  little  work  he  lets  loose  for 
a  space  that  gold-rifted  fancy  which  was   one   of  his    greatest 
endowments.     Perhaps  the  most  valuable   tale  is   that   of   the 
Melancholy  Heart.     Father  Faber  keenly  appreciated,   may  be 
from  acute  examination  of  the  tendencies  of  his  own  truly  poetic 
nature,  the  evil  effects  of  day-dreaming  and  listlessness,  and  in 
this  tale  he  warns  children  against  them  with  a  strange  force  of 
picture  and  expression.     "  Dreaming  leads  a  child  all  wrong,  and 
much  further   wrong  than  we  should  have   thought   possible." 
From  a  passage  on  the  same  subject  in  his  Growth  in  Holiness — 
for  it  was  a  favourite  theme  with  the  great  oratorian — we  are 
inclined  to  believe  that  he  had  often  in  his  mind  that  little  band 
of  dreamers  who  have  long  since  made  the  wild,  drear  moorlands 


768  Notices  of  Books 

of  Haworth  a  place  of  unebbing,  mournful  interest.  For  thinking 
and  sensitive  hearts,  Father  Faber  is  one  of  the  best  guides,  as 
his  supra-sensitive  nature  knew  well  the  peculiar  temptations 
which  beset  them,  and  the  peculiar  remedies  they  most  need. 
There  is  a  delicacy  and  a  sweetness,  a  kind  of  spiritual  shyness 
about  his  manner,  which  appeals  curiously  and  tenderly  to  the 
melancholy  heart.  Again,  in  the  Weeping  Angel,  he  has  a  word 
against  that  Welt-Schm'erz  which  poisons  so  much  of  the  litera- 
ture of  the  day,  and  unfortunately  too  much  of  that  written  by 
the  most  gifted  artists.  "  Sorrow  is  not  unhappiness.  This  is  a 
great  secret.  Indeed  it  is  the  great  secret  of  the  world.  When 
the  leaves  rustle  on  the  trees,  they  want  to  tell  it."  But  one 
might  quote  for  ever,  and  profitably,  this  child-language  with  its 
wonderful  pictures  of  the  ' '  yellow  deserts,  where  no  rain  falls, 
and  the  immense  forests  where  the  noonday  is  dark  with  green- 
ness." The  book  is  beautiful,  and  would  be  a  precious  thing 
for  its  romance  of  world-loveliness  were  not  the  wisdom  of  its 
teaching  so  much  rarer,  so  much  subtler,  and  so  much  more 
touching. 


THE   IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


SEPTEMBER,    1896 


THE  LATE  MOST  EEV.  DR.  KIEBY,  ABCHBISHOP 
OF   EPHESUS 

IN  the  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Directory  of  this  year  we 
observe  a  short  but  interesting  notice  of  the  death  of 
the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Kirby,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus.  Although 
very  well  known  in  ecclesiastical  circles,  especially  in  Borne, 
little  has  been  heard  of  him  in  the  outside  world.  He  took 
hardly  any  part  in  public  life,  but  was,  notwithstanding, 
much  interested  in  any  movement  to  improve  the  condition 
of  his  native  country.  It  was  his  frequent  boast,  that  he 
had  been  at  a  comparatively  early  age  removed  from  the 
world  and  its  associations,  and  had  therefore  the  more  time 
for  study,  prayer,  and  meditation. 

We  have  a  distinct  recollection  of  our  first  meeting  with 
Dr.  Kirby.  In  company  with  another  student,  we  had 
travelled  from  Turin,  without  any  break,  and  felt  much 
fatigued.  On  reaching  the  Irish  College,  we  found  that  the 
students  were  then  at  the  country  house  at  Tivoli,  about 
eighteen  miles  from  the  city.  Fortunately,  the  Rector  was 
in  town,  and  we  learned  from  the  Italian  servant,  in  half 
Italian  and  half  Latin,  that  we  could  see  him  that  evening. 
We  had  at  least  three  hours  to  wait,  which  was  for  us  a 
time  of  anxiety  and  suspense.  Punctual  to  the  moment, 
the  arrival  of  the  Monsignor  was  announced  us,  and  we 
were  ushered  into  his  apartments,  tastefully  furnished  in 
the  Italian  style,  but  with  hardly  any  effort  at  elegance. 
Presently  he  approached  from  the  adjoining  room,  welcomed 
xvii.  3  c 


770  The  late  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Kirby,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus 

us  heartily,  and  began  to  catechize  us  good-humouredly 
on  the  various  portions  of  our  journey,  expressing  a 
hope  that  we  would  like  the  city  and  the  climate.  Having 
given  us  instructions  to  join  the  students  at  their  country 
house,  he  required  us  to  deliver  what  money  we  possessed ; 
and,  with  a  significant  smile,  explained  in  his  wonted 
paternal  way,  that  all  had  to  learn,  there,  to  practise  poverty. 
He  at  that  time  appeared  to  us  very  aged  and  infirm, 
although  he  lived  for  many  years  afterwards.  His  manner 
was  very  genial ;  and  yet,  in  point  of  discipline,  he  was 
considered  somewhat  rigid.  Many  of  the  rules  of  his  time 
have,  we  learn,  been  considerably  modified, 

Dr.  Kirby  was  about  the  average  height,  very  mortified 
in  appearance,  his  hair  falling  carelessly  on  his  forehead, 
with  an  easy  shuffling  walk,  and  seemed  to  us  to  bear  a 
resemblance  to  Dr.  Grotty,  a  painting  of  whom  is  at 
Maynooth.  Now  and  then,  during  our  conversation,  he 
made  use  of  Italian  words,  and  then  explained  himself  in 
English,  It  is  stated,  however,  that,  notwithstanding  his 
long  residence  in  Italy,  he  spoke  the  language  imperfectly. 
"When  our  interview  was  ended,  we  felt  greatly  delighted, 
for  we  had  been  looking  forward  to  it  with  anxiety.  We 
had,  however,  omitted  many  of  the  ceremonies  usual  on 
such  occasions,  for  which,  our  friends  at  Tivoli  brought  us 
severely  to  task. 

We  remember  there  were  in  the  College  the  most  extra- 
ordinary rumours  about  the  age  of  the  Eector,  some  asserting 
that  he  was  well-nigh  a  centenarian,  while  others  firmly 
held  he  was  on  the  upward  side  of  that  figure.  As  he  had 
been  so  long  absent  from  Ireland,  his  native  diocese  was 
also  a  point  of  dispute,  no  fewer  than  three  claiming  the 
honour.  All  these  points  of  difference  have  been  happily 
set  at  rest,  and  it  is  learned  that  he  was  born  at  Tallow, 
Co.  Waterford,  on  January  1st,  1804;  so  that  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  took  place  January  20th,  1895,  he  was  but  in  his 
ninety-first  year.  Coming  to  Eome  in  his  twenty-third  year, 
he  entered  the  Apollinaire  Seminary,  and  read  a  distinguished 
course  in  theology.  This  is  evidenced  from  the  fact  that 
he  gained  the  second  prize  in  a  theological  dissertation,  in 


The  late  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Kirby,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus  771 

which  the  present  Pope  was  the  successful  competitor,  then 
too  a  student  at  the  Seminary.  He  became  Vice-Eector  of 
the  Irish  College,  Eome,  1837,  and  subsequently  succeeded 
Cardinal  Cullen  as  Eector,  in  1850,  which  position  he  retained 
until  old  age  obliged  him  to  retire,  in  1891 ;  and,  even  to  his 
death,  he  maintained  the  liveliest  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  College.  He  was  appointed  Titular  Bishop  of  Lita  in 
1882,  and  Archbishop  of  Ephesus  in  1885  ;  so  that  Pope  Leo, 
whose  personal  friend  he  was,  bestowed  upon  him  almost  all 
the  recognition  in  his  power.  As  is  the  case  with  churchmen 
generally,  there  were  in  his  life  few  events  of  note.  His 
world  lay  within  the  College  walls.  In  its  work  he  was 
heartily  interested  ;  here  he  lived  amongst  the  surroundings 
that  were  most  congenial  to  him,  and  here  he  died. 

Many  of  the  colleges  in  Eome  have  a  country  residence, 
where  the  students  spend  the  vacation,  inasmuch  as  they  do 
not  return  to  their  respective  homes.  The  students  of  the 
Irish  College  reside  at  Tivoli  during  vacation  time,  usually 
the  months  of  August  and  September  and  part  of  October. 
During  that  time,  discipline  and  study  are  almost,  but  not 
entirely,  dispensed  with,  and  everything  is  done  to  make 
their  stay  as  pleasant  and  as  agreeable  as  possible. 

On  vacation,  Dr.  Kirby  associated  very  much  with  the 
students,  and  encouraged  their  amusements ;  but  on 
their  return  to  town,  he  became  at  once  reserved.  He, 
however,  always  received  the  students  kindly,  and  was 
ready  to  hear  their  grievances,  especially  through  the 
prefects.  His  disposition,  to  call  them  by  a  name  different 
from  their  real  name,  was  rather  remarkable.  Some  attributed 
it  to  old  age,  and  consequent  forgetfulness,  while  others 
were  disposed  to  place  upon  it  a  very  different  interpre- 
tation. Be  this  as  it  may,  we  now  recall  an  incident  which 
might  be  here  worth  recording.  In  the  summer  time, 
owing  to  the  great  heat,  all  are  obliged  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  siesta,  which  consists  of  about  an  hour's  sleep.  It 
was  the  time  of  the  concursus  at  the  Propaganda,  and 
groups  here  and  there  occupied  themselves  in  talking  over 
the  questions  on  the  corridors,  and  quite  forgot  about  the 
siesta,  which  was  entirely  contrary  to  rule,  and  allowance 


772  The  late  Most  Rev.  Dr.Kirby,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus 

could  not  be  made  even  for  examination  day.  Suddenly  the 
rumour  had  gone  abroad,  that  the  Monsignor  was  in  the 
oratory,  in  front  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  After  a 
lengthened  discussion  two  of  the  disputants  who  had  been 
thus  styled  by  a  name  not  their  own  so  very  recently,  and 
therefore  felt  secure,  undertook  to  see  for  themselves  and 
others  as  to  the  truth  of  this  statement.  The  moment  they 
entered  the  oratory  he  turned  in  their  direction,  and  fixing 
his  eyes  intently  upon  them  for  some  time,  again  resumed 
his  meditation.  An  hour  later  the  servant  sought  the  two 
offenders,  and  informed  them  they  were  particularly  required 
by  the  Rector.  The  object  of  this  message  was  at  once 
clear,  and  they  comported  themselves  as  best  they  could 
in  the  circumstances,  and  proceeded  to  his  apartments. 
Here  he  was  awaiting  them,  and,  as  expected,  they  were  at 
once  charged  with  violation  of  rule,  mildly  but  firmly. 
As  was  best,  they  admitted  everything,  expressing  their 
many  regrets,  and  promising  to  amend.  He  was  greatly 
pleased  with  this  act  of  humility,  and,  although  ready  to 
overlook  the  offence,  was  sorry  they  had  lost  so  much  grace. 
Next  month,  one  of  them  was  appointed  prefect. 

The  rules,  however,  it  must  be  said  were  very  generally 
observed,  and  from  the  opening  of  class  in  the  Propaganda, 
until  the  end  of  the  academic  year,  the  work  went  on  with 
hardly  any  interruption.  We  may  observe  there  was  no  staff 
of  professors  in  the  Irish  College.  The  students  of  the 
College,  as  well  as  from  several  other  colleges,  attended 
lectures  at  the  Propaganda,  and  here  they  were  called  upon 
in  class,  and  made  their  examinations.  There  were,  how- 
ever, private  examinations  in  the  different  colleges,  where 
the  requirements  of  the  respective  authorities  had  to  be 
satisfied.  Dr.  Kirby  presided  on  such  occasions  in  the 
Irish  College,  and  was  pretty  exacting,  while  displaying  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  different  subjects. 

We  remember  especially  one  such  examination.  We 
had  been  apprised  of  it  a  week  previously,  and  of  the  fact 
that  two  or  three  Irish  bishops  should  be  present.  We 
were  studying  philosophy,  and  the  subject-matter  for 
examination  in  our  college  was  not  exactly  what  we  were 


The  late  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Kirby,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus  773 

preparing  for  the  revision  at  the  Propaganda,  to  which  we 
looked  forward  with  greater  dread.  Though  we  had  no 
regular  staff,  we  occasionally  had  the  benefit  of  a  grinding 
from  some  professor  in  the  city,  who  mostly  interrogated 
at  -such  times.  The  hour  was  announced,  so  there  was 
no  alternative.  There  were  three  bishops,  the  Kector, 
Vice-Kector,  and  the  interrogator — to  us  a  formidable 
array,  all  anxious  to  learn  of  our  proficiency.  Dr.  Kirby 
was  in  excellent  spirits  at  the  opening.  The  first  called 
made  but  a  poor  show ;  the  second  was  no  better,  nor 
was  there  any  sign  of  improvement  afterwards.  Soon  the 
Eector  became  silent  and  depressed,  and  left  things  to  take 
their  own  course.  He  was  evidently  displeased  and  dis- 
appointed. Cardinal  Mora-n,  then  Bishop  of  Ossory,  who 
was  present,  easily  realized  the  position,  and  edged  in  an 
anecdote  of  his  own  time  which  was  just  then  singularly 
appropriate,  and  had  an  excellent  effect.  He  described  very 
vividly  a  young  philosopher  who  got  into  difficult  straits  on 
a  similar  occasion,  and  had  no  alternative  but  to  distinguish 
the  proposition,  which  he  did  by  saying,  in  all  earnestness, 
secundum  te-concedo,  secundum  me-nego."  Everybody 
laughed,  and  even  half  a  smile  broke  upon  the  Rector's  face. 
We  were  forthwith  dismissed,  glad  the  ordeal  was  over. 
There  were  now  two  days  to  prepare  for  the  revision  at  the 
Propaganda,  which  we  hoped  to  have  without  interruption. 
However,  we  were  mistaken.  Next  morning  the  Prefect 
announced  to  us  a  second  examination  on  the  same  subject 
within  a  few  days,  with  a  proclamation  somewhat  to  the 
effect  that  if  we  did  not  make  better  answering  we  should  be 
obliged  to  quit  the  College  in  a  body.  It  only  remained  for 
us  to  make  the  best  of  the  situation,  and  severally  and  jointly 
set  to  work,  so  that  we  were  enabled,  finally,  to  pass  both 
tests  satisfactorily. 

It  must  be  said  Dr.  Kirby  made  every  "allowance  for  cases 
of  delicacy,  and  was  always  satisfied  provided  he  felt  assured 
the  student  made  the  most  of  his  talents  and  opportunities. 
In  the  competition  with  the  other  colleges  he  was  ever 
anxious  the  Irish  College  should  hold  a  respectable  position. 
His  favourite  maxim  was,  w  medio  sta't  virtus,  and  appeared 
to  have  no  special  regard  for  great  brilliancy. 


774  The  late  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Kirby ,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus 

At  the  final  examinations,  which  were  written,  all  were 
obliged  to  attend,  and  write  upon  the  questions,  except 
dispensed  by  the  respective  heads  of  the  colleges.  Nothing 
depended  upon  the  oral  examinations  of  the  year,  and  thus 
the  first  prize  might  be  carried  off  by  a  competitor  who  had 
been  barely  able  to  make  stand  enough  in  class  to  escape  the 
censure  of  the  authorities.  To  the  written  paper  was  only 
affixed  the  motto  of  the  writer,  which  alone  was  submitted 
to  the  examiner,  while  the  name  and  motto  were  kept  in  a 
register  in  the  Propaganda.  The  examiner  duly  returned 
the  mottoes  in  the  order  of  merit,  and  thus,  by  comparing 
with  the  register,  the  names  were  easily  adjusted.  Oral 
examinations  have  been  introduced,  however,  whereby  the 
proficiency  of  each  student  is  tested  before  a  constituted 
board,  and  it  is  necessary  to  attain  a  certain  standard,  so  as 
to  pass  to  the  next  grade.  The  annual  final  examinations 
in  writing  continue  as  before.  Medals  were  given  for 
prizes,  which  were  of  silver;  but  whenever,  which  rarely 
happened,  a  student  secured  a  solus  in  three  classes,  he  was 
entitled  to  a  gold  medal.  In  addition  to  the  prize  list  and 
distinction  list,  as  at  Maynooth,  there  was  the  list  of 
laudati  verbis  amplissimis,  and  the  laudati.  There  was 
keen  competition  between  the  colleges,  especially  between 
the  Americans,  the  Germans  in  the  Propaganda,  and  the 
Irish,  and  each  success  was  regarded  as  a  national 
triumph.  It  must  be  said  the  Germans  displayed  great 
talent,  and  gave  an  example  of  industry  which  might 
generally  be  imitated  with  profit.  At  times,  there  were 
Easterns  of  marked  ability,  and  some  of  them,  from 
countries  which  we  hardly  regard  as  civilized,  have  left 
behind  them  astonishing  records.  Generally  they  were 
not  brilliant,  but  were  very  industrious,  and  had  great 
facility  in  committing  to  memory :  in  intellect  they  were 
somewhat  deficient,  but  always  succeeded  in  making  a  very 
respectable  stand  when  called  upon  in  class,  and  were  gifted 
with  an  extraordinary  self-possession  on  such  occasions. 
Mostly,  they  were  strict  observers  of  rule,  and  were  not  very 
social,  being  extremely  cautions  in  all  their  sayings  and 
doings.  Many  of  them  came  to  the  Propaganda,  mere 


The  late  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Kirby,  Archbishop  of  Epheses  775 

children,  and  illiterate,  and  had  spent  a  short  lifetime 
within  its  walls.  It  was  curious  to  view  the  halls  of  the 
College,  before  and  after  class,  and  note  the  many  different 
costumes,  the  various  races,  and  the  widely  distant  countries 
represented.  Here  were  faces  of  every  colour  and  every 
degree  of  intelligence,  a  proof,  clear  and  distinct,  of  the 
catholicity  and  universality  of  the  Church.  Even  here 
there  is  an  education,  and  this,  added  to  the  other  associa- 
tions, with  which  the  student  in  Home  daily  comes  in 
contact,  gives  his  collegiate  course  at  the  Propaganda  many 
advantages. 

On  these  advantages  Dr.  Kirby  frequently  spoke  to  us, 
mainly  as  far  as  they  conduced  to  the  spiritual  life.  He 
invariably  presided  at  breakfast  and  dinner,  and  on  the  free 
mornings  each  student  was  required  in  turn  to  recite  a  portion 
of  the  Gospels  in  Italian,  and  give  the  English  translation. 
This  served  as  a  text,  and  he  then  entered  on  an  explanation. 
His  discourses  were  always  very  interesting,  usually 
enlivened  by  anecdotes  and  examples,  displaying  a  wide 
range  of  knowledge,  and  accurate  theological  information. 
In  style  he  was  exceedingly  simple,  and  insisted  particularly 
on  simplicity  of  style.  We  can  recall  a  ludicrous  example  he 
gave  of  a  towering  preacher  he  encountered  during  a  visit  to 
Ireland.  As  he  met  the  people  on  their  return  from  the 
country  church  on  Sunday,  they  appeared  very  excited,  and 
judging  the  cause,  he  inquired  as  to  the  pulpit.  The 
answer  of  the  several  groups  was,  that  they  had  heard  a 
great  sermon,  but  were  much  confused  as  to  the  subject. 
As  a  writer,  his  style  is  equally  simple,  the  most  notable  of 
his  works  being  Meditations  on  the  principal  truths  of 
religion,  which  is  very  popular,  and  has  had  a  very  extensive 
circulation.  His  works  are  devotional,  and  were  intended 
primarily  for  himself,  without  any  view  to  publication. 
Indeed,  he  could  only  be  induced  to  have  them  published 
after  repeated  solicitation. 

Eetirement  and  obscurity  were  the  keynotes  of  his  life. 
Nearly  sixty  years  of  his  life  were  spent  within  the  walls  of 
the  Irish  College.  During  that  period  he  had  little  concern 
with  the  outside  world,  and  rejoiced  in  the  fact.  All  his 


776  The  late  Most  Bev.  Dr.  Kirby,  Archbishop  of  Ephesus 

thoughts  were  engrossed  in  the  work  of  the  College,  and 
its  well-being  was  his  sole  concern.  His  ideas  were, 
perhaps,  not  perfectly  modern  ;  but  everything  was  cer- 
tainly meant  for  the  best.  The  Irish  College  at  Kome  has 
been  recently  renovated,  constituted  according  to  the  most 
approved  standards,  and  is  now  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
healthful  colleges  in  the  city.  The  climate  is,  however,  trying, 
and  is  not  adapted  for  every  constitution.  But,  generally 
speaking,  students  who  are  radically  strong  and  healthy  have 
little  difficulty  in  completing  the  six  years'  course.  The 
College  has  an  honourable  history,  and  though  not  always 
occupying  its  present  site,  dates  back  for  nearly  three 
centuries.  It  was  founded  A.D.  1626,  by  Pope  Urban  VIII., 
who  was  so  interested  in  founding  colleges  for  the  Irish  on 
the  Continent,  to  which  they  could  always  have  recourse, 
whenever  their  religion  might  be  banned  at  home.  The 
zeal  and  piety  of  the  venerated  Luke  Wadding,  O.B.F.,  and 
Cardinal  Ludovisi,  Protector  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland, 
completed  the  work.  There  is  nothing  very  imposing  in 
the  building;  but  the  Church  of  St.  Agatha,  which  is 
attached  to  the  College,  is  a  very  beautiful  structure.  Here 
is  treasured  the  heart  of  the  illustrious  O'Connell :  a  marble 
slab  affixed  to  the  wall,  with  a  suitable  inscription,  points  to 
the  fact.  The  Irish  College  is  incapable  of  accommodating 
more  than  seventy  students,  and  seldom  is  there  that 
complement :  yet  among  its  students  and  superiors  there 
have  been  some  of  the  most  eminent  names  in  Church 
history.  Of  these  none  is  more  to  be  revered  than  is  the 
late  venerated  Archbishop  of  Ephesus. 

D.  F.  M'CKEA,  M.K.LA. 


[     777     ] 


THE  ANGLO-IRISH  DIALECT 

GRAMMAR 

IN  the  August  number  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD  the  Orthoepy 
and  Vocabulary  of  the  dialect  were  discussed  at  some 
length ;  we  have  now  to  deal  with  the  third  and  most 
important  side  of  the  subject,  the  Grammar.  Many  readers 
will,  no  doubt,  be  perplexed  at  the  notion  of  grammatical 
rules  having  a  place  in  a  dialect.  For  does  not  a  dialect 
vi  termini  exclude  grammar?  Is  it  not  a  popular  corruption 
of  the  classical  language,  at  utter  variance  with  those  usages 
of  the  best  writers  and  speakers  which  we  term  rules  of 
grammar  ?  At  first  blush  it  seems  to  be,  but  closer  exami- 
nation and  a  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  language  will 
soon  reveal  that  dialectic  forms  and  idioms,  so  far  from 
being  vulgar  degenerations,  are  survivals  from  the  past, 
forms  which  "  have  seen  better  days,"  and  are  reduced  to 
vulgarity  only  by  the  ascendancy  of  the  literary  dialect, 
much  after  the  fashion  that  honest  folk  are  looked  down 
upon  by  those  who  have  got  on  better  in  the  world.  It  is 
true  that  many  of  our  peculiarities  are  mere  solecisms, 
clumsy  familiarities  with  a  language  which  has  not  yet 
taken  kindly  to  us,  yet  the  vast  majority  will  be  found  to 
be  old  English  remains  or  Irish  idioms  in  an  English  garb. 
Furthermore,  the  Irish  dialect,  merging  as  it  does  into 
Lowland  Scotch  at  one  end  of  the  country  and  western 
English  at  the  other,  is  not  homogeneous,  isolated,  sui 
generis ;  as  is,  for  example5  the  Lancashire ;  still  it  possesses 
in  its  combination  of  old  English  and  Celtic  elements,  an 
individuality  of  its  own,  apart  altogether  from  its  geographi- 
cal demarcation.  It  has,  as  we  have  seen,  a  fixed  system  of 
phonetics ;  and  since  its  peculiar  terms  of  speech  proceed  on 
certain  definite  lines,  we  are  justified  in  speaking  of  its 
grammar.  Following  the  old  paths,  we  will  take  the  parts 
of  speech  in  order. 

Nouns 

At   present   we   speak    of   nations   by   their   territorial 
names,  France,  Italy,  Germany ;  in  Shakespere's  time  the 


778  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

principle  of  the  divine  right  of  kings  was  still  recognised, 
and  the  sovereign  and  state  identified  ;  we  find  "  the  Dane  " 
for  Denmark,1  "  the  Turk  "  for  Turkey,2  and  so  on.  This 
use  survives  in  parts  of  Ireland  ;  some  years  since  when 
England  and  Kussia  were  on  the  point  of  war  one  might 
hear  the  anxious  inquiry,  "  How  is  the  Eussian  ?  "  Similarly, 
"the  American"  does  duty  for  "the  Government  of  the 
United  States."  A  better  known  idiom,  and  a  fine  old 
English  one,  though  rapidly  disappearing  from  the  literary 
dialect,  is  the  singular  for  the  plural  in  such  phrases  as 
"  six  foot  high,"  "  eight  year  ago."  I  have  no  doubt  if  one  of 
our  lads  were  to  say  with  the  messenger  in  Macbeth,  "  this 
three  mile,"3  he  would  find  the  ferule  on  his  back. 

Adjectives 

The  demonstrative  adjectives  this  and  that  (with  their 
plurals)  have  no  appreciable  difference  of  use  with  us.  A 
man  taking  out  his  watch  will  assure  you,  "  That's  a  fine 
time-keeper,"  while  in  the  same  breath  he  observes,  "These 
clouds  are  never  without  rain."  It  will  be  noted,  however, 
that  when  we  mark  the  distinction  by  the  addition  of  here  and 
there  after  the  manner  of  the  French,  we  always  use  the  forms 
correctly,  this  here,  that  there,  never  that  here,  this  there. 
The  confusion  of  this  and  that  is  by  no  means  confined  to 
the  illiterate.  The  writer  remembers  the  late  Mr.  Parnell,  a 
speaker  of  more  than  ordinary  accuracy,  telling  his  followers 
in  Thurles,  "  Those  are  times  that  separate  the  wheat  from 
the  chaff."  A  more  obvious  peculiarity  is  the  extension  we 
give  the  indefinite  adjective  other.  "The  other  day"  does 
not  mean  the  "  second  day,"  but  rather  "  one  day  recently." 
"  Another  while"  is  "  some  time  further,"  not  "  at  another 
time."  Again,  "  every  other  day  "  is  not  "every  alternate 
day,"  as  we  should  expect,  but  "every  day  except  one;" 
e.g.,  "  He  went  every  other  day  ;"  that  is,  he  did  not  go  on 
Monday,  but  went  every  day  from  Tuesday  to  Saturday. 
We  have  an  emphatic  form  of  every,  to  wit  every  whole ; 

1  Hamlet,  i.  1,  15,  and  i.  2,  24. 

2  Henry  T.,  v.  2,  322. 

3  Macbeth,  v.  5,  37. 


The  Anglo-truli  Dialect  771) 

this  comes  from  the  Irish,  t^\c  into  I  A,  every  whole  day,  i.e. 
every  day.  Probably  to  an  opposite  source  we  may  trace 
"  them  there  of  them,"  which  is  our  equivalent  for  "  some 
who."  A  few  old  English  uses  are  still  found.  "What 
other  thing "  (what  else)  is  current  everywhere.  The 
emphatic  that  same,  "I  tould  him  that  same,"  and  the  most 
curious,  nanyone  (no  one),  are  other  examples.  The  latter 
is  rapidly  giving  way  to  anyone,  and  we  learn  with  surprise 
of  an  unoccupied  house  that  "  anyone  lives  there." 
Dr.  Morris  *  states  that  in  the  twelfth  century  only  a 
trace  of  naenig  was  to  be  found  in  literary  English. 
If  so,  it  is  a  strange  fact  that  a  word  so  long  lost  in 
the  literary  language  should  be  still  preserved  by  the 
traditional. 

Article 

Owing  to  the  influence  of  Irish,  we  are  rather  liberal  in 
our  use  of  the  definite  article.  "  Mick  is  quick  at  learning 
the  Latin,  and  is  the  deuce  at  the  football."  "  The  dinner 
is  not  ready,  and  the  children  are  dying  with  the  hunger." 
In  all  these  cases,  needless  to  say,  English  idiom  rejects  the 
article. 

Pronoun* 

You  in  Ireland  is  always  singular,  and  ye  plural :  "  Will 
you  (A.)  go  ?  "  "  Will  ye  (A.  and  B)  go  ?  "  In  Dublin  and 
Leinster  generally,  ye  has  followed  you,  and  the  plural  yes 
had  to  be  invented.  The  conversion  of  you  into  the  singular 
number  necessitated  a  like  change  in  its  adjective,  and  so 
originated  the  extraordinary  plural  yeer,  "  yeer  Tommy." 
Here  it  may  be  observed  that  in  many  localities,  from  a 
feeling  of  modesty  presumably,  the  third  person  is  used 
instead  of  the  second.  Tom  addresses  Pat,  "  How  is  Pat?" 
or  more  commonly,  "  How  is  the  boy  ?  "  The  demonstrative 
such  as  has  not  yet  found  its  way  into  our  vocabulary  :  our 
mode  of  expressing  it  is  "the  like  of"  or  "the  likes  of." 
Enough  is  often  used  substantively.  "  He  had  his  'nough 

1  English  Accidence,  p.  147. 


780  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

of  it."     The  following  will  illustrate  two  of  our  most  curious 
pronominal  uses  : 

Father  O'Flynn  and  Biddy  Doherty,  loquuntur : — 

F.  O'F.      "  Arrah,  be  off  wid  you,  Biddy." 
B.  u  Sorra  a  wan  o'rtie  '11  go  :  you've  such  a  way  wid 

you." 

Old  English  forms  are  by  no  means  uncommon,  Cockney 
writers  have  a  stock  phrase  for  their  Irishman  : — 

"  'Tis  meself  is  the  hoy,"  &c. 

In  this  they  are  true  enough  to  Irish  expression,  but 
quite  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  meself  is  historically  and 
etymologically  correct  English,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
pronoun  of  the  third  person  which  is  himself,  not  hisself. 
The  substitution  of  that  for  so,  e.g.,  "He  was  that  vexed  that," 
&c.,  is  another  early  form,  bringing  us  back  to  the  time 
when  so  had  hardly  yet  assumed  the  functions  of  an  adverb.1 
"  You  were  better  "  preserves  a  construction  once  in  general 
use — the  impersonal  with  a  dative  of  the  person — and 
surviving  only  in  met  kinks.  A  more  interesting  one  is 
noticeable  in  such  expressions  as,  "I  could  not  say  that 
without  I  tell  a  lie,"  "  He  wouldn't  be  there  without  he  had 
money."  Originally  the  sentence  ran,  "I  could  not  say  that 
without  that  I  tell  a  lie,"  where  that  was  a  pronoun 
representing  the  clause,  "I  tell  a  lie."  This  construction 
remained  classic  down  to  a  comparatively  late  period. 
Sir  Philip  Sidney  wrote,  "  You  will  never  live  to  my  age 
without  you  keep  yourselves  in  breath  with  exercise." 

Verbs 

It  is  well  known  to  students  of  English  that  strong 
preterites — those  formed  by  a  change  in  the  root-vowel— 
are  rapidly  being  exchanged  for  weak  ones.  In  Elizabeth's 
time,  a  man  lope  instead  of  leaped,  and  swat  instead  of 
sweated.  Things,  however,  move  more  slowly  with  us  ;  we 
still  say  squez  (squoze  was  the  old  literary  form),  and  not 
squeezed  ;  riz  and  not  raised.  Similarly,  we  adhere  to  the 

1  The  counterpart  of  this  idiom  is  found  in  the  Latin  adco  (ad  eo)  ut. 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  781 

old  correct  forms,  crep,  kep,  slep,  tvep,  &c.,  and  give  no 
footing  to  crept,  kept,  slept,  wept,  monsters  which  are  at 
once  strong  and  weak.  Our  preterites  bet,  sot,  and  hot,  are 
decidedly  preferable  to  the  modern  beat,  sat,  and  hit,  maids- 
of-all-work  that  have  to  serve  as  presents  or  perfect  parti- 
ciples, or  both,  in  addition  to  their  preterite  use. 

Another  trace  of  old  English  influence  may  be  discerned 
in  the  frequent  occurrence  of  such  phrases  as  "if  it  be," 
"  be  this  as  it  may,"  "  whatever  it  be,"  where  we  should 
invariably  use  the  indicative  mood.  For  to,  with  the 
infinitive  of  purpose  is  yet  common  :— 

"  King  James  he  pitched  his  tents  between 
The  lines  for  to  retire." 

Many  forms  are  probably  dialectic,  though  they  appear 
at  first  sight  to  be  simply  blunders  in  grammar.  Have 
occurs  as  a  third  person  singular  throughout  the  old  Water- 
ford  bye-laws  (1365-1524),  and  as  such  it  is  still  in  daily 
use.  Haves  is  beyond  question  the  original  shape  of  has  ; 
was,  used  as  a  plural,  with  its  alternative  war,  is  found  also 
in  other  dialects,  and  would,  therefore,  appear  to  be  an  old 
form.  Indeed,  it  is  not  quite  unknown  in  literary  English  ; 
Shakespere  *  has  "  they  was." 

Besides  old  forms,  we  possess  several  what  we  may  term 
old  functions  of  verbs.  Mangan  is  genuinely  Irish  in  his 
transitive  use  si  rest  :— 

"  Here  is  the  will  of  Cathaeir  Mor ; 
God  rest  him." 

and  genuinely  Shakesperian  also  :— 

"  God  rest  you,  merry  sir-."2 

Again,  in  our  active  sense  of  perish  ("  it  would  perish  a 
saint  "),  we  are  following  good  precedent : — 

"  Thy  flinty  heart  .  .  .  might  perish,  Margaret."  3 
The  vigorous  "to have  after,"  "to  make  after,"  which  still 
flourish  amongst  us,  might  be  reintroduced  with  advantage 

1  Tit.  Andron.,  iv.  i.  38. 

2  As  You  Like  It,  v.  1. 

3  Henry  VI.,  iii.  2. 


782  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

into  the  literary  dialect.  When  the  fascinated  Hamlet  is 
seemingly  being  lured  to  destruction,  how  much  preferable  is 
Horatio's  "Have  after"  to  Marcellus'  "Let's  follow."1 
An  instructive  example  of  Shakesperian  English  is  furnished 
by  the  following.  The  late  W.  H.  Smith  on  one  occasion 
accused  Mr.  T.  P.  O'Connor  of  falsehood,  without  sufficient 
reason,  as  it  turned  out.  The  latter  warmly  resented 
Mr.  Smith's  "putting  the  lie  on  him."  Hon.  Members,  of 
course,  laughed  incontinently  at  the  Hibernicism. 

But,  however  interesting  the  old  English  remains  in 
our  verb  system  are,  the  tense-forms  are  its  most  striking 
peculiarity.  We  possess  a  present,  an  aorist,  a  perfect,  a 
pluperfect,  and  a  future,  all  our  own.  In  fact,  it  is  in  the 
use  of  tenses  the  Irishman  mostly  reveals  himself;  they 
constitute  the  differentia  ultima  of  his  speech ;  they  are  the 
last  things  he  unlearns,  and  though  he  may  exchange  the 
brogue,  as  he  often  does,  for  a  superb  Cockney  accent,  yet 
the  "  do  be  "  and  the  "  was  after,"  and  the  misplaced  shall 
and  will  will  cling  to  him  like  the  shirt  of  Nessus. 

Our  English  present  has  several  functions  ;  it  serves  as 
a  present  simply,  as  a  present  of  repeated  action,  as  a  past 
(the  historical  present),  and  as  a  future.  In  a  particular 
case  we  can  determine  its  value  only  by  the  context  or  by 
reading  into  the  sentence.  "  I  go  to  school"  may  merely 
chronicle  the  fact  or  may  state  my  custom ;  in  connection 
with  other  experiences  it  may  vividly  assert  that  I  went  to 
school,  or  further,  that  I  shall  go  there;  e.  g.,  "I  go  to  school 
next  Monday."  In  Irish  there  is  a  distinct  form  for  the 
second  of  these  uses,  called  by  the  grammarians  the  con- 
suetudinary present,  and  this  we  have  imported  into 
English  :— 

I  do  be  going  to  school, 

He  does  be  going  to  school,  &c. 

A  very  strange  aorist  or  indefinite  past  is  met  with  in 
many  parts  of  the  country.  Its  genesis  I  have  not  been 
able  to  trace ;  for,  while  English  in  form,  the  meaning  is 
directly  opposite  to  that  which  the  form  conveys.  "  I  used 

1  Hamlet,  \.  4, 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  783 

to  hear  him  to  say,"  does  not  mean  "he  repeatedly  said  in 
my  hearing,"  but  rather,  "  I  heard  him  say "  (on  one 
occasion).  Considerable  perplexity  was  caused  by  a  plaintiff 
at  quarter  sessions  swearing  that  defendant  "  used  to 
borry  "  (borrow)  £10  from  him. 

In  Irish — and  the  fact  is  suggestive — there  is  no  word  for 
"  have."  Seemingly,  the  notion  of  close,  exclusive,  possession 
or  ownership  never  entered  the  heads  of  our  ancestors. 
However  this  may  be,  the  auxiliary  verb  "  to  have,"  and,  as 
a  consequence,  the  English  perfect,  are  unknown  in  our 
dialect.  One  may  travel  from  Cape  Clear  to  Lough  Foyle 
without  once  hearing,  "  I  have  unpacked  your  bag,"  or 
"  Have  you  dined  ?  "  Our  perfect  takes  two  forms,  according 
as  the  sentence  is  declarative  or  interrogative  : — 

I  am  after  unpacking 
He  is  after  unpacking,  &c. 

This  form  is  also  used  but  to  a  limited  extent  in  interro- 
gative sentences.  For  these  we  find  : — 

Did  you  dine  ? 
Did  he  dine  ?  &c. 

Did,  as  purely  formative,  conveys  no  notion  of  past  time. 
Your  host,  in  asking  the  question,  is  concerned  only  with 
your  present  wants ;  it  is  no  affair  of  his  whether  you  had 
dinner  yesterday  or  not.  As  an  auxiliary  forming  the  pre- 
terite of  verbs  in  negative  and  interrogative  sentences,  did 
indicates,  of  course,  past  time  ;  but  this  is  quite  distinct  from 
its  use  in  such  sentences  as  "  Did  he  come  yet  ?  "  where  it 
serves  to  form  a  perfect  tense. 

Our  pluperfect  is  constructed  on  the  same  plan  as  our 
perfect  fense,  the  preterite  was  being  substituted  for  am, 
is,  &c  ;— 

I  was  after  unpacking.  &c. 

In  interrogative  sentences: — 

Were  you  after  unpacking  ?  &c. 

London  manufacturers  of  Irish  brogue  have  found  this 
perfect  and  pluperfect  a  veritable  god- send.  Without  it  the 
business  could  hardly  exist.  They  have  taken  up  the  idiom, 


784  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

varied  it  and  embellished  it  according  to  their  fine  taste,  so 
that  it  has  become  the  standard  of  Irish  speech,  as  the  pug 
nose  is  of  Irish  physiognomy.  Here  is  a  sample  from 
Tit-Bits  :— 

11  I'd  be  after  teasing  him." 

The  rival,  Pearson's,  compounding,  as  it  would  seem,  the 
Irish  present  and  perfect,  has  gone  on  better  :— 
"  Don't  be  after  telling  me  that." 

These  constructions  are  comical  to  more  readers  than 
English. 

Our  future  is  always  formed  with  the  auxiliary  will,  never 
with  shall.  Hence,  the  modes  of  expression  which  excite 
so  much  the  risibility  of  our  neighbours — "  Will  I  go,  sir?" 
"  I'll  be  perished  with  the  cowld,"  and  the  like.  A  stock 
example  of  the  Irish  future  used  to  be  found  in  grammars, 
"  I'll  be  drowned,  and  nobody  shall  save  me.5'  This  was 
unmistakably  London  manufacture ;  an  illiterate  Irishman 
always  says  dhrownded,  and  never  shall.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  dwell  on  this  portion  of  the  subject,  as  it  has  recently 
been  discussed  in  the  I.  E.  BECOKD.  The  second  future, 
like  the  perfect  and  pluperfect,  has  no  existence  in  our 
dialect.  To  express  completed  action  in  the  future,  various 
methods  are  adopted ;  one  of  the  most  usual  is  to  substitute 
for  have  the  verb  to  be;  e.g.,  "I'll  be  done  dinner  when 
you  come,"  "  He'll  be  dead  before  the  priest  reaches," 
"Will  you  be  finished  by  next  week?"  The  interchange 
of  auxiliaries  is  not  altogether  unknown  in  English;  it 
still  exists  in  the  case  of  some  neuter  verbs  of  motion 
(e.g.,  .."  He  will  be  gone  ere  you  can  stop  him"),  and  at 
one  time  was  common  enough  : —  •*«*.! 

"  The  King  himself  is  rode  to  see  their  battle."  1 

u  How  everything  is  chanced."  2 
"  The  noble  Brutus  is  ascended."  3 

A  form  of  the  future  made  on  the  model  of  the  perfect  is 
current  in  parts  of  the  north  of  Ireland.     Carleton,  who  is 

1  Henry  V.,  iv.  3. 

2  Julius  Ccesar,  v.  4. 
»  fbid.,  iii.  3. 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  785 

generally  as  accurate  as  a  photograph,  has  in  his  Hedge 
School : — 

"  Come,  boys,  rehearse — I'll  soon  be  after  calling  up  the  first 
spelling  lesson." 

But  for  the  adverb  "  soon  "  we  should  conclude  that  "  I'll  be 
after  calling  up  "  is  a  future  perfect.  Carleton,  however,  is 
faithful  to  the  practice  in  making  it  a  simple  future. 

A dverbs 
Hamlet,  alluding  to  his  mother's  marriage,  says  : — 

"  Would  I  had  met  my  dearest  foe  in  heaven, 
Or  ever  I  had  seen  the  day."  l 

The  pleonasm  or  ever  (before  ever),  which  occurs  occasion- 
ally in  Shakespere,  is  still  common  with  us.  "  I  knew  him 
before  ever  he  spoke, "i.e.,  before  he  spoke.  The  superfluous 
ever  is  met  with  in  interrogations :  "  Have  you  ever  a 
copper?"  "Had  you  e'er  an  umbrella  with  you?"  The 
negative  form  never  is  even  in  more  general  use  :  "  There's 
ne'er  a  one  there."  "  He  never  saw  me  stealing  the  load 
of  turf."  "I'd  never  blame  you"  (more  often,  "small 
blame  to  you").  This  also  is  Shakesperian  : — 

"  There's  ne'er  a  villain  dwelling  in  all  Denmark, 
But  he's  an  arrant  knave."2 

The  phrase  "with  that"  for  "  thereupon"  is  universal ;  it 
too  is  old  English  : — 

"  With  that  cam  in  a  fat-heded  monke 
The  heygh  selerer."  3 

Once,  in  the  sense  of  the  Latin  quum,  is  sometimes  found : 
"  Wanst  (once)  he  said  it,  he'll  do  it."  This  furnishes  a  key 
to  such  passages  in  Shakespere  as : — 

"  Once  if  he  require  our  voices,  we  ought  not  to  deny  him,"  4 

which  have  caused  so  much  perplexity  to  commentators.  As, 
which  etymologically  is  merely  a  strengthened  form  of  so,  often 

1  Act  I.,  Sc.  i.,  182-183. 

2  Hamlet,  Act  I.,  Sc.  V.,  123-124. 

3  A  Lytell  Geste  of  Robyn  II ode ;  The  Seconile  Fyt!et  30,  40. 
^  Coriolanus,  ii.  3.,  1. 

VOL.  XV.  3  D 


786  the  Anglo-Irish  Dialed 

takes  the  place  of  that  adverb,  leaving  the  sentence  dangling, 
as  it  were,  in  the  air  : — "  Tommy  is  a  very  good  boy  ;  he's  as 
sensible."  "  Bill,  you  might  leave  him  alone  ;  you're  as  cross/' 
Anymore,  the  indefinite  for  evermore,  is  used  only  in  negative 
(or  equivalently  negative)  and  interrogative  sentences,  "  I 
won't  do  it  anymore;"  "Will  you  go  there  anymore?"  A  thin 
is  our  form  of  within,  but, "unlike  it,  has  no  prepositional  use; 
e.g.,  "  Is  Mick  athin  ?  "  "  No,  he's  athin  in  the  barn."  The 
kindred  afore  (before)  is  used,  though  rarely,  as  a  preposition. 
"  afore  the  doore."  "  Often  and  often"  (saepe  saepius)  is  our 
equivalent  for  "  over  and  over  again."  Among  other  curious 
adverbial  phrases  may  be  noticed :  all  out  (entirely,  com- 
pletely, throughout):  "He's  a  fine  man  all  out;"  all  of  a 
sudden  (suddenly) ;  all  at  once  (simultaneously)  ;  to  the  fore 
(here,  present);  I'm  to  the  fore,  your  reverence  ;"  in  it  (there), 
"  Who  was  in  id  but  Tom." 

Prepositions 

Many  vestiges  of  old  English  are  found  in  this  as  in  other 
classes  of  words.  In  addition  to  "  forbye"  and  "  forenint," 
which  have  been  already  noticed,  we  find  the  old  strengthened 
forms  of  some  prepositions  still  in  use  ;  e.g.,  "  Don't  go  anear 
him,"  "  He  ran  apast  me.  "  Athin,  as  we  have  seen,  is  always 
an  adverb;  its  corresponding  athout  is  used  only  as  a  pre- 
position:  "He  said  he'd  do  athout  it?"  A  curious  use 
generally  set  down  as  a  Hibernicism,  is  of  for  on.  "  Mr. 
Murphy  died  of  a  Monday."  This,  according  to  Halliwell,  is 
common  in  several  English  dialects.1  "  Down  along"  is 
a  compound  also  found  in  southern  English  ;  a  rarer  one, 
perhaps,  is  "over-right"  (over  against).  "  That's  his  house 
over-right  you.  ''  In  our  street  ballads,  the  amorous  swain 
always  roves  out — 

"  One  morning  early 
All  in  the  pleasant  month  of  May." 

The  intensive  all,  at  one  time  of  very  general  application,2 

1  See  also  Merry  Wires  of  Windsor,  i.-l.  80;  AW*  Well  That  End*  Well,  Act  III, 
V.  103  ;  and  "Dickers,  passim. 

2  Cf .  all  at  once,  all  out,  all  of  a  sudden,  supra. 


The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect  787 

is  restricted  in  Elizabethan  English  to  the  solitary  with 
(withal)  and  a  few  adverbs  of  degree.  The  song  of  the 
demented  Ophelia : 

'  To-morrow  is  Saint  Valentine's  day 
All  in  the  morning  betime,"  l 

is  only  an  echo  of  the  past. 

While  retaining  old  uses  we  have  borrowed  withal  largely 
from  the  Celtic.  Near,  in  many  localities,  is  rendered  by  handy 
to,  "  He  lived  handy  to  Loughrea,"  Lvmi  ]\e  toe  tleo^  ;  wud  or 
with  (during,  for  the  past)  is  traceable  to  the  same  source, 
the  Irish  le  having  this  force  ;  e.g.,  "  He's  there  wud  a  week." 
Between,  in  the  sense  of  including,  is  met  with  everywhere ; 
"  Between  men  and  women  there  were  forty  there."  A 
strange  reduplication  of  the  preposition  of  occurs  in  the 
expressions,  "  He  fell  off  of  an  ass  ;"  "  Get  up  off  of  him  ; " 
"  Leave  off  of  me;"  and  the  like.  Eecently  looking  over 
Mr.  Gilbert's  description  of  the  Red  Book  of  the  Earls  of 
Kildare,2  the  heading  "  Therll  of  Kyldares  duties  upon  Irissh- 
men,"  recalled  to  my  mind  an  expression  current  in  Maynooth 
ball-courts  :  "  I'll  be  on  you  ;"  i.e.,  "  I'll  become  indebted  to 
you." 

Conjunctions 

And,  in  Ireland, has  often  the  force  of  even  though:  "He 
wouldn't  give  me  a  penny  an'  he  rotten  with  money.''3    This 
inconsequent  sort  of  sentence  is  also  found  in  Shakespere  : — 
"  Suffer  us  to  famish,  and  their  storehouses  filled  with  grain."4 

Sometimes  and  is  equivalent  to  considering  that, 
especially  because.  A  student  observed  of  a  diocesan  who 
had  got  into  trouble,  "  His  mother  '11  break  her  heart,  an' 
she's  a  raale  lady."  The  second  clause  is  the  reason  for  the 
first — not,  as  I  long  thought,  for  "  more's  the  pity,"  or  some 
such  phrase,  understood.  Very  frequently  and  is  prefixed 
to  interrogations,  as  a  sort  of  expletive  : — 

An'  who  tould  you  do  that  ? 
Shure,  the  missus  herself, 
An'  when  did  she  tell  you  ?  &c, 

1  Hamlet,  iv.  5,  47. 

2  Historical  MSS.  Commission,  9th  Report,  Pt,  ii. 
;{  A  strong-  metaphor,  but  a  true  one. 

4  CorioltiHtts,  I  i.  82. 


788  The  Anglo-Irish  Dialect 

We  possess  two  emphatic  forms  of  because,  both  old 
English  :  "  I  know  it  for  why  he  told  me  himself."  "  He 
meant  it  to  be  done  because  why  he  said  before  he  went," 
&c.  The  pleonastic  or  else  obtains  universally.  "  Here, 
pay  the  money,  or  else  I  won't  give  id  to  you."  This, 
like  so  many  other  of  our  cronebanes,  is  not  minted  by 
ourselves : — 

"  For  'tis  a  question  left  us  yet  to  prove, 
Whether  love  lead  fortune,  or  else  fortune  love."1 

An  interesting  use  now  all  but  extinct  in  classic  English 
is  so  for  if:  "I'll  give  you  this  so  you  won't  tell  on  me." 
"  'Tain't  dare  (dear)  so  'tis  good,"2  Lest,  in  Ireland,  is  always 
turned  by  for  fear  that ;  yet  its  compound  on  less  (unless)  has 
been  carefully  preserved.  Nor  for  than,  notwithstanding  its 
outlandish  look,  is,  probably,  old  English  ;  the  two  forms 
appear  to  have  been  developed  on  parallel  lines  :— 

Tim  is  taller  than  (then)  Tom  ; 
Tim  is  taller  nor  (and  not)  Tom. 

Interjections 

Our  speech  is  literally  padded  with  them ;  Mark  Twain, 
wishing  to  pass  himself  off  as  a  Fenian,  added  to  his 
vocabulary  a  stock  of  "Be  japers "  and  "  Thanam  o'n 
Dhiouls."  This  is  caricature,  but  as  such  it  must  preserve 
some  features  of  the  original.  Not  to  reckon  disguised  oaths, 
such  as  "Begor"  "Faith"  ("  Faix "),  "  Bedad,"  and  the 
like,  we  make  a  liberal  use  of  expletives,  both  Irish  and 
English.  The  following  may  be  taken  as  examples  : — 

Yarra,  is  that  you,  Moike  ? 

Musha  thin  an'  shure  it  is. 

Arra  where  did  you  get  them  clothes  ? 

Oh  !  I  got  'em  at  Casey's. 

Whisht  (hush)  here's  the  master  ! 

'Deed  thin  it  isn't. 

Some  local  uses  are  too  curious  to  be  passed  over. 
"  Which  ?  "  is  the  Cork  way  of  rendering  "  Eh  ?  "  "  What  ?  " 
The  alternative  "What  thing?"  is  perhaps  still  more 

1  Hamlet,  iii.  2.  178. 

'2  Cf.  Itcmeo  and  Juliet,  iii.  5,  18. 


"  The  Higher  Purgatory  "  of  Aubrey  de  Vere        789 

peculiar.    To  the  same  locality  belongs  the  following,  for  the 
fidelity  of  which  I  can  vouch  : — 

Tom  is  a  big  bye  (boy)  why,  an'  he's  only  ten  why :  byes 
dont  be  long  growin'  up  why. 

The  question  of  syntax  is  one  with  which  I  would  gladly 
deal,  but  it  requires  a  knowledge  of  Irish  which  I  do  not 
possess.  I  hope,  however,  that  other  runners  in  the  path 
will  carry  on  the  inquiry.  Ample  material  awaits  the  careful 
observer ;  and  the  study,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  will  help 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  English,  as  well  as  throw 
light  on  many  an  obscure  passage  of  our  literature. 

WILLIAM  BUKKE. 


"THE    HIGHEK   PUKGATOKY  "   OF    AUBKEY 
DE  VEEE 

8 IK  STEPHEN  DE  VEKE  dedicates  his  scholarly 
translation  of  the  Odes  and  Epodes  of  the  Roman 
poet,  whose  fascination  few  men  escape,  to  his  "  only 
surviving  brother,"  whose  writings  are  instinct  "  with  true 
religious  faith,"  and  who  "  never  sacrificed  principle  to 
popular  applause."  The  simple  words,  ''To  my  only 
surviving  brother,"  have  a  pathos  very  touching  when  we 
remember  these  studies  were  begun  in  his  seventy-third 
year  to  avoid  painful  thoughts  about  Ireland. 

But  an  incident  has  recently  occurred  which  emphasizes 
the  justness  of  Sir  Stephen's  conception  of  Mr.  Aubrey  de 
Vere's  work  as  replete  "  with  true  religious  faith."  It  will 
be  within  the  recollection  of  our  readers,  that  some  time  ago 
we  drew  their  attention  to  a  new  volume  of  poems  in  which 
Mr.  Aubrey  de  Vere  illustrated  the  Christian  ideals,  the 
Christian  apprehension  of  life,  the  Christian  value  of  honour, 
which  underlay  and  moulded  the  Middle  Ages.  One  of  the 
most  beautiful  poems  in  Medieval  Records  is  "  The  Higher 
Purgatory,"  founded — as  Mr.  De  Vere  is  careful  to  note  for 


790         "  The  Higher  Purgatory  "  of  Aubrey  de  Vere 

us — on  the  celebrated  Treatise  of  St.  Catherine  of  Genoa 
on  Purgatory.  It  is  a  poem,  we  may  add,  which  embodies 
much  of  the  inner  meaning  which  gives  such  beauty — actual 
and  contrasted — to  Dante's  Purgatorio  :  the  rest,  the  resig- 
nation of  will,  the  strange  peace  the  detained  souls  find  in 
the  sweetness,  the  holiness,  the  sublimity  of  pain  :  of 
"  sorrow  nobler  than  earth's  noblest  joy." 

But  a  passage,  of  singular  poetic  charm,  has  been  called 
in  question  for  its  theology.  Mr.  De  Vere  wrote  : — 

"Each  soul  at  its  creation  is  all  pure  ; 
For  that  cause,  issuing  from  beneath  God's  hand, 
In  one  transcendent  flash  it  sees  God's  Face. 
'Tis  gone — that  flash  !     That  soul,  in  body  bound, 
Sees  it  no  more.     That  moment  did  its  work ! 
That  moment  launched  abroad  o'er  every  soul, 
Like  flight  of  wild  swans  o'er  a  dark  lake's  mirror, 
Those  spirit-cravings  which  are  spirit's  self, 
Those  wing'd  Ideas  which  are  Season's  essence, 
Conscience's  inspiration.     What  are  these  ? 
The  great  Ideas  of  the  Good,  the  True, 
The  Fair,  the  Just,  the  Pure,  the  Infinite, — 
These  are  the  irradiation  of  man's  being  ; 
These  light  with  hope  the  cradles  and  the  graves  : 
Where'er  there's  greatness  here  on  earth,  its  source 
Was  that  brief  flash  !     It  hurled  God's  warrior  forth 
To  battle  with  the  monsters  of  man's  life  ; 
Gave  souls  their  "  Militant  State,"  and — victory  won  — 
Their  thrones  upon  God's  throne  !" 

For  beauty  of  conception,  for  a  radiance  of  hope  refined 
with  awe,  for  a  certain  distinction  exquisitely  spiritual,  this 
may  be  compared  with  the  passages  on  the  soul  in  the 
Purgatorio,1  and  in  the  Paradiso.2 

It  has  been  objected — notably  by  an  English  Catholic 
weekly  journal — but  by  no  means  universally,  that  the 
statement  that  the  soul  is  all  pure  at  its  creation,  and  its 
corollary,  that  it  contracts  the  stain  of  original  sin  at  its 
union  with  the  body,  is  not  the  teaching  of  the  Church,  as 
voiced  by  St.  Thomas  :  that  "  the  soul  sees  the  Face  of 
God,"  is  on  the  inclined  plane  to  ontologisin  ;  and  that,  if 

1  xxiii.  47,  and  xxy.  GO.  ?  vii.  127,  Gary. 


"  The  Higher  Purgatory  "  of  Aubrey  de  Vere         791 

this  vision  be  the  cause  of  certain  ideas  of  the  Good,  the 
True,  £c.,  the  position  approaches  the  condemned  one  of 
Innate  Ideas.  As  a  layman,  it  would  not  become  us  to  assess 
questions  of  theological  issue,  but  we  may  be  permitted  to 
point  out  that  the  belief,  "  each  soul  at  its  creation  is  all 
pure,"  is  the  teaching  of  St.  Catherine  of  Genoa;  and  we 
must  accept  Mr.  De  Vere's  intention  that  his  poem  uses 
St.  Catherine's  words  in  St.  Catherine's  sense,  and  in  no 
other.  Now,  in  her  Treatise  on  Purgatory  St.  Catherine 
wrote :  "  God  created  the  soul  perfectly  pure  and  free 
from  every  spot  of  sin  .  .  .  when  a  soul  is  approach- 
ing to  that  state  of  first  purity  and  innocence  which  it 
had  when  created  .  .  .M1  "  When  the  soul  leaves  the 
body  and  finds  itself  out  of  that  state  of  purity  in  which 
it  was  created  ....""  "I  see  that  God  is  in  such 
perfect  conformity  with  the  soul,  that  when  He  beholds 
it  in  the  purity  wherein  it  was  created  by  His  Divine 
Majesty.  .  .  ."3 

It  is  this  teaching,  and  no  theological  theory  of  his  own, 
which  Mr.  de  Vere  wished  to  embody  in  his  poem.  We  are 
aware  the  personal  teaching  of  any  individual  theologian, 
however  eminent  in  thought  or  sanctity,  is  not  by  itself  the 
teaching  of  the  Church.  But  Benedict  XIV.  is  express  in 
telling  us  that  the  works  of  St.  Catherine — including,  of 
course,  this  treatise — were  examined  and  approved  by  the 
theologians  of  Paris,  and  also  by  the  Sacred  Congregation  in 
the  cause  of  her  Canonization.  The  English  version  of  the 
treatise  was  issued  with  the  express  approval  of  Cardinal 
Manning,  who  declares  the  translation  to  be  "both  faithful 
and  excellent  in  language."  It  contains  notes  critical  or  ex- 
planatory of  some  passages,  bat  none  referring  to  those 
cited. 

That  St.  Catherine  herself  saw  nothing  contrary  to  the 
doctrine  of  original  sin  in  her  position,  is  abundantly  clear 
from  page  after  page  of  her  treatise. 

If  there  follow  from  Mr.  de  Vere's  statement  the  doctrine 
that  the  soul  is  stained  with  original  sin  as  soon  as  it  is 

i  pp.  10,  11,  Eng.  Vers.  2  p.  16.  :J  p.  17. 


792         "  The  Higher  Purgatory  "  of  Aubrey  de  Vere 

united  with  the  body,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that,  though 
the  opinion  that  the  soul  is  created  and  united  with  the  body 
in  the  selfsame  instant  may  be  general  among  modern 
theologians,  it  is  a  point  that  has  never  been  defined.  As 
to  the  origin  of  the  soul,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Gregory  the 
Great,  and  St.  Isidore,  011  the  one  side,  and  St.  Bernard, 
with  the  schoolmen  generally,  and  Benedict  XII.  on  the 
other,  show  it  to  be  a  sufficiently  open  question  ;  while 
it  is  worthy  of  note  that  Pius  IX,,  when  condemning 
Frohschammer's  error  on  the  relations  of  faith  and 
reason,  said  nothing  about  his  teaching  on  the  origin  of 
the  soul. 

But  St.  Catherine  nowhere  in  her  treatise  asserts  that 
the  soul  was  created  before  the  body,  and  the  poem  is  only 
intended  as  illustrating  the  work.  As  a  convert,  and  thus 
well  acquainted  with  the  Protestant  idea  of  original  sin, 
Mr.  de  Vere  would  be  the  last  to  confuse  it  —a  corruption 
whose  virus  penetrates  at  once  the  whole  being  of  body  and 
soul— with  the  Catholic — the  privation  of  sanctifying  grace 
and  its  consequences. 

With  regard  to  the  line  objected  to  as  leading  to 
ontologism,  we  confess  to  seeing  in  it  but  the  beautiful 
teaching  of  Psalm  iv.  7  :  "  The  light  of  Thy  countenance 
is  signed  upon  us,"  by  which  we  realize  what  St.  Luke 
(xvii.  21)  tells  us,  that  "  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  us." 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  de  Vere  only  meant  to  affirm 
that  "  in  spite  of  the  materialists,  the  Human  Soul,  as 
created  by  God,  includes  a  conscience  and  a  mens  melior, 
destined  from  the  first  to  prove  the  great  witnesses  for 
Christianity." 

But  Mr.  de  Vere's  position  needs  no  defence  from  a  lay- 
man. If  theologians  differ  from  him,  theologians  also  have 
pronounced  it  as  quite  consistent  with  the  doctrine  supposed 
by  his  critics  to  contradict  it.  Yet  so  sensitive  is  his  "  true 
religious  faith,"  so  full  is  it  of  charity  to  those  who  might 
colour  their  lives  with  the  hues  of  his  thought,  and  hence 
possibly  misapprehend  what  he  would  not  have  misappre- 
hended, that  the  passage  in  question  is  to  be  altered  when 
it  goes  to  a  new  edition.  Mr.  de  Vere  has  honoured  us  with 


"  The  Higher  Purgatory  "  of  Aubrey  de  Vere        793 

a  sight  of  the  new  readings,  and  we  have  his  permission  to 
give  them  to  our  readers  : — 

"  Each  Soul  at  its  creation  shines  star-bright 
Forth  as  it  issues  from  beneath  God's  hand 
(If  Poets  thus  may  speak  in  parable, 
Not  wronging  Truth  dim-seen  in  Fancy's  glass). 
A  flash  comes  o'er  it  as  from  God's  own  Face ; 
Comes,  and  is  gone  !     The  Soul,  in  Body  bound, 
Sees  it  no  more.     That  moment  did  its  work : 
That  moment  launched  abroad  o'er  every  Soul, 
Like  flight  of  wild  swans  o'er  a  dark  lake's  mirror, 
Those  spirit-cravings  which  are  Spirit's  self, 
Those  winged  Ideas  which  are  Reason's  essence, 
Conscience's  inspiration.     What  are  thess  ? 
The  great  Ideas  of  the  Good,  the  True, 
The  Fair,  the  Pure,  the  Just,  the  Infinite, — 
These  are  the  irradiation  of  man's  being ; 
These  light  with  hope  the  cradles  and  the  graves : 
Where'er  there's  greatness  here  on  earth,  its  source 
Was  that  brief  flash  1     That  was  not  "  Blessed  Vision," 
A  gift  reserved.     Christ's  Heritage  in  Souls 
It  was ;  to  sinful  Adam's  dread  bequest 
The  counter  hope  sublime.     That  primal  Beam 
Made  Truth  Eevealed  believable  through  Faith 
To  Man,  though  fallen.     It  hurled  God's  warrior  forth 
To  battle  with  the  monsters  of  man's  life ; 
Gave  souls  their  "  Militant  State"  and — victory  won — 
Their  thrones  upon  God's  throne  !" 

This  elucidates  the  poet's  meaning,  we  hope,  beyond 
cavil ;  but  in  an  age  when  the  far-reaching,  because  so 
lasting,  responsibility  of  a  written  word,  is  hourly  most 
grossly  ignored,  it  is  indeed  a  sign  of  high  nobility  that  a 
singer  pre-eminently  cold  to  opinions  of  the  crowd  should  be 
so  quick  to  remove  the  possibility  of  teaching  error,  even 
through  a  mere  misunderstanding. 

We  think  it  not  the  least  of  the  ennobling  lessons  his 
life  and  his  thought  have  given  us. 

D.  MONCEIEFF  O'CONNOK. 


[     794     ] 


THE    HHKINE   OF    GENAZZANO 

IT  must  be  confessed  with  deep  regret,  that  in  our  day 
there  is  evident,  amongst  pious  and  educated  Catholics, 
a  growing  tendency  to  limit  their  belief  exclusively  to  the 
dogmas  of  our  holy  faith.  Miracles  wrought  at  the  shrine 
of  some  saint,  apparitions  said  to  have  taken  place  in  some 
specially  selected  part  of  this  great  world  of  ours,  are  put 
aside  as  matters  unworthy  of  credence.  Like  Thomas  of 
old,  they  will  not  believe  unless  they  see.  No  matter  what 
proofs  may  be  brought  forward  to  confirm  the  truth  of  the 
miracles  we  hear,  or  read  of  in  the  many  religious  books 
now  so  widely  circulated,  or  no  matter  how  strong  and 
reliable  the  testimony  adduced  to  attest  the  existence  of 
an  apparition  may  be,  these  persons  will  not  be  convinced 
that  such  manifestations  of  the  Omnipotent  Power  have 
really  happened.  Living,  they  say,  in  this  age  of  en- 
lightenment and  advanced  science,  many  of  these  alleged 
extraordinary,  and  seemingly  miraculous  occurrences,  may 
be  explained  away  by  undiscovered  natural  causes.  The 
social  at.nosphere  in  which  they  breathe,  surcharged  as  it 
is  with  doubt  and  unbelief,  must  have  a  poisonous  effect 
upon  them.  Let  the  uneducated  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church  swallow  wholesale  all  that  is  told  them  of  these 
extraordinary  occurrences ;  we  must  be  thoroughly  convinced 
that  they  are  really  the  outcome  of  supernatural  influence, 
before  we  believe  that  they  are  the  handiwork  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  In  a  sense,  they  have  right  on  their  side. 
It  would  be  the  height  of  folly  to  take  for  granted  every-, 
thing  that  savours  of  the  miraculous  related  to  us  by  our 
pious  friends,  or  contained  in  books  from  the  pen  of  even 
saintly  and  learned  men.  The  proverbial  grain  of  salt  must 
be  judiciously  used  when  dealing  with  such  matters.  But 
I  fail  to  see  how  any  Catholic  can  withhold  his  belief  in  the 
miraculous  origin  of  many  wonderful  events  that  have  taken 
place  in  the  history  of  the  remarkable  and  well-known 
shrines  and  sanctuaries  that  exists  in  Catholic  countries. 
The  proofs  adduced  to  show  that  they  have  been  chosen  spots 


The  Shrine  of  Genazzano  795 

in  which  God  wished  and  wishes  to  manifest  His  power  to 
perform  works  above  man's  limited  understanding,  in  order 
to  promote  the  fame  of  one  of  His  canonized  saints,  or 
to  promulgate  and  strengthen  devotion  amongst  His 
children  on  earth,  towards  His  holy  Mother,  are  so  evident 
and  so  irresistible,  that  no  reasonable  man  or  woman 
could  dare  to  gainsay  them.  The  holy  House  of  Loretto? 
we  are  told,  was  brought  to  the  town  of  Loretto,  in  Italy* 
from  Dalmatia,  its  first  resting-place,  after  its  departure 
from  Nazareth,  by  the  hands  of  angels.  This  truly  was 
the  work  of  God,  and  rashness  would  be  the  charge  brought 
against  any  Catholic  attempting  to  deny  it.  The  miraculous 
picture  of  the  Virgin  Mother  of  Good  Counsel,  of  Genazzano, 
we  are  informed  was  carried  by  an  angelic  guard  of  honour 
across  the  waters  of  the  Adriatic  to  the  town  and  church  in 
which  it  has  been  piously  venerated  for  five  long  centuries, 
These  two  remarkable  and  unique  occurrences  are  now 
widely  known  to  Catholics  throughout  the  world.  The 
latter,  especially,  through  the  medium  of  the  pious  union, 
has  gained  a  world-wide  name  and  fame.  On  account  of 
the  wonderful  and  extraordinary  history  attached  to  it,  it  is 
the  more  liable  to  become  the  target  for  the  arrows  of 
doubt,  shot  from  the  bows  of  those  who  are  slow  to  believe 
in  the  miraculous.  In  this  short  paper  I  intend  to  set  forth 
a  few  of  the  many  proofs,  upon  which  anyone,  judiciously 
using  the  precious  gift  of  reason,  may  confidently  rest  his 
belief  in  the  miraculous  translation  of  the  sacred  image 
from  Scutari  to  Genazzano,  and  its  apparition  on  the  wall  of 
the  chapel,  in  which  it  is  to  be  found  at  the  present  day. 
Before  doing  so,  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  short  sketch  of  its 
history  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  not  be  already 
acquainted  with  it. 

The  miraculous  picture  had  been  venerated  in  the  parish 
church  of  Scutari,  in  Albania,  for  long  centuries  before  its 
advent  to  Genazzano.  The  people  had  great  devotion 
towards  it,  owing  to  the  many  and  special  favours  obtained 
by  the  inhabitants  whilst  praying  before  it.  It  was  painted 
on  the  rough  wall  of  the  church.  As  time  went  on  the 
people  waxecl  cold  in  their  love  for  the  Queen  of  Heaven. 


796  The  Shrine  of  Genazzano 

Their  punishment  came,  in  the  shape  of  an  invasion  of  their 
beautiful  country  by  the  Turks.  Two  devout  Albanians, 
named  De  Giorgis  and  De  Solaris,  who  had  never  forgotten 
the  many  favours  bestowed  on  their  people  by  the  Mother 
of  God,  were  warned  by  heavenly  inspiration  that  the  holy 
image  would  depart  from  the  country  and  its  people,  who 
had  shown  such  ingratitude  to  their  heavenly  benefactress. 
One  day,  while  praying  before  it,  they  saw  it  suddenly 
become  detached  from  the  wall,  and  depart  from  the  church. 
Filled  with  consternation,  they  slowly  followed  it.  Outside 
the  church  it  became  enveloped  in  a  white  cloud,  which 
moved  quickly  towards  the  Adriatic.  They  felt  impelled,  by 
some  unknown  force,  to  move  with  it,  keeping  the  white 
cloud  well  in  sight.  On  they  went,  nothing  fearing,  and 
surmounting  without  difficulty  all  the  obstacles  that  might 
hinder  their  progress.  They  walked  safely  over  the  white- 
crested  waves  of  the  Adriatic,  and  entered  Italy.  They 
followed  their  heavenly  guide  to  the  walls  of  Rome,  where 
it  suddenly  disappeared  from  their  gaze.  They  searched  in 
every  church  for  their  beloved  Madonna  ;  but  their  search 
was  in  vain.  Disconsolate  and  heartbroken  at  the  loss  they 
had  sustained,  they  walked  the  streets  of  the  Holy  City  for 
some  days,  praying  that  their  beloved  Queen  would  lead 
them  to  the  place  where  her  holy  image  rested.  News  soon 
reached  Borne  of  a  wonderful  apparition  that  had  taken 
place  in  Genazzano,  but  thirty  miles  distant.  The  whole 
city  was  filled  with  pious  curiosity  to  behold  the  miraculous 
image  of  Genazzano.  Out  they  went  in  their  thousands, 
prominent  amongst  them  being  the  two  Albanians.  When 
De  Giorgis  and  De  Solaris  saw  the  holy  picture,  they  at 
once  recognised  their  beloved  Madonna  of  Scutari.  The 
people  of  the  town  related  to  them  and  the  multitude  of 
pilgrims  that  came  streaming  into  the  town,  the  story 
of  its  coming  amongst  them.  On  the  Feast  of  St.  Mark, 
25th  of  April,  1467,  the  great  festival  of  their  town,  a 
large  crowd  had  assembled  on  the  square  opposite  the 
half-built  chapel  of  St.  Biagio,  attached  to  the  church. 
They  were  waiting  for  the  evening  ceremonies.  The  bells 
of  the  town  rang  out  a  joyous  peal,  though  the  people  well 


The  Shrine  of  Genazzano  797 

knew  no  human  hand  had  waked  their  glad  music.  The  air 
was  filled  with  sweetest  strains  of  harmony,  not  certainly 
the  product  of  human  voices.  Looking  heavenwards,  they 
beheld,  to  their  astonishment,  a  small  white  cloud  descend- 
ing on  the  unfinished  walls  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Biagio. 
When  it  had  reached  the  end  wall  it  disappeared,  and  before 
their  astonished  eyes  was  a  lovely  picture  of  the  Madonna 
and  her  Child  Jesus.  It  did  not  in  any  way  touch  the  wall, 
which  served  merely  as  a  background  for  it.  It  stood  in 
mid-air.  The  coming  of  the  holy  image  to  Genazzano,  and 
its  descent  on  the  half-built  wall  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Biagio, 
confirmed  the  truth  of  what  the  holy  widow  Petruccia,  who 
had  commenced,  but  could  not  complete  the  chapel  owing 
to  want  of  means,  had  often  said  to  those  who  ridiculed  her 
for  her  folly  in  spending  her  existence  on  a  work  she  could 
not  expect  to  bring  to  completion  :  "  A  great  lady  will  come 
some  day,  unexpectedly,  and  finish  the  work  I  have  so 
humbly  begun."  In  a  short  time  a  beautiful  shrine-chapel 
was  built  by  the  offerings  of  the  pilgrims  that  flocked  to 
Genazzano. 

Such,  in  a  few  words,  is  the  history  of  the  miraculous 
translation  of  the  precious  treasure,  now  in  possession  of 
the  Augustinian  Fathers,  in  their  beautiful  church,  in  the 
picturesque  little  town  of  Genazzano.  Is  it  true,  or  merely 
some  pious  romance?  Can  solid  proof  be  given,  that  what 
we  are  told  about  its  miraculous  translation,  actually  took 
place,  on  the  25th  of  April,  14G7  ?  The  proofs,  I  answer,  are 
innumerable  and  convincing.  Documents  exist  in  the 
archives  of  the  convent,  here,  in  Genazzano,  which  would 
convince  the  greatest  sceptic,  that  the  miraculous  occurrence 
really  did  take  place,  on  the  day  named.  I  select  three  of 
the  many  proofs  brought  forward  to  establish  the  truth 
of  the  history  connected  with  the  holy  image.  The  first 
is  the  approval  of  the  Church  given  to  it  soon  after  its 
arrival  in  Genazzano,  and  down  through  five  long  centuries, 
to  the  present  day. 

As  all  Catholics  know,  the  Church  is  very  slow  in 
expressing  an  opinion  on  the  truth,  or  otherwise,  of  the 
many  miraculous  occurrences  that  have  taken  place 


798  The  Shrine  of  Genazzano 

throughout  the  Catholic  world  from  the  first  age  of  her 
existence  down  to  the  present  century.  She  keeps  a  prudent 
silence,  on  all  matters  requiring  the  intervention  of  a 
supernatural  power.  She  allows  her  children  to  believe  in 
their  reality,  or  not,  as  they  think  fit.  In  the  case  of  the 
miraculous  image,  an  exception  was  made.  The  reigning 
Pontiff,  at  the  time  of  the  apparition,  was  Paul  II.  He 
heard  so  much  about  the  miraculous  image,  that  he 
determined  to  investigate  the  facts  connected  with  it.  It 
came  to  his  knowledge,  that  the  towns  round  about  Rome 
were  almost  depopulated,  owing  to  the  numbers  that  had 
gone  in  pilgrimage  to  Genazzano.  He  wished,  naturally,  to 
preserve  his  people  from  believing  in  any  pious  fraud  or 
deception  that  might  be  practised  upon  them  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Genazzano  for  their  own  pecuniary  benefit. 
He  sent  two  learned  and  holy  bishops  to  examine  the 
evidence  upon  which  the  truth  of  the  apparition  was  based. 
They,  undoubtedly,  carried  out  the  commission  given  to 
them  by  the  Supreme  Pontiff  with  the  utmost  conscien- 
tious care  and  diligence.  They,  on  their  return  to  Rome, 
related  to  him,  viva  voce,  the  results  of  their  investigation. 
Had  they  found  the  slightest  flaw  in  the  evidence,  or  the 
least  sign  of  weakness  in  the  proofs,  gathered  by  them  in 
Genazzano,  Paul  II.  would  have  immediately  ordered  the 
sanctuary  to  be  closed,  and  prohibited  the  pilgrimages  from 
all  parts  of  Italy.  He  did  neither  one  thing  or  the  other. 
He  allowed  the  holy  image  to  be  piously  venerated  by  the 
numberless  pilgrims.  He  permitted  the  church  to  be  built, 
and  proclaimed  one  of  the  chosen  sanctuaries  of  the  Mother 
of  God.  His  successor,  Sixtus  IV.,  approved  of  the  devotion 
to  the  holy  image,  and,  to  testify  his  gratitude  to  the 
Mother  of  God,  who  had  so  signally  favoured  the  Augus- 
tinian  Fathers,  by  selecting  them  as  the  guardians  of  this 
priceless  treasure,  he  built  for  them  one  of  the  finest 
churches  and  convents  in  Eome.  Coming  down  the  long 
line  of  popes  to  the  present  illustrious  occupant  of  the 
See  of  Peter,  we  find  one  and  all  of  them  encouraging 
the  faithful  in  their  pilgrimage  to  Genazzano,  and  pro- 
moting by  word  and  by  example,  devotion  to  the  miraculous 


The  Shrine  of  Genazzano  799 

•image.     Urban  VIII.  went  in  solemn  state   to  the  shrine, 

and  celebrated  the  Holy  Sacrifice  before  it,  with  what  fervour 

and  devotion  we  can  well  imagine.     Benedict  XIV.  gave  the 

first  impetus  to  the  pious  union  instituted  to  spread  devotion 

to  our  Lady  under  her  sweet  title,  Mother  of  Good  Counsel, 

in  all  parts  of  the  world.     Pius  IX.,  of  holy  memory,  visited 

the  shrine,  and  placed  a  copy  of  the  miraculous  picture  in 

the  Pauline  chapel  of  the  Vatican,  before  which  he  often 

knelt  in  prayer,  during  his  days  of  trial  and  suffering.     The 

present  great  Pontiff,  Leo  XIII.,  like  his  saintly  predecessor, 

is  a  member  of  the  pious  union.     He  wrote  the  words  to 

be  found  on  the  pictures,  now  so  well  distributed  throughout 

the  Catholic  world,  "  children,  follow  her  counsels."     What 

more  do  we  Catholics  require  to  believe  in  the  miraculous 

coming  and  apparition   of  the  holy  image  in  Genazzano. 

The  Church  has  investigated  the  extraordinary  facts  that 

make  up  the  unique  history  of  this  truly  wonderful  picture. 

Catholics  may  safely  follow  the  example  of  the  illustrious 

successors  of  St.  Peter,  and  receive  the  miraculous  events 

that  took  place  in.  Genazzano,  five  centuries  ago,  as  matters 

of  true  and  reliable  history. 

The  numberless  miracles  wrought,  from  the  very  moment 
of  the  apparition,  up  to  the  present  time,  are  proof  positive 
of  what  we  are  told  about  the  sacred  image  by  creditable 
historians.  It  would  be  blasphemous  to  say,  that  Almighty 
God  would  countenance,  or  give  testimony  of  His  approval 
of  devotion  to  a  picture  of  His  Holy  Mother,  which  was 
untruthfully  and  impiously  asserted  to  have  been  translated 
by  angelic  hands  to  Genazzano,  by  working  miracles  on 
behalf  of  those  who  had  come  long  distances  to  venerate  it. 
Through  the  intercession  of  His  saints,  He  often  heals  the 
infirmities  of  poor  suffering  humanity  to  testify  to  the  heroic 
virtues  of  His  chosen  children.  He  works  miracles  at  their 
shrines,  to  show  that  devotion  to  them  in  these  holy  places 
is  pleasing  to  His  infinite  majesty.  So,  before  the  images 
of  His  Divine  Mother,  He  is  pleased  to  manifest  His  infinite 
power  and  mercy,  to  promote  devotion  to  her  amongst  the 
faithful.  Here,  before  at  this  holy  shrine,  He  has  lavished 
upon  those  who  have  visited  it,  His  choicest  favours  and 


800  The  Shrine  of  Genazzano 

benedictions.  The  sworn  testimonies  of  those  on  whose 
behalf  miracles  were  performed,  and  of  eye-witnesses  of  the 
facts  narrated,  are  still  extant  in  the  archives  of  the  convent. 
Doctors  have  testified  that  the  cures  effected  were  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  highest  chirurgical  or  medical  skill.  The 
votive  offerings  of  the  recipients  of  heavenly  favours,  and  their 
friends,  hanging  on  the  walls  of  the  shrine  chapel,  amply 
prove  that  God  has  selected  it  as  the  chosen  spot  in  which 
He  wills  to  pour  out  on  His  children,  who  love  and  venerate 
the  sacred  image  of  our  Lady  of  Good  Counsel,  the  richest 
graces  of  heaven's  treasury.  Truly,  we  who  seek  for  aid 
in  our  many  corporal  and  spiritual  necessities,  may  turn, 
with  hopeful  hearts  to  this  throne  of  grace  for  relief  and 
assistance. 

Finally,  we  have  the  unbroken  tradition  of  two  peoples 
wide  apart,  separated  by  many  leagues  of  land  and 
sea,  confirming  all  that  we  hear  and  read  about  the 
holy  image  and  its  miraculous  translation  to  Genazzano. 
It  is  needlsss  to  speak  of  the  tradition  handed  down  from 
father  to  son,  in  the  town  where  it  is  now  so  jealously  and 
so  suspiciously  guarded.  What  do  the  Albanians  say  about 
the  Madonna  of  Good  Counsel  ?  They,  one  and  all,  firmly 
believs  that  the  holy  image,  in  its  present  home  amongst  the 
mountains  of  Latium,  is  none  other  than  their  beloved  picture, 
that  suddenly  disappeared  from  the  little  church,  the  ruins 
of  which  are  still  so  sacred  to  them.  This  is  the  tradition 
handed  down  to  them  by  their  forefathers.  They  will  show 
the  visitor  to  their  town  the  ruins  of  the  little  church  that 
once  contained  within  its  walls  the  treasure,  beyond  price, 
of  which  they  were  deprived  in  such  a  wonderful  and 
miraculous  way.  They  will  point  lovingly,  yet  regretfully, 
to  the  niche  in  the  wall  once  occupied  by  the  holy  image, 
before  which  their  forefathers  had  tasted  the  sweetness  of 
a  heavenly  mother's  love,  and  experienced  the  unlimited 
power  of  her  intercession  before  the  throne  of  God.  They 
keep  her  feast  with  religious  pomp,  splendour,  and  joyfulness, 
not  unmixed,  however,  with  sad  regrets,  at  the  absence 
of  her  holy  image  in  the  land  of  the  stranger.  In  their 
prayers,  and  in  their  hymns,  they  invite  her  to  come  back 


The  Shrine  of  Genazzano  801 

to  Scutari,  and  once  more  become,  as  in  centuries  past,  their 
benefactress  and  protectress.  There  is  a  firm  conviction 
amongst  the  inhabitants  that  one  day  the  holy  image  will 
again  cross  the  blue  waters  of  the  Adriatic,  and  return  to 
her  Albanian  home.  When  they  come  to  Italy  they  make 
it  a  point  of  honour  to  visit  Genazzano.  I  have  seen  them 
performing  their  devotions  at  the  shrine,  and  have  noticed 
with  what  fervour  and  piety  they  implore  the  Queen  of 
Heaven  to  bless  them  and  guard  them  in  all  their  ways. 
I  have  observed  also  one  striking  feature  of  their  visits 
tc  Genazzano,  which  tends,  in  no  small  way,  to  confirm 
the  hope  dearly  cherished  by  the  Albanians,  that  their 
beloved  picture  will,  some  day,  not  far  distant,  take  up  its 
abode  amongst  them.  On  leaving  the  shrine  they  reverently 
kiss  the  marble  floor,  and  continue  to  waive  their  hands  in 
loving  leave-taking,  repeating  with  every  gesture  these  words: 
" Adieu,  sweetest  Mother,  we  shall  meet  soon  in  Scutari." 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  proofs  existing,  very 
feebly  put,  I  confess,  to  convince  doubting  ones  of  the  truth 
of  the  history  which  surrounds  the  miraculous  image  of  our 
jady  of  Good  Counsel.  Ought  they  not  be  sufficient  to 
lerit  the  fall  and  fervent  belief  of  the  children  of  God's 
loly  Church  in  the  wonderful  story  told  us  by  historians 
of  the  holy  picture?  Why  seek  for  more?  Would  that 
many  of  the  marvellous  events  recorded  in  the  histories  of 
nations,  which  are  unquestioned  by  readers  of  all  classes, 
were  borne  out  by  as  strong  and  as  reliable  testimony  to 
their  truth  as  the  holy  image  of  our  beloved  Mother  of 
>d  Counsel !  Throw  aside  all  doubt  concerning  it.  Its 
history  has  been  well  and  faithfully  proven  by  the  many 
eminent,  learned,  and  pious  writers  who  have  employed  their 
powerful  pens  in  defence  of  the  miraculous  translation 
and  apparition.  Turn  rather  to  it  in  time  of  doubt  and 
difficulty,  as  the  child  fondly  turns  to  its  mother  when 
danger  is  nigh ;  and  seek  with  a  certainty  of  receiving  the 
priceless  gifts  of  wisdom  and  counsel  from  her,  who  is 
proclaimed  by  the  Catholic  Church  to  be  the  mother  of  all 

wisdom. 

J.  A.  KNOWLES,  O.S.A. 

VOL.  XVII.  3  E 


802     ] 


THE   MYSTICAL  SENSE  OF  SCKIPTUKE.— VI. 

THE  prophecy  of  Jonas  about  the  Eesurrection  (quoted 
by  our  Lord,  St.  Matt.  xii.  40)  was  the  subject  of  an 
article  in  the  September  number  (1895)  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD, 
and  following  the  order  of  the  Gospel,  we  come  now  to  the 
prophecies  of  Isaias  and  of  Asaph  (respectively  quoted  by 
our  Lord,  St.  Matt.  xiii.  14-15,  by  St.  Matthew  himself, 
xiii.  35).  Both  predictions  are  about  our  Lord's  use  of 
parables.  Asaph  foretells  it  in  general ;  while  Isaias,  who  is 
thinking  principally  of  Christ's  judicial  motive  in  so  teaching, 
views  it  under  a  particular  aspect.  Asaph  rather  contem- 
plates the  fact  in  itself;  Isaias  regards  it  as  a  means  to 
an  end.  Asaph,  indeed,  includes  Christ's  motive  in  his 
prophecy,  but  Isaias  expresses  it. 

St.  Matthew,  for  his  own  purpose,  commences  with 
Isaias;  but  in  our  study  of  the  subject  we  shall  find  it 
conducive  to  clearness  to  take  Asaph  first.  His  words  are 
quoted,  as  we  have  seen,  in  xiii.  35.  In  the  verse  immediately 
preceding,  the  Evangelist  describes  the  method  of  pro- 
pounding truth,  which  in  certain  circumstances  our  Lord 
exclusively  employed ;  and  then,  in  v.  35,  declares  that  by 
so  doing,  He  fulfilled  a  Messianic  prophecy,  or  showed 
Himself  to  be  the  Divine  Teacher  whom  the  people  expected : 
v.  34  :  "  All  these  things  Jesus  spoke  in  parables  to  the 
multitudes  ;  and  without  parables  He  did  not  speak  to  them" 
v.  35  :  "  That  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the 
prophet,  saying :  I  will  open  My  mouth  in  parables,  I  will 
utter  things  hidden  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

51.  At  length  the  mystic  prophecy  of  Asaph  about  the 
Incarnate  Wisdom  was  accomplished.  Truths  which  kings 
had  in  vain  desired  to  hear,  truths  too  sublime  to  be  entrusted 
to  Moses  or  to  any  of  the  prophets,  were  now  being  spoken 
by  the  mouth  ot  God  Himself.  Ages  had  passed  away; 
expectant  generations  had  sunk  into  the  tomb ;  but  at  last, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  He  in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treasures 
of  wisdom  and  knowledge  came  down  from  the  bosom  of 
His  Father  to  teach  mankind.  Mysteries  that  only  He 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  803 

could  reveal,  the  things  hidden  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  were  now  being  manifested.  In  that  wonderful 
thirteenth  chapter — "  the  chapter  of  the  parables,"  as  we 
may  call  it — the  Catholic  Church  is  delineated  and  pour- 
trayed,  as  it  could  be  by  none  other  than  its  Divine  Founder. 
Thus  Asaph's  vision  came  true,  the  vision  he  had  of  One 
whose  words  lit  up  the  deepest  recesses  of  time  and  eternity, 
and  showed  the  divine  secrets  that  lay  in  their  hitherto 
unfathomed  and  unfathomable  depths. 

Not  only  the  heavenly  doctrine  of  that  Teacher,  but  the 
very  way  in  which  it  was  to  be  expressed,  had  been  foretold ; 
and  every  word  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
corresponded  to  the  prophecy.  Indeed,  it  was  to  the  form 
rather  than  to  the  contents  that  Asaph's  prophecy  was 
directed.  All  that  wonderful  explanation  of  things  unseen, 
things  on  which  the  angels  longed  to  look,  was  made  by 
means  of  parables.  Without  such  similitudes,  He  did  not 
speak.  But  how  infinitely  perfect  was  the  picture  of  His 
Church,  of  that  "  kingdom  of  heaven"  which  was  to  begin 
here,  and  to  last  without  end  above,  which  those  comparisons 
presented  I1  The  enchantingly  beautiful  parables  in  which 
Christ  told  the  people  about  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  so  that 
they  were  lost  in  admiration  at  His  words,  showed  that 
heaven  must  be  His  home.  And  taken  as  these  parables 
were  from  all  the  phenomena  of  nature,  or  at  other  times 
from  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  human  heart,  they  proved 
that  the  speaker  was  the  All-powerful  and  the  All-knowing. 
Those  who  heard  Him  instantly  perceived  that  He  had  no 
need  that  anyone  should  tell  Him  what  was  in  man,  and 

1  The  first  part  of  the  quotation — Ai>oi£o>  cv  TrapaftdXats  TO  oro/na  /uov — 
agrees  with  the  Septuagint ;  the  second  does  not  (epev^opat  KeKpu/z/xera  airo 
KaTa(3d\r)s  Kotrfiou  <pflfy£o/jiai  Trpo/SXrj/xara  a?r' up^rjs,  Sept.).  St. Matthew  here 
gives  another  translation  from  the  Hebrew,  but  the  sense  is  the  same.  TheVulgate 
Psalter  has  :  "  Aperiam  in  parabolis  os  meum  :  loquar  propositiones  ab  initio  ;" 
the  Vulgate  St.  Matthew  has:  "  Aperiam  in  parabolis  os  meum,  eructabo 
abscondita  a  constitutione  mundi."  St.  Jerome's  version  of  the  Psalm  (v.  ii.) 
is,  "  Aperiam  in  parabola  os  meum  :  loquar  aenigmata  antiqua."  The  singular 
"parabola"  agrees  with  the  Masoretic  Hebrew  text,  and  with  the  Chaldee 
Targum:— "I  will  open  My  mouth  in  a  parable,  I  will  speak  enigmas  that 
were  from  the  beginning."  The  Syriac  has:  —  "For  see,  I  will  open  My 
mouth  in  parables,  I  will  speak  allegories  of  old."  The  substantial  agreement 
between  ail  these  translations  is  evident ;  in  fact,  the  text  and  the  Oriental 
Aversions  employ  in  some  places  the  same  word  in  their  respective  languages. 


804  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

they  also  felt  instinctively  that  He  to  whom  the  whole 
world  was  an  open  book  could  be  no  other  than  its  author. 
Language  such  as  that  which  was  heard  by  the  sea  of 
Galilee,  when  the  enraptured  multitudes  gathered  close 
together  and  eagerly  pressed  forward  to  listen,  could  belong 
only  to  Him  who  was  more  beautiful  than  the  sons  of  men. 
Grace  was  indeed  poured  out  on  the  lips  of  the  Virgin's 
Child.  What  wonder  then  that  the  multitudes  forgot  all 
else  in  the  delight  and  ecstasy  of  hearing  Him ;  that  they 
left  their  homes  without  bestowing  one  thought  on  the 
things  of  earth,  and  followed  Him,  committing  themselves 
in  soul  and  body  to  His  care.  His  accents  thrilled  the 
hearts  of  all  down  to  their  lowest  depths,  and  every  fibre 
responded  to  its  Maker's  voice.  If  He  taught  the  people, 
not  as  their  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  but  as  one  having  power, 
Jesus  Christ  also  spoke  as  man  never  spoke  before.  The 
eloquence  of  His  words  was  divine. 

Thus  the  manner,  as  well  as  the  matter  of  those  mysterious 
discourses  which  St.  Matthew  has  preserved  in  his  thirteenth 
chapter,  fully  established  his  Master's  claim  to  be  believed  in 
as  the  Messias.  Such,  in  a  few  words,  is  the  Evangelist's 
interpretation  of  the  prophecy,  or  application  of  it  in  proof, 
which  we  shall  presently  consider  in  detail. 

52.  It  is  obvious  that  to  do  so  with  profit,  we  must  first 
ascertain  the  literal  meaning  of  the  words  : — "  I  will  open 
My  mouth  in  parables,"  &c.  Before  that  is  clearly  under- 
stood, to  attempt  to  perceive  their  mystical  signification  in 
the  Gospel  would  be  simply  futile.  It  is  in  its  mystical 
sense  that  the  mysteriousness  of  Scripture  is  greatest,  and 
that  sense  presupposes  the  literal  one. 

The  text  or  verse  which  St.  Matthew  cites  is  part  of  the 
descriptive  opening  of  the  seventy- seventh  (heb.  seventy- 
eighth)  Psalm  ("  Attendite  "),  which  is  itself  a  parable  in  that 
wide  sense  in  which  the  Israelites  were  accustomed  to  use 
the  word.  And  the  verse  in  question  puts,  as  it  were  into 
a  nutshell,  the  contents  and  the  drift  of  the  whole  sacred 
poem  which  is  nothing  less  than  a  compendium  of  the  most 
wonderful  events  in  early  Jewish  history  down  to  the 
translation  of  the  ark  to  Mount  Sion.  The  crossing  of  the 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  805 

Red  Sea,  the  pillar  of  fire,  the  manna  in  the  desert,  the 
water  from  the  rock,  and  other  divine  favours,  are  all 
commemorated.  Then,  in  contrast  to  these  tender  mercies, 
the  psalmist  Asaph  depicts  the  persistent  ingratitude  of 
the  people,  their  repeated  transgressions,  their  half-hearted 
conversions  lasting  just  so  long  as  the  divine  chastisements  ; 
in  a  word,  the  obduracy  of  that,  as  he  calls  it,  "  perverse 
and  exasperating  generation." 

This  description  occupies  indeed  the  greater  portion  of 
the  psalm,  if  we  count  the  verses  12-59  ;  but  nevertheless 
it  is  only  the  introduction,  or  less  important  division,  if  we 
regard  the  scope  and  compass  of  the  inspired  composition. 
That  object  is  at  first  indicated  with  a  light,  skilful  touch 
in  passing  (9-11)  ;  but  as  soon  as  his  audience  is  duly 
prepared,  Asaph  returns  to  it,  and  applies  to  it  all  that  he 
has  previously  said.  In  his  application  (60-72)  we  can 
see  what  was  really  the  drift  all  along.  It  becomes  evident 
that  the  historical  part  (12-59)  was  only  the  exordium.  The 
prophet  employed  a  rhetorical  artifice,  in  order  to  conciliate 
certain  ill-disposed  persons.  It  was  a  necessary  proceeding, 
no  doubt ;  but,  after  all,  only  a  means  to  an  end,  an  artifice. 
Asaph  wanted  to  get  a  favourable  hearing  on  what  was,  to 
some,  a  very  unpleasant  subject.  We  must  bear  this  in 
mind,  if  we  would  understand  the  nature  of  his  address  to 
the  people. 

53.  The  circumstances  which  were  the  cause  of  its 
composition,  and  the  causes  which  led  to  those  circum- 
stances, may  here  be  briefly  indicated  as  follows: — David's 
elevation  to  the  throne,  and  the  honour  thus  conferred  on 
Juda,  took  almost  the  whole  nation  by  surprise  ;  but  to  the 
powerful  and  warlike  tribe  of  Ephraim  it  was  a  bitter 
humiliation.  Ephraim  had  long  learned  to  look  on 
the  first  place  in  Israel  as  its  own.  The  rights  belonging 
to  primogeniture,  which  had  been  forfeited  by  Ruben 
(Gen.  xlix.  3),  were  transferred  to  Ephraim  (Gen.  xlviii. 
5,  17,  20,  and  1  Par.  v.  1).  Its  claim  to  be  supreme  in 
Israel  appears  so  early  as  Judges  viii.  1  (in  opposition  to 
Gideon),  and  xii.  1  (in  opposition  to  Jepthe).  Not  even 
the  severe  chastisement  which  the  strife  with  Jepthe 


806  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

entailed  could  tame  its  haughty  spirit.  In  the  reign  of 
David  that  sullen  dissatisfaction,  that  passion  of  insubordi- 
nation, was  still  smouldering  (see  2  Kings  xix.  41,  seqq.}, 
which  afterwards  broke  out  afresh  into  the  fierce  rebellion, 
headed  by  Jeroboam.  David  himself,  though  visibly  chosen 
by  God,  had  to  fight  for  his  r'ghts  seven  years ;  but,  not- 
withstanding that  he  succeeded  in  subduing  his  unruly 
subjects,  when,  in  the  ninth  year  of  his  reign,  he  set  up 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  on  Mount  Sion,  the  indignation  of 
the  Ephraimite  party  was  no  longer  suppressed. 

After  the  entrance  into  the  Promised  Land  the  Ark  had 
been  conveyed  to  Silo  (in  the  territory  of  Ephraim  and  in 
the  middle  of  Palestine),  and  there1  it  had  remained  for 
three  hundred  years.  When  it  was  recovered  from  the 
Philistines,  though  it  was  not  brought  back  to  its  ancient 
sanctuary,  but  kept  provisionally,  first  at  Bethsame,  and  then 
at  Cariathiarim  (both  in  the  territory  of  Juda),  until  it  should 
please  God  to  reveal  where  He  wished  His  resting-place  to 
be,  still  some  Ephraimites  appear  to  have  secretly  cherished 
the  expectation  that  it  would  at  last  be  restored  to  them— 
that  the  glories  of  Silo  would  return.  When,  however,  they 
saw  the  ark  definitely  transferred  to  the  new  capital,  with 
all  possible  solemnity,  amidst  the  jubilee  of  worshipping 
thousands,  unforgiving  envy  took  possession  of  them.  There 
were  symptoms  enough  to  show  that  their  enforced  submis- 
sion to  the  shepherd  boy  of  Bethlehem  was  a  galling  yoke— 
a  yoke  which  they  would  gladly  throw  off  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. There  were  clear  indications  of  their  resolve  not  to 
suffer,  if  possible,  their  time-honoured  sanctuary  to  be  thus 
ignominiously  set  aside  for  what  was  until  yesterday  the 
threshing-floor  of  a  Jebusite.  Although  twenty  thousand 
sons  of  Ephraim  were  amongst  those  who  came  to  do 
homage  to  King  David  in  Hebron  (1  Par.  xiii.  80),  these 
restless,  turbulent  spirits  (with  others,  belonging  perhaps 
to  other  tribes)  strove  to  create  dissension.  In  the  King's  act 

^  Except  in  case  of  war.  It  was  taken  to  Bethel  in  the  war  against  the 
Benjaminites  (Judges  xx.  18,  26,  27).  St.  Jerome  did  not  recognise  Bethel  as 
a  proper  name,  but  translated  it  "  domiim  Dei,"  and  added,  as  an  explanation, 
*'  hoc  est  in  Silo  "  (ibid.  v.  18;. 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  807 

they  did  not  see  the  will  of  God  ;  they  looked  on  it  as  a  piece 
of  statecraft,  a  scheme  devised  in  order  to  subjugate  them  still 
more  effectually  to  Juda,  to  put  an  end  for  ever  to  Silo,  and 
to  make  Jerusalem  ecclesiastically,  as  well  as  politically,  the 
metropolis  of  Palestine.   They  were  quite  prepared  to  cry  out 
as  their  children  did  afterwards  :  "  What  portion  have  we  in 
David,  or  what  inheritance  in  the  son  of  Isai?  "     The  time 
was  a  very  critical  one  for  the  youthful  monarch.    Well  was 
it  for  him  that  he  had  by  his  side  the  aged  seer,  whose  name 
was  held  in  veneration  throughout  the  land,  the  experienced 
counsellor,  Asaph.     He  alone  could  rebuke  Ephraim  for  its 
arrogance,  and  could  prevent  the  other  tribes  from  joining 
it.     This  he  does  in  the  psalm 1  now  before  us.     With  an 
unsparing  hand  he  shows  that  the  calamities  which  over- 
whelmed the  nation  in  the  time  of  the  Judges  were  the 
punishment  of  its  idolatry,  and  shows  too  that  the  prepon- 
derance of  Ephraim  was  always  fatal  to  the  people,  because 
the  first  tribe  in  Israel  was  the  foremost  in  wickedness.    He 
tells  the  whole  truth,  as  he  is  bound  to  do  in  justice ;  but 
he  does  so  -with  such  charity,  discretion,  and  delicate  tact, 
that  the  disturbance  subsides  immediately.     What  might  so 
easily  have  been  attended   with  serious    consequences  has 
left  no  traces  behind  it  in  history.     The  only  knowledge  we 
have  of  it  is  afforded  by  the  psalm  itself.     Such  was  the 


1  So  far  as  we  are  aware,  Patrizi  is,  with  the  exception  of  Calmet,  the  only 
commentator  who  holds  that  the  schism  of  the  ten  tribes  was  the  occasion  of 
this  psalm's  composition.  His  words  are:  "  II  Ixxviii.,  accenandosi  in  esso 
alia  scisma  delli  dieci  tribu,  non  pot£  essere  scritto  di  Asaf  assai  prima  dell'anno 
centesimo  di  sua  vita,  se  pure  visse  tant'oltre  :  e  poi  non  e  detto  Salmo  di  Asaf, 
ma  Istruttiro  di  Asaf''  (Cento  Salmi,  p.  21).  But,  though  Patrizi  is  usually 
so  ingenious  and  happy  in  his  conjectures  on  the  chronology  of  the  psalms, 
there  appears  to  be  nothing  in  this  one  to  bear  out  his  opinion  respecting  it. 
It  contains  no  reference  whatever  to  the  immediate  cause  of  the  schism,  namely, 
.Roboam's  headstrong  act.  Neither  is  there  any  allusion  to  Solomon's  having 
reigned.  The  subject  of  the  psalm,  that  on  which  the  emphasis  is  laid,  is  the 
translation  of  the  Ark  to  Sion,  and  this  happened  more  than  sixty  years  before 
Jeroboam's  secession. 

In  continuation  of  his  remark,  Patrizi  goes  on  to  say  that  the  psalm  may 
have  been  written  not  by  Asaph,  but  by  a  Levite  of  his  family,  who  published 
it  under  his  name.  This,  indeed,  seems  to  be  the  case,  as  Patrizi  shows  very 
well,  with  five  out  of  the  twelve  that  are  styled  psalms  of  Asaph.  They  contain 
indications,  more  or  less  certain,  of  belonging  to  a  later  period,  and  were 
probably  written  by  Asaphites  ;  i.e.,  by  priests  of  Asaph's  course  in  the 
temple.  However,  there  is  apparently  no  reason  for  classing  our  psalm  with 
them.  On  the  contrary,  the  very  fact  that  it  is  about  the  translation  of  the  Ark 


808  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

authority  and  influence  of  Asaph,  that  it  kept  things  in 
order,  until  the  headstrong  act  of  Koboam  drove  the  ten 
tribes  into  rebellion.  And  such  was  Asaph  himself,  whom 
God,  ever  mindful  of  the  man  after  his  own  heart,  inspired 
to  compose  this  wonderful  psalm,  one  of  the  sublimest 
utterances  in  the  entire  Psalter. 

54.  The  miracles  of  love  mentioned  in  the  introductory 
portion  of  the  Psalm  (v.  12-59)  could  never  be  forgotten ; 
they  were  as  familiar  as  household  words  to  those  to  whom 
Asaph  spoke.  He  takes  for  granted  that  the  history  is 
known  to  everyone ;  in  fact,  some  of  the  circumstances  he 
alludes  to  are  not  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Exodus,  and 
must  have  been  preserved  by  tradition.  Indeed  in  vv.  3-6, 
he  expressly  states  that  the  account  was  by  God's  command 
handed  down  from  father  to  son  through  all  the  long 
centuries  that  intervened.  It  was  the  heirloom  and 
common  property  of  the  nation.  The  Israelites  needed  no 
new  description  of  the  prodigies  that  were  wrought  from 
the  day  that  their  ancestors  were  about  to  quit  Egypt, 
until  the  day  they  entered  the  Promised  Land.  Neither 
did  they  require  to  be  told  of  the  punishments  which 
befell  their  forefathers  when  they  sinned.  It  would  be 
even  more  superfluous  to  describe  minutely  the  various 
vicissitudes  of  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  for  these  events 

would  afford  an  antecedent  probability  that  Asaph  was  the  author.  This  was 
his  special  subject.  In  1  Paralipomenon  xvi.  we  read  that  when  David  brought 
the  Ark  into  the  tent  he  had  prepared  for  it,  he  appointed  Levites  to  minister 
before  the  Ark  of  the  Lord,  and  of  them  Asaph  was  the  chief  (ibid.  4,  5).  And 
the  fiftieth  psalm  (Vulgate  xlix.,  "Deus  deorum  Dominus"),  the  very  first, 
with  the  title  "  A  Psalm  of  Asaph,"  is  about  the  inauguration  of  Sion.  Is 
there,  in  the  whole  Psalter,  one  other  psalm  not  said  to  be  Asaph' s,  on  this 
subject?  Then,  again,  unless  a  great  many  psalms  of  Asaph's  are  lost,  it  is 
hard  to  see  what  right  he  had  to  be  ranked  with  David  as  a  psalmist 
(2  Par.  xxix.  30),  if  half  the  psalms  ascribed  to  him  are  not  really  his.  Patrizi, 
indeed,  thinks,  with  good  reason,  tlat  the  anonymous  Psalms  xcvi.,  cv.,  cvi., 
are  Asaph's  composition.  However,  not  one  other  of  the  ten  psalms  thus 
attributed  to  him  corresponds  so  well  with  the  idea  we  get  of  Asaph  in 
Scripture  as  does  our  Ixxviii.  It  is  called,  with  exquisite  appropriateness. 
"The  Wisdom  of  Asaph." 

In  conclusion,  it  must  be  remarked  that,  so  far  as  regards  the  sense  of  the 
verse  that  forms  the  theme  of  this  article,  it  matters  not  who  wrote  the  psalm. 
He  was  a  prophet.  That  was  enough  for  St.  Matthew,  and  it  is  enough  for 
us.  In  our  explanation  of  the  verse,  however,  we  assume,  fcr  the  reasons 
given  above,  and  on  account  of  the  consensus  commentator-urn,,  that  the  title  of 
the  psalm  is  to  be  taken  in  its  obvious  sense,  and  that  Asaph  is  its  author. 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  809 

Imd  occurred  within  everyone's  recollection.  But  to  the 
inspired  seer  was  it  given  to  declare  the  deep  significance 
of  all  this,  beginning  with  the  wonders  of  the  Exodus. 
They  were  shown  by  him  to  be  not  only  stupendous 
miracles,  but  mysterious  foreshadowings  of  its  still  greater 
works.  What  Asaph  does  in  his  psalm  is  to  explain  that 
all  these  supernatural  occurrences  were  so  many  prophetic 
intimations  of  the  great  design  of  God,  and  so  many  pre- 
paratory steps  towards  its  accomplishment. 

To  mention  the  instance  in  the  principal  part  of  the 
psalm.  The  people  knew  only  too  well  by  their  own  sad 
experience  that  when  the  Ark  was  taken  from  Silo  to  the 
battlefield  (1  Kings  iv.  8-11),  it  was  captured  by  the 
Philistines  ;  and  they  knew  that  when  it  was  given  back,  it 
was  not  entrusted  to  the  once  powerful  tribe  of  Ephraim, 
but  to  that  of  Juda,  and  at  length  carried  in  triumph  to 
Jerusalem.  But  the  Psalmist  taught  by  revelation  pro- 
claims that  this  was  neither  the  result  of  chance,  nor  due 
solely  to  the  precaution  of  man.  The  rejection  of  Ephraim 
was  the  just  punishment  of  its  repeated  infidelities  ;  it  was  a 
mark  of  the  anger  of  an  offended  God,  just  as  much  as  were 
the  plagues  inflicted  on  Pharaoh's  people.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  election  of  the  hitherto  insignificant  tribe  of  Juda. 
and  the  choice  of  Sion  as  the  final  resting-place  of  the  Ark, 
was  the  reward  of  faith  and  piety  similar  to  that  which  had 
merited  the  deliverance  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  Miracles 
had  never  ceased.  The  eternal  degrees  of  God  were  being 
gradually  fulfilled,  and  the  deepest  mysteries  were  being 
slowly  unfolded  in  contemporary  history.  These  were 
"  the  things  hidden  from  the  beginning  of  the  world." 
Neither  the  sceptre  nor  the  sanctuary  should  pass  away 
from  Juda  till  the  coming  of  the  King.1 

1 1t  is  important  to  observe  this  perception  of  the  mystical  sense  on  Asaph' s 
part.  That  the  New  Testament  writers  should  be  enabled  by  revelation  to 
read  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament  events,  is  not  so  remarkable  ;  if  one 
may  so  speak,  it  was  not  a  special  favour,  an  extraordinary  grace  granted  for 
an  extraordinary  mission ;  it  belonged  to  their  state  and  their  office.  They 
often  made  use  of  this  supernatural  knowledge.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  1  Cor. 
x.  1-11,  St.  Paul  mentions  most  of  the  miraculous  occurrences  referred  to  above, 
and  teaches  that  they  had  a  'typical  meaning,  and  were  recorded  for  tho  sake 
•of  those  who  were  to  live  under  the  Christian  dispensation.  "  Now  all  these 
"things  happened  to  them  in  figure,  and  they  are  written  for  our  correction,  on 


810  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

55.  The  aim  and  scope  of  the  whole  psalm  is,  as 
we  saw  above,  indicated  in  its  second  verse.  But  all 
writers  do  not  agree  about  its  interpretation.  It  has 

whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come"  (v.  11,  ii.).  He  explains  to  the 
Corinthians,  and  in  them  to  us  all,  that  the  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  the 
cloud  were  both  figures  of  baptiMn  (v.  2.,  ib.}.  Jn  the  first  place,  by  this 
sacrament  all  our  sins  are  washed  away,  and  the  punishment  due  to  them  is 
cancelled.  An  end  is  put  to  the  reign  of  evil  in  our  soul  as  surely  as  an  end 
was  put  to  the  tyranny  of  Pharaoh.  Again,  in  like  manner,  after  the 
deliverance  of  the  Israelites,  the  pillar  was  one  of  cloud  by  day  to  shelter  them 
from  the  scorching  rays  of  an  Arabian  sun,  and  one  of  fire  by  night,  to  show 
them  their  way  across  the  desert..  So  too  by  baptism  (sacraDtentnm  refrigerii], 
our  souls  are  protected  from  the  heat  of  concupiscence,  and  by  it  also 
(mcramentum  illuminationis)  they  are  enlightened  in  the  midst  of  this  world's 
darkness.  St.  Paul  then  explains  (3,  4.  ib.},  that  the  manna,  and  the  water 
Howing  from  the  rock  were  types  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  because  not  only 
were  they  miraculous  gifts  necessary  for  the  sustenance  of  the  Israelites  during 
their  long  journey  through  the  wilderness,  but  they  were  spiritual  food  and 
spiritual  drink  prefiguring  the  mystery  of  love,  the  great  reality  in  which 
"  caro  cibus,  sanguis  potus."  And  he  concludes  by  describing  some  of  the 
chastisements  inflicted  on  the  sinful  Israelites,  and  by  warning  his  Christian 
readers  that  these  dire  punishments  were  after  all  but  shadows  of  the  wrath  to 
corne. 

The  resemblance  between  this  all-important  passage  and  our  Psalm  is  so 
striking,  that  no  one  can  fail  to  perceive  how  close  the  revelation  of  Asaph 
comes  to  that  of  St.  Paul.  Each  is  perfect  in  its  own  sphere.  If  the  Apostle 
penetrates  deeper  into  divine  truth,  cr  tells  us  more  about  the  meaning  of  those 
mysterious  events,  it  is  because  of  the  gj  eater  fulness  and  splendour  of  the  New- 
Testament  revelation.  Enlightened  by  the  Gospel  ray,  when  he  looks  back  on 
sacred  history,  he  sees  clearly  the  outline  of  the  shadows  which  the  two 
principal  sacraments  cast  on  the  m  -st  prominent  of  all  the  bygone  ages.  In 
comparison  with  St.  Paul's,  Asaph's  liurht  was  indeed  dim  ;  he  could  only  discern 
something  mysterious,  and  partly  tell  what  it  was.  The  Apostle  possessed 
the  bright  reality,  the  Psalmist  got  but  a  passing  glimpse  of  the  figure.  One 
contemplated  the  fully  expanded  glories  of  Christianity  ;  the  other  in  the 
twilight  watched  the  nebula  slowly  developing  from  its  tiny  beginning  in  the 
far-off  Exodus.  Of  course,  Asaph  personally  knew  that  the  whole  law  and  the 
kingdom  of  David  were  but  figures  of  the  reign  of  the  Messias  ;  but  we  have  to 
consider  here  not  what  he  knew  personally,  but  what  he  expresses  as  a 
psalmist.  His  mental  horizon  was  Mount  Sion  ;  his  interpretation  and 
application  stop  there.  The  supernatural  light  and  impulse  granted  him  for 
the  composition  of  his  Psalm,  enabled  him  only  to  recognise  and  express  the 
Divine  plan  or  ordinance  which  resulted  in  a  proximate  type  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  necessary  limitation  we  have  just  made 
(lest  any  re-ider  in  forgetfulness  of  the  fact  that  Christianity  was  gradually 
ushered  into  the  world,  might,  perchance,  read  his  own  Christian  ideas  into  the 
Old  Testament  poem,  and  though  acting  with  the  best  possible  intentions, 
nevertheless  spoil  it  by  ascribing  to  it  what  is  quite  unsuitable)  ;  notwith- 
standing such  limitation ,  or  rather  in  consequence  of  it,  it  must  be  said  that 
the  Psalm,  "  Attendite,"  is  one  of  the  most  marvellous  productions  in  the  Old 
Testament.  It  would  appear  that  pre-Christian  revelation  could  in  this 
direction  go  no  further.  Asaph  stands  midway  between  the  Pentateuch  and 
the  Gospel,  and  in  his  clear-sighted  observation  of  the  Divine  nucleus,  in  his 
knowledge  of  the  development  of  mystical  sense  on  a  large  scale,  he  is  the 
most  remarkable  personage  among  either  the  Psalmists  or  the  Prophets. 

For  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  didactic  part  of  his  psalm  does  not  contain 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  811 

been  asserted  that  the  psalm  is  a  parallelistic  poem 
and  nothing  more.  In  tentative  support  of  this  state- 
ment, or  rather  in  the  vain  attempt  to  prop  it  up,  Kitto 

a  moral,  instructive  and  sublime,  indeed,  in  itself,  yet,  after  all,  a  moral  merely- 
drawn  by  Asaph  from  his  own  meditation,  either  on  the  events  recorded  in. 
the  books  uf  Exodxis,  Numbers,  and  Judges,  or  on  the  events  of  his  own  day. 
Reflections  of  the  kind,  even  though  they  be  expressed  in  consequence  of  a 
Divine  impulse,  remain  the  outcome  of  man's  thought  exclusively.  Inspiration, 
is  not  necessarily  accompanied  by  revelation  ;  in  the  hypothetical  case 
contemplated,  it  would  not  be  accompanied.  But  here  we  have,  as  was 
remarked  above,  revelation,  teaching  us  that  the  thoughts  which  Asaph 
expresses,  wore  the  thoughts  which  God  Himself  had  when  He  wrought  those 
miracles.  He  spoke  in  works  ;  His  Prophet  speaks  in  words.  God  intended  the 
miracles  to  be  so  ma*ny  object-lessons  for  His  people.  Hence  it  is  not  a, 
sennits  consequent,  but  a  sensns  mysiicns  that  we  find  here.  It  exists  in  the 
•wonderful  events  themselves,  and  is  coeval  with  them.  Asaph  was  only 
instrumental  in  explaining  it  in  human  language.  He  could  have  said: — 
"These  things  happened  to  them  in  figure,  and  they  are  written  for  our 
correction  ;"  just  as,  on  the  other  hand,  St.  Paul,  taking  the  words  not  in  their 
prophetic  sense  could  have  said  of  himself  :  —  "  I  will  utter  things  hidden  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world."  More  than  four  centuries  after  their  occurrence 
that  mystical  sense,  was  in  part  first  revealed  to  Asaph  (in  order  to 
its  promulgation),  and  then  long  afterwards  was  fully  revealed  to  St.  Paul 
(for  the  same  purpose).  The  latter  revelation  was,  of  course,  made  to  all  the 
other  Apostles  ;  but  whether  the  former  one  as  a  personal  favour  was  vouchsafed 
to  any  man  before  Asaph,  we  have,  apparently,  no  means  of  knowing.  The 
contrary  would,  indeed,  seem  to  be  indicated,  for  '  these  things  were  hidden  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world." 

To  prevent  misconception,  the  writer  would  observe  that  here  it  i>  not 
implied  that  Moses,  for  instance,  was  unaware  of  those  events  of  the  Kxodus 
being  so  many  Messianic  prophecies.  On  the  contrary,  the  writer  holds  that 
Moses  understood  their  relation  to  Christ,  or  their  mystical  sense  regarding  Him 
who  is  the  end  and  the  reality  of  all  types  and  figures.  But  it  is  possible  that 
the  proximate  relation  of  those  events  of  the  Exodus  to  other  types  and  figures 
still  to  come  was  not  revealed  to  Moses  ;  that  he  did  not  perceive  what  they 
signified  with  respect  to  Juda,  and  Sion,  and  the  Ark  ;  that  the  drift  of  con- 
temporaneous events  setting  in  a  direction  still  in  the  bosom  of  futurity  was  a 
drift  unseen  by  him.  Moses  may  hare  known  nothing  about  Sion.  It  is  possible 
to  know  that  certain  things  are  God's  means  to  an  end,  without  knowing  that 
they  are  means  to  other  means,  and  without  knowing  what  those  other  means 
will  be.  God  reveals  as  much  as  He  likes,  and  no  more.  He  says  to  man,  ' '  Thus 
far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  further."  He  may,  therefore,  have  determined  the 
limits  and  boundary  of  knowledge  for  Moses  here  conceived . 

So  much  for  probability  ;  now  for  certainty.  If  Moses  saw  the  whole  con- 
catenation of  events  in  their  typical  and  causative  character,  from  his  own  time  to- 
the  time  of  Christ,  he  did  not  speak  about  Sion  as  Asaph  did.  The  explanation 
of  the  mediate  state  is  ail  Asaph's  own.  It  was  this  that  made  Asaph  a  figure 
of  Christ.  Unless  he  had  delivered  a  new  revelation,  unless  he  had  declared 
things  hidden  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  up  to  that  time,  he  would  not 
have  been  like  the  great  Revealer. 

To  the  Psalmist  then  and  to  the  Apostle  were  the  secret  pxirposes  of 
Almighty  God  successively  and  gradually  disclosed.  As  it  would  be  wrong  to 
doubt  whether  the  manna,  and  the  water  flowing  from  the  rock,  really  signified 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  sacrament  of  His  love,  so  would  it  be  wrong  to  imagine  that 
these  same  miracles  did  not  foreshadow  the  benefits  recounted  in  the  end  of  the 
Psalm.  The  same  holds  good  of  the  punishments  which  are  there  recorded. 


812  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

says1  that  the  name  Masked,  given  in  the  same  second 
verse  to  the  psalm  by  the  author  himself,  is  an  all- 
sufficient  proof.  If  a  bold  attack  be  the  best  defence, 
then  this  defence  has  seldom  been  surpassed.  According 
to  Kitto,  the  Hebrew  word  Mashal2  merely  indicates  the 
symmetrical  arrangement  of  a  composition,  and  he  even 
goes  to  say  that  it  never  applies  to  the  subject-matter. 
This  is  a  surprising  error  on  the  part  of  a  learned  man. 
It  is,  of  course,  readily  granted  that  the  word  is  used  of 
numerous  pieces  written  in  parallelism,  or  in  the  manner 
which  is  characteristic  of  Hebrew  poetry.  So  far  everyone 
must  agree  with  Kitto,  for  this  is  a  fact  well  known  to  all 
Hebrew  scholars.  But  he  contends  that  the  word  is  used 
of  these  pieces  solely  because  they  are  in  verse,  and  in  this 
he  is  wrong  :  moreover  that  the  word  is  never  used  of  prose, 
never  has  reference  to  the  contents  of  a  passage,  and  in  this 
he  is  wrong  also.  Let  us  take  his  last  statement  first.  So 
far  from  its  being  true,  it  is  certain  that  the  name  Mashal 
signifies  a  parable,  a  proverb,  and  a  byword  of  reproach, 
and  that  it  denotes  them,  where  there  is  no  parallelism 
whatever.  Gesenius  has  collected3  prose  passages  from  the 

And  as  regards  those  whose  lives  foreshadow  that  of  the  Messias,  a  word  will 
suffice.  In  the  long  procession  of  ages  as  they  passed  before  the  throne  of  the 
Eternal,  those  ages  shone  with  special  brilliancy  in  which  more  of  the  glory  of 
the  Incarnate  Word  was  reflected  ;  and  as  the  procession  advanced,  and  one  by 
one  the  typical  or  allegorical  personages  appeared,  each  of  them  representing 
some  perfection  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  brightness  and  the  splendour  of  that 
procession  grew,  till  it  was  evident  to  the  man  whom  God  thus  permitted  to 
share  His  vision,  that  the  august  personages  who  had  opened  that  mystic 
procession  were  so  eclipsed  by  some  of  those  who  followed,  that  their  effulgence 
became  pale  and  dim  in  comparison  with  the  dazzling  magnificence  of  the  others. 
Asaph  watched  the  procession  move  on  as  far  as  King  David  ;  St.  Paul  beheld 
it  end  in  Him  who  is  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  Light  of  Light  and 
true  God  of  true  God. 

To  conclude  the  remarks  in  this  note,  the  similitude  or  connection 
respectively  pointed  out  by  the  sacred  writers  between  the  Exodus  and  the 
time  of  David,  and  the  Exodus  and  the  time  of  Christ,  is  not  due  to  a  fancied 
resemblance.  Asaph  and  St.  Paul  teach  us  what  the  Holy  Ghost  taught  them. 
The  wonderful  similarity  and  correspondence  between  their  explanations, 
between  the  Psalm  and  the  Epistle,  is  one  of  the  clearest  instance  of  the  mutual 
dependence  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  ;  just  as  the  progressive 
knowledge  of  divine  things  which  the  Psalm  and  the  Epistle  respectively 
manifest,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  exemplifications  of  the  great  law  of 
development  in  revelation. 

1  Journal,  July  1850,  page  479. 

2  Translated  here  in    the     Septuagaint  -  <irapa{3o\ais,    in    the    Vulgate— 
parabolis. 

3  Thesaurus,  p.  828. 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  813 

Old  Testament  that  show  beyond  doubt  that  the  term  had 
all  the  various  meanings  just  mentioned.  For  instance,  the 
parables  in  Ezechiel,  "  the  two  eagles"  (xvii.  3-8;  and 
"  the  pot  "  (xxiv.  3-5),  are  both  called  Mashal  (xvii.  2, "and 
xxiv.  3) ;  also  the  prophet's  method  of  teaching  (xxi.  5  ; 
Vulgate  xx.  49),  "  Nurnquid  non  in  parabolis  loquitur 
iste  ? "  The  same  name  is  given  to  Nathan's  discourse, 
2  Kings  (Samuel)  (xii.  1-4),  and  also  to  Joatham's  ingenious 
apologue  of  the  trees  electing  a  king  (Judges  ix.  7-15).  The 
first  book  of  Kings  (Samuel)  contains  proverbs  properly  so 
called  :  "  Is  Saul  among  the  prophets  ?  "  (x.  12),  and  "  From 
the  wicked  shall  wickedness  come  forth"  (xxiv.  14);  both  of 
which  are  there  said  to  be  Mashal.  And  lastly,  the  term  is 
employed  in  a  somewhat  different  sense  by  Moses  in  the 
curse  with  which  he  threatens  the  Jewish  nation  in  case  of 
disobedience :  '*  Thou  shalt  be  lost  as  a  proverb  and  a 
byword  to  all  peoples  "  (Deut.  xxviii.  37).  See  also  3  Kings 
(1  Kings)  ix.  7.  So  much  for  prose,  and  for  Kitto's 
statement  regarding  it. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  the  metrical  compositions 
entitled  Mashal,  are  many.  Besides  the  book  of  Proverbs 
(Mishlei),  we  find  that  the  six  oracles  of  Balaam,  the  27th 
and  29th  chapters  of  Job,  the  address  to  the  King  of 
Babylon,  Isaias  xiv.  14-27,  &c.,  are  so  designated. 
Gesenius,  who  to  some  extent  agrees  with  Kitto  in  respect 
of  poetry,  holds  that  these,  at  least,  get  the  appellation  in 
question,  partly  because  they  are  poetry  ;  that  since  the  word 
means  juxtaposition,  measurement,  comparison,  order,  and 
is  used  in  this  sense  of  things  in  a  parable,. so  is  it  used  of 
words  in  a  literary  composition.  But,  with  all  due  respect 
to  the  greatest  of  Hebrew  lexicographers,  the  usus  loquendi 
shows  that  wherever  the  name  Mashal  is  applied  to  poems, 
it  is  so  solely  on  account  of  their  meaning.  All  the 
examples  adduced  by  Gesenius  are  either  allegorical, 
didactic,  enigmatic,  prophetic,  or  proverbial;  and  they  are 
emphatically  denominated  Mashal  in  order  to  bespeak 
attention  to  their  contents. 

The  name  is  never  given  to  what  does  not  fall  into 
some  one  of  the  classes  just  enumerated.  Indeed  if  it 


814  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

denoted  merely  one  of  the  two  great  divisions  of  all  literary 
productions — its  employment  in  the  instances  just  now 
referred  to  would  have  been  quite  unnecessary,  for  every 
Hebrew  reader  would  see  at  a  glance  that  a  poem  lay  before 
him :  or,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  appellation  were  not 
deemed  superfluous,  then  it  should  have  been  prefixed  to 
all  compositions  in  verse,  for  if  confined  to  some  its  use 
would  be  misleading.  In  point  of  fact,  biblical  Hebrew  has 
no  terms  whatever  to  correspond  to  "  prose  "  and  "  poetry ;" 
it  has  for  "  psalm  "  and  "canticle"  (mismor  and  shir],  but 
the  purely  literary  distinction  just  mentioned,  it  is  incapable 
of  expressing.  The  obvious  reason  is,  that  the  inspired 
writers  did  not  write  poetry  for  its  own  sake,  and  their 
language  has  no  name  for  poetry  as  such. 

The  mere  fact  that  some  compositions  of  the  various 
classes  mentioned  above  are  written  in  parallel  measure, 
does  not  avail  to  prove  the  opinion  of  Gesenius,  much  less 
that  of  Kitto.  The  point  in  question  is  not  whether  a  piece 
written  in  a  certain  arrangement  and  balance  of  thought 
and  expression  was  ever  called  Mashal,  but  whether  any 
such  piece  was  so  called  that  did  not  get  the  appellation  on 
account  of  its  subject-matter  ;  in  other  words,  whether  the 
name  was  given  to  the  piece  solely  because  it  was  poetry. 
Both  these  scholars  assert  this ;  but  assertion  is  not  proof, 
especially  when  all  the  facts  are  against  it.1 

1  Had  Kitto  understood  the  very  first  word  in  the  title  of  the  psalm,  he  could 
hardly  have  misinterpreted  the  term  Mashal  in  the  second  verse.  The  title  is 
MasTdl  Asaph  (Septuagint ;  crui/eo-eojs-  ro>  Ao-a$.  Vulgate:  intellects  Asaph. 
St.  Jerome's  version  :  erttditio  Ampli.  Perhaps  'it  would  be  best  trans- 
lated into  English,  by  "  Wisdom  of  Asaph." 

The  word  Maslcil  which  occurs  also  in  the  titles  of  twelve  other  psalms, 
means  an  instructive  or  didactic  one,  as  different  from  a  psalm  of  petition  and 
thanksgiving,  &c.  De  Wette,  Dereser,  and  others  were  of  opinion  that  it 
denoted  a  poem  and  nothing  more,  because,  forsooth,  the  cognate  Arabic  word 
has  this  signification.  But  this  is  a  hasty  inference,  and  there  is  nothing  to 
justify  it.  The  Hebrew  verb  of  which  Maskil  is  a  participle,  means  "  to  teach." 
Gesenius  (Thesaurus,  s.  v.)  gives  the  true  explanation,  so  do  Thalhofer  and 
Reinke  (TJnterwcisungslicd,  Lehrgesang}.  The  thirteen  psalms  in  the  titles  of 
wh'ch  the  word  is  found,  all  contain  lessons  of  heavenly  knowledge  and  wisdom. 
In  this  class  of  psalms,  Asaph  is  superior  to  David  himself ;  for  though  he  has 
not  the  ease  and  grace  of  "  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel,"  Asaph  has  considerably 
more  knowledge. 

Kitto  had  an  object  in  aserting-  that  the  Ixxviiith  Psalm  was  in  no  sense 
a  parable,  but  only  a  poem.  While  he  willingly  granted,  or  rather 
•H?aintained,  that  it  contained  a  prophecy  which  was  fulfilled  by  Christ,  he 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  815 

From  all  that  has  been  said,  it  is  abundantly  evident 
that  the  literal  sense  of  the  second  verse,  "  I  will  open  my 
mouth  in  parables,"  &c.,  is  that  Asaph  was  about  to  explain 
the  hidden  significance  of  the  greatest  and  best  known 
events  in  Hebrew  history.  And  now  we  have  reached  the 
end  of  our  initial  inquiry. 

Let  us  advance  further.  The  mystical  sense  underlying 
that  second  verse  is,  that  God  conferred  on  Asaph  an 
immeasurably  greater  favour  than  that  of  being  able  to  read 
what  He  had  written  in  the  things  of  time.  Asaph  was 
raised  to  the  supreme  dignity  of  a  type  or  figure  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thus  became  a  living  image  through  whose 
inspired  action  God  adumbrated  the  way  in  which  He 
Himself,  when  He  came  down  to  earth,  would  reveal  the 
things  of  heaven.  What  Asaph  did,  Jesus  Christ  was  to 
do,  but  with  infinitely  more  perfection.  By  extraordinary 
favour  Asaph  learned  a  fraction  of  the  meaning  of  sacred 
history.  Christ  knew  all  things,  and  knew  them  by  a  four- 
fold knowledge  (divine,  beatific,  infused,  acquired),  which 
was  His  by  right.  Asaph  expressed  in  one  solitary  parable- 
psalm,  as  well  as  an  inspired  creature  could,  how  God  ;vas 
gradually  carrying  out  His  greatest  plan.  Christ  not  only 
accomplished  that  plan,  but  delivered  the  entire  revelation 
regarding  it  in  parables  so  exquisitely  beautiful,  that  Asaph's 
one  presents  only  a  remote  analogy  to  them,  and  in  parables 

would  fain  pursuade  his  readers  that  the  prophecy  regarded  poetic  diction 
exclusively,  and  that  it  was  fulfilled  by  our  Lord's  always  preaching  in  verse. 
Kitto  says  :— '"  All  the  public  discourses  of  the  Messias  were  rhythmical,  all 
the  authoritative  proclamations  of  the  second  Law  were  poetic.  Whatever  our 
Lord  spoke  in  public  fulfilment  of  His  Messianic  mission  as  Prophet — sermons, 
parables,  prophecies,  proverbs — all  were  parallelistic  poems."  Hence,  to 
prepare  the  ground  for  this  amazingly  broad  structure,  Kitto  tries  to  make  out 
that  the  name  which  Asaph  gives  to  his  psalm  cannot  signify  aught  besides  its 
metrical  form.  He  lays  down  that  "  every  where  the  Masked  means  not  a 
parable,  or  the  analogical  comparison  of  two  ideas,  but  a  parallelism,  or  the 
placing  together  of  two  lines  or  sentences."  This  adventurous  assertion  has 
been  disposed  of  nlready,  so  we  maj  now  confine  our  attention  to  the  alleged 
parallelism  in  each  and  every  one  of  our  Lord's  public  discourses. 

The  truth  is,  that  parallelism  is  found  in  some,  and  only  in  some  of  our 
Lord's  discourses.  He  spoke  at  times  in  poetry  ;  that  is  all  that  can  be  said. 
Before  proceeding  further,  it  may  be  well  to  remind  some  of  our  readers  that 
the  external  form  of  Hebrew  poetry — that  of  the  psalms,  for  instance — consists  in 
the  symmetrical  balanced  arrangement  of  two  or  more  clauses  which  mutually 
correspond.  This  arrangement  is  known  as  parallelism.  The  word  which  is 
now  universally  adopted  was  invented  by  Lowth,  a  Protestant  Bishop  of  London, 


816  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

so  numerous,  that  if  they  were  all  to  be  recorded,  the  world 
would  not  be  able  to  contain  the  books  that  should  be 
written. 

What  is  Asaph's  psalm  compared  with  what  we  find  in 
the  New  Testament  ?  We  have  to  study  it  with  a  micro- 
scope before  we  see  anything  in  it.  Beyond  all  doubt  its 
contents  were  a  wonderful  revelation  to  the  prophet's 
contemporaries ;  yet  we  know  that  he  perceived  only  a 
minute  segment  of  that  infinite  circle  which  begins  and 
ends  in  eternity,  the  centre  and  the  circumference  of  which 
is  Jesus  Christ.  Because  He,  the  Divine  exemplar,  intended 
to  teach  in  parables,  Asaph  was  inspired  to  do  so  too.  The 
psalm  we  call  Attendite  was  the  earnest,  and  at  the  same 
time,  the  draft  or  rough  copy,  of  the  sermons  of  the  Messias. 
The  fact,  then,  that  Asaph  spoke  as  he  did  was  a  real 
or  mystical  prophecy,  uttered  in  the  time  of  David,  and 
fulfilled,  a  thousand  years  afterwards,  by  the  figurative 
discourses  still  preserved  in  the  Gospels.  God  the  Father 
inspired  Asaph,  under  certain  circumstances,  to  speak  in 

in  the  last  century,  and  no  better  name  could  possibly  be  given.  He  defines  it 
thus  :  "  Parallelismus  "  aequalitas  et  similitude  quaedam  membrorum  cujusque 
periodi,  ita  ut  in  duobus  plerumque  membris  res  rebus,  verba  verbis,  quasi 
demensa  et  paria  respondeant."  This  is  the  essential  characteristic  which 
the  poetry  of  the  Israelites  possesses  in  common  with  that  of  other  ancient  nations. 
Lowth  was  the  first  to  investigate  the  technical  structure  of  the  Old  Testament 
poetry  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  and  his  Praelectioncs  de  Sacra  Hebraeorum 
Pocsi  delivered  before  the  University  of  Oxford  were  deservedly  held  in  hig-h 
esteem.  In  consequence  of  Lowth's  success,  Jebb,  another  Protestant  Bishop, 
attempted  to  show  that  parallelism  was  common  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
Kitto  tried  to  prove  that  it  certainly  was  found  throughout  the  Lord's 
sermons.  Both  efforts,  of  course,  failed.  The  New  Testament  is,  broadly 
speaking  all  in  prose.  Besides  the  three  canticles  (Magnificat,  Bencdictns, 
Nunc  dimittis),  there  are  few  poetical  passages,  and  in  our  Lord's  sermons 
in  particular,  such  passages  are  rare. 

The  following  instances  may  be  mentioned  ;  parallelism  occurs  in  the 
description  of  the  eight  beatitudes,  St.  Matt.  v.  3-10  ;  also  in  x.  26,  and  in. 
St.  John  iii.  0.  A  remarkable  instance  is  found  in  St.  Matt,  xxiii.  5,  12  ;  "  For 
they  make  their  phylacteries  broad" — 7  is  in  six  line  parallelism,  in  vv.  11, 
12  ;  there  are  also  six  lines  containing  three  prohibitions  and  three  reasons  ;  and 
in  vv.  11,  12,  six  lines  containing  three  positive  precepts  and  three  antitheses. 
Other  specimens  are  quoted  in  Cardinal  Wiseman's  lectures  on  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  in  which  the  utility  for  exegetical  purposes  of  being  able  to  recognise 
parallelism,  is  practically  exemplified. 

To  sum  up,  certain  portions  of  Christ's  discourses  were  delivered  in  measured 
or  rhythmical  language,  when  He  judged  it  necessary  to  make  His  hearers  more 
than  usually  attentive,  or  to  impress  His  words  deeper  on  their  memory.  But 
to  fancy  that  He  always  spoke  in  parallelism,  is  as  great  a  mistake  as  to  imagine 
that  the  prophecy  of  Asaph  refers  to  parallelism,  and  not  to  parables. 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  817 

parables,  so  that  Asaph's  act  was  a  typical  prediction 
(Heb.  i.  1) ;  God  the  Son  made  man  when  in  circumstances 
similar  to  Asaph's,  taught  only  in  parables,  in  order  to  fulfil 
that  prediction  to  the  letter  ;  God  the  Holy  Ghost  revealed 
this  mystery  to  St.  Matthew,  and  inspired  him  to  say  that 
Jesus  Christ,  of  His  own  deliberate  will,  accomplished  what 
had  been  foretold,  because  it  had  been  foretold.  Thus  the 
prophecy,  its  perfect  fulfilment,  and  the  attestation  of  its 
perfect  fulfilment,  were  divine. 

57.  Asaph  believed  explicitly  that  God  would  become 
man  for  the  world's  redemption.  Did  he  believe  with  the 
same  clearness  that  the  Kedeemer  would  deliver  the  whole 
of  His  doctrines  in  parables,  and  at  times  reveal  the  things 
hidden  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  only  in  parables  ? 
Asaph  knew  that  the  miraculous  occurrences  he  sung  of 
were  but  the  shadows  of  incomparably  more  wondrous 
ordinances.  Did  he  know  that  the  singer  himself  was  only 
a  shadow  too,  a  mere  figure  outlined  by  its  own  darkness  to 
be  a  faint  representation  of  the  Light  of  Light,  who  was  to 
manifest  His  divinity  by  the  use  of  parables,  and  command 
three  of  His  Evangelists  to  commit  them  to  the  keeping  of 
His  Church  until  the  Day  of  Judgment  ?  Had  the  psalmist- 
prophet  an  idea  of  what  a  parable  in  the  mouth  of  God 
would  be,  or  of  its  boundless  comprehensiveness  and  eternal 
import  ?  Was  he  aware  of  all  these  mysteries  within 
mysteries  ? 

St.  Thomas,  who  is  the  best  guide  in  this  and  similar 
matters,  says  of  the  prophets,1  that  when  they  were  moved 
to  perform  a  typical  action,  they  were  conscious  of  the 
inspiration,  and  understood  the  meaning  of  the  action, 
though  not  in  its  entire  extent.  The  answer,  therefore,  is  : 
Asaph  was  enlightened  about  the  central  fact,  but  did  not 
comprehend  everything  relative  to  the  Gospel  parables  ;  the 
teaching  of  St.  Thomas  being,  of  course,  not  that  the 
prophets  did  not  perceive  all  that  the  Holy  Ghost  perceived 
(an  irrelevant  truism),  but  that  the  prophets  did  not  see  all 
which  was  signified  by  the  Holy  Ghost  then,  and  which 

1  Summa  2a,  2ae}  q.  clxxiii.,  Art.  4. 
VOL.  XVII.  3  F 


818  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

would  be  revealed  at  the  proper  time  (1  Peter  i.  10,  11). 
In  the  present  case  the  first  complete  revelation  was  the 
fact  that  Christ  taught  in  parables  ;    the  second  was  the 
declaration  of  St.  Matthew  about  Christ's  reason  for  doing 
so.     Christ's  act,  because  anti-typical,  explained  the  signi- 
ficance of  Asaph's  as  nothing  else  could  do.     St.  Matthew's 
word,  because  inspired,  explained  the  word  of  Christ,  as  no 
mere  word  of  man  could.     As  the  New  Testament  is  in  all 
such  cases  the  indispensable  means  to  the  adequate  inter- 
pretation of  the  Old,  it  follows  that  a  Catholic  theologian 
may  have  more  extensive  knowledge  of  the  typical  character 
of  a   prophet    than    even    the    prophet   himself   possessed. 
The  theologian,  however,  while  interpreting,  must  not  read 
that  knowledge,  which  is  due  exclusively  to  the  Christian 
revelation  (to  the  fulfilment   by  Christ,  and   to  the  post- 
factum  explanation  by  an  Evangelist)  into  the  letter  of  the 
Old  Testament,  nor  into  its  Messianic  type  especially.    Our 
understanding  of  them  will  be  perfect  only  in  heaven.     At 
present  we  see  little  ;  but  those  who  lived  under  the  law 
saw  less.     Hence  the  need  of  caution  and  moderation  when 
commentators  try  to  delineate  accurately  the  limited  know- 
ledge of  the  mystical  sense  imparted  to  those  who  lived  before 
Christ.     Gospel   knowledge  is   not,   therefore,   ascribed   to 
Asaph,  because  it  is  maintained  that  he  had  some  perception. 
When  from  the  sublime  heights  on  which  he  had  his  vision, 
Asaph  surveyed  with  amazement  the  divine  purposes  revealed 
in  the  long,  dim  valley  of  the  past,  he  knew  that  an  all-seeing 
Eye,  looking  down  from  heaven,  perceived  him  to  be  a  sign 
of  the  divine  purposes  in  the  future.     Thus  he  was  aware 
that    God   had   made   him  a  link  in  the  mighty  chain  of 
miracles  and  prophecies  that  stretched  from  the  Exodus  to 
Jesus  Christ.     Asaph  had  more  knowledge  than  the  poet 
allows  to  another  personage  in  like  circumstances  : — 

"  A  di  chi  mai 

Imagine  son  io  ?     Qualche  grand  opera 
Certo  in  cielo  si  matura 
Di  cui  forse  e  Giuseppe  ombre  e  figura." 

In  Asaph's  own  time  David  declared  that   Melchisedech 
\vas  a  type  of  the  Messias  as  priest  (Ps.  ex.  4 ;  Vulg.  cix.) ; 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  819 

and  in  several  other  psalms  David  announced  that  himself 
and  Solomon  were  figures  of  the  Messias  as  King.  Thus,  in 
inspired  words,  which  Asaph  must  have  irequently  sung  in 
choir,  living  effigies  of  Christ,  in  the  past  and  present,  were 
solemnly  recognised.  He,  therefore,  may  very  well  have 
known,  by  a  similar  revelation,  that  he  was  a  representative 
of  Christ  as  prophet.  What  makes  this  antecedently  all 
the  more  probable,  is  that  Moses  was  aware  that  he  fore- 
shadowed the  Messias  in  this  capacity  :  "  God  will  raise  up 
a  prophet  like  unto  me  "  (Deut.  xviii.  15). 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  name  "  seer"  given  to  Asaph 
(2  Par.  xxix.  30)  is  not  here  advanced  as  an  argument  that 
he  had  the  foreknowledge  in  question.  There  may  be 
prophecy  about  mysteries  hidden  in  the  past,  just  as 
well  as  prophecy  about  those  hidden  in  the  future.  Most 
probably  the  name  was  conferred  on  account  of  the 
wonderful  vision  of  the  mystic  past  which  is  the  ground- 
work of  the  seventy-eighth  Psalm.  At  least  this  much  is 
certain,  that  in  this  psalm  there  is  no  literal  prophecy  about 
the  future,  and  that  in  the  other  ones  which  bear  Asaph's 
name  there  is  nothing  that  could  entitle  him  to  be  called  a 
4t  seer,"  for  they  are  all  exclusively  didactic. 

Neither  is  the  opinion  which  is  here  held  an  inference 
from  the  fact  that  Asaph  penetrated  the  hidden  meaning  of 
events  in  history.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
mystical  sense  of  the  events  is  the  literal  sense  of  the 
psalm.  Granted  that  Asaph  understood  what  he  was 
saying,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  knew  he  was  a  figure 
of  Christ.  The  two  things  are  separate  and  incommen- 
surable :  what  inspiration  made  of  his  words,  and  what 
inspiration  made  of  himself.  The  one  result  is  retrospec- 
tive and  moral,  the  other  is  prospective  and  strictly 
prophetic ;  the  one  is  the  literal  sense,  of  which  we  have 
treated  above ;  the  other  is  the  mystical  sense  we  are 
considering  here.  Or,  to  put  it  differently,  the  one  is  a 
mystical  sense  contained  in  the  Exodus,  &c. ;  the  other  is 
the  mystical  sense  contained  in  Asaph's  action,  which 
constituted  the  prophecy  about  our  Lord's  use  of  parables. 
Asaph  indicated  the  existence  of  the  first ;  St.  Matthew 


820  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

indicated  the  existence  of  the  second.  The  Evangelist  is  to 
the  Psalmist  what  the  Psalmist  is  to  the  Exodus.  Hence, 
if  we  ascribe  personal  private  knowledge  of  his  own  mystical 
character  to  Asaph,  we  do  so,  not  as  an  inference  from  his 
understanding  aught  else,  but  solely  on  account  of  the 
analogy  between  him  and  David,  &c.,  and  on  account  of  his 
having  what  St.  Thomas  calls  "  prophetia,"  as  distinct  from 
"  instinctus  propheticus." 

58.  But  it  must  be  noted  that  our  certainty  of  Asaph's 
being  a  type  is  quite  independent  of  his  own  consciousness, 
or  unconsciousness,  of  the  matter.  Our  certainty  rests 
wholly  upon  the  words  of  St.  Matthew,  for  it  is  from  him 
alone  that  we  get  whatever  information  we  have  about  the 
mystical  sense  here.  Hence  our  certainty  would  not  be  in 
any  way  affected  nor  diminished  in  the  least,  if  it  were 
proved  even  to  demonstration  that  Asaph  did  not  know 
he  prefigured  the  Messias.  We  believe  St.  Matthew ;  his 
authority  is  enough  for  us.  He  declares  that  the  prophet's 
"  speaking  in  parables  "  was  fulfilled  by  our  Lord's  doing 
the  same.  Maldonatus,  of  course,  as  usual,  says  that  the 
sense  apparently  testified  to  by  the  Evangelist  is  not  the 
real  sense — that  the  Evangelist  did  not  'mean  that,  strictly 
speaking,  our  Lord  accomplished  a  prediction  by  speaking 
in  parables.  He  expresses  himself  thus :  "  Nee  vult  evan- 
gelista  docere  Davidis  prophetiam  proprie  a  Christo  impletam 
fuisse  .  .  .  Sed  evangelista,  ut  solet,  quod  a]  Davide  alio 
sensu  dictum  erat,  non  ad  eundem  sed  ad  similem  sensum 
accomodat/'  Maldonatus'  arguments  for  this  statement  are 
twofold — first,  St.  Matthew  did  not  mean  that  there  was'a 
real  fulfilment,  because  "  ut  impleretur"  must  be  taken 
ecbatically;  secondly,  St.  Matthew-  could  not  mean  that 
there  was  a  real  fulfilment,  because  ,the  word  "parable"  is 
applied  to  a  class  of  sayings  in  the  Gospel  different  from 
that  to  which  it  refers  in  the  psalm,  and  the  psalm  itself  is 
not  prophetic,  but  historical. 

Let  us  take  these  arguments  in  the  reverse  order.  The 
seventy-eighth  Psalm  does,  indeed,  narrate  events ;  but  it  is 
not  in  those  events  or  in  the  historical  part  of  the  psalm 
(v.  9-72),  that  we  look  for  the  Messianic  prophecy  in 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  821 

question.  The  mystical  sense  of  those  events,  or  the  literal 
sense  of  that  explanatory  portion  of  the  psalm,  is  not 
about  parables.  Neither  is  the  announcement  about  our 
Lord's  parables  contained  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  second 
verse,  for  that  sense  is  confined  to  Asaph  exclusively.  The 
prophecy  about  them  exists  in  the  Psalmist's  action  as 
typical,  or  in  the  mystical  sense  of  the  words  :  "  I  will  open 
my  mouth  in  parables,"  &c..  inasmuch  as  they  refer  to 
Asaph,  not  in  his  private  capacity,  but  in  his  prefigurative 
office.  Had  Maldonatus  understood  the  psalm,  and 
particularly  the  second  verse,  he  never  would  have  made 
the  remark  which  he  puts  forward  as  a  proof  of  his 
theory. 

As  regards  the  next  argument,  based  on  the  use  of 
hidoth}  "  parables,"  the  word  includes  both  classes  of 
sayings,  as  Maldonatus  himself  admits ;  however,  he  should 
have  adverted  (though  the  inadvertence  scarcely  affects 
his  argument),  that  it  is  not  translated  by  "parables  "  in 
St.  Matthew,  just  as  he  should  have  adverted  that  the 
psalm  is  Asaph's,  not  David's.  Lastly,  with  respect  to 
Maldonatus'  ecbatic  interpretation  of  "  ut  impleretur  "  (wo, 
7rA?7pw#>7),  a  good  deal  has  been  said  on  this  subject  in 
the  preceding  articles,  and  more  will  be  said  in  the  next, 
where  the  text  (Isaias  vi.  9,  quoted  in  St.  Matthew,  xiii.  14), 
will  be  examined,  the  text  which  most  of  all  seems  to  favour, 
or  rather  to  furnish,  a  conclusive  argument  for  the  ecbatic 
theory.  Here  it  is  enough  to  observe  that,  if  Asaph's 
action  did  not  contain  a  prediction,  then  in  regard  to  it  our 

1  "Mashal,"  which  occurs  in  the  first  part  of  the  verse,  is  translated  by 
' '  parable ; '  or  • '  parables  "  in  S t.  Matthe w  and  all  the  ancient  versions ;  «  hidoth, ' ' 
which  is  parallel  to  it  in  the  second  hemistitch,  is  variously  rendered.  (See  note 
on  page  803).  Hidoth,  "  hard  questions  "  (3  Kings  x.  1,  hcb.  1  Kings)  were 
intrinsically  just  the  same  as  meshalim,  and  the  external  difference  consisted 
merely  in  the  hidoth  having  an  interrogative  form,  in  their  being  parables  put 
as  problems.  In  our  verse  of  the  seventy-eighth  psalm.  Asaph  says  :  '  •  I  will 
Open  my  mouth  in  parables  (meshalim),  I  will  utter  propositions  (hidoth)  from 
the  beginning."  So,  too,  in  Psalm  xiix.  (Vulg.  xlviii).  v.  5  : — "  I  will  incline 
my  ear  to  a  parable  (mashal),  I  will  open  my  proposition  (hidah)  on  the 
psaltery."  The  words  are  similarly  used  as  equivalents  in  Prov.  i.  (?, 
Ezechiel  xvii.  2,  Habacuc  ii.  ('-.  And  Samson's  parable,  Judges  xiv.,  is 
specifically  called  hidah,  "  a  riddle,"  from  the  speaker's  purpose,  and  the 
problomatic  form  in  which  his  comparison  .fas  expressed. 


822  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

Lord  had  nothing  to  fulfil,  and  His  use  of  parables  had  no- 
connection  with  Asaph's  :  hence  the  Evangelist's  statement 
is  not  founded  on  fact.  Can  we  save  St.  Matthew's  credit 
and  authority,  as  Maldonatus  fain  would  do  after  imperilling 
it  with  his  theory,  by  giving  a  fine  sounding  name  to  what 
would  be  nothing  more  than  an  irrelevant  application  of 
Scripture  ?  No  :  it  will  not  mend  matters  to  call  such  a 
misquotation  as  that  would  be  on  the  part  of  one  who 
professes  to  interpret  prophecies  as  St.  Matthew  does— 
a  sensus  accommodatus.  Is  it  safe  to  assert  that  by  teaching 
in  parables,  our  Lord  did  not  fulfil  an  alleged  prophecy,  but 
only  did  something  similar,  something  which  might  very 
well  pass  for  its  accomplishment — something  to  which  the 
Evangelist  in  the  most  solemn  impressive  manner  possible 
applied  the  word  of  "  the  prophet,"  being  at  the  same  time 
perfectly  well  aware  that  the  one  was  not  a  prophecy,  and 
that  the  other  was  not  a  fulfilment  ?  Maldonatus  thinks 
it  is.  He  imagines  that  St.  Matthew  employed  the  most 
emphatic  formula  at  his  command  to  introduce  a  mere 
obiter  dictum;  he  fancies  that  the  Great  Seal  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  which  is  reserved  for  the  most  important 
documents  in  Scripture  and  their  authoritative  interpre- 
tation, was  deliberately  affixed  to  a  forgery.  He  forgets 
that  ;<ut  impleretur  quod  dictum  est  per  prophetam "  is 
the  very  hall-mark  of  genuine  Messianic  prophecy  and  its 
genuine  fulfilment.  He  does  not  see  that  to  put  such  a 
construction  on  St.  Matthew's  words  as  he  attempts  to  put, 
is  virtually  to  strike  a  blow  at  St.  Matthew's  inspiration 
here,  unless  he  is  prepared  to  assert  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
could  profess  to  interpret  His  own  divine  words  about  what 
they  did  not  truly  refer  to.  Maldonatus'  panacea  is  sensus 
ecbaticus  !  Bat  that  is  only  doing  violence  to  language, 
scope,  and  context,  in  the  vain  effort  to  cure  an  assertion  that 
does  violence  to  faith.  Though  sensus  accommodatus  is 
occasionally  found  in  Scripture,  it  never  occurs  in  the 
application  of  texts  such  as  the  present.  As  St.  Thomas 
says  on  a  kindred  subject : — "  Licet  rerum  similitudines 
aequi  voce  rerum  nomina  sibi  interdum  assumant,  non 
tamen  competit  sacrae  scripturae  ut  narrationem  unius 


x  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  823 

facti  totam  sub  tali  aequi vocations  proponat,  ita  quod 
ex  aliis  scripfcurae  locis  manifests  veritas  haberi  non 
possit :  quia  ex  hoc  non  eruditio  hominum,  sed  magis 
deceptio  sequeretur." 1 

We  have  been  speaking,  of  course,  not  of  the  man,  but  of 
his  theory ;  Maldonatus  himself  is  entitled  to  the  highest 
respect,  but  his  opinion  is  open  to  censure.  Yet  the  same 
opinion  is  found  in  other  Catholic  commentaries  of  great 
repute.  In  his  work  on  the  Gospel,  the  famous  Dominican 
Cardinal,  Hugh  de  St.  Cher,  says  :  "  ut  consecutivum  est ;" 
though  in  his  work  on  the  Psalter,  he  says  that  our  verse  is 
mystically  about  Christ.  And  in  the  best  exegetical  treatises 
on  the  Messianic  prophecies  produced  in  this  century— 
those,  namely,  of  Reinke  and  of  Bade — it  is  asserted  that 
St.  Matthew  accommodated  the  quotation  (Eeinke  holds 
it  to  be  almost  certain ;  Bade  to  be  possibly  true). 

59.  As  regards  the  Greek  fathers  that  have  explained 
the  text,  the  commentaries  of  Origen  and  Didymus  on 
this  psalm  are  no  longer  extant,  and  only  a  fragment  remains 
of  that  of  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria.  Eusebius  holds  that  the 
literal  sense  is  about  our  Lord,  because  the  verse  is  not 
fully  verified  in  Asaph,  David,  or  any  other  mere  man,  for 
their  words  are  neither  a  law,  nor  the  word  of  God. 
St.  Athanasius  and  Euthymius  adopt  this  view,  which  how- 
ever after  what  has  been  said  on  the  subject  already  could 
easily  be  disposed  of.  Theodoret,  on  the  other  hand,  in  his 
exposition  of  the  psalm  speaks  only  of  Asaph ;  hence  we 
cannot  know  whether  he  recognised  the  mystical  reference 
to  Christ. 

The  correct  explanation  is  given  by  several  of  the 
Latin  fathers.  St.  Jerome  says :  "  Qtiodque  ex  persona 
Domini  dicitur :  Aperiam  in  parabolis  os  meum ;  eructabo 
abscondita  a  constitutione  mundi  considerandum  attentius. 
et  inveniendum  describi  egressum  Israelis  ex  Egypto,  et 
omnia  signa  narrari  quae  in  Exodi  continentur  historia. 
Ex  quo  intelligimus  universa  ilia  quae  scripta  sunt,  para- 
bolice  sentienda ;  nee  manifestam  tantum  sonare  litteram, 
sed  et  abscondita  sacramenta ;  hoc  enim  se  Salvator 

1  Contra  Gentes,  1.  iv.,  c.  29. 


824  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

edicturum  esse  promittit,  aperiens  os  suum  in  parabolis,  et 
eructans  abscondita  a  constitutione  mundi"  (in  Matt,  xiii.35). 
St.  Jerome  is  followed  by  Ven.  Bede,  St.  Eabanus  Maurus, 
St.  Paschasius  Eadbertus,  &c.  It  is,  however,  remarkable 
that  not  one  of  the  Latin  fathers  (so  far  as  the  writer  is 
aware)  expressly  styles  Asaph  a  figure  of  Christ.  The 
only  one  that  calls  him  a  figure  or  type  (to  judge  from 
Migne)  is  St.  Augustine,  whose  words  are  repeated  by 
St.  Eabanus  Maurus ;  but  he  calls  him  only  a  figure  of  the 
synagogue. 

Among  the  modern  writers  consulted,  the  following 
ones  maintain  that  the  words  are  literally  about  Asaph, 
mystically  about  Christ :  Agellius,  Genebrard  (whose  ex- 
planation of  the  verse  is  admirable),  ALapide,  Menochius 
(who  inclines  to  the  true  explanation,  but  regards  that  of 
Maldonatus  as  probable),  Estius,  Bossuet,  Westermeyer, 
Beelen,  Steinkiste,  Schegg,  Wollter,  Thalhofer,  Knabenbauer, 
Schanz,  Henzstenberg,  Delitzsch,  Meyer.  They  all  agree 
that  Asaph  primarily  or  directly  spoke  of  himself  as  address- 
ing his  own  contemporaries,  and  mystically  or  principally  of 
Christ,  by  whom  the  prophet's  words  were  in  their  secondary 
sense  fulfilled.  Asaph's  mysterious  act  belongs,  in  a  word,  to 
the  class  of  which  St.  Augustine  exclaims :  "  0  res  gestas 
sed  prophetice  gestas,  in  terra  sed  coelitus,  per  homines  sed 
divinitus."  1 

Now  that  this  mystical  sense  has  been  explained, 
perhaps  the  most  suitable  way  to  conclude  the  second 
part  of  this  essay  will  be  to  sum  up  all  that  has  been 
said,  by  exhibiting  in  one  view  the  resemblance  between 
Asaph  and  Christ. 

Asaph  explained  the  hidden  Christ  revealed  the  eternal 
meaning  of  the  earliest  and  most  mysteries  which  had  been  sha- 
important  events  in  Jewish  his-  dowed  forth  in  His  own  dealings 
tory,  and  showed  their  bearing  with  mankind  from  the  begin- 
on  the  elevation  of  the  house  of  ning,  and  declared  that  all  such 
David.  manifestations  were  preparatory 

to  His  own  coming  as  Son  of 

David. 

1  De  Civ.  Dei. 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 


825 


Asaph  then  traced  the  se- 
quence of  these  same  wondrous 
events  till  they  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  Mount  Sion,  as  the 
future  centre  of  the  religious 
life  of  the  Jews,  the  sanctuary 
of  the  nation  until  the  time  of 
the  Messias. 


Asaph  thus  attained  his  scope 
in  this  psalm,  which  was  to  con- 
vince his  hearers  that  the  trans- 
fer of  the  Ark  from  Bphraim  to 
Juda  in  order  to  its  final  re- 
moval to  Mount  Sion  was  'the 
work  of  God  Himself. 


Asaph,  after  rebuking  the  sin- 
fulness,  obstinacy,  and  dulness 
in  spiritual  things  of  .Ephraim, 
declared  that  all  the  calamities 
which  befel  that  proud  tribe, 
culminating  in  the  loss  of  the 
Ark,  were  a  punishment  from 
God;  and  after  praising  the  faith, 
humility,  and  piety  of  Juda, 
announced  the  glorious  re- 
ward which  these  virtues  had 
merited. 

Asaph  defended  David's  crown 
and  royal  authority,  at  a  time 
when  that  crown  was  in  danger, 
on  account  of  David's  devout 
action.  The  worldly-minded 
Jews  would  have  preferred  a 
ruler  like  themselves,  a  monarch 
that  would  make  them  great  in 
the  eyes  of  other  nations — and 


Christ  taught  that  things 
which  happened  on  earth,  since 
the  creation  of  Adam,  were  done 
on  account  of  that  of  which  Sion 
was  but  a  figure :  Sion  was  for 
the  Jews,  the  Catholic  Church 
would  be  for  all  nations;  the 
law  brought  nothing  to  perfec- 
tion, and  Sion's  day  would  soon 
be  gone  for  ever;  grace  and 
truth  came  by  the  Church's 
founder,  and  the  Church  on 
earth  would  be  one  with  the 
everlasting  Church  in  heaven. 

Christ's  subject  in  the  para- 
bles collected  in  the  thirteenth 
chapter  (1-33)  of  St.  Matthew's 
Gospel  was  the  translation  of  His 
Church  from  the  unbelieving 
Jews  to  the  believing  Gentiles  ; 
the  same  subject  on  which  after- 
wards He  said  openly  : — "  The 
Kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken 
from  you,  and  shall  be  given 
to  a  nation  making  the  fruits 
thereof." 

Christ  reproved  the  blindness 
and  the  hardness  of  heart  He 
found  in  most  Jews,  and  here 
implicitly  foretold  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  temple  ;  just  as 
elsewhere,  He  marvelled  at  the 
Centurion's  faith,  and  prophesied 
that  many  Gentiles  like  him 
would  come  from  the  east  and 
the  west,  and  should  sit  down 
with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  in  the  Kingdom  of  hea- 
ven. 

Christ  was  His  own  Asaph. 
He  was  priest  and  Prophet,  as 
well  as  King.  David's  kingdom 
was  a  figure  of  His  eternal  one. 
When  He  came  unto  His  own, 
raid  His  own  received  Him  not, 
l-ecause  they  expected  a  mighty 
conqueror,  He  condescended  to 
plead  for  His  rights  with  them; 


826  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

finally,  they  did  revolt  against  but  they  would  not  listen  to  the 

David's  line,  and  so  were  led  meek  and  humble  One,  they 

into  captivity,  and  scattered  to  would  have  no  king  but  Csesar, 

the  very  ends  of  the  earth.  and  in  punishment  are  now 

dispersed  among  all  nations. 

They  who  believed  Asaph's  They  who  believed  Christ's 
words  about  things  unseen,  re-  teaching  became  subjects  of  His 
mained  loyal  to  their  sovereign  Kingdom;  to  those  that  received 
and  steadfast  in  their  allegiance  Him  He  gave  power  to  be  made 
to  the  house  of  David:  these  the  sons  of  God,  or  true  Israel- 
were  the  true  Israelites.  ites,  in  a  higher  sense. 

In  Asaph's  psalm,  we  see  In  Christ's  parables,  we  see 

how  God's  mercy  surpassed  that  where  sin  abounded,  grace 

man's  wickedness.  did  still  more  abound. 

61.  Every  exegetical  student,  or  rather  every  attentive 
reader  of  the  Gospels,  knows  that  the  characteristic  feature 
of  our  Lord's  method  of  teaching  is  His  continual  employ- 
ment of  parables.     Plain,  direct,  literal  statement  is  used 
sparingly,  the  heavenly  doctrine  being  for  the  most  part 
conveyed  by  means    of  comparison.      But    though  in  His 
mode  of  instruction  various  similitudes  abound  to  a  remark- 
able  degree,    those    of  the   special   kind  above  mentioned, 
namely,  parables,  are  by  far  the  most  numerous.     There  is, 
indeed,  an  amazing  wealth  and  richness  of  illustration  by 
similes,  metaphors,  and  allegories,  found  nowhere  else  in 
such   profusion  ;  but   there  is  something  more,  something 
which  is  Christ's  own.     The  Evangelists  have  preserved  for 
us  about  sixty  of  His  discourses,  or  parts  of  discourses,  and 
of  them   no   fewer   than   forty   are   parables.     And  if  the 
comparison  were  confined  to  His  sermons  or  discourses  to 
the   people,  then  the  proportional  excess   of  such    highly- 
wrought  figurative  expressions  over  either  simple  metaphors 
or  plain  language  would  become  still  greater.     Throughout 
the   three   years'    mission,    almost    all   His    sermons    were 
parables,    sometimes    taken   from  events  in  the   course  of 
nature,  at  other  times  from  the  lives  and  actions  of  men. 
These  beautiful  illustrations  of  His  doctrine  were  always 
suited  to  the  capacity  of  His  audience,  always  taken  from 
objects  with  which  those  who  listened  to  Him  were  most 
familiar.     "  With  many  such  parables  He  spoke  to  them 
the  word,  according  as  they  were  able  to  hear."     Christ  did 


The  Mystical  Seusc  of  Scripture  827 

not  address  the  polished  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  as  He  did 
the  simple  peasants  and  fishermen  of  Galilee.  The  class  of 
parable  differed  according  to  the  peculiar  circumstances 
which  called  it  forth  ;  but  in  all  circumstances  the  method 
of  teaching  by  parables  were  invariably  adhered  to. 

62.  And  He  made  it  exclusively  His  own.  The  Apostles, 
who  were  trained  by  Him  for  the  work  of  the  mission,  and 
who  obeyed  to  the  letter  all  His  instructions  regarding  it, 
did  not  (so  far  as  we  are  informed)  ever  teach  by  parables. 
Indeed,  the  conspicuous  absence  of  those  earthly  stories  with 
heavenly  meanings  in  their  sermons  recorded  in  the  Acts, 
cannot  escape  the  notice  of  an  ordinarily  attentive  reader. 
He  sees  that  he  has  before  him  a  mode  of  imparting  the 
truth  altogether  different  from  that  which  he  is  accustomed 
to  find  in  the  Gospels.  And  the  marked  contrast  to  their 
Lord's  manner  of  teaching,  which  is  apparent  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  is  equally  so  throughout  their  Epistles. 
The  Holy  Ghost  did,  indeed,  bring  to  their  minds  all  things 
whatsoever  their  Lord  had  said  to  them ;  but  in  their 
sermons  and  their  inspired  writings,  they  were  directed  not 
to  express  themselves  as  He  had  done.  For  the  second 
time  in  the  history  of  revelation,  a  divine  voice  was  heard 
forbidding  man  to  trespass  on  holy  ground.  To  estimate 
adequately  the  effect  of  that  prohibition,  to  appreciate  the 
Apostles'  reverential  avoidance  of  the  whole  domain  of 
parables,  we  should  be  able  to  understand  the  freedom  of 
the  human  mind  when  moved  by  inspiration. 

The  Apostles  retained  many  of  the  turns  of  thought 
peculiar  to  the  Semitic  mind,  and,  moreover,  many  of  the 
idioms  of  their  own  native  language.  The  whole  of  the 
New  Testatment  diction  has  a  vivid  Hebrew- Aramaic 
colouring,  Though  (with  the  exception  of  its  first  book) 
it  is  written  in  Greek,  and  in  good  Greek,  the  nationality 
of  the  writers  is  manifest  on  every  page  ;  they  are  men  of 

1  In  this  and  the  following  paragraphs  many  remarks  are  taken  from 
Cardinal  "Wiseman's  admirable  article  on  "  The  Parables  of  the  New  Testament." 
Dublin  Review,  September,  1849.  In  these  few  pages,  the  parables  are  treated 
of  only  in  so  far  as  they  were  the  fulfilment  of  Asaph's  prophecy  ;  but  in 
Cardinal  Wiseman's  article  may  be  found  what  is  probably  the  best  exposition 
of  the  entire  subject  that  was  ever  written. 


828  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

Galilee  ;  or,  at  least,  men  of  Jewish  blood  and  of  Jewish 
•education.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  distinctive 
trait  of  the  Jewish  mind,  especially  when  occupied  with 
moral  subjects,  is  nowhere  to  be  seen  in  the  books  that 
contain  their  instructions.  Not  one  parable  can  be  found 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Acts  to  the  last  verse  of  the 
Apocalypse,  although,  as  St.  Jerome  says :  "  Familiare  est 
Syris  et  maxime  Palestinis  ad  omnem  sermonem  suum 
parabolas  jungere."  1  It  is  evident  that  the  Apostles  forbore 
to  use  a  figure  of  speech  which  was  natural  to  them,  and 
which  wras,  moreover,  endeared  to  them  by  a  thousand 
holiest  recollections  ;  a  figure  cf  speech  inseparably  asso- 
ciated with  the  image  of  their  Lord,  and  with  the  memories 
of  all  the  loved  days  in  Capharnaum,  of  all  the  journeys 
through  Galilee  and  Judea  till  that  last  one  to  Jerusalem. 
Why  did  they  never,  even  on  one  occasion,  employ  the 
•consecrated  form  of  expression?  "  If  in  this  respect,"  as 
•Cardinal  Wiseman  beautifully  says,  "  they  were  guided  to 
depart  from  the  model  of  their  Lord  and  Teacher,  there 
must  have  been  reasons  why  that  mode  of  instruction  should 
remain  sacredly  His,  and  not  be  considered  suitable  to 
them."  The  reason  was,  they  ever  remembered  that  He 
had  said  :  "  One  is  your  Master,  Christ,"  and  that  teaching 
by  parable  was  the  magisterial  manner  of  teaching.2 

63.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the  Apostles  adopted  a  literal 
-style  out  of  consideration  to  those  to  whom  they  announced 
the  word.  Allegories  represented  as  facts,  exemplifications 
of  great  truths  narrated  as  if  they  had  really  taken  place, 
are  most  powerful  means  of  compelling  attention,  and  of 
making  strange  or  abstruse  subjects  intelligible  to  all.  The 
a/voidance  of  them  was  certainly  not  due  to  the  national 
peculiarities  of  some  of  those  whom  the  Apostles  intended 
to  enlighten  and  convince.  We  see,  indeed,  in  the  New 
Testament  how  they  addressed  the  Gentiles  ;  but  how  many 
of  their  sermons  were  spoken  to  Jewish  hearers,  and  how 

*  In  Matt.  xix.  23  ;  Migne,  xxvi.  131. 

2  The  Cardinal  assigns  four  reasons  for  our  Lord's  exclusive  use  of 
^parables.  A  fifth  may  be  mentioned,  that  given  by  St.  Matthew  ;  namely, 
that  Asaph's  words  were  a  Messianic  prophecy.  If  the  employment  of 
-parables  were  not  inviolably  sacred  to  the  Son  of  God,  it  would  cease  to  be  a 
«ign  of  Him. 


The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  829 

many  parts  of  their  writings  were  primarily  addressed  to 
Jewish  readers  ?  Arid  when  the  vast  majority  of  believers 
was  of  the  Jewish  race,  why  was  not  this  so  congenial  mode 
of  instruction  employed  ?  The  only  answer  to  this  question- 
is  the  one  given  above.  You  cannot  get  rid  of  the  difficulty 
by  assuming  that  the  Apostles  had  chiefly  in  view  the  wants- 
of  the  Church  in  subsequent  times,  when  she  would  be 
composed  almost  exclusively  of  Gentiles.  First,  because 
the  assumption  is  a  gratuitous  one ;  and,  secondly,  even 
supposing  that  it  were  true,  because  it  would  leave  the 
difficulty  just  where  it  was.  For  had  not  our  Lord  in  mind, 
the  needs  of  His  Church  in  the  future,  and  were  not  His 
parables  addressed  to  all  ages  and  to  all  nations  ? 

64.  It  was  of  the  highest  importance,  that  the  parables 
should  be  inscribed  in  memorials  destined  to  last  as  long  as 
this  world  shall  exist.  And  in  the  Gospels  themselves,, 
though  of  necessity  regard  was  had  for  the  peculiarities  of 
those  for  whom  in  the  first  instance  the  Gospels  were  respec- 
tively written,  still  it  is  obvious  that  the  preservation  of  the 
parables  was  decided  on  independently  of  all  such  human 
circumstances.  The  Holy  Ghost  did,  indeed,  move  the 
Evangelists  to  be  all  things  to  all  men,  but  if  the  Evangelists' 
office  was  to  record  the  doctrine  of  their  Master,  they  had  to 
record  it  in  the  form  in  which  He  delivered  it.  The  form  as 
well  as  the  matter  of  that  doctrine  was  divine.  St.  Matthew 
might  explain  to  Jewish  readers  how  the  Old  "Testament 
prophecies  were  fulfilled  in  Jesus  Christ  ;  St.  Mark  might 
enshrine  in  his  pages  the  contents  of  St.  Peter's  sermons  in. 
Eome  ;  St.  Luke  might  emphasize  our  Lord's  priesthood 
and  His  mercy  to  the  Gentiles — but  all  three  Evangelists  tell 
the  Catholic  Church  the  very  manner  in  which  her  Founder 
taught ;  all  three  alike  put  down  His  parables  verbatim. 
What  could  be  so  precious  to  the  Church  as  this  phonograph, 
if  we  may  so  call  it,  of  the  divine  words  ?  There  is  nothing 
holier  on  earth,  except  the  Speaker  Himself,  Jesus  Christ  in 
the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

And  when  we  consider  the  number  of  parables  contained 
in  these  Gospels  severally,  we  are  led  to  a  further  conclusion. 
We  find  that  the  number  was  in  nowise  regulated  by  the. 


•830  The  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture 

mental  qualities  of  the  people,  or  of  the  persons  to  whom  the 
Gospels  were  in  the  first  instance  respectively  addressed. 
Eleven  parables  are  peculiar  to  St.  Matthew,  two  to  St.  Mark 
and  no  less  than  seventeen  to  St,  Luke.  Three  are  common 
to  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke,  arid  seven  to  St.  Matthew, 
St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke.  Thus,  St.  Matthew  has  twenty-one 
in  all,  his  "  abbreviator  "  St.  Mark  nine,  and  St.  Luke  twenty- 
seven.  This  is  especially  worthy  of  note,  namely,  that  in  the 
Gospel  dedicated  to  the  gentile  convert,  Theophilus,  there  are 
more  parables  than  in  that  composed  for  the  Palestinian 
Jews.  Not  only  was  the  habitual  use  of  such  figurative 
expressions  to  be  stamped  as  Christ's  own  mode  of  teaching, 
and  the  fact  of  His  having  so  taught  to  be  impressed  on  the 
minds  of  all  believers,  but  especial  prominence  was  given  to 
it  in  a  narrative  where,  according  to  human  forecast  its  very 
mention  was  hardly  to  be  expected. 

Not  a  fragment  of  that  heavenly  nourishment  with  which 
the  souls  of  Christ's  hearers  had  been  filled  was  to  perish. 
The  reason  of  the  minute  care  which  the  Evangelists  took  to 
gather  up  and  treasure  the  parables,  is  because  they  contain 
the  whole  system  of  Christianity.  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark, 
and  St.  Luke,  did  the  work  of  collection  completely..  Hence 
in  St.  John's  Gospel,  not  one  parable,  properly  so  called  can 
be  found,  but  only  metaphors,  allegories,  &c.  He  saw  that 
the  whole  parabolic  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  was  preserved 
in  the  syno'ptic  Gospels,  of  which  his  own  Gospel  should  be 
the  complement.  In  it,  therefore,  he  has  neither  the  word 
TrapafioXTj,  uoi  the  thing  which  the  word  in  its  strict  sense 
signifies;  on  the  other  hand,  the  word  Tra/oot/ua,  which  is 
never  met  with  in  the  preceding  Gospels,  occurs  here  more 
than  once;  (x.  6,  xvi.  25-29),  and  what  it  designates, namely, 
allegories,  &c.,  though  rarely  to  be  discovered  in  the  pages  of 
the  first  three  Gospels,  are  to  be  seen  in  luxuriant  abundance 
in  those  of  the  fourth.  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke 
describe  rather  the  sacred  humanity,  but  St.  John  soars  aloft 
to  the  very  throne  of  the  Divinity  itself;  St.  Matthew  and 
the  others  tell  us  for  the  most  part  what  Christ  said  to  the 
people,  but  the  beloved  one  who  leaned  on  Christ's  breast 
reveals  to  us  His  intimate  and  confidential  intercourse  with 


Tlie  Mystical  Sense  of  Scripture  831 

His  disciples.  The  special  work  of  the  last  Evangelist  was 
the  conservation  of  Christ's  esoteric  teaching  In  this,  as  in 
other  ways,  St.  John's  Gospel  is  the  counterpart  of  the 
synoptic  Gospels,  and  a  commentary  on  them.  How  many 
difficulties  in  the  three  earlier  narratives  are  explained  by 
what  St.  John  chronicles.  He  answers  by  anticipation 
questions  which  everyone  would  ask,  and  which,  when  he  was 
dead,  no  one  could  answer. 

65.  As  regards  the  parables,  what  floods  of  divine  light 
does  he  not  reflect  on  them !  Those  mysterious  abysses 
which  no  unaided  human  intelligence  could  ever  see  into, 
are  illumined  down  to  their  lowest  depths  by  the  rays  of  the 
Incarnate  Wisdom  enlightening  the  mind  of  the  beloved 
disciple.  They  are  no  longer  what  they  were  to  the  blind 
Jews — a  pitfall  of -dark  destruction  ;  to  the  Catholic  Church, 
our  Lord's  parables  are  a  source  of  light,  a  fountain  of 
knowledge  springing  up  into  life  everlasting.  And  how 
the  Church  does  prize  them  !  On  carefully-selected  days 
throughout  the  course  of  her  year,  on  days  of  rest  when  all 
her  children  are  brought  into  the  presence  of  their  Saviour, 
His  parables  are  read  and  explained,  His  own  sermons  are 
preached  again.  As  on  countless  altars,  from  the  rising  of 
the  sun  to  the  going  down  of  the  same,  the  sacrifice  of 
Calvary  is  offered,  so  from  countless  pulpits  the  very  words 
of  Christ  are  heard,  and  the  people  are  taught  as  He  Himself 
would  teach  them.  For  the  thousands  who  heard  them,  in 
Judea,  millions  now  listen  to  them  in  every  land  under  the 
sun  ;  and  missionaries  are  continually  speeding  forth  to 
announce  them  to  the  nations  that  still  sit  in  the  shadow 
of  death,  for  the  Church  will  never  cease  from  her 
work  until  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached 
in  the  whole  world.  The  words  of  our  Divine  Redeemer 
shall  never  pass  away.  Centuries  roll  by,  nations  are 
born  and  nations  die,  kingdoms  and  empires  of  this 
world  rise  and  disappear,  all  human  things  fluctuate  and 
totter  on  to  their  inevitable  end,  but  that  sacrifice  and  that 
sermon  continue.  These  are  the  sources  of  the  Church's 
indestructible  vitality.  They  were  with  her  in  the 
catacombs,  and  they  will  be  with  her  until  the  sign  of  the 


832  Neic  Votive  Mass  for  the  Feast  of  the 

Son  of  Man  appears  in  the  heavens.  In  His  Church  on 
earth,  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Priest  and  the  Preacher  for  ever. 
And  for  ever  do  His  people  recognise  His  voice,  even 
as  the  sheep  know  the  voice  of  the  shepherd.  When  a 
Catholic  hears  a  New  Testament  parable,  he  can  tell  at  once 
whose  it  is :  it  does  not  belong  to  any  creature,  not  even 
to  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles  ;  it  is  the  Lord's.  The 
Catholic  may  be  an  adult  with  little  or  no  time  for  reading, 
or  a  child  learning  its  catechism  ;  it  matters  not :  let  the 
Catholic  but  hear  from  the  pulpit,  the  words,  "  And  He 
spoke  to  them  a  parable  ;"  that  is  enough  ;  the  Catholic  has 
already  risen  to  make  open  profession  of  his  faith,  for  He  who 
has  the  words  of  eternal  life  is  speaking  ;  He  is  uttering  the 
things  hidden  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

REGINALD  WALSH,  O.P. 


NEW   VOTIVE    MASS    FOE   THE   FEAST  OF    THE 
AECH-CONFEATEENITY  OF  THE  HOLY  FAMILY 

WE   beg  to  forward  for  publication  the  following  con- 
cession   of    the    Holy   See    for    the    information   of 
Directors  of  the  various  branches  of  the  Arch-confraternity 
of  the  Holy  Family  and  the  clergy  in  general. 

Previous  to  the  Golden  Jubilee  of  the  Arch-confra- 
ternity of  .the  Holy  Family,  which  occurred  in  1894,  the 
Very  Eev.  Peter  Blerot,  C.SS.E.,  Director-General  of  the 
Arch-confraternity,  sent  an  account  to  His  Holiness  of  its 
development  and  propagation,  and  at  the  same  time  asked 
from  His  Holiness  some  spiritual  favours  and  privileges 
for  the  worthy  celebration  of  the  Jubilee.  His  Eminence 
Cardinal  Eampolla,  in  the  name  of  His  Holiness,  in  reply, 
dated  May  4th,  1892,  amongst  other  things  wrote  :— 

"  Indulget  insuper  Augustus  Pontifex  in  gratam  hujus 
Jubilaei  memoriam,  ut  eo  die,  quo  ex  Episcoporum  respectivorum 
praescripto,  festum  principale  Archisodalitatis  peragitur,  Missa 
dici  possit  Translationis  almae  domus  Lauretanae,  quoadusque 
proprium  Officium  et  Missa  de  SSma  Familia  non  concedatur." 

In  the  meantime  the  Holy  Father  granted  a  special 
Mass  for  the  Holy  Family,  Father  Blerot,  however,  con- 


Arch-Confraternity  .of  the  Holy  Family  833 

sidered  that  the  Mass  of  the  Translation  of  the  Holy  House 
of  Loretto  was  sufficiently  proper  for  the  Arch-confraternity, 
and  expressed  his  opinion  to  this  effect  to  the  Sacred 
Congregation  of  Bites,  which  fully  agreed  with  him,  and, 
moreover,  gave  the  following  directions  as  to  how  the  Mass 
should  be  said,  namely : — 

"  In  hac  Missa  votiva  Sacrae  Familiae  fieri  debet  commemo- 
ratio  Officii  currentis  et  aliorum  in  Directorio  praescriptorum, 
cum  evangelic  Dominicae  in  fine  Missae,  si  sit  Dominica ;  quae 
quidem  servanda  quoque  erunt  in  Missa  solemni,  ubi  altra  de 
Oflicio  diei  non  cantatur,  quamvis  legatur.  (S.  E.  C.,  12  Aug. 
1881,  in  Lucionen  ad  5.)  Praeterea  in  dicta  Missa  recitabitur 
Gloria  et  Credo  et  Praefatio  de  Nativitate,  ut  erui  potest  ex 
Decreto  gen.  18  Febr.,  1891.  Sed  semper  in  unaquaque  ecclesia 
ubi  fit  omciatura  choralis,  saltern  una  Missa  de  Officio  occurrenti 
celebranda  est ;  qut>d  etiam  observandum  est  diebus  Dominicis 
et  Festivis  in  iis  ecclesiis,  ubi  Missa  parochialis  conjuncta  est 
cum  applicatione  pro  populo  (S.  R.  C.,  21  Febr.  1896).  Dies 
porro,  in  quibus  ejusmodi  Missa  prohibetur,  sunt  :  quoad  Missam 
solemnem,  Festa  et -Dominicae  primae  classis  ;  quoad  lectas  vero, 
Festa  et  Dominicae  secundae  classis." 

The  Sacred  Congregation  of  Bites,  by  a  Bescript,  dated 
January  8th,  1895,  granted,  moreover,  on  the  titular  feast, 
in  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Virgin  Mary,  Liege,  as  the 
centre  of  the  Arch-confraternity,  that  not  only  one  such 
Mass  may  be  said  as  in  other  places,  but  all  the  Masses  on 
that  day. 

The  titular  feast  of  the  Arch-confraternity  of  the  Holy 
Family  was  fixed  originally  on  the  first  Sunday  in  July,  but 
by  a  Bescript  dated  June  23rd,  1863,  power  was  granted  to 
the  Ordinary  to  transfer  the  feast  and  Plenary  Indulgence 
attached  thereto  to  any  day  in  the  year,  that,  according  to 
his  judgment,  will  best  suit  the  convenience  of  the  members. 
So  that  Directors  of  the  various  Branches  of  the  Arch- 
confraternity  of  the  Holy  Family  can,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  their  Bishop,  select  any  day  in  the  year,  not  otherw  se 
forbidden,  that  they  consider  most  suitable  for  the  titula: 
feast  of  the  Confraternity,  and,  on  that  day,  celebrate  the 
Votive  Mass  herein  mentioned,  according  to  the  lines  laid 
down  above. 

W.  BANNON,  C.SS.B. 

VOL.  XVII.  3  G 


834     ] 


^Documents 

ENCYCLICAL   LETTEE   OF   POPE   LEO    XIII.    ON    THE    UNITY    OF 

THE  CHUKCH— concluded 

THE   KIND   OF   UNITY   IN   FAITH    COMMANDED   BY   CHRIST 

7.  The  heavenly  doctrine  of  Christ,  although  for  the  most 
part  committed  to  writing  by  divine  inspiration,  could  not  unite 
the  minds  of  men  if  left  to  the  human  intellect  alone.  It  would, 
for  this  very  reason,  be  subject  to  various  and  contradictory 
interpretations.  This  is  so,  not  only  because  of  the  nature  of 
the  doctrine  itself,  and  of  the  mysteries  it  involves,  but  also 
because  of  the  divergencies  of  the  human  mind,  and  of  the 
disturbing  element  of  conflicting  passions.  From  a  variety  of 
interpretations  a  variety  of  beliefs  is  necessarily  begotten : 
hence  come  controversies,  dissensions,  and  wranglings  such  as 
have  arisen  in  the  past,  even  in  the  first  ages  of  the  Church. 
Irenaeus  writes  of  heretics  as  follows:  ''Admitting  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  they  distort  the  interpretations  "  (lib.  hi.,  cap.  12, 
n.  12).  And  Augustine :  "  Heresies  have  arisen,  and  certain 
perverse  views  ensnaring  souls,  and  precipitating  them  into  the 
abyss  only  when  the  Scriptures,  good  in  themselves,  are  not  properly 
understood  "  (InEvang.  Joan,  tract  xviii.,  cap.  5,  n.  1).  Besides 
Holy  Writ,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  insure  this  union  of 
men's  minds — to  effect  and  preserve  unity  of  ideas — that  there 
should  be  another  principle.  This  the  wisdom  of  God  requires  : 
for  He  could  not  have  willed  that  the  faith  should  be  one,  if  He 
did  not  provide  means  sufficient  for  the  preservation  of  this 
unity  :  and  this  Holy  Writ  clearly  sets  forth,  as  we  shall  pre- 
sently point  out.  Assuredly  the  infinite  power  of  God  is  not 
bound  by  anything:  all  things  obey  it  as  so  many  passive 
instruments.  In  regard  to  this  external  principle,  therefore,  we 
must  inquire  which  one  of  all  the  means  in  His  power  Christ 
did  actually  adopt.  For  this  purpose  it  is  necessary  to  recall  in 
thought  the  institution  of  Christianity. 

THE    "  MAGISTERIUM  "  (OR   TEACHING   AUTHORITY)    OF   THE    CHURCH 
TO    BE    PERPETUAL 

8.  We  are  mindful  only  of  what  is  witnessed  to  by  Holy 
Writ,  and  what  is  otherwise  well  known.  Christ  proves  His  own 
divinity  and  the  divine  origin  of  His  mission  by  miracles ;  He 


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teaches  the  multitudes  heavenly  doctrine  by  word  of  mouth  ;  and 
He  absolutely  commands  that  the  assent  of  faith  should  be  given 
to  His  teaching,  promising  eternal  rewards  to  those  who  believe, 
and  eternal  punishment  to  those  who  do  not.  "  If  I  do  not  the 
works  of  My  Father,  believe  Me  not"  (John  x.  37).  "  If  I  had  not 
done  among  them  the  works  that  no  other  man  had  done,  they 
would  not  have  sin"  (ibid.  xv.  24).  "But  if  I  do  (the  works), 
though  you  will  not  believe  Me,  believe  the  works"  (ibid.  x.  38). 
Whatsoever  He  commands,  He  commands  by  the  same  authority. 
He  requires  the  assent  of  the  mind  to  all  truths,  without  exception. 
It  was  thus  the  duty  of  all  who  heard  Jesus  Christ,  if  they 
wished  for  eternal  salvation,  not  merely  to  accept  His  doctrine 
as  a  whole,  but  to  assent  with  their  entire  mind  to  all  and  every 
point  of  it,  since  it  is  unlawful  to  withhold  faith  from  God,  even 
in  regard  to  one  single  point. 

When  about  to  ascend  into  heaven  He  sends  His  Apostles,  in 
virtue  of  the  same  power  by  which  He  had  been  sent  from  the 
Father ;  and  He  charges  them  to  spread  abroad  and  propa- 
gate His  teaching.  "  All  power  is  given  to  Me  in  heaven 
and  in  earth.  Going,  therefore,  teach  all  nations  .  .  .  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you" 
(Matt,  xxviii.  18-20).  So  that  those  obeying  the  Apostles  might 
be  saved,  and  those  disobeying  should  perish.  "  He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  condemned"  (Mark  xvi.  16).  But  since  it  is  obviously  most 
in  harmony  with  God's  providence  that  no  one  should  have 
confided  to  him  a  great  and  important  mission  unless  he  were 
furnished  with  the  means  of  properly  carrying  it  out,  for  this 
reason  Christ  promised  that  He  would  send  the  Spirit  of  Truth  to 
His  disciples,  to  remain  with  them  for  ever.  "  But  if  I  go,  I  will 
send  Him  (the  Paraclete)  to  you  .  .  .  But  when  He,  the  Spirit  of 
Truth  is  come,  He  will  teach  you  all  truth"  (John  xvi.  7-13).  "  And 
I  will  ask  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  you  another  Paraclete, 
that  He  may  abide  with- you  for  ever,  the  Spirit  of  Truth" 
(ibid.,  xiv.  16,  17).  "  He  shall  give  testimony  of  Me,  and  you  shall 
give  testimony  "  (ibid.,  xv.  26,  27).  Hence  He  commands  that  the 
teaching  of  the  Apostles  should  be  religiously  accepted  and 
piously  kept,  as  if  it  were  His  own  :  "He  who  hears  you  hears  Me: 
he  who  despises  you  despises  Me"  (Luke  x.  16).  Wherefore  the 
Apostles  are  ambassadors  of  Christ,  as  He  is  the  ambassador  of 
the  Father:  "  As  the  Father  sent  Me,  so  also  I  send  you"  (John 


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xx.  21).  Hence,  as  the  Apostles  and  disciples  were  bound  to  obey 
Christ,  so  also  those  whom  the  Apostles  taught  were,  by  God's 
command,  bound  to  obey  them.  And,  therefore,  it  was  no  more 
allowable  to  repudiate  one  iota  of  the  Apostles'  teaching  than  it 
was  to  reject  any  point  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ  Himself. 

Truly  the  voice  of  the  Apostles,  when  the  Holy  Ghost  had 
come  down  upon  them,  resounded  throughout  the  world. 
Wherever  they  went  they  proclaimed  themselves  the  ambas- 
sadors of  Christ  Himself:  "By  whom  (Jesus  Christ)  we  have 
received  grace  and  apostleship  for  obedience  to  the  faith  in  all 
nations  for  His  name"  (Bom.  i.  5).  And  God  makes  known  their 
divine  mission  by  numerous  miracles:  ''But  they  going  forth 
preached  everywhere,  the  Lord  working  withal,  and  confirming 
the  word  with  signs  that  followed"  (Mark  xvi.  20).  But  what  is 
this  word  ?  That  which  comprehends  all  things,  that  which  they 
had  learned  from  their  Master,  because  they  openly  and  publicly 
declare  that  they  cannot  help  speaking  of  what  they  had  seen 
and  heard. 

But,  as  we  have  already  said,  the  Apostolic  mission  was  not 
destined  to  die  with  the  Apostles  themselves,  or  to  come  to  an  end 
in  the  course  of  time,  since  it  was  intended  for  the  people  at 
large,  and  instituted  for  the  salvation  of  the  human  race.  For 
Christ  commanded  His  Apostles  to  preach  the  "  Gospel  to  every 
creature,  to  carry  His  name  to  nations  and  kings,  and  to  be 
witnesses  to  Him  to  the  ends  of  the  earth."  He  further  promised 
to  assist  them  in  the  fulfilment  of  their  high  mission,  and  that 
not  for  a  few  years  or  centuries  only,  but  for  all  time,  "even  to  the 
consummation  of  the  world."  Upon  which  St.  Jerome  says  :  "He 
who  promises  to  remain  with  His  disciples  to  the  end  of  the 
world  declares  that  they  will  be  for  ever  victorious,  and  that  He 
will  never  depart  from  those  who  believe  in  Him"  (In  Matt., 
lib.  iv.,  cap.  28,  v.  20).  But  how  could  all  this  be  realized  in  the 
Apostles  alone,  placed  as  they  were  under  the  universal  law  of 
dissolution  by  death?  It  was,  consequently,  provided  by  God 
that  the  Magisterium  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ  should  not  end 
with  the  life  of  the  Apostles,  but  that  it  should  be  perpetuated. 
We  see  it,  in  truth,  propagated  and,  as  it  were,  delivered  from 
hand  to  hand.  For  the  Apostles  consecrated  bishops,  and  each 
one  appointed  those  who  were  to  succeed  them  immediately  in 
the  ministry  of  the  ivord. 

Nay,  more :  they  likewise  required  their  successors  to  choose 


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fitting  men,  to  endow  them  with  like  authority,  and  to  confide 
to  them  the  office  and  mission  of  teaching.     "  Thou,  therefore,  my 
son,  be  strong  in  the  grace  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus :  and  the  things 
which  thou  hast  heard  of  me  by  many  witnesses,  the  same  command 
to  faithful  men  who  shall  be  fit  to  teach  others  also''  (2  Tim.  ii.  1,  2). 
Wherefore,  as  Christ  was   sent   by   God,  and  the   Apostles   by 
Christ,  so  the  bishops  and  those  who  succeeded  them  were  sent 
by  the  Apostles.     "The  Apostles   were  appointed  by  Christ  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  us.     Jesus  Christ  was  sent  by  God.     Christ 
is,  therefore,  from  God,  and  the  Apostles  from  Christ,  and  both 
according  to  the  will  of  God.    .    .    .     Preaching,  therefore,  the 
word  through  the  countries  and  cities,  when  they  had  proved  in 
the  Spirit  the  first-fruits  of  their  teaching  they  appointed  bishops 
and  deacons  for  the  faithful.    .    .    .     They  appointed  them,  and 
then  ordained  them,  so  that  when  they  themselves  had  passed 
away    other     tried     men     should    carry    on    their    ministry" 
(S.  Clemens  Eom.   Epist.  1  ad   Corinth,  capp.  42,  44).     On  the 
one  hand,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  that  the  mission  of  teaching 
whatever  Christ  had  taught  should  remain  perpetual  and  immu- 
table ;  and  on  the  other,  that  the  duty  of  accepting  and  professing 
all  their  doctrine  should  likewise  be  perpetual  and  immutable. " 
"  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  in  His  Gospel  He  testifies  that 
those  who  are  not  with  Him  are  His  enemies,  does  not  designate 
any  special  form  of  heresy,  but  declares  that  all  heretics  who  are 
not  with  Him  and  do  not  gather  with  Him,  scatter  His  flock  and 
are  His  adversaries  :  '  He  that  is  not  with^Me  is  against  Me,  and 
he  that  gathereth  not  with  Me  scattereth  ' "  (S.  Cyprianus,  Ep.  Ixix. 
ad  Magnum,  n.  1). 

EVERY   REVEALED   TRUTH,  WITHOUT  EXCEPTION,  MUST  BE 

BELIEVED 

9.  The  Church,  founded  on  these  principles,  and  mindful  of 
her  office,  has  done  nothing  with  greater  zeal  and  endeavour  than 
she  has  displayed  in  guarding  the  integrity  of  the  faith.  Hence 
she  regarded  as  rebels,  and  expelled  from  the  ranks  of  her  children, 
all  who  held  beliefs  on  any  point  of  doctrine  different  from  her 
own.  The  Arians,  the  Montanists,  the  Novatians,  the  Quarto- 
decimans,  the  Eutychians,  did  not  certainly  reject  all  Catholic 
doctrine  :  they  abandoned  only  a  certain  portion  of  it.  Still  who 
does  not  know  that  they  were  declared  heretics  and  banished 
from  the  bosom  of  the  Church  ?  In  like  manner  were  condemned 


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all  authors  of  heretical  tenets  who  followed  them  in  subsequent 
ages.  "There  can  be  nothing  more  dangerous  than  those 
heretics  who  admit  nearly  the  whole  cycle  of  doctrine,  and  yet 
by  one  word,  as  with  a  drop  of  poison,  infect  the  real  and  simple 
faith  taught  by  our  Lord  and  handed  down  by  Apostolic  tradition  " 
(Auctor  Tract,  de  Fide  Orthodoxa  contra  Arianos). 

The  practice  of  the  Church  has  always  been  the  same,  as  is 
shown  by  the  unanimous  teaching  of  the  Fathers,  who  were 
wont  to  hold  as  outside  Catholic  communion,  and  alien  to  the 
Church,  whoever  would  recede  in  the  least  degree  from  any 
point  of  doctrine  proposed  by  her  authoritative  Magisterium. 
Epiphanius,  Augustine,  Theodoret,  drew  up  a  long  list  of  the 
heresies  of  their  times.  St.  Augustine  notes  that  other  heresies 
may  spring  up,  to  a  single  one  of  which,  should  anyone  give  his 
assent,  he  is  by  the  very  fact  cut  off  from  Catholic  unity.  "  No 
one  who  merely  disbelieves  in  all  (these  heresies)  can  for  that 
reason  regard  himself  as  a  Catholic,  or  call  himself  one.  For 
there  may  be  or  may  arise  some  other  heresies,  which  are  not  set 
out  in  this  work  of  ours,  and  if  anyone  holds  to  one  single  one  of 
these  he  is  not  a  Catholic"  (S.  Augustinus,  De  Haeresibus,  n.  88). 

The  need  of  this  divinely  instituted  means  for  the  preservation 
of  unity,  about  which  we  speak,  is  urged  by  St.  Paul  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  In  this  he  first  admonishes  them  to 
preserve  with  every  care  concord  of  minds  :  "  Solicitous  to  keep  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace  "  (Eph.  iv.  3,  et  seq.}. 
And  as  souls  cannot  be  perfectly  united  in  charity  unless  minds 
agree  in  faith,  he  wishes  all  to  hold  the  same  faith :  "  One  Lord, 
one  faith,"  and  this  so  perfectly  one  as  to  prevent  all  danger  of 
error  :  "  that  henceforth  we  be  no  more  children,  tossed  to  and  fro, 
and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine  by  the  wickedness  of 
men,  by  cunning  craftiness,  by  which  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive  " 
(Eph.  iv.  14).  And  this  he  teaches  is  to  be  observed,  not  for  a 
time  only — "  but  until  we  all  meet  in  the  unity  of  faith  .  .  .  unto 
the  measure  of  the  age  of  the  fulness  of  Christ  "(13).  But.  in  what 
has  Christ  placed  the  primary  principle,  and  the  means  of 
preserving  this  unity?  In  that — "  He  gave  some  Apostles — and 
other  some  pastors  and  doctors,  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ  " 
(11-12). 

Wherefore,  from  the  very  earliest  times  the  fathers  and 
clpctors  of  the  Church  fyave  been  accustomed  to  follow  and,  with 


Documents  839 

one  accord,  to  defend  this  rule.  Origen  writes  :  "  As  often  as 
the  heretics  allege  the  possession  of  the  canonical  scriptures,  to 
which  all  Christians  give  unanimous  assent,  they  seem  to  say  : 
'Behold  the  word  of  truth  is  in  the  houses.'  But  we  should 
believe  them  not,  and  abandon  not  the  primary  and  ecclesiastical 
tradition.  We  should  believe  not  otherwise  than  has  been 
handed  down  by  the  tradition  of  the  Church  of  God"  (Vetus  Inter' 
pretatio  Commentariorum  in  Matt.,  n.  46).  Irenaeus  too  says  : 
"  The  doctrine  of  the  Apostles  is  the  true  faith  .  .  .  which  is  known 
to  us  through  the  Episcopal  succession  .  .  .  which  has  reached 
even  unto  our  age  by  the  very  fact  that  the  Scriptures  have  been 
zealously  guarded  and  fully  interpreted"  (Contra  Haereses,  lib.  iv., 
cap.  33,  n.  8).  And  Tertullian  :  "  It  is  therefore  clear  that  all 
doctrine  which  agrees  with  that  of  the  Apostolic  Churches — the 
matrices  and  original  centres  of  the  faith,  must  be  looked  upon 
as  the  truth,  holding  without  hesitation  that  the  Church  received 
it  from  the  Apostles,  the  Apostles  from  Christ,  and  Christ 
from  God.  .  .  .  We  are  in  communion  with  the  Apostolic 
Churches,  and  by  the  very  fact  that  they  agree  amongst  themselves 
we  have  a  testimony  of  the  truth"  (De  Prcvscrip.,  cap.  xxxi ). 
And  so  Hilary:  "  Christ  teaching  from  the  ship  signifies  that 
those  who  are  outside  the  Church  can  never  grasp  the  divine 
teaching;  for  the  ship  typifies  the  Church,  where  the  word  of  life 
is  deposited  and  preached.  Those  who  are  outside  are  like  sterile 
and  worthless  sand  :  they  cannot  comprehend"  (Comment  in  Matt. 
xiii  ,  n.  1).  Eufinus  praises  Gregory  of  Nazianzum  and  Basil, 
because  "  they  studied  the  text  of  Holy  Scripture  alone,  and  took 
the  interpretation  of  its  meaning  not  from  their  own  inner 
consciousness,  but  from  the  waitings  and  on  the  authority  of  the 
ancients,  who  in  their  turn,  as  it  is  clear,  took  their  rule  for 
understanding  the  meaning  from  the  Apostolic  succession" 
(Hist.  EccL,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  9). 

Wherefore,  as  appears  from  what  has  been  said,  Christ 
instituted  in  the  Church  a  living,  authoritative,  and  permanent 
Magisterium,  which  by  His  own  power  He  strengthened,  by  the 
Spirit  of  truth  He  taught,  and  by  miracles  confirmed.  He  willed 
and  ordered,  under  the  gravest  penalties,  that  its  teachings  should 
be  received  as  if  they  were  His  own.  As  often,  therefore,  as  it 
is  declared  on  the  authority  of  this  teaching  that  this  or  that  is 
contained  in  the  deposit  of  divine  revelation,  it  must  be  believed 
by  everyone  as  true.  If  it  could  in  any  way  be  false,  an  evident 


840  Documents 

contradiction  follows ;  for  then  God  Himself  would  be  the  author 
of  error  in  man.  "  Lord,  if  we  be  in  error,  we  are  being  deceived 
by  Thee"  (Eichardus  de  S.  Victore,  De  Trin.,  lib.  i.,  cap.  2).  In 
this  wise,  all  cause  for  doubting  being  removed,  can  it  be  lawful 
for  anyone  to  reject  any  one  of  those  truths  without  by  the  very 
fact  falling  into  heresy? — without  separating  himself  from  the 
Church  ? — without  repudiating  in  one  sweeping  act  the  whole  of 
Christian  teaching  ?  For  such  is  the  nature  of  faith  that  nothing 
can  be  more  absurd  than  to  accept  some  things  and  reject  others. 
Faith,  as  the  Church  teaches,  is  "  that  supernatural  virtue  by 
which,  through  the  help  of  God  and  through  the  assistance  of 
His  grace,  we  believe  what  he  has  revealed  to  be  true,  not  on 
account  of  the  intrinsic  truth  perceived  by  the  natural  light  of 
reason,  but  because  of  the  authority  of  God  Himself,  the  Kevealer, 
who  can  neither  deceive  nor  be  deceived"  (Cone.  Vat.,  Sess.  iii., 
cap.  3).  If  then  it  be  certain  that  anything  is  revealed  by  God  and 
this  is  not  believed,  then  nothing  whatever  is  believed  by  divine 
faith :  For  what  the  Apostle  St.  James  judges  to  be  the  effect  of  a 
moral  delinquency,  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  an  erroneous  opinion 
in  the  matter  of  faith.  "  Whosoever  shall  offend  in  one  point,  is 
become  guilty  of  all"  (James  ii.  10).  Nay,  it  applies  with  greater 
force  to  an  erroneous  opinion.  For  it  can  be  said  with  less  truth 
that  every  law  is  violated  by  one  who  commits  a  single  sin,  since 
it  may  be  that  he  only  virtually  despises  the  majesty  of  God  the 
Legislator.  But  he  who  dissents  even  in  one  point  from  divinely 
revealed  truth,  absolutely  rejects  all  faith,  since  he  thereby  refuses 
to  honour  God  as  the  supreme  truth  and  the  formal  motive  of 
faith.  "  In  many  things  they  are  with  me,  in  a  few  things  not 
with  me;  but  in  those  few  things  in  which  they  are  not  with  me, 
the  many  things  in  which  they  are  will  not  profit  them " 
(S.  Augustinus  in  Psal.  liv.,  n.  19)..  And  this  indeed  most 
deservedly ;  for  they,  who  take  from  Christian  doctrine  what 
they  please,  lean  on  their  own  judgments,  not  on  faith  ;  and  not 
"  bringing  into  captivity  every  understanding  unto  the  obedience  of 
Christ"  (2  Cor.  x.  5),  they  more  truly  obey  themselves  than  God, 
"  You,  who  believe  what  you  like  of  the  Gospels,  and  believe  no 
what  you  like,  believe  yourselves  rather  than  the  Gospel " 
(S.  Augustinus,  lib.  xvii,  Contra  Faustum  Manichaeum,  cap.  3). 

For  this  reason  the  Fathers  of  the  Vatican  Council  laid  down 
nothing  new,  but  followed  divine  revelation  and  the  acknowledged 
and  invariable  teaching  of  the  Church  as  to  the  very  nature  of 


Documents  841 

faith,  when  they  decreed  as  follows : — "All  those  things  are  to 
be  believed  by  divine  and  Catholic  faith,  which  are  contained  in 
the  written  or  unwritten  word  of  God,  and  which  are  proposed 
by  the  Church  as  divinely  revealed,  either  by  a  solemn  definition, 
or  in  the  exercise  of  its  ordinary  and  universal  Magisterium  " 
(Sess.  iii.,  cap.  3).  Hence,  as  it  is  clear  that  God  absolutely  willed 
that  there  should  be  unity  in  His  Church,  and  as  it  is  evident 
what  kind  of  unity  He  willed,  and  by  means  of  what  principle 
He  ordained  that  this  unity  should  be  maintained,  we  may 
address  the  following  words  of  St.  Augustine  to  all  who  have  not 
deliberately  closed  their  minds  to  the  truth: — "  When  we  see  the 
great  help  of  God,  such  manifest  progress  and  such  abundant 
fruit,  shall  we  hesitate  to  take  refuge  in  the  bosom  of  that  Church, 
which,  as  it  is  evident  to  all,  possesses  the  supreme  authority  of 
the  Apostolic  See  through  the  Episcopal  succession?  In  vain 
do  heretics  rage  around  it;  they  are  condemned  partly  by  the 
judgment  of  the  people  themselves,  partly  by  the  weight  of 
councils,  partly  by  the  splendid  evidence  of  miracles.  To  refuse 
to  the  Church  the  primacy,  is  most  impious,  and  above  measure 
arrogant.  And  if  all  learning,  no  matter  how  easy  and  common 
it  may  be,  in  order  to  be  fully  understood  requires  a  teacher  and 
master,  what  can  be  greater  evidence  of  pride  and  rashness  than 
to  be  unwilling  to  learn  about  the  books  of  the  divine  mysteries 
from  the  proper  interpreter,  and  to  wish  to  condemn  them 
unknown  ?  "  (De  Unitate  Credendi,  cap.  xvii.,  n.  35). 

It  is  then  undoubtedly  the  office  of  the  Church  to  guard 
Christian  doctrine,  and  to  propagate  it  in  its  integrity  and  purity. 
But  this  is  not  all :  the  object  for  which  the  Church  has  been 
instituted  is  not  wholly  attained  by  the  performance  of  this  duty. 
For,  since  Jesus  Christ  delivered  Himself  up  for  the  salvation  of 
the  human  race,  and  to  this  end  directed  all  His  teaching  and 
commands,  so  He  ordered  the  Church  to  strive,  by  the  truth  of 
its  doctrine,  to  sanctify  and  to  save  mankind.  But  faith  alone 
cannot  compass  so  great,  excellent,  and  important  an  end. 
There  must  needs  be  also  the  fitting  and  devout  worship  of  God, 
which  is  to  be  found  chiefly  in  the  divine  Sacrifice  and  in  the 
dispensation  of  the  Sacraments,  as  well  as  salutary  laws  and 
discipline.  All  these  must  be  found  in  the  Church,  since  it 
continues  the  mission  of  the  Saviour  for  ever.  The  Church  alone 
offers  to  the  human  race  that  religion — that  state  of  absolute 
perfection — which  He  wished,  as  it  were,  to  be  incorporated  in  it. 


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And  it  alone  supplies   those  means  of  salvation  which   accord 
with  the  ordinary  counsels  of  Providence. 

THE    CHURCH    A    DIVINE    SOCIETY 

10.  But  as  this  heavenly  doctrine  was  never  left  to  the 
arbitrary  judgment  of  private  individuals,  but,  in  the  beginning 
delivered  by  Jesus  Christ,  was  afterwards  committed  by  Him 
exclusively  to  the  Magisterium  already  named,  so  the  power  of 
performing  and  administering  the  divine  mysteries,  together  with 
the  authority  of  ruling  and  governing,  was  not  bestowed  by  God 
on  all  Christians  indiscriminately,  but  on  certain  chosen  persons. 
For  to  the  Apostles  and  their  legitimate  successors  alone  these 
words  have  reference  :  "  Going  into  the  whole  world  preach  the 
Gospel,"  "Baptizing  them."  "Do  this  in  commemoration  of  Me." 
'•  Whose  sins  you  shall  forgive  they  are  forgiven  them."  And  in  like 
manner  He  ordered  the  Apostles  only,  and  those  who  should 
lawfully  succeed  them,  to  feed — that  is  to  govern  with  authority — 
all  Christian  souls.  Whence  it  also  follows  that  it  is  necessarily 
the  duty  of  Christians  to  be  subject  and  to  obey.  And  these 
duties  of  the  Apostolic  office  are,  in  general,  all  included  in  the 
words  of  St.  Paul :  "  Let  a  man  so  account  of  us  as  of  the 
ministers  of  Christ,  and  the  dispensers  of  the  mysteries  of  God" 
(1  Cor.  iv.  1). 

Wherefore  Jesus  Christ  bade  all  men,  present  and  future, 
follow  Him  as  their  leader  and  Saviour  ;  and  this,  not  merely  as 
individuals,  but  as  forming  a  society,  organized  and  united  in 
mind.  In  this  way  a  duly  constituted  society  should  exist, 
formed  out  of  the  divided  multitude  of  peoples,  one  in  faith,  one 
in  end,  one  in  the  participation  of  the  means  adapted  to  the 
attainment  of  the  end,  and  one  as  subject  to  one  and  the  same 
authority.  To  this  end  He  established  in  the  Church  all  those 
principles  which  necessarily  tend  to  make  organized  human 
societies,  and  through  which  they  attain  the  perfection  proper  to 
each.  That  is,  in  it  (the  Church),  all  who  wished  to  be  the  sons 
of  God  by  adoption,  might  attain  to  the  perfection  demanded  by 
their  high  calling,  and  might  obtain  salvation.  The  Church, 
therefore,  as  we  have  said,  is  man's  guide  to  whatever  pertains  to 
Heaven.  This  is  the  office  appointed  unto  it  by  God  :  that  it 
may  watch  over  and  may  order  all  that  concerns  religion,  and 
may,  without  let  or  hindrance,  exercise  according  to  its  judgment, 
its  charge  over  Christianity.  Wherefore  they  who  pretend  that 


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the  Church  has  any  wish  to  interfere  in  Civil  matters,  or  to 
infringe  upon  the  rights  of  the  State  know  it  not,  or  wickedly 
calumniate  it. 

God  indeed  even  made  the  Church  a  society  far  more  perfect 
than  any  other.  For  the  end  for  which  the  Church  exists  is  as 
much  higher  than  the  end  of  other  societies  as  divine  grace  is  above 
nature,  as  immortal  blessings  are  above  the  transitory  things  on 
the  earth.  Therefore  the  Church  is  a  society  divine  in  its  origin, 
supernatural  in  its  end  and  in  the  means  proximately  adapted  to 
the  attainment  of  that  end ;  but  it  is  a  human  community 
inasmuch  as  it  is  composed  of  men.  For  this  reason  we  find  it 
called  in  Holy  Writ  by  names  indicating  a  perfect  society.  It  is 
spoken  of  as  "the  house  of  God,"  the  "city  placed  upon  the 
mountain ' '  to  which  all  nations  must  come.  But  it  is  also  the  fold 
presided  over  by  one  Shepherd,  and  into  which  all  Christ's  sheep 
must  betake  themselves.  Yea,  it  is  called  "  the  kingdom  which 
God  has  raised  up  "  and  which  "will  stand  forever."  Finally, 
it  is  the  "  body  of  Christ  " — that  is,  of  course,  His  mystical 
body,  but  a  body  living  and  duly  organized  and  composed  of 
many  members  ;  members  indeed  which  have  not  all  the  same 
functions,  but  which,  united  one  to  the  other,  are  kept  bound 
together  by  the  guidance  and  authority  of  the  head. 

Indeed  no  true  and  perfect  human  society  can  be  conceived 
which  is  not  governed  by  some  supreme  authority.  Christ  there- 
fore must  have  given  to  His  Church  a  supreme  authority  to 
which  all  Christians  must  render  obedience.  For  this  reason,  as 
the  unity  of  the  faith  is  of  necessity  required  for  the  unity  of  the 
Church,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  body  of  the  faithful,  so  also  for 
this  same  unity,  inasmuch  as  the  Church  is  a  divinely  constituted 
society,  unity  of  government,  which  effects  and  involves  unity  of 
communion,  is  necessary  jure  divino.  "  The  unity  of  the  Church 
is  manifested  in  the  mutual  connection  or  communication  of  its 
members,  and  likewise  in  the  relation  of  all  the  members  of  the 
Church  to  one  head  "  (S.  Thomas,  2a,  2ae,  9,  xxxix.  a.  1). 

From  this  it  is  easy  to  see  that  men  can  fall  away  from  the 
unity  of  the  Church  by  schism  as  well  as  by  heresy.  "  We 
think  that  this  difference  exists  between  heresy  and  schism " 
(writes  St.  Jerome)  :  "heresy  has  no  perfect  dogmatic  teaching, 
whereas  schism,  through  some  Episcopal  dissent,  also  separates 
from  the  Church  "  (S.  Hieronymus,  Comment,  n  Epist.  ad  Titum, 
cap.  iii.,  v.  10-11).  In  which  judgment  St,  John  Chrysostom 


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concurs  :  "  I  say  and  protest  "  (he  writes)  "that  it  is  as  wrong  to 
divide  the  Church  as  to  fall  into  heresy"  (Horn.  xi.  in  Epist.  ad 
Ephes.,  n.  5).  Wherefore,  as  no  heresy  can  ever  be  justifiable,  so 
in  like  manner  there  can  be  no  justification  for  schism.  "  There 
is  nothing  more  grievous  than  the  sacrilege  of  schism  .  .  . 
there  can  be  no  just  necessity  for  destroying  the  unity  of  the 
Church  "  (S.  Augustinus,  Contra  Epistolam  Parmeniani,  lib.  ii , 
cap.  ii.,  n.  25). 

THE  SUPREME  AUTHORITY  POUNDED  BY  CHRIST 

11.  The  nature  of  this  supreme  authority,  which  all  Christians 
are  bound  to  obey,  can  be  ascertained  only  by  finding  out  what 
was  the  evident  and  positive  will  of  Christ.  Certainly  Christ 
is  a  King  for  ever  ;  and  though  invisible,  He  continues  until  the 
end  of  time  to  govern  and  guard  His  Church  from  heaven.  But 
since  He  willed  that  His  kingdom  should  be  visible,  He  was 
obliged,  when  He  ascended  into  heaven,  to  designate  a  vice- 
gerent on  earth.  "  Should  anyone  say  that  Christ  is  the  one 
head  and  the  one  shepherd,  the  one  spouse  of  the  one  Church,  he 
does  not  give  an  adequate  reply.  It  is  clear,  indeed,  that  Christ 
is  the  author  of  grace  in  the  sacraments  of  the  Church  :  it  is 
Christ  Himself  who  baptizes ;  it  is  He  who  forgives  sins ;  it  is 
He  who  is  the  true  priest  who  had  offered  Himself  upon  the 
altar  of  the  cross,  and  it  is  by  His  power  that  His  body  is  daily 
consecrated  upon  the  altar  :  and  still,  because  He  was  not  to  be 
visibly  present  to  all  the  faithful,  He  made  choice  of  ministers 
through  whom  the  aforesaid  sacraments  should  be  dispensed  to 
the  faithful,  as  said  above  (cap.  74).  For  the  same  reason,  there- 
fore, because  He  was  about  to  withdraw  His  visible  presence 
from  the  Church,  it  was  necessary  that  He  should  appoint  some- 
one in  His  place,  to  have  the  charge  of  the  universal  Church. 
Hence  before  His  Ascension  He  said  to  Peter:  'Feed  My 
sheep'  "  (S.  Thomas,  Contra  Gentiles,  lib.  iv. ,  cap.  76). 

Jesus  Christ,  therefore,  appointed  Peter  to  be  the  head 
of  the  Church :  and  He  also  determined  that  the  authority 
instituted  in  perpetuity  for  the  salvation  of  all  should  be  inherited 
by  His  successors,  in  whom  the  same  permanent  authority  of 
Peter  himself  should  continue.  And  so  He  made  that  remark- 
able promise  to  Peter,  and  to  no  one  else  :  "  Thou  art  Peter, 
and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church  "  (Matt.  xvi.  18).  "  To 
Peter  the  Lord  spoke  :  to  one,  therefore,  that  He  might  establish 


Documents  845 

Unity  upon  one  "  (S.  JPacianus  ad  Sempronium,  Ep.  iii.,  n.  11). 
"  Without  any  prelude  He  mentions  St.  Peter's  name  and  that  of 
his  father  ("  Blessed  art  thou  Simon,  son  of  John  "),  and  He  does 
not  wish  him  to  be  called  any  more  Simon.  Claiming  him  for 
Himself  according  to  His  divine  authority,  He  aptly  names  him 
Peter,  from  petra,  the  rock,  since  upon  him  He  was  about  to 
found  His  Church"  (S.  Cyrillus  Alexandrinus,  in  Evang.  Joan, 
lib.  ii.,  in  cap.  i.,v.  42). 

THE    UNIVERSAL   JURISDICTION    OF    ST,  PETER 

12.  From  this  text  it  is  clear  that  by  the  will  and  command  of 
God  the  Church  rests  upon  St.  Peter,  just  as  a  building  rests 
on  its  foundation.  Now  the  proper  nature  of  a  foundation  is  to 
be  a  principle  of  cohesion  for  the  various  parts  of  the  building, 
It  must  be  the  necessary  condition  of  stability  and  strength. 
Remove  it  and  the  whole  building  falls.  It  is,  consequently, 
the  office  of  St.  Peter  to  support  the  Church,  and  to  guard  it  in 
all  its  strength  and  indestructible  unity.  How  could  he  fulfil 
this  office  without  the  power  of  commanding,  forbidding,  and 
judging,  which  is  properly  called  jurisdiction  ?  It  is  only 
by  this  power  of  jurisdiction  that  nations  and  commonwealths 
are  held  together.  A  primacy  of  honotir  and  the  shadowy 
right  of  giving  advice  and  admonition,  which  is  called 
direction,  could  never  secure  to  any  society  of  men  unity  or 
strength.  The  words — "  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it " — proclaim  and  establish  the  authority  of  which  we 
speak.  ';  What  is  the  it?"  (writes  Origen).  '4Is  it  the  rock 
upon  which  Christ  builds  the  Church,  or  the  Church?  The 
expression  indeed  is  ambiguous,  as  if  the  rock  and  the  Church 
were  one  and  the  same.  I  indeed  think  that  this  is  so,  and  that 
neither  against  the  rock  upon  which  Christ  builds  His  Church, 
nor  against  the  Church,  shall  the  gates  of  hell  prevail  "  (Origines, 
Comment,  in  Matt.,  torn,  xii.,  n.  ii.).  The  meaning  of  this  divine 
utterance  is,  that,  notwithstanding  the  wiles  and  intrigues  which 
they  bring  to  bear  against  the  Church,  it  can  never  be  that  the 
Church  committed  to  the  care  of  Peter  shall  succumb  or  in  any 
wise  fail.  "  For  the  Church,  as  the  edifice  of  Christ  who  has 
wisely  built  '  His  house  upon  a  rock,'  cannot  be  conquered  by 
the  gates  of  hell,  which  may  prevail  over  any  man  who  shall  be 
off  the  rock  and  outside  the  Church,  but  shall  be  powerless 
against  it"  (ibid.}.  Therefore,  God  confided  His  Church  to 


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Peter,  so  that  he  might  safely  guard  it  with  his  unconquerable 
power.  He  invested  him,  therefore,  with  the  needful  authority  : 
since  the  right  to  rule  is  absolutely  required  by  him  who  has  to 
guard  human  society  really  and  effectively.  This,  furthermore, 
Christ  gave  :  "  To  thee  will  I  give  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven."  And  He  is  clearly  still  speaking  of  the  Church,  which 
a  short  time  before  He  had  called  His  own,  and  which  He  declared 
He  wished  to  build  on  -Peter  as  on  a  foundation.  The  Church  is 
typified  not  only  as  an  edifice  but  as  a  Kingdom,  and  everyone 
knows  that  the  keys  constitute  the  usual  sign  of  governing  autho- 
rity. Wherefore  when  Christ  promised  to  give  to  Peter  the  keys  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  He  promised  to  give  him  power  and 
authority  over  the  Church.  "  The  Son  committed  to  Peter  the  office 
of  spreading  the  knowledge  of  His  Father  and  Himself  over  the 
whole  world.  He  who  increased  the  Church  in  all  the  earth,  and 
proclaimed  it  to  be  stronger  than  the  Heavens,  gave  to  a  mortal 
man  all  power  in  Heaven  when  He  handed  him  the  keys " 
(S.  Joannes  Chrysostomus,  Horn,  liv.,  in  Matt.  v.  2).  In  this 
same  sense  He  says :  "  Whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  upon  earth 
it  shall  be  bound  also  in  Heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose 
on  earth  it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  Heaven."  This  metaphorical 
expression  of  binding  and  loosing  indicates  the  power  of  making 
laws,  of  judging  and  of  punishing  ;  and  the  power  is  said  to  be  of 
such  amplitude  and  force  that  God  will  ratify  whatever  is  decreed 
by  it.  Thus  it  is  supreme  and  absolutely  independent,  so  that, 
having  no  other  power  on  earth  as  its  superior,  it  embraces  the 
whole  Church  and  all  things  committed  to  the  Church. 

The  promise  is  carried  out  when  Christ  the  Lord  after  His 
Eesurrection,  having  thrice  asked  Peter  whether  he  loved  Him 
more  than  the  rest,  lays  on  him  the  injunction  :  "  Feed  My  lambs, 
feed  My  sheep."  That  is,  He  confides  to  him,  without  exception, 
all  those  who  were  to  belong  to  His  fold.  "  The  Lord  does  not 
hesitate.  He  interrogates,  not  to  learn,  but  to  teach.  When  He 
was  about  to  ascend  into  Heaven  He  left  us,  as  it  were,  a  vice- 
gerent of  His  love  .  .  .  and  so  because  Peter  alone  of  all  others 
professes  his  love  he  is  preferred  to  all— that  being  the  most 
perfect  he  should  govern  the  more  perfect "  (S.  Ambrosius, 
Exposit.  in  Evang.  secundum,  Lucam,  lib.  x.,  nn.  175-176). 

These  then  are  the  duties  of  a  shepherd :  to  place  himself  as 
leader  at  the  head  of  his  flock,  to  provide  proper  food  for  it,  to . 
ward  off  dangers,  to  guard  against  insidious  foes,  to  defend  it 


Documents  847 

against  violence  :  in  a  word,  to  rule  and  govern  it.  Since,  there- 
fore, Peter  has  been  placed  as  shepherd  of  the  Christian  flock,  he 
has  received  the  power  of  governing  all  men  for  whose  salvation 
Jesus  Christ  shed  His  blood.  "  Why  has  He  shed  His  blood  ? 
To  buy  the  sheep  which  He  handed  over  to  Peter  and  his 
successors  "  (S.  Joannes  Chrysostomus,  De  Sacerdotio,  lib.  ii.). 

And  since  all  Christians  must  be  closely  united  in  the 
communion  of  one  immutable  faith,  Christ  the  Lord,  in  virtue  of 
His  prayers,  obtained  for  Peter  that  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  office 
he  should  never  fall  away  from  the  faith.  "  But  I  have  asked  for 
thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not  "  (Luke  xxii.  32),  and  He  furthermore 
commanded  him  to  impart  light  and  strength  to  his  brethren  as 
often  as  the  need  should  arise  :  "  Confirm  thy  brethren  "  (ibid.). 
He  willed  then  that  he  whom  He  had  designated  as  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Church  should  be  the  defence  of  its  faith.  "  Could 
not  Christ  who  confided  to  him  the  Kingdom  by  His  own 
authority  have  strengthened  the  faith  of  one  whom  He  desig- 
nated a  reck  to  show  the  foundation  of  the  Church?" 
(S.  Ambrosius,  De  Fide,  lib.  iv.,  n.  56).  For  this  reason  Jesus 
Christ  willed  that  Peter  should  participate  in  certain  names, 
signs  of  great  things  which  properly  belong  to  Himself, 
alone  ;  in  order  that  identity  of  titles  should  show  identity 
of  power.  So  He  who  is  Himself  "the  chief  corner-stone, 
in  whom  all  the  building  being  framed  together,  groweth  up 
into  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord"  (Eph.  ii.  21),  placed  Peter  as  it 
were  a  stone  to  support  the  Church.  "  When  he  heard  :  '  Thou 
art  a  rock,'  he  was  ennobled  by  the  announcement;  although  he 
is  a  rock,  not  as  Christ  is  a  rock,  but  as  Peter  is  a  rock.  For 
Christ  is  by  His  very  being  an  immovable  rock  ;  Peter  only 
through  this  rock.  Christ  imparts  His  gifts,  and  is  not  exhausted 
...  He  is  a  priest,  and  makes  priests.  He  is  a  rock,  and  consti- 
tutes a  rock  "  (Horn,  de  Poenitentia,  n.  4  in  Appendice  opp. 
S.  Basilii).  He  who  is  the  King  of  His  Church,  '  who  hath  the 
key  of  David,  who  openeth  and  no  man  shutteth,  who  shutteth 
and  no  man  openeth"  (Apoc.  iii.  7),  having  delivered  the  keys  to 
Peter,  declared  him  Prince  of  the  Christian  commonwealth.  So 
too  He  the  Great  Shepherd,  who  calls  Himself  the  Good  Shepherd, 
constituted  Peter  the  pastor  of  His  lambs  and  sheep  :  '  Feed  My 
lambs,  feed  My  sheep.'"  Wherefore  Chrysostom  says:  "He 
was  pre-eminent  among  the  Apostles  ;  He  was  the  mouthpiece 
of  the  Apostles,  and  the  head  of  the  Apostolic  College  ...  at 


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the  same  time  showing  him  that  henceforth  he  ought  to  have 
confidence,  and,  as  it  were  blotting  out  his  denial,  He  commits  to 
him  the  government  of  His  brethren  ...  He  saith  to  him  :  '  If 
thou  lovest  Me,  be  over  My  brethren.'  Finally,  He  who  confirms 
in  '  every  good  work  and  word  '  (2  Thess.  ii.  16),  commands  Peter 
1  to  confirm  his  brethren.'  " 

Eightly,  therefore,  does  St.  Leo  the  Great  say  :  "  From  the 
whole  world  Peter  alone  is  chosen  to  take  the  lead  in  calling  all 
nations  to  be  the  head  of  all  the  Apostles  and  of  all  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church.  So  that,  although  in  the  people  of  God  there  are 
many  priests  and  many  pastors,  Peter  should  by  right  rule  all  of 
those  over  whom  Christ  Himself  is  the  chief  ruler"  (Sermo  iv., 
chap.  2).  And  so  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  writing  to  the  Emperor 
Maurice  Augustus,  says  :  "It  is  evident  to  all  who  know  the 
Gospel,  that  the  charge  of  the  whole  Church  was  committed  to 
St.  Peter,  the  Apostle  and  Prince  of  all  the  Apostles,  by  the  word 
of  the  Lord  .  .  .  Behold  !  he  hath  received  the  keys  of  the  heavenly 
kingdom  ;  the  power  of  binding  and  loosing  is  conferred  upon 
him  ;  the  care  of  the  whole  government  of  the  Church  is 
confided  to  him  "  (Epist.  lib.  v.,  Epist.  xx.). 


THE    ROMAN    PONTIFFS    POSSESS    SUPEEME    POWEE    IN    THE    CHUECH 
aJUEE    DIVINO  " 

13.  It  was  necessary  that  a  government  of  this  kind,  since  it 
belongs  to  the  constitution  and  formation  of  the  Church,  as  its 
principal  element  ;  that  is,  as  the  principle  of  unity  and  the 
foundation  of  lasting  stability,  should  in  no  wise  come  to  an 
end  with  St.  Peter,  but  should  pass  to  his  successors,  from 
one  to  another.  "  There  remains,  therefore,  the  ordi- 
nance of  truth,  and  St.  Peter,  persevering  in  the  strength 
of  the  rock  which  he  had  received,  hath  not  aban- 
doned the  government  of  the  Church  which  had  been 
confided  to  him"  (S.  Leo  M.  Sermo  in.,  cap.  3).  For  this 
reason  the  Pontiffs  who  succeed  Peter  in  the  Eoman  Episcopate 
receive  the  supreme  power  in  the  Church,  jure  divino.  "  We 
define  "  (declare  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Florence)  "  that 
the  Holy  and  Apostolic  See  and  the  Eoman  Pontiff  holds  the 
primacy  of  the  Church  throughout  the  whole  world  :  and  that 
the  same  Eoman  Pontiff  is  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  the  Prince  of 
the  Apostles  and  the  true  Vicar  of  Christ,  the  head  of  the  whole 
Church,  and  the  father  and  teacher  of  all  Christians ;  and  that 


Documents  849 

full  power  was  given  to  him,  in  Blessed  Peter,  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  to  feed,  to  rule,  and  to  govern  the  Universal  Church,  as  is 
also  contained  in  the  acts  of  oecumenical  councils  and  in  the 
sacred  canons"  (Cone.  Florentinum).  Similarly  the  Fourth 
Council  of  Lateran  declares:  "  The  Eoman  Church,  as  the 
mother  and  mistress  of  all  the  faithful,  hy  the  will  of  Christ 
obtains  primacy  of  jurisdiction  over  all  other  Churches."  These 
declarations  were  preceded  by  the  consent  of  antiquity  which  ever 
acknowledged,  without  the  slightest  doubt  or  hesitation,  the 
Bishops  of  Eome,  and  revered  them,  as  the  legitimate  successors 
of  St.  Peter.  Who  is  unaware  of  the  many  and  evident  testi- 
monies of  the  holy  Fathers  which  exist  to  this  effect?  Most 
remarkable  is  that  of  St.  Irenaeus  who,  referring  to  the  Eoman 
Church  says :  "  With  this  Church,  on  account  of  its  pre-eminent 
authority,  it  is  necessary  that  every  Church  should  be  in  concord" 
(Contra  Haereses,  lib.  in.,  cap.  3,  n.  2);  and  St.  Cyprian  also 
says  of  the  Eoman  Church,  that  "  it  is  the  root  and  mother  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  the  chair  of  Peter,  and  the  principal  Church 
whence  sacerdotal  unity  has  its  source"  (Ep.  xlviii.,  ad 
Cornelium,  n.  3,  and  Ep.  lix.,  ad  Eundem,  n.  14.)  He  calls  it 
the  chair  of  Peter,  because  it  is  occupied  by  the  successor  of  Peter : 
he  calls  it  the  principal  Church,  on  account  of  the  primacy 
conferred  on  Peter  himself  and  his  legitimate  successors;  and 
the  source  of  unity,  because  the  Eoman  Church  is  the  efficient 
cause  of  unity  in  the  Christian  commonwealth.  For  this  reason 
Jerome  addresses  Damasus  thus  :  "  My  words  are  spoken  to  the 
successors  of  the  Fisherman,  to  the  disciples  of  the  Cross.  .  .  . 
I  communicate  with  none  save  your  Blessedness,  that,  is,  with  the 
Chair  of  Peter.  For  this  I  know  is  the  rock  on  which  the 
Church  is  built"  (Ep.  xv.,  ad  Damasum,  n.  2).  Union  with  the 
Eoman  See  of  Peter  is  to  him  always  the  public  criterion  of 
a  Catholic.  "  I  acknowledge  everyone  who  is  united  with  the 
See  of  Peter"  (Ep.  xvi.,  ad  Damasum,  n.  2).  And  for  a  like 
reason  St.  Augustine  publicly  attests  that  :  "  the  primacy  of  the 
Apostolic  chair  always  existed  in  the  Eoman  Church  "  (Ep.  xliii., 
n.  7) ;  and  he  denies  that  anyone  who  dissents  from  the  Eoman 
faith  can  be  a  Catholic.  "  You  are  not  to  be  looked  upon  as 
holding  the  true  Catholic  faith  if  you  do  not  teach  that  the  faith 
of  Eome  is  to  be  held  "  (Sermo  cxx.,  n.  13).  So  too,  St.  Cyprian: 
"To  be  in  communion  with  Cornelius  is  to  be  in  communion 
with  the  Catholic  Church "  (Ep.  lv.,  n.  1).  In  the  same  way 

VOL,  XVII.  3  H 


850  Documents 

Maximus  the  Abbot  teaches  that  obedience  to  the  Eoman 
Pontiff  is  the  proof  of  the  true  faith  and  of  legitimate 
communion.  "  Therefore  if  a  man  does  not  want  to  be,  or 
to  be  called,  a  heretic,  let  him  not  strive  to  please  this  or  that 
man  .  .  .  but  let  him  hasten  before  all  things  to  be  in  communion 
with  the  Eoman  See.  If  he  be  in  communion  with  it,  he  should 
be  acknowledged  by  all  and  everywhere  as  faithful  and  orthodox. 
He  speaks  in  vain  who  tries  to  persuade  me  of  the  orthodoxy  of 
those  who,  like  himself  refuse  obedience  to  His  Holiness  the 
Pope  of  the  most  holy  Church  of  Eome  :  that  is  to  the  Apostolic 
See."  The  reason  and  motive  of  this  he  explains  to  be  that  "  the 
Apostolic  See  has  received  and  hath  government,  authority,  and 
power  of  binding  and  loosing  from  the  Incarnate  Word  Himself  ; 
and,  according  to  all  holy  synods,  sacred  canons  and  decrees,  in 
all  things  and  through  all  things,  in  respect  of  all  the  holy  churches 
of  God  throughout  the  whole  world,  since  the  Word  in  Heaven 
who  rules  the  Heavenly  powers  binds  and  loosens  there " 
(Defloratio  ex  Epistola  ad  Petrum  illustrem). 

Wherefore  what  was  acknowledged  and  observed  as  Christian 
faith,  not  by  one  nation  only,  nor  in  one  age,  but  by  the  East  and 
by  the  West,  and  through  all  ages,  this  Philip,  the  priest,  the 
Pontifical  legate  at  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  no  voice  being  raised 
in  dissent,  recalls  :  "No  one  can  doubt.  Yea,  it  is  known  unto 
all  ages,  that  St.  Peter,  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  the  pillar  of 
the  faith  and  the  ground  of  the  Catholic  Church,  received  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  That  is,  the 
power  of  forgiving  and  retaining  sins  was  given  to  him  who,  up  to 
the  present  time,  lives  and  exercises  judgment  in  the  persons  of 
his  successors"  (Actio  iii.).  The  pronouncement  of  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon  on  the  same  matter  is  present  to  the  minds  of  all : 
"  Peter  has  spoken  through  Leo"  (Actio  ii.),  to  which  the  voice  of 
the  Third  Council  of  Constantinople  responds  as  an  echo  :  "  The 
chief  Prince  of  the  Apostles  was  fighting  on  our  side  :  for  we 
have  had  as  our  ally  his  follower  and  the  successor  to  his  See  : 
and  the  paper  and  the  ink  were  seen,  and  Peter  spoke  through 
Agatho"  (Actio  xviii.). 

In  the  formula  of  Catholic  faith  drawn  up  and  proposed  by 
Hormisdas,  which  was  subscribed  at  the  beginning  of  the  6th 
century  in  the  great  Eighth  Council  by  the  Emperor  Justinian, 
by  Epiphanius,  John  and  Menna,  the  patriarchs,  this  same  is 
declared  with  great  weight  and  solemnity.  "  For  the  pronounce- 


Documents  851 

ment  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  saying  :  '  Thou  art  Peter,  and 
upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church,'  &c.,  cannot  be  passed 
over.  What  is  said  is  proved  by  the  result,  because  Catholic 
faith  has  always  been  preserved  without  stain  in  the  Apostolic 
See"  (Post  Epistolam,  xxvi.,  and  omnes  Episc.  Hispan.,  n.  4). 
We  have  no  wish  to  quote  every  available  declaration ;  but  it  is 
well  to  recall  the  formula  of  faith  which  Michael  Paleologus  pro- 
fessed in  the  Second  Council  of  Lyons  :  "  The  same  holy  Eoman 
Church  possesses  the  sovereign  and  plenary  primacy  and 
authority  over  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  which,  truly  and 
humbly,  it  acknowledges  to  have  received  together  with  the 
plenitude  of  power  from  the  Lord  Himself,  in  the  person  of 
St.  Peter,  the  Prince  or  Head  of  the  Apostles,  of  whom  the 
Roman  Pontiff  is  the  successor.  And  as  it  is  bound  to  defend  the 
truth  of  faith  beyond  all  others,  so  also  if  any  question  should 
arise  concerning  the  faith  it  must  be  determined  by  its  judgment" 
(Actio  iv.). 

BISHOPS     BELONG     TO     THE     ESSENTIAL     CONSTITUTION     OF     THE 

CHURCH 

14.  But  if  the  authority  of  Peter  and  his  successors  is  plenary 
and  supreme,  it  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  the  sole  authority.  For 
He  who  made  Peter  the  foundation  of  the  Church  also  a  chose 
twelve,  whom  He  called  Apostles  "  (Luke  vi.  13) ;  and  just  as  it 
is  necessary  that  the  authority  of  Peter  should  be  perpetuated  in 
the  Roman  Pontiff,  so,  by  the  fact  that  the  bishops  succeed  the 
Apostles,  they  inherit  their  ordinary  power,  and  thus  the  Episcopal 
order  necessarily  belongs  to  the  essential  constitution  of  the 
Church.  Although  they  do  not  receive  plenary,,  or  universal,  or 
supreme  authority,  they  are  not  to  be  looked  on  as  vicars  of  the 
Roman  Pontiffs  ;  because  they  exercise  a  power  really  their  own, 
and  are  most  truly  called  the  ordinary  pastors  of  the  peoples 
over  whom  they  rule. 

But  since  the  successor  of  Peter  is  one,  and  those  of  the 
Apostles  are  many,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  into  the  relations 
whicfrexist  between  him  and  them  according  to  the  divine  constitu- 
tion of  the  Church.  Above  all  things,  the  need  of  union  between 
the  bishops  and  the  successors  of  Peter  is  clear  and  undeniable. 
This  bond  once  broken,  Christians  would  be  separated  and 
scattered,  and  would  in  no  wise  form  one  body  and  one  flock. 
'•  The  safety  of  the  Church  depends  on  the  dignity  of  the  Chief 


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Priest,  to  whom,  if  an  extraordinary  and  supreme  power  is  not 
given,  there  are  as  many  schisms  to  be  expected  in  the  Church  as 
there  are  priests  "  (S.  Hieronymus,  Dialog,  contra  Luciferianos, 
n.  9).  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  bear  this  in  mind,  viz,,  that 
nothing  was  conferred  on  the  Apostles  apart  from  Peter,  but 
that  several  things  were  conferred  upon  Peter  apart  from  the 
Apostles.  St.  John  Chrysostom,  in  explaining  the  words  of 
Christ,  asks  :  "  Why,  passing  over  the  others,  does  He  speak 
to  Peter  about  these  things?5'  And  he  replies  unhesitatingly 
and  at  once,  "  Because  he  was  pre-eminent  among  the  Apostles, 
the  mouthpiece  of  the  Disciples,  and  the  head  of  the  college" 
(Horn.  Ixxxviii.,  in  Joan,  n.  1).  He  alone  was  designated  as  the 
foundation  of  the  Church.  To  him  He  gave  the  power  of  binding 
and  loosing  :  to  him  alone  was  given  the  power  of  feeding.  On 
the  other  hand,  whatever  authority  and  office  the  Apostles 
received,  they  received  in  conjunction  with  Peter.  "  If  the  divine 
benignity  willed  anything  to  be  in  common  between  him  and  the 
other  princes,  whatever  he  did  not  deny  to  the  others  He  gave 
only  through  him.  So  that  whereas  Peter  alone  received  many 
things,  He  conferred  nothing  on  any  of  the  rest  without  Peter 
participating  in  it  "  (S.  Leo  M.  Sermo  iv.,  cap.  2). 

BISHOPS    SEPARATED    FROM    PETER   AND    HIS    SUCCESSORS   LOSE    ALL 
JURISDICTION 

15.  From  this  it  may  be  clearly  understood  that  bishops  are 
deprived  of  the  right  and  power  of  ruling,  if  they  deliberately 
secede  from  Peter  and  his  successors ;  because,  by  this  secession, 
they  are  separated  from  the  foundation  on  which  the  whole 
edifice  must  rest.  They  are  therefore  outside  the  edifice  itself ; 
and  for  this  very  reason  they  are  separated  from  the  fold,  whose 
leader  is  the  Chief  Pastor ;  they  are  exiled  from  the  Kingdom, 
the  keys  of  which  were  given  by  Christ  to  Peter  alone. 

These  things  enable  us  to  see  the  heavenly  ideal,  and  the 
divine  exemplar,  of  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  common- 
wealth, namely  :  When  the  Divine  Founder  decreed  that  the 
Church  should  be  one  in  faith,  in  government,  and  in  communion, 
He  chose  Peter  and  his  successors  as  the  principal  and  centre,  as 
it  were,  of  this  unity.  Wherefore  St.  Cyprian  says :  "  The 
following  is  a  short  and  easy  proof  of  the  faith.  The  Lord  saith 
to  Peter :  '  I  say  to  thee  thou  art  Peter  ;  '  on  him  alone  He 
buildeth  His  Church ;  and  although  after  His  Eesurrection  He 


Documents  853 

gives  a  similar  power  to  all  the  Apostles,  and  says :  '  As  the 
Father  hath  sent  Me,'  &c.,  still  in  order  to  make  the  necessary 
unity  clear,  by  His  own  authority  He  laid  down  the  source  of 
that  unity  as  beginning  from  one  "  (De  Unit.  Eccl.,  n.  4).  And 
Optatus  of  Milevis  says  :  "  You  cannot  deny  that  you  know  that 
in  the  city  of  Rome  the  Episcopal  chair  was  first  conferred  on 
Peter.  In  this  Peter,  the  head  of  all  the  Apostles  (hence  his 
name  Cephas),  has  sat ;  in  which  chair  alone  unity  was  to  be 
preserved  for  all,  lest  any  of  the  other  Apostles  should  claim 
anything  as  exclusively  his  own.  So  much  so,  that  he  who 
would  place  another  chair  against  that  one  chair,  would  be  a 
schismatic  and  a  sinner  "  (De  Schism.  Donat.,  lib.  ii .).  Hence 
the  teaching  of  Cyprian,  that  heresy  and  schism  arise,  and  are 
begotten  from  the  fact  that  due  obedience  is  refused  to  the 
supreme  authority.  "  Heresies  and  schisms  have  no  other  origin 
than  that  obedience  is  refused  to  the  priest  of  God,  and  that  men 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  there  is  one  judge  in  the  place  of  Christ 
in  this  world"  (Epist.  xii.,  ad.  Cornelium,  n.  5).  No  one, 
therefore,  unless  in  communion  with  Peter  can  share  in  his 
authority,  since  it  is  absurd  to  imagine  that  he  who  is  outside 
can  command  in  the  Church.  Wherefore  Optatus  of  Milevis 
blamed  the  Donatists  for  this  reason  :  "  Against  which  gates  (of 
hell)  we  read  that  Peter  received  the  saving  keys,  that  is  to  say 
our  prince,  to  whom  it  was  said  by  Christ  :  '  To  thee  will  I  give 
the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  the  gates  of  Hell  shall  not 
conquer  them.'  Whence  is  it  therefore  that  you  strive  to  obtain 
for  yourselves  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven — you  who 
fight  against  the  chair  of  Peter?"  (lib.  ii.,  n.  4-5). 

But  the  Episcopal  order  is  rightly  judged  to  be  in  communion 
with  Peter,  as  Christ  commanded,  if  it  be  subject  to  and  obeys 
Peter ;  otherwise  it  necessarily  becomes  a  lawless  and  disorderly 
crowd.  It  is  not  sufficient  for  the  due  preservation  of  the  unity 
of  the  faith  that  the  head  should  merely  have  been  charged  with 
the  office  of  superintendent,  or  should  have  been  invested  solely 
with  a  power  of  direction.  But  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that 
he  should  have  received  real  and  sovereign  authority  which  the 
whole  community  is  bound  to  obey.  What  had  the  Son  of  God 
in  view  when  he  promised  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
to  Peter  alone  ?  Biblical  usage  and  the  unanimous  teaching  of 
the  Fathers  clearly  show  that  supreme  authority  is  designated  in 
the  passage  by  the  word  keys.  Nor  is  it  lawful  to  interpret  in  a 


854  Documents 

different  sense  what  was  given  to  Peter  alone,  and  what  was 
given  to  the  other  Apostles  conjointly  with  him.  If  the  power 
of  binding,  loosening,  and  feeding,  confers  upon  each  and  every 
one  of  the  bishops,  the  successors  of  the  Apostles,  a  real  authority 
to  rule  the  people  committed  to  him,  certainly  the  same  power 
must  have  the  same  effect  in  his  case  to  whom  the  duty  of 
feeding  the  lambs  and  sheep  has  been  assigned  by  God.  "  Christ 
constituted  (Peter)  not  only  pastor,  but  pastor  of  pastors  :  Peter 
therefore  feeds  the  lambs  and  feeds  the  sheep,  feeds  the  children 
and  feeds  the  mothers,  governs  the  subjects  and  rules  the  prelates, 
because  the  lambs  and  the  sheep  form  the  whole  of  the  Church  " 
(S.  Brunonis  Episcopi  Signiensis,  Comment,  in  Joan,  part  iii., 
cap.  21,  n.  55).  Hence  those  remarkable  expressions  of  the 
ancients  concerning  St.  Peter,  which  most  clearly  set  forth  the 
fact  that  he  was  placed  in  the  highest  degree  of  dignity  and 
authority.  They  frequently  call  him  "  the  prince  of  the  College 
of  the  Disciples  :  the  prince  of  the  holy  Apostles  :  the  leader  of 
that  choir  :  the  mouthpiece  of  all  the  Apostles  :  the  head  of  that 
family  :  the  ruler  of  the  whole  world  :  the  first  of  the  Apostles  : 
the  safeguard  of  the  Church."  In  this  sense  St.  Bernard  writes 
as  follows  to  Pope  Eugenius  :  "  Who  art  thou  ?  The  great  priest  : 
the  high  priest.  Thou  art  the  prince  of  bishops  and  the  heir  of 
the  Apostles.  .  .  .  Thou  art  he  to  whom  the  keys  were 
given.  There  are,  it  is  true,  other  gatekeepers  of  Heaven,  and 
other  pastors  of  flocks,  but  thou  art  so  much  the  more  glorious 
as  thou  hast  inherited  a  different  and  more  glorious  name  than 
all  the  rest.  They  have  flocks  consigned  to  them,  one  to  each  : 
to  thee  all  the  flocks  are  confided  as  one  flock  to  one  shepherd  ; 
and  not  alone  the  sheep,  but  the  shepherds.  You  ask  how  I 
prove  this  ?  From  the  words  of  the  Lord.  To  which — I  do  not 
say — of  the  bishops,  but  even  of  the  Apostles  have  all  the  sheep 
been  so  absolutely  and  unreservedly  committed  ?  If  thou  lovest 
Me,  Peter,  feed  My  sheep.  Which  sheep?  Of  this  or  that 
people,  of  this  city,  or  country,  or  kingdom?  *  My  sheep,'  He 
says  :  to  whom  therefore  is  it  not  evident  that  He  does  not 
designate  some,  but  all  ?  We  can  make  no  exception  where  no 
distinction  is  made"  (De  Consider atione,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  8). 

But  it  is  opposed  to  the  truth,  and  in  evident  contradiction 
with  the  divine  constitution  of  the  Church,  to  hold  that  while 
each  bishop  is  individually  bound  to  obey  the  authority  of  the 
Koman  Pontiffs,  taken  collectively  the  bishops  are  not  so  bound 


Documents  855 

For  it  is  the  nature  and  object  of  a  foundation  to  support  the 
unity  of  the  whole  edifice,  and  to  give  stability  to  it,  rather  than 
to  each  component  part ;  and  in  the  present  case  this  is  much 
more  applicable,   since    Christ  the    Lord    wished    that    by  the 
strength  and  solidity  of  the  foundation  the  gates  of  hell  should 
be  prevented  from  prevailing  against  the  Church.     All  are  agreed 
that  the  divine  promise  must  be  understood  of  the  Church  as  a 
whole,  and  not  of  any  certain  portions  of  it.     These  can,  indeed, 
be  overcome  by  the  assaults  of  the  powers  of  hell,  as,  in  point  of 
fact,  has    befallen  some    of    them.      Moreover,  he  who   is   set 
over    the  whole  flock  must    have  authority  not  only  over  the 
sheep  dispersed  throughout  the  Church,  but  also  when  they  are 
assembled  together.     Do  the  sheep,  when  they  are  all  assembled 
together,  rule  and  guide  the  shepherd?     Do  the  successors  of 
the  Apostles,  assembled  together,  constitute  the  foundation  on 
which  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  rests,  in  order  to  derive  there- 
from strength  and  stability  ?     Surely  jurisdiction  and  authority 
belong  to  him  in  whose  power  have  been  placed  the  keys  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven,  not  alone  in  all  provinces  taken  singly,  but 
in  all  taken  collectively.     And  as  the  bishops,  each  in  his  own 
district,  command  with  real  power  not  only  individuals,  but  the 
whole  community,  so  the    Eoman    Pontiffs,  whose    jurisdiction 
extends  to  the  whole  Christian  commonwealth,  must  have  all  its 
parts,  even    taken    collectively,  subject    and   obedient    to  their 
authority.     Christ  the  Lord,  as  we  have  quite  sufficiently  shown, 
made  Peter  and  his  successors  his  vicars,  to  exercise  for  ever  in 
the  Church  the  power  which  He  exercised  during  Hiss  mortal  life. 
Can  the  Apostolic  College  be  said  to  have  been  above  its  Master 
in  authority  ? 

This  power  over  the  Episcopal  College,  to  which  we  refer,  and 
which  is  clearly  set  forth  in  Holy  Writ,  has  ever  been  acknow- 
ledged and  attested  by  the  Church,  as  is  clear  from  the  teaching 
of  General  Councils.  "  We  read  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  has 
pronounced  judgments  on  the  prelates  of  all  the  Churches ;  we 
do  not  read  that  anybody  has  pronounced  sentence  on  him  " 
(Hadrianus  ii.  in  Allocutione  iii.  ad  Synodum  Romanum  an.  869. 
Cf.  Actionem  vii.  Cone.  Constantinopolitani  iv.).  The  reason  for 
which  is  stated  thus :  "  There  is  no  authority  greater  than 
that  of  the  Apostolic  See"  (Nicholas  in  Epist.  Ixxxvi.  ad 
Michael  Imperat.).1  Wherefore  Galasius,  on  the  decrees  of 

"  It  is  evident  that  the  judgment  of  the  Apostolic  See,  than  which  there  is 
no  authority  greater,  may  be  rejected  by  no  one,  nor  is  it  lawful  for  anyone  to 
pass  judgment  on  its  judgment." 


856  Documents 

Councils,  says  :  "  That  which  the  First  See  has  not  approved 
of  cannot  stand  ;  but  what  it  has  thought  well  to  decree  has  been 
received  by  the  whole  Church "  (Epist.  xxvi.  ad  Episcopos 
Dardaniae,  n.  5).  It  has  ever  been  unquestionably  the  office  of 
the  Eoman  Pontiffs  to  ratify  or  to  reject  the  decrees  of  Councils. 
Leo  the  Great  rescinded  the  acts  of  the  conciliabulum  of  Ephesus. 
Damasus  rejected  those  of  Eimini,  and  Hadrian  I.  those  of 
Constantinople.  The  28th  canon  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon, 
by  the  very  fact  that  it  lacks  the  assent  and  approval  of  the 
Apostolic  See,  is  admitted  by  all  to  be  worthless.  Eightly,  there- 
fore, has  Leo  X.  laid  down  in  the  5th  Council  of  Lateran,  "  that 
the  Eoman  Pontiff  alone,  as  having  authority  over  all  Councils, 
has  full  jurisdiction  and  power  to  summon,  to  transfer,  to  dissolve 
Councils,  as  is  clear,  not  only  from  the  testimony  of  Holy  Writ, 
from  the  teaching  of  the  Fathers,  and  of  the  Eoman  Pontiffs,  and 
from  the  decrees  of  the  sacred  canons,  but  from  the  teaching  of 
the  very  Councils  themselves."  Indeed,  Holy  Writ  attests  that 
the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  were  given  to  Peter  alone, 
and  that  the  promise  of  binding  and  loosening  was  granted  to 
the  Apostles  and  to  Peter  ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  the 
Apostles  received  supreme  power  without  Peter  and  against  Peter. 
Such  power  .they  certainly  did  not  receive  from  Jesus  Christ. 
Wherefore,  in  the  decree  of  the  Vatican  Council  as  to  the  nature 
and  authority  of  the  primacy  of  the  Eoman  Pontiff,  no  newly- 
conceived  opinion  is  set  forth,  but  the  venerable  and  constant 
belief  of  every  age  (Sess.  iv.,  cap.  3). 

Nor  does  it  beget  any  confusion  in  the  administration  that 
Christians  are  bound  to  obey  a  two-fold  authority.  We  are 
prohibited  in  the  first  place  by  Divine  Wisdom  from  entertaining 
any  such  thought,  since  this  form  of  government  was  constituted 
by  the  counsel  of  God  Himself.  In  the  second  place,  we  must 
note  that  the  due  order  of  things  and  their  mutual  relations 
are  disturbed  if  there  be  a  two-fold  magistracy  of  the  same  rank 
set  over  a  people,  neither  of  which  is  amenable  to  the  other. 
But  the  authority  of  the  Eoman  Pontiff  is  supreme,  universal, 
independent;  that  of  the  bishops  limited,  and  dependent.  ''It 
is  not  congruous  that  two  superiors  with  equal  authority  should 
be  placed  over  the  same  flock  ;  but  that  two,  one  of  whom  is 
higher  than  the  other,  should  be  placed  over  the  same  people  is 
not  incongruous.  Thus  the  parish  priest,  the  bishop,  and  the 
Pope  are  placed  immediately  over  the  same  people  "  (S.  Thomas 
in  iv  Sent.  dist.  xvii.,  a.  4,  ad  q.  4,  ad  3).  So  the  Eoman  Pontiffs, 


mindful  of  their  duty,  wish  above  all  things,  that  the  Divine 
constitution  of  the  Church  should  he  preserved.  Therefore,  as 
they  defend  with  all  necessary  care  and  vigilance  their  own 
authority,  so  they  have  always  laboured,  and  will  continue  to 
labour,  that  the  authority  of  the  bishops  may  be  upheld.  Yea, 
they  look  upon  whatever  honour  or  obedience  is  given  to  the 
bishops  as  paid  to  themselves.  "  My  honour  is  the  honour  of 
.the  universal  Church.  My  honour  is  the  strength  and  stability 
of  my  brethren.  Then  am  I  honoured  when  due  honour  is  given 
to  everyone  "  (S.  Gregorius  M.  Epistolarum,  lib.  viii.,  Ep  .  xxx.  ad 
Eulogium). 

APPEAL    TO    SHEEP    NOT    OF    THE    FOLD 

16.  In  what  has  been  said  we  have  faithfully  described  the 
exemplar  and  form  of  the  Church  as  divinely  constituted.  We 
have  treated  at  length  of  its  unity  :  we  have  explained  sufficiently 
its  nature,  and  pointed  out  the  way  in  which  the  Divine  Founder 
of  the  Church  willed  that  it  should  be  preserved.  There  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  all  those,  who  by  Divine  Grace  and  mercy 
have  had  the  happiness  to  have  been  born,  as  it  were,  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  to  have  lived  in  it,  will  listen 
to  Our  Apostolic  Voice — "My  sheep  hear  My  voice"  (John  x. 
27) — and  that  they  will  derive  from  Our  words  fuller  instruc- 
tion and  a  more  perfect  disposition  to  keep  united  with  their 
respective  pastors,  and  through  them  with  the  supreme  pastor, 
so  that  they  may  remain  more  securely  within  the  one 
fold,  and  may  derive  therefrom  a  greater  abundance  of  salutary 
fruit.  But  We,  who  notwithstanding  our  unfitness  for  this  great 
dignity  and  office,  govern  by  virtue  of  the  authority  conferred  on 
us  by  Jesus  Christ,  as  we  look  on  Jesus,  "  the  author  and  finisher 
of  our  faith"  (Heb.  xii.  2),  feel  Our  hearts  fired  by  His  charity. 
What  Christ  has  said  of  Himself,  We  may  truly  repeat  of  Our- 
selves—" Other  sheep  I  have  that  are  not  of  this  fold  ;  them  also 
I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  My  voice"  (John  x.  16).  Let 
all  those,  therefore,  who  detest  the  wide-spread  irreligion  of  our 
times,  and  acknowledge  and  confess  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the  Son 
of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  human  race,  but  who  have 
wandered  away  far  from  the  Spouse,  listen  to  Our  voice.  Let 
them  not  refuse  to  obey  Our  paternal  charity.  Those  who 
acknowledge  Christ  must  acknowledge  Him  wholly  and  entirely. 
"  The  Head  and  the  body  are  Christ  wholly  and  entirely.  The 
Head  is  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  the  body  is  His  Church  ; 
the  bridegroom  and  the  bride,  two  in  one  flesh.  All  who  dissent 


858  Documents 

from  the  Scriptures  concerning  Christ,  although  they  may  be 
found  in  all  places  in  which  the  Church  is  found,  are  not  in  the 
Church ;  and  again  all  those  who  agree  with  the  Scriptures 
concerning  the  Head,  and  do  not  communicate  in  the  unity  of  the 
Church,  are  not  in  the  Church  "  (S.  Augustinus,  Contra  Donatistas 
Episwla,  sive  De  Unit.  EccL,  cap.  iv.,  n.  7). 

And  with  the  same  yearning,  Our  soul  goes  out  to 
those  whom  the  foul  breath  of  irreligion  has  not  entirely 
corrupted,  and  who  at  least  seek  to  have  the  true  God,  the 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  as  their  Father.  Let  such  as 
these  take  counsel  with  themselves,  and  realize  that  they 
can  in  no  wise  be  counted  among  the  children  of  God,  unless 
they  take  Christ  Jesus  as  their  Brother,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  Church  as  their  mother.  We  lovingly  address  to  all 
the  words  of  St.  Augustine:  "Let  us  love  the  Lord  our  God; 
let  us  love  His  Church  :  the  Lord  as  our  Father,  the  Church  as 
our  Mother.  Let  no  one  say,  I  go  indeed  to  idols,  I  consult 
fortune-tellers  and  soothsayers:  but  I  leave  not  the  Church  of 
God  :  I  am  a  Catholic.  Clinging  to  thy^  Mother,  thou  offendest 
thy  Father.  Another  too  says  :  Far  be  it  from  me  :  I  do  not 
consult  fortune-telling,  I  seek  not  soothsaying,  I  seek  not  profane 
divinations,  I  go  not  to  the  worship  of  devils,  I  serve  not  stones : 
but  I  am  on  the  side  of  Donatus.  What  doth  it  profit  thee  not 
to  offend  the  Father,  who  avenges  an  offence  against  the  Mother  ? 
What  doth  it  profit  to  confess  the  Lord,  to  honour  God,  to  preach 
Him,  to  acknowledge  His  Son,  and  to  confess  that  He  sits  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father,  if  you  blaspheme  His  Church  ?  .  .  .  If 
you  had  a  beneficent  friend,  whom  you  honoured  daily — and  even 
once  calumniated  his  spouse,  would  you  ever  enter  his  house  ? 
Hold  fast,  therefore,  O  dearly  beloved,  hold  fast  all  together  God 
as  your  Father,  and  the  Church  as  your  Mother  "  (Enarratio  in 
Psal.  Ixxxviii.,  Sermo.  ii.,  n.  14). 

Above  all  things,  trusting  in  the  mercy  of  God,  who  is  able  to 
move  the  hearts  of  men,  and  to  incline  them  as  and  when  He 
pleases,  We  most  earnestly  commend  to  His  loving-kindness  all 
those  of  whom  We  have  spoken.  As  a  pledge  of  Divine  grace, 
and  as  a  token  of  Our  affection,  We  lovingly  impart  to  you,  in  the 
Lord,  Venerable  Brethren,  to  your  clergy  and  people,  Our 
Apostolic  Blessing. 

Given  at  St.  Peter's,  Eome,  the  29th  day  of  June,  in  the  year 
1896,  and  the  nineteenth  of  Our  Pontificate. 

LEO  XIII.,  POPE. 


Documents  859 

OFFICE   AND    MASS    OF   THE    BLESSED   THADDAEUS   MACHAE 

IN    FESTO    BEATI  THADDAF.I   MACHAE   EPISCOPI    CONFESSORIS.    OMNIA 

DE    COMMUNI    CONF.     PONT.    1    LOCO,    PRAETER    SEQUENTIA 

IN    II.    NOCTURNO. LECTIO    IV. 

Thaddaeus  nobillissima  Mac-Cartheorum  familia  ortus  est 
medio  saeculo  decimo-quinto  in  Agro  Kiarriensi  in  Mamonia* 
Australi  Hiberniae  provincia  (ejusque  majoribus  accensetur 
inclytus  Princeps  Cormacus,  habitu  quidem  Eex,  sed  animo 
discipulus,  patronus  et  ainicus  Beati  Malachiae,  de  quo  laus  est 
apud  Sanctum  Bernardum),  Egregiam  sortitus  animi  indolem,  ab 
ineunte  aetate  optimis  moribus  institutus,  studiorum  vix  emensus 
curriculum,  despectis  mundi  illecebris  clericali  militiae  nomen 
dedit.  Quum  ejus  doctrinae,  pietatis,  atque  insignium  virtutum 
fama  longe  lateque  in  dies  increbresceret,  a  Summo  Pontifice 
Xysto  quarto,  juvenis  adhuc  sed  sanctitatis  splendore  coruscus 
Ecclesiae  Eossensis  regimini  praefectus,  apud  Apostolicam  sedem 
Episcopalis  consecrationis  munere  est  auctus. 

LECTIO    V. 

Factus  forma  gregis  ex  animo,  Ecclesiae  sibi  commissae  sanc- 
tissime  praefuit :  verbi  Dei  praedicatione,  religionis  studio, 
animarum  zelo  optimi  pastoris  laudem  apud  suos  obtinuit,  sed 
magna  oborta  reipublicae  perturbatione,  in  qua  diu  de  regio 
Angliae  solio  acriter  dimicatum  est,  Thaddaeus  e  sede  sua 
primum  exturbatur :  mox  aemulorurn  artibus  apud  Apostolicam 
Sedem  accusatus,  immeritas  poenas  sine  querela  patientissime 
tulit ;  ut  ejus  virtus  ad  lydium  tribulationis  lapidem  probata  in 
accerbissimis  doloribus  perferendis  brevi  nitidiori  lumine  effulserit, 
Attamen  non  multo  post  Thaddaei  est  innocentia  comperta, 
eiusdemque  sanctitas  coram  Innocentio  Octavo  Pontifici  Maximo 
adeo  eluxit,  ut  ipse  Pontifex  non  modo  ilium  in  pristinos  honores 
restituere,  sed  ad  majora  vocare  proposuerit:  unde  nee  minime 
cogitantem  ad  Ecclesias  Corcagiensem  et  Cloynensem  magnisque 
beneficiis  cumulatum  destinavit. 

LECTIO    VI. 

Quum  vero  ob  potentiorum  rapaces  ausus  bonis  et  iuribus 
suae  Ecclesiae  magno  animarum  detrimento  prohibitus  esset, 
pauperrimo  cultu  et  peregrini  habitu  Eomam  petiit,  et  Aposto- 
lorum  limina  veneratus,  Christi  Vicario  causam  suam  detulit,  qui 
eum  benignissime  complexus,  amplissimis  datis  litteris,  in  Eccle- 


860  Documents 

siasticae  libertatis  osores  severessime  animadvertit.  Dum  in 
patriam  remearet,  quum  Eporediae  apud  subalpinos  substitisset, 
pauper  et  incognitus  in  hospitio  peregrinorum  exceptus  est, 
ibique  aerumnis  et  laboribus  fractus,  itineribusque  defessus, 
coelo  maturus  animam  Deo  reddidit,  nono  Kalendas  Novembris, 
anno  millesimo  quadringentesimo  nonagesimo  secundo,  aetatis 
suae  trigesimo  septimo.  Ejus  obitum  mire  coruscans  flamma 
caelitus  demissa  decoravit,  reiqua  novitate  permotus  Eporedi- 
ensis  Antistes,  comitante  clero,  ingenti  fidelium  turma  stipatus, 
sacrum /e jus  corpus  solemn!  pompa  per  urbem  circumtulit  et  in 
Cathedrali  Ecclesia,  suis  ipse  manibus  sub  altari  composuit. 
Insignem  servi  sui  sanctitatem,  multis,  quae  ad  ejus  tumulum 
patrata  sunt,  miraculis  Deus  testatam  voluit,  cultumque  ab 
immemorabili  tempore  ei  delatum  Leo  tertius  decimus  Pontifex 
Maximus  rite  probavit  et  confirmavit. 

IN    III    NOCTUBNO 

Homilia  in  Evangelium :  Cum  persequentur  .  .  .  ut  in 
Missali  Eomano  die  2°  Maii. 

MISS  A 

Ut  in  eodem  communi.    Evangelium  :  Cum  persequentur  .  .  . 

EPOBEDIEN 

Confirmato  anno  superior!  die  26  August!  per  Decretum 
Sacrae  Eituum  Congregationis  ecclesiastico  cultu  ab  immemorabli 
tempore  praestito  Beato  Thaddaeo  Machar,  Episcopo  Corcagiensi, 
Emi  Episcopi  Eporediensis,  Corcagiensis,  Cloynensis  et  Eossensis, 
iteratis  precibus  ab  Apostolica  Sede  enixe  flagitarunt  ut  Festum 
in  honorem  praedicti  Beati  Clero  Suarum  Dioecesum  liceat  cele- 
brare  sub  ritu  duplici  major!  cum  Officio  et  Missa  exhibitis,  cum 
autem  exhibitum  Officium  cum  Missa  ab  Emo  et  Emo  Diio 
Cardinal!  Vincentio  Vannutelli,  causae  relatore  in  Ordinario 
coetu,  subsignata  die  ad  Vaticanum  habito,  ut  approbaretur. 
propositum  fuerit,  Sacra  Eituum  Congregatio,  omnibus  mature 
expensis,  auditoque  voce  et  scripto  E.  P.  D.  Gustavo  Persian! 
Sanctae  Fidei  Promotoris  munere  fungente,  rescribendum  censuit  : 
pro  gratia  et  ad  Emum.  Ponentem  cum  Promotore  Fidei.  Quare 
eiusmodi  Officii  et  Missae  revisione  et  correctione  ab  eodem  Emo 
Ponente  cum  Promotore  Fidei  rite  peracta,  prouti  huic  praeiacent 
Decreto  probari  posse  duxit  die  23  Junii  1896.  Quibus  omnibus 
Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  Leoni  Papae  XIII  per  infrascriptuui 


Documents  .     861 

Cardinalem  Sacrae  Eituum  Congregationis  Praefectum  relatis, 
Sanctitas  Sua  Kescriptum  Sacrae  ipsius  Congregationis  probavit : 
simulque  concessit,  ut  suprascriptum  officium  cum  Missa  a  clero 
Saeculori  Dioeceseos  Eporediensis  necnon  a  religiosis  utriusque 
sexus  Calendario  Dioecesano  utentibus  die  xxvi  Octobris,  itemque 
a  clero  saeculari  Dioecesuum  Corcagien.  Cloynen.  et  Eossen.  una 
cum  regularibus  utriusque  sexus  respectrvo  Callendario  Dioece- 
sano se  conformantibus,  die  xxv  Octobris.  in  Festo  Beati  Thaddaei 
Machar  Episc.  Conf.  sub  ritu  duplici  minori,  adhiberi  valeat, 
contrariis  non  obstantibus  quibuscmnque. 
Die  7  Julii  1896. 

Subscript! : 

CAI,  CAED.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.E.C.,  Praef. 
Loco  %  Sigilli. 

ALOISIUS  TBIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secret. 


THE    DAYS    ON    WHICH    MASS    IS    FOEBIDDEN    IN    PRIVATE 

OEATOEIES 

EOMANA.      DUBIUM   QUOAD    DIES,    QUIBUS   VETANTUR    MISSAE    IN 
ORATORIIS   PKIVATIS 

Quum  die  30  lanuarii,  anno  elapso  1895,  in  conventu  Aca- 
demiae  Liturgicae  Eomanae  proposita  fuisset  quaestio  super 
diebus,  quibus  non  licet  Missam  celebrari  in  Oratoriis  privatis, 
atque  Academici  ac  Censores  diversimode  de  ea  sensissent, 
inspectis  etiam  Decretis  ac  praxi ;  hinc  Emus  Moderator  ipsius 
Academiae  ad  Sacram  Eituum  Congregationem,  penes  quam 
eadem  questio  alias  agitata.  fuit,  humillime  accessit,  suo  et 
Academiae  nomine  postulans  sequentis  Dubii  solutionem  ; 
nimirum  quinam  vere  sint  solemniores  dies,  in  quibus  pro 
omnibus,  peculiare  Indultum  non  habentibus,  Missae  sunt  vetitae, 
in  privatis  Oratoriis  ? 

Et  Sacra  eadem  Congregatio,  ad  relationem  infrascripti 
Secretarii,  exquisita  sententia  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  ac  re 
mature  examine  perpensa,  rescribendum  censuit  :  Illi  per  se  sunt 
solemniores  in  casu,  qui  dcscribuntur  in  Caeremoniali  Episcoporinn 
Libr.  II.  Cap.  XXXIV.  N.  2  et  de praecepto  servantur. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit. 

Die  10  Aprilis  1896. 

CAI.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.  E.  C.  Praef. 
b.*S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  S.  E.  C.  Secretarins. 


862  Notices  of  Books 

THE  INDULGENCE   OF   THE    PAPAL  BLESSING   GAINED   BY   THE 

BISHOP  WHO   IMPAETS   IT 

MONTIS    POL1TIANI.    DE    INDULGENTIA    PLENARIA    ADNEXA    BENEDIO 
TIONI    PAPALI,    LUCRANDA    AB    EPISCOPO    EAM    ELARGIENTE 

Episcopus  Montis  Politiani  huic  S.  Congregation!  Indulgent, 
sequens  dubium  solvendum  proposuit  :  Num  Plenariam  Indul- 
gentiam  lucrandam  a  Christifidelibus  Benedictionem  nomine 
Summi  Pontificis  recipientibus  a  respectivis  Episcopis,  lucrari 
valeat  et  ipse  Episcopus,  qui  earn  impertit  ? 

Et  Emi  Patres  in  Congregatione  Generali  ad  Vaticanas  Aedes 
habita  die  5  Martii  1896  responderunt  : 

Affirmative,  facto  verbo  cum  SSmo. 

Et  S  Slims  Diius  N.  Leo  Pp.  XIII  in  Audientia  habita  ab 
infrascripto  S.  C.  Cardinali  Praefecto  die  20  Maii  1896,  respon- 
sionem  Emorum  Patrum  benigne  approbavit. 

Datum  Eomae  ex  Secretaria  eiusdem  S.  C.  die  20  Maii  1896. 

ANDREAS  CARD.  STEINHUBER,  Praefectus. 
L.  *  S. 

A.  ARCHIEP.  NICOP.,  Secretarius. 


IRotices  of  Boofcs 

A    EiECOED    OF    THE    CENTENAEY    CELEBEATIONS    HELD   IN 

MAYNOOTH  COLLEGE  IN  JUNE,  1895.  Compiled  by 
the  Author  of  the  "  Centenary  History  of  Maynooth 
College."  Dublin  :  Browne  &  Nolan,  Ltd. 

THE  Author  of  the  Centenary  History  of  Maynooth  College 
has  made  his  work  perfect  and  complete  by  the  compilation  of 
this  most  interesting  record  of  the  Centenary  celebrations.  We 
have  here  a  full  account  of  all  that  was  done  to  prepare  for  the 
great  event,  and  to  carry  out  the  elaborate  arrangements  that 
made  it  such  a  wonderful  success.  We  have  also  a  faithful 
description  of  all  the  historic  scenes  that  were  witnessed  during 
the  three  eventful  days  of  the  celebration,  no  detail  being  omitted 
that  had  the  least  significance  or  importance  in  the  whole 
programme.  But  perhaps  the  part  of  the  work  that  will  attract 
most  attention  is  that  which  presents  to  us  the  letters  of 


Notices  of  Books  683 

congratulation  that  reached  Maynooth,  on  the  occasion,  from 
Cardinals,  Archbishops,  Bishops,  Scholars,  Universities,  Colleges 
and  religious  establishments,  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  a 
splendid  testimony  to  the  fame  and  worth  of  Maynooth  at  the 
end  of  its  first  century  of  labour.  We  are  glad  that  these 
valuable  letters  have  been  thus  given  to  the  public,  and  placed 
on  permanent  record  in  these  pages. 

The  new  volume  is  worthy  in  every  respect  of  the  Centenary 
History,  to  which  it  forms  a  valuable  supplement.  What  Du 
Boulay  did  for  the  University  of  Paris  and  A.  Wood  for  Oxford, 
the  Bishop  of  Clonfert  has  nobly  done  for  his  Alma  Mater ; 
and  as  those  names  will  remain  for  ever  intimately  connected 
with  the  great  Universities  whose  histories  they  narrated,  so  it 
is  safe  to  predict  that  no  name  will  be  more  closely  identified  in 
future  ages  with  Maynooth  College  than  that  of  the  author  of 
these  two  splendid  volumes — the  Most  Eev.  Dr.  Healy. 

We  should  not  omit  to  mention  that  the  Record  of  the 
Centenary  Celebrations  costs  8s.  Qd.,  and  should  not,  of  course, 
be  confounded  with  the  Centenary  History. 

J.  F.  H. 

OUB   SEMINAEIES.     An   Essay   on   Clerical  Training.     By 
.  Kev.  John  Talbot  Smith,  LL.D.     New  York  :  William 
H.  Young  &  Co.     1896. 

THE  author  of  this  work  reads  a  rather  severe  lecture  to  all, 
high  or  low,  who  are  responsible  for  the  seminaries  of  the  United 
States  ;  arid  the  severity  of  his  strictures  seems  all  the  more 
remarkable  as  he  professes  to  have  no  special  fitness  for  the  task 
of  criticism. 

"  Inexperienced  and  untrained  [he  says],  the  present  writer 
ventures  upon  what  to  him  is  an  unknown  sea,  disclaims  perfect 
knowledge  of  its  navigation,  and  hopes  to  reach  harbour  only 
through  that  kind  providence  which  is  known  to  look  kindly  after 
innocents.  He  has  no  surpassing  acquaintance  with  seminaries 
and  their  management,  widely  as  he  may  be  acquainted  with 
seminarians.  From  the  point  of  view  of  experience  he  is  not  at 
all  entitled  to  utter  a  word  on  the  subject.  Hence  his  views  go 
forth  without  authority,  and  must  depend  upon  the  actual 
condition  of  things  for  value  in  the  eyes  of  readers." 

Nothing  daunted  by  these  deficiencies,  he  attacks  his  subject 
with  characteristic  American  energy,  and  lays  about  him  very 
vigorously  through  upwards  of  three  hundred  pages.  He  starts 


864  Notices  of  Books 

with  the  proposition  that  the  seminaries  should  supply  the 
mission  with  an  educated  gentleman  of  sound  constitution,  fitted 
for  public  life,  acquainted  and  in  sympathy  with  his  environ- 
ment, and  imbued  with  the  missionary  spirit.  In  view  of  this 
ideal  he  opens  his  charge  against  the  seminaries  without  delay, 
blames  them  for  their  want  of  anything  like  a  common  system, 
denounces  their  "  Barnum  methods  of  advertising,"  exposes  the 
miserable  standard  of  their  entrance  examinations,  and  compares 
them  with  the  military  school  at  West  Point  to  their  utter 
confusion.  He  deplores  the  tendency  towards  diocesan  semi- 
naries, and  considers  that  a  central  or  provincial  seminary  is  far 
better  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  country..  The  Catholic  body  is 
too  fond  of  shutting  itself  up  in  corners.  He  lays  a  good  deal 
of  stress  on  the  physical  development  of  the  student,  and  its 
absolute  neglect  in  many  of  the  American  colleges,  with  the 
result  that  men  broken  down  in  health  for  ever  are  turned  out  to 
the  hard  work  of  the  mission.  He  has  an  interesting  chapter  on 
the  seminary  kitchen  and  class  of  food  supplied.  No  lawyer  in 
America,  he  says,  wx>uld  undertake  the  defence  of  the  bursars. 
"  No  good  butter  ever  yet  reached  a  seminary  table.  The  coffee 
and  tea  are  always  pure  slop.  The  fruit  and  vegetables  are 
without  character,  and  so  on  through  the  list,  until  simplicity 
becomes  a  horrible  thing  to  the  student."  Perhaps  the  keenest 
thrusts  are  aimed  at  the  manners  of  the  students,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  author's  depreciatory  criticism  is  applied  to  the 
studies. 

As  outsiders,  of  course,  we  shall  not  venture  to  offer  an 
opinion  one  way  or  the  other.  But  if  things  are  as  Dr.  Talbot 
Smith  represents  them,  the  sooner  they  are  looked  to  the  better 
it  will  be  for  the  Catholic  Church  in  America, 


THE   IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


OCTOBER,    1896 


THE  TEMPORAL  POWEK  OF  THE  POPE 

WEKE  we  to  judge  of  things  by  their  seeming  we  should 
oftentimes  make  great  mistakes.  In  some  cases,  at 
least,  "  things  are  not  what  they  seem,"  and  the  truth  is  far 
different  from  the  showing.  To  many  in  the  world  it  must 
seem  that  the  temporal  power  of  the  Popes  has  passed 
away  from  them  for  ever.  Twenty- six  years  ago  the 
Italian  army  entered  Kome  through  the  breach  near  Porta 
Pia.  Ever  since  they  have  held  the  city  and  palaces  of  the 
Popes  as  their  own,  and  there  is  no  sign  that  they  will 
be  dislodged  from  their  holding.  Will  this  be  the  case  for 
ever  ?  Will  there  not  come  a  day  when  the  Pope  will  be 
king  once  more  in  his  own  city  ?  Is  it  not  in  the  nature 
and  order  of  things  that  supreme  spiritual  authority  would 
possess  likewise  highest  temporal  power?  Ought  not  a  high 
priest  to  be  king  as  well  ?  These  questions  have  been  asked, 
and  answered  in  every  tongue,  a  hundred  times  over, 
during  the  past  twenty  years,  and  it  would  seem  foolish  to 
repeat  them  now,  were  it  not  plain  that  the  questions 
re-echo  themselves  in  every  Catholic  heart,  and  keep  calling 
for  hopeful  answers.  It  seems  that  the  Italians  will  stay 
on  in  Kome,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  Pope  must  regain  his 
temporal  power,  and  the  reasons  for  this  certainty  are 
stronger  than  we  should  at  first  suppose. 

The  famous   principle  of  Cicero,  which  St.  Vincent  of 
Lerins  seems  to  have  made  his  own  :  "  Quod  semper,  quod 
ubique,   quod     ab    omnibus    credebatur    et     nos    credere 
VOL.  xvn,  3  i 


866  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

debemus,"  makes  the  basis  of  a  very  strong  argument. 
\Vhensoever  it  can  be  shown  that  a  belief  has  existed  from 
the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day,  in  every  nation  of 
which  history  has  kept  the  record,  such  a  belief  is  proved 
thereby  worthy  of  acceptance,  even  in  an  age  of  unbelief; 
for  an  error  cannot  be  everlasting  among  creatures  who  have 
power  to  judge  aright.  "  Singuli  decipere  et  decipi  possunt, 
nemo  ornnes,"  says  Pliny,  "  neminem  omnes  fefellerunt." 

The  world   has  believed  at  all  times   what   it   believes 
to-day  —  that  temporal  power  is  the  birthright   of  supreme 
spiritual   authority,   and   hence  we   find   that    kings   were 
priests,  and  priests  held  kingly  rule  in  every  nation  on  whose 
downfall,  or  growth,  or  glory,  the  sun  has  set  and  risen. 
In  those   early  years,  when  men  heeded  not  to  write  the 
record  of  their  deeds,  or  sayings,    while   the   traditionary 
remembrance  of  God's  primaeval  revelations  was  yet  fresh 
and  unadulterated  amongst  men,  Melchisedech,  the  king  of 
Salem,  was  a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God.1     In  the  days 
of  Egypt's  greatness,  when  the  Valley  of  the  Nile  was  the 
home    of  wondrous  learning  and   mystic   rites,   while  the 
pyramids  were  being  built,  and  when  the  curse  was  yet 
unuttered  which  buried  her  cities  in  the  sand,  the  rulers  of 
Egypt,  Plato  tells  us,  were  priests,  and  if  it  happened  that 
one  of  any  other  condition  in  society  usurped  by  force  the 
kingly  power,  he  should  become  a  priest  before  he  could 
attempt  to  rule.2     In  Ethiopia,  when  it  had  place  and  power 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  when  there  was  learning  as 
well  as  wealth  in  the  great  island  which  the  Nile  watered, 
the  priests  held  the  supreme  power.     "  Formerly  in  Meroe, 
which  is  the  capital  of  Ethiopia,  the  chief  power  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  priests."3     The  priests  of  Zoroaster  were  the 
kings  of  Persia.      "  To  ^Egyptian  and  Chaldean   priests  " 
says  Polybius,  "  and  to  the  Magi  honour  and  kingly  power 
were  given."     In  Greece,  before  Agamemnon  was  laid  to  rest 
in  the  Agora  of  Mycenae,  and  later  on  when  the  gilding  was 

1  Genesis  xiv.  18. 

2  Plato,  ntpi  ftatriXcias,  circa  Mod.  .  .  .  wore  ire  pi  pev  Aiywnw  ouS'  e^ctTTf 


:5  Strabo,  Geoyrap/i.,  lib.  xvij. 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  867 

still  bright  on  the  frieze  of  the  Parthenon,  while  her 
eloquence  was  sweetest,  and  her  glory  at  its  best,  the  kings 
were  always  priests.  "  The  king,"  says  Aristotle,  "is 
general,  judge,  and  master  of  the  things  that  are  of  God."  * 
The  second  of  the  nine  archons,  who  had  charge  of  the 
sacred  rites,  was  called  the  king,  he  had  to  offer  sacrifice 
in  the  Eleusinium,  and  his  wife  should  be  a  priestess.  The 
president  of  the  Areopagus  was  a  high  priest.2  The 
Spartan  kings  were  priests  of  the  Lacedemonian  and 
Celestial  Jupiter.3  And  Plato  says,  that  in  many  of  the 
Grecian  cities,  the  sacred  rites  were  celebrated  by  the 
magistrates.4 

While  Greece  was  young,  and  Rome  only  a  tract  of 
extinct  volcanoes,  with  a  browsing  goat,  it  may  be,  but 
with  scarcely  a  goathead ;  while  Mycenae  was  still  unable  to 
build  an  arch  for  its  Lion's  Gate,  and  Latin  was  a  yet 
unuttered  tongue,  Genetrix  et  mater  superstitionis  Etruria 
had  her  priest,  and  gave  them  kingly  power. 

Virgil,  speaking  of  the  band  "  qui  Tuscis  comitatur  ab 
oris  Enean,"  says  :— 

"  Tertius  ille  hominum  Divumque  interpres  Asylas, 
Cui  pecudum  fibrae,  coeli  cui  sidera  parent 
Et  lingua  volucrum  et  praesagi  fulminis  ignes 
Mille  rapit  densos  acie  et  horrentibus  hastis  ;"  5 

for  "  the  service  of  the  altar  was  not  then  incompatible  in 
Etruria  with  leadership  in  the  State,  or  with  a  General's 
place  in  the  field  of  battle."  6 

It  was  from  Etruria  that  Rome  learned  most  of  the 
things  which  helped  to  build  up  Roman  greatness.  The 
religion  which  the  Fratres  Arvales  taught  was  undoubtedly 
Etruscan  in  its  origin  and  its  rites.  Rome  grew  out  of  her 
Etruscan  childhood  into  her  own  mightiness  ;  but  to  her 

1  Aristot.,  Paiit  iii.  14.     2rpar?jyo?  yap  ijv  KCI\  diKiio-TTjS  6  £fo<r(Xcv$  KCU  rajy 

TTpbs  TOVS  dfOVS  KVplOS. 

s.Tosephus,  Ar.tiq.,  lib.  xiv.,  c.  x. 

3  Herodot.,  lib.  vi. 

4  Plato,  supra. 

5  Virgil,  Aeneid,  x.  I7o. 

r>  Micali,  Italia  Avanti  I  Roinani,  p.  1,  c.  22, 


868  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

latest  day  she  never  forgot  her  early  lessons,  and  priests 
were  kings  in  Eome.  Virgil  tells  us  of  Anius  :— 

"  Idem  rex  hominum  Phcebique  Sacerdos."  '* 

Livy  says  of  Numa  :  "  Turn  sacerdotibus  creandis  animum 
adjecit,  quamquam  ipsi  sacra  plura  obibat,  ea  maxime  quae 
nunc  ad  Dialem  flaminem  pertinent,  sed  quia  in  civitate 
bellicosa  plures  Eomuli  quam  Numae  similes  reges  putabat 
fore,  ituros  ipsos  ad  bella,  ne  sacra  regiae  vicis  deserentur, 
flaminem  Juvi  assiduum  sacerdotem  creavit."2  Numa 
believed  that  the  priestly  office  belonged  to  the  king  by  right, 
and  that  it  was  merely  in  his  stead,  and  to  do  his  duty,  that 
other  priests  were  appointed.  And  we  find  that  this  was 
really  the  belief,  for  Dion.  Halicar.  tells  us  that  Romulus  gave 
the  chief  priestly  power  to  the  king  in  his  distribution  of 
the  offices  of  the  commonwealth.  The  king  was  to  be  the 
prince  of  priests.3  Eome  from  the  dawn  of  her  existence 
was  a  nation  that  believed  in  God,  she  had  practical  faith  in 
the  supremacy  of  the  Deity,  and  in  His  right  to  human 
worship  and  human  service.  The  Eoman  king  was  the 
father  of  his  people,  and  it  was  his  duty  to  appease  the 
anger  of  the  gods,  and  to  gain  from  them  the  blessings  of 
which  the  people  might  stand  in  need.  On  this  account 
Eomulus  and  Numa  thought  that  a  king,  of  necessity,  ought 
to  be  a  priest. 

When  the  Tarquins  were  turned  out  of  Eome,  and  kings 
became  an  object  of  hatred  and  detestation  to  the  people, 
they  still  kept  a  king  among  the  priests,  and  the  Rex 
Sacrorum,  the  representative  of  kingly  and  priestly  power 
was  created,  as  Herodotus  says,  in  order  that  the  name  of 
the  kingly  priesthood  might  be  preserved  for  ever.4  From 
the  time  of  Augustus  the  Eoman  emperors  took  the  title 
and  discharged  the  duties  of  the  Pontifex  Maximus. 
On  the  first  milestone  on  the  Appian  Way  we  find  the 


1  Virgil,  Acncid,  iii.  80. 

2  Livy,  lib.  i. 


3  Dionys.  Halicar.,  lib.  ii.  Antiq.  Rom.     KaTaarijo-ci^evos  8r)  ravra 
ras    rifJLas    KOL    ras    (fcoicrias    cis    fttdorrots    eftovXero     (X€lv    j8a<r*Aet  p. 

v  i'epcoy  KOL  6vcTLu>v  fjyfvofiiav 
Herodotus,  lib.  v. 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  869 

Emperor  writing  :  "  Imp.  Caes.  Vespasiamis  Aug.  Pontif. 
Maxim  ;"  and  in  hundreds  of  monuments  throughout  Europe 
we  find  the  Koman  emperors  using  this  title  as  their  right 
and  their  greatest  glory.  In  our  own  days  the  crown  has 
become  a  token  of  royalty ;  originally,  however,  it  was  worn 
only  by  the  priests  ;  a  sceptre  was  the  sign  of  kingly  power, 
and  it  was  by  reason  of  his  priesthood  only  that  the  king 
could  wear  a  crown ;  are^avotyopos  meant  usually  a  priest. 

Thus  far  have  we  been  speaking  of  the  great  civilized 
nations  of  the  past,  and  we  find,  as  Herodotus  says,  that 
kingly  was  inseparable  from  priestly  power.  Among 
barbarous  nations  the  case  was  precisely  the  same.  Olaf 
the  Great,  Bishop  of  Upsal,  in  his  History  of  the  Goths, 
says  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Goths  to  make  the 
priests  their  kings.  Helmoldus,  writing  of  the  ancient  Slavs, 
says :  "  Flaminem  suum  non  minus  quam  regem  venerantur." 1 
Among  the  Britons,  Gauls,  and  Germans,  the  Druids  had 
supreme  power.  What  Dr.  Lingard  says  of  their  power 
among  the  ancient  Britons,  is  said  by  Caesar,  Tacitus, 
and  others,  of  their  power  in  Gaul  and  Germany :  "  In 
public  and  private  life  their  opinion  was  always  asked  and 
generally  followed.  By  their  authority  peace  was  preserved ; 
in  their  presence  passion  and  revenge  was  silenced,  and 
at  their  mandate  contending  armies  consented  to  sheathe 
their  swords.  Civil  controversies  were  submitted  to  their 
decision,  and  the  punishment  of  crimes  was  reserved  to 
their  justice.  Eeligion  supplied  them  with  the  power  of 
enforcing  submission.  Disobedience  was  followed  by  excom- 
munication, and  from  that  instant  the  culprit  was  banished 
from  the  sacrifices,  cut  off  from  the  protection  of  the 
laws,  and  stigmatized  as  a  disgrace  to  his  family  and  his 
country."2 

From  all  quarters  of  the  ancient  world  and  from  all 
times  we  have  brought  forward  witnesses,  and  with  one 
voice  they  have  told  us  that  priestly  power  brought  with  it 
temporal  authority  ;  that  kings  were  obeyed  by  men  because 

1  Helmoldus,  Chronicon  Slavornm,  p.  22. 

2  Lingard,  Hist.  Engl.,  vol.  i.,  c.  1  ;  Caes.,  De  Bello  Gall.,  lib.  vi. ;  Tacitus, 
AnnaL,  lib.  xii. 


870  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

they  were  looked  up  to  as  the  ministers  of  the  gods.  While 
the  echoes  of  the  past  are  around  us,  we  remember  that  the 
nations  of  the  present  are  repeating  the  selfsame  truth. 
Where  Caractatus  once  honoured  the  Druids,  the  present 
ruler  styles  herself  the  Defender  of  the  Faith,  and  frocks 
and  unfrocks  bishops  at  her  will.  In  the  land  of  the  Slavs 
the  Tsar  is  Pope  as  well  as  king,  the  only  high  priest  fitted 
to  crown  him  Emperor  of  all  the  Eussias.  And  thus 
modern  paganism  holds  that  priestly  and  kingly  power  can- 
not be  divided,  that  a  high  priest  is  worthy  of  a  kingdom, 
and  that  he  rules  best  who  is  priest  as  well  as  king. 

Is  this  persistent,  world-wide  belief  an  accident,  and 
therefore  worthless  as  an  argument  ?  Is  it  not  rather  the 
outcome  of  early  lessons,  which  were  written  not  in  water, 
or  on  stone,  but  on  the  fleshy  tables  of  human  hearts  ? 
Written  by  Him  whose  writing  may  be  blurred  or  blotted 
over  by  the  folly  or  the  wrong  of  men,  but  which  cannot 
ever  be  wiped  out  utterly  from  the  ways  or  the  history 
of  mankind.  Accident  can  give  us  nothing  lasting.  An 
enduring  effect  in  the  ways  of  men  must  have  an  unfailing 
cause.  A  practical  belief  which  has  existed  amongst  men 
from  the  days  of  Melchisedech,  the  King  of  Salem,  must 
have  its  source,  not  in  the  fickleness  of  human  judgment, 
but  in  that  eternal  truth  which  shines  from  the  face  of  God 
over  the  ways  of  men,  "  Signatum  est  super  nos  lumen  vultus 
Dei"  even  when  we  know  it  not ;  and  under  the  guiding  of 
that  light  it  is  impossible  for  mankind  to  go  always  or  utterly 
astray. 

Pagan  kings  were  not  really  priests  of  the  Most  High, 
neither  did  they  offer  sacrifice  to  the  true  God.  "  Omnes  dii 
gentium  demonia."  Yet  the  world  believed  at  all  times  that 
a  priest  was  worthy  to  be  the  king.  God  Himself,  and  God 
alone,  forecasting,  as  He  always  forecasts,  the  things  that  are 
to  come,  and  knowing  the  great  and  kingly  priesthood  which 
He  was  about  to  establish  on  the  earth,  kept  men  firm  in 
the  belief  that  kingly  and  priestly  power  were  inseparable  ; 
and  when  the  fulness  of  time  came  He  gave  us  a  Priest  who 
was  King  indeed,  and  established  amongst  us  a  true  priest- 
hood which,  possessing  on  earth  all  spiritual  power,  was 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  871 

worthy  likewise,  in  confirmation  of  the  traditions  of  all  times 
and  peoples,  to  possess  highest  temporal  authority.  If  pagans 
thought  that  their  priests,  who  worshipped  demons,  were 
worthy  of  temporal  power,  we,  surely,  are  justified  in  hold- 
ing that  our  Great  High  Priest,  our  Supreme  Pastor,  our 
"  Pontifex  Maximus,"  in  whom  is  the  fulness  of  priestly 
power  on  earth,  is  undoubted  by  fullest  right,  "  Idem  Rex 
Hominum  Deique  Sacerdos." 

A  priest,  from  the  very  nature  of  his  office,  and  by 
his  duties,  is  specially  fitted  to  be  a  leader  of  men. 
Trained  from  his  youth  in  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of 
His  attributes,  understanding  the  being  and  consequent 
supremacy  of  the  Creator,  recognising  therefrom  the  sub- 
mission and  subserviency  due  by  creatures  to  Him  who 
made  them,  a  priest  understands  of  necessity  the  foundations 
on  which  all  moral  obligations  rest,  and  the  sources,  like- 
wise, from  which  all  claims  to  lawful  power  spring.  He 
sees  plainly  the  necessity  under  which  man  lies  of  obeying 
faithfully  the  laws  which  the  Creator  has  made  for  the 
government  of  a  world  of  which  He  alone  is  Master.  He 
knows  also  the  faultlessness  of  these  laws  in  themselves, 
and  the  power  which  is  in  them,  to  further  constantly 
earthly  peace  and  blessedness.  He  sees  distinctly  that,  if 
he  is  able  to  procure  the  full  observance  of  God's  law,  he 
needs  no  further  legislation  to  bring  about  the  highest 
welfare  of  the  commonwealth.  Set,  as  a  priest  is,  to  act  for 
men  in  the  things  that  are  of  God,  his  very  duties  place  him 
in  a  position  above  the  rest  of  men,  and  give  him  a  right  to 
be  their  leader.  Leadership  in  one  matter,  when  it  is  plain 
and  undisputed,  leads  easily  to  leadership  in  many  ways, 
and  religion  amongst  men  is  the  only  thing  needed  to  give 
priests  temporal,  as  well  as  spiritual  power  on  earth. 
Religion  is  not  always  a  fixed  quantity  in  the  world,  but 
wheresoever  it  has  existed,  whether  in  its  measured  truth, 
or  in  its  false  exceeding,  in  blameless  worship,  or  in  super- 
stitious rites,  there  also  a  priesthood  has  been  found  invested 
with  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  power.  Men  follow  an 
acknowledged  leader  whensoever  they  find  him,  and  a  priest 
of  Go.d  is,  of  necessity,  a  leader  of  men  for  ever.  Of  all 


872  TJie  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

priests,  be  they  pagan,  or  be  they  Christian,  this  is  true  in 
all  times  and  places,  and  it  is  essentially  true  of  the  Supreme 
Pontiff  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  Pope,  by  unfailing 
right,  is  king  as  well  as  priest.  Temporal  powsr  is  the 
birthright  of  his  office  oi  Chief  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  God 
on  earth. 

We  know  that  in  the  Church  of  God  there  is,  since  the 
coming  of  Jesus  Christ,  one  priesthood  only,  and  but  one 
priest.      Jesus  Christ  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever,  is  our 
only  High  Priest,  holy,  innocent,  undefiled,  separated  from 
sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens.     He  is  the  only 
one  fitted  to  go  up  into  the  mountain  of  the  Lord  to  offer 
sacrifice,  and  to  make  intercession  with  a  loud  cry,  and  to  be 
heard  for  His  reverence.     For  it  is  of  Him  alone  the  Lord 
hath  sworn,  so  as  never  to  repent  Him  of  His  oath  :  "Thou 
art  a  priest  for  ever,  according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedech."1 
Other  priests   are   but   the   ministers   of   Christ,   the    dis- 
pensers  of    the   mysteries   which    Christ   established,   and 
dispensers  so  distinctly   that   their  justice  or   their  crime 
affects  in  no  way  the  worth  or   power  of  the  things  which 
they  dispense.     They  share  in  the  one,  eternal  priesthood  of 
Jesus  Christ,  they  minister  for  Him  in  the  sight  of  men  on 
earth,  while   He    discharges   the    duties  of  His  priesthood 
before  the  throne   of  His  Father  in  heaven,  semper  inter- 
pellans  pro  nobis.     No  priest  shall  ever  minister  in  heaven 
except  Him  who  is  the  priest  for  ever  of  His  Father's  choice. 
It  is  Christ  who  baptizes  on  earth,  through  the  ministry  of 
His  priests,  Christ  who  offers  sacrifice,  Christ  who  absolves 
the  sinner ;  for  He  alone  has  been  appointed  judge  of  the 
living  and  the  dead.2     There  is  really  no  High  Priest  now 
but   Jesus    Christ,    who   alone   can  find  the  Victim  to  be 
offered  in  the  one  sacrifice  of  the  new  Law,  and  no  priest  at 
all,  except  those  who  are  called  by  Him  to  share  with  Him 
in  His  own  unfailing  priesthood,  and  be  His  ministers  on 
earth. 

This  one  priesthood  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  which  all  His 
priests  share,  is  called  by  St.  Peter  regale  sacerdotium,  for 
Christ  was  King  as  well  as  Priest.  King  by  right  of  birth, 

1  Hebrews  vii,  21.  2  Acts  x.  42. 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  873 

King  also  of  all  created  things  by  His  Father's  word.  Jesus 
Christ  was  Priest,  not  according  to  the  order  of  Aaron,  but 
that  of  Melchisedech,  who  was  king  and  priest,  and  the 
fulness  of  priestly  and  kingly  power  were  united  in  the  Word 
made  flesh.  The  Virgin- Mother  of  the  Incarnate  Word  was 
the  daughter  of  a  kingly  race,  descended  from  the  noblest  of 
the  Jewish  families,  and  claiming  amongst  her  forefathers 
fourteen  kings.  "  Habet  Beata  Virgo  in  suo  stemmate 
duodecim  antiquisf-imos  Patriarchas  .  .  .  continet  quoque 
in  suo  stemmate  quatuordecim  potentissimos  reges  et 
totidem  fortissimos  duces  a  quibus  originem  ducit,  unde 
Ecclesia  canit :  Eegali  ex  progenie  Maria  exorta  refulget."  ] 
"  Ac  tandem  Dei  para  Maria  descendit  per  lineam  femineam 
ex  Summis  Pontificibus,  ut  nee  hie  splendor  ei  deesset. 
Sic  enim  tradunt  Gregorius  Nazianzenus,  Ambrosius, 
Epiphanius,  Hilarius,  Augustinus,  D.  Thomas  et  D. 
Bonaveiitura,  Ven.  Beda,  Eukerius,  Cedrinus,  Honorius, 
Theophilactus,  dum  unanimi  consensu  decent  descendere 
(per  lineam  femineam)  de  tribu  Levi,  seu  sacerdotali,  ut 
quia  Christus  futurus  erat  simul  rex  et  sacerdos  ex  regali 
et  sacerdotali  tribu  mater  ejus  originem  duceret." '  By 
descent,  Jesus  Christ  came  of  a  royal  race,  and,  unlike  all 
others,  was  King  from  the  moment  of  His  birth. 

Jacob  had  prophesied  :  "  The  sceptre  shall  not  be  taken 
away  from  Juda,  nor  a  ruler  from  his  thigh,  till  he  come 
that  is  to  be  sent."3  And  while,  in  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy, 
there  was  no  king  of  Juda  at  the  birth  of  Christ,  He  certainly 
was  by  right  the  King.  Hence  we  find  the  Magi  coming 
from  afar,  with  kingly  retinues  and  royal  gifts,  to  worship 
the  new-born  Saviour.  The  Magi  were  kings  themselves, 
it  was  a  king  they  came  to  seek,  and  believing  that  a  king 
would  be  more  likely  to  give  them  tidings  of  a  neighbouring 
king,  they  asked  Herod,  saying  :  "  Where  is  He  that  is  born 
king  of  the  Jews  ? "  Christ  came,  we  know,  in  poverty 
and  lowliness  to  be  poor  and  despised  during  His  days  on 
earth,  and  it  would  be  very  much  out  of  keeping  with  the 

1  3  Antip.  ad  Laudes  off.  8  Septem. 

2  Joan,  de  Carthagena,  vol.  ii.,  p.  113. 

3  Genesis  xlix.  10. 


874  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

truthfulness  of  His  teaching,  if  He  brought  kings  from  afar 
to  pay  Him  kingly  honour,  while  He  had  no  right  to  such 
honour  among  men.  He  commanded  His  disciples  to  give  to 
Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  we  find  Him  taking  to 
Himself  the  things  of  Caesar  from  His  earliest  infancy,  by 
bringing  the  kings  of  the  East,  "  Keges  Tharsis  et  Insulae, 
Keges  Arabum  et  Saba"  to  kneel  as  tributaries  at  His  own 
and  His  mother's  feet.  He  would  never  have  taken  to 
Himself  this  kingly  honour,  if  He  were  not  a  king  by  right. 
But  the  right  was  His,  and  therefore  He  took  the  honour  as 
His  own;  for  it  was  He  St.  John  saw:  "Having  on  His 
garments  and  on  His  thigh  written  :  King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords."1  It  was  of  Christ  it  was  prophesied: 
"  Primogenitum  ponam  ilium  excelsum  prae  regibus 
terrae."2  And  the  title  primogenitus,  as  used  in  Scripture, 
is  given  to  Christ  as  man,  while  the  word  unigenitus  refers 
always  to  the  Second  Person  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity. 

In  His  infancy,  kings  sought  after  our  Divine  Master, 
and  sought  after  Him  as  King  of  the  Jews,  and  the  title  was 
given  to  Him  during  the  whole  of  his  public  life.  The  Jews 
called  Him  "  The  Christ,"  or  Anointed,  and  anointing  was 
the  sign  of  kingly  power  among  the  Jews.  David,  at  the 
prayer  of  Bethsabee,  "  called  Sadoc,  the  priest,  and  Nathan 
the  prophet,"  and  bade  them  bring  Solomon  to  Gihon,  and 
anoint  him  there  king  over  Israel,  and  proclaim  him  king, 
and  all  the  people  were  to  say  :  "  Long  live  King  Solomon." £ 
Christ  was  considered  by  all  the  people  as  their  anointed 
king,  and  He  never  once  said  that  He  had  no  right  to  the 
title.  He  rather  brought  it  to  pass  (and  He  was  the  carver 
of  His  own  destiny),  that  the  title  would  be  given  to  Him 
by  Jew  and  Gentile,  in  every  manner,  and  by  friend  and  foe 
alike.  We  find  it  written  that  "  The  multitude  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisee?,  rising  up,  led  Him  to  Pilate,  and 
they  began  to  accuse  Him,  saying  :  We  have  found  this  man 
saying  that  He  is  Christ  the  King."  4  The  soldiers  also, 
mocking  Jesus,  put  a  crown  of  thorns  on  His  head,  a  purple 
robe  on  His  shoulders,  with  a  reed  for  a  sceptre  in  His  hand, 

1  Apcc,  xix,  16.  a  3  Kings  i.  32-40. 

2  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  28.  *  Luke  xxiii.  1,  2. 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  875 

and  bowing  the  knee  before  Him,  they  mocked  Him,  saying: 
"  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews."1  They  were  Roman  soldiers,  and 
the  whole  cohort  was  called  together,2  and  they  proclaimed 
Jesus  Christ  King,  putting  on  Him  the  signs  of  kingly 
power,  and  bent  their  knees  before  Him,  saying  :  "Hail, 
King  of  the  Jews."  It  was  the  Roman  soldiers  that  named 
the  emperor;  their  will  was  a  very  stern  law,  which  the 
Senate  would  be  afraid  to  disobey,  and  in  mockery  it  may 
be,  but  in  sterling  truth  as  well,  these  Roman  soldiers 
declared  that  Jesus  Christ  was  King  of  the  Jews.  They  had 
made  kings  many  a  time  before,  these  Roman  soldiers,  and 
many  a  time  again  they  were  to  proclaim  the  emperors  of 
Rome,  and  it  was  not  without  a  mystery  they  were  chosen 
to  crown  Jesus,  and  to  bend  their  knee  before  Him,  and  hail 
Him  King  of  the  Jews.  If  Christ  were  not  King  in  truth, 
He  would  not  have  borne  the  mockery  of  His  coronation  at 
the  hands  of  the  king-makers  of  the  world. 

When  Pilate  sat  in  the  judgment-seat,  he  showed  Jesus 
to  the  people,  and  said  :  "  Ecce  Rex  vester ;  "  and  the  chief 
priests  answered,  and  said :  "  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar." : 
Pilate  was  the  Roman  Governor,  the  representative  of  the 
highest  earthly  authority,  and  he  persisted  in  declaring  and 
proclaiming  Jesus  Christ,  King  of  the  Jews.  When  the 
crowd,  at  the  instigation  of  the  chief  priests,  cried  out : 
"  Away  with  Him,  away  with  Him,  crucify  Him,  crucify 
Him," 4  Pilate  said  to  them  :  "  Shall  I  crucify  your  King  ?" 3 
When  Jesus  was  alone  with  Pilate,  Pilate  said  to  Him: 
"Art  Thou  a  King  then?  Jesus  answered:  Thou  sayest 
that  I  am  a  King." G  That  is,  as  Cornelius  a  Lapide 
explains:  "Ego  vere  sum  Rex  Judaeorum  uti  tu  dicis."7 
Origen  teaches  that  the  merest  points  have  their 
meaning  in  the  Gospel  history,  and  he  says  that,  while 
Caiphas  doubted  the  divinity  of  Christ,  Pilate  had  no 
doubt  about  Christ's  kingship.  "  Princeps  sacerdotum 
dubitanter  dixit :  Tu  es  Christus,  Filius  Dei  ?  Pilatus 


iMark  xv.  15.  B  Ibid. 

2  Ibid.  fi  John  xviii.  37. 

3  Johnxix.  12,  &c.  7  Cornelius,  in  v.  37,  cap.  xviii.  Evang.  Joannis. 

4  Ibid. 


876  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

autem  pronuntiative  :  Tu  es  Eex  Judaeorum." l  He 
goes  even  farther,  and  says  :  "  Pilatus  Jesum  Christum  esse 
confitebatur."  St.  Augustine  also  says:  "  Avelli  ex  ejus 
corde  non  potuit  Jesum  esse  regem  Judaeorum  tanquam 
hoc  illi  Veritas  fixerat."3  In  confirmation  of  this  conviction 
of  his,  we  find  Pilate  writing  the  title  of  the  cross,  and 
assigning  as  the  cause  of  Christ's  death  His  kingship  only  : 
"Hie  est  Jesus  Nazarenus,  Rex  Judaeorum."  On  which 
Origen  remarks  :  "  Cum  nulla  inveniebatur,  nee  erat  causa 
mortis  ejus,  haec  habebatur  sola;  Kex  fait  Judaeorum. "4 
"  The  chief  priests  came  to  Pilate,  and  said,  Write  not  King 
of  the  Jews,  but  that  He  said,  I  am  King  of  the  Jews. 
Pilate  answered,  What  I  have  written  I  have  written." 5  In 
his  place  as  judge,  and  in  his  power  as  the  representative  of 
Caesar,  Pilate  wrote  the  title  for  the  cross  of  Christ,  setting 
it  as  a  crown  above  His  head,  thereby  declaring  to  all  the 
world  that  He  was  King  of  the  Jews,  and  that  the  prophecy 
was  fulfilled  which  said  of  Him,  "  Regnavit  a  ligno  Deus." 
Hence  St.  Augustine  writes  :  "  Quod  scripsi,  scripsi,  0  ineifa- 
bilem  vim  divinae  cperationis  etiam  in  cordibus  ignorantium. 
Nonne  occulta  vox  quaedam  intus  Pilato  quodam,  si  dici 
potest,  clarnoso  silentio  personabat,  quod  tanto  ante  in 
Psalmorum  litteris  prophetatum  est  :  Ne  corrumpas  tituli 
inscriptionem."6  The  title  was  written  in  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin,  in  order  that  the  strangers  gathered  in  Jerusalem 
might  know  that  Christ  was  King  ;  for,  as  St.  Luke  says, 
"  Tune  in  Jerusalem  erant  viri  habitantes  ex  omni  natione 
quae  sub  caelo  est."7  St.  Cyril  says:  "Divinitus,  ut  ego  puto, 
factum  est,  ut  triiim  linguarum  (quae  praecipuae  sunt) 
litteris  scriptus  titulus  fuerit  :  omnium  enim  gentium 
Regnum  Christo  attributum  esse  significavit.  Ipsi  enim 
(inquit  Daniel)  honor  et  Eegnurn  datum  est  et  omnes  tribus 
efc  linguae  ipsi  servient."8  And  Father  Simplex,  O.S.F., 
says :  "  Triplici  famoso  idiomate  scriptus  est  titulus, 
Hebraice,  Graece,  et  Latine :  Haebrei  Sacerdotium  habebant 

1  ITora.  35,  in  Matt.  5  John  xix. 

2  Ibid.  6  Aug.  in  cap.  xix.  Joannis. 
»  116  in  Joan.  7  Acts  iii. 

4  Ibid.  8  Cyril,  lib.  xii.  in  Joan. 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  877 

et  Theologiam,  Graeci  industriam  et  sapientiam,  Latini 
imperium  et  monarchiam ;  Christus,  ergo,  ut  Verus  Sacerdos 
seipsum  obtulit  in  Sacrificium,  ut  Theologus  primam  vocem 
tituli  vult  esse  Jesus,  Mysteriis  amplissimam  .  .  .  Ut 
Eex  et  monarcba  constitutus  est  Eex  super  Sion  montem 
sanctum  ejus  et  Kex  in  Misericordia." 1 

It  was  not  by  accident  tbat  tbe  title  of  King  was  given 
so  often  and  so  steadfastly  to  Jesus  Cbrist.  Tbere  is 
nothing  accidental  under  an  Almigbty  Providence  in  tbe 
life  of  any  creature,  and  everything  was  by  design  in  the 
life  of  Jesus  Cbrist.  It  was  by  God's  direction,  therefore, 
and  in  fulfilment  of  His  decrees  that  tbe  title  of  King  was 
given  to  Christ  by  the  Magi,  by  the  people,  by  tbe  chief 
priests,  by  the  cohort  of  Eoman  soldiers,  and  by  the  Roman 
Governor.  They  meant  the  learning  and  wealth  and  power 
of  the  world,  and  with  one  voice  and  perseveringly  they 
proclaimed  Him  King.  King  and  Priest  then  Christ  must 
have  been,  uniting  in  Himself  the  fulness  of  priestly  and 
kingly  power.  "  Sempiternum  babet  Sacerdotium  et  Eegni 
ejus  non  erit  finis."  "For  all  nations  and  all  ages  He  is  King 
and  Priest.  He  shall  be  Priest  and  King  when  the  ages 
shall  lapse  no  more. 

So  clearly  is  Christ  shown  in  Holy  Writ  to  be  King  as 
well  as  Priest,  that  Cornelius  a  Lapide  writes  :  "  Quaeres, 
quale  et  quotuplex  est  regnum  Christi  ?  Eespondeo.  Christus 
qua  homo  duplex  habuit  regnum  etiam  dum  viveret  in  terris. 
Primum  spiritale,  scilicet  Ecclesiam.  Secundum  Christi 
regnum  ut  recte  docet  D.  Thomas,  est  physicum  et  /coo-pi/cov, 
seu  mundanum.  Christus  enim  e  primo  instanti  concep- 
tionis  suae  habuit  proprie  ac  directe  regnum  et  dominium 
totius  mundi ;  saltern  quoad  jus  et  potestatem,  ut  posset 
reges  quoslibet  e  regno  deponere  et  alios  creare ;  "  l  and 
farther  on  :  "  Quaeres  rursum,  an  Christus  qua  homo  habu- 
erit  jus  humanum  ad  regnum  Judaeorum  ?  Eespondeo. 
Habuisse  :  erat  enim  ipse  filius  David  caeterorumque  Eegum 
Judaeae  ideoque  eorem  Successor  et  baeres.'' a  There  can  be 

1  Fr.  Simplex  iu  Hist.  Vitae  Christi. 

2  Com.  in  Matt.  C.  xxvii, 

3  Ibid, 


878  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

no  doubt  in  any  mind  that  Christ  was  King  and  Priest,  and 
it  remains  for  us,  therefore,  to  see  wherein  and  how  He 
used  His  power  as  King,  and  whom  on  earth  did  He  appoint 
to  be  His  representative  in  both  these  mighty  offices. 

The  sword  has  been  looked  upon  in  all  nations  as  the 
sign  of  temporal  and  kingly  power.  It  is  with  the  king  only 
that  the  power  of  life  and  death  lies.  "  Gladium  gestat  sive 
potestas,  sive  princeps  tanquam  Dei  minister,  a  quo  giadium 
accepit,  ut  sit  vindex  in  iram."  l  No  private  individual  in 
the  State  has  a  right  to'  the  sword,  or  to  its  use.  Hence, 
Herinx  states  :  "  Certum  est  non  licere  occidere  malefactores 
aut  tyrannum  privata  auctoritate,  sed  principi  aut  magis- 
tratui  ejusque  ministris,  ut  ait  Augustinus  Lib.  1.  de  Civitate 
Dei."2  He  alone  who  holds  the  supreme  power  in  the 
commonwealth  can  justly  use  the  sword.  "  Certa  et  Catholica 
Veritas  est,  licitum  esse  auctoritate  publica  occidere  male- 
factores. Katio  est,  quia  licet  alias  solus  Deus  sit  Dominus 
vitae  et  mortis,  tamen  dedit  potestatem  legitimo  magis- 
tratui."3  And  again  :  "Homocidium  licitum  seu  justum  est 
illud  quod  fit  ex  voluntate  aut  praecepto  superioris  jus  gladii 
habentis."4  Herinx  also  says:  "Publica  auctoritate  est 
indubie  licitum  mutilare  aut  etiam  occidere  malefactores, 
unde  Rom.  xiii.  4.  Si  malum  feceris,  time.  Non  enim  sine 
causa  judex  giadium  portat.  Gladium  enim  judex  portat, 
utique,  non  ad  arcendas  muscas,  sed  ad  terrendos  et 
puniendos  malefactores."5  Grotius  also  states:  "Jure 
gladii  omnis  quidem  coercitio  intelligitur,  ita  tamen  ut 
verus  usus  gladii  non  excludatur.'"  All  these  authorities 
agree  in  stating  that  the  sword,  and  the  use  thereof,  belongs 
only  to  the  king,  or  the  highest  authority  in  the  State,  and 
that  the  use  of  it  by  others  is  justified  only  by  the  king's 
will  or  command.  Hence,  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria 
remarks,  that  a  marauder  or  a  highwayman  takes  the 
sword  by  his  own  authority,  and  does  not  receive  it  from  the 

1  Estius,  Com.  in  Ep.  ad  Rom.,  cap.  xiii. 

2  Herinx,  Summa  Theol.,  p.  iii.,  tract,  ii.  6. 

3 Reiffenstuel,  Juris  Canon.,  lib.  v.,  tit.  xii.  3. 

4  Ibid.,  1. 

5  Herinx,  Summa,  par.  iii.,  tract.  2,  disp.  6,  quaep,  4. 

6  Grrotjus,  J)c  Jure  Bell,  et  Pac.,  lib.  i. ,  c.  2. 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  879 

king.  We  are  to  hold  it  as  certain  and  established,  then, 
that  only  the  king  himself,  or  those  acting  by  his  authority, 
have  a  right  to  maim  or  mutilate,  to  strike  at  or  slay  an 
individual. 

This  being  so,  we  can  consider  more  in  detail  a  fact 
recorded  in  Holy  Writ,  and  inquire  into  its  justice  and  right. 
We  are  told  in  the  Gospels  that  Simon  Peter  had  a  sword 
in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemani,  that  he  used  it  there  against 
Malchus,  the  servant  of  the  high  priest,  and  cut  off  his  right 
ear.  The  circumstances  of  this  act  seem  at  first  to  show  the 
deed  to  be  unlawful,  and  that  Simon  Peter  was  guilty  of  an 
unlawful  attempt  at  murder.  Peter  was  a  private  individual ; 
he  had  no  authority  from  the  will  or  command  of  the  ruler 
of  the  State  to  have  or  use  a  sword ;  he  could  not  have  any 
such  authority,  for  he  was  acting  directly  against  the  con- 
stituted authorities  in  Church  and  State.  For  St.  John 
expressly  states  :  "  Judas,  therefore,  having  received  a  band 
of  soldiers  (cohortem)  and  servants  from  the  chief  priests 
and  the  Pharisees."1  The  cohort  was  given  by  Pilate,  the 
Koman  governor,  and  Malchus  was  the  servant  of  Caiphas, 
"  the  high  priest  for  that  year."  Pilate  and  Caiphas  sent 
their  servants  against  Christ,  and  these  servants  were  the 
authorities  for  the  time.  "Adde,"  says  Grotius,  "quod 
arma  sumebat  Petrus  in  eos  qui  nomine  publicarum  potes- 
tatum  veniebant."1  And  Peter  could  not,  by  his  private 
belief  in  the  innocence  of  the  Redeemer,  be  justified  in  rising 
up  in  arms  against  the  lawfully  appointed  ministers  of  justice. 
Only  a  public  reason  can  justify  public  resistance  to  the 
public  authorities,  and  that  only  under  special  circum- 
stances, and  these  circumstances  scarcely  existed  in  Peter's 
case. 

Peter,  moreover,  struck  at  Malchus  with  intent  to  kill. 
"  Adde  quod  Petrus  videtur  gladium  vibrasse  in  caput 
Malchi  ut  ictum  daret  lethalem.  Ergo  quod  ad  voluntatem 
attinet  et  facti  intentionem  homicida  erat."  3  He  actually 
mutilated  the  servant  of  the  high  priest  by  cutting  off  his 

1  John  xviii.  2. 

2  Grotius,  T)e  Jure  Bell.,  &c..  lib.  i,,  3,  3,  7, 
;J  Estius  in  Matt,  c,  xxvi.  51. 


880  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

ear.  And  mutilation  or  slaying  is  within  the  right  of  only 
the  highest  temporal  authority.  Estius  states,  in  the 
plainest  terms,  that  Simon  Peter  was  a  homicide.  Was 
his  attempted  homicide  lawful  or  unlawful ;  and  if  lawful, 
by  what  authority  did  he  act  ? 

Not  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church  has  ever  accused 
St.  Peter  of  a  fault  in  cutting  off  the  ear  of  Malchus,  and 
we,  therefore,  can  neither  accuse,  nor  condemn  him  as  guilty 
of  any  wrong  in  his  use  of  his  sword.  We  must  rather 
believe  that  he  used  his  sword  lawfully,  and  because  he  had 
fullest  right  to  do  so.  It  has  been  said  that  Peter  used  his 
sword  against  the  prohibition  of  His  Master,  but  Bellarmine 
answers  this  statement  very  strongly.  "  Imprimis,"  he 
says,  "rnendacium  est  quod  contra  Christi  interdictum  Petrus 
gladio  sit  usus  Nihil  enim  Dominus  praedixerat  de  gladii 
usupraeter  id  quod  habetur  (Luc.  22).  Qui  non  habet  vendat 
tunicam  suam  et  emat  gladium  et  cum  discipuli  dicerent : 
Ecce  duo  gladii  hie.  respondit  Christus :  Satis  est,  id  est, 
sufficiunt  gladii  duo.  Quibus  verbis  etsi  non  revera  praeci- 
piebat  ut  gladio  uterentur,  tamen  multo  minus  prohibebat."1 
Peter  had  authority  to  use  his  sword,  and  the  authority  was 
given  to  him  by  Jesus  Christ,  his  Master,  who  is  King  of 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords.  In  the  passage  of  St.  Luke, 
referred  to  by  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  Christ  distinctly  told 
His  disciples  to  buy  a  sword,  and  enforced  His  command  by 
saying  that  they  should  sell  their  coat  in  order  to  have  the 
sword,  which  made  the  command  plain  and  strong  enough. 
When  they  told  Him  they  had  two  swords,  He  said :  It  is 
enough.  Thereby  distinctly  approving  of  their  having  the 
swords.  We  have,  then,  the  command  of  Christ  to  His 
disciples  to  buy  swords,  and  His  approval  of  their  having 
two.  St.  Bonaventure  confirms  this  view,  where  he  writes  : 
"  Secundo  .  .  .  subdit :  Dixit  ergo  eis,  sed  nunc  qui  habet 
sacculum  tollat  simititer  etperam  ad  sustentationem.  Unde 
Glossa  :  In  st ante  vero  mortis  articulo  et  tota  ilia  gente 
pastorem  simul  et  gregem  persequente  coiigruam  tempori 
regulam  decernit.  .  .  .  Datur  autem  hie  forma  ut  inter 

J  BeUarmiae,  De  Row,  font.,  lib,  i.,  cap.  xxviii. 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pcfe  881 

inndeles  et  extraneos  et  persequentes  doctrinam  veritatis 
non  negligatnr  provisio  sustentationis.  .  .  .  Et  quia  in  per- 
secutione  non  instat  solum  periculum  famis  ab  intra,  verum 
etiaiii  periculum  perse cutionis  ab  extra.  Ideo  subdit :  Et 
qui  non  habet,  vendat  tunicam  suam  et  emat  yladium  ad 
defensionem.  Et  debet  suppleri  affirmative  :  Et  qui  habet 
gladium  tollat,  scilicet,  et  qui  non  habet,  emat."1  There  can 
be  no  doubt  in  any  mind  that  the  disciples  were  commanded 
by  their  Master  to  have  swords;  and  there  can,  likewise,  be  no 
doubt  about  Christ's  power  to  give  them  authority  to  have 
their  swords,  and  use  them.  He  was  King,  and  therefore 
He  could  use  the  sword  Himself,  and  could  use  it  by  others, 
in  His  own  defence,  or  for  the  punishment  of  His  enemies. 
He  could  also  give  others  the  right  to  use  it  for  themselves. 
We  find  that  the  disciples,  and  Peter  especially,  under- 
stood Christ's  words  in  this  manner  ;  for  when  His  enemies 
came  upon  Him,  the  cohort  of  Pilate  and  the  servants  of 
the  high-priests,  we  know  that  they  who  were  about  Him, 
seeing  what  would  follow,  said  to  Him :  "  Lord,  shall  we  strike 
with  the  sword  ?"  and  then  Peter,  taking  the  Lord's  silence 
for  consent,  drew  his  sword,  struck  the  servant  of  the 
high-priest,  and  cut  off  his  ear.  But  Jesus  answering,  said  : 
"Suffer  ye  thus  far."  On  this  passage,  Estius  writes: 
"  Forte  praesumebat  (Petrus)  ejus  (Christi)  consensum,  quia 
dixerat :  Domine  num  (sic)  percutimus  in  gladio  ?  et  silentium 
Domini  habuit  pro  consensu,  maxime  quia  videbat  urgere 
necessitas.  Item  Petrus  meminerat  Dominum  eadernnocte 
dixisse  :  Vendat  tunicam  suam  et  emat  gladium  (Luc.  xxii.). 
Ex  quo  colligebat  id  praeceptum  datum  ut  gladio  se  defen- 
deret  et  Dominum  suum,  aut  saltern  id  fuisse  permissum."2 
From  all  this  we  learn  that  Peter  used  the  sword  publicly 
against  the  public  authorities,  with  intent  to  kill,  and  with 
actual  mutilation  of  a  public  official,  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty  to  his  master.  We  learn,  secondly,  that  this  use  of 
Peter's  sword  was  witnessed,  and  consented  to,  by  his 
Master.  For  that  word,  sinite  usque  hue,  cannot  mean 
anything  but  the  permission  of  Christ,  that  Peter's  defence 

1  S.  Bonaventnre.  Expos,  in  Luc.  cap.  xxii. 

2  Ehtius,  in  Evang.  Matthew  xxvi  551. 
VOL.  XVII. 


882  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

of  Him  would  go  thus  far.  We  find,  thirdly,  that  when 
Peter  had  cut  off  the  servant's  ear,  Christ  said  to  him  :  "Put 
up  thy  sword  into  its  scabbard"  (John  xviii.).  He  did  not, 
by  any  means,  tell  him  to  put  it  away  altogether,  but  to 
sheathe  it  merely,  and  keep  it  for  future  use.  Defence  was 
not  needed  then,  because  the  Kedeemer  "  had  to  drink  of  the 
chalice  which  His  Father  had  given  Him."  The  use  of  the 
sword,  usque  hue,  was  Christ's  protest  merely  against  the 
injustice  of  those  that  came  against  Him,  a  proof  of  His 
kingly  power  and  His  sanction  to  the  use  of  the  sword  by 
Peter,  the  prince  of  the  Apostles.  It  was  Peter  who  rose  up 
against  the  soldiers  of  Pilate,  and  the  servants  of  the  chief 
priests  and  ancients ;  it  was  he  who  struck  off  the  right  ear 
of  Malchus  (which  word  means  king) ;  and  he  did  so,  as 
St.  Ambrose  teaches,  because  he  was  head  of  the  Church. 
"  Tollit  ergo  Petrus  aurem.  Quare  Petrus?  Quia  ipse  est 
qui  accepifc  claves  regni  coelorum :  ille  enim  condemnat  qui 
et  absolvit,  quoniam  idem  et  ligandi  et  absolvendi  adeptus 
est  potestatem." 

From  all  that  we  have  said  thus  far,  we  are  forced  to 
conclude  that  Simon  Peter  used  the  sword  justly  and  by  the 
right  given  to  him  by  Jesus  Christ.     He  has,  therefore,  jure 
divino,  the  power  of  life  and  death,  the  jus  gladii,  which 
belongs,  as  we  have  seen,  only  to  the  chief  ruler  in  the 
State,    and    to    the    temporal    ruler    certainly ;     and     we 
conclude,    consequently,  that  Peter   has,    by   the   grant  of 
Christ,  the  highest  temporal  power,    and  is  Eex  hominum 
as   well   as   Dei   Sacerdos.      The   cutting   off    the    ear    of 
Malchus    was   an   act,    not    of    spiritual,    but   undoubtedly 
of  temporal  power,   and  that  power   must    still   belong  to 
Peter,  and   to  those  who  hold  Peter's  place.     We  do  not 
claim  for  Peter  universal  kingship,  like  that  of  Christ ;  for 
Peter  is  not  Christ,  but  Christ's   Vicar  only.     He  is  the 
minister,  not  the  Master  ;  the  Servus  Servorum  Dei,  not  the 
Eex  Begum  et  Dominus  Dominantium,     But  while  we  recog- 
nise the  vastness  of  the  distance  that  divides  the  Master  and 
the  servant,  we  still  claim  for  the  servant  all  that  power 

1  AtnbroH.,  in  Luc,,  lib.  x.,  n.  67. 


The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope  883 

which  he  exercised  in  his  Master's  presence,  and  with  his 
Master's  leave ;  and,  since  in  Gethsemani  he  used  the  power 
that  belongs  only  to  kings,  we  hold  that  he  must  be,  by 
highest  right,  king  as  well  as  priest  amongst  the  sons  of 
men.  Hence  St.  Bonaventure  says :  "  Posset  tamen  dici, 
quod  secundum  veritatem  utraque  potestas  in  Summo 
Pontifice  occurrit  in  unam  personam.  Cum  enim  ipse  sit 
summus  Sacerdos  secundum  ordinem  Melchisedeck  qui  fuit 
Eex  Salem  et  sacerdos  Dei  altissimi,  et  Christus  utrumque 
habuerit ;  Vicarius  Christi  in  terris  utramque  a  Christo 
potestatem  accepit  unde  et  sibi  uterque  gladius  competit. 
Unde  Bernardus  quarto  ad  Eugenium  :  '  Uterque  est  Eccle- 
siae  et  spiritualis  scilicet  gladius  et  materialis,  sed  is  quidem 
pro  Ecclesia  ille  vero  a b  Ecclesia  exercendus ;  ille  sacerdotis 
is  militis  manu  sed  sane  ad  nutum  sacerdotis  et  ad  jussum 
imperatoris.'  Ex  quo  aperte  colligitur,  quod  utraque  potes- 
tas ad  ipsum  reducitur  sicut  ad  unum  hierarchiam  primum 
et  summum."1 

We  need  not  be  told  that  the  fulness  of  Peter's  power 
has  passed  to  his  successors  in  the  see  of  Rome,  for  that  is 
the  foundation  on  which  the  unity  of  the  Church  rests. 
St.  Bonaventure  states  this  fully  and  briefly  where  he  says  : 
"  Potestas  dupliciter  dicitur  esse  in  aliquo  :  vel  sicut  in  sub- 
jecto  sustinente,  vel  sicut  in  deferente.  Primo  modo  pleni- 
tudo  potestatis  numquam  est,  nee  fuit  nisi  in  uno,  primo 
quidem  in  Christo,  secundo  in  Petro,  deinceps  in  successore 
ipsius,  scilicet  Komano  Pontifice."  2  The  fulness  of  juris- 
diction, which  includes  the  power  of  the  sword,  is  found 
only  in  the  Koman  Pontiff.  From  him  alone  all  other 
bishops  throughout  the  world  receive  their  flocks,  and  the 
right  to  rule  them.  The  Pope  alone  is  heir  and  successor 
to  the  fulness  of  apostolic  power.  Hence  we  find  Keiffenstuel 
saying  :  "  In  aliis  autem  Apostolis  potestas  ille  et  jurisdictio 
solummodo  fuit  personalis  .  .  .  per  speciale  privilegium  a 
Christo  Domino  concessa  .  .  .  atque  idcirco  privilegium 
illud  veluti  personale  in  morte  ipsorum  extinctum  fuit, 
nee  transiit  ad  successores  ipsorum  quales  sunt  episcopi 

1  St.  Bonaventure,  De  Perfect.  Evany.,  quaes.  iv.,  art.  3,  2.  8. 

2  St,  Bonaventure,  ubi  supra,  n.  11. 


884  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Pope 

Papae  inferiores." l  If,  then,  the  Pope  is  heir  to  Peter, 
or  as  the  fathers  say,  is  Peter  still,  he  must  be  king  by 
right,  and  of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end  through  all 
the  years  of  time.  He  must  be  king,  not  by  mere  right  to 
rule,  but  by  actual  governing  and  right  of  the  sword  ;  for, 
as  Cicero  says,  it  would  be  folly  and  mockery  only,  to  give  a 
sword,  for  which  there  could  never  be  any  use,  and  there  is 
no  folly  or  mockery  in  the  ways  of  God.  If  we  admit  that 
the  Pope  holds  Peter's  place,  with  the  fulness  of  Peter's 
rights  and  Peter's  power,  we  must  admit,  of  necessity,  that 
he  has  the  power  which  Peter  had  of  life  and  death,  the 
right  which  God  gave  to  Peter  to  bear  the  sword,  and  use 
it ;  we  must  proclaim  him  king  as  well  as  high  priest,  we  must 
confess  his  right  to  highest  actual  temporal  power,  as  well 
as  his  supremacy  in  all  things  spiritual.  King  our  Pope  is, 
and  king  he  must  be  unto  the  end  of  time.  His  rebellious 
children  may  sometimes  seize  his  cities  and  usurp  his  place  : 
for  rebellion  and  desire  of  usurpation  were  found  once  in 
heaven ;  but  rebellious  children  will  fail  and  pass  away, 
while  the  Popedom  must  remain  for  ever.  The  right  to 
kingly  rule  is  with  the  successor  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,  and  the  right  will  prevail  undoubtedly.  Slow- 
footed  human  justice  will  come  to  recognise  the  right,  and 
will  rise  to  defend  it,  and  the  Pope  must  be  reigning  king 
again.  Meanwhile  our  hearts  hail  our  Pope  as  king.  Out  of 
firmest  faith  in,  and  unfaltering  obedience  to  his  right,  and 
in  hope  for  what  must  come  unfailingly,  we  say :  Vivat  Bex 
Pontifev  Noster. 

FE.  E.  B.  FITZMAUEICB,  O.S.F. 


1  Eeiffeustuel,  in  lib.  i.,  Decretal,  tit.  31. 


[     885 


CABDINAL     MOHAN'S     "  HIBTOKY     OF     THE 
CATHOLIC  CHUECH  IN  AUSTRALASIA  "— !L 

AFOKMEK  number  of  the  I.  E.  KECOED1  contains  a 
review  of  Cardinal  Moran's  History  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  A ustralasia,  which  pretends,  at  least,  to  give  some 
general  idea  of  the  scope  of  the  author's  work,  and  follows, 
in  particular,  the  fortunes  of  Catholicity  in  the  colony  of 
New  South  Wales.  The  present  geographical  limits  of  this 
colony  also  mark  the  boundary  of  the  ecclesiastical  province 
of  Sydney.  We  have  stated  that  there  are  at  present,  in 
this  province,  six  suffragan  sees,  namely,  Maitland,  Goulburn, 
Bathurst,  Armidale,  Wilcania,  and  Grafton,  four  of  which 
were  erected  during  the  episcopate  of  the  Most  Eev. 
Dr.  Folding.  In  1887,  Bathurst  and  Goulburn  were  reduced 
to  more  convenient  dimensions  by  the  erection  of  Wilcania, 
which  embraces  "  all  the  immense  inland  territory  of 
New  South  Wales,  extending  from  the  Murray  Kiver,  near 
Tocumwall,  to  the  Murrim-bridge,  near  Darlington,  and  to 
the  Lachlan,  twenty  miles  from  Eubalong,  and  thence  north- 
wards to  the  Queensland  Border."  Dr.  Dunne,  a  Carlow 
man,  who  had  laboured  sixteen  years  in  the  diocese  of 
Goulburn,  was  entrusted  with  the  government  of  the  new 
see.  In  1892,  there  were  under  his  lordship's  jurisdiction 
sixteen  priests,  and  as  many  as  ninety-eight  devoted  nuns, 
whose  schools  were  attended  by  2,200  children.  Also,  in  the 
year  18S7,  the  coast  district  of  the  diocese  of  Armidale, 
extending  from  Port  Macquaire  to  Queensland,  was  con- 
stituted a  distinct  diocese,  and  Dr.  Doyle,  a  native  of  the 
County  Cork,  and  an  alumnus  of  All  Hallows,  who  had  been 
labouring  some  fifteen  years  in  this  district,  was  chosen  the 
first  bishop  of  Grafton,  which  is  the  capital  of  the  new 
diocese. 

The  development  of  Catholicity  in  South  Australia, 
Western  Australia,  Queensland,  Victoria,  Tasmania,  and 
New  Zealand,  is  treated  by  Cardinal  Moran,  with  the  same 
fulness  and  wealth  of  documentary  evidence,  as  mark  his 

1  The  August  number  of  the  present  year. 


886  Cardinal  Moran's 

survey  of  the  progress  of  th*.  Church  in  the  parent  colony. 
The  colony  of  South  Australia  was  founded  in  1834. 
Convicts  were,  by  an  Act  of  the  English  Parliament, 
excluded  from  the  "new  province,"  the  colonization  of 
which  was  carried  out  on  peculiar  lines  by  an  association 
of  English  capitalists  formed  for  the  purpose.  "The 
emigration  to  South  Australia  was  to  partake  as  much  as 
possible  of  a  family  character.  It  was  to  embrace  only 
those  who  bore  a  respectable  character,  and  had  sufficient 
means  to  purchase  one  or  more  blocks  of  land ;  papists  and 
pagans  were  to  be  excluded  from  it ;  there  was  to  be  no 
State  Church."  This  theory,  which  was  warmly  eulogized 
by  Archbishop  Whately,  was  not  found  quite  practicable. 
The  urgent  demand  for  labour,  which  soon  sprung  up  in  a 
country  which  should  be  mapped  out,  and  cleared  of  forest 
and  undergrowth,  compelled,  even  the  bigotted  Protestant 
colonists  to  admit  Catholic  labourers.  While  every  assist- 
ance, however,  was  given  to  English  emigrants,  those 
from  Ireland  were  excluded  as  much  as  possible  from  a 
community  which  was  intended  to  represent,  at  the 
Antipodes,  the  different  classes  of  English  society  in  the 
mother  country.  From  1834  to  1849  the  proportion  of 
English  to  Irish  emigrants  was  as  20  to  1.  A  remonstrance 
addressed,  in  1849,  through  the  Governor,  Sic  Henry 
E.  F.  Young,  to  Earl  Grey,  the  Colonial  Secretary,  from 
the  few  Irishmen  who  found  their  way  into  the  favoured 
province,  had  the  effect  of  tempering  the  intolerable 
partiality  hitherto  exhibited  to  Englishmen  by  the  agents 
of  the  South  Australian  Emigration  Commissioners. 

Those  circumstances  account  for  the  slow  progress  of 
Catholicity  in  South  Australia  during  the  early  period  of  its 
history.  It  seems  that  Dr.  Ullathorne  was  the  first  priest 
who  erected  an  altar  in  this  colony.  When  returning,  in 
1839,  from  England  to  Sydney,  he  called  at  Adelaide  to  see 
what  could  be  done  for  the  Church  in  the  infant  capital  of 
the  new  province  :— 

"  The  Chief  Commissioner  [he  writes  in  his  autobiography] 
was  at  the  time  a  Scotch  Presbyterian.  I  asked  leave  for  the  use 
of  a  building  which  had  been  lent  to  every  denomination,  until 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    887 

they  had  a  place  of  worship  of-  their  own.  I  was  received 
respectfully  but  dryly,  and  was  told  that  I  should  receive  an 
answer  by  letter.  The  answer  was  a  refusal,  without  reason 
assigned.  It  was  evident  that  the  authorities  were  against  the 
presence  of  a  Catholic  priest  if  they  could  manage  it.  The 
refusal  soon  got  wind  among  the  population  ;  and  a  Protestant, 
who  kept  a  china  shop,  was  so  indignant  at  this  treatment,  that 
he  offered  to  put  his  china  into  his  cellars,  and  to  give  up  his  shop 
for  our  use  twice  a-week,  on,  Sundays  and  Thursdays.  There  I 
erected  an  altar  and  said  Mass,  preaching  and  catechizing 
morning  and  evening  on  those  two  days  in  the  week.  I  found 
that  the  Catholics  were  not  more  than  fifty  in  number/' 

Towards  the  close  of  this  year  Father  Benson,  an  English 
priest  entered  on  the  Adelaide  Mission,  where  he  remained 
until  1844.  He  led  while  here  a  very  poor  and  lonely  life. 
"  During  the  years  of  his  ministry  in  Adelaide,  he  never 
once  travelled  beyond  the  city  precincts.  He  could  not  ride, 
and  his  poverty  was  so  great,  that,  having  some  skill  in 
carpentering,  he  worked  at  tables,  wooden  seats,  and 
candlesticks,  and  other  various  articles  of  domestic  use  to 
procure  a  livelihood." 

Adelaide  was  made  an  episcopal  see  in  1842,  although  at 
the  time  it  was  scarcely  able  to  support  a  priest.  We  have 
seen  that  Dr.  Ullathorne  declined  the  honour  of  becoming 
its  first  bishop.  The  onerous  charge  was  thereupon  laid  on. 
the  shoulders  of  Rev.  Francis  Murphy,  a  native  of  Navan, 
who  after  completing  his  studies  in  Maynooth  College  in 
1825,  laboured  first  in  Bradford,  and  afterwards  in  Liverpool. 
In  1838,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Ullathorne,  he  left  the  latter 
mission  and  proceeded  to  Sydney,  where,  owing  to  his  zeal 
and  piety,  "he  soon  acquired  an  unbounded  influence  among 
the  Catholic  body."  He  did  not  arrive  in  Adelaide  until 
1844.  "  It  is  difficult,"  writes  Cardinal  Moran,  "to  imagine  a 
mission  more  desolate  than  that  to  which  Dr.  Murphy  now 
came  to  devote  his  life.  There  was  as  yet  no  church,  no 
school,  no  presbytery."  The  total  Catholic  population  of 
South  Australia,  was,  at  this  date  about  1,273,  consisting 
chiefly  of  the  poorer  classes.  The  new  Bishop  entered  on 
his  work  with  the  spirit  of  an  apostle  ;  and  although,  in  1851, 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  Victoria,  almost  emptied  the  rising 


888  Cardinal  Moran's 

churches  of  Adelaide,  yet,  at  his  death  in  1859,  there  were 
twenty-one  churches  and  thirteen  priests,  in  the  diocese  of 
South  Australia.  It  should  be  mentioned  that  the  generosity 
of  Mr.  Leigh  of  Woodchester,  a  convert  to  Catholicity,  who 
presented  to  the  Bishop  600  acres  of  land  shortly  after  1851, 
saved  at  the  time  the  mission  from  financial  ruin.  The 
subsequent  history  of  the  Church  in  this  part  of  Australia  is  a 
record  of  progress.  "  In  1864,  when  the  second  bishop1  was 
closing  his  episcopate,  there  were  twenty  churches,  besides 
several  stations,  nineteen  schools,  and  eighteen  priests.  In 
1857,  the  first  convent  of  Nuns2  was  established,  and  in  18723 
as  the  report  of  that  year  sets  forth,  there  were  thirty 
churches,  eight  convents,  and  thirty-five  schools."  The 
celebrated  Jesuit,  Father  Hinterocker  arrived  in  the  Colony 
in  1865,  and  for  the  next  seven  years  laboured  in  the  cause 
of  religion  with  wonderful  success.  "  Not  only  did  erring 
and  tepid  Catholics  feel  the  effects  of  his  zeal,  but  many 
Protestants  were  also  converted,  so  that  it  was  said  no  less 
than  three  hundred  were  received  into  the  Church  by  this 
apostolic  missionary  in  1868  and  1869."  At  the  request  of 
the  general  Australasian  Synod  held  in  1885,  Adelaide  was 
made  an  episcopal  see,  and  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Reynolds  who 
had  been  appointed  bishop  in  1873,  became  the  first 
archbishop  of  the  capital  of  South  Australia. 

The  ecclesiastical  province  of  Adelaide,  at  present 
embraces  the  two  vast  colonies  of  South  Australia  and 
Western  Australia.  The  former  covers  the  whole  central 
territory  of  the  "  Island  Continent,"  and  extends  from  Port 
Essington  at  the  entrance  north  to  the  great  Australian 
bight  on  the  south.  The  archdiocese  of  Adelaide  is  now 
confined  to  the  southern  portion  of  this  colony,  and  covers 
an  area  of  40,000  square  miles.  In  1885  Port  Augusta, 
which  is  situated  some  100  miles  to  the  North  of  Adelaide, 
was  erected  into  a  new  diocese.  It  comprises  an  area  of 
870,438  square  miles,  but  has  only  a  total  population  of 

1  Hight  Rev.  Patrick  Bona venture  Geoghegan,  0,S.F.,  whose  name  figures 
prominently  in  the  early  history  of  the  Church  in  Victoria. 

2  The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 

3  In   this   year   the   third   bishop   of  the  diocese,    Right   Rev.  Lawrence 
Bonavcjiture  Shicl,  O.^.F  ,  died.     Hi  was  a  native  of  \\Vxford. 


"History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia"     889 

53,184,  of  whom  11,156  are  Catholics.  The  Eight  Kev.  John 
O'Reilly,  a  native  of  Kilkenny,  and  an  alumnus  of  All 
Hallows,  who  had  laboured  for  eighteen  years  in  the  diocese 
of  Perth,  was  chosen  first  bishop  of  Port  Augusta.  As 
early  as  1846,  a  bishop  was  appointed  over  the  northern 
territory  of  South  Australia.  In  the  same  year  most  of  the 
colonists  abandoned  this  unhealthy  locality,  and  Dom  Salvado, 
to  whom  their  spiritual  charge  was  entrusted,  found  more 
congenial  work  in  New  Norcia.1  The  whole  of  South 
Australia  lying  north  of  the  25th  parallel,  which  is  the 
northern  boundary  of  Port  Augusta,  is  now  a  vicariate  under 
the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  the  Austrian  Province,  who,  as  we 
have  stated,  left  the  more  benign  climate  of  the  south  to 
carry  the  consolations  of  religion  to  the  natives  of  the  north 
and  to  the  few  Europeans  who  live  about  Port  Essington. 
What  sufferings  the  sons  of  Ignatius  have  had  to  endure  in 
this  trying  climate  may  be  conjectured  from  the  details  of 
one  journey :— 

"  Towards  the  close  of  1886,  it  was  judged  well  to  penetrate 
more  into  the  interior,  and  a  second  station  about  one  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  from  the  former  one  was  established  at  the 
Daily  River,  on  a  grant  of  land  by  the  South  Australian  Govern- 
ment of  one  hundred  square  miles.  It  took  the  missionaries 
fully  three  weeks  to  travel  the  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
from  Rapid  Creek  to  the  new  station.  They  arrived  in  the 
beginning  of  the  wet  season,  and  were  welcomed  by  the  most 
fearful  thunderstorms.  They  had  no  shelter,  or  next  to  none,  as 
may  be  understood  from  the  fact  that  corrugated  iron  was  found 
to  make  the  most  comfortable  bed.  It  had,  at  least,  the  merit  of 
allowing  the  rain  to  run  off.  They  had  no  meat  except  what 
could  be  trapped  or  shot  in  the  surrounding  woods,  and  in  such 
a  season  that  was  not  a  very  reliable  source  of  supply.  Their 
small  quantity  of  flour  had  got  bad,  as  it  easily  does  in  that 
hot  moist  region.  Fever,  too,  came  upon  the  little  band,  and 
ophthalmia  to  such  an  extent  that  they  could  not  see  to  drive  the 
nails  into  the  timbers  of  the  little  house  they  were  building." 

With  what  success  their  noble  effort  has  been  crowned, 
we  have  stated  in  our  first  paper. 

The  colony  of  Western  Australia,  which  is  about  eight 
times  the  size  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  forms  only  one 

7  This  was  by  an  error  printed  Novica  in  the  first  instalment  of  this  review. 


890  Cardinal  Morarfs 

diocese,  the  capital  of  which  is  Perth.  The  Benedictine 
monastery  of  New  Norcia,  with  its  surroundings,  is  however 
exempt  from  episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  "  forms  a  distinct 
Vicariate  Apostolic."  In  1829  Western  Australia  was 
officially  proclaimed  a  colony  under  the  name  of  the  Swan 
Kiver  Settlement :  — 

"The  first  Catholic  settler  in  Western  Australia,  Mr.  Thomas 
Mooney,  an  Irish  Catholic,  is  still  living  there.  Mr.  Mooney 
relates  that  he  was  accustomed  on  Sundays  to  climb  to  the 
summit  of  Mount  Clarence,  reciting  the  Eosary,  and  shedding 
bitter  tears  at  the  thought  that  there  was  not  a  priest  or  altar  or 
holy  sacrifice  within  a  thousand  miles  of  him,  and  turning 
towards  the  west  he  would  unite  in  spirit  with  his  distant 
countrymen,  and  pray  fervently  to[_God  that  he  might  not  be  left 
always  in  this  desolation." 

The  prayers  of  this  good  Irishman  were  speedily 
answered,  for  the  year  1843  witnessed  the  arrival  of  two 
priests  in  the  colony ;  one  an  aged  Dutch  priest,  Father 
Joostens,  the  other  a  young  Irish  priest,  who,  two  years 
later,  was  appointed  first  bishop  of  Perth. 

The  Eight  Eev.  Dr.  Brady,  who  was  a  native  of  the 
county  of  Cavan,  had  spent  twelve  years  on  the  mission  in 
the  Mauritius  and  four  years  in  New  South  Wales  before 
Providence  sent  him  to  evangelize  Western  Australia.  He 
had  scarcely  entered  in  this  new  field  when  he  found  it 
necessary  to  obtain  external  aid,  and  within  three  months 
from  his  arrival,  the  zealous  missionary  was  on  his  way  to 
Europe  to  make  known  the  spiritual  needs  of  this  remote 
region.  While  in  Rome,  he  was  himself  appointed  Bishop 
of  Perth,  although  he  strenuously  urged  the  appointment 
of  Dr.  Ullathorne.  He  accepted  the  onerous  charge  in  the 
spirit  of  an  Apostle,  and  at  once  set  about  enlisting  mission- 
aries who  would  be  willing  to  devote  their  lives  to  such 
work  as  the  conversion  of  savages1  and  the  reformation  of 
convicts,  for  at  this  time,  the  number  of  free  settlers  in 
Western  Australia  was  very  small.  He  organized  in  a  very 
short  time  a  missionary  party,  which  only  proved  too 
numerous  for  the  uncultivated  field  on  which  they  entered 
on  the  7th  of  January,  1846.  The  party  numbered  twenty- 

1  The  natives  were  at  this  date  very  numerous  in  West  Australia. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     891 

eight,  and  included  seven  priests  (only  one  of  them,  Father 
Powell,  being  from  Ireland,  the  others  being  Italian  and 
French),  one  sub-deacon,  two  Benedictine  novices,  two 
lay-brothers  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Mary,  eight  Irish  catechists,  and  six  Sisters  of  Mercy.  It 
would  seem  that  the  good  bishop  in  the  excess  of  his  zeal, 
had  neglected  the  consideration  of  such  material  things  as 
housing  and  means  of  support  for  his  missionary  staff.  Nor 
had  he  secured  a  dwelling-place  for  himself. 

"  The  question  arose,  how  were  so  many  missionaries  to  be 
maintained.  The  bishop  had  hoped  that  the  government  would 
bear  the  expense  of  their  voyage  to  the  mission,  as  it  had  done 
sometime  before  for  the  Protestant  missionaries  ;  but  this  favour 
was  refused.  The  bishop  seemed  intent  only  on  providing  for 
the  convenience  of  others.  He  himself  set  an  example  of  self- 
denial  and  self-sacrifice  to  all  the  rest.  Four  wooden  posts  that 
supported  the  church  bell  were  encased  with  boards,  and  the 
room  thus  formed  became  his  lordship's  residence.  The  room 
being  only  about  four  feet  square,  he  could  not  lie  down,  but  was 
obliged  to  sleep  in  his  chair.  An  umbrella  was  his  only  protection 
from  the  sun's  rays  and  from  the  rain.  When  at  a  later  period 
he  rented  a  two-roomed  cottage  for  a  residence,  he  kept  no  servant; 
and  the  soldiers  of  the  Irish  regiment  stationed  at  Perth,  moved 
by  compassion,  volunteered  to  take,  in  turn,  the  charge  of  his 
cooking  and  other  domestic  requirements." 

The  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  fortunate  enough  to  secure  in 
Perth  a  cottage  with  four  rooms  which  they  converted  into 
the  "  Convent  of  Holy  Cross."  Here  they  opened  a  school, 
one  of  the  four  apartments  being  used  as  a  school-room  by 
day  and  a  dormitory  for  three  Sisters  by  night.  The  whole 
education  of  the  youth  of  the  colony  had  been  hitherto  in 
the  hands  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists.  Boys  and  girls 
were  taught  together  by  a  "  half  instructed  teacher,"  with 
very  unhappy  results.  Hence,  the  Sisters  were  welcomed 
by  Protestants  and  Catholics  alike  : — 

"  Many  of  the  poorer  Protestants  resolved  to  send  their 
children  to  the  Convent  school,  but  some  ministers  and  wealthy 
bigots  went  around,  saying  everything  wicked  of  the  Nuns.  .  .  . 
The  storm  lasted  only  a  while,  and  truth  and  religion  at  length 
prevailed.  After  a  few  weeks  some  Protestant  children  began  to 


892  Cardinal  Moran's 

frequent  the  school.  Some  of  the  parents  and  friends  were  so 
struck  by  the  change  produced  in  the  children,  that  they 
began  to  inquire  into  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  to 
whose  influence  they  owed  this  happy  change,  and  before  the 
close  of  the  year  very  many  were  received  into  the  Church." 

Here,  as  in  the  other  parts  of  Australia,  the  sisters 
prospered  in  a  most  wonderful  way.  The  head  house  of  the 
order,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  buildings  in  Perth,  has 
now  a  community  of  twenty-five,  exclusive  of  the  members 
engaged  in  several  branch  houses. 

The  male  members  of  the  missionary  party  "  were  soon 
scattered,  each  one  with  varied  success,  being  engaged  in  some 
special  missionary  enterprise."     How  the  Benedictines,  Dom 
Serra  and  Dom  Salvado,  fared,  has  been  already  stated.    The 
fathers  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary  bent 
their  steps  towards  the  south,  and  met  with  nothing  but 
disappointments   and   sufferings.     At    Albany,  where   they 
opened  a  mission,  "their  whole  congregation  did  not  number 
more  than  a  dozen  poor  settlers,  some  of  whom  had  to  travel 
a  great  distance.    Food,  ammunition,  and  even  wine  for  the 
altar  began   to   fail.     Their   clothes  were  so  tattered  that 
the  missionaries  were  compelled  to  make  soutanes  of  the 
few   linen    sheets   they   had   brought   from   France."      On 
hearing   of    these    privations,    their    Superior    transferred 
them  from  Georges'  Sound  to  the  Mauritius.     An  Italian 
priest,  Father  Confalonieri,  with  two  young  Irish  catechists, 
James  Fagan  and  Nicholas  Hogan,  set  out  for  the  Port 
Essington    district.      The    vessel    in    which    they    sailed 
was   wrecked   in   Torres    Straits.     The   two   Irish   youths 
were  lost,  but  the   good   father,  who   was   saved,   arrived 
in   Melville   Island,  and   laboured   with   success    for    two 
years    among    the    natives    of    the    surrounding    district. 
"  Worn  out  by  disease  and  famine  he  died  a  true  martyr 
of    charity   at   Victoria,   in   Melville  Island,    on    the    9th 
June,  1848." 

The  Bishop  and  Father  Powell  remained  in  Perth. 
Failing  health  obliged  Father  Powell  to  leave  a  few  months 
after  his  arrival.  Father  Joostens  soon  followed  him,  and 
the  Bishop  was  thus  left  almost  alone.  A  Catholic  ''Colonial 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    893 

Secretary,"  E.  E.  Madden,  Esq.,  who  arrived  in  Perth   in 
1848,  thus  writes  about  Dr.  Brady  :— 

"  On  my  arrival  in  the  Swan  Eiver  Settlement  I  found 
Dr.  Brady  contending  single-handed  against  the  entire  local 
government,  every  member  of  which,  with  two  exceptions,  was 
bitterly  opposed  to  Catholicity.  The  colony  was  administered  by 
Irish  Orangemen  in  the  interests  of  Orangemen,  and  with  the 
views  of  Orangeism  ...  I  found  Dr.  Brady  battling  for  his 
mission  stoutly  and  sincerely,  not  always  discreetly  or  effectually, 
with  a  set  of  unprincipled,  astute  bigots  in  authority." 

Mr.  Madden  succeeded  in  obtaining  Government  aid  for 
the  Catholic  mission,  but  nothing  proportionate  to  the  debts 
which  the  good  Bishop  had  incurred.  "  The  debt  incurred 
by  Eight  Eev.  Dr.  Brady  for  the  mission,  in  1845,  was 
£2,492  Us-.  6d. ;"  in  1849  all  his  debts  amounted  to  £10,000. 
The  Catholic  population  of  the  whole  colony  at  this  date 
was  not  much  over  three  hundred,  few  of  whom  were 
wealthy  ;  sums  of  money  collected  in  Europe  for  the  needs 
of  this  mission  were  devoted  to  other  purposes  ;  and  the 
Bishop,  finding  himself  unable  to  meet  his  creditors,  with- 
drew from  the  colony,  in  1852.  Dr.  Serra,  O.S.B.,had  been 
appointed  Coadjutor-Bishop  in  1849,  and  on  his  shoulders 
now  fell  the  whole  responsibility  of  ruling  this  much- 
afflicted  diocese.  We  are  informed  that  "the  appointment 
•of  Dr.  Serra  to  administer  the  temporalities  of  the  see  of 
Perth,  without  assigning  to  him  the  burden  of  the  many 
debts  already  incurred,  only  served  to  intensify  the  difficul- 
ties and  confusion  that  already  existed,"  and  that  "  violent 
dissensions  between  the  Irish  Catholics  and  the  Spanish 
clergy  became  the  order  of  the  day."  Dr.  Serra,  however, 
succeeded  in  maintaining  his  position  until  1859,  when  he 
returned  to  his  native  Spain,  where  he  died  in  1866. 

The  appointment  of  the  next  bishop,  also  a  Spanish 
Benedictine,  the  Eight  Eev.  Martin  Griver,  marks  the 
opening  of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  Catholicity  in 
Western  Australia.  Dr.  Serra  had  been  all  through  only 
Coadjutor-Bishop,  Dr.  Brady  not  having  resigned  his  see. 
Dr.  Griver  was  appointed  administrator  on  the  retirement 
of  Dr.  Serra,  and  in  1869  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Tloa  in 


894  Cardinal  Moran's 

partibus,  and  constituted  Administrator-Apostolic  of  Perth. 
Dr.  Brady  died  in  1871,  and  by  special  brief  Dr.  Griver 
was  translated  from  Tloa  to  the  see  of  Perth  in  1873.  The 
new  bishop  was,  it  appears,  as  remarkable  for  his  prudence 
and  tact  as  for  his  unwearied  energy  in  promoting  the 
welfare  of  the  Church.  The  erection  of  a  cathedral  in 
Perth,  of  churches  in  Freemantle,  Guilford,  and  York,  and 
of  several  schools  and  orphanages,  was  quietly  and  speedily 
effected.  Nor  did  administrative  work  monopolize  his 
attention.  "He  gathered  the  children  around  him,  or  he 
took  the  uninstructed  adult  in  .hand,"  as  the  occasion 
demanded.  The  holy  prelate  died  in  1886,  and  was 
succeeded  by  an  ecclesiastic  eminently  qualified  to  con- 
tinue the  good  work  so  auspiciously  inaugurated  by 
Dr.  Griver.  "  Through  the  energy  of  the  Eight  Eev. 
Dr.  Gibney,"  Cardinal  Moran  writes,  "  a  great  impulse 
has  been  given  to  the  erection  of  churches,  convents,  and 
schools  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  comparatively  small 
number  of  Catholics,  the  principal  towns  are  fully  equipped 
with  as  solid  and  beautiful  religious  edifices  as  are  to  be  found 
in  the  other  colonies."  In  1891  the  number  of  Catholics  in 
Western  Australia  was  12,602  out  of  a  total  population 
of  49,782.  At  that  date  the  Catholic  schools,  which  in  this 
colony  are  still  in  receipt  of  a  small  Government  grant,  were 
attended  by  1,535  children. 

Dr.  Gibney  established,  in  1891,  a  new  mission  for  the 
aboriginals  in  Dampier  Land,  which  he  placed  in  charge  of 
the  Trappists.  He  journeyed  himself,  on  two  occasions,  to 
this  remote  district,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  risk  his  life  in 
the  interests  of  the  souls  of  those  poor  savages,  who,  he 
tells  us,  are  "  a  splendid  race  of  men."  The  Government 
have  reserved  to  them  the  territory  around  Beagle  Bay,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  the  La  Trappe  mission  may  one  day  rival 
New  Norcia. 

A  very  interesting  chapter  of  Cardinal  Moran's  exhaus- 
tive History  is  that  which  records  the  rise  and  progress  of 
Catholicity  in  Queensland.  Situated  beyond  the  apparent 
reach  of  civilization,  the  Moreton  Bay  district  was  chosen 
in  1824  as  a  fitting  abode  for  the  most  turbulent  convicts. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia'1     895 

Not  until  1842  was  this  region  proclaimed  open  for  free 
settlement.  The  next  year  witnessed  the  arrival  of  two 
priests,  Father  M'Ginnety  and  Dean  Hanly,  who  were  sent 
from  Sydney  by  Archbishop  Folding  to  organize  a  mission 
in  the  new  settlement.  "  Dean  Hanly's  name,"  we  read, 
"  is  still  cherished  in  the  Brisbane  district.  On  one  occasion 
he  had  to  swim  the  river  on  a  sick  call.  Another  trophy  of 
his  zeal  that  may  still  be  seen  is  a  widow's  house  which  he 
erected.  Shejost  her  husband  before  he  had  time  to  build 
a  house  on  their  newly-acquired  holding,  in  which  all  their 
means  were  spent.  Father  Hanly  took  off  his  coat,  and, 
with  axe  in  hand,  set  to  work  to  erect  a  comfortable 
weather-board  cottage  for  her.  A  few  settlers  came  to  aid 
him,  and  the  work  was  soon  completed." 

Such  practical  services  as  these  could  not  fail  to  make 
an  impression  on  all  classes,  and  so  far  successful  was  the 
Dean's  ministry  among  the  settlers,  that,  in  1859,  when 
Queensland  was  proclaimed  an  independent  colony,  it  was 
also  erected  into  an  episcopal  see.  It  would  seem  that 
Dr.  Folding  was  most  anxious  to  have  a  Benedictine 
appointed  bishop  of  the  new  diocese  "as  a  practical 
refutation  of  the  atrocious  calumnies  uttered  again  and  again 
against  the  Benedictines  ; "  but,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Dr.  Goold,  who  was  then  in  Rome,  the  choice  of  the  Holy 
See  fell  upon  Dr.  James  Quinn,  who  was  at  that  date  presi- 
dent of  St.  Laurence  O'Toole's  Seminary,  Harcourt-street, 
Dublin. 

Dr.  Quinn  arrived  in  Brisbane,  the  capital  of  the  new 
colony,  in  1861,  and,  on  seeing  only  a  few  scattered  houses, 
asked  with  astonishment :  "Where  is  the  city  of  Brisbane  ?  " 
At  this  date  the  total  population  of  the  colony  was  28,056,  of 
whom  7,000  were  Catholics.  "How  changed  was  all  this  when 
the  census  was  taken  in  1886.  The  population  of  Queensland 
had  increased  to  322,853  ;  the  Catholics  numbered  77,000, 
and  Brisbane  had  grown  into  a  great  city,  remarkable  for 
public  buildings,  of  which  any  capital  in  Europe  might  justly 
be  proud."  The  first  Bishop  of  Brisbane  was  equal  to  the 
task  of  organizing  the  Church  throughout  the  vast  territory. 
His  labours  were  similar  to  those  of  Dr.  Folding  in  New 


896  Cardinal  Moraiis 

South  Wales.  In  his  first  diocesan  visitation  he  travelled 
over  one  thousand  miles.  He  usually  rode  on  horseback 
from  station  to  station,  and  was  fortunate  when  the  night 
did  not  find  him  still  in  the  bush.  We  are  told  that  during 
one  of  those  long  missionary  journeys  "  he  was  obliged  to 
camp  out  on  seventeen  nights  in  the  open  air,  on  the  bare 
ground,"  and  that  "his  food  for  the  most  part  consisted  of 
sardines,  and  what  is  well  known  in  the  bush  as  damper  — 
that  is,  a  sort  of  bread  made  of  flour  and  water,  which  the 
Bishop  and  his  chaplains  had  themselves  to  mix  together, 
and  bake  as  best  they  could."  In  another  of  his  visitation 
tours  he  lost  his  way  irretrievably,  and  was  unattended. 
"  Sending  up  a  prayer  to  heaven,  he  threw  the  reins  on  the 
horse's  neck,  and  let  the  animal  take  his  way."  The  horse, 
we  are  told,  took  him  to  the  cottage  of  an  Irish  settler,  a 
Catholic,  of  whose  existence  here  the  Bishop  had  not  heard. 
The  cottage  was  closed,  but  the  owner  was  found  in  the 
neighbourhood.  After  a  brief  conversation,  in  which  they 
introduced  themselves  to  one  another,  the  "  Bishop,  sitting 
down*  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree  which  lay  beside  them, 
instructed  him  in  the  Christian  religion,  heard  the  confession 
of  his  whole  life,  and  then  and  there,  under  the  blue  vault 
of  heaven,  and  as  a  true  shepherd  of  souls,  raised  his 
absolving  hand,  and  imparted  the  blessings  of  Divine 
mercy  to  this  straying  child."  Such  picturesque  incidents 
as  these  are  quite  a  feature  of  early  Australian  Church 
history. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  achievements  of  this  zealous 
prelate  was  the  transfer  of  some  six  thousand  emigrants 
from  Ireland  to  Queensland.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  the 
Colony,  he  induced  the  Queensland  Government  to  assist 
the  immigration  of  industrious  and  respectable  Irish  families 
who  "  were  forced  to  quit  their  small  but  comfortable  hold- 
ings to  make  way  for  sheep  and  cattle  runs."  Father 
Dunne,  a  native  of  the  diocese  of  Leighlin,  who  is  now 
Vicar-General  of  Goulburn,  acted  as  immigration  agent, 
and  in  this  capacity  made  three  journeys  from  Australia  to 
Ireland.  This  distinguished  priest  was  instrumental  in 
peopling  Queensland  with  a  class  who  have  proved  the 


11  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     897 

mainstay  of  Catholicity  in  that  colony.  "  Unfortunately," 
writes  Cardinal  Moran,  "the  system  soon  came  to  an  end, 
An  absurd  clamour  arose  that  too  many  Irish  were  coming, 
and  that  by-and-bye  the  colony  might  be  called  not  Queens- 
land but  Quinnsland."  In  deference  to  English  feeling, 
the  Government  concessions  were  withdrawn,  and  the 
Queensland  Immigration  Society  was  finally  dissolved  in 
1865. 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  notable  part  which  Irish 
nuns  have  played  in  the  evangelization  and  civilization  of 
Australia.     Perhaps  in  no  other  colony  has  their  influence 
been  so  much  felt  as  in  Queensland.  Dr.  Quinn  was  chaplain 
to  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  at  the  mother  house  of  the  order  in 
Baggot-street,  Dublin,  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  to 
the  see  of  Brisbane.     Six  of  the  Sisters  accompanied  the 
new  bishop  to  his  distant  mission,  and  the  expansion  of  this 
little   community  in  Queensland  during  the  episcopate  of 
Dr.  Quinn  is  simply  marvellous.    Their  work  was,  of  course, 
mainly  in  the  schools,  where  their  efficiency  won  the  good 
will   of  all  creeds.     In  a  report  of  the  state  of  his  diocese, 
sent  to  Rome  in  1871,  the  Bishop  acknowledges  on  his  own 
behalf  and  on  behalf  of  the  Sisters,  the  great  generosity  of 
the  Protestants  of  Brisbane.     In  one  bazaar  alone,  organized 
by  the   Government   officers,  the    Sisters   realized  £3,000, 
which  was  urgently  needed  to  meet  a  debt  contracted  in  the 
erection  of  a  new  convent.    Speaking  for  himself,  the  Bishop 
says  :  "I  shall  merely  mention,  that  during  my  last  visita- 
tion, Protestant  gentlemen  invariably  supplied  the  horses  I 
rode,  showed  me  hospitality  wherever  I  went ;  and  in  remote 
districts,  where  suitable  accommodation  was  not  to  be  had, 
the  Protestant  magistrates,  gave  me  up  their  own  residences." 
This  testimony  stands  in  pleasing  contrast  to  the  bigotry 
displayed  towards  the  Catholic  Church  in  New  South  Wales, 
South  Australia,  and  Western  Australia.     From  a  return 
made  in  188 L,  it  appears  the   Sisters  of  Mercy  had  no  less 
than  forty-two  schools,  with  an  average  attendance  of  six 
thousand  children.     One  of  those,  All  Hallows,  is  ranked 
among  the  first  educational  establishments  in  all  Australasia. 
They  have  survived  the  withdrawal  of  all  State  aid,  which 
VOL.  XVII.  3  L 


898  Cardinal  Mo  ran' s 

was  enacted  in  1875, '  and  came  into  operation  in  1881. 
The  Christian  Brothers  arrived  in  this  colony  in  1874,  and 
have  since  been  gallantly  carrying  on  the  work  of  Christian 
education. 

The  fatigues  of  bush  missionary  life  left  their  impress  on 
the  vigorous  constitution  of  Dr.  Quinn,  and  after  ten  years 
his    health  began  to  fail.     Still,    we    read    there   was    no 
falling  off  in  work  and  energy,  and  the  period  of  1872-1881 
was  one  of  the  most  laborious  and  stirring  in  the  whole  of 
his  episcopate.     In  1874  he  saw  the  opening  of  the  grand 
Cathedral  of  St.  Stephen,  which  remains  one  of  the  visible 
fruits  of  his  zeal.     From  1873  to  1875  he  led  the  defence  of 
denominational   education,   and  if  he  did   not   succeed   in 
defeating  the  passage  of  a  godless  education  bill,  he  aroused 
the  enthusiasm  of  his  flock  in  favour  of  a  great  principle. 
The  establishment  of  a  Catholic  newspaper,  in  1878,  was 
another  deed  of  worth.     Nor  did  he  forget  the  land  of  his 
birth  amidst  the  toils  of  his  episcopal  administration.     His 
exertions   and   influence   contributed  not   a  little  to  swell 
the  Irish  Kelief  Fund  of  1880,  and  one  of  the  last  public 
acts  of  his  life  was  to   preside   over   a  great  Irish   Land 
League  meeting  in  Brisbane.     The  great  prelate  died  on 
the  18th  August,  1881.     His  obsequies  were  attended  by 
some  three  thousand  persons,  including  representatives  of 
all  creeds  and  classes.    We  are  told  that  the  Prime  Minister 
of  Queensland,  who  was  among  those  present,  vented  his  grief 
in  tears,  and  remarked  on  the  occasion  "  there  was  not  in 
this  or  any  of  the  colonies  a  more  enlightened  or  cultured 
scholar.''     The  impression  we  carry  away  from  the  record  of 
his  career,  as  sketched  by  our  author,  is  that  not  among  the 
many  great  pioneer  bishops  of  Australasia  was  there  a  more 
successful  organizer  than  the  Eight  Kev.  Dr.  James  Quinn. 
At  the  date  of  Dr.  Quinn's  death,  the  diocese  of  Brisbane 
included   the   whole   colony   of  Queensland.     Some    years 
before  this  sad  event,  his  Lordship  had  recommended  to  the 

1  Tlie  Que?nsland  Education  Act  of  1875,  which  completely  secularized 
state  education,  was  the  result  of  an  agitation  got  up  by  the  Presbyterians 
and  Dissenters.  It  killed  the  Anglican  schools,  and  placed  the  whole  burden 
of  supporting  denominational  education  on  the  Catholics  who  were  then  a 
fourth  of  the  population. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    899 

Holy  See  the  erection  of  three  new  dioceses  within  the 
colony  which  would  still  leave  Brisbane  about  eight  times 
as  large  as  Ireland.  In  making  this  important  recommenda- 
tion, he  added  :  "  Let  me  likewise  say  that  foreigners  are 
not  suitable  as  bishops  here  in  Queensland.  Beligion  must 
lose  immensely  by  their  appointment.  The  Irish  Catholics, 
who  are  the  only  Catholics  here,  will  lose  their  faith,  and  a 
gross  injustice  will  be  done  them  by  placing  over  them 
people  whose  language  and  habits  they  do  not  understand, 
and  who  have  little  or  no  sympathy  with  them."  One  would 
think  that  Dr.  Quinn  should  have  known  the  needs  of  his 
people  ;  and  yet  we  read  that  on  the  occasion  of  his  death 
"  it  was  suggested  to  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Propaganda 
by  Archbishop  Vaughan  (of  Sydney)  that  the  spiritual  care 
of  the  colony  of  Queensland  should  be  assigned  to  the 
German  Benedictines,  and  that  the  illustrious  Abbot  Wolter 
should  be  appointed  Bishop  of  Brisbane."  The  Holy  See, 
however,  thought  differently,  and  rather  followed  the 
lines  suggested  by  the  late  illustrious  bishop.  In  1882  the 
territory  lying  between  the  24th  parallel  on  the  south 
and  Hinchinbrook  (18°  10  N.  Latitude),  and  extending 
inward  to  the  boundary  of  South  Australia,  was  constituted 
the  see  of  Rockhampton,  over  which  Dr.  Cani  was  appointed 
bishop.  Dr.  Cani  was  an  Italian  priest  who  was  specially 
excepted  by  Dr,  Quinn  in  the  statement  quoted  above.  He 
arrived  in  the  colony  with  Dr,  Quinn  himself,  in  1861,  and 
had  lived  long  enough  among  the  Irish  to  understand  their 
language  and  peculiarities.  The  portion  of  Queensland 
lying  to  the  north  of  Hinchinbrook  had  been  made  a  pro- 
vicariate  in  1876,  and  been  placed  in  charge  of  an  excellent 
staff  of  Italian  priests,  who  it  was  hoped  would  do  something 
for  the  natives,  while  also  attending  to  the  spiritual  wants  of 
the  white  population.  "  The  whites,"  we  read,  "  showed 
them  but  little  sympathy,  for  they  could  hardly  understand 
their  language  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  blacks  were  only 
to  be  met  with  in  remote  districts."  Those  good  priests 
accordingly  betook  themselves  to  a  more  suitable  field,  and 
in  1882  the  pro-vicariate  was  handed  over  to  the  Irish 
Augustinian  Fathers.  Their  success,  is  a  practical  proof  of 


900  Cardinal  Moraris 

the  accuracy  of  Dr.  Quirm's  views.  In  1885  the  pro-vicariate 
was,  at  the  petition  of  the  Plenary  Council  of  Australasia, 
changed  into  a  Vicariate  Apostolic,  and  Dr.  Hutchinson, 
who  had  been  at  the  head  of  the  mission  since  1882,  was 
appointed  Vicar- Apostolic  of  Cookstown.  This  distinguished 
Augustinian,  who  is  a  native  of  the  county  of  Kilkenny, 
would  seem  to  be  only  at  the  starting-point  of  a  splendid 
missionary  career,  for  "  already,"  we  read,  "  abundant  fruit 
has  begun  ro  repay  the  toil  of  the  zealous  Vicar-Apostolic 
and  his  devoted  fellow-labourers,  and  the  Cookstown  vicariate 
gives  fairest  promise  at  no  distant  day  to  take  its  place 
among  the  most  flourishing  dioceses  of  the  Australian 
Church." 

The  Eight  Eev.  Kobert  Dunne,  a  native  of  Lismore,  in 
the  county  of  Waterford,  succeeded  Dr.  Quinn  in  the  see  of 
Brisbane,  which  retained  all  the  Queensland  territory,  south 
of  the  24th  degree  of  latitude.  The  new  Bishop  had  had 
considerable  experience  of  colonial  missionary  work.  He 
arrived  in  Brisbane  as  early  as  1863,  having  resigned  his 
Professorship  in  the  Harcourt-street  Seminary  to  join  its 
late  president  in  organizing  the  Queensland  mission.  The 
fruit  of  his  practical  zeal  is  visible  in  the  "  schools,  churches, 
convents,  and  new  institutions  of  beneficence,"  which  have 
been  erected  during  his  episcopacy. 

At  the  petition  of  the  Australian  Plenary  Council  of 
1885,  Queensland  was  made  an  independent  ecclesiastical 
province,  with  Brisbane  as  the  archiepiscopal  see,  and  by 
Brief  of  10th  May,  1887,  Dr.  Dunne  was  raised  to  the 
archiepiscopal  dignity.  What  a  change  from  1861,  when 
the  good  seed  had  barely  been  sown  among  a  few  scattered 
settlers  and  ex-convicts. 

Similar  in  many  respects  to  the  growth  of  the  Church  in 
Queensland  was  its  development  in  the  Colony  of  Victoria. 
First  came  a  few  adventurers  attracted  by  the  possibilities  of 
an  unexplored  region  ;  next  followed  the  priest,  like  the 
"voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness;"  next  came  the 
bishop,  sent  with  authority  to  weld  into  an  organized  whole 
the  catholics  found  among  the  daily-increasing  influx  of 
immigrants  ;  and  when  the  field  had  grown  too  wide  for  one 


t(  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    901 

ruler,  the  order  came  from  the  Father  of  the  Faithful  to 
subdivide  without  detriment  to  that  ecclesiastical  unity 
which  should  be  the  counterpart,  or  rather  model,  of  civil 
organization.  Need  we  say,  it  was  from  the  Green  Isle,  too, 
that  the  people,  priests,  and  bishops  came,  who  made  the 
Church  what  it  is  to-day  in  Victoria,  an  organization  fully 
abreast  of  the  needs  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  Australian 
Colonies.  There  were,  however,  not  a  few  features  peculiar 
to  the  history  of  Catholicity  in  the  region  whose  fertility 
and  scenic  beauty  gained  for  it  the  designation  of  "  Australia 
Felix."  In  no  part  of  Victoria  was  there  ever  a  convict 
settlement.  Eapid  as  was  the  spread  of  Catholicity  in 
Queensland,  its  progress  in  Victoria  was  still  more  remark- 
able, and  Irishmen  seem  to  have  asserted  both  their  religion 
and  nationality  more  emphatically  here  than  in  any  other  of 
the  Australian  Colonies. 

In  1835  an  exploring  party  from  Tasmania  under  the 
leadership  of  John  Batman,  sailed  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yarra 
River,  and  purchased  600,000  acres  of  land  for  a  few 
"  blankets  and  some  trinkets."  Thus  began  the  colonization 
of  Victoria.  The  site  of  the  future  capital  was  marked  out 
some  few  miles  up  the  river ;  and  here  is  the  description  of 
Melbourne,  given  by  the  Sydney  Gazette,  in  1836  : — 

"  A  house  has  been  erected  for  the  Commandant ;  three 
public  licenses  have  been  granted  :  one  is  kept  in  a  log  hut,  the 
others  are  of  turf.  There  is  only  one  ^hoemaker  at  the  settle- 
ment, but  no  tailor,  carpenter,  or  wheelright,  who  are  much 
wanted.  There  are  neither  butcher  nor  baker,  and  the  settlers 
luxuriate  upon  salt  beef  and  damper,  which  they  wash  down  with 
copious  libations  of  rum  and  water,  which  are  very  plentiful  here. 
The  population  consists  of  210  settlers,  six  only  of  whom  are 
women,  and  fifteen  children." 

The  first  priest  sent  by  Dr.  "Folding  of  Sydney,  to  watch 
over  this  rising  community,  was  the  Rev.  Patrick 
Bonaventure  Geoghegan,  O.S.F.,  who  afterwards  became 
Bishop  of  Adelaide.  Rescued  from  a  "  birds'  nest "  in 
Dublin  by  a  Franciscan  Father,  the  youth  sought  admission 
into  the  order,  and  after  spending  some  years  as  a  working 
priest  in  the  Franciscan  Church,  Dublin,  was  permitted  by 


Cardinal  Moraris 

his  Superior  to  accompany  Dr.  Ullathorne  to  the  Australian 
Mission  in  1838.  He  arrived  in  Melbourne  in  1839,  and  for 
some  time  had  to  endure  very  severe  privations.  "  He  was 
poor,"  we  read,  "  in  this  world's  goods.  He  had  no  home  of 
his  own,  but  slept  in  the  bar  of  a  public-house,  adjoining  the 
rudely-constructed  wooden  hut  in  which  Mass  was  celebrated. 
A  pallet  was  prepared  for  him  nightly  by  the  hands  of  the 
good-hearted  landlady,  on  a  few  planks  placed  across  some 
beer-barrels."  At  the  end  of  three  months  the  good  priest 
had  succeeded  in  the  erection  of  a  little  chapel,  and  we  are 
informed  that  among  the  most  generous  contributors  to  his 
undertaking  were  the  Irish  soldiers  of  the  28th  regiment. 
An  Irish  layman,  who  has  been  already  mentioned  as  having 
arrived  in  Melbourne  in  1839,  was  the  trusted  friend  and 
counsellor  of  Father  Geoghegan  during  this  trying  period  of 
his  life.  "  No  man,  be  he  priest  or  bishop,  ever  served  the 
Church  of  which  he  was  a  worshipper  with  more  zeal  or 
disinterestedness  than  did  Sir  John  O'Shanassy  at  a  time 
when  such  services  were  as  rare  as  they  were  priceless." 

In  1850  the  vast  district  of  which  Melbourne  was  the 
capital,  and  which  was  up  to  that  time  called  by  the  name 
of  Port  Philip,  was  by  an  Act  of  the  English  Parliament 
erected  into  an  independent  colony  under  the  name  of 
Victoria.  Until  that  date  it  had  belonged  to  the  juris- 
diction of  New  South  Wales.  We  may  add  that  Sir  John 
O'Shanassy  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  agitation  which 
led  to  this  separation,  and  that  this  distinguished  Irishman 
was  three  times  Prime  Minister  of  the  new  colony.2  The 
Catholic  Church  had  made  corresponding  progress,  not  in 
population,  which  depended  largely  on  the  religious  denomi- 
nation of  the  immigrants,  nor  in  wealth,  the  acquisition  of 
which  is  not  her  mission,  but  in  organization,  vitality,  and 
influence.  While  the  total  population  of  the  colony  had 
reached  80,000,  the  Catholics  had  increased  to  18,014,  of 
whom  5,631  were  resident  in  Melbourne.  At  the  date  of 
the  separation  the  members  of  the  Catholic  body  had  been 
two  years  under  the  rule  of  a  bishop  who  lived  to  become 

1  Quoted  from  Mr.  Finn,  by  the  author. 

2  Hogan's  The  Irish  in  Australia,  page  13. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     903 

the  first  Archbishop  of  Melbourne,  and  the  first  metropolitan 
of  the  ecclesiastical  province  of  Victoria. 

The  history  of  the  episcopate  of  the  Most  Kev.  Dr  Goold 
is  identical  with  the  history  of  Catholicity  in  the  Colony 
from  1848  to  1874,  when  it  was  found  necessary  to  establish 
new  sees  within  its  jurisdiction.  A  native  of  the  City  of 
"Cork,  and  a  son  of  St.  Augustine,  the  Eev.  James  Alipius 
Goold,  arrived  in  Sydney,  in  1838,  prepared  to  undertake  any 
official  work  assigned  to  him  by  Dr.  Folding.  He  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  Campeltown  district,  where  he 
laboured  for  the  next  nine  years  "  with  the  generosity  of  an 
apostle."  Tn  1847  he  was  appointed  Bishop  to  the  newly- 
erected  see  of  Melbourne,  but  did  not  enter  on  his  episcopal 
work  until  the  close  of  1848.  His  overland  journey  to 
Melbourne  from  Sydney  was  a  record  performance  in  those 
days.  "  It  was  the  first  time."  he  writes  in  his  diary,  "  that 
this  journey  of  six  hundred  miles  was  performed  in  a  carriage 
and  four.  The  horses,  which  were  not  changed  during  the 
journey,  did  not  seem  to  have  suffered  much  from  it,"  though 
performed  in  less  than  a  month.  Dr.  Goold  kept  a  diary, 
which  is  now  a  most  valuable  historical  document.  A 
portion  of  it,  printed  in  Cardinal  Moran's  book,  contains 
not  only  a  record  of  laborious  diocesan  administration,  but 
a  great  deal  of  interesting  personal  reminiscences.  Dr.  Goold 
visited  Europe  five  times  during  his  episcopate,  and  has  left 
us  notes  which  include  his  impressions  and  experiences  at 
the  Vatican  Council  in  1870,  and  during  his  tours  in  Ireland. 
Here  is  a  sample  of  the  latter  : — 

"  July  6th,  1859.— To  Clifden.  The  country  through  which 
we  passed  presented  a  varied  landscape— wild,  bold,  stretches  of 
high  and  low  land,  with  lakes,  cultivated  and  wooded  estates. 
I  enjoyed  this  drive  exceedingly,  though  it  rained  a  great  part  of 
the  time.  Called  on  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  [Dr.  M'Hale],  who 
was  on  his  visitation  in  Clifden,  and  stopping  with  the  parish 
priest.  The  welcome  was  warm,  as  an  Irish  welcome  always  is. 
The  great  man,-  now  seventy  years  of  age,  is  full  of  vigour  in 
mind  and  body.  Nothing  could  exceed  his  amiability  and  kind 
attention.  The  parish  priest  was  overflowing  with  good  nature." 

This  diary  is,  however,  chiefly  valuable  as  a  source  of 
Australian  Church  history.  The  simple  entry  of  facts  which 


904  Cardinal  Moraris 

the  Bishop  made  day  by  day,  is  the  best  exposition  of  the 
means  by  which  the  Church  was  built  up  in  Victoria.  The 
special  agencies  at  work  were  here  what  they  must  always 
be,  viz.,  preaching,  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  and 
the  education  of  the  young.  Pari  passu  went  the  erection 
of  churches  and  schools,  and  the  establishment  of  new  mis- 
sionary centres.  In  the  beginning  the  Bishop  himself  did 
the  "  hard  riding  "  to  the  black  forests  of  his  diocese.  Here 
is  an  extract,  taken  at  random  from  his  diary,  which  illus- 
trates at  once  the  romance  and  risks  of  pioneer  episcopal 
visitation  :— 

"Sunday,  11th  November,  1850. — To-day  I  celebrated  Mass 
at  11  p.m.,  at  which  not  more  than  twenty  persons  assisted. 
After  Mass  I  proceeded  down  the  river  to  a  station  belonging  to 
a  Catholic  family,  by  name  Brown.  It  was  late  in  the  night 
when  we  reached  this  place,  the  distance  from  Huon  to  it  being 
fifty  miles.  We  had  to  cross  the  river  Murray  or  Hume, 
in  a  small  square  boat.  It  was  not  without  some  risk  that  wo 
succeeded  in  bringing  over  in  it  the  horses  and  gig.  The  inn  at 
which  we  stayed  a  short  time  afforded  very  bad  accommodation. 
I  remained  at  Brown's  until  Tuesday,  celebrating  Mass  each  da}r. 
On  Tuesday  morning,  19th  inst.,  we  crossed  the  Hume  or  Murray 
river  again,  the  horses  swimming.  We  came  to  Wangaratta  at 
3  p.m.  The  next  morning  we  held  a  station  here,  twenty  persons 
attended.  The  Catholics  living  here  are  very  few,  and  mostly 
servants.  We  remained  in  Wangaratta  this  day  in  order  to 
rest  ourselves.  At  1  p.m.  I  visited  the  township,  and  selected 
rather  a  handsome  site  for  a  church,  clergyman's  dwelling,  and 
school-house.  In  the  evening  I  called  on  a  Catholic  family,  who 
occupy  a  cattle  station  three  miles  from  the  township.  The 
father,  a  man  of  ninety  years  of  age,  had  been  transported  to 
N.S.  Wales  for  the  Irish  Eevolution  of  1798.  He  was  in  the 
enjoyment  of  all  his  faculties." 

The  Jesuit  Fathers1  of  the  Irish  province  rendered  very 
Important  service  in  the  organization  of  the  Church  in 
Victoria.  Fathers  Joseph  Lentaigne,  William  Kelly,  Joseph 
j^alton,  and  Edward  Nolan  receive  prominent  mention  from 
the  author,  who.  indeed,  gives  emphatic,  if  comparatively 
concise,  expression  to  his  appreciation  of  the  work  accom- 
plished by  the  whole  body,  not  only  in  Melbourne,  but  also 

1  They  arrived  in  Melbourne  in  1<Q65. 


"  Ilutury  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia"     9()5 

in  Sydney.  "  The  Society  has  at  present  (1892),"  he  writes, 
"  in  Melbourne  and  Sydney  four  colleges — a  boarding  school 
and  a  day  school  in  each  city — in  which  about  700  pupils  are 
being  educated.  It  has,  besides,  the  charge  of  two  parishes 
or  missions.  Its  statistics  at  the  present  moment  may  be 
thus  summarized  : — 4  colleges,  3  residences  or  presbyteries, 
1  novitiate,  and  80  Jesuits  subdivided  into  45  priests,  27 
scholastics,  and  8  lay  brothers." 

The  success  of  the  Christian  Brothers1  in  the  cause  of 
education,  the  eminent  author  has  also  taken  pains  to 
record.  And  he  does  not  omit  to  bear  generous  testimony 
to  the  many  works  of  charity  carried  out  by  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy,  who,  it  has  already  been  noted,  came  to  this  Colony 
from  Western  Australia  in  1857.  "  Throughout  Victoria," 
he  writes,  "  as  elsewhere,  the  blessing  of  Heaven  is  found 
to  accompany  the  zealous  toils  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy." 
Equally  nattering  are  his  references  to  the  Sisters  of  the 
Good  Shepherd,  the  Nuns  of  the  Presentation  Order,  the 
Faithful  Companions,  and  the  little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  who 
were  all  introduced  into  Victoria  by  Dr.  Goold.  From 
among  the  many  secular  priests  from  Ireland  who  helped  to 
build  up  the  Catholic  Church  in  this  colony,  Dr.  Fitzpatrick 
is  singled  out  as  having  been  for  forty  years  thefidus  Achates 
of  the  Bishop,  and  his  chief  instrument  in  the  erection  of 
the  noble  Cathedral  of  St.  Patrick.  He  was  a  native  of 
Dublin,  and  a  graduate  of  Maynooth,  from  which  he  went, 
at  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Ullathorne,  direct  to  the  Australian 
mission  in  1838.  "  He  was  Dean,  Vicar-General,  and 
Monsignor,  but  his  proudest  title  was  that  of  builder  of 
St.  Patrick's."  He  died  in  1890. 

In  1874,  Dr.  Goold  returned  from  Kome,  Archbishop  of 
Melbourne.  He  had,  after  long  negotiations,  succeeded  in 
inducing  the  Holy  See  to  erect  two  new  dioceses,  Ballarat 
and  Sandhurst,  within  the  colony,  and  he  had  furthermore 
secured  the  appointment  to  them  of  Irish  bishops,  not,  it 
would  seem,  without  opposition.  "  As  regards  the  objec- 
tion," he  writes,  "  that  the  bishops  of  Australia  are  all 

1  They  arrived  in  Victoria  in  1868. 


906  Cardinal  Moran's 

Irish,  it  appears  to  me  to  have  no  solid  foundation  to  rest 
upon  ;  on  the  contrary,  any  other  course  would  be  ridiculous. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Catholic  Europeans  who  form  our 
congregation  in  Australia  are,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
Irish,  and  it  is  most  just  and  natural  that  Irish  Catholics 
would  have  pastors  of  their  own  nationality." 

The  city  of  Ballarat  occupies  a  site  which,  in  1850,  was 
a  "  pastoral  solitude."  It  dates  its  beginning  from  1851. 
In  that  year  a  "rich  find  of  pure  gold"  was  made  at  a 
place  called  Black  Hill,  overlooking  the  present  city. 
Thousands  of  adventurers  flocked  to  the  new  gold  diggings, 
and  soon  a  vast  encampment  was  formed  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  priest  followed  tither,  and  put  up  at  first  in  a 
canvas  tent.  Another  such  tent  was  erected  for  a  church. 
The  miners'  camp  has  now  grown  into  a  flourishing  city  of 
forty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  the  "  beautiful  and  com- 
modious cathedral  of  St.  Patrick  "  has  taken  the  place  of 
the  canvas  church. 

In  1874  was  consecrated  the  first  bishop  of  Ballarat, 
the  Eight  Rev.  Dr.  O'Connor,  a  native  of  Dublin,  and  an 
alumnus  of  Maynooth.  At  the  time  of  his  appointment, 
he  was  parish  priest  of  Eathfarnham  (Dublin).  His 
episcopate  was  short  but  fruitful.  Arriving  in  Ballarat 
at  a  time  when  the  godless  system  of  State  education1 
had  just  been  established  in  Victoria,  the  new  Bishop 
devoted  his  energies  to  the  erection  of  denominational 
schools.  The  Loretto  Nuns,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  the 
Christian  Brothers  came  to  Ballarat  at  his  invitation,  and 
have  since  been  carrying  on  the  noble  work  of  higher  and 
elementary  and  Christian  education.  At  the  date  of  his  death 
in  1883,  there  were  in  the  diocese  of  Ballarat  as  many  as 
forty  Catholic  schools.  Another  Irish  priest  who  had  been 
labouring  in  the  district  since  1859  was  chosen  to  succeed 
Dr.  O'Connor.  All  Hallows  College  may  claim  as  an 
honour  that  the  Eight  Eev.  James  Moore  was  educated 

1  In  1872,  a  new  Education  Bill  was  carried  in  both  houses  of  the  Victorian 
Parliament,  which  "enforced  the  principle  of  secularism  in  all  schools  receiv- 
ing- Government  aid."  It  was  intended  by  its  promoters  to  "  effectually  purge 
the  colony  of  secularism."  It  succeeded  only  in  killing  the  Protestant 
denominational  schools. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     907 

within  its  walls.  What  progress  religion  has  made  under 
his  rule  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  statistics. 
"  There  are  at  present  (1892)  in  the  diocese  of  Ballarat," 
writes  Cardinal  Moran,  "  8  parochial  districts,  98  churches, 
34  secular  priests,  several  members  of  the  order  of  Christian 
Brothers,  95  Nuns,  5  boarding  schools  for  girls,  4  superior 
day  schools,  and  52  primary  schools,  6,000  Catholic 
children  enjoy  the  blessing  of  a  Catholic  education,  and  the 
Catholic  population  of  the  diocese  amounts  to  36,000." 

The  history  of  the  growth  of  Sandhurst  is  in  almost 
every  detail  analogous  to  that  of  Ballarat.  Who  has  not 
heard  of  the  gold  fields  of  Bendigo,  which  is  another  name 
for  this  city?  Their  discovery,  towards  the  close  of  1851, 
was  followed  by  a  rush  of  all  classes  to  this  new  El-dorado. 
This  gold  field  it  was  that  all  but  depopulated  the  rising 
city  of  Adelaide.  From  that  mission,  in  the  wake  of  his 
people,  followed,  in  1852,  the  Kev.  Henry  Backhaus,  a  native 
of  Paderborn,  in  Westphalia,  who  was  the  first  priest  to 
pitch  his  tent  among  the  miners  of  Bendigo.  He  continued 
to  minister  there  until  he  saw  the  miners'  camp  transformed 
into  an  episcopal  see.  His  history  contains  some  admixture 
of  romance,  for  in  digging  the  foundations  for  a  parochial 
residence,  the  workmen,  it  is  said,  struck  gold,  which  brought 
the  rev.  owner  of  the  site  some  £10,000.  He  died  worth 
£250,000,  which  he  bequeathed  "  for  the  building  of  a 
cathedral  and  other  religious  purposes."  The  first  bishop 
of  Sandhurst  was  the  Eight  Kev.  Martin  Crane,  O.S.A.,  a 
native  of  Wexford,  through  whose  exertions  while  on  the 
Dublin  mission  was  built  the  magnificent  Church  of 
St.  Augustine  and  St.  John  in  that  city.  He  arrived  in 
Sandhurst,  in  1874,  and  soon  made  his  influence  felt  in  the 
erection  of  denominational  schools  which  were  just  now 
sorely  needed.1  Eeviewing  his  career  in  1891,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  golden  jubilee  of  his 
lordship's  priesthood,  the  Very  Eev.  Superior  of  the 
Eedemptorists  at  Ballarat,  stated  that  Dr.  Crane  came  to 
the  colony  without  "purse  or  scrip."  "In  the  immense 
territory,"  said  the  preacher,  "  where  but  seven  priests  were 

1  See  note,  page  906. 


908  Cardinal  Morans 

then  found,  they  now  number  thirty-two.  At  the  time 
when  the  present  Education  Act  was  passed  there  were  not 
many  schools  in  the  diocese ;  but  now,  thank  God,  they 
number  over  forty.  On  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Crane  from  home, 
there  was  not  a  member  of  religious  teachers  in  his  territory  ; 
he  has  now  the  religious  teaching  orders  scattered  over  his 
diocese." 

The  Most  Kev.  Dr.  Goold  ruled  his  flock  for  twelve 
years  after  his  elevation  to  the  archiepiscopal  dignity.  His 
death,  which  took  place  in  1886,  was  probably  hastened  by 
a  nervous  shock  occasioned  by  an  attempt  on  his  life  made 
in  1882.  This  is  his  Grace's  laconic  entry  in  his  diary 
of  the  event: — "About  5  o'clock  went  out  for  a  walk- 
to  visit  Dr.  Backhaus.  On  the  way  an  unhappy  man 
named  P.  O'Farell  waylaid  me,  and  fired  two  shots  out  of  a 
five-chambered  revolver.  Thanks,  most  grateful  thanks,  to 
God  for  my  wonderful  escape.  Home  by  7  o'clock." 

An  important  event  in  the  episcopate  of  Dr.  Goold,  to 
which  no  direct  reference  has  yet  been  made,  was  the 
disendowment  of  all  forms  of  religion  in  Victoria.  The  Act 
of  the  Home  Parliament  which  erected  Victoria  into  an 
independent  colony,  also  charged  its  revenues  with  an 
annual  sum  of  £6,000  for  public  worship.  Five  years  later 
this  sum  was  increased  to  .£50,000,  which  should  be 
apportioned  to  each  denomination  according  to  their  relative 
numbers.  About  £10,000  a-year  thus  fell  to  the  Catholic 
authorities.  "The  State  Aid  to  Religion  Abolition  Bill"  had 
just  passed  both  houses  of  the  Victorian  Parliament,  when 
Dr.  Goold  arrived  home  from  Rome  in  1870.  Fearing  that 
the  withdrawal  of  State  aid  would  .  materially  injure  the 
Catholic  Church  in  the  colony,  Dr.Goold  sent  a  strong  petition 
to  the  Queen,  praying  Her  Majesty  to  withhold  her  consent 
from  the  Bill.  The  reply  was  a  refusal.  But  his  Lordship's 
fears  proved  groundless.  The  Act  does  not  seem  to  have 
had  the  smallest  effect  in  stemming  the  tide  of  Catholic 
progress. 

We  need  not  say  anything  about  the  great  ecclesiastic 
who  succeeded  Dr.  Goold,  and  who  is  now  making  history. 
We  shall  merely  transfer  from  Cardinal  Moran's  book  what 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia."     909 

his  Eminence  calls  a  brief  summary  of  the  remarkable 
event  which  distinguished  the  first  six  years  of  the  Most 
Rev.  Dr.  Carr's  episcopate. 

"1.  Sixteen  new  missions  have  been  founded. 

2.  The  following  religious  congregations  have  been  introduced 
into  the  archdiocese  of  Melbourne,  viz.,  the  Vincentian  Fathers, 
the  Marist  Brothers,  the   Sacred   Heart  Nuns,  the  Sisters   of 
Charity,  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  the  Loretto  Nuns,  and  a  new 
community  of  Sisters  of  Mercy  from  Ireland. 

3.  New  convents  have  been  established  at  North  Melbourne, 
Port  Melbourne,  Kyneton,  Dalylesford,  Bacchus  Marsh,    Kew, 
South  Melbourne,  and  Mansfield. 

4.  Eight  new  superior  schools  have  been  established. 

5.  Twenty- two  new  parochial  schools  have  been  built. 

6.  Twenty- one  new  churches  have  been  erected. 

7.  The  number  of  priests  engaged  in  parochial  work  has  been 
increased  from  fifty-five  to  ninety-seven. 

8.  Simultaneously    with    all   these   works,   the   building   of 
St.  Patrick's  Cathedral  has  been  pushed  on  with  renewed  energy, 
and  contracts  have  been  signed  for  carrying  to  completion  this 
grand  memorial  of  Victorian  piety  and  munificence." 

We  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  another  new  diocese 
was  erected  within  the  confines  of  Victoria,  in  1886.  It 
embraces  the  territory  known  as  Gippsland,  called  some- 
times on  account  of  its  singular  fertility  the  u  Garden  of 
Australia,"  and  takes  it  name  from  Sale,  the  capital  of  the 
district.  The  Eight  Bev.  James  Corbett,  a  native  of 
Limerick,  who  had  served  a  long  term  in  the  Melbourne 
mission,  was  in  1887  consecrated  first  bishop  of  Sale. 
"  In  this  diocese,  there  are  now,"  writes  the  author,  "seven 
districts,  and  twelve  priests.  One  religious  community  of 
parochial  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  has  been  established  by 
his  Lordship  at  Sale,  where  they  have  already  flourishing 
schools.  The  Catholic  population  is  reckoned  at  11,300." 

In  another  paper  we  hope  to  complete  this  imperfect 
review  of  Cardinal  Moran's  voluminous  work. 

T.  P.  GILMAE.TIN. 


910 


CHUKCH  AND  STATE  IN  FEANCE 

fTIHE  relations  between  Church  and  State  in  France  do 
JL  not  improve  with  time  ;  indeed,  it  would  seem  that  the 
strain  between  them  becomes  more  intense  every  day,  and 
must  lead  sooner  or  later  to  the  rupture  of  the  conditions 
which  now  forcibly  bind  them  together.  The  secularism  of 
the  Kepublic  appears  to  grow  more  marked  as  the  days  pass  ; 
those  who  voice  its  policy  and  direct  its  administration,  use 
every  opportunity  of  public  life  to  accentuate  their  anti- 
religious  principles  and  proclaim  their  enthusiastic  accept- 
ance of  the  extremest  doctrines  of  the  radical  and  atheistical 
political  school.  The  public  functions  of  the  President  are 
turned  to  this  purpose ;  ministers  never  ascend  a  platform 
without  defending  the  line  of  thought  which  bounds  national 
aspirations  by  the  limits  of  economic  success,  and  puts  all 
supernatural  life  outside  the  boundary  of  national  ambition  ; 
in  fact,  all  the  apparent  activity  of  the  present  Government 
amounts  to  a  non  credo  in  all  that  Christianity  has  added  to 
the  ideals  of  a  purely  pagan  world. 

On  the  other  hand,  religious  France  has  not  been  idle 
during  this  year ;  in  various  ways  it  shows  its  earnestness 
and  reality,  and  brings  into  high  relief  the  chasm  between  a 
large  section  of  the  national  sentiment  and  the  professed 
views  of  those  who  rule  the  country.  In  every  city  and 
department  there  are  evidences  of  spiritual  energy  and  life 
which  console  one  amid  much  that  depresses  the  hopes  of 
those  who  wish  well  to  the  French  nation,  and  who  would 
gladly  make  a  favourable  estimate  of  the  coming  conditions 
of  this  great  people.  While  the  politicians  are  stumping 
the  country,  and  whipping  up  its  enthusiasm  in  favour  of 
irreligion,  the  Church  has  proclaimed  a  jubilee  to  celebrate 
the  fourteenth  centenary  of  the  foundation  of  Christianity  in 
France;  while  the  army  of  infidels  and  masons  acclaims  the 
coming  of  a  secularist  official,  thousands  of  devoted  souls 
throng  the  sanctuaries  arid  shrines  which  are  so  numerous 
in  France,  and  by  their  piety  and  spirit  of  abnegation  prove 
the  reality  of  their  religious  zeal  and  burning  faith. 


Church  and  State  in  France  911 

These  extremes  meet  everywhere  in  France  to-day  :  the 
ardent  character  of  the  race  seems  to  know  no  via  media,  and 
it    needs  no   little    faculty   of  discernment    to    read    with 
any  degree  of  security  the  opposing  signs  of  the  times.     On 
the   one  side,   it  would  seem   to   follow  from  the  reported 
enthusiasm  of  socialistic  and  anti-religious  re-unions  that  we 
are  again  in  the  swirl  of  1789 ;  one  expects  to  pay  his  debts  in 
assignats,  and  looks  for  the  Carmagnole  as  an  incident  of  his 
daily  walk  ;  on  the  other,  the  story  of  the  religious  fervour  of 
the  national  pilgrimages  reads  like  a  page  from  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  ;   charity  reaches  its  best  heights,  and  miracles 
seem  to  lose  their  specific  character  by  becoming  matters  of 
everyday  occurrence.     How  these  manifestations  can  be  so 
true  of  the  same  country  and  the  same  moment,  appears  to 
be    a  logical  difficulty,   and   certainly  is   one   of  the  most 
singular  phenomena  of  the  world  to-day.     What  the  line  of 
division   may  be,  it  is  hard  to  tell ;   it   is   not   latitude  or 
longitude,  for    these    opposite    demonstrations  are  verified 
in  the  same  city  and  the  same  district ;  it  is  not  a  division  of 
sex,  as  many  seem  to  think,  for  men  and  women  are  found 
alike  in  both  camps  and  in  practically  equal  numbers ;  it  is 
not  culture  or  social  standing,  or  any  other  tangible  principle 
of  division,  for  all  classes  and  every  social  strata,  savant  and 
ouvriere,  soldier   and    peasant,  young   and    old,  swell    the 
numbers  of  both  armies ;  and  so  we  are  left  helpless  and 
hopeless  for  the  solution  of  the  problem,  and  must  await 
further   lights   before   venturing   upon    an    answer   to   the 
question.     We  shall,  therefore,  pass  from  these  more  or  less 
philosophical  inquiries  to  a  resume  of  the  practical  situation 
of  the  hour,  and  place  together  such  facts  as  may  enable  our 
readers  to  see  the  actual  condition  of  affairs  in  Church  and 
State  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  French  Republic. 

Political  affairs  have  suffered  many  changes  in  France 
since  the  opening  of  the  year.  The  Cabinet  Bourgeois  fell 
on  April  22nd,  and  its  successor  took  the  reins  of  office  on 
the  opening  day  of  May.  While  this  change  of  government 
had  great  constitutional  significance,  inasmuch  as  it  proved 
the  ministry  responsible  to  both  chambers,  and  exacts  for 
their  continuance  in  office  the  support  of  a  majority  of 


912  Church  and  State  in  France 

senators  as  well  as  deputies,  yet  the  matter  had  no  bearing 
upon  the  ecclesiastical  situation,  and  brought  no  assuage- 
ment of  the  bitter  conditions  forced  upon  Church  interests 
by  radical  legislation.  The  Bourgeois  ministry  fell  upon  a 
bill  that  favoured  the  imposition  of  an  income-tax  which 
was  unacceptable  to  the  plutocrats  who  fill  the  Senate,  and 
the  Government  was  compelled  to  resign  on  the  issue. 
Conservative  interests  throughout  the  nation  accepted  the 
fall  of  the  most  radical  of  modern  French  ministers  as  a 
triumph  for  their  cause  ;  the  Senate  was  lauded  as  the  last 
bulwark  of  conscience  and  public  honour,  and  it  seemed  as 
if  brighter  days  were  about  to  dawn  upon  the  distracted 
country.  There  was  wild  talk  for  some  weeks  and  consider- 
able difficulty  in  forming  a  new  Cabinet.  People  feared  a 
drastic  revision  of  the  Constitution  and  a  return  to  some  of 
the  most  dangerous  ideals  of  revolutionary  times  ;  but  in  the 
end  the  solution  came  easily,  and  the  Meline  coalition  took 
hold  of  power,  and  have  since  held  it  with  some  very 
conspicuous  parliamentary  success. 

Of  the  two  Cabinets,  there  is  no  doubt  the  latter  is 
the  better  for  France  and  the  Church;  it  is  radical,  to 
be  sure,  but  there  are  nuances  in  radicalism,  and  the 
colour  of  the  present  rulers  is  very  much  less  red  than 
that  of  its  predecessors;  its  members  are-  sufficiently 
obscure  and  unknown,  but  it  retains  the  services  of  the 
most  accomplished  foreign  secretary  that  France  has  in  her 
services  to-day,  and  he  relieves  the  unbroken  mediocrity 
of  his  colleagues.  The  ministry  is  in  the  unique  position 
of  leading  no  determined  party,  and  is  sustained  by  the 
free  votes  of  those  legislators  who  happen  to  sympathize 
with  its  actual  programme.  This  precarious  hold  upon 
office  connotes  the  decay  of  the  true  spirit  of  parliamentarism. 
Some  outside  principle  might  easily  be  assumed,  a  priori, 
as  the  source  of  its  existence,  but  a  leading  French  politician 
conveniently  comes  to  let  us  into  the  practical  secret  of  the 
situation.  He  gives  such  a  picture  of  the  Chambers  as 
would  make  any  possible  government  folly  quite  a  thing  to 
be  looked  for,  and  he  almost  proves  too  much  by  the  extreme 
phrases  with  which  he  qualifies  parliamentary  life,  In  a 


Church  and  State  in  France  913 

speech  recently  delivered,  this  distinguished  public  man 
and  famous  debater  traces  the  decline  of  representative 
institutions  in  France  to  the  fact  that  they  no  longer  keep 
within  the  limits  that  should  bound  deliberative  assemblies, 
but  usurp  functions  which  every  well-ordered  constitution 
reserves  to  the  executive  and  judicial  authorities.  It  needs 
no  profound  study  of  ethics  to  see  how  the  security  of  peoples 
exacts  that  these  great  forces  of  the  commonwealth  be,  as 
far  as  possible,  independent  in  their  exercise  ;  when  they 
run  into  one  another,  and  legislation  that  makes  law,  judicial 
functions  that  interpret  it,  and  the  executive  that  applies  it, 
pass  into  the  same  hands,  or  under  some  one  dominant 
control,  then  history  speaks  very  plainly  of  the  results; 
ideals  are  lowered,  selfishness  and  corruption  invade  every 
section  of  public  life,  and,  in  the  end,  national  disaster 
comes  to  vindicate  the  outraged  principles  of  justice  and 
liberty.  This  evil  has  set  in  in  France;  M.  Ponicare  testifies 
to  its  presence  in  these  weighty  words  : — 

"  Le  mal,  le  mal  croissant  et  redoutable,  vient  de  ce  que 
la  Chambre  s'est  peu  a  pen  arroge  la  plupart  des  preroga- 
tives gouvernementales.  Nous  en  sommes  arrives  insensible- 
ment  a  une  telle  falsification  du  regime  parlementaire  et  a 
une  telle  violation  de  1'esprit  de  la  Constitution,  que  les 
deputes  gouvernent,  administrent,  nomment,  sous  le  pseu- 
donyme  des  ministres  qui  passent,  a  une  multitude  d'emplpis 
publics,  absorbent  a  la  fois  des  pouvoirs  dont  la  confusion 
est  nefaste  tout  ensemble  pour  1'ordre  et  pour  la  liberte." 

This  explains  how  a  ministry  without  a  majority  can 
remain  in  power  ;  in  the  present  temper  of  French  politics, 
a  cabinet  may  do  almost  as  it  pleases,  if  it  is  sufficiently 
generous  in  the  distribution  of  government  places,  and  does 
not  go  against  the  personal  interests  of  the  legislators  in  its 
projects  of  law.  This  was  the  secret  of  the  fall  of  the 
Bourgeois  administration  ;  he  collided  with  the  economic 
interests  of  the  Senators,  who  were  ready  with  their  votes 
for  every  scheme  of  laicisation,  and  with  a  light  heart 
supported  radical  brigandage  in  relation  to  ecclesiastical 
property,  but  who  at  once  exercised  their  veto  against  a  bill 
which  might  compel  them  to  take  their  right  part  in  the 
support  of  public  burdens,  and  place  upon  their  own 
VOL.  XVII.  3  M 


014  Church  and  State  in  France 

shoulders  some  of  the  fardels  that  crush  other  sections  of 
the  people.  These  schemes  of  re-adjusting  the  incidence  of 
taxes  have  not  been  definitively  dropped  ;  the  radicals  are 
really  earnest  in  this  affair,  and  the  present  government  is 
pledged  to  some  such  policy  as  that  which  brought  ruin  to 
its  predecessors.  When  this  becomes  part  of  practical 
politics,  the  present  comedy  of  parliament  will  suddenly 
cease,  and  we  shall  have  again  a  few  days  of  tumult  which 
will  issue  in  a  situation  precisely  similar  to  that  which  now 
obtains.  The  only  remedy  for  this  fundamental  evil  is  the 
re-constitution  of  public  life,  and  the  awakening  of  the 
political  conscience  of  the  nation.  The  conditions  which 
now  control  the  working  of  parliament,  make  a  true  and 
worthy  representation  of  the  country  impossible ;  politics 
are  abandoned  to  wealthy  idlers,  or  else  to  those  who  enter 
its  lists  with  no  higher  ambition  than  to  exploit  its  oppor- 
tunities for  position  and  aggrandisement.  This  fact  is  well 
expressed  by  M.  Ponicare,  who  argues  from  the  rotten  state 
of  affairs  at  the  present  moment  to  the  necessity  of  a  revision 
of  the  methods  of  public  life  :  "  Les  longues  sessions  de 
toute  1'annee  empechent  les  homines  serieux,  industriels, 
commer^ants,  agriculteurs,  savants,  jurisconsultes,  etc.,  d'en 
faire  par  tie,  et  que  la  deputation  devient  de  plus  en  plus 
'le  luxe  de  la  richesse  ou  le  gagnepain  des  politiciens 
d'aventure.' " 

These  evils  are  not  peculiar  to  France,  but  the  decline  of 
that  true  patriotism  which  secures  other  countries  from  the 
results  of  this  bad  system,  secures  to  the  French  Republic 
the  full  harvest  of  these  destructive  conditions  of  public  life. 
If  it  is  true  that  the  age  of  chivalry  is  gone  from  the  world 
of  to-day  and  no  longer  brightens  and  ennobles  the  life  of 
peoples,  it  is  especially  true  of  France,  where  the  destructive 
forces  of  sophistry  and  atheism  have  had  such  fatal  activity 
for  so  long  a  period.  They  have' killed  the  true  culture  that 
once  was  a  distinctive  'mark  t  of  French  society,  and  have 
hardened  the  national  heart,  until  one  looks  in  vain,  not  alone 
for  enlightened  Christian  patriotism,  but  even  for  that  philoso- 
phical altruism  that  would  seem  to  be  within  reach  of  the 
principles  which  now  dominate  the  country.  There  is 


Church  and  State  in  France  915 

plenty  of  profession  of  this  virtue,  but  one  sees  no  trace  of 
its  reality  in  the  outcome  of  the  feverish  activity  from  which 
the  republic  suffers  to-day. 

This  is,  we  think,  a  very  fair  statement  of  the  position 
of  State  affairs  just  now  in  France ;  a  weak  government, 
sustained  by  the  corruption  of  Parliament  which  is  not  an 
accident  affecting  individuals,  but  an  essential  viciousness  of 
the  system.  When  we  pass  to  the  active  life  of  the  ministry 
we  find  it  coherent  with  the  principles  they  serve. 

The  summer  has  been  a  period  of  activity  for  the 
President  and  his  cabinet,  whose  various  journeys  through 
the  country  have  given  them  opportunity  for  pronouncements 
which  serve  to  explain  and  interpret  their  policy.  On  every 
occasion  they  have  taken  pains  to  voice  sentiments  which 
menace  religion  and  deny  it  any  place  among  the  institu- 
tions of  the  nation.  The  President,  M.  Felix  Faure,  leads 
the  way  in  this  direction ;  he  has  been  in  Brittany  during 
July,  and  his  studious  care  to  leave  religion  out  of  his 
addresses,  was  not  more  notable  than  his  rigid  avoidance 
of  even  the  semblance  of  practical  religious  observance. 
During  his  stay  in  this  the  most  Catholic  section  of  France, 
he  never  crossed  the  threshold  of  a  church,  and  ostenta- 
tiously occupied  himself  with  other  affairs  when  there  was 
some  urgent  obligation  of  a  religious  nature.  When  every- 
one sanctified  the  Sunday  by  attendance  at  Mass,  and  when 
Madame  Faure  and  her  daughter  publicly  assisted  at  the 
Holy  Sacrifice,  this  leading  citizen  of  the  nation  which,  even 
now  professes  Catholicism  as  the  national  Church,  was 
conspicuously  absent  when  his  presence  would  entail  on  him 
absolutely  no  difficulty  of  any  sort.  It  would  be  hard  to 
fancy  a  greater  offence  to  the  spirit  of  the  province ;  but  this 
did  not  enter  into  his  programme,  and  he  outraged  public 
sentiment  with  perfect  indifference  and  with  apparent 
political  impunity. 

A  singular  feature  of  this  progress  was  the  attendance  of 
the  Breton  bishops  who,  invariably,  delivered  an  address  of 
welcome,  and  presented  their  clergy  to  the  head  of  the  State. 
Nothing  could  seem  more  incongruous  than  this  ecclesiastical 
homage  to  an  infidel  politician,  whose  public  life  has  been 


916  Church  and  State  in  France 

bound  up  with  professed  indifference,  and  whose  best  activity 
has  been  devoted  to  the  spread  of  Masonic  influence,  and 
consequently  to  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
But  it  seems  this  action  of  the  bishops  is  a  necessity  of  their 
position  ;  they  take  care  to  confine  their  words  of  congratu- 
lation to  him  precisely  in  so  far  as  he  is  head  of  the  State, 
and  outside  the  circle  of  legislative  forces ;  but  the  dull  mind 
of  the  people  does  not  clearly  see  this  metaphysical  distinc- 
tion, and  they  are  sometimes  weakened  in  their  political 
faith  by  these  strange  appearances.  To  them,  the  President 
is  the  head  of  a  government  they  are  taught  to  hate  and 
despise,  whose  action  bids  fair  to  destroy  their  cherished 
religion  and  condemn  the  future  of  France  to  a  dark  and 
horrible  secularism.  To  see  their  consecrated  leaders  bend 
before  this  individual  is  a  trial  to  that  simple  faith  which 
seems  inherent  in  Breton  blood.  If  a  Roman  emperor  of 
the  persecution  era  were  to  visit  the  catacombs  and  receive 
the  homage  of  the  leaders  of  the  suffering  Church,  it  would 
not  appear  to  the  humble  and  devoted  children  of  this  Celtic 
province  a  greater  violence  to  the  fitness  of  things  than 
episcopal  courtesies  to  the  head  of  the  actual  government  of 
France. 

Of  course,  the  addresses  of  their  lordships  were 
models  of  prudence  and  careful  diction  ;  they  took  every 
opportunity  of  voicing  the  religious  sentiment  of  their 
people  ;  but  we  look  in  vain  for  any  denunciation  of  the 
iniquitous  laws  that  stain  the  record  of  radical  legislation  at 
the  present  moment.  One  says  very  beautifully  : — "  Le 
clerge  breton  n'est  pas  de  ceux  qui  se  nourissent  unique- 
ment  de  regrets.  II  porte  ses  regards  vers  1'avenir  et 
s'empresse  de  repondre  a  ce  que  des  temps  nouveaux  de- 
mandent  de  lui.  II  considere  1'autorite  comme  une  emanation 
de  la  divinite,  c'est  pourquoi  il  a  pour  elle  le  plus  complet 
respect."  These  words  are  supple  enough  to  avoid  all 
reasonable  attack,  but  those  that  follow  are  calculated  to 
make  people  examine  their  conscience  with  respect  to  the 
liceity  of  opposition  to  the  present  regime  : — "  II  aime 
la  France  de  toutes  les  forces  de  son  ame  et  s'empresse 
de  s'associer  a  tout  ce  qui  fait  sa  grandeur.  En  ce  moment, 


Church  and  State  in  France  917 

il  se  joint  au  pays  pour  saluer  en  votre  personne  la 
premiere  autorite  de  la  Kepublique.  II  se  rejouit  de  votre 
presence  en  Bretagne,  car  il  salt  qu'il  pent  compter  sur  votre 
justice  et  votre  bienveillance."  One  wonders  if  these  words 
are  authentic  ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  it,  as  we  have 
taken  them  from  a  Catholic  publication  whose  careful  editing 
is  admitted  by  everyone.  Whatever  may  be  the  motive  or 
point  of  view  that  dictated  these  words,  they  do  not  seem 
likely  to  serve  the  cause  so  essential  to  the  welfare  of  France 
just  now.  They  will  hardly  help  in  the  education  of  opinion 
from  which  a  sound  and  powerful  political  force  may  be 
evolved  with  which  men  of  good- will  may  meet  and  over- 
throw the  present  rulers ;  yet,  we  do  not  dare  to  definitely 
judge  them,  but  leave  them  to  the  estimate  of  our  readers. 
Others  run  in  the  same  strain,  and  one  would  be  left  by  them 
in  the  belief  that  there  is  religious  peace  in  France,  when,  in 
all  sober  truth,  there  is  no  peace.  A  subtle  note  is  struck  in 
one  of  these  ecclesiastical  addresses  which  makes  one  think 
more  and  more  of  the  possible  interpretations  which  will  be 
made  of  it : — "  Penetres  des  enseignements  et  dociles  aux 
conseils  de  ce  grand  et  sincere  ami  de  la  Eepublique 
Fraii9aise  qui  s'appelle  le  Pape  Leon  XIII.  nous  n'avons 
d'autre  ambition,  apres  celle  de  la  gloire  de  Dieu  et  du  salut 
des  ames,  que  de  travailler  a  Vceuvre  d'apaisement  et  'd'union 
a  laquelle  votre  presence  nous  confie.^ 

If  these  phrases  mean  a  sympathy  between  the  Holy 
Father  and  the  concrete  conditions  of  affairs  that  goes  by 
the  name  of  the  French  Kepublic,  as  would  seem  to  follow 
from  the  concluding  words,  they  are  enough  to  paralyze  all 
effort  to  better  the  Catholic  position.  We  do  not  say  this  is 
their  force,  as  it  is  not  our  position  to  pass  judgments,  but 
simply  to  prepare  such  material  as  may  give  a  fair  basis  on 
which  our  readers  may  found  their  own  opinions ;  yet  the 
words  as  they  stand  startle  those  who  wish  well  to  the 
Church  in  France. 

In  remarkable  contrast  to  these  documents  are  some 
other  words  addressed  to  the  President  during  the  voyage, 
whose  firmness  and  courage  make  them  worthy  of  a 
place  in  the  annals  of  JBrittany.  They  brought  M.  Faure 


918  Church  and  State  in  France 

face  to  face  with  true  Catholic  opinion,  and  gave  him  a 
touch  of  the  courage  with  which  many  are  prepared  to 
withstand  the  iniquitous  proceedings  of  the  Government 
of  which  he  is  the  official  chief.  In  the  course  of  his 
journey  he  made  much  capital  out  of  his  visits  to 
charitable  institutions,  where  he  gave  vent  to  the  hollow 
philanthropy  of  which  his  school  is  so  lavish.  One  would 
fancy  from  the  proceedings  of  these  visits  that  he  was  a 
beneficent  ruler  of  the  olden  time  whose  presence  was  the 
source  of  benediction  to  his  people.  He  played  the  part 
admirably,  and  the  exquisite  comedy  for  the  most  part  was  a 
very  agreeable  performance,  and  showed  the  adroitness  and 
tact  of  the  French  character  in  very  clear  light.  However, 
he  met  one  person  on  his  tour  who  unmasked  the  comedian, 
and  showed  what  a  pitiful  creature  was  playing  the  royal 
part. 

It  happened  at  Fongeres,  where  he  called  at  the  asylum 
of  deaf  mutes  which  is  under  the  care  of  a  congregation  of 
Sisters.  The  school  was  admirably  kept,  and  called  forth  the 
most  profuse  praise  from  the  distinguished  visitor.  Follow- 
ing the  usual  tactics,  he  personally  congratulated  the  superior, 
and  evidently  thought  he  played  his  role  .to  perfection  ;  but 
he  unfortunately  forgot  that  his  government  had  made  a 
claim  against  the  institution  for  the  respectable  sum  of 
11,000  francs,  through  the  action  of  the  loi  d'accroissement, 
and  he  had  no  reason  to  suspect  that  this  terrible  fact  was 
uppermost  in  the  superior's  mind.  Her  reply  was  worthy  of 
the  best  traditions  of  Brittany,  and  deserves  to  be  written  in 
letters  of  gold  in  the  story  of  its  religious  life.  We  give  the 
ipissima  verba,  as  a  translation  could  hardly  preserve  the 
force  and  simple  directness  of  the  original : — "  Puisque  notre 
ceuvre  vous  parait  si  digne  d'etre  felicitee  et  encouragee,  ne 
1'ecrasez  pas  sous  les  impots,  ne  la  ruinez  pas  par  des 
saisies  ne  nous  empechez  pas  d'accomplir  notre  mission  de 
charite." 

The  logic  of  this  unlooked-for  passage,  which  was  not 
found  in  his  text,  completely  discomfited  the  President, 
and  he  could  not  improvise  a  reply.  He,  however,  managed 
to  say  : — "  Cela  ne  me  regarde  pas,  parlez  a  mon  Garde 


Ct-L  vJ.w 


'Church  and  State  in  France  919 

des  sceaux."  Sister  Mary  Angela  was  equal  to  the  occasion, 
and  never  for  a  moment  faltered  in  her  task  ;  she  put  the 
same  crux  to  the  prompter  that  had  disturbed  the  leading 
man  of  the  company,  and  received  from  him  the  following 
very  plausible  reply  : — "  Soumettez-vous  d'abord  a  la  loi, 
donnez  1'exemple  de  1'obeissance,  payez  et  vous  aurez  ensuite 
acquis  des  droits  a  nos  faveurs."  But  the  adroit  readiness 
of  the  Keeper  of  the  Seals  disturbed  in  no  way  the  ready 
wit  of  this  clear-headed  woman,  and  she  gave  this  powerful 
retort  to  his  appeal  : — 

"Toutes  les  communautes  sont  solidaires,  et  leur  cause  est 
commune  a  toutes.  Puisque  c'est  a  moi,  vieille  et  faible  femme, 
que  la  Providence  a  voulu  Conner  le  devoir  de  plaider  pour  elles, 
je  ne  m'en  separerai  pas  ;  car  j'aime  les  dizaines  de  milliers 
d'orphelins  qu'elles  nourrissent,  j'aime  les  centaines  de  milliers 
de  filles  et  de  garcons  a  qui  elles  enseignent  le  nom  de  Dieu  et  le 
catechisme,  autant  que  j'aime  mes  soixante-deux  sourds-muets. 
Je  ne  veux  done  pas  d'une  pitie  que  je  ne  pourrais  accepter  qu'au 
prix  d'une  trahison." 

It  would  seem  as  if  Providence  had  really  selected  this 
weak  and  humble  women  for  the  task  she  so  nobly  accom- 
plished ;  the  position  of  the  Catholics  could  not  be  put  in 
better  form,  nor  the  attitude  of  the  persecuted  communities 
voiced  more  eloquently,  than  in  these  words.  They  did  more 
than  a  folio  volume  of  eloquent  speeches  to  bring  these 
doctrinaire  statesmen  vis-a-vis  with  the  situation,  and  give 
them  a  foretaste  of  the  spirit  that  defies  them,  and  is  bound 
in  the  end  to  defeat  all  their  plans.  If  the  work  of  passive 
resistance  had  many  valiant  souls  to  sustain  it  like  this 
intrepid  daughter  of  Catholic  Brittany,  Church  and  State  in 
France  would  not  long  be  in  their  present  pitiable  condition, 
and  the  masquerade  that  now  disgusts  every  right-thinking 
man  within  the  confines  of  France  would  soon  reach  its 
term.  Among  the  many  notable  incidents  of  the  President's 
journey  this  takes  the  first  place  ;  it  is  a  note  of  truth  amid 
much  that  sounds  hollow  and  unreal,  and  its  dramatic 
setting  places  it  in  its  right  relief.  It  shows  a  true  and  loyal 
soul  who,  as  in  a  moment  of  inspiration,  spoke  with  a 
fortitude  above  her  sex  and  an  eloquence  above  her  culture, 
while  so  many  distinguished  men  seemed  to  have  scarcely 


9'20  Church  and  State  in  France 

reached  either  the  level  of  their  principles,  or  the  dignity  of 
their  station. 

The  presidential  journey  may  be  taken  as  having  once 
more  proved  the  State  of  France  to  be  godless  arid  material; 
to  be  in  league  and  fraternity  with  the  sects,  and  in  open 
war  with  religion;  to  be  "  sine  crux,  sine  lux,"  and 
independent  even  of  the  appearances  of  public  worship ; 
and  having  demonstrated  so  much  we  may  easily  believe  the 
enemies  of  religion  to  be  in  ecstacy  with  its  results,  and 
hopeful  for  the  further  trumph  of  the  cause  so  well  adver- 
tised. It  may  be  taken  then  as  a  practical  proof  of  what 
the  public  life  of  France  is  to-day,  and  so  is  worthy  of  a 
place  in  our  review  of  the  politics  of  the  Kepublic. 

If  any  doubt  remains  as  to  the  true  policy  of  the  French 
Republic  it  must  vanish  when  we  study  the  attitude  of 
the  authorities  with  respect  to  popular  education.  This 
is  the  test  of  their  true  opinions  and  their  real  ideals 
as  schools  are,  perhaps,  the  greatest  force  in  the  formation 
of  the  national  character,  and  fix  by  a  necessary  law 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  those  who  to-morrow  will  be  the 
people  of  France.  The  actual  government  has  made 
no  progress  upward  from  the  debased  level  of  their 
predecessors,  and  schools  without  God  or  His  law  remain 
still  the  recognised  medium  of  public  instruction.  This 
fact  has  been  once  more  brought  within  public  view  by  a 
speech  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  M.  Eambaud, 
who  recently  declared  his  full  adhesion  to  the  principles  of 
Jules  Ferry  who  has  the  dubious  fame  of  having  introduced 
the  laicisation  of  the  public  schools  from  which  by  a  stroke 
of  his  pen  he  expelled  the  very  name  of  the  Creator. 

At  the  inauguration  of  a  girls'  high-school  at  Lons-le- 
Saunier,  during  this  month,  M.  Eambaud  precognised  the 
fame  of  M.  Ferry,  and  gloried  in  the  principles  which  have 
condemned  that  statesman  to  unsavoury  immortality.  He 
styled  him  "  le  fondateur  de  1'instruction  gratuite  obli- 
gatoire  et  laique  dont  le  souvenir  etait  present  a  tous,"  and 
then  proceeded  to  develop  all  the  consequences  of  this 
position.  Dealing  with  the  points  in  which  all  republicans 
are  one,  he  affirmed  this  godless  education  to  be  among  the 


Church  and  State  in  France  921 

number: — "Car  nous  voulons  tons,  d'une  conviction  pareille, 
d'une  ardeur  egale  le  mantien  et  I'achevement  du  grandiose 
edifice  de  1'education  populaire  a  1'abri  duquel  grandiront  les 
generations  nouvelles  de  notre  democratic  et  se  forgeront 
les  destinees  de  la  Republique."  This  profession  of  principle 
shows  clearly  there  is  no  change  in  the  essential  character 
of  the  public  policy  of  the  present  as  compared  with  the 
late  cabinet ;  all  are  marching  in  perfect  line  to  the  con- 
summation of  principles  which  means  to  destroy  every  trace 
of  religion  in  the  country.  The  hope  of  socialists  and 
communists  everywhere  is  the  laicised  school ;  here  the 
foundations  of  unbelief  are  firmly  and  systematically  set, 
and  a  Belgian  leader  of  extreme  radicalism  has  truly 
written  of  its  promoters: — "C'est  vous  qui  avez  inculque  les 
principes  dont  nous  deduisons  les  consequences.  Continuez 
votre  oruvre  ;  fondez  des  ecoles  neutres  et  des  patronages  la'i- 
ques,  vous  multipliez  en  realite  des  pepinieres  de  socialistes." 
This  is  the  end  proposed  to  themselves  by  the  present 
rulers  of  France,  and  only  too  well  does  it  appear  to  be 
realizsd.  The  craze  for  education  which  now  possesses 
every  part  of  society  facilitates  its  success  ;  the  schools  are 
attractive,  and,  in  their  way,  perfectly  efficient,  and  this 
enables  them  to  force  their  entry  even  into  circles  that 
should  be  closed  to  their  influence.  There  is  nothing  easier 
for  a  lukewarm  Catholic  than  to  reason  up  to  the  rejection 
of  the  extreme  opinions  (as  he  would  call  them)  of  the 
Church  authorities  on  this  question.  It  is  easy  to  satisfy 
him  that  the  formal  teaching  of  religion  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  literary  and  scientific  education  of  his  children,  and 
may  be  supplied  by  other  means  ;  this  opens  the  door  of  the 
lay  school  to  his  children,  and  they  come  out  hardened 
in  the  principles  on  which  it  is  founded,  and  whose 
triumph  constitutes  its  raison  d'etre.  The  enemies  of 
religion  know  this  only  too  well,  and  the  leader  quoted 
above  does  not  fear  to  speak  openly  of  godless  education  as 
the  best  means  of  spreading  his  fatal  principles.  In  the 
Belgian  Parliament  he  made  use  of  these  words,  whose 
import  and  whose  truth  no  one  can  call  in  question : — 
"  Quand  les  doctrinaires  (les  opportunistes  en  France)  ont 


922  Church  and  State  in  France 

dit  au  peuple  :  '  Tu  ne  dois  pas  croire  au  Ciel ;'  quand  ils  ont 
ecrit  sur  la  porte  de  leur  atelier  :  Dieu  n'entre  pas  id ;  quand 
ils  ont  etabli  1'enseignement  laique  et  exclusivement  neutre, 
ils  ont  travaille  a  faire  disparaitre  ce  que  nous  considerions 
comme  la  principale  entrave  a  la  realisation  de  nos  desirs, 
la  religion.  Grace  a  eux,  la  voie  est  ouverte  pour  nous." 

If  Catholics  can  be  deceived  on  this  question  after  such  a 
confession,  it  proves  their  logic  to  be  as  bad  as  their  religious 
principles  are  weak  and  unworthy.  Yet  there  are  thousands 
in  France  to-day  who  willingly  take  the  bribe  of  free  and 
godless  schools,  and  sacrifice  with  a  light  heart  the  religious 
conviction  of  those  who  are  the  only  hope  for  the  future  of 
their  nation.  There  are  some  other  recent  evidences  of  the 
trend  of  education  as  interpreted  by  the  State,  which,  if 
possible,  deepen  one's  conviction  that  the  scope  of  the 
Government  schools  is  to  kill  every  religious  germ  in  the 
popular  mind,  and  to  remove  from  the  view  of  their  pupils, 
not  only  the  specific  teachings  of  the  Church,  but  even  the 
faintest  notions  of  those  primary  truths  which  put  us  in 
relation  with  the  supernatural. 

In  the  department  of  Sarthethe  Council  General  recently 
condemned  in  the  most  formal  manner  an  inspector  of 
primary  schools,  who  had  dared  to  propose  the  following 
very  neutral  programme  to  the  institutions  under  his 
direction : — 

TEXTE    DES    LECONS. 

lre  Le9on      Faire   comprendre   la   difference    de   la  morale 

proprement  dite  et  de  la  religion. 
2e  ,,  Dieu,  preuves  de  1'existence  de  Dieu. 
3e  „  Constater  combien  est  generale  la  croyance  en 

Dieu. 

4e        ,,          Les  devoirs  en vers  Dieu. 

5e        „          Tous  nos  devoirs  sont  des  devoirs  envers  Dieu. 
6e        „          Tous  les  hommes  ne  concoivent  pas  Dieu  de  la 

meme  maniere.     Differentes  religions. 
7e        „          Eespect  des  croyances  religieuses,  la  tolerance, 

la  liberte  de  conscience. 
8e        ,,          Montrer  comment  le  sentiment  religieux  fortifie 

et  soutient  le  sentiment  moral. 
9  Ij'immortalit^  de  1'ame. 


CJmrch  and  State  in  France  923 

Here  there  is,  at  best,  only  a  diluted  deism  in  question ; 
no  words  about  sacraments,  or  Gospel,  or  Mass ;  the 
merest  outlines  of  natural  theology,  such  as  the  most 
liberal  free-thinker  might  logically  hold.  But  there  was 
too  much  dogma  in  it  for  the  Kepublican  councillors, 
and  their  objection  was  sustained  by  a  large  majority. 
These  facts  have  a  significance  for  countries  outside 
the  confines  of  the  French  Kepublic,  and  the  consequences 
of  them  will,  sooner  or  later,  appear  wherever  and  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  in  which  the  same  system  is  at  work.  In 
some  other  countries,  whose  interests  are  dearer  to  our 
readers  than  France  can  possibly  be,  there  are  not  wanting 
signs  of  movement  on  the  scholastic  question,  and  dangerous 
tendencies  towards  the  total  laicisation  of  primary  schools. 
The  state  of  France  to-day  should  make  men  pause  before 
entering  upon  such  a  course,  which  can  end  only  in 
national  apostacy  and  religious  ruin.  In  giving  his  vote 
for  the  lay  schools,  a  French  senator  said  :  "  Je  vote  cette 
loi  parceque  je  suis  athee  ;  "  and  it  would  be  interesting  to 
know  by  what  logical  process  Catholics  can  embark  in  such 
perilous  enterprises.  The  present  regime  in  France  has 
been  styled  by  Monsigneur  Freppel  "  la  forme  politique 
d'atheisme,"  and  of  this  the  foundation-stone  is  the  godless 
school,  which  is  now  sustained  and  protected  by  all  the 
forces  that  are  leagued  for  the  destruction  of  every  form  of 
real  religion. 

These  evidences,  taken  from  the  open  book  of  public 
life,  sufficiently  indicate  the  condition  of  the  State  in 
France.  Let  us  now  turn  and  briefly  analyze  the  religious 
work,  which,  in  some  sort,  counterpoises  these  evil  tenden- 
cies, and  redeems  the  character  of  the  nation.  It  is  really 
pleasant  to  turn  from  the  study  of  an  infidel  state  to 
consider  the  facts  which  witness  to  the  unceasing  energy  of 
the  Church  in  keeping  alive  the  precious  flame  of  faith, 
which  alone  can  warm  and  illumine  the  world.  In  passing 
from  the  State  to  the  Church  in  France  one  feels  like  Dante 
when  he  had  completed  the  sad  round  of  the  circles  of  the 
Inferno,  and  began  to  walk  amid  "  the  milder  shades  of 
Purgatory."  Happily  there  are  not  wanting  splendid 


924  Church  and  State  in  France 

evidences  of  spiritual  life  and  energy  in  the  Republic. 
Bishops  and  priests  are  keenly  alive  to  the  dangers  of  the 
times,  and  in  their  efforts  to  meet  them  have  bad  very 
notable  co-operation  from  the  people.  Popular  celebrations 
that  attract  the  imagination  of  the  masses  have  been 
undertaken,  and  have  secured  fixed  attention  from  friends 
and  foes  alike.  They  have  been  able  to  focus  the  mind  of 
the  masses  upon  the  beginning  of  Christianity  among  the 
Francs,  and  to  recall  all  the  marvels  of  their  early  history, 
and  again  have  brought  them  into  personal  relation  with 
the  supernatural  forces  that  now,  as  ever,  surround  our 
ordinary  lives,  and  at  times  issue  from  the  gloom  and 
mystery  of  the  unseen  to  become  potent  factors  in  prac- 
tical affairs.  These  two  great  purposes  have  been  achieved 
in  France  this  year  by  the  national  jubilee  in  honour  of  the 
baptism  and  conversion  of  Clovis,  and  by  the  numberless 
pilgrimages  which  have  marked  the  passage  of  1896,  reach- 
ing their  crown  in  the  national  visit  to  the  sanctuary  of 
Lourdes  during  this  month.  We  wish  to  oppose  these 
facts  to  the  proofs  adduced  of  the  lamentable  condition  of 
the  life  of  the  State ;  for  if  the  President  of  the  French 
Republic  endeavoured  to  extinguish  the  religious  memories 
of  Brittany  by  his  systematic  silence  and  omissions,  the 
celebration  at  Rheims  recalls  all  the  marvels  of  religious 
history  among  the  Gauls,  and  endeavours  to  secure  the 
continuity  of  them  for  those  who  inherit  the  national  heart, 
as  well  as  the  national  name.  And  if  infidel  teachers  crush 
the  supernatural  out  of  their  studies,  and  affect  the  denial 
of  a  Supreme  Being,  the  popular  pilgrimages  give  them  the 
lie  direct,  and  demonstrate  the  existence  of  that  super- 
natural and  beneficent  Power  who  in  the  anguish  and 
sorrows  of  His  children  finds  the  occasion  of  evoking  those 
hidden  resources  of  His  Almighty  hand  which  confound  His 
enemies,  while  they  confirm  the  faith  and  love  of  those  who 
truly  serve  His  Blessed  name. 

The  national  jubilee  to -celebrate  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tenary of  the  baptism  of  Clovis  and  his  people  was 
conceded  by  his  Holiness  in  Apostolic  Letters  of  January  6 
and  8  of  the  current  year,  and  was  proclaimed  by  his 


Church  and  State  in  France  925 

Eminence  Cardinal  Langenieux,  Archishop  of  Bheims,  on 
7th  April.  The  Cardinal  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  scope 
of  this  great  festival.  Writing  to  his  people,  he  says  : — 

' '  Quand  Dieu  voulut,  apres  1'ere  si  douloureusement  fe"con<3e 
des  persecutions,  donner  a  son  eglise  une  constitution  sociale 
plus  stable  et  1'emanciper  de  la  tutelle  gcnante  et  precaire  de 
t'empire  romain,  il  crea  la  France  pour  qu'elle  fut  dans  le  monde 
1'instrument  de  sa  Providence  et  qu'elle  eut,  avec  une  sollicitude 
filiale  son  epee,  sa  parole,  et  son  cceur  au  service  du  Vicaire  de 
Jesus-Christ." 

These  words  give  France  a  raison  de  etre  far  other  than 
would  be  admitted  by  the  powers  who  rule  her  to-day.  He 
proceeds  to  say  : — "  C'est  a  Kheims  que  ce  peuple  predestine 
naquit  a  la  foi  du~  Christ  et  a  la  vie  politique,  et  c'est  a 
Kheims,  auguste  berceau  de  la  France  chretienne  que, 
pendant  longs  siecles,  les  chefs  de  la  nation  vinrent 
chercher  tour  a  tour  dans  la  ceremonie  du  sacre  la 
consecration  officielle  de  leur  autorite  et  implorer,  pour 
bien  gouvener,  les  benediction  d'en  haut. "  If  his 
Eminence  wished  to  point  a  contrast  between  the  early 
times  of  which  he  writes  and  our  own  days,  he  could 
not  have  found  more  forcible  words.  He  goes  on  to  say 
that  this  event  will  evoke  all  the  religious  memories 
associated  with  the  origin  of  France,  and  bring  into  full 
light  all  the  religious  glories  of  the  past,  and  he  cites  with 
great  appositeness  the  beautiful  words  of  the  Papal  Brief  in 
which  Pope  Leo  expresses  his  wish  for  the  success  of  the 
centenary  : — "  Que  la  France  Catholique,"  writes  the  Pontiff, 
"  s'ebrarile  toute  entiere,  et  qu'elle  porte  ses  aspirations  vers 
le  baptistere  beni  de  Eheims,  arm  que  le  ciel  laisse  tomber 
sur  elle  les  plus  iarges  effusions  de  1'esprit  de  Dieu,  et  qu'au 
declin  de  ce  siecle  et  a'  1'aurore  de  celui  qui  s'annonce,  le 
bapteme  de  Clovis  et  de  sou  peuple  se  renouvelant  reproduise 
les  fruits  merveilleux  d'autrefois."  These  lines  bring  out 
into  fullest  relief  the  contrast  between  the  France  of  to-day 
and  that  other  France  that  issued  from  the  baptismal  font 
so  long  ago.  But  the  Cardinal  goes  farther,  and  explicitly 
confesses  the  nation's  crimes ;  he  confesses  that  "  France  is 
conscious  of  the  crime  of  social  apostacy,  and  of  the  scandal 


926  Church  and  State  in  France 

she  has  given  the  world,"  and  protests  that  it  is  no  backward 
movement  if  the  nation,  in  the  presence  of  the  miserable 
failure  of  a  society  based  on  atheism,  turns  her  gaze  on  the 
days  when  France  began  her  greatness  by  beginning  her 
Christian  history.  Meanwhile,  he  is  careful  to  state  that  the 
regeneration  now  needed  does  not  mean  the  restoration  of 
olden  methods  of  government  which  no  longer  respond  to 
modern  needs,  but  simply  the  "  renunciation  of  the  impious 
work  which  now  divides  and  exhausts  the  country,  and 
the  undertaking,  in  all  the  independence  of  the  national 
genius  and  faith,  to  honour  her  Christian  traditions  and 
pursue  her  providential  mission  with  all  the  new  resources 
with  which  she  has  been  endowed  during  the  lapse  of  so 
many  centuries."  Words  follow  this  passage  which  must 
be  given  as  they  stand  ;  their  eloquence  and  their  truth 
make  them  monumental.  They  are  a  study  of  our  times 
which  all  would  do  well  to  read  with  attention ;  they  are 
the  wisdom  of  a  long  life  spent  in  the  study  of  great  problems  ; 
and  happily,  while  they  do  not  minimize  the  evils  of  the 
day,  yet  begin  and  end  in  an  act  of  hope  :— 

"  Est-il  temeraire  d'ajouter  que  1'heure  vient  ou,  sous  le  coup 
des  deceptions  inevitables,  il  faudra  bien  ouvrir  les  yeux  a  la 
lumiere  et  bruler  enfin,  ce  que  trop  longtemps,  pour  notre 
malheur,  on  a  voulu  adorer?  La  generation  presente  n'avoue- 
t-elle  pas  deja  sa  fatigue,  son  malaise  et  ses  inquietudes  ?  Elle 
porte  tout  le  poids  d'une  evolution  profonde  qui  doit  etre 
salutaire  ?  Elle  souffre  de  ce  qu'il  y  a  de  caduc  et  de  fausse 
dans  ce  qui  va  disparaitre,  de  ce  qu'il  y  a  encore  d'imprecis  et 
d'impuissant  dans  ce  qui  voudrait  renaitre ;  mais  elle  s'apercoit 
qu'on  lui  a  fait  violence,  qu'on  1'a  trompee,  qu'elle  est  victime  des 
sectes  impies  qui  1'exploitent,  et  que,  depuis  vingt  ans,  1'irreligion. 
n'a  fait  que  des  mines  sans  tenir  aucune  de  ses  promesses  ;  elle  se 
rend  bien  compte  que  nos  miseres,  nos  humiliations  et  nos 
faiblesses  viennent  de  notre  peche,  peccatum  peccavit  Jerusalem, 
propterea  instabilis  facia  est ;  et,  si  elle  n'a  point  encore  sur  les 
levres  le  Credo  qui  fut  la  force  de  nos  aieux,  elle  a  le  pressenti- 
ment,  du  moins,  que  1'Eglise  n'est  pas  1'ennemie,  et  que  ce  retour 
a  la  fois  des  premiers  temps  lui  rendrait  la  paix." 

It  is  not  strange  that  a  religious  event  so  magnificently 
interpreted  should  have  marked  results  upon  public  opinion. 
In  this,  the  desire  of  the  Cardinal  has  been  realized,  and 


Church  and  State  in  France  927 

Rheims  has  been  the  centre  of  a  great  religious  awakening. 
Congresses,  now-a-day  so  marked  a  feature  in  Catholic 
as  in  sociological  work,  have  been  held  wherein  the 
leaders  took  counsel  with  regard  to  the  work  of  the  future. 
In  the  very  teeth  of  the  Government  a  reunion  of  priests  has 
taken  place  in  which  practical  reforms  were  put  under  way, 
resolutions  in  favour  of  the  Catholic  Press  passed  with 
acclamation,  and  various  provisions  made  whose  immediate 
effects  upon  pastoral  affairs  and  upon  the  formation  of  sound 
political  opinion  must  tend  to  strengthen  the  Catholic 
position.  Although  there  has  not  been  excessive  popular 
enthusiasm  in  these  proceedings,  there  has  been  something 
more  significant,  there  has  been  hard  thinking,  enlightened 
discussion,  and  plans  of  campaign  have  been  evolved  by  the 
men  to  whom  the  leadership  must  necessarily  come  in  any 
projected  movement.  This  means  a  healthy  tendency 
towards  united  action  and  disciplined  work  whose  absence 
on  the  Catholic  side  in  France  has  not  been  more  notable 
than  the  splendid  uses  made  of  it  by  their  wily  enemies. 
Then  the  spirit  of  piety  and  practical  religion  evinced  by  the 
demonstration  at  Rheims  must  fill  with  pleasure  and  hope 
all  who  follow  the  history  of  jubilee,  and  the  words  of  the 
Cardinal  have  been  completely  borne  out  by  the  event : — • 
"  Aussi,  nos  tres  chers  Freres,  nous  en  avons  la  confiance,  il 
y  a  dans  ce  mouvement  religieux  qui  converge  vers  Rheims 
autre  chose  qu'un  courant  irraisonne  d'opinion,  un  vain 
attrait  de  curiosite,  autre  chose  meme  qu'un  elan  passager 
de  patriotisme :  il  y  a  une  priere  et  une  esperance." 

The  religious  sentiment  of  France  has  further  manifested 
itself  during  the  summer  in  a  series  of  pilgrimages  which 
have  had  extraordinary  results.  This  method  of  demonstra- 
tion is  much  in  vogue  among  the  Latin  races,  but  has 
reached  its  perfection  in  France.  Since  the  Divine  Mother 
revealed  her  will  that  her  children  came  as  pilgrims  to  her 
shrine,  Lourdes  has  been  the  centre  towards  which 
thousands  have  annually  turned  in  search  of  graces  and 
favours,  and  in  recognition  of  the  maternal  care  which  the 
Immaculate  Virgin  guards  the  interests  of  her  clients. 
This  year  the  pilgrimage  aroused  more  than  ordinary 


028 


Church  and  State  in  France 


enthusiasm ;  thirty  thousand  people  took  part  in  the  national 
tribute  to  the  patroness  of  France,  and  the  result  should 
close  the  lips  and  dry  up  the  pens  of  those  infidel  publicists 
who  have  dared  to  call  in  question  the  wisdom  of  this 
devotion.  The  divine  seal  has  again  been  placed  upon  the 
truth  of  the  story  of  Lourdes  ;  and  it  has  been  justly  said  of 
the  pious  souls  who  took  part  in  the  sacred  journey  that  God 
has  led  them  upon  the  way  of  miracles :  "  deduxit  illos  in  via 
mirabili !  "  Upwards  of  sixty  miraculous  cures  took  placte 
during  the  pilgrimage,  and  these  have  been  attested  by  such  a 
mass  of  proof  that  even  the  infidel  element  cannot  dare  to 
deny  the  wonders.  The  administration  at  Lourdes  is  almost 
perfect  in  its  way.  Every  care  is  taken  that  there  be  no 
room  for  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  reality  of  the  miraculous 
nature  of  the  cure :  medical  testimony  before  and  after  the 
event  is  examined  with  the  most  jealous  inquiry  ;  enthusiasm 
is  forgotten  for  the  moment,  and  science  is  given  the  fullest 
field  to  explain  away  the  sudden  restoration  to  health  of  so 
many  whose  lives  were  despaired  of;  and  as  a  result  we 
have  this  year  the  evidence  of  experts  that  sixty  people 
who  came  to  the  sanctuary  in  the  last  stages  of  disease, 
were,  during  the  pious  exercises  in  the  holy  place,  given 
back  their  fullest  health,  and  enabled  to  return  home  with 
all  their  faculties  permanently  restored.  This  is  the 
merciful  way  in  which  God  answers  the  arguments  of  His 
enemies ;  this  is  His  victory  over  the  false  science  that 
disdains  the  supernatural ;  this  is  His  divine  way  of 
vindicating  His  people  from  the  unclean  aspersions  of  Zola 
and  his  school ;  and  surely  it  is  worthy  of  Him  of  whom  it  is 
written  :  "  Dominus  erigit  elisos  ;  Dominus  diligit  justos." 

These  facts  not  alone  indicate  the  piety  and  faith  of 
those  immediately  concerned;  they  must  have,  further,  an 
educational  effect  that  may  not  be  underestimated  in  reckon- 
ing the  religious  forces  of  France.  Those  who  have  been 
cured  at  Lourdes  are  living  arguments  of  the  reality  of  the 
supernatural,  and  their  presence  in  the  various  districts 
where  the  propaganda  of  infidelity  obtains,  should  sufficiently 
ensure  the  faith  of  their  neighbours.  Their  active  and 
useful  lives  should  give  an  easy  reply  to  the  lay  school  and 


Church  and  State  in  France  929 

the  Voltairean  philosopher  who  generally  presides  over  it,  and 
in  this  way  a  personal  grace,  immediatejy  affecting  one  home, 
may  become  a  force  for  the  religious  regeneration  of  many. 

It  would  not  be  just  to  pass  over  this  point  without  a 
word  of  praise  for  those  devoted  men  who  have  made 
these  successes  possible.  A  recent  visit  to  Lourdes  con- 
vinced me  that  all  that  could  be  done  by  genius  and 
enthusiasm  has  been  well  accomplished  by  the  Oblate 
Fathers  in  charge  of  the  shrine.  The  perfect  order,  the 
unfailing  courtesy  of  all  concerned  in  the  administration 
are  beyond  praise.  There  was  not  a  shadow  of  sordid- 
ness  on  the  sacred  place,  and  everything  breathed  of 
that  religious  spirit  that  one  would  look  for  in  such  a 
great  sanctuary.  A  rather  extensive  experience  with  the 
pilgrim  spirit  in  Italy  enables  us  to  take  a  comparative 
view  of  what  we  witnessed  under  the  shadow  of  the  Pyrenees ; 
and  we  are  safe  in  saying  that  we  found  at  Lourctes  more  fixed 
religious  purpose,  and  less  of  mere  routine  than  may  be 
observed  of  similar  places  in  the  Italian  provinces.  Then  the 
proportions  of  the  devotion  strike  one  as  being  so  vast  and 
wide.  Although  our  visit  was  in  a  quiet  time,  we  could  observe 
abundance  of  international  colour  in  the  place,  testifying  to 
the  wide  extent  of  territory  over  which  the  fame  of  the 
Madonna  of  Lourdes  has  practically  reached. 

A  word  also  of  praise  is  due  to  the  congregation  of 
St.  Augustine,  under  whose  guidance  the  national  pilgrimage 
reached  its  gigantic  proportions.  The  fathers  of  the  Assump- 
tion1 are  indefatigable  in  this  good  work:  their  journals  spread 
the  light  every  day  in  the  dark  places  of  France,  and  win 
support  for  every  good  cause.  Their  appeal  for  help  to  carry 
the  poor  to  Lourdes  during  the  recent  pilgrimage  was 
answered  by  an  offering  of  more  than  sixty  thousand  francs  ; 
and  how  well  this  large  sum  was  administered,  is  clear  from 
the  perfect  arrangements- which  have  called  forth  universal 
praise.  They  are  among  the  strongest  elements  of  religion 
in  France,  and  in  their  short  history  have  done  wonders  for 
their  country. 

1This  congregation  was  founded  about  thirty  years  since,  by  Pore  d'Alzon, 
and  forms  an  independent  religious  corporation,  under  the  title  of  Augustinians 
of  the  Assumption.     It  has  no  connection  with  the  Order  of  St.  Augustine. 
VOL.  XVII.  3  N 


930  Church  and  State  in  France 

There  are  other  evidences  of  religious  activity  which 
would  ask  for  a  volume  and  not  a  magazine  article  for  their 
due  record  ;  those  already  given  may  suffice  to  give  a 
tolerably  fair  idea  of  how  matters  stand.  As  a  last  word, 
we  do  not  conceal  our  own  opinion  that  something  more 
remains  to  be  done  before  France  reaches  a  satisfactory 
condition  ;  her  forces  must  be  better  concentrated,  and  the 
people  more  vigorously  directed.  As  all  will  observe,  the 
rival  activities  of  the  infidel  and  religious  sections  move  on 
independent  plains  :  one  holds  political  power,  the  other 
theological  truth;  one  defies  the  conscience  of  the  country 
as  a  means  towards  the  spoils  of  office ;  and  until  the  other 
urges  its  truths  into  the  active  service  of  practical  politics, 
it  is  futile  to  look  for  better  results.  The  autonomy  which 
has  come  to  politics  in  France  will  not  brook  for  a  moment 
religious  interference,  and  even  tolerably  good  people  would 
resent  any  local  action  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  in  favour  of 
a  platform  or  a  candidate.  They  hold  that  the  ministry 
must  be  exercised  within  the  Church,  and  even  there,  it 
must  be  narrowed  to  purely  dogmatic  questions,  or  those 
aspects  of  morality  which  do  not  touch  upon  the  ethics  of 
public  life. 

Until  religion  reacts  directly  on  politics,  there  can  be  no 
hope  of  a  better  position  of  State  affairs  ;  if  Catholics  leave 
the  direction  of  every  department  of  Government  in  the 
hands  of  their  enemies,  they  may  look  for  immoral  legislation, 
godless  schools,  and  all  the  other  sequels  of  revolutionary 
principles,  under  which  the  country  now  groans  and  suffers. 
Congresses  and  pilgrimages  are  splendid  things  in  their  own 
way,  but  they  do  not  win  elections,  nor  lesson  the  infidel 
element  in  the  Chambers,  nor  negative  the  persecuting  spirit 
that  is  now  abroad  in  the  land.  What  France  wants  to-day 
is  the  concrete  application  of  the  policy  of  Leo  XIII. ;  this 
would  Christianize  the  Kepublic  in  a  short  time,  and  bring 
the  institutions  into  touch  and  harmony  with  the  Catholic 
spirit,  which,  after  all,  lies  deep  down  in  the  heart  of  the 
people.  But  its  realization  seems  still  a  far  way  off; 
Catholics  are  largely  allied  with  royalist  ideas,  and  look  for 
their  triumph  rather  than  the  salvation  of  their  country. 


Church  and  State  in  France  931 

The  fatuity  of  this  policy  is  evident  to  every  calm  observer 
of  events  ;  royalty  is  as  dead  as  Charlemagne  ;  its  day  is 
past,  and  will  never  return.  Traces  also  remain  ol  Impe- 
rialism, and  the  bitterest  critics  of  the  papal  policy  are  iound 
among  the  adherents  of  this  school ;  no  good  can  come  of 
these  parties,  and  they  succeed  only  in  confirming  the  present 
intolerable  condition  of  affairs  that  is  ruining  France  almost 
beyond  redemption.  The  principles  of  the  revolution  were 
never  nearer  their  triumph  in  actual  life  than  they  are 
to-day ;  public  morality  suffers  from  their  action,  and  all 
the  springs  of  political  life  are  corrupted  by  their  poison. 
France  is  prostrate  under  the  sway  of  principles  that  are 
surely  killing  the  true  strength  of  the  country,  and  the 
decay  of  moral  fibre  becomes  more  evident  every  day.  The 
population  is  at  a  stand-still,  and  the  sources  of  national 
strength  are  closed  by  a  pernicious  Malthusianism,  which 
appears  to  be  universal ;  this,  in  the  midst  of  peace,  deci- 
mates the  people  worse  than  a  war,  and,  while  fields  are 
green  and  vineyards  rich  with  the  promise  of  wine,  blights 
the  country  worse  than  the  passage  of  a  plague.  Then 
the  sects  are  active  with  their  nefarious  work ;  they 
spread  like  a  net- work  over  the  land,  and  having  captured 
the  leaders  of  public  life,  they  dictate  policies,  and  control 
administration.  Their  secret  affairs  have  been  recently 
unmasked  by  creditable  witnesses,  and  it  would  seem  that 
their  horrible  practices,  their  worship  of  the  demon  and 
shocking  immoralities,  are  too  terrible  to  be  within  the 
bounds  of  belief ;  but  almost  every  priest  in  active  ministry 
in  France  knows  only  too  well  that  these  revelations  fall 
far  short  of  the  truth.  With  such  forces  at  work  what  will 
the  future  be ;  to  what  length  will  these  evils  reach  when 
they  flourish  in  the  congenial  soil  of  an  infidel  state.  One 
remembers  at  once  the  terrible  picture  of  the  Eoman  poet 
where  he  depicts  the  crescendo  of  infamy  which  he  saw 
before  and  after  his  own  times  :— 

"  Damnosa  quid  non  imminuit  dies? 
Aetas  parentum,  pejor  avis,  tuliij 
Nos  nequiores,  mox  daturos 
Progeniem  vitiosiorem, " 


932  Theological  Notes 

This  is  the  problem  now  before  Catholic  France :  to 
lessen  this  evil  and  overthrow  the  regime  which  fosters  it. 
Inspiration  may  be  had  in  the  distant  past,  and  may  be 
deepened  by  exercises  of  devotion  to-day ;  but  this  is  after 
all  but  a  preparation  for  the  battle  which  remains  to  be 
fought.  France  must  undo  the  last  hundred  years  before 
the  end  of  her  sorrows  will  come.  The  revolution  must 
at  length  cease  its  work,  in  the  words  of  Cardinal 
Langenieux :  "  La  France  qui  a  brise,  il  y  a  cent  ans,  en 
une  heure  de  vertige,  les  liens  qui  1'unissaient  au  Christ, 
reniant  ainsi,  avec  la  foi  de  son  bapteme,  sa  mission 
providentielle,  la  France  qui  a  voulu  vivre  jusqu'a  ce  jour 
de  1'illusion  revolutionnaire,"  must  now  open  her  eyes  to 
the  truth  of  the  present  situation,  and  unite  all  her  true 
children  in  the  work  that  alone  can  save  her.  Until 
Catholic  sentiment  rises  in  its  might,  and  assumes  its  true 
political  mission,  there  is  no  hope  for  the  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  the  relations  between  Church  and  State  in 
France. 

A.  WALSH,  O.S.A. 


motes 

IMPEDIMENTS   IN   CONSANGUINITY 

AMONG  the  documents  printed  in  this  number  of  the 
I.  E.  BE  COED,  our  readers  will  notice  a  reply  from  the 
Sacred  Congregation  of  the  Inquisition.  Silencing,  as  it 
does,  one  controversy  among  theologians,  and  affecting  the 
validity  of  matrimonial  ^dispensations  in  consanguinity,  it 
should  claim  attention. 

The  impediment  of  consanguinity  is,  as  theologians 
recognise,  multiplied  between  two  persons  when  one  or 
both  can  be  traced  through  two  or  more  lines  to  one, 
or  more  than  one,  common  ancestor.1  It  is  also  admitted, 
pn  all  hands,  that  the  multiplication  of  an  impediment 

1Fr^.  Van  de  Burgt,  De  Disp.  Mat.,  cap.  ii.,  art.  i.,  n.  19. 


Theological  Notes  933 

must  be  mentioned  sub  poena  nullitatis  in  the  petition  for  a 
dispensation.  In  some  cases,  difficulties  arise  in  attempting 
to  discover  the  existence  of  these  multiplied  impediments. 
One  of  these  cases,1  which  afforded  matter  for  dispute  to 
theologians,  was  submitted  to  the  Congregation,  and  the 
postulatum  with  the  response  is  now  laid  before  the  readers 
of  the  I.  E.  EECOBD. 

The  case  put  may  be  easily  understood,  by  referring  to 
the  schema  given  below.  Eichard  and  Martha,  grandchildren 
of  James  and  Anne,  who  are  themselves  first  ceusins,  being 
grandchildren  of  Peter,  wish  to  get  a  dispensation.  What 
impediments  of  consanguinity  must  be  mentioned  in  the 
petition  ?  Evidently,  it  must  be  stated  that  Eichard  and 
Martha  are  in  2°  gradu  lineae  collateral-is,  tracing  them 
back  to  James  and  Anne.  But,  if  we  trace  them  back  to 
Peter  we  find,  apparently,  that  they  are  also  related  in  duplici 
4°  gradu  lineae  collateralis.  For  Eichard  can  be  traced  to 
Peter,  first  through  James,  and  secondly,  through  Anne  ;  and 
in  both  cases,  Eichard  is  removed  four  degrees  from  Peter ; 
and  Martha,  whether  we  trace  her  line  through  Anne  or 
James,  is  also  found  to  be  four  degrees  from  Peter.  Again, 
anyone  that  examines  the  schema,  which  we  give,  will  have 
no  difficulty  in  discovering  that  Eichard  and  Martha  are 
each  related  to  Charles  in  duplici  4°  gradu.  For  precisely 
the  same  reasons,  they  must  be  inter  se  in  the  double  fourth 
degree— double  third  cousins. 


PETE 

IK. 

1 

John 

Edward 

Patrick 

| 

| 

| 

James/  *- 

—  ^Anne 

Robert 

| 

J 

I 

Joseph 

Henry 

Stephen 

Richard 

Martha 

Charles 

And  yet,  some  theologians  were  found  to  maintain  that  the 
only  impediment  necessary  to  mention  between  such  parties 
was  the  impediment  in  secundo  gradu.  And  others,  we 
learn,  considered  this  opinion  probable  and  safe.  The  main 

1  Cf.  Ballerini-Palmieri,  vol.  vi.,  n.  1027;  Feije,  De  Disp.  Mat.,  n.  35!),  et  seq. 


034  Liturgical  Notes 

argument  on  which  these  theologians  relied  is  set  out  and 
refuted  in  the  postulatum  sent  to  the  Congregation ;  and  the 
reply  of  the  Congregation  is,  that  in  this  and  similar  cases, 
where  the  contracting  parties,  owing  to  relationship  in  linea 
collaterali  between  their  progenitors,  can  be  traced  to  a  proxi- 
mate and  a  more  remote  stipes,  it  is  not  sufficient  to  attend 
to  the  former  only.  If,  tracing  from  the  remote  stipes,  the 
parties  are  found  to  be  within  the  forbidden  degrees,  this 
must  be  mentioned.  Hence,  in  the  case  we  have  made,  the 
application  for  the  dispensation  should  set  forth  that  Kichard 
and  Martha  are  semel  in  2°  et  bis  in  4°  gradu  lineae  collate- 
ralis  consanguinitatis. 

Again,  for  example,  if  Joseph  sought  a  dispensation  to 
marry  his  neice,  Martha,  it  should  be  stated  that  Joseph  is 
once  in  the  first  degree  removed  from  the  proximate  Stipes 
and  twice  in  the  third  degree  from  the  remote  stipes ;  and 
that  Martha  is  once  in  the  second  degree  from  the  proximate, 
and  twice  in  the  fourth  degree  from  the  remote  stipes. 

D.  MANNIX. 


liturgical  IRotes 

IMPORTANT   DECEEES   REGARDING   REQUIEM   MASSES1 

THE  Congregation  of  Eites  has  recently  issued  two 
important  decrees  on  the  subject  of  Requiem  Masses. 
The  first  of  these,  published  on  the  8th  June,  1896,  is 
concerned  about  the  days  on  which  private  Eequiem  Masses 
may  be  celebrated  in  certain  well-defined  circumstances ; 
while  the  other,  published  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month, 
regards  the  prayers  to  be  said  in  Eequiem  Masses.  As  each 
of  these  decrees  introduces  a  considerable  modification  of 
the  rules  which  our  readers  have  been  accustomed  to 
follow,  we  think  it  well  to  point  out  at  some  length  the 
nature  of  these  modifications. 

I.  The  rules  hitherto  laid  down  by  the  general  law  of  the 
Church  regarding  the  days  on  which  private  Eequiem 
Masses  might  be  celebrated  were  extremely  simple.  Such 

1  See  Documents  in  Appendix,  pp.  955-956. 


Liturgical  Notes  935 

Masses  could  be  celebrated  only  on  days  of  semi-double  or 
lower  rite,  which  were  not  privileged,  as  are  Sunday's  semi- 
doubles  within  privileged  octaves)  privileged  feriae,  and 
vigils.  To  this  general  law  there  was  no  exception. 
Whether  the  person  for  whom  the  Mass  was  offered  were 
'dead  a  day  or  a  year,  whether  the  corpse  was  present  in  the 
place  where  Mass  was  celebrated  or  had  been  buried  for 
years,  a  private  Requiem  Mass  could  be  said  on  one  of  the 
days  just  mentioned,  and  only  on  one  of  these  days.  In 
most  countries,  however,  a  dispensation  had  been  procured 
from  the  Congregation  of  Rites,  or  of  the  Propaganda,  in 
favour  of  the  case  in  which  the  corpse  was  present,  in 
circumstances  in  which  it  was  impossible  or  unusual  to  have 
a  Solemn  Mass.  Such  a  dispensation  was  granted  to  Ireland 
in  the  year  1862,  in  response  to  the  prayer  of  the  Irish 
bishops.  By  virtue  of  this  dispensation  one  private 
Requiem  Mass  could  be  celebrated  in  the  presence  of  the 
corpse  on  all  days  that  were  not  Sundays,  feasts  of  obliga- 
tion, doubles  of  the  first  or  second  class,  or  privileged  days, 
as  above  enumerated.  Practically,  then,  since  1862  a  private 
Requiem  Mass  could  be  celebrated  in  Ireland  in  presence  of 
the  corpse — (a)  on  all  the  days  on  which  the  general  law  of 
the  Church  permits  private  Requiem  Masses  ;  and  (b)  on 
doubles,  minor  and  major,  that  were  neither  Sundays,  nor 
feasts  of  obligation,  nor  fell  on  one  of  the  privileged  days. 

By  the  present  decree  the  privilege  enjoyed  in  Ireland  by 
private  Requiem  Masses  said  in  presence  of  the  corpse  has 
been  extended  to  the  whole  Church,  and  has  been  communi- 
cated to  Masses  other  than  those  celebrated  praesente 
cadaver  e. 

First,  then,  in  all  mortuary  chapels  private  Requiem 
Masses  may  be  celebrated  on  all  days  on  which  hitherto  in 
Ireland  a  private  Requiem  Mass  might  be  said  in  presence 
of  the  corpse  ;  that  is,  on  all  days  that  are  not  doubles  of  the 
first  or  second  class,  nor  Sundays,  nor  feasts  of  obligation, 
nor  fall  on  a  privileged  feria  or  vigil,  or  within  a  privileged 
octave. 

Secondly,  in  all  churches  and  oratories,  both  private  and 
public,  and  in  the  chapels  of  colleges,  seminaries,  convents, 


936  Liturgical  Notes 

hospitals,  workhouses,  &c.,  a  private  Eequiem  Mass  can  be 
said  on  all  days  except  those  above  enumerated — (a)  if  the 
corpse  be  present ;  (b)  if  the  corpse  be  unburied,  though  not 
present ;  (c)  even  though  the  corpse  has  been  buried,  if  no 
more  than  two  days  have  elapsed  since  the  burial.  In  the 
cases  here  enumerated  the  Mass  selected  should  be  the  one 
for  the  day  of  death  or  burial,  and  only  one  prayer  should  bo 
said.  It  would  seem,  moreover,  that  even  in  these  circum- 
stances only  one  priest  should  celebrate  a  Eequiem  Mass  on 
a  day  of  higher  than  semi-double  rite.  This  condition  was 
expressly  insisted  upon  in  the  Indult  granted  to  the  Irish 
Bishops  in  1862,  and  we  think  that  the  concluding  words 
of  the  present  decree  point  to  the  same  condition.1 

II.  With  regard  to  the  prayers  to  be  said  in  Eequiem 
Massses,  the  Kubrics  and  the  Decrees  of  the  Congregation 
of  Eites  left  but  little  to  be  desired  in  the  way  of  clearness 
and  definiteness.  There  was,  however,  just  one  point  whic  i 
admitted  of  doubt,  and  though  several  questions  had  been 
asked  about  it,  and  as  many  replies  vouchsafed  by  the 
Congregation  of  Eites,  the  doubt  still  remained.  By  the 
present  decree  it  has  been  at  length  removed.  We  will 
refer  to  it  in  its  proper  place,  following  the  order  of  the 
decree  itself : — 

1.  The  first  paragraph  enumerates  the  occasions  on 
which  only  one  prayer  is  to  be  said  in  a  Eequiem  Mass. 
These  occasions  are  the  Commemoration  of  All  Souls,  the 
day  of  death,  the  day  of  burial,  the  intervening  days,  and, 
according  to  the  decree  already  explained,  the  first  or  second 
day  after  burial.  To  these  are  to  be  added  the  third, 
seventh,  and  thirtieth  days  after  death  or  burial,  aaid  the 
anniversary  day.  Whether  the  Eequiem  Mass  celebrated 
on  one  of  these  days  be  a  Solemn  Mass,  with  deacon  and 
subdeacon,  or  a  Missa  Cantata,  or,  when  the  rite  permits,  a 
private  Mass,  only  one  prayer  is  said.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
say  that  this  prayer  should  in  all  cases  correspond  with  the 
intention  for  which  the  Mass  is  offered ;  that  is,  it  should 

1  "  .  .  .  verum  sub  clausulis  et  conditionibus,  quibus  juxta  Rubricas  et 
Decreta  missa  solemnis  de  Requie  iisdem  in  casibus  decantatur."  But  the 
Rubrics  permit  only  one  Solemn  Requiem  Mass  on  a  day  of  higher  than  semi- 
double  rite. 


Liturgical  Notes  037 

be  proper  to  the  person  who  is  being  commemorated.  There 
is  one  other  case  in  which  only  one  prayer  is  to  be  said  ; 
namely,  where  a  Solemn  Requiem  Mass,  either  with  or 
without  deacon  and  subdeacon,  is  celebrated  on  an  occasion  of 
more  than  ordinary  solemnity  outside  the  privileged  days 
just  enumerated  ;  for  instance,  an  annual  Mass  for  deceased 
benefactors,  or  for  the  deceased  priests  of  a  diocese.  The 
words  of  the  decree  which  we  have  here  attempted  to 
explain  are  somewhat  obscure,  but  we  can  find  no  other 
meaning  for  them.1  If  we  have  rightly  interpreted  this 
part  of  the  decree,  a  considerable  change,  it  will  be  seen, 
has  been  introduced  by  it.  Hitherto  the  general  rule  was 
that  in  all  Solemn  Kequiem  Masses  only  one  prayer  should 
be  said.  Now  it  would  appear  that  it  is  only  on  the  more 
solemn  occasions,  outside  the  privileged  days,  that  only  one 
prayer  is  tp  be  said  ;  on  all  other  occasions  three  should  be 
said,  even  in  a  Solemn  Requiem  Mass.  This  last  clause  is 
supported  by  the  opening  words  of  the  second  paragraph  of 
the  decree.2 

2.  The  second  paragraph,  which  defines  what  prayers 
are  to  be  said  in  the  Missa  Quotidiana,  is  the  most  impor- 
tant in  the  decree,  for  it  is  in  it  that  we  find  the  solution  of 
the  difficulty  to  which  reference  has  been  made.  The 
teaching  of  most  modern  writers  on  the  rubrics  of  the 
Missal  regarding  this  subject  was,  that  the  first  of  the  three 
prayers  to  be  said  in  the  Missa  Quotidiana  should  be  the 
Deus  qui  inter,  which  is  the  first  of  the  three  prayers  in 
this  Mass.  This  teaching,  based  on  some  comparatively 
recent  decrees  of  the  Congregation  of  Rites,  was  utterly 
unknown  to  the  older  rubricists.  Such  classic  authorities  as 
Merati,  Guyetus,  Lohner,  Romsee,  &c.,  taught  that  the 
first  prayer  should  be  selected  from  the  prayers  given  in  the 
Missal,  so  as  to  suit  the  intention  for  which  Mass  was  offered. 
In  recent  years  the  opinion  had  begun  to  gain  ground  that 

1  ' '  Unam   tan  tarn    dicendam    esse    Orationem    .    .    .    quandocunque   pro 
defunctis,  missa  solemniter  celebratur,  nempe  sub  ritu  qui  duplici  respondeat, 
uti  in  Ufficio  quod  recitatur  post  acceptum  nuntium  de  alicujus  obitu,  et  in 
Anniversariis  late  sumptis. " 

2  ''In  Missis  quotidianis  quibupcunque,  sive  lectis  sive  cum  cantu  plures 
esse  diceiidas  orationes." 


938  Liturgical  Notes 

the  teaching  of  the  older  writers  should  still  be  followed, 
and  that  modern  writers  had  been  deceived  by  an  erroneous 
interpretation  of  some  decrees  of  the  Congregation  of 
Bites.  This  opinion  we  ourselves  have  upheld  in  these 
pages  on  more  than  one  occasion.1 

Our  contention  then  was — (a)  that  it  is  fitting  the  first 
prayer  in  a  Requiem  Mass,  celebrated  for  one  or  several 
deceased  persons,  should  be  the  prayer  special  to  the  inten- 
tion for  which  the  Mass  is  celebrated ;  (6)  that  the  prayer, 
Deus  qui  inter,  which  is  the  first  in  the  Missa  Quotidiana, 
should  always  be  said  in  the  second  place  :  and  (c)  that  the 
Fidelium  should  be  said  in  the  last  place.  The  first  of  these 
contentions  is  borne  out  by  the  present  decree,  so  that  in 
future,  when  a  priest  is  celebrating  a  Eequiem  Mass,  whether 
it  be  a  private  Mass  or  Solemn  Mass,  for  a  single  deceased 
person,  or  for  a  defined  and  designated  number  of  deceased 
persons,  he  must  say  in  the  first  place  the  prayer  pro  defanctj 
sacerdote,  pro  uno  defuncto,pro  una  defuncta,  or  pro  pluribus 
defunctis,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  intention  with 
which  he  is  offering  the  Mass.  And  here,  it  may  be  well  to 
point  out,  an  important  difference  between  the  effect  of  this 
new  decree  and  that  of  the  opinion  we  formerly  advocated. 
We  held  merely  that  it  was  right  that  the  first  prayer  should 
be  special  to  the  intention  for  which  Mass  is  offered;  while, 
owing  to  the  weight  of  authority  against  us,  we  were  forced 
to  admit  that  it  was  lawful  to  follow  the  other  opinion,  and 
on  all  occasions  either  to  say  the  prayers  as  they  are  in  the 
missal  in  the  Missa  Quotidiana,  or  for  the  second  prayer, 
Deus  veniae  largitor,  to  substitute  the  proper  prayer  for  the 
intention  the  priest  had  in  offering  the  Mass.  This  decree, 
however,  leaves  no  liberty  of  choice  ;  it  declares  one  method 
right,  and  all  others  wrong.  In  future  the  first  prayer  in 
every  Requiem  Mass  that  is  offered  for  an  individual  soul, 
or  for  a  designated  number  of  souls,  must  correspond  with 
the  intention  of  the  celebrant. 

Another  point  which  this  decree  settles,  differently  from 
the  manner  in  which  we  and  those  who  held  with  us  con- 

1 1.  E.  RECOHD,  Third  Series,  vol.  xii.,  p.  362  ;  vol.  xiv.,  pp.  273  and  366. 


Liturgical  Notes  939 

sidered  it  should  be  settled,  regards  the  second  prayer.  We 
admitted  that,  though  the  prayer  Deus  qui  inter,  the  first  of 
the  three  prayers  in  the  Missa  Quotidiana,  should  not  be 
said  in  the  first  place,  yet  it  should  not  be  omitted,  but 
should  be  said  in  the  second  place.  In  this  we  were  but 
following  the  obvious  interpretation  of  the  decrees  of  the 
Congregation  of  Rites.  Now,  however,  it  is  no  longer 
necessary  to  say  this  prayer,  Deus  qui  inter,  at  all ;  it  may 
be  omitted  altogether,  and  for  the  second  prayer  the  cele- 
brant may  choose  from  among  the  Orationes  pro  defunctis 
any  one  he  pleases ;  provided,  of  course,  he  does  not  choose 
one  for  the  same  intention  for  which  he  has  already  said  the 
first  prayer,  Finally,  the  third  prayer  is  to  be  the  Fidelium 
as  heretofore. 

3.  The  preceding  paragraph  refers  exclusively  to  the  case 
in  which  the  soul  or  souls  for  whom  a  Requiem  Mass  is 
offered  are  defined ;  the  present  deals  with  the  case  in  which 
the  Mass  is  offered  for  the  souls  in  Purgatory  generally.     In 
this  case  the  three  prayers  printed  in  the  Missa  Quotidiana 
are  to  be  said,  and  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  given  in 
the  missal. 

4.  This  paragraph  reminds  the  celebrant,  who  wishes  to 
avail  of  the  privilege  of  saying  more  than  three  prayers  in  a 
Requiem  Mass — (a)  that  it  is  only  in  a  private  and  not  in  a 
Solemn  Requiem  Mass  that  he  can  do  this ;  (b)  that  the 
whole  number  of  prayers  must  be  odd,  and  that  the  Fidelium 
must  always  be  said  last  of  all. 

5.  The  fifth   paragraph  has  reference  to  .the  sequence, 
Dies  Irae,  and  states  that  this  sequence  is  to  be  said  in  all 
Solemn  Requiem  Masses,  in  Missis  Gantatis  de  Requie,  and 
in  private  Requiem  Masses  in  which  only  one  prayer  is  said ; 
that    is,   in   private    Requiem    Masses   celebrated    on   the 
privileged  days  already  enumerated.     In  all  other  Requiem 
Masses  the  sequence  may  by  said  or  omitted  at  the  will  of 
the  celebrant. 

We  will  now  summarize  briefly  the  changes  which  these 
decrees  have  introduced  : — 

1.  In  mortuary  chapels  private  Requiem  Masses  may  be 
celebrated  on  all  days  except  the  following — (a)  Sundays  and 


940  Liturgical  Notes 

feasts  of  precept ;  (6)  doubles  of  the  first  and  second  class ; 
(c)  days  within  the  privileged  octaves ;  (d)  the  privileged 
feriae  and  the  privileged  vigils.1 

2.  In  all  other  churches,  chapels,   and   oratories,  both 
private  and  public,  a  private  Kequiem  Mass  can  be  said, 
except  on  the  days  just  enumerated,  provided — (a)  the  corpse 
be  present;  or  (6)  unburied,  though  not  present;  or  (c)  buried, 
but  not  for  more  than  two  days. 

3.  In  the  Missa  Quotidiana,  even  when  celebrated  cum- 
cantu,  that  is,  as  a  Solemn  Mass  or  a  Missa  Cantata,  three 
prayers  must  be  said. 

4.  When  a  Kequiem  Mass  is  celebrated  for  one  or  several 
denned  and  designated  deceased  persons,  the  first  prayer  of 
the  Mass   must  always   correspond   with   the  number  and 
quality  of  the  persons  for  whom  the  Mass  is  offered ;  the 
second  is  to  be  selected  by  the  celebrant  from  the  prayers 
pro  defunctis  in  the  Missal,  and  may  be  one  or  other  of  the 
first  two  prayers  in  the  Missa  Quotidiana — the  second  by 
preference,  we  should  say,  as  it  is  for  deceased  friends  and 
benefactors,  unless,  indeed,  the  celebrant  can  say  the  prayer 
pro  Patre  et  Matre.     The  third  prayer  must  always  be  the 
Fidelium. 

5.  When  Mass  is  offered  for  the  Souls   in   Purgatory, 
generally  the  three  prayers  of  the  Missa  Quotidiana  are  to 
be  said  in  the  order  in  which  they  occur  in  the  Missal,  and 
in  this  case  the  celebrant  is  no  longer  free  to  substitute  for 
the  second  prayer  that  pro  Patre  et  Matre,  or  any  other. 

THE  USE  OF  THE  OLD  OILS  ON  HOLY  SATUKDAY 
REV.  DEAR  SIR, — In  the  May  number  of  the  I.  E.  RECORD 
there  is  a  decree  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites  in  reply  to 
a  communication  from  the  Bishop  of  Annecy.  According  to  this 
decree,  if  the  new  oils  cannot  be  procured  when  the  font  is 
blessed,  it  is  to  be  blessed  without  them,  and  the  infusion  of 
them  is  afterwards  to  take  place  in  due  time.  This  decree  is 
contrary  to  the  teaching  of  Lehmkuhl,  who  says  in  vol.  ii.,  p.  45 

1  The  privileged  octaves  are  those  of  Christmas,  Epiphany,  Easter,  Pentecost 
and  Corpus  Christi :  the  privileged  feriae  are  Ash  Wednesday,  and  the  days 
of  Holy  Week ;  the  privileged  vigils  are  the  vigils  of  Christmas,  Epiphany, 
Easter,  and  Pentecost. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  941 

sec.  1,  commencing  with  the  words  "  Aqua  Baptismatis,"  that  if 
the  new  oil  cannot  be  got  on  Holy  Saturday,  the  old  must  be  used 
in  the  blessing  of  the  font,  and  the  infusion  of  them  cannot  be 
admitted,  or  afterwards  supplied,  as  is  evident  from  more  recent 
decrees  of  the  Congregation  of  Kites.  As  this  teaching  is  at 
variance  with  that  of  O'Kane,  the  present  writer,  seven  years  ago, 
inquired  of  the  Editor  of  the  I.E.  EECOKD  whether  it  should  be 
followed  in  practice.  The  reply  which  was  given  by  Dr.  O'Loan, 
and  which  appeared  in  the  October  number  of  the  I.  E.  KECORD 
for  1889,  was  that  Lehmkuhl's  teaching  is  quite  correct,  as  he 
cites  a  decree,  dated  September  19th,  1859,  which  made  a 
particular  decree  of  September  23rd,  1837,  general. 

Notwithstanding  the  decree  of  the  21st  of  last  January, 
should  we  act  on  the  decree  of  September  19th,  1859  ?  I  think 
we  should,  as  it  is  general,  and,  as  far  as  we  know,  has  not  been 
revoked,  whilst  the  former  is  only  particular. 

INQUIRER. 

We  agree  with  our  correspondent  in  thinking  that  the 
decree  of  January  last  affects  only  the  diocese  of  Annecy, 
and  consequently  leaves  the  general  law  of  the  Church 
precisely  as  it  was  previous  to  the  issue  of  this  decree. 

The  Bishop  of  Annecy  asks  "  ut  in  universis  paroeciis 
suae  dioeceseos  .  .  .  permittatur,  etc.,"  and  there  is  nothing 
in  the  response  of  the  Congregation  to  show  that  it  was 
intended  to  do  more  than  reply  to  the  bishop's  demand. 
Hence,  until  this  decree  is  promulgated  in  a  more  general 
form,  it  cannot  have  the  effect  of  abolishing  an  undoubtedly 
general  decree  like  that  of  1859. 

D.  O'LOAN. 


942 


Correspondence 

THE  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  FATHER  SHEEHY 
EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — Father  Lonergan  states  in  the  July  number 
of  the  I.  E.  RECORD,  1896,  that  Father  Sheehy  was  born  in 
Cullen.  Now,  that  is  not  so.  He  was  bom  in  Barrettstown, 
close  to  Fethard,  County  Tipperary.  I  have  it  from  my  father 
and  grandfather,  Dr.  Madden,  and  also  Mrs.  J.  Sadlier,  who 
states,  in  her  book  entitled  The  Fate  of  Father  Sheehy,  that 
Fethard  was  his  birth-place.  He  was  sent  to  Louvain,  to  be 
educated,  by  a  gentleman  named  Everard,  whose  family  were 
then  owners  of  the  Barton  Grove  estate.  Some  time  previous 
he  was  ordained  at  Rome,  1752.  A  niece  of  his  was  married 
to  a  man  named  Pierce  Maher,  of  Eathclogh,  Dualla,  where 
he  was  fond  of  staying,  and  was  hospitably  received  by  a 
Mr.  Penefether,  New  Park,  while  on  his  keeping.  Another  niece 
was  married  to  a  man  named  Delahunty,  of  Eedcity.  A  grand- 
son of  hers  came  to  Fethard,  from  America,  in  1867,  but  the 
poor  fellow  died  at  Stokes*  hotel,  and  was  buried  in  Eathcool, 
near  Fethard.  There  is  a  nice  monument  erected  to  his  memory. 
General  Thomas  F.  Burke  came  with  him,  who  also  claimed 
to  be  great-grandson  to  the  recipient  of  the  silver  snuff-box 
bequeathed  by  Father  Sheehy's  last  will,  as  stated  by  Mrs.  Sadlier, 
page  148. 

I  remain,  Very  Eev.  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  Servant, 

MICHAEL  MURPHY,  Town  Clerk. 

FETHARD,  2Qth  September,  1896. 


[     943     ] 

Documents 

APOSTOLIC   LETTERS   OF  POPE  LEO  XIII  ON  ANGLICAN    ORDERS 

SANCTISSIMI    DOMINI  NOSTRI  LEONIS  DIVINA  PROVIDENTIA  PAPAE  XIII 
LITTERAE    APOSTOLICAE    DE    ORDINATIONIBUS   AFGLICANIS 

LEO   EPISCOPUS 

SERVUS  SERVORUM  DEI  AD  PERPETUAM  REI  MEMORIAM 

Apostolicae  curae  et  caritatis,  qua  Pastor  em  magnum  ovium, 
Dominum  nostrum  lesum  Christum^  referre  pro  munere  et 
imitari,  aspirante  eius  gratia,  studemus,  non  exiguam  partem 
pernobili  Anglorum  nation!  tribuimus.  Voluntatis  in  ipsam 
Nostrae  et  praecipue  testis  est  epistola  quam  superiore  anno 
dedimus  propriam  ad  Anglos,  regnum  Christi  in  fidei  unitate 
quaerentes,  eiusdem  quippe  gentis  et  veterem  cum  Ecclesia  matre 
coniuntionem  commemorando  revocavimus,  et  felicem  reconcilia- 
tionem,  excitata  in  animis  orandi  Dei  sollertia,  contendimus 
maturare.  Eursusque  baud  ita  pridem,  quum  communibus 
universe  literis  de  unitate  Ecclesiae  fusius  agere  visum  est,  non 
ultimo  loco  respeximus  Angliam  ;  spe  praelucente,  posse  docu- 
menta  Nostra  turn  catholicis  firmitatem  turn  dissidentibus 
salutare  lumen  afferre.  Atque  illud  fateri  libet  quod  aeque  gentis 
humanitatem  ac  multorum  sollicitudinem  salutis  aeternae  com- 
mendat,  id  est  quam  benevole  Anglis  probata  sit  instantia  Nostra 
et  dicendi  libertas,  nullo  quidem  acta  humanae  rationis  im- 
pulsu. — Nunc  autem  eadem  Nos  mente  eodemque  animo 
deliberatum  habemus  studia  convertere  ad  quamdam  non 
minoris  momenti  causam,  quae  cum  ea  ipsa  re  votisque  Nostris 
cobaeret.  Quod  enim  apud  Anglos,  aliquanto  postquam  ab 
unitatis  cbristianae  centre  abscessurn  est,  novus  plane  ritus 
ordinibus  sacris  conferendis,  sub  rege  Eduardo  VI,  fuit  publice 
inductus  ;  defecisse  idcirco  verum  Ordinis  sacramentum,  quale 
Christus  instituit,  simulque  hierarchicam  successionem,  iam 
tenuit  communis  sententia,  quam  non  semel  Ecclesiae  acta  et 
constans  disciplina  firmarunt.  Attamen  recentiore  memoria 
bisque  maxirne  annis  invaluit  controversia,  sacraene  Ordina- 
tiones  ritu  eduardiano  peractae,  natura  sacramenti  effectuque 
polleant ;  faventibus,  affirmate  vel  dubitanter,  non  modo  scrip- 
toribus  anglicanis  nonnullis,  sed  paucis  etiaro  catholicis  praesertim 

1JIebr.  xiii.  20. 


944  Documents 

non  anglis.  Alteros  quippe  movebat  praestantia  sacerdotii 
christiani,  exoptantes  ut  duplici  eius  in  corpis  Christi  potestate 
ne  carerent  sui :  movebat  alteros  consilium  expediendi  quod- 
ammodo  illis  reditus  ad  unitatem  ;  utrisque  vero  hoc  persuasum 
esse  videbatur,  iam  studiis  in  eo  genere  cum  aetate  provectis, 
novisque  litterarum  monumentis  ex  oblivione  erutis,  retractari 
auctoritate  Nostra  causam  non  inopportunum  fore.  Nos  autem 
ea  consilia  atque  optata  minime  negligentes,  maximeque  voci 
obsequentes  apostolicae  caritatis,  censuimus  nihil  non  experiri 
quod  videretur  quoque  modo  conducere  ad  animarum  vel  aver- 
tenda  damna  vel  utilitates  fovendas. 

Placuit  igitur  de  retractanda  cauas  benignissime  indulgere :  ita 
sane,  ut  per  summam  novae  disquisitionis  sollertiam,  omnis  in  pos- 
terum  vel  species  quidem  dubitandi  esset  remota.  Quapropter 
certo  nurnero  viris  doctrina  et  eruditione  praestantibus,  quorum 
compertae  erant  dissimiles  in  ipsa  causa  opiniones,  negotium  de- 
dimus  ut  momenta  sententiae  suae  scriptis  mandarent  :  eos  deinde 
ad  Nos  accitos  iussimus  communicare  inter  se  scripta,  et  quidquid 
eoamplius  ad  rem  cognitu  esset  dignum,  indagare  atque  expendere. 
Consul  tumque  a  Nobis  est,  ut  ipsi  diplomata  opportuna  omni 
possent  copia  in  tabulariis  vaticanis  sive  nota  recognoscere  sive 
inexplorata  educere  ;  itemque  ut  prompta  haberent  quaecumque 
eiusdem  generis  acta  apud  sacrum  Consilium,  quod  Suprema 
vocatur,  asservarentur,  neque  minus  quaecumque  ad  hoc  tempus 
doctiores  viri  in  utramque  partem  evulgassent.  Huiusmodi  adiu- 
mentis  instructos,  voluimus  eos  in  singulares  congressiones  con- 
venire  ;  quae  ad  duodecim  sunt  habitae,  praeside  uno  ex  S.  K.  E. 
Cardinalibus  a  Nobismetipsis  designate,  data  singulis  facultate 
disputandi  libera.  Denique  earumdem  congressionum  acta,  una 
cum  ceteris  documentis,  Venerabilibus  Fratribus  Nostris  Car- 
dinalibus ex  eodem  Consilio  iussimus  exhiberi  omnia;  qui 
meditata  causa  eaque  coram  Nobis  deinde  agitata,  suam  quisque 
sententiam  dicerent. 

Hoc  ducendae  rei  ordine  pfaestituto,  ad  intimam  tamen 
aestimationem  causae  aequum  erat  non  ante  aggredi,  quam  id 
perstudiose  quaesitum  apparuisset,  quo  loco  ea  iam  esset  secundum 
Apostolicae  Sedis  praescriptiones  institutamque  consuetudinem ; 
cuius  consuetudinis  et  initia  et  vim  magni  profecto  intererat 
reputare.  Quocirca  in  primis  perpensa  sunt  documenta  praecipua 
quibus  Decessores  Nostri,  rogatu  reginae  Mariae,  singulares 
curas  ad  reconciliationem  ecclesiae  Anglicae  contulerunt,  Nam 


Documents  (J15 

lulius  III.,  Cardinalem  Reginaldum  Polo,  nationc  Angluin,  multi- 
plici  laude  cximium,  Legaturn  de  latere  ad  id  opus  destinavit, 
tam<[iiaiu  JHI<-IS  cf  dilectionis  angelum  suum,  eique  mandata  seu 
facilitates  extra  ordinem  norinasque  agendi  tradidit;  x  quas  deinde 
Paulus  IV.  confirniavit  et  declaravit.  In  quo  ut  recte  colligatur 
quidnam  in  se  commemorata  documenta  habeant  ponderis,  sic 
oportet  fundament!  instar  statuere,  eorum  propositum  nequaquam 
a  re  abstracturn  fuisse,  sed  rei  omnino  inhaerens  ac  peculiare- 
Quum  enim  facultates  Legato  apostolico  ab  iis  Pontificibus 
tributae,  Angliam  dumtaxat  religionisque  in  ea  statum  respi- 
cerent ;  normae  item  agendi  ab  eisdem  eidem  Legato  quaerenti 
impertitae,  minime  quidem  esse  poterant  ad  ilia  generatim 
decernenda  sine  quibus  sacrae  ordinationes  non  valeant,  sed  debe- 
bant  attinere  proprie  ad  provideiidum  de  ordinibus  sacris  in  eo 
regno,  prout  temporum  monebant  rerumque  conditiones  expositae. 
Hoc  ipsum,  praeter  quam  quod  ex  natura  et  modo  eorumdem 
documentorum  perspicuum  est,  inde  pariter  liquet,  quod  alienum 
prorsus  fuisset,  ita  velle  de  iis  quae  sacramento  Ordinis  confici- 
endo  necesse  sunt,  propemodum  commonefieri  Legatum,  eumque 
virum  cuius  doctrina  etiam  in  Concilio  Tridentino  eluxerat. 

Ista  probe  tenentibus  non  difficulter  patebit  quare  in  litteris 
lulii  III.  ad  Legatum  apostolicum,  perscriptis  die  vm.  martii 
MDLIV.,  distincta  sit  mentio  de  iis  primum  qui  rite  et  legitime  pro- 
moti,  in  suis  ordinibus  esseiit  retinendi,  turn  de  iis  qui  non  promo ti 
ad  sacros  or  dines,  possent,  si  diyni  et  idonei  reperti  fuissent,  pro- 
vior/'ri.  Nam  certe  definiteque  notatur,  ut  reapse  erat,  duplex 
hominum  classis  :  hinc  eorum  qui  sacram  ordinationem  vere 
suscepissent,  quippe  id  vel  ante  Henrici  secessionem,  vel  si  post 
earn  et  per  ministros  errore  dissidiove  implicitos,  ritu  tamen 
catholico  consueto ;  inde  aliorum  qui  initiati  essent  secundum 
Ordinale  eduardianum,  qui  propterea  possent  promoveri,  quia 
ordinationem  accepissent  irritam.  Neque  aliud  sane  Pontificis 
consilium  fuisse,  praeclare  confirmat  epistola  eiusdem  Legati, 
die  xxix.  ianuarii  MDLV.,  facultates  suas  episcopo  Norwicensi 
demaiidantis.  Id  amplius  est  potissime  considerandum  quod  eae 
ipsae  lulii  III.  litterae  afferunt,  de  facultatibus  pontificiis  libere 
utendis,  etiam  in  eorum  bonum  quibus  munus  consecrationis, 
minus  rite  <>t  non  srirnta  forma  Ecclesiae  consueta,  impensum 
fuit :  qua  quidem  locutione  ii  certe  designabantur  qui  consecrati 

*  *  Id  factuin  augusto  mense  MDLIII.  per  litteras  sub  pluiubo,  Si  ullo 
temporc  et  Post  ntuttitini  Nobis,  atque  alias. 

VOL.  XVII.  3  0 


946  Documents 

eduardiano  ritu ;  praeter  earn  namque  et  catholicain  formam  alia 
nulla  erat  eo  tempore  in  Anglia. 

Haec  autem  apertiora  fient  commemorando  legationem  quam 
Philippus  et  Maria  reges,  suadente  Cardinal!  Polo,  Eomam  ad 
Pontificem  februario  mense  MDLV  miserunt.     Eegii  oratores,  viri 
tr-es  admodum  insignes  et  omni  virtute  praediti,  in  quibus  Thomas 
Thirlby  episcopus  Bliensis,  sic  habebant  propositum,  Pontificem 
de  conditions  rei  religiosae  in  eo  regno  notitia  ampliore  edocere, 
ab  ipsoque  in  primis  petere  ut  ea  quae  Legatus  ad  eiusdem  regni 
cum  Ecclesia  reconciliationem  curaverat  atque  effecerat,  haberet 
rata  et  confirmaret ;  eius  rei  causa  omnia  ad  Pontificem  allata 
sunt  testimonia  scripta  quae  oportebat,  partesque  Ordinalis  novi 
proxime  ad  rem  facientes.     lamvero  Paulus  IV  legatione  magnifice 
admissa,  eisdemque   testimoniis   per    certos   aliquot    Cardinales 
diligenter    discussis,   et     habita    deliberatione    matura,    litteras 
Praeclara  carissimi  sub  plumbo  dedit  die  xx  iunii  eodem  anno. 
In  his  quum  comprobatio  plena  et  robur  additum  sit  rebus  a  Polo 
gestis,  de  ordinationibus  sic  est  praescriptum  :  .  .  .  qui  ad  ordines 
ecclesiasticos    .  .  .  ab  alio  quam  ab  episcopo  rite  et  recte  ordinato 
promoti  fuerunt,  eosdem  ordines  .  .  .  de  novo  suscipere  teneantur. 
Quinam  autem  essent  episcopi  tales,  non  rite  recteque  ordinati, 
satis  iam  indicaverant  superiora  documenta,  facultatesque  in  earn 
rem  a  Legato  adhibitae  :  ii  nimirum  qui  ad  episcopatum,  sicut 
alii  ad  alios  ordines  promoti  essent,  non  servata  forma  Ecclesiaz 
consueta,  vel  non  servata  Ecclesiae  forma  et   intentione,    prout 
Legatus  ipse  ad  episcopum  Norwicensem  scribebat.     Hi  autem 
non  alii  profecto  erant  nisi  qui  promoti  secundum  nevam  ritualem 
formam  ;  cui  quoque  examinandae  delecti  Cardinales    attentam 
operam  dederant.     Neque  praetermittendus  est  locus  ex  eisdem 
Pontificis  litteris,  omnino  rei  congruens  ;  ubi  cum  aliis  beneficio 
dispensationis  egentibus  numerantur  qui  tarn  ordines  quam  bene- 
ficia  ecclesiastica  nulliter  et  de  facto  obtinuerant.     Nulliter  enim 
obtinuisse   ordines  idem  est  atque  irrito  actu  riulloque   effectu, 
videlicet  invalide,  ut  ipsa  monet  eius  vocis  notatio  et  consuetude 
sermonis  ;  praesertim  quum  idem  pari  modo  afnrmetur  de  ordini- 
bus   quod   de   beneficiis   ecclesiastiois,    quae  ex  certis  sacrorum 
«anonum    institutis    manifesto    erant    nulla.   eo   quia   cum  vitio 
infirmante    collata.     Hue  accedit  quod,  ambigentibus  nonnullis 
quinam   revera    episcopi,    rite   et   recte   ordinati,    dici   et  haberi 
possent  ad  mentem  Pontificis,  hie  non  multo  post,  die  xxx  octobris, 
alias  subieoit  litteras  in  modum  Brevis :  atque,  "Nos,"  inquit, 


Documents  947 

"haesitationem  huiusmodi  tollere,  et  serenitati  conscientiae  eorum 
qui  schismate  durante  ad  ordines  promoti  fuerant,  mentem  et 
intentionem  quam  in  eisdem  litteris  Nostris  habuimus  clarius 
exprimendo,  opportune  consulere  volentes,  declaramus  eos  tantum 
episcopos  et  archiepiscopos  qui  non  in  forma  Ecclesiae  ordinat 
et  consecrati  fuerunt,  rite  et  recte  ordinatos  dici  non  posse." 
Quae  declaratio,  nisi  apposite  adrem  Angliae  praesentem,  id  est 
ad  Ordinale  eduardianum,  spectare  debuisset,  nihil  certe  con- 
fecerat  Pontifex  novis  litteris,  quo  vel  haesitationem  tolleret  vel 
serenitati  conscientiae  consuleret.  Ceterum  Apostolicae  Sedis 
documenta  et  mandata  non  aliter  quidem  Legatus  intellexit, 
atque  ita  eis  rite  religioseque  obtemperavit :  idque  pariter  factum 
a  regina  Maria  et  a  ceteris  qui  cum  ea  dederunt  operam  ut  religio 
et  instituta  catholica  in  pristinum  locum  restituerentur. 

Auctoritates  quas  excitavimus  lulii  III  et  Pauli  IV  aperte 
ostendunt  initia  eius  disciplinae  quae  tenore  constanti,  iam 
tribus  amplius  saeculis,  custodita  est,  ut  ordinationes  ritu 
eduardiano,  haberentur  infectae  et  nullae ;  cui  disciplinae 
amplissime  suffragantur  testimonia  multa  earumdem  ordinationum 
quae,  in  hac  etiam  Urbe,  saepius  absoluteque  iteratae  sunt  ritu 
catholico.  —  In  huius  igitur  disciplinae  observantia  vis  inest 
opportuna  proposito.  Nam  si  cui  forte  quidquam  dubitationis 
resideat  in  quamnam  vere  sententiam  ea  Pontificum  diplomata 
sint  accipienda,  recte  illud  valet  :  Consuetude  optima  ley um 
interpres.  Quoniam  vero  firmum  semper  ratumque  in  Ecclesia 
mansit,  Ordinis  sacramentum  nefas  esse  iterari,  fieri  nullo 
pacto  poterat  ut  talem  consuetudinem  Apostolica  Sedes 
pater etur  tacita  ac  toleraret.  Atqui  earn  non  toleravit  solum, 
sed  probavit  etiam  et  sanxit  ipsa,  quotiescurnque  in  eadem 
re  peculiare  aliquod  factum  incidit  iudicandum.  Duo  eiusrnodi 
facta  in  medium  proferimus,  ex  multis  quae  ad  Supremam 
sunt  subinde  delata :  alterum,  anno  MDCLXXXIV.,  cuiusdam 
Calvinistae  Galli,  alterum,  anno  MDCCIV.  loannis  dementis 
Gordon ;  utriusque  secundum  rituale  eduardianum  suos  adepti 
ordines.  In  primo,  post  accuratam  rei  investigationem,  con- 
sultores  non  pauci  responsa  sua,  quae  appellant  vota,  de 
scripto  ediderunt,  ceterique  cum  eis  in  unam  conspirarunt  sen- 
tentiam, pro  invaliditate  ordinationis  :  tantum  quidem  ratione 
habita  opportunitatis,  placuit  Cardinalibus  respondere,  Dilata. 
Eadem  vero  acta  repetita  et  ponderata  sunt  in  facto  altero  ; 
quaesita  sunt  praeterea  nova  consultorum  vota,  rogatique 


948  Documents 

doctores  egregii  e  Sorbonicis  ac  Duacenis,  neque  praesidium 
ullum  perspicacioris  prudentiae  praetermissum  est  ad  rem  penitus 
pernoscendam.  Atque  hoc  animadvertisse  oportet  quod,  tametsi 
turn  ipse  Gordon  cujus  negotium  erat,  turn  aliqui  consultores 
inter  causas  nullitatis  vindicandae  etiam  adduxissent  illam  prout 
putabatur  ordinationem  Parkerii,  in  sententia  tamen  ferenda 
omnino  seposita  est  ea°  causa,  ut  documenta  produnt  integrae 
fidei,  neque  alia  ratio  est  reputata  nisi  defectus  formae  et  inten- 
tionis.  Qua  de  forma  quo  plenius  esset  certiusque  iudicium, 
cautum  fuerat  ut  exemplar  Ordinalis  anglicani  suppeteret ;  atque 
etiam  cum  eo  singulae  collatae  sunt  formae  ordinandi,  ex 
variis  orientalium  et  occidentalium  ritibus  conquisitae.  Turn 
Clemens  XI.,  Cardinalium  ad  quos  pertinebat  consentientibus 
suffrages,  ipsemet  feria  v,  die  xvn  aprilis  MDCCIV,  decrevit  : 
"  loannes  Clemens  Gordon  ex  integro  et  absolute  ordinetur  ad 
omnes  ordines  etiarn  sacros  et  praecipue  presbyteratus,  et  qua- 
tenus  non  fuerit  confirrnatus,  prius  sacramentum  Confirmationis 
suscipiat."  Quae  sententia,  id  sane  considerare  refert,  ne  a 
defectu  quidem  traditionis  instrumentorum  quidquam  momenti 
duxit :  tune  enim  praescriptum  de  more  esset  ut  ordinatio  sub  con- 
ditione  instauraretur.  Eo  autem  pluris  refert  considerare,  eamdem 
Pontificis  sententiam  spectare  universe  ad  omnes  Anglicanorum 
ordinationes.  Licet  enim  factum  attigerit  peculiare,  non  tamen 
ex  peculiari  quapiam  ratione  profecta  est,  verum  ex  vitio  formae, 
quo  quidem  vitio  ordinationes  illae  aeque  amciuntur  omnes :  adeo 
ut,  quoties  deinceps  in  re  sirnili  decernendum  fuit,  toties  idem 
dementis  XI.  communicatum  sit  decretum. 

Quae  quum  ita  sint,  non  videt  nemo  controversiam  tempori- 
bus  nostris  exsuscitatam,  Apostolicae  Sedis  iudicio  definitam 
multo  antea  fuisse :  documentisque  illis  baud  satis  quam  opor- 
tuerat  cognitis,  fortasse  factum  ut  scriptor  aliquis  catholicus 
disputationem  de  ea  libere  habere  non  dubitarit.  Quoniam  vero, 
ut  principio  monuimus,  nihil  Nobis  antiquius  optatiusque  est 
quam  ut  hominibus  recte  animatis  maxima  possimus  indulgentia 
et  caritate  prodesse,  ideo  iussimus  in  Ordinale  anglicanum,  quod 
caput  est  totius  causae,  rursus  quam  studiosissime  inquiri. 

In  ritu  cuiuslibet  sacramenti  conficiendi  et  administrandi  iure 
discernunt  inter  partem  caeremonialem  et  partem  exsentialem, 
quae  materia  et  forma  appellari  consuevit.  Omnesque  norunt, 
sacramenta  novae  legis,  utpote  signa  sensibilia  atque  gratiae 
invisibilis  efficientia,  debere  gratiam  et  significare  quam  efficiunt 


Documents  949 

et  efficere  quam  significant.  Quae  significatio,  etsi  in  toto  ritu 
essentiali,  in  materia  scilicet  et  forma,  haberi  debet,  praecipue 
tainen  ad  formam  pertinet  ;  quum  materia  sit  pars  per  se  non 
determinata,  quae  per  illam  determinetur.  Idque  in  sacramento 
Ordinis  manifestius  apparet,  cuius  conferendi  materia,  quatenus 
hoc  loco  se  dat  considerandam,  est  manuum  impositio  ;  quae 
quidem  nihii  definition  per  se  significat,  et  aeque  ad  quosdam 
Ordines,  aeque  ad  Confirmationem  usurpatur.  lamvero  verba 
quae  ad  proximam  usque  aetatem  habentur  passim  ab  Anglicanis 
tamquam  forma  propria  ordinationis  presbyteralis,  videlicet, 
Accipe  Spiritum  Sanctum,  minime  sane  significant  definite 
ordinem  sacerdotii  vel  eius  gratiam,  et  potestatem,  quae 
praecipue  est  potestas  consecrandi  et  offerendi  verum  corpus 
et  sanguinem  Domini1  eo  sacrificio,  quod]  non  est  nuda  com- 
memoratio  sacrificii  in  Cruce  peracti.2  Forma  huiusmodi  aucta 
quidem  est  postea  iis  verbis,  ad  officium  et  opus  presbyteri :  sed 
hoc  potius  convincit,  Anglicanos  vidisse  ipsos  primam  earn 
formam  fuisse  mancam  neque  idoneam  rei.  Eadem  vero  adiectio, 
si  forte  quidem  legitimam  significationem  apponere  formae  posset, 
serius  est  inducta,  elapso  iam  seculo  post  receptum  Ordinale 
eduardianum ;  quum  propterea,  Hierarchia  extincta,  potestas 
ordinandi  iam  nulla  esset.  Nequidquam  porro  auxilium  causae 
novissime  arcessitum  est  ab  aliis  eiusdem  Ordinalis  precibus. 
Nam,  ut  cetera  praetereantur  quae  eas  demonstrent  in  ritu 
anglicano  minus  sufficientes  proposito,  unum  hoc  argumentum 
sit  instar  omnium,  de  ipsis  consulto  detractum  esse  quidquid 
in  ritu  catholico  dignitatem  et  officia  sacerdotii  perspicue  designat. 
Non  ea  igitur  forma  esse  apta  et  sufficiens  sacramento  potest, 
quae  id  nempe  reticet  quod  deberet  proprium  significare. 

De  consecratione  episcopali  similiter  est.  Nam  formulae, 
Accipe  Spiritum  Sanctumy  non  modo  serius  adnexa  sunt  verba, 
ad  officium  et  opus  episcopi,  sed  etiam  de  iisdem,  ut  mox  dicemus, 
iudicandum  aliter  est  quam  in  ritu  catholico.  Neque  rei  proficit 
quidquam  advocasse  praefationis  precem,  Omnipotens  Deus ; 
quum  ea  pariter  deminuta  sit  verbis  quae  summum  sacerdotium 
declarent.  Sane,  nihil  hue  attinet  explorare,  utrum  episcopatus 
complementum  sit  sacerdotii,  an  ordo  ab  illo  distinctus :  aut 
collatus,  ut  aiunt,  per  saltum,  scilicet  homini  non  sacerdoti,  utrum 
effectum  habeat  necne.  At  ipse  procul  dubio,  ex  institution^ 

1  Trid.  Sess.  xxiii. ,  de  sacr.  Ord.,  can.  1. 
id,  Sess,  xxii.,  de  sacrif.  Missae,  can.  3. 


950  Documents 

Christi,  ad  sacramentum  Ordinis  verissime  pertinet,  atque  est 
praecellenti  gradu  sacerdotium  ;  quod  nimirum  et  voce  sanctorum 
Patrum  et  rituali  nostra  consuetudine  summum  sacerdotium,  sacri 
minis  terii  summa  nuncupatur.  Inde  fit  ut,  quoniam  sacramentum 
Ordinis  verumque  Christi  sacerdotium  a  ritu  anglicano  penitus 
extrusum  est,  atque  adeo  in  consecratione  episcopali  eiusdem 
ritus  nullo  modo  sacerdotium  confertur,  nullo  item  modo  episco- 
patus  vere  ac  iure  possit  conferri :  eoque  id  magis  quia  in 
primis  episcopatus  muniis  illud  scilicet  est,  ministros  ordinandi 
in  sanctam  Eucharistiam  et  sacrificium. 

Ad  rectam  vero  plenamque  Ordinalis  anglicaniaestimationem, 
praeter  ista  per  aliquas  eius  partes  notata,  nihil  profecto  tarn 
valet  quam  si  probe  aestimetur  quibus  adiunctis  rerum  conditum 
sit  et  publice  constitutum.  Longum  est  singula  persequi,  neque 
est  necessarium :  eius  namque  aetatis  memoria  satis  diserte 
loquitur,  cuius  animi  essent  in  Ecclesiam  catholicam  auctores 
Ordinalis,  quos  adsciverint  fautores  ab  heterodoxis  sectis,  quo 
demum  consilia  sua  referrent.  Nimis  enimvero  scientes  quae 
necessitudo  inter  fidem  et  cultum,  inter  legem  credendi  et  leg  em 
supplicandi  intercedafc,  liturgiae  ordinem,  specie  quidem  redinte- 
grandae  eius  formae  primaevae,  ad  errores  Novatorum  multis 
modis  deformarunt.  Quamobrem  toto  Ordinali  non  rnodo  nulla 
est  aperta  mentio  sacrificii,  consecrationis,  sacerdotii,  potesta- 
tisque  consecrandi  et  sacrificii  offerendi ;  sed  immo  omnia 
huiusmodi  rerum  vestigia,  quae  superessent  in  precationibus 
ritus  catholici  non  plane  reiectis,  sublata  et  deleta  sunt  de 
industria,  quod  supra  attigimus.  Ita  per  se  apparet  nativa 
Ordinalis  indoles  ac  spiritus,  uti  loquuntur.  Hinc  vero  ab 
origine  ducto  vitio,  si  valere  ad  usum  ordinationum  minime 
potuit,  nequaquam  decursu  aetatum,  quum  tale  ipsum  perman- 
serit,  futurum  fuit  ut  valeret.  Atque  ii  egerunt  frustra  qui  inde 
a  temporibus  Caroli  I  conati  sunt  admittere  aliquid  sacrificii  et 
sacerdotii,  nonnulla  dein  ad  Ordinale  facta  accessione  :  frustraque 
similiter  contendit  pars  ea  Anglicanorum  non  ita  rnagna,  recentiore 
tempo  re  coalita,  quae  arbitratur  posse  idem  Ordinale  ad  sanam 
rectamque  sententiam  intelligi  et  deduci.  Vana,  inquimus,  fuere 
et  sunt  huiusmodi  conata :  idque  hac  etiam  de  causa,  quod,  si 
qua  quidem  verba,  in  Ordinali  anglicano  ut  nunc  est,  porrigant 
se  in  ambiguum,  ea  tamen  sumere  sensum  eumdem  nequeunt 
quern  habent  in  ritu  catholico.  Nam  semel  novato  ritu,  ut  vidimus 
quo  nempe  negetur  vel  adulteretur  sacramentum  Ordinis,  et  a 


Documents  951 

quo  quaevis  notio  repudiata  sit  consecrationis  et  sacrificii  ;  iam 
minime  constat  formula,  Accipe  Spiritum  Sanctum,  qui  Spiritus ' 
cum  gratia  nimirum  sacramenti,  in  animam  infunditur ;  minime- 
que  constant  verba  ilia,  ad  officium  et  opus  preshyteri  vel  episcopi 
ac  similia,  quae  restant  nomina  sine  re  quani  instituit  Christus. 
Huius  vim  argument!  perspectam  ipsi  habent  plerique  Anglicani, 
observantiores  Ordinalis  interpretes  :  quam  non  dissimulanter  eis 
obiiciunt  qui  nove  ipsum  interpretantes,  Ordinibus  inde  collatis 
pretium  virtutemque  non  suam  spe  vana  affingunt  Eodem  porro 
argumento  vel  uno  illud  etiam  corruit,  opinantium  posse  in  legiti- 
mam  Ordinis  formam  sufficere  precationem,  Omnipotens  Deus, 
bonorum  omnium  largitor,  quae  sub.  initium  est  ritualis  actionis ; 
etiamsi  forte  haberi  ea  posset  tamquam  sufficiens  in  ritu  aliquo 
catholico  quern  Ecclesia  probasset.  Cum  hoc  igitur  intimo 
formae  defectu  coniunctus  est  defectus  intentionis,  quam  aeque 
necessario  postulat,  ut  sit,  sacr amentum.  De  mento  vel  inten- 
tione,  utpote  quae  per  se  quiddam  est  mterius,  Ecclesia  non 
iudicat  :  at  quatenus  extra  proditur,  iudicare  de  ea  debet.  lam- 
vero  quurn  quis  ad  sacramentum  conficiendum  et  conferendum 
materiam  formamque  debitam  serio  ac  rite  adhibuit,  eo  ipso 
censetur  id  nimirum  facere  intendisse  quod  facit  Eeclesia. 
Quo  sane  priricipio  innititur  doctrina  quae  tenet  esse  vere  sacra- 
mentum vel  illud,  quod  ministerio  hominis  haeretici  aut  non 
baptizati,  dummodo  ritu  catholico,  conferatur.  Contra,  si  ritus 
immutetur,  eo  manifesto  consilio  ut  alius  inducatur  ab  Ecclesia 
non  receptus,  ut  que  id  repellatur  quod  facit  Ecclesia  et  quod  ex 
institutione  Christi  ad  naturarn  attinet  sacramenti,  tune  palam 
est,  rion  solum  necessariam  sacramento  intentionem  deesse,  sed 
intentionem  immo  haberi  sacramento  adversarn  et  repugnantem, 

Isthaec  omnia  diu  multumque  reputavimus  apud  Nos  et  cum 
Venerabilibus  Eratribus  Nostris  in  Suprema  iudicibus;  quorum 
etiam  Coetum  singulariter  coram  Nobis  advocare  placuit  feria  v 
die  xvi  iulii  proximi,  in  commemoratione  Mariae  D.  N.  Carmeli- 
tidis.  lique  ad  unuin  consensere,  propositam  causam  iam  pridem 
ab  Apostolica  Sede  plene  fuisse  et  cognitam  et  iudicatarn :  eius 
autem  denuo  instituta  actaque  quaestione,  emersisse  illustrius 
quanto  ilia  iustitiae  sapientiaeque  pondere  totam  rem  absolvisset. 
Verumtamen  optimum  factu  duximus  supersedere  sententiae,  quo 
et  melius  perpenderemus  conveniret  ne  ex-pediretque  eamdern 
rem  auctoritate  Nostra  rursus  declarari,  et  uberiorem  diviri 
lumiuis  copiam  supplices  imploraremus.  Turn  considerantibus 


952 


Documents 


Nobis  ut  idem  caput  disciplinae,  etsi  iure  iam  definitum,  a  qui- 
busdam  revocatum  sit  in  controversial!!,  quacumque  demum 
causa  sit  revocaturn ;  ex  eoque  pronum  fore  ut  perniciosus  error 
gignatur  non  paucis  qui  putent  se  ibi  Ordinis  sacramentum  et 
fructus  reperire  ubi  minime  sunt,  visum  est  in  Domino  sententiam 
Nostram  edicere. 

Itaque  omnibus  Pontificum  Decessorum  in  hac  ipsa  causa 
decretis  usquequaque  assentientes,  eaque  plenissime  confirmantes 
ac  veluti  renovantes  auctoritate  Nostra,  motu  proprio  certa 
scientia,  pronunciamus  et  declaramus,  ordinationes  ritu  anglicano 
actas,  irritas  prorsus  fuisse  et  esse,  omninoque  nullas. 

Hoc  restat,  ut  quo  ingressi  sumus  Pastoris  magni  nomine  et 
animo  veritatem  tarn  gravis  rei  certissimam  commonstrare, 
eodem  adhbrtemur  eos  qui  Ordinum  atque  Hierarchiae  beneficia 
sincera  voluntate  optent  ac  requirant.  Usque  adhuc  fortasse, 
virtutis  cbristianae  intendentes  ardorem,  religiosius  consulentes 
divinas  litteras,  pias  duplicantes  preces,  incerti  tamen  haeserunt 
et  anxii  ad  vocem  Christi  iamdiu  intime  admonentis.  Probe  iam 
vident  quo  se  bonus  ille  invitet  ac  velit.  Ad  unicum  eius  ovile  si 
redeant,  turn  vero  e  quaesita  beneficia  assecuturi  sunt  et  con- 
sequentia  salutis  praesidia,  quorum  administram  fecit  ipse 
Ecclesiam,  quasi  redemptionis  suae  custodem  perpetuam  et  pro- 
curatricem  in  gentibus.  Turn  vero  haurient  aquas  in  gaudio  de 
fontibus  Salvatoris,  sacramentis  eius  mirificis  :  unde  fideles 
animae  in  amicitiam  Dei,  remissis  vere  peccatis,  restituuntur, 
caelesti  pane  aluntur  et  roborantur,  adiumentisque  maximis 
afflunnt  ad  vitae  adeptionem  aeternae.  Quorum  bonorum  revera 
sitientes,  utinam  Deus  pads,  Deus  totius  consolationis  faciat  com- 
potes atque  expleat  perbenignus.  Hortationem  vero  Nostram  et 
vota  eos  maiorem  in  modum  spectare  volumus,  qui  religionis 
ministri  in  communitatibus  suis  habentur.  Homines  ex  ipso 
ofncio  praecedentes  doctrina,  et  auctoritate,  quibus  profecto  cordi 
est  divina  gloria  et  animorum  salus,  velint  alacres  vocanti  Deo 
parere  in  primis  et  obsequi,  praeclarumque  de  se  edere  exem- 
plum.  Singulari  certe  laetitia  eos  Ecclesia  mater  excipiet 
omnique  complectetur  bonitate  et  providentia,  quippe  quos  per 
arduas  rerum  difncultates  virtus  animi  generosior  ad  sinum  suum 
reduxerit.  Ex  hac  vero  virtute  dici  vix  potest  quae  ipsos  laus 
maneat  in  coetibus  fratrum  per  catholicum  orbem,  quae  aliquando 
spes  et  fiducia  ante  Christum  iudicem,  quae  ab  illo  praemia  in 
regno  caelesti  !  Nos  quidem,  quantum  omni  ope  lict'erit,  eorum 


Documents  953 

cum  Ecclesia  reconciliationem  fovere  non  desistemus  ;  ex  qua  et 
singuli  et  ordines,  id  quod  vehementer  cupimus,  multum  capere 
possunt  ad  imitandum.  Interea  veritatis  gratiaeque  divinae 
patentem  cursum  ut  secundare  contendant  fideliter,  per  viscera 
misericordiae  Dei  nostri  rogamus  omnes  et  obsecramus. 

Praesentes  vero  litteras  et  quaecumque  in  ipsis  habentur 
nullo  unquam  tempore  de  subreptionis  aut  obreptionis  sive  inten- 
tionis  Nostrae  vitio  aliove  quovis  defectu  notari  vel  impugnari 
posse  ;  sed  semper  validas  et  in  suo  robore  fore  et  esse,  atque  ab 
omnibus  cuiusvis  gradus  et  praeeminentiae  inviolabiliter  in 
iudicio  et  extra  observari  debere  decernimus  :  irritum  quoque  et 
inane  si  secus  super  his  a  quoquam,  quavis  auctoritate  vel  prae- 
textu,  scienter  vel  ignoranter  contingent  attentari  declarantes, 
oontrariis  non  obstantibus  quibuscumque. 

Volumus  autem  ut  harum  litterarum  exemplis,  etiam  impressis, 
manu  tamen  Notarii  subscriptis  et  per  constitutum  in  ecclesias- 
tica  dignitate  virum  sigillo  munitis,  eadem  habeatur  fides  quae 
Nostrae  voluntatis  significationi  his  praesentibus  ostensis  habe- 
retur. 

Datum  Eomae  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  anno  Incarnationis 
Dominicae  millesimo  octingentesimo  nonagesimo  sexto,  idibus 
septembribus,  Pontificatus  Nostri  anno  decimo  nono. 

A.  CARD.  BIANCHF,  C.  CARD.  DE  EUGGIERO. 

Pro  Datarius. 

VISA. 

DE  CURIA  I.  DE  AQUILA  E  VICECOMITIBUS. 
Loco  $f  Plumbi. 

Reg.  in  Secret.  Brevium. 

I.    CUGNONI. 


IMPEDIMENTS   IN   MATEIMONY 

S.    CONGREGATIONIS    INQUISITIONIS 

IN  CAS Q  STIPITIS  INTERMEDII  EX  DUOBUS  INTER  SE  ITERUM  IN 
SECUNDO  GRADU  CONSANGUINEIS,  TRIA  HABENTUR  ET  DECLARARI 
DEBENT  IMPEDIMENTA 

BEATISSIME  PATER, 

Non  raro  contingit  in  Gallia  matrimonio  jungi  sponsos  in 
secundo  aequali  consangunitatis  gradu  devinctos.  quorum  subinde 
suboles,  post  secundam  generationem,  easdem  iterum  in  eodem 
gradu  prohibitas  nuptias  appetit  contrahere,  ex  quo  fit  ut,  in  hoc 


954  Documents 

posteriori  casu,  sponsis  duplex  communis  stipes  originis  existat, 
unus  quidem  principalis  et  remotior,  in  quarto  gradn,  alter  vero 
intermedius  et  proximus,  in  secundo. 

Jamvero  in  his  circumstantiarum  adjunctis  non  una  est 
auctorum  sententia  circa  numerum  impedimentorum  eaque 
declarandi  necessitatem. 

Alii  enim  unicum  putant  dari  in  casu  dirimens  impedimentum 
consangunitatis,  nimirum  in  secundo  aequali  gradu,  nee  ulterius, 
tacto  semel  stipite  proximiori,  esse  attendendum  ad  stipitem 
remotiorem  quarti  gradus,  eo  quia,  aiunt,  prohibet  canonica 
jurisprudentia  quominus  stipes  idem  bis  in  enumeratione  impedi- 
mentorum adhibeatur. 

Alii  e  contra,  praeter  impedimentum  praefatum  secundi 
gradus,  de  quo  nulla  potest  esse  controversia,  duplex  aliud  haberi 
contendunt  qua»ti  gradus  aequalis  impedimentum  necessario 
sub  periculo  nullitatis  declarandum  unum  quidem  dum  sponsi 
linea  per  avum  et  linea  sponsi  per  aviam,  usque  ad  communem 
stipitem  quarti  gradus  protenditur  :  alterum  autem,  dum,  inversa 
ratione,  ad  eumdem  gradus,  quarti  stipitem  ducitur  linea  sponsi 
per  aviam,  atque  per  avum  linea  sponsae.  Nee  isti  auctores 
laesam  reputant  allatam  superius  regulam,  quae  vetat,  utique  ne 
utraque  linea  simul  per  eamdem  personam  transeat,  minime  vero 
impedit  transitum  per  duas  diversas,  mariti  et  uxoris  (avi  et 
aviae)  personas,  intermedium  stipitem  constituentes. 

Quidam  demum  utramque  sententiam  existimant  in  jure 
probabilem,  nee  ad  valeditatem  matrimonii  referre  utrum  prima 
(de  unico  impedimento)  an  posterior  (de  triplici  impedimento) 
adhibeatur  in  praxi. 

His  positis,  quandoquidem  in  dies  crescit  lugendus  sane 
numerus  matrimoniorum  inter  consobrinbs,  ad  capescendos 
angores  conscientiae,  Episcopus  Cenomanensis  ad  pedes  Sancti- 
tatis  Tuae  provolutus,  humiliter  postulat  sequentis  dnbii 
solutionem. 

In  casu  stipitis  intermedii  (secundi  gradus)  ex  duobus  inter 
se  iterum  (in  secundo  gradu)  consanguineis  constituti,  utrum 
unicum  existat  et  declarari  debeat,  in  libello  supplici  dispen- 
sationis,  impedimentum  consanguinitatis,  videlicet  illud  solum 
quod  ex  hoc  proximiori  stipite  intermedio  procedit  ? 

An  insuper  duo  alia  habeantur  et  declaranda  sint  impedi- 
menta, provenientia  ab  remotiori  stipite  communi  (quarti  gradus) 
per  lineas  in  stipite  intermedio  conjunctas  ? 

Fer.  IV,,  die  11  Martii.  1896. 


Documents  955 

In  Congregatione  general!  S.  Rom.  et  Univ.  Inquisitionis, 
proposita  suprascripta  instantia,  Eminentissimi  ac  Reverendissimi 
Domini  Cardinales  Inquisitores  Generales,  praehabito  Reveren- 
dissimorum  Consultorum  vote,  respondendum  decreverunt : 

Negative  ad  lnm.     Affirmative  ad  2um. 

Sequenti  vero  feria  V.  12  d1  Sanctissimus  Dominus  Noster 
Leo  Div.  Prov.  Papa  XIII.  in  audientia  r.  p.  D.  Adsessori  S.  O. 
impertita,  relatam  sibi  Eminentissimorum  Patrum  resolutionem 
benigne  adprobare  dignatus  est. 

J.  MANCINI  CAN.  MAGNONI,  S.E.  et  U.J.  Not. 


OEDEB   OF   PEAYEES   AT   EEQUIEM   MASSES 

DECBETUM   GENERALE 
ORATIONUM    ET    SEQUENTIAE     IN    MISSIS    DEPUNCTORUM 

Dt  omne  dubium  super  Orationibus  et  sequentia  dicendis  in 
Missis  Defunctorum  Sacra  Rituum  Congregatio  declarat : 

I.  Unam  tantam  esse  dicendam  Orationem  in  Missis  omnibus 
quae  celebrantur  in  Commemoratione  Omnium  Fidelium  Defunc- 
torum die  et  pro  die  obitus  seu  depositions,  atque  etiam  in  Missis 
cantatis  vel   lectis   permittente  ritu  diebus   iii.  vii.  xxx.    et  die 
anniversaria,  nee  non  quandocunque  pro  defunctis  Missa  solemni- 
ter   celebratur,   nempe  sub    ritu   qui   duplici  respondeat,  uti  in 
Officio  quod  recitatur  post  acceptum  nuntium  de  alicujus  obitu, 
et  in  Anniversariis  late  sumptis. 

II.  In  Missis  quotidianis  quibuscunque,  sive  lectis  sive  cum 
cantu,  plures   esse  dicendas  Orationes,  quarum    prima  sit  pro 
defuncto  vel  defunctis  certo  designatis,  [pro  quibus  Sacrificium 
offertur,  ex  iis  quae  inscribuntur  in  Missali,  secunda  ad  libitum, 
ultima  pro  omnibus  defunctis. 

III.  Si    vero     pro     defunctis    in     genere    Missa    celebretur 
Orationes  esse  dicendas  quae  pro  Missis  quotidianis  in  Missali 
prostant,  eodemque  ordine  quo  sunt  inscriptae. 

IV.  Quod   si    in  iisdem    quotidianis    Missis    plures    addere 
Orationes  Celebranti  placuerit,  uti  Rubricae  potestatem  faciunti 
id  fieri  posse  tantum  in  Missis  lectis,  impari  cum  aliis  praescriptis 
servato  numero,  et  Orationi  pro  omnibus  defunctis  postremo  loco 
assignato. 

V.  Quod  denique  ad  Sequentiam  attinet,  semper  illam  esse 
dicendam  in  quibusvis  cantatis  Missis,  uti  etiam  in  lectis  quae 
diebus  ut  supra  privilegiatis  nunt,  in  reliquis  vel  recitari  posse 


956  Documents 

vel  omitti  ad  libitum  Celebrantis  juxta  Eubricas,  "  Contrariis  non 
obstantibus  quibuscunque. 

Die  30  Junii,  1896. 

CAI.  CAED.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.R.C.  Praef. 

L  ^  S.   •  ALOISIUS  TKIPEPI,  S.E.C.  Secret. 


REQUIEM   MASSES   ALLOWED    ON   DOUBLE    FEASTS 
E.   S.    CONGREGATIONS     BITUUM 

DECEETUM   PEEMITTENS    MISSAS  .PEIVATAS    DE    EfiQUIE    IN 
DUPLICIBUS 

Aucto,  postremis  hisce  temporibus,  maxime  in  calendariis 
particularibus,  Officiorum  Duplicium  numero,  quum  pauci 
supersint  per  annum  dies,  qui  Missas  privatas  de  Eequie  fieri 
permittant,  et  ipsa  officia  semiduplicia  interdum  ab  aliis  potioris 
ritus  impediantur,  nonnulli  ecclesiastic!  viri  pietate,  doctrina  ac 
dignitate  praestantes,  Sanctissimum  Dominum  Nostrum  Leonem 
Papam  XIII  humillimis  enixisque  precibus  rogarunt,  ut,  ad 
juvamen  fidelium  defunctorum  et  ad  spirituale  solatium  vivorum, 
in  Ecclesiis  et  Oratoriis  sive  publicis  sive  privatis,  praesertim 
iis,  quae  in  sepulcretis  rite  erecta  sunt  vel  erigentur,  Missae 
lectae  de  Eequie  diebus  etiam  duplicibus  aliquoties  per  annum 
de  Apostolica  Benignitate  celebrari  valeant.  Placuit  autera 
eidem  Ssmo  Domino  Nostro  hujus  negotii  examen  Sacrae 
Eituum  Congregationi  committere  :  quae,  exquisito  voto  Com- 
missionis  Liturgicae,  omnibus  mature  perpensis,  attentisque  hac 
de  re  etiam  peculiaribus  locorum  circumstantiis,  in  Ordinario 
Coetu  subsignata  die  ad  Vaticanum  coadunato,  ad  propositam 
per  infrascriptum  Cardinalem  Sacrae  eidem  Congregationi 
Praefectum  quaestionem,  respondendum  censuit : 

"  Si  Sanctissimo  placuerit  :  I.  In  quolibet  Sacello  sepulcreti 
rite  erecto  vel  erigendo,  Missas,  quae  inibi  celebrari  permittuntur, 
posse  esse  de  Eequie  diebus  non  impeditis  a  Festo  duplici  lae 
vel  2fte  classis,  a  Dominicis  aliisque  festis  de  praecepto  servandis, 
necnon  a  Feriis,  Vigiliis,  Octavisque  privilegiatis  ;  item  : 
II.  quibuslibet  Ecclesiis  et  Oratoriis  quum  publicis  turn  privatis 
et  in  Sacellis  ad  Seminaria,  Collegia  et  Eeligiosas  vel  pias 
utriusque  sexus  Communitates  spectantibus,  Missas  privatas 
de  Eequie,  praesente,  insepulto,  vel  etiam  sepulto  non  ultra 
biduum,  cadavere,  fieri  posse  die  vel  pro  die  obitus  aut  depositionis: 
verum  sub  clausulis  et  conditionibus,  quibus,  juxta  Eubricas  et 


Notices  of  Books  057 

Decreta,  Missa  solemnis  de  Eequie  iisdem  in  casibus  decantatur." 
Contrariis  non  obstantibus  quibuscumque.     Die  19  Maii  1896. 

Facta  postmodum  de  his  Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  Leoni 
Papae  XIII  per  meipsum  infrascriptum  Cardinalem,  relatione, 
Sanctitas  Sua  sententiam  Sacrae  ipsius  Congregationis  in  omnibus 
ratam  habere  et  confirmare  dignata  est,  die  8  Junii,  eodern 
anno. 

CAJETANUS,  Card.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.B.C.  Praef. 

A.  TEIPEPI,  S.R.C.,  Secret. 
L.       S. 


IRotices  of  Boofes 

PEOTESTANT  FICTION.    By  James  Britten.    Catholic  Truth 
Society,  21,  Westminster-Bridge  Eoad. 

THIS  work  is  a  reprint  of  a  series  of  valuable  articles  contributed 
to  The  Month  by  Mr.  James  Britten,  the  energetic  Secretary 
of  the  Catholic  Truth  Society,  Mr.  Britten  thinks  that  amuse  - 
inent  and  amazement  will  probably  be  equally  blended  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  read  the  samples  of  Protestant  fiction 
which  he  has  gathered  together  in  these  pages.  Of  indignation, 
there  may  also  be  a  little ;  but  the  prevailing  sentiment,  will  be 
one  of  unqualified  pity  for  the  almost  incredible  ignorance  of 
which  these  extracts  are  the  fruit.  Mr.  Britten  divides  his 
attention  between  the  works  which  present  horrible  pictures  of 
nuns  and  convents  and  those  which  treat  of  Jesuits,  Priests, 
and  the  Catholic  laity,  and  concludes  with  some  harmonious 
poetic  effusions  which  are  quite  worthy  in  every  way  of  the 
noble  theme  they  sing. 

Mr.  Britten  has  done  a  good  service  to  the  Church  by 
culling  these  choice  flowers  from  the  garden  of  Protestant  litera- 
ture, and  presenting  them  to  the  public  as  a  nosegay  characteristic 
of  the  "  sweetness  and  light"  that  prevail  in  the  quarters  where 
they  are  indigenous.  There  is  just  one  thing  that  strikes 
us  in  glancing  over  these  passages,  many  of  them  unsavoury 
and  repulsive,  some  of  them  merely  stupid  and  grotesque, 
that  the  writers  are,  as  a  rule,  people  who  pride  themselves 
on  their  superior  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  But  what  is  the 
use  of  their  knowing  the  Bible,  if  they  violate  its  teaching 


958  Notices  of  Books 

at  every  step  ;  if  they  bear  false  witness  against  their  nei 
hour ;  if  they  detract  and  calumniate  and  misrepresent  ?  If 
this  be  the  result  of  their  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  better  that 
they  should  have  remained  in  blank  ignorance  of  its  contents. 
The  assumption  of  a  mild  and  tender-hearted  disposition  on 
the  part  of  some  of  these  writers  wonderfully  co-exists  with 
an  anti-popish  savageness  that  can  scarcely  be  disguised.  It 
must  have  cost  Mr.  Britten  something  more  than  labour  and  time 
to  complete  this  selection  of  elegant  extracts.  It  required  courage 
to  enter  the  quagmire,  and  perseverance  to  collate,  for  our 
information,  the  ravings  and  shrieks  of  Protestant  bigotry, 
in  its  last,  let  us  hope  its  dying,  spasms.  We  do  not  envy 
him  the  pleasure  he  must  have  experienced  in  his  journey 
through  these  curious  recesses  and  by-paths  of  literature.  Nor 
are  we  particularly  surprised  to  read  the  declaration  which 
Mr.  Britten  makes  at  the  end  of  his  volume,  'to  the  effect 
that  he  had  forwarded  copies  of  some  of  the  worst  of  the 
pamphlets  from  which  he  has  taken  his  extracts  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  as  president  of  the  "  Pure  Literature 
Society,"  which  has  these  two  pamphlets  on  its  list  of  recom- 
mendations ;  that  he  also  sent  copies  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Society,  and  inquired  from  both  whether  they  consider  men 
who  can  publish  such  garbage  are  suitable  associates,  or  fit 
judges  of  "pure  literature,"  and  that  he  received  neither  reply 
nor  acknowledgment  from  one  or  the  other.  Few  indeed  will 
deny  that  he  is  justified  in  this  additional  statement : — "  I  claim, 
with  confidence,  the  support  of  every  decent  person  in  my 
contention,  that  the  worst  of  the  '  penny  bloods,'  against  which 
the  '  Pure  Literature  Society  '  are  waging  war,  cannot  approach 
in  foulness,  or  exceed  in  ignorance,  the  abominable  and  ridiculous 
libels  to  which  these  representatives  of  the  Society  are  not 
ashamed  to  lend  the  sanction  of  their  names." 

^Ve  congratulate  Mr.  Britten  on  his  successful  drawing  of  the 
cover,  and  on  the  skill  with  which  he  has  followed  the  trail. 

J.  F.  H. 

THE   DIVINE   KEDEEMER   AND   His    CHURCH.    By  Father 

Douglas,  C.SS.R.     London:  Catholic  Truth  Society. 
FATHER  DOUGLAS,  in  the  work  before   us,  gives  his  readers 
a  history  of  the  Church  of  God  from  man's  creation  to  the  death 
of  Pius  IX.     It  is  divided  into  three  parts.     The  first  part  briefly 


Notices  of  Books.  959 

sketches  the  preparation  for  Christ's  coming,  which  took  place 
under  the  Old  Law.  The  second  part  tells  the  life  of  our  Lord 
in  the  words  of  the  Evangelists,  and  contains  some  valuable 
chapters  on  Palestine  and  the  Holy  Places.  In  the  third  part  the 
working  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  Church  has  been  traced  in  its 
progressive  development  during  the  last  nineteen  centuries. 

The  work  is  a  work  of  learning.  This  is  shown  in  the  first 
place  by  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  inter- 
preters of  Holy  Scripture  which  the  author  displays.  It  is  made 
manifest,  in  the  second  place,  by  the  learned  chapters  on  Palestine 
and  the  Holy  Places  which  reveal  the  student  of  travel.  It  is 
made  clear,  in  the  third  place,  by  that  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  the  Church  which,  leaving  aside  all  matter  that  does  not  bear 
on  the  general  progress  of  the  Church,  indicates  the  important 
events  of  ecclesiastical  history  from  the  death  of  our  Divine 
Eedeemer  to  the  pontificate  of  Leo  XIII. 

The  work  is  also  devotional.  It  is  such  as  leads  a  thoughtful 
mind  to  study  in  a  pious  mood  the  life  of  Christ,  and  the  workings 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  His  Church.  Its  cheapness  renders  it 
possible  for  all  to  obtain  from  its  learned  and  devotional  pages 
a  familiar  interest  in  the  life  of  our  Lord.  We  wish  it  suceess. 
Thet  more  it  is  read,  the  more  will  the  spirit  of  Christ  exist  in  the 
Church  ;  for  such  a  spirit  can  be  best  had  from  a  pious  study  of 
His  life. 

J.  M.  H. 

BETEEATS  GIVEN  BY  FATHEE  DIGNAM,  OF  THE  SOCIETY 
OF  JESUS.  With  Letters  and  Notes  of  Spiritual  Direc- 
tions, and  a  few  Conferences  and  Sermons.  With  a 
Preface.  By  Father  Gretton,  S.J.  London  :  Burns 
and  Gates,  Limited.  New  York,  Cincinnati,  and 
Chicago  :  Benziger  Brothers. 

THIS  neat  volume  contains  the  lessons  of  a  master  in  the 
spiritual  life.  The  work  is  chiefly  intended  for  private  retreats, 
and  for  this  purpose  it  should  prove  most  useful  when  read  in 
conjunction  with  the  Spiritual  Exercises  and  the  passages  of  the 
Holy  Gospels  to  which  we  are  referred. 

The  work  is  divided  into  four  sections.  In  the  first  section, 
which  occupies  more  than  half  of  the  entire  volume,  we  have 
notes  of  retreats,  taken  as  the  words  fell  from  .Father  Dignam's 
life,  or  a  short  time  afterwards.  For  each  day  of  retreat  we 


960  Notices  of  Books. 

have  three  meditations  and  a  conference.  The  prevailing  feature 
is  the  force  and  originality  with  which  familiar  thoughts  are 
expressed.  The  second  section  contains  notes  for  retreat  written 
by  Fr.  Dignam's  own  hand.  In  some  cases  the  notes  are  very  brief ; 
but,  as  in  the  first  section,  the  thoughts  are  expressed  with  force 
and  originality.  The  third  section  contains  letters  and  notes  of 
spiritual  direction.  The  letters  and  portions  of  letters  given  are 
really  entertaining,  and,  when  read  during  the  solitude  of  retrear, 
should  form  a  valuable  adjunct  to  the  meditations  and  con- 
ferences. ^The  fourth  and  last  section,  containing  only  thirty 
pages,  is  devoted  to  notes  of  conferences  and  sermons,  and  fully 
maintains  the  high  character  of  the  previous  sections. 

Besides  its  use  during  retreat,  this  work  supplies  the  preacher 
with  excellent  matter  for  sermons,  and  the  fact  that  the  greater 
part  of  it  is  addressed  to  nuns  gives  it  a  special  value  for  those 
who  are  engaged  in  the  direction  of  those  holy  souls. 

E.  S. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  INHERITANCE.    By  Dr.  Hedley,  Bishop  of 
Newport.     London  :  Burns  and  Gates. 

THERE  is  little  need  on  our  part  to  tell  our  readers  the  many 
excellent  qualities  of  this  little  volume  of  sermons.  The  name  of 
the  learned  author  suffices  to  indicate  its  worth.  That  name  leads 
us  to  expect  many  merits  in  the  work,  and  at  the  same  time 
gives  us  a  guarantee  that  our  expectations  are  not  in  vain. 
Neither  are  they  in  vain,  for  we  have  noticed  many  good  qualities, 
two  of  which  have  especially  attracted  our  attention.  The  first 
is  the  practical  nature  of  the  discourses.  These,  while  explaining 
the  teaching  of  the  Church  on  some  fundamental  doctrines  of 
our  faith,  never  fail  to  exhort  the  reader  to  the  practice  of  the 
Christian  virtues.  The  second  special  merit  of  these  sermons  is 
the  magnificent  English  with  ^which  the  ideas  are  clothed. 
Always  simple  and  flowing,  it  not  unfrequently  rises  to  the 
sublime. 

The  combination  of  sound  doctrine,  practical  teaching,  and 
elegance  of  style  that  characterize  this  volume  of  sermons, 
renders  it  a  model  for  those  who  wish  to  preach  the  Word  of 
God  well. 

J.M.H. 


THE  IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


NOVEMBER,    1896 


THE  PAPAL  BULL  ON  ANGLICAN  OKDEES 

"  T1TE  pronounce  arid  declare,"  writes  the  Sovereign 
VV  Pontiff,  "  that  ordinations  carried  on  according  to 
the  Anglican  rite  have  been  and  are  absolutely  null  and 
utterly  void. "  These  are  the  words  of  the  long-expected 
Papal  declaration  regarding  Anglican  Orders,  and  it  sets  the 
question  finally  at  rest.  It  is  a  document  of  the  highest 
importance  :  the  issues  involved  are  great,  and  the  effect  of 
the  pronouncement  must  have  a  decided  influence  on  any 
scheme  for  the  reunion  of  the  Churches.  It  is  also  a 
document  of  considerable  theological  value,  and  in  sacra- 
mental theology  an  authoritative  one. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  discuss  what  reception  has  been 
accorded  to  the  Papal  Bull  by  Anglicans,  and  what  may  be 
its  probable  effect  on  their  religious  lives,  whether  indi- 
vidually or  collectively ;  but  it  may  be  still  more  interesting 
to  consider  the  Apostolic  Letter  from  a  theological  point  of 
view.  For  those  who  do  not  admit  more  than  a  merely 
delegated  and  ministerial  capacity  on  the  part  of  their 
ecclesiastical  authorities,  the  question  of  the  validity  or 
invalidity  of  Anglican  Orders  can  have  little  concern.  Many 
members  of  the  Anglican  communion  maintain  this  view, 
and  accordingly  the  Papal  document  only  declares  what 
they  already  hold.  They  do  not  require,  and  they  have  not, 
a  valid  priesthood,  as  they  acknowledge  no  altar  and  no 
sacrifice.  But  there  are  others  who  claim  a  real  priesthood 
and  true  sacrifice,  and  who  maintain  that  their  orders  have 
VOL.  XVII.  3  P 


962  The  Papal  Bull  on  Anglican  Orders 

come  ID  an  uninterrupted  succession  from  Christ  and  the 
Apostles.  These  believe  in  the  real  presence,  in  a  true 
sacrifice,  and  in  forgiveness  of  sins  by  the  ministry  of  men 
who  have  received  their  commission  from  Christ.  Nothing 
has  occurred,  they  say,  to  prevent  the  legitimate  transmission 
of  these  supernatural  powers.  The  heart  of  every  Catholic 
goes  out  in  sympathy  with  them,  and  one  is  inclined  to  ask: 
What  will  be  the  effect  of  the  Papal  document  on  them? 
Will  they  follow  that  kindly  light  which  will  lead  them  to 
the  place  where  a  valid  priesthood  and  uninterrupted  succes- 
sion may  with  certainty  be  found  ? 

Whatever  the  effect  may  be,  it  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest 
concern  that  there  should  be  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
issue  at  stake,  and  that  there  should  be  straightforward 
speech.  On  this  head  the  Papal  declaration  leaves  nothing 
to  be  desired.  It  is  clear  and  precise,  and  well  reasoned, 
yet  moderate,  and  full  of  charity  and  consideration.  The 
Anglican  party  has  had  a  fair  hearing,  and  whatever  hasty 
expressions  may  now  be  used  as  the  natural  result  of 
disappointment,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  before  the 
declaration  those  who  argued  in  favour  of  the  validity  of 
Anglican  Orders  were  fully  heard,  and  well  represented  on 
the  Commission  of  Inquiry  nominated  by  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff. 

The  Pope  tells  us  that  "  extreme  care"  was  to  be  taken 
in  this  new  examination,  so  that  all  doubt,  or  even  shadow 
of  doubt,  should  be  removed  for  the  future.  Accordingly, 
the  document  says  : — 

"  We  commissioned  a  certain  number  of  men  noted  for  their 
learning  and  ability,  whose  opinions  in  this  matter  were  known 
to  be  divergent,  to  state  the  grounds  of  their  judgment  in 
writing." 

The  following  are  the  members  of  the  Commission  :— 
Cardinal  Mazzella,  President ;  Mgr.  Merry  del  Val,  Secre- 
tary;  Dr.  Gasquet,  O.S.B.  ;  Canon  Moves ;  Father 
David,  O.S.F.;  Father  Llevaneras,  Father  Scannell ; 
Mgr.  Gasparri,  M.  I/ Abbe  Duchesne ;  Father  de  Augus- 
tinis,  S.  J.  The  opinions  of  the  members  of  this  Commission 
were  known  to  be  divergent.  Dr.  Gasquet,  Canon  Moyes, 


The  Papal  Bull  on  Anglican  Orders  963 

and  Father  David  maintained  the  invalidity  of  Anglican 
Orders  ;  M.  L'Abbe  Duchesne  and  Father  de  Augustinis 
defended  the  validity ;  Father  Scannell  took  a  different  view 
of  the  Bull  of  Paul  TV.  from  Canon  Moyes ;  Mgr.  Gasparri 
regarded  them  as  doubtfully  valid.  It  does  not  appear  what 
were  the  views  of  Father  Llevaneras. 

The  members  of  this  Commission  were  called  before  the 
Holy  Father,  and  were  directed  to  interchange  writings,  and 
to  investigate  and  discuss  all  that  was  necessary  for  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  matter  ;  all  the  documents  that  were 
known  to  exist  at  the  Vatican  bearing  on  this  subject  were 
placed  at  their  disposal ;  they  were  allowed  to  search  for 
new  ones,  and  even  to  examine  all  acts  relating  to  this 
subject  which  are  preserved  by  the  Holy  Office ;  they  were 
also  to  consider  whatever  had  been  adduced  by  learned  men 
on  both  sides.  They  were  then  ordered  to  meet  in  special 
sessions.  There  were  twelve  of  these  sessions  held,  and  all 
were  invited  to  free  discussion  under  the  presidency  of 
Cardinal  Mazzella.  Finally,  it  was  ordered  that  the  acts  of 
these  meetings,  together  with  all  other  documents,  should 
be  submitted  to  the  cardinals  of  the  Supreme  Council,  so 
that  when  all  had  studied  the  whole  subject,  and  discussed 
it  in  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Father,  each  might  give  his 
opinion.  When  the  matter  had  been  "  long  and  carefully  " 
considered,  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Council  held  a 
meeting,  specially  convened  for  the  Feria  V.,  the  16th  day 
of  July,  the  Feast  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel.  The 
Pope  himself  presided.  At  this  meeting  it  was  unanimously 
agreed  : — 

"  That  the  question  laid  before  them  had  been  already  adjudi- 
cated upon  with  full  knowledge  of  the  Apostolic  See,  and  that 
this  renewed  discussion  and  examination  of  the  issues  had  only 
served  to  bring  out  more  clearly  the  wisdom  and  accuracy  with 
which  that  decision  had  been  made." 

The  Pope  postponed  his  decision,  "  in  order,"  as  he  says, 
"to  afford  time,  both  to  consider  whether  it  would  be  fitting 
or  expedient  that  we  should  make  a  fresh  authoritative 
declaration  upon  the  matter,  and  to  humbly  pray  for  a  fuller 
measure  of  divine  guidance."  Considering  then,  that  "a 


964  The  Papal  Bull  on  Anglican  Orders 

pernicious  error  might  be  fostered  in  the  minds  of  many 
who  might  suppose  that  they  possessed  the  Sacrament  and 
effects  of  Orders  where  these  are  nowise  to  be  found,"  it 
seemed  good  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  to  pronounce  his 
judgment. 

This  judgment  is  final :  it  comes  to  us  with  the  authority 
of  the  Vicar  of  Christ :  it  has  been  the  result  of  extreme 
care,  and  the  reasons  on  which  the  judgment  is  grounded 
are  given  in  the  Bull  itself. 

There  has  been  comparatively  little  discussion  on  the 
theological  principles  involved  during  the  controversy  on 
Anglican  Orders ;  if  any  one  essential  was  wanting,  then 
Anglican  Orders  were  invalid  :  if  there  was  any  uncertainty 
about  any  essential  element,  it  was  enough  to  render  them 
doubtful.  It  was  necessary  for  those  who  maintained  the 
validity  of  Anglican  Orders  to  show  that  there  was  no 
essential  element  wanting,  and  that  there  could  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  about  anything  that  was  necessarily 
required.  On  the  other  hand,  to  show  their  invalidity  it  was 
sufficient  to  prove  the  absence  of  even  one  essential.  When 
the  question  was  asked,  which  element  was  wanting,  or 
about  which  could  there  be  a  reasonable  doubt,  the  same 
answer  was  not  given  by  all  writers.  Some  appear  to  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  Anglican  Orders  were  invalid 
from  every  point  of  view,  and  to  look  with  suspicion  on 
anyone  who  may  hold  that  such  was  not  the  case.  This 
was  an  extreme  and  mistaken  view,  and  has  received  no 
countenance  from  the  Papal  document.  Anglican  Orders 
are,  no  doubt,  "  absolutely  null  and  utterly  void  ;  "  but  it  is 
not  stated  that  they  are  so  from  every  point  of  view. 

It  was  then  in  the  application  of  theological  principles 
that  differences  of  opinion  chiefly  arose.  Some  held  that 
the  defect  arose  from  the  want  of  a  subject  capable  of 
receiving  at  least  Episcopal  orders  ;  for  they  argued  that 
Episcopal  Orders  could  not  be  received  by  a  person  who 
has  not  been  validly  ordained  priest,  since  the  Episcopate 
is  a  completion  of  the  Priesthood.  According  to  the 
Anglican  rite,  there  is  no  tradition  of  instruments  in  the 
ordination  of  a  priest,  and  accordingly  there  is  no  valid 


The  Papal  Bull  on  Anglican  Orders  965 

Priesthood.  This  was  met,  on  the  other  hand,  by  saying 
that  the  Episcopate  is  a  distinct  order  from  the  Priesthood, 
and  cases  are  on  record  where  even  Popes  were  promoted 
per  saltum  from  the  Diaconate  to  the  Episcopate.  Then, 
again,  it  was  denied  that  the  tradition  of  instruments  is  an 
essential  element :  it  is  only  an  addition  to  the  rite,  and  it 
is  not  in  the  Greek  Church.  •  But  has  the  Church  power 
from  Christ  to  alter  the  matter  and  form,  and  to  effect  what 
may  be  a  sufficient  rite  in  one  place  to  be  insufficient  in 
another  ?  And  has  it  not  only  the  power,  but  has  it 
exercised  that  power  ?  And  if  so,  where,  and  when  ? 

The  Apostolic  Letter  does  not  discuss  this  aspect  of  the 
case ;  it  purposely  avoids  it,  and  does  not  ground  its  decision 
on  any  want  of  this  kind  ;  for,  in  referring  to  the  decision  of 
the  Holy  See  in  the  case  of  John  Clement  Gordon,  given  in 
solemn  session  on  April  17th,  1704,  by  which  he  was  ordered 
to  be  ordained  from  the  beginning,  and  unconditionally,  to 
all  the  Orders,  the  Papal  Bull  states : — 

"  It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  that  this  judgment  was  in 
no  wise  determined  by  the  omission  of  the  tradition  of  instruments, 
for  in  such  a  case,  according  to  the  established  custom,  the 
direction  would  have  been  to  repeat  the  ordination  conditionally." 

Whatever  may  be  said  theoretically  of  the  necessity  of 
the  tradition  of  the  instruments,  it  has  been  the  established 
custom,  in  case  of  the  omission  of  this  part  of  the  rite,  to 
repeat  the  ordination  conditionally ;  for  in  a  matter  of  such 
importance  the  safest  course  must  be  adopted.  The 
Anglican  Church  in  this  respect  has  not  followed  this  rule. 

Then,  if  the  Anglican  communion  hold  such  loose  views 
regarding  the  necessity  of  Baptism,  as  we  know  it  does  from 
the  decision  of  its  highest  tribunal  in  the  Gorham  case,  how 
can  it  be  trusted  for  valid  Orders  ?  Here  arises  an  element, 
at  least,  of  insecurity  concerning  Anglican  Orders.  But  the 
Papal  pronouncement  is  not  determined  by  this. 

Neither  does  it  refer  to  the  necessary  requisite  of  a  duly 
consecrated  bishop  as  minister  of  the  Sacrament  of  Orders. 
Anglican  Orders,  such  as  they  are,  find  their  source  in 
Parker ;  if  Parker  was  not  a  bishop,  then  he  could  not 
administer  the  Sacrament  of  Orders,  and  all  Orders  derived 


966  The  Papal  Bull  on  Anglican  Orders 

from  him  are  invalid.  A  considerable  number  of  writers 
maintained  that  this  necessary  condition  was  wanting  either 
because  the  ceremony  of  consecrating  Parker  was  never 
performed,  or,  granting  that  it  was  performed,  it  was  done 
by  Barlow,  who  was  himself  never  consecrated.  Then 
with  Barlow  were  associated  three  Assistant-Bishops,  one 
of  whom,  Hodgkins,  was  a  duly  consecrated  prelate  according 
to  the  Eoman  Pontifical.  Are  the  Assistant-Bishops  co- 
consecrators  ?  Are  they  present  riot  only  to  witness  the 
due  performance  of  the  ordination  rite,  but  also,  lest  by 
any  possibility  there  may  be  some  defect  in  the  conse- 
crating Bishop,  do  they  perform  whatever  is  essential  in 
the  rite  ?  Whatever  probability  the  opinion  which  answers 
yes  has,  is  not  much  consolation  in  the  event  of  Barlow  not 
being  a  bishop. 

But  the  Papal  Bull  chiefly  dwells  on  the  insufficiency  of 
the  rite  according  to  the  Edwardine  Ordinal.  Here  there  is 
a  clear  issue,  and  there  can  be  no  ambiguity  about  the 
declaration :  "  Ordinations  carried  on  according  to  the 
Anglican  rite  have  been  and  are  absolutely  null  and  utterly 
void."  There  is,  then,  some  essential  element  wanting  in 
the  Anglican  rite.  Which  is  that  element  ? 

We  distinguish  in  any  sacramental  rite  that  part  which 
is  ceremonial  from  that  part  which  ^essential.  The  latter 
is  usually  called  the  matter  and  form.  The  Sacraments  of 
the  New  Law  are  sensible  and  efficient  signs  of  grace  ;  they 
ought  to  signify  the  grace  which  they  effect,  and  effect  the 
grace  which  they  signify.  If  they  do  not  signify  the  grace 
which  they  effect,  then  they  are  not  instituted  by  Christ, 
and  are  not  Sacraments  of  the  New  Law.  This  significa- 
tion is  found  chiefly  in  the  form  ;  it  is  the  form  determines 
the  matter,  and  puts  it  into  the  category  of  a  sacramental 
rite.  If  the  rite,  especially  the  form,  does  not  signify  the 
grace  which  the  sacrament  is  instituted  to  confer,  then  it  is 
wanting  in  this  essential  for  a  valid  sacrament. 

Applying  these  principles  to  the  Sacrament  of  Orders,  it 
is  inferred  that  the  matter  and  form  of  the  sacrament  should 
signify  the  grace  and  character  of  Orders.  The  matter,  so  far 
as  it  is  to  be  considered  here,  is  the  imposition  of  hands,  which 


The  Papal  Ball  on  Anglican  Orders  967 

in  itself  signifies  nothing  definite.  It  must  be  determined  in 
its  signification  by  the  form.  What,  then,  is  the  grace  or 
power  which  the  Sacrament  of  Orders  gives  ?  It  is  chiefly 
the  power* 'of  consecrating  and  of  offering  the  true  body 
and  blood  of  the  Lord."  x  "  Do  this  for  a  commemoration  of 
Me,"  are  the  words  of  Christ  after  the  first  consecration  at 
the  Last  Supper.  That  sacrifice  is  not  a  "  nude  commemo- 
ration of  the  sacrifice  offered  on  the  cross."2  Now,  does 
the  Anglican  form  in  the  least  give  expression  to  this  idea  ? 
That  form  runs  thus  :  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost :  whose 
sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins 
thou  dost  retain,  they  are  retained.  And  be  thou  a  faithful 
dispenser  of  the  Word  of  God  and  of  His  Holy  Sacraments," 
&c. 

There  is  nothing  in  it  to  express  the  idea  of  a  sacrifice. 
On  the  contrary,  even  though  we  suppose  that  the  words  in 
themselves  could  signify  implicitly  the  idea  of  consecrating 
and  offering  sacrifice,  it  is  expressly  excluded  from  their 
signification  in  the  Anglican  rite  ;  for  every  vestige  of  a  true 
priesthood  and  sacrifice  was  scrupulously  erased  from  the 
liturgy,  and  the  new  bishops  subscribed  to  the  following 
articles  : — 

"  The  wicked,  and  such  as  be  void  of  a  lively  faith,  although 
they  do  so  carnally  and  visibly  press  with  their  teeth  (as  St. 
Augustine  saith)  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ, 
yet  in  no  wise  are  they  partakers  of  Christ,  but  rather  to  their 
condemnation,  do  eat  and  drink  the  sign  or  sacrament  of  so 
great  a  thing."3 

And  again  : — 

"  Wherefore  the  sacrifices  of  masses  in  the  which  it  was 
commonly  said  that  the  priest  did  offer  Christ,  for  the.  quick  and 
the  dead,  to  have  remission  of  pain  or  guilt,  were  blasphemous 
fables,  and  dangerous  deceits."  4 

Nothing,  therefore,  could  be  clearer  than  the  exclusion 
from  the  Anglican  rite  of  that  very  idea  which  the 
sacramental  rite  ought  essentially  to  signify  ;  and  it  is  a 

1  Council  oi  Trent,  Sess.  xxiii.,  Can.  1. 

2  Ibid.,  Sess.  xxii.,  Can.  3. 

3  xxix.  4xxxi. 


968 


The  Papal  'Bull  on  Anglican  Orders 


notorious  fact  that  this  idea  bore  fruit  in  the  wholesale 
destruction  of  our  Catholic  altars.  This  form  had  added  to 
it  a  century  later,  the  words,  "for  the  office  and  work  of  a 
priest,"  &c. 

"  But  even  [says  the  Apostolic  letter]  if  this  addition  could 
give  to  the  form  its  true  significance,  it  was  introduced  too  late, 
as  a  century  had  already  elapsed  since  the  adoption  of  the 
Edwardine  Ordinal,  for  as  the  hierarchy  had  become  extinct, 
there  remained  no  power  of  ordaining." 

Then  as  to  having  recourse  to  the  prayers  in  the  ordinal 
for  a  valid  form,  putting  aside  other  reasons  :— 

"  Let  [says  Leo  XIII. ]  this  argument  suffice  for  all  :  from 
them  has  been  deliberately  removed  whatever  sets  forth  the 
dignity  and  office  of  the  priesthood  in  the  Catholic  rite." 

The  same  reasoning  applies  to  the  rite  for  ordaining 
a  bishop.  The  Episcopate  constitutes  the  sacerdotium, 
in  the  highest  degree,  and  from  the  Anglican  rite  were 
utterly  eliminated  the  Sacrament  of  Orders  and  the  true 
sacerdotium  of  Christ. 

It  is  irrelevant  to  introduce  the  different  forms  which 
were  in  use  in  the  several  liturgies  of  the  Church,  or  the 
differences  of  Catholic  theologians  as  to  what  constitutes 
the  form  in  the  Sacrament  of  Orders.  It  would  be  more  to 
the  point  if  it  could  be  shown  that  any  form  was  recognised 
as  valid  from  which  every  vestige  of  the  Beal  Presence  and 
a  true  sacrifice  was  utterly  wdped  out. 

This  defect  of  form  is  the  foundation  of  the  condemnation 
of  Anglican  Orders  as  invalid,  and  in  the  decree  itself, 
reference  is  made  to  it  alone — "ordinations,  according  to  the 
Anglican  rite,  are  absolutely  null  and  utterly  void."  But 
from  this  defect  of  form,  it  follows  that  there  is  also  a  defect 
of  intention.  It  will  make  this  view  of  the  case  clear,  by 
quoting  the  words  of  the  Bull : — 

"  Cum  hoc  igitur1  intimo  formae  defectu,  conjunctus  est 
defectus  intentionis,  quam  aeque  necessario  postulat,  ut  sit, 
sacramentum." 

The  word  "igitur,"  implies  that  the  defect  of  intention 

1  The  word  "  igitur,"  is  not  translated  in  some  English  translations. 


The  Papal  Bull  on  Anglican  Orders  969 

follows,  as  a  consequence,  the  defect  of  form;  and  the  Papal 
Bull  pretty  clearly  states  that  had  there  been  no  defect  of 
form  there  would  not  be  a  defect  of  intention;  for  it  says : — 

"  When  anyone  has  rightly  and  seriously  made  use  of  the  due 
form,  and  the  matter  requisite  for  effecting  or  conferring  the 
Sacrament,  he  is  considered  by  the  very  fact  to  do  what  the 
Church  does." 

This  aspect  of  the  question,  considering  the  intention  in 
itself  as  an  element  distinct  from  the  rite,  was  discussed  in 
the  I.  E.  RECCED.*  It  will  not  be  necessary  now  to 
examine  why  an  intention  is  required,  nor  what  kind  of  an 
intention  is  necessary  ;  nor  to  apply  these  principles  to  the 
care  of  Barlow  on  the  supposition  that  the  rite  he  employed 
was  sufficient.  So  far  as  its  bearing  on  Anglican  Orders  is 
concerned,  it  is  only  a  supposition  which  is  not  realized  in 
fact ;  but  a  right  understanding  of  this  aspect  of  the  doctrine 
of  intention  may  cause  us  to  avoid  inaccurate  statements, 
which,  though  somewhat  natural,  yet  are  not  theological. 
No  matter  what  the  views  or  opinions  of  the  consecrating 
bishop  may  be  regarding  the  Real  Presence  or  the  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  they  do  not  disqualify  him  from  acting  as 
minister  of  Christ,  if  the  rite  employed  be  sufficient.  We 
are  not,  therefore,  to  search  into  the  depths  of  the  mind  of 
the  minister  of  the  sacraments.  Our  chief  concern  is  about 
the  matter  and/orw  used.  If  they  be  sufficient,  and  if  care- 
fully and  seriously  employed,  the  very  fact  is  proof  sufficient 
of  the  intention  on  the  part  of  the  minister  to  do  what  the 
Church  does. 

The  Protestant  Primate,  in  his  address  to  the  Armagh 
Diocesan  Synod,2  does  not  appear  to  have  a  clear  perception 
of  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  Intention,  nor  to  have  read  care- 
fully the  Papal  document ;  for  he  says  the  Papal  argument 
against  the  want  of  sufficient  intention  in  the  Protestant 
Ordination  formularies  imprudently  reminds  one  of  the  far 
more  sweeping  power  of  the  argument,  since  it  destroys 
the  whole  Roman  system,  root  and  branch,  as  is  so 

1  Jan.  1895,  pp.  7-17. 

2  Irish  Times,  Oct.  14,  1896. 


97C  The  Papal  Bull  on  Anglican  Orders 

powerfully   put   by  Archbishop   Bramwell,  whom  he  thus 
quotes  :- 

"  It  leaves  Eome  uncertain  whether  they  have  Holy  Orders  or 
not,  that  is,  whether  they  have  a  Church  or  not.  The  want  of 
intention  in  any  one  Bishop  breaking  the  chain  of  their  succes- 
sion, and  leaving  all  those  who  pretend  to  derive  from  them, 
themselves  without  Holy  Orders." 

There  may  be  some  force  in  this  argument,  if  the  Papal 
document  had  stated  that  heterodox  views  of  a  bishop 
vitiated  the  intention  required  in  him  for  the  valid  perform- 
ance of  the  rite  of  ordination  ;  or  were  it  held  that  we  are  to 
seek  for  other  arguments  of  the  presence  of  sufficient  inten- 
tion besides  the  careful  and  due  performance  of  the  Catholic 
rite.  We  do  not  postulate  a  supernatural  agency  present  at 
each  ordination  to  guard  the  chain  of  succession.  We  depend 
a  good  deal  in  this  matter,  as  in  so  many  others,  on  our 
fellow-man,  on  the  care  with  which  the  sacramental  rites, 
and  chiefly  Ordination,  are  performed  in  the  Catholic 
Church  ;  and  we  do  not  forget  that,  although  indefectibility 
is  not  a  property  of  each  part  of  the  Church,  yet  it  is  of  the 
Church  itself;  and  accordingly  the  power  of  Orders  can 
never  fail  in  it. 

But  the  fact  remains  that  the  rite  was  substantially 
changed,  since  the  form  in  the  Anglican  Ordinal  does  not 
signify  what  it  essentially  should  signify,  and  therefore  there 
is  also  a  defect  of  intention.  For  if  in  the  employment  of 
the  due  matter  and  form  there  is  evidence  of  sufficient 
intention,  so  in  the  substantial  change  of  the  form,  done 
knowingly  and  willingly,  there  is  evidence  of  want  of  inten- 
tion. We  cannot  judge  of  a  person's  intentions  except  by 
his  acts.  This  is  an  axiom  of  law  as  well  as  of  common 
sense.  No  doubt  it  is  theoretically  possible  that  one's 
intentions  could  contradict  one's  acts,  but  it  is  so 
improbable,  that  in  practical  life  it  ought  not  to  be 
considered.  Accordingly,  when  one  does  what  the  Church 
does,  and  what  was  instituted  by  Christ,  one  is  rightly 
considered  to  have  the  intention  of  doing  what  the  Church 
does,  and  what  Christ  instituted.  If  he  does  not  do  what 
the  Church  does,  then  he  has  no  intention  of  doing  so :  if 


fhe  Papal  Bull  on  Anglican  Orders  971 

de  facto,  he  does  not  perform  the  rite  which  Christ 
instituted  to  give  grace,  then  he  has  no  intention  of  doing 
so.  It  is  useless  to  say  he  would  have  performed  that  rite 
had  he  known  it ;  for  this  is  no  intention.  It  is  one  which 
might  have  been  there,  but  is  not.  Now  the  Anglican  rite 
is  not  the  one  which  gives  grace ;  for  there  is  an  essential 
defect  of  form  in  it  ;  therefore  is  induced  the  defect  of 
intention  ;  and  not  only  is  the  necessary  intention  wanting, 
but  the  intention  is  adverse  to  and  destructive  of  the 
Sacrament,  since  the  essential  signification  of  the  form  is 
not  a  mere  want,  but  the  rite  was  so  framed  that  it  could 
not  have  that  signification. 

The  Bull  dwells  at  considerable  length  on  the  previous 
decisions  of  the  Holy  See,  and  the  instructions  of  Julius  III. 
and  Paul  IV.,  to  Cardinal  Pole,  to  deal  with  the  state  of 
affairs  in  the  time  of  Mary,  when  there  were  bishops  who 
were  consecrated  according  to  the  Catholic  rite,  and 
according  to  the  Anglican  rite.  It  also  examines  the 
practice  of  the  Holy  See  regarding  converts  ordained 
according  to  the  Edwardine  Ordinal. 

The  grounds,  then,  of  the  declaration  are  :  1st,  the 
question  was  already  fully  examined,  and  formally  adjudi- 
cated on  with  the  full  knowledge  of  the  Holy  See  ;  2nd, 
there  is  an  inherent  defect  of  form ;  therefore,  3rd,  there  is 
joined  to  this  defect  of  form  a  defect  of  intention. 

The  cause  is  now  ended,  and  Catholics  have  reason  to 
be  grateful  to  the  Holy  See  for  so  graciously  examining 
again  this  question  with  such  extreme  care  and  solicitude, 
and  for  the  charitableness  and  consideration  shown  to  all 
during  its  examination ;  and  we  have  also  cause  for 
thankfulness  in  the  full  and  clear  exposition  of  Catholic 
principles  in  the  Papal  Bull,  and  for  such  a  valuable 
addition  to  our  sources  of  sacramental  theology. 

J.  CROWE. 


972     ] 


CALENDAK  OF  PAPAL  KEGISTEKS1 

THE  article  in  the  I.  E.  KECORD  of  April,  1895,  exposing 
the  chaotic  arrangement  and  ludicrous  blundering  in 
Latin  accidence,  precis,  Canon  Law  terms,  topography  and 
chronology  of  the  Rolls'  Calendar  of  Papal  Registers,  Vol.  I., 
having  been  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  House  of  Commons 
in  the  following  August,  Mr.  Hanbury  (according  to  the 
Times  report),  on  behalf  of  the  Home  Office,  admitted  the 
importance  of  the  subject ;  said  that  "  the  blunder  nullo 
medio*  [  =  by  no  means],  occurring,  as  it  did,  in  connection 
with  an  important  historical  statement,  was  one  which 
should  not  have  been  made  by  any  average  scholar,  and 
was  so  absurd  as  to  be  almost  incredible,"  and  undertook 
to  "  inquire  into  the  matter  in  no  perfunctory  manner." 
With  respect  to  the  chronological  arrangement,  he  tendered 
an  explanation  which  we  shall  deal  with  later  on. 

The  result  was  communicated  at  the  close  of  Nov- 
ember :— 

"  The  Secretary  of  State  has  made  inquiry  into  the  allegations 
of  inaccuracy  in  the  way  in  which  the  Papal  Registers  relating 
to  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  have  been  investigated  and  edited, 
and  has  ascertained  from  the  Public  Record  Office  that,  while 
far  from  admitting  that  all  such  allegations  are  well  founded, 
the  Deputy  Keeper  of  the  Records  is  of  opinion  that  there  is 
sufficient  foundation  for  them  to  justify  steps  being  taken  to 
secure  a  better  supervision  of  the  work  in  future,  and  to  obtain 
for  the  editor  some  assistance  in  certain  portions  of  the  work 
which  require  special  technical  knowledge." 

1  Calendar  of  Entries  in  the  Papal  Registers  relating  to  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.— Papal  Letters.     Vol.  II. ,  A..D.  1305-1342.     Edited  [in  the  Kolls'  Series] 
by  W.  H.  Bliss,  B.C.L.,  1895. 

2  In  connection  herewith,  the  following  may  be  quoted  from  a  eulogistic 
notice  of  Vols.  I.  and  II.  of  the  Calendar  in  the  English  Historical  Review  (July, 
1896,  p.  564)  :   "Attention  has  been  called  ere  now  to  the  mandate  in  which 
Gregory  IX.  is  made  to  say  that  the  Scottish  '  does  not  recognise  the  Roman 
Church  as  its  sole  mother  and  metropolitan.'     Gregory  IX.  thought  that  there 
could  be  degrees  of   recognition,  and  desired  only  to  quicken  the  observation  of 
a  short-sighted  daughter  ;  no  loving  mother  could  interpret  her  child's  defective 
perception  of  the  parental  presence  as  a  cut  direct,  and  his  words,  as  Theiner 
prints    them,  will  not  bear  Mr.   Bliss's  interpretation.      Hinc  est  quod  circa 
Regnum  Scotice  eo  majorem  curam  gerere  teneamur,  quo  fortius  ecclesia  Scoticana 
Romanam  ecclesiam  solam  matrem  et  metropolitanam  nullo  medio  recognoscit." 

These  fine-drawn  sentiments  are  derived,  we  regret  to  say,  from  a  garbled 


Calendar  of  Papal  Registers  973 

The  prefatory  note  to  the  incriminated  volume  sheds 
instructive  light  on  the  character  of  this  inquiry.  "  The 
Deputy  Keeper  of  the  Records,"  we  are  told,  "  has  laid 
down  the  rules  for  the  formation  of  the  Calendar,  and 
has  settled  many  difficulties  which  have  from  time  to 
time  arisen  "  (p.  v.).  The  Deputy  Keeper's  fiat,  accordingly, 
it  was  that  abrogated  the  original  Bolls'  (eleventh)  Instruc- 
tion— that  each  series  was  to  be  chronological — and 
substituted  therefor  the  fortuitous  sequence  of  careless 
copyists.  To  this  selfsame  official — such  are  the  rigid 
ways  of  red  tape — was  entrusted  to  duty  of  inquiring  "  in 
no  perfunctory  manner"  into  charges,  some  of  which 
affected  the  retrograde  novelty  introduced  by  himself !  The 
result  it  was  easy  to  forecast.  After  three  months'  due 
deliberation  (Justice  moves  slowly),  the  Deputy  Keeper 
exonerates  the  Deputy  Keeper,  and  condones  the  editor  ! 
Par  nobile  fratrum.  Under  the  circumstances,  we  are  not 
likely  to  be  informed  whether  any  of  the  "difficulties"  to 
which  we  drew  attention  were  amongst  those  that  owed 
solution  to  the  Deputy  Keeper. 

So  much  for  the  spirit  in  which  the  Home  Office  has 
redeemed  the  pledge  given  by  the  Secretary  to  the  Treasury. 
What  equally  challenges  animadversion  and  protest — the 
grudging  promise  of  amendment  is  neither  retrospective  nor 
comprehensive.  If,  namely,  you  are  interested  in  Papal 
Registers  prior  to  1342  (for  Vol.  II.  appeared  before  the 
discussion  in  Parliament),  you  shall  (the  Record  Office 
bids  you  in  effect)  go  and  rectify  the  blunders  of  the 
summarist  in  the  Vatican  ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  your 
interest  lies  in  Registers  later  than  that  year,  you  may 
(assuming  that  the  promised  assistance  is  competent)  look 

text.  Hinc  est,  quod  cum  circa  regnum  Scoti[a]e  .  .  .  teneamur,  quo  fortius  .  .  . 
recognoseit,  cupientes,  ut  qu[a]e  nos  singularem  patrem  in  spiritualibus  obtinet, 
specialem  a  nobis  recipiat  consolationis  effectum,  tibi  [i.e.  O.,  cardinali]  in 
regno  predicto  plenum  legationis  officium  duximus  committendum,  etc. 
(Theiner,  p.  35).  In  other  words,  cum  is  omitted  as  tautological,  and  quod 
construed  with  teneamur,  instead  of  duximus.  Moreover,  if  Gregory  desired  "  to 
quicken  the  observation  of  a  short-sighted  daughter,"  he  would  have  employed 
the  subjunctive  recognoscat,  not  the  indicative  recognoseit. 

After  this,  it  will  cause  no  surprise  to  find  the  reviewer  declaring  "  it  is 
needless  to  say  that  the  work  to  which  Mr.  Bliss  has  devoted  years  of  patient 
industry  will  stand  a  great  deal  of  testing  and  not  fail  "  t!J  (ib.t  p.  562). 


974  Calendar  of  Papal  Registers 

forward  to  have  the  contents  adequately  dealt  with,  but 
(as  too  much  aid  enervates)  the  dating  you  can  adjust  for 
yourself ! 

A  decision  of  the  kind,  so  vitiated  in  the  source,  so 
manifestly  against  the  weight  of  unassailable  evidence,  so 
palpably  of  intent  to  evade  the  obvious  reparation  of  sub- 
jecting the  published  portions  to  radical  revision,  loth  as  we 
feel  to  slay  the  slain,  leaves  no  option  but  to  demonstrate 
that  the  second  volume,  as  was  to  be  expected,  is  quite  of  a 
piece  with  the  first. 

The  period  included  extends  from  1305  to  1341 
(Clement V.,  1305-1316;  John XXII.,  1316-1334 ;  Nicholas  V., 
antipope,  1328;  Benedict  XII.,  1335-1341 1).  It  has  to  be 
premised  that,  as  explained  respecting  Vol.  I.,  data  for  fully 
testing  the  execution  are  deficient.  In  the  present  instance, 
they  are  appreciably  fewer,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  nearly  all 
cases  where  comparison  would  have  been  possible  with  the 
originals  in  Theiner,  the  so-called  synopses  are  utter  mis- 
nomers. For  example,  the  Constitution  (July  31,  1327) 
regarding  the  union  of  Waterford  and  Lismore  occupies  142 
lines  in  Theiner  (p.  238);  the  synopsis  contains  not  quite 
four  (p.  261).  The  omission  of  twenty  references  to  the 
Monumenta  proves,  furthermore,  that  in  a  matter  demanding 
nothing  beyond  the  most  perfunctory  attention,  no  serious 
effort  has  been  made  to  secure  completeness. 

To  show  the  importance  of  the  matter  thus  passed  over, 
take  the  following.  March  13, 1308  :— "  To  Thomas,  Cardinal 
of  St.  Sabina's.  Decree  that  the  benefices  held  by  him  in 
commendam  .  .  .  shall,  on  his  death,  revert  to  their  original 
state,  and  that  the  Pope  shall  not  exerise  rights  of  patronage 
over  them"  (p. 48).  The  English  words  we  have  placed  in  italics 
enunciate  principles  of  Canon  Law  respecting  the  voidance 
and  apostolic  reservation  of  benefices  which  one  will  scarcely 
discover  inside  or  outside  the  Corpus  Juris.  The  text  will 
be  found  in  Theiner  (p.  177-8)  ;  the  words  regarding  the 
vacancy  being:  statim  te  sive  apud  sedern  Apostolicam,  sive 
ubicumque  alibi  cedente,  vel  decedente,  seu  ea  quomodolibet 

1  As  Benedict  died  April  25,  1342,  "  1305-1342"  of  tne  title-page  probably 
signifies  that  no  Letters  relating  to  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  were  issued  during 
the  A.D.  of  his  demise, 


Calendar  of  Papal  Registers  975 

dimittente,  in  statum  pristinum  revertantur.  What  is 
chiefly  notable  here,  we  need  scarcely  remind  our  readers,  is 
the  derogation  from  the  law  respecting  collation  to  benefices 
void  by  the  holders  dying  at  the  Curia. 

The  portion  regarding  papal  patronage  is  expressed, 
in  a  not  unusual  way,  by  ablatives  absolute,  with  qualifying 
clauses,  inserted  between  the  subject  and  the  verb.  We 
quote  it  at  foot,1  but,  for  the  benefit  of  official  scholars,  the 
meaning,  in  brief,  is  that,  when  the  benefices  became  vacant, 
those  who  had  the  right  of  collation  or  presentation  could 
exercise  same,  notwithstanding  papal  decrees  enacted  by 
Clement  V.,  or  his  predecessors,  or  to  be  enacted  by 
Clement,  touching  benefices  void,  or  to  be  void,  by  decease 
at  the  Curia,  unless  such  future  decrees  included  by  special 
mention  the  benefices  thus  held  by  the  cardinal.  This 
renunciation,  it  may  be  observed  in  passing,  partial  though 
it  was,  strikingly  attests  the  anomalous  and  objectionable 
character  of  holding  in  commendam. 

This  portion  may  fittingly  conclude  with  characteristic 
specimens  of  reference.  At  p.  442,  a  twelve-line  precis  is 
given  of  an  indult  on  folio  147cZ,  Vol.  ex.,  with  "  Theiner,  190  " 
at  the  end.  Now  Theiner  professes  to  copy  (not  from  folio 
147d,  but)  from  folio  149 ;  and,  in  proof,  instead  of 
4'  England,  Wales,  and  Ireland "  of  the  summary,  gives 
11  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,and  Wales."  On  the  same  page, 
synopses  are  found  of  three  indults  :  the  first  of  March  28, 
the  other  two  not  dated,  taken  respectively  from  folio  147cZ, 
148,  149,  Vol.  ex.  "  Theiner,  190  "  is  appended  to  the  two 
first;  "Theiner,  191,"  to  the  third.  The  Monumenta, 
however,  contains  nothing  taken  from  folio  147,  front  or 
back;  consequently,  has  nothing  to  correspond  with  the  first 

1  Ita  quod  hii,  ad  quos  eorum  collatio,  presentatio,  vel  qu[a]ecumque  alia 
dispositio  pertinet — quibusvis  constitutionibus  aut  reservationibus  per  nos,  aut 
predecessores  nostros,  Romanes  pontifices,  factis,  aut  iam  faciendis  per  nos 
circa  beneficia  apud  dictam  sedem  vacantia  vel  vacatura,  aut  provisionibus,  si 
qu[a]e  per  nos  de  hujusmodi  beneficiis,  qu[a]e  tibi  commeridata  fuerint,  fieri 
forte  contigerit,  nisi  in  litteris  conficiendis  super  hujusmodi  constitutionibus  et 
provisionibus  de  tuo  et  hujusmodi  commendantiumseuprocurantiumnominibus, 
eorumque  ordinibus,  locis  et  dignitatibus  totoque  tenore  presentium  de  verbo 
ad  verbum  plena,  expressa  et  determinata  mentio  habeatur,  nequaquam 
obstantibus— ea  conferre  ac  presentare  ad  ipsa,  et  de  illis  disponere  libere 
valeant,  sicut  prius  (Theiner,  p.  177-8). 


976  Calendar  of  Papal  Registers 

Calendar  precis.  The  indult  of  folio  148  stands  (all  bul 
three  lines)  on  p.  191 ;  that  of  folio  149,  on  p.  190.  Each 
has  the  date,  March  28,  [papal]  year  1  [A.D.  1317]. 

In  proceeding  to  examine  the  execution,  the  Chronology 
rightly  claims  first  notice.  Of  all  the  "  allegations  "  laid 
to  the  charge  of  Vol.  I.,  failure  to  adjust  the  dates  was  the 
sole  one  which  the  Record  Office  mustered  courage  to 
palliate.  "  The  order  followed,"  Mr.  Hanbury  was  instructed 
to  plead  in  the  House  of  Commons,  "  was  that  adopted  also 
by  the  representatives  of  the  French  Government."  The 
chicane — no  other  word  will  characterize  the  proceeding — 
is  worthy  of  the  cause.  Granted  that  the  French  summarists 
had  chosen  such  a  course,  two  wrongs  do  not  make  one  right. 
But  what  are  the  facts?  The  epitomists  in  question,  no 
doubt,  in  the  words  of  the  editor  of  the  Eegisters  of 
Honorius  IV.,  respected  [!]  the  order  of  transcription.1 
This  is  a  course  devoid  of  a  jot  of  justification  (for  why 
perpetuate  what  was  manifestly  pure  chance  ?•) ;  but  it  has 
not  been  dignified  by  being  entitled  Chronology.  On  the 
contrary,  the  error  has  been  practically  rectified  by  a  scheme 
worthy  of  the  characteristic  method,  and  thoroughness,  and 
accuracy  of  French  erudition — a  five-column  index,  setting 
forth  the  date  (in  proper  sequence),  place,  subject,  column- 
number  (the  volumes  are  not  paged),  and  consecutive  number 
of  every  document.  In  the  face  of  all  this,  adopting  the 
confusion  and  omitting  the  readjustment,  the  apologists  of 
the  Record  Office  would  make  believe  that  they  have  followed 
the  French  system  of  Chronology:  their  British  less  than 
half  is  equal  to  the  Gallic  whole  !  An  edifying  exhibition 
of  official  candour. 

We  now  come  to  the  order  that  prevails  in  the  present 
volume.  On  pp.  3-7,  are  twenty-two  dates  of  1306,  ranging 
from  January  to  May  in  the  following  zigzag:  January, 
March,  January,  February,  April,  February,  January, 
February,  March,  February,  March,  February,  May,  April. 
To  enhance  the  clearness  of  this  lucid  arrangement,  a  note 

1  On  a  respecte  dans  le  presente  publication  1'ordre  oft  sont  transcrites 
dans  le  registres  les  bulles  d'Houorius  IV.  (Le  Eegistres  d"1  Honorius  IV.,  par 
Maurice  Prou,  Introduction,  p.  xiii.) 


Calendar  of  Papal  Eegisters  977 

on  p.  1  informs  you  that  "  the  order  of  the  folios  should 
be  "  such  as  that  these  summaries  should  be  placed  between 
January  26  and  June  16  (pp.  11-12),  and  their  places  taken 
by  November  9  and  January  18,  12,  3,15  (pp.  14-15) !  To  the 
non-official  mind  this  very  likely  may  appear  something 
like  the  difference  between  tweedledum  and  tweedledee ; 
but  the  Deputy  Keeper  of  the  Kecords  is  "  far  from  admit- 
ting "  such  an  "  allegation." 

Again,  from  p.  414  to  p.  423,  we  have  "  Kegesta,  Vol.  cix., 
1,  2,  John  XXII.  Secreta;  "  some  ninety  documents.  Will 
it  be  credited  ?  In  no  single  instance  has  the  A.D.  been 
given.  To  continue,  from  p.  423  to  p.  445,  we  have  "  Regesta, 
Vol.  ex.,  1,  2,  3,  4,  John  XXII.  Secreta;"  two  hundred 
Letters,  in  round  numbers.  Two  are  assigned  to  the  A.D.  ; 
thirteen, to  the  fourth  papal  year;  two, to  the  second;  three, to 
the  first.  (To  show  the  sequence,  the  sixth  document  belongs 
to  the  fourth  regnal  year  ;  the  last,  to  the  first !)  In  nine 
cases,  the  A.D.  may  be  got  from  cross  references  ;  about 
five-and-thirty  the  student  can  date  for  himself,  if  he  has 
Theiner  and  leisure  at  disposal.  Say,  one  hundred  and 
seventy  historical  documents  without,  so  far  as  this  volume 
is  concerned,  any  means  (though  the  Kegister  gives  the 
regnal  year  in  every  case)  of  approximating  more  closely 
than  four  years  to  the  respective  dates!  And  yet  officials,  to 
question  whose  personal  veracity  were  doubtless  an  insult, 
are  not  ashamed  to  declare  that  crass  jumbles  like  these  are 
based  on  the  French  method  of  Chronology  ! 

Pudet  haec  opprobria  vobis 
Et  dici  potuisse  et  non  potuisse  refelli. 

But  the  crowning  triumph,  we  venture  to  declare,  has 
been  achieved  in  the  following  : — 

16  John  XXII.  2  Benedict  XII. 

1331,  Sep.  24.  Appointment  of  1336,    Nov.     18.    To    Alan, 

Edmund  of  the  Order  of  Friars  bishop   of    Ardfert,    appointing 

Preachers,  to  the  see  of  Ardfert,  him   to   that  see,  void   by  the 

void  by  death  of  Alan  (p.  351).  death  of  Nicholas  (p.  532). 

Knowing  that  Nicholas  held  Ardfert  from  1288  to  1336, 
and  Alan  from  1336  to  1347,  one  cannot  sufficiently  admire 

VOL.  XVII.  3  Q 


978 


Calendar  of  Papal  Registers 


the  thaumaturgy  that  makes  Alan  dead  in  1331,  and  brings 
him  to  life  and  consecration  in  1336,  when  there  was  no 
vacancy. 

"  In  1341,"  writes  a  mere  Irish  scribbler  named  Ware, 
"while  he  [Alan]  was  in  possession  of  this  see  [Ardfert], 
Pope  Benedict  the  12th  conferred  it  upon  Edmund  de 
Caermarthen,  a  Dominican  frier,  as  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Alan.  But  Alan  being  alive,  that  provision  could  not  take 
effect"  (Bishops,  p.  521). 

The  present  position  of  Edmund's  appointment,  an 
undergraduate  might  see,  is  owing  to  one  of  two  causes. 
The  Bull  was  either  tampered  with,  by  substituting  the 
name  and  year  of  John  for  those  of  Benedict  (to  remove 
the  stigma  from  the  Curia  of  the  reigning  pope) ;  or  was 
inserted  intact,  through  mere  oversight.  Either,  or  both, 
of  the  alternatives  must  be  allowed  to  have  won  supreme 
honour  for  British  official  scholarship. 

Nee  deinde  relinquet 
Par  decus  eloquio  cuiquam  sperare  nepotum. 

One  notable  omission  demands  notice.  Ideler  was  the 
first  to  point  out  that  the  so-called  Papal  Indiction  (com- 
mencing, namely,  not  in  September,  but  with  the  year  that 
began  on  Dec,  25,  Jan.  1,  or  March  25)  was  misnamed ; 
the  Popes  sometimes  using  one,  sometimes  the  other.1 
The  Registers  supply  fresh  confirmation  of  this  discovery. 
A  grant  of  Clement  III.  (ratified  by  John  XXII.  in  1320)  is 
dated  Nov.  15,  Indiction  VII.,  Incarnation  year  1188.(Theiner, 
p.  215).  By  the  ordinary  rule,2  the  Indiction  in  question 
was  VI.  The  Indiction  employed  was,  consequently, 
advance  of  the  A.D. — in  other  words,  began  in  Septeml 

1  Man  es  auch  im  Occident  bequem  fand,  sie  [die  Indiction]   an  die  Jahr- 
epoche  zu  kniipfen,  und  sie  nach  Verschiedenheit  derselben  bald  mit  dem  25 
December,  bald  mit  dem  1  Januar,  bald  sogar  mit  dem  25  Marz  wechseln  zu 
lassen.  .  .  .  Nur  so  viel  ist  gewiss,  dass  sie  nicht  vorzugsweise  in  den  Bullen 
der    Papste    vorkommt,   daher  de  Benennung  der  papstlichen  oder   romisekm 
Indiction,   die  man  ihr  gewohnlich  beilegt,   nicht  passend  gewalt  ist.      Wir 
"wollen  sie  lieber  die  Indiction  mit  dem  Jaliranfunye  nennen.       Die  Papste  .   .  . 
haben  die  Indictionen  bald  so,  bald  anders  genommen. 

(Handbuch  der  matJt.  if.  tech.  Chronologic,  ii.  363.) 

2  Add  3  and  divide  by  15  :    the  remainder  is   the   Indiction;  if  nothing 
remains,  the  Indiction  is  XV. 


Calendar  of  Papal  Eegisters  979 

But  the  matter  lay  outside  the  summarist's  historical  ambit, 
and  is  consequently  omitted  (p.  208). 

Latin  accidence  next  demands  attention.  July  23, 1307, 
Ki chard  [Havering],  archbishop-elect  of  Dublin,  got  license 
"to  postpone  his  consecration  for  two  years,  and  then,  on 
leaving  the  Eoman  Court,  to  receive  it  "  (p.  25).  The  text 
is :  ex  nunc,  quandocumque  volueris,  liceat  tibi  de  Curia 
Komana  recedere.  Outside  the  Public  Record  Office,  nunc 
signifies  now,  not  then. 

Aug.  3,  1307,  the  same  Richard  obtained  an  Indult  "  to 
retain  for  five  years  all  his  benefices,  and  to  collate  to  them 
when  he  pleases  at  the  end  of  that  peried"  [sic]  (p.  26). 
More  official  Canon  Law, — to  fill  up  no  parochial  vacancy 
for  five  years !  But  the  Curia,  naturally,  conceded  no  licence 
of  the  kind.  He  was  to  retain  the  benefices  as  regards  the 
fruits  (retinere  .  .  .  ac  fructus  percipere) ;  collating  mean- 
while fit  persons  (who  were,  it  was  superfluous  to  state,  to 
receive  the  vicarial  fourth)  thereto  (conferendi  interim 
.  .  .  predicta  beneficia,  .  .  .  singula  videlicet  singulis  per- 
sonis  ydoneis,  Theiner,  p.  176). 

On  the  same  page,  we  read  that  Walter  [Jorse]  "  is  to  be 
consecrated"  [archbishop  of  Armagh],  and  "  is  to  receive 
the  pallium."  The  Latin  is  in  the  past,  not  future:  fecimus 
munus  consecrationis  impendi ; .  . .  palleum  fecimus  exhiberi 
(Theiner,  p.  176).  Similarly,  "  is  appointed  to  consecrate  " 
(p.  97)  represents  fecimus  consecrari  (Theiner,  p.  185).  "He 
is  to  be  consecrated"  occurs  without  a  reference  (p.  148). 
The  Bull,  notwithstanding,  is  in  the  Monumenta  ;  the  words 
in  question  being :  prefecimus  in  episcopus  [-um]  .  .  .  tibique 
subsequenter  .  .  .  facientes  munus  consecrationis  impendi 
(p.  195). 

The  bishop  of  Ross  (Scotland)  was  empowered  (June  1, 
1317)  to  dispense  Edward  Bruce  and  Isabella,  "  who  have 
intermarried,  to  remain  in  the  marriage  they  have  contracted  " 
(p.  156).  This  is  directly  at  variance  with  the  original :  the 
marriage  was  mooted,  but  could  not  take  place  without 
dispensation;  hence  the  mandate:  Tractatus.  fuit  habitus 
quod  .  .  matrimonialiter  copularentur :  sed  .  .  contrahere  ne- 
qusunt  dispensatione  .  .  noil  obtenta  .  .  .  Nos  .  .  mandamus 


980  Calendar  of  Papal  Registers 

quatenus  .  .  .  matrimonium  hujusraodi  contrahere  valeant 
in   sic   contracto   licite   remanere   .    .    dispensare   precures 
[procures]   (Theiner,  p.  195). 

August  16,  1322,  Mandate  was  issued  respecting  charges 
brought  against  Koland  [Jorse],  archbishop  of  Armagh. 
Of  the  errors  in  the  summary,  the  chief  is  :  "  he  is  charged 
with  .  .  .  bloodshed,  adultery,  and  incest  "  (p.  219).  These 
crimes,  it  is  a  relief  to  find,  are  not  imputed  as  personal  : 
churches,  complainants  alleged,  were  polluted  by  bloodshed; 
laics  are  said  to  perpetrate  adultery  and  incest,  from  his 
culpable  deficiency  in  being  unable,  having  no  knowledge  of 
Irish,  to  rebuke  such  delinquents.  Ob  ipsius  negligentiam 
et  defectum  .  .  .  ecclesi[a]e  .  .  .  sunt  sanguinis  effusione 
pollut[a]e  .  .  .  Laici  .  .  .  reatum  adulterii  et  incestus 
perpetrare  dicuntur,  ob  culpam,  defectum  et  negligentiam 
archiepiscopi  rnemorati,  cum  verbum  non  habeat  arguendi 
et  increpandi  taliter  delinquentes,  utpote  linguae  Iber- 
nic[a]e  noticiam  nullam  habens  (Theiner,  p.  244). 

Edward  II.  is  made  to  say  that  his  envoys  "  are  sent 
to  pray  the  Pope  to  forego  the  payment  of  the  yearly  cess  " 
(p.  443-4).  The  words  are :  ad  excusandum  nos  super 
solutione  annui  census  .  ,  .  non  facta  (Theiner,  p.  193) ; 
signifying  that  the  envoys  were  (not  to  ask  the  Pope  to 
forego  payment,  but)  to  plead  the  king's  excuse  for  delay 
in  paying  (Theiner,  p.  193).  The  minimum  of  diligence 
would  have  led  to  the  sense.  For  in  the  same  summary 
we  have  the  envoys  "  binding  themselves  on  behalf  of  the 
king  "  to  pay  the  arrears  (p.  444),  and  (not  to  travel  beyond 
the  page)  the  next  item  but  two  is  a  papal  receipt  to  the 
king  of  the  past  year's  cess  paid  by  these  envoys. 

We  proceed  to  illustrate  the  supervision  employed. 

July  10,  1307,  Kichard  [Havering]  was  appointed 
Dublin,  "  reserved  to  the  Pope,  notwithstanding  which  the 
dean  and  chapter  of  St. Patrick's,  being  divided,  have  elected, 
some  Richard,  and  others  Nicholas  de  Butiler "  (p.  25). 
•But  the  reservation,  it  is  well  known,  was  'restricted :  pro  hac 
vice.  That  Nicholas  was  elected  by  some  of  the  chapter  of 
St.  Patrick's,  Ware  and  Harris  did  not  find  in  the  "  original 
Bull  .  .  .  sub  plumbo  [which]  yet  remains  among  the 


Calendar  of  Papal  Registers  981 

archives  of  Christ  Church,  Dublin  "  (Bishops,  p.  328).  He 
was  the  selection,  so  they  read  it,  of  the  prior  and  convent 
of  Holy  Trinity.  Thus  too  the  Eegister :  Prior  et 
Conventus  Sanct[a]e  Trinitatis,  ac  Decanus  et  Capitulum 
Sancti  Patricii  .  .  .  insimul  convenerunt  .  .  .  duas  ibi 
contigit  electiones,  unam  videlicet  de  te  [Eichardo]  per 
Decanum  et  Capitulum  et  alterum  de  .  .  .  Nicolao  .  .  .  per 
Priorem  et  Conventum  (Theiner,  p.  175). 

Eichard,  we  read  (p.  25),  got  likewise  (July  23, 1307)  licence 
to  receive  the  diaconate;  in  another  licence  (Oct.  8,  1809), 
he  is  given  as  "  in  deacon's  orders  when  elected"  (p.  60). 
But  at  his  election  he  was  sub-deacon  (qui  es  in  subdiacon- 
atus  ordine  constitutus,  Theiner,  p.  177) ;  he  received  the 
diaconate  before  the  issue  of  the  second  Indult  (qui  es  in 
diaconatus  ordine  constitutus,  ib.,  p.  180). 

March  5,  1322,  Maurice  was  appointed  to  Dunblane, 
"the  litigation  consequent  on  the  discordant  elections  of 
Maurice  and  of  Master  Eoger  .  .  .  having  been  terminated 
by  Maurice's  resignation  "  (p.  221).  Why,  then,  one  natu- 
rally inquires,  was  the -see  not  given  to  Eoger?  He  like- 
wise, if  we  credit  the  Bull,  tendered  his  resignation  :  tu 
[Mauritius]  et  Eogerius  .  .  .  resignastis  (Theiner,  p.  216). 

March  28,  1328,  Mandate  was  issued  to  liberate  the  dean 
and  canons  of  Cloyne  (imprisoned  by  William  Fitz  John,  the 
metropolitan).  The  summary  has  it  that,  on  the  death  of 
Nicholas  [de  Effingham,  1280-1320],  the  dean  was  appointed 
by  the  Pope  to  the  see  (p.  223).  But,  on  p.  220,  we  find 
the  appointment  (Oct.  2,  1321)  of  "Maurice,  archdeacon  of 
Cloyne,  to  that  see,  void  by  the  death  of  Nicholas  ";  on 
p.  241,  collation  (Dec.  1,  1324)  of  Nicholas  Lager,  canon  of 
Cork,  "  to  the  canonry,  prebend,  and  archdeaconry  of 
Cloyne,  void  by  the  consecration  of  Maurice,  bishop  of  the 
same."  (Maurice  O'Sullivan,  1320-1334.) 

Benedict  XII.  is  represented  as  quoting  from  Letters  of 
John  XXII.,  dated  Sep.  16,  year  17,  that  Durham,  Carlisle, 
and  part  of  York  dioceses  were  taxed  anew  at  "£2,000 
lessening  the  ancient  valuation,"  and  that,  as  the  benefices 
"  have  not  recovered  from  the  devastations  caused  by  the 
wars,  the  tenth  is  to  be  exacted  for  four  years  according  to 


982  Calendar  of  Papal  Registers 


the 


the  new  taxation"  (p.  568).  In  the  synopsis,  however,  the 
date  is  Sept.  14  ;  the  benefices  "were  valued  at  .£2,000  less 
than  before;"  the  new  taxation  is  conditional:  "if  these 
benefices  have  not  fully  recovered  "  (p.  509). 

An  Arithmetic  ad  usum  officialium,  it  may  be  inferred 
from  the  following,  is  kept  in  the  Public  Eecord  Office. 
1,150  florins,  "  at  the  rate  of  3s.  5%d.  a  florin,"  are  equated 
with  "£198  10*.  Id*"  (p.  480).  The  receipt,  we  venture  to 
say,  has  7s.  more.  From  another  synopsis  we  formulate  a 
sum  in  Addition  (p.  502)  :— 

£  s.  d. 

2,009  9  3 

111  8  7 

200  0  0 


£2,321     7  10 

The  total  is  "  value  13,928  florins  I4d.t  at  the  rate  oi 
3s.  4d.  a  florin."  You  can  locate  the  error  of  10s.  by  con- 
sulting folio  172,  Regesta,  Vol.  cxvi.,  in  the  Vatican 
Library. 

Similarly,  on  folio  64  of  Vol.  cxvii.,  you  can  find  out 
whether  the  Camera  took  "  the  sum  of  11,569  florins  2M, 
at  the  rate  of  3s.  2d.  a  florin,"  as  equivalent  to  "£1,833  8s.  7d." 
(p.  507).  The  receipt,  it  is  safe  to  anticipate,  mentioned 
ten  florins  more  than  the  synopsis.  But  it  is  unnecessary 
to  go  to  Eome  to  detect  the  origin  of  4,000  +  4,000  =  12,000 
(p.  493).  Theiner  has  8  in  place  of  the  first  4  (p.  247). 

Of  the  Topography,  the  only  portion  that  presents 
appreciable  difficulty  is  the  Irish.  With  what  diligence 
this  has  been  elucidated  appears  at  a  superficial  glance. 
October  31,  1322,  John  XXII.  confirmed  the  possessions  of 
the  Augustinian  Convent  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  Armagh 
(p.  226).  Seventy  names  of  places  are  mentioned  :  all, 
with  three  exceptions,  are  identified  in  the  Index  by 
"  [Ireland]."  On  the  same  day  (ib.),  John  ratified  an 
Indult  of  possessions  granted  to  the  same  by  Innocent  IV. 
in  1245.  Five-and-forty  localities  are  named  :  with  three 
exceptions,  all  have  "  [Ireland]  "  appended.  Only  this,  and 
nothing  more. 

Killaban  is  set  down  as  in  the  c|iocese  of   St.  Lizier 


Calendar  of  Papal  Registers  983 

(p.  12) !  To  conjecture,  in  the  absence  of  the  text,  from 
Vol.  L,  p.  18  (where  Collabban  [recte,  Cellabbain]  is  rightly 
placed  in  Leighlin),  the  original  is  Leighlinensis,  or  a  variant 
thereof.  But  the  summarises  knowledge  of  his  own  first 
volume  is  so  intimate  as  to  inform  us  in  a  footnote  that 
"  Kyllaban  is  in  the  diocese  of  Kildare  "  ! 

"  John  Petre,  called  de  Balirotheri,  clerk  of  the  diocese 
of  Dublin "  (p.  66),  furnished  no  clue  as  to  where  in 
"[Ireland]"  Balruddery  is.  Accordingly,  one  is  not  surprised 
to  find  that  it  was  beyond  the  synopsist  to  discover 
that  "  Hugh  de  Saltu,  skilled  in  the  law  "  (p.  516),  who  was 
made  canon  of  Dublin,  derived  his  surname  from  the  Latin 
name  of  Leixlip. 

Aug.  28,  1312.  "  To  the  prior  of  St.  Mary's  de  Ponte 
[Fermoy],  in  the  diocese  of  Cloyne,  mandate  to  lay  hands 
on  William  Otorpe,  perpetual  vicar  of  St.  Mary's, 
Souvachgowyn,  in  the  said  diocese"  (p.  101).  In  accord- 
ance with  the  insertion,  the  Index  locates  the  priory  at 
Fermoy,  co.  Cork,  and  distinguishes  it  from  "  St.  Mary's 
Bugeton,  an  Augustinian  house  in  the  diocese  of  Cloyne  " 
(p.  228),  rightly  placed  at  Bridgetown,  same  county.  But  an 
authority  so  accessible  as  the  Taxation  of  Boniface  VIII. 
would  have  shown  that  the  two  are  one.  The  house  that 
stood  close  by  the  present  town  of  Fermoy  was  the  Cistercian 
abbey  de  Castro  Dei  (the  unmeaning  title  is  irrelevant  here) ; 
the  Augustinian  priory  lay  some  seven  miles  westward,  at 
the  confluence  of  Awbeg  and  Black  water.  The  Taxation 
of  Cloyne  gives  them  both  as  in  [the  territory  of]  Fermoy  ; 
that  is,  the  modern  barony  of  Condons  and  Clongibbons.1 

Souvachgowyn  is  indexed  "  Templeroan,  Sonnachgowyn, 
[co.  Cork]."  What  led  to  this  grotesque  identification,  it  is 
bootless  to  inquire.  S  is  a  copyist's  mistake  for  D,  and  g 
for  m ;  the  vicarage  was  Downrnahon,  five  miles  south-east 
of  Templeroan. 

We  have  here,  as  in  the  first  volume,  the  failure  to 
identify  the  place  when  the  name  is  common  to  two 
localities.  June  21st,  1309,  the  archbishop  of  Armagh, 
and  "  the  bishops  of  Ardagh  and  Cloyne  "  were  directed  to 

1  Calendar  of  Documents  relating  to  Ireland,  vol.  v.,  pp.  274-5,  311. 


934  Calendar  of  Papal  Eegisters 


issue  citation  respecting  a  disputed  episcopal  election  of 
Killala  (p.  59).  For  Cloyne,  needless  to  say,  we  have  to 
read  Clonmacnoise. 

Cardinals  Jocelin  and  Luke,  papal  envoys,  got  faculty 
(March  17th,  1217),  to  present  to  benefices  in  (amongst 
other  dioceses)  "  Dublin,  Derry,  Ferns,  Leighlin,  Ossory," 
(p.  128).  The  veriest  tyro  could  readily  perceive  from  the 
context  that  the  four  suffragan  sees  of  Dublin  are  intended, 
whereof  (not  Derry,  but)  Kildare  was  one. 

Respecting  the  Index,  the  chief  drawback,  as  in  Vol. 
is  that  the  names  of  bishops  do  not  appear  either  under  th< 
respective  sees  or  the  proper  letters.  For  instance,  the 
first  three  references  at  Armagh  are  16,  18,  26.  At  p.  16, 
is  the  appointment  of  "  John  [Taaffe],"  after  the  demise  of 
Nicholas  ;  at  p.  18,  Mandate  to  the  archbishop-elect;  at  p. 26, 
appointment  of  Walter,  after  decease  of  John.  Obviously, 
the  proper  way  to  arrange  these  is  :— 

Armagh  :  archbishops  of ; — 
John  [Taaffe] ,  16,  18,  26. 
Nicholas  [MacMaelisa],  16. 
Walter  [Jorse],  26. 

Of  the  three,  the  Index  has  "  Taafe,  John,  16";  the 
summarist  being  unconscious  or  heedless  that  he  is  the 
archbishop  of  p.  18,  and  the  John  of.  p.  26.  What  is  of 
equal,  if  not  greater,  importance,  the  insertion  is  an  admis- 
sion under  his  own  hand  that  the  surnames — a  task  of  slight 
difficulty — should  have  been  supplied  throughout.  "  Taaffe  " 
and  a  few  other  instances  represent  the  extent  of  research 
in  this  direction. 

Nicholas  is  not  given  in  the  Index ;  but,  without  being 
recognised  by  the  synopsist  and  the  official  whom  he 
thanks  "  for  very  valuable  assistance  "  (Pref.,  p.  ii.),  Walter 
reappears.1  He  is  "Jortz,2  Walter,"  who  was  coadjutor  of 
the  bishop  (of  Lincoln),  according  to  a  document  of  Sep- 
tember 10,  1319.  These  details,  we  may  observe,  are  of 
interest  ;  Ware  having  nothing  beyond  conjecture  to  offer 

1  He  is  likewise   the  Walter,   archbishop  of  Armagh,   of  a    Mandate  of 
March  7th,  1320  (p.  249). 

2  Jorsz  is  the  form  in  the  summary. 


Calendar  of  Papal  Registers  985 

regarding  the  history  of  Jorse  after  his  resignation  in  1311 
(Bishops,  p.  80). 

A  few  typical  examples  will  illustrate  the  reliable 
character  of  this  portion : — 

"Aeon,  John  de,  380,  412." 

At  p.  380  (A.D.  1332),  we  find  ."  Isabel,  relict  of  John  de 
Aeon,  citizen  of  London  ;  "  at  p.  412  (A.D.  1334),  "  John  de 
Aeon,  canon  of  Lincoln  "  ! 

The  last  name  but  one  in  the  Index  is  : 

"  Zouch,  William  la,  276  ...  415.  ..." 

On  p.  276  (A.D.  1328),  we  have  William  la  Zouch,  canon  of 
Exeter;  on  p.  415  (first  or  second  year  of  John  XXII.), 
William  de  la  Souche,  knight ! 

As  a  set-off  to  these  cases  of  two  single  gentlemen  rolled 
into  one,  take  the  following  bisections  :— 

"  Bethefed,  William  Swyin  of,  420. 
Blithefield,  Blechefeld,  William  de  Swayn  of,  125. 
Swayn,  William  de,  125. 
Swyn,  „         „  420." 

We  place  the  respective  data  side  by  side  : — 

1316,  September  6.  [1317]  June  2. 

To    William    de    Swayn    of  Mandate   to   cause    William 

Blechefeld.      Provision,   at  re-  Swyin    of    Bethfed,   priest,   to 

quest  of  Philip,  king  of  France  enjoy  the  canonry  of  Lichfield, 

and   Navarre,  of  a  canonry  of  papal  provision  of  which   was 

Lichfield,   with   reservation    of  made  to  him  at  the  request  of 

prebend  (p.   125).  Philip,    king    of    France     and 

Navarre  (p.  420). 

"Dunbar,  Patrick  de,  201. 

„     earl  of  March,  235." 

1320,  Aug.  18.  1324,  Jan.  16. 

To    the     Guardian     of     the  To  Patrick   de  Dunbar,  earl 

Friars      Minors,      Eoscheburc  of  March,  and  Agnes,  his  wife, 

[Roxburgh],      in     the     diocese  daughter  of  Thomas  Arnulphi, 

of  Glasgow.     Commission  .  .  .  earl  of  Moray,  .  .  .  dispensation 

to  grant  dispensation  to  Patrick  to  remain  in  the  marriage  they 


986  Calendar  of  Papal  Eegisters 

deDunbar,  and  Agnes  [daugh-     have    contracted     .         .     The 
ter]  of  Ralph  (p.  201).  Papal    dispensation    addressed 

on  their  behalf  to  the  Guardian 
of  the  Friars  Minors  of  Rokes- 
burgh,  having  been,  etc.  (p.  235). 
"  Heine,  John,  59. 
Heyne,  John,  43." 

1308,  May  19.  1309,  June  21. 

Mandate    to     John    Heyne,         Master   John    Heine,    canon 
canon   of   Killala    (p.  43).  of  Killala  (p.  59). 

An  Index  of  subjects,  occupying  two  paltry  pages  and 
a-half,  without  explanation  of  a  single  technical  or  obsolete 
term,  brings  the  volume  to  a  close. 

Its  value  may  be  judged  from  the  following : — 

"  Affinity  spiritual,  206,  207. 
Agni,  golden,  485. 
Altar  cloths,  417." 

But  it  does  not  include  such  items  as  :— 

Affinity,  different  from  kindred  in  diriment  effect,  299. 
Benedictio  in  articulo  mortis,  235  (and  elsewhere). 

,,  ,,  ,,  not    to    be    made    pretext    to 

commit  more  sins,  304. 

Consuetudinary  (book  of  chapter),  520=  Customary,  529. 
Wax,    offerings   of,    at    shrine    of    St.   Thomas  [Cantalupe], 

Hereford,  531. 
,,       letters  of  Edward  II.  sealed  with  white,  170,  441. 

In  conclusion,  we  deem  it  right  to  state  that  we  have  by 
no  means  exhausted  the  erroneous  material.  Enough,  it  is 
submitted,  has  been  brought  forward  in  the  Article  of  April, 
1895,  and  in  the  present,  to  establish  that  Vols.  I.  and  II.  fail 
of  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  intended. 

We  proceed  to  indicate  the  manner  in  which  the 
mischief  may  best  be  remedied  and  obviated. 

(a)  As  regards  the  portions  published,  let  a  supplementary 
volume  be  compiled,  containing  (with  references  to  volume 
and  page)  corrections  based  on  textual  revision ;  full  synopses 
where  necessary  (with  the  text  in  cases  of  difficulty  and 
doubt) ;  a  chronological  index ;  and  an  index  of  omitted  and 
additional  personal  names  (with  surnames),  local  identifi- 
cations, and  explanations  of  technical  and  obsolete  vocables, 


Calendar  of  Papal  Eegisters  987 

(b)  For  the  forthcoming  part,  let  the  well-conceived 
economy  of  the  Bolls'  Calendars  be  reverted  to; — dates 
placed  on  the  margin  in  normal  sequence — a  method  far 
superior  to  the  cumbrous  and  costly  arrangement  of  the 
French;  documents  numbered  consecutively;  comprehensive 
synopses  ;  finally,  a  General  Index  of  numerical  reference, 
embodying  the  three  features  set  forth  above. 

These  proposals,  which  possess  the  additional  advantage 
that  they  can  be  carried  into  effect  at  a  minimum  of  trouble 
and  expense,  will  result  in  enabling  students  to  derive 
adequately  full  and  reliable  information  respecting  the 
multiform  and  valuable  contents  of  the  Papal  Kegisters. 

For  the  rest,  our  readers  will  not  expect  us  to  deal 
seriously  with  the  dictum  that  the  foregoing  and  similar 
errata  are  mere  technicalities, — incidental  imperfections,  to 
be  avoided  by  more  vigilant  supervision.  This  precious 
plea  we  dismiss  here  with  the  remark  that  it  is  characteristic 
of  the  source  whence  it  emanates.  But,  to  join  issue  with 
the  Kecord  Office  and  test  the  subject  to  the  full,  we  hereby 
invite  the  Home  Secretary  to  redeem  the  pledge  given  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  institute  an  independent 
inquiry.  This  will  show,  once  for  all,  whether  the  charges 
we  have  set  forth,  the  gravity  of  which,  it  is  conceded, 
stands  beyond  question  or  cavil,  have  been  formulated  upon 
satisfactory  evidence. 

As  to  the  thinly-veiled  ulterior  purpose,  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  subject  can  estimate  for  themselves  whether 
the  persistence  in  retaining  the  present  summarist  can  be 
reconciled  henceforward  with  any  profession  of  furthering 
the  prosecution  of  historical  research. 

It  only  remains  to  add,  that,  with  respect  to  the 
proposed  palliative,  judgment  has  to  be  withheld  until  we 
learn  (when  Parliament  meets)  whether — (1)  the  appoint- 
ment of  assistant  (or  assistants)  has  been  made;  (2)  on  whose 
nomination ;  and  (3)  on  what  qualifications  ;  (4)  what  is 
the  extent  of  the  aid  to  be  given;  and  (5)  by  whom  has  such 
extent  been  defined. 

B,  MAC 


[     988     ] 


THE     CONFESSIONAL:     ITS     SHAPE     AND 
SURROUNDINGS 

MANY  circumstances  render  the  construction  and 
surroundings  of  a  confessional  of  more  importance 
with  us  than  they  used  to  be.  Confessions  are  heard  much, 
more  frequently  in  the  churches  than  in  the  days  of  the 
house  stations.  They  are  heard  very  much  at  missions 
and  retreats.  This  means  long  continuous  sitting  on  the 
part  of  the  priest,  and  endangers  crowding  on  the  part 
of  penitents ;  the  latter  complicated  not  a  little  by  the 
growing  practice  of  thoroughly  seating  churches,  aisles,  and 
transepts  as  well  as  nave.  Our  churches  are  being  decorated  ; 
the  confessionals  may,  and  should  be,  ornaments,  not  eye- 
sores. Lastly,  with  cheap  travelling  by  boat  and  rail,  and 
free  travelling  by  cycle,  the  tourist  is  everywhere,  and  the 
tourist  is  everyone.  The  remoter  the  quarter  the  greater 
the  attraction  for  the  disciple  of  Dunlop. 

The  prejudice  against  entering  Catholic  churches  for- 
merly in  the  minds  of  non-Catholics  is  rapidly  vanishing. 
When  they  do  visit,  the  first  object  of  attraction  is  the 
confessional.  There  is  nothing  of  which  they  are  so  fully 
convinced  as  that  the  sedes  confessionalis  is  a  sedes  iniqui- 
tatis.  They  used  to  believe  the  confessional  was  used 
for  plotting  the  death  of  sovereigns  and  the  destruction 
of  empires.  If  they  have  given  up  that  notion  it  is,  if 
possible,  for  something  worse.  If  we  wish  to  make  any 
impression  upon  them  (and  the  least  we  can  do  is  to  remove 
obstacles  that  can  easily  be  removed),  we  must  first  con- 
vince them  the  sedes  confessionalis  is  not  a  sedes  iniquitatis. 
For  accomplishing  this,  we  know  of  no  machinery  compar- 
able to  that  patented  erstwhile  by  St.  Jerome  when  he 
said,  "  Quidquid  fingi  potest  ne  fingatur  ante  devita."  This 
applied  to  our  case  means — (1)  that  the  confessional  should 
be  public,  "  in  loco  ita  patenti  ut  undique  conspici  possit ;  '' 
"Patenti,  conspicuo  et  apto  ecclesice  loco;"'2  (2)  that  there 
should  be  a  perfect  wall  of  separation  between  the  priest 

ipeHerdt.  2  Rit,  Rom. 


The  Confessional :  its  Shape  and  Surroundings     989 

and    penitent    through    which    even  the  tip  of  the  finger 
could  not  pass. 

The  first  problem  is,  how  can  this  be  brought  about,  so 
that  at  the  same  time  the  confessor  and  penitent  can  hear 
each  other  with  the  greatest  possible  ease ;  and  that,  not 
only  can  neither  be  heard  by  any  other,  but  that  it  should  be 
utterly  out  of  the  power  of  the  devil  with  all  his  ingenuity 
to  persuade  any  poor  penitent  such  was  ever  under  any 
circumstances  possible.  The  special  difficulty,  and  a  very 
special  difficulty  with  us,  is  the  great  inclination  of  our  Irish 
people  to  crowd  near  the  confessional ;  a  feeling,  of  course, 
to  be  anything  but  censured. 

Confessionals  were  unknown  till  about  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  penitent  knelt  before  the  confessor  or  sat  by 
his  side.  They  would  seem  to  come  with  the  so-called 
Reformation,  to  be  introduced  for  the  same  purpose  for 
which  we  are  claiming  their  more  perfect  construction 
among  us  now — to  render  nugatory  the  efforts  of  the  active 
agents  among  the  Reformers  to  poison  the  minds  of  their 
unfortunate  dupes  with  black  suspicions  about  everything 
high  and  holy  among  Catholics.  The  double  confessional, 
or  that  with  two  compartments  for  penitents,  was  later  still. 
Confessionals  are  still  unknown  among  the  Greeks.  Among 
Latins  everywhere  now  there  is  some  separation  between 
confessor  and  penitent,  with  what  is  called  a  crates  for 
speaking  through.  On  the  Continent  this  crates  is  a  metal 
plate,  of  some  kind,  perforated.  With  us,  owing  to  the 
crowding,  the  holes  ought  to  be  as  numerous  as  possible. 
Otherwise  the  sound-wave  coming  against  a  flat  surface, 
must  to  some  extent  be  reflected.  The  difficulty  of  con- 
fessor and  penitent  hearing  each  other  should  be  thereby 
increased,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  danger  of  being  heard 
by  those  near.  Very  fine  wire  netting  sufficiently,  and  not 
more  than  sufficiently  close,  might  be  better.1 

In  preventing  confessor  or  penitent  from  being  heard  by 
anyone  else,  the  first  great  business  should  be  to  keep  all 

1  "Crates  non  debet  esse  ita  angusta  ut  locutionem  impediat  sed  multo  minus 
ita  aperta,  ut  fere  sit,  ac  si  crates  non  habeatur,"  (DeHerdt.)  "  Affigatur 
lamina  ferrea  plena  foraminum  quee  singula  ins+ar  ciceris  minuta  parvaque 
sint."  (S.  Carol.) 


990       The  Confessional :  its  Shape  and  Surroundings 


others  at  a  distance.  The  intensity  of  sound  varies 
inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance  of  the  sounding  body. 
If  we  suppose  a  whisper  barely  capable  of  being  heard  one 
yard  away,  it  would  require  one  not  merely  five  times,  but 
twenty-five  times,  as  strong  to  be  heard  five  yards.  Our 
readers  will  pardon  us  for  alluding  to  a  principle  so 
elementary.  Every  person  knows  sound  diminishes  in 
intensity  as  it  travels.  We  fear  all  do  not  realize  the  fact  it 
diminishes  so  much. 

To  keep  people  at  a  distance  from  the  confessionals, 
we  should  first,  as  far  as  we  can,  remove  all  necessity 
of  their  being  near.  Hence  they  should  never  be  heard 
when  the  church  is  crowded.  Hearing  confessions  at 
missions  between  the  dinner  hour  and  evening  devotions 
has  many  objections ;  hearing  half  an  hour  before  any 
religious  exercise,  "  nee  nominetur  in  vobis." 

There  is  great  danger  of  a  panic  at  a  mission,  lest  the 
confessions  should  not  all  be  heard.  We  have  been 
assured  by  religious  of  long  experience  in  ninety-nine  cases 
out  of  one  hundred  it  is  without  foundation.  Very  little  can 
be  gained  by  the  short  time  the  church  is  crowded.  But 
should  the  worst  happen,  we  should  not  avoid  Scylla  by 
rushing  into  Charybdis.  However,  when  the  church  is  com- 
paratively empty,  and  when  people  might  be,  and  would  be, 
better  anywhere  else  than  near  the  confessionals,  Irish  people 
feel  very  much  inclined  to  crowd  around  them.  Long  may 
that  feeling  last :  there  is  a  great  deal  of  good ;  the  evil  is 
trifling.  It  consists  not  at  all  in  the  danger  of  anything 
being  heard  from  the  confessionals,  which  never  takes  place, 
but  in  the  danger  lest  the  devil  should  be  able  to  persuade 
any  poor  sinner  such  a  thing  was  possible. 

In  Notre  Dame,  Paris,  the  confessionals  are  in  side 
chapels.  These  are  large,  and,  of  course,  open.  Except  the 
penitent  engaged,  no  one  enters  the  chapel;  not  only  that, 
but  no  one  remains  in  the  aisle  near.  The  tourist  to  the 
Giants'  Causeway  shall  be  well  repaid  by  breaking  his 
journey  at  the  town  of  Ballymoney  (B.N.C.K.).  In  a 
splendid  church  he  shall  see  this  arrangement  reproduced  on 
Irish  soil,  except  that  the  aisle,  being  seated,  brings  the 


The  Confessional :  its  Shape  and  Surroundings       99  i 

people  nearer  than  in  Paris.  However,  no  expense  was 
spared  in  erecting  the  church :  the  cost  of  the  two  chapels 
for  the  confessionals  would  go  far  to  build  a  church.  There 
is  no  question  of  the  copia  confessariorum9  as  there  are  two 
zealous  priests,  living  near'the  church,  and  only  a  little  over 
one  thousand  people.  There  is  practically  no  danger  of 
strangers  coming  to  confession  unacquainted  with  the 
regulations  forbidding  anyone  except  the  penitent  engaged  to 
enter  the  chapel  or  kneel  in  the  passage.  Lastly,  the  people 
themselves  carry  French  politeness  to  the  superlative  degree- 
Those  who  have  experience  of  the  arrangement  assure  us  in 
other  circumstances  it  would  not  be  of  much  use. 

We  saw  cards  numbered  1,  2,  3,  &c.,  placed  on  a  file  in 
the  porch.  One  was  taken  by  each  person  on  entering. 
This  was  intended  to  settle  any  dispute  about  who  was 
longest  waiting.  One  who  adopted  the  scheme  writes: — "  It 
required  some  patience  and  trouble  to  get  the  people  to 
understand  the  use  of  them." 

The  third  Provincial  Council  of  Malines  prescribed  a 
barrier  to  separate  the  penitent  from  those  following.  In 
Belgium  they  have  no  fixed  seats.  We  have  seen  some- 
thing like  this  carried  out  with  ties  on  the  seats  nearest  the 
confessional.  Where  the  confessionals  were  in  the  sides  it 
was  something  like  the  arrangement  prevalent  in  Ireland 
before  churches  were  seated,  when  those  waiting  were  on 
two  forms  perpendicular  to  the  side  wall  in  front  of  the 
confessional,  or  rather  a  little  to  either  side  of  it.  In  one 
place  the  people  approached  from  the  nave ;  in  another, 
where  there  was  a  fixed  barrier  between  nave  and  aisle,  a 
couple  of  feet  of  the  portion  of  the  seat  next  the  nave  on 
which  they  approached  could  be  raised  or  opened,  somewhat 
like  the  opening  for  passing  through  a  counter.  They  sat 
first  on  the  seat  outside  this,  passed  through  this  opening, 
and  so  approached  the  confessional.  We  saw  it  too  with 
the  confessionals  in  the  western  gable.  In  all  these  cases 
either  the  place  allotted  to  the  person  next  in  turn  to  the 
penitent  engaged  was  near  the  confessional  or  at  some 
distance.  In  the  former,  though  you  have  not  a  crowd  near, 
you  have  at  least  one,  which,  though  less,  is  still  objectionable. 


992       The  Confessional:  its  Shape  and  Surroundings 

In  the  latter,  keeping  people  from  occupying  that  space  is 
very  likely  to  lead  to  trouble  and  unpleasantness. 

We  are  convinced  some  very  perfect  non-conductor  of 
sound  between  the  priest  and  penitent  on  the  one  side,  and 
those  waiting  on  the  other,  is  very  desirable,  if  not  neces- 
sary, for  us,  at  least  on  big  occasions.  "We  are  met  by  the 
difficulty :  almost  all  writers  prescribe  the  front  part,  at  least 
where  the  penitent  is,  to  be  altogether  open.  St.  Charles 
Borromeo  prescribes :  "  Ut  confessionale  a  parte  anter- 
iori  sit  apertum  omnino,  neque  ullo  modo  occludatur." 
Baruffaldi :  "  Ut  .  .  .  anterior  pars  aperta  sit."1  In  Eome, 
the  place  where  the  penitent  kneels  is  altogether  open. 
Needless  to  remark  how  insignificant  we  are  in  such  a 
gallery.  There  is,  however,  this  broad  difference:  that  they 
prescribe  for  circumstances  where  crowding,  if  ever,  is  an 
extraordinary  exception ;  we,  where  crowding  is  the  rule. 

We  would  have  the  confessional,  as  far  as  possible, 
sound-tight.  We  are  practically  confined  to  a  wall  of  wood. 
It  should  be  inch  thick,  well  seasoned,  tongued  and  grooved 
tightly  together.  There  should  be  a  double  wall;  better 
with  some  such  thing  as  sawdust  between.  Science  and 
experience  teach  us  that,  cceteris  paribus,  the  more  sub- 
stantial the  obstacle  to  the  passage  of  sound,  the  less  will  go 
through  ;  and  that  it  has  a  greater  difficulty  in  passing 
through  a  heterogeneous  than  a  homogeneous  mass. 

The  doors — especially  that  through  which  the  penitent 
passes — may  not  be  able  to  be  so  substantial,  but  they  should 
come  as  near  as  possible.  They  should  meet  the  frames  at  a 
rebate.  There  should  be  here  some  compressible  substance. 
The  opening  at  the  frame  to  which  the  door  is  hung  should 
have  nailed  over  it  the  whole  way,  from  bottom  to  top, 
something  like  a  strip  of  leather.  The  door  should  open 
out,  but  be  pressed  home,  when  closed,  with  a  strong  spring. 
There  should  be  two  doors,  both  where  priest  and  penitent 
are ;  or,  in  all,  four,  where  only  one  place  for  the  penitent, 
or  six  where  two.  The  upper  half  should  be  glass ;  thus 

1  Being  limited  to  space,  we  refrain  from  quoting  many  authors.  In  the 
Appendix  to  0 'Kane  on  the  Rubrics,  it  will  be  seen  St.  Charles,  Baruffaldi,  and 
De  Herdt  are  sufficient,  with  the  practice  of  Rome. 


The  Confessional:  its  Shape  and  Surroundings       993 

should  we  meet  the  requirement  of  the  front  part  being 
open :  Ad  videndum  concedo,  ad  audiendum  nego.  Owing 
to  the  modesty  of  our  people,  we  would  like  to  have  an 
assurance  there  was  no  objection  to  a  veil  covering  some 
portion  of  the  glass,  to  save  them  from  the  full  -gaze  of  the 
public.  This  is  done  in  some  places  in  France.  If  the 
glass  were  in  panes,  one  in  the  centre  might  be  ribbed. 
Drapery  has  the  great  disadvantage  of  gathering  dust. 

In  Rome,  the  place  where  the  priest  sits  is  covered  by 
shutters  not  inclosing  the  whole  space.  One  extremity  of  the 
stole  hangs  down  to  show  he  is  there.  Both,  for  keeping  out 
the  cold,  as  well  as  keeping  in  the  sound,  we  would  have  the 
confessor's  compartment,  as  the  penitent's,  with  the  upper 
portion  of  door  covered  almost  entirely,  with  a  veil  or 
ribbed  glass,  so  that  he  could  be  seen  ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  that  outsiders  could  not  know  whether  he  gave 
absolution  or  not ;  and  that  they  would  be  under  tho 
impression  that,  though  ordinarily  unnoticed,  it  could  ba 
noticed  if  one  would  go  out  of  his  turn.  De  Herdt  says  : 
"  Non  laudabile  esse  quod  velum  appendatur  ita  ut  con- 
fessarius  conspici  nequeat."  St.  Charles  insists  very  strongly 
on  the  priest's  compartment  being  locked  when  he  is  not 
there  :  "  Habeat  .  .  .  ostium  .  .  .  cum  sera  clavique." 

The  double  confessional  is  useful  to  keep  the  priest  from 
leaning  too  long  to  one  side,  and  accelerates  work.  It  is 
objected  to  by  very  high  authority.  The  head  should  never 
be  turned  from  the  altar."  The  proper  place  for  confessionals 
is  along  the  sides  of  the  church.1  When  double  it  is  hard  to 
see  how  the  penitent  on  each  side  can  keep  his  head  towards 
the  altar.  Here  now  we  are  concerned  with  the  acoustic 
difficulty.  Better  if  the  penitent  could  be  kept  from  one 
side  till  the  other's  confession  was  over ;  if  not,  great  care 
should  be  taken  to  have  the  opening  at  the  crates  closed 
properly.  A  slide  is  the  handiest  on  the  priest's  side  fitting 
as  the  doors,  and  on  all  sides  two  or  three  inches  wider  than 
the  crates.  With  this  slide  and  very  fine  crates  there  can 

1CIA  latere  ecclesiae,  extra  capellae  majoris  ambitum,  Joco  aperto 
patentique  confessionalia  constituantur,  partim  a  meridional!  regione,  partim  a 
septentrionali."— (S.  Carol.) 

VOL.  XVII.  3  R 


994       The  Confessional:  its  Shape  and  Surroundings 

scarcely  be  a  possibility  of  sound  passing  through.  In  fact, 
De  Herdt  talks  of  this  slide  as  merely  laudable.  We  have 
seen  a  slide  on  the  penitent's  side  too  with  weights  sufficient 
to  pull  it  down,  and  a  cord  passing  to  the  priest  over  the  top 
of  the  confessional.  The  slide  on  the  priest's  side  went  up 
and  down  by  weights  too  as  a  window.  We  saw  wheels  and 
springs  to  make  the  slide  work  easily.  When  we  have 
provided  each  confessional  with  a  speaking-tube,  with  an 
opening  through  the  wood  near  the  crates  barely  large  enough 
for  it,  and  a  stopper  to  close  same,  when  not  used,  we  have 
done  with  the  acoustic  problem. 

The  seat  for  the  priest  should  be  large,  of  proper  height ; 
there  should  be  a  support  for  either  elbow,  of  sufficient 
height,  coming  out  sufficiently  far  from  the  back.  Some 
French  writers  require  this  support  to  be  capable  of  being 
raised  and  lowered  as  a  cycle-saddle.  This  is  scarcely 
necessary.  Instead  of  giving  our  own  measurements  for  all 
these  things,  we  would  direct  our  readers  to  the  seats  in 
first  class  railway  carriages ;  except  that  those  in  the  Great 
Southern  might  be  too  low.  If,  in  addition  to  the  elbow 
support  in  the  centre,  there  was  another  mid-way  between  it 
and  the  side,  this  would  be  our  notion  of  a  confessional  seat. 

The  crates  is  sometimes  too  high,  sometimes  too  low, 
now  too  near  the  back,  and  again  too  near  the  front.  It  is 
recommended  to  be  about  one  foot  square.  If  it  be  this,  or 
a  little  more,  and  care  be  taken  in  fixing,  all  this  difficulty 
could  be  avoided.  The  confessional  should  be  sufficiently 
deep  to  enable  the  priest  to  stretch  his  feet,  and  there  should 
be  a  stool  to  rest  them  upon.  For  receiving  restitution  money 
an  opening  in  the  wood  above  the  crates,  barely  sufficient 
to  let  a  half-crown  pass  through  with  a  stopper  for  same, 
would  be  desirable.  Churches  where  people  have  to  wait 
very  long  for  confession,  should  be  heated ;  if  not,  a  foot- 
warmer,  or  some  convenient  and  unobjectionable  means  of 
heating  should  be  provided  for  the  priest. 

The  kneeling-board  for  the  penitent  should  be  broad 
enough,  slightly  inclined  outwards.  The  support  for  the 
elbows  should  be  similar,  and  of  proper  height.  In  Kome, 
this  is  so  arranged  that  the  penitent  directly  faces  the  priest. 


The  Confessional :  its  Shape  and  Surroundings      995 

In  France  he  has  to  turn  his  head,  and  can  do  so  only  with 
some  difficulty.  We  prefer  the  latter.  Our  people  often  fast 
long  into  the  day  at  missions,  when  the  fume  from  the 
stomach  is  disagreeable.  It  is  merely  necessary  to  bring  out 
the  support  for  the  elbows  to  nearly  the  outside  of  the  crates 
There  should  be  a  small  seat  for  those  who  cannot  kneel,  or 
who  may  become  ill.  There  should  be  a  religious  emblem, 
better  of  the  Crucifixion.  From  the  habit  of  kissing  crucifixes, 
and  the  danger  thereby  of  communicating  disease,  a  picture 
might  be  safer.  For  ventilation,  there  should  be  a  Tobin 
tube;  at  all  events,  the  top  should  be  arranged  for  opening. 

The  Bull,1  Coena  Domini  used  to  be  kept ;  now  it  is  the 
Constitution  Apostolicce  Sedis,  also  the  Reservations  of  the 
Bishop.  But  a  priest  could  easily  bring  them  with  him. 

The  name  of  the  confessor  and  time  for  confessions 
should  be  affixed.  It  might  be  well,  at  least  in  some 
churches  in  towns,  to  put  among  the  notices  at  the  door 
that  confessions  can  be  heard  in  the  principal  Continental 
languages.  All  priests  leave  Maynooth  now  with  sufficient 
knowledge  of  these  languages,  at  least  to  hear  confessions. 
In  these  days  of  travelling  no  knowledge  is  more  necessary. 
It  would  be  a  crying  pity  not  to  afford  the  foreigner  an 
opportunity  of  availing  himself  of  it. 

The  outside  of  the  confessional,  at  least,  should  be  done 
by  a  cabinet-maker.  It  can  be  made  a  very  nice  ornament.  Of 
course  the  top  should  terminate  with  a  cross,  and  the  whole 
should  follow  the  design  of  the  church. 

There  should  be,  at  least  near,  some  suitable  religious 
emblem.  At  Genoa,  on  a  confessional  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  we  saw  the  inscription,  "  Cor  contritum  non 
despiciet."  We  saw  something  of  the  same  at  Cologne  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  And  coming  to  the  nineteenth 
on  four  confessionals  in  St.  Paul's,  Rome,  are  distributed 
the  words  : — "Fides  tua  te  salvam  fecit;  Perierat  et  inventus 
est;  Eemittuntur  tibi  peccata  ;  Vade  et  amplius  noli  peccare  ;" 
and  the  figure  corresponding  to  each  in  bas-relief  in  bronze. 
"  Cut "  Quinlan,  in  A.  M.  Sullivan's  New  Ireland,  is  not  a  bad 

1  Ad  Confessionalia.     Apponantur  litterse  in  Bulla  Caense  Domini 
Visit  Apost.,  10  Nov.,  1626). 


996  Anglo-Saxon  Monasticism 

specimen  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  penitents.  He 
came  to  the  church,  beat  his  breast  most  vehemently, 
prayed  most  intensely,  looked  repeatedly  towards  the  priest 
in  the  confessional,  but  left  without  going  to  confession.  He 
came  back  on  several  days,  went  through  the  same  process  ; 
but,  finally,  left  without  going  to  confession  at  all.  To  be 
sure,  he  told  Father  Mulally  his  difficulty  was  about  the 
Propositum.  Though,  we  confess,  the  highest  authority  we 
did  or  could  consult  differs  widely  from  us,  we  still  think 
the  sequel  of  his  case  might  have  been  different,  if,  in  looking 
towards  the  confessional,  his  eye  had  caught  a  statue  of  the 
Good  Shepherd,  a  picture  of  the  Prodigal,  or  the  words  :— 
"  If  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  made  as  white  as 
snow ;  and  if  they  be  red  as  crimson,  they  shall  be  made 
white  as  wool." 

T.  QUIN,  P.P. 


ANGLO-SAXON    MONASTICISM 

THE  nineteenth  century  is  rapidly  coming  back  in  its 
monastic  aspect  to  the  grand  broad  lines  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  centuries.  Indeed,  with  the  present  passion  for 
research  into  the  past,  and  the  developing  taste  for 
hagiology,  it  is  inevitable  that  an  interest  in  such  subjects 
being  once  created,  it  should  find  its  renewal  in  feelings, 
and  have  its  effect  in  work. 

It  is  necessary  and  interesting  to  consider  what  the  work 
was  that  was  really  done  in  these  monasteries,  many  of 
whose  ruins  are  the  object  of  our  loving  veneration  even 
now,  and  stand  proud  in  their  ruined  grandeur,  defiant  alike 
of  the  ravages  of  decay,  the  devastations  of  the  iconoclast, 
and  the  wantonness  of  the  ignorant ;  for  our  ancestors 

"  Built  in  marble  ;  built  as  they 
Who  hoped  these  stones  should  see  the  day 
When  Christ  should  come ;  and  that  these  walls 
Might  stand  o'er  them  till  Judgment  calls." 

Well,  first  of  all,  then  as  now  the  Divine  Office  was  the 
work,  the  object  of  the  profession  of  the  monk  and  nun,  and 


Anglo-Saxon  Monasticism  997 

as  we  wander  in  imagination  amongst  ruined  aisles,  and  we 
gaze  upon  the  splendours  of  their  choirs,  we  reflect  that  in 
these  gorgeous  temples,  embellished  by  everything  that  art 
and  science  could  contribute,  and  sanctified  by  the  presence 
of  the  holy  altar,  with  its  consecrated  Host,  its  cherished 
receptacle  of  sacred  relics,  and  its  sublime  mysteries,  did 
these  devout  men,  seven  times  a  day,  for  centuries,  assemble 
for  prayer  and  worship.  As  soon  as  the  clock  had  tolled  out 
the  hour  of  midnight,  when  all  the  rest  of  the  world  was 
rocked  in  slumber,  they  arose  and  flocked  in  silence  to  the 
church,  where  they  remained  in  prayer  and  praise  until  the 
first  faint  streak  of  dawn  began  to  chase  away  the  constella- 
tions of  the  night,  and  then  at  stated  intervals  through  the 
rest  of  the  day  the  appointed  services  were  carried  on,  so 
that  the  greater  portion  of  their  lives  was  spent  in  the  choir. 
It  was  a  grand  offering  to  the  Almighty  of  human  work 
and  human  life.1 

As  the  spectator  stands  lost  in  wrapt  wonder,  beholding 
again  in  imagination  the  glories  of  some  ruined  abbey,  a 
faint  sigh,  as  of  a  distant  wind,  steals  along  those  stony 
glades,  gradually  increasing  in  volume,  until  presently  the 
full,  rich  tones  of  the  choir  burst  forth,  the  organ  peals  out 
its  melodious  thunder,  and  every  arch  and  every  pillar 
vibrates  with  undulations  of  harmonious  sound  ;  just  as  in 
the  storm-shaken  forest  every  mighty  denizen  bends  his 
massive  branches  to  the  fierce  tempest  wind,  and  intones 
his  deep  response  to  the  wild  music  of  the  storm.  Before 
the  power  of  that  music-tempest  everything  bowed,  and  as 
the  strains  of  some  Gregorian  chant  or  the  dirge-like  melody 
of  some  penitential  psalm  filled  the  whole  building  with  its 
pathos,  every  figure  seemed  to  be  invested  with  life,  the 
mysterious  harmony  between  the  building  and  its  uses  was 
manifested,  the  painted  figures  on  the  windows  appeared  to 
join  in  the  strain,  a  celestial  chorus  of  Apostles,  martyrs, 
and  saints;  the  statues  in  their  niches  threw  back  the 
melody ;  the  figures  reclining  on  the  tombs  seemed  to  raise 
their  clasped  hands  in  silent  response  to  its  power,  as  though 
moved  in  their  stony  slumber  by  a  dream  of  solemn  sounds; 

1  Hill,  English  Monasticism, 


998  Anglo-Saxon  Monasticism 

the  grotesque  figures  on  the  pillars  and  in  nooks  and  corners 
chanted  the  dissonant  cords,  which  brought  out  more  boldly 
the  general  harmony;  every  arch ,  with  its  entwined  branches 
and  sculptured  foliage  shook  with  the  stormy  melody :  all 
was  instinct  with  sympathetic  life,  until  the  fury  of  the 
tempest  dying  away  in  fitful  gusts,  the  last  breeze  was 
wafted,  the  painted  forms  became  dumb,  the  statues  and 
images  grew  rigid,  the  foliage  was  still,  all  the  sympathetic 
vitality  faded  away,  and  the  sacred  grove  fell  into  its  silent 
magnificence.1 

Grand  and  solemn  is  this  first  duty  of  St.  Benedict's 
rule,  and  merits  well  the  grave  words  of  St.  Anselm : — "  Test 
thy  life  by  the  master  feeling  of  the  saints,  and  note  well 
what  is  said  of  the  saint :  with  his  whole  heart  he  praised  the 
Lord.  Behold  the  end  of  thy  creation,  behold  the  task  set 
thee  as  God's  servant.  .  .  .  Thou  wast  created  for  the  glory 
of  thy  Creator,  that,  making  His  praises  thy  employment, 
thou  mightest  ever  advance  towards  Him  by  the  merit  of 
justice  in  this  life,  and  mightest  live  happily  in  the  world  to 
come.  For  the  praise  of  Him  yields  the  fruit  of  justice  here 
and  beatitude  hereafter." 

But  the  nuns,  as  well  as  the  monks,  felt  that  when  the 
Divine  Office  was  over,  time  still  remained  which  had  to  be 
accounted  for,  and  which  could  be  employed  for  the  glory 
of  God.  These  consecrated  virgins  were,  according  to 
St.  Anselm,  "Mowers  of  the  Church,  sisters  of  monastic 
life,  scholarly  pupils,  pearls  of  Christ,  jewels  of  Paradise, 
and  sharers  of  the  eternal  home;"  and  they  proved  by  their 
active,  intellectual,  and  charitable  work  that  these  praises 
were  well  deserved ;  and  work  only  that  was  unfit  for  their 
sex  was  left  undone. 

The  broad  spirit  of  Christian  charity,  whose  principles  in 
the  rule  of  St.  Benedict  are  exemplified  in  his  life,  resulted 
in  a  work  so  far,  reaching  and  active  as  to  surprise  us  with 
our  diluted  views  of  Benedictine  life.  Every  recommenda- 
tion of  St.  Benedict  was  noted  ;  none  was  thought  to  be 
written  without  the  intention  of  its  being  observed,  and  the 
result  was  those  monasteries  of  men  and  women  which 

1  Hill,  English  Monasticism. 


Anglo-Saxon  Monasticism  999 

could  only  be  compared  to  hives,  so  busy  was  the  life  led 
therein. 

Let  us  remember,  that  St.  Benedict,  up  to  the  thirteenth 
century,  represented  almost  exclusively  the  religious  life 
of  Europe.  St.  Columba  and  St.  Columbanus,  like  bright 
meteors,  had  flashed  glory  on  a  certain  epoch,  and  their 
work  ended.  St.  Basil  remained  practically  in  the  East. 
As  we  know,  all  the  works  of  mercy,  intellectual  life  and 
growth,  flourished  side  by  side  with  a  monastic  observance 
certainly  not  surpassed  since  the  time  when  work  for  others, 
as  an  essential  part  of  St.  Benedict's  rule,  was  put  aside  and 
then  taken  up  by  modern  orders. 

Both  ruins  and  history  tell  us  of  the  busy  Scriptorium, 
the  library,  the  guest-house  where  hospitality  was  exercised  ; 
the  almonry,  where  the  poor  were  helped ;  the  dispensary, 
where  medicines  were  given ;  the  school,  where  children 
received  their  education  :  so  were  fulfilled  the  words  of 
One  greater  than  St.  Benedict :  "  I  was  hungry,  and  ye  gave 
Me  to  eat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  Me  to  drink  ;  I  was  a 
stranger,  and  ye  took  Me  in  ;  sick,  and  ye  visited  Me.  Amen, 
I  say  to  you,  as  long  as  ye  did  it  to  one  of  these  My  least 
brethren,  ye  did  it  to  Me."  These  were  works  in  which  all 
helped,  and  which  were  considered  part  of  the  life  embraced 
at  profession.  The  sisters,  as  has  been  well  said,  "were 
indeed  not  of  the  world,  but  they  were  in  it,  actively  and 
intelligently  to  do  a  good  work  to  it ;  to  elevate,  to  console, 
to  purify,  and  to  bless." 

It  is  unnecessary  to  speak  of  the  many  blessings  which 
must  have  accrued  to  a  neighbourhood  by  the  presence  of  a 
convent  of  cultivated  English  ladies.  Their  gentle  teaching 
was  the  first  experience  of  the  youthful  poor ;  from  them 
they  derived  their  early  knowledge  of  the  elements  of 
religion  and  of  Catholic  practice  ;  to  them  they  went  in  the 
troubles  and  cares  of  life,  as  to  a  source  of  good  advice  ; 
theirs  was  the  most  potent  civilizing  influence  in  the  rough 
days  of  the  middle  ages  ;  and  theirs  was  the  task  of  tending 
the  sick  and  smoothing  the  passage  of  the  Christian  soul  to 
eternity.1 

1  Henry  Fill,  and  the  English  Monasteries*,  Dr.  Gasquet,  Q.S.B. 


1000  Tlie  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism 

And  this  state  of  things  is  being  vindicated  every  day 
by  the  modern  orders,  who  on  different  lines  and  under 
varied  rules  unite  all  these  good  works.  And  let  none  say 
that  such  a  condition  of  things  is  incompatible  with  the 
Divine  Office  in  choir.  In  olden  times  the  great  Monastic 
Order  accepted  the  principle  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  now 
tbat  principle  is  vindicated  by  the  modern  orders,  and  we 
see  congregations  such  as  the  Assumption,  the  Sisters  of 
Penance  of  St.  Dominic,  the  Franciscans  at  Mill  Hill,  doing 
a  glorious  and  varied  work,  and  yet  saying  the  Divine  Office ; 
and  thus  proving  that  the  two  kinds  of  work  are  no  more 
incompatible  for  the  nun  than  for  the  monk,  for  the  modern 
than  the  Monastic  Order,  though  it  will  always  remain  true 
that  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict  is  liturgical,  and  its  first 
work  the  Divine  Office  in  choir,  which  can  give  place  to  no 
pther  work,  however  important. 

M.  M.  P. 


THE  ABBE  DE  BKOGLIE  ON  POSITIVISM 

rpHOUGH  more  than  a  year  has  now  elapsed  since  the 
J_  tragic  death  of  the  Abbe  Paul  de  Broglie,  it  is,  doubt- 
less, still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  many  of  our  readers.  The 
crime  itself  by  which  he  perished  is,  unhappily,  not  so  rare 
that  it  should  be  long  remembered.  But  where  the  victim 
is  one  who  bears  not  unworthily  an  honoured  name,  and 
moreover  meets  his  fate  in  the  active  ministry  of  charity, 
there  is  surely  enough  to  arrest  the  attention  of  many  who 
would  else  pay  little  heed  to  the  sordid  chronicles  of  crime. 
And  the  Abbe  de  Broglie  had  all  these  claims  on  our 
remembrance. 

Auguste  Theodore  Paul  de  Broglie,  brother  of  the  present 
Due  de  Broglie,  who  is  equally  distinguished  as  a  statesman 
and  as  a  man  of  letters,  was  born  at  Paris,  on  June  18,  1834. 
He  served  his  country  in  the  navy  from  1855  to  1868,  when 
he  left  the  service  to  enter  the  seminary  of  St.  Sulpice. 


The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism  1001 

After  holding  office  for  some  time  as  almoner  to  the  Ecole 
Normale  Municipale  of  Auteuil,  he  became  Professor  of 
Apologetics  at  the  Institut  Catholique  of  Paris.  He  was 
also  an  honorary  canon  oi  Evreux,  and  of  Paris,  and  was 
decorated  with  the  Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  In  the 
great  war  with  Germany,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  service 
of  the  wounded,  and  very  nearly  perished  among  the  many 
victims  of  the  Paris  Commune.  His  escape,  indeed,  was 
only  due  to  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  Communards,  who 
shot  another  priest  for  the  Abbe  de  Broglie.  But  he  was 
only  reserved  to  meet  the  same  death  some  years  later  as 
a  martyr  of  charity.  On  Saturday,  May  11,  1895,  he  was 
shot  by  a  woman  afflicted  with  religious  mania,  who  was 
under  the  delusion  that  she  was  suffering  persecution  at  his 
hands. 

But  the  Abbe  de  Broglie  has  a  further  claim  on  our 
remembrance  besides  his  early  career  in  the  service  of  his 
country,  and  the  work  of  genuine  charity,  which  brightened 
the  closing  years  of  his  life.  He  was  a  writer,  and,  what 
is  more,  a  thinker  of  no  mean  order.  At  the  time  of  his 
death,  indeed,  that  claim  was  not  allowed  to  pass  without 
some  notice.  More  than  one  of  our  journals  made  some 
brief  mention  of  his  literary  labours,  and  paid  a  well-deserved 
tribute  to  the  graceful  style  of  his  writings — not  without 
some  regret  that  he  should  have  spent  his  powers  on  subjects 
so  remote  from  general  interest.  It  was,  perhaps,  only 
natural  for  English  critics  to  form  this  view  of  the  some- 
what abstruse  topics  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  brilliant 
pen.  It  is,  however,  far  from  accurate.  A  careful  study  of 
his  chief  philosophic  work,  while  it  confirms  the  favourable 
estimate  of  his  literary  style,  leaves  us  with  the  conviction 
that  the  Abbe  de  Broglie  had  by  no  means  wasted  his  powers- 
He  had,  on  the  contrary,  bestowed  his  best  labour  on  a  task 
for  which  he  was  singularly  well  fitted,  both  by  his  natural 
gifts  and  by  his  early  training.  And  his  work,  moreover, 
has  a  value  and  an  interest  in  no  wise  confined  to  his 
countrymen  or  to  his  fellow-Catholics.  We  may  even  add 
that  his  most  important  work,  Le  Positivisms  et  la  Science 
Experimentale,  has  a  message  nowhere  more  needed  than  it 


1002  The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism 

is  in  England,  while  its  merits  are  such  as  should  appeal  in 
special  manner  to  English  readers. 

It  is  true  that  M.  Comte  has  no  very  large  following  in 
this  country,  in  spite  of  the  brilliant  and  zealous  advocacy 
of  some  accomplished  English  disciples.     And,  on  the  other 
hand,  his  teaching  has  been  subjected  to  searching  criticism, 
both  by  avowed  opponents  and  by  candid  friends.     Thus, 
the  famous  law  of  the   three    states,  through  which  every 
branch  of  human  knowledge  must  needs  pass — the  theolo- 
gical, the  metaphysical,  and  the  positive — has  found  few  more 
effective   critics  than  Dr.  James  Martineau,  the  brother  of 
M.  Comte's  English   translator.     The   classification  of  the 
sciences,   again,    has    been    attacked    by   another   English 
writer,  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer.     And  the  religion  of  humanity, 
surely  the  most  vulnerable  part  of  the  whole  system,  has 
been  very  vigorously  handled  by  Mr.  Balfour,  Mr.  Mallock, 
and  Mr.  Wilfrid  Ward.    To  what  purpose,  it  may  be  asked,  is 
our  attention  directed  to  yet  another  refutation  of  positivism  ? 
And   some,   perhaps,   will  add — what   fair  play,   and  what 
intelligent   criticism  of  positivism,  can  be  excepted  at  the 
hands  of  a  Catholic  and  a  priest  ?    Eor  some  such  reasons, 
when  the  Abbe  de  Broglie's  writings   on  this  topic  were 
incidentally  mentioned  in  the   papers  at  the   time   of  his 
death,  probably  but  few  amongst  us  were  tempted  to  make 
their  acquaintance.      Opponents  of  positivism  were  content 
to  look  elsewhere  for  allies,  while  followers  of  M.  Comte 
very    likely    thought    the    attack    undeserving    of   notice. 
M.  Littre,  in  the  palmy  days  of  his  positivism,  once  told  us 
that  Comtists  did  not  speak  to  Catholic  readers  ;  and  why 
should  they  listen  to  those  whom  they  do  not   deign   to 
address?     But  the  mistake,  however  natural,  is  none  the 
less   a  mistake.      The   Abbe  de   Broglie's   Positivism  and 
Experimental   Science   has,    in   truth,  a  message  to  which 
English  readers  would  do  well  to  give  heed.     It  is  some- 
thing  of  deeper   import   than  a  mere   attack   upon   some 
outlying  portion  of  M.  Comte's  teaching.     It  does  not  deal 
with  the  religion  of  humanity,  but  with  a  tenet  held  by  very 
many  who  are  outside  the  charmed  circle  of  M.  Comte's 
followers — though  how  far  these  may  be  indebted  to  his 


The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism  1003 

influence  is,  perhaps,  another  question.  We  have  no  desire 
to  stir  up  the  ashes  of  that  memorable  controversy. 

This  tenet,  we  need  hardly  say,  is  that  fundamental 
negation  which  is  the  key  of  the  positive  philosophy ;  in 
other  words,  the  theory  that  we  know,  and  can  know  nothing 
of  substances  and  causes,  and  must  needs  content  ourselves 
with  the  observation  of  facts,  and  the  discovery  of  laws- 
This  negation  is  at  once  the  basis  of  the  law  of  the  three 
states,  and  the  source  of  the  name  of  "positive,"  which 
arrogantly  assumes  that  all  other  philosophy  is  unreal.  At 
the  same  time,  it  is  obviously  the  origin  of  the  positivist 
hostility  to  theism,  and  consequently  the  source  of  the 
phanton  faith  which  haunts  the  empty  shrine. 

In  a  later  work,  published  but  a  year  before  his  death, 
the  Abbe  de  Broglie  has  dealt  with  some  other  portion  of 
the  positive  philosophy.2  But  his  Positivisme  el  la  Science 
Experimentale  is  entirely  devoted  to  this  root  negation  of 
our  knowledge  of  substances  and  causes,  considered  on  its 
own  merits,  and  apart  from  the  imposing  structure  which  has 
been  raised  upon  it.  Other  critics  too  often  treat  it  too 
lightly,  and  affect  to  put  it  aside  with  something  of  that 
sublime  disdain  with  which  positivist  brushes  away  the 
dreams  of  metaphysics  and  theology.  The  Abbe  de  Broglie, 
on  the  contrary,  takes  it  as  a  serious  question,  and  gives  it  a 
serious  answer — an  answer  which  fills  two  goodly  volumes 
of  more  than  five  hundred  pages  apiece.  And  what  strikes 
us  at  first  in  this  answer  is  its  eminently  positive  character. 
Instead  of  keeping  to  the  easier  path  of  negative  and 
destructive  criticism  of  the  Comtist  position,  and  the 
arguments  by  which  it  is  wont  to  be  supported,  the  author 
brings  an  array  of  well-ordered  evidence  to  show  that  a  real 
knowledge  of  substances  and  causes  is  well  within  our  reach. 
And,  at  the  same  time,  he  throws  no  little  light  on  the  true 
nature  and  limits  of  this  knowledge.  The  work  is  thus  no 
mere  critique,  but  a  solid  system  of  philosophy.  And  if  the 

1  La  Reaction  conire  le  Positivisme,  1894.  Besides  these  writings  on 
positivism,  the  author  has  left  us  the  following  works  :  —  Conferences  snr  la  Vie 
8i<r>iati<relle,  3  vols.,  1878-83  ;  La  Science  et  la  Religion,  1883 ;  Instruction 
Morale,  Dieu,  la  Conscience,  le  Devoir,  1884  ;  Probletnes  et  Conclusions  de  V Histoire 
dcs  Religions,  1885  ;  La  Morale  sans  Dieu,  ses  Principes  et  ses  Consequences,  1886, 


1004  The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism 


writer  does  not  affect  to  found  a  new  system  of  his  own,  his 
book  is  none  the  less  marked  by  a  fair  measure  of  originality. 
It  is,  indeed,  an  old  philosophy  that  speaks  to  us  in  the 
Abbe  de  Broglie's  pages  ;  but  it  is  cast  in  a  somewhat  new 
form,  and  expressed  in  a  language  understanded  of  our  own 
age. 

But  the  book  is  also  truly  positive  in  another  sense. 
Strange  as  it  maj  seem,  this  laboured  refutation  of 
M.  Comte's  philosophy  has  about  it  much  that  reminds  us 
of  the  Philosophic  Positive.  And  this  is  after  all  one  of 
its  main  merits.  Similia  similibus  curantur.  The  most 
effective  critic  of  a  false  or  imperfect  system  of  philosophy 
is  one  who  has  something  in  common  with  the  object  of  his 
criticism.  And  it  is  the  want  of  this  that  weakens  the  force 
of  so  many  otherwise  admirable  and  ingenious  arguments. 
The  critic  is,  often  enough,  too  far  removed  from  the  system 
he  is  assailing  to  be  able  to  grasp  its  true  meaning; 
and  his  reasoning  is  in  consequence  both  unfair  and 
ineffective. 

In  one  respect,  indeed,  the  character  of  the  Abbe  de 
Broglie's  book  is  very  different  from  that  of  M.  Comte's 
Philosophic  Positive.  It  is  a  far  cry,  surely,  from  a  work 
that  seeks  to  prove  one  solitary  proposition,  to  that  spacious 
temple  of  all  the  sciences — edita  doctrina  sapientum  templa 
serena — from  which  the  great  positivist  looks  down  on  the 
labours  of  those  who  are  still  struggling  in  the  waves  of 
metaphysics  and  theology.  In  saying  this,  we  by  no  means 
wish  to  imply  that  there  is  any  waste  of  words  in  these  two 
massive  volumes.  The  truth  which  the  author  is  establish- 
ing, is  certainly  homely  enough,  and  is  readily  admitted  as 
such  by  those  who  have  not  yet  been  bewildered  by  the 
brilliant  sophistry  of  sceptical  philosophers,  or  misled  by 
the  loose  language  of  some  unphilosophical  men  of  science. 
But  it  is  no  small  gain  to  have  it  thus  set  forth  at  length, 
and  defended  with  scientific  rigour,  and  the  objections 
brought  against  it  fully  and  fairly  considered.  The  result 
is  a  singular  combination  of  philosophic  breadth,  scientific 
accuracy,  and  sound  homely  sense. 

This  last  element,  indeed,  which  is  somewhat  to  seek  in 


The  Able  de  Broglie  on  Positivism  1005 

too  many  brilliant  and  ingenious  systems,  is  here  made  to 
play  the  most  important  part.  It  is  at  once  the  author's 
starting-point,  and  his  final  court  of  appeal.  Instead  of  nobly 
taking  "  the  high  priori  road,"  or  resting  his  foundations  in 
the  airy  realms  of  speculation,  he  begins  with  thoughts  and 
truths  that  are  sufficiently  obvious  to  us  all — les  notions  de 
bon  sens — as  he  is  fond  of  calling  them.  Taking  these  as 
his  starting-point,  he  goes  on  to  analyze  them,  and  test 
them  by  further  experience  and  careful  comparison.  He 
shows  us  how  they  gradually  gain  in  precision,  and  are 
corrected  and  completed,  but  are  never  to  be  contradicted  or 
set  aside  as  simply  erroneous.  This  is,  he  insists,  the 
natural  course,  whether  with  the  individual  or  with  the 
whole  race.  To  the  obvious  objection  that  the  geocentric 
astronomy  which  prevailed  before  Galileo,  was  surely 
erroneous,  he  answers  that  it  was,  on  the  contrary,  a  real 
approximation  to  the  truth.  The  earth  is  the  centre  of 
what  primarily  concerns  us,  the  beings  which  live  or  move 
upon  its  surface  ;  and  compared  with  their  motions,  it  is  at 
rest.  But  the  truth  was  at  first  too  broadly  stated,  and  was 
extended  to  a  sphere  which  is  not  its  own.  *'  Ici  encore, 
1'ancienne  opinion  n'etait  qu'  une  verite  exageree  et 
etendue  au  dela  de  ses  limites,  que  le  progres  des  sciences  a 
corrigee  et  rectifiee." s  Such,  he  adds,  is  the  case  wherever 
some  general  belief  of  mankind,  and  not  a  mere  popular 
prejudice  or  local  opinion,  is,  despite  its  apparent  evidence, 
modified  by  the  discoveries  of  science.  "La  croyance 
primitive  contenait  une  tres  grande  part  de  verite  ;  c'etait 
une  verite  mal  exprimee  :  exprimee  grossierement,  etendue 
outre  iiiesure,  et  la  progres  a  consiste,  non  a  la  detruire, 
mais  a  la  preciser  et  a  la  li miter."  It  is  the  boast  of  the 
Comtists  that  their  master  has  introduced  the  exact  methods 
of  the  physical  sciences  into  the  field  of  philosophy.2 

In  this  sense,  the  work  of  the  Abbe  de  Broglie,  may  well 
claim  the  title  of  "  positive,"  and  no  fair  Comtist  can  affect 

1  Vol.  i.,  p.  3". 

2  So  M.  Littre  says  of  the  completion  of  Comce's  Philosophic  Positive:  "Ainsi 
fut  accompli  ce  qu'oii   doit  appeler   1'ceuvre   philosophique  du  dix-neuvieme 
•siecle  :   donner  k  la  philosophic  la  methode  positive  des  sciences,  aux  sciences 
1'idee  d'  ensemble  de  la  philosophic."     (Preface  d'un  disciple,  p.  viii.) 


1006  The  Able  de  Eroglie  on  Positivism 

to  set  it  aside  with  the  dreams  of  theologians  and  the 
subtleties  of  the  schoolmen. 

Nor  is  it  only  in  his  method  and  in  his  spirit  that  the 
Abbe  de  Broglie  can  claim  some  kinship  with  the  Positivism 
which  he  is  opposing.  He  comes  forward  to  meet  it  on  its 
own  chosen  ground.  Instead  of  turning  to  higher  fields  of 
thought,  or  basing  his  philosophy  on  the  intuitions  of 
spiritual  truths,  he  comes  down  into  the  arena  of  experi- 
mental science,  and  the  perception  of  the  senses ;  and  sets 
himself  to  show  that  even  here  we  have  a  true  and  sure, 
though  limited,  knowledge  of  substances  and  causes.  For 
it  is  to  the  establishment  of  this  simple  but  far-reaching 
proposition  that  his  whole  work  is  devoted. 

It  is  obviously  impossible  in  the  necessarily  narrow 
limits  of  the  present  paper  to  do  anything  like  justice  to 
the  long  laborious  method  by  which  this  task  is  achieved  in 
the  Abbe  de  Broglie's  pages.  To  judge  of  this  aright,  the 
reader  must  needs  go  to  the  book  itself.  It  will  be  enough 
to  say  here,  that  the  work  is  mainly  done  by  the  simple 
means  of  sifting  and  examining  the  facts,  and  clearly  setting 
forth  the  genuine  meaning  of  the  words  substance  and  cause. 
This  last  part  of  the  inquiry  is  by  no  means  so  superfluous 
as  it  might  at  first  sight  appear.  For  some  positivist 
philosophers  too  hastily  assume  that  their  opponents  under- 
stand by  "  substance,"  some  inaccessible  and  mysterious 
entity.  And  if  once  this  be  granted  them,  the  rest  of  their 
task  is  comparatively  an  easy  one.  They  do  but  seem  to 
speak  the  language  of  common  sense  when  they  throw  doubt 
on  the  existence  of  these  mystic  essences,  or  roundly  deny  it 
altogether.  For  this  reason  the  Abbe  de  Broglie  does  well 
to  ask  at  the  outset,  what  is  to  be  understood  by  this  much- 
abused  word.  And  in  the  true  spirit  of  positive  science,  he 
seeks  an  answer  not  so  much  in  abstract  definitions,  as  in 
concrete  examples.  Substances,  in  a  word,  are  but  persons 
and  things.  Having  cleared  up  the  confusion  of  thought 
and  language  which  has  gathered  round  this  word,  he  goes 
on  to  consider  our  sense-perceptions  of  the  outward  world, 
and  our  inner  consciousness  of  self,  and  finds  that  in  both 
cases  the  real  object  of  our  knowledge  is  what  we  call  a 


The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism  1007 

substance.  Here,  as  elsewhere  in  his  work,  the  author  does 
full  justice  to  the  well-worn  objections  of  the  disciples  of 
other  schools.  He  certainly  betrays  no  desire  to  shirk  the 
difficulties  brought  from  optical  illusions,  from  colour- 
blindness, from  the  principles  of  acoustics,  from  the 
undulatory  theory  of  light,  or  from  the  subjective  nature  of 
sounds  and  colours.  And  he  shows  that,  rightly  considered, 
the  very  facts  which  are  thus  made  the  ground  of  objections, 
do  but  furnish  fresh  proofs  that  we  have  a  real  knowledge  of 
objective  substances. 

A  reader  who  turns  to  these  pages  from  the  shifting 
clouds  of  idealist  philosophies,  or  from  some  other  seductive 
systems  not  made  in  Germany,  can  hardly  fail  to  feel  a  new 
sense  of  security.  Instead  of  being  borne  aloft  in  the  air,  or 
tossed  on  the  troubled  waves  of  scepticism,  he  finds  that  his 
feet  are  safely  set  on  terra  firma.  At  the  same  time,  the 
Abbe  de  Broglie  is  very  far  removed  from  those  shallow 
philosophers  who  complacently  undertake  to  make  all  things 
clear,  blind  to  the  real  and  deep  difficulties  that  beset  all 
earthly  knowledge.  No  trace  of  this  smug  satisfaction  is 
found  in  his  pages.  For  all  his  scientific  vindication  of  our 
power  of  gaining  a  real  and  certain  knowledge  of  substances 
and  causes,  he  is  deeply  sensible  of  the  narrow  limits  that 
bound  this  knowledge,  and  the  vast  tracts  of  mystery  by 
which  it  is  surrounded.  If  substance  is  not  the  imaginary 
chimera  of  the  positivists,  but  the  true  object  of  perception, 
we  are,  none  the  less,  far  from  knowing  all  about  it;  and 
there  are  full  many  substances  and  causes  that  are  beyond 
our  ken. 

In  a  work  of  this  solid  character,  the  graces  of  literary 
form  are  but  a  secondary  matter;  and  yet  they  are  not 
without  a  value  of  their  own,  and  their  absence  may  even  do 
some  harm  to  the  cause  of  truth.  These  fundamental 
problems  of  philosophy  are  ever  sufficiently  difficult  in 
themselves,  and  most  readers  need  some  effort  ere  they  can 
be  brought  to  face  them  fairly.  But  it  is  only  too  easy  for 
a  writer  to  deepen  the  darkness  by  his  obscure  or  ambiguous 
language,  and  to  increase  the  reader's  reluctance  by  the 
needless  heaviness  of  his  style.  It  is,  therefore,  no  slight 


1008  The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism 

advantage  to  find  that  the  lucid  language  of  the  Abbe  de 
Broglie  makes  his  book  agreeable,  if  not  actually  easy 
reading. 

It  might  seem,  indeed,  that  the  task  he  had  set  himself 
left  little  or  no  room  for  any  other  literary  merit  than  that  of 
luminous  perspicacity  of  style.  But  if  the  opportunities  for 
wit  or  eloquence,  or  beauty  of  imagery,  are  somewhat  scanty, 
the  author  has  certainly  made  the  most  of  them.  He  is  not 
content  with  securing  his  reader's  assent  to  his  conclusions, 
but  has  many  pages  that  will  be  read  with  genuine  pleasure, 
and  what  might  else  become  a  somewhat  dreary  discussion 
is  relieved  by  not  a  few  sallies  of  humour.  The  incongruity 
of  these  lighter  touches  in  the  midst  of  grave  philosophic 
argument  adds  not  a  little  to  their  piquancy.  To  take  one 
whimsical  instance,  the  Abbe  de  Broglie  has  occasion  to 
speak  of  Mr.  Mill's  account  of  substances  as  "  Permanent 
Possibilities  of  Sensation."  It  is  a  far  cry  from  John  Stuart 
Mill  to  Eabelais  ;  but  we  are  gravely  reminded  of  the  problem 
propounded  by  the  learned  author  of  Pantagruel :  "  Utrum 
chimaera  bombynans  in  vacuo  possit  comedere  secundas 
intentiones  ? "  "Si  les  chimeres  peuvent  se  nourrir  de 
quelque  chose,  ce  serait  certainement  les  possibilites  per- 
manentes  de  M.  Mill  qu'elles  choisiraient  comme  aliment."3 

As  an  instance  of  the  writer's  power,  we  are  tempted  to 
cite  the  following  fine  passage,  which  may  even  keep  some- 
thing of  its  beauty  untarnished  by  translation  : — 

"  Who  would  dare  to  say,  as  he  stands  by  one  of  Baphael's 
Virgins,  that  there  is  nothing  before  his  eyes  but  vibrating  atoms  ? 
Is  it  not  evident  that  there  is  something  else  ;  that  there  is  the 
very  thought  of  the  artist  fixed  in  the  canvas,  and  ready  to 
display  itself  to  the  eyes  of  our  spirit  ?  If,  then,  the  world  of 
atoms,  a  world  cold  and  monotonous,  in  the  presence  of  a 
retina  and  a  tympanum  leaps  to  light,  and  robes  itself  in  a 
thousand  brilliant  forms ;  if  all  at  once  these  dumb  vibrations 
are  changed  into  glowing  colours  and  sonorous  sounds,  is  it  not 
true  that  this  whole  assemblage  of  sounds  and  colours  when 
placed,  in  its  turn,  in  contact  with  the  soul  of  the  poet,  the  artist, 
the  musician,  will  take  a  meaning  altogether  new  :  that  it  will 
reveal  to  us  new  horizons,  and  lead  us  into  a  world  above  the 

1  Vol.  ii.,  p.  485 


The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism  1009 

senses,  which  by  its  dignity,  its  beauty,  arid  its  grandeur,  towers 
alike  over  the  world  of  vibrating  atoms,  and  that  of  the  sonorous 
or  coloured  appearances  perceived  by  our  senses  ?  In  its  relation 
to  these  beauties  of  a  higher  order,  the  real  world  of  atoms,  is  no 
longer  a  simple  object  of  knowledge,  it  passes  to  the  state  of  an 
instrument  and  a  means  for  developing  and  enlarging  the  thought 
of  man.  and  enriching  his  imagination  with  unknown  splendours. 
It  ceases  to  be  the  sole  meaning  of  the  sensible  signs.  These 
signs  have  now  a  fairer  and  a  loftier  meaning  ;  they  symbolize 
the  thoughts  and  the  emotions  of  man.  The  real  world  of  atoms 
is  but  the  material  alphabet  of  the  brilliant  language  of  images 
which  make  the  ideal  sensible  and  accessible  to  our  soul.  It  is 
no  more  than  the  frame  and  the  canvas  of  the  picture  painted 
before  our  eyes  by  the  hand  of  the  Creator."1 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  what  we  have  ven- 
tured to  call  the  positive  character  of  the  Abbe  de  Broglie's 
refutation  of  positivism.  This,  as  we  have  said,  renders 
the  book  far  more  effective  as  an  answer  to  the  teaching 
of  M.  Comte  and  other  disciples  of  science,  who  doubt  or 
deny  the  possibility  of  any  knowledge  which  transcends 
phenomena.  Were  it  only  for  this  reason,  the  work  might 
well  be  welcome  to  all  lovers  of  sound  philosophy,  in  an 
age  so  beset  with  scepticism  and  materialism.  There  is, 
however,  a  further  reason  for  rejoicing  in  the  good  service 
done  by  the  Abbe  de  Broglie,  and  for  wishing  to  see  his 
book  more  widely  known  and  appreciated.  Valuable  as  a 
refutation  of  these  hostile  schools  of  thought,  it  is  scarcely 
less  welcome  as  a  counterpart  and  correction  of  much  that 
may  be  found  in  the  writings  of  some  of  their  orthodox 
opponents.  For  some  time  past  there  has  been,  to  say  the 
least,  a  tendency  among  champions  of  religious  philosophy  to 
dwell  more  on  the  littleness  and  the  limits  of  our  knowledge, 
than  on  its  certitude  aud  reality.  We  are  far  from  denying 
that  there  is  a  profound  truth  underlying  this  vein  of 
scepticism  in  spiritual  philosophy.  But  it  is  none  the  less  a 
perilous  path  to  tread  alone.  It  may  be  well  to  check  the 
overweening  presumption  of  rationalism,  by  pointing  to  the 
darkness  that  surrounds  us,  and  the  black  gulf  that  yawns 
at  our  feet.  But  there  is  some  danger  that  an  intellectual 
vertigo  may  be  the  only  outcome  of  this  teaching,  if  it  be 

1  Vol.  i.,  pp.  520-521. 
VOL.  XVII.  3  S 


1010  The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism 

not  accompanied  by  an  equally  strenuous  insistence  on 
other  and  more  reassuring  truths.  And  it  is  this  more 
positive  and  luminous  side  of  the  question  that  the  Abbe  de 
Broglie  brings  before  his  readers.  The  book  may  thus  be 
found  helpful  by  many  who  belong  to  schools  of  thought 
far  removed  from  that  positivism  against  which  it  is  mainly 
directed. 

At  the  same  time,  this  scientific  and  positive  character 
of  the  book  may  suggest  some  valuable  lessons  to  other 
labourers  in  the  field  of  philosophy.     Whether  from  their 
own  inability  to  appreciate  its  true  worth,  or  from  a  not 
unnatural  indignation  against  the  arrogant  tone  of  some  of 
its  professors,  critics  and  opponents  of  the  Comtist  system 
too  often  approach  it   in   a   spirit  of  implacable  hostility. 
And  there  is   some  danger  that  the  positivist  attempt  to 
set  an  ordered  hierarchy  cf  the  sciences  in   the  place   of 
metaphysics  and  theology,  may  drive  some  to  the  opposite 
extreme,  and  make  them  lose  sight  of  the  true  merits  of  the 
scientific  method,  and  of  the  advantage  of  employing  it  in 
philosophic    inquiries.       To    such    ill-judged    attacks,    the 
Abbe  de  Broglie's  work  affords  an  excellent  antidote,  which 
is  all  the  more  effective,  because  it  is  silent  and  indirect. 
He  shows   his   true  respect   for  science   and  the  scientific 
method,  not  by  words  of  empty  praise,  but  by  the  very  fact 
that  he  makes  such  good  use  of   that   method  in   his  own 
pages.      His   own   method    is    as    rigorously  positive    and 
scientific  as  that  of  M.  Comte  himself.      And  the  brilliant 
scholar  of  the  Ecole  Polytechnique  may  still  be  recognised 
in  the  priest  and  the  theologian.      It  is  interesting  to  find 
him, on  more  than  one  occasion,  pointing  out  the  agreement 
of  some  modern  scientific  theories  with  the  speculations  of 
the   great   mediaeval   schoolmen.      And    to    some    readers, 
the   association   of    such    names    as    Von    Helmholtz   and 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  may  perhaps  seern  as  strange  as  the 
humorous   quotation   which   connects    Eabelais   and   John 
Stuart  Mill.     But  if  any  incline  to  doubt  the  compatibility  of 
modern  science  and  mediaeval  philosophy,  this  book  of  the 
Abbe   de   Broglie   is   in   itself   a   sufficient    answer.      The 
consistent  unity  of  the  whole  work  is  surely  unquestionable. 


The  Abbe  de  Broglie  on  Positivism  1011 

Yet,  the  writer  is  at  once  a  genuine  scientist  and  a  loyal 
disciple  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas.  In  this  connection,  the 
date  at  which  the  book  appeared  is  not  without  interest ;  for 
it  will  be  seen  that  it  came  out  at  the  very  time  when  the 
present  holy  Father  had  but  lately  recommended  the 
cultivation  of  the  Angelic  Doctor's  philosophy  as  a  remedy 
for  modern  errors,  et  ad  scientiarum  omnium  incrementum, 
and  was,  moreover,  following  up  that  advice  in  practical 
fashion  by  preparing  his  noble  edition  of  the  mediaeval 
master's  writings.  Since  that  time  much  good  work  has 
been  done  in  this  direction,  and  the  words  of  the  Pontiff 
have  not  been  suffered  to  fall  to  the  ground.  The  life  of 
St.  Thomas  has  been  told  for  us  once  more ;  and  a  fresh 
impetus  has  been  given  to  the  study  of  his  philosophy. 
Some  have  been  led  to  dwell  on  special  parts  of  the  Angelic 
Doctor's  teaching,  or  to  trace  it  to  its  sources,  or  again  to 
compare  and  contrast  it  with  the  broken  lights  of  our  modern 
systems. 

All  these  things  have  their  value.  But  there  is  perhaps 
no  more  profitable  and  promising  means  of  spreading  the 
teaching  of  St.  Thomas,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  it  full 
scope  for  the  fresh  development  yet  in  store  for  it,  than  this 
effort  to  bring  it  into  touch  with  modern  physical  science. 
There  is,  we  may  add,  a  certain  fitness  in  the  fact  that  this 
wholesome  lesson  is  conveyed  in  the  course  of  a  refutation 
of  the  positivist  philosophy.  For  blind  as  he  was  to  many 
higher  truths,  M.  Comte  was  still  able  to  see  one  thing  very 
clearly — the  need  of  scientific  unity.  [  And  L  he  keenly  felt 
the  deadly  danger  of  disorder  and  disintegration.  Hence 
came  his  bold  attempt  to  give  to  the  sciences,  as  Littre  tells 
us,  the  unity  of  a  [philosophic  whole.  But,  unhappily,  he 
accomplished  his  task  by  the  rough  and  ready  method  of 
Procrustes,  ruthlessly  lopping  off,  as  metaphysics  and 
theology,  all  that  will  not  fit  into  his  crude  and  narrow 
system.  And  his  Philosophic  Positive  thus  gives  us  a  painful 
sense  of  incompleteness,  to  say  nothing  of  its  dark  and 
dangerous  hostility  to  all  real  religion. 

It  would,  however,  be  doing  but  a  poor  service  to  the 
cause  of  truth,  to  overthrow  M.  Cornte's  temple  of  science, 


1012     Student  Missionary  Movement  in  the  British  Isles 

without  putting  some  better  building  in  its  place.  And  the 
Abbe  de  Broglie  has,  therefore,  done  well  to  point  out  a 
truer  and  surer  means  of  winning  and  establishing  the  unity 
for  which  Comte  was  vainly  striving — in  a  happy  and 
harmonious  union  of  mediaeval  Catholic  philosophy  and 
modern  experimental  science. 

W.  H.  KENT,  O.S.C. 


THE  STUDENT  MISSIONABY  MOVEMENT  IN 
THE  BKITISH  ISLES 

A  MOVEMENT  of  late  has  been  started  among  students 
of  Protestant  colleges,  at  home  and  abroad,  with  the 
view  of  fostering  missionary  work  in  foreign  lands.  It  first 
originated  in  1885,  when  Messrs.  Stanley  Smith  and 
C.  F.  Studd  visited  some  of  the  British  universities  to 
arouse  the  interest  of  the  students.  The  idea  was  after- 
wards taken  up  in  America,  where  much  activity  and 
enthusiasm  was  developed.  During  nine  years  the  movement 
is  said  to  have  touched  upwards  of  five  hundred  colleges, 
where  more  than  three  thousand  volunteers  have  been 
enrolled.  Of  these,  eight  hundred  have  already  reached  the 
field  of  missionary  work. 

Before  us  are  two  volumes  of  reports  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  so-called  International  Missionary  Conference.  The 
first  gives  the  addresses  of  a  students'  convention  held  in 
America,  at  Detroit,  Michigan,  in  March,  1894.  From  the 
figures  given  in  this  report,  there  were  at  this  meeting 
one  thousand  and  eighty-two  student  delegates  from  two 
hundred  and  ninety-four  institutions  of  learning  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  There  were  also  present  a  large 
number  of  Protestant  missionaries  and  preachers,  both  men 
and  women,  who  discussed  mission  work  in  various  countries. 
Special  denominational  conferences  were  held  simulta- 
neously ;  one  conference  being  devoted  to  papal  lands.  Of 
these,  no  report  is  given.  The  zeal  shown  at  this  gathering 
was  followed  by  a  similar  conference,  largely  attended,  at 


Student  Missionary  Movement  in  the  British  Isles     1013 

Liverpool,  England,  January  1-5,  1890.  The  discourses  tlim 
delivered  are  embodied  in  a  volume  entitled  Make  Jesus 
King-  Through  this  book  we  are  informed  that  the  work 
has  been  spread  in  Great  Britain  during  the  last  three 
years,  by  means  of  conferences  and  efforts  of  travelling 
secretaries.  Thus,  one  thousand  and  thirty-eight  volunteers 
from  eighty-four  colleges  have  been  enrolled  in  the  Students' 
Volunteer  Missionary  Union.  The  number  from  Irish 
colleges  is  given  as  ninety.  The  basis  of  membership  of 
this  union  is  the  declaration  presented  for  signature:— 
"It  is  my  purpose,  if  God  permits,  to  become  a  foreign 
missionary."  This  is  not  a  pledge,  but  a  mere  honest 
expression  of  purpose.  Of  these  volunteers,  two  hundred 
and  twelve  have  already  sailed,  while  others  are  preparing 
for  the  work. 

The  reason  why  we  notice  this  Protestant  movement  is 
in  order  to  derive  therefrom  some  considerations  useful  to  us 
as  Catholics.  Great  numbers  of  Protestants  have  gone  to 
the  heathens  in  distant  lands,  while  their  brethren  at  home 
have  subscribed  enormous  sums  of  money  to  second  their 
efforts.  It  is  said,  that  during  this  century,  three  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  of  dollars  have  been  given  by  them  for 
foreign  missions.  The  activity  of  our  separated  friends  in 
behalf  of  their  sectarian  systems  ought  induce  us  to  examine 
whether  we  are  doing  as  much  for  the  extension  of  the  Church 
of  God  as  they  are  doing  for  the  extension  of  error.  The  fact 
is  pressed  home  to  our  minds,  that  there  are  among  Pro- 
testants many  devout  men  and  women,  who  show  much  zeal 
in  advancing  the  interests  of  their  beliefs.  Many  of  these 
people  have  a  deep  religious  sense,  and  their  earnestness  is 
the  more  remarkable  because  it  exists  alongside  of  the 
confusion  and  contradictions  of  modern  Protestantism. 
Beared  in  heresy,  they  have  been  unable  to  throw  off  the 
errors  of  their  forefathers ;  but  the  innate  longings  of  the 
human  heart,  which  are  naturally  Christian,  cannot  abandon 
Christianity,  in  spite  of  the  dissensions  among  the  sects. 
It  is  a  pity  that  these  souls  have  not  the  lights  of  Catholic 
truth  and  Catholic  unity,  where  their  zeal  could  find  a  more 
fruitful  field. 


1014     Student  Missionary  Movement  in  the  British  Isles 


While  non-Catholics  are  agitating  and  discussing  the 
question  of  foreign  missions,  we  hear  little  on  this  important 
topic  among  Catholics.  Yet  our  name,  Catholic,  implies 
that  we,  above  others,  should  be  concerned  with  a  work 
which  seeks  to  embrace  the  earth,  and  bring  it  to  the 
religion  of  Christ.  It  was  to  the  first  ministers  of  the 
universal  Church  that  the  Divine  mandate  was  given, 
"  Going,  therefore,  teach  ye  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded  you ;  and,  behold,  I  am  with  you  all 
days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world." 

The  spirit  of  Christ  is  such  that  we  may  understand 
from  His  commission  that  He  meant  all  races,  peoples,  and 
tribes  should  be  brought  within  the  saving  influences  of  the 
Church.  But  at  the  threshold  of  the  twentieth  century 
this  has  not  yet  been  fulfilled.  On  the  contrary,  the  great 
majority  of  the  human  race  is  yet  outside  of  the  true  fold. 
Great  multitudes  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  America,  are  still 
waiting  to  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them.  As  long  as 
this  is  so,  the  words  of  our  Lord  keep  their  original  meaning. 
They  beckon  heroic  souls  to  leave  all,  and  devote  themselves 
to  the  salvation  of  their  fellow-man.  It  is  a  great  pain  to 
an  earnest  Christian,  filled  with  a  living  faith,  to  realize 
that  the  great  heathen  world  outnumber  three  to  one  those 
who  call  upon  the  True  God  ;  to  consider,  that  from  reason's 
dawn  to  its  submersion  in  the  dark  waters  of  death,  not 
one  of  these  teeming  millions  and  hundreds  of  millions  ever 
said,  "  Christ  have  mercy  upon  me  !"  or  ever  knew  that  he 
had  a  Redeemer ! 

The  bright  pages  of  history  are  those  which  tell  of  the 
labours  of  fearless  missionaries  who  went  forth  to  convert 
the  heathen.  It  was  the  work  of  the  first  Apostles  and 
after  them  of  the  missionaries  who  converted  England, 
Ireland,  France,  Germany,  and  the  other  countries  of 
Europe.  It  is  to  those  saintly  men  under  God  that  those 
millions  must  be  ever  grateful  for  the  faith.  In  this,  our 
day,  there  are  countries  need  missionaries  as  much  as 
those  who  received  the  light  of  truth  from  St.  Augustine, 


. 

,+ 


Student  Missionary  Movement  in  the  British  Isles     1015 

St.-  Boniface,  or  St.  Patrick.  Leaving  aside  the  pagans  of 
the  far  East,  we  would  speak  of  the  missions  of  America. 
In  the  United  States  there  are  especially  two  fields  of 
missionary  labour,  that  is  the  Indians  and  the  Negroes. 
The  former  are  either  dying  out  or  are  becoming  lost  amono; 
the  whites.  Not  so,  however,  with  the  Negroes,  who  are 
increasing  rapidly,  and  growing  blacker  and  blacker.  Of  the 
former,  it  need  only  be  said  that  they  are  provided  fairly 
well  with  missionaries,  both  priests  and  sisters. 

The  Negro  population  in  the  Southern  States  number 
about  nine   millions.      Of  these   it   is   estimated  that  one 
hundred   and   sixty  thousand   are   Catholics.      About  four 
millions  claim  to  be  adherents  of  various  Protestant  sects 
The  majority  of  these  are   Baptists,  which  denomination 
does   not   baptize   except  adults.      Hence  it   follows,  that, 
by  far,  the   greater    number    of   the    coloured   people   are 
unbaptized.    The  Protestants  among  them  are,  for  the  most 
part,  entirely   separated   from   their   white   co-religionists. 
Each  race  has  separate  churches  and  ministers,  and  teachers 
of  its  own  colour.     As  a  rule,  among  the  blacks,  religion  is 
divorced  from   morality.      A   known  profligate   may  be  a 
member  of  good  standing  in  his  Church.     A  Negro  preacher 
made   the   statement   that    two-thirds    of    his   cloth   were 
immoral.     From  this,  the  morality  of  their  flocks  may  be 
inferred.      This  state  of  things  does   not   come  from  any 
special   depravity  of  their  nature,  as  from  ignorance  con- 
sequent upon  their  former  slavery,     The  Negro  has  a  deep 
religious  nature,  and  is  fond  of  religious  services. 

Now,  the  Catholic  Church  desires  to  bring  these  dark- 
hued  children  of  Africa  within  her  saving  fold.  The 
American  hierarchy  has  made  efforts  in  this  direction,  and 
Pope  Leo  XIII.,  as  also  his  representative,  Cardinal  Satolli, 
has  given  every  encouragement  to  any  movement  that  would 
aid  in  bringing  about  this  desired  result.  At  Baltimore,  Md., 
St.  Joseph's  Seminary,  together  with  its  feeder,  Epiphany 
Apostolic  College,  have  been  opened  to  train  young  men  for 
missionaries  to  the  Negroes.  The  Fathers  of  the  Society  of 
St.  Joseph  are  engaged  in  this  especial  work.  Upwards  of 
a  hundred  students,  thirty  being  at  St.  Joseph's  Seminary 


1016      Student  Missionary  Movement  in  the  British  Isles 

and  the  remainder  at  Epiphany  College,  are  already  making 
their  studies  under  their  direction. 

Many  generous  hearts  will  be  needed,  however,  in  the 
Southern  field,  and  since  the  missionary  spirit  is  abroad 
among  British  students  would  it  not  be  well  for  the  Catholic 
youth  who  have  a  vocation  for  the  missionary  life,  to  arouse 
themselves  and  in  so  doing,  to  consider  this  part  of  the 
Master's  vineyard  ?  Especially,  in  Catholic  Ireland,  should 
be  found  some  who  are  willing  to  achieve  success  in  this 
high  calling ;  in  youthful  America,  where  so  many  of  their 
countrymen  have  succeeded  in  other  walks  of  life.  Are 
there  not  some  who  are  ambitious  to  make  spiritual  con- 
quests in  a  land  where  the  harvest  of  precious  souls  is 
bending  low,  waiting  for  the  reaper  ? 

In  the  early  Christian  ages  of  Ireland,  when  it  was  a 
prosperous  and  happy  land,  it  was  the  nursery  of  holy  and 
intrepid  missionaries.  History  tells  of  their  glorious  works. 
St.  Columkille  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Picts  ;  St.  Aidan, 
was  the  successful  Apostle  of  Northumbria  ;  St.  Fridolin, 
after  long  untiring  labours  in  France,  established  himself 
on  the  Ehine ;  St.  Columbanus  preached  in  France, 
Burgundy,  Switzerland,  and  Lombardy;  St.  Kilian  was 
the  apostle  of  Franconia  ;  and  Virgilius  was  a  celebrated 
missionary  in  Germany,  where  he  became  Bishop  of 
Salzburg.  Irish  missionaries  went  to  preach  the  faith  in 
the  islands  north  of  their  country,  the  Hebrides,  the  Feroe 
Isles,  and  even  Iceland,  which,  it  is  said,  was  jcolonized  by 
the  Irish  before  the  Norwegian  pirates  landed  there.  They 
evangelized  all  of  Scotland,  and  completed  the  work  of  the 
conversion  of  England,  begun  by  St.  Augustine  a-nd  his 
companions. 

At  a  latter  period,  however,  the  zeal  of  Ireland  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  seemed  to  slacken,  if  not  to  cease 
altogether.  In  these  latter  times,  the  Irish  in  large  numbers 
have  left  their  native  land  and  have  spread  themselves  over 
the  world.  They  have  acquired  power  and  influence  in 
America.  They  hold  high  positions  in  the  English  Army, 
in  India,  and  in  the  East.  Everywhere  in  Christian  and 
pagan  countries  is  found  the  sturdy  Irishman  forging  ahead. 


Student  Missionary  Movement  in  the  British  Isles     1017 

But  scarcely  anywhere  in  pagan  lands  can  be  found  an  Irish 
missionary.  Not  long  ago,  a  distinguished  priest  just 
returned  from  an  extended  tour  in  Japan  and  China, 
expressed  his  sadness  at  seeing  England,  Germany,  and 
America,  the  three  most  aggressive  of  the  nations  pushing 
forward  Protestantism  in  the  far  East,  as  the  one  religion 
of  Western  civilization ;  not  a  Catholic  English,  Irish, 
German,  or  American  missionary  to  be  found  anywhere. 

This  should  not  be  so.  May  we  not  indulge  the  hope 
that  some  of  the  Irish  youth  of  our  day  shall  yet  emulate 
the  glorious  example  of  those  saints  and  apostles  who  made 
Ireland  famous  in  the  past  ?  A  revival  of  that  ancient 
missionary  spirit  may  bring  blessings  to  the  Green  Isle. 
Those  who  are  disposed  to  choose  the  missionary  vocation, 
should  take  courage  from  the  favourable  opportunities  of 
the  times.  Europe  dominates  Asia;  Africa  is  called  Europe 
extended  ;  railways  and  steamships  facilitate  travel ;  and 
lastly,  Protestantism  has  prepared,  in  a  great  measure,  the 
natural  element  upon  which  Catholicism  may  build. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  ever  aggressively  missionary  as 
long  as  there  are  peoples  and  nations  outside  of  her  pale. 
She  is  bound  to  carry  out  the  desire  and  injunction  of  her 
Master :  "  And  other  sheep  I  have,  that  are  not  of  this  fold ; 
them  also  I  must  bring  ;  and  they  shall  hear  My  voice ;  and 
there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  shepherd." 

J.  K.  SLATTEEY. 


1018 


A  NEW  CATECHISM 

A  CIKCULAK  has  just  come  into  our  hands  which  has 
•IA-  been  addressed  by  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin 
to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese,  regarding  the  new  Catechism 
which  has  been  drafted  by  the  Diocesan  Committee  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose  by  His  Grace  a  few  years  ago. 
The  circular  raises  a  good  many  points  in  connection  with 
the  Catechism  which,  we  are  quite  sure,  will  prove  of  great 
interest  to  many  of  our  readers  outside  the  diocese  of 
Dublin.  We  venture,  with  the  consent  of  the  Archbishop, 
to  draw  attention  to  one  of  the  important  questions 
submitted  for  elucidation  and  discussion,  and  to  invite 
those  of  our  readers  who  take  an  interest  in  the  subject 
to  send  us  for  publication  any  suggestions  that  they  may 
wish  to  offer,  either  on  this  particular  point,  or  on  any 
others  that,  in  their  opinion,  require  attention  in  the 
drafting  of  a  new  Catechism. 

The  members  of  the  Dublin  Committee  have  expended  a 
vast  amount  of  time  and  labour  on  the  task  entrusted  to 
them,  and  we  are  convinced  that  the  efforts  of  the  children 
in  learning  the  Christian  doctrine  will  be  facilitated  by 
their  labours  to  a  degree  that  could  scarcely  be  imagined. 
The  desire  of  these  gentlemen,  as  well  as  of  the  Archbishop, 
who  generally  presided  over  their  deliberations,  is  to  make 
the  work  as  perfect  as  possible.  Hence  they  will  cordially 
welcome  any  suggestions  or  expressions  of  opinion  that  may 
tend  to  throw  light  on  any  aspect  of  the  difficulties  that 
have  to  be  solved. 

There  are  many  of  our  readers  who  might,  with  special 
advantage,  give  to  the  public  the  benefit  of  their  experience 
and  of  their  knowledge,  especially  those  who  have  been 
actively  engaged  as  catechists  or  who  have  made  a 
special  study  of  the  faults  in  existing  catechisms,  and 
of  the  difficulties  under  which  children  labour  in  their 
efforts  to  understand  the  meaning  of  questions  and 
answers. 

About  four  years  ago  (in  the   January  number  of  the 


A  New  Catechism  1019 

I.  E.  KECOED,  1892),  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin 
gave  an  outline  of  the  reform  that  was  then  proposed,  and 
dealt,  in  detail,  with  some  of  the  questions  and  answers 
that  required  to  be  entirely  reviewed  and  re-arranged.  In 
the  circular  before  us,  His  Grace  gives  an  account  of  the 
progress  made,  and  invites  further  suggestions,  not  only  as 
regards  the  questions  and  auswers  of  the  Catechism,  but 
particularly  in  regard  to  the  English  versions  now  in  use  of 
prayers  originally  composed  in  Latin.  We  cannot  explain 
the  matter  better  than  by  giving  the  Archbishop's  own 
words  : — 

The  issuing  of  some  of  our  prayers,  in  any  book,  such  as  a 
Catechism,  which  is  to  be  issued  with  a  formal  ecclesiastical 
approval,  is  a  matter  not  always  free  from  difficulty.  For,  even 
in  some  of  the  most  familiar  prayers,  there  is  room  for  question 
as  to  whether  the  current  translation  ought  to  be  retained  without 
modification.  In  such  matters,  no  change  can  he  made 
without  causing  some  confusion,  or  even  without  giving  some- 
thing of  a  shock  to  many  amongst  the  faithful.  It  is  not 
always  easy  to  decide  to  what  extent  this  consideration  is  to 
be  regarded  as  justifying  a  continued  sacrifice  of  correctness  in 
the  translation. 

1.  In  the  Apostles'  Creed,  for  instance,  the  words  "  was 
crucified,  dead,  and  buried,"  seem  to  be  a  strange  translation 
of  "  crucifixus,"  mortuus,  et  sepultus  est."  "Was  dead," 
undoubtedly  is  not  the  English  equivalent  of  "mortuus  est." 
Are  we  then  to  say,  "  was  crucified,  died,  and  was  buried  "  ?  The 
antiquity  of  the  current  translation  is  a  point  not  to  be  over- 
looked. Since  we  find  it  in  the  English  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  we  may  naturally  infer  that  it  is  sanctioned  by  old 
Catholic  usage  in  England.  Is  a  form  of  prayer  so  long  estab- 
lished as  this  is,  to  be  lightly  changed  ? 

2.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  familiar  form,  "  Glory  be 
to  the  Father  .  .  .  as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever 
SHALL  BE,  world  without  end.  Amen." 

Ought  the  verbs  in  the  third  and  fourth  clauses  to  be  indicative 
in  form,  or  optative  ?  "  Glory  be  to  the  Father  .  .  .  as  it  is  .  .  . 
and  as  it  shall  be,"  is  a  form  of  prayer  undoubtedly  somewhat 
perplexing  when  closely  looked  into.  "  As  it  was  in  the  beginning, 
so  may  it  be,  now,"  &c.,  is  not  only  appropriate  in  form,  but  is 
also  in  accordance  with  analogy.  For,  in  the  Doxology,  as 
we  find  it  in  so  many  of  the  Hymns  of  the  Breviary,  the 
clauses  referring  to  the  present  or  to  the  future  cannot 


1020  A  Neiv  Catechism 

possibly   be  translated    in   any  other    than    an    optative    sense. 
Thus  :— 

Deo  Patri  SIT  gloria. 
Ejusque  soli  Filio, 
Cum  Spiritu  Paraclito, 
Nunc,  et  per  omne  saeculum. 

SIT  decus  Patri,  genitaeque  Proli, 
Et  tibi,  compar  utriusque  virtus, 
Spiritus  semper  Deus  unus,  omni 
Temporis  aevo. 

Sempiterna  SIT  beatae 
Trinitati  gloria, 
&c.,  &c. 

And  the  following  is  very  explicit : — 

Patri,  simulque  Eilio, 
Tibique,  sancte  Spiritus, 
Sicut  fuit,  SIT  jugiter 
Saeclum  per  omne  gloria. 

The  old  familiar  translation  of  the  words  "  et  in  saecula 
saeculorum,"  by  "  world  without  end,"  may  also  give  rise  to 
question. 

But,  in  both  points,  the  current  translation  is  sustained  by 
long  established  use.  Like  our  current  translation  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  it  is  the  translation  given  in  the  English  Book 
of  Common  Prayer. 

3.  The  Prayer,  "  Pour  forth,  we  beseech  Thee,"  &c.,  said  after 
the  versicles  in  the  "  Angelus,"  presents  several  points  of  interest. 

Should  "  infunde,"  for  instance,  be  translated  "  pour  forth  "  ? 
And  again,  should  we  say,  "  made  known  by  the  message  of  an 
angel,"  or  "  made  known  by  the  message  of  the  angel"  ? 

In  neither  respect  is  our  current  translation  of  this  prayer  in 
accord  with  the  translations  of  it  into  other  languages.  On  this 
point,  I  happen  to  have  a  very  interesting  collection  of  evidence. 
It  was  compiled  for  me,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  Eome, 
through  the  kindness  of  some  students  of  the  College  of 
Propaganda.  It  deals  extensively  with  the  commonly  received 
translations  of  the  prayer,  in  a  number  of  Eastern,  as  well  as 
European  languages. 

Again,  the  expression,  "  we,  to  whom  the  Incarnation  of  Christ, 
Thy  Son,  was  made  known,  by  the  message,"  &c.,  is,  I  should 
say,  another  peculiarity  of  the  current  English  translation. 

In  the  version  of  this  prayer  given  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer — where,  as  in  the  Roman  Missal,  it  occurs  as  the  Collect 
for  "the  Annunciation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,"— instead 


A  New  Catechism  1021 

of  the  clause  just  referred  to,  we  find  the  following,  "  that, 
as  we  have  known  the  Incarnation  ...  by  the  message,"  &c. 
This,  however,  does  not  seem  to  be  altogether  free  from 
objection. 

In  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  we  find  "  the  message  of  an 
angel,"  as  in  our  own  current  version.  But  there  is  at  least  much 
reason  for  regarding  "  the  Angel"  as  the  correct  translation,  as 
there  is  for  saying,  "  The  Angel  of  the  Lord  declared  unto  Mary," 
rather  than  "An  angel,"  &c. 

Finally,  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  gives  "  pour  "  instead  of 
"pour  forth."  Apparently  for  the  sake  of  the  rhythm,  the 
opening  words  of  the  Prayer  are  then  placed  in  the  following 
order  : — "  We  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  pour  Thy  grace  into  our 
hearts." 

4.  The  translation  of  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  presents 
a  number  of  points  of  interest. 

5.  The  Acts  of  Contrition,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  will 
probably  be  considered  open  to   amendment   in  some  respects. 
If  all  these   Acts  could  be   simplified   and  shortened,   without 
omitting  anything  that  is  really  of  importance  to  retain,  it  would 
be  a  decided  advantage. 

We  shall  gladly  publish  any  suggestions  that  may  be 
sent  to  us,  not  only  regarding  these  points,  but  also  regard- 
ing the  difficulties  raised  in  the  article  of  the  Archbishop  in 
1892,  or  on  any  others  that  may  occur  to  those  who  are 
anxious  to  have  a  Catechism  for  the  children  that  may  be 
as  near  as  possible  to  perfection. 

ED.  I  E.  E. 


[     1022    ] 

ftbeological  IRotes 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

APPLICATION  OF  THE  SECOND  MASS  IN  CASE  OF  DUPLICATION 
EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — It  is  obligatory  on  the  priests  in  this  diocese, 
and  I  believe  in  many  others,  to  say  Mass  six  times  for  a  deceased 
bishop,  and  three  times  for  a  deceased  priest.  Will  you  kindly 
say  in  your  next  number  of  the  I.  E.  BECORD  if  a  parish  priest, 
who  for  some  public  necessity  has  to  duplicate  on  Sundays,  may 
discharge  his  obligations  in  this  respect  by  offering  one  of  his 
Masses  for  the  deceased  bishop  or  priest,  and  apply  the  other 
pro  populo ;  also,  if  a  curate  has  for  legitimate  cause  to  duplicate 
on  Sunday,  can  he  satisfy  his  obligation  by  saying  one  Mass  for 
the  deceased  bishop  or  priest  while  he  accepts  an  honorarium  for 
the  other. — Yours  faithfully, 

SACERDOS. 

A  parish  priest  or  a  curate  may,  in  the  case  proposed, 
lawfully  apply  one  of  his  Masses  to  the  discharge  of  an 
obligation  towards  his  deceased  fellow-priests. 

The  obligation  to  apply  Masses  for  deceased  priests  may 
be  imposed  by  the  bishop,  or  it  may  arise  from  a  voluntary 
agreement  among  priests  themselves.  In  either  case  the 
obligation  may  bind  in  justice.  But,  in  the  absence  of  con- 
clusive evidence  to  the  contrary,  the  obligation  is  assumed 
to  be  one  binding  merely  in  obedience  to  the  bishop's 
authority,  or,  as  the  case  may  be,  in  fidelity  and  charity 
towards  one's  fellow-priests.  The  obligation  to  offer  such 
Masses  does  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  bind  in  justice. 

Now,  a  priest,  who  lawfully  duplicates  and  celebrates  pro 
populo,  or  takes  a  stipend  at  one  Mass,  is  not  forbidden  to 
discharge  an  obligation  in  obedience  or  fidelity,  or  charity 
at  the  other.  We  think,  therefore,  that  the  practice  to 
which  our  correspondent  refers  is  quite  lawful. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  this  or  a  kindred 
question  has  been  frequently  before  the  Sacred  Congregation. 
In  1871,  the  Bishop  of  Treves  represented  that  many  of  his 
priests  belonged  to  a  society  whose  members  bound  them- 
selves to  offer  a  Mass  for  each  deceased  associate.  He 
asked  that,  as  some  of  them  found  it  necessary  to  duplicate 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1023 

on  Sundays,  an  indult  might  be  granted,  by  virtue  of  which 
it  would  be  allowable  to  apply  the  second  Mass  for  the 
discharge  of  obligations  towards  deceased  associates.  He 
assumed,  as  he  expressly  stated,  that  an  indult  was 
necessary.  The  indult  was  granted  for  ten  years. 

In  1878,  the  Bishops  of  Nancy  and  Nismes  raised  the 
question  again.  They  urged,  however,  that,  as  there  was 
question  of  an  obligation  in  charity,  and  not  injustice,  it  might 
be  lawfully  satisfied  by  the  application  of  the  second  Mass  : — 

"  Sacerdos  eleernosynam  nee  directe  nee  indirecte  percipit. 
Non  directe,  nam  in  facto  nihil  recipit  ;  non  indirecte  nam  ad 
ipsam  applicandara  adstringitur  non  justitiae  sed  caritatis  vinculo. 
Unde  .  .  .  nihil  vetare  videtur,  quo  minus  pro  suffraganda  con- 
fratris  defuncti  anima  secundum  applicet  sacrincium." 

The  reply  was  Licere, — which  seemed  to  indicate  that 
the  indult  of  1878  had  been,  or,  all  events,  was  henceforth, 
unnecessary. 

In  1881,  however,  application  was  made  from  Treves  for 
a  renewal  of  the  indult  of  1871,  above  mentioned,  or  for  a 
declaration  that  the  reply  of  1878  may  be  acted  on.  This  time 
the  indult  was  not  granted,  and  the  answer  was  simply  Licere. 

In  1887,  the  Bishop  of  Viviers  returned  to  the  same 
subject,  and  making  the  strongest  possible  case  against  the 
discharge  of  such  obligations  by  the  application  of  the  second 
Mass,  he  urged  :  "  Obligatio  tanquam  ex  justitia  habetur." 
And  again  :  "  Sacerdotes  de  quibus  est  questio  ex  justitia  ad 
applicandum  teneri  videntur.  Adscriptis  enim  obligatio 
celebrandi  inest  saltern  ex  contractu  innominato  facio  ut 
facias."  The  answer,  however,  was  again  the  same.1 

If,  however,  there  were  an  obligation  in  strict  justice  to 
say  these  Masses,  we  have  seen  no  decision,  and  we  know  no 
argument,  that  would,  in  our  opinion,  justify  the  discharge 
of  it,  by  the  application  of  the  second  Mass. 

ABSOLUTIO  COMPLICIS  IN  AETICULO  MOETIS.  ABSOLUTIO 
MORIBUNDI  A  NON-APPKOBATO 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — Would  you  please  insert  and  answer  the 
following  in  your  next  issue : — 

1.  What  would  be  the  position  of  a  priest  who  should  absolve 

1  rid.  N.  R.  TheoL,  xix.,  No.  3,  p.  254. 


1024  Theological  Notes 

complicem  in  turpi,  either  conditionally  or  absolutely,  in  what  he 
considered  to  be  the  hour  of  death,  though  eventually  it  proves 
not  to  be  so  ?  Would  the  minister  therein  incur  the  censure  and 
reservation  ? 

2.  What  would  be  the  position  of  a  priest  not  having  faculties, 
who  should  absolve  any  person  in  the  same  circumstances  ? 

READEK. 

1.  The  question   is  in  no  way  affected  by  the  fact  that 
the  penitent    does  not   die.     In  periculo  mortis — whether 
the   danger  prove  fatal  or  not — the  confessor  can  validly 
absolve  his  complex;  in  case  of  necessity — and  then  only— 
he  can  absolve  lawfully,  and  escape  the  excommunication. 
Hence,  for  example,  if  no   other  confessor  can  be  had.  or 
110  one  to  whom  the  penitent  will  confess,  a  confessor  can 
validly  and  lawfully  absolve  his   complex.     Outside  a  case 
of  necessity,  the  confessor  would  absolve  validly  but  un- 
lawfully, and  would  incur  the  reserved  excommunication. 

2.  Again,  the  fact  that  death  does  not  actually  follow  is 
immaterial.    Any  priest  whatever    can  validly   absolve  a 
person  in  articulo  vel  periculo  mortis.     This  is  true  even  of 
the  case  in  which  an  approved  confessor  is  at  hand.     Some 
theologians    formerly    questioned    this    teaching,    but   the 
matter  has   been  settled  by   a  reply   of  the  Holy  Office, 
29th  July,  1891:  — 

"  Non  sunt  inquietandi  qui  tenent  validam  esse  absolutionem 
in  articulo  mortis  concessam  a  sacerdote  non  approbate,  etiam 
quando  facile  advocari  seu  adesse  potuisset  sacerdos  approbatus ; 
nee  qui  tenent  validam  esse  absolutionem  in  eodem  articulo 
mortis  concessam  a  peccatis  reservatis,  sive  simpliciter,  sive  cum 
censura,  per  sacerdotem  non  habentem  jurisdictionem  in  reservata, 
etiamsi  advocari  seu  adesse  facile  potuisset  sacerdos  habens 
praedictam  jurisdictionem." 

In  case  of  necessity,  a  priest  without  faculties  absolves 
validly  and  lawfully  ;  outside  a  case  of  necessity,  validly 
but  unlawfully.  Or,  to  be  accurate,  the  Church,  in  both 
cases,  supplies  faculties — jurisdiction,  and,  if  necessary, 
approbation — pro  tempore, 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1025 

ADOEATION    DUE    TO   OUK   LOED's  BODY  WHILE  IT  LAY  IN  THE 

SEPULCHRE 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — By  referring  to  the  June  number  of  The 
Catholic  World,  New  York,  page  403,  you  will  see  more  fully 
the  drift  of  my  questions. 

1.  Supposing    that    somebody   entered  the   tomb  on  Easter 
Saturday,  and   took  away  a  portion  of  the  body  of  our  Lord, 
would  that  portion  be  worthy   of   adoration   according  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Church? 

2.  Was  the  divinity  actually  and  really  separated  from  the 
humanity  while  our  Lord  was  in  the  tomb? 

By  answering  above  in  I.E. RECORD  you  will  much  oblige. 

A  SUBSCRIBER. 

We  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  Catholic 
World,  to  which  our  correspondent  refers  us,  but,  we  reply 
briefly  to  his  questions.  "Was  the  divinity  separated  from 
our  Lord's  Body  while  it  lay  in  the  tomb?"1  No;  in  the 
interval  between  the  Death  and  Kesurrection  of  our  Lord, 
the  Divine  Word  remained  hypostatically  united  with  the 
Soul  and  with  the  Body  of  Christ.  The  Body  of  our  Lord, 
therefore  (and  each  part  thereof),  while  it  lay  in  the  sepulchre, 
was  an  object  of  supreme  absolute  adoration — cultus  latriae 
absolutus.  On  this  point  theologians  are  agreed. 

They  agree,  moreover,  that  separation  from  Christ's  Body 
did  not  interrupt  the  hypostatic  union  of  the  Word  with  any 
portion  of  Flesh  or  Blood,  that  was  to  be  again  restored  to 
Christ's  glorified  Body.  The  Precious  Blood,  for  instance, 
shed  during  the  Passion,  retained  the  hypostatic  union,  and 
remained  an  object  of  supreme  absolute  worship. 

Theologians  are  all  but  unanimous,  too,  that  small  particles 
of  the  Precious  Blood,  or  of  the  Sacred  Flesh,  which  were 
separated  from  the  Body  during  the  Passion,  or  after,  and 
which  were  not  to  be  reassumed  at  the  Resurrection — if  therj 
were  any  such  particles — ceased  at  their  separation  to  be 
hypostatically  united  to  the  Divine  Word.  A  drop  of  the 
Precious  Blood,  therefore,  or  a  portion  of  the  Sacred  Flesh, 
which  adhered  to  the  scourges,  or  to  the  linen  cloth  in  which 

1  We  have  modified  the  form  of  our  correspondent's  question,  because  the 
Sacred  Humanity,  as  such,  had  no  existence  in  the  interval  between  the  Death 
and  Resurrection. 

VOL.  XVII.  3  T 


1026  Theological  Notes 

the  dead  Body  of  Christ  was  wrapped,  if  we  suppose  that  it 
was  not  to  be  reassumed  at  the  Resurrection,  would,  from 
the  moment  of  separation,  cease  to  be  an  object  of  supreme 
absolute  worship.  Such  a  drop  of  Blood  would  be  merely  a 
relic,  and,  like  other  relics  of  our  Lord,  would  be  worshipped 
with  supreme,  but  relative  worship — cultus  latriae  relativus. 
But  were  there,  or  might  there  have  been,  particles 
separated  from  our  Lord's  Body  during  the  Passion  which 
were  not  restored  at  the  Resurrection  ?  Theologians  do  not 
agree  in  their  answer,  and  they  would,  therefore,  differ  in 
their  solution  of  our  correspondent's  first  question.  Some 
maintain  that  every  particle  lost  during  the  Passion  was 
restored  to  our  Lord's  glorified  Body.  According  to  this 
opinion,  every  particle  retained  the  hypostatic  union,  and 
was,  during  the  time  of  the  burial,  an  object  of  supreme 
absolute  worship.  Others  teach  that,  while,  morally  speaking, 
it  is  true  to  say  that  all  Christ's  Flesh  and  Blood  was 
restored  to  His  glorified  Body,  yet  minute  particles  of  Blood 
or  Flesh  may  have  remained  which  were  not  assumed  at 
the  Resurrection.  These  particles,  as  we  have  said  above, 
would,  from  the  moment  of  separation,  be  worshipped, 
according  to  this  opinion,  cultu  latriae  relative. 

In  reply  to  our  correspondent's  first  question,  then,  we 
say  that,  according  to  the  first  of  the  two  opinions  just  men- 
tioned, any  portion  of  Flesh  or  Blood  taken  from  the  Body 
of  our  Lord,  as  it  lay  in  the  tomb,  should  be  worshipped  with 
supreme  worship,  and  absolutely  ;  according  to  the  second 
opinion  (which  we  would  adopt  as  our  own,  but,  of  course, 
only  in  regard  to  relatively  insignificant  portions  of  the  Body 
or  Blood),  a  very  small  portion  taken  from  our  Lord's  Body 
— a  few  drops  of  Blood,  v.g. — might  be  an  object  of  supreme, 
but  relative  worship.  Up  to  the  moment  of  the  Resurrection 
no  human  being  could  say,  with  certainty,  whether  or  not 
those  few  drops  were  to  be  restored  to  Christ  at  the  Resur- 
rection. But,  if  they  remained  apart  after  the  Resurrection, 
then  it  became  clear,  according  to  the  teaching  of  theologians, 
that,  from  the  moment  of  separation,  cultus  relativus  only  was 
due  to  them.  If,  at  the  Resurrection,  they  were  reassumed, 
then,  according  to  the  same  Leaching,  cultus  absolutus  was 
due  to  them,  even  during  the  time  of  separation. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1027 

CONFIRMATION  OF  THE  MAYNOOTH  STATUTES 
EEV.  $DEAB  SIR, — I  will  thank  you  to  say  whether  the 
Maynooth  Statutes  have  been  confirmed  in  forma  communi, 
or  in  forma  specifica.  Some  think  that  they  have  been  confirmed 
in  forma  specifica.  I  cannot  see  my  way  to  believe  that  such  is  the1 
case,  because,  if  that  were  so,  the  Statutes  could  not  be  dispensed 
in  by  the  bishop  of  a  diocese.  Now,  in  my  diocese  the 
Statutes  have  been  dispensed  in  in  two  particulars.  .  .  . 

A  SUBSCRIBER. 

The  decrees  of  the  Maynooth  Synod  have  not  been 
confirmed  either  in  forma  communi  or  in  forma  specifica  ; 
they  have  received  what  is  technically  known  as  a  simplex 
recognitio.1 

The  decrees  of  provincial  and  of  national  or  plenary 
synods  must,  before  promulgation,  be  submitted  to  the 
Roman  authorities.  From  this  and  countries  similarly 
situated,  such  synodal  decrees  are  sent  to  the  Propaganda. 
The  object  of  this  arrangement  is,  not  that  the  decrees 
should  receive  any  positive  confirmation  or  binding  force 
from  the  Holy  See,  but  that,  having  been  revised,  and,  if 
necessary,  corrected,  they  should  be  returned,  with  permis- 
sion for  promulgation.  This  is  clearly  the  teaching  of 
Benedict  XIV. : 

"  Decreta  [he  says]  transmitti  jussit  Sixtus  V.  ad  sacram 
Congregationem,  non,  quidem,  ut  confirmationem  reportent  a  Sede 
Apostolica,  sed  ut  corrigatur,  si  quid  fortasse  in  iisdem  aut  nimis 
rigidum  aut  minus  rationi  congruum  deprehendatur." 

Decrees  thus  returned  by  the  Eoman  authorities,  with  a 
simplex  recognitio,  as  it  is  called,  have  got  no  positive  approval 
from  the  Holy  See ;  they  get,  indeed,  a  negative  approval, 
in  the  sense  that  nothing  contained  in  them  is  judged  by 
the  Holy  See  a  bar  to  their  promulgation.  Moreover,  the 
decrees  have  got  no  new  binding  force;  their  validity  or 
invalidity  remains  unaffected.  Finally,  this  revision  by  the 
Roman  authorities,  as  it  does  not  touch  the  binding  force  of 
the  decrees,  places  no  limit  to  the  dispensing  powers  of  the 
synod  from  which  the  decrees  emanate. 

1  In  making1  a  distinction  between  recognitio  and  confirmation  in  forma 
communi,  we  follow  the  common,  but  not  universal,  teaching  of  modern  canonists. 


1028  Theological  Notes 

Synodal  decrees  sent  to  Rome  for  revision  require,  and 
usually  receive,  no  more  than  this  "  recognitio."  Some- 
times, however,  a  further  approval  or  confirmation  is  sought 
and  granted  in  forma  communi  aut  in  forma  specifica.  We 
cannot  do  better  than  transcribe  the  words  in  which 
Lehmkuhl  distinguishes  these  forms  of  confirmation  :— 

"Leges  conciliorum  provincialium  [aut  plenariorum] ,  quan- 
quam  sola  recognitione  S.  Congregationis  indigent  tamen 
aliquando  (ut  etiam  in  legibus  synodalibus  diocesanis  contingere 
potest),  confirm ationem  sedis  apostolicae  accipiunt.  Quod  si  fit, 
observanda  est  distinctio  approbations,  quae  dicitur  in  forma 
communi,  ab  ea  quae  dicitur  in  forma  specifica.  Prior  approbatio 
vim  illarum  legum  non  mutat,  sed  leges  manent  [nationales] 
provinciales,  docesanae  tales,  quae  a  [nationali  aut],  provincial! 
synodo  vel  ab  episcopo  mutari  possint.  Posterior  approbatio 
facit  eas  leges  Pontificias,  non  pro  tota  quidem  ecclesia,  sed  pro 
sola  ilia  provincia  vel  parte,  pro  qua  latae  sunt,  at  vis  obligandi 
major  evadit,  utpote  quae  a  S.  Pontificis  voluntate  obligante  sit 
orta ;  quare  ab  Episcopo  aut  Synodo  [nationali  aut],  provinciali 
auferri  vel  mutari  non  amplius  possunt."  * 

Confirmation,  therefore,  in  forma  communi,  like  recog- 
nitio, adds  no  binding  force  to  decrees,  nor  does  it  limit 
the  power  of  dispensing  in  them.  This  form  of  approval  in 
forma  communi  is  given — (1)  "  ne  quis  improvide  ac  sine 
scientia  Papae  videatur  procedere  ;"  (2)  "ut  magis  timeatur, 
nam  solet  plus  timerij  quod  specialiter  ac  praesertim  per 
principem  supremum  disponitur  .  .  alioquin  vero  hujus- 
rnodi  confirmationes  in  forma  communi  parvum  valent." ' 
Practically,  confirmation  in  forma  communi  differs  in  nothing 
from  recognitio,  unless,  perhaps,  the  former  be  taken  to 
imply  a  certain  degree  of  positive  approval . 

Confirmation  in  forma  specifica  gives  decrees  the  force 
of  papal  laws,  validates  (as  a  rule)  what  may  happen  to  be 
invalid,  and  restricts  the  power  of  dispensation  to  the  Pope 
and  his  delegates.  Our  correspondent,  therefore,  rightly 
assumes  that  bishops,  unless  in  virtue  of  delegation  from 
the  Pope,  could  not  dispense  in  synodal  decrees  confirmed 
in  forma  specifica. 

Confirmation,  as  distinct  from  recognitio,  is  not  usually 

1  Lehmkuhl,  i.t  n.  121.  2  KeiffenstueL  lib.  ii.,  Decret.  t.  xxx.  6. 


Documents  1029 

granted,  unless  it  be  specially  asked.  Whenever  confirmation 
in  forma  specified  is  given,  the  fact  is  clearly  indicated  in  the 
terms  of  the  confirmation.1 

As  to  the  decrees  of  the  Maynooth  Synod,  there  is 
nothing,  either  in  the  letter  with  which  they  were  sent  to 
Propaganda,  or  in  the  reply  ordering  their  promulgation,  to 
imply  a  departure  from  the  ordinary  procedure,  according 
to  which,  as  we  have  said,  nothing  more  than  recognitio  is 
sought  or  granted.2  The  decrees,  therefore,  remain  merely 
the  decrees  of  a  plenary  synod  ;  they  can  be  modified  or 
abrogated  by  a  future  plenary  synod  :  they  can,  for  a  sufficient 
cause,  be  dispensed  in  by  individual  bishops  in  virtue  of 
jurisdiction  delegated  (saltern  tacite)  by  the  synod  itself. 

D.  MANNIX. 


Documents 

IMPOETANT  STATEMENT  OF  THE  AECHBISHOPS  AND  BISHOPS 
OF  IEELAND  ON  THE  IEISH  UNIVEESTTY  QUESTION,  AND 
MAEEIAGE  WITH  A  DECEASED  WIFE'S  SISTEE 

AT  a  Meeting  of  the  Irish  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  held 
at  Maynooth  College  on  the  13th  and  14th  October,  the 
following  statements  were  unanimously  adopted,  and  directed 
to  be  published  :— 

I. — THE    UNIVEBSITY   QUESTION 

We,  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  Ireland,  regret  that  it  is 
still  our  duty  to  renew  the  protests  which  we  have  been  making 
for  many  years  against  the  injustice  with  which  Irish  Catholics 
are  treated  in  the  matter  of  education.  For  us  it  would  be  much 
more  grateful  to  our  feelings,  and  more  in  keeping  with  our 
office,  to  promote,  if  we  might,  a  spirit  of  contentment  on 
the  part  of  our  people  with  the  institutions  under  which  they  have 
to  live.  But  while  a  grievous  wrong  is  being  perpetrated  against 
the  material  as  well  as  the  spiritual  interests  of  our  people,  we 
should  be  false  to  our  duty  if  we  did  not  work  for  its  redress. 

On  previous  occasions  we  have  dealt  with  the  various  branches 
of  that  wrong  as  it  affects  education  in  its  different  grades— 

1  rid.  Eeiffenstuel,  loc.  cit.  2  Vid.  Acta  ft  Decreta,  pp.  16  et  23. 


1030  Documents 

Primary,  Intermediate,  and  University — and  we  have  to  observe 
with  pain  and  disappointment  how  unavailing  have  been  our 
efforts.  We  now  desire  to  dwell  in  particular  on  the  question  of 
higher,  or  University  education,  and  we  do  so  as  there  is  some 
reason  to  hope  from  the  state  of  public  business  that  at  length 
the  Government  may  be  induced  to  deal  with  it. 

We  assume,  as  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  in  this  matter  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  have  a  grievance.  This  has  been  recognised 
by  statesmen  of  all  political  parties,  in  the  Houses  of  Parliament 
and  in  the  country  ;  but  by  no  one  has  it  been  stated  with 
greater  force,  nor  the  intellectual  and  material  impoverishment 
resulting  from  it  set  forth  with  greater  clearness,  than  by  the 
present  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury,  now  seven  years  ago,  in  his 
remarkable  speech  at  Partick. 

No  later  too  than  the  closing  days  of  the  last  Session  of 
Parliament,  the  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland  made  the  memorable 
admission  in  reference  to  this  same  question,  that  through  the 
want  of  University  Education  amongst  the  Catholics  of  Ireland 
he  found  it  necessary  from  time  to  time  to  pass  them  over,  and 
to  give  to  Protestants  public  appointments  which  otherwise  he 
would  have  thought  it  right  to  give  to  Catholics.  We  must  say 
that,  much  as  we  feel  humiliated  by  the  statement,  we  are  not 
quite  surprised  at  it.  To  be  crushed  by  law  into  a  position  of 
inferiority,  and  then  made  to  suffer  in  consequence,  has  for  a 
long  time  been  the  lot  of  Irish  Catholics. 

There  are  in  Ireland  at  this  moment  but  two  University 
Institutions  deserving  of  the  name — Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and 
the  Queen's  College,  Belfast.  We  do  not  regard  the  work  of 
University  Education  which  is  being  done  by  the  other  Queen's 
Colleges  as  worthy  of  consideration  ;  and  we  must  recognise  that 
our  Catholic  colleges,  however  brilliant  their  successes  at  various 
examinations,  are  limited  by  the  conditions  under  which  they 
exist  to  very  small  fields  of  labour.  But,  unquestionably,  Trinity 
College  does  educational  work  of  great  extent  and  of  a  high 
order  ;  and  in  a  less,  but  still  considerable  degree,  the  same  may 
be  asserted  of  the  Queen's  College,  Belfast. 

In  these  two  institutions  there  are  1,500  students,  and,  out  of 
that  total,  less  than  100  are  Catholics,  and  the  remainder  are 
Protestants  of  the  Disestablished  Church  or  Presbyterians.  In 
this  condition  of  things  it  is  hardly  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
educated  Catholics  are  not  numerous  in  Ireland, 


Documents  1031 

We  who  are  concerned  for  the  spiritual  and  also  for  the 
material  interests  of  our  people,  know  from  bitter  experience  the 
loss  which  they  sustain  in  having  the  doors  of  higher  knowledge 
shut  in  their  faces.  And  those  who  take  any  interest  in  the 
temporal  welfare  and  progress  of  the  country  have  brought  home 
to  them  at  every  turn  the  impossibility  of  raising  a  nation  in 
which  three-fourths  of  the  population  are  cut  off  from  the  direct 
and  indirect  advantage  of  the  full  training  of  their  best  intellects. 

In  recent  years,  since  the  institution  of  the  Intermediate 
Examinations,  this  incompleteness  of  our  educational  system  is 
more  obvious  and  more  irritating.  Intermediate  schools  have 
been  multiplied.  Year  by  year  the  number  of  their  students  is 
increasing.  This  year  as  many  as  8,700  students,  the  great 
majority  of  whom  are  Catholics,  presented  themselves  for 
examination,  and  in  all  probability  this  number  will  grow  still 
larger.  But  if  any  reasonable  man  asks  himself  what  the  goal 
of  all  these  Intermediate  studies  is  to  be  for  so  many  thousands 
of  Catholic  students,  he  will  not  find  it  quite  easy  to  get  an 
answer.  We  know  well  that  under  no  circumstances  would  all, 
or  even  the  majority,  go  beyond  an  Intermediate  education  ; 
but  we  know  also  that  a  University  career  is  the  reasonable  and 
only  legitimate  completion  for  studies  such  as  theirs. 

A  distinguished  Irishman,  the  Conservative  statesman,  Lord 
Cairns,  expressed  this  view  in  a  happy  metaphor  when  he  spoke 
of  the  National  system  of  Primary  education  as  the  foundation, 
the  Intermediate  as  the  walls,  and  the  University  as  the  roof 
of  the  entire  structure.  For  Protestants  and  Presbyterians  the 
edifice  is  complete,  and  available  without  the  sacrifice  of  any 
religious  principles.  They  have  their  universities,  richly  endowed 
and  splendidly  equipped,  where  the  cream  of  their  youth  have 
opened  to  them  every  career  in  which  higher  culture  avails.  As 
far  as  we  Irish  Catholics  are  concerned,  there  is  no  roof  over 
us,  and  our  educational  system  is  incomplete,  and  by  that 
incompleteness  pernicious. 

It  must  now  be  plain  to  everyone  that  Irish  Catholics,  as  a  body, 
will  not  accept  a  University  education  which  is  either  Protestant 
or  godless.  Catholic  parents  will  not  send  their  sons  to  Trinity 
College  nor  to  the  Queen's  Colleges ;  and,  consequently,  the  only 
alternatives  practically  remaining  are  either  to  keep  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland  in  ignorance,  and  let  them  fall  behind  every  other 
country  in  the  world,  or  giye  them  opportunities  of  University 
education  which  their  consciences  can  accept, 


1032  Documents 

It  is  out  of  the  question  for  us  to  hope  to  supply  our  needs  by 
any  private  efforts  or  sacrifices.  For  many  years  we  struggled  to 
maintain  the  Catholic  University  of  Ireland,  and  the  amount  of 
money  which  was  voluntarily  subscribed  to  it  was  enormous  in 
relation  to  our  resources.  But,  aggravated  as  it  was  by  the 
absence  of  all  legal  recognition  for  our  University,  the  unequal 
effort  was  found  to  be  oppressive.  This  is  a  very  poor  country, 
and  the  Catholics  are  the  poorest  of  its  people.  Even  the 
generous  provision  which  our  forefathers  had  made  for  religion, 
and  which  would  have  enabled  us  to  provide  for  education  also, 
was  long  ago  taken  from  us  ;  and  we  have  been  forced,  out  of  our 
poverty,  to  provide  all  the  means  for  the  maintenance  of  our 
Church,  and  of  its  multifarious  institutions.  We  have  not,  then, 
the  means  to  endow  a  University  for  ourselves  ;  and,  even  if  we 
were  richer,  it  would  be  an  unequal  competition  between  us  and 
colleges  richly  endowed  by  public  funds. 

In  these  days,  too,  education  is  growing  in  costliness  to  such 
an  extent,  that  even  in  England  and  in  the  great  centres  of  manu- 
facture and  commerce,  where  the  princely  munificence  of  private 
citizens  has  founded  magnificent  colleges,  we  read  of  the  appeals 
of  the  colleges  of  the  Victoria  University  at  Manchester,  and 
Lseds,  and  Liverpool  for  increased  grants  to  enable  them  to  carry 
on  their  work.  Surely,  if  the  maintenance  of  university  colleges 
is  considered  to  be  too  much  for  the  resources  of  perhaps  the 
wealthiest  communities  in  the  world,  it  must  be  evident  that  in 
a  poor  country  such  as  Ireland  it  is  unreasonable  and  unjust  to 
throw  such  a  burden  upon  Catholics,  and  upon  them  alone. 

What,  then,  do  we  claim?  Simply  to  be  put  on  an  equality 
with  our  Protestant  fellow-countrymen.  We  take  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  with  its  endowments  and  its  privileges,  and,  seeing 
what  is  done  by  public  funds  and  legal  enactments  for  half  a 
million  of  Protestants  of  the  Disestablished  Church  of  Ireland, 
we  claim  that  at  least  as  much  should  be  done  for  the  three 
miJlions  and  a-half  of  Catholics. 

We  do  not  seek  to  impair  the  efficiency  of  any  institution- 
We  do  not  want  to  take  one  shilling  from  the  endowments  of  any 
other  body.  We  look — apart  from  the  consideration  of  our  own 
inequality — with  much  admiration  and  sympathy  upon  the  work 
which  Trinity  College  and  the  Belfast  Queen's  College  are  doing. 
But  we  ask,  as  a  matter  of  simple  justice,  that  the  Catholics  of 
Ireland  should  be  put  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  with  them. 


Documents  1033 

How  that  equality  is  to  be  reached,  it  is  not  for  us  now  to 
define.  We  have  stated  on  many  occasions  that  we  are  not 
irrevocably  committed  to  any  one  principle  of  settlement  ;  and 
whether  that  settlement  is  carried  out  through  a  distinct  Catholic 
university  or  through  a  college,  we  shall  be  prepared  to  consider 
any  proposal  with  an  open  mind,  and  with  a  sincere  desire  to 
remove  rather  than  to  aggravate  difficulties. 

In  putting  forward  this  claim  we  consider  it  not  unreasonable 
on  our  part  to  take  into  account  the  declarations  of  the  present 
Government  on  the  subject  of  education.  If  there  is  one  prin- 
ciple more  than  another  to  which  they  stand  committed,  it  is 
that  of  denomination alism  in  education.  As  far  as  abstract 
principles  are  involved,  we  might  accept  without  qualification  the 
statements  made  by  the  Prime  Minister  in  recent  speeches.  And 
we  cannot  think  that,  when  it  comes  to  an  application  of  those 
principles,  he  will  seek  to  limit  it  to  countries  which  are  mainly 
Protestant,  such  as  England  and  Scotland. 

If,  then,  our  demand  is  in  harmony  with  the  principles  which 
the  Government  professes,  and  if  at  the  same  time  its  concession 
is  necessary  in  order  to  give  the  people  of  Ireland  the  educational 
advantages  which  are  essential  conditions  of  progress  in  a 
modern  state,  we  can  hardly  believe  that  it  will  be  either  refused 
or  postponed. 

It  is  now  twenty-three  years  since  this  was  made  a  Cabinet 
question,  and  yet  in  spite  of  the  protests  and  the  agitation  of  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland,  in  Parliament  and  out  of  it,  in  the  mean- 
time, we  are  practically  in  the  same  position  as  we  were  then. 

In  England,  such  a  miscarriage  of  legislation  on  a  matter  of 
so  much  importance  would  be  impossible.  There  Parliament 
responds  to  public  opinion.  The  English  people  are  able 
through  their  Parliamentary  representatives,  to  make  and 
unmake  Governments,  and  their  maturely-formed  wishes  must 
be  granted.  Unfortunately  it  is  not  so  in  Ireland.  Our  wishes 
and  our  demands  count  for  very  little.  We  get  whatever  the 
Cabinet  which  has  been  formed  by  English  public  opinion  thinks 
good  for  us  ;  but  we  are  made  to  feel  bitterly  the  uselessness  of 
constitutional  agitation  on  our  part.  Violence  and  excess  obtain 
ready  recognition,  and  lead  to  the  redress  of  grievances  ;  but  the 
constitutionally  expressed  desire  of  the  Irish  people  through 
Parliamentary  elections,  and  the  action  of  their  members  of 
Parliament  count,  unfortunately,  for  very  little. 


1034  Documents 

It  is  little  wonder,  then,  that  the  minds  of  our  people  are 
alienated  from  their  Government,  and  every  day  lose  confidence 
in  constitutional  methods.  This  is  a  state  of  things  which  we 
regard  as  deplorable,  but  still  quite  natural. 

For  over  forty  years  we  have  been  agitating  this  grievance  of 
University  Education.  At  any  time  during  all  these  years  an 
overwhelming  majority  of  our  countrymen  were  in  favour  of  our 
claims.  In  every  way  known  to  the  constitution  we  have  urged 
them.  At  this  moment,  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  Irish  members 
of  Parliament  are  with  us,  and  speak  and  vote  for  us  ;  and  yet, 
while  we  see  one  generation  after  another  of  our  young  country- 
men pass  from  the  schools  into  active  life  with  the  mark  of 
educational  inferiority  upon  them,  and  our  country,  poor  as  she 
is  in  many  respects,  denied  the  opportunity  of  cultivating  the 
wealth  which  God  has  given  her,  we  are  powerless  to  do  more 
than  complain,  and  wait  in  the  hope  that  some  enlightened 
British  statesman  may  do  something  for  us. 

Perhaps  reflection  on  the  history  of  this  one  question  may 
make  clear  to  Englishmen  why  Irishmen  desire  the  management 
of  their  own  affairs,  and  stand  aloof  from  the  actual  Government 
of  the  country  in  a  spirit  of  distrust  and  alienation. 

Yet,  although  our  task  is  a  weary  one,  we  would  ask  our 
countrymen  still  to  urge  their  claim  for  freedom  of  education, 
which,  in  reality,  is  freedom  of  religion ;  and  we  would 
impress  upon  our  Parliamentary  representatives  the  importance 
of  pressing  this  question  at  all  times  on  the  attention  of 
Parliament. 

•^MICHAEL      CARDINAL     LOGUE,      Archbishop     of 
Armagh,  Primate  of  All  Ireland,  Chairman. 

i^F.   J.    M'CoRMACK,     Bishop    ofl 

Galway  and  Kilmacduagh,  Secretaries 

*  JOHN  HEALY,  Bishop  of  ClonfertJ  io  the  Meetmg' 

II. — THE  BILL   FOE   LEGALIZING   MARRIAGE    WITH   A    DECEASED 

WIFE'S  SISTER 

The  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  Ireland,  having  considered 
the  Bill  which  was  brought  before  Parliament  in  the  last  session 
in  reference  to  marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister,  beg  to 
request  that  the  Irish  Catholic  Peers  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
the  Catholic  members  of  Parliament,  and  members  representing 


Documents  1035 

Catholic  constituencies  in  the  House  of  Commons,  will  give  their 
most  strenuous  opposition  at  all  future  stages  to  that  measure, 
which  would  set  the  law  of  the  land  in  opposition  to  the 
ecclesiastical  law,  and  legalize  what  is  now  an  invalidating 
impediment  to  the  Sacrament  of  Matrimony. 

%  MICHAEL     CAEDINAL     LOGUE,     Archbishop      of 
Armagh,  Primate  of  All  Ireland,  Chairman. 

•fcF.   J.    M'CoRMACK,     Bishop    of] 

Galway  and  Kilmacduagh,  Secretaries 

*  JOHN  HEALY,  Bishop  of  ClonfertJ  to  the 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  THE  IRISH  HIERARCHY  AND 
THE  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  BOARD  REGARDING  NUNS  AS 
HOSPITAL  NURSES 

THE  COLLEGE,  MAYNOOTH, 

17th  October,  1895. 

GENTLEMEN, — We,  as  Secretaries,  have  been  directed  to  convey 
to  you  the  unanimous  request  of  the  Catholic  Archbishops  and 
Bishops  of  Ireland,  assembled  at  Maynooth  on  the  16th  instant, 
that  you  would  extend  the  recent  Athlone  regulation  as  to  night- 
nursing  to  the  other  unions  of  Ireland  where  Nuns  are  engaged 
in  hospital  work.  The  regulation  referred  to  is  the  one  notified 
to  the  Bishop  of  Ardagh  by  Major  Eutledge  Fair.  The  Bishop 
further  requests  that  Nuns  should  not  be  required  to  be  present 
at  surgical  operations,  a  duty  that  may,  without  difficulty,  be 
imposed  upon  the  trained  nurses. — We  have  the  honour  to  be, 
your  faithful  servants, 

&  F.  J.  M'CoRMACK,)         Hon. 
»fc  J.  HEALY,  f  Secretaries. 

THE  COMMISSIONERS, 

LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  BOARD,  DUBLIN. 

No.  46,995/95. 

Miscellaneous. 

LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  BOARD,  DUBLIN, 

18th  October,  1895. 

MY  LORD, — I  am  directed  by  the  Local  Government  Board 
for  Ireland  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  letter,  dated  the  17th 
instant,  signed  by  you  and  the  Coadjutor-Bishop  of  Clonfert,  and 


1036 


Documents 


to  state  that  the  subject  to  which  it  relates  will  receive  the 
attention  of  the  Board. — I  am,  my  Lord,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  MACSHEAHAN, 

Assistant  Secretary. 
To  the  Most  Rev.  R  J.  M'COKMACK,  D.D. 


No.  46,995,  1895. 

Miscellaneous. 

LOCAL  GOVEBNMENT  BOABD,  DUBLIN, 

Mth  October,  1895. 
MY  LORDS, — I  am  directed  by  the  Local  Government  Board 
for  Ireland  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  Lordships'  letter  of 
the  17th  instant  on  the  subject  of  the  duties  of  Nuns  acting  as 
nurses  in  workhouse  infirmaries. 

The  Board  desires  me  to  inform  you  that  a  General  Order 
was  issued  on  the  28th  of  June  last,  including  the  office  of  Nurse 
of  the  Workhouse  among  the  appointments  which  Boards  of 
Guardians  are  required  to  make.  This  order  has  the  effect  of 
constituting  the  nurse  of  the  workhouse  the  head  of  the  nursing 
staff,  and  all  other  nurses  are,  therefore,  in  the  position  of 
assistants  to  her,  and  must  be  subject  to  her  directions  and 
control. 

In  unions  where  Nuns  already  officiate  as  nurses,  the 
superioress  as  head  nurse  is  the  responsible  officer,  and  must 
exercise  entire  control  over  the  other  nurses,  whether  lay  nurses 
or  otherwise  ;  and  the  Board  will  request  guardians  of  these 
unions  to  notify  this  to  the  member  of  the  community  who  is 
acting  as  head  nurse. 

In  unions  where  a  lay  nurse  already  occupies  the  position  of 
nurse  of  the  workhouse,  if  Nuns  are  hereafter  appointed  in 
addition,  the  lay  nurse  will  continue  to  hold  her  present  position 
as  head  nurse  unless  some  other  arrangement  or  division  of 
responsibility  is  made  with  the  concurrence  of  the  guardians  and 
the  officers  concerned. 

With  regard  to  your  Lordships'  request  that  Nuns  should  not 
be  required  to  be  present  at  surgical  operations,  I  am  to  state 
that  the  Board  do  not  consider  it  would  be  competent  for  them 
to  make  this  distinction  in  the  case  of  Nuns  who  may  be  acting 
as  hospital  nurses ;  but  they  desire  to  point  out  that  wherever 
there  is  a  lay  trained  nurse  in  an  hospital  under  the  Nuns,  it 


Documents  103 

will  be  within  the  power  of  the  superioress,  as  head  nurse,  to 
assign  the  duty  of  attending  operations  to  her  trained  assistant. 
— I  am,  my  Lords,  your  obedient  servant, 

D.  J.  MACSHEAHAN, 

Assistant  Secretary. 
To  the  Most  Kev.  Dr.  M'CoRMACK, 

Bishop  of  Galivay  ;  and 
The  Most  Eev.   Dr.  HEALY, 

Coadjutor- Bishop  of  Clonfert. 


INTERPRETATION    OF   THE   DECBEE    "  AUCTIS   ADMODUM " 
ABULENSIS.        DUBIA    QUOAD    CLEBICOS   REGULARES   AUT    EXPULSOS, 

AUT  OBTINENTES  DIMISSIONEM  AB  APOSTOLICA  SEDE,  ETC. 

BEATISSIME  PATER, 

loannes  Episcopus  Abluensis,  ad  pedes  Sanctitatis  Vestrae 
humiliter  provolutus,  ea,  quae  sequuntur,  exponit. 

Sunt  in  hac  Dioecesi  aliqui  alumni  Institutorum  Eeligiosorum 
in  Sacris  constituti,  alii  expulsi,  alii  ab  Apostolica  Sede  dimis- 
sione  obtenta,  ex  claustro  egressi,  sed  quin  prius  benevplum 
Episcopumreceptoreminvenissent,  nee  de  ecclesiastico  patrimonio 
sibi  providessent.  Ex  Decreto  Auctis  admodum  Sacrae  Congre- 
gationis  Episcoporum  et  Eegularium  diei  4  Novembris  1892,primi 
perpetuo  suspensi  manebunt,  donee  a  Bancta  Sede  alio  modo  eis 
consulatur,  ac  praeterea  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem 
invenerint,  et  de  ecclesiastico  patrimonio  sibi  providerint ; 
secundi  vero  etiam  ab  Ordinum  susceptorum  exercitio  suspensi 
erunt.  Episcopus  Orator  ob  Cleri  saecularis  sufficientem  copiam, 
aliisque  iustis  de  causis,  Episcopus  benevolus  receptor  horum 
alumnorum  esse  nequit  ;  sed  de  eorundem  miserrima  vita, 
angustissimaque  conditione  maxime  dolet,  et  eorundem  supplica- 
tionibus  quotidie  torqueter.  Unus  ex  illis  iam  Presbyter,  in 
agrariis  laboribus  occupatus  victum  sibi  comparat.  Exoptans 
Episcopus  Orator  aliquid  praedictis  alumnis  levaminis  affere, 
quin  onera  Episcopi  benevoli  receptoris  in  se  suscipiat, 
Sanctitatis,  Vestrae  sequentia  dubia  pro  solutione  reverenter 
submittit. 

I.  An  possit  praedictis  alumnis  licentiam  concedere,  ut 
Ordinem  exercere  valeant,  sed  ad  nutum  suum,  uti  rnos  est  con- 
cedere clericis  alienae  dioecesis,  ad  tempus  hie  commorantibus, 
quin  onera  Episcopi  benevoli  receptoris  in  se  suscipiat  ? 


1038  Documents 

II.  Et  quatenus  negative,  quid  faciendum  cum  his  miseris 
clericis,  qui  nee  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem  inveniunt,  nee 
patrimonium  ecclesiasticum  sibi  constituere  possunt  ? 

Et  Deus,  etc. 

Ad  primum  dubium  Sacra  Congregatio  Eminentissimorum  et 
Eeverendissimorum  Sanctae  Eomanae  Ecclesiae  Cardinalium, 
negotiis  et  consultationibus  Episcoporum  et  Eegularium  prae- 
posita,  respondendum  censuit,  uti  respondet :  "  Prout  exponitur, 
negative.  Sed  eadem  Sacra  Congregatio  facultatem  tribuit 
Episcopo  Abulensi,  quatenus  nihil  aliud  sibi  obstet,  permittendi 
praefatis  alumnis  sacros  Ordines  exercere  ad  tempus  sibi  bene- 
visum,  donee  maneant  in  sua  dioecesi,  praevia  obligatione  sibi 
inveniendi  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem  et  constituendi  sibi 
sacrum  patrimonium  ad  formam  Decreti,  '  Auctis  admodum ' 
aut  Eescriptorum  Sacrae  Congregationis,  si  quae  obtinuerint. 

Ad  secundum ;  Provisum  in  primo. 

Eomae,  20  Novembris  1895. 

•^  I.  CAED.  VEEGA,  Praefectus. 
A.  TEOMBETTA,  Pro  Secretarius. 

FUKTHEK   INTEEPEETATION   OF   THE    SAME  DECEEE 
ABULENSIS.       DUBIA  QUOAD  INTEEPEETATIONEM   DECEETI  —  "  AUCTIS 

ADMODUM  " 

EMINENTISSIME  AC  EEVEEENDISSIME  DOMINE, 
Episcopus  Abulensis  exponit  quae  sequuntur  : 
Ex  Decreto  Auctis  admodum  istius  Sacrae  Congregationis 
die  4  Novembris  1892  sancitum  fuit  :  alumnos  votorum  solem- 
nium  vel  simplicium,  tarn  perpetuorum,  quam  temporalium,  in 
Sacris  constitutes,  qui  expulsi  vel  dimissi  fuerint,  perpetuo 
suspenses  mansuros,  donee  a  Sancta  Sede  alio  modo  eis  con- 
sulatur,  ac  praeterea  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem  invene- 
rint,  et  depatrimonio  ecclesiastico  sibi  providerint :  alumnos  vero, 
qui  sponte  ab  Apostolica  Sede  dimissionem  petierint  et  obti- 
nuerint, ex  claustro  non  egressuros  donee  Episcopum  benevolum 
receptorem  invenerint,  et  de  ecclesiastico  patrimonio  sibi  provi- 
derint, secus  ab  Ordinum  susceptorum  exercitio  suspenses  esse 
mansuros.  Circa  interpretationem  vero  huius  Decreti  hac  in 
parte  quaedam  oborta  sunt  dubia,  quae  reverenter  Vestrae 
Eminentiae  sapientiae  subiicit. 

I.  Utrum  haec  verba  "  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem 
invenerint  et  de  patrimonio  ecclesiastico  sibi  providerint,"  ita 


Documents  1039 

collective  sint  intelligenda,  ut  ad  tollendam  suspensionem  ambo 
sint  necessaria,  nempe,  et  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem 
invenire,  et  patrimonium  ecclesiasticum  constituere,  vel  sufficiat 
tantum  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem  invenire  ? 

II.  Utrum  haec  verba,  quae  in  numero  V  leguntur  "  secus 
suspensi  maneant  ab  exercitio  susceptorum  Ordinum,"  ita  sint 
sumenda,  ut  Eeligiosus,  qui  obtenta  Apostolica  licentia  claustro 
exierit,  quin  prius  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem  invenerit 
vel  de  patrimonio  ecclesiastico  sibi  provident,  sit  suspensus, 
tan  turn  donee  Episcopum  benevolum  receptorem  inveniat  et 
patrimonium  ecclesiasticum  sibi  constituat,  vel  sit  suspensus 
donee  ab  Apostolica  Sede  suspensio  tollatur,  invento  Episcopo 
benevolo  receptore  et  patrimonio  ecclesiastico  constituto  ? 

S.  C.  Emorum  ac  Emorum  S.  E.  E.  Oardinalium  negotiis  et 
consultationibus  Episcoporum  et  Eegularium  praeposita,  omnibus 
mature  perpensis,  respondet. 

"  Ad  prirnum  dubium :  Affirmative  ad  primam  partem ; 
Negative  ad  secundam." 

"  Ad  secundum  :  Affirmative  pariter  ad  primam  partem ; 
Negative  ad  secundam." 

Datum  Eomae  ex  Secretaria  Sacrae  Congregationis  Episco- 
porum et  Eegularium  hac  die  20  Novembris  1895. 

ifc  I.  CARD.  VERGA,  Praefectus. 
A.  TROMBETTA,  Pro  Secretarius. 


EULES    TO    BE    OBSERVED   IN   CORRESPONDENCE     WITH 

PROPAGANDA 

E.  S.  CONGREGATIONE  DE  PROPAGANDA   FIDE 
OBSERVANDA  PRO  PLANIORI  NEGOTIORUM   TRANSMISSIONE 

Illmis    ac    Emis  Ordinariis    Missionum,    quae    a   S.  Congr.    de 
Propaganda  Fide  dependent 

Cum  multiplicitas  negotiorum,  quae  ab  hac  S.  Congregatione 
de  Prop.  Fide  pro  locis  missionum  sibi  creditis  agenda  sunt,  in 
dies  augeatur,  optatissimum  est  ut  ea,  quae  expeditionem  rerum 
tractandarum  retardant,  removeantur. 

Hinc  est  quod  infrascriptus  Archiep.  Larissen.  S.C.  de  Prop. 
Fide  Secretarius,  juxta  nientem  Emi  Cardinalis  ejusdem  S.C. 
Praefecti,  nonnulla,  quae  experientia  edocuit  minus  convenire, 
EEmis  LL.  Ordinariis  indicare  necessarium  judicat,  rogans  eos 
ut  pro  sapientia  et  zelo,  quibus  praestant,  eadem  in  negotiis 


1040  Documents 


cum  hac  S.C.  curandis  observanda  quibus  oportet  commendare 
velint. 

Et  in  primis  plurimum  interest  ut  non  solum  litterae  ad  hanc 
S.C.  expeditae,  sed  etiam,  et  praesertim  documenta  iisdem 
adjuncta,  latino  exarata  sint  sermone,  vel  italico  aut  gallico, 
ceterarum  enim  linguarum  communis  adhuc  non  habetur 
cognitio,  et  interpretum  opera  longior  evadere  solet,  nee  semper 
satis  est  secura. 

Insuper  non  raro  accidit  ut  litterae,  quae  recipiuntur,  tarn 
informi  calamo  conscriptae  sint  ut  eas  perlegere  dimcillimum 
sit  etiam  peritis,  neque  id  obtinetur  absque  magna  ternporis 
jactura  gravique  labore.  Aliquando  etiam  chartae  adhiben- 
tur  coloris  caerulei,  aut  suborbscuri,  aut  transparentis, 
atramentum  vero  coloris  fere  albi,  ita  ut  lectoris  visus  improbe 
defatigetur.  Instanter  igitur  rogatur  ut  hujusmodi  impedimenta 
e  medio  tollantur. 

Nee  incongruum  est  hie  animadvertere  nonnunquam  in 
epistolis  quae  ad  S.  Cong.,  vel  ad  Sanctitatem  Suam  per  ipsam 
S.  Congr.  mittuntur,  formam  exteriorem  magis  respondentem 
dignitati  virorum  quibus  praesentandae  sunt,  desiderari.  Turn 
folio  litterarum  et  documentorum  ita  saepissime  scripta  sunt,  ut 
ordo  scriptionis  unius  paginae  sit  inversus  in  successiva  et  hinc 
cum  ex  his  foliis,  pro  eorum  conservatione  in  Archivio,  libri 
conficiuntur,  isti  pro  singulis  paginis  legendis  ab  imo  deorsum 
verti  debent,  non  sine  inutili  lectoris  incommodo  et  fastidio. 

Tandem  et  aliud  inconveniens  aliquando  locum  habet,  quod 
scilicet  a  S.  Congr.  in  receptione  epistolarum,  pro  insufficienti 
solutione  pretii  transmissionis  a  mittentibus,  duplex  taxa 
solvenda  est ;  unde  quotannis  non  exigua  pecuniae  summa 
necessitatibus  quotidie  crescentibus  Missionum  subtrahitur. 

Ah  haec  omnia  incommoda  efficaciter  removenda  infra- 
scriptus  Secretarius  desiderium  hujus  S.  Consilii,  non  semel 
sibi  patefactum  per  praesentes  litteras  evulgare  censet,  iterum- 
que  rogat  ut  litterae  et  documenta,  quae  ad  hanc  S.  Congr. 
mittuntur  : 

1.  Latino   idiomate,   vel   saltern  italico   aut   gallico,   exarata 
sint,  sicut  cautem  fuit  per  litteras  circulares  hujus  S.  Congreg. 
diei  1  Februarii  1892  : 

2.  Ut     intelligibili     charactere     conscribantur,     praesertim 
quoad  nomina  propria  personarum  et  locorum,  convenientemque 
exteriorum    praeseferant    formam   quoad   chartae   diinensiones, 
quae  charta  sit  albi  coloris  et  atramentum  nigrum  : 


Documents  1041 

3.  Ut  ordo   scriptionis  paginarum  is   sit,  qui   servantur  in 
libris  qui  typis  eduntur  : 

4.  Ut  praescripta  a  lege  in  singulis  regionibus   pro  expedi- 
endis  litteris  taxa  exacte  a  mittentibus  solvatur. 

Datum  Romae  ex  aedibus  Sacrae  Congregationis  de  Propa- 
ganda Fide  die  18  Maii  1896. 

A.  CIASCA,  Secretarius. 


DECISION   OF   THE    SACKED   PENITENTIARY 
DE     ABSOLUTIONE     COMPLICIS    IN    PECCATO    TURPI 

lam  quaesitum  fuit  a  S.  Poenitentiaria  "An  incurrat  censuras, 
in  absolventes  complicem,  in  peccato  turpi  latas,  qui  complicem 
quidem  absolvat,  sed  complicem  qui  complicitatis  peccatum  in 
confessione  non  declaravit." 

Et  S.  Poenitentiaria  die  19  Maii  1877  respondendum  censuit : 
"  Privationem  iurisdictionis  absolvendi  complicem  in  peccato 
turpi  et  adnexam  excommunicationem,  quatenus  confessarius 
ilium  absolverit,  esse  in  ordine  ad  ipsum  peccatum  turpe,  in  quo 
idem  Confessarius  complex  fuit." 

Hanc  vero  responsionem  quidam  ita  interpretantur,  ut  excom- 
municato  in  absolventes  complicem  lata  fere  semper  eludi  possit. 
Siquidem  ad  hoc  sumceret  poenitentem  complicem  a  confessario 
praemoneri  de  peccato  huiusmodi  non  declarando.  Sic  enim, 
iuxta  eosdem,  absolvens  complicem,  semper  immunis  a  censura 
evaderet. 

Ad  praecavendos  in  re  tanti  momenti  abusus,  postulans  duas 
sequentes  quaestiones  Sacrae  Poenitentiariae  proponit. 

I.  An  effugiat  censuras,  in  absolventes  complicem  in  re  turpi 
latas,  confessarius,  qui  complicem,  sed  de  peccato  complicitatis 
in  confessione  tacentem,  absolvit ;  quamvis  certus  sit,  complicem 
non  adiisse  alium  sacerdotem,  nee  ideo  fuisse  absolutum  a  peccato 
complicitatis.     Ratio  dubitandi  videtur  esse,  quia  in  tali  casu, 
quamvis  peccatum  complicitatis  non  subiiciatur  clavibus  a  poeni- 
tente,  confessarius  tamen  non  potest  absolvere  complicem  ab  aliis 
peccatis,  quin,  eo  ipso,  indirecte  saltern,  eum  absolvat  a  peccato 
complicitatis,  quod  scit  non  adhuc  fuisse  clavibus  rite  subiectum, 
neque  ideo  remissum. 

II.  An  incurrat  censuras  in  absolventes  complicem  in  peccato 
turpi   latas,   confessarius   qui,   ad  vitandas   praefatas   censuras, 
induxit    directe  vel   indirecte  poenitentem    complicem    ad    non 

.  xvu.  3  u 


1042  Documents 

declarandum  peccatum  turpe,  cum  ipso   commissum,  et  deinde 
complicem  absolvit,  sed  peccatum  complicitatis  non  declarantem. 

Eatio  dubitandi  est  quia  nemini  fraus  sua  patrocinari  debet ; 
insuperque  si,  talia  agendo,  confessarius  censuras  praecaveret, 
iam  prohibitio  absolvendi  complicem,  sub  poena  excommunica- 
tionis,  illusoria  plerumque  videretur. 

Directe  autem  confessarius  inducit  poenitentem  quando 
positive  et  explicite  eum  praemonet  de  tacendo  peccato  compli- 
citatis, quia  v.  g.  illud  iam  novit  et  declaratio  illius  esset  inutilis. 
Indirecte  vero  inducit  quando  confessarius  suadere  conatur 
poenitentem,  sive  quod  actio  turpis  cum  ipso  commissa  non 
est  peccatum,  sive  saltern  non  tarn  grave,  ut  de  ipso  inquietari 
debeat ;  unde  poenitens  concludit  ipsi  licere  non  declarare  tale 
peccatum,  et  abeo  declarando  revera  abstinet. 

Sacra  Poenitentiaria,  mature  consideratis  expositis,  et  ap- 
probante  SSmo.  Diio.  Nostro  Leone  PP.  XIII.,  declarat  : 
"  excommunicationem  reservatam  in  Bulla,  Sacramentum 
poenitentiae,  non  effugere  confessarios  absolventes  vel  fingentes 
absolvere  eum  complicem,  qui  peccatum  quidem  complicitatis, 
a  quo  nondum  est  absolutus,  non  confitetur,  sed  ideo  ita  se  gerit, 
quia  ad  id  Confessarius,  poenitentem  induxit,  sive  directe,  sive 
indirecte." 

Datum  Eomae  in  Sacra  Poenitentiaria  die  19  Februarii  1896. 
®  E.  CABD.  MONACO,  P.M. 

A.  CAN.  MARTINI,  S.P.,  Secretarius. 

THE    BLESSING   OF   A   MOTHEE   WHOSE    CHILD   DIES   WITHOUT 

BAPTISM 

VICENTINA    DUBIUM     QUOAD    BENEDICTIONEM    D  AND  AM    PUEEPEEAE, 
CUIUS    PROLES    MORTUA    SIT    SINE    BAPTISMO 

In  kalendario  Dioeceseos  Vicentinae  anno  1894  edito  pro- 
posita,  et  menstruis  coetibus  casuum  conscientiae  quaestio  agitata 
fuit  super  benedictione  puerperae,  cuius  proles  sine  baptismo 
decesserit.  Sententiis  in  contraria  abeuntibus,  Emus  Canonicus 
qui  eisdem  coetibus  praeerat,  de  legum  liturgicarum  observantia 
sollicitus,  seqens  dubium  pro  opportuna  solutione  Sacrae  Eituum 
Congregationi,  de  consensu  Emi  Episcopi  Vicentini,  humillime 
proposuit ;  nimirum  :  Utrum,  vi  decreti  ab  ipsa  Sacra  Eituum 
Congregation e  dati  die  12  Septembris  1857  in  Molinen  ad 
XXum,  liceat  Benediction  era  mulieris  post  partum,  iuxta  Eituale 
Bomanum,  impertiri  puerperae,  cuius  proles  mortua  fuerit  sine 


Documents  1043 

baptismo  ;  an  vero  abstinendum  sit  ab  ea  Benedictions  ?  Et 
Sacra  eadem  Congregatio,  exquisite  voto  unius  ex  Apostolicarum 
Caeremoniarum  magistris  et  alterius  ex  Sacrae  ipsius  Congrega- 
tionis  Consultoribus,  enuntiato  dubio  ab  Enio  et  Brno  Dfto 
Cardinal!  Andrea  Steinhuber,  in  ordinariis  Comitiis  subsignata 
die  ad  Vaticanum  coadunatis,  proposito,  respondendum  censuit : 
Non  esse  negandam  benedictionem.  Die  19  Maii  1896. 

Hisce  vero  omnibus  Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  Leoni 
Papae  XIII.  per  infrascriptum  Cardinalem  Sacrae  eidem  Congre- 
gationi  Praefectum  relatis,  Sanctitas  Sua  Eescriptum  Sacrae 
ipsius  Congregationis  ratum  habuit  et  confirmavit.  Die  8  lunii 
eodein  anno. 

C.  CAKD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.E.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  *S. 

ALOISIUS  TBIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretarius. 

SHOULD  REGULARS  ENGAGED  IN  MISSIONS  CONFORM  TO  THE 
"  ORDO  "  OF  THE  PLACE  ? 

DUBIUM  ;  QUAEBITUB  AN  EEGULABES,  QUI  OCCASIONE  PBAEDICA- 
TIONIS,  APUD  DIVEBSAS  ECCLESIAS  CELEBBANT,  OBLIGATIONI 
SUBIICIANTUB  CELEBBANDI  IUXTA  KALANDABIUM  ECCLESIAE, 
IN  QUA  CELEBBANT 

Quamplures  Eegulares,  ratione  suae  vocationis  et  praedi- 
cationes,  quotannis  per  Quadragesimara  totam,  per  menses  Maii 
et  Octobris  et  per  alia  quoque  tempora  Sacrum  peragunt  extra 
suas  Ecclesias ;  eaque  de  causa  obtinuerunt  ab  Apostolica  Sede 
privilegium  celebrandi  Missam  iuxta  kalendarium  proprii  Ordinis, 
quando  color  concordat  cum  colore  Officii  Ecclesiae  in  qua 
celebrant.  Praeterea  iidem  Eegulares  habent  privilegium,  iuxta 
quod  concessio  illis  per  Apostolicam  Sedem  semel  facta,  iam 
amplius  non  debet  revocata  censeri,  nisi  de  praedicta  concessione 
fiat  mentio  specialis,  vel  saltern  habeatur  clausula  revocatoria 
privilegii,  etiam  speciali  mentione  digni.  Hinc  quaesitum  est : 
Utrum  Eegulares  de  quibus  in  casu,  comprehendantur  sub  decreto 
Sacrorum  Rituum  Congregationis  die  9  Decembris  1895  edito  ? 

Sacra  autem  Eituum  Congregatio,  referente  subscripto  Secre- 
tario,  atque  audito  voto  commissionis  Liturgicae,  omnibus  rite 
perpensis,  respondendum  censuit  :  Affirmative. 

Atque  ita  declaravit  ac  rescripsit.     Die  8  Februarii,  1896. 

CAI  CABD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.E.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  igi  S. 

ALOISIUS  TKIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretarius. 


1044 


Documents 


SHOULD  THOSE  WHO  CELEBEATE  MASS  IN  THE  CHAPELS  OF 
BISHOPS,  SEMINAEIES,  &C.,  CONFORM  TO  THE  "  OEDO  " 
OF  THE  PLACE  ? 

RUTHENEN.  DECERNITUR  RESPONDERE  DEBERE  KALENDARIO  LOCI, 
NON  VERO  CELEBRANTIS,  MISSAS  CELEBRATAS  IN  CAPPELLIS 
EPISCOPORUM,  SEMINARIORUM,  ETC. 

Emus  et  Emus  Dilus  Cardinalis  Christianus  Ernestus  Bourret, 
Episcopus  Euthenen  Sacram  Eituum  Congregationem  pro  seqi 
tis  Dubii  solutione  enixe  rogavit,  nimirum  : 

Utrum,  post  Decretum  generale  die  9  Decembris  1895  editum 
De  Missa  conformi  Officii  Ecclesiae  vel  Oratorii  publici,  Calen- 
dario  loci,  an  vero  Celebrantis  respondere  debeant  Missae,  quae 
celebrantur  in  Capellis  Episcoporum,  Seminariorum,  Collegiorum, 
piarum  Communitatum,  Hospitalium  et  Carcerum  ? 

Et  Sacra  eadem  Congregatio,  referente  subscripto  Secre- 
tario,  exquisita  sententia  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  reque  inaturo 
examine  perpensa,  proposito  Dubio  respondendum  censuit  : 
Dummodo  agatur  de  Capella  principali,  quae  instar  Oratorii 
publici,  ad  effectum  memorati  Decreti,  habenda  est,  Affirmative 
ad  I,  Negative  ad  II. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit,  die  22  Maii  1896. 

C.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.R.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  <%  S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretarius. 


THE  OBLIGATION  OF  HEAEING  MASS  ON  SUNDAYS  AND  HOLI- 
DAYS SATISFIED  BY  ASSISTING  AT  THE  MASS  OF  THE 
BISHOP  IN  HIS  PEIVATE  CHAPEL 

DECRETUM.  FIDELES  PRAECEPTUM  ECCLESIAE  ADIMPLENT,  AUDI- 
ENTES  EPISCOPORUM  MISSAM  VEL  ALIORUM,  AD  EPISCOPORUM 
COMMODUM,  PERMISSAM 

URBIS    ET    ORBIS 

Plures  Sacrorum  Antistites  Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro- 
Leoni  Papae  XIII  humillimas  porrexerunt  preces,  ut  in  bonum 
fideliurn  atque  in  dignitatis  Episcopalis  decus,  dispositionem 
Decreti,  die  22  Augusti  1818  editi,  super  satisfactione  "praecepti 
de  audienda  Missa  in  Episcopali  Sacello,  relaxare  dignaretur. 
Sacra  porro  Eituum  Congregatio,  de  mandate  ipsius  Sanctissimi 


Documents  1045 

Domini  Nostri,  eiusmodi  negotium  mature  examine  perpendens, 
audito  voto  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  ad  quaestionem  per  infra- 
scriptum  Cardinalem,  eidem  Sacrorum  Eituum  Congregationi 
Praefectum,  in  Ordinariis  Comitiis  subsignata  die  ad  Vaticanum 
habitis,  propositam,  respondendum  censuit  :  "  Postulandum  a 
Sanctissimo,  ut  deinceps  Episcopi  omnes,  sive  dioecesani,  sive 
titulares,  eodem  privilegio  condecorentur,  quo  fruuntur  Patres 
Cardinales ;  scilicet,  ut,  non  solum  Ipsi  in  propriae  habitationis 
Oratorio,  aut  super  ara  portatili,  ubicumque  degant,  Missam 
facere  aliamque  in  sui  commodum  permittere  valeant ;  sed  etiam 
Fideles  omnes  alterutram  ex  eisdem  Missis  audientes,  quoties 
opus  fuerit,  praeceptum  Ecclesiae  adimpleant :  contrariis  non 
obstantibus  quibuscumque.  Die  19  Maii  1896."  Quibus  omnibus 
Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  Leoni  Papae  XIII  per  meipsum 
infrascriptum  Cardinalem  relatis,  Sanctitas  Sua  sententiam  Sacrae 
Congregationis  ratam  habens,  enunciatum  Patrum  Cardinalium 
privilegium  ad  quoscumque  Episcopos  cum  Apostolica  Sede 
communionem  habentes  extendere  dignata  est,  die  8  lunii, 
eodem  anno. 

CAI.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.E.C.,  Praef. 
L.  *  S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretarius. 


EENEWAL   OF  VOWS 

DUBIUM  J  QUAEEITUE  AN  DECRETUM  GENERALE  DIEI  27  AUGUSTI 
1894  VIM  HABEAT  OBLIGANDI  QUASLIBET  RELIGIOSAS  CONGRE- 
GATIONES  UTRIUSQUE  SEXUS 

A  Sacra  Eituum  Congregatione  expostulatum  fuit  :  An 
Decretum  Generale  ab  eadem  S.  Eituum  Congregatione  die 
27  Augusti  1894  editum,  quo  ad  ambiguitatem  oinnem  tollendam 
et  uniformitatem  inducendam,  methodus  in  professione  et  reno- 
vatione  votorum  intra  Missam  servanda  statuitur,  vi  obligandi 
polleat  penes  quaslibet  religiosas  utriusque  sexus  Congregationes  ? 

Et  Sacra  Eituum  Congregatio,  ad  relationem  infrascripti 
Secretarii,  omnibus  mature  perpensis,  proposito  Dubio  respon- 
dendum censuit :  Affirmative,  ubi  vota  nuncupantur  vel  renovantur 
intra  Missam>  cor  am  celebrante  Sacram  Hostiam  manu  tenente. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit.     Die  5  lunii  1896. 

C.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.R.C.,  Praef ectus. 
L.  *S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  Secretarius. 


1046 


Documen  is 


THE    ERECTION   AND   AFFILIATION    OF    CONFEATEENITIES 

ORDINIS   PRAEDICATORUM.    DE   ERECTIONE    ET    AGGREGATIONE 
CONFRATERNITATUM 

Procurator  Generalis  Ordinis  Praedicatorum  sequentia  dubij 
huic  S.  Congregation!  Indulgentiis  Sacrisque  Eeliquis  praepositae, 
humiliter  dirimenda  proposuit : 

I.  An  conditio  Clementinae  Constitutions    ' '  Quaecumque  " 
de  consensu  Ordinarii  loci  et  de  litteris  testimonialibus,  servanda 
in  erectionibus  et  aggregationibus  Confraternitatum,  accipienda 
sit  ita,  ut  duo  requirantur  actus  distincti,  consensus  nempe   et 
litterae   testimonials  :  vel   potius   sufficiat   consensus   implicite 
expressus  in  litteris  testimonialibus  ? 

II.  An  Summarium  Indulgentiarum  quod  una  cum  diplomate 
datur  in  erectione  Confraternitatum,  iam  recognitum  et  appro  - 
batum  a   S.  Cong.  Indulgent.,  nova  etiam  indigeat  recognition e 
Ordinarii  loci  ? 

III.  An  distincta  Communitas,  quam  Decretum  S.  C.  Indulg. 
in  una  Laudensi  diei  31  lanuarii  1893  pro  erectione  Confrater- 
nitatum eiusdem  nominis  et  instituti  requirit,  constituatur  etiam 
a  quolibet  eiusdem  municipii  oppido,  situ  et  nomine  ab  aliis 
disiuncto,  adeo  ut  in  uno  eodemque  municipio  plures  eiusdem 
nominis  et  instituti  Confraternitates  erigi  possint  ? 

IV.  An  in  magnis  Civitatibus,  quae  unam  tantum  constituunt 
Communitatem,  plures  nihilominus  erigi  possint  eiusdem  nominis 
et  instituti  Confraternitates  ? 

V.  An  erectio  Confraternitatum  SS.  Eosarii  facta  per  litteras 
Mag.  Gen.  Ord.  Praed.  facultativas,  executioni  mandatas  a  Sacer- 
dote,  sive  regulari,  sive  saeculari  ab  eodem  Mag.  Gen.  deputato, 
valida  sit,  si  Ordinarius  consensum  quidem  suum  ante  execu- 
tionem  exprimat,  nullas  vero  litteras  testimonials  concedat  ? 

VI.  An  ipsae  litterae  facultativae  validae  sint  si  subscriptione 
et  sigillo  eiusdem  Mag.  Gen.  munitae  aut  certum  Sacerdotem  ad 
executionem  non  deputent,  aut  locum  Confraternitatis  erigendae 
non  exprimarit  ? 

Deinde  sequentia  postulata  exhibuit : 

I.  (a)  Quoad  praeteritum  :  Ut  omnes  SSiiii  Eosarii  Confra- 
ternitates, quae  sive  in  propriis  Ordinis,  sive  in  aliis  Orbis 
Ecclesiis  erectae  inveniuntur  irregularitate,  vel  vitio  nullitatis 
affectae,  ob  quemcumque  loci  distantiae,  litterarum  testimoni- 
alium,  diplomatum  concessions,  sive  alterius  cuiusque  generis 
defectum,  in  radice,  sanenter,  et,  quatenus  opus  sit,  immediate 


Documents  1047 

Apostolica  Auctoritate  de  novo  crigantur,  tirmis  romanentibus 
privilegiis  a  EE.  PP.  Ordini  Praedic.  elargitis. 

(b)  Quoad  futurum  :  Ad  mains  incrementum  sodalium  SSiTii 
Eosarii  postulat  facultatem  pro  Mag.  Gen.  Ord.  Praedic.  eiusque 
Vicario,  ut  penes  Provinciales  et  Episcopos  etiam  in  Europe, 
non  tamen  in  Italia,  possit  eo  modo,  quo,  de  consensu  a  S.  b'. 
habito,  agere  solent  aliorum  Ordinum  Superiores,  et  ipse  agit 
extra  Europam,  diplomata  in  deposito  habere,  servatis  tamen 
iisdem  ordinationibus  et  conditionibus  ab  ipsis  EE.  PP.  datis. 

II.  Ut    in    magnis    Civitatibus,    ubi    habitantium    numerus 
centum  excedit  millia,   tres  vel  quatuor  etiam  Confraternitates 
Sanctissimi  Eosarii  de  speciali  S.  S.  mandato,  erigi  possint  et 
valeant. 

III.  Ut  duo  postrema  postulata  extendantur  etiam  ad  alias 
duas   Confraternitates   SSmi   Nominis    Dei,   nee    non    Militiae 
Angelicae  S.  Thomae  Aquinatis. 

Et  Emi  ac  Emi  PP.  Cardinales  in  generalibus  Comitiis,  ad 
Vaticanas  Aedes  habitis  die  5  Martii  1896,  rescripserunt : 

Ad  Dubiam  I.  Sufficere  Ordinarii  litteras,  quibus  consensum 
in  erectionem  vel  aggregationem  Confraternitatum  significet  et 
Instituti  pietatem  ac  religionem  commendet. 

Ad  II.  Negative. 

Ad  III.  Affirmative,  dummodo  in  unoquoque  oppido  habeatur 
etiam  propria  Paroecia. 

Ad  IV.  Negative  :  sed  supplicandum  SSmo;  ut  derogando  in 
hac  parte  Constitut  s.  m.  dementis  VIII  quae  incipit  "  Quae- 
cumque,"  Ordinariis  benigne  tribuere  dignetur  facultatem  pro- 
videndi  pro  eorum  arbitrio  et  prudentia  in  singulis  casibus, 
servata  tamen  in  huiusmodi  erectionibus  convenient!,  eorum 
iudicio,  distantia. 

Ad  V.  Negative. 

Ad  VI.  Negative. 

Ad  postulata  vero. 

Quoad  I.  (a)  Affirmative. 
(b)  Non  expedire. 

Quoad  II.  lam  satis  provisum  in  responsione  ad  Dubium  IV. 

Quoad  III.  lam  provisum  in  responsione  ad  duo  postulata 
priora. 

Factaque  de  omnibus  SSmo  Domino  Nostro  Leoni  Pp.  XIII 
relatione  in  audientia  habita  die  20  Maii  1896  ab  infrascripto 
Cardinali  S.  C.  Praefecto,  Sanctitas  Sua  resolutiones  Eminentis- 
simorum  PP.  ratas  habuit  et  connrrnavit,  simulque  derogando 


1048  Documents 

Constitution!  dementis  VIII,  facultatem  in  IV  dubio  postulatam 
benigne  Ordinariis  concedere  dignata  est. 

Datum  Eomae  ex  Secretaria  eiusdem  S.  C.  die  20  Maii  1896. 
ANDREAS  CARD.  STEINHUBER,  Praefectus. 
L.  *S. 

A.  ARCHIEP.  NICOPOL,  Secretarius. 

THE  BITE  TO  BE  OBSEBVED  IN  BLESSING  A  SECULAB  PBELATE 

BRUNEN.    DUBIUM    QUOAD    RITUM    BENEDICENDI    PRAELATUM 

SAECULARE 

In  relation e  status  Ecclesiae  Brunensis  exhibita  Sacrae  Con{ 
gationi  Concilii  die  26  Februarii  1894  declaratum  fuit  Praelatos 
saeculares,  Decanum  et  Archidiaconum  Capituli  Ecclesiae  Cathe- 
dralis,  nee  non  praepositum  Capitulo  Ecclesiae  Collegiatae 
Nicolsburgensis,  ex  Apostolico  Privilegio,  ad  instar  Abbatum 
infulatorum,  benedictione  Abbatiali  muniri.  Quum  vero  Abba- 
tialis  benedictio,  prouti  legitur  in  Pontifical!  Eomano,  nonnullis 
in  partibus  existimetur  minus  congrua  praelatis  saecularibus, 
qui  non  habent  populum  sibi  subditum,  nee  regulam  nee  alia 
huiusmodi  servanda,  ideo  Emus  Dnus  Franciscus  Bauer,  Epis- 
copus  Brunensis,  quum  suis,  turn  aliorum  Episcoporum  votis 
satisfacturus  ab  Apostolica  Sede  humillime  postulavit :  et  utrum 
et  quomodo  in  supradicta  benedictione  Praelatis  saecularibus 
impertienda  iuxta  ritum  Pontificalis  Eomani,  aliquae  variationes 
fieri  possint  ?  Porro  exquisito  voto  unius  ex  Apostolicarum 
Caeremoniarum  Magistris  et  alterius  ex  Sacrae  Eituum  Congre- 
gationis  Consultoribus,  quum  Emus  et  Emus  Dnus  Cardinalis 
Andreas  Steinhuber  in  Ordinariis  Comitiis,  subsignata  die  ad 
Vaticanum  habitis,  enunciatum  Dubium,  super  ritu  benedicendi 
praelatum  saecularem  discutiendum  proposuerit.  Ipsa  Sacra 
Congregatio,  omnibus  mature  perpensis  rescribendum  censuit : 
Nihil  innovetur  in  Pontificali,  sed  eadem  Sacrorum  Hituum  Con- 
gregatio in  singulis  casibus  respondeat,  formulam  accommodando 
cassibus  ipsis,  demptis  quae  praelatis  saecularibus  minime  convenire 
noscuntur.  Die  19  Mai  1896.  Facta  postmodum  de  his  omnibus 
Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  Leoni  Papae  XIII,  per  infrascriptum 
Cardinalem  Sacrae  Eituum  Congregationi  Praefectum,  relatione, 
Sanctitas  Sua  resolutionenem  Sacrae  eiusdem  Congregationis 
ratam  habuit  et  confirmavit,  die  8  lunii  eodem  anno. 

C.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.E.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.  *  S. 

ALOISIUS  TRIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretarius. 


Documents  1049 

DOUBT   KEGABDING  MONTHLY  VOTIVE    OFFICES 
AMALPHITANA.     DUBIUM     QUOAD    OFFICIA   VOTIVA    SEMEL   IN    MENSE 

CONCESSA 

Emus  Diius  Henricus  de  Dominicis,  Archiepiscopus  Amalphi- 
tanus,  ad  instantiam  Bedactoris  Kalendarii  Archidioeceseos  sibi 
concreditae,  Sacram  Eituum  Congregation  em  pro  insequentium 
Dubiorum  solutione  humillime  rogavit ;  nimirum  : 

I.  An  Officio  votiva,  semel  in  mense  concessa,  peragi  queant 
infra   Octavas   non    Privilegiatas ;    et,    quatenus    negative  :   An 
expetendum  sit  Indultum  ? 

II.  Utrum   oraitti   possit   Officium   ad    libitum,   ut   recite tur 
Officium  votivum  semel  in  mense  concessum ;  et  quatenus  affir- 
mative :  Utrum  Officium  ad  libitum  omissum  transferri  valeat  in 
alium  diem  ? 

Et  Sacra  eadem  Congregatio,  exquisita  sententia  Commis- 
sionis  Liturgicae,  reque  accurate  perpensa,  respondendum 
censuit  : 

Ad  I.  Negative  ad  primam  partem  :  Non  expedire  ad  secundam. 
Ad  II.  Affirmative    ad  primam    quaestionem :     Negative    ad 
secundam. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit.     Die  8  Maii  1896. 

C.  CARD.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.E.C.,  Praefectus. 
A.  TKIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretarius. 


VOTIVE   OFFICES 
UEBIS.    DUBIA   QUOAD    OFFICIA   VOTIVA 

Nonnulli  Calendariorum  redactores  a  Sacra  Eituum  Congre- 
gatione  sequentium  dubiorum  resolutionem  supplicibus  votis 
efflagitarunt,  nimirum  : 

I.  An  in  Officiis  votivis,  inter  se  concurrentibus,  Vesperae 
dividi  semper  debeant  iuxta  peculiarem  Eubricam,  vel  considerari 
potius  debeat  ratio  dignitatis  iuxta  decretum  Evulgato  die 
14  Augusti  1894  ? 

II.  An  privilegium,  quod  Eubricae  Generales  Breviarii  tribu- 
unt  Octavis  Festorum  Domini  et  Deiparae,  ut  nempe  illae  cedant 
tantum  in  concursu  duplicibus  secundae  classis,  istae  vero  solis 
duplicibus  maioribus,  intelligendum  sit  de  solis  octavis  ad  Festa 
primaria  pertinentibus,  an  de  octavis  quibuscumque  ? 

III.  Dies    octavi    Festorum    primariorum,    Archangelorurn, 
S.  loannis   Baptistae,   S.   loseph,   et   SS.  Apostolorum,    suntne 


1050  Documents 

iudicandi  digniores  in  ordine  ad  praelationem,  in  concursu  cum 
aliis  duplicibus  minoribus  ? 

Et  Sacra  eadem  Congregatio,  referente  infrascripto  Secretario, 
exquisita  sententia  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  omnibusque  mature 
examine  perpensis,  rescribendum  censuit  : 

Ad  I  et  II.  Affirmative  quoad  primam  partem,  Negative  quoad 
secundam. 

Ad  III.  Affirmative. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit.     Die  22  Maii  1896. 

C.  CAED.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.E.C.,  Praefectus. 
L.*S. 

ALOISIUS  TEIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretariate. 


MAY  MOETUAEY  WREATHS    BE    LEFT   SUSPENDED   FEOM   THE 

WALLS   OF   THE    CHUECH  ? 

VALVEN.     ET     SULMONEN.     DUBIUM     QUOAD     CORONAS     MOETUAEIAS 
SUSPENDENDAS,    UT    MANEANT   IN    PAEIETIBUS   ECCLESIAE 

Emus  Diius  Tobias  Patroni  Episcopus  Valven.  et  Sulmonen. 
timens  ne,  sub  specie  pietatis  erga  defunctos,  sensim  subrepant 
abusus  decorem  Domus  Dei  temerantes,  a  Sacra  Eituum  Con- 
gregatione  sequentis  Dubii  solutionem  humillime  postulavit, 
nirnirum  : 

An  deceat  in  parietibus  Ecclesiae  vel  publici  Oratorii  sus- 
pendere  coronas  mortuarias,  ut  inibi  maneant  ? 

Et  Sacra  eadem  Congregatio,  ad  relationem  infrascripti 
Secretarii,  exquisite  voto  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  omnibusque 
mature  perpensis,  rescribendum  censuit  :  Negative. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit,  die  22  Maii  1896. 

C.  CAED.  ALOISI-MASELLA,  S.E.C.,  -Prcefecti 
L.  *  S. 

ALOISIUS  TEIPEPI,  S.E.C.,  Secretarius. 


[     1051 


IRotices  of  Boohs 

LE  CARDINAL  MANNING.  Par  Francis  de  Pressense. 
Paris :  Perrin  et  Cie.  London :  Burns  and  Gates,  1896. 
Price,  85.  6d. 

ONE  of  the  most  striking  and  satisfactory  things  in  con- 
nection with  Mr.  Purcell's  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning  is  that 
the  indignation  with  which  it  was  received  was  by  no  means 
confined  to  Catholics.  Several  English  journals  directed  and 
inspired  by  Protestants  repudiated  almost  as  vigorously  as 
Cardinal  Vaughan  himself  the  attempt  that  was  made  to 
besmirch  the  reputation  of  one  of  the  noblest  characters  of  the 
present  century.  But  it  was  reserved  for  a  French  Protestant 
writer,  the  worthy  son  of  a  liberal-minded  Protestant  father, 
to  present  to  the  public  the  best  and  most  complete  vindication 
of  Cardinal  Manning  that  has  yet  appeared.  The  chapters  that 
constitute  the  main  portion  of  this  volume  had  already  appeared 
in  the  pages  of  the  Eevue  des  Deux  Mondes.  They  are  now 
published  together  here,  and  are  preceded  by  a  preface  which 
much  enhances  the  value  of  the  work,  and  gives  its  author  a 
strong  claim  to  the  respect,  not  only  of  Catholics,  but  of  all 
honest  and  unprejudiced  readers.  In  the  opening  pages  of  this 
preface,  M.  de  Pressense  gives  us  an  insight  into  the  troubles  he 
brought  down  upon  his  head,  and  the  severe  reproaches  that 
were  addressed  to  him  by  the  members  of  his  own  communion, 
on  account  of  the  tone  and  spirit  of  his  articles  in  the  Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes  reviewing  the  two  volumes  of  Mr.  Purcell. 

"  They  cover  their  faces  with  shame  [he  writes]  at  the 
spectacle  of  the  scandal  given  by  a  Protestant  who  speaks  with 
sympathy  and  with  admiration  of  this  seceder  from  Pro- 
testantism. They  are  indignant  at  the  effrontery  of  a  writer  who 
dares  to  find  fault  with  the  method  of  writing  history  adopted  by 
Mr.  Purcell,  now  suddenly  promoted  to  the  front  rank  of  grave 
and  trustworthy  authors.  It  is  an  intolerable  want  of  propriety 
and  of  good  faith  to  draw  from  the  very  book  itself— this  so- 
called  biography  of  Cardinal  Manning — proofs  of  numberless 
errors  in  matters  of  fact  and  errors  of  judgment  incomparably 
more  gross  and  guilty  in  this  singular  painter,  whose  highest 
ambition  seems  to  be  to  distort  the  features  and  vilify  the 
expression  of  his  model.  Critics  who  probably  have  not 
taken  the  trouble  to  read,  and  especially  to  study  minutely, 


1052  Notices  of  Books. 


the  sixteen  hundred  pages  of  the  massive  volumes  of  Mr.  Purcell 
will  not  admit  the  right  of  anyone  to  pronounce  a  severe 
condemnation  of  a  work  which  systematic  malevolence  towards 
one  of  the  great  men  of  modern  Catholicity  sufficiently 
recommends  to  them.  The  two  volumes  of  Mr.  Purcell  are  full 
of  insinuations,  accusations,  reproofs  of  Cardinal  Manning.  That 
is  enough.  They  are  done  by  a  master-hand.  They  must  be 
accepted  as  Gospel ;  and  it  is  nothing  short  of  prejudice  in  favour 
of  the  Church  of  Eome,  and  treason  to  the  EeformatioD,  to  direct 
attention  to  the  gross  faults,  the  monstrous  contradictions,  the 
stupefying  ignorance,  the  constant  falsification  of  dates,  the 
inexact  quotations,  the  truncated  documents,  the  disorders  of 
thought,  vulgarity  of  style,  and,  worse  than  all,  the  spirit  of 
depreciation  and  calumny  which  make  of  this  work  a  sad 
monument  of  all  that  a  biography  worthy  of  the  name  should 
not  be." 

Undeterred,  however,  by  the  excommunication  of  Geneva, 
and  by  what  he  calls  the  missives  of  "those  anonymous  zealots 
of  pure  and  unstained  religion  who  sent  me,  forgetting  their 
signatures,  a  volley  of  pious  insults,"  he  feels  called  upon  only  to 
supply  them  with  a  fuller  and  more  ample  justification  of  his 
views  about  Mr.  Purcell  and  his  so-called  biography:— 

"  Let  us  take,  to  commence  with  [writes  M.  de  Pressense, 
in  his  preface],  Manning's  entrance  into  the  clerical  state. 
Mr.  Purcell  had  before  him,  bearing  on  this  important  event, 
several  documents  which  he  has  published  in  the  strange  manner 
so  familiar  to  him.  The  materials  consist  in  three  autobiographical 
notes,  drawn  up  by  the  Cardinal  some  fifty  years  after  the  date  of 
the  fact  to  which  they  refer,  and  in  letters  and  fragments  of 
letters  written  as  far  back  as  1832,  notably  to  his  mother  and  to 
Mr.  Twistleton,  his  friend.  It  appears  clear  as  daylight  from 
these  documents  that  Manning,  at  the  time  itself,  as  well  as  fifty 
years  afterwards,  was  absolutely  convinced  that  he  was  acting  in 
obedience  to  a  call  from  on  high,  or  as  he  himself  designates  it, 
'  a  call  from  God  ad  veritatem  et  ad  seipsum.'  All  the  evidence 
tends  in  the  same  direction.  There  is  not  the  shadow  of  any- 
thing to  prove  that  things  were  otherwise.  One  might  imagine 
that  Mr.  Purcell  would  follow  this  version  of  the  matter,  the  only 
correct  and  authentic  one.  But  Mr.  Purcell  has  his  own  way 
of  dealing  with  such  things.  He  insinuates  that  Manning's 
vocation  was  the  result  of  illusion ;  that  the  young  clergyman  was 
merely  the  dupe  of  his  own  fancy,  if  he  believed  that  he  yielded 
to  any  but  purely  worldly  motives.  One  would  naturally  wish  to 
know  on  what  foundation  the  pile  of  hypotheses  is  erected,  and 
where  are  the  documents  which  thus  flagrantly  give  the  lie  to  the 
Cardinal.  Documents  there  are  none.  Mr.  Purcell  has  simply 


Notices  of  Books  1053 

considered  unlikely  and  absurd  a  motive  so  strange  and  so  extra- 
ordinary as  a  divine  vocation.  Forgetting  the  two  letters  con- 
temporary with  the  fact,  which  confirm  in  every  respect  the 
subsequent  notes  in  the  journal,  he  maintains  that  the  Cardinal,  in 
the  course  of  time,  forgot  the  exact  way  in  which  things  happened, 
and  had  accordingly  indulged  his  fancy.  If  Manning  [he  says] 
had  heard  such  a  call,  he  would  surely  have  communicated  it  to  his 
daily  correspondent,  his  brother-in-law  [Mr.  John  Anderdonl.  But 
he  did  not  do  so.  Therefore,  there  was  no  supernatural  call.  The 
syllogism  of  Mr.  Purcell  is  in  due  form.  His  logic  is  faultless. 
But,  unfortunately,  his  minor  is  false.  Manning  did  communicate 
to  his  brother-in-law  the  sentiments  by  which  he  was  animated. 
There  are  copies  of  his  letters  in  two  little  bundles  which  escaped 
Mr.  Purcell.  Dr  Gasquet,  who  married  a  niece  of  the  Cardinal, 
had  quoted  in  his  short  brochure,  published  in  1895,  pages  10  and 
11,  two  extracts  from  these  letters,  which  dispose  for  ever  of 
Mr.  Purcell's  enlightened  suppositions." 

This  is  the  spirit  in  which  M.  de  Pressense's  book  is  written. 
We  would  beg  to  direct  particular  attention  to  the  pages  of  the 
preface  in  which  he  deals  with  Mr.  Purcell's  imputation  of  a 
double  voice  to  the  illustrious  Cardinal  during  the  last  stages  of 
his  life  in  the  Protestant  Church. 

"  In  unequivocal  terms  [writes  M.  de  Pressense]  he  accuses 
Manning  of  having  adopted  an  attitude  and  a  form  of  speech 
marked  with  the  seal  of  duplicity  from  1846  to  1851 ;  of  having 
kept  secret  from  his  Church  and  from  his  best  friends  during  six 
long  years,  the  state  of  his  soul  and  the  intimate  sentiments  of  his 
heart ;  of  having,  in  a  word,  covered  with  the  odious  veil  of 
hypocrisy,  the  great  spiritual  work  that  was  going  on  within  him, 
and  which  was  ultimately  to  lead  him  to  the  Catholic  Church.  If 
this  reproach  were  founded  it  is  not'alone  this  period  of  the  life  of 
Manning  that  would  have  been  tarnished  and  dishonoured  :  his 
whole  existence,  his  whole  character,  would  have  been  stained  with 
the  mark  of  repugnant  duplicity.  His  dearest  convictions,  his 
charity,  his  holiness  would  have  been  rooted  in  falsehood ;  and  one 
should  renounce  for  ever  the  vain  attempt  to  hold  up  to  the 
admiration  of  men,  a  man  proficient  in  the  perfidious  art  of  double 
speech  and  double  dealing.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how 
Mr.  Purcell  could  have  wasted  his  time  in  raising  a  monument 
to  one  whom  he  held  guilty  of  such  conduct  .  .  .  Here  again, 
however,  the  proofs  are  looked  for  in  vain,  or  rather  present 
themselves  all  in  harmony  to  refute  the  calumny." 

11  Let  us  hear  [he  continues]  what  a  review,  justly  respected, 
and  edited  in  an  entirely  Anglican  spirit,  little  prejudiced  it  must 
be  said,  in  favour  of  deserters  from  the  National  Church,  viz. 
The  Spectator  has  to  say  : — '  In  the  journals  and  letters  in  which 


1054  Notices  of  Books. 

we  find  expressed  what  Mr.  Purcell  calls  the  'inner  man/  the  man 
who  doubted  the  validity  of  the  Anglican  system,  from  1846  to  1851, 
we  find  alongside  this  doubt  the  expression  of  a  fear  lest  it  might 
be  due  to  illusion.  In  this  state  of  mind,  Manning  declares  that 
it  is  his  duty  to  speak  with  tenderness  of  the  Anglican  Church,  and 
not  to  disturb  the  sentiments  of  filial  obedience  which  others 
might  profess  towards  her.  As  for  the  letters  quoted  in  the 
same  chapter,  giving  us  the  '  outer  man,'  the  second  voice, 
not  only  do  we  not  find  in  them  any  assertion  incompatible  with 
the  entertainment  of  doubts  regarding  the  Anglican  system  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  the  line  of  argument  followed  in  them  tends  to 
establish  the  duty  of  remaining  in  the  Anglican  Church  in  spite 
of  these  doubts. 

"  This  puts  the  matter  in  a  nutshell,  and  this  testimony  of  a 
competent  and  impartial  critic  will  balance,  we  imagine,  in 
the  mind  of  the  reader  the  imputations  dictated  to  a  professing 
friend  and  admirer  by  malevolent  prejudice  and  an  incredible 
confusion  of  thought. 

"  For  The  Spectator,  as  for  me,  the  sincerity  of  Manning 
was  absolute  and  unquestionable  during  that  long  and  difficult 
and  painful  period,  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
impart  more  uniformity  to  his  language  than  existed  in  his  mind 
and  heart.  It  will  not  be  considered  necessary,  I  suppose,  that  I 
should  examine  one  after  another  the  amazing  tissue  of  errors,  and 
of  sophisms  on  which  Mr.  Purcell  founds  his  imputations.  Let 
me  confine  myself  to  pointing  out  that  in  a  contention  in  which 
dates  are  of  sovereign  importance,  Mr.  Purcell  assigns  actually 
in  the  same  page  two  different  dates  to  a  letter  which  a  few  pages 
farther  on  he  dates  different  still,  and  the  sense  of  which  he 
travesties  beyond  recognition  in  favour  of  his  contention." 

We  must  refer  our  readers  to  the  work  itself,  which  well 
repays  perusal,  for  a  splendid  sketch  of  the  Cardinal's  career, 
and  a  thorough  exposition  of  Mr.  Purcell's  novel  conception  of 
history. 

J.  F.  H. 

ALETHEA  :  AT  THE  PARTING  OF    THE  WAYS.     By  Cyril. 

In  2  vols.  London  :  Burns  &  Gates,  Ltd  , 
To  appreciate  the  exact  nature  of  the  great  rupture  of  ecclesiastical 
communion,  which  dates  from  the  ninth  century,  is  no  easy 
matter  for  one  living  remote  from  that  convulsed  period.  So 
tangled  are  the  many  threads  of  the  plot,  so  manifold  the  forces 
at  work,  that  even  the  best-ordered  histories  yield  us  but  a 
confused  and  uncertain  picture  of  a  momentous  epoch  in  Church 
history.  The  author  of  this  romance  has  lightened  the  difficulty 


Notices  of  Books.  1055 

of  the    historical    student.     We   have   merely   to  gaze   on   his 
picturing  of  long-gone  days,  and  by  living  through  the   artist's 
cunningly-wrought   scenes  unconsciously  to  feel  and  learn   the 
very  minutiae  of   the  great  religious  strife  between  the  divided 
Churches.     The  worthlessness  of  Michael,  the  strange  complexity 
of  Photius,  the  mild  courage  of  Ignatius,  are  excellently  handled ; 
while   the   intrepidity  of   the   young  Turmarch,  the  humour  of 
Andrimades,  and  the  severe  trials  of  the  slave-girl,  gave  a  deep  and 
touching  interest  to  what  might  otherwise  have  been  a  dry  and 
tedious  though  scholarly  study.    Particular  care  has  been  bestowed 
on  presenting  a  truthful  transcript  of  the  Eastern  capital  as  it 
showed  in  the  buffoon  days  of  Emperor  Michael.     Many  points  of 
discussion  in  the  modern  philosophic  world  are  deftly  introduced, 
as  though  forecast  by  the  subtle  Greek  intellect  of  one  thousand 
years  past,  and  are  cleverly  and  popularly  disposed  of.     Perhaps 
the  heroine  lacks  colour,  definition,  life.    The  sybaritic  Andrimades, 
who  turns  monk,  is  capitally  conceived  and  excellently  sustained  to 
the  close.     The  book  is  readable  and  very  instructive,  and  though 
lacking  now  and  then  in  dramatic  movement,  never  dwindles  into 
insipidity.     Its  only  fault  is  a  too  marked  reserve  :  the  fire  and 
fancy  of  Scott  are  never  quite  attained. 

MEMOEIES    OF  MY  PILGEIMAGE    TO    THE    HOLY   LAUD. 

By  M.  M.  London  :  Art  and  Book  Company. 
OF  the  many  works  recently  published  on  Jerusalem  and  the 
Holy  Land,  this  is  one  of  the  simplest  and  most  unpretentious. 
The  author  of  it  is  an  English  lady,  who  had  the  courage  to  join 
a  French  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Places,  and  who  gives  a  very 
full  and  very  interesting  account  of  her  impressions  on  the 
journey  as  well  as  of  the  material  troubles  and  difficulties  she 
had  to  overcome  in  carrying  out  her  pious  purpose.  The  story 
of  the  whole  expedition  is  told  with  great  spirit. 

FIRST    COMMUNION.       Quarterly   Series.     London: 

Burns  &  Gates,  Ltd. 

THIS  is  a  child's  book,  and  a  delightful  one.  It  should  have 
a  prominent  place  in  the  spiritual  library  of  every  Catholic  home, 
as  it  is  written  in  such  a  fashion  as  to  interest,  instruct,  and 
deeply  move  the  most  untutored  [mind  and  the  least  reverent 
heart.  Being  intended  for  the  young,  it  is  likewise  for  the  old, 
because  the  charm  of  simplicity,  and  the  kind  intensity  of  a 


1056  Notices  of  Books 

sincerely  written  word  are  qualities  whose  appeal  is  still,  and 
ever  must  be,  unlimited.  Father  and  son,  mother  and  daughter, 
will  dwell  lovingly  on  these  innocent  pages,  every  passage  of 
which  brims  with  wisdom,  and  love,  and  piety.  The  illustrations 
are  many  and  good  :  the  frontispiece  is  a  fine  reproduction  of  an 
exquisite  piece  of  art. 

TAN  Ho.   By  S.  T.  Crook.    London :  Burns  &  Gates,  Ltd. 

THIS  book  has  neither  a  surplus  of  purpose,  interest,  or  in- 
telligibility. The  descriptions  are  elaborate,  but  we  are  hurried 
so  quickly  round  the  earth  that  we  have  not  time  to  catch  more 
than  a  misty  glimpse  of  men  and  things. 

THE    CIRCUS  EIDER'S    DAUGHTER.     By  F.    V.   Brackel. 
THE    OUTLAW    OF    CAMARGUE.       By    E.    de    Lamothe. 
New  York  :  Benziger  Brothers. 

WE  group  these  two  novels,  which  evidently  belong  to  the 
same  series,  as  they  both  manifest  the  same  exalted  Christian 
spirit.  They  are  translations,  fluent  and  idiomatic.  The  former 
work  is  a  noble  conception,  and  evidently  the  child  of  a  sincerely 
religious  mind.  Purity,  naturalness,  and  profound  interest  stamp 
the  book  as  truly  excellent.  Although  the  mournful  chords  of 
tragedy  frequently  trouble  the  ear,  the  tender  voice  of  resignation 
and  patience  is  never  far  away.  The  cynic  Dahnow  is  softened 
before  the  marvellous  courage  exhibited  by  Nora,  the  heroine, 
during  her  excruciating  trials,  and  turns  out  an  admirable 
character  afterwards.  The  book  is  wholesome  and  strengthening, 
for  even  the  best  readers.  The  plot  of  the  "  Outlaw  "  is  not  as 
strong  as  that  of  the  former,  but  the  minute  pictures  of  provencal 
life  and  scenery,  with  their  peculiar  atmosphere,  their  wild 
landscapes,  their  mirth  and  glow,  and  bull-fights,  are  so  masterly 
and  so  strangely  defined,  that  the  book  may  be  read  for  their  sake 
alone,  without  much  abatement  of  the  interest  such  a  work 
should  afford.  The  time  is  about  the  French  Revolution, 


THE  IRISH 

ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


DECEMBER,    1896 

THE  HISTORICAL  CHAEACTEK  OF  THE  FIKST 
CHAPTEK  OF  GENESIS1 

IT  may  be  known,  perhaps,  to  some  of  my  audience 
that,  about  five  and  twenty  years  ago,  I  brought  out 
a  work  on  the  relations  between  Geology  and  revealed 
Religion,  in  which  I  undertook  to  show  that  the  geological 
evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the  Earth  is  not  inconsistent 
with  the  history  of  creation  presented  to  us  in  the  First 
Chapter  of  Genesis.2  The  position  I  maintained  in  this 
work  may  be  briefly  stated.  I  held,  in  the  first  place,  that 
a  long  interval  of  time  may  have  elapsed  between  the  creation 
of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  as  described  in  the  first  verse, 
and  the  work  of  the  Six  Days  set  forth  in  the  remaining 
part  of  the  chapter.  In  the  next  place,  I  contended  that 
each  of  the  Six  Days  may  have  been  itself  a  long  period  of 
indefinite  duration,  and  not  a  day  of  twenty-four  hours,  in 
the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word. 

These  views  are  now,  I  believe,  generally  accepted ;  and 
there  are  few  who  would  deny  that  they  are,  at  least,  con- 
sistent with  the  sound  principles  of  biblical  interpretation. 
But  when  my  book  first  appeared,  I  received  many  letters 
in  which  the  writers,  while  approving  generally  of  the  scope 
and  purport  of  the  work,  expressed  the  opinion  that  to  treat 

1  A  Paper  read  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Maynooth   College  Union, 
June  23,  1896. 

2  Geology  and  Revelation  :  or  the  ancient  history  of  the  Earth  considered  in  the 
light  of  geological  facts  and  revealed  Religion.     Second  Edition,  1873.      London: 
Burns  &  Gates,  Ltd. 

VOL.  XVII,  3  X 


1058  The  Historical  Character  of  the 

the  Days  of  Creation  as  long  periods  of  time,  was  incon- 
sistent with  "the  historical  character"  of  the  narrative. 
1  was  greatly  struck  by  the  constant  repetition  of  this 
objection  in  the  letters  of  my  friendly  critics,  some  of 
whom  were  persons  of  high  standing  and  authority;  and 
I  felt  that  a  difficulty  which  had  taken  possession  of  so 
many  minds  was  deserving  of  careful  examination. 

I  accordingly  began  to  consider  what  was  the  exact 
force  and  significance  of  the  phrase  "  historical  character," 
as  applied  to  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis ;  and  to  inquire 
whether  this  character  gives  any  solid  ground  for  rejecting 
the  interpretation  of  the  Days  of  Creation  which  I  had 
been  defending.  The  views  which  I  then  formed,  I  have 
since  re-considered  from  time  to  time ;  and  the  more  I  have 
considered  them,  the  more  they  have  been  confirmed  in  my 
mind.  And  now,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  years,  at  this 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Maynooth  College  Union,  I  venture 
to  lay  them  before  this  distinguished  assembly,  in  which  I 
feel  that  I  am  addressing,  as  it  were,  a  new  generation  of 
theologians,  though  I  rejoice  to  know  there  are  present  not 
a  few  of  my  old  friends  and  colleagues. 

The  main  idea  which  I  desire  to  submit  for  your 
consideration,  is  that  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis  differs,  in 
one  important  respect,  from  all  other  historical  documents, 
inasmuch  as  it  describes  a  series  of  events  that  were  never 
seen  by  human  eyes.  Every  other  historical  document 
professes  to  record  events  which  fell  under  human  observa- 
tion, and  were  described  in  the  first  instance  by  eye- 
witnesses. But  the  events  related  in  the  First  Chapter  of 
Genesis  took  place  before  the  first  man  was  created,  and 
were,  therefore,  never  the  subject  of  human  observation.  It 
follows  that  the  knowledge  of  these  facts  must  have  been 
acquired  from  revelation,  just  as  the  knowledge  of  future 
events  was  acquired  from  revelation  by  the  prophets. 
Hence  it  seems  to  me  that  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis, 
though  it  is  an  historical  document  in  this,  that  it  is  a 
record  of  past  events,  must  be  regarded  rather  in  the  light  of 
a  prophetical  document,  if  we  consider  the  manner  in  which 
the  events  described  were  made  known  to  the  writer ;  and 


First  Chapter  of  Genesis  1059 

therefore  we  are  at  liberty,  in  the  interpretation  of  this 
chapter,  to  follow  the  principles  which  are  commonly 
adopted  in  the  interpretation  of  prophecy. 

This  is  an  important  point  to  bear  in  mind  when  we 
come  to  deal  with  the  Days  of  Creation.  If  the  narrative 
came  from  a  human  witness,  describing  the  facts  as  they  fell 
under  his  own  observation,  we  might  perhaps  have  some 
difficulty  in  understanding  the  Days  of  Creation  as  long 
periods  of  time.  But  when  we  remember  that  it  must  have 
been  derived  from  some  kind  of  mental  illumination,  in 
which  the  leading  features  of  the  creation  were  disclosed  by 
God,  as  in  the  vision  of  a  prophet,  all  difficulty  disappears. 
Consider  for  a  moment  the  latitude  that  is  freely  allowed  by 
commentators  of  all  schools,  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
prophetical  books  of  Scripture.  I  will  take,  as  a  familiar 
example,  the  well-known  prophecy  of  Daniel,  in  which  he 
announces  the  time  of  the  coming  of  our  Lord,  and  foretells 
some  leading  events  of  His  career  upon  earth.  "  Seventy 
weeks,"  he  says,  "  are  shortened  upon  thy  people,  and  upon 
thy  holy  city  .  .  .  From  the  going  forth  of  the  word  to 
build  up  Jerusalem  again,  unto  Christ  the  Prince,  there  shall 
be  seven  weeks  and  sixty-two  weeks  .  .  .  And  after  the 
sixty-two  weeks,  Christ  shall  be  slain  ...  And  He  shall 
confirm  the  covenant  with  many  in  one  week  [that  is,  in  the 
last  remaining  or  seventieth  week] ;  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  week  the  victim  and  the  sacrifice  shall  fail."  l 

What  are  the  Weeks  referred  to  in  this  passage  ?  They 
are  recognised  by  all  commentators,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  be 
weeks  of  years,  and  not  weeks  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
word.  And  why  do  we  so  interpret  them  ?  Simply  because 
the  events  which  are  here  foretold,  and  which  afterwards 
came  to  pass,  fit  in  with  the  prophecy,  if  we  understand 
each  week  to  be  a  period  of  seven  years,  and  do  not  fit  in,  if 
we  take  each  week  to  be  a  period  of  seven  days.  And  no 
one  has  ever  suggested  that  the  prophetical  character  of 
the  passage— that  is  to  say,  its  accuracy  and  truth  as  an 
account  of  events  to  come — is  impaired  by  adopting  the 
figurative  or  secondary  meaning  of  the  word  Week. 

i  Dan.  ix.  24-27. 


1060  The  Historicul  Character  of  the 

Now,  if  we  may  deal  in  this  manner  with  the  vision  in 
which  the  coming  of  our  Lord,  and  the  time  of  His  public 
mission,  were  disclosed  to  the  prophet  Daniel,  why  may  we 
not  deal  in  a  similar  way  with  the  vision  in  which  the  events 
of  the  creation  were  disclosed  to  the  author  of  the  First 
Chapter  of  Genesis  ?  And  just  as  we  adopt  the  wider  inter- 
pretation of  the  word  Week,  in  the  one  case,  because  the 
facts  as  they  afterwards  turned  out  make  it  plain  that  in 
this  sense  only  would  the  prophecy  be  true,  so  I  argue,  in 
the  other  case,  may  we  adopt  the  wider  interpretation  of  the 
Days  of  Creation,  if  the  evidence  of  geology  requires  it. 

Eemember,  I  am  not  now  attempting  to  prove  that  the 
word  Day  admits  of  this  wider  interpretation,  according  to 
the  usage  of  Scripture.  That  has  been  already  established 
by  abundant  examples,  taken  from  the  sacred  volume  itself; 1 
and  the  evidence  remains  unchallenged.  I  am  now  con- 
cerned only  with  the  special  difficulty  that  this  wider 
interpretation  impairs  the  "  historical  character "  of  the 
narrative.  And  my  point  is  this  :  that  the  wider  interpre- 
tation of  the  word  Day  no  more  impairs  the  historical 
character  of  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis — that  is  to  say, 
its  accuracy  and  truth,  as  an  account  of  past  events — than 
the  wider  interpretation  of  the  word  Week  impairs  the 
prophetical  character  of  the  Ninth  Chapter  of  Daniel. 

So  far  I  have  dealt  with  the  particular  difficulty  before 
me.  I  will  now  ask  you  to  advance  a  little  further  on  the 
same  line  of  thought.  If  we  try  to  represent  to  ourselves 
the  way  in  which  the  events  of  the  creation  were  revealed 
by  God,  we  are  justified  in  supposing,  as  I  have  already 
suggested,  that  the  narrative  we  now  possess  was  not 
dictated  word  for  word,  but  rather  that  the  facts  narrated 
were  disclosed  to  the  author  in  a  vision,  as  we  know  to 
have  been  done  so  often  in  the  case  of  the  prophets.  We 
may  suppose,  moreover,  that  the  successive  phases  of  the 
creation,  so  graphically  described  in  the  narrative,  as  if  by 
an  eye-witness,  passed  before  the  mind  of  the  author  in  a 
succession  of  pictures,  as  in  a  great  diorama ;  and  that  he 

1  Geology  and  Revelation^  Chapter  xx. 


First  Chapter  of  Genesis  1061 

wrote  down  faithfully  the  striking  features  of  each  picture 
as  it  passed  before  him. 

It  was  not  the  object  of  the  inspired  narrative  to  instruct 
the  world  in  Geology  or  Natural  History,  but  to  impress  on 
the  mind  of  a  primitive  people,  naturally  prone  to  idolatry, 
the  fundamental  truth  that  God  was  the  great  Creator,  who 
had  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth  and  all  that  they 
contain.  Hence  we  should  expect  that  each  picture,  as 
it  came  before  the  mental  vision  of  the  writer,  would  present 
not  all  the  multitudinous  details  of  the  creation,  which  the 
researches  of  geologists  have  brought  to  light,  but  only 
those  more  striking  features  which  would  fix  the  attention 
of  a  rude  people,  and  easily  impress  themselves  on  the 
memory.  The  period  of  time  corresponding  to  each  stage  of 
the  creation  was  a  matter  of  no  importance  for  the  object 
in  view,  and  so  it  was  left  undefined  in  the  picture.  But 
each  picture  in  succession  appeared  to  the  mental  vision  of 
the  sacred  writer  as  an  interval  of  light,  and  it  was  followed, 
as  we  may  suppose,  by  an  interval  of  darkness  ;  and  so 
the  whole  period  was  called  a  Day,  by  a  figure  of  speech 
perfectly  natural  in  itself,  and  quite  conformable  to  the 
usage  of  the  Hebrew  language. 

But  granting  that  the  word  Day  might  have  been  used 
in  the  sense  of  a  long  and  indefinite  interval  of  time,  you 
will  ask  me,  perhaps,  why  the  inspired  writer  should  have 
selected  this  word,  in  preference  to  any  other,  in  the  First 
Chapter  of  Genesis.  The  answer  to  this  question  is  very 
simple.  The  six  periods  of  the  creation,  and  the  seventh 
period  of  God's  rest,  were  to  be  the  type  of  the  six  dayS  of 
the  week  on  which  men  may  work,  and  the  seventh  day  on 
which  they  must  rest.  Hence  the  word  Day  was  the  most 
appropriate  that  could  be  employed,  because  it  suggested 
the  analogy  between  the  periods  of  the  creation  and  the 
days  of  the  week  which  were  founded  on  these  periods. 

And  this  consideration  leads  me  to  an  argument  which 
seems  almost  sufficient  of  itself,  apart  altogether  from 
geological  evidence,  to  show  that  the  Days  of  Creation  must 
have  been  long  periods  of  time.  The  Six  Days  of  Creation 
are,  everywhere  in  Scripture,  set  before  us  in  direct  and 


1062  The  Historical  Character  of  the 

immediate  connection  with  the  Seventh  Day  of  God's  rest. 
Thus,  for  example,  after  the  description  of  the  work  of  the 
Six  Days,  in  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis,  we  read  in  the 
opening  of  the  second  chapter :  "  And  on  the  seventh  day, 
God  ended  his  work  which  he  had  made ;  and  he  rested 
on  the  seventh  day  from  all  the  work  which  he  had  done."  1 
Again,  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Exodus,  when  the  law  of 
the  Sabbath  was  promulgated  to  the  Jews,  we  find  the 
same  intimate  relation  set  forth  between  the  Six  Days  of 
Creation  and  the  Seventh  Day  of  God's  rest :  "  In  six  days 
the  Lord  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and 
all  things  that  are  in  them,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  day."  • 
And  in  the  thirty-first  chapter  of  Exodus,  we  find  once 
more :  "  In  six  days  the  Lord  made  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  and  on  the  seventh  he  ceased  from  his  work."  ; 

Now,  what  was  the  period  for  which  God  rested?  Was 
it  a  period  of  twenty-four  hours  only  ?  Certainly  not.  The 
period  of  God's  rest  began  at  the  close  of  the  Sixth  Day, 
and  has  lasted  down  to  the  present  time.  According  to  the 
common  opinion  of  commentators,  the  rest  of  God  consisted 
in  this,  that,  after  the  work  of  the  Six  Days,  He  ceased 
from  the  creation  of  new  species.  But  without  going  into 
this  question,  it  seems  plain  that,  whatever  may  be  the 
sense  in  which  He  is  said  to  have  rested  at  the  close  of  the 
Six  Days,  in  the  same  sense  He  is  still  resting  at  the  present 
moment.  The  Seventh  Day  is,  therefore,  a  long  period  of 
indefinite  duration  ;  and,  if  so,  is  it  not  natural  and  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  each  of  the  Six  preceding  Days  was 
also  a  period  of  indefinite  duration  ? 

I  have  only  one  word  more  to  say.  The  researches  of 
geologists  have  revealed  to  us  a  certain  order  and  succession 
of  life  on  the  earth.  In  the  first  great  geological  age,  known 
as  the  Primary  or  Palaeozoic  Age,  the  most  striking  feature 
is  the  wonderful  development  of  plants  and  trees  and 
tangled  forests,  which  seem  to  have  covered  a  great  part  of 
the  surface  of  our  globe.  Next  followed,  in  the  Secondary 
or  Mesozoic  Age,  those  enormous  monsters  of  the  deep — the 

1  Gen.  ii,  2.  *  Exod.  xx.  11.  3  Exod.  xxxi. 


First  Chapter  of  Genesis  1063 

ichthyosaurs,  and  plesiosaurs,  and  cetiosaurs — which  are 
such  familiar  objects  in  our  museums,  together  with  count- 
less multitudes  of  fish,  and  those  gigantic  birds  known  to 
us  chiefly  by  the  imprint  of  their  feet,  once  left  on  the  sand 
of  the  sea-shore,  and  now  preserved  in  the  solid  sandstono 
rock.  Then,  in  the  Tertiary  or  Kainozoic  Age,  appeared  for 
the  first  time  the  great  mammalian  quadrupeds — elephants 
tigers,  bears,  the  rhinoceros,  the  hyaena,  the  Irish  elk,  and 
other  beasts  of  the  field.  Last  of  all,  in  the  very  latest 
formations,  which  are  called  Eecent,  by  comparison  with  all 
that  went  before,  the  first  trace  is  found  of  man  and  of  his 
works. 

Thus  you  see  that,  according  to  the  evidence  of  Geology, 
considered  in  its  broad  outlines,  we  have  first  a  great 
development  of  plants  and  trees,  then  of  fish  and  birds 
and  monsters  of  the  deep,  then  of  cattle  and  beasts  of  the 
field,  and  last  of  all  man  appears  upon  the  scene.  But  this 
is  exactly  the  order  and  succession  of  creation  as  recorded 
in  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis.  On  the  Third  Day,  wo 
are  told,  God  created  the  plants  and  trees;  on  the  Fifth 
Day,  at  his  command,  the  waters  brought  forth  the  moving 
creatures  having  life,  and  the  great  whales,  and  the^  fowl 
that  fly  over  the  earth  under  the  firmament  of  heaven ;  on 
the  Sixth  Day,  in  like  manner,  at  his  command,  the  earth 
brought  forth  the  cattle  and  the  beasts  of  the  field ;  and, 
last  of  all,  He  said :  "Let  us  make  man  to  our  image  and 
likeness." 

I  am  not  now  concerned  to  follow  out,  in  detail,  this 
striking  parallel  between  the  succession  of  life  exhibited  in 
the  crust  of  the  earth,  and  that  which  is  recorded  in  the 
sacred  narrative.  It  is  enough  for  me  to  consider  the 
resemblance  in  its  broad  features,  as  it  lies  before  us  on  the 
face  of  the  two  records.  And  I  ask,  where  did  the  author  of 
Genesis  find  that  order  and  succession  of  life  which  he  has  so 
graphically  described  ?  He  had  no  help  from  the  researches 
of  geologists ;  he  could  find  no  eye-witness  to  tell  him  the 
story  of  creation.  The  only  answer  that  remains  is,  that  he 
derived  his  knowledge  from  a  supernatural  source ;  that  he 
received  it  in  a  vision  from  on  high  ;  and  that,  like  the 


1064     Historical  Character  of  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis 

prophets  who  caine  after  him,  he  wrote  down  with  grapl 
power  and  unerring  pen  the  scenes  that  passed  before  his 
mental  sight.  And  just  as  the  visions  of  the  prophets  were 
confirmed  and  made  clear  by  the  facts  of  history,  as  they 
afterwards  occurred,  so  too,  the  rapid  sketch  of  the  creation 
presented  to  us  in  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis,  is  now, 
after  the  lapse  of  many  thousand  years,  confirmed,  and  the 
details  of  the  picture,  if  I  may  so  say,  filled  in,  by  the 
indefatigable  researches  of  modern  science. 

Let  me  now  sum  up,  in  a  few  words,  the  leading  ideas 
I  have  tried  to  bring  before  you  in  this  address.  I  maintain 
that  the  account  of  the  creation  set  out  in  the  First  Chapter 
of  Genesis,  is  a  strictly  truthful  historical  narrative.  But 
I  say  that  we  must  not  regard  it  as  if  it  were  an  account  of 
events  observed,  in  the  first  instance,  by  human  witnesses, 
and  handed  on,  in  the  usual  way,  by  human  testimony. 
We  must  deal  with  it  rather  as  we  are  wont  to  deal  with 
the  prophetical  books  of  Scripture,  where  the  inspired 
author  describes  the  scenes  that  pass  before  his  mental 
vision,  in  a  moment  of  divine  illumination.  When  we  look 
at  it  in  this  light,  I  say  that  the  use  of  the  word  Day  for  a 
long  period  of  time,  is  not  only  quite  natural  and  legitimate, 
but  singularly  appropriate  to  the  purpose  in  view.  And  I 
further  contend  that  all  the  wonderful  details  which  Geology 
has  brought  to  light,  regarding  the  development  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life  on  the  earth,  are  not  inconsistent  with  the 
rapid  sketch  of  the  creation  presented  to  us  in  Genesis  ;  but 
on  the  contrary,  confirm  in  a  remarkable  way  the  truth  of 
that  graphic  picture,  and  suggest  very  plainly  its  divine 
origin. 

GERALD  MOLLOY. 


1065 


CAEDINAL      MOKAN'S      "  HISTOEY      OF      THE 
CATHOLIC  CHUECH  IN  AU  STEAL  ASIA  "—III. 

A  U  STEAL  ASIA  includes,  besides  Australia,  the  self- 
t\.  governing  colonies  of  Tasmania  and  New  Zealand.  The 
history  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  those  two  colonies,  as  told 
by  Cardinal  Moran,  is  quite  as  long  drawn  out,  and  as 
replete  with  interest,  as  are  the  chapters1  of  the  eminent 
author's  work  which  record  the  progress  of  Catholicity  in 
the  five  colonies  of  Australia. 

Tasmania  is  called  after  Commodore  Tasman,  a  Dutch 
navigator,  who  discovered  this  "  isle  of  beauty  "  in  1642. 
Tasman  gave  it  the  name  of  Van  Dieman's  Land,  in  honour 
of  his  patron,  General  Van  Dieman,  who  was  at  that 
time  Governor  of  the  Dutch  Settlements  in  the  Indian 
Archipelago.  This  name  it  retained  until  1853,  when  the 
island  ceased  to  be  a  convict  depot,  and  assumed  the 
present  name  to  mark  its  regeneration  from  convictism. 
The  first  period  of  its  history  dates  from  the  erection  by  the 
British  Government  of  a  convict  settlement  at  Hobart,  in 
1805.  It  would  seem  that  some  of  the  "  more  mutinous 
and  refractory  of  the  Botany  Bay  convicts  "  were  transferred 
to  Hobart,  to  be,  if  possible,  more  brutalized  by  demoralizing 
punishments,  often  inflicted  without  due  regard  to  justice 
or  humanity.  The  utmost  licence,  however,  was  allowed 
to  the  bulk  of  the  convicts  sent  to  the  new  settlement. 
Cardinal  Moran  quotes  from  an  official  report  of  1817  : 
"  The  prisoners,  male  and  female,  were  under  no  system  of 
control.  The  men  employed  during  the  day  were  provided 
with  no  secure  quarters  at  night,  so  that  they  roamed  about 
and  committed  degradations  at  pleasure.  The  convict 
women  were  supplied  with  food  and  clothing,  but  had  to 
shelter  themselves  at  night  as  best  they  could."  "  It  was 
added,"  he  writes,  "  that  this  led  to  a  degree  of  depravity, 
almost  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  British  colonization, 
some  of  the  officials  themselves  taking  the  lead  in  scandalous 

1  See  I.  E.  RECOED,  August  and  October,  1896,  pp.  673  and  885. 


1066  Cardinal  Moraris 

immorality."  Nor  was  this  condition  of  things  of  short 
duration.  We  are  assured  that,  as  late  as  1844,  "  the 
convicts  were  living  in  the  indulgence  of  the  most  low 
and  debasing  vices  ;  there  was  no  rule  or  discipline  ; 
anarchy  reigned." 

The  first  Catholic  chaplain  appointed  by  the  Government 
to  the  mission  of  Tasmania  was  the  Rev.  Philip  Connolly, 
who  had  laboured  as  a  priest  for  several  years  in  his  native 
diocese  (Kildare),  before  he  volunteered  for  the  Australian 
mission  in  1819.  Accompanied  by  Father  Therry,  whose 
career  has  been  briefly  described,  he  arrived  in  Sydney  in 
1820.  It  was  agreed  between  the  two  missionaries  that 
Father  Therry  should  remain  in  Sydney,  and  that 
Father  Connolly  should  take  up  his  abode  in  Van  Dieman's 
Land.  Thither,  accordingly,  he  came  in  1821.  From  our 
perusal  of  Cardinal  Moran's  book,  we  gather  that  the  new 
chaplain  found  little  to  do  in  this  den  of  vice.  The  number 
of  Catholic  convicts,  it  appears,  was  very  small  at  the  date 
of  his  arrival.  "  Till  1842,"  the  author  tells  us,  "few 
Catholic  convicts  had  been  sent  to  Tasmania."  There 
were  only  nine  free  Catholics  living  in  Hobart,  in  1822. 
How  many  were  there  in  1833,  when  Dr.  Ullathorne  visited 
the  capital  of  the  Colony,  is  not  stated ;  but  certain  it  is  that 
the  Church  in  the'  meantime  had  made  very  little  progress. 
Here  is  an  extract  from  Dr.  Ullathorne's  account  of  his 
visit  to  Hobart  : — 

"  The  one  priest  was  absent  on  his  annual  visit  to 
Launceston,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  island.  I  was  hospitably 
lodged  and  entertained  by  Mr.  Hackett,  a  native  of  Cork,  arid  a 
distiller,  a  man  of  information,  popular  among  the  few  Catholics, 
and  influential  in  the  town.  Meeting  the  leading  Catholics,  all 
of  Irish  origin,  I  soon  began  to  hear  a  sad  account  of  the  state  of 
Catholic  affairs.  I  found  the  chapel  in  a  most  disgraceful  state, 
though  the  house  was  decent.  Built  of  boards,  with  the 
Government  broad  arrow  upon  them,  the  floor  had  never  been 
laid  down,  but  consisted  of  loose  planks  with  their  edges  curled 
by  tbe  heat,  and  sharp  as  well  as  loose  under  the  knees  of  the 
people.  .  .  .  Father  Connolly  returned  before  I  left  Hobart 
town.  He  expressed  no  discontent  at  what  I  had  done  in  the 
chapel,  as  the  people  thought  he  would,  but  rather  approval, 
gave  me  his  own  ideas  of  the  state  of  things  in  Sydney,  and  we 
parted  friends." 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     1067 

Father  Connolly  is  described  as  a  genial  and  witty  man, 
who  lived  on  good  terms  with  the  Governor,  and  with  the 
Protestant  chaplain.  In  his  capacity  as  Magistrate,  the 
latter  inflicted  on  any  Catholic  convict  brought  before  him, 
the  penalty  to  work  for  a  certain  number  of  days  on 
Father  Connolly's  farm ;  and  it  appears  the  Catholic 
chaplain  occasionally  invited  his  heretical  benefactor  to  a 
"  pleasant  treat,"  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Knopwood  dearly 
loved.  Whatever  may  be  said  about  Father  Connolly's 
taste  for  church  decoration,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
be  displayed  excellent  judgment  in  dedicating  the  wooden 
structure  described  above,  to  St.  Virgilius,  the  famous 
Irish  saint,  who  broached  the  theory  of  the  Antipodes, 
eight  centuries  before  the  rotundity  of  the  earth  became 
an  accepted  scientific  truth. 

Ill  1835,  Dr.  Polding,  who  was  on  his  way  to  Sydney, 
called  at  Hobart,  and  left  behind  him  an  English 
Benedictine,  Father  Gotham,  to  assist  Father  Connolly, 
and  a  Catholic  school  teacher,  whom  the  Government 
employed  at  £90  per  annum.  This  visit  had  other  impor- 
tant consequences.  As  Vicar- Apostolic  of  Australasia, 
Dr.  Polding  felt  it  his  duty  to  visit  not  only  Hobart,  but 
the  inland  station  of  Richmond,  where  he  was  informed 
there  were  a  few  Catholic  families.  The  Governor,  who 
vainly  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  undertaking  so  dangerous 
a  journey,  promised  to  grant  for  the  building  of  a  church 
at  Richmond  a  sum  equal  to  that  collected  there  by 
Dr.  Polding.  The  Cassidys  and  the  Murphys  responded 
so  generously  to  his  Lordship's  appeal,  that  he  returned 
with  a  claim  of  £1,000  on  the  Governor,  who  paid  down 
the  amount.  So  a.  church  was  speedily  erected  at 
Richmond,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  Irish  settlers.  Nor  did 
Dr.  Polding  forget  the  interests  of  this  little  colony,  amidst 
the  toils  of  organizing  the  Church  in  New  South  Wales. 
He  sent  to  Tasmania,  in  1839,  Father  Butler,  who  is 
remembered  as  the  Apostle  of  the  faith  in  Launceston, 
and  Father  Therry,  with  authority  as  Vicar-General  over 
the  whole  island.  They  arrived  just  in  time  to  perform 
the  last  sad  offices  over  the  remains  of  Father  Connolly, 


1068  Cardinal  Moraris 

who   was  called  to  his  reward  at  the  early  age   of  fifty- 
three. 

Father  Therry  brought  to  this  new  field  of  labour  all 
that  indomitable  energy  which  had  made  him  the  idol  of 
the  people  and  the  terror  of  the  officials  in  New  South 
Wales.  The  building  of  a  church  in  Hobart,  he  undertook 
as  a  matter  of  course  ;  but  what  most  engaged  his  sympathy 
and  energy  was  the  abominable  treatment  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  Catholic  orphan  children.  Those  were,  on 
their  arrival  in  the  colony,  consigned  to  a  Protestant 
orphanage  to  which  the  priest  was  refused  admittance, 
and  in  which  the  process  of  robbing  those  little  ones  of 
their  faith  was  insidiously  carried  out.  Father  Therry  did 
not  succeed  at  once  in  mitigating  the  evil,  but  his  voice 
and  pen  roused  public  opinion  against  a  system  which 
must  eventually  die  of  exposure.  The  school  question  also 
claimed  his  attention.  In  1838,  there  were  thirty-eight 
schools  in  Tasmania  receiving  State  aid,  all  practically  in 
the  hands  of  Protestants,  Mr.  Chisholm  Autsey  wrote,  in 
1840 :  "  There  is  not  a  single  school  in  Hobart  Town 
to  which  a  Catholic  child  can  be  sent  without  apostacy 
from  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of  the  Church. ":  Failing 
to  obtain  redress  from  the  Legislative  Council,  Father 
Therry  commenced  the  building  of  a  Catholic  school  in 
Hobart,  which  was  well  advanced  in  1844,  when  his 
career  as  Vicar-General  of  Tasmania  came  to  a  rather 
abrupt  termination.  Hobart  Town  was  erected  into  a 
diocese  in  1842.  Dr.  Wilson,  an  English  secular  priest, 
who  was  then  in  charge  of  the  Nottingham  mission,  was 
appointed  Bishop  of  the  new  see.  In  accepting  the  dignity, 
Dr.  Wilson  "  placed  two  conditions  which  Archbishop 
Polding  undertook  to  see  fulfilled.  The  first  was,  that  he 
should  not  be  burdened  with  diocesan  debts.  .  .  .  The 
second  was  to  the  effect  that  Father  Therry  was  to  be 
removed  from  the  diocese  of  Hobart  Town,  and  recalled 
to  Sydney."  "  The  Bishop,"  adds  the  author,  "  had  been 
informed  that  Father  Therry,  though  idolized  by  the  people, 

1  Quoted  by  the  Author, 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     1069 

was  a  nian  with  whom  it  would  be  impossible  to  work  in 
harmony;  and  that,  in  order  to  secure  peace  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  diocese,  he  should  be  withdrawn  from 
Tasmania."  The  new  bishop  arrived  in  Hobart  in  1844, 
and  at  once  notified  to  Father  Therry  that  he  ceased  to  be 
Vicar-General,  and  that  his  office,  with  its  emoluments,  was 
to  be  transferred  to  the  Rev.  William  Hall,  an  English 
priest  who  accompanied  his  Lordship. 

The  early  years  of  Dr.  Wilson's  episcopal  career  were 
somewhat  embittered  by  his  obstinacy  in  insisting  on  the 
simultaneous  fulfilment  of  those  two  conditions.  A  debt 
remained  due  on  the  church  of  St.  Joseph,  which  Father 
Therry  had  just  completed,  arid  of  which  the  bishop  took 
possession  on  his  arrival.  This  and  other  debts  contracted 
by  Father  Therry  in  the  erection  of  schools,  and  other 
diocesan  undertakings,  amounted,  in  all,  to  about  £3,300. 
Now  Father  Therry  was  asked  to  quit  the  colony,  to  place 
the  title  deeds  of  all  ecclesiastical  property  in  the  hands  of 
Dr.  Wilson,  and  to  carry  with  him  the  obligation  of  paying 
debts,  for  the  discharge  of  which  he  had  intended  to  draw 
on  his  own  emoluments  as  Vicar-General,  and  on  the 
generosity  of  the  faithful  of  Tasmania.  Father  Therry, 
and  the  lay  trustees  refused  to  give  up  the  title  deeds 
unless  they  were  released  from  the  debts  which  remained 
due  on  the  actual  work  accomplished.  To  prevent  an  open 
rupture  Dr.  Folding  intervened,  and  induced  Father  Therry 
to  consign  the  deeds  to  himself : — 

"The  Archbishop,  full  of  joy,  hastened  to  the  Bishop  with 
the  bundle  of  documents.  He  took  occasion  to  suggest  to 
Dr.  Wilson  the  expediency  of  assigning  some  honorary  post 
to  Father  Therry.  ...  To  the  great  surprise  of  the  Archbishop, 
Dr.  Wilson  refused  to  accept  the  deeds  except  from  Father 
Therry  himself,  and  instead  of  adopting  the  Archbishop's 
friendly  suggestion  recorded  his  protest  against  any  attempt  of 
the  Archbishop  to  interfere  in  the  temporal  affairs  of  his  diocese. 
This  led  to  an  estrangement  between  the  Archbishop  and  Bishop 
which  continued  for  a  considerable  time,  while  Father  Therry 
was  compelled  to  retire  from  the  exercise  of  the  sacred  ministry 
for  some  years." 

An   amicable  agreement  was  not   effected  until   1857, 


1070  Cardinal  Moran's 

when  Dr.  Wilson,  on  his  part,  undertook  the  responsibility 
of  £1,500.  Father  Therry's  retirement  must  have  been  of 
short  duration,  for  another  chapter  tells  us,  that  he  was 
in  charge  of  the  Melbourne  mission  during  the  years  1846 
and  1847,  and  that  he  soon  afterwards  returned  to  Sydney, 
where  he  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  arch-priest  in  1858. 

Following  his  usual  method  of  simply  stating  facts, 
Cardinal  Moran  pronounces  no  opinion  on  the  attitude 
assumed  by  the  new  Bishop.  No  one,  however,  who  reads 
the  chapter  of  his  book,  which  is  now  under  review,  can 
regard  Dr.  Wilson  as  anything  but  a  great  bishop,  whose 
general  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  diocese  of  Hobart 
Town  bespeaks  the  zeal  and  charity  of  an  apostle.  The  son 
of  a  Lincoln  farmer  (a  convert  to  Catholicity),  Kobert 
William  Wilson  was  about  taking  unto  himself  a  wife,  and 
settling  down  to  his  father's  business,  when  "  reading  a 
spiritual  book,  according  to  his  daily  custom,  a  sudden  light 
flashed  into  his  mind,"  which  beckoned  him  to  a  higher  life. 
The  lady  of  his  old  affections  fell  in  with  his  altered  views, 
and  became  a  Benedictine  nun.  Young  Wilson,  who  was 
then  in  his  twenty-second  year,  entered  old  Oscott  College, 
and  after  the  usual  course  was  ordained  priest  in  1824, 
being  then  in  his  thirtieth  year.  He  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  mission  in  Nottingham,  where  he  found  "  the 
few  Catholics  of  the  locality  under  the  care  of  an  aged 
French  emigrant  priest,  whose  flock  assembled  in  a  small 
chapel  with  difficulty  holding  one  hundred  and  fifty  people, 
situated  up  a  blind  alley,  where  also  was  his  humble 
residence,  to  which  he  had  to  make  his  way  among  wet 
clothes  hung  on  lines  across  his  path."  Here  he  remained 
until  his  appointment  to  the  bishopric  of  Hobart  Town, 
and  during  those  twenty  years  the  church  of  Nottingham, 
under  his  direction,  had  emerged  from  the  "  blind  alley," 
and  become  visible  in  a  grand  cathedral  erected  at  a  cost 
of  £20,000. 

Twenty  years  were  also  about  the  term  of  his  episcopal 
career.  Although  appointed  in  April,  1842,  he  did  not  arrive 
at  Hobart  until  the  May  of  1844.  There  were  at  this  date 
only  some  five  thousand  Catholics  in  all  Tasmania,  of  whom 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    1071 

about  one  thousand  were  convicts.  The  convicts,  however, 
now  came  pouring  into  this  colony  in  vastly  increased 
numbers,  as  they  had  just  begun  to  be  excluded  from  New 
South  Wales,  and  it  was  to  this  portion  of  his  flock  that  his 
Lordship  devoted  his  most  sympathetic  ministrations.  He 
writes  : — 

"  My  duties  appeared  to  be  these  :  to  visit  the  ships  on  their 
arrival,  address  all  convicts  of  my  religion,  warn  them  of  what 
they  should  avoid.  ...  On  landing,  again  visit  them  in  their 
different  locations  as  often  as  feasible  ;  encourage  them,  remon- 
strate with  them,  hear  their  grievances — oftentimes  too  well 
founded,  sometimes  not — and  reprove  sternly,  when  necessity 
required,  the  obstinate  and  the  hardened." 

The  discharge  of  those  duties  afforded  the  Bishop  an 
insight  into  the  horrors  of  the  convict  system.  It  would 
seem  that  the  officials,  in  the  treatment  of  the  convicts,  had 
as  little  regard  to  the  requirements  of  common  decency  as 
to  the  demands  of  human  brotherhood  : — 


"  On  visiting  these  gangs  [of  convicts],  the  first  thing  that  struck 
the  Bishop  [writes  the  author]  was  the  extreme  impropriety  of 
night  arrangements  for  these  men.  They  were  locked  up  at  night 
in  wooden  huts,  each  containing  from  twenty  to  fifty  men  sleeping 
on  shelves,  one  above  another,  without  any  proper  division  between 
them  .  .  .  Another  bad  feature  of  the  system  was  the  employ- 
ment of  convict  overseers.  .  .  .  The  Bishop  was  especially  struck 
with  the  spectacle  of  the  number  of  men  carrying  chains  as  a 
disciplinary  punishment,  both  at  work  and  when  carrying  burdens. 
Some  were  of  fourteen  pounds  weight ;  some  even  of  thirty-six 
pounds.  Specimens  were  exhibited  by  the  Bishop  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Lords  that  weighed  forty-seven  pounds.  Some  were 
even  in  manacles,  with  their  hands  held  apart  by  cross-bars,  thus 
held  in  a  frame  of  iron.  Of  two  hundred  and  seventy  convicts 
that  attended  the  Bishop's  Mass,  only  fifty-two  were  without 
chains  .  .  .  The  military  in  the  island  were  horrified  at  what 
they  saw.  .  .  .  Major  Harold,  after  a  conversation  with  the 
bishop,  with  uplifted  hands  exclaimed,  i  For  God's  sake,  go  home, 
and  let  the  British  Government  know  the  truth.' " 

Dr.  Wilson  did  visit  England  in  1847,  and  gave 
important  evidence  on  the  condition  of  the  convicts  before 
a  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Lords.  It  was,  it 
appears,  mainly  through  his  influence  that  the  penal  settle- 
ment of  Norfolk  Island  was  broken  up.  How  much  he  did 


1072  Cardinal  Moran's 

by  his  ministrations  to  alleviate  their  miseries,  is  beyond 
the  reach  of  history.  The  hardened  officials  themselves  had 
to  confess  that  an  extraordinary  change  was  wrought  in  the 
demeanour  of  the  most  reckless  convicts  by  their  intercourse 
with  the  Bishop.  In  1853,  the  transportation  of  criminals 
to  Tasmania  ceased,  and  this  beautiful  island  entered  on  a 
new  era  of  its  history  with  a  population  of  thirty  thousand 
free  settlers,  and  an  equal  number  of  the  class  whose  evil 
influence  in  the  early  life  of  the  colony  is  now  quite 
obliterated. 

More  than  once  it  became  the  duty  of  Dr.  Wilson  to 
maintain  his  position  against  the  insolence  of  bigotry. 
Although  an  Act  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  Tasmania, 
passed  in  1837,  affirmed  the  equality  of  the  Churches  of 
England,  Scotland,  and  Rome,  yet  the  Protestant  officials 
found  many  ways  of  displaying  their  hatred  of  Catholicity. 
His  first  greeting  from  the  Protestant  Bishop,  who  had 
only  arrived  in  the  colony  one  year  before  Dr.  Wilson,  was  a 
letter  inquiring  "  by  what  authority  he  dared  to  assume  the 
title  of  bishop."  As  late  as  1864,  a  card  of  entree  for  the 
levee  held  in  honour  of  the  Queen's  birthday,  made  the 
following  odious  and  unjustifiable  distinction  between  the 
two  bishops  : — "No.  2. — The  Bishop  and  his  Chaplain. 
No.  6. — The  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  Rome  and  his 
Chaplain."  As  a  protest  against  the  assumption  implied  in 
the  distinction,  Dr.  Wilson  refused  to  attend,  and  his  firm 
and  dignified  attitude  on  this  and  similar  occasions  was 
appreciated  as  much  by  intelligent  and  liberal  Protestants 
as  by  his  own  subjects. 

While  en  route  for  London,  Dr.  Wilson  was  struck  with 
paralysis,  off  Cape  Horn,  in  the  early  half  of  1865.  He 
lived  to  reach  Nottingham,  the  scene  of  his  first  missionary 
labours  ;  and  here,  surrounded  by  loving  friends,  he  died, 
towards  the  middle  of  the  next  year.  The  account  given 
by  the  author  of  his  preparation  for  death,  reveals  the 
dominant  tint  of  Dr.  Wilson's  character  :— 

"  At  his  request  there  was  read  to  him  each  day  a  meditation  ; 
morning  and  evening,  a  portion  of  the  Sacred  Scripture,  the  life  of 
the  saint  of  the  day,  and  a  chapter  in  the  Imitation  of  Christ. 


"History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Au$tratasia  "     1073 

He  thus  kept  up  his  pious  customs.  The  day  before  his  death  he 
assisted  at  Mass,  and  received  Holy  Communion.  That  night  his 
sacerdotal  friend  secretly  entered  his  room,  found  him  absorbed 
in  prayer,  and  withdrew  unobserved.  ...  On  the  20th  June, 
1866,  he  calmly  expired." 

And  with  his  countenance,  as  presented  to  us  among  the 
portraits  that  adorn  the  pages  of  Cardinal  Moran's  book,  one 
can  only  associate  dignity,  asceticism,  and  kindliness. 

The  successor  of  Dr.  Wilson  had  closed  an  episcopal 
career  in  India  before  he  was  charged  with  the  chief  pastor- 
ship of  Hobart,  which  he  still  holds.  Born  at  Belmont, 
Crookstown,  Co.  Cork,  in  1815,  Daniel  Murphy  entered 
Maynooth  at  an  early  age,  and  was  ordained  priest  in 
1838.  He  fell  a  victim  to  the  enthusiasm  for  missionaiy 
enterprise  awakened  among  the  students  of  Maynooth  by 
Dr.  Ullathorne's  visit  to  that  institution  in  1837,  but  his 
bishop  refused  him  permission  to  join  the  gallant  band  wro 
volunteered  on  that  occasion  for  the  Australian  mission. 
The  next  year,  however,  he  was  allowed  to  transfer  his 
allegiance  to  Dr.  Carew,  a  Maynooth  Professor,  who  was  in 
this  year  appointed  Coadjutor  to  the  Vicar-Apostolic  of 
Madras.  The  district  of  Hyderabad,  situated  some  four- 
hundred  miles  from  Madras,  was  the  theatre  of  Father 
Murphy's  labours.  So  successful  was  his  mission  in  this 
region,  that  Hyderabad  was  erected  into  a  vicariate  in 
1846,  under  Dr.  Murphy,  who  was  appointed  Vicar- Apostolic. 
He  was  in  Koine  at  the  time  of  his  appointment ;  and 
among  the  students  of  the  Irish  College  who  sought  to 
accompany  the  young  bishop  to  his  distant  mission  was  the 
present  illustrious  Archbishop  of  Cashel.  "  But  circum- 
stances," the  author  tells  us,  "  detained  him  in  Koine." 
Dr.  Murphy's  career  in  India  was  not  devoid  of  picturesque 
and  exciting  incidents  : — 

"  One  of  the  Bishop's  first  cares  was  to  open  a  college  near 
Hyderabad,  which  soon  attained  a  wide-spread  fame.  The  sons 
of  the  wealthy  Parsees  and  some  of  the  native  princes  flocked 
to  it  as  a  genuine  mart  of  learning,  and  it  was  a  picturesque 
sight  to  see  young  chiefs  on  elephants  gaily  apparelled  and 
accompanied  by  a  numerous  retinue  of  attendants  hastening  to 
receive  their  literary  instruction  with  all  docility  from  the  zealous 
VOL.  XVII.  3  Y 


1074  Cardinal  Moran's 

missionaries.  The  Nizam,  who  was  one  of  the  most  powerful 
of  the  native  princes,  cherished  a  special  friendship  for  the 
young  bishop,  and  often  expressed  a  wish  to  confer  with  him. 
On  the  most  solemn  state  days  an  elephant  in  grand  gala  was 
put  at  the  disposal  of  his  Lordship  to  proceed  to  the  palace,  and 
as  a  matter  of  etiquette  the  preferred  mode  of  conveyance  could 
not  be  declined." 

The  limited  space  at  our  disposal  compels  us  to  omit 
transcribing  Cardinal  Moran's  account  of  Dr.  Murphy's 
encounter  with  Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  Governor  of  Madras. 
The  soldiers  of  the  84th,  it  appears,  erected  a  Catholic 
chapel  at  Secunderabad,  and  in  defiance  of  the  Bishop's 
prohibitions  the  8th  Eegiment  of  native  infantry,  who  were 
Goanese  schismatics,  were  also  permitted  to  have  their 
religious  service  in  this  chapel.  During  the  night  following 
the  day  on  which  the  first  profanation  took  place,  the  chapel, 
which  was  made  of  wood,  was  taken  to  pieces.  For  this 
"gross  and  unparalleled  outrage"  the  Bishop  was  held  respon- 
sible, and  the  "  Eight  Honourable  the  Governor-in-Council" 
saw  no  alternative  but  to  direct  the  removal  of  the  Eight 
Rev.  Dr.  Murphy  from  the  Cantonment  of  Secunderabad. 
The  Court  of  the  Nizam,  however,  refused  to  consent  to  the 
Bishop's  expulsion,  and  five  years  later,  in  1853,  Dr.  Murphy 
bad  the  pleasure  of  being  able  to  write  to  Archbishop  Carew, 
who  was  then  Vicar- Apostolic  of  Calcutta,  that  "  the  cele- 
brated chapel  of  the  8th  N.I.,  which  brought  such  a  storm 
upon  us,  is  now  about  to  revert  to  its  original  owners." 

"  The  result  of  the  Bishop's  labours  in  India  [writes  Cardinal 
Moran]  may  be  briefly  told.  When  he  arrived  in  Hyderabad, 
there  was  only  one  solitary  chapel  on  those  shores  of  the  Bay  of 
Bengal  in  communion  with  the  Holy  See.  Not  a  Catholic  school, 
not  even  one  Catholic  congregation.  At  his  departure  there 
were  twenty-five  chapels,  each  with  its  large  congregation,  with 
its  various  schools,  and  an  asylum  for  orphans,  and  towering 
above  all  the  buildings  of  other  denominations,  a  grand  cathedral 
church." 

It  would  seem  that  Dr.  Murphy  was  about  resigning, 
if  he  had  not  actually  resigned,1  bis  charge  of  Hyderabad 

1  The  author  writes  :  ' '  The  torrid  climate  of  India,  as  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  travelling  in  season  and  out  of  season,  undermined  the  Bishop's 
health ;  and,  at  last,  finding  it  impossible  to  continue  his  labours  under  a  burning 
fctm,  he  resolved  to  resign  his  see  and  return  to  Ireland." 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "    1075 

when  he  was  translated  to  Hobart,  where  he  arrived  in 
1866.  The  building  of  churches  and  schools,  and  the 
organization  of  new  missionary  districts  have  since  engaged 
the  energies  which  a  bracing  climate  soon  restored  to  their 
pristine  vigour.  The  nuns  of  the  Presentation  Order,  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  have  been 
introduced  to  Tasmania  by  Dr.  Murphy.  A  very  interesting 
event,  the  details  of  which  are  fully  recorded  by  Cardinal 
Moran,  was  the  celebration  of  the  Golden  Jubilee,  in 
1888,  of  the  religious  profession  of  Mother  Mary  Xavier 
Williams,  one  of  the  two  pioneer  Sisters  of  Charity  who 
arrived  in  Hobart  in  1847.  Miss  Williams,  a  native  of 
Kilkenny,  was  not  only  one  of  the  first  batch  of  nuns  that 
landed  in  Australia,  but  having  come  out  a  novice,  was  the 
first  nun  who  "  sent  up  to  Heaven  through  clear  Australian 
skies  the  pure  incense  of  self-oblation  on  the  altar  of 
religion." 

In  this  year  also  Dr.  Murphy  celebrated  the  Golden 
Jubilee  of  his  priesthood,  and  the  rejoicings  that  marked 
the  occasion  had  scarcely  concluded,  when  his  elevation 
to  the  dignity  of  Archbishop  evoked  a  hearty  renewal  of 
congratulations  from  his  priests  and  people.  Our  author, 
writing  in  1893,  expressed  a  hope  that  the  Archbishop  of 
Hobart  would  be  found  "  in  health  and  vigour  in  1896,  to 
keep  the  celebration  of  a  feast  hitherto  unique  in  Australia, 
and  very  rare  in  the  general  annals  of  the  Church — the 
Golden  Jubilee  of  his  Episcopate."  This  hope  has  been 
realized ;  and  that  his  life  has  been  as  full  of  merits  as  of 
years,  is  the  conviction  that  we  carry  away  with  us  from 
the  perusal  of  Cardinal  Moran's  book,  and  will,  we  think, 
be  the  impression  of  the  student  or  visitor,  who,  sauntering 
along  St.  Mary's  cloister,  Maynooth,  stands  for  a  moment 
to  study  the  kindly  genial  face,  that  so  deservedly  holds  a 
place  among  the  portraits  of  the  distinguished  alumni  of 
the  College. 

The  first  priests  who  undertook  regular  missionary  work 
in  New  Zealand1  were  French  Marists,  but  an  Irishman  of 

1  New  Zealand  was  discovered  by  Tasman,  in  1642. 


1076  Cardinal  Moran's 

the  name  of  Thomas  Poynton  deserves  to  be  called  the  first 
Catholic  missionary  of  this  remote  colony.  Here  is  an 
extract,  quoted  by  the  author,  from  a  statement  drawn  up 
by  Mr.  Poynton  himself,  in  1890,  a  few  months  before  his 
death  : — 

"  In  the  latter  end  of  1828,  I  arrived  in  Hokianga, 
New  Zealand,  to  take  charge  of  a  store  and  a  sawing  station. 
I  brought  with  me  a  young  wife,  a  native  of  Sydney,  a  Catholic, 
and  of  Catholic  parentage,1  and  in  the  course  of  time  God  gave 
us  a  daughter.  My  wife  took  the  child  to  Sydney,  one  thousand 
miles  from  Hokianga,  to  be  baptized  by  Father  Therry.  .  .  In 
the  course  of  two  years  my  wife  had  another  child,  a  boy,  and 
this  time,  in  like  manner,  my  wife  took  it  to  be  baptized  by 
Father  Therry,  in  Sydney,  but  as  the  ship  had  to  go  around  by 
Hobart,  she  had  to  travel  over  two  thousand  miles." 

The  husband  of  this  brave  woman,  made  himself  no  less 
than  three  journeys  to   Sydney,  in  quest  of  a  priest,  who 
would  "  look  after  the  scattered  families  of  Irish  Catholics 
who  had  begun  to  settle  in  New  Zealand."    Dr.  Folding, 
being  unable  to  accede  to  his  wishes  on   the  occasion  of 
his  first  two  visits,  sent  through  Mr.  Poynton,  a  number  of 
Catholic  books  to  the  faithful  of  New  Zealand.     He  also 
deputed  the  zealous  Irishman  to  warn  his  brethren  against 
the  dangers  of  proselytism,  "  to  visit  those  Catholics  who 
were  living  with  native  women,  and  to  get  a  promise  from 
each  of  them,  that  if    ever    a    Catholic    priest  arrived  in 
New  Zealand,   they  would   marry  those   women,  and  get 
them  baptized  with  their  children  in  the  Catholic  Church.' 
When    a    party    of    priests    at    length    arrived,    in    183' 
Mr.  Poynton  gave   them  possession  of  his  own  house,  am 
erected  close  by  a  little  church,  large  enough,  however, 
accommodate  the  few  Catholics  of  the  district.     "  For  thirt] 
years,"  writes  Cardinal  Moran,  "  Mr.  Poynton  and  his  wiJ 
continued  to  devote  their  time  and  their  means  to  aid  the 
Bishop  and  the  clergy  in  their  work,  being  at  all  times  read] 
to  discharge  even  the  humblest  duties  in  their  behalf  in  the 
interests  of  religion." 

From  the  parent  house  of  the  Marists  in  Lyons   cai 
this  missionary  party,  which  consisted  of  three,  the  lead( 

1  She  was  daughter  of  Thomas  Kennedy  of  the  County  of  "Wexford. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia       1077 

Dr.  Pompallier,  having  been  invested  with  authority  as 
Vicar- Apostolic  over  Western  Oceanica.  They  were  cor- 
dially received  by  the  other  Catholic  settlers,  who  at  once 
consented  to  have  their  wives  and  children  baptized.  From 
one  class  only  did  they  receive  annoyance,  namely,  the 
Protestant  missionaries,  who  had  been  in  the  country  since 
1824.  An  extract  from  Cardinal  Moran's  book  will  best 
explain  the  motives  of  their  opposition  to  the  Catholic 
preaching  of  the  Gospel :  — 

"  Eev.  Dr.  Lang,  writing  in  1839,  stated  that  '  the  first 
head  of  the  New  Zealand  mission  was  dismissed  for  adultery,  the 
second  for  drunkenness,  and  the  third,  so  lately  as  the  year  1836, 
for  a  crime  still  more  enormous  than  either.'  He  adds,  '  I  am 
confident  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  a  parallel  in  the  history 
of  any  Protestant  mission  since  the  Eeformation  to  the  amount 
of  inefficiency  and  moral  worthlessness  which  the  record  of 
New  Zealand  presents.'  Trafficking  with  the  natives,  appears 
to  have  far  more  engaged  the  missionaries'  attention  than 
preaching  the  Gospel.  Marsdem  himself  purchased  two  hundred 
acres  of  rich  land  for  twelve  axes.  In  1819,  five  others  who 
are  described  as  'missionaries  and  artisans/  purchased  thirteen 
thousand  acres  for  forty-eight  axes.  Eev.  Henry  Williams,  the 
Chairman  of  the  Church  Mission,  secured  for  his  share  twenty- 
two  thousand  acres." 

Those  mercenary  missionaries  worked,  it  seems,  on  the 
feelings  of  the  poor  natives,  and  had  the  hardihood  to  tell 
them  that,  "  if  the  Bishop  were  to  remain  in  their  country, 
he  would  take  all  their  land  from  them  and  exterminate 
them."  Such  was  the  effect  produced  by  those  and  kindred 
calumnies,  that  only  for  the  interference  of  Mr.  Poynton, 
the  Maoris  would  have  expelled,  cr  perhaps  massacred, 
Dr.  Pompallier  and  his  staff.  As  soon,  however,  as  they 
came  to  know  the  Bishop,  far  from  molesting  him,  the 
natives  embraced  the  faith  in  thousands. 

The  chapter  of  Cardinal  Moran's  book  which  deals  with 
the  fortunes  of  Catholicity  in  New  Zealand,  is  simply 
crowded  with  most  interesting  facts,  but  in  the  space  at  our 
disposal,  we  can  only  attempt  a  general  description  of  the 
rise  and  present  condition  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  this 

i  See  I.  E.  RECORD,  August,  1896,  page  631. 


1078  Cardinal  Moraris 

colony.  In  1840  there  were  as  many  as  four  thousand 
Maoris  under  the  care  of  the  Catholic  missions. 
Dr.  Ullathorne,  who  visited  New  Zealand  in  this  year, 
states  that  the  success  of  the  Marists  in  converting  so  many 
natives  was  due  to  their  transparent  disinterestedness.  (<  The 
French  missioners,"  he  writes,  "  never  entered  into  traffic  or 
cared  for  land  beyond  the  small  quantity  required  for  their 
dwellings."  The  Marist  mission  continued  to  flourish  until 
war  broke  out  between  the  colonists  and  the  natives,  in  1845, 
The  latter,  it  appears,  were  content  to  live  in  peace  under 
the  British  Government;  for,  in  1840,  the  native  chiefs 
agreed  to  cede  their  country  to  England,  and  were,  on  that 
occasion,  guaranteed  the  full  possession  of  their  lands  and 
forests,  &c.  But  the  New  Zealand  Company,  which  was 
formed  in  1839,  should  prosper  at  any  cost,  and  when  the 
natives  realized  that  Englishmen  had  come  amongst  them, 
not  to  civilize,  but  to  rob  them,  they  had  civilization  enough 
to  strike  a  blow  for  their  rights.  "  The  unscrupulous  way 
in  which  the  Company  and  others  often  took  possession  of 
lands  brought  on,  between  1843  and  1847,  a  series  of  bloody 
conflicts  with  the  warlike  natives,  whose  hostility,  after 
having  subsided  for  some  time,  in  1861,  again  broke  out  in  a 
series  of  intermittent  struggles."  So  writes  the  author  of 
the  article  on  "  New  Zealand  "  in  Chambers'  Encyclopedia. 

"  Alas  !  that  might  should  conquer  right ;"  but  it  was  so 
in  this,  as  in  many  other  instances  where  oppression  and 
robbery  were  perpetrated  under  the  sacred  name  of  civiliza- 
tion. The  Maoris,  however,  still  constitute  a  substantial 
part  of  the  population,1  and  although  the  wars  brought  "ruin 
to  all  the  native  missions,"  there  has  set  in,  as  has  been 
noticed,2  a  steady  revival  of  Catholicity  amongst  this  brave 
race,  and  the  zealous  Marist  Fathers  continue  their  labours 
in  what  has  become  again  a  promising  field. 

When  New  Zealand  was  declared  a  colony,  in  1840,  there 
were  in  it  about  five  thousand  settlers,  of  whom  five  hundred 

1  There  were  forty-two  thousand  Maoris  iiiNew  Zealand  in  1878.     In  the 
Legislative  Council   they  have  two,  and  in  the  House  of  Representatives  four 
members.     Their  number  is  said  to  have  been  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
when  the  first  colonists  arrived, 

2  Seel,  E.  EECORD,  August,  1896,  page  677. 


"History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia"  1079 

were  Catholics.  It  was  made  a  distinct  Vicariate-Apostolic 
in  1842,  and  Dr.  Pompallier's  jurisdiction  was  restricted  to 
the  new  colony.  la  1848  the  whole  colony  was  divided 
into  the  two  dioceses  of  Auckland  and  Wellington. 
Dr.  Pompallier  remained  administrator  of  Auckland  until 
1860,  when  he  was  formally  appointed  bishop  of  that  see. 
In  the  same  year  another  Marist,  Dr.  Via^d,  was  made 
bishop  of  Wellington.  He  had  been  administrator  of 
this  see  since  its  erection  in  1848.  The  thirty-ninth 
parallel  was  the  dividing  line  between  the  two  dioceses. 
Auckland  still  retains  its  original  dimensions.  The  ter- 
ritory south  of  the  thirty-ninth  parallel,  which  includes 
the  southern  portion  of  the  North  Island  and  the  whole 
of  the  South  Island,  is  now  divided  into  three  dioceses — 
Wellington,  which  was  made  an  archiepiscopal  see  in  1885 ; 
Dunedin,  which  was  erected  in  1869  ;  and  Christchurch, 
which  is  the  newest  of  the  New  Zealand  dioceses,  having 
been  erected  in  1887. 

The  career  of  the  first  bishop  of  Auckland  had  a  pathetic 
ending.  That  he  was  a  great  priest  no  one  can  doubt  who 
reads  our  author's  record  of  his  labours.  The  pioneer 
missionary  of  New  Zealand,  he  scattered  the  good  seed 
in  person  from  Hokianga  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Foveau  Straits.  And  while  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Western 
Oceania,  he  often  went  to  cheer  and  help  the  fathers  whom 
he  had  left  in  different  islands  of  the  Pacific.  Of  these, 
one,  Father  Chanel  was  martyred  in  the  island  of  Futuna, 
and  another,  Father  Bataillon,  was  discovered  by  the 
Vicar- Apostolic  "bearing  on  his  person  the  most  terrible  signs 
of  privation  and  suffering,  and  having  no  hat,  no  shoes,  and 
only  the  old  remnants  of  worn-out  clothing."  Dr.  Pompallier 
visited  Ireland  in  1849,  and  took  back  with  him  a  community 
of  eight  Sisters  of  Mercy,  who  remained  when  their  patron 
was  gone  to  nurse  the  languishing  see  of  Auckland.  Let 
Cardinal  Moran's  testimony  to  their  services  be  quoted  :— 

"  On  the  8th  August,  1849,  Mother  Cecelia  [Maher]  and 
seven  other  Sisters  set  out  from  their  loved  convent  in  Carlow, 
accompanied  by  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Pompallier,  who,  when  those 
around  him  were  perplexed  in  their  journey  to  London  about 


1080  Cardinal  Moran's 

their  baggage,  calmly  said :  '  I  am  so  delighted  with  my  little 
flock, that  I  don't  heed  what  happens  the  baggage.'  Well,  indeed, 
might  he  be  delighted  with  that  missionary  band.  They  proved 
themselves  true  apostles  to  both  the  Europeans  and  natives  in 
Auckland,  and  throughout  the  whole  diocese.  Amid  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  that  diocese,  when  missions  were  forsaken,  and 
when  difficulties  arose  such  as  seldom  have  befallen  a  colonial 
diocese,  for  that  suffering  Church  was  for  years  encompassed  on 
every  side  with  the  terrors  and  ravages  of  savage  warfare,  and 
with  its  direful  consequences,  dissensions,  desolation,  ruin,  and 
a  crushing  burden  of  debt,  nevertheless  throughout  that  trying 
period  St.  Mary's  Convent  of  Mercy  in  Auckland  was  a  true 
fortress  of  the  faith,  and  preserved  and  handed  on  to  the  faithful 
of  the  diocese  the  traditions  of  piety  and  the  blessings  of  religion." 

The  numerous  .extracts  from  the  letters  of  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy  to  the  home  country,  which  the  author  has  incorpo- 
rated in  his  work,  while  throwing  much  light  on  the 
lamentable  condition  of  the  mission  in  Auckland,  make 
it  plain  that  Dr.  Pompallier  was  never  wanting  in  his  duty. 
Yet  he  succumbed,  it  appears,  to  the  strain  of  mind  and 
body  imposed  upon  him  by  his  noble  and  unselfish  under- 
takings. "  He  came  to  the  colony,"  writes  one  of  the  Sisters, 
"  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  bringing  the  faith,  and  planting 
it  with  results  that  still  remain  to  be  seen.  He  was  leaving 
it  now  a  broken-down  man,  prematurely  aged,  and  with  the 
censure  of  the  crowd."  l  He  left  New  Zealand  for  France 
in  1868,  and  "  soon  after  resigned  his  episcopal  charge." 

The  present  illustrious  Archbishop  of  Cashel  was  the 
successor  of  Dr.  Pompallier  in  the  see  of  Auckland.  After 
sketching. at  some  length  the  early  ecclesiastical  career  of 
Dr.  Croke,  the  author  thus  summarizes  his  achievements 
as  Bishop  of  Auckland  : — 

"During  the  four  years  of  Dr.  Croke's  episcopate  a  great 
deal  was  effected.  The  diocese  was  freed  from  the  crushing 
debt  that  threatened  it  with  ruin ;  the  faithful  were  quickened 
with  new  life  and  courage.  Some  energetic  priests  were  added 
to  the  ranks  of  the  clergy ;  the  nuns  were  encouraged  in  their 
religious  apostolate  ;  schools  were  opened." 

3  The  author  does  not  state  explicitly  the  cause  of  this  "censure,"  but 
it  would  seem  to  have  been  his  inability  to  meet  the  debts  which  he  contracted 
in  the  interest  of  the  diocese. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     1081 

The  author  adds,  that  there  was  a  fair  promise  of  a 
bright  future  when  "Dr.  Croke  resigned  the  see  of 
Auckland,  in  1874,  and  a  few  months  later  was,  at  the 
request  of  the  Irish  bishops,  appointed  to  the  archiepiscopal 
see  of  Cashel."  It  was  not  until  1879  that  another  bishop 
was  found  for  Auckland,  which  had  in  the  meantime 
"  suffered  many  trials."  Like  Dr.  Murphy,  Dr.  Steins,  S.J., 
had  closed  an  episcopal  career  in  India,  and  was  seeking  in 
Europe  the  rest  due  to  an  impaired  constitution,  when  he 
received  the  call  to  take  up  the  chief  pastoral  charge  of 
Auckland.  He  obeyed,  and  at  the  end  of  two  years  died 
from  a  relapse  of  his  former  malady,  brought  on  by  over 
exertion.  An  English  Benedictine,  the  Eight  Kev.  John 
Edmund  Luck,  succeeded  Dr.  Steins.  The  diocese  of 
Auckland  would  seem  to  be  at  present  in  a  satisfactory 
condition. 

An  Irish  Capuchin,  Father  O'Keilly,  was  the  pioneer 
missionary  of  Wellington.  He  had  been  there  eight  years 
before  the  Eight  Eev.  Dr.  Viard  arrived  in  1850 ;  "  and  for 
thirty  years,"  writes  the  author,  "  he  continued  to  labour 
with  untiring  zeal  in  the  districts  of  Wellington."  The 
first  bishop  of  Wellington  was  as  remarkable  for  personal 
holiness  as  for  his  devotion  to  administrative  work  : — 

' ( Bishop  Viard  was  a  man  of  prayer.  He  rose  every  morning 
at  four  o'clock,  visited  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  made  his  daily 
meditation,  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  per- 
formed all  his  religious  duties  as  regularly  as  though  he  had 
lived  in  a  religious  house.  ...  He  did  not  spare  himself  in  any 
way,  but  performed  the  duties  of  an  ordinary  priest,  preaching, 
hearing  confessions,  visiting  the  sick  and  afflicted,  and  even 
teaching  catechism  to  the  children  in  the  schools." 

A  large  staff  of  Marist  Fathers  and  brothers  accompanied 
Dr.  Viard  to  Wellington,  and  scattered  themselves  through- 
out South  New  Zealand.  They  founded  missions  in  all 
the  important  centres  of  population,  and  to  their  zealous 
labours  must,  in  a  great  measure,  be  ascribed  the  rapid  pro- 
gress of  the  Church  in  this  half  of  the  colony.  Dr.  Viard, 
who  died  in  1872,  was  succeeded  by  another  Marist, 
the  Most  Eev.  Francis  Eedwood.  Born  at  Stafford,  in 
England,  the  future  Archbishop  of  Wellington  was  brought 


1082  Cardinal  Moran's 

by  his  parents  to  New  Zealand,  when  only  three  years  old. 
He  was  sent  to  the  Marist  school,  at  Nelson,  where  he 
discovered  a  liking  for  the  ecclesiastical  state.  The  Marists 
had  him,  accordingly,  sent  to  their  college  in  Lyons.  He 
made  his  profession  in  the  Society  of  Mary,  in  1864.  "  Two 
special  works,  in  Wellington,  have  been  crowned  with 
success,  and  have  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  progress 
of  religion  during  the  episcopate  of  Dr.  Redwood.  These 
are  St.  Patrick's  College,  and  St.  Mary's  Convent  of  Mercy." 

The  foundation-stone  of  St.  Patrick's  was  laid  in  1884 ; 
and  the  1st  of  June,  1885,  witnessed  the  solemn  opening  of 
a  Catholic  college  which  has  already  "won  for  itself  the 
foremost  place  amongst  the  institutions  for  the  higher 
education  of  young  men  in  New  Zealand."  The  Sisters  of 
Mercy  were  introduced  into  Wellington  by  Dr.  Viard,  in 
1861;  and,  after  many  trials,  are  now  in  possession  of  a 
group  of  buildings,  "  that  would  reflect  credit  on  many 
of  the  old  cities  of  the  home  countries." 

The  diocese  of  Dunedin  occupies  the  southern  half  of 
the  south  island.  "  By  brief  of  the  26th  November,  1869," 
writes  our  author,  "the  united  provinces  of  Otago  and 
Southland,  together  with  Stewart  Island  and  the  adjacent 
islands,  were  separated  from  the  see  of  Wellington,  and 
erected  into  the  bishopric  of  Dunedin,  with  the  city  of 
Dunedin  as  the  seat  of  the  new  diocese."  Dunedin  is 
described  as  "  the  largest,  the  best  built,  the  most  picturesque 
and  most  important  commercial  city  of  New  Zealand." 
The  fortunes  of  Catholicity  in  this  portion  of  the  colony 
present  not  a  few  strange  turns.  Dr.  Pompallier  was  the  first 
missionary  who  visited  Otago,  and  was  well  received  by  the 
natives.  He  relates  that  while  here  a  white  man  and  five 
or  six  natives  came  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Foveaux 
Straits,  and  invited  him  to  come  to  their  tribe.  This 
solitary  white  was  a  Catholic  and  an  Irishman !  In  1846, 
six  years  after  Dr.  Pompallier 's  visit,  the  first  regular 
settlement  was  made  in  Otago  "  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Free  Kirk  of  Scotland."  As  in  the  colonization  of  South 
Australia,  "  pagans  and  papists  "  were  to  be  excluded  also 
from  this  district  of  New  Zealand.  So  well  was  this  odious 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia"     1083 

restriction  enforced,  that  in  1859  there  were  no  priests, 
churches  or  schools,  and  not  more  than  ninety  Catholics  in 
the  whole  province  of  Otago.  This  little  flock  was  not 
altogether  neglected : — 

"  An  old  priest,  Father  Petitjean,  was  in  the  habit  of  coming 
to  the  district  once  a  year,  and  visiting  every  possible  Catholic, 
some  of  them  often  being  as  much  as  twenty  or  thirty  miles 
apart.  .  .  .  When  Father  Petitjean  first  arrived  in  the  city  of 
Dunedin  he  was  rather  in  a  bad  position  as  regards  clothing. 
He  had  a  '  swag  '  on  his  back,  and  was  accompanied  by  four  or 
five  Maoris.  Mass  was  said  in  an  old  bottle  store  belonging  to  a 
gentleman  named  Mr.  Bourke,  an  extensive  brewer." 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  1861  was  followed  by  a  "  rush  " 
to  Otago  which  broke  down  the  frontier  barrier  against  the 
admission  of  Catholics,  and  when  the  first  bishop  arrived, 
some  ten  years  later,  the  Catholic  population  had  reached 
six  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety. 

The  Bight  Rev.  Dr.  Moran  had  been  thirteen  years 
Vicar-Apostolic  in  South  Africa  before  his  appointment  to 
the  see  of  Dunedin.  A  native  of  "Wicklow,  and  a  distin- 
guished graduate  of  Maynooth,  he  was  only  a  few  years  on 
the  mission  in  Dublin  when,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  he  was 
charged  with  the  administration  of  the  Eastern  vicariate  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  He  arrived  in  Dunedin  in  1871, 
accompanied  by  Father  Coleman  l  and  ten  nuns  from  the 
Dominican  Convent  of  Sion  Hill,  Blackrock.  The  condition 
of  religion  throughout  the  vast  district  assigned  to  his 
jurisdiction  was  calculated  to  fill  him  with  discouragement. 
Four  Marists  who  had  been  in  charge  of  the  mission  before 
his  arrival  were  soon  withdrawn,  and  so  blank  did  the 
outlook  become  that  the  Bishop  almost  lost  hope.  In  his 
first  pastoral  he  wrote  : — 

"  This  diocese  is  almost  entirely  destitute  of  the  necessaries  of 
divine  worship,  such  as  altars,  vestments,  chalices,  and  suitable 
altar  ornaments,  &c.  In  fact,  so  great  are  our  wants,  so  almost 
entire  the  destitution  that  prevails  .  .  .  that  it  has  become  a 

1  This  priest,  who  was  also  a  distinguished  Maynooth  man,  played  a 
notable  part  in  organizing  Catholicity  in  Dunedin.  He  was  a  native  of 
Waterford,  but  was  ordained  for  the  diocese  of  Cloyne,  where  he  held  an 
important  post  when  his  chivalry  prompted  him  to  volunteer  for  the  New 
Zealand  mission.  Monsignor  Coleman  died  in  1890. 


1084  Cardinal  Moran  s 

serious  question  with  us  if  we  should  not  at  once  inform  the 
Holy  See  that  the  representations  made  in  order  to  secure  the 
erection  of  this  see  were  almost  entirely  without  foundation, 
and  that  there  is  no  provision  here  for  a  bishop  or  religious 
institutions." 

But  he  persevered,  and  his  courage  and  labours  were 
rewarded  with  phenomenal  success.  Speaking  to  his  faith- 
ful people  sixteen  years  later,  his  voice  had  lost  all  trace  of 
plaintiveness : — 

<;  During  those  sixteen  years  [he  said],  you — and  I  mean  by 
you,  the  Catholic  people  of  this  diocese — have  erected  in  addition 
to  your  beautiful  cathedral,  twenty-four  new  churches  .  . 
established  seventeen  schools,  and  founded  a  college.  .  .  The 
number  of  priests  has  been  increased  nine-fold,  and  all  this  and 
more  has  been  done  by  yourselves,  with  little  or  no  aid  from  any 
extraneous  source." 

The  Government  influence  in  Otago  retained,  at  least, 
the  spirit  of  the  first  Scotch  Settlers  : — 

"  Everywhere  else  in  New  Zealand  [continued  the  Bishop], 
beyond  the  territory  included  within  the  boundaries  of  this 
diocese,  Government  gave,  till  the  passing  of  the  present 
Education  Act?1  aid  to  Catholic  schools,  but  no  such  aid  was 
ever  given  in  this  dioce?e,  where  the  most  intense  opposition 
was  given  to  Catholicity,  an  opposition  continued  to  this  day." 

During  the  years  which  have  since  elapsed,  the  progress 
of  religion  in  Dunedin  has  not  been  less  remarkable.  "At 
present  [1893],"  writes  Cardinal  Moran,  "  after  twenty-one 
years  of  an  episcopate  in  Dunedin,  the  worthy  bishop  sees 
his  diocese  equipped  with  thirty-seven  beautiful  churches, 
whilst  twenty-two  priests  and  eighty  nuns  and  some 
brothers,  attend  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  faithful,  and 
the  education  of  the  Catholic  children."  The  cathedral, 
which  was  solemnly  dedicated  in  1886,  is  described  as 
the  "  finest  religious  structure  as  yet  erected  by  any 

1  State  aid  was  withdrawn  from  all  denominational  schools  in  New 
Zealand  in  1876.  Till  this  year,  each  province  had  its  own  educational 
laws.  But  "unaided  by  the  State,"  writes  the  author,  "the  Catholic  body 
maintains  its  own  schools,  whose  efficiency  is  publicly  recognised."  Forty- 
seven  brothers  and  five  hundred  nuns  are  engaged  in  New  Zealand  in  the 
work  of  Catholic  education,  and  ten  thousand  children  attend  the  Catholic 
schools. 


"  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  "     1085 

denomination  in  New  Zealand."  It  will  be  within  the 
recollection  of  our  readers  that  the  great  pioneer  bishop  of 
the  southern  half  of  South  New  Zealand  has  gone  to  his 
reward,  and  been  succeeded  by  Dr.  Verdon,  the  late  Vice- 
Rector  of  the  Irish  College,  Rome.  The  present  Catholic 
population  of  the  diocese  is  over  twenty-two  thousand. 

The  diocese  of  Christchurch,  "  embraces  the  provinces 
of  Canterbury  and  West! and,  with  a  small  portion  of  the 
province  of  Nelson  and  the  Chatham  Islands.'"'  By  its 
erection,  Wellington  has  been  thus  relieved  of  a  large 
portion  of  territory  lying  to  the  north  of  the  diocese  of 
Dunedin.  It  had  a  Catholic  population  of  twenty-one 
thousand  in  1891,  and  is  ruled  over  by  Right  Rev. 
John  J.  Grimes,  of  the  Society  of  Mary.  In  Christ  Church, 
which  is  the  capital  of  the  Canterbury  province,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  a  dozen  Catholics  thirty  years  ago  ; 
they  now  number  six  thousand. 

This  brief  survey  of  the  ground  covered  by  Cardinal 
Moran's  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Australasia  will, 
we  trust,  serve  to  introduce  a  notable  book  to  the  readers 
of  the  I.  E.  RECOKD.  We  doubt  whether  we  should  ask  the 
indulgence  of  the  author  for  having  drawn  so  much  or  so 
little  on  the  materials  which  his  industry  has  collected,  and 
his  genius  woven  into  deathless  history.  For  many  as  are 
the  passages  which  we  have  taken  the  liberty  of  transcribing 
from  his  work  in  the  course  of  this  review,  we  are  still 
painfully  conscious  of  our  imperfect  presentation  of  the 
scope  and  character  of  this  remarkable  contribution  to 
Catholic  literature.  For  Irish  ecclesiastics,  in  particular, 
the  book  should  possess  a  thrilling  interest.  From  the 
devotion  with  which  Irishmen  abroad  have  clung  to  the 
old  faith,  they  will  learn  to  prize  more  dearly  the  inherit- 
ance which  is  committed  to  their  safe  keeping  at  home. 
Some  of  them,  too,  may  be  moved  to  give,  in  one  way  or 
another,  a  helping  hand  in  maintaining  unimpaired  the 
grand  offshoot  of  Irish  faith  which,  in  spite  of  many  adverse 
influences,  has  attained  so  rapid  and  luxuriant  growth  in  the 
Australian  continent.  In  some  parts  of  Australasia,  the 
labourers  are  still  too  few,  and  the  perusal  of  a  book  which 


1086  Cardinal  Moran,  d-c. 

records  the  heroism  and  achievements  on  a  foreign  field  of 
many  an  Irish  priest  who  might  have  lived  at  home  in 
comparative  ease,  cannot  fail,  we  think,  to  have  an 
inspiriting  effect  on  the  youthful  ecclesiastic  whom  his 
diocese  could  spare. 

In  saying  our  last  word  about  the  two  sumptuous 
volumes  which  lie  before  us,  we  must  not  omit  to  notice  the 
beautiful  illustrations  which  adorn  their  pages.  The  grand 
churches  and  convents  which  have  sprung  up,  as  if  by  magic, 
the  men  who  built  them  and  ministered  in  them,  the  leading 
members  of  the  Catholic  laity,  and  some  of  the  more 
remarkable  nuns,  are  reproduced  with  a  neatness  and  a  finish 
which  reflect  unspeakable  credit  on  the  enterprising  pub- 
lishers. It  would,  perhaps,  be  too  much  to  say  that  the 
work  has  no  defects  ;  we  dare  not  say  that  so  capable  and 
practised  a  writer  as  Cardinal  Moran  would  give  us  a  book 
with  any  serious  faults.  The  absence  of  an  index,  the  some- 
what copious  insertion  of  newspaper  laudation  as  documentary 
evidence,  and  some  few  inaccuracies,  obviously  oversights 
in  the  revision  of  the  proofs,  constitute,  we  think,  the  burden 
of  the  charge  that  the  most  fastidious  critic  could  make 
against  the  author.  We  take  leave  of  our  task  with  impressions 
which,  if  worked  into  a  dream,  would,  we  think,  call  up  the 
vision  of  a  fair  city,  resting  serenely  on  a  mountain-top  in  a 
southern  clime,  adorned  with  turretted  palaces,  and  resonant 
with  the  echoes  of  sacred  song,  its  broad  streets  being  the  scene 
of  a  long  procession  where  all  that  is  beautiful  on  earth 
might  be  seen ;  innocent  children,  pure  women,  brave  men, 
who  were  visibly  proud  of  the  banners  which  they  bore ; 
ecclesiastics,  pale  and  worn  from  the  fatigues  of  many  a 
campaign ;  the  mitred  representatives  of  divine  authority ; 
and,  gleaming  above  all,  the  varied  colours  that  animated  the 
spectacle,  the  Roman  purple,  emblematic  of  resistance  unto 
blood 

T.  P.  GlLMARTIN. 


1087     ] 


ANGLICANS  AND  THE  PKIESTHOOD 

reason  which  underlies  the  condemnation  of  Anglican 
Orders  rests  on  the  fact,  that  every  vestige  of  a 
sacrificing  priesthood  has  been  obliterated  from  the  Anglican 
rite.  The  Papal  Bull1  does  not  state,  neither  does  it  imply, 
that  there  is  only  one  form  of  words  which  is  valid.2  There  are 
several,3  as  any  person  looking  at  Morinus  or  Martene  may 
see.  But  no  one  of  them  can  be  recognised  as  valid  if  we 
suppose  that  what  has  been  done  regarding  the  Anglican 
rite  be  done  to  each  one  of  those — if  the  idea  of  a 
sacrificing  priesthood  be  designedly  cut  out  of  them. 

It  is  altogether,  therefore,  beside  the  question  to  compare 
the  rites  or  liturgies  from  which  the  idea  of  a  real  sacrifice 
has  not  been  struck  out  with  those  from  which  it  has  been. 
It  has  not  been  struck  out  of  the  Eastern  liturgies  :  it 
has  been  out  of  the  Anglican.  Hence  the  former  are  re- 
garded as  valid :  the  latter  are  declared  invalid.  The  Anglican 
Church  has  deliberately  wrecked  the  Christian  priesthood 
by  destroying  the  sign  which  alone  could  confer  it.  The 
Bev.  T.  A.  Lacey  complains,  in  an  address  to  the  Junior 
Clergy  Society,  that  the  Papal  Bull  has  introduced  much 
confusion  into  the  science  of  theology;  for  he  says  : — 

"  It  has  been  proved  to  demonstration,  that  in  the  English 
rite  are  found  all  the  elements  which  are  common  to  those 
Eastern  ordinations  which  the  Roman  Church  acknowledges 
for  good.  They  are  sufficient  there,  but  here  they  are  held 
insufficient."  4 

The  speaker  forgets  the  fundamental  f  reason  above 
referred  to,  on  which  the  Papal  pronouncement  is  founded. 

The  same  writer,  who  in  this  matter  voices  the  views  of 
several  writers  on  the  Anglican  side,  maintains  that  the 

1  See  I.  E.  RECORD,  Oct.  and  Nov.  1896. 

2  Dr.  Stokes,  in  his  lecture  to  the  Divinity  Students  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  argues  on  this  supposition.     Irish  Times,  Nov.  13,  1896. 

3  Guardian,  Nov.  11, 1896. 

4  For   instance,    the   form  in   the   Canons    of    Hippolytus,   the    Leonine, 
G-allican,    Greek,  Coptic,    Maronite,  Nestorian,    and  Armenian  forms.     Each 
of  these  forms  is  valid,  and  therefore  is  a  Catholic  form.    The  Englise  phrase, 
"  the  Catholic  rite,"   is  at  first  sight  misleading.     It    is    better,  therefore, 
translate  ritus  Catholicus  of  the  Papal  document  by  "  a  Catholic  rite."     "  Five 
times  over,  at  least,"  writes  Dr.  Stokes  in  the  Irish  Times,  November  18,  1896, 


1088 


Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood 


English  Church  claims  a  true  priesthood,  identical  with  that 
of  the  Roman  Church : — 

"  In  the  Preface  to  the  Ordinal  [he  says]  is  expressed  the 
intention  of  retaining  and  continuing  the  orders  which  were 
conferred  before  the  Reformation."  L 

But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  although  the  word 
"  priest"  and  "  bishop"  be  retained,  and  although  an  inten- 
tion be  expressed  to  ordain  a  "  priest  "  or  a  "  bishop,"  yet, 
if  the  idea  expressed  by  these  words  is  now  restricted  so  as 
to  exclude  a  sacrificing  priest  or  bishop,  the  words,  no 
doubt,  remain,  but  the  reality  which  they  ought  to  express 
does  not.  The  form  of  a  sacrament  does  not  consist 
in  mere  words,  in  a  mere  sound,  but  rather  in  the 
words  as  expressive  of  something  definite.  In  the  case  of 
orders,  the  form  must  necessarily  express  the  power  and 
grace  of  the  priesthood,  which  is  specially 2  the  power  of 
consecrating  and  offering  the  true  Body  and  Blood  of  the 
Lord.  In  the  Anglican  Ordinal  the  word  is  restricted,  so 
as  not  to  signify  a  sacrificing  priest. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Papal  Bull  does  not  say  that 
it  is  an  essential  part  of  the  rite  to  have  these  powers 
explicitly  stated.  It  is  quite  sufficient  if  they  be  definitely 
signified  by  the  rite.  Even  this  could  occur  although  there 
be  no  express  mention  in  the  rite  of  the  order  of  priest  or 
bishop.  It  could  be  implicitly  contained  in  the  liturgy,  and 
be  definitely  meant  by  the  views  of  the  Church  on  the 
priesthood  and  the  sacrifice.  In  this  connection  it  is 
strange  that  a  person  in  the  responsible  position  of  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Stokes,  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  addressing 
the  Divinity  students  of  that  establishment,  should  be  so 

"  the  Pope  usea  the  expression  '  the  Catholic  rite'  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
paragraphs  of  the  Bull."  It  is  true  the  Pope  uses  the  expression  ritus  CathoUrux, 
but  it  ought  not  be  necessary  to  remind  a  professor  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
that  there  is  no  article  in  the  Latin  language. 

ilbid. 

2  Dr  Stokes  says  that  the  Papal  Bull  has  falsified  the  Tridentine  Canons, 
for  it  has  interpolated  the  word  praecipue.  When  his  attention  was  called  to 
the  fact  that  the  word  praecipue  was  not  part  of  the  quotation  from  the  Council 
of  Trent,  one  might  expect  at  least  an  acknowledgment  of  the  fact.  But  in  the 
Irish  Times  of  November  18,  1896,  he  abandons  tho  odious  charge  of  "falsifying" 
and  "  interpolating,"  and  says  that  the  Papal  argument  required  stress  to 
be  laid  on  the  word  prcxcipuc,  not  on  aliquam,  the  word  on  which  the  Council 
laid  stress  ! 


Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood  1089 

careless   about  perusing  the   Papal   document,   as  to  say 
that  :— 

^  "  The  Bull  proceeded  on  the  assumption  that  the  essential 
point  of  ordination  was  the  delivery  of  the  vessels  with  the  words  : 
Receive  power,"  &c.1 

The  Bull  proceeds  on  precisely  the  opposite  supposition ; 
for  it  supposes  expressly  that  the  matter  of  the  Sacrament 
of  Orders,  so  far  as  it  has  to  be  considered  in  the  case  of 
Anglican  Orders,  is  the  imposition  of  hands ;  and,  besides,  it 
follows  the  lines  on  which  the  case  of  John  Clement  Gordon 
was  decided : — 

"  It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  [says  the  Bull]  that  this 
judgment  was  in  no  wise  determined  by  the  omission  of  the 
tradition  of  the  instruments." 

It  would  be  very  desirable  if  Dr.  Stokes,  when  criticizing 
the  Papal  Bull,  would  state  what  are  the  views  he  propounds 
to  his  divinity  class  regarding  the  priesthood  and  the 
Eucharist,  both  as  a  sacrament  and  a  sacrifice.  We  should 
then  be  in  a  position  to  know  whether  he  requires  valid  orders 
or  not ;  for  if  he  does  not  require  a  sacrificing  priesthood, 
he  ought  surely  agree  with  the  conclusions  of  the  Papal 
document,  that  he  has  not  in  his  communion  such  a  priest- 
hood. But  he,  like  so  many  more,  maintains  on  this  point  a 
judicious  silence.  The  Calvinistic  and  Puritanical  element 
is  very  strong  in  the  Protestant  Church  in  Ireland,  and  it 
may  not  be  prudent  to  teach  the  true  doctrine  of  the 
Eucharist,  even  to  his  divinity  students. 

There  are,  however,  some  Anglicans  who  hold  that  the 
Anglican  Church  never  refused  to  believe  the  true  doctrine 
regarding  the  Keal  Presence  and  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass, 
and  accordingly  the  word  "  priest  "  and  "  bishop  "  occurring 
in  the  Ordinal  are  not  so  restricted  in  their  meaning  as  to 
exclude  the  idea  of  a  true  priesthood,  that  is  to  say,  a 
sacrificing  one.  But  was  that  the  meaning  of  those  who 
framed  the  Edwardine  Ordinal?  The  Ordinal,  no  doubt, 

1  Irish  Times,  Nov.  13,  1896.  When  Dr.  Stokes'  attention  was  directed  to 
this  fact,  that  the  Bull  did  not  proceed  on  the  assumption  that  the  essential  part 
of  ordination  was  the  delivery  of  the  vessels,  he  replies  in  characteristic  fashion 
by  asking-  th  question:  "  Well,  then,  in  what  does  it  place  the  essence  of 
ordination?" 

VOL.  XVII.  3  Z 


1090  Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood 

gives  expression  to  the  views  of  those  who  framed  it,  and  of 
the  dominant  party  at  the  time.  At  the  present  day  it  is 
not  very  difficult  to  say  which  is  the  dominant  party  in  the 
Church  of  England,  or  in  the  Protestant  Church  of  Ireland. 
Those  who  hold  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  priesthood  and 
the  Eucharist  have  been  in  evidence  in  any  considerable 
numbers  only  since  the  tractarian  movement,  and  the 
Catholic  revival  which  followed  it. 

Their  views,  therefore,  cannot  change  the  meaning 
impressed  on  the  Edwardine  Ordinal,  and  the  restricted 
sense  in  which  the  priesthood  is  there  understood.  Even  when 
these  use  the  Anglican  Ordinal,  it  is  proof  sufficient  that 
they  use  it  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Anglican  Church  has 
intended  it ;  that  is,  shorn  of  that  meaning  which  Christ 
intended  by  the  institution  of  this  Sacrament  that  it  should 
convey.  It  is  needless  to  discuss  the  hypothesis  in  which  a 
duly  consecrated  prelate  using  the  Anglican  rite  should  at 
the  same  time  expressly  and  formally  declare  that  he  means, 
not  what  the  framers  of  the  Ordinal  meant,  but  what  the 
true  Church  and  Christ  intended,  namely,  to  confer  a 
sacrificing  priesthood. 

But  what  does  the  Anglican  Church  hold  regarding  the 
priesthood  ?  I  mean  by  the  Anglican  Church,  not  only 
the  Church  of  England  as  by  law  established,  but  also 
the  Episcopalian  Church  in  Ireland  and  in  Scotland,  the 
Protestant  Episcopalian  Church  in  America,  and  the  several 
branches  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  Colonies  whicl 
are  in  communion  with  the  Church  of  England,  althougl 
quite  independent  of  it. 

The  Church  of  England  does  not  teach  officially  the 
doctrine  of  the  Heal  Presence,  nor  that  of  a  true  sacrifice, 
except  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross  ;  although,  no  doubt,  th< 
are  some  who  seem  to  hold  these  views,  such  as  th< 
Anglican  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  Lord  Halifax,  and  th( 
authors  of  the  book  De  Hierarchia  Anglicana,  and  their 
followers.1 

1  The  Anglican  Bishop  of  Salisbury  in  writing  to  "  Fernand  Dalbus,"  the 
author  of  the  pamphlet  Les  Ordinationes  Anglicanes,  says: — "Nous  croyons  que 
e'est  la  representation  de  Dieu  a  I'homnie,  et  de  l'homme  a  Dieu.  Mais,  nous 
$dmettou8  aussi  que  le  sacrifice  d'Eucharistie  eat  un  des  moyens  principaux  par 


Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood  1091 

Yet  the  doctrine  does  not  appear  to  be  taught  in  the 
schools.  Dr.  Mivart  gives  his  experience : — 

"The  Archbishop  of  York  has,  I  am  told,  declared  that  the 
Anglican  Church  has  ever  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharistic 
Sacrifice.  Why,  then,  was  I  never  taught  such  a  doctrine  by 
any  single  one  of  the  many  Anglican  ministers  whom  I  knew  in 
my  boyhood — at  Clapham  Grammar  School,  Harrow,  King's 
College,  or  elsewhere?  "  1 

The  truth  is,  there  are  three  sections  in  the  Anglican 
communion:  the  "  High  Church,"  the  "  Low  Church,"  and 
the  "  Broad  Church."  These  are  sometimes  called  the 
Anglo-Catholic  school,  the  Evangelical,  and  the  Liberal 
school,  and  I  believe  they  prefer  to  be  known  by  the  latter 
names. 

The  clergy  of  the  Anglican  Church  are  obliged  to 
subscribe  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  before  they  get  a 
license  to  minister  to  the  people,  and  they  have  a  common 
liturgy,  namely,  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  Yet  the 
differences  in  matters  of  belief  are  considerable.  It  is  not  easy 
to  know  what  precisely  their  distinctive  doctrines  are ; 
but  so  far  as  concerns  the  Eucharist,  and  the  transmission 
of  valid  orders  in  an  uninterrupted  succession,  I  think  the 
following  will  be  found  to  be  substantially  correct. 

The  High  Church,  or  Anglo-Catholic  school,  holds  that 
the  Anglican  Church,  the  Eoman  Church,  and  the  Greek 
Church  are  branches  of  the  Catholic  Church.  It  is  essential 
that  there  should  be  an  episcopate  ruling  jure  divino, 
and  that  orders  should  have  come  in  an  uninterrupted 
succession  from  Christ  and  the  Apostles.  They  adhere 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  real  Presence,  and  maintain  that 
it  is  only  a  priest  validly  ordained  who  has  power  to 
consecrate.  They  endeavour  to  explain  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  so  as  to  harmonize  with  their  views  on  the 
Eucharist.  It  does  not,  however,  appear  that  the  bishops 

lequel  le  sacerdoce  chretien  execute  cette  double  representation.  Quant  a  la 
doctrine  de  la  '  presence  rSelle  '  c'est  vrai  que  nos  formulaires  ne  contiennent 
pas  cette  phrase — phrase  de  la  methysique  des  ecoles  dont  la  signification  n'eat 
pas  assez  claire  an  peuple,  mais  la  doctrine  que  le  corps  et  le  Sang  de  Notre, 
ISeigneur  sont  en  verite  '  donnes,  pris,  et  recus'  dans  le  Saint  Sacrament — 
c'est  la  doctrine  explicite  et  oificirlle  de  notr^  eglise." 
1  Tablet,  October  10th,  1896. 


1092  Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood 


teach  this  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  clearly  and  explicitly. 
Almost  all  the  Anglican  bishops  have  criticized  the  Papal 
Bull,  and  I  do  not  find  that  any  one  of  them  has  clearly 
stated  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  both  as  a  sacrament 
and  as  a  sacrifice.  The  doctrine  does  not  seem  a  popular  one. 
The  inference,  therefore,  appears  to  be  that  the  number  which 
holds  the  doctrine  of  the  Keal  Presence,  independent  of  any 
dispositions  of  the  communicant,  is  comparatively  few. 

The  "  Low  Church,"  or  "  Evangelical  school,"  holds 
that  the  true  Church  is  an  invisible  society,  known  to  God 
alone,  and  composed  of  those  who  truly  believe.  The 
system  of  government  is  a  matter  of  Church  discipline, 
and  although  the  present  discipline  of  episcopal  rule  is 
ancient  and  admirable,  yet  it  is  not  essential,  and  the 
Church  could  change  it.  Accordingly,  there  is  no  necessity 
for  an  uninterrupted  succession  in  its  ministers  from  Christ 
and  the  Apostles.  There  is  no  real  objective  Presence  in 
the  Eucharist,  although  there  is  a  certain  kind  of  Presence, 
which  in  reality  means  an  absence;  and  there  is  no  necessity, 
except  as  a  matter  of  arrangement  and  discipline,  for  a 
validly  ordained  priest  to  consecrate.  This  party,  I  should 
think,  forms  the  bulk  of  the  Anglican  communion.  The 
Pope's  pronouncement  only  declares  what  it  already  holds. 
The  Pope  does  not  say  that  their  orders,  such  as  they  are, 
are  illegal  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  law  or  discipline 
of  the  Anglican  Church.  But  he  does  say  that  they  have 
no  sacrificing  priesthood  as  instituted  by  Christ,  and  trans- 
mitted through  the  medium  of  a  valid  ordination.  With 
this  view  they  can  have  no  cause  of  complaint.  On  the 
contrary,  there  is  agreement  between  them  and  the  Papal 
document.  Yet,  why  all  these  outpourings  of  angry  senti- 
ment on  the  occasion  of  the  publication  of  the  Papal  Bull  ? 
It  is  a  curious  phenomenon,  and  surely  an  unreasonable 
one. 

The  "  Broad  Church  "  or  the  "  Liberal  School "  scarcely 
holds  any  doctrine  in  particular.  It  rather  abhors  dogma ; 
and  considers,  when  it  condescends  to  discuss  the  question, 
that  the  important  thing  is  not  dogma,  but  conduct.  To  be 
cultured  and  refined,  to  go  to  church  because  it  is  the 


Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood  '1093 

respectable  thing  to  do,  to  tell  the  truth,  and  to  pay  one's 
way— this  is  the  religion  of  the  "  Liberal  School."  The 
members  of  it  are  not  much  concerned  about  Papal  docu- 
ments, or  any  pronouncement  affecting  the  supernatural 
life.  This  school  is  not  at  all  to  be  written  off  as  equal  to 
naught  in  the  Anglican  Church ;  and  we  can  count  it  as  a 
witness  to  the  truth  of  the  Pope's  letter,  inasmuch  -as  it 
does  not  acknowledge  a  sacrificing  priesthood. 

The  belief  then  in  a  real  priesthood,  implying  belief  in 
a  real  objective  presence  in  the  Eucharist  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ,  and  in  a  true  sacrifice,  is  limited  to  the  High 
Church  party  in  the  Anglican  Church  ;  and  how  many  hold 
the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  and  how  many  of 
the  Anglican  bishops  and  ministers  teach  it  to  the  people  ? 

Both  the  "Low  Church"  and  the  "  Broad  Church" 
agree  with  the  Pope  in  saying  they  have  no  sacrificing 
priest,  that  every  vestige  of  such  an  idea  was  cut  clean  out 
of  their  formularies,  and  those  of  the  High  Church  party 
who  do  not  maintain  that  Christ  instituted  a  sacrificing 
priesthood,  are  logically  obliged  to  agree  with  the  Papal 
document.  They  are  the  authoritative  interpreters  of  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  and  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
and  we  do  not  quarrel  with  their  interpretation. 

But  there  remain  those  who,  though  subscribing  to  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  still  consider  it  consistent  with  main- 
taining the  truth  of  a  real  objective  Presence,  independent 
of  any  act  of  the  communicant,  and  anterior  to  the  act  of 
communion,  and  also  a  true  sacrifice  of  propitiation.  Their 
position  is  a  peculiar  one.  They  hold  that  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles,  being  the  expression  of  the  faith  of  the  Anglican 
communion,  teach  the  Eeal  Presence,  in  the  Catholic  sense 
of  the  expression,  to  which  they  adhere.  It  is  not  easy 
to  prove  this  case.  Cardinal  Newman  tried  it,  and  he 
admitted  his  failure.  Then  the  great  majority  of  the 
Anglican  communion  considers  that  the  Thirty-nine  Articles 
reject  the  doctrine  of  a  real  and  objective  Presence,  and  a 
true  sacrifice. 

But  let  us  examine  Articles  xxvm.  and  xxix.,  in  which 
the  Anglican  doctrine  on  the  Eucharist  is  set  forth.     The 


1094 


Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood 


beading  of  Article  xxvm.  is:  "  Of  the  Lord's  Supper;"  and  il 
consists  of  four  paragraphs.    The  first  paragraph  runs  thus  :- 

' '  The  Supper  of  the  Lord  is  not  only  a  sign  of  the  love  that 
Christians  ought  to  have  among  themselves  one  to  another ;  but 
rather  is  a  Sacrament  of  our  Eedemption  by  Christ's  death  : 
insomuch  that  to  such  as  rightly,  worthily,  and  with  faith  receive 
the  same,  the  Bread  which  we  break  is  a  partaking  of  the  Body 
of  Christ ;  and  likewise  the  cup  of  blessing  is  a  partaking  of  the 
Blood  of  Christ." 

But  do  not  the  unworthy  also  partake  of  the  Body  of 
Christ?  If  not,  then  there  is  no  real  objective  Presence. 
This  is  the  test  of  an  objective  and  Keal  Presence. *  The 
second  paragraph  says  :— 

"  Transubstanfciation  (or  the  change  of  the  substance  of  Bread 
and  Wine)  in  the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  cannot  be  proved  by  Holy 
Writ ;  but  is  repugnant  to  the  plain  words  of  Scripture,  over- 
throweth  the  nature  of  a  Sacrament,  and  hath  given  occasion  to 
many  superstitions." 

Therefore,  there  is  no  change  of  the  substance  of  bread 
and  wine.  Each  remains  :  is  the  substance  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ  also  present  ?  Are  there  two  substances 
present  ?  But  while  it  is  stated  that  the  substance  of  bread 
and  wine  remains,  there  is  no  statement  that  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ  are  really  and  substantially  present. 
Therefore,  there  is  no  statement  of  a  Keal  Presence, 
but  it  is  stated  that  the  conversion  of  the  substance  of 
bread  and  wine,  meaning  the  conversion  into  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ,  "  overthroweth  the  nature  of  a  Sacrament," 
and  "is  repugnant  to  the  plain  words  of  Scripture."  There 
is  here  no  doctrine  of  a  Keal  Presence,  nor  that  of  the 
absence  of  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine,  much  less  that 
of  the  singular  and  wonderful  conversion  of  the  substance 
of  bread  and  wine  into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 

The  authors  of  De  Hierarchia  Anglicana  2  endeavour  to 

1  Summit  boni,  summit  mail : 
Sorte  tamen  inaequall, 
Vitae  vel  interitus. — Missale  Romanum. 

2  Pages  185-6.  The  treatise  De  Hierarchia  Anglicana  is  written  by  two 
Anglican  clergymen,  Rev.  E.  Denny,  A.M.,  and  Rev.  T.  A.  Lacey,  A.M.,  in 
defence  of  the  validity  of  Anglican  Orders.  It  is  written  in  Latin,  and  has  a 
preface  by  the  Anglican  Bishop  of  Salisbury.  It  was  circulated  considerably 
in  Rome  during  the  discussion  of  Anglican  Orders,  and  for  a  time  exercised 
much  influence. 


Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood  1095 

show  that  transubstantiation  is  objected  to  in  this  paragraph 
not  from  any  intention  to  reject  the  true  doctrine,  but 
rather  from  an  anxiety  to  defend  it.  For,  they  say,  accord- 
ing to  the  nominalist  theory,  "  substance "  must  mean 
something  individualized,  and  which  comes  under  the 
observation  of  the  senses ;  and  accordingly,  if  the  substance 
be  changed,  then  also  the  accidents  or  species  are  taken 
away,  and  there  remains  no  visible  sign.  Therefore,  in  this 
hypothesis,  there  could  be  no  sacrament,  since  tbe 
visible  element  is  absent.  And  they  add  that  at  this 
time  the  nominalist  theory  was  held  pretty  generally 
in  England.  On  the  other  hand,  the  realist  theory 
was  held  by  the  schoolmen,  according  to  which  sub- 
stance eluded  observation,  but  was  inferred  by  reason, 
and  the  accidents  adhered  to  it ;  and  so  long  as  the  laws 
of  nature  were  not  superseded,  the  accidents  could  not 
exist  otherwise.  They  had,  however,  their  own  physical 
entities,  and  might,  therefore,  be  upheld  by  an  omnipotent 
power. 

But,  if  the  object  of  the  framers  of  this  article  was 
merely  to  state  that  something  remains  which  was  still 
visible  after  the  consecration,  it  appears  to  be  a  meaningless 
statement,  for  no  one  denied  it :  the  senses  testify  to  its 
existence.  According  to  this  explanation  the  paragraph 
under  consideration  would  appear  to  be  inserted  to  ratify 
the  nominalist  theory,  as  against  the  realist  one.  Such 
action  makes  a  philosophic  theory  the  arbiter  of  theolo- 
gical truth  ;  and  it  would  seem  that  the  authors  of  this 
article  desired  to  put  forth  a  philosophic  speculation,  in 
order  to  hide  or  obscure,  if  not  to  deny,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Eucharist.  The  Catholic  doctrine  has  always  been  straight- 
forward and  intelligible.  Christ  is  really  and  substantially 
present :  bread  is  not  present :  the  appearances  of  bread 
remain  after  the  conversion.  This  has  always  been  the 
Catholic  doctrine,  and  if  a  particular  philosophical  theory 
fits  in  better  than  another,  it  is  adopted.  Sometimes  there 
may  be  a  question  among  Catholic  writers  as  to  the  adopti- 
bility  of  these  theories  to  revealed  truth ;  but  there  is  never 
a  question  about  the  pliability  of  the  doctrine  once  it  has 


1096  Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood 

been  authentically  determined.1     But,  taking  this  paragraph 
in  connection  with  the  others,  it  is  sufficiently  clear  that  its 
main  object  was  to  deny  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist. 
The  third  paragraph  of  this  article  runs  thus  :— 

"  The  Body  of  Christ  is  given,  taken,  and  eaten  in  the  Supper, 
only  after  an  heavenly  and  spiritual  manner.  And  the  mean 
whereby  the  Body  of  Christ  is  received  and  eaten  in  the  Supper 
is  Faith." 

This  paragraph  is  quite  characteristic  of  the  effort  to 
supplant  the  ancient  faith.  The  first  part  could  be  under- 
stood of  the  Real  Presence,  and  very  much  is  made  of  it  by 
Anglicans  to  show  that  their  Church  officially  admitted  the 
Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist.1  What  is  given  by  the 
priest,  what  is  taken  and  eaten  by  the  communicant,  is  no 
doubt  something  objective,  and  since  it  is  the  Body  of  Christ 
which  is  so  given,  &c.,  it  seems  clear  that  there  is  a  real 
objective  Presence.  But,  then,  this  is  qualified  by  the  words 
which  have  a  Calvinistic  ring :  "  after  an  heavenly  and 
spiritual  manner."  There  is  a  sense,  no  doubt,  in  which 
these  words  are  true,  but  the  context  does  not  admit 
it  here.  The  second  sentence  makes  this  clear  ;  for  it  implies 
that  faith  is  necessary — "  the  mean  " —  in  order  to  receive  or 
eat  the  Body  of  Christ,  so  that  one  could  not  be  said  to  truly 
receive  the  Body  of  Christ,  except  there  be  faith. 

Then,  if  Christ  be  really  and  truly  present  in  the 
Eucharist,  He  is  there  independently  of  any  dispositions 
of  the  communicant,  and  being  the  Second  Person  of  the 
Adorable  Trinity  made  flesh,  is  worthy  of,  and  ought  to 
receive  supreme  worship.  But  what  do  we  find?  The 
fourth  paragraph  declares  what  the  Anglican  Church  is 
bound  to  hold  :— 

•"The  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  not  by  Christ's 
ordinance  reserved,  carried  about,  lifted  up,  or  worshipped." 

In  this  connection  one  may  refer  to  what  is  known  as 
the  Black  Eubric  which  occurs  in  the  Book  of  Common 

1  It  is,  at  least,  the  common  opinion  that  the  realist  theory  expresses  the 
truth  of  the  Eucharist  better  than  the  nominalist ;  yet  we  find  Catholic  writers, 
•while  holding  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  in  all  its  integrity,  defend- 
ing the  nominalist  hypothesis,  which  is  usually  known  as  the  Cartesian  doctrine 
regarding  accidents  or  species. 
3  See  note,  p.  1090. 


Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood  109? 

Prayer  at  the  end  of  the  Communion  Service,  by  which  it 
is  forbidden  to  adore  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  But  if  the 
very  God  be  present,  why  not  adore  Him  ?  If  any  doubt 
remained,  Article  xxix.  would  remove  it ;  for  it  says  : — 

"  The  wicked  and  such  as  be  void  of  a  lively  faith,  although 
they  do  carnally  and  visibly  press  with  their  teeth  (as  St.  Augustine 
saith)  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  yet  in  NO 
WISE  are  they  partakers  of  Christ ;  but  rather,  to  their  condemna- 
tion, do  eat  and  drink  the  sign  or  sacrament  of  so  great  a  thing." 

Now  if  the  wicked  are  in  no  wise  partakers  of  Christ, 
what  becomes  of  a  real  objective  Presence  ? 

Such,  therefore,  is  the  official  witness  of  the  Anglican 
Church  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist ;  and  to  it  Anglicans, 
of  the  High  Church  party  have  appealed. 

But,  if  there  be  no  Real  Presence,  there  can  be  no 
Sacrifice  ;  and  in  this  respect  Article  xxxi.  is  clear : — 

"  The  offering  of  Christ  once  made  is  that  perfect  redemption, 
propitiation,  and  satisfaction  for  all  the  sins  of  the  whole  world, 
both  original  and  actual;  and  there  is  none  other  satisfaction  for 
sin,  but  that  alone." 

To  this  part  of  the  article  there  can  be  no  objection. 
The  sacrifice  of  the  Cross  is  the  only  sacrifice  of  atonement 
in  which  Christ  offered  Himself  up  once  for  all  to  atone  for 
the  sins  of  the  world.  But  from  this  it  does  not  follow  that 
the  same  victim  cannot  be  offered  up  again,  and  that  daily 
to  appease  His  Heavenly  Father,  not  by  way  of  a  fresh 
atonement,  but  by  applying  the  merits  of  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Cross  to  us.  Yet  the  second  part  of  this  article  concludes:— 

"  Wherefore  the  sacrifices  of  Masses  in  which  it  was  commonly 
said  that  the  priest  did  offer  Christ  for  the  quick  and  the  dead, 
to  have  remission  of  pain  or  guilt,  were  blasphemous  fables,  and 
dangerous  deceits." 

Anyone  can  see  the  illogical  use  of  "  wherefore."  The 
Article  leaves  no  room  for  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass :  it  is, 
therefore,  excluded,  and  condemned  as  a  blasphemous  fable 
and  a  dangerous  deceit.  When  one  considers,  moreover, 
with  what  fury  and  bigotry  Catholic  altars  were  overturned, 
and  the  sacred  vessels  profaned,  one  cannot  help  feeling 
surprise  that  there  is  any  person  who  can  say  seriously  that 


1098  Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood 

the  Anglican  Church  has  never  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the 
Real  Presence  and  a  true  sacrifice. 

Not  only  the  official  confession  of  faith  of  the  Anglican 
Church  has  rejected  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  but  from  its 
ordinal  has  been  carefully  erased  every  vestige  of  a  sacrific- 
ing priesthood.  Canon  Moyes  has  demonstrated  this  with 
great  clearness  in  the  Tablet. 

In  the  face  of  these  facts,  it  matters  little  to  the  argument 
what  the  personal  views  of  some  Anglican  divines  may  be 
regarding  a  sacrificing  priesthood.  But  Anglicans  are  not 
very  successful  in  this  regard.  It  is  very  necessary  to  verify 
their  quotations.  There  is  no  doubt  passages  may  be  quoted 
from  Jewel  and  Hooker,  and  even  from  Cranmer,  to  show 
that  they  admit  a  sacrifice.  But  it  is  always  to  be  re- 
membered that  they  are  speaking  of  a  sacrifice  in  a  wide 
sense;  that  sense  in  which  every  Christian  may  be  said  to 
offer  up  sacrifices  of  prayer  and  thanksgiving. 

There  remains  one  point,  which  is  interesting,  but  which 
cannot  in  this  paper  be  fully  considered.  Some  Anglican 
writers1  hold  that  the  reason  the  idea  of  a  sacrifice  was 
expunged  from  the  liturgy,  and  from  Article  xxxi.  was,  not 
to  eliminate  the  true  doctrine  regarding  the  Sacrifice  of 
the  Mass,  but  to  put  people  on  their  guard  against  the  false 
doctrine.  It  may  strike  one  that  it  is  a  rather  curious  way 
to  attain  this  end,  by  destroying  the  very  idea  of  a  sacrifice. 
And  the  false  doctrine  which  it  is  alleged  was  prevalent  at 
the  time  was  that  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Cross  atoned  for  all 
sins  committed  before  baptism,  whilst  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Mass  atoned  for  sins  committed  after  baptism.  This,  no 
doubt,  is  a  sufficiently  alarming  doctrine,  and  would  warrant 
a  very  strong  corrective.  But  where  is  the  evidence  that 
it  prevailed?  It  is  not  to  Protestants  we  are  to  go  for 
this  evidence.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  controversy 
opinions  are  attributed  to  an  adversary  which  he  would  be 
the  first  to  repudiate,  and  that  those  tactics  were  practised 
by  the  innovators  is  certain.2 

1  De  Hierarchia  Anglicana,  pp.  192-7.      Rev.  E.  "W.  Puller,  in  Revue  Anglo- 
Komainc,  Nos.  9,  10,  and  11.     Guardian,  Oct.  14,  1896. 

2  Bucer  acknowledges  it  in  a  confidential  letter  to  Philip  of  Hesse. 


Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood  1099 

In  the  present  case  there  is  abundant  testimony  to  show 
that  this  view  was  falsely  attributed  to  the  Catholics.  At 
the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  1530,  the  symbol  drawn  up  by 
Melancthon  was  presented  to  Charles  V.,  in  which  the 
charge  is  made  : — 

"  Accessit  opinio  quae  auxit  privatas  missas,  videlicet  quod 
Christus  sua  passione  satisfecerit  pro  peccato  original!  et  instituerit 
missam  in  qua  fieret  oblatio  pro  quotidianis  delictis  mortalibus 
et  venialibus ;  hinc  manavit  publica  opinio,  quod  missa  sit  opus 
delens  peccata  vivorum  et  mortuorum  ex  opere  operate." 

Charles  V.  deputed  some  Catholic  theologians  to  answer 
the  charges  made  in  this  celebrated  confession  of  faith. 
The  following  is  their  statement  concerning  this  charge  : — 

"  Neque  satis  intelligi  potest,  quod  assumitur  Christum 
satisfecisse  sua  passione  pro  peccato  originale,  et  instituerit 
missam  pro  actuali  peccato.  Nam  koc  nunquam  auditum  est  a 
Catholicis,  jamque  rogati  plerique  constantissime  negant  ab  iis 
sic  doceri."1 

Even  stronger  language  has  been  used  by  Catholics 
in  repudiating  such  a  false  opinion.  Bellarmine  calls  it  an 
impudent  falsehood.2 

Anglican  writers  quote  some  of  our  Catholic  theologians, 
but  their  quotations  in  every  case  require  to  be  verified,  and 
it  will  not  require  much  expert  knowledge  to  discover  how 
misleading  they  are.  Let  me  take  the  quotation  which  has 
been  sometimes  attributed  to  St.  Thomas,  and  sometimes 
to  Albertus  Magnus  : — 3 

"  Secunda  causa  institutionis  hujus  Sacramenti  est  sacrifi- 
cium  altaris,  contra  quandam  quotidianam  dilictorum  rapinam,  ut, 

1  A.  Fabricius  Harmonia  Confessionis  Auguitinae,  $c.,  Coloniae.  1573,  p.  469. 

2  Deinde  impudenti  mendacio  tribuitur  catholicis  doctoribus  ilia  divisio  quod 
Christus   passione  sua   satisfecerit  solum  pro   peccato  originis ;  pro  actualibus 
autem  instituerit  missam.   Nemo  enim  catholicorum  unquam  sic  docuit,  sed  credimus 
et  profitemur  christum  in  cruce  pro  omnibus   omnino  peccatis  satisfecisse. 
BELLAEMINUS  :  Judicium  de  libro  Concordiae :  XVII.  mendacium. 

3  The  quotation  is  taken  from  a  work  containing1  thirty-two  sermons  on  the 
Eucharist.     The    work  has   sometimes    been  published  under  the  name   of 
St.  Thomas  ;  sometimes  under  that  of  his  master,  Albert  the  Great.      It  has 
lately  been  published  by  Dr.  Jacob,  a  canon  of  the  cathedral  of  Ratisbon,  and 
he  attributes  the  sermons  to  Albert  the  Great.     This,  however,  is  not  univer- 
sally admitted ;    and,  apart  from  extrinsic  arguments,  the   statements  in  the 
sermons  have  not  the  characteristic  precision  or  exactness  of  either  St.  Thomas 
or  of  Albert  the  Great ,  nor  do  the  views  contained  in  them  seem  to  harmonize 
with  certain  well-known  opinions  of  those  two  great  Dominican  theologians. 


1100  Anglicans  and  the  Priesthood 

sicut  corpus  Domini  semel  oblatum  est  in  cruce  pro  debito 
originali,  sic  offeratur  jugiter  pro  nostris  quotidianis  delictis  in 
altari,  et  habeat  in  hoc  Ecclesia  munus  ad  placandum  sibi  Deum 
super  omnia  legis  sacramenta,  vel  sacrificia  pretiosum  et 
acceptum." 

It  would  strike  anyone  having  only  a  superficial  know- 
ledge of  the  theological  views  of  the  great  Dominican,1  and 
of  the  current  theology  of  the  time,  that  he  meant  to  convey, 
if  indeed  the  statement  be  his,  that  Christ  was  offered  up, 
once  for  all,  as  a  sacrifice  of  atonement ;  but  the  same 
merits  were  applied,  whether  by  way  of  propitiation  or 
impetration,  in  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  for  our  daily 
faults,  not  for  original  sin  which  does  not  revive.  It  is  not 
pretended  that  the  universality  of  the  atonement  by  the 
Sacrifice  of  the  Cross  is  denied.  Albertus  Magnus  con- 
stantly affirms  it.  It  is  stated  even  in  the  sermon  from 
which  the  above  quotation  is  taken  : — 

"  Christus  per  mortem  suam  genus  humanum  de  morte  aeterna 
leberavit."2 

It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  quotations.  St.  Thomas, 
the  pupil  of  Albertus  Magnus,  expresses  the  idea  with  his 
usual  clearness : — 

"  Quia  fructu  dominicae  passionis  quotidie  indigemus 
propter  quotidianos  defectus,  quotidie  in  ecclesia  regulariter 
hoc  sacrincium  offertur."  3 

Catharinus  has  been  quoted  for  the  extraordinary 
doctrine  referred  to ;  but  Catharinus  is  not  accurately 
quoted.  Concerning  the  fact  that  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Cross  is  all-sufficient,  even  superabundant,  there  has 
been  no  question.  How  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  applied 
the  atonement  to  us,  there  has  been  some  discussion ;  and 
on  this  is  founded  the  false  view  attributed  to  some  Catholic 
theologians,  that  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  has  some  efficacy 
independent  of  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Cross. 

It  is,  therefore,  fair  to  conclude — 1,  That  the  evidence 
in  favour  of  a  Real  Presence,  and  a  true  sacrifice  in 

1  See  In  sentent.,  lib.  iv  ,  disp.  12  et  13  ;  de  Sacrificio  Missae. 

2  Beati    Albert!  Magni    episcopi    Ratisbonensis    de   Sacrosancto   Corporis 
Domini  sennones,  &c.     (Ratisbonae,   1893.) 

3  St.  Th.,iii.,q.  83,  92. 


Priory  of  Glascarrig,  Co.  Wexford  1101 

the  Anglican  Communion  breaks  down.  2.  The  evidence 
points  to  the  fact  which  underlies  the  fundamental 
reasoning  of  the  Papal  Bull,  namely,  every  vestige 
of  a  sacrificing  priesthood  has  been  wiped  out  of  the 
Anglican  formularies.  3.  If  there  be  any  doubt  on  this 
head,  so  far  as  the  Anglican  Church  at  present  is  con- 
cerned, it  can  be  solved  by  its  declaring  now  officially 
its  belief  in  a  real  objective  Presence,  and  in  a  true 
sacrifice.  If  the  Anglican  Church  has  a  firm  faith  in 
the  Real  Presence,  and  in  a  true  sacrifice,  its  chief  concern 
ought  to  be  to  secure  with  certainty  the  objects  of  that 
belief.  If  it  does  not,  then  the  Papal  Bull  only  declares 
what  Anglicans  already  hold.  Accordingly,  we  look  for- 
ward with  considerable  interest  to  the  statement  promised 
by  the  late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  which,  as  he  said 
"may  comfort  any  who  think  it  is  required;"  for,  he 
asserts,  the  Anglican  Orders  "  are  in  origin,  continuity, 
matter,  form,  intention,  and  all  that  belongs  to  them 
identical  with  those  of  the  Roman  Church."1  We  await 
the  reasons ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  fundamental  one  of 
the  Papal  document  will  not  be  lost  sight  of. 

J.  CBOWE. 


PEIOEY  OF  GLASCARRIG,  CO.  WEXFORD 

THE  Benedictine  Priory  of  Glascarrig  (the  Green  Rodk), 
situated  on  the  sea  coast,  in  the  parish  of  Donaghmore, 
and  barony  of  Ballaghkeen,  about  seven  miles  south-east  of 
Gorey,  was  founded  in  1192.  Various  authorities,  including 
Archdall,  Dom  Howlett,  O.S.B.,  and  others  have  assigned 
the  date  as  "  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century ;"  but 
1192  is  correct,  and  such  was  the  opinion  of  Ware  and 
MacGeoghegan. 

North  Wexford  played  an  important  part  in  the  con- 
version of  Ireland,  for  here  at  Poulshaun,  near  Glascarrig, 
the  great  national  apostle  is  said  to  have  landed  in  433, 
though  some  assert  that  his  landing-place  was  at  Crioch 

i  Church  Times,  October  23,  1896. 


1102  Priory  of  Glascarrig,  Co.  Wexford 

Cullan,  some  miles  further  north.  However,  certain  it  is 
that  St.  Patrick  founded  the  parish  church  of  Donagh- 
more ;  whilst  Gorey,  or  Kilmachollog,  was  founded  by 
St.  Machollog,  and  Kilkevin  Church  is  not  far  off.  Dubh- 
thach,  the  arch  poet  of  Ireland,  got  a  large  tract  of  land  in 
North  Wexford,  as  a  present  from  Criffan,  King  of  Leinster, 
for  the  three  poems  he  composed  to  celebrate  the  deeds  of 
this  warrior  monarch.  According  to  the  distinguished 
scholar  O'Curry  this  district  comprised  Limbrick,  and  the 
land  called  Formail  na  b'Fian,  in  the  parish  of  Kilkavan 
(Cill-Coemhghin).  We  may  add  that  Glascarrig  is  at 
present  in  the  Roman  Catholic  parish  of  Ballygarret, 
including  Ardamine  or  River  Chapel. 

St.  Fiodghus  Mac  Sweeney  lived  as  an  anchorite  at 
Glascarrig  in  the  eighth  century,  and  died  in  760.  His 
brother  Fidhairle,  Abbot  of  Rahan,  died  in  763.  Their 
mother  was  Fearamhla,  the  daughter  of  Diuma  Dubh. 
Another  brother  was  St.  Colman,  son  of  Eochy,  of  Seanb- 
hotach,  i.  e.,  S en-bo ithe- Sine,  now  Templeshambo,  near 
Enniscorthy,  whose  feast  is  celebrated  on  October  27th.  In 
605  Bran  Dubh,  King  of  Leinster,  was  murdered  at  this 
same  Shambo  Sine  by  one  of  his  own  relatives.  Finachta, 
King  of  Connaught,  retired  to  Glascarrig,  where  he  lived 
as  an  anchorite  till  his  death  in  848.  Passing  over  three 
hundred  years,  we  find  Glascarrig  as  the  landing-place 
of  "  the  pioneer  forces*  of  the  Galls,"  who  accompanied 
Dermot  MacMurrough,  and  his  secretary,  Maurice  Regan, 
in  December,  1168. 

O'Curry  tells  us  that  Macadamore  and  MacVaddock 
Flath  ( flath  means  the  owner  of  real  estate),  the  Lords  of 
Fisher's  Prospect  (Courtown)  and  Glascarrig,  owed  allegiance 
to  the  O'Murraghoo  (O'Murchoe  or  Murphy),  as  king  of  that 
part  of  the  country,  from  the  ninth  century.  Even  the 
O'Byrnes  and  the  O'Tooles  were  subjects  of  the  chief  of 
Clan  Murphy.  The  entire  modern  barony  of  Ballaghkeene 
(Baile-achadh-chaoin,  the  town  of  the  beautiful  field), 
formerly  known  as  the  district  of  Hy-Felimy,  belonged  to 
this  ancient  sept,  whose  chieftain  resided  at  Oulartleigh, 
about  three  miles  from  Enniscorthy. 

The  earliest  Benedictine  foundation  in  Ireland  was  that 


Priory  of  Glascarrig,  Co.  Wexford  1103 

of  St.  Mary's,  Dublin.  Father  Hewlett,  O.S.B.,  is  again  in 
error  in  assigning  this  venerable  monastery  as  of  Danish 
origin,  in  the  year  948.  It  was  founded  by  an  Irish  prince, 
Maelsachlain,  or  Malachy,  of  Tara,  in  862,  who  died  in  864. 
The  Benedictines  subsequently  acquired  houses  at  Eorrin- 
neach,  or  Corrig,  Co.  Down,  in  1127,  afterwards  removed  to 
Inch;  at  Neddrum,  Co.  Down,  in  1179;  at  the  Black 
Abbey  and  the  Ardes,  Co.  Down,  in  1180  ;  at  Downpatrick, 
in  1183 ;  at  Kilcummin,  Co.  Tipperary,  in  1185  ;  at  St  John's, 
Waterford,  and  St.  John's,  Cork,  in  1186 ;  at  Glascarrig,  in 
1192 ;  and  at  Fore,  in  1209. 

In  October,  1174,  on  the  occasion  of  the  marriage 
of  Basilia  de  Clare,  sister  of  Strongbow,  to  Kaymond 
FitzWilliam  le  Gros,  which  was  celebrated  in  Selskar  Abbey, 
Wexford,  Kichard  de  Clare  gave  his  brother-in-law  "  the 
lands  of  Fethard,  Idrone,  and  Glascarrig.".  Another  Anglo- 
Norman  adventurer  called  de  Cantiton  or  Condon  acquired 
some  property  near  Glascarrig  at  this  time,  and  was  killed 
at  Idrone  (more  or  less  co-extensive  with  the  present 
Co.  Carlowj,  in  1189. 

The  Priory  of  Glascarrig  was  a  cell  or  dependency  to  the 
Abbey  of  St.  Dogmaell's,  near  Cardigan,  in  Pembrokeshire 
(where  the  famous  Celtic  Eosetta  stone  was  discovered,  in 
1845) ;  and  the  Abbot  of  St.  Dogmaell's  had  the  right  of 
nominating  the  Prior  of  Glascarrig.  These  monks  of  the 
parent  house  followed  the  modification  of  the  Benedictine 
rule  known  as  "  The  Order  of  Tyron,"  instituted  by  a 
St.  Bernard  (not  to  be  confounded  with  his  namesake,  the 
great  founder  of  Clairvaux),  who  established  the  Abbey  and 
reform  of  Tyron,  in  1109.  St.  Dogmaell's  was  the  only 
house  of  the  order  in  England  and  Wales,  and  was  erected 
in  the  year  1126  or  1127  ;  but  it  had  a  dependent  priory 
at  Pille,  and  a  cell  at  Caldey. 

As  regards  a  site  for  a  Benedictine  priory,  Glascarrig 
was  all  that  could  be  desired ;  and  in  course  of  time  it 
grew  to  be  a  wealthy  establishment,  largely  endowed  by 
the  Condons,  Koches,  De  Burgos,  Barrys,  and  Carrins. 
St.  Mary's  of  Glascarrig,  notwithstanding  the  very  nume- 
rous attempts  made  by  the  O'Byrnes,  O'Tooles,  O'Murphys, 


1104  Priory  of  Glascarrig,  Co.  Wexford 

and  Kavanaghs,  to  recover  their  old  patrimony  during  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  was  left  unmolested. 
Still,  be  it  stated,  the  Benedictines  were  never  "  kindly  of 
the  Irish,"  and  the  number  of  foundations,  all  told,  in 
Ireland,  never  exceeded  ten.  The  last  house  they  acquired 
was  St.  John's,  Youghal,  through  the  munificence  of  John 
FitzMaurice,  third  Earl  of  Desmond,  in  1360 ;  but  it  was 
made  a  cell  to  the  Priory  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist, 
Waterford. 

In  an  inquisition  regarding  the  lands  of  Eoger  Bigod, 
Earl  of  Norfolk,  in  1306  (35th  Edward  I.),  Sir  Maurice 
de  Cantillon,  or  Cantwell,  held  some  lands  in  the  district  of 
Glascarrig  for  a  knight  fee,  receiving  forty  shillings  by 
homage  and  service.  About  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century  we  find  Glascarrig  Priory  as  having  been  granted 
"  all  the  lands  in  Coshinquilos  (Cossher,  not  far  from 
Shillelagh)  and  Trahore  (now  Cahore,  the  eastern  strand) ; 
as  also  the  long  marsh  (Inch)  and  the  fishery,  with  the 
salvage  of  wrecks,"  &c.  These  possessions  were  "  the  gift 
of  Griffin  Condon  and  his  wife,  Cecilia  Barry,  and 
Eoderick  Burke,  her  father;  together  with  David  Eoche, 
Eichard  Carrin,  and  John  Foyth  (Foote),  of  Arcolon" 
(Arklow). 

Glascarrig  Priory  also  had  the  rectories  of  Glascarrig, 
Donaghmore,  Ardamine,  Killenor,  Killenagh,  Kilmuckridge, 
Kilanerin,  Killincooley,  Kilpatrick,  Templendigan,  and 
Kilnahue  (diocese  of  Ferns) ;  Killiston,  Ballyroane,  and 
Clonegoose  (diocese  of  Leighlin) ;  Clondulane,  Litter,  and 
Liscleary  (in  the  diocese  of  Cloyne).  All  these  lands, 
rectories,  &c.,  were  confirmed  by  Thomas  Denn,  Bishop  of 
Ferns  (1363-1399). 

This  house  flourished  till  the  Eeformation,1  so  called; 
and  in  May,  1553,  we  find  the  custody  of  "  the  late  Priory 
of  Glascarrig  "  granted  for  three  years  to  Walter  Peppard, 
Esq.,  of  Kilkaa,  Co.  Kildare.  The  following  may  be 
regarded  as  an  accurate  list  of  the  possessions  of 
this  priory  in  1559,  taken  from  official  documents,  and 

1  Charles  MacMurraghoo,  or  Murphy,  was  the  last  prior,  and  he  surrendered 
in  1543, 


Priory  of  Glascarrig,  Co.  Wexford  1105 

transcribed     by     Sir     Thomas     H.    Grattan     Esmonde, 
Bart.  :— 

THE    PEIOEY   OF    GLASCARRIG 

£     $.     d. 

Farm  of  the  site,  cell,  or  late  Priory  of  Glascarrig, 
containing  by  estimate  half  an  acre,  in  which 
is  one  church,  one  hall,  two  chambers,  one 
small  close,  and  one  chantry  within  the 
precinct  thereof  ...  ...  ...  068 

One  water-mill,  and  water-course        ...  ...       200 

Two  messuages        ...  ...  ...  ...       1  16     8 

Nine  cottages,  sixty  acres  arable,  forty  pasture, 
woods  and  moor  in  Glascarrig,  at  Qd.  per 
acre...  ...  ...  ..,  ...  500 

Four  cottages,  forty  acres  arable,  twenty-four 
pasture,  underwood  and  moor  in  Kilmichael 
(Gorey)  ...  ...  ..,  ...  240 

Six  cottages,  sixty-six  acres  arable,  thirty  pasture, 
underwood  and  moor  in  Kilmaster  and 
Ballymoner,  alias  Ballynemone  (Ballymoney)  170 

Sixteen  acres  arable,  six  pasture,  and  underwood' 

in  Templederry  and  Smithstown  ...  ...  064 


£13     0     8 
Rectories,  churches,  and  chapels          ...  ...       3  13     4 

Total  ...  ...  £16  14    0 

In  1561  (4th  Eliz.),  "Margaret  Turner  of  Wexford,  widow, 
and  Gilbert  Stafford,  merchant,  intrude  and  trespass  on 
forty  acres,  and  seize  the  tithes  of  Kilpatrick  in  Eochesland, 
part  of  the  possessions  of  the  late  Priory  of  Glascarrig,  now 
belonging  to  the  Queen."  On  May  6th,  1567,  as  the  result 
of  a  Royal  Commission,  dated  October  13th,  1565,  "  a  lease 
was  granted  to  Anthony  Peppard,  gent.  (Peppard's  Castle), 
of  the  site  of  the  cell  or  priory  of  Glascarrig,  the  lands  of 
Glascarrig,  Kilmichael,  Kilmaster,  and  Ballymonyer,  alias 
Ballinemoyne,  Templederry,  and  Smithstown  (Ballygowan), 
County  Wexford  ;  and  the  rectories  of  Glascarrig,  Ardamine, 
Killenagb,Kilmuckridge,Killincooley,and  Kilpatrick, in  same 
county."  On  November  19th,  1576,  the  priory,  rectories, 
and  other*  possessions  of  Glascarrig  were  demised  to 
Anthony  Peppard,  Esq.,  for  twenty-one  years  by  indenture. 
In  1596,  Morgan  MacBrian  Kavanagb,  of  Poulinonty,  was 

VOL.  XVII.  4  A 


1106  Priory  of  Glascarrig,  Co.  Weaford 

charged  with  "  intruding  on  Templendigan,  Co.  Wexford, 
part  of  the  possessions  of  the  late  Priory  of  Glascarrig." 
On  June  20th,  1605,  the  site,  pasturage,  &c.,  of  Glascarrig, 
was  granted  in  fee  simple  to  the  Earl  of  Thomond,  as  were 
also  the  various  rectories,  churches,  and  chapels  belonging 
to  the  said  priory. 

In  1605,  King  James  formed  three  new  baronies  in 
Co.  Wexford,  viz.,  Ballaghkeen,  Gorey,  and  Scarawalsh. 
From  the  original  document  I  find  that  the  barony  of 
Ballaghkeen  embraced  "  the  Murroughs  and  the  Inch  in  the 
MacMurraghoo's  (Murphy's)  country,  and  all  the  eccle- 
siastical lands  within  the  said  barony,  belonging  to  the  late 
Priory  of  Glascarrig,  which  barony  is  bounded,  etc."  More- 
over, it  is  stated  that  the  barony  contained  "  in  MacDamore's 
country,  thirteen  marte  lands,  but  the  abbey  land  of  Glas- 
carrig, or  the  lands  of  Murrowes  and  Inch,  the  jury  know 
not  how  to  divide  either  by  marte  lands  or  quarters." 

The  year  1642  found  this  venerable  priory  almost  in  ruins, 
and  the  then  proprietor,  Sir  Walsingham  Cooke,  partly 
rebuilt  it  in  1654.  During  the  Cromwellian  campaign  the 
battle  of  Glascarrig  was  fought  on  November  4th,  1649,  by 
a  body  of  troops  commanded  by  Majors  Nelson  and  Meredith, 
as  a  result  of  which  Inchiquin  had  to  retire  with  the  loss 
of  two  standards.  Sir  Walsingham  Cooke,  a  Puritan,  was 
confirmed  in  the  Glascarrig  property  after  the  restoration. 
At  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  passed  to  Edmund 
Bray,  after  whom  it  was  acquired  by  Francis  Harvey,  of 
Bargy  Castle.  From  a  deed  of  February  22nd,  1794,  we 
learn  that  Beauchamp  Bagenal  Harvey  had  purchased  the 
lands  of  Glascarrig,  Kaheen,  and  Mangan  for  the  sum  of 
£6,000.  But  this  hero  of  '98,  against  his  will,  was  captured 
in  a  cave  on  the  Saltee  Islands,  and  was  executed  June  27th, 
1798,  at  Wexford. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  the  chequered  history  of  this  priory 
ever  since  its  suppression,  and  to-day  the  tourist  or  traveller 
may  look  in  vain  for  any  trace  of  this  fine  old  Benedictine 
foundation.  *'•  The  corroding  tooth  of  time,"  largely  supple- 
mented by  the  vandalism  of  man,  has  resulted  in  the  almost 
utter  extinction  of  even  a  fragmentary  portion  of  this  bouse. 


The  Scapular,  dc.  1107 

In  1835  the  present  Protestant  parish  of  Glascarrig  was 
formed  out  of  the  parishes  of  Donaghmore  and  Kiltrisk. 
The  first  appointment  made  to  the  Catholic  parish  since 
the  Eeformation  was  in  1695,  when  Theobald  Butler  came 
to  officiate  as  parish  priest  of  Donaghmore,  Ardamine, 
Kilmuckridge,  and  Killenagh,  living  at  Tinnacross  (Teach- 
na-croise,  the  Church  of  the  Cross;  'i.e.,  the  Church  dedicated 
to  the  Holy  Cross).  No  longer  tolls  the  priory  bell,  no  longer 
chants  the  Benedictine  monk  ;  but  the  pleasure-seeker  who 
enjoys  the  sea  at  Courtown  Harbour  might  do  worse  than 
walk  as  far  as  the  dwelling-house  which  now  represents 
Glascarrig  Priory.  Stat  nominis  umbra. 

WILLIAM  H.  GEATTAN  FLOOD. 


THE  SCAPULAE  OF  THE  PASSION  OF  OUK  LORD 
JESUS  CHEIST,  AND  OF  THE  SACEED  HEAETS 
OF  JESUS  AND  MAEY 

THE  Eed  Scapular,  as  this  scapular  is  more  familiarly 
called,  and  the  Miraculous  Medal  are  two  of  the  spiri- 
tual treasures  over  which  the  children  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 
have  been  appointed  stewards.  The  latter  was  given  to 
them  in  the  year  1830,  the  former  in  the  year  1846.  In 
the  year  1830,  our  Blessed  Lady  commissioned  a  Sister  of 
Charity  to  have  made  and  distributed  what  soon  came  to  be 
known  as  the  Miraculous  Medal ;  while  in  1846,  our  Divine 
Lord  entrusted  to  another  Sister  of  the  same  Congregation 
the  task  of  having  the  Eed  Scapular  approved  and  dissemi- 
nated. And,  though  both  the  Medal  and  the  Scapular  were 
at  once  sealed  with  the  approval  of  the  Church,  and  hailed 
with  joy  by  the  faithful,  such  was  the  profound  humility  of 
these  two  favoured  souls,  that  neither  was  identified,  even 
by  the  sisters  who  lived  in  the  same  convent  with  them, 
until  God  had  removed  them  from  the  tempter's  power. 
Sister  Catharine  Laboure,  the  instrument  used  by  our  Lady 
in  instituting  the  Miraculous  Medal,  died  in  1876,  and 
immediately  the  Superior  General  of  the  Congregation,  to. 


1108    The  Scapular  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

whom  and  to  her  confessor  alone  was  her  secret  known, 
proclaimed  that  she  was  the  favoured  nun  whose  work 
had  been  so  brilliantly  successful,  and  about  whose  identity 
there  had  been  so  much  speculation,  even  amongst  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  themselves.  In  1895  passed  away  Sister 
Apolline  Andriveau,  the  chosen  Apostle  of  the  Bed  Scapular. 
Her  secret  had  been  similarly  preserved ;  her  name  has  been 
similarly  proclaimed  in  an  interesting  little  work  just 
published  in  Paris,1 

Connected  in  origin  as  are  the  Miraculous  Medal  and 
the  Scapular  of  the  Passion,  they  are  likewise  connected  in 
the  object  for  which  they  were  given.  For  though  the 
main  object  of  the  medal  is  devotion  to  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  while  the  main  object  of  the  scapular  is  devotion 
to  the  Passion  of  our  Lord,  the  two  have  a  secondary  object 
in  common,  namely,  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus 
and  to  the  Holy  Heart  of  Mary.  For  on  the  reverse  of  the 
medal,  as  on  one  of  the  scapulars,  these  two  Hearts  are 
represented:  the  one  surrounded  by  a  circlet  of  thorns,  the 
other  pierced  with  a  cruel  sword. 

The  devotion  excited  by  means  of  the  Miraculous  Medal 
brought  about  the  definition  of  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  in  1854.  This  definition,  confirmed  in  1858 
by  the  wonderful  apparitions  at  Lourdes,  has  given  such 
impetus  to  devotion  to  our  Lady,  that  at  no  other  time  in 
the  history  of  the  Church  was  this  devotion  so  popular  or 
attended  with  such  manifold  blessings.  The  renewal  of 
devotion  to  the  Passion  since  the  institution  of  the  Bed 
Scapular,  though  not  so  striking,  is  nevertheless  manifest, 
and  has  been  productive  of  incalculable  good.  Missions  are 
now  given  at  short  intervals  in  almost  every  parish,  and  in 
the  course  of  every  mission  the  sermons  on  the  Passion 
produce  most  abundant  fruit ;  the  Stations  of  the  Cross  are 
now  erected  in  every  church  and  chapel,  and  the  people  are 
encouraged  and  exhorted  to  perform  this  beautiful  devotion ; 
sodalities  and  confraternities  have  been  established  every- 


1  Sceur  Apolline)  Fille  de  la  Charite,  et  te  Scapulaire  de  la  Passion,  Libraire, 
Ch.  Poussielgue,  Rue  Cassette  15,  Paris. 


and  of  the  Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary        1109 

where,  with  the  result  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
faithful  have  become  monthly  communicants,  and  lead  not 
merely  good  but  saintly  lives. 

It  is  with  the  hope  that  our  readers  will  secure  for  them- 
selves, and  extend  to  others,  the  graces  promised  by  our 
Lord,  and  the  indulgences  granted  by  the  Church  to  those 
who  wear  the  Scapular  of  the  Passion,  that  this  short  notice 
has  been  penned. 

Sister  Apolline — Louise  Apolline  Aline  Andriveau,  to  give 
her  her  full  baptismal  name — was  born  in  1810,  and  joined 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  in  1833.  Her 
parents  were  wealthy,  and  at  the  same  time  pious,  and 
while  careful  to  secure  for  their  daughter  the  best  education 
the  age  could  afford,  they  were  still  more  careful  to  train  her 
in  the  ways  of  God.  At  school  she  displayed  talents  of  such 
high  order,  that  one  of  her  teachers  who  had  been  teaching 
girls  for  forty  years,  declared  that  Apolline  Andriveau  was 
the  most  brilliant  pupil  she  had  ever  had.  But  her  talents, 
her  accomplishments,  her  beauty,  the  exalted  position  in 
society  to  which  her  parents'  rank  and  wealth  entitled  her, 
were  all  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  divine  love.  Notwith- 
standing the  opposition  of  her  parents,  and  the  insidious 
voice  of  flattery,  she  donned  the  humble  habit  of  a  Sister  of 
Charity,  and  devoted  her  life  to  the  service  of  the  poor. 
After  her  novitiate  she  was  sent  to  the  Convent  in  Troyes, 
and  in  the  Chapel  of  this  Convent  our  Lord  appeared  to  her, 
showed  her  a  scapular  of  a  red  .colour,  and  told  her  that 
those  who  should  wear  a  similar  scapular  would  receive 
many  graces.  In  a  letter  to  the  Superior  General  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Mission,  to  whom,  as  to  her  Superior, 
her  confessor  obliged  her  to  write,  she  thus  describes  the 
first  apparition  of  our  Lord  : — 

"  Being  in  the  chapel  in  the  evening  of  the  octave  day  1  of 
our  Holy  Father,2 1  saw,  or  thought  I  saw,  our  Lord  dressed  in  a 
flowing  robe  of  a  red  colour  with  a  blue  mantle  hanging  from  His 
shoulders.  Oh,  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  how  Thou  didst  fill  my  poor 
heart  in  that  supreme  moment  !  Oh  !  how  beautiful  was  He ! 
It  was  no  longer  the  visage  wearied  with  the  sufferings  of  the 

1  July  26,  1846.  2  St.  Vincent  de  Paul. 


1110     The  Scapular  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

pretorium,  as  I  had  seen  it  a  few  days  before  during  the  holy 
Mass  ;  it  was  Beauty  Essential.  He  had  in  His  right  hand  a  red 
scapular  on  which  He  was  represented  on  the  cross,  surrounded 
by  those  instruments  of  the  Passion,  which  had  most  cruelly 
tortured  His  Sacred  Humanity.  On  a  scroll  around  the  crucifix, 
I  read  the  following  words  :  '  Sacred  passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  protect  us  !  '  At  the  other  end  of  the  strings,  which  were 
of  red  woollen  material  was  a  representation  of  the  holy  Hearts  of 
Jesus  and  Mary  :  the  one  encircled  with  thorns,  the  other  pierced 
with  a  sword  ;  and  from  between  the  two  Hearts  rose  up  a  cross. 
Several  times  afterwards  I  saw  the  same  apparition,  and  at  last  on 
the  feast  of  the  Exaltation  of  the  Holy  Cross,1  our  Lord  deigned 
to  say  to  me.  '  The  priests  of  the  Mission  alone  are  to  give  this 
scapular,  and  those  who  wear  it  when  blessed  by  them  will 
receive  every  Friday  a  full  remission  of  their  sins,  and  a  great 
increase  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity.'  Our  Lord  wishes  people  to 
speak  often  of  His  sufferings  and  death,  and  He  complains  that 
even  the  members  of  religious  communities  neglect  this  .  .  . 
It  seems  to  me  [she  concludes]  that  Eome  would  not  refuse  to 
grant  a  plenary  indulgence  every  Friday  to  those  who  wear  the 
scapular,  and  who  would  fulfil  the  usual  conditions  for  gaining 
indulgences." 

M.  Etierme,  the  Superior  General,  took  little  notice  at 
first  of  Sister  Apolline's  frequent  and  earnest  declarations 
that  it  was  the  will  of  our  Lord  that  he  should  obtain  the 
approval  of  the  Church  for  the  Scapular  of  the  Passion. 
He  doubted  neither  the  piety  nor  the  good  sense  of  the  holy 
Sister,  but  he  feared  to  encounter  the  difficulties  and  delays 
which  wisely  oppose  the  introduction  of  every  new  form  of 
devotion.  On  her  part,  Sister  Apolline  made  very  light 
of  these,  and  assured  M.  Etienne  that  since  our  Redeemer 
desired  the  introduction  of  this  scapular,  He  would  in  His 
own  good  time  remove  all  obstacles.  In  the  Summer  of  the 
year  1847,  M.  Etienne  found  himself  in  Eome  on  business 
connected  with  the  Congregation  over  which  he  presided, 
and  taking  advantage  of  a  special  audience  with  the  Holy 
Father,  he  mentioned  Sister  Apolline's  visions,  and  her  oft- 
repeated  statement  that  our  Lord  desired  the  approval  of  the 
new  scapular.  To  the  Eeverend  Father's  surprise,  Pius  IX., 
so  far  from  objecting  to  the  new  devotion  gave  it  his 
hearty  approval,  and  on  the  25th  June  of  the  same  year 
(1847),  the  Holy  Father  issued  a  Rescript,  by  which  he 

i  September  14. 


and  of  the  Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary        1111 

formally  established  the  new  devotion,  and  granted  to  the 
Superior  General  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission,  and 
to  all  the  priests  of  the  same  Congregation,  faculties  to 
bless  the  Scapular  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord  >and  of  the 
Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus  and  Mary,  and  distribute  it  to  the 
faithful. 

The  desire  to  receive  the  new  scapular  duly  blessed  soon 
became  so  intense  and  so  widespread,  that  the  priests  of  the 
Mission  Were  wholly  unable  to  supply  all  the  demands  made 
upon  them  ;  and  M.  Etienne,  in  1848,  requested  the  Holy 
Father  to  empower  him  to  grant  faculties  for  blessing  the 
scapular  to  all  priests,  secular  or  regular,  who  should  ask 
for  it.  This  request  also  His  Holiness  graciously  granted  in 
favour  of  M.  Etienne  and  his  successors,1  and  on  the  same 
occasion  granted  the  plenary  indulgence  which  Sister 
Apolline  so  much  desired— a  plenary  indulgence  every 
Friday  to  those  who  wear  the  Scapular  of  the  Passion  and 
fulfil  certain  other  conditions.  The  following  is  a  complete 
list  of  the  indulgences  which  the  wearers  of  this  scapular 
may  now  gain  :^- 

1.  Plenary    Indulgences. — (a)    On    the    day   on    which    the 
scapular  is  received,  provided  the  person  receiving  it  shall  have 
worthily   received  the  Sacraments  of  Penance  and  the  Blessed 
Eucharist,  and  shall  have  prayed  for  some  ttme  in  a   church  or 
public  oratory  for  the  intentions  of  His  Holiness.2 

(b)  Everyone  who  Wears  the  Bed  Scapular  can  gain  a  plenary 
indulgence   on   each   Friday  of  the   year  on  the   conditions  of 
receiving  the  sacraments  worthily,  of  meditating  for  a  short  time 
on   the   Passion   of   our   Lord,  and   of  praying  for   the  Pope's 
intentions. 3 

(c)  At  the  hour  of  death,  provided  the  wearer  of  this  scapular 
be  previously  disposed  by  the  reception  of  the  sacraments,  or 
that  he,  at  least,  devoutly  invoke  the  Holy  Name  of  Jesus  in  his 
heart,  if  unable  to  do  so  with  his  lips.4 

2.  Partial  Indulgences.— (a)   An   indulgence  of  seven  years 

1  Now  as  then  the  Superior- General  of  the  Congregation  of  the"  Mission 
(Vincentians)  is  anxious  that  priests  should  ask  for  these  faculties.     Any  priest 
of  the  Congregation  will,  we  feel  sure,  forward  the  application,  or  will  give 
instructions  as  to  how  it  should  be  forwarded. 

2  Rescript,  July  19,  1850. 

3  Rescript,  March  21, 1848.    Those  who  cannot  conveniently  fulfil  the  above 
conditions  on  Friday,  can  gain  the  Indulgence  by  fulfilling  them  on  Sunday. 
Rescript,  Sept.  13,  1850. 

*  July  19,  1850, 


1112     The  Recent  Decree  of  the  Congregation  of  Rites 

and  seven  quarantines  to  all  who  wear  the  Ked  Scapular  on  every 
Friday  in  the  year  on  which  they  confess,  receive  Communion, 
and  recite  five  Paters,  Aves,  and  Glorias,  meditating  during  the 
recital  on  the  Passion  of  Christ. 1 

(b)  Three  years  and  three  quarantines  on  any  day  in  the  year 
on  which  the  wearers  of  this  scapular  shall,  with  contrite  hearts, 
meditate  for  half  an  hour  on  the  Passion. 

(c)  Two  hundred  days  for  devoutly  kissing  the  Eed  Scapular, 
and  repeating  at  the  same  with  contrite  heart  the  versicle  :    "  Te 
ergo    quaesumus    tuis    famulis    subveni    quos   pretisso   sanguine 
redemisti"     "  We,  therefore  beseech  Thee,  to  help  Thy  servants 
whom  Thou  hast  redeemed  by  Thy  Precious  Blood."  2 

The  object  of  this  short  article  is  now  fulfilled.  It  was 
not  the  writer's  intention  either  to  review  the  book  which 
occasioned  the  article,  nor  to  write  an  account  of  Sister 
Apolline's  virtues  and  visions.  He  merely  intended  to 
say  as  much  about  the  Scapular  of  the  Passion  as  might 
induce  his  readers  to  procure  for  themselves  and  for  others, 
the  blessings  and  graces  which  they  receive  who  devoutly 
wear  this  scapular ;  and  as  might  bring  them  to  reflect 
on  the  power  for  converting  sinners  and  confirming  the  just, 
contained  in  the  Sacred  Passion  of  our  Lord,  and  on  His 
desire  that  men  should  often  think  and  speak  of  His 
sufferings  and  death. 

D.  O'LoAN. 


THE  RECENT  DECREE  OF  THE  CONGREGATION 
OF  BITES  REGARDING  CHURCH  MUSIC 

SOME  months  ago  3  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites 
published  a  decree  on  Church  Music  which  is  worthy 
of  a  few  explanatory  remarks.  The  Sacred  Congregation 
had  been  frequently  asked  whether  it  is  of  precept  that  in  a 
Solemn  Mass  the  intonations  of  the  Gloria  and  Credo,  the 
modulations  of  the  Prayers,  Preface,  and  Pater  noster,  and 
the  respective  responses  of  the  choir,  should  be  rendered  as 
they  are  given  in  the  Missal,  or  whether  they  might  be 

1  June  25,  1847. 

2  Receipt   of  June   25,   1847.     As  has  been  remarked  by  F.    Beringer,  it  is 
not  stated  in  the  documents  relating  to  these  indulgences  that  they  are  appli- 
cable to  the  souls  in  purgatory. 

3  See  I.  E.  RECOBD,  June,  1896,  p.  567. 


regarding  Church  Music  1113 

varied  according  to  the  usage  of  certain  Churches.  The 
Sacred  Congregation  answered  in  the  affirmative  to  the 
first  part  of  the  question,  in  the  negative  to  the  second, 
adding  that  any  contrary  usage  ought  to  be  eliminated. 

By  this  response,  the  Sacred  Congregation  first  of  all 
has  again  confirmed  what  has  been  declared  before,  and  has 
been  the  general  opinion  of  writers  on  the  subject,  namely, 
that  the  melodies  given  in  the  Missal  are  obligatory  for  the 
celebrant.  To  these  is  to  be  added  the  chant  for  the  prayers, 
which  is  not  found  in  the  Missal,  but  is  explained  in  the 
Caeremoniale  Episcoporum  and  the  Directorium  Chori.  The 
Sacred  Congregation  does  not  speak  of  the  chants  of  the 
deacon  and  sub-deacon ;  but  it  might  be  concluded  from 
this  decree  a  pari  that  they  too  are  obligatory,  if  otherwise 
any  doubt  on  this  point  were  possible.  It  is  to  be  hoped, 
then,  that  after  this  new  decision  such  priests  as  have  hitherto 
used  different  chants  in  their  singing  at  the  altar,  will 
henceforward  take  pains  to  conform  themselves  to  the  chants 
prescribed  by  the  Holy  See. 

But  there  is,  in  the  decree  under  review,  one  decision 
which  is,  as  far  as  we  know,  altogether  new,  namely,  that 
part  of  it  which  prescribes  also  the  Kesponses  of  the  Choir 
to  be  rendered  as  they  are  given  in  the  Missal.  Hitherto 
the  general  opinion  was  that  the  choir  were  free,  as  far  as 
the  melodies  are  concerned,  that  the  only  strict  obligation 
applying  to  them  was  to  sing  the  proper  words  in  a  becoming 
fashion.  Accordingly,  some  choirs,  even  in  churches  where 
the  liturgical  laws  were  strictly  observed,  used  to  sing  the 
Kesponses  to  some  arbitrary  harmony.  This  usage,  though 
perhaps  objectionable  from  an  artistic  point  of  view,  could 
not,  until  lately,  be  impugned  on  the  ground  of  any  ecclesi- 
astical legislation.  But  now  the  choirs  are  obliged  to  sing 
the  Et  cum  spirits  tuo,  the  Amen,  the  Eesponses  before 
the  Preface  and  after  the  Pater  nosier,  in  the  way  they  are 
given  in  the  Missal  or  the  Caeremoniale  Episcoporum 
respectively.  It  will  be  the,  duty  of  the  Bectores  Ecclesiae 
to  inform  their  choirs  of  this  new  obligation,  and  to  see  that 

it  be  obeyed. 

H.  BEWERTJNGS. 


Gbeological  motes 

ANSWERS   TO   CORRESPONDENTS 

THE   LAWS   OF  A  NATIONAL   SYNOD  ABE  NOT  MEEE  DIOCESAN 

LAWS 

EEV.  DEAB  SIE, — May  I  ask  you  to  explain  in  what  manner 
the  enactments  of  plenary  synods  can  have  binding  force  outside 
the  territory  of  each  bishop  for  his  subjects  ?  It  is  not  because 
there  is  any  special  approbation  at  Eome ;  it  must,  then,  be  in 
the  summoning  of  the  synod  by  the  authority  of  someone  having 
legislative  power  throughout  the  country.  C. 

The  laws  of  a  plenary  synod,  as  our  correspondent  rightly 
implies,  are  not  mere  diocesan  laws;  and,  as  a  consequence, 
the  enactments  of  the  Synod  of  Maynooth,  for  instance,  bind  a 
Cork  man,  while  he  is  travelling  in  Wicklow  or  Connemara, 
just  as  when  he  resides  at  home.  These  laws  are  national  laws, 
and  a  subject  of  any  Irish  diocese  must  leave  this  country 
before  he  will  cease  to  be  bound  by  them.  The  force  of  national 
laws  could,  of  course,  be  attached  to  them  by  confirmation 
of  the  Pope  in  forma  specified.  As  we  pointed  out,  how- 
ever, in  the  last  number  of  the  I.  E.  EECOED,  there  has 
been  no  confirmation,  either  in  forma  specifica  or  in  forma 
communi,  of  the  Synod  of  Maynooth.  Hence  the  difficulty 
underlying  our  correspondent's  question.  Would  it  not  seem 
that  the  bishops  of  the  nation — seeing  that  no  one  of  them 
individually  has  a  right  to  legislate  for  any  diocese  but  his 
own— could  do  no  more  than  simultaneously  introduce  a 
uniform  code  of  diocesan  laws? 

In  replying  to  this  question,  it  is  useful  to  recall  the  fact 
that  bishops  in  a  legitimately-assembled  council — oecumeni- 
cal, national,  or  provincial — do  not  legislate  by  virtue  of  their 
diocesan  jurisdiction ;  as  a  member  of  the  council  each  of 
them  participates  in  the  corporate  jurisdiction  of  the 
council.  The  jurisdiction  of  each  extends,  not  to  his  own 
diocese  only,  but  to  every  diocese  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  council.  In  an  oecumenical  council  each  bishop 
shares  universal  jurisdiction ;  in  a  national  council,  national 
jurisdiction ;  in  a  provincial  council,  provincial  jurisdiction. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1115 

In  order  that  these  various  councils  should  possess  the 
corporate  jurisdiction  proper  to  each,  they  must,  of  course, 
be  assembled  and  held  constitutionally,  as  the  Canon  Law 
provides.  The  oecumenical  council  must  be  convoked 
and  presided  over  by  the  Pope  or  by  his  representative. 
The  metropolitan — or,  if  he  be  dead  or  incapacitated, 
the  senior  suffragan  bishop — has,  from  the  Canon  Law, 
authority  to  convene  and  preside  over  a  provincial  synod. 
Similarly,  it  formerly  belonged  to  the  office  of  primate  to 
assemble  a  national  council  of  the  several  provinces  within 
his  jurisdiction.  Now,  however,  that  primates,  as  such, 
no  longer  retain  primatial  jurisdiction,  there  is  in  the 
Church  no  one  but  the  Pope  who  has  authority  to  hold  a 
national  council.  Whenever,  therefore,  a  national  council  is 
held,  the  Pope  delegates  to  a  primate  or  to  an  archbishop 
transient  primatial  jurisdiction,  in  virtue  of  which  he 
convenes  the  council  and  presides  at  it.  In  a  synod  thus 
legitimately  convened,  the  body  of  bishops  has  from  Canon 
Law  national  jurisdiction,  and  each  bishop  participates  in 
the  whole  jurisdiction  of  the  council,  and  legislates  for  the 
rest  of  the  nation  equally  as  for  his  own  diocese.  It  should 
not  be  inferred,  however,  that  individual  bishops  can  after- 
wards dispense  in  the  laws  of  the  synod  potestate  ordinaria. 
Once  the  synod  is  dissolved,  bishops  no  longer  retain  the 
jurisdiction  which  they  possessed  as  members  of  the  synod  ; 
and,  even  though  they  did  retain  it,  they  would  still  be 
inferior  to  the  synod  itself,  and  therefore  incapable,  without 
delegation,  of  dispensing  in  its  laws. 

In  regard  to  the  power  of  dispensing  in  synodal  laws,  it 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  synod  itself  and 
its  delegates  can  dispense  only  in  so  far  as  those  laws 
emanate  from  the  synod.  Matters  already  of  universal 
ecclesiastical  precept — not  to  speak  of  the  natural  or  divine 
law — remain  unaffected.  When  bishops,  therefore,  are  said 
to  have  a  dispensing  power  in  the  laws  of  the  Maynooth 
Synod,  the  meaning  is,  that  with  cause  they  can  dispense  in 
these  synodal  laws,  as  such,  leaving  intact  other  obligations, 
if  such  there  be,  under  the  general  law  of  the  Church.  The 
Synod  of  Maynooth,  for  example,  binds  parish  priests  to 


1116  Theological  Notes 

residence.  It  is  clear  that  any  delegated  dispensing  power 
that  bishops  have  in  this  law  can  touch  only  the  special 
obligation  and  provisions  of  the  Maynooth  law,  and  that 
it  can  in  no  way  affect  the  obligation  under  the  general 
law  of  the  Church  in  the  same  matter. 


PKEACHING  IN 
A   CONVENT 

EEV  DEAR  SIB, — As  a  subscriber  of  the  I.  E.  BECOKD,  I  would 
feel  very  grateful  if  you  would  answer  the  following  questions  in 
your  next  number  : — 

1.  Is  the  Pope's  Apostolic  letter,  Apostolicae  curae  an  infallible 
utterance  ? 

Could  another  Pope  re-open  the  discussion  ? 
Should  we  refuse  absolution  to  those  who  would  not  believe 
that  Anglican  orders  are  invalid  ? 

2.  Could  a  mother  superior  of  a  religious  community,  for  the 
spiritual  progress  of  her  inferiors  (without  consulting  bishop  or 
chaplain),   ask  a  friar  to   give  them  now  and  then  a  spiritual 
conference  ? 

Hoping  you  will  favour  me  with  a  reply,  receive  my 
antipicated  thanks.  F.  CAUS. 

1.  It  is  not  an  infallible  utterance  ;  another  Pope  may 
therefore,  re-open  the  consideration  of  the  same  question. 
But,  though  this  decision  on  the  invalidity  of  Anglican 
orders  is  not  irrevocable  and  infallible,  and  therefore  not 
a  matter  of  faith  to  which  an  absolute  and  irrevocable 
assent  is  due,  we  are,  nevertheless,  bound  to  accept  it 
even  with  internal  assent.  For  the  Pope  has  authority 
to  teach,  and  we  are  bound  in  obedience  to  assent  to  his 
teaching,  in  many  cases  in  which  he  does  not,  or  cannot, 
use  his  prerogative  of  infallibility. 

We  believe  that  Catholics  would  be  guilty  of  grave  sin 
by  refusing  to  accept  this  recent  condemnation  of  the 
validity  of  Anglican  orders.  Subjectively,  of  course,  some 
persons  may  be  excused  from  sin  or  from  grave  sin.  If  a 
confessor  is  not  asked  about  the  matter,  there  does  not  seem 
to  be  any  reason  why  he  should  interrogate  his  penitents  oil 
tihis  subject.  If  he  is  consulted,  then,  per  se,  of  course,  he 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1117 

will  explain  the  obligation.  Per  accidens  he  will,  perhaps 
sometimes  think  it  prudent  to  allow  a  penitent  that  bona 
fide  rejects  the  decision  to  remain  in  his  bona  fides,  rather 
than  give  occasion  to  the  formal  and  'mala  fide  repudiation  of 
the  Pope's  teaching. 

2.  The  permission  of  the  bishop,  express  or  presumed,  is 
necessary. 

DELEGATED    POWEES     OF    A    VICAE     FOEANE — DISPENSATION 

IN   BANNS 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — Would  you  please  answer   the  following  in 
I.  E.  RECORD  : — 

1.  May   a   bishop    strictly    delegate    to    his    vicars    forane, 
dispensing  powers  for  the  whole  diocese,  e.g.  in  banns. 

2.  In  seeking  dispensations  in  banns,  is  the  custom  that  the 
parish  priest  of  the  sponsus  should  always  be  the  orator  to  be 
maintained?     Take  a  case:  John  belongs  to  parish  A.,  and  wishes 
to  get  married  to  Mary,  who  lives  in  the  parish  B.,  but  whose 
domicile  is  in  parish  C  of  another  adjoining  diocese.     Does  the 
trouble   of    seeking   the    banns,    and    going  through    with   the 
preliminaries,  fall  upon  the  parish  priest  of  the  parish  A.  ? 

3.  Must  the  dispensation  be  asked  for  in  the  Latin  language, 
and  in  the  name   of    the  sponsi.      The  meaning  of    the   latter 
part  of  the  question  is,  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  seeker  of 
dispensation  to  be  a  priest,  that  the  sponsus  can  do  so  himself. 

A  MAYNOOTH  PRIEST. 

De  Angelis  describes  the  office  and  duties  of  a  vicar 
forane  as  follows  : — 

"Vicarii  Foranei  dicuntur  illi  qui  in  certa  parte  diocesis 
extra  civitatem  per  episcopum  ponuntur  ut  ibi  jurisdictionem 
exerceant  .  .  .  Vicariorum  istorum  jurisdictio  limitata  valde  est, 
nam  comprehendit  tantum  personas  sui  districtus  et  clericos  in 
causis  levioribus.  .  .  .  Potior  eorum  auctoritas  explicatur  in 
vigilaatia  quam  debent  exercere,  ut  leges  ecclesiasticae 
observentur  a  clero  et  a  populo.  Vicarius  Foraneus  proinde  est, 
qui  invigilat  pro  sanctificatione  festorum,  qui  dat  licentiam 
vacandi  illis  diebus  vetitis  laboribus,  et  qui  punire  potest  quoque 
transgressores.  .  .  Sed  specialius  hanc  vigilantiae  auctoritatem 
explicet  in  clerum :  nam  ejus  est  inquirere  de  vita  et  moribus 
clericorum,  an  parochi  et  presbyteri  sui  vicariatus  habeant  libros, 
quos  habere  debent,  an  observent  decreta  synodalia,  an  eorum 
incuria  divinus  cultus  aliquid  detriment!  patiatur,  an  parochi 


1118  Theological  Notes 

observent  legem  residentiae,  deque  istis  omnibus  ad  episcopum 
relationem  facere.  Vicario  Foraneo  juxta  receptam  praxim  hodie 
incumbit  in  unum  congregare  semel  in  mense  presbyteros  sui 
districtus  ad  conferendam  inter  se  super  difficultatibus 
paroeciarum  et  cura  animarum,  v.el,  ut  communiter  dicitur  ad 
conferentias  casuum  moralium." 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  vicar  forane,  then,  as  such, 
extends  to  his  own  district  or  deanery  only ;  his  jurisdiction, 
as  vicar  forane,  does  not  include  the  power  of  dispensing 
in  banns,  even  in  his  own  district.  But,  of  course,  the 
bishop  may,  and  in  this  country  usually  does,  grant  the  power 
of  dispensing  in  his  deanery.  Nor,  is  there  anything  to 
prevent  the  bishop  from  delegating  this  and  similar  powers 
to  a  vicar  frane — or,  indeed,  to  any  other  of  his  priests — for 
the  whole  diocese. 

We  are  not  clear  that  we  understand  our  correspondent's 
difficulty.  Absolutely  speaking,  the  contracting  parties  may 
themselves  seek  the  dispensation  in  banns,  in  their  own 
names,  and  in  any  language  in  which  they  can  make 
themselves  understood.  But,  there  are  very  obvious  advan- 
tages, we  think,  in  the  prevailing  practice,  by  which  the 
application  is  made  through  the  parish  priest.  The  dis- 
pensation will  not,  of  course,  be  grated  by  the  bishop  or 
the  vicar,  unless  it  be  certain  that  no  impediment  exists  to 
the  marriage.  Manifestly,  the  parish  priest  is  in  a  much 
better  position  to  know,  or  acquire  a  knowledge  of,  the 
circumstances  of  each  case,  than  the  bishop  or  the  vicar, 
living,  as  a  rule,  at  a  distance. 

Where  the  contracting  parties  belong  to  different 
dioceses,  the  dispensation  in  banns  ought — unless  there  be  a 
recognised  custom  to  the  contrary — be  sought  in  both  dioceses, 
and  by  the  respective  parish  priests,  as  we  have  said.  Where 
the  contracting  parties  belong  to  the  same  diocese,  the  custom, 
with  which  we  are  familiar,  is  that  the  parish  priest  of  the 
sponsa  procures  the  dispensation  in  banns.  If,  however,  in 
some  places,  the  usual  practice  is,  that  the  parish  priest  of 
the  sponsus  procures  it,  then  there  seems  no  urgent  reason 
why  individuals  should  depart  from  that  custom. 

D*  MANNIX, 

1  De  Angelas,  tit.  xxviii.,  n,  1C, 


[    1119     ] 

Xiturgical  motes 

ANSWERS    TO    CORRESPONDENTS 

THE  PRAYERS  "  FIDELIUM  "  AND  "A  CUNCTIS  " 
EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — Might  I  ask  you  to  kindly  say  what  the 
ending  of  the  prayer  Fidelium  Deus,  &c.,  is  in  all  the  Masses 
de  Eequiem  ?  In  the  breviary  it  is  clearly  laid  down  that  the 
ending  of  that  prayer  is — Qui  vims  et  regnas  cum  Deo  Patre,  in 
unitate  Spiritus  Sancti  Deus,  for  the  feast  of  All  Souls ;  in  the 
other  Masses  for  the  Dead — Qui  vivis  et  regnas  in  secula,  &c. , 
sine  addito.  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  following  this  rule,  but 
in  talking  on  the  subject  with  some  priests  lately,  they  maintain 
that  the  ending  of  that  prayer  is  the  same  in  all  the  Masses  for 
the  Dead  as  in  that  for  the  Mass  for  All  Souls.  I  am  of  a 
different  opinion.  Hence  why  I  venture  to  trouble  you  for  an 
answer  on  the  point.  Kindly  say  what  is  the  conclusion  of 
the  Post  Communion  prayer  of  the  Oratio  Fidelium,  in  the 
Masses  de  Eequiem  that  are  not  for  the  feast  of  All  Souls. 
I  should  also  feel  thankful  if  you  kindly  tell  me  the  name  of 
the  saint  that  ought  to  be  inserted  in  the  prayer  A  Cunctis  after 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul.  This,  too,  has  been  called  in  doubt.  In 
this  diocese  we  always  insert  the  name  of  the  patron  of  the 
diocese,  while  others  say  we  should  insert  St.  Patrick.  Which 
is  right  ? 

INQUIRER. 

1.  The  prayer  Fidelium  has  in  every  Eequiem  Mass  in 
which  it  is  said  the  same  long  conclusion  which  it  has  in 
the  office  and  Mass  on  the  commemoration  of  All  Souls. 
It  is  an  invariable  rule  that  the  prayers  in  Mass  and  in  the 
divine  office  have  the  long  conclusion,  as  distinguished 
from  the  corresponding  short  conclusion,  which  alone  is 
admissible  in  quasi-liturgical,  or  extra-liturgical  functions. 
It  is  true,  as  our  correspondent  points  out,  that  the  special 
rubric  of  the  Breviary,  printed  immediately  after  the  prayer 
Fidelium,  directs  the  long  conclusion  to  be  given  to  this 
prayer  only  on  the  commemoration  of  All  Souls.  But,  in 
the  first  place,  we  do  not  think  that  this  rubric  constitutes  an 
exception  to  the  general  rule  wejhave  laid  down  :  for  it  is  only 
on  the  commemoration  of  All  Souls  that  the  Office  of  theDead 


1120 


Liturgical  Notes 


can  be  regarded  as  the  Office  of  the  day,  or  as  occupy  in  { 
the  same  liturgical  position  as  the  Office  of  the  day.  Hence, 
on  this  day  alone  should  it  have  the  long  conclusion. 
Secondly,  supposing  this  rubric  constitutes  an  exception 
to  the  general  rule  regarding  the  conclusion  of  the  prayers 
— a  supposition,  however,  which  we  are  far  from  admitting— 
it  refers  to  the  prayer  Fidelium  only  as  said  in  the  Office  for 
the  Dead,  and  cannot,  from  the  fact  that  it  is  merely  a 
rubric  of  the  Breviary,  refer  to  this  prayer  as  it  is  said  in 
the  Mass.  Hence,  whether  we  regard  the  rubric  of  the 
Breviary  as  being  in  accordance  with  the  general  rule,  or  as 
forming  an  exception  to  it,  it  has  absolutely  no  bearing  on 
the  Mass ;  and  since  no  similar  rubric  is  given  in  the  Missal 
it  follows  that  in  Kequiem  Masses  in  which  the  Fidelinm  is 
said  with  its  proper  conclusion,  it  must  always  have  the 
long  conclusion. 

2.  The  Post  Communion  corresponding  with  the  prayer 
Fidelium^  concludes  as  does  the  prayer  itself,  Qui  vivis  et 
regnas  cum  Deo  Patre  in  unitate  Spiritus  Sancti  Deus,  per 
omnia,  &c.     This  conclusion  is  actually  printed  in  an  edition 
of  the  Missal,  published  in  1892  by  the  Society  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist. 

3.  The  general  rule  regarding  the  name  to  be  inserted  at  the 
letter  N  in  the  prayer  A  cunctis,  is  that  it  should  be  the  name 
of  the  patron   or   titular  of  the  church,  chapel,  or  public 
oratory  in  which  Mass  is  celebrated.    Many  priests,  we  fear, 
ignore    this   general  rule,   and  follow  on  all  occasions   a 
direction  which  refers  only  to  a  particular  case.    Our  corres- 
pondent's question  affords  an  example  of  what  we  mean ; 
for  he  clearly  implies  that  the  priests  of  his  acquaintance  do 
not  regard  the  claims  of  the  patron  or  titular  of  the  Church, 
and  are  divided  merely  as  to  the  relative  claims  of  the  patron 
of  the  diocese  and  the  patron  of  the  country.     This  latter 
question   may  be   discussed   in  treating   of  those  cases  in 
which,  for  any  reason,  the  general  rule  cannot  be  observed  ; 
otherwise  any  discussion  of  it  is  entirely  out  of  place. 

There  are  cases,  then,  in  which  the  general  rule  cannot 
be  observed ;  and  it  is  only  when  such  cases  occur  that  any 
doubt  can  arise  as  to  the  name  to  be  inserted  in  the  prayer. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1121 

I.  An  obvious  case  is  that  in  which  the  place  where 
Mass  is  celebrated  has  no  patron.  This  is  true  of  private 
oratories  (and,  of  course,  of  private  houses),  and  even  of 
public  oratories,  chapels,  and  churches,  until  they  have  been 
solemnly  blessed.  The  rule  generally  laid  down  for  this 
case  is  that  the  name  of  the  patron  of  the  place  should  be 
inserted  at  the  letter  N,  provided  there  be  a  custom  of 
commemorating  him  in  the  suffrages  of  the  Divine  Office  ; 
otherwise  the  words,  ac  Beato,  should  be  omitted.  We  believe, 
however,  that  this  rule  should  no  longer  be  expressed  in  a 
conditional  form,  but  should  be  made  absolute.  For  in  the 
year  1876,  a  decree  of  the  Congregation  of  Kites  was  published 
which  either  imposed  the  obligation  of  commemorating  the 
patron  of  the  place  in  the  suffrages  of  the  Divine  Office  on  all 
clerics  not  formally  attached  to  a  church  having  a  patron, 
or,  at  least,  presupposed  the  existence  of  such  an  obligation. 

Now,  when  there  was  merely  a  custom  of  commemorating 
the  patron  of  the  place  in  the  Divine  Office,  there  was,  as 
wre  have  seen,  an  obligation  of  inserting  his  name  in  the 
A  cunctis  when  Mass  was  said  in  an  oratory  having  no  patron. 
At  present,  however,  the  custom  of  commemorating  the 
patron  of  the  place  in  the  Office  must  be  universal,  since  it 
has  become  a  precept ;  and  universal,  consequently,  must  be 
the  obligation  of  inserting  the  name  of  the  patron  in  the 
A  cunctis  in  the  circumstances  we  are  now  contemplating. 

Who,  then,  is  the  patron  of  the  place  whose  name  is  to  be 
inserted  in  the  A  cunctis  when  there  is  no  patron  of  the 
church  or  oratory  in  which  Mass  is  celebrated  ?  We  believe 
we  are  answering  in  conformity  with  the  rubrics  and  the 
decrees  of  the  Congregation  of  Kites  in  saying  that  he  is 
the  patron  who  is  most  closely  connected  with  the  place 
where  Mass  is  celebrated.  Hence,  if  a  particular  parish 
have  a  patron,  as  many  of  the  parishes  in  Ireland  we  under- 
stand have,  his  name  is  to  be  mentioned  in  the  A  cunctis  in 
any  private  oratory,  &c.,  within  the  parish.  If  a  city  or  town 
have  a  patron,  as  the  cities  of  Kilkenny  and  Gal  way  have, 
then  it  is  this  patron's  name  that  is  inserted  in  the  prayer. 
Next  comes  the  patron  of  the  diocese,  and  finally  the  patron 
of  the  country  or  kingdom.  We  have  now  come  to  the 

VOL.  XVII.  4  B 


1122  Liturgical  Notes 

place  where  we  may  solve  our  correspondent's  doubts 
regarding  the  relative  claims  of  the  patron  of  a  particular 
diocese  in  Ireland  and  St.  Patrick.  From  the  principle  we 
have  laid  down  it  follows  that  preference  should  be  given  to 
the  name  of  the  patron  of  the  diocese,  because  he  is  more 
closely  connected  with  the  diocese  than  St.  Patrick. 

A  second  case  in  which  the  name  of  the  patron  or  titular 
of  the  church  in  which  Mass  is  celebrated  cannot  be  inserted 
in  the  A  cunctis,  is  when  the  church  is  dedicated  to  a 
Divine  Person  or  Mystery ;  for  example,  to  the  Most  Holy 
Redeemer  or  to  the  Most  Holy  Trinity.  In  this  case  the 
same  rule  is  to  be  followed  as  is  prescribed  for  the  case  in 
which  the  church,  &c.,  has  no  patron. 

Thirdly,  if  the  patron  of  a  church  be  one  of  those  saints 
whose  names  are  already  mentioned  in  the  prayer,  namely, 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  St.  Joseph,1 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  the  name  cannot  be  repeated  at  the 
letter  N.  In  this  case  the  celebrant  has  several  alterna- 
tives. He  may  follow  the  rule  laid  down  in  the  two 
preceding  cases,  and  introduce  the  name  of  the  patron  of 
the  place  at  the  letter  N.  We  say  he  may  follow  this  rule, 
for  we  do  not  think  he  is  bound  to  follow,  as  we  think  the 
celebrant  is  in  both  the  cases  already  discussed ;  for  in  this 
case  the  name  of  the  patron  of  the  church  has  been  actually 
mentioned  in  the  prayer,  and  hence  the  law  has  been 
fulfilled.  Consequently, he  may  omit  ac  Beato  altogether,  and 
insert  no  name  in  addition  to  those  already  mentioned  in 
the  prayer.  Finally,  he  may  substitute  in  this  case  for  the 
A  cunctis  the  prayer  Concede,  which  is  the  first  of  the 
Orationes  ad  Diver  sa,  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  Missal 
between  the  Votive  Masses  and  the  Requiem  Masses. 

A  few  interesting  points  in  connection  with  this  prayer 
remain  still  untouched,  and,  though  our  correspondent  has 
not  raised  them,  we  may  as  well  discuss  them ;  for  erroneous 
notions  with  regard  to  these  points  are  quite  as  common  as 
with  regard  to  any  other  points  connected  with  the  prayer. 

1  Priests  who  use  old  missals,  in  which  the  name  of  St.  Joseph  is  not 
printed  in  this  prayer,  should  take  care  to  insert  it  before  the  names  of  the 
Apostles. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1123 

1.  The  name  inserted,  whether  of    the   titular  of  the 
church  or  of  the  patron  of  the  place,  should  be  inserted  in 
that  place  to  which  the  rank  of  the   saint,  following  the 
order  of  the  Litany,  entitles   him.     For  example,  if   the 
church  be  dedicated  to  St.  Michael,  St.  Gabriel,  St.  Kaphael, 
the  Angels  Guardian,  &c.,  the  name  of  the  patron  is  not  to 
be  inserted  at  the  letter  N. ,  after  the  names  of  the  Apostles, 
but  after  the  name  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  before 
that  of  St.  Joseph.     The  prayer  will  then  read  thus  .  .  . 
intercedente  B.  .  .  .  Maria  cum  Beato  Michaeli,  Gabrieli, 
Baphaeli,  Beatis  Angelis  Custodibus,  &c.,  Beato  Joseph,  &c. 
Similarly,  the  name    of   St.  John    the  Baptist,  when  he  is 
the  patron,  is  to  be  inserted  before  that  of  St.  Joseph. 

2.  When  a  church  has  several  patrons,  are  all  the  names 
to  be  inserted  in  the  prayer  A  cunctis  ?     In  answering  this 
question  we  must  make  a  distinction.     Either  the  patrons 
are  all  principal  or  primary  patrons,  or  one  is  principal  or 
primary,  and  the  others  only  secondary.     In  other  words, 
those  who  had  a  right  to  choose  the  patrons  intended  to 
dedicate  the  church  equally  to  each,  or  they  intended  to 
dedicate  it  chiefly  to  one,  and  only  in  a  secondary  sense  to 
the  others.     In  the  former  case,  all  the  names  should  be 
mentioned ;  in  the  latter,  only  that  of  the  principal  patron. 
If  several  names  are  to  be  mentioned,  it  follows  from  what 
has  been  stated  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  that  they  must 
be  mentioned,  not  all  together  at  the  letter  N.,  but  in  the 
place  befitting  their  respective  rank.     Thus,  if  St.  Michael 
and  St.  Patrick  were   principal   patrons  of  a  church,  the 
name  of  St.  Michael  should  be  inserted  after  the  name  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary ;  while  the  name  of  St.  Patrick 
should  follow  those  of  the  Apostles. 

THE  PRAYERS  TO  BE  RECITED  AFTER  MASS 
EEV.  DEAR  SIR,— Some  priests  are  of  opinion  that  the  Salve 
Eegina  and  other  prayers  ordered  to  be  said  after  Mass,  are  only 
to  be  said  where  there  is  a  congregation  to  join  in  them.  In 
the  authorized  form  printed  in  Dublin,  the  heading  is  "  to  be  said 
in  all  the  churches  of  the  world  " — which  to  these  priests  seems 
to  exclude  private  oratories,  especially  where  the  priest  is  alone 


1124  Liturgical  Notes 

with  the  server.  In  these  last  circumstances  must  these  prayers 
be  said  ?  Is  it  even  optional  to  say  them  ?  And,  if  they  are  not 
supposed  to  be  said  in  the  circumstances  described,  can  the 
indulgence  be  gained  by  saying  them  ? 

W.  L. 

We  replied  to  this  same  question  which  our  esteemed 
correspondent  now  sends  us  as  long  ago  as  1891  /  and 
although  we  were  then,  as  we  are  now,  certain  of  what 
the  reply  should  be,  we  felt  then,  as  we  feel  now,  some 
difficulty  in  finding  reasons  that  would  induce  others  to 
embrace  our  conviction.  Our  conviction  is,  that  these 
prayers  should  be  said  after  every  Low  Mass,  wherever 
celebrated;  and  consequently,  that  the  word  "  churches  " 
in  the  rubric  which  our  correspondent  quotes  either  does 
not  refer  at  all  to  the  material  buildings  so  designated,  or 
has  a  signification  so  extended  as  to  include  all  places 
where  low  mass  is  celebrated. 

We  have,  at  least,  custom  to  appeal  to  in  support  of  our 
opinion.  For  as  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  find  out  from 
our  own  experience,  and  from  the  testimony  of  others  from 
whom  we  have  inquired,  the  custom  of  saying  these  prayers 
after  every  Low  Mass,  without  regard  to  the  place  where 
Mass  is  celebrated,  is  universal.  Even  in  Kome,  where,  if 
anywhere,  the  true  meaning  of  so  practical  a  decree  as  the 
one  regarding  these  prayers  should  be  known,  no  other 
practice  is  thought  of. 

Secondly,  the  prayers  which  we  now  say,  and  which 
were  ordered  in  1896,  merely  take  the  place  of  the  slightly 
different  form  of  prayers  ordered  two  years  previously,  and 
are  consequently  to  be  recited  in  the  same  circumstances 
as  the  earlier  form.  Now  in  the  decree  commanding  the 
recitation  of  this  earlier  form  of  prayers  it  is  stated  that 
similar  prayers  had  been  said  after  Low  Masses  in  the  Papal 
States  from  the  year  1859,  and  that  the  Holy  Father  by  his 
present  action  merely  wished  to  invite  the  priests  and  people 
of  the  whole  world  to  do  what  the  priests  and  people  in  the 

1  I.  E.  EECOED,  third  series,  voi.  xii.,  pp.  170-172. 

2  In  omnibus  Orbis  Ecclcsiis,  in  the  original. 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1125 

States  of  the  Church  were  already  doing.     We  subjoin  the 
words  of  the  decree  which  confirm  our  statement : — 

"  lam  inde  ab  anno  1859,  sa.  me.  Pius  PP.  IX,  .  . 
praecepit  ut  in  templis  omnibus  Ditionis  Pontificiae,  certae 
preces  .  .  .  peracto  sacrosancto  missae  sacrificio,  recitarentur. 
lamvero  Sanctissimus  Dominus  Noster  Leo  Papa  XIII.  oppor- 
tunam  judicavit,  eas  ipsas  preces  nonnullis  partibus  immutatas 
toto  orbe  persolvi,  ut,"  &c. 

Now  as  the  rules  for  the  recital  of  the  prayers  ordered 
in  1886  are  to  be  interpreted  by  the  aid  of  the  rules  for 
those  ordered  in  1884,  so  are  the  latter  rules  to  be  inter- 
preted by  the  rules  to  be  observed  by  priests  in  the  States 
of  the  Church  in  reciting  the  prayers  ordered  in  1859.  For, 
as  the  words  of  the  decree  which  we  have  printed,  show, 
the  only  change  made  in  1884,  when  extending  the  obliga- 
tion of  saying  certain  prayers  after  Mass  to  the  whole  world, 
was  a  slight  change  in  the  form  of  the  prayers. 

We  have,  after  considerable  trouble,  succeeded  in  pro- 
curing a  copy  of  the  instruction  issued  along  with  the 
prayers  in  1859  to  the  priests  in  the  States  of  the  Church. 
This  instruction  or  rubric  does  not  suffer  from  the  ambiguity 
which  some  find  in  the  instruction  accompanying  the  prayers 
of  1886.  It  lays  down  in  the  most  explicit  manner  that 
the  prescribed  prayers  are  to  be  said  after  every  Low  Mass 
no  matter  where  it  may  be  celebrated ;  for  it  orders  these 
prayers  to  be  said  by  every  priest  after  the  celebration  of  a 
Low  Mass.  Here  is  the  instruction  : — 

"  Preces  recitandae  de  mandato  SS.  D.N.  P.P.  Pii  IX.  in 
uni versa  ditione  Pontificia  ,  .  .  a  quolibat  sacerdote  post  privatae 
missae  celebrationem." 

This  instruction,  as  has  been  said,  is  to  be  a  guide  to  us 
in  interpreting  the  similar  instructions  accompanying  the 
prayers  ordered  in  1884  and  in  1886,  and  by  its  explicitness 
it  removes  whatever  doubts  might  be  entertained  regarding 
the  interpretation  of  these  instructions. 

But  the  decree  of  1884  itself  supplies  us,  we  think,  with 
sufficient  data  for  determining  that  the  prayers  then  ordered, 


1126  Liturgical  Notes 

and  consequently  those  substituted  for  them  in  1886,  should 
be  said  after  every  Low  Mass : — 

"  Sanctitas  Sua  per  praesens  Sacrorum  Eituum  Congregationis 
decretum  mandavit,  ut  in  posterum  in  omnibus  turn  Urbis,  turn 
Catholici  orbis  Ecclesiis  pieces  infrascripta,  ter  centum  dierum 
Indulgentia  locupletatae,  in  fine  cujusque  missa  sine  cantu 
celebratae  flexis  genibus  recitentur." 

Now  we  are  of  opinion  that  the  term  Ecclesiis  in  this 
decree  has  no  reference  whatsoever  to  material  buildings, 
and,  consequently,  that  the  phrase  in  fine  cujusque  missae 
sine  cantu  celebratae,  is  to  be  taken  in  an  absolute  and 
unrestricted  sense  as  implying  that  these  prayers  are  to  be 
said  after  every  Low  Mass  without  exception.  The  reasons 
on  which  this  opinion  is  founded  are  :  (1)  if  material  build- 
ings were  meant,  in  templis,  and  not  in  Ecclesiis  would 
have  been  used.  For  in  this  same  decree,  in  referring  to 
the  prayers  already  recited  in  the  States  of  the  Church  since 
1859,  the  words  used  are,  in  templis  omnibus  ditionis 
Pontificiae.  Again,  in  the  various  documents  issued  by 
our  present  Holy  Father  with  regard  to  the  October 
devotions,  templum  and  not  Ecclesia  is  employed  to  desig- 
nate the  house  of  worship.  The  phrases,  in  curialibus 
templis, in  aliis  templis,  in  omnibus  Catholici  orbis  parochiali- 
bus  templis,  is  again  and  again  to  be  met  with  in  these 
documents.  (2)  In  a  question  addressed  to  the  Congre- 
gation of  Bites,  the  phase,  in  omnibus  turn  urbis  turn 
Catholici  orbis  Ecclesiis,  is  rendered  by  in  universa  Ecclesia. 
The  question  was ; — 

"An  preces  post  finem  cujusque  missae  sine  cantu  celebratae 
in  universa  Ecclesia  a  SS.  D.N.  Leone  Papa  XIII.,  nuperrime 
praescriptae  recitare  debeant,"  &c.? 

By  comparing  this  question  with  the  decree  of  1884  the 
truth  of  our  statement  will  be  at  once  apparent.  We  are  of 
opinion,  that  the  in  omnibus  Orbis  Ecclesiis  of  the  decree  of 
1886,  as  well  as  still  more  circumlocutory  form  used  in 
the  decree  of  1884,  is  equivalent  to  the  easily  intelligible 
in  universa  Ecclesia  of  the  question  addressed  to  the 
Congregation. 

It  will  be  noticed,  too,  that  in  this  question  the  phrase 
in  fine  cujusque  missae  sine  cantu  celebratae  is  not  restricted 


Answers  to  Correspondents  1127 

in  any  way  ;  yet  should  it  be  restricted  as  our  correspondent's 
question  implies,  the  Congregation  would  have  been  bound 
to  point  this  out.  Indeed  we  are  strongly  of  opinion  that 
the  question  owes  its  form  to  the  desire  of  the  Congregation 
to  remove  the  ambiguity  which  may  have  been  thought  to 
lurk  in  the  words  used  in  the  decree  of  1884. 

THE   NAME    OF   THE   DECEASED   IN   THE   PRAYER  OF  A 
REQUIEM    MASS 

EEV.  DEAR  SIK, — It  is  now  certain  from  the  I.  E.  RECORD 
of  October,  that  the  first  prayer  in  a  Requiem  Mass  celebrated 
for  one  or  several  designated  persons  should  be  the  prayer 
special  to  the  intention  for  which  the  Mass  is  celebrated.  May 
I  ask,  if  the  celebrant,  for  some  reason  or  another,  does  not  know 
the  Christian  name  of  the  individual  or  several  designated,  what 
course  will  he  follow,  or  may  he  omit  the  Christian  name  or 
names,  and  mentally  think  of  them  in  a  Low  Mass  ?  L. 

If  our  correspondent  will  kindly  examine  the  prayers 
pro  Defunctis  given  in   the   Missal,   be  will  find  that  his 
difficulty  is    purely  imaginary.      For  the   only  prayers   in 
which  the  name  of  the  deceased  person  is  to  be  mentioned 
are  the  prayers  for  deceased  bishops  and  priests,  and  the 
prayers  said  for  others  on  the  day  of  death  or  burial,  or  on 
any  other  of  the  privileged  days  except  the  anniversary  day. 
Now  if  the  Mass  is  for  a  deceased   bishop  or  priest  the 
celebrant   either  knows  the    name  already,  or   can    easily 
find  it  out  from  a  directory  or  mortuary  list.     Again,  when 
Mass  is    celebrated   on    one    of   the  privileged    days,   the 
celebrant  will,  as  a  rule,  know  the   name  of  the  deceased 
person,  and  if  he  does  not  he  should  inquire  beforehand.     Of 
course,  if  for  any  reason  whatever,  the  celebrant  should  forget 
the  name  of  the  deceased,'  or  not  know  it  when  about  to 
recite  the  prayers,  he  should  go   on  with  the  prayer  and 
mention  no  name  at  the  letter  N.     But  when  celebrating 
the  Missae  Quotidiana,  for  one   or   several  deceased  who 
were  not    priests,   no    name    at    all    is    to   be    mentioned 
in  the  special  prayers,  as   a  reference  to  the   Missal  will 
demonstrate. 

D.   O'LOAN. 


[    1128    ] 


Cortesponbence 

THE    NEW    CATECHISM 

REV.  DEAR  SIR, — Availing  myself  of  your  invitation  to  offer 
suggestions  for  the  New  Catechism,  I  beg  to  suggest  that  two 
pages  at  the  end  ol  it  be  devoted  to  Scriptural  Answers,  to  a 
dozen  or  thereabout  practical  questions,  as  the  following  : — 

What  rule  of  life  did  our  Divine  Lord  lay  down  for 
Christians  ? 

"  If  any  man  will  come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and 
take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow  Me  "  (Luke  ix.  23). 

How  has  our  Divine  Lord  told  us  to  behave  towards  those 
who  curse,  or  hate,  or  calumniate  us  ? 

"Love  your  enemies,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  bless 
them  that  curse  you,  and  pray  for  them  that  calumniate  you  " 
(Luke  xi.  27,  28). 

What  has  our  Divine  Lord  said  about  food  and  clothing  ? 

"  Seek  ye  therefore,  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His 
justice,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you  "  (Matt, 
vi.  33). 

What  has  our  Divine  Lord  said  about  prayer  ? 

4<  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  to  you  ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ; 
knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  to  you  "  (Matt.  vii.  7). 

What  has  our  Divine  Lord  said  about  suffering  ? 

"  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted" 
(Matt.  v.  5). 

^Yhom  does  our  Divine  Lord  tell  us  to  fear  ? 

"  Fear  ye  not  them  that  kill  the  body,  and  are  not  able  to 
kill  the  soul ;  but  rather  fear  Him  that  can  destroy  both  soul 
and  body  in  hell  "  (Matt.  x.  28). 

What  has  our  Divine  Lord  said  of  those  that  scandalize 
children,  or  lead  them  into  sin  ? 

"  He  that  shall  scandalize  one  of  these  little  ones  that 
believe  in  Me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  mill-stone  should  be 
hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  should  be  drowned  in  the 
depth  of  the  £ea  "  (Matt,  xviii.  6). 

What  has  our  Divine  Lord  said  about  perseverance  ? 

"He  that  shall  persevere  to  the  end,  he  shall  be  saved" 
(Matt.  xxiv.  13). 

What  reply  did  our  Divine  Lord  give  to  the  young  man  who 
asked,  what  he  should  do  to  have  life  everlasting? 


Correspondence  1129 

"If  thou  wilt  enter  into  life,  keep  the  commandments" 
(Matt.  xix.  16,  17). 

What  will  our  Divine  Lord  say  to  alms  given  at  the  Last 
Day? 

"Come,  ye  blessed  of  My  Father,  possess  you  the  Kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  for  I  was 
hungry,  and  you  gave  Me  to  eat "  (Matt.  xxx.  34,  35). 

What  has  our  Divine  Lord  said  of  those  who  call  their 
neighbours  offensive  names  ? 

"  Whosoever  shall  say  to  his  brother,  Raca,  shall  be  in 
danger  of  the  council ;  and  whosoever  shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall 
be  in  danger  of  hell  fire  "  (Matt.  v.  22). 

What  does  our  Divine  Lord  tell  us  to  do  in  order  to  have 
peace  o  fsoul  ? 

11  Take  up  My  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  Me,  because  I  am 
meek  and  humble  of  heart,  and  you  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls  ; 
for  My  yoke  is  sweet,  and  My  burden  light  "  (Matt,  xi.  29,  30). 

How  has  our  Divine  Lord  warned  us  against  rash 
swearing  ? 

"  I  say  to  you  not  to  swear  at  all :  neither  by  heaven,  for  it 
is  the  throne  of  God ;  nor  by  the  earth,  for  it  is  His  footstool. 
Neither  shalt  thou  swear  by  thy  head,  because  thou  can  not 
make  one  hair  white  or  black.  But  let  your  speech  be  Yea,  yea  : 
no,  no ;  And  that  which  is  over  ar»d  above  these  is  of  evil '' 
(Matt.  v.  34-36). 

Eepeat  what  our  Divine  Lord  has  called  His  Commandment  ? 

"This  is  My  Commandment,  that  you  love  one  another,  as 
I  have  loved  you  "  (John  xv.  12). 

What  has  our  Divine  Lord  said  of  the  Most  Holy  Eucharist  ? 

"  He  that  eateth  My  Flesh,  and  drinketh  My  Blood,  hath  life 
everlasting ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  on  the  last  day "  (John 
vi.  55). 

What  does  the  Sacred  Scripture  say  of  drunkards,  and  those 
who  sin  against  purity? 

"  Neither  fornicators  nor  drunkards  shall  possess  the 
Kingdom  of  God  "  (1  Cor.  vi.  9,  10). 

What  has  our  Divine  Lord  said  of  those  who  neglect  their 
soul  for  worldly  gain  ? 

41  What  doth  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world,  and 
suffer  the  loss  of  his  own  soul?"  (Matt.  xvi.  26). 

The  above  are  a  collection  of  texts ,  from  which  I  respectfully 


1130  Correspondence 

suggest,  that  a  dozen  might  be  selected,  and  published  in  a 
couple  of  pages  at  the  end  of  the  New  Catechism.  And  the 
reason  I  suggest  this  is,  that  it  cannot  fail  to  produce  a  bene- 
ficial influence  on  our  people  to  have  their  minds  stored  with 
appropriate  Scripture  texts  like  the  above,  which  when  the 
occasion  presents  itself,  will  recur  to  memory,  and  powerfully 
stimulate  them  to  the  avoidance  of  evil,  and  the  practice  of 
virtue.  "  The  words  of  the  Holy  Bible,"  says  an  eminent  author, 
"  have  a  special  flavour,  a  light  proper  to  themselves,  a  warmth 
and  earnestness,  which  penetrate  the  heart,  and  subdue  it  with 
a  sweet,  all-powerful  emotion.  No  writing  of  man  has  ever 
wrought  the  same  marvellous  results.  A  single  word  of  the 
Bible  falling  on  good  ground  becomes  the  seed  which  gives  fruit 
a  hundred-fold,  and  prepares  an  abundant  harvest  of  virtue  in 
the  soul."  But  why  quote  human  authority  when  we  have  the 
Bible  itself  saying:  " Declaratio  sermonum  tuorum  illuminat,  et 
intellectum  dat  parvulis  "  (Psalm  cxviii.)?  And  again:  "The  Word 
of  God  is  living  and  effectual,  and  more  piercing  than  any  two- 
edged  sword"  (Heb.  iv.  12),  And  as  no  better  opportunity  can 
offer  of  having  our  people's  minds  furnished  with  a  selection 
of  striking  texts  from  the  Word  of  God,  than  the  publication  of 
the  New  Catechism,  I  would  respectfully  submit  to  the  com- 
pilers whether  it  ought  not  to  be  availed  of. 

In  reference  to  translation  of  the  Gloria  Patri,  &c.,  the  words 
"is  now,  and  ever  shall  be,"  &c.,  seem  to  me  correct,  because 
the  meaning  of  the  Doxology  is,  "  Be  that  glory  given  to  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  which  they  themselves  have  given 
to  one  another  from  all  eternity,  now  give  to  one  another,  and 
ever  shall  give  to  one  another."  The  word  in  principio,  as  in 
the  first  verse  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  means  before  time  or 
creation  began,  and  must,  consequently,  mean  the  glory  given 
to  one  another  by  the  Persons  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  themselves. 
In  this  sense  it  is  clearly  the  most  sublime  expression  of  praise 
that  could  possibly  be  uttered  by  men  or  angels. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  ask  whether  the  translation,  "  And 
forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  also  forgive  our  debtors,"  given  in 
the  New  Testament  of  the  words  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  "Et  dimitte 
nobis  debita  nostra  vicat  et  nos  demittimus  debitoribus  nostris," 
might  not  be  substituted  with  advantage  for  the  present  clumsy 
translation :  "  And  forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  them 
who  trespass  against  us." 

P.P. 


Correspondence  1131 

A  NEW   CATECHISM 

EEV.  DEAR  SIR, — As  suggestions  are  requested,  I  offer  a  few 
for  what  they  are  worth.  In  many  Catechisms,  as  also  in  the 
New  Testament,  a  personal  pronoun  is  often  improperly  used 
for  a  demonstrative  pronoun.  For  example;  "Who  are  they 
who  do  not  believe  what  God  has  taught : "  u  As  we  forgive  them 
who  trespass  against  us."  "  Blessed  are  they  who  mourn  :  " 
"  Blessed  are  they  who  suffer  persecution."  Is  it  not  more  correct 
to  say:  Who  are  those  who  do  not  believe,  &c.;  As  we  forgive 
those  who,  &c.',  "Blessed  are  those  who  mourn — those  who  suffer," 
&c.  ?  In  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  word  again  should  be  omitted. 
We  should  say :  He  rose  from  the  dead :  we  should  not  say 
He  rose  again ;  for  He  rose  but  once  from  the  dead.  The 
Archbishop's  sound  suggestions  should  be  adopted:  instead  of 
"dead  and  buried"  we  should  say:  who  died  and  was  buried. 
The  English  response  to  the  Gloria  Patri  should  be  corrected ; 
it  is  objectionable,  unintelligible,  and  incorrect.  It's  true 
meaning  becomes  evident,  if  we  keep  "  as  it  was  in  the 
beginning  "  for  the  last  place,  and  translate  "  et  nunc  et  Semper 
et  in  Saecula  Saeculorum  " — now  and  always  and  for  ever  more. 
In  the  Angelus  prayer,  we  might  use  the  word  pour  or  infuse 
instead  of  "pour  forth,"  and  render  uut  qui  cognovimus  in- 
carnationem,"  &c.,  "that  we  who  have  known  the  incarnation," 
&c.,  and  not  as  it  is  given  "  we  to  whom  the  incarnation  has 
been  made  known,"  &c.  We  might  shorten  (whether  prudently 
or  not  I  cannot  say)  some  words  of  the  Our  Father,  and  use  ten 
only  instead  of  thirteen,  by  saying  :  "  and  forgive  us  our  offences 
as  we  forgive  our  offenders — debitoribus  nostris/'  We  might 
read  the  above  prayers  thus  :  — 

"  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  now,  and  always,  and  evermore,  as  it  was  in  the  beginning. 
Amen." 

"  Infuse  Thy  grace,  we  beseech  Thee,  0  Lord,  into  our  hearts, 
that  we  who  through  the  message  of  the  angel,  have  known 
the  incarnation  of  Christ  Thy  Son,  may  by  His  passion  and  cross 
be  brought  to  the  glory  of  His  resurrection,  through  the  same 
Christ  our  Lord.  Amen." 

"  Was  crucified,  who  died,  and  was  buried  ;  He  descended  into 
hell :  the  third  day  He  rose  from  the  dead,"  &c. 

"  And  forgive  us  our  offences,  as  we  forgive  our  offenders;  and 
lead  us  not  into,"  &c. 


1132  Correspondence 

Your  readers  should  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  proposed 
New  Catechism  composed  by  the  Dublin  Committee,  if  it  were 
published  monthly  in  the  I.E. RECORD,  or,  better  still,  if  the  whole 
were  published  in  one  number  of  the  I.E.  RECORD;  then  they 
should  be  in  a  better  position  to  offer  suggestions. 

P.P. 

THE    STOWE    MISSAL 

REV.  DEAR  SIR, — In  the  first  half  of  the  present  year  appeared 
The  Western  Mass  from  the  fifth  to  the  eighth  century  (Die  abendldn- 
dische  Hesse  vom  fun/ten  bis  zum  achten  Jahrhundert) ,  by 
Professor  Probst  of  Breslau, — a  volume  of  444  closely-printed 
large  octavo  pages.  The  second  part  deals  with  Irish  Liturgy 
and  consists  of  three  chapters.  Of  these,  the  second  describes 
(§  12,  pp.  40-43)  the  MS.,  and  gives  (§  13,  pp.  43-55)  the  text,  of 
the  Stowe  Missal  Mass;  the  third  is  a  commentary  (§§  14-26, 
p.  56-99)  on  section  13.  Furthermore,  to  show  the  importance 
of  the  Mass,  in  the  267  pages  assigned  to  the  Roman  and 
Gallican  Masses,  it  is  referred  to  more  than  seventy  times,  to 
confirm  or  formulate  conclusions. 

My  first  duty  is  to  thank  the  Right  Rev.  author  for  reproducing 
(p.  40-41)  the  epitheta  ornantia  bestowed  on  my  edition1  by 
Dom  Suitbert  Baeumer,  O.S.B.  (whose  untimely  loss  liturgists 
have  to  deplore).  Sentiment  of  the  kind,  however,  cannot  out- 
weigh the  obligation  I  lie  under  as  editor  of  the  texts  of  the 
MS.  of  the  Missal.  Accordingly,  I  have  to  point  out  that,  in  (a) 
wording  and  (b)  structure,  the  Mass  given  in  the  second  chapter 
presents  substantial  divergencies  from  the  original.  Having  regard 
to  the  space  at  disposal,  proof  has  to  be  confined  to  typical 
examples.  (The  Mass  in  the  MS.  proceeded  from  two  hands ; 
the  work  of  the  second,  which  was  a  century  later  than  the 
first,  is  printed  in  Italics  ) 

(a) 

P.  43,  1.  14,  insert  Litania  apostolorum  ac  martyrum,  sanc- 
torum con/estsorum  et  virginum  incipit. 

Deus,  in  adjutoriwn  meum — [et]  reliqua  [Ps.  Ixix.  1] . 

Owing,  doubtless,  to  omission  of  the  title,  the  •  five  Irish 
virgins  of  the  Litany  are  given  in  the  Commentary  as  seven  [sic] 

1  On  the  Stowe  Missal,— Transactions  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy, 
Vol.  xxvii.  (Polite  Literature  and  Antiquities),  pp.  135-268.  Hereinafter 
referred  to  as  the  Academy  edition. 


Correspondence  1133 

irische  Frauen  und  Jungfrauen,— which  does  not  evince  a  wide 
acquaintance  with  Irish  hagiography. 

P.  43,  1.  26,  insert,  after  Luca,  ora,  &c., 
Omnes   sancti,   orate   pro   nobis. 
Propitius    esto,   parce    nobis,   Domine, 

»  »        libera  nos,  ,, 

Ab  omni  malo,        ,,        ,,  lf 

Per  crucem  tuam,  ,,        ,,  n 

P,  44,  1.  2,  insert,  after  first  Domine, 

Propitius  esto,  libera  nos,  Domine. 
,,      1.  18,  for  [recto  fessis  ?],  read  luto  faecis. 
P.  46,  1.  2,  for  missis,  read  diebus. 
„  47,  1.  24,  insert  the  petition  : 

Conservare     sanctitatem     et     catholicae     fidei     puritatem, 
Dominum  deprecemur. 

P.  51,  1.  1,  ior  pro  statu  servorum,  read  pro  stratu  seniorum. 

(Of.  note  on  stratu,  Academy  edition,  p.  208.) 
,,  1.  10,  for  mina  directis,  read  in  via  directis. 
P.  53  has  no  less  than  28  errata  ;    amongst  the  worst  are : — 
1.  9,  insert  lohel  after  Osse. 
„  19,     ,,      Patricii  „    Patrici. 
,,  20,  for  nissae,  read  Maicnissae. 
„  27,    „  Abel,       „     Adam. 

,,  28,  for  non  nominavit  et  novit  (= nomina  scit  et  novit), 
read  nomina  nominavit  et  novit. 

(Of.  the  quotation  from  Tallaght  Martyrology,  quorum  Deus 
nomina  nominavit,  Acad.  ed.,  p.  218.) 

The  following  calls  for  special  notice.  Manchani,  Madiani 
(p.  53,  1.  15),  are  said  (p.  86)  to  follow  the  names  of  the  twelve 
Apostles;  they  were  apparently  two  Irish  martyrs  (p.  87;  we 
were  told,  p.  58,  that  "  Ireland  had  no  native  martyrs  ")  ;  and  a 
reason  is  given  why  these  two  were  named  instead  of  the 
"  Roman  popes  Linus,  etc."  (p.  162).  But,  omitting  these  names, 
we  have  but  eleven  Apostles  in  the  text.  The  explanation  is  not 
far  to  seek.  The  original  (Acad.  ed.,  p.  216)  has  Madiani, 
Madiani.  The  form  Madiani  is  Hiberno-Latin  for  Matthiae.  It 
was  (as  I  have  pointed  out,  loc.  tit.)  repeated  by  oversight  in  the 
MS. ;  but  the  scribe  placed  three  marks  over  the  second  word,  to 
denote  that  it  was  to  be  considered  deleted.  The  full  number  of 
the  Apostles  is  thus  complete  by  the  name  of  Matthias. 


1134  Correspondence 

P) 

As  regards  structural  alteration,  it  will  suffice  to  set  forth 
two  examples,  together  with  some  of  the  radical  misconcep- 
tions contained  in  the  commentary  thereon.  ([1]  and  [2]  are 
inserted,  the  better  to  indicate  the  changes  made.  Prayers, 
except  in  one  instance,  are  denoted  by  the  opening  words.) 

Stowe  Missal,  pp.  197-8,  The  Western  Mass,  pp.  45-6. 

Gloria  in  excelsis  is  followed      Gloria  in  excelsis  is  followed 
immediately  by  :  immediately  by  : 

Haec  oratio  pro  vice  "  Deus  [Orationes  et  preces  Missae 

qui     culpa "     in      quotidianis     Ecclesiae     Eomanae.] 
diebus  [canitur].  [Haec  oratio   prima   Petri.] 

Deus,  qui  diligentibus,  etc.         Deus  qui  culpa,  etc. 

Hie  augmentum. 

P]  W 

OEATIONES    ET   PEEGES  \Haec      oratio      pro    vice, 

MISSAE   ECCLESIAE   BO-  "  Deus  qui    culpa  "    in    quo- 

MANAE.  tidianis  missis  canitur .] 
Haec  oratio  primay — Petri,  Deus  qui  diligentibus,  etc. 

Deus  qui  culpa,  etc,  Lectio  Pauli,  etc. 

Hie  Augmentum. 
Lectio  Pauli,  etc, 

This  arrangement  brings  into  clear  relief  the  topsy-turvy 
nature  of  the  reconstruction. 

Now  for  the  comments.  As  regards  the  heading  Orationes, 
etc,  Baeumer  is  quoted :  "  as  far  as  I  infer  from  Mac  Carthy,  it  is 
not  in  the  original  script  "  (p.  62).  The  inference  is  correct ; 
the  Academy  edition  gives  the  work  of  the  second  hand  in 
italics.  Dr.  Probst,  however,  is  quite  satisfied  that  it  is  by  the 
first  hand, — from  a  Eoman  original  of  the  fifth  century  (ib.) ! 

Hie  Augmentum  is  explained  as  signifying  that,  on  the  feasts  of 
Peter  and  Christ,  Deus  qui  culpa  and  Deus  qui  diligentibus  were 
both  to  be  said.  But,  not  to  mention  the  displacement  (for  which 
no  justification  can  be  pleaded),  one  feels  a  sense  of  pity  for  an 
error  so  grotesque  and  so  easy  to  be  avoided.  The  Rubric  refers 
(not  to  anything  in  the  text,  but)  to  the  "Masses"  appended 
by  the  first  hand  (Acad.  ed.,  pp.  224-232).  These  are  (in  modern 
terminology)  Collects,  Secrets,  Prefaces  arid  Post-Communions 
of  (1)  Apostles,  Martyrs,  Saints  (Confessors),  and  Virgins,  (2)  living 
penitents,  (3)  dead  persons.  They  were,  except  in  the  case  of 
the  Post-Communions,  regarding  which  direction  may  have  well 
seemed  superfluous,  to  be  inserted,  as  occasion  demanded,  where 
the  rubrics  (another  of  which  we  shall  see  immediately)  indicated. 


Correspondence 


1135 


The  Stowe  Missal  (pp.  204-5)  and  The  Western  Mass  (p,  49) 
agree  in  the  following  : — 

Landirech  sund  [Plena  discoopertio  hie]. 

Ostende  nobis,  Domine,  misericorfdiam  tuam].    Et  salutare 
tuum  da  [no]bis.  [Ps.  Ixxxiv.  8.]    Tercanitur. 

Oblate  Domine,  munera  sanctifica,  etc. 

Hostias,  quaesumus,  Domine,  etc. 

Has  oblationes,  etc. 

Secunda  pars  Augmenti  hie,  super  Oblata. 

Thence  they  diverge,  as  follows  :— 

Stowe  Missal,  pp.  205-6. 

Grata  sit  tibi  haec  oblatio 
plebis  tuae  quam  tibi  offerimus 
in  honorem  Dni.  nri.  J.  Christi, 
et  in  commemorationem  beato- 
rum  apostolorum  tuorum  ac 
martyrum  tuorum  et  confes- 
sorum,  quorum  hie  reliquias 
specialiter  recolimus,  N. ;  et 
eorum  quorum  festivitas  hodie 
celebratur ;  et  pro  animabus 
omnium  episcoporum  nostrorum 
et  sacerdotum  nostrorum  et  dia- 
conorum  nostrorum;  et  charorum 
nostrorum,  et  chararum  nos- 
trarum, et  puerorum  nostrorum 
etpuellarum  nostrarum,  etpoeni- 
tentium  nostrorum  :  cunctis  pro- 
ficiat ad  salutem.  Per  Dnm. 

Sursum  corda. 


The  Western  Mass,  p.  49. 

Grata  sit  tibi  haec  oblatio 
plebis  tuae,  quam  tibi  offerimus 
in  honorem  D.  n.  J.  Christi: 
cunctis  proficiat  ad  salutem. 
Per  Dominum,  etc. 

[Grata  sit  (as  above  to  D.  n. 
J.  Chr.)  et  [as  in  the  left-hand 
column,  with  et  wrongly  in- 
serted before  cunctis.  Then  it 
proceeds :] 

Eite  according  to  the  first 
hand. 

Hie  fiat  plena  discoopertio 
et  elevatur  calix  dum  dicitur 
(sung  by  choir) : 

Ostende  nobis,  Dne  [as  given 
above]. 

(Vel  aliud  Offertorium  cani- 
tur,  vel  alter  versus  repetitur.2) 

Oblata,  Domine,  umnera 
sanctifica  [as  above]. 

Grata  sit  tibi  Domine  haec 
oblatio  plebis  tuae,  quam  tibi 
offerimus  in  honorem  D.  n.  J. 
Christi,  cunctis  proficiat  ad 
salutem.  Per  Dnm.,  etc. 
Preface. 

Sursum  corda. 

1  This  incorrect  description  denotes  (not  the  first  hand  of  the  Mass,  but) 
the  Irish  Tract  on  the  Mass,  given  at  end  of  the  Stowe  MS.,  and  printed  with 
translation  and  notes,  Acad.  ed.,  pp.  245-58.    The  reference  is  §  10,  p.  248.    The 
passage,  it  is    unnecessary  to  add,   like  the  corresponding  place  (next  note), 
refers  to  the  Full  uncovering  first  mentioned,  and  gives  no  countenance  to  a 
duplicate  rite. 

2  Made  up  (at  second  hand)  from  the  Irish  Tract  on  the  Mass,  a  modern 
corrupt   and  interpolated  partial  version  of    the  Stowe  Tract,  found  in  the 
SpeckkdBook  (Aoad.  ed.,  pp.  259-65).     The  place  is  $  10,  p.  262. 


1136  Correspondence 

Of  the  comments,  a  few  will  suffice.  Has  oblationes  is  the 
first  part  of  the  Augment',  Grata  tibi,  the  prayer  of  a  second 
Oblation-rite  (p.  73).  (Needless  to  say,  the  rubric  refers  to  the 
Secrets  mentioned  above.)  Consequently,  it  is  concluded,  we 
have  here  two  Oblation-formularies  :  (1)  Ostende,  Oblata,  Grata  ; 
(2)  the  same  repeated  by  the  second  hand.-  Did  the  Stowe  Mass, 
it  is  queried,  before  it  was  conformed  to  the  Gregorian  (by  the 
first  hand),  contain  No.  1  ?  Yes,  the  formulary  was  in  the  Mass 
under  Celestine,  and  brought  to  Ireland  by  Patrick  (p.  74).  As 
to  No.  2,  the  author  propounds  two  alternatives,  but  which  is 
true,  he  confesses  he  knows  not.  It  was  either  borrowed  by  the 
interpolator  from  an  old  Irish  missal,  "  for,  as  scion  of  an  Irish 
royal  family,  he  would  have  placed  no  strange  rite  beside  the 
Irish,  to  force  the  latter  into  the  background;"  or  it  existed  in 
the  Roman  missa  quotidiana,  brought  by  Patrick  to  Ireland  (p.  75) ! 
Comment  is  needless. 

How  the  responsibility  for  the  foregoing  is  to  be  apportioned 
between  the  author  and  the  writers  from  whom  he  *'  borrowed 
the  text  "  (p.  43),  is  beside  the  present  purpose.  My  sole  and 
imperative  duty  is  to  formally  disavow  the  fundamental  distor- 
tion of  the  original. 

A  few  observations  on  the  third  Chapter.  This  is  directed 
to  prove  that  the  original  script  of  the  Stowe  Missal  contains 
the  missa  quotidiana  under  Pope  Celestine,  introduced  by 
Patrick  and  assimilated  by  the  first  hand  to  the  Gregorian 
Mass.  Granted  for  the  nonce,  still  the  question  of  Irish  Liturgy 
is  not  disposed  of  thereby.  For  this  "  standpoint "  (p.  70) 
labours  under  the  radical  defect  that  it  leaves  out  of  view  the 
Augments  and  Irish  Tract  on  the  Mass  already  mentioned, 
which  have  reference  to  a  Liturgy  that  is  demonstrably  other  and 
older  than  this  (sit  venia  verbo)  Celestino — Patrician — Gregorian 
Mass. 

But  even  though  the  author  had  the  Academy  edition  within 
view,  his  book,  I  fear,  leaves  little  room  to  doubt  whether  the 
data  therein  given  would  have  been  used  to  advantage.  For,  in 
addition  to  the  fact,  which  is  specially  noteworthy  in  a  German 
professor,  that  insufficient  knowledge  of  English  is  pleaded  for 
passing  over  Fr.  Lucas's  essays  on  The  Early  G-allican  Liturgy 
(p.  264),  there  are  decisive  evidences  (besides  those  already 
adduced)  of  lack  of  critical  and  inductive  skill. 

In   the   section   devoted   to   the    Milan   Mass,    the    pseudo- 


Correspondence  137 

Ambrose  d&  Sacramentis*  is  taken  as  genuine  !  Yet  the 
author  had  under  his  hand  the  edition  of  the  Maurists,  who 
are  forced  to  admit  the  work  to  be  spurious.  Worse  still,  in 
proof  that  the  saint  conformed  the  local  mass  to  the  Roman, 
we  have  (p.  8)  the  well-known  passage :  non  ignoramus 
quod  ecclesia  Romana  hanc  consuetudinem  non  ha  bet,  cuius 
typum  in  omnibus  sequimur  et  formam  (III.  i.  5).  But  the  custom 
in  question  was  washing  the  feet  of  the  newly-baptized,  which  he 

refused  to  give  up,  although  it  was  not  practised  at  Rome, a 

proceeding  that  decided  the  matter  of  authenticity  for  the 
Maurist  editors  :  Denique  quod  auetor  tantis  animis  in 
Ecclesiam  Romanam  propter  lotionem  pedum  insurgit,  nobis 
Ambrosiani  esse  instituti  minim e  videtur  (Migne,  P.I/.,  xvi.  415). 

Columbanus,  we  are  told  (p.  36),  though  having  the  Easter 
celebration  immediately  in  view,  "  could  never  have  written 
nullas  suscipimus  regulas  Gallorum,  had  the  Irish  Mass  sprung 
from  the  Gallican,  or  been  so  influenced  by  it,  as  many  opine." 
But  in  this  same  epistle  (to  pope  Boniface),  Columbanua 
identifies  the  rules  with  the  liber  Gallorum,  which,  he  states  he 
had  informed  pope  Gregory,  the  Irish  teachers  would  not  receive 
(Migne,  P.  L.,  Ixxx,  269).  In  accordance  therewith,  the  epistle 
to  Gregory  gives  the  book  as  the  (Paschal)  cycle  ;  the  author  as 
Victorius  (ib.  261). 

The  Penitential  of  Columbanus8  prescribes  that  these  who 
held  intercourse  with  Bonosiaci  or  other  heretics  should  stand 
amongst  the  catechumens,  that  is,  amongst  the  penitents.  The 
obvious  conclusion  herefrom,  one  would  suppose,  is  that  the 
discipline  of  so  standing  existed  (in  the  parts  of  the  Continent) 
where  the  offences  were  committed.  But  the  Breslau  professor 
sees  deeper  into  the  enactment.  It  proves,  he  perceives,  that 
the  prayer  for  catechumens  existed  in  the  original  Roman- 
Irish  Mass.  Ireland  having  been  converted  at  once,  the  prayer 
was  not  used  there  :  Irish  missionaries,  however,  took  it  to  the 
Continent,  where  the  debased  state  of  religious  life  made  it 
appropriate  ;  Columbanus  recited  it  in  Gaul,  and  afterwards  in 

1  The  attribution  is  preserved  in  the  title  of  the  second  nocturn  lessons 
of  the  Wednesday  alter  Corpus  Christ!  in  the  Roman  Breviary.  It  tends  to 
distrust  of  the  Maurists  to  find  them  concluding  from  textual  expressions  that 
the  author  was  a  bishop.  Quis  enim  ita  loqueretur,  nisi  episcopus  ?  (Migne, 
P.Z.,  xyi.  415.)  Did  they  expect  the  pseudo- Ambrose  to  play  the  part  of  priest 
or  deacon  ?  Forgers,  as  a  rule,  are  not  quite  so  clumsy. 

2  Cap.  xxxvii.  (al.  xxv.),  Migne,  P.  L.  Ixxx.  228-9;  "Wasserschleben,  Di* 
Bussordnimgen  der  abendlandische  Kirche,  p.  359.  See  the  masterly  chapter  (iv.) 
of  the  latter  on  the  continental  origin  of  the  Penitential  (p.  53  sq.). 

XVU.  C 


1138  Correspondence 

Bobbio;  his  successors  finally  omitted  it  as  inapplicable  (pp.68-9). 
Seasoning  like  this  is  tolerably  safe  from  refutation. 

Finally,  to  complete  the  proof  and  show  the  vitality  of  error, 
the  Cursus  Scottorum  is  once  more  taken,  at  second  or  third 
hand,  as  dealing  with  the  Mass.  The  Tract,  it  is  pointed  out, 
is  too  recent  and  too  inaccurate  to  justify  the  inference  therefrom 
of  an  equally  sagacious  inquirer,  that  the  "  Gothic- Spanish " 
Liturgy  was  derived  from  Asia  (p.  370).  But,  as  I  have  shown  in 
this  Journal  (March,  1891;,  Cursus  =  the  Office  (not  the  Mass)  is 
one  of  the  commonplaces  of  Liturgy. 

The  Preface  to  the  golden  work,  Latin  and  Greek  Masses 
from  the  second  to  the  sixth  century  opens  thus  :  "  So  much  has 
been  written  upon  Liturgy,  that  a  new  book  only  seems  justified 
when  it  enriches  this  science  from  sources  or  researches."  Six- 
and-forty  years  pass  away,  and  a  compatriot  of  Mone  issues 
a  book  upon  Liturgy,  which,  it  is  confessed  in  advance,  contains 
no  new  evidence,  and  is  proved  to  have  misinterpreted  the  old. 

Non  tali  auxilio,  nee  defensoribus  istis, 
Tempus  eget. 

B.  MACCAETHY. 

CHUECH   OE  CHAPEL 

REV.  DEAR  SIB, — I  think  the  Bishop  of  Limerick  is  right 
in  strongly  resenting  the  practice  of  Protestant  officials  calling 
the  churches  of  the  ancient  faith  "  chapels."  In  legal  forms, 
in  Thorn's  Directory,  and  even  in  Guide  books,  some  of  our 
splendid  edifices  and  cathedrals  are  designated  *  *  Roman  Catholic 
chapels."  But  what  is  stranger  still,  our  faithful  people  who  are 
brave  enough  to  die  for  their  faith,  seem  to  tamely  submit  to  the 
offence,  and  thus  kiss  the  rod  that  smites  them.  Both  in  cities 
and  in  rural  districts,  "  chapel"  is  the  invariable  expression  for 
the  Catholic  church  of  the  locality.  This  modus  loquendi  is,  no 
doubt,  a  survival  of  the  wicked  penal  laws  when  sheer  terror 
endeavoured  to  suppress  any  manifestation  of  the  true  religion. 
"Chapel"  was  probably  considered  less  offensive  to  the  bigoted 
squireen  and  the  tithe-seizing  parson.  Whatever  may  be  said 
of  past  practices,  there  can  be  no  reason  now  why  we  should 
encourage  this  survival  of  persecution.  But  can  we  blame  the 
people,  who,  in  their  simplicity,  never  advert  to  any  slight  upon 
the  faith,  when  priests  themselves,  who  ought  to  know  better, 
constantly  use  the  word  "  chapel"?  To  do  this  seems  to  me  to 
be  eourting  inferiority,  and  sacrificing  principle.  I  think  this 


Documents  1139 

subject  was  somewhat  dealt  with  in  the  I.  B.  KECORD  some  years 
ago,  but  it  is  worth  reviving.  If  the  young  priests  and  students 
in  our  colleges  could  be  induced  to  watch  lest  their  tongues  trip 
in  this  matter,  this  weak  and  wretched  practice  would  fade  away. 

SUBSCRIBER. 


Documents 

LETTER  OF  POPE   LEO    XIII.    TO   THE   NEGUS    OF    ABYSSINIA. 

REPLY  OF   THE    NEGUS 

AU  TEES  PUISSANT  MENELIK  NEGUS  NEGESTI  EMPEREUR  D'ETHIOPIE 
LEON  XIII.  PAPE 

Tres  Puissant  Negus  Negesti,  salut  et  prospe'rite. 

II  vous  a  plu  jadis  de  saluer  par  un  acte  spontane  le  commence- 
ment de  Notre  Pontificat,  et,  dix  ans  apres,  a  1'occasion  de  Notre 
Jubile  sacerdotal,  Vous  Nous  avez  offert  un  nouveau  t^moignage 
de  votre  courtoisie.  Ces  preuves  de  bienveillance  ont  rejoui 
Notre  coeur ;  elles  honorent  le  votre.  Aussi,  est-ce  a  Votre 
coeur  de  Monarque  et  de  chretien  que  s'adresse  aujourd'hui 
Notre  parole  pour  vous  engager  a  un  acte  de  generosite  souveraine. 
La  victoire  a  laisse  en  vos  mains  de  nombreux  prisonniers.  Ce 
sont  des  jeunes  gens  vigoureux  et  dignes  de  respect,  qui,  a  la  fleur 
de  1'age  et  a  1'aurore  des  plus  belles  oeperances,  ont  ete  enleves  a 
leurs  families  et  a  leur  patrie. 

Leur  captivite  n'augmente  ni  la  mesure  de  Votre  puissance,  ni 
1'etendue  de  Votre  prestige ;  mais,  plus  elle  se  prolonge,  plus  vive 
est  la  douleur  dans  Fame  de  milliers  de  meres  et  d'epouses 
innocentes. 

Pour  Nous,  penetres  de  la  sainte  mission  que  Nous  a  confiee 
Notre  Seigneur  Jesus  Christ,  et  qui  s'etend  a  toutes  les  nations 
chretiennes,  Nous  les  aimons  comme  des  fils.  —  Agreez  done  la 
demande,  que  le  coeur  d'un  Pere  Vous  fait,  au  nom  de  la  Trinite 
divine,  au  nom  de  la  Vierge  benie,  au  nom  de  tout  ce  qui  vous  est 
plus  cher  en  ce  monde  :  veuillez  sans  retard  leur  rendre  la 
liberte. 

Tres  Puissant  Negus  Negesti,  ne  Vous  refusez  pas  u  Vous 
montrer  Imagnanime  aux  yeux  des  nations.  Enr^gistrez  cette 
page  glorieuse  dans  les  annales  de  Votre  regne  !  Que  sont,  apres 
tout,  les  droits  impitoyables  de  la  guerre  a  cote  des  droits  et  des 
devoirs  de  la  fraternite  humaine  ? 


1140  Documents 

Dieu  Vous  en  rendra  une  riche  recompense,  car  il  est  Pere 
misericordieux !  Mille  voix  s'eleveront  en  choeur  pour  Vous 
benir,  et  la  Notre  se  fera  entendre  la  premiere.  En  attendant 
Nous  implorons  du  Ciel  sur  la  Famille  Roy  ale  tous  les  biens 
desirables. 

Donne  a  Eome,  pres  Saint  Pierre,  le  11  Mai  de  1'annee  1896, 
de  Notre  Pentificat  la  dix-neuvieme. 

LEO  PP.  XIII. 

LEON  VAINQUEUE  DE  LA.  TEIBU  DE  JUDA,  MENELIK  ELU  DU 
SEIGNEUE  BOI  DBS  EOIS  D'ETHIOPIE.  PAEVIENNE  A  SA 
SAINTETE  LEON  XIII.  PAPE 

Salut ! 

J'ai  recu  par  Monseigneur  Macaire  la  lettre  paternelle,  ou 
Votre  Saintete,  apres  avoir  rappele  gracieusement  Nos  relations 
anterieures,  faisait  appel  a  Mes  sentiments  de  clemence  en  faveur 
des  prisonniers  italiens,  que  la  volonte  de  Dieu  a  mis  entre  Mes 
mains.  J'ajoute  que  Votre  Saintete  ne  pouvait  choisir  po.ur 
interpreter  Ses  sentiments  un  Envoye  plus  Eloquent  et  plus 
sympathique  que  Son  Excellence  Monseigneur  Cyrille  Macaire. 

J'ai  ete  vivement  emu  en  lisant  1'admirable  lettre  du  Pere 
commun  des  Chretiens  et  en  ecoutant  le  langage  de  son  illustre 
Envoye,  et  le  premier  mouvement  de  Mon  coeur  avait  ete  de 
donner  a  Votre  Saintete  la  satisfaction  qu'  Elle  Me  demandait  si 
noblement,  car,  Moi  aussi,  Je  pl'eure  sur  les  nombreuses  et 
innocentes  victimes  de  cette  guerre  cruelle,  que  j'ai  conscience  de 
n'avoir  point  provoquee. 

Malheureusement,  Mon  vif  desir  de  realiser  les  voeux  de  Votre 
Saintete  a  ete  contrarie  par  Fattitude  imprevue  du  Gouvernement 
Italien,  qui,  apres  M'avoir  exprime  le  desir  de  faire  la  paix  et  de 
retablir  les  bonnes  relations  entre  nous,  continue  a  agir  a  Mon 
egard  comma  si  nous  etions  en  etat  de  guerre. 

Mon  devoir  de  Boi  et  de  Pere  de  Mon  peuple  M'interdit,  en 
ces  eirconstances,  de  sacrifier  la  seule  garantie  de  paix  qui  se 
trouve  entre  Mes  mains,  a  la  satisfaction  d'etre  agreable  a  Votre 
Saintete  et  a  Moi-meme. 

C'est  avec  la  plus  profonde  tristesse,  que,  apres  avoir  tout 
pese  dans  Ma  conscience  de  Monarque  et  de  Chretien,  Je  suis 
contraint  de  renvoyer  a  de  temps  meilleurs  le  temoignage 
d'affection  et  de  haute  estime,  que  J'aurais  souhaite  donner  a 
Votre  Saintete. 

J'espere  que  la  grande  voix  de  Votre  Saintete  que  tous  les 


Notices  of  Books.  1141 

Chretiens  entendent  avec  respect,  s'e'levera  en  faveur  de  la  justice 
de  ma  cause,  qui  est  celle  de  1'independance  du  peuple,  dont  Dieu 
m'a  confie  le  gouvernement,  et  qu'Elle  rendra  ainsi  tres-prochaine 
la  realisation  de  Notre  commun  desir  de  rendre  a  leurs  families 
ceux  qui  en  sont  separes. 

^  Je  puis,  en  attendant,  rassurer  Votre  Saintete  sur  le  sort  des 
prisonniers  italiens,  que  Je  n'ai  cesse  de  proteger  et  de  traitor 

Iselon  les  devoirs  de  la  charite  chretienne,  et  auxquels,  a  la  con- 
sideration de  Votre  Saintete,  J'accorderai  encore,  s'il  est  possible 
des  adoucissements. 
Ecrit  a  Notre  Ville  d' Addis- Ababa,  le  22  Mascaram,  1889  de 
Tan  de  grace  (ler  octobre  1896). 
IRotices  of  Boofc6 

Six  MONTHS  IN  JERUSALEM.   By  the  Kev.  C.  Biggs,  M.A., 

Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford.    London  :  Mowbray 

and   Co.,  64,  Farrington-road. 

IN  these  pages  the  Rev.  Mr.  Biggs  details  for  us  the  im- 
pressions made  upon  him  by  a  six  months  stay  in  Jerusalem, 
as  Chaplain  to  Bishop  Blyth,  of  the  English  Church.  Though 
written  from  a  Protestant  standpoint — the  aim  being  to  review 
the  work  done  by  members  of  the  East  Mission  Society  for 
the  advancement  of  Christianity  among  Jews  and  Moslems — the 
book  is,  we  are  glad  to  say,  free  from  any  traces  of  sectarian 
bias  or  prejudice.  The  description  in  which  it  abounds  of  the 
Holy  City  and  environments,  are  full  of  deep  interest  for  readers 
of  Sacred  History.  Scenes  of  various  Biblical  incidents  are 
identified,  but  so  transformed  by  the  vicissitudes  of  time,  that 
in  their  present  aspect  they  are  out  of  all  harmony  with  what 
we  should  be  led  to  expect  from  reading  the  Gospel  narratives. 
Thus,  on  the  site  of  the  Temple,  stands  the  Mosque  of  Omor, 
while  over  the  sepulchre  which  received  the  body  of  our  Lord  on 
the  taking  down  from  the  cross,  is  erected  a  magnificent  church 
of  exquisite  design  and  beauty. 

Jerusalem  seems  at  present  to  be  the  focus  of  all  the  principal 
religious  denominations  of  the  world.  Here  Christians,  Jews, 
and  Mahommedans  have  built  their  tabernacles,  and  every  sect 
seems  to  be  animated  with  a  burning  desire  to  make  converts 
to  its  own  creed.  Of  Eastern  Catholics  in  communion  with 


1142  Notices  of  Books. 

Eome,  there  are  Copts,  Greeks,  Syrians,  Abyssinians,  and 
Armenians,  each  branch  preserving,  by  special  permission  of  the 
Holy  See,  its  own  peculiar  rites  and  usages.  Then,  too,  the 
Eeligious  Orders  are  represented.  To  the  Franciscans  belong 
special  charge  of  the  Holy  Places.  The  Jesuits  and  Lazarists 
have  hospices,  where,  as  the  author  remarks,  pilgrims  of  all 
classes  have  their  ;  conveniences  and  comforts  cheerfully  pro- 
vided for. 

The  book  is  beautifully  illustrated.  To  many  it  will,  we  are 
sure,  prove  a  mine  of  information  on  matters  connected  with  the 
places  hallowed  by  memories  of  the  Eedeemer,  and  sanctified  by 
associations  with  His  life,  passion,  and  death.  P.M. 

YOUNG  IRELAND.  By  Sir  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  K.C.M.G. 
Illustrated.  London  :  T.  Fisher  Unwin,  Paternoster- 
square. 

STUDENTS  of  Irish  history  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
Sir  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  for  having,  amid  the  distracting  cares 
of  ill-health  and  declining  years,  successfully  accomplished  the 
task  of  publishing  a  new  and  revised  edition  of  his  popular  work. 
As  everyone  knows,  these  volumes  deal  with  an  epoch  of 
usual  activity  in  Irish  political  affairs.  Around  the  stirring  and 
exciting  events  of  this  period  the  author  has  woven  the  web  of  a 
delightful  and  interesting  narrative.  The  birth  of  the  nation, 
the  growth  and  development  of  the  Eepeal  Association,  and  the 
formation  of  the  Young  Ireland  movement  come  in  for  their  due 
share  of  attention.  Eeminiscences,  and  personal  recollections  of 
some  of  the  leading  spirits  of  these  times,  are  given  in  a  fashion 
that  has  all  the  flavour  and  freshness  of  a  romance.  The  book 
bristles  in  facts  of  vast  importance  for  the  Irish  historian  of  the 
future.  It  is  brought  out  by  Mr.  Fisher  Unwin  in  his  usual 
faultless  style. 

HlSTORIA    EXERCITIORUM     SPIRITUALIUM.         S.    P.    Ignatii 

de  Loyola,   Fundatoris     Societatis     Jesu    Collecta    et 

Concinnata    A.    P.    Ignatio    Diertius,    S.J.     Freiburg, 

Brisgovise  :  Herder. 

As  there  are  few  books  of  the  devotional  type  so  widely  read 
as  the  Spiritual  Exercises,  so  there  are  few  that  have  proved  so 
beneficial  to  souls  engaged  in  combating  the  assaults  of  tempta- 
tion, and  ascending  the  heights  of  Christian  perfection.  The 


Notices  of  Books  1143 

history,  then,  of  this  remarkable  book  cannot  fail  to  quicken  a 
general  interest.  In  the  volume  before  us  Father  Diertius 
discusses  at  length  the  circumstances  under  which  the  great 
teacher  of  Loyola  gave  to  the  world  his  celebrated  treatise  on  the 
spiritual  life.  That  a  comparatively  unlettered  man  should 
formulate  such  lofty  maxims  of  the  higher  life,  and  conceive  such 
sublime  sentiments  of  divine  charity  as  are  found  in  the  Exercises, 
is  in  itself  an  evidence  that  he  drew  his  inspirations  from  a  more 
elevated  source  than  the  fountains  of  worldly  wisdom  ;  and  this 
fact  makes  for  the  excellence  of  his  work.  It  was  in  an  humble 
cave  at  Manresa,  we  learn,  that  Ignatius  forged  these  wonderful 
weapons  of  the  spiritual  warfare  which  St.  Francis  Xavier, 
St.  Teresa,  and  St.  Charles  Borromeo  used  so  effectively  in  their 
supernatural  struggles,  and  which  they  recommend  to  all  others 
in  similar  conflicts. 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  DOMINICAN  ORDER.  By  Mother  Francis 
Kaphael,  O.S.D.  With  a  Preface  by  Father  John 
Proctor,  Provincial  of  English  Dominicans.  London 
and  Leamington  :  Art  and  Book  Company. 
THIS  is  a  very  valuable  addition  to  our  store  of  ascetical 
literature.  Like  its  predecessors  from  the  same  prolific  pen, 
the  book  is  destined  to  become  a  source  of  profit  and  advantage 
to  many  souls  in  quest  of  that  peace  and  happiness  that  are  not 
of  this  world.  The  present  work  is  a  posthumous  one,  being 
published  after  the  lamented  death  of  the  authoress.  As  a 
consequence  it  bears  in  some  places  traces  and  evidences  of  a 
difference  of  style,  and  suffers  from  other  drawbacks  inherent 
to  all  such  works.  But  these  blemishes  are  of  a  very  trivial 
character,  and  do  not  detract  from  the  general  orderly  and 
connected  treatment  of  the  subject,  nor  do  they  in  the  least  tend 
to  mar  the  unity  of  the  whole.  Being  herself  deeply  imbued  with 
the  Dominican  spirit,  the  writer  seeks  to  disclose  to  us  its  chief 
characteristics  as  manifested  in  the  lives  of  members  of  the  Order. 
The  book  consists  of  three  parts.  In  the  first  the  various 
phases  of  the  active  and  contemplative  life  are  noted.  The 
great  sanctity,  the  devouring  zeal  ^for  souls,  the  spirit  of  ready 
obedience,  and  the  habit  of  silent  recollection,  which  are 
the  prevailing  traits  of  the  Order,  are  beautifully  drawn  and 
exemplified.  The  second  parts  familiarizes  us  with  the  principal 
devotions  practised  by  the  Dominicans.  Love  of  Jesus  in  the 
Blessed  Sacrament,  tender  piety  to  the  Mother  of  God,  and 


1144  Notices  of  Books 

earnest  solicitude  in  behalf  of  the  suffering  are  among  the  pious 
practices  that  sanctify  the  Dominican's  daily  life,  and  give 
increase  unto  his  labours.  The  last  part  introduces  to  us  the 
routine  details  of  their  every-day  life. 

No  one  can  peruse  this  agreeable  volume  without  carrying 
away  a  feeling  of  admiration  for  the  great  Order  of  St.  Dominick, 
of  love  for  the  virtues  of  which  it  is  the  homestead,  and  of  thank- 
fulness for  the  good  which  it  promotes  among  men.  P.  M. 

GBADUALE  PAEVUM  sive  Festa  Praecipua  cum  Cantu  quern 
curavit  S.E.C.  ad  usum  Ecclesiarum  Minorum  ex 
editione  typica  Gradualis  Bomani  collecta.  8°,  92  pp. 
Ratisbon :  Pustet. 

THE  energetic  house  of  Mr.  Pustet,  the  publisher  of  the 
authentic  Roman  Chant,  has  brought  out  another  extract  from 
the  Graduate  Bomanum,  which  ought  to  prove  useful  to  many 
churches  in  these  countries.  The  idea  in  compiling  this  little 
book,  was  to  supply  churches  that  do  not  have  High  Mass  on 
every  Sunday  with  a  small  collection  of  all  the  Masses  they  are 
likely  to  want,  at  a  very  small  cost. 

The  following  enumeration  of  the  Masses  contained  in  the 
small  volume  will  be  its  best  recommendation.  It  contains  all 
the  variable  chants  of  the  three  Masses  of  Christmas,  the  Masses 
of  St.  Stephen,  New  Year's  Day,  Epiphany,  Holy  Saturday, 
Easter  Sunday  and  Monday,  the  Rogation  Days,  Ascension 
Thursday,  Pentecost  Sunday  and  Monday,  Trinity  Sunday, 
Corpus  Christi,  the  Immaculate  Conception,  The  Holy  Name 
of  Jesus,  the  Purification,  St.  Joseph,  the  Patronage  of  St.  Joseph, 
the  Annunciation,  the  Seven  Dolours,  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus, 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  the  Precious  Blood, 
the  Assumption,  Nativity,  and  the  Holy  Name  of  the  B.V.M., 
the  Holy  Eosary,  the  Angels  Guardians,  All  Saints,  St.  Cecilia, 
the  Dedication  of  Churches,  and  the  Votive  Masses  of  the  Blessed 
Trinity,  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  the  B.V.M. 
The  Graduate  Parvum  is  sold  only  in  connection  with  the 
Ordinarium  Missae,  the  price  of  the  two  books  together  being 
0.90  M.  (lid.),  or  bound,  1.20  M.  But  anyone  who  already 
has  the  Ordinarium  Missae  of  the  size  5f  X  7-J  can  have  the 
Graduate  Parvum  by  itself  at  the  price  of  0.50  M.  (Qd.),  or  bound 
0.80  M.  This  extremely  low  price  ought  certainly  to  bring  the 
book  within  the  reach  of  even  the  smallest  churches, 


BX   801    .168   1896  SMC 
The   Irish   ecclesiastical 
record      47085658 


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