I THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD 21 Montljln Inurnal, UNDER EPISCOPAL SANCTION. THIRD SERIES. VOLUME I.—1 8 80. “ Ut Christiani ita et Romani sitis.” “ As you are children of Christ, so be you children of Rome.” Eœ Didis 8. Patricii, Book of Armagh, fol. 9. BROWNE DUBLIN : & NOLAN, NASSAU-STREET. 1881. ADD RIGHTS RESERVED. 120 Notices of Books, shrines, sanctuaries. &c., dedicated to her honor both in England and Ireland. This second.... part is reprinted front the Mouth ami C thol-e The whole work is the finit of much patient and denaul research. “ In 1852,·’ the author writes in his preface. ■· I formed the idea of writing a book of popular devotion to our Ladye ; . . . in the origin d design it had been intended that. England should rciwï special but not exclusive attention, and for many ycais I coniinipil to collect materials to illustrate the· pojnilar devotion of all I 'hri.-iMH m. tiens, ft was only in 1870, at the suggestion of t he learned I»8. part i. ) will be specially interesting. “But the Irish h.-m a rely ancient Litany of our Blessed Ladye. which is preserved in (lie Li-abhar-AIor, now deposited in the Boyal Irish Academy. I’miEw O’Ctirry believes this Litany to be as old at least as the middle of the eighth eentnry. No earlier Litany of our Ladye seems to be known; therefore to the Island of Saints is due the glory of having composed the ///>7 Litany of their Immaculate Queen.” Again, the account given ; in the second part (pp. ΒΟό-12) of the statues and images of the Blessed ; Virgin at Dame's Gate, and at St. Marye’s Abbey, Dublin, at Dmgluda, Kiicorbain, Limerick, Aliickrnss (formerly Irrelagh). Navan. and Triai, .! will serve to show that in ancient as well as in modern t’mes tender and J childlike devotion to the Mother of God was a special I’-,· dure of the ' piety of the Irish people. The most celebrated of the I risk im ■ a.- was the image of our Ladye of Trim. The author tolls ns that it slrr· ■' tiirfate of the image of our Ladye of VValsingham. This serves to remind ns of the exhaustive account—including the memorable visit of Erasmus in May, 1511—of this most celebrated of the English sanctuaries, which we lind given with many curious particulars in the second part (pp. ΕΤ-ΤΟ). But where all i.s so entertaining and so instructive, it is scarcely fair to direct special attention to particular events or to particular passages. AVe strongly recommend the Ihetu* Mariana Britannica as a book full , both of instruction and of devotion. The Miracle of the IGfh September, 1877, at Lourde*. Trans­ lated from the French of M. Henri Lasserre. By A Laue (Dublin : M. IL Gill & Son. 1880.) Were it not for M. Lasserre s name, this title, page would not pre­ pare us to find here so lively and entertaining a little work. But Henri Lasserre is now widely known, even outside France, as one of the most vigorous and interesting of French writers. Of late years lie seems to have devoted his literary talents to the service of ()ur Lady of Lourdes, laying on her altar many offerings, from his niagnifiemt illustrated folio on the history of the devotion', to miniature tomes like the present which chronicles one of the recent miracles. The circum­ stances preceding and attending it are very striking, and are charmingly narrated, with a grace of style of which very little is lost in the process of translation. The account oi the late. Curé of Lourdes, M. Fey ramale, is extremely edifying. THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD. APRIL, 1880. LATITUDINARIAN CHRISTIANITY. L “Icommit my soul to the mercy of God, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; and I exhort my dear children humbly to try to guide themselves by the teaching of the New Testament, in its broad spirit, and to put no faith in any man’s construction of its letter here or there.”—Extract from the Will of Charles Dickens, dated Mail M2th, 1869, AF the many dangers which have assailed the Church of V Christ during the long· centuries of her existence, not one, perhaps, has been more insidious in its action, or more fruitful of disastrous consequences, than the pet heresy of our own times, which, for want of a more expressive name, I must term Latitudinarian Christianity, For, the great heresies of the past, mostly, stood out in their true colours, so that they might be easily identified, and could not mis­ lead any, save such as deliberately embraced them ; while, on the other hand, tliis darling error of the nineteenth century1 assumes a false character, robes itself as an angel of light, and, under the alluring mask of universal chanty and benevolence, deceives even the very best natures, gradually, but most effectively leading them to absolute indifference towards all positive forms of religious belief. The main doctrine of this system is fairly set forth in the extract from the Will of Charles Dickens, which heads this paper, and its spirit breathes in every page written by 1 By this wc do not mean to assert that the system of winch we write has sprang up, for the first time, within the present century ; we merely wish to draw attention to the fact that the nineteenth century has adopted it in a very special manner, and propagated it to an extent pre­ viously unknown. VOL. I. 1 122 Latitudinarian Christianity- | jUtihahnnnan Christianity. 123 that most charming and popular author, whoso works au1. _ is nowise wupriring, since it is but the natural growth of otherwise, so justly entitled to the highest coiiniwndatiwi. t their doctrine of Private Judgment ; but that any Catholics Its adherents indignantly repudiate tin- suspi'-mn ot mican be found so ignorant, or so heedless of the teachings gious indiffcrentisin in the widest sense of that, tviui. aid of théir faith, as to show it even the poor courtesy of tole­ insist on the necessity of professing some poutiA v hoi oi ration, seems almost to surpass belief. Yet, unfortunately, religious belief. Nor will they even place all such the subtle poison has become so widely diffused, that we on a- footing of absolute equality. They will not cow.vdt· * not unfrequently find the formulai of this creed quoted with that it is a matter of indifference whether one follow / approval even by many Catholics. “ I believe,’ says one, or Confucius, or Christ. They will not. as was the tusln-m ^iluitall reliaionsare, equally good in the sight of Cod, so long with the pro-Turkish organs of the English Press soim: ttw a* a wan lices well.”—“ I respect all religions alike, is the, years ago, speak affectionately of the impure creed oi senseless prattle of another, who fancies he but gives Mahomet as “ a sublime form of Enitariaiiism. ynhl led to expression to a fine, liberal sentiment, which cannnot lad the respect of all men. No: the professors ol Latiludiiianaii to win respect for himself. These formulai are to be met Christianity wall have none of this. They maintain that to with every day in the pages of our current literature, in the ensure salvation it C necessary to be a Christian : but tins | utterances of our public men, and in tire broad-sheets of the they interpret to mean nothing more than assent to « penny Press which brings them under the notice of the general belief in Christ, united to the practice of those woial million. They penetrate even into the sanctuary of our precepts of the New Testament which affect the relations Catholic homes, and find harmonious expression in the of man towards society—foremost among these being drawing-room, where sympathy and applause greet the reckoned the practice of universal benevolence. Io ail maudlin sentiment of a well-known melody of Moore, in who hold fast by these two points, they would allow the ; which we are invited to— most perfect freedom in accepting or rejecting particular leave points of belief tenets or articles of faith, provided always that such tenets To simpleton sages and reasoning fools. be not pushed so far as to exclude from the terms of salva­ tion Christians of whatsoever denomination, who profess a : We may be told, indeed, that, in the case of Catholics general belief in the Redemption. “For,” say they, “since at least, this is but mere cant—nothing more than a slight Charity is the vivifying principle of Christianity, it is impos­ formal homage paid to the fashionable opinions of the sible to regard as true Christians those who refuse to hold ' hour. Even though it were nothing more than this, it communion with such as differ from them merely in -some i would still be a sufficiently alarming evil -, but, unfortuparticular points of belief.’’ I nately, it is one of the common results of cant that, by dint It does not require very deep penetration to see that of. repetition, it at length acquires a real and powerful this system, if carried to its full logical development, must influence over the mind. F creed at an early age upon the eventually lead to utter infidelity ; and, indeed, so thin is ; attention of many Catholics who affect the reputation of the partition which divides them, that we may, without the I being considered liberal and large-minded, the doctrine of least unfairness, put into the mouth of a Latitudinarian \ Latitudinarian Christianity finds its practical development Christian the doctrine laid down in a recent number of a in their Eves. The laws'of the Church regarding fast and leading English periodica], by a writer of the Positivist­ abstinence are gradually relaxing their hold on very many school—“The progress of theology has not consisted in the belonging to the middle and upper classes. Far from intellectual discovery of objective theological truth ; but, so abhorring mixed marriages, not a few have come to regard to speak, in the emotional discovery of subjective moral them with feelings little short of approval, and somehow truth, in the new awakening, age by age, of fresh individual , consider them respectable. A strictly Catholic education is response to the laws of social fellowship?” supposed by many to make youths bigoted, narrow-minded, That such a system should commend itself to Protestants and illiberal ; and, in consequence, mixed, or purely secular schools are freely patronized. In a word, in a hundred 1 See The Nineteenth Century, December, 1879, p. 1018. other points we miss the healthy tone of Catholic feeling, Latitudinarian Christianity. 124 Ixititudinarian Christianity. and the sturdy expression of Catholic views which w honourably distinguished our fathers. These? arc evils which it is impossible to ignore, and the decided tendency of our times is to develop rather than to cheek their growth. My object in the present paper is to unmask this idol ot the modern world, which Protestants devoutly worship,and to which many weak-minded or indifferent Catholics οποί, at the least, the homage of external respect. To effect this. propose to showthat the system of Latitudinarian < iiristiaiuti is utterly opposed (a) to the teaching of Scripture, and (6) of the early Christian Fathers, as well as (c) to dictates of common sense. In a future number I shall expose the fallacy of the pleas which its supporters put forward in its defence, and shall glance at the conséquences which must foliowin the moral order from the diffusion of the pernicious principles of Latitudinarian Christianity. 1. That our Divine Redeemer established some church—some living, organised body to which He committed the entire deposit of His doctrine, that the same might continue to be taught to men throughout all ages and nations, is a truth which will be disputed by no one who claims the title of Christian. The entire question, then, narrows itself to this : Did Christ leave it optional with men to adopt some and reject some other of His doctrines, as the Latitudiuarians pretend? The pages of the New Testament, which our adversaries profess to revere, shall determine this question in a manner which can leave no room for doubt that it is imperative on men, under yoain of exclusion from the terms oj salvation, to accept not some merely, but all the doctrines which Christ has confided to His Church. In the last chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, we read that the Redeemer, after His Resurrection, appeared to His Apostles, and gave them this injunction : “ Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. Ho that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be. condemned.” Belief in the Gospel of Christ, then, is necessary for salvation : nor is the extent or manner of this belief to be regulated by the private judgment of each individual, but it must be in strict con­ formity with the teaching of the Apostles. So that the Gospel is to be believed as expounded by the divinely com­ missioned teachers of the Christian flock, and not otherwise. Conformably with this doctrine, we find the Apostles inveighing in the strongest terms against the early heretics, who by their novel doctrines disturbed the peace of the yet , ; , i 125 infant Church ; though, be it remarked, if the hypothesis Body.” If it he free, then, to a Protestant to reject Iransubstantiation, why may not a Unitarian, equally exercising his right of private .judgment, reject the doctrine ot the Divinity of our Lord I It is evident, therefore, that the principle of Latitudinarianism, if pushed to its logical de­ j velopment, must destroy all religion, a result which was Ç foreseen many ages ago by Vincent of Lerms. j Finally, the principles of the Latitudinarians are directly at variance even with the very instincts of humanity. “ I respect all religionssays the Latitudinarian. Do we find this principle of toleration extended to contradictory teach­ ings anywhere else in the world outside the domain of religioni Does Mr. Gladstone, for example, respect the political views of Lord Beaconsfield, equally with his own ? Do the advocates of F rec Trade respect the doctrines of the Protectionists 1 Who ever found a distinguished mathema­ tician, or philosopher respecting an opinion of the falsehood of which he was convinced 1 The human mind instinctively recoils from such respect ; for it refuses to dethrone itself, by proclaiming the equality of falsehood with, truth. And why, we ask, will men be less true to the instincts of their nature when religion.—the most vital ot all questions is concerned 1 By all means let. us respect men who concientiously disagree with us in matters ot belief ; but, while i doing this, it would be a forfeiture of our claim to rank as '“Abdicata qualibet parte Catholici dogmatis, alia quoque, atque item alia, ac deinceps alia atque alia, jam quasi ex mme et licito abdica­ buntur. Porro autem singulatim partibus repudiatis, quid aliud ad extremum sequetur, nisi ut totum pariter repudietur?” (Vincent Urinensis commonitor. adv. haereses, cap. xxï). The attempts recently made in the Protestant Synod in Dublin, to remove from the liturgy of the soi disant “ Church of Ireland” the Athanasian Creed, which contains the very groundwork of Christianity, afford an interesting and significant commentary on the foregoing passage. 130 Now and Then. Now and Then. rational beings, were we, through wine feeling of romand sentimentalism, to declare that we respected'a mW, ak which we know to be false. As opposed to the Latitudmarian svsfem, the doctnncd the Catholic Church is simplicity itsijf. and is in perf.d accordance with the teaching of Holy Writ and tradinWr well as with the dictates of reason. It is briefly this—tiffi the entire doctrine of Christ as proposed by /N C/nirc/iMiï bo accepted by every Christian under pain of exclusion Iran the terms of salvation: and, consequently, that for those win voluntarily die outside the. true chureli salralion is iinpoLlh, In the next number of The Irish Ecclesiaîsîîc.iL Record, I propose to reply to the arguments with which the Latitudinarians attempt to refute this doctrine. I shall, also, briefly review the consequences which follow in the moral order from the principles of Im titudinarian Christianity. W. II/ NOW AND THEN. A REVERIE IM A. RAILWAY CARRIAGE. A ND Jobson,” I say—at the end of some remarks y tk. which do not concern the reader—“ 1 am going to the North to-morrow.” “ Going by an early train ? ” questions Jobson, with a shade of anxiety in his voice, and an accent upon the “ early ; ” for he is one of those confidential servants at an old-fashioned hotel who take a fatherly interest in all the regular frequenters, and so he· was naturally anxious about me. “ Oh no,” I reply, “ ten o’clock will be quite early enough in /September.” “ Von arc quite right, sir,” says Jobson, with a gentle, relieving sigh, “ the day is not properly aired earlier. But now-a-days people travel so early and so late! Times are not what they used to be.” 0 Jobson, you have much to answer for; you are putting a thought into my mind which will spread itself over several pages; and are supplying me with a text for a lay sermon. But like Sir Isaac Newton’s dog, Diamond, 131 of which we used to read in good books, Jobson “ kn?w not the mischief he had done,” so he goes on, “ I hope ) ou wall not travel all night.” I console him with the assurance that I intend to sleep at Edinburgh, where I suppose I shall be able to get R be< “Perhaps you may," says he, with a doubtful shake ot the head, “a sort of a bed, which may not be damp. “Why, Jobson, there are large railway hotels every­ where now.” “ Yes, of course,” adds the incorrigible old grumbler, “ railway hotels, indeed, with hundreds of beds, they say, but nothing like what you are. accustomed. to; and who cares or knows anything about you in such places, what you Avant, and how you like it ? ” “Good night, Jobson,” I exclaim, seizing my candle­ stick, and beginning to fear lest 1 may “ pall in resolution altogether, stop in London, and so remain under the comfortable but somewhat tyrannical sway of the faithful old waiter. The next morning, before eleven, I find myself at the Great Northern station, my luggage taken possession of by a railway porter, who has a quiet resolution about him, that places me at once under his control ; I am sent to secure my ticket, and there is my temporary ruler standing with the door of the carriage open, and my wrappers manoeuvred about the scats, to keep out as many fellowtravellers as possible, and earn a fitting gratuity for the old soldier. A few morning papers are purchased to protect me in my coming state, of siege, to be thrown up against attacks of enemies who may occupy adjacent positions; and with only two fellow-travellers I start for the North. I bury myself in one of my papers, and glance over it at my companions. The man opposite has lus paper also, and he is examining it through a pair of spectacles which makes his face look supernaturally sharp and eager. The Mark Lane Express, I think it is, and he is evidently working at it -with no light or frivolous mind. He catches my eye for a moment, and down I go behind the Times. Up again I come, and he is scowling at some market or quotation or something of that kind, which 1 invariably pass over in newspapers, and at thé use of which 1 had hitherto wondered, but now I see for whom they are intended ; evidently my opponent is a commercial gentle­ man, not what is commonly called a bagman, but a 210 Catitudinarian Christianity. imagine. We do not think the famous modern has the advantage here. A price must he paid for the great· working of a catastrophe of the kind we speak of. ami the supposition of Magic is perhaps the cheapest price. At all events the catastrophe of Dermat’s death is one of the highest order; and on the whole we do not hesitate to say that the Irish romance is in our opinion a far finer work than the tragedy of Ernani, is, in a word, a work to be numbered among the grandest compositions of all time. J. J, O'C. LATITUDINARIAN CHRISTIAN IT Y. IL AVING proved in the last number of the RECORD that the system of Latitudinarian Christianity is opposed to the teaching of Scripture and tradition, as well as to the dictates of common sense, I stated the Catholic belief on the question at issue in the following terms:—“lhat the entire doctrine of Christ as proposed bp 71 is church mustbe accepted by every Christian under pain of exclusion from the terms of salvation : and, consequently, that for those who voluntarily die outside the true church salvation is impossible." In the present paper I propose to reply to the most popular objections ordinarily urged against this teaching, and shall conclude by directing attention to the consequences which must inevitably follow in the moral order from the principles of the Latitudinarian system. (a) “ The Catholic doctrine of exclusive salvation'' (say the Latitudinarians), “ is extremely intolerant ; yet Catholics repudiate as a foul calumny the charge of intolerance, which is sometimes, and, as it would appear, not unreasonably, alleged against them." This is, perhaps, the most popular of the many objec­ tions put forward against the Catholic teaching, and it is one well calculated to influence generous, but weak-minded and ill-instructed persons, because, unfortunately, the word “ intolerance ” is linked with some abuses committed in other days by the Civil Power in the name of religion. However, if we study the meaning of the term itself, apart from some lamentable associations connected with it, we H i ‘ ' Latitudinarian Christianity. shall find that the prejudices which have arisen on this score against the Catholic doctrine are utterly groundless. i To understand this question fully, w-oSi quis aut privatus ant publicus eorum decretis non steterit sacrificiis interdicunt. Hæc pæna apud eos est, gravissima. Quibus ita est interdictumünumero impiorum et sceleratorum habentur ; iis omnes decedunt; aditum eorum sermonemque defugiunt, ne quid ex contagione incommodi accipiant : neque iis petentibus jus redditur, neque honos ullus com­ municatur.” De Bello Gallico, lib. vi., c. 12. 212 Tjatitudinarian Christianity. Latitudinarian Christianity. ^13 task to show that the Catholic church, has never inflicted a proposition is once proved to be an article of faith, its persecution simply for* errors in faith, although Catholic I contradictory proposition must necessarily be heretical. In this sense, then, and in this sense only, the Catholic church governments have sometimes resorted to such temporal ! is intolerant ; but in the same sense every rational man, as punishments, not indeed, as a general rule, so much because has been already shown,1 must be intolerant in support of of the error itself, as because of its consequences to civil 1 known truths in any department of knowledge whatsoever. society. However, it would be quite foreign to my purpose | Tools and dolts are the sole patrons of toleration where to enter into this subject here, as in the present controversy there is a question, of antagonism between truth and false­ with the Latitudinarians there is absolutely no question con­ hood. cerning either ecclesiastical or civil intolerance. And here I would remark that·, though Protestants arc There remains, then, theological intolerance, which ever ready to fling the charge of intolerance against alone concerns us in the present paper, and by which is Catholics because of their belief in the doctrine of. exclusive understood that incompatibility which may be found to i salvation, this doctrine was preached by all the early (soexist between two theological propositions, such as, for called) Pvcformers, and is explicitly set forth in all the public instance, to assert· that the pains of Hell are at once tempo­ ! professions of Protestant faith. Î might quote in support. rary and eternal : that Christ is, and is not, God. \ of this assertion the Helvetic Confession (art. xvii.) of 153b ; Now in the Catholic church there is a very wide margin ! the Saxon Confession (art. xii.) of 1531; the Scottish Congranted to freedom of opinion with regard to theological î fesston (art. xvii.) of 1560; and several others to the same questions. There are some of those questions on which I effect. I shall, however, content myself with appealing to theologians agree as to the conclusion, but differ as to the < the two most respectable non-Cafholic churches of England philosophical method of explaining them. Tothisclassbelong ; and the United States, as being bodies in which we arc those controversies which constitute almost the entire body 1 more deeply interested. The L8th article of the Protestant of scholastic theology, and regarding which each one is at v Episcopalian Church of Great Britain declares that “they liberty to attach himself to that school which most, com­ I also are to be accursed that presume to say, that every man mends itself to his judgment. Again, there are other ' shall.be saved by the law or sect he professeth, so that he questions which are held not to be clearly revealed—concern­ I be diligent to frame his life according to that law.” Μονο­ ing which the sense of the Scriptures is obscure, tradition ί over, the Athanasian creed is still retained in the Book of doubtful, and the Church has not as yet made any authori­ I Common Prayer, although that creed, in most express ami tative and definite pronouncement. On all such questions, ; uncompromising terms, consigns to eternal damnation likewise, Catholics may differ, and the Church allows them Unitarians, Methodists, and several other sects in the the widest latitude of opinion—so much so, indeed, that I United Kingdom, which are classed under the general many a time she has strictly forbidden parties so contending > appellation of Protestants. Turning to America, we find to apply to one another the epithet heretic. We grant that I that in the Profession of Faith published by the Presbyhistory does record instances where conflicting schools of l terian Church of the United States in 1821, and printed in theology have exhibited bitter feelings of intolerance i Philadelphia by Anthony Finley, the second article, under towards each other in questions of this class ; but it must I the heading “ of the church,” (y. 125), is formulated in the be borne in mind that they have done so in open violation V following terms : “ The visible church, which is also Catholic of the prohibitions of the Church, and mostly under the V or universal under the Gospel (not. confined to one nation influence of secular statesmen and princes. Lastly, there ' as before under the law), consists of all those throughout are theological truths which are dogmas of faith~yv\(\c\\ the world, that profess the true religion, together with thenthe· Church holds and teaches to be divinely revealed, and children·, and is the kingdom of their Lord Jesus Christ, with regard to these the Church is, and of necessity MUST BE, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary intolerant. F or she cannot allow that it is optional to admit possibility of salvation” It is evident, then, that when a proposition which contradicts a truth already proclaimed to be divinely revealed. > This follows of necessity from i Irish Ecclesiastical Record, April 1880,p. 128. what logicians call the principle of contradiction : since if 214 La titudinarian Chris t ian it y. Protestants accuse the Catholic, church of intolerance in regard to the doctrine of exclusive salvation, thev not only I utter meaningless words, invented to delude the ignorant i and simple-minded, but arc themselves guilty of the most ' glaring inconsistency, and reject the express teachings of their own sects. (Z>) “ The, Catholic doctrine of e.r.clnsive salvation is utterly subversive of all kindly feelinys amonq men; for Catholics hold that all persons will be eternally damned who do not think with themselves.’’ Here we have another popular calumny charged by the Latitudinarians against the Catholic church. W e cannot expose it more, effectually than by destroying the founda­ tion on which it rests, and setting forth in t he (dearest terms what the church really does, and does not. believe on this subject of exclusive salvation. It is X'OT the belief of Catholics, then, that all men will be eternally damned who do not think with themselves in religious matters: but Catholics do believe that those are in a state of damnation (а) who wilfully remain outside the communion of that body which they know to be the true Church of Christ: or (б) who doubting whether they really are members of the true church, to which they believe all men are bound to belong, yet wilfully continue in that state of doubt, without taking due measures to inform themselves which of the various Christian communities possesses the characteristic notes or marks of the Church of Jesus Christ. Now, we may suppose the case of a man who, because of his early education, life-long associations and deepseated prejudices, either does not know that there rests upon him a strict obligation of belonging to some one Christian communion to the exclusion of all others ; or who knowing this obligation, yet firmly believes his own particular sect to be the true church, so that a suspicion of being in error- never crosses his mind—in the case of such a one, the Catholic church does not hold that he is outside the terms of salvation, at least by reason of the faith which he professes. The reason is obvious. Membership with the Catholic church is necessary to salvation solely by virtue of a divine precept to that effect. Now, since an unknown law cannot be obligatory, invincible ignorance will excuse from the observance of this precept. For there can be no sin without liberty, and there can be no liberty without knowledge, since liberty presupposes deliberation. There­ fore, Protestants who feel perfectly secure in their- own faith, Thatitudinarinn Christianity. 215 so that a doubt or suspicion never enters their minds that they may possibly be ontsidc the pate of the me t 1 are bV no excluded from the terms of salvation because of this mere material heresy. This is the opin ion o S. Augustine^ and Suarez expressly states that it is endorser I by all theologians, and by the Fathers of the hai ly . nut y It is further confirmed by the fact that the Clune i un coiidemned the 68th proposition of Bains, which assci s ia “purely negatiye infidelity is a sin in those to whom t ms has not been preached.5’3 For though in this propositum the question more immediately concerns infidels, ye m same doctrine must apply to heretics who labour uni invincible ignorance, since they are precisely m the same condition as far as assent to error is concerned. Here, perhaps, a Latitudinarian may remark that mj distinction in favour of those who labour under invmci > < ignorance is practically useless; inasmuch as 1 canno' determine who those are that may be in this state, anc, consequently, must regard with feelings of unkmdhness an who do not belong to the Catholic communion. To this I reply, in the first place, that _I cannot determine who may or may not be in a state of invincible ignorance with regard to' the true church, nor docs the maintenance of social good feeling and charity with my fellow-man at all require that I should do so. 1 do but enunciate a doctrine taught by the Church, and supported, by Scripture, reason, and tradition : the·. application of that, doctrine to particular individuals is quite another inattyi, which can be determined by God alone, Who reads the secrets of hearts. This may be illustrated by a parallel 1 “Qui sententiam suam quamvis falsam atque perversam nulla pertinaci animositate defendunt, prmsertim, quam mm audacia, . ■m prasumptionis pepererant, sed a seductis in errorem lapsis parenn · acceperunt, quærunt autem cauta sollicitudine veritatem, ' .rt. parati cum invenerint, nequaquam sunt inter haereticos < <1 ^■Augustinus, Ep. 43,Edit. Maur. (alias 1G2). . ti |J{ ‘ Suarez (De Fide, disp. XIX.,sect. 3) puts this question :--ktnim sit de ratione haircsis ut voluntarie et eum pertinacia comn - < „,unPto ke replies (n. 1), “ In primo puncto hujus artieuh ut. y’dla est difficultas; certum est enim de ratione <<-■ -· ■ 2, et voluntarie tint. Ita docent omnes theologi. !>■ Thomas. y f - ηίΰ! np &c. P-i/1· 32, a, 4, et reliqui scholastici . ■ ■ ■ · ‘ wr/iuai.i(i>n esse Agam, m n. 9, Suarez Slys Primo statuendi n doctores d« ratione hasresis. In hoc fundamento convi.i p„re negativa i» M> i» «»»>» V**1” Β<” ** praedicatus, peccatum est” (prop, Ixvto)· 216 Latitudinarian Christianity. case. Every Christian is bound to believe that a person who dies in a state of mortal sin is condemned to Hell for all (eternity. But who will bo rash enough.to apply this doctrine, and take it upon himself to decide that any particular individual has departed from life in that state—a fact of which the Supreme «Judge only can be. cognisant ? Just, then, as the social relations of a Christian with bis fellow-man are not disturbed by the tact of his believing that a vast number of them will perish because of unre­ pented sin, so neither are the relations of a Catholic with his Protestant neighbour suspended, though he may believe that even the majority of those who arc outside the true church, are not excused by invincible ignorance from the crime of heresy. But 1 may go still further, and state that ( allumes, so far from cherishing unkindly or uncharitable feelings towards their Protestant fellow-countrymen, never cease to think kindly of them,pray that God's light may one day bring them into the true fold, and entertain hopes that, at least m these countries, very many of them arc excused from the guilt of heresy by reason of invincible ignorance. Surely it there is one man in the world who knows the state of Protestant feeling in the United Kingdom, and who may at the same time be taken as a learned and orthodox exponent of the doctrine of the Catholic church on a subject which cost himself many years of anxious thought and interior trial, that man is the illustrious Cardinal Newman. My readers, therefore, will, I feel confident, read with pleasure the following passage fromoneof the great Oratorians works, in which he discusses the question of the extent to which invincible ignorance may bo supposed to prevail in the Anglican communion “I suppose,” writes Cardinal Newman, “as regards this country . . . we may entertain most reasonable hopes that vast multitudes are in a state of invincible ignorance : so that those among them who are living a life really religious and conscientious, may be looked upon with interest and even pleasure, though a mournful pleasure, in the midst of the pain which a Catholic feels at their ignorant pre judices against what he knows to be true. Amongst the most bitter railers against the Church in this country, may be found those who are influenced by divine grace, and are at present travelling towards heaven, whatever be their ultimate destiny............. Nay, while such persons think as at present, they are bound to act accordingly, and only so far to connect themselves with us as their conscience Latitudinarian Christianity. 217 allows. ‘When persons who have been brought up in heresy,’ says a Catholic theologian,1 ‘ are persuaded from their childhood that we are the enemies of G od's word, are idolaters, pestilent deceivers, and therefore, as pests, to be avoided, they cannot, while their persuasion lasts, hear us with a safe conscience, and they labour under invincible ignorance, inasmuch as they doubt not that they are in a good way.’ “Nor doesit suffice, inorder to throw them out of this irresponsible state, and to make them guilty of their ignorance, that there are means actually in their power of getting rid of it. For instance, say they have no conscien­ tious feeling against frequenting Catholic chapels, con­ versing with Catholics, or reading their books; and say they are thrown into the neighbourhood of the one or the company of the other, and do not avail themselves of their opportunities ; still these persons do not become responsible for their present ignorance till such time as they actually feel it, till a doubt crosses them on the subject, and the thought comes upon them that inquiry is a duty’. And thus Protestants may be living in the midst of Catholic light, and labouring under the densest and most stupid prejudices; and yet we may be able to view them with hope, though with anxiety, with the hope that the question has never occurred to them, strange as it may seem, whether we are not right and they wrong. Nay, I will say something farther still ; they may be so circumstanced that it is quite certain,that in course of time, this ignorance will be removed,^ and doubt will be suggested to them, and the necessity of inquiry consequently imposed, and according to our best judgment, fallible of course as it is, we may be quite certain too, that, when that time comes, they will refuse to enquire, and will quench the doubt ; yet should it so happen that they are cut off by death before that time has arrived, (I am putting an hypothetical case) we may have as much hope of their salvation as if we had had no such foreboding about, them on our minds ; for there is nothing to show that they were not taken away on purpose, in order that their ignorance might be their excuse?'* I For the rest, that, the Catholic Church, whilst rigorously : adhering to the doctrine of exclusive salvation, commands • the members of her communion, not only to live in social i I t 1 Busembaum, vol. 1. p. 54. - Lectures on the Difliculties of Anglicans, p. 309, seq. (Burns and Oates), 4th ed. VOL. I. 218 Latitudinarian Christianity. Lotitudinarian Chris tianity. 219 harmony with those who profess a different faith, but even of punishment, and. proclaim that God is alike indifferent to love and serve them, is conclusively proved from the ; whether men receive His doctrines or obey His commands. words of the very catechisms which she places in the hands I Nay, I will go still further, and say that this misunder­ of her little ones. For when impressing on them the stood and selfish notion of the mercy of God, which the Latitudinarian Christians put forward in opposition to the observance of the Second g'reat Commandment of the Nev | Law—“thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself —she i Catholic doctrine of exclusive salvation, might be retorted by an Atheist as an argument to overthrow belief in the takes care to instruct- them that by the words “thy I very existence of God. For the Atheist may ask the neighbour” they are to understand “mankind of every I Latitudinarian, how can you reconcile the existence of description, even those who injure us, or dijfer from us in | moral and physical evil in this world with your idea of an religion.”1 . | infinitely good and merciful Creator i It would be quite (c) “ But," says the Latitudinarian, “ the Catholic doctrine foreign to the purpose of this paper to enter into such a of exclusive salvation is cruel in the extreme— guile irreeeu- i question; but enough, I trust, has been said to show that diable with our ideas of the mercy and goodness oj hod. i the objection of the Latitudinarians drawn from the To this objection, so soothing to our self-love, I would t goodness and mercy of God, would, if valid against the reply in the first place, that t he Latitudinarians seek to exalt I Catholic teaching of exclusive salvation, prove equally valid God's mercy at the expense of His truth. God possesses 1 in overthrowing all revealed ami natural religion. all perfections equally in an infinite degree, and He is not (d) “At all events, this doctrine of exclusive salvation, even only infinitely merciful, but is also essential truth. Now, it though we may believe it, is one to be kept in the background as has been already shown that the system of the Latitudina­ much as possible ; for it is directly opposed to the spirit of the rians implies the assertion that God is equally indifierent to times, and grates harshly on the ears of our fellow-men who are truth and falsehood. Therefore, the patrons of this system, outside the pale of the Church.” while seemingly jealous of God’s attribute of mercy, would This objection comes from the Catholic patrons of blasphemously deny to him the attribute of essential truth. Latitudinarianism—silly, empty-headed, half-educated men Furthermore, if this plea put forward by the Latitudi­ and women, whose vanity prompts them to seek the narians were valid, it would destroy' in toto the doctrine of applause and esteem of the fashionable world, but whose future punishment, and the word Hell must be expunged weakness and ignorance draw down upon them instead, from the vocabulary of Christians. For we are no less its ridicule and well-merited contempt. These are the oblig-ed to believe every truth which God has revealed, than creatures who, clinging to the skirts of Protestants, will be to pei-form what He has commanded and to avoid what has ashamed to make the sign of the cross when dining in been forbidden by Him ; since, as St. Paul teaches, “ without I public, affect to make light of the laws regarding fast and faith it is impossible to please God” (Hob. xi., 6). 11, I abstinence, think that the Pope is much better off without therefore, it be alleged as cruel on God’s part to punish I his temporal sovereignty, and declare “ United Italy ” to be criminal heresy with eternal damnation, how, we ask, will I a political necessity of the times ; who dearly love the idea it not be equally cruel to consign to future punishment I of a matrimonial alliance with a Protestant family, send those who criminally violate the commandments of God I I their children to Protestant schools to cultivate the valuable Nay, of the two, the latter must appear by far more cruel, I acquaintance of Lord Fitznoodle’s sons, or the Hon. Misses inasmuch as our corrupt nature feels a strong propensity I Flirtaway, speak slightingly of their parish priest, drawing towards acts which are forbidden to the followers of Christ under pain of eternal exclusion from the kingdom of heaven. I unfavourable contrasts between him and the elegant and If, therefore, the Latitudinarians would appear consistent, I accomplished Anglican rector—-the Rev. Horatio Croquet they must either admit that there is nothing repugnant to I Smalltalk—in a word, who so demean themselves as though God’s mercy in the Catholic doctrine of exclusive salvation, I they considered it the greatest misfortune of their lives to I have been born members of the one true church. or they must deny altogether the existence of a future state I. Now, we are very far from thinking that Catholics 1 Butler’s Catechism, Lesson xix. I) should be ever needlessly parading their faith, and offenA 220 Latitudinarian Christianity. sively obtruding it upon their non-Catholic neighbours. Such a course would serve only to alienate them more and more from the Church, and bring her divine doctrines into disesteem and hatred. But there are times and circum­ stances when every Catholic must boldly and unequivocally make manifest the faith that is in him ; when any pandering· to the world’s erroneous notions, any weak and mean endeavour to effect a compromise between them and tin· tenets and practices of the Church, is in itself a species of Apostacy. The words of the Redeemer upon this point are explicit and emphatic : “Whosoever,” says Christ, “shall deny me before men, 1 will also deny him before my Father who is in Heaven” (Matt, x., 33). And St. Paul declares that “with the heart wo believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” ( Bomans x,, 10). Whoever, then, hears Catholic truth assailed, or secs Catholic interests imperilled, is bound both by hisdutyto God and to his neighbour to come forward boldly in defence of both, as far as it lies in his power to do so. For how can that man be said to love God, who patiently listens to blasphemies against His revealed truths, and to insults directed against His spouse—the Church ? And how can he be said to love his neighbour, who, when a favourable opportunity offers, shrinks through timidity or poor human respect from the endeavour to win him back from error and place him within the one true fold, wherein alone salvation can be found ? “ .But the spirit of the times is against this course,' says the rnean-souled, shuffling Catholic. And what of that ! I ask in reply. Did the apostles, the doctors, the fathers of the. church, bear witness to her doctrines “ with ’bated breath and whisp’ring humbleness,” in order to be in harmony with the spirit of their times ? Did the countless martyrs, who shed their blood for Christ rather than sacrifice an iota of His doctrine, accommodate themselves to the spirit of the times in which they lived ? Why, if such a principle had been universally adopted in ages past, Christianity would not have survived the apostles ; for never yet wax there a creed so thoroughly at variance with the spirit of the age in which it sprung into existence. The spirit of the times, indeed ! What ! if the spirit of the times be evil', are we to hold our peace, and allow it to pursue its triumphant course without opposition ? If we look outside the domain of religion, we shall find that never yet was there a great reform won, whose advocates had not at first to do violent Latitudinarian Christianity. 221 battie with the spirit of the times. There is not an earnest worker in the political world whose work is not, in a great measure, a life-long struggle against the spirit of his times. We may illustrate this by a reference to the great electoral contest which is just now drawing to a close in these countries. We need scarcely remind oui* readers that the spirit of the times in Great Britain in 1874 was very decidedly Conservative. Did Mr. Gladstone and his associates rest satisfied with this condition of affairs, lest they might offend the tender susceptibilities of the Tories ? By no means: they employed every agency at their command to correct and reform the spirit of the times. In doing so, they did not shrink from encountering public odium, and on some occasions even public violence ; and, as the result of their energy, earnestness, and perseverance, they see the spirit of 1874 utterly undone in 1880, and a new spirit prepared to guide the destinies of the British Empire. Why, then, should we hear this senseless babblement about accommodating ourselves to the spirit of the times, when the holiest interests of religion and God’s Church are at stake? The spirit of the times is never wholly good ; it is mostly evil The spirit of this nineteenth century above all others is pre-eminently materialistic ; and the Catholic who seeks to fashion his opinions or his life by its teachings, might as well pass over openly to the Latitudinarian camp, for he is no longer a Catholic save in name. II. Let us, next, briefly glance at the consequences which must follow in the moral order from the principles of Latitudinarian Christianity. And, first of all, what is the rule of conduct which the Latitudinarians set up for themselves? As in matters of faith, so in questions affecting the ordering of their lives, they profess to be guided solely by the teachings of the New Testament, interpreted according to each one’s private judgment. We have already seen this principle put forward in an extract from the will of Charles Dickens, with which we headed our first paper on this subject.1 It is stated still more explicitly, if possible, in a letter addressed by the same distinguished writer, at an earlier period, to one of his sons, which may be read in the collection of his letters edited within the present year by his sister-in-law and eldest daughter, and published by Chapman and Hall, London. 1 See Irish Ecclesiastical Record, April 1880, p. 121. 222 Latitudinarian Christianity. “ You know,” writes Dickens, “ that you have never been hampered with religious forms of restraint, and that with mere unmeaning forms Γ have no sympathy. But I most strongly and affectionately impress upon you the priceless value of the New Testament, and the study of that book as the one unfailing guide in life. Deeply respecting it, and bowing down before the character of our Saviour, as separated from the vain constructions and inventions of men. you cannot go very wrong, and will always preserve at heart a true spirit of veneration and humility.” It is simply incomprehensible how any man familiar with the history of the past, could assert that whosoever shapes his conduct by the teaching of the New Testament, as interpreted, by hisprivate judgment, “cannot go very wrong? Why, the most revolting doctrines that have ever shocked Christian sentiment, the most atrocious crimes that have ever disgraced the world, have been justified by men who cited texts from the pages of the New Testament for this purpose. The Father of Latitudinarianism, Luther, sought founder­ mine the foundation of all morality, by teaching that good works are useless, and that for the true believer in Christ there no longer exists a Decalogue1 ; that we shall not here­ after have to render an account of the actions done during- our lifetime2 ; that God Himself is the author of sin8 ; and that the more profligate is a man’s life, the more secure does be make his salvation4. Similar doctrines were taught, by the other early Reformers, whose words the reader may find quoted in Moehler’s “ Symbolism.” Such teaching met with ready acceptance among thousands ; the doctrine of private interpretation was soon reduced to practice; and, 1 “ Summa yrs et sapientia Christiana est nescire legem, ignorare opera et totam justitiam votivam ; sola fides justificat, et non fides quæ dilectionem includit. Sola fides necessaria est ut justi simus, cætera omnia libera, neque præcepta amplius neque prohibita.” Luther præf. ad cap. 2, in Ep. ad Galatas. ’“Si Christus specie irati judicis aut legislatoris apparuerit, qui exigit rationem transactæ vitæ, certo sciamus eum furiosum esse diabolum, non Christum." Coram, ad Galatas, fol. 299 (Ed. Witemburg). â “ Nam et mala opera in impiis Deus operatur.” 4 “ Qui anxie laborant in operibus faciunt sibi magnum negotium, ægre enim revocari ad gratiam possunt ; animus autem et conscientia dum parat opera, nihil aliud facit quam ut se ad diffidendum Deo exerceat, et quo magis laborat eo firmiorem habitum gignit ad diffidendum Deo et fidendum propriis operibus. Hoc numquam facit scortum aliquod. Qui enim in apertis flagitiia vivit, habet animum semper de peccatis saucium. Neque ulla merita aut bona opera habet quibus niti possit. Facilius autem, salvatur quam sanctus aliquis.” Tom. III. oper. latin fol. 353. (Ed. Jenæ.) 1 i I | \ 'i \ '■ Latitudinarian Christianity. 223 some six years after Luther had commenced to preach his new Evangel, the Anabaptists arose in Germany, to over­ throw the altar and the throne. Under the leadership of Mtmcer, Storck, John of Leyden, and others of less note, they plunged into every excess, and spread devastation over the fairest portions of their fatherland, while human blood deluged Westphalia, Saxony, Pomerania, Bavaria, Alsace, Lorraine, and a portion of Switzerland. At a later period we find Cromwell and the Puritans in England over­ turning the throne, placing the head of their sovereign on the block,and “bound together' by this sacrament of blood,” as Macaulay expresses it, executing in every part of the United Kingdom deeds of horror, which they gloried in, and justified by liberal quotations from Sacred Writ. At the present day the Divorce Court, sanctioned in Bible­ loving England, is a most fruitful source of immorality ·, while the greatest plague-spot on the Am eric,an Continent is Mormonism, whose adherents profess to be guided by the teachings oftheNew Testament as interpreted by themselves. We might multiply such instances to almost any extent, but the little that we have written is abundantly sufficient to show that those who set up the New Testament, inter­ preted by each one’s private judgment, as the guide of their moral conduct, may “ go very wrong ” indeed, and plunge into every crime of which human malice is capable. Nor will this appear at all strange, if we reflect that man in his fallen state feels a very strong propensity to evil. Hence, if his own judgment is to be his sole guide in interpreting the law of Jesus Christ, his self-love will lead him to tone down those passages which tend to exercise a restraining influence over his passions, whereas he will interpret in the widest and most liberal manner possible those texts which seem to favour human liberty. A single glance at the standard of morality established by Latitudinarianism in modern society will convince us of the truth of this remark. What, really, is the highest moral standard to which a Christian is bound to aspire in the non-Catholic world at the present day ? It is comprised in this short formula— “Be an Honest Man.” Do not injure your neighbour in his property or character ; pay twenty shillings in the pound; be loyal to the throne and constitution of your country ; dixcharqe your duties towards society, and thereby you are entitled to rank as a saint in the Latitudinarian calendar. Surely, this is reducing the Ten Commandments within very marrow limits. In the first place, it puts no restraint upon 224: ÎMtitudinarian Christianity. Latitudinarian Christianity. a man’s thoughts. With this standard sot up before him, one may indulge as much as he pleases in secret thoughts and desires of lust, anger, revenge, pride, and covetousness, and still be “ an honest man for these thoughts and desires, no matter how odious to God, cannot possibly injure society so long as they remain confined to one's own heart and are not carried into execution. In the next place, this code leaves out of sight man's duties towards Gad: it imposes on him no obligation of private prayer, or even of public vyorship. A man may live a practical Atheist, and yet fulfil all the requirements of the moral code of Latitudinarianism. There are millions of such men in t he world now-a-days, who are returned in the census as belonging to some particular sect, yet who never, from year to year, breathe a single prayer to God either in private or in public, and all the while are held in high (esteem by their Latitudiuarian brethren as “upright, good, honest men,” who are certain at death to be summoned from their counting­ house or the Stock Exchange to occupy no mean place in the kingdom of Heaven. Again, the Latitudinarian system of morality makes no account whatever of the counsels so solemnly inculcated in the Gospel; if it condescends to notice “ the Sermon on the Mount,” it is to consider it as something rather degrading to the manliness of our nature, and unsuited to the spirit of the times. Above all, the cultivation of the virtue of purity is notoriously regarded as an impossibility by those whom the Latitudinarians would style “ good, honest men.” That this estimate of the moral tone prevailing under the Latitudinarian system is not exaggerated, might easily be proved by appealing to sources of indisputable authority for evidence of the condition of moral feeling among non­ Catholic communions. To do so, however, would unduly extend the limits of this paper ; but I cannot refrain from referring the reader who may be curious on this point, to the “ Life and Correspondence of Thomas Arnold, D.D.,” published by the present Dean of Westminster. Here he will find that in the universities and public schools of England—institutions availed of solely by the most en­ lightened classes, and nominally conducted under religious control—vice is prevalent in its most appalling forms ; while the only virtue rigidly enforced is “ nuinliness ” of character —that virtue. “ par excellence ” of the old Pagan Homans. Nor can I omit quoting to the same purpose the following striking passage from the pen of Cardinal Newman. “ There 225 have been Protestants whose idea of enlightened Chrisfanityhasbeen a strenuous antagonism to what they consider the umnanliness and unreasonableness of Catholic morality, an antipathy to the precepts of patience, meekness, forgive­ ness of injuries, and chastity. All this they have considered a woman’s religion, the ornament of monks, of the sick, the feeble, and the old. Lust, revenge, ambition, courage,, pride—these they have fancied make the man, and want of, them the slave. No one could fairly accuse such men of any great change of their convictions, if they were one day found to have taken up the profession of Islam.’’1 . So long, then, as every man is permitted to shape his own moral code from the pages of the New Testament, he must infallibly fall back upon purely natural religion; he can scarce expect to be better than, if even quite so good as, that model old Pagan, Cato the Censor. And it the moral code of Christianity is to be brought down to the level of pure naturalism, what, we ask, has been the use of revelationi To what purpose did Christ come upon earth and found a Church, if tie furnished men with no more cer­ tain helps towardsthe ordering of their lives than human rea­ son could have supplied I Nay, further still, why did He take His departure from earth without having left His followers any definite moral code whatsoever 2 since, practically, the hypo­ thesis of the Latitudinarians amounts to this. F or if it be permitted to men to interpret His words as they please, what the men of one age or country may judge virtuous, the men of another age and another country may pronounce deadly sin. Precepts that may be judged suitable to the temperament of the people of one climate, may be thought too difficult of observance by the dwellers in another zone ; 1 and thus the Christian standard of morality will have no I objectwe reality, but will depend for its existence on the I whims and passions of individuals, and the varying acci­ dental circumstances of life. I Such is the moral code of Latitudinarianism; it has but ' one commandment—“ Be honest, be just and benevolent to I your fellou'-menC Voltaire epitomised this code a century 4 ago m a single well-known hnc :— Qu’on soit juste, il suffit, le reste est arbitraire. It is still more pointedly set forth by a recent writer in the Nineteenth Century, with whose words I shall close this paper·.—“Morality is the art of making life audits liberties I i :L' . i « Grammar of Assent,” p- 241. 226 A Question regarding the Hail Mary. and gladnesses more complete. Here and there there exists a lot which is, and to its end must remain, without pleasure, comfort, or hope. Such terrible cases it is one end of virtue to cause to cease from among us. Let all that perpetuates their supply be called vice, or sin, and cease.”1 From what has been written we may deduce, the three following conclusions :—(a) that· the true doctrines of Chris­ tianity cannot be ascertained with certainty otherwise than from the Church of Christ, which II ('has constituted His representative upon earth, and sole infallible guide of men in matters appertaining to faith and morals ; (A) that those who know themselves to be outside the pale of the true Church, or who entertain doubts on the subject, are bound to seek admission into her fold under pain of exclusion from the terms of salvation ; (<;) that Catholics, who believe that they enjoy the privilege of membership with the only true Church 'of Christ, arc bound to listen to her voice with child­ like docility, and to cherish her practices with the most exact fidelity, if they would avoid the danger of being insensibly but effectually drawn into the mazes of Latitudinarian Christianity, and so, ultimately, into utter infidelity. A QUESTION REGARDING THE HAIL MARY. HE question has frequently been raised, whether in the the Hail Mary we should say “our Lord is with thee,"’ or, “ the Lord is with thee.” Usage, I believe, whether among the laity or among the clergy, is by no means uniform. Unquestionably both forms of expression are to be found in authorized prayer books. And more­ over—strange as the statement may seem to those who may have been accustomed to regard the English translation of the Bible in ordinary use among the Catho­ lics of these countries, as the Douay or Rhemish ver­ sion—our ordinary English translation agrees with the Protestant “ Authorized” version in translating the words of the Archangel’s salutation, “ the Lord is with thee,” while the Douay version has the other form, “ our Lord is with thee.” T 1See The Nineteenth Century. December, 1879, p. 1019. A Que«twn regarding the Hail Mary. 227 Vhthout undertaking to pronounce with confidence as to the incorrectness of either usage, I will set forth some points of interest that may help in the solution of the question. L Cardinal Wiseman has the following interesting re­ ference to it in his essay on Catholic versions of (Scripture.1 Expressing his disapproval of the general character of the alterations made in the Douay version by Dr. Chailoner, ■who is thus to so large an extent the author of the transla­ tion now in use among Catholics, the Cardinal wrote ·.—■ “To call it any longer the Douay or Rhemish version is a abuse of terms. It has been altered and modified till scarcely any verse remains as it was originally published ; and so tar as simplicity and energy of style are concerned, the changes are in general for the worse For, though Dr. Chailoner did well to alter many too decided Latinisms which the old translators hiul retained," heweakened the language considerably by destroying inversion, where it was congenial, at once, to the genius of our language, and to the construction of the original,3 and by the insertion of particles where they were by no means necessary.4 Any chapter of the New Testament will substantiate this remark.5 1 Dublin Retient April, 1837. The Essay is reprinted in the col­ lected Essaya of his Eminence. Vol. i., pp. 73-100. London,1853.| *lt may be interesting to add an example of this. The text, “ Beneficentiae autem et communionis nolite oblivisci -, talibus enim hostiis promeretur Deus” (Heb. xiii., 16) stands as follows in the Rhemish version ;—And beneficence and communication do not forget ·, for with such hosts God is promerited.” Dr. Challoner altered the text thus : “ And do not forget to do goodandto impart; for by such sacrifices God’s favour is obtained.” The English “Authorized” version is: “But to do good and to communicate forget not ·, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” 3 The position of the words “ forget not” in the text just quoted, furnishes a striking illustration of Cardinal Wiseman’s remark. 4 It may be well to set down here the judgment of an eminent living scholar, which, after all, perhaps, is not entirely at variance with the . view taken from another standpoint by Cardinal Wiseman. “1 have ■ used," says F. Coleridge, in his ‘ Lafe of our Life’ (vol. i. preface, p. 8), ‘‘though not without a very few verbal alterations where the meaning . of the original has evidently been missed, the Rheims translation of the New Testament which is familiar to Catholic readers. That translation lias often been decried, but 1 am persuaded that it is as beautiful and as accurate as any that exists. I have used it in its present state as it is found in the Catholic Bibles in common use.” ‘Somewhat further on in his Essay, Cardinal Wiseman remarks that “it had been well if Dr. Chailoner's alterations had given stability to the text, and formed a standard to which subsequent editors had conformed. But far from this being the case, new and often important modifications have been made in every edition which has followed, till at Ungthmany may appear rather new versions than revisions of the old.’’