received rule of faith, based on Scripture and tradition; and though not yet expressly defined as of faith, that it is expressly taught by Sovereign Pontiffs and by General Councils.

Alexander VIII. had condemned the following proposition: "The assertion of the authority of the Roman Pontiff above a General Council, and of his infallibility in defining questions of faith, is vain, and has been often refuted." S. Alphonsus concludes the dissertation which he has written against this proposition, by saying that the doctrine of the Pope's infallibility is the belief and practical rule of the whole Church: totius Ecclesiæ sententiam, regulam et sensum.

The Bishop of Orleans says, that since all Catholics are agreed that the Church is infallible, and this belief has been sufficient for eighteen centuries, it is inopportune and productive of great evils to raise the question as to the exact seat of infallibility; that "at the very statement of the problem, the devil is on the alert, the faithful are troubled, the East is arrested in its approach, Protestants are driven back, governments become uneasy, the saddest pages of history are again brought to view, bishops are grieved, the peace of souls is compromised, and the road of salvation made more difficult" (§ xvi.).

S. Alphonsus thought very differently. "Febronius," he writes, "pretends that the supreme authority which we ascribe to the Pope keeps heretics from joining the Church. He is mistaken. It is not the doctrine regarding the Pope, but hatred of restraint, sensual delights, the love of riches, and pride, which keep them separated from the Church. They make no more account of the authority of Councils, in which Febronius places the supreme power, than they do of that of the Popes."

So far was the Saint from thinking it inopportune to raise the question of the exact seat of infallibility, that he has written no less than three treatises to prove the infallibility of the Pope and his superiority to General Councils, and has been praised for doing so by the Holy See. He goes out of the way to treat of these questions even in his moral theology. The ecclesiastical censor at Naples thought it inopportune to publish such matters: but the Saint answered: "You may change, if you like, certain reflections .. but if it is a question regarding the supreme authority of the Pope, then no. I am ready to give my life in its defence. Take away this supreme power, and I do not fear to say that the authority of the Church is annihilated."

The Bishop of Orleans at great length endeavours to show the almost inextricable difficulties which will arise, both as regards the past and the future, if the rule of faith is placed in the infallibility of the Pope. S. Alphonsus, on the other hand, sees no issue out of the historical difficulties of the past, and no practical rule for the future, for those who reject this infallibility. He does not see how any Council can be certainly known to have been oecumenical, or to have fulfillled the conditions which even Gallicans require in order that the definitions of an Ecumenical Council may be infallible, except from the infallible judgment and approbation of the Pope; so that, to use his own words, "even the adversaries of the Pope's infallibility cannot find complete

assurance in matters of faith without coming in a last analysis, by one road or another, to acknowledge in the Pope a supreme and infallible authority" ("Du Pape," &c., p. 71).

Again, the Bishop of Orleans says that if the infallibility of the Pope is admitted, the faithful will never be able to understand that the bishops are in any true sense judges of the faith; but "the fact is," answers S. Alphonsus, "that the supreme power, which before the Council resided entirely and exclusively in the Pope, in the Council extends also to the bishops, and is shared by them; so that they can say in all truth in the definitions pronounced unanimously by the Pope and Council, Visum est Spiritui Sancto et nobis " (ib., p. 75).

Neither does it follow, as the Bishop of Orleans insists, that General Councils will be esteemed useless if the infallibility of the Pope is admitted. As this is the most specious part of his lordship's letter, it may be well to set down the objection as he stated it, and the answer supplied by S. Alphonsus.

"Councils," says Mgr. Dupanloup, "have, up to the present time, been one of the great forms of the Church's life, one of its most powerful means of action. They began in the very origin of the Church in Apostolic times; they have been known to every century of Christianity except the last two."

Then, after stating his desire and hope that they may in future become periodical, he continues:

"But, if the Council should define the infallibility of the Pope, might not the faithful think and say: What use in future will there be in Ecumenical Councils? Since the Pope alone, apart from the bishops, can decide infallibly on questions of faith, why call together the bishops? Why undergo the delays, the researches, the discussions of Councils?"

"Thus, then, it is wished that the Council shall make a decree which in future would either put an end to Councils, or at least diminish their number and importance! It is wished that the bishops should decree, so to say, their own abdication" (§ xii).

First, then, S. Alphonsus also reviews past ages, and concludes that Councils neither were nor could be the regular means of defining controversies:

"If God had not appointed," he says, "that the definitions of the Popes should be infallible, but had willed that questions of faith should be decided in General Councils, he would not have made sufficient provision for the good of the Church; for, considering the numerous difficulties which stand in the way of convoking general Councils, the Church would have been deprived, during the greater number of centuries, of an infallible judge, capable of applying a prompt remedy to the schisms and heresies which may ever be arising.

"As a matter of fact, the constant practice of the Church proves that heresies have been condemned by the Sovereign Pontiffs alone; and when the definition of the Pope has been pronounced, Councils have only been assembled when it could be done conveniently, and when it was considered useful to convoke them in order to extinguish more completely the fire of some heresy that was spreading" (p. 165).

As to the objection, that the infallibility of the Pope makes Councils useless, S. Alphonsus says:

"No; though the Pope is infallible, yet Councils are not useless. On the contrary, they are useful in many respects. 1st. In order that the people may receive more readily the decrees which have been unanimously drawn up. 2ndly. That the Bishops may have a more perfect knowledge of the doctrines discussed, and of the reasons on which the decrees are based, and that thus they may be better able to instruct the faithful with regard to them. 3rdly. They are useful to close the mouths of those who resist the definitions of the Pope. 4thly. They are useful for the better examination of certain points not yet defined nor sufficiently discussed. Though it must be well understood that to have authority the definitions of Councils must be confirmed by the Pope, seeing that they derive all their force from this confirmation" (p. 168).

With regard to this latter point the Saint adds, in another place :

"Sometimes the Sovereign Pontiffs convoke Councils in order that they may be more enlightened by the Holy Ghost by means of the discussions carried on in the Council on some doubt in matter of faith ; for, as Cardinal du Perron says, the infallibility of the Pope does not consist in his always receiving at once from the Holy Ghost the necessary light to decide questions of faith, but in his deciding without error in matters in which he feels himself to be sufficiently enlightened by God, while he sends other questions, on which he does not feel himself sufficiently enlightened, to be decided by the Council, in order that afterwards he may pronounce his own judgment" (p. 346).

These passages will, we think, show the importance as well as the opportuneness of the republication. It is only necessary to add that the translation seems both accurately and elegantly made, that it is enriched with judicious and learned notes, and that the original Latin of three out of the five treatises which compose the volume, is given in an Appendix.

De Matrimonio B. M. Virginis. Compendio scripsit Rev. JACOBUs Nary. Londini apud Burns, Oates, et Soc.

WE

E have only just received a copy of this work, though we fancy it has been out more than a year.

It is refreshing, in these days of newspapers and controversies of the hour, to meet a man who, retired apart from the busy crowd, entertains himself with the masters of Christian thought. Mr. Nary (whose name is not unknown in practical questions also) has been taking a stroll in the fields of theological speculation, and has here put forth his thoughts on the very interesting question which arrested his attention as he went.

The pamphlet consists of three chapters. In the first the reality of our Blessed Lady's marriage with S. Joseph is accurately discussed and firmly established. The second chapter is devoted to the interesting and highly important question, of the compatibility of matrimony with perfect meutis virginitas. The third chapter contains a variety of matters belonging to the full elucidation of the question.

The whole essay is evidently the work of a careful reader and a clear thinker; and we hope it will have such a reception, as may encourage its author to cull some more flowers from the same garden.

Theologia de Sanctissima Virgine Mariâ. Auctore BOUCARUT, Vicario Generali Reverendissimi Domini Plantier, Episcopi Nemausensis. Editio nova.

THE

Nemausi.

HE definition of the Immaculate Conception gave an impetus to the study of our Blessed Lady's prerogatives, which is constantly producing new fruits. Writers on this subject have also given a more marked dogmatical direction to their labours in consequence of the same auspicious event. The great works of Passaglia and Schrader, Ballerini's "Sylloge Monumentorum," the works of Mgr. Malou, and others, will at once occur to our readers' recollection in this connection. Notwithstanding the abundance of Marian literature however, the want of a handy text-book of the treatise "De Beatâ Virgine" was still felt by students and the parochial clergy. Monsieur l'Abbé Boucarut's small volume is intended to meet this want. The author writes for those theological readers, who are prevented from making themelves acquainted with the larger works on the Blessed Virgin, but who require a book which shall at once feed their own piety and be adapted for the instruction of others. This mutual inter-dependence of devotion and science pervades the whole work; in accordance with that golden saying of Suarez (De Myst. Vitæ Christi, in Præfat.) which the author makes his own: "Est enim sine veritate pietas imbecilla, et sine pietate veritas sterilis et jejuna." Nor can we describe the work better, than by calling it a compendium of the magnificent treatise just named.

The plan is strictly historical. The scenes of our Blessed Lady's life are set forth in chronological order; and in the light of Holy Scripture and tradition, especially that of the Greek Church. The author has contented himself with proposing to his readers "Mary in the Gospels" and in the Church, and leaves them, in great measure, to draw conclusions for themselves. He has carefully distinguished between what is certain and what is probable, and has rigidly confined himself to authentic tradition. He unites with this just sobriety thorough harmony of tone with the true theological conception of Mary, as regards her intimate alliance with her Son's whole work; and may therefore be recommended as a safe and useful guide to preachers and catechists.

A laudatory approbation from the author's diocesan, Mgr. Plantier, is prefixed to the work.

We hope M. Boucarut will not be offended if we remark that his Latin style reads a little oddly. Owing to the absence of connecting particles, a certain monotony of construction is produced, and a staccato effect which reminds one of Arnold's Latin exercises.

Directorium Asceticum. By JOHN BAPTIST SCARAMELLI, S.J. Translated and edited at S. Beuno's College, North Wales. Dublin: Kelly.

THE

HE translation of this invaluable work comes to hand at the very last moment, and we can only acknowledge its receipt. We observe that it contains a preface from the Archbishop of Westminster. We hope to notice it carefully in April.

London:

The Pope and the Council. By JANUS. Authorized Translation from the
German. Chapter II.-The New Dogma about Mary.
Rivingtons.

То

O treat the subject of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin at all worthily, would have extended our criticism of Janus to an unreasonable length. We have therefore passed over this point altogether in our article; nor, indeed, is an elaborate argument called for by anything the authors have written. The second chapter-"The New Dogma about Mary"-consists of two pages. Even these have been eked out by the wholly unexpected and unannounced introduction of an attack on the principle of probabilism; the connection of which with the doctrine of the Assumption is not self-evident.

We hope in our next number to treat the doctrine of our Blessed Lady's Assumption. For the present it will suffice to say, that the truth and definibility of this pious belief rests: 1st, on a positive and direct tradition, which reaches back until lost in the origin of the Liturgy; 2nd, on a positive and indirect tradition, which can be traced as far as S. Epiphanius (ob. 403); 3rd, on negative evidence of the highest antiquity, and of the most striking cogency; 4th, on rigorous theological deduction from other revealed truths; 5th, on the sensus fidelium.

When therefore it is said by Janus (p. 34) that the "earliest authorities for this tradition are "two apocryphal works of the fourth or fifth century," the statement is only saved from the charge of direct falsehood by an arbitrary and unwarrantable sense of the word "authority" as used in theological and historical investigation, and cannot be saved from the charge of captiousness and extreme shallowness.