66 bring the matter to a very practical issue. The acts of the sixth Ecumenical Council were sent by Leo II. to the Spanish bishops. In the year 684 (that is, three years after the date of the sixth Council) its decrees were examined by the Spanish bishops at the sixteenth synod of Toledo. The bishops lay down as a principle, that the decrees of the sixth Council were to be received, so far as they do not diverge from those of previous Councils" ; they compare them with the creeds, "approve and confirm them," and then announce them to the faithful as the law of their belief. (Mansi, xi. 1086, seq.) Now, here we have an examination precisely and minutely parallel to that of Leo's tome at Chalcedon; and yet the Spanish bishops cannot have imagined that they had "liberty to dissent from the decrees of an Ecumenical Council. If their examination had ended otherwise, and they had come to the conclusion that the acts of the sixth Council were not consonant to the creeds, they would have cut themselves off from the unity of the Church, as the Egyptian bishops did by rejecting the definitions of Chalcedon. (pp. 30, 31.) If the re-examination held at Chalcedon is supposed to show, that infallibility was not then ascribed to a Pope speaking ex cathedrâ;-then the re-examination in Spain must be admitted equally to show, that infallibility was not in that case ascribed to an Ecumenical Council. And this, in argument with these tract-writers, is a "reductio ad absurdum." As In truth the dogma of infallibility, just like every other revealed dogma, was only by slow degrees definitely and fully apprehended, in its practical applications and bearings. regards patristic objections to the dogma of Papal infallibility-F. Humphrey excellently observes (p. xiii) that "one could easily follow suit with a better catena of authorities from the Fathers, against the Divinity of our Blessed Lord." F. Addis treats, with a thoroughly satisfactory result (pp. 35-39) the whole question of the False Decretals. It is sometimes maintained, that the mere fact of those forgeries having for so long a period received universal credit, is an argument against the Church's divine authority. F. Addis replies with singular felicity, that high-churchmen at all events cannot advocate such a principle. A multitude of apocryphal writings are to be met with from the earliest times, and obtained not unfrequently universal currency in the Church. The Fathers, as well as the Schoolmen, appeal to spurious documents. Look, for example, at the great Lateran Synod in 649. In the fifth session the Council gives the patristic testimonies against the doctrine of the Monothelites. The most ancient authorities quoted are Dionysius the Areopagite and Justin Martyr. The works of the former, constantly appealed to in the controversy, are of course absolutely unauthentic. From Justin the Fathers of the Council quote four passages. Three are from works which Justin never wrote; the fourth resembles something in a book falsely ascribed to him, but the quotation is inaccurate. Yet this Synod had great influence in deciding the fate of Monothelism. About a case like this, I suppose, the writer of the tract would speak much as we should. He would allow that it was not possible to replace the passages from Dionysius and Justin by others of the same, or anything like the same, antiquity; but he would plead that the Monothelite heresy might be refuted by solid arguments from tradition, and that, in spite of human error, Divine Providence watched over the dogmatic decisions of the Church. Why should he be astonished if Catholics take the same line of defence about the primacy, and refuse to believe that a forgery defeated the promises of Christ? (pp. 38, 39.) The extracts we have given are but good average specimens, of the extraordinary completeness and success with which F. Addis has accomplished his work. We rejoice to think that he has (to all appearance) so many years before him, for serving the Church in a way which just now she peculiarly needs. Whatever else however may be in God's counsels, we may securely prophesy that Anglican high-churchism has no future to expect. At the same time it does not therefore follow, that no advantage is gained by such discussions as that with which we have been engaged. In proportion as they produce any effect, they will of course be personally serviceable to those directly addressed; for high-churchmen, remaining such, incur the certainty of grievous spiritual loss, and the peril of eternal ruin. But further. There are two forms of misbelief, which at the present moment are far more threatening and dangerous than any others; viz. liberalism within the Christian pale and antitheism without it. Now these desolating errors cannot be combated with complete effect, except by Catholics. It is really important therefore, that as many as possible of those who are otherwise qualified to engage in such conflicts-and Canon Liddon for one is eminently qualified - should be in submission to the full teaching of the Catholic Church. 506 Notices of Books. The History of the Sacred Passion. From the Spanish of F. LUIS DE LA PALMA, S.J.; the Translation revised and edited by HENRY JAMES COLERIDGE, S.J. London: Burns & Oates. THIS HIS is the most wonderful work upon the Passion that we have ever read. Not only step by step that our Lord took up to the cross,-the throne of His victory over death and sin,-has the author of this work followed Him also step by step: he has done far more than this. He has brought out the fulness of the meaning of the Gospel narrative of the Passion, with illustrations from other parts of Holy Scripture, in a way which can only have come from intense meditation upon every word of what we read in the Gospels about the Passion, and of all that was said about our Lord in the Law and the Prophets. "Father Luis de la Palma, the author of the following pages," says the Editor, was a Spanish member of the Society of Jesus in the first century of its existence." 66 Everything that he has written is of the most sterling value"; and, judging from the work before us, we can well believe it. To us the charm of the work lies in this, that it is entirely theological. It is said that this work is made use of largely, by those who give the exercises of S. Ignatius. It is, as it were, the flesh upon the skeleton of the Exercises. What can be more beautiful than the chapter of the "More Secret Causes of our Saviour's Sorrow"? or the "Ascending the Cross, with His face turned from Jerusalem towards the West-towards Rome"? or again, "Giving up the Ghost"? Take the following extract as to our dear Lady when waiting for the Resurrection of her Son (p. 408) : : "She thought on the Apostles who had taken flight, and were hidden; on the other disciples who had believed in Him, and were now scandalized; and on the mystical body of her Son, not less wounded and lacerated than His natural body. And she, as the mother of one as well as the other, desired life and health for both, and to gather them together and shelter them, and revive them with the warmth of her own loving heart." Never has the Passion been meditated upon so before: nor is there any subject so worthy of meditation; for, as the holy author writes (allowing that there are many subjects fit for meditation) : “ All this is true; and yet with all this, the history of the Sacred Passion and death of our Saviour contains excellences and advantages of its own, above all other subjects on which we can exercise ourselves in meditation." We can only say, in conclusion, that if any one wishes to understand the Passion of our dear Lord in its fulness, let him procure this book. And if the "Quarterly Series" continue to contain such works as these, it will be impossible to exaggerate the gratitude due from Catholics to the Editors of the "Month," under whose superintendence the series is produced. The "Civiltà Cattolica" on F. Faber's Spiritual Works. Translated by permission. London: Burns & Oates. E VERY man may be said to lead two lives. We do not speak, of course, of the life eternal, although the life eternal must necessarily influence the life to which we refer; but the second life of which we speak is that in which "Defunctus adhuc loquitur,"-for evil or for good. Sometimes the first life is a failure, and the second a success; at other times the first is a success, and the second a failure. Some men fail in their lifetime, and succeed after death; others succeed in their lifetime, and leave no memory behind them. But of F. Faber we think we may say, that he succeeded in his first life, and that his second will be still more glorious. Should we have any doubt of this, we need only cast a glance at the little pamphlet, lately translated from the "Civiltà Cattolica." There we shall find what F. Faber is now doing for Italy, long after he has gone to his rest. "Defunctus adhuc loquitur." As for what he is doing, and has done, in America, the past pages of this REVIEW will show. In France, he is regarded as one of the greatest spiritual writers of the present day. The review of the "Civiltà" is simply admirable, and it must be remembered that it is the most authoritative organ of the illustrious Society of Jesus. We have no room for long quotations; but as there has been lately in England a tendency to depreciate the great spiritual master's works, our readers may perhaps be glad to know what is thought about him by this semi-official organ. "It is indeed marvellous to note the ease in which he moves in the invisible world of grace, as if it were the tangible world of nature, and makes us realize the value of the least interior act of the love of God, each of which, as he remarks, is a more finished thing than a statue of Phidias or Praxiteles. It is more firm than the foundation of the Alps. It is more enduring than the round world, which God has made so firm. Wonderful as he is, when he dwells on God's hidden ways with His saints, he is mor *See e. g. our number for January, 1870, pp. 105-107. wonderful still when he displays the abundance of grace and merit to be found in the commonest life.' All F. Faber's works lead upwards. It was not always, as many think, the " 'easy ways of Divine Love," although he tried to make every way easy. Throughout all his works there is a gradual climbing upwards to the mountains of God. Let those who doubt, try to put in practice the teaching of his later works. 6 "M. Louis Veuillot" (says the "Civiltà "), "speaking of F. Faber's 'Spiritual Conferences,' in his Historiettes et Fantaisies,' calls it livre ascétique, livre anglais, livre traduit,' and yet he is charmed with it, and says, Véritablement le Docteur Faber est un maître homme. .. Ce P. Faber est un maître écorcheur, et il a des pinces étranges pour saisir les fibres les plus ténues et les plus cachées sous le peau, qu'il enlève dextrement.'" S. Alfonso says (we quote from the "Civiltà ")--"That he liked those preachers whose words did not pass directly from the head to the tongue, but descended first into the heart, to be enkindled by its fire before rising again to its lips." Such was F. Faber. We may be allowed to quote the words of the venerable Abbot of Solesmes, Don Guéranger, "that since the 'devout life' of S. Francis of Sales it would be difficult to find other works like his." Yet one approbation more, and it comes from the Vicar of the King of kings : "July 31, 1872. "I highly approve of the publication in Italian of the excellent F. Faber's works. I give my blessing to the translator and the publisher, engaging the latter to continue the publication of good and sound works. "PIUS PP. IX." What was the secret of F. Faber's success, both in life and after death? 1st. The Science of Faith, "which influences the heart, as well as enlightens the understanding" (p. 15); hence the success of all his sermons and all his works, because they were so theological. 2nd. Love, which is greater than faith or hope. 3rd. The Science of the Saints, nearly all of whom he had studied (notwithstanding great bodily pain), almost one by one. 4th. Because "he was," as the "Civiltà" says, "very, very Roman." These are F. Faber's own words, even before becoming a Catholic. We conclude with this extract : 66 We believe that to his beautiful soul this praise, Roman,' would have been more grateful than any other; it alone would have sufficed him.” Memoir of Count de Montalembert, Peer of France: a Chapter of recent French History. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood & Sons. TH HE name of "Montalembert" used to be a household word amongst all |