Title: The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, April 1865
Author: Various
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.


*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, April 1865" ***


THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD.

APRIL, 1865.



MEMOIRS OF MY MINISTRY.

BY CARDINAL CONSALVI.


In the lonely hours of his exile at Rheims, whither he had been banished
by Napoleon for having refused to assist at the imperial marriage
with Maria Louisa, Cardinal Consalvi found employment in tracing from
memory an outline of the great affairs which had occupied him during his
ministry as Secretary of State. It was no self-love nor mean desire of
praise that induced the man of action thus to become the historian of
his own deeds. To the same zeal which had nerved him in his conflicts
for the cause of the Church, do we owe the truthful record he has left
us of the fortunes of these conflicts in which the Holy See was so
audaciously attacked and so successfully defended. The thought that,
perhaps, one day his words might be of advantage to the interests of
religion, or might supply weapons for its defence, was a motive strong
enough to influence him to undertake the task under circumstances
the most unfavourable that can well be imagined. "I have drawn up
these memoirs", he writes, "at most critical moments; how critical,
may well be imagined when I mention, that as soon as I have finished
a page I must hide it at once in a safe place, so as to secure it from
the unforeseen perquisitions to which at all times we are exposed....
I am without notes either to guide or to confirm my reminiscences.
I have not the leisure, nor the tranquillity, nor the security, nor
the liberty which I require, if I would enrich my narrative with comments
and becoming ornaments.... If God grant me life and better days, I hope
to give to my work all that perfection of form and style which is at
present beyond my power".

But, whatever the narrative may lack in perfection of form and style,
is abundantly compensated by the interest attaching to the events
it describes. It sets before us a picture of the movement of European
society during the stirring period of the Cardinal's administration. The
intrigues, and schemes, and falsehoods of diplomacy; the art of masking
ambitious designs under generous language, and laying snares for a
rival's unwary feet; the dishonourable selfishness, the detestable
hypocrisy--in a word, all that goes to make up the strategy of modern
statecraft, is laid bare in its pages by a master hand. And what lends
fresh interest to the subject is the contrast it offers between the
baseness of courts and the loyal rectitude of the Holy See, between
the plotting which on the world's side exhibits nought but the cunning
of the serpent, and the honourable prudence on the part of the Church
which tells also of the simplicity of the dove. On the one hand we have
a web of intrigue, each thread of which is meant to secure some perhaps
undue advantage; on the other, a straightforward policy placing religion
above everything, and worthy of the Pontiff who is vicar on earth of
that Lord who loves souls. That the voice of such a policy should be
heard at all, is due under Providence to the temporal sovereignty of the
Holy See. The folly of those who would wish, for the sake of religion,
to see the Pope a subject rather than a sovereign, cannot be better shown
than by the history of the relations between the Holy See and the courts
of Europe during Consalvi's administration. During that period Naples,
Spain, Portugal, Austria, Russia, Malta, and France had each of them
separate negociations to conduct with the Holy See on matters affecting
the liberty of the Church and the interests of religion. It was a time
when the interests of different states crossed each other in a thousand
ways, and if the Pope had been the subject of any one of these kingdoms,
it would have been simply impossible, humanly speaking, to carry on
the government of the Church. Statesmen would have at their hand the
ready pretext that the decisions of the Holy Father were coloured by
undue national prejudices, and this pretext would serve to excuse
their own encroachments upon the liberties of the Church in their
own territories. Besides, that jealousy of the Church which has ever
impelled statesmen to fetter its action, would certainly influence the
sovereign who might claim the Pope as his subject to interfere with the
liberty of so formidable a rival. The success which followed Cardinal
Consalvi's management of affairs was due, no doubt, in great part, to his
surpassing abilities; but these abilities required, as the condition of
their exercise, the vantage ground of independence. Speaking from the
steps of a throne, with all the liberty which that position secured to
him, the Cardinal Secretary had an influence which could never belong
to the mere ecclesiastic raising a suppliant voice at the footstool of
some haughty sovereign.

The relations of France with the Holy See in the beginning of this
century were such as to demand the unceasing attention of the Papal
minister. We have already given the history of the negotiations
concerning the Concordat with the First Consul; we are sure that the
Cardinal's narrative of other transactions between Napoleon and the
Pope will prove not less interesting to our readers.

It is not a little singular that the earliest negotiation between Pius
VII. and France was precisely similar to the latest, and that the name
of England held a prominent place in both. It is not at all singular,
however, that the Pope followed in the latest the self-same principles
of conduct which he professed in the earliest, even though this faithful
adherence to his duty cost him his throne, and his liberty. Soon after
his arrival in Rome, from Venice, there was some reason to fear lest
the French army might proclaim once more the Roman Republic, and thus
deprive the Holy Father of his dominions. All anxiety was soon dispelled
by the proclamation issued by Murat to his troops, then about to march
upon Naples through the Pontifical territory. In this proclamation he
commanded his soldiers to observe strict discipline in passing through
the friendly territory of the Holy See. This recognition of the papal
sovereignty was a joyful surprise to all those who heard of it. But among
those who did not hear of it was a Mgr. Caleppi, just named as Nuncio
to the Brazils, who had become acquainted with Murat at Florence. Filled
with zeal for the Pope, Mgr. Caleppi, without having received any orders
from Rome, hurried after the general and overtook him at Florence. He
there induced Murat to agree to a treaty, securing the integrity of
the Papal territory on certain conditions, which he promised would
be at once carried to Rome and gladly accepted by his Holiness. The
treaty was short, but contained one article which plunged the Holy
Father into a most embarrassing position. This article declared that
the Pope would close his ports against the English and all other enemies
of France. Nothing could be more opposed than this to the view the Pope
took of the duties of his position as common Father of the faithful and
minister of peace. He had resolved to maintain a strict neutrality in
the great struggle that was going on, hoping by this conduct to preserve
the free exercise of his spiritual sovereignty, even in the countries
against whose sovereigns France was waging war. The indiscreet zeal of
Mgr. Caleppi placed him in the alternative of either breaking through
his fixed rule of conduct, or of making a declaration of neutrality at
a time when such a declaration was sure to be attended with the most
disastrous consequences. He resolved not to ratify the treaty. In a
short time Murat came to Rome, and by his frank and loyal character,
won for himself the esteem of Consalvi. When they came to treat of the
convention, and when the Cardinal disavowed the proceedings of Mgr.
Caleppi, Murat gave a signal proof of his affection for Pius VII. It was
in his power to insist on the ratification of the treaty, and to inform
Bonaparte of the Pope's refusal; but he preferred to lose the credit
he could have won for himself by such an act, and after employing many
arguments to shake the Pope's resolution, he at length exclaimed: "Well,
then, since this treaty is a source of so much trouble to the Holy Father
and to you, let us throw it into the fire, and say no more about it".

Soon after this occurrence Consalvi went to Paris to negociate the
Concordat. After the ratification of the French Concordat came the
discussion of the Italian Concordat for the kingdom of Italy. What the
organic laws were to the French Concordat, the decrees of the President
Melzi became to the Italian one. The Emperor's decrees--which, while they
appeared to revoke those of Melzi in deference to the Pope's opposition,
in reality confirmed them--completely frustrated the good effects of
the Concordat. The difficulties of these two negociations were hardly
over when the marriage of the Emperor's brother Jerome was a source
of fresh trouble to the Holy See. Napoleon urged the Pope to declare
null the marriage his brother had contracted in America without the
consent of his mother or his brother. Cardinal Fesch, the Emperor's
uncle, was charged with the management of this affair, and spared no
importunities to extort from the Pope the desired decision. The whole
question hinged on this: could the Emperor prove that the decrees of the
Council of Trent had been published at Baltimore, where the marriage
was contracted? If proof of this were forthcoming, the Pope would at
once declare the marriage null and void; but if it could not be proved,
then the marriage was perfectly valid, seeing that the defect of the
consent of the parents was not an _impedimentum dirimens_, but only a
civil disability in the eyes of the French law. The Cardinal relates
that in the many letters written by the Emperor to the Pope during the
course of this affair, he frequently insisted, and with extreme energy,
on the fact that his brother's spouse was a Protestant, and he censured
in the most abusive language the Pontiff, who, as he said, was desirous
of maintaining a heretic in a family every member of which was destined
to mount a throne. The Pope's reply was, that although this difference
of religion rendered the marriage unlawful, yet it did not make it
invalid. After these letters, who could believe that as soon as the
ecclesiastical authorities at Paris had declared the American marriage
null and void, the Emperor would make Jerome marry another Protestant,
the daughter of the King of Wurtemberg, and afterwards Queen of
Westphalia?

Next came the great event of the journey of Pius VII. to Paris, to
officiate at the coronation of the Emperor. One day a letter came to
Rome from the Cardinal Caprera, then legate at Paris, containing an
announcement as unexpected as it was important. The Legate stated that
the Emperor had summoned him to an audience, and had represented to
him that all orders of the state, and the best friends of the Church,
believed it likely to be of service to religion that he should be crowned
by the Pope under his new title of Emperor of the French; that this was
also his own opinion; that the state of France made it impossible for
him to co to Rome to receive the diadem there, and that consequently
the ceremony could not be performed unless the Pontiff should consent
to come to Paris for the purpose, as some of his predecessors had done;
that, by reason of the advantages which would accrue from it to religion,
the Pope would remain satisfied with his journey beyond all his hopes;
that the matter should be laid at once before the Holy Father; and in
case he consented, that the government would forward a formal invitation
with all the solemnity and pomp befitting such a guest and such a host.

The imperial representations were backed by the Cardinal Legate's
own remarks. He added that he was in a position to declare that
great benefits would follow the Pope's compliance, whilst the worst
consequences might be speedily expected from a refusal; that a refusal
would be felt very much, and would never be forgiven; that excuses based
on the health or the advanced age of the Pope, on the inconveniences of
the journey, etc., would be looked upon as mere pretexts; that a tardy
reply would be equivalent to a refusal; and that it was idle to raise
objections on the etiquette of the reception and sojourn at Paris,
for the writer knew, on the best authority, that the reception of the
Holy Father would equal, and even surpass, in magnificence all former
occasions; but the Emperor was not willing to undergo the humiliation
of binding himself by a formal treaty to do that to which his own heart
naturally inclined him.

This proposal was of a nature to require the most careful consideration.
The impetuous character of Napoleon made it easy to foresee what
disastrous consequences might spring from a refusal; and on the other
hand, the state of European feeling towards the Emperor was such as
to convince any one that to accept the invitation was to provoke the
indignation both of governments and of individuals. What was the Holy
Father to do in such a crisis? He did what the Popes have ever done;
calling to mind that human wisdom is weak at its best--_cogitationes
mortalium timidae et incertae_, as he expressed it in his allocution--he
implored from God light and help to the end that he might discover which
of the two courses would better promote the honour and the interests
of religion. He set aside all earthly influences, and refused to take
counsel from human motives. He convoked the Sacred College, and laid
before it the letters of the Cardinal Legate and of Cardinal Fesch, who,
as French Ambassador at Rome, had been charged by his government with
the negotiation. The Cardinals gave their opinion in writing, and by a
majority declared that the invitation should be accepted. The Emperor
had formally pledged his word that the journey would be productive of
much good to religion, and it was thought the Pope could not refuse an
invitation so expressed. A refusal would throw all the blame of the
consequences on the Holy See, and it was of the last importance that
no pretext for these calumnies should be afforded to the enemies of
that See. Besides, all the Catholic powers of Europe, and many besides,
had already recognized the new empire. In addition to these general
reasons, there were two to which special weight was attached. The
organic laws, and the installation of constitutional bishops, who had
not retracted their errors, were two outrages upon religion in France,
which caused perpetual grief to the Holy Father. The formal promises of
Napoleon, coupled with the advantage of the Pope's presence in Paris,
gave good grounds to hope that these two evils could be remedied if the
Emperor's invitation were accepted. It was not thought prudent, however,
to accept the invitation in the dark, as it were, nor did the Emperor's
verbal promises to the Legate, nor Cardinal Fesch's vague generalities
on the good of religion, inspire confidence enough. Before the Pope
would give his final consent, he determined to reduce to something
tangible and obligatory these vague indefinite promises of the French
government. Cardinal Fesch advised that the Pope should exact, as
a condition of his consent, the restitution of the three Legations
which France had torn from the States of the Church. But the pure soul
of Pius VII. revolted against the idea of admitting any thought of
temporal advantages; not only did he reject the Cardinal's well-meant
suggestion, but positively forbade him ever again to make mention of it.
He refused to give his consent unless the French government would promise
to withdraw the organic laws, and to abandon those of the constitutional
bishops who should refuse to make a public and sincere retractation. It
took four or five months of negotiation to extort these promises from
Napoleon. During that period Consalvi had daily conferences with Cardinal
Fesch, whose warm temper frequently led to lively debates. At length
M. de Talleyrand addressed an official note to the Cardinal Legate, in
which it was expressly declared that as to the organic laws the Emperor
would treat directly with the Holy Father, whose representations should
be attended to in such a way as to give his Holiness the most complete
satisfaction. The Emperor was ready to do even more than the Pope had
asked; and it was insinuated that he would be happy to listen with
favour to any requests the Pope should make concerning his temporal
interests. Touching the intruded bishops, M. de Talleyrand made large
promises, but their tenor was so vague that the Holy Father did not
remain satisfied until he held in his hand a written promise that the
constitutional bishops should make their retractation in the Pope's hands
in the form prescribed by him, and that any who might refuse to do so
should be forced to resign their sees. This point having been arranged,
it was thought that the due regard for the majesty of the pontifical
dignity demanded some other precautions. The Holy Father felt that he
ought not to expose his high office to insult or irreverence, and this
consideration urged him to request some information as to the manner in
which he was to be received at Paris by the Emperor. In his reply to the
inquiries made on this point Talleyrand employed these remarkable words:
"Between Pius the Seventh's journey to France, his reception there,
his treatment, and the results which are to spring from it, and Pius the
Sixth's journey to Vienna, there shall be as much difference as there is
between Napoleon I. and Joseph II.". Another precaution judged necessary
by Consalvi regarded the coronation itself. The later notes of Cardinal
Fesch were remarkable for a strange variety of expressions. Instead of the
word _coronation_ (_incoronazione_), employed in the original invitation
presented by the Cardinal Legate in the Emperor's name, the Cardinal Fesch
had commenced to use the word _consecration_ (_consecrazione_). Consalvi
at once demanded the reason of this change, and Cardinal Fesch replied:
"Beyond all doubt, the Pope is to crown the Emperor, but I believe there
is to be a double coronation, one in the Church by the Pope, the other in
the Champ de Mars by the Senate". The Pope at once sent a despatch to the
Legate at Paris commanding him to signify to the Emperor that the Holy
Father could not allow his Majesty to be crowned by other hands after
he had been crowned by the Pope; that a second coronation would be an
insult to the dignity of the Head of the Church; and that, consequently,
if it were intended that the Emperor should be twice crowned, the Holy
Father would not go to Paris at all. Talleyrand replied in an official
note that the Emperor set too high a value on his coronation by the
Pope to wish to receive a second diadem from the hands of others.

The choice of those who were to form the suite of the Pontiff next came
under discussion. The French government was anxious that the Pope should
take with him twelve cardinals and a corresponding number of prelates and
of Roman nobles. The Holy Father resolved to bring only four cardinals
and four bishops, besides the prelates attached to his immediate service,
such as his _maggiordomo_ and his _maestro di camera_. The two Roman
princes who commanded the noble guard were to follow him. However, in
deference to Cardinal Fesch's requests, he added to this little court
the two cardinal deacons, Braschi and de Bayane. The other four cardinals
were Antonelli, de Pietro, Borgia, and Caselli.

To conduct these negotiations to a happy issue was a task of immense
difficulty. The Cardinal writes that while they were proceeding he
had to bear what was almost intolerable, and what only his zeal for
the interests of the Holy See could have made him brook. At length the
decisive _yes_ was spoken, at first confidentially, because no formal
invitation was to be delivered until such time as all arrangements were
completed. The French government at once announced the Pope's intended
visit, in order that the publicity thus given to his promise might make
any change of purpose impossible or very difficult. Having thus made
himself sure of the presence of the Roman Pontiff at his coronation,
Napoleon all at once changed his tone, and made the Pope feel how
little respect be really had for the Head of the Church. Indeed, it
was Cardinal Consalvi's deliberate opinion--and after events show that
he was correct in his judgment--that the French government was fully
determined never to carry out the promises which the Pope's minister
had extorted from it. The formal invitation was couched in language
that fell far short of the ancient formula used on similar occasions,
and which the government had promised to employ. Then, instead of
deputing ecclesiastics or great dignitaries to present the Emperor's
letter to Pius VII., Napoleon sent through Brigadier-General Caffarelli
a note so mean in every respect that the Holy Father was inclined to
refuse to accept it. But as he had undertaken the journey for the good
of the Church, he resolved to bear with calmness and patience whatever
slights might be put upon him. He soon found abundant occasions for the
exercise of these virtues. In the first place, he was forced to set out
on his journey with a precipitate speed that was equally unbecoming his
dignity and injurious to his health. He left Rome on 2nd November, 1802,
in order to arrive at Paris on the 27th or 28th; and during this long
journey he was allowed to rest only twice--once at Florence for a day
or two, and again a day at Turin--a few hours of repose being with
difficulty permitted him at other places on the road. Besides, he was
not even consulted about the day to be fixed for the ceremony, although
common politeness should have suggested this mark of deference. "I will
say nothing", says Consalvi, "of all the Pope had to suffer from the
disrespect shown him in the capital; I will not speak of the manner
in which Napoleon made his first appearance before his Holiness at
Fontainebleau, in the midst of a pack of fifty hounds, as if going to
or returning from the chase; I will not tell how the Pope was made to
enter Paris by night and in silence, in order that no eye might see
the Emperor at the Pontiff's left, for being in his own carriage he was
forced to yield the right to his guest. I will be silent as to how and
why, on the day of the consecration, Napoleon made his Holiness wait
a full hour and a half seated on the throne near the altar, and how
all the arrangements which had been agreed on for the ceremony were
set aside; I will not tell how the Emperor himself placed the crown
on his own head, having rudely snatched it from the altar before the
Pope stretched out his hand to take it up; I will not tell how at the
imperial banquet on that day the Pontiff was made to sit in the third
place at the table where sat the Emperor, the Empress, and the Prince
Elector of Ratisbon; nor will I say a word of the second coronation
which, contrary to solemn pledges, took place in the Champ de Mars,
nor of the way in which Napoleon, although as it were in his own house,
took the right of his Holiness on all occasions when they made their
appearance together in public, nor of the little respect he showed
him. He never paid him those marks of veneration which so many great
kings and emperors have been proud to pay to the Sovereign Pontiffs.
Finally, I will be silent about the humiliations which Pius VII. was made
to undergo during the whole period of his sojourn. I have but enumerated
these sufferings, to the end that all may understand how much virtue,
moderation, and goodness the Pope had need of to follow the magnificent
examples of self-abasement which the God whose vicar he was here below,
has bequeathed to the world. I have wished, likewise, to expose conduct
on which I will not allow myself to pass judgment, for I could not do
so with becoming coolness and self-respect".

These insults would have been more sweet to the Holy Father if he had
been able to realise all the good he had promised himself to achieve
for religion at the price of his condescension. But here, too, he
was disappointed. After many memorials on the subject to the Emperor,
and after many interviews, he was forced to surrender all hopes of
seeing the organic laws abolished. Napoleon was simply false to his
solemn promises. Nor would the government fulfil its engagement to
force the constitutional bishops to a retractation. But what the power
of the state would not do, the force of the Pope's gentle virtues
happily effected. He called the bishops several times to an audience;
and his affectionate manners, his kind language, and the charm of his
goodness, made such an impression on their minds, that they avowed their
schism, and made a solemn retractation in the form prescribed by the
Holy See. Nor did any one of them ever afterwards, by word or deed,
give sign of their ancient errors. The Pope thus had the unspeakable
delight of having, by his journey, extinguished that dangerous schism,
to effect the destruction of which he had before agreed to the Concordat.

We must pass over the other indignities which the Pope had to endure
before he could effect his departure from Paris. It was while the Pope
was his guest that the Emperor changed the Italian republic into the
kingdom of Italy, taking formal possession of the three Legations, and
adding the pontifical keys to his coat of arms. He was also disrespectful
enough to neglect his duties as host, by setting out for Italy before
the Pope left his palace. He even compelled his Holiness to follow him,
and wait at every post for the use of the horses which had been employed
to draw the imperial carriages. He was too jealous to allow the Pope to
officiate in public at any religious ceremony, even on Christmas Day,
on which festival the Sovereign Pontiff had to go to the parish church
to say a low Mass. Even the presents which he gave in return for the
magnificent gifts which Pius VII. had brought from Rome, where Canova
had selected them, were disgracefully mean, with the exception of a
costly tiara, of which, however, the most precious jewel was a diamond
taken from the pontifical tiaras under Pius VI., to pay the exactions
of Tolentino. The newspapers were filled with the description of a
wonderful altar, two rich carriages, and other splendid presents; but
these objects never found their way to the Pope.

On his way home Pius VII. had the consolation of receiving back into the
Church the famous Mgr. Ricci, whose name is so well known in connection
with the Synod of Pistoia. This prelate made before the Pope a full
and sincere retractation of all his errors. At length the Holy Father
arrived at Rome amidst the enthusiasm of his subjects, who so soon
were to be torn from him by the very man to do honour to whom he had
undertaken and suffered so much.



THE UNITED DIOCESES OF CORK AND CLOYNE.


As early as the year 1326, Pope John XXII. gave his sanction to the
contemplated union of the Dioceses of Cork and Cloyne. The Pontifical
letter conveying this sanction bears date the 2nd of August, tenth
year of his pontificate. The motive alleged by King Edward III. when
soliciting this union, was the poverty of both sees. Cork is described
as having a revenue of only sixty pounds per annum, and it is added
that both sees "adeo in facultatibus et redditibus suis tenues et
exiles sunt, quod earum praesules singulariter singuli ex eis nequeunt
juxta episcopalis status decentiam commode sustentari". Nevertheless,
this contemplated union was not carried into effect, and for more than
one hundred years we find a distinct and regular succession of bishops
in each see. It was only in 1430, when both sees happened to be vacant
at the same time, that Jordan, chancellor of Limerick, was appointed by
Pope Martin V., first bishop of the united dioceses of Cork and Cloyne.

Thirty years later intelligence was conveyed to Pope Pius II. that this
bishop, weighed down by the burden of eighty years, was no longer able
to exercise his episcopal functions, the more so as he was subject to
frequent infirmities, and suffered from an excessive weakness of sight.
Hence, on 27th of May, 1461, we find William Roche (_alias De Rupe_)
appointed auxiliary bishop of Dr. Jordan, with right of succession to
the united sees. In the brief of appointment he is styled "Archdeacon
of Cloyne, of noble lineage, distinguished by his zeal, prudence, and
learning": "aliarumque virtutum donis quibus eum Altissimus insignivit"
(_Monument. Vatic._, pag. 430). This prelate, however, was not pleasing
to the aged bishop, whilst he was specially distasteful to the English
monarch: and to restore peace to our southern see, Rome found it
necessary, in the following year, to relieve Dr. Roche of the duties
of auxiliary bishop.

On the 31st of January, 1462-3, Gerald Fitzgerald was appointed by the
Sovereign Pontiff bishop of the united sees, vacant by the resignation
of the aged Bishop Jordan. Many efforts were subsequently made to set
aside this appointment; however, it was irrevocably recognized by Rome.
The chief difficulty arose from the former coadjutor, Dr. Roche, who,
finding the see now vacant by the resignation of Bishop Jordan, claimed
it as belonging to him by that "right of succession" which had originally
been accorded to him. It was only in December, 1471, that this controversy
was finally closed, when a letter was addressed by Pope Paul II. to the
Archbishop of Cashel, commanding him to put Gerald Fitzgerald in full
possession of all the temporalities of the united sees. Peace being
thus restored, Dr. Fitzgerald remained in undisturbed possession till
his death in 1479. William Roche, by his submission to the former
decisions of the Holy See, merited to be appointed his successor;
thus all rival claims were happily adjusted, and Dr. Roche for eleven
years continued to administer this see. When at length he resigned the
arduous charge, Thady Mechar or Maher was appointed the next bishop in
1490. Most of the temporalities of the see, however, were seized on by
the Fitzmaurices and other southern chieftains; so much so that Pope
Innocent VIII. was obliged to issue a brief on the 18th of July, 1492,
commanding these parties under the usual penalties to desist from their
iniquitous usurpation. The Pontiff's letter thus begins:--

    "Dudum Corkagensi et Clonensi Ecclesiis invicem canonice unitis,
    tunc certis modis vacantibus, nos illis de persona Ven. fratris
    nostri Thadei Episcopi Corkagensis et Clonensis, nobis et fratribus
    nostris, ob suorum exigentiam meritorum, acceptâ, de fratrum eorumdem
    consilio apostolica duximus auctoritate providendum.... Cum autem,
    sicut non absque gravi animi displicentia accepimus, nonnulli
    iniquitatis filii videlicet Mauritius comes de Simonie, ac Willelmus
    Barri, ac Edmundus Mauritii de Gerardinis et communitas civitatis
    Corkagiae necnon universitas civitatis Yoghilliae Clonensis Dioecesis
    ipsorumque comitis et Willelmi ac Edmundi fratres eorumque ac
    civitatis et universitatis praedictorum subditi, necnon Philippus
    O'Ronayn, clericus Corkagensis Dioecesis, nescitur quo spiritu
    ducti, ipsum Thadeum Episcopum, quominus possessionem regiminis et
    administrationis ac bonorum dictarum Ecclesiarum assequi potuerit
    atque possit, multipliciter molestare et perturbare, Dei timore
    postposito non cessaverint", etc. (_Mon. Vatic._, pag. 506).

The temporalities of Cork and Cloyne were in great part gifts and
grants from the various branches of the Geraldine family, and hence it
was that these southern chieftains were now unwilling to see them pass
into the hands of a stranger. The death of Bishop Thady put an end to
the controversy. He himself had been in Rome when the decree of Pope
Innocent was made: and on his journey homeward he was seized with a
mortal distemper, which, in a few days, hurried him to his grave in
the month of October, 1492, in the town of Eporedia, now Ivrea, in
Piedmont, where his mortal remains were deposited in the chapel of
St. Eusebius. As great miracles were performed by his intercession,
he is venerated at Ivrea as Blessed.

His successor's name was Gerald, but we only know of him that he was
implicated in the rebellion of Perkin Warbeck, for which he received
a pardon from the crown in 1496. He resigned his bishopric in 1499,
and John FitzEdmund was next appointed to these sees, by brief of 26th
June the same year. During twenty-one eventful years he continued to
administer the united dioceses, and on his death we find the following
letter addressed from Dublin by the Earl of Surrey, lord deputy, to
Cardinal Wolsey, who was at this time at the zenith of his power in
the court of King Henry:--

    "Pleaseth your Grace to understand that the Bishop of Cork is
    dead; and great suit is made to me to write for men of this country.
    Some say it is worth two hundred marks per annum, some say more.
    My poor advice would be that it should be bestowed on some Englishman.
    The Bishop of Leighlin, your servant, having both, methinks
    he might do good service here. I beseech your Grace let none of
    this country have it, nor none other but such as will dwell thereon,
    and such as are able and willing to speak and ruffle when need shall
    be". (_State Papers_, vol. ii. page 43).

This letter is dated Dublin, 27th August, 1520, and whatever may have
been the cause, another recommendation was transmitted in the following
month by the same lord deputy in favour of Walter Wellesley. Both
these recommendations, however, were without success, and we meet with
a Bishop _Patrick_, whose name sufficiently indicates the land of his
birth, holding these sees in the year 1521. His episcopate was short:
as Cotton remarks, "he probably sat only for a year or two". In the
State Papers Cork is again described as vacant on the 25th of April,
1522: and before the close of that year John Bennett was appointed by
the Holy See, successor of Saint Finbarr. He chose for his place of
residence the collegiate establishment of Youghal, which had originally
been founded by his family, and at his death he too endowed it with
a great part of his own paternal property. Brady in his _Records_ has
registered several interesting memorials connected with this ancient
Collegiate Church of Youghal. The catalogue of its books, drawn up
in the year 1490, especially deserves attention, as it reveals to us
what was the literary store treasured up in an humble religious house
in a country town of our island at a supposed period of ignorance and
barbarism. Besides several books of devotion and tracts on the decretals
and canon law, there were eight Missals, five of which are described
as "missalia pulchra pergameni". There was also the Life of Christ,
by Ludolf of Saxony, now so rare, the Letters of St. Jerome, the Works
of St. Gregory the Great, the Summa of St. Thomas, and a number of
treatises by St. Bonaventure, the Master of Sentences, St. Antoninus,
and others. The Sacred Scriptures had a specially prominent place;
there were five psalters for the use of the choir, and twelve other
copies of the Bible. One of these is entitled "Una Biblia Tripartita,
et alia parvae quantitatis": another was the Old and New Testament,
with the gloss of Nicholas de Lyra, "in five volumes"; and then there
are "quatuor Evangelistae, glossati, in quatuor voluminibus", and "unum
volumen in quo continentur parabolae Salomonis, libri Sapientiae,
Canticorum, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus", etc. Some of the works of this
little library, if now preserved, would be invaluable for illustrating
the antiquities of our island. There was one "antiquum martirologium";
also a volume called "Petrus de Aurora, artis versificatoriae", is
described as "mire exauratum": again, "Apparatus Magistri Johannis
de Anthon super constitutiones Ottoboni": whilst another small volume
was enriched, amongst other things, "cum quibusdam historiis provinciae
Hiberniae". An addition was made to this library in 1523, consisting,
probably, of the Books of Dr. Bennett. It will suffice to mention two
of these works, viz., "Liber meditationum sancti Bonaventurae cum aliis
meditationibus et chronicis Geraldinorum", and "Biblia de impressione,
in rotunda forma, in manu Joannis Cornelii" (_Records_, etc., London,
1864, vol. 3, pag. 319, seqq.).

Dr. Bennett died in the year 1535/6, and at his death enriched the
chantry of St. Mary's with some ancestral lands in Youghal and its
neighbourhood (_Ulster Journal of Arch._, April, 1854). Henry VIII.
appointed Dominick Tirrey to the vacant see, but the reigning Pontiff
refused to recognize this nomination, and chose a Franciscan named
Lewis MacNamara as successor to Dr. Bennett. The brief of his appointment
to Cork and Cloyne is dated 24th September, 1540. This prelate, however,
soon after his consecration was summoned to a better world, and on the
5th of November, the same year, another brief was expedited appointing
John Hoyeden, (which name is probably a corruption for _O'h-Eidhin,
i.e. O'Heyne_; see O'Donovan, _Book of Rights_, pag. 109), a canon of
Elphin, bishop of the united dioceses. From the consistorial acts we
learn that he was impeded by the crown nominee from taking possession
of the temporalities of his see, and hence on the 25th February, 1545,
he received the administration of his native diocese. The following is
the consistorial record:

    Die 20º Feb., 1545. "S. Sanctitas providit Ecclesiae Elphinensi
    de persona Joannis Episcopi Corcagiensis et Clunensis (sic) qui
    regiminis et administrationis Corcagensis et Clunensis Ecclesiarum
    invicem unitarum possessionem eo quod a schismaticis et iis qui a
    Catholica fide defecerunt occupatae detinentur assequi non potuit,
    nec de proximo assequi speret: ita quod, propter hoc, eisdem
    Corcagensi et Clunensi Ecclesiis praesse non desinat sed tam
    Elphinensi quam Corcagensi et Clunensi Ecclesiis hujusmodi ad sex
    menses a die habitae per eum pacificae possessionis seu quasi
    regiminis", etc. (sic).

It was probably impossible for Dr. O'Heyne to obtain possession of the
temporalities of his see till the accession of Queen Mary. Even then
he must have held them only for a little while, as the royal letter
granting these temporalities to Roger Skiddy is dated 18th of September,
1557. A curious record of the period gives us an accurate idea of the
possessions of the religious houses in the vicinity of Cork: it is
a pardon granted to William Bourman for alienating the property of
the house of the Friars Preachers, situated in the suburbs of Cork,
and the property thus alienated is described as "the site, circuit,
and precinct of the monastery, the church, belfry, closes (perhaps this
is for _clausura_), halls and dormitories, castles, messuages, lands,
buildings, gardens, mills, and other hereditaments thereunto belonging,
an orchard, three gardens, a water-mill, a parcel of meadows containing
half a stang, a fishing pool, a salmon weir, three acres called the half
_scaghbeg_, ten acres in Rathminy, and twenty acres in Galliveyston"
(_Morrin_, i. 374).

The next Bishop appointed to the united sees of Cork and Cloyne was Roger
Skiddy, who for some time had held the dignity of Dean of Limerick. Queen
Mary's letter ordering the restitution of the temporalities to him, is
dated the 18th of September, 1557, and it adds that her Majesty "had
addressed letters commendatory to his Holiness the Pope a good while
since in his favour, and it was hoped he should shortly receive his
Bull and expedition from his Holiness" (_Ib._, i. 377). Letters patent
granting the temporalities to him were issued on 2nd November the same
year (_Ib._, i. 373, and _Brady_, _Records_, iii. 46), and it is probable
that the Bulls from the Holy See were expedited during the interval; for,
in an original memorandum preserved in the State Paper Office, London,
the remark is made that "the Queen's letters were sent to the Bishop of
Rome, and the Bulls were returned thence for the bishoprick of Cork"
(_Shirley_, pag. 115). Nevertheless, this Bishop was not consecrated,
neither did he receive possession of the temporalities during the
life-time of Queen Mary, although her death did not take place till
the 17th of November, 1558. For some time after the accession of Queen
Elizabeth, no mention was made of the See of Cork and Cloyne, till on
31st of July, 1562, her Majesty wrote to the Earl of Sussex and the Lord
Chancellor, "directing the admission of Roger Skiddy to the bishopricks
of Cork and Cloyne, to which he had been previously elected" (_Ibid._,
472); accordingly, on the 29th of October, 1562, this dignitary was
admitted to possession of the temporalities, and a mandate was issued
for his consecration, bearing the same date. In his writ of restitution
to the temporalities was inserted a retrospective clause, that he should
have possession of them from the time of his first advancement by Queen
Mary. Whether Dr. Skiddy was actually consecrated or not, no record has
been preserved to us, and his consecration in virtue of such a royal
mandate would be wholly uncanonical and schismatical. No doubt, however,
seems to be entertained of his orthodoxy and devotedness to the Catholic
faith: and in 1567, unwilling to lend his name to the religious novelties
which the government of the day wished to propagate in the kingdom,
he resigned the bishoprick and retired to Youghal, where for several
years he devoted his undivided attention to prepare for a happy eternity.

Nicholas Landes was appointed bishop of this see in consistory of 27th
of February, 1568/9. The consistorial entry is curious, as it omits all
mention of Dr. Skiddy, and describes the see as vacant by the death of
Dr. John O'Heyne.

    "Die 27º Februarii, 1568: referente Revmo. Cardinali Alciato
    S. Sanctitas providit Ecclesiae Corcagiensi et Cloinensi invicem
    unitis, per obitum bonae memoriae Joannis Jadican, ultimi Episcopi
    vacanti, de persona Rev. D. Nicolai Landes, Hiberni et litteris
    Episcoporum Catholicorum ejusdem Provinciae atque etiam testimonio
    Reverendi Patris Wolf S. I. commendati cum retentione rectoriae
    cum cura donec possessionem Episcopatus adeptus fuerit".

A suggestion has been made that the name _Landes_ is a corruption for
some other original name. Such errors in names are certainly very
frequent in the consistorial entries of our Irish Bishops: still, two
distinct copies of the consistorial acts (viz., the _Corsinian_ and the
_Vallicellian_) retain the present name without variation; and what is
still more important, the Brief appointing his successor, Dr. Tanner,
in 1574, describes the see as then vacant _per obitum Nicolai Landes_.
Moreover, the name _Landey_ was no novelty in the ecclesiastical records
of Ireland in the sixteenth century, an Abbot _Landey_ having held the
monastery of St. Mary's, Dublin, during Henry VIII.'s reign, as we learn
from the first volume of Morrin's _Records_.

Dr. Edmund Tanner was next appointed to Cork and Cloyne by brief of 5th
November, 1574. There are some peculiar passages in this brief, which
merit our attention. Thus it describes Dr. Tanner as "in Theologia
Magistrum, de legitimo matrimonio procreatum, in quinquagesimo aetatis
anno et presbyteratus ordine constitutum, que fidem Catholicam juxta
articulos dudum a Sede Apostolica emanatos professus fuit, cuique de
vitae munditia, honestate morum, spiritualium providentia et temporalium
circumspectione, aliisque multiplicum virtutum donis fide digna testimonia
perhibentur". Subsequently, addressing the clergy and faithful of the
united sees, the brief continues:

    "Dilectis filiis capitulis et vassallis dictarum Ecclesiarum et
    populo Corkagen. et Clonen. civitatum et Diocesium, per Apostolica
    scripta mandamus, quatenus capitula tibi tamquam patri et pastori
    animarum suarum humiliter intendentes exhibeant tibi obedientiam
    et reverentiam debitas et devotas: ac clerus te pro nostra et
    sedis Apostolicae reverentia benigne recipientes et honorifice
    pertractantes, tua salubria monita et mandata suscipiant humiliter
    et efficaciter adimplere procurent: populus vero te tamquam
    patrem et pastorem animarum suarum devote suscipientes et debita
    honorificentia prosequentes, tuis monitis et mandatis salubribus
    humiliter intendant. Itaque tu in eis devotionis filios, et ipsi
    in te per consequens patrem benevolum invenisse gaudeatis".

Moreover, this is the first occasion on which I have found the following
clause inserted in the Bull of appointment to the Irish Sees:

    "Volumus autem, ut occasio et materia tibi auferatur vagandi,
    quad extra Corkagen. et Clonen. civitates illarumque Dioeceses
    etiam de licentia Episcoporum locorum ordinariorum Pontificalia
    officia exercere nequeas, decernentes irritum et inane quidquid
    secus per te actum et gestum fuerit" (_Ex Secret. Brevium Romae_).

Dr. Tanner was consecrated bishop in Rome, and subsequently tarried
during the winter months in the Eternal City, laying up spiritual
treasures for his future mission. On the 10th of April, 1575, special
faculties were granted to him, and he was, moreover, empowered to
exercise them not only in his own united Dioceses of Cork and Cloyne,
but also "throughout the whole Province of Dublin, of which he was a
native (_universae provinciae Dublinensis ex qua exoriundus_), as well
as throughout the whole province of Munster, so long as the various
Archbishops and Bishops were obliged by the fury of the persecution
to be absent from their respective sees (Ex. _Sec. Brev._). About the
middle of May the same year, he set out from the Seven Hills to assume
the charge assigned to him, and the great Pontiff Gregory XIII. wished
to accompany him with the following commendatory letter, dated 12th of
May, 1575:--

    "Universis et singulis Episcopis atque aliis Praelatis ad quos hae
    nostrae litterae pervenerint, salutem et Apostolicam benedictionem.

    "Ut Nos commendatissimos habemus viros eos quos pietate atque
    integritate praestare intelligimus, sic cupimus eos nostris
    in Christo fratribus ac filiis esse summopere commendatos,
    huncque animum cum omnibus pietate et virtute praeditis tum
    vero venerabilibus fratribus Episcopis ut ordine ipso sic
    charitate Nobis conjunctissimis Nos debere cognoscimus. In his
    est venerabilis frater Edmundus Episcopus Corcagiensis qui a Nobis
    discedit ut in patriam revertatur. Erit igitur Nobis gratissimum,
    si eum in hac peregrinatione quam commendatissimum habebitis,
    vestroque ubi opus esse intelligetis favore complectemini: Datum
    Romae apud S. Petrum sub annulo Piscatoris die 12 Maii 1575,
    Pontif. Nostri an. tertio". (_Theiner_, _Annals_, ii. 133).

This worthy bishop, during four years, endured the toils and sufferings
of his perilous ministry. The Vatican list of 1579 represents the see
"Corchagiensis et Clonensis" as still presided over by a canonically
appointed bishop; and another list of the clergy who were then engaged
in the exercise of their sacred ministry in Ireland presents first
of all the name "Reverendissimus Edmundus Epus. Corchagiensis, pulsus
tamen Episcopatu". In this last named list we also find commemorated:
"Thomas Moreanus Decanus Corchagiensis": and again, "P. Carolus Lens et
P. Robertus Rishfordus, ambo Societatis Jesu, qui in variis locis docent
litteras sub cura et mandato Reverendissimi Corchagiensis". Soon after,
however, on the 4th of June, 1579, Dr. Tanner was summoned to receive
the reward of his zeal and labours.

His successor was _Dermitius Graith_, who was proposed for the first
time in the consistory of 7th October, 1580, and whose election was
definitely confirmed on the 11th of the same month. The following is
the consistorial entry:

    "Die 11º Octobris, 1580, Cardinalis Ursinus praenunciavit Ecclesias
    Corkagien. et Cloinen. invicem unitas in Provincia cuidam principi
    Catholico subjecta, pro Hyberno scholari Collegii Germanici".

In the list of the Irish clergy above referred to, under the heading
"qui sunt extra Hiberniam", is mentioned _Darmisius Craticus_, who
is described as studying in Rome, and in his thirtieth year. He is
subsequently again mentioned among those who might be destined for the
Irish mission, and it is there added that he was a native of Munster,
and though he was skilled in both the English and Irish languages, he
was more conversant with the Irish: "melius loquitur Hibernice". From
the consistorial acts we further learn that he applied himself to
sacred studies in the illustrious college which had been founded a few
years before for the purpose of supplying missioners to Germany and
other countries suffering from the oppression of heresy, and among his
companions in its hallowed halls was Nicholas Skerrett, who was destined
to be sharer of his missionary toils and perils as Archbishop of Tuam.

Dr. Graith was one of the most illustrious missioners who laboured in our
Irish Church during the sixteenth century; and, as Peter Lombard informs
us, was at one time the only bishop in the province of Munster. Soon
after his arrival in our island, the agents of heresy mainly directed
their efforts towards his apprehension, and so chagrined were they at
his escape that they even accused Sir John Perrot of having secretly
favoured him and thus baffled their designs. In a memorial presented
to government in 1592, "Doctor Creagh, Bishop of Cloyne and Cork",
appears first on the list of those who in Munster were enemies of the
Elizabethan rule, having lived "in the country these eleven or twelve
years past, without pardon or protection, consecrating churches, making
priests", etc.; and it is further added that "he did more evil", that
is, he was more zealous in propagating our holy faith, even "_than
Dr. Sanders in his time_" (see _Essays_, etc., by Rev. Dr. M'Carthy,
pag. 424). Another State Paper, being a letter from the Lord Deputy to
Lord Burghley, in England, dated 17th May, 1593, gives us the following
particulars:--

    "We have laboured with all possible endeavours with the Earl
    of Tirone, as well by private conference as by our sending
    letters, for the apprehension of the titular bishops remaining
    in these parts; yet can we by no means prevail, though it is
    very well known to us that the earl might have done great and
    acceptable service therein, on account of the friendship between
    him, O'Donell, and Maguire--Maguire being cousin-germain, and
    altogether at his service, and, as report goeth, either hath or
    is to marry the earl's daughter. And as in this I made bold,
    I humbly pray your lordship's pardon, to state what little
    success hath followed of the great shams of service made by
    the Archbishop of Cashel and Richard Power, rather in regard
    for their own benefit and to serve their own turns, than for
    any performance of actions at all. Upon the Archbishop's coming
    over they pretended a plot, both for the getting of great sums
    of money for her Majesty and for the apprehension of Dr. Creaghe,
    to the second of which we rather first hearkened, but in the end
    nothing was done more than to spend so much time, and an open
    show, as it were, made to the world how that traitor was sought
    and laid for, whereby the other traitorous titular bishops might
    take warning to be the more wary upon their keeping" (S. P. O.).

The accusation which is here made against the unfortunate Miler MacGrath,
Protestant Archbishop of Cashel, had probably more foundation than the
Lord Deputy imagined; and whilst much noise was made for the arrest of
our Bishop Dermitius, intelligence of all such schemes was communicated
to him by Miler himself. One letter of MacGrath to his "loving wife Any"
is preserved in the S. P. O., dated from Greenwich, the 26th of June,
1592, in which he writes: "I have already resolved you in my mind
touching my cousin Darby Creagh, and I desire you now to cause his
friends to send him out of the whole country if they can, or if not to
send (to him) my orders, for that there is such search to be made for
him that unless he be wise he shall be taken".

On the 31st of October, 1595, a brief was addressed to "Dermitio Episcopo
Corcagiensi", commissioning him to grant some ecclesiastical livings to
Owen MacEgan, who a few years later became illustrious in the annals
of our church as Vicar Apostolic of Ross.--(See _Irish Ecclesiastical
Record_, vol. i., p. 110). In 1599 Dr. Graith was visited by the
Franciscan Father Mooney, who in his History of the Order, commemorating
this visit, describes the bishop as "vir valde prudens et in rebus
agendis versatus". This must have been a period of harrowing anxiety
for the worthy bishop. His diocese was laid waste by fire and sword,
the Irish chieftains driven to arms by the iniquitous policy of the
agents of Elizabeth, having made the southern districts of Ireland the
theatre of their struggle. Dr. Graith shared the perils of their camp,
ministering to them the comforts of religion. One of his hair-breadth
escapes is thus described in the _Hibernia Pacata_, pag. 190:

    "The Earl of Thomond, Sir George Thornton, and Captain Roger
    Harvey, with their companies, following the direction of their
    guide, were conducted to Lisbarry, a parcel of Drumfinnin woods.
    No sooner were they entered into the fastness, than presently
    the sentinels who were placed in the outskirts of the wood,
    raised the cry which it would seem roused the Earl of Desmond
    and _Dermod MacCraghe, the Pope's Bishop of Cork_, who were lodged
    there in a poor ragged cabin. Desmond fled away barefoot, having
    no leisure to pull on his shoes, and was not discovered; but
    MacCraghe was met by some of the soldiers clothed in a simple
    mantle, and with torn trousers like an aged churl, and they
    neglecting so poor a creature, not able to carry a weapon,
    suffered him to pass unregarded".

This happened in the month of November, 1600.

It was on the 30th March that year, that O'Neill and the other Irish
princes addressed a letter in common to the Sovereign Pontiff, unfolding
to him the miseries which laid desolate our island, attesting too their
resolute desire to combat for the Catholic faith, and to promote the
interests of Holy Church, and petitioning in fine, that the vacant sees
of the province of Munster might be filled by those who were recommended
by the Bishop of Cork and Cloyne: they add that the only bishop then in
the southern province was "Reverendissimus Corcagiensis et Cloanensis
qui senio et labore jam paene est confectus"; and as a special motive
why the Holy See should not delay to make these appointments to the
vacant dioceses, they write: "Hoc eo confidentius petimus quia qui electi
conservati et ad nos dimissi fuerunt a vestra sacrosancta Sede, ad
vacuas his in partibus sedes occupandas, a nobis pro viribus, in iisdem
Dei gratiâ defenduntur, ut gregibus sibi commissis tuto invigilare
queant".--_Original Letter in Hib. Pacat._, page 311.

The next notice that we find of our aged Bishop is in the appointment
of Luke Archer to administer the see of Leighlin during the absence of
its Bishop Ribera, on whose death, in 1604, the same Luke Archer was
constituted Vicar-Apostolic of that see. From the words used by Harty
when registering this appointment made by our Bishop, we may conclude
that Dr. Graith, as his predecessor, had received special faculties
from Rome not only for his own diocese, but also for the province of
Leinster. "Dermitius Chrah (he writes), Corcagiensis et Clonensis tunc
Episcopus _apostolica auctoritate qui fulserat_".

As regards the precise period of Dr. Graith's death, no record has
come down to us. Mooney, the Franciscan annalist, merely attests that
"he lived for some time subsequent to 1599". Dr. Matthews, who was
consecrated bishop of Clogher in 1609, reckons him amongst the bishops
who survived Elizabeth, and lived for some years "aliquibus annis" under
James I. This would lead us to conclude that his life was prolonged
till the year 1605. O'Sullivan Beare, writing in 1618, leaves us in a
like uncertainty, as he refers his death in general terms to the first
year of the seventeenth century, after an episcopate of more than twenty
years. The eulogy, however, passed upon this bishop by O'Sullivan Beare
deserves to be cited in full:--

    "Catholicorum infelicitati adscribendum est", he writes, "quod
    sub id tempus fato functus sit vir integerrimus atque clarissimus
    Dermysius Mac Carrhus, Corcaghae et Clueniae Episcopus, qui annos
    viginti et amplius in hac insula in fide retinenda magnopere
    insudavit, dumque bellum hoc gerebatur, movendis Catholicorum
    animis, ut Christianam pietatem armis defenderent, multum studii
    et laboris impendit: cujus interitu Ibernorum concordia non minima
    parte elanguit. Quae ob merita in Dei ecclesiam et Iberniae
    regnum collata, cum ejus caput Angli diu frustra impetiverint,
    tandem illius interfectori vel deprehensori grandem pecuniae
    summam constituerunt, quin etiam tam inexpiabili odio eum
    prosequuti sunt ut illius etiam consanguineos labefactare non
    destiterint. Ex quibus Thomam MacCrachum antistitis nepotem ex
    fratre Thoma deprehensum ad fidem Catholicam deserendam cogere
    et praemiis et terrore sunt conati: qua spe dejecti magni et
    maxime Catholici animi virum securi percusserunt. Sed quoniam in
    episcopi mentionem incidimus, illud ejus magnum atque rarum mirum
    nequeo silentio praeterire quod chirographum vix male effingeret,
    aliam vero ne litteram quidem unam visus sit unquam scribere, cum
    tamen adeo disertus atque sapiens evaserit ut doctor in utroque
    jure creatus sacram Theologiam Lovaniae annos aliquot publice sit
    professus, quippe tanto ingenii acumine tamque felici memoria
    pollebat ut ne discipulus quidem necesse habuerit lectionem
    notis excipere, et de doctrina Christiana libellum Ibernice
    scriptum posteris reliquerit, cujus praeceptis in hunc usque
    diem juventus in ea insula excolitur" (_Hist. Cath._, pag. 223).

We may now inquire who were the individuals chosen by Elizabeth to hold
the temporalities of Cork and Cloyne during this interval. The first
Protestant bishop of these sees was Richard Dixon, a chaplain of the
Lord Deputy Sydney. The see in 1568 had received a Catholic appointment,
but it was only on the 17th of May, 1570, that Elizabeth wrote to the
Lord Deputy: "We are pleased that Richard Dixon, being by you very well
commended for his learning and other qualities, shall have the bishoprics
of Cork and Cloyne"--(_Morrin_, i. p. 539). Nevertheless, the prelate
thus warmly commended was, on the 7th of March, 1571, sentenced by a
royal commission to perform public penance in the Cathedral of Christ
Church, Dublin, which penance, adds the government record, he went
through in _hypocrisy and pretence of amendment_; wherefore, on the
7th of November following, the same commission proceeded to depose him
from his Protestant episcopal functions, declaring him guilty of public
immorality and other crimes.--(See _Brady Records_, iii. 47). Mathew
Sheyn, or Shehan, was the next episcopal incumbent chosen by Elizabeth:
only two events are commemorated to mark his episcopate: 1. that in
1575 "he leased away the whole see of Cloyne for ever for five marks
per annum"; and 2. that in October, 1578, he made public display of
his impiety by consigning to the flames at the high cross of Cork a
statue of St. Dominick, long held in veneration by the faithful of that
city (_Ibid._, pag. 49). The next Protestant Bishop, William Lyons,
combined in his commission the sees of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross. We have
already spoken of this dignitary under the head of Ross (_Record_,
vol. i. pag. 110-1): we will now only add that his chief enmity seemed
directed against the faithful of Timoleague. Already in 1589 he had
destroyed a portion of its venerable monastery to erect a house with
the materials. In 1612 he resolved to complete his work of destruction;
for intelligence was conveyed to him that a large concourse of Catholics
had assembled there to assist at midnight Mass on the great Christmas
festival. Though advanced in years, he set out with a troop of soldiers
to punish these offenders; however, he had proceeded only a little way
from the city when he was seized with such violent pains throughout his
whole body that he was obliged to desist from his undertaking. During
the five remaining years of his life he displayed less violence against
the Catholics, and to his dying day he retained a lively memory of his
Christmas excursion to Timoleague--(Mooney's _MS. Hist._, p. 49).



THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE.

II.


We have seen in a former article that the Catholic Church was the careful
guardian and zealous propagator of the original texts of the inspired
volume. We now proceed to show that her missionaries and her most devoted
sons were most earnest in communicating its sacred truths to all the
faithful, by diffusing throughout the various nations of Christendom
untainted and authentic versions of the Holy Scripture. This assertion
must be proved not by theory but by facts. In producing these facts
our task will be comparatively easy, on account of the many able and
interesting essays which have already been published, in illustration
of this subject.

At the very time that Luther and his followers were engaged in declaiming
against Holy Church, and in withdrawing so many of her children from the
hallowed fold, the words of a Prophet were first echoed on the shores of
a new world; "quam pulchri pedes evangelizantium pacem, evangelizantium
bona". The losses of the Church in Europe were more than counterbalanced
by her gains among the new nations of America, whose fervour and faith
formed a striking contrast to the frenzy and irreligion of the sophists of
Germany. Now no sooner were these western children summoned to the bosom
of the Church than versions of the Sacred Scripture were made for their
use, in their yet uncouth and unpolished tongues, by the missionaries of
the Cross. "Benedict Fernandez, a Dominican Friar (writes the Protestant
Horne), being appointed Vicar of Mixteca, in New Spain, translated the
Epistles and Gospels into the dialect spoken in that province. Didacus
de S. Maria, another Dominican and Vicar of the province of Mexico (who
died in 1579), was the author of a translation of the Epistles and Gospels
into the Mexican tongue, or general language of the country. The Proverbs
of Solomon and other fragments of the Holy Scriptures were translated
into the same language by Louis Rodriguez, a Spanish Franciscan Friar;
and the Epistles and Gospels appointed to be read for the whole year were
translated into the idiom of the western Indians, by Arnold a Basaccio,
also a Franciscan Friar" (_Introduction_, vol. ii. pag. 120). Besides
these various Mexican versions, there were others which escaped the
researches of Mr. Horne. Thus, for instance, within the past years was
printed the "Evangeliarium, Epistolarium, et Lectionarium Aztecum",
composed nearly three centuries and a half ago by a Spanish Franciscan
named Bernardine Sahagyn. This zealous religious entered on his missionary
career in Mexico about the year 1520, and for sixty years devoted
himself to the spiritual culture of that new vineyard of God. He was not
inattentive at the same time to the literature and ancient monuments
of the Aztec race, and his name is well known to Mexican antiquarians
for his researches regarding the language, history, and antiquities of
the New World. Lord Kingsborough, in the seventh volume of his great
work, published the _Historia Universal de las Cosas de Nueva Espana_,
composed by our Franciscan about the year 1550, and his version of
the Sacred Scripture, when first announced to the literary world, was
thus described by M. Beltram: "J' ai une trouvaille a vous montrer,
la plus interressante, je crois, de toutes celles que vous avez déja
vues ... on y voit un beau reste de l'illustre philanthrope et moine
Bernardino de Sahagun" (_Le Mexique_, vol. ii. pag. 167. Paris, 1830).
Nevertheless, this version was destined to remain still thirty years
a hidden treasure, and it was only in 1858 that its publication was
commenced in Milan by the accomplished Mexican scholar Biondelli. From
the introduction of the learned editor we learn that Bernardino's
version comprised almost all the New Testament and a portion of the
Old, and that its date was anterior to those commemorated by Mr. Horne,
the manuscript from which the text was printed having been copied in
the year 1530. (_See Evangeliarium, etc., ex antiquo codice Mexicano
nuper invento depromptum._ Milan, 1858, 4to, page xlix. 576).

Returning to the old continent, the first country which we meet is our
own beloved land. Now was the Bible _a sealed Book_ in our Catholic
island, and were our sainted fathers enemies of, or strangers to, its
inspired truths? Oh! ask the great apostle of North England, St. Aidan,
whose disciples, as Bede informs us, "whether they were of the clergy
or of the laity, were bound to exercise themselves either in reading
the Scriptures or in learning the Psalms" (_Hist. Eccl._, iii. 5). Ask
St. Livinus, "who", as his ancient biographer relates, "was trained up
from his youth by his holy Master, Benignus, in singing David's Psalms,
and reading the holy Gospels". Ask St. Columbanus, in whose "breast
the treasures of the Holy Scriptures were so laid up, that within the
compass of his youthful years he set forth an elegant exposition of the
Book of Psalms" (_Vita, cap._ 2); or ask the Northumbrian King Alfred,
of whom Bede again writes that, "residing in Ireland, he imbibed there
celestial wisdom in his attentive soul, and became a man most learned
in the Scriptures: having left his native country and his pleasant
fields, that in diligent exile he might learn the mystery of godliness".
St. Furse, from his youth, was taught to drink in heavenly wisdom at
the sacred source of the inspired volume. St. Columbanus expressly exhorts
his disciple Hunaldus to its diligent study: "Sint tibi divitiae, divinae
dogmata legis" (_epist. ad Hunald._); St. Patrick himself teaches us
that "meditation on the Sacred Scriptures gives strength and vigour
to the soul"; "St. Kieran", as Dr. King learnedly writes, "when thirty
years old, went to Rome and spent there twenty years reading the Divine
Scriptures and collecting copies of them" (_Ch. Hist. of Irel._, i. 323):
and as to St. Columba, we may adopt the words of the Campleton minister,
who in his life of that great saint says: "His passion for studying the
Scriptures was most intense, when the other parts of ministerial duty
allowed him to indulge it. Thus we find him sometimes engaged for whole
days and nights in exploring dark and difficult passages of Scripture,
and accompanying his study and application with prayer and fasting"
(_Life, etc._, by J. Smith, pag. 113). It was in the Latin version that
all these saints usually meditated on the heavenly truths, and Bede
does not hesitate to say that, though the Irish, Britons, Picts, and
Angles had their own peculiar languages, yet, "by the meditation of the
Scriptures", the Latin tongue became common to them all (_Hist. Eccl._,
lib. i. cap. i.). How many noble monuments, too, remain to attest,
at the same time, the artistic taste and the devotion of our Catholic
fathers, in adorning and illustrating the books of Holy Writ! The
_Domhnach Airgid_ is well known to the students of Irish Ecclesiastical
antiquities; it is a MS. copy of the Latin text of the Gospels, described
by Petrie as "perhaps the oldest copy of the Sacred Word now existing"
(_Trans. R. I. A._ xviii. _Antiq._, pag. 17), and which, as Eugene Curry
adds, "we have just reason to believe, was the companion in his hours
of devotion of our Patron Saint, the apostle Saint Patrick" (_Lect._,
pag. 321). This venerable text is encased in three distinct covers, the
first or inner one being of yew, and probably coeval with the manuscript
itself; the second of copper plated with silver whose interlaced
ornaments indicate a period between the sixth and twelfth centuries;
whilst the third or outer one, of the fourteenth century, is of silver
plated with gold, being decorated with relievos of the crucifixion,
of the Blessed Virgin, and the other Patrons of Ireland. Thus are all
the ages of faith in our island, anterior to the Reformation, linked
together in a holy union, to proclaim with one accord the love and
devotion of our Catholic fathers for the inspired text. The _Cathach_,
or vellum Book of Psalms, handed down from St. Columbkille, with its
rich case of solid silver, is scarcely less interesting; and what shall
we say of the Book of Kells, _i.e._, the Latin Gospels of St. Columba,
"a manuscript (as Petrie remarks) which for beauty and splendour is not
surpassed by any of its age known to exist" (_Round Towers_, pag. 203),
and of which Westwood thus writes: "Ireland may justly be proud of
the Book of Kells: it is unquestionably the most elaborately executed
MS. of early art now in existence" (_Palaeog. Sac._). Besides these,
there are _Dimma's Book_ and the _Gospels_ of MacDurnan, the _Psalter_
of St. Ricemarch, the _Evangeliarium_ of St. Moling, Bishop of Ferns,
and the fragments of several Gospels, rivalling in point of ornament and
accuracy the most precious MSS. of the Continent (_Ibid._). There is one
copy of the sacred text which it is sad to miss from the collections
of our Christian antiquities. It is the so-called Book of Kildare,
which was publicly destroyed by the fathers of Protestantism in this
country, but which has happily been described by Giraldus Cambrensis, a
writer whom none will suspect of bias in favour of our Irish Church. We
will give the original text of his description, which may not, perhaps,
be easily accessible to the reader:--

    "Inter universa Kyldariae miracula nil mihi miraculosius
    occurrit, quam liber ille mirandus, tempore virginis Brigidae
    (ut ajunt) Angelo dictante conscriptus. Continet hic liber
    quatuor Evangelistarum juxta Hieronymum concordantiam, ubi
    quot paginae fere sunt, tot figurae diversae variisque coloribus
    distinctissimae. Hic majestatis vultum videas divinitus impressum:
    hinc mysticas Evangelistarum formas: nunc senas, nunc quaternas,
    nunc binas alas habentes, hinc aquilam, inde vitulum, hinc
    hominis faciem, inde bovis, aliasque figuras pene infinitas,
    quas si superficialiter et usuali more minus acute conspexeris,
    litura potius videbitur quam ligatura; nec ullam attendens
    prorsus subtilitatem, ubi nihil tamen praeter subtilitatem. Sin
    autem ad perspicacius intuendum oculorum aciem invitaveris, et
    longe penitius ad artis arcana transpenetraveris; tam delicatas
    et subtiles, tam actas et arctas, tam nodosas et vinculatim
    colligatas, tamque recentibus adhuc coloribus illustratas
    notare poteris intricaturas, ut vere haec omnia Angelica potius
    quam humana diligentia jam asseveraveris esse composita. Haec
    equidem quanto frequentius et diligentius intueor, semper quasi
    novis obstupeo, semperque magis ac magis admiranda conspicio"
    (_Topogr. Hib._, ii. 38, pag. 730).

Even the continental libraries retain many Scriptural monuments of
the Irish Church, though the designation of Anglo-Saxon MSS. commonly
given to them, has withdrawn them from that careful investigation
which they otherwise would have obtained from our antiquarians: such
are, for instance, the Psalter of St. Ouen, at Rouen; the Gospels of
St. Gatien, at Tours; of Mac Regol, at Oxford; of St. Germain de Pres;
besides the Book of St. Chad, and many others mentioned by Westwood in
his _Palaeographia Sacra_ (London, 1845). The Gospels of St. Boniface,
in Fulda, are now generally supposed to have come from the Irish school:
and equally venerable are the _Evangelia_ of St. Kilian, still preserved
in Würzburg. The last page of this precious text is tinged with the
blood of this great Irish martyr, and on his festival (8th July) it is
still solemnly exposed upon the altar during the celebration of the Holy
Mysteries (See _Appendix A_ to Report on the _Foedera_, published by
the Record Commission, for a long notice and fac-simile of the writing
of this MS.). In Italy, the Book of St. Silas is preserved in his tomb
at Lucca; a fragment of St. Caimin's _Psalter_ may be seen in Rome;
and St. Cathaldus's Gospels are enclosed in his shrine at Tarento.
The library of St. Gall, in Switzerland, possessed for centuries many
old Irish manuscripts, amongst which are mentioned by Von Arx, "_Quatuor
Evangelia; Evang. S. Joannis; Epistolae S. Pauli; liber Prophetarum_;
et plura fragmenta", all which are styled _Codicis Scottici_ in a
catalogue of the ninth century (_Monumenta Germ. Historica._ tom. 2,
pag. 66 et 78). The monastery of Bobbio, however, was distinguished
above all others for the richness of its store of manuscripts: it
was founded by Irish Religious in the seventh century, and for a long
subsequent period was the great literary mart of North Italy, and a
cherished resort of Irish pilgrims. From the present of books made to
this monastery by an Irish ecclesiastic named Dungall, we may judge
how abundant were the Biblical treasures of our island before the tenth
century. The ancient list of these books is published by Muratori, and
it comprises not only the _Evangelium plenarium_, and _Psalterium_,
and other Books of Scripture, but also the commentaries of Origen,
St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose, Bede,
Cassiodorus, and Albinus; the poems of Fortunatus, Paulinus, Arator,
Prudentius, and Juvencus; the Ecclesiastical History of Hegesippus;
and one work with the curious title, "librum quendam Latine Scotaicae
linguae", which probably means a treatise in Latin on the Irish language
(See Muratori, _Antiqq. Ital._, iii. 818). Such collections of books,
once so abundant in our island, were deliberately pillaged and destroyed,
first by the pagan Danes, and again by the Protestant maligners of
our country, under Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. In a preceding article,
"The See of Cork", we have given a specimen of the Scriptural books
preserved in an humble Franciscan convent in Youghal in 1490; and
Dr. Reeves, in his Essay on the Culdees, gives us a short notice of
another Irish library in the twelfth century, in which the Gospels and
copies of other portions of the Sacred Scripture hold their usual place
(_Transact. of R. I. A._, Dublin, 1864, pag. 249). Even during the sad
era of the desolation of our island, from the twelfth to the sixteenth
century, the labours of Irishmen on the continent in illustrating the
sacred text, won for them a distinguished fame; whilst the testimonies
collected by Boerner (_Le Long_, ii. 369) further prove that at home
a version of the Sacred Scripture into the Irish language was achieved
long before the so called Reformation, being generally attributed to
Richard Fitzralph, Archbishop of Armagh, who died in 1360. We must be
pardoned, if, as we fear, we dwelt too long on the venerable monuments
of our early Church.

England next claims our attention. Forty years ago a member of its
Established Church did not hesitate to write that during the Catholic
ages, "the Bible was a sealed Book ... there is good reason for
believing that the great mass of men never heard that such a book
was in existence" (Soames' _Hist. of Reformation in England_). Yet
surely it was not so in the ages of Bede and Alcuin. The holy Caedmon
presented to his contemporaries an Anglo-Saxon metrical paraphrase
of the Bible, a portion of which we have seen translated into English
and re-issued from the press in our own days. Fragments of many other
Anglo-Saxon versions have also been preserved, some of which bear the
classic names of _Bede_, _Athelstan_, _Aeldred_, _Aelfric_, and King
Alfred. The publication of these works has long engaged the attention
of our antiquarians, from the early edition by Marshall, in 1665, to
that of Dr. Thorpe, in 1842. After the Norman Conquest, French and Latin
were for three centuries the literary languages of England; no sooner,
however, was the English language formed, than we find it employed in
presenting to the faithful the teaching of the inspired volume. An old
MS. in the Imperial Library of Vienna commemorates an exposition of the
Gospels in the writer's possession, "in vetustissimo Anglico, quod vix
aliquis hominum jam viventium sufficienter intelligeret" (_Appendix A
to Record Commission Report_, pag. 232). Usher in his day referred the
first English version to the year 1290. Trevisa, who died before 1360,
also translated "Biblia Sacra in vernaculam", as Anthony Wood informs us
(_Antiq. Oxon._, ii. 95). It was only some years later that Wicleff's
version appeared; and though some English writers refer it to 1367,
the German Rationalist, Reuss, marks its date as 1380 (_Die Gesch. der
Heilig. Schriften_, Brunswick, 1853). For an interesting and detailed
account of the more recent Catholic translations in English, we must
refer to the learned _General Introduction to the Sacred Scriptures_
(Dublin, 1852) by our venerated Primate. At present it will suffice
to mention one which is but little known to English biblical readers.
It was the work of an Irish Priest, the Rev. Cornelius Nary, who,
whilst administering the Parish of St. Michan's in the city of Dublin,
found leisure to compose several valuable treatises, and especially
to translate the New Testament from the Latin Vulgate, comparing it
with the original Greek, and with several ancient translations into
other languages. This version was printed in 1718: a few years later
the author's name was on the list of those presented to the Holy See by
the chapter of Dublin, when soliciting a successor to their deceased
Bishop, Dr. Edward Murphy; he died full of years, deeply lamented by his
spiritual children, in 1738.

Much might be said on the many versions which were made throughout the
continent during the ante-Reformation period. In the French language
there is extant a version of the books of _Kings_ and _Maccabees_, which
is referred by Le Long to the eleventh century. Several MSS. of the
Psalms are also still preserved, which are placed by Wharton as early
as the twelfth century, and Hallam in express terms attests that "we
find translations of the _Psalms_, _Job_, _Kings_, and the _Maccabees_,
into French, in the eleventh or twelfth century". Guyars de Moulins, a
priest and canon of St. Pierre d'Aire, about the year 1290, translated
into French and completed the _Historia Sacra_ of Peter Comestor. This
work is not, as Horne describes it, "a popular abstract of sacred
history", but comprises the historical and moral books of the Old and
New Testament; and we have said that de Moulins completed the work of
Comestor, because his version embraces the whole of the sacred writings
of the Old and New Testament. It was not, however, a mere translation of
the Sacred Scripture; here and there notes and commentaries are added,
and these are found to vary in several MSS., as if they were inserted
to suit the various controversies which arose in the French Church. The
first printed text was the New Testament, which was published in folio,
in Lyons, in 1478, being translated into French by two Augustinian
friars, Julian Macho and Pierre Farget. A copy of this edition is
still preserved in the public library of Leipsic (_Reuss_, pag. 446).
The version of de Moulins was very soon after also printed in a quarto
edition, whilst its _Editio Princeps_, carefully revised by Jean de Rely,
afterwards Bishop of Angers, was published in Paris under the auspices
of Charles VIII., in 1487. It passed through fourteen other editions in
Paris and Lyons alone, before the year 1546. We may also refer to this
ante-Reformation period the version of James Le Fevre, of Estables, who
is better known by his Latin name of Faber Hapulensis, and who undertook
a new translation of the Bible in 1512. This work, especially with the
corrections of the Louvain divines, acquired considerable popularity,
and more than forty different editions of it appeared before the year
1700. Even before any French Protestant version of the Sacred Scripture
appeared, another French Catholic translation was made by Nicholas de
Leuse, a doctor of Louvain, and was printed at Antwerp in 1534. The first
Protestant version was published at Neufchatel in the following year.

Perhaps in Germany at least, the native land of Protestantism, the holy
Bible was a sealed book to the children of the Catholic Church? No,
it was far otherwise. As early as the tenth century Notker Albulus,
abbot of the monastery of St. Gallus, translated into German the book
of _Psalms_; and a century later most of the other inspired books were
translated by William of Ebersberg, in Bavaria, and other religious
whose names have not been handed down to us (_Reuss_, pag. 439). In the
succeeding centuries several other translations appeared, so much so,
that the author of the Cologne version, printed in 1480, was able to
affirm in his preface that he availed himself "of a variety of different
versions, which were made and circulated both in Lower and Upper Germany,
before printing came into use". The first printed German Bible issued
from the Mentz press in two volumes in folio about 1462. Other editions
seem to have followed soon after; for, in the next earliest edition
which is now known, viz., that of Augsburg, in 1477, the editor was
able to commend the accuracy of his version, and eulogize it "prae
omnibus aliis antea impressis Bibliis Germanicis". So rapid was the
diffusion of the printed text, that from 1477 to 1490, this city of
Augsburg alone gave five different editions. The city of Nuremberg gave
proofs of equal fecundity, having published distinct editions in 1477,
1480, and 1483. The editor of this last edition laid claim to special
elegance of type and accuracy of text, "prae omnibus antea impressis
Germanicis purius, clarius, et verius"; and, it would seem, justly,
for David Clement, who examined the edition, thus describes it: "I saw
that magnificent edition in the library of the Duchess of Nuremberg;
the paper, the ornamented letters, the illuminated figures so well
drawn and engraved around, all so delightful to behold, giving a most
pleasing idea of the degree of perfection to which the art of printing
had already arrived, and this only thirty years after the invention
of movable types". The other chief cities of Germany, Cologne, Lubeck,
Halberstadt, Strasburg, and Mentz, had also their distinct editions; and
before the year 1500--that is to say, many years before the appearance of
Lutheranism--thirty editions of the entire Scriptures were in circulation
in the vernacular language of Germany.

We will give but a rapid glance at the versions of Poland, Spain, and
Bohemia, that we may be able to devote more space to one country which
is especially dear to every Catholic heart. The first Polish version
was made about 1390, by order of St. Hedwige, wife of the famous Duke
of Lithuania who was chosen king under the name of Ladislaus IV. About
the same time a second translation is said to have been made by Andrew
Jassowitz. Another version of the Psalter, and a fragment of a translation
of the Old Testament made in 1455, are commemorated by Graesse in his
_Litter. Hist._, v. 484. Translations of the Bible into Spanish are
spoken of by the national writers, during the reign of James I. of
Arragon, in the thirteenth century, and again under John II. of Leon,
about 1440. The first printed edition appeared in 1478, and another
edition, of 1515, is referred by Graesse (loc. cit.) to a Carthusian
monk, named Boniface Ferrer. As regards Bohemia, MM. Schaffarik and
Palacky commemorate a translation of the Gospel of St. John, made as
early as the tenth century (_Böhm. Denkm._, an. 1840). A Bohemian
Psalter bears date 1396. Huss in one of his controversial tracts speaks
of the New Testament as already extant in the Bohemian language. The
translation of the whole Bible into Bohemian was achieved at Dresden
in 1410, as Dobrowsky proves (_Slovanka_, Th. 2), and we find printed
editions at Prague in 1488, at Cutna in 1498, and at Venice in 1506 and
1511. Even Denmark had its translation of the Sacred Scriptures, and a
version of the historical books of the Old Testament was made in 1470,
as Molbek and Grimm inform us.

If, however, the Catholic Church were hostile to the sacred Scriptures,
we should naturally suppose that in Italy, at least, little enthusiasm
should have been displayed in the diffusion of the Bible in the vulgar
tongue; for Italy was more immediately subject to the influence of the
Holy See; in its centre stood the capital of the universal Catholic
world--the new Jerusalem of the Church--the See of Peter. Nevertheless,
of all European countries, Italy was, perhaps, the most remarkable for
the diffusion of the sacred text during the ante-Reformation period.
Jacopo de Voragine, Bishop of Genoa, who died in 1298, was the first to
translate the Scriptures into the Italian tongue, and thus his version
dates before Dante and the other great masters of the language. New
translations by Nicholas de Neritono, of the Dominican Order, Pietro
Arighetto, Cavalca, and others, followed soon after; and so rapid was
the diffusion of the sacred text, that, as Lamy informs us, the archives
of Florence alone contain forty manuscripts belonging to the fourteenth
century, all presenting various portions of the Bible in the Italian
tongue (_De Eruditione App._, page 308, _seqq._). The discovery of the
art of printing was hailed in Italy with special delight. Sweynheyne and
Paunartz, under the auspices of Cardinal Cusa, hastened thither with
the newly-found treasure, and Rome was the first city that welcomed
them within its walls. Various editions of the Bible, the classics,
and the Fathers, soon appeared; indeed, before the year 1500, almost
every city of Italy had one or more printing presses in operation, but,
above all, the names of the great Benedictine monastery of Subiaco,
and the "Palazzo Massimi" in Rome, record to posterity the religious
patronage and princely munificence which welcomed the German artists
to the divinely favoured patrimony of the successors of St. Peter.

Three editions of the Bible in the Italian tongue appeared in the year
1471. The first bears the name of Nicholas Malermi, a religious of
the Order of Camaldoli. The closing words of the Second volume fix its
precise date: "Impresso fu questo volume nel l'alma patria de Venetia
nell' anno de la salutifera incarnatione del Figliolo de l'eterno
et omnipotente Dio, MCCCCLXXI, in Kalende di Augusto per Vendelino
Spira". This version was subsequently repeated in new editions, and is
still esteemed for the purity of its language, being described by the
latest writer on this subject as written. "vel miglior secolo della
nostra lingua" (Vercellone, _Dissert. Roma_, 1864, pag. 100). The
Second Venetian edition of 1471, was printed "per Nicolo Jenson in
calende di Ottobre", and by some inexperienced modern observers was
supposed to be merely a reprint of the former text: it is, however,
quite distinct, and the best judges of the present day are of opinion
that this version is from the pen of Cavalca, a Tuscan writer of the
golden age, who flourished in the fourteenth century. It is cited 160
times in the last edition of the Crusca (Florence, 1843), under the
title _Volgarizzamento di Pistole e di Vangeli_, and some manuscripts of
it are extant, which date back to the close of the fourteenth century
(Curioni, "_Sui due Primi Volgarizzamenti_", etc., Milan, 1847; and
Sorio in _Archiv. Eccles._ Firenze, 1864, vol. i. pag. 297). A. third
Italian version appeared in Rome in the same month of October, 1471,
in two volumes folio: many writers have described it as the version of
Malermi; but Maffei, who diligently compared both texts, pronounced it
to be a distinct and independent version. No fewer than eleven complete
editions of these several versions appeared before the year 1500, and
more than forty editions are reckoned before the appearance of the first
Protestant edition of the Bible in the Italian language. Some of these
editions, too, deserve the name of distinct versions, on account of
various alterations and improvements made in the text, and all appeared
under ecclesiastical sanction; thus, for instance, an edition of Venice,
in 1477, bears the name of "Fratre Marino del Ordine di Predicatori,
de la sacra pagina professore umile".

An entirely new translation from the original text was made by Sanctes
Marmoschini in 1538, and was reprinted in 1546. Another translation,
which appeared in 1547, was remarkable for its poetical version of _Job_
and the _Psalms_. The translation of Antonio Bruccioli attracted still
more attention. It was made "de la Hebraica veritá", and was ushered
in under the patronage of the French monarch, Francis I., in the month
of May 1532.

From that date to 1552, twelve editions of this version appeared; but,
though, remarkable for its Tuscan dialect, it was inaccurate in many
passages, for which reason it was condemned by the Council of Trent. The
first Protestant Italian Bible was printed in Geneva as late as 1562,
and was little more than a reprint of Bruccioli's version. About fifty
years later Diodati's Bible appeared, which is rather a Calvinistic
paraphrase than a version; nevertheless, this corruption of Holy Writ
has for two centuries held its place as the great Protestant standard
of orthodoxy. Even in later times the Catholic Church has presented
a new and accurate Italian version to her children, and Anthony
Martini, Archbishop of Florence, by the accuracy of his translation,
the purity of his style, and his admirable explanatory notes, merited
the congratulations and approval of the illustrious Pontiff Pius VI.:
"Beloved Son", writes this great Pope, "at a time when vast numbers of
bad books are being circulated, most grossly attacking the Catholic
Church, to the great destruction of souls, you have judged exceeding
well in exhorting the faithful to the reading of the Holy Scriptures;
for these are most abundant sources, whence every one ought to be in a
position to draw purity of morals and of doctrine, and to eradicate the
errors which are so widely disseminated in these corrupt times. This
you have seasonably accomplished, publishing the sacred writing in the
language of your country, to be understood by all, especially as you
declare that you have added explanatory notes, which, being extracted
from the Holy Fathers, preclude every possible danger of abuse,
etc. Given at Rome on the calends of April, 1778".

Thus, then, so far from the Church being the enemy of the Bible,
she was its watchful guardian, and ever cherished it as a sacred
treasure. When heresy introduced corruption into the inspired volume,
and substituted the word of man for the Word of God, the pastors of the
Catholic fold fearlessly raised their voice, and warned the faithful
of the snares which were laid for them. When enemies had poisoned the
life-giving stream, the Church permitted not her children to drink
the deadly draught. But in no country, and at no period, was the
Catholic Church the enemy of the Bible; never was its sacred text a
sealed book to the faithful; but, on the contrary, the pastors of the
Church, the divinely constituted guardians of the inspired writings,
were ever zealous in promoting the study of their sacred truths, and in
"disseminating the knowledge of God's written word".

We now take leave of the learned Earl of Clancarty. Would it be too
much to expect from his candour that he would withdraw the statement
which he has made, since, as we have seen, when viewed historically, it
is false and groundless in itself, whilst at the same time it outrages
the feelings of the whole Catholic Irish nation?



THE SOCIAL MISSION OF THE CHURCH.


The social mission of the Christian Church is a subject to which none
can be indifferent. For eighteen centuries and a half the career of the
Church has remained unchanged; and amid the revolutions of nations and
the migrations of tribes and peoples, her social mission has ever been
to educate, to civilize, and to elevate humanity. The civilization of
the east had languished into decay, the greatness of Greece was merged
in the universal empire of Rome, and the east and the west groaned
under the despotism of the Cæsars. When this new and strange power
appeared upon the earth it was a power insignificant in appearance,
and far beneath even the contempt of the haughty emperors; yet that
little society, these few poor and despised Galileans were destined to
crush the colossus of Paganism, and to erect upon its ruins an empire
more extended than that of Rome, and a civilization more refined and
more enlightened than that of Egypt or of Greece. These few ignorant
men were to purify the philosophy of Greece, to humble the greatness of
Rome, to arrest the wandering tribes of the desert and the savage hordes
of the north, to civilize them and to lead them within the pale of the
Christian Church; slavery was to retire before her influence; the dark
clouds of ignorance and barbarism were to be dispelled by her light;
and arts, learning, and civilization were to flourish under the shadow of
her patronage. Her hands were full of gifts to men; to the slave she was
the herald of freedom, to the ignorant she was the bearer of knowledge,
and to all she was the teacher of a pure and elevated morality, unknown
to the pagan world. Such was the social mission of the Christian Church;
how nobly has she fulfilled it!

In three centuries, after persecutions the most dire, the Christian
Church won her way from the gloom of the catacombs to the imperial throne
of Rome. The hand of power sought to check her progress, but in vain;
the sword of persecution raised against her fell from the hand of the
tyrant; the insidious breath of heresy could not corrupt her purity,
nor the splendid teachings of Athens or Alexandria draw her from her
sublime mission of truth. She consoled the slave, she cheered and
strengthened the martyr, she elevated and purified all; she struggled
with Paganism--with its profane and captivating rites--with its proud
philosophy and its millions of refined and luxurious votaries. She won
disciples from every grade, and class, and nation, until Christianity
became the national religion of the proud and persecuting empire of
the Cæsars. But now, that very empire which the Church has won is
tottering to ruin; new difficulties beset her, and a new mission awaits
her. The Goth, the Hun, and the Vandal have seized on the richest
provinces of Rome. Her cities lie in ruins, her temples are profaned,
and Europe seems again fast sinking into hopeless barbarism; the clash
of arms and the yell of triumph has silenced the voice of civilization,
and the jargon of her rude conquerors startles the ear in the very
streets of Rome; streams of human population pour in from the northern
nations--they extinguish the Roman power, and carry into the heart of
Europe new traditions, a new mythology, new habits of thought, and new
principles of action. And whilst the north was thus violently convulsed
by the crash of the western empire, the south was not less violently
agitated by the rising greatness of the Saracen. From the Atlantic to
the Pacific the sway of Omar extended; and many were the cities ruined,
and many were the literary monuments destroyed by these untamed children
of the desert. In such perils what is able to save--what spirit could
brood over this social chaos and breathe into it order and beauty--what
power could move in the track of the desolating host, could collect
the half ruined fragments of classic art and construct them again into
a still more beautiful temple of learning? What influence could wean
that lawless race from the wild ways of rapine and the degrading vices
of savage life, and make them rival and excel the polished Roman in all
the arts and accomplishments of civilized life? The Church alone could
arrest the onward march of barbarism, and restore social order; with
prophetic glance she seemed conscious of the perils that beset her, and
prepared to overcome them. Augustine, Jerome, Hilary, and Prosper, the
last expiring lights of the past civilization, were the devoted children
of the Church. In the sixth century, when the schools of the empire
were closed, her monasteries were the sole sanctuaries of learning. In
them she studied and taught, and opposed an organised resistance to
the despotism of the sword, whilst her secular clergy acted, governed,
and preserved external order. In this century St. Remus preached with a
classic purity, and Avitus of Vienne, the Milton of the Church, sang of
the creation and the fall in the thrilling accents of genius. In this
period appeared Cesarius of Arles, Gregory of Tours, and Fortunatus
of Poitiers, whose learning shed a light upon their age, and whose
works marked the birth of a new literature purely ecclesiastical. The
learning and sanctity of our own Church relieved the darkness of the
seventh century. Columbanus awakened a new spirit in the French Church,
he arrested the march of barbarism in southern Germany, and perpetuated
the study of antiquity among his numerous disciples. The eighth century
marked a new era in letters; Charlemagne and the Church vied with each
other; Bede and Bennett adorned England; the Carlovingian schools were
organized under the genius of Alcuin, and over the wide dominions
of Charlemagne an impulse was given to learning which was felt for
centuries. By her Popes, her councils, and her bishops, the Church
ever laboured to diffuse knowledge amongst her people. With a willing
obedience her monastic institutions responded to her call, and during
the eleventh and twelfth centuries awakened a literary activity from the
Tiber to the Atlantic. The wonders of the press were yet unknown, but the
simple, learned, and laborious monk plied his daily task, and rivalled
the press in the extent, variety, and beauty of his labours. These
venerable institutions, so often the scorn of the ignorant, were
rapidly multiplied over the whole continent of Europe; Clugny and
Citeaux spring into life, and each becomes a school of knowledge, a
centre of civilization, and a prolific nursery of saintly and learned
men. Let the sceptic on this point read Mabillon's book on monastic
studies, in reply to De Rancé, the venerable Abbot of La Trappe; let
him examine the collection of manuscripts found in the eight hundred
monasteries visited by Martini in his literary tours; let him look at
the contents of the fourteen volumes folio, compiled by Martini and
the illustrious band who accompanied him in his antiquarian researches
through the monasteries of central Europe; let him glance at the Titan
labours of Mabillon, Montfaucon, and the Benedictines of St. Maur; and
then let him dilate on the stupidity and ignorance of the monks of the
"dark ages". Thus, by the zeal of the Church, and her monks and her
missioners, the Christian faith was again spread over Europe, Saxon
England was reconquered to the Church, Clovis and his people entered
her fold, Germany was won over to her empire, and the fierce children
of the north everywhere bowed to her yoke. Their minds, filled with the
dim shadows of their native traditions and the bloody deeds of their
ancestors, became awakened to all the beauties of Christianity; they
yielded to the softening influence of the more genial climate of their
conquered home, they cast off the bonds of their gloomy superstition,
they entered the Church, and under her guidance they became the founders
of the nations and the authors of the mediaeval and modern literature
of Europe. The Church moulded with the same skilful hand the sternness
and energy of the north, and the more soft and imaginative races of the
south, and united the fierce worshippers of Thor with the followers of
the giddy Genii of the east, in one grand struggle for the glory of
their common creed. She summoned the spirit of chivalry, then in its
youthful vigour; she excited a glow of religious enthusiasm that set
Europe in a flame; she appealed to the spirit of warlike enterprise,
and gathered round her standard that group, who, quitting home,
country, and friends, arose at the call of Urban, and put on the badge
of the crusader. Yes, the crusades are a great fact in the history
of modern civilization; they stilled the voice of domestic strife,
which had been productive of so much evil; they united, elevated,
and consecrated the chivalry of Europe, and exhibited to the world the
power and the glory of religion. These were days of great excitement
and of rapid progress; this was the age of the growth and ascendancy
of the scholastic philosophy. The Arabic empire of Spain was in its
meridian glory. It was in this age Peter preached, and the Cross was
raised at Clermont, and Godfrey and Boemond rushed to the liberation of
the sacred city. It was in this age the glorious Hildebrand laboured so
successfully to eject feudal influence from the sanctuary, to abolish
the baneful right of lay investiture, and to give to the Church ministers
worthy of their sublime duties. It was in these days the Italian cities
were fostered by the protection of the Papal power, and the leagued
towns of Germany under their bishops; and the municipal councils were
breaking down feudal tyranny, and opening to the peasant mind the path
to political and literary distinction, which they have since so nobly
trod. In the ninth century Hamburg was the stronghold of tyranny; in
the eleventh and twelfth centuries this same city was the nucleus of
a great confederation which for centuries influenced the destinies of
Europe. In the thirteenth century the spirit of Bernard and Hildebrand
was again revived. The genius, the sanctity, the learning, and the
courage of Innocent III. guided the destinies of the Church. Rodolph,
with the Cross for his sceptre, ruled in Germany; St. Louis governed
France; Spain gloried in Alphonso and Ferdinand, and in the victories
of Seville and Tolosa; and England, under a Cardinal of the Roman
Church, wrung from her king the charter of her rights. This was the
age of St. Francis and St. Dominick; of Albertus and St. Thomas,
of Bacon and Bonaventure. In these days Oxford boasted of her thirty
thousand students; twenty-five thousand trod the halls of Paris; and
ten thousand read law at Bologna. Never was there an age more glorious
than this age of Christian faith; glorious in great deeds and historic
names; glorious in learning and life of the universities with which
the Church had studded Europe; glorious in a noble Christian art and
architecture; and glorious too in the sublime genius of its poets. And
all these great movements, intellectual and social, all pregnant with
such grand results for the happiness and enlightenment of mankind, and
for the future greatness and civilization of the nations of Europe,
were originated and guided to success by the genius of the Catholic
Church. The Church was that mysterious power that moulded the nations,
and influenced the social condition of successive generations over
the whole continent. In the lawless ages of rapine and violence she
stood between the tyrant and his victim, and restrained the excesses
of feudalism by the sword of her spiritual authority. She was ever
the protector of the weak, and the defender of rational liberty. In
the words of an eloquent Protestant writer, "The Church was the great
bulwark of order, she perpetuated justice and light, and fought the
battle of civilization and freedom. The feudal castle could not screen
the oppressor of the poor from her vengeance, nor the kingly diadem save
the tyrant of his people from her stern maledictions; the Church presided
over mediaeval society; her Pontiff reigned with an universal sway,
with which the grateful suffrage of Europe invested him; and never was
human power exercised with more justice or with more glorious results
for the welfare of humanity". And this is the Church which her enemies
would shamelessly brand as hostile to the diffusion of knowledge; this
the Church that would restrain the freedom of human thought, perpetuate
ignorance, and dwarf the intellect of man; the Church of Nicholas, of
Leo, and of Benedict; the Church that presided over the revival of Greek
learning, and saved the decaying fragments of classic genius; the Church
that before the sixteenth century founded fifty-eight universities in
Europe, and from her poverty encouraged learning with a munificence which
should shame the nations of our day! The Catholic Church cultivated the
mind of Petrarch, she inspired the genius of Dante, and listened to the
thrilling tones of Ariosto. Calderon was her child, and Tasso loved to
linger in her capital. Yes, this is the Church that would dwarf the human
intellect! Gothic architecture is her own creation, and the glories of
Italian art were developed in the shadow of the Vatican. The palace of
Nicholas and of Leo was the temple of learning, and the gifted of every
nation flocked to the city of the pontiffs to live in the smile of his
favour and on the munificence of his bounty. In his presence the poet
felt a new inspiration, the sculptor breathed life into the marble, and
the magic pencil of Italy imparted to its matchless productions a more
than divine beauty. The same ear that was charmed with the strains of
Ariosto could listen with approval to the researches of Flavio or the
sublime theories of Copernicus. The Pope during the middle ages was the
great high priest of literature, of science and of art, enthroned by
the suffrage of Europe; the learned of the age paid to him the tribute
of their grateful affection; and the office of his secretary was for
centuries regarded as the prize of genius, which the first scholars of
the age claimed as the reward of their intellectual greatness.



LITURGICAL QUESTIONS.


Our reverend correspondents on liturgical subjects will hold us excused
if we are not able to answer the several questions kindly forwarded to
us, as we deem it our duty, in compliance with the request of several
friends, to treat of some questions in connection with the ceremonies
of Holy Week, which may be deemed useful for the guidance of the clergy
in carrying on the solemn functions of that week.

The following questions have been proposed:

1. Can a low Mass be said on the three last days of Holy Week?

2. Can a low Mass be said on Holy Thursday or on Holy Saturday?

3. What is to be done in the country parishes where there is not a
sufficient number of priests to have high Mass, and where the other
ceremonies cannot be observed?

In reply to the first question we beg to say that low Masses are
strictly forbidden on the three last days of Holy Week. When there is
a sufficient number of priests, the rubrics require that a solemn high
Mass be celebrated, and in those churches not having a sufficient number
of priests for high Mass the Memoriale Rituum of Benedict XIII. must
be used, which prescribes certain solemnities to be observed by one
priest, and requires that he be attended by at least three clerics in
surplices, in performing the functions of Holy Week. This ceremonial of
Benedict XIII. is to be observed only in case there is a deficiency of
priests, and hence it presupposes that a solemn Mass is to be said with
deacon and sub-deacon when they can be had, as the Memoriale Rituum was
published by order of Benedict XIII. solely with the view of enabling
the clergy in the smaller churches to carry out the ceremonies of Holy
Week, and accordingly, in reply to various questions as to private
Masses on those three days, we find that the answer invariably was,
that the ceremonies were to be carried out "servata forma parvi Ritualis
S. M. Benedicti XIII., ann. 1725, jussu editi".

2. Thus the following answer was given by the Sacred Congregation of
Rites (4904):

    1. "An in Ecclesiis Parochialibus in quibus nullus extat clerus
    sed solum Parochus, possit vel debeat iste facere Benedictionem
    Candelarum, Cinerum, Palmarum, novi ignis, Cerei Paschalis, Fontis
    Baptismalis et coeterorum hujusmodi, necnon instituere officium
    Feriae quintae in Coena Domini et Feriae sextae in Parasceve
    sine cantu et solum privata voce prout celebratur Missa privata?

    "Ad 1. Servetur parvum Caeremoniale a sa. me. Benedicto Papa
    XIII. ad hoc editum. Die 23, Maii, 1846".

This applies to the last three days of Holy Week; but can a low Mass be
said on one of these days, such as Holy Thursday? There are innumerable
decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites on this subject, and it
would be impossible to quote all: we shall give one or two. Thus on
the 31st August, 1839, the question was proposed:

    "An in Ecclesiis ubi Functiones Majoris hebdomadae fieri nequeunt,
    Feria quinta celebrari possit Missa lecta. Negative".

And again:

    1. "An toleranda sit consuetudo vigens in quibusdam paroeciis,
    praesertim in ruralibus celebrandi per parochum Missam lectam
    Feria V. in Coena Domini quin peragi valeant eadem Feria, et
    sequenti coeterae Ecclesiasticae functiones praescriptae ob
    clericorum defectum, vel potius obolenda.

       *       *       *       *       *

    3. "An ad eliminandos abusus, siqui irrepserint, sit consulendum
    Sanctissimo pro revocatione cujuscumque Indulti celebrandi
    privatim eamdem Missam, (idest in Sabbato Sancto) firmo tamem
    remanente singulari privilegio aliquibus Ecclesiis, peculiaribus
    attentis circumstantiis, concesso unam vel alteram Missam lectam
    celebrandi post unicam solemnem de die?

    "Ad. 1. Affirmative et ad mentem: mens est ut locorum ordinarii
    quoad Paroecias in quibus haberi possunt tres, quatuorve saltem
    Clerici Sacras Functiones Feriis V. et VI. ac Sabbato majoris
    hebdomadae peragi studeant, servata forma parvi Ritualis S. M.
    Benedicti XIII. anno 1725, jussu editi; Quoad alias paroecias
    quae Cleris destituuntur, indulgere valeant ob populi commoditatem,
    ut Parochi (petita quotannis venia) Feria V. in Coena Domini Missam
    lectam celebrare possint, priusquam in Cathedrali vel Matrice
    Conventualis incipiat. Et ad D. Secretarium cum Sanctissimo.

    "Ad. 3. Affirmative juxta votum videlicet--Consulendum Sanctissimo
    pro revocatione cujuscumque Indulti celebrandi privatim in Sabbato
    Sancto, firmo tamen singulari privilegio aliquibus Ecclesiis,
    peculiaribus attentis circumstantiis, concesso, unam vel alteram
    Missam lectam celebrandi post unicam Solemnem de die prout in
    dubio, Die 28 Julii, 1821".

With reference to the first decision, it is to be remarked, how the
observance of the Memoriale Rituum is inculcated, and that even in
case the clerics cannot be had, the parish priest cannot celebrate a
low Mass unless he gets permission to do so from the bishop each year
(petita quotannis venia), and we may here observe that the only reasons
which would warrant the bishop to grant permission for a low Mass on
Holy Thursday, are two: first, to give an opportunity to the faithful
of making their Easter Communion; and second, to give Communion to the
sick. In these two circumstances the bishop can give permission for a
low Mass, if he thinks it necessary, on Holy Thursday, but the parish
priest, or, much less, any other priest, cannot say Mass even in these
circumstances, without the permission sought and obtained every year
from the bishop (venia quotannis petita).

Gardellini, in a very valuable dissertation on this decree, has the
following words: "Rem tamen noluit in Parochorum ruralium arbitrio
relinquere, sed demandavit ut iidem quotannis et peterent et ab episcopo
celebrandi veniam obtinerent". In another passage he (Gardellini)
quotes the authority of Benedict XIV., who, when Archbishop of Bologna,
had granted permission to some of the parish priests to say a low Mass
under the circumstances above referred to, and then he adds:

    "Praeter parochum in sua parochia, si sacerdos aliquis cujuscumque
    conditionis aut dignitatis Missam privatam Feria quinta, sexta,
    ac Sabbato majoris hebdomodae celebrare ausus fuerit, ipsum
    graviter puniemus et a Divinis etiam interdicemus".

With regard, however, to Holy Saturday, the case is quite different. For
a private Mass cannot now be celebrated on that day without a special
indult from the Holy See, as appears from a decree of the 11th March,
1690:

    "Firmo in reliquis remanente praedicto decreto edito die 11
    Februarii nempe in Sabbato Sancto celebrationes Missarum privatarum
    omnino prohibentur in quibuscumque Ecclesiis et oratoriis privatis,
    non obstante quacumque contraria consuetudine, et unica tantum
    Missa Conventualis una cum officio ejusdem Sabbati sancti
    celebretur".

Gardellini, in his dissertation already mentioned, speaking of this
decree, says:

    "Quum autem hoc Decretum Summus Pontifex sua auctoritate
    firmaverit et ope typorum evulgari jusserit, vim habet legis
    universalis quae relaxari nequit nisi ab eo a quo lata est".

It is plain, therefore, that there is a great difference between Holy
Thursday and Holy Saturday, as to the question of low Masses. With regard
to Holy Thursday, the bishop may allow it in certain circumstances,
but not so on Holy Saturday. This difference is evidenced in the fact,
that if a holiday of obligation fall on Holy Thursday, it is to be
observed, and some low Masses are permitted, so that the people may
fulfil the precept of hearing Mass. But if the holiday fall on Holy
Saturday or Good Friday, it is transferred to another day, together
with the obligation of hearing Mass, and no private Masses are allowed.

We now come to the last question, which is one of a practical character,
and which must be treated as such. The Memoriale Rituum lays down most
distinctly all the directions for the due performance of the ceremonies
in Holy Week when there is not a sufficient number of priests to carry
them on with the solemnity prescribed by the Missal. In the preface
it states that it was ordered by Pope Benedict XIII., and published
"ut Minorum Ecclesiarum Rectores minime vel perstrictus Parochialium
Clericorum numerus detineat, vel insuetorum Rituum anfractus deterreat".
Hence in the same preface it charges the parish priest to instruct three
or four clerics in the ceremonies, "ut sacrae actiones, si nequeant
solemniter, decenter saltem peragantur". This is the first point to be
attended to, namely, to appoint three or four youths and train them in
the manner of performing the ceremonies. This at first may appear to
cause great inconvenience and trouble, but it is well known to those
who have tried the experiment how quickly well disposed youths learn
such matters, and what taste they even display in arranging the altars,
etc., considering the opportunities within their reach.

2. But, as far as we know, the chief difficulty which is usually made
is, that they cannot do anything in the country districts in the
way of singing the hymns and the psalms. This, no doubt, would be an
insurmountable difficulty in many instances; but the Memoriale Rituum of
Benedict XIII. does not require music or singing. It requires the priest
and the youths to recite, and to do so "aequa vocum concordia" (_vide_
Memoriale Rituum). If the parish priest could have the singing, it would,
of course, be most desirable and very edifying, but not at all necessary.

3. The Memoriale Rituum requires for Holy Thursday an altar set apart
from the high altar at which the ceremonies are performed, which is
called the altar of repose, and which is to be decorated and adorned
with the greatest pomp. There is not much difficulty in complying with
this particular, which is clearly pointed out by the Rubrics of the
Missal; and we may here observe that we have heard with surprise that
the altar of repose on Holy Thursday in some Churches is the same as
the high altar, and not distinct from it, where the ceremonies could
and ought to be carried out with the greatest solemnity and accuracy.

4. The Memoriale Rituum enters into many details about the function of
Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and for this latter day many things are
to be procured by the parish priest which are clearly laid down in the
Missal and the Memoriale so often referred to. We deem it unnecessary
to mention all the details, particularly as while we are writing on
these subjects we have been favoured with a copy of a letter of his
Grace the Archbishop of Dublin to the clergy of his diocese, which
we annex here as confirming our views on these points, and also as a
summary of what we have been stating in this article.


PAULUS,

_Dei et Apostolicae sedis gratia, Archiepiscopus Dublinensis, etc.,
Venerabili Clero Dublinensi Tam Saeculari quam Regulari_.


Maximi momenti esse ut leges ecclesiasticae ad sacras caeremonias
peragendas spectent, accuratissime observentur, nemo est qui ignoret.
Itaque, cum Nobis relatum fuerit in quibusdum hujus dioecesis Ecclesiis
quasdam leges rituales praecipue ad hebdomadam sanctam spectantes,
diversam et variam interpretationem accipere, adeoque in omnibus eandem
disciplinam non vigere, cum que maximopere optandum sit ut non tantum
idem spiritus sed et eadem agendi ratio ubique servetur, nostrim
uneris esse existimavimus pauca quaedam que ad unitatem promovendam
opportuna videntur, in omnium memoriam revocare, non quasi nova aliqua
decernentes, sed eo tantum fine ut quam accuratissime Ecclesiae leges
jam latae observentur. Haec vero sunt quae ab omnibus servari volumus:--

1mo. In oratoriis domesticis, missa celebranda non est in Feria Quinta in
Coena Domini, neque in duobus sequentibus diebus, neque in die Paschatis.

2do. In Feria quinta praedicta, unica tantum celebrandi est Missa in
singulis Ecclesiis, quae solemnis aut conventualis esse debet. In ea
vero Missa clerus qui ad ecclesiam spectat, Communionem inter Missarum
solemnia a manu celebrantis recipere debet, juxta veterem et constantem
Ecclesiae usum.

3tio. Altare in quo reponendum est SS. Sacramentum, quod Feria Sexta in
Missa Praesanctificatorum sumi debet a celebrante, omni cura ornandum
est. Caeterum, Sacra Hostia includenda est in capsula, seu in sepulchro,
ut vulgo dicitur, quod clave a sacerdote custodienda claudi debet, nec
licet sacram Hostiam ita exponere ut videatur a fidelibus.

4to. In die Sabbati Sancti unica tantum celebrari potest Missa, que
solemnis esse debet, vel celebrata ad normam Caeremonialis Benedicti
XIII.

5to. Monendi sunt fideles a confessariis et a Concionatoribus praeceptum
quo tenentur sacram communionem tempore paschali recipere, adimpleri
non posse nisi in propria cujusque Ecclesia Paroeciali, excepto casu
quo habeatur dispensatio ab episcopo, vel proprio parocho.

6to. Die Paschatis, in Ecclesiis, quae paroeciales non sunt, vetitum
omnino est Sacram Communionem fidelibus dispensare, sive privatim, sive
publice.

7to. Quod vero spectat ad eos qui vivunt in communitate, ut, e.g., in
Conventibus et Monasteriis, in Collegiis et Seminariis ecclesiasticis,
Communionem Paschalem tam ipsi quam eorum famuli, in propriis sacellis
aut ecclesiis sumere possunt.

8to. In singulis Ecclesiis paroecialibus Sabbato Sancto benedicendi
sunt fontes baptismales secundum ritum in Missali Romano praescriptum.

9to. Vetera Olea ad eos benedicendos adhibenda non sunt; quare, omnibus
cavendum est, ut nova olea die antecedenti, ad eum finem petant. Olea
vero sacra a laicis deferenda non sunt, sed a Sacerdotibus, a quibus
etiam diligenter in loco tuto et clave obserrato semper custodienda sunt.

10to. Si qua in Ecclesia plures Sacerdotes ad sacras caeremonias
peragendas haberi non possint, et unicus tantum adsit, servari debet,
in hac hebdomada sancta ceremoniale editum jussu Benedicti XIII.,
pro minoribus ecclesiis, quod nuper in hac urbe in lucem prodiit ex
typographia Domini Jacobi Duffy.

11mo. Organa quae pulsantur dum cantatur Gloria in excelsis in Missa
Feriae Quintae in Coena Domini, silere postea debent donec initium fiat
ejusdem hymni angelici in Missa Sabbati Sancti.

12mo. Campana silere eodem temporis spatio omnino debent.

Caeterum, omnes Parochos et Ecclesiarum Regularium Superiores in Domino
rogamus ut, ea que hic praescripta sunt, quam accuratissime observari
curent, atque eo zelo quo pro gloria Dei et disciplinae ecclesiasticae
observantia flagrant, operam diligentissime navent, ut non solum in hac
Sacra Hebdomade, verum etiam per totius anni curriculum, omnes sacrae
caeremoniae et ritus ab Ecclesia sanciti, ea qua convenit dignitate et
decore, qui domum Dei decet, peragantur.

                                                     [+] PAULUS CULLEN.

_Dat. Dublini, Die 5 Aprilis, 1857._



DOCUMENTS.


I.

MONITA TO PROFESSOR UBAGHS, BY THE S. CONGREGATION OF THE INDEX.[1]


_Folium primum anni 1843, de quo sermo est in epistola ad Episcopos
Belgii ab Eminentissimo Cardinali Patrizi, secretario S. Inquisit. data
d. 11 oct. 1864._

R. D. Ubaghs, docet in Theodicea et interdum etiam in Logica sequentes
propositiones, quas S. Congregatio Indici praeposita emendandas esse
judicat.

I. "Haud posse nos in cognitionem cujusvis externae metaphysicae
veritatis venire (nempe quae respiciat ea quae sub sensus nostros non
cadunt), absque alterius instructione, ac in ultima analysi absque
divina revelatione".

Porro haec doctrina admitti nequit, quia sicut veritates internae et
mathematicae cognosci possunt operatiocinii, ut ipsemet auctor fatetur,
ita saltem possibile est veritates externas assequi, quotiescumque
necessario cum internis connectuntur; aut cum ipsae internae consistere
nequeunt non supposita aliqua veritate externa.

II. "Veritates externas metaphysicas demonstrari non posse". Vide
_Theod._, pag. 220, n. 413 et seq.

Jam vero veritates externae quandoque cum internis necessario copulantur,
tanquam effectus cum causa, et ideo per hanc connexionem demonstrari
possunt eo genere argumenti quod a posteriori vocatur, cujus certitudo
non minor illa est, quae per demonstrationem _a priori_ obtinetur.

III. "Dei existentiam minime demonstrari posse, Deum existere demonstrari
posse negamus". _Theod._, pag. 73.

Quae importuna doctrina ultro fluit ex opinionibus jam indicatis ipsius
auctoris.

IV. "Probationes existentiae Dei reduci ad quandam fidem, aut fundari in
hac fide, qua non tam videmus quam credimus, seu naturaliter persuasum
nobis est, ideam hanc esse fidelem, id quod evidentia mere interna
cernere non possumus". _Theod._, pag. 73.

Quae verba significare videntur potius credi quam demonstrari Dei
existentiam, quod quidem a vero omnino distat.

V. "Auctor omnes probationes veritatum externarum metaphysicarum reducit
ad sensum communem".

Quae doctrina admitti nequit, eo quod aliquae veritates externae
demonstrantur _a posteriori_ per veritates internas, absque illa relatione
ad sensum communem. Ita habentes conscientiam nostrae existentiae,
directe inferimus existere causam quae nobis existentiam contulerit;
seu ab una veritate interna deducimus aliam veritatem externam absque
interventu sensus communis.

Hae sunt praecipuae sententiae, quae in praedicto libro corrigendae
videntur. Monet igitur S. Cong. Rev. auctorem ut nova aliqua editione
librum emendandum curet atque interim in scholasticis suis lectionibus
ab iis sententiis abstinere velit.


_Folium alterum de quo sermo est in epistola Eminentissimi Cardinalis
Patrizi._

Pauca quaedam loca in opere quod a cl. viro G. C. Ubaghs a. 1841 Lovanii
editum est et inscribitur _Theodicea_, seu _Theologiae naturalis
elementa_, adnotanda esse videntur, ut doctissimus auctor additis
quibusdam illustrationibus obortas circa ejusdem operis intelligentiam
difficultates e medio tollere possit. Ac 1º quidem memoranda sunt illa
quae pag. 73 habentur de Dei existentia: "Deum existere demonstrari posse
negamus, sed id certo certius probari etiam atque etiam affirmamus".
Omnis certe ambiguitas ex hoc loco tolleretur, si post vocem _demonstrari_
adderetur _a priori,_ quod conveniret cum iis quae tradit auctor in
_Logica_, p. 114, ed. tertia, de demonstrationis divisione, ubi ostendit
contra Kantianos demonstrationem a posteriori, jure ac merito veram
demonstrationem vocari. Auctor etiam, ibid. p. 105, haec habet:
"Demonstrare, si stricte intelligitur, idem est ac probare judicium certo
esse sicut effertur". Nemo autem negabit probationes existentiae Dei eam
vim habere, ut respondeant notioni strictae demonstrationis quae hic a
cl. auctore traditur.

2º Ubi auctor ad examen vocat diversa argumentorum genera, quae ad Dei
existentiam demonstrandam afferri solent, quaedam habet quae observatione
digna videntur. _Theod._, pag. 86, de argumentis physicis loquens ait:
"Et licet tum recta ex rationalis naturae impulsu, etc., probari posset
eumdem esse potentia et intelligentia vere infinita, illud tamen ex
argumentis physicis solis et stricte spectatis secundum leges logicas
effici nequit". Pag. 87, de argumentis quae moralia dicuntur ita
se exprimit: "In his solis veram Dei infinitatem expresse contentam
esse, strictis logicae legibus nondum plane efficitur". Additis porro
quibusdam de argumento ex ente infinito, concludit: "Fide naturali et
spontanea quadam progressione continua suppleamus in quod ad accuratam
Dei notionem concipiendam, et ad veri Dei existentiam plene probandam
illi soli probationi logicae, si strictissime acciperetur, deesse
videretur". Tandem p. 89 legimus: "Probabiles quidem conjecturas facere
de prima causa vel de primis causis (nesciremus utique, utrum una aut
plures dicendae essent) deque earum proprietatibus possemus". In his
omnibus mens doctissimi auctoris paulo clarius explicanda videtur,
ne quis inde occasionem sumat vim elevandi argumentorum quae Dei
existentiam demonstrant.

3º Clarissimus auctor, cap. 7, p. 3 _Theod._, profitetur se "magis
speciatim ac si fieri possit, paulo apertius _declarare velle_ ea quae
ad veritatem cognoscendam spectant". Quaedam tamen ibi leguntur, de
quorum intelligentia dubitationes oriri possent. Pag. 216, haec habentur:
"Veritatem internam immediate cognoscere possumus, externam non sine
interposita fide". Et pag. 219: "_Necesse est_ ... ut institutio aliena
nobis manifestas faciat veritates quae nec mere animi affectiones
sunt, nec sub sensus nostros externos cadunt". Plura alia ejusdem
generis ibi obvia sunt, quae contra mentem auctoris forte in alienos
sensus torqueri possent, et ad id adhiberi, ut vis humanae rationis
extenuaretur, et argumenta quae pro veritatibus externis demonstrandis
adhibentur ita infirmarentur, ut certitudinem illam minime afferrent,
quae in iis homini omnino necessaria est.


II.

RESCRIPT OF THE S. CONG. OF RITES TO THE BISHOP OF ST. BRIEUC ON THE
FORM OF SURPLICE TO BE WORN IN ADMINISTERING THE SACRAMENTS.


REVERENDISSIME DOMINE UTI FRATER,

Praecipuas curas quas Amplitudo Tua religiosissime impendere non cessat
ut iterum assumpta liturgia romana in ista tot nominibus commendabili
Briocensi diocesei integra servetur, non solum quoad rationem divinorum
officiorum et sacrosancti missae sacrificii, verum etiam in reliquis vel
functionibus ecclesiasticis, vel sacris caeremoniis, dum SS. D. N. Pius
Papa IX. et Sacra Rituum Congregatio cum gaudio comperiunt, Amplitudinis
Tuae zelum, et erga hanc sanctam apostolicam Sedem devotionem promeritis
laudibus, commendatione, praecipua extollunt. Cum vero impraesentiarum
Amplitudo Tua exponat, num, attentis addictissimi tui cleri votis,
recedere liceat a prudenter a te decretis de anno 1848 pridie idus
decembris quoad vestes adhibendas a sacerdotibus choro interessentibus
quin canonicali titulo sint insigniti, itemque in sacramentorum
administratione; ac proinde permittere _ut utantur cotta cum alis_, vel
_rochetto manicis destituto_, Sanctissimus item Dominus, cui fideliter
per me infra scriptum Sacrorum Rituum Congregationis prosecretarium
litterae Amplitudinis Tuae relatae fuerunt, per particulares hasce
litteras Amplitudini Tuae significandum praecepit, ut qua polles
religione et eloquio allabores, ut praescripta cotta cum manicis
largioribus juxta romanum morem omnino in choro utantur qui non sunt
canonici, quam tamen ad extremitates textili pinnato, vel alio ornatu
acu picto decorare liceat: verum in sacramentorum administratione
cotta cum stola, uti plura exigunt decreta et rituale requirit, omnino
adhibenda est.

Dum ita SS. D. N. mentem Amplitudini Tuae aperio, eidem diuturnam
exopto felicitatem.

        Romae, 12 februarii 1852.

       Amplitudinis tuae, uti Frater, A card. LAMBRUSCHINI, S. R. C. P.

LOCUS [+] SIGILLI.


III.

RESCRIPT OF THE S. CONG. OF INDULGENCES.

Inter dubia _de Translatione festorum_, quae N. huic Sacrae Congregationi
Indulgentiarum obtulerat enodanda, sequens propositum est:

Utrum Indulgentiam alicui festo adjunctam lucretur quisquis die ipsa
juxta Kalendarium Breviarii Romani, vel potius juxta Kalendarium
uniuscujusque dioecesis, Ordinis, etc. Item qui sodalitati cuicumque
nomen dederunt an Indulgentias acquirant die in qua festum celebratur
in Ordine regulari ad quem attinet dicta sodalitas, licet sit diversa
a die Kalendarii Romani, vel dioecesani?

Sacra Congregatio Indulgentiis sacrisque Reliquiis praeposita, in
generalibus comitiis habitis apud Vaticanas aedes die 29 augusti 1864,
praeviis consultorum votis, et re mature discussa, respondit:

"Indulgentiam acquiri a Christifidelibus die fixa et rite constituta
in sua dioecesi, a Regularibus Ordinibus die rite constituta in suo
Kalendario; a sodalitatibus vel die rite constituta in Kalendario Ordinis
cui adhaerent si hujus Indulgentiarum participes sint, vel in Kalendario
dioecesis, non tamen in utraque die".

Datum Romae ex secretaria ejusdem Sacrae Congregationis Indulgentiarum
die 29 augusti 1864.

                                   ANTONIUS M. Card. PANEBIANCO, Praef.

LOCO [+] SIGILLI.

    PHILIPPUS CAN. COSSA, substitutus.


IV.

DECISIONS REGARDING THE JUBILEE.


Sono pervenuti alla S. Penitenzieria i seguenti Quesiti:

1º. Quei Vescovi che credono espediente far fruire nella prossima
Quareisma ai loro diocesani lo spirituale vantaggio del S. tere
Apostoliche degli 8. Decembre 1864, possono commutare i tre giorni dell'
ingiunto digiuno in altre opere pie; ovvero, ove Giubileo accordato dalla
Santità di N. S. Papa Pio IX. con Letper benignità della Santtià
Sua è dispensata l' astinenza dalle carni possono ingiungere detta
astinenza per tre giorni, non ostante il studetto indulto, e fermo
rimanendo il precetto del digiuno ecclesiatico?

2º. Quei Vescovi nelle cui diocesi il tempo del Giubileo andase a cadere
durante il tempo Pasquale, possono dichiarare ai loro fedeli che colla
Comunione Pasquale resti sodisfatta la Comunione ingiunta pel Giubileo?

3º. Molto giovando a dispore i fedeli all' aquisto delle indulgenze
del Giubileo una fervorosa preparazione mercè le Sante Missioni, ed
altronde non essendovi in Diocesi tanti Operaj da percorrerla in un Mese;
ovvero, stimandolo i Vescovi più opportuno pel bene spirituale dei loro
diocesani, possono i medesimi designare diversi mesi pei diversi Luoghi
della Diocesi, sempre però dentro l'anno 1865?

4º. Nelle Lettere Apostoliche del 26 Marzo 1860 il Sommo Pontefice
riservò a Se, e Suoi Successori l'assoluzione dalle Censure per coloro
che mandarono ad effetto la ribellione ed usurpazione dei Dominj Pontificj
non che dei loro Mandanti, fautori, cooperatori, consiglieri, aderenti,
esecutori ecc. Ora colle amplissime facoltà che si consedono ai Confessori
in occasione del Santo Giubileo, di cui parlano le sopraindicate Lettere
Apostoliche delli 8. Decembre 1864 e quelle del 20 Novembre 1846 s'intende
tolta la suddetta riserva aposta nella detta Bolla del 26 Marzo 1860?

S. Poenitentiaria, facta praemissorum relatione Sanctissimo Domino
Nostro Papa Pio IX., juxta Ejusdem Sanctissimi Domini mentem, respondet.

Ad 1^{um} Per jejunium Quadragesimale, etiamsi adsit necessitas utendi
lacticiniis, satisfit duplici oneri.

Ad 2^{um} Affirmative.

Ad 3^{um} Ex novo Indulto Sanctissimi, affirmative.

Ad 4^{um} Negative, et recurrendum esse ad Locorum Ordinarios, qui
providebunt juxta Instructiones.

Datum Romae in S. Poenitentiaria die 20 Januarii 1865.

        A. M. CARD. CAGIANO MAJOR POENIT.

                G. BALLARATI S. P. Secretarius.

Concordat cum originali.

[+] PAULUS CULLEN, Archiepiscopus.



NOTICES OF BOOKS.


I.

_Letters to the People of the World on a Life of Pleasures._ By
    V. Dechamps, of the Congregation of the Holy Redeemer. Paris: 36
    Rue Bonaparte.

The author of this work draws a picture of the life which those who
devote themselves altogether to the pursuit of pleasure are accustomed to
lead, and describes the dangerous character of the amusements sanctioned
by the pleasure-loving and fashionable society of the present day,
which seems to have forgotten the teaching of the Gospel, that any
one who wishes to be the disciple of our Lord must deny himself, and
crucify his perverse appetites and inclinations.

Probably there are persons who, through levity or want of reflection,
allow themselves to be carried too far in the search of earthly
amusements, and yet keep up a certain spirit of religion, and
occasionally perform good works. However, admitting those exceptions,
you will find that in general gentlemen and ladies who enter on what
is called a life of pleasure, and who determine to gratify every whim
for amusement, if their conduct be closely examined, appear to live as
if they had no souls, or as if they were made solely for the purpose of
enjoying earthly delights. Forgetting their Creator, never reflecting on
our hope of future happiness, never raising their thoughts to Heaven,
bent down to Earth, they spend their days in idleness or in useless
occupations, and their nights at theatres or in other distracting,
dangerous, or corrupting amusements. When they wish to pass away a
tedious hour, they may take up a book, but it will be nothing more
serious than a novel, or a romance, or something calculated to corrupt
the heart or pervert the mind. Like gaudy butterflies, they flit from
flower to flower in their hour of sunshine, but do no good, and leave
no trace of utility behind them. What a dreadful account will they have
to render to their Creator for having wasted away the precious time and
the good gifts which he gave them that they might be usefully employed
both for this world and the next!

The class of votaries of pleasure to whom we refer is accurately
described by the inspired writer of the Book of Wisdom: "Come, say they,
and let us enjoy the good things that are present, and let us speedily
use the creatures as in youth: let us fill ourselves with costly wine
and ointments, and let not the flower of the time pass by us: let us
crown ourselves with flowers before they be withered: let no meadow
escape our riot"--(_Wisdom_, ii. 6).

The consequences of such a life of pleasure are very fatal; those who
engage in it think of nothing but self, forget the rights and interests
of others, and become cruel and hard-hearted. When the Romans abandoned
their ancient simplicity, and became disciples of the effeminate Epicurus,
we learn from history that they were accustomed to have gladiatorial
combats at their banquets, so that whilst indulging in the pleasures
of the table, they might glut their eyes with the sight of unfortunate
men murdering one another. It is also related that in the times of the
greatest pagan refinement in Rome, masters sometimes put their slaves
to death, in order that the muraenas and other fishes which they kept
in artificial lakes, might be made more delicate and grateful to their
taste by feeding on human flesh. It was also, we are not to forget,
in a ball-room, in the midst of pleasures, that a dancing-girl, the
daughter of Herodias, petitioned Herod to grant her the head of St. John
the Baptist in a dish.

This tendency of those who abandon themselves to earthly pleasures is
confirmed by the testimony of the same inspired writer whom we have just
quoted. According to him, they say within themselves, "Let none of us
go without his part in luxury; let us everywhere leave tokens of joy;
for this is our portion and this our lot. Let us oppress the poor just
man, and not spare the widow, nor honour the ancient gray hairs of the
aged. But let _our strength be the law of justice, for that which is
feeble is found to be little worth_"--(_Wisdom_, ii. 9). How often are
these words illustrated in our own days! Men who throw away thousands on
horse-racing, gambling, the theatre, and fashion, frequently persecute
the poor, deprive them of their just rights, and envy them not only the
smallest enjoyment, but even the necessaries of life. Many political
economists go still farther, and endeavour to exterminate the poor
altogether, lest their rags and their suffering should offend the
eye of the wealthy. Indeed in the present day and among ourselves,
"_strength is the law of justice_", and the artizan and labourer are
looked on as mere instruments to promote the wealth and pleasures of
others; "for that _which is feeble is found to be little worth_".

Having treated of a life of pleasures in general, the learned Redemptorist
examines some of the amusements now in vogue, and treats at considerable
length of modern dances, proving that many of them ought not to be
tolerated in Christian society. St. Francis de Sales, indeed, and
St. Alphonsus, both remarkable for their charity and meekness, admit
that dances may be allowed when conducted with Christian moderation
and propriety; but where scandal is given, either by immodest dresses,
or gestures, or movements, and where there is danger of sin, they
prohibit such amusements altogether. Gury, in his valuable compendium
of moral theology, having quoted the authority of those saints, adds:
"It is clear that dances rendered immodest by the dresses or the nudity
of the persons engaged in them, or by the character of their movements
or gestures, are grievously unlawful. To this class of dances are to
be referred the polka, the waltz, the galop, and other similar modern
introductions". He adds: "In practice, as they are generally very
dangerous, all dances in which persons of different sexes engage are to
be prevented as much as possible. Hence, parish priests and confessors
should endeavour to withdraw their subjects and penitents from them".

Our author confirms the teaching of Gury by the authority of several
French and Belgian bishops. The venerable Archbishop of Lyons, Cardinal
de Bonald, writing on this matter, says: "If you assist at a modern ball,
will you not be tempted to inquire whether it is not a pagan spectacle
to which you have been invited? Looking round in search of modesty,
decency, or even propriety, you will not know where to rest your eyes,
in the midst of shameless nudities and of lewd and slippery dances. Such
assemblies ought not to be called Christian: they are unworthy of
that name.... We are not surprised that the dances referred to have
been carried from the great cities even to the remotest villages,
for it was to be expected that the powers of Hell would endeavour to
propagate a fashion, the origin of many evils, and well calculated to
excite passions that cause many bitter but useless tears".

The Bishop of Gand says: "Many who take part in modern fashionable dances
justify themselves by the necessity in which they are placed; they must
do as others do; they must keep up to the fashion of the day. Let such
persons enter into themselves for a moment before the crucifix: there
they will learn that Christ has not said, I am the custom or the fashion,
but I am the way, the truth, and the life; that He has declared that no
one can serve two masters; and that on the last day He will judge us, not
according to the laws of fashion, but by the precepts of the Gospel--not
by the example of others, but by the promises of our baptism".

The same bishop continues: "I see with grief that a rage for amusement
induces Christian mothers to bring their daughters into assemblies where
immoral dances are carried on. These same females sometimes exteriorly
profess piety, and even approach the sacraments. They pretend that they
do so under the direction of their confessors. I cannot believe their
statement. No confessor could tolerate such abuses: doing so he would
coöperate, by a culpable negligence, in the scandals given by such
penitents, and would entail a great responsibility on his conscience
before God".

These words of the zealous bishop prove that those who have the care
or direction of souls ought to be most active in preventing scandalous
dances, which give occasion to so many sins. Certainly those who indulge
in such amusements are not worthy to be united to the Immaculate Lamb
of God by receiving the sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist, until they
determine to abandon their bad habits.

Many who take part in modern dances, and who spend their nights in the
excitement of the polka and the waltz, say that they are not conscious
of having committed sin, and that they have a right to approach the
sacraments. Our author would not believe their assertions or admit their
claims. They appear to forget that there is such a sin as the waste of
time, such a sin as scandal. Though imagining themselves free from guilt,
they may have been the occasion of the spiritual ruin of others by their
example, or by their improper dresses, and have a grievous responsibility
on their souls. Anyhow, it is not edifying that persons who during the
week continually indulged in vanity or impropriety of dress, and in
dangerous amusements, should be freely allowed to approach the holy
altar on Sundays. Spiritual directors must take care not to render
themselves, by their laxity, responsible for the sins of others.
Though their penitents say they committed no sins themselves, yet that
is not sufficient. It must be seen whether they have not made others
commit sin, or at least put them in danger of doing so.

A translation of the work of Father Dechamps into English would serve
to give accurate ideas on modern fashions, and to correct prevalent
abuses. Indeed, everything ought to be encouraged that tends to check
the growth of an effeminate spirit and the extravagant love of costly
and corrupting fashions, which cannot fail to bring great scourges on
the world.


II.

_Obnoxious Oaths and Catholic Disabilities: A Speech of Sir J. Gray,
    etc._ Fowler, 3 Crow Street, Dublin, 1865.

Sir J. Gray deserves great credit for the force and learning with which
he has brought the question of obnoxious oaths before the public. Every
one is aware that for nearly three centuries the Catholics of Ireland
were reduced to a state of thraldom by the operation of such oaths;
for unless they consented to renounce upon oath some of the most
sacred doctrines of religion, they were excluded from all the rights
of citizens. This was the system adopted to propagate and uphold
Protestantism, which still pretended to leave to every individual the
right of judging for himself. The anti-Catholic oaths have latterly
been set aside; but Catholics are still required to take useless oaths,
apparently introduced for the purposes of annoyance and insult, before
they can occupy any public office. Such useless and offensive swearing
ought to be put an end to.

The oaths still taken by Protestants are most insulting to Catholics,
and must be the occasion of great remorse to every delicate conscience.
The Lord Lieutenant, on arriving in Ireland, is obliged to perform
the disagreeable task of insulting those whom he is come to govern,
by swearing what he cannot know--that some Catholic doctrines are
idolatrous and superstitious, and, moreover, swearing what everybody
knows to be false--that the Pope has not any authority in Ireland,
where every day he exercises a most extensive spiritual jurisdiction.
Other officials of the state and of the establishment take similar
oaths, insulting to the Catholics of the whole world, and certainly
hurtful to the consciences of those who take them. Every Protestant,
when swearing that the Pope has no power in Ireland, must feel that
he swears to what is in opposition to the known truth. It is time that
such a system of perjury should be done away with. Sir J. Gray deserves
well of the country for having placed this question in its true light.

       *       *       *       *       *



FOOTNOTES.


[Footnote 1: See _Record_, vol. i. part i. p. 194.]





*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, April 1865" ***

Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.