Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

in the volumes before us. We consider the teaching of Essays and Reviews as often most objectionable in substance as well as in form. We believe that there are some opinions advanced in each of the volumes reviewed by us, which are considered at least to be debateable. We are convinced that there are some things new and true and good in the Essays and Reviews, and that they ought not to be condemned en masse by every ignorant empiric, who cannot understand either them or their reasons, and therefore condemns them indiscriminately. We must not lose sight of the many true and excellent things contained in the volumes reviewed. It is our conviction that the cause of truth demands the strictest justice, and is only advanced by honesty, candour, learning, and the spirit of Christ. This is why we have spoken so plainly of the enormous importance of rightly conducting our controversy. A flaw in our method leads to the same results as one in our system.

Monumenta Vaticana historiam Ecclesiasticam sæculi xvi. illustrantia. Ex tabulariis Sanctæ sedis Apostolicæ Secretis, excerpsit, digessit, recensuit, prolegomenisque et indicibus instruxit HUGO LAMMER. Unacum fragmentis Neapolitanis ac Florentinis. Friburgi Brisgoviæ. 1861. 8vo.

Dr. LÄMMER considers that these extracts will throw light upon the origin and progress of Protestantism, and upon the course pursued by the papal see in opposing the new heretics. He is of opinion that the measures taken by Rome were in accordance with truth and charity, and that these documents may help to refute the lies and calumnies which have been current for three centuries. The contents of the archives are threefold:-1. Pontificial instructions, or such as emanate from the Popes or their councillors. 2. Memorials, tracts, and reports. 3. Accounts of Venetian ambassadors to their senate, forwarded to Rome. This volume includes a long series of documents, two hundred and forty-two in number, not including the Neapolitan and Florentine extracts. The first is addressed by Leo X. to Erasmus, January 15, 1521; and the last is from Paul Vergerius to the legates of the council, March 15, 1546. All the series lies between these dates. The writers of these letters, for such they are for the most part, have recorded many curious items, matters of fact, and opinion, which will be sought for elsewhere in vain. Popes, cardinals, and other high dignitaries here speak freely, so far as is consistent with that reserve which becomes their exalted stations. We are permitted to look behind the curtain, and hear the personal opinions of the actors in that great sixteenth century drama. Some of the articles relate to our own country, but not so many as we had expected to find. Still there is an interesting series from Cardinal Campegius in reference to his English legation in 1528 and 1529. Among these we find much that it is well to know, but not much worth calling additions to our history. There is alongside of these English letters one from Cardinal Wolsey, or rather,

part of one to Cardinal Rudolfo, respecting the captivity of Clement VII., and the necessity of restoring him. It is dated London, July 12, 1527. It shews that even then the sovereign pontiff did not have roses without thorns. However, hear what the Cardinal says:—

"Quid in communem omnium parentem et universi orbis cardines sceleratius moliri, quid in ipsum Christum ejusque sanctissimas reliquias immanius excogitari poterat, quod non illi qui Christianum nomen falso profitentur, a nullis abstinentes sceleribus ineffabili nunc sævitia et impietate superaverint? ... Dum itaque accepta injuria recens adhuc animis residet, omnia experienda, lapidem omnem movendum esse judico ad sanguinis usque effusionem, ut Romanæ Ecclesiæ Apostolicæque Sedis collapsum dignitatem in pristinum gradum revocemus, ut languentibus membris indubitatum Christi Vicarium sanctissimumque caput a tam miseranda captivitate restituamus."

The "ad sanguinis usque effusionem" principle here advocated for the restoration of the Pope was in those days very popular. It is frequently illustrated in the volume before us. One of the pieces is headed, 66 Instructiones datæ a Paulo, PP. iii., anno 1539, Cardinali Polo misso ad imperatorem et regem Christianissimum pro reductione regis et regni Angliæ ad Catholicam religionem diu ab illis cultam." The Protestants viewed this as a "reductio ad absurdum;" the Catholics as the subjection of rebels against the Church. Neither of them probably at that time saw any impropriety in the use of force where argument failed. Had the Pope gained his end, and Cardinal Pole accomplished his mission successfully, England would have been the scene of a fiery crusade. All Catholic Europe, from Vienna to Lisbon, and from Sicily to Paris, would have sent forth its hosts" pro reductione regis et regni Angliæ ad Catholicam religionem." We are glad to know that the scheme was a failure; it is none the less needful for us to include it among those measures which Dr. Lämmer so complacently tells us were "conformable to truth and charity." To our minds the doctrine and the love, the "veritas" and the "charitas," wear a singular aspect in the instructions given to the English cardinal by the Pope; they remind us more of the sword of Peter than of the Gospel of Paul. Much the same features are borne by divers others of these interesting papers, but this one is so worthy to be known that we give a somewhat literal version of the whole of it. The instructions then, are to this effect:

"First, to bless his majesty in the name of our most holy Lord, and then to expound the reasons of the journey of your very reverend lordship to his majesty, and to the most Christian king, those (namely) which he has from his holiness in the mandates respecting the impiety and fury of the King of England. At length to persuade his majesty to resolve with all earnestness to aim at the reduction of that realm of England to the true religion; nor further to suffer that king to rage with impunity against God and against the saints, so long worshipped by himself and all his kingdom; in which matter he shall not have as a leader the authority of the apostolic see, and of our most holy Lord, who that he may shew the way which in this matter other princes may follow, has published a bull. He will have the most Christian king who, in his prudence and piety, has willingly offered not to be wanting. He will have the King of Scotland and the newly-created Scottish Cardinal,' a man to be made much

* i. e., the emperor.

bi. e., Beaton.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

account of (virum magnifaciendum), and of much authority in those parts. Therefore, let commerce (commercia) be prohibited, and if anything else shall seem to pertain to this business, let it not be omitted, as in your prudence, your most reverend lordship will think and say better.

"And whereas the expedition which is preparing against the Turks, very much impedes this reduction of England, and the holding of a council for matters of faith, and for extirpating the Lutheran heresy, your most reverend lordship shall try with all your might to persuade his majesty, that it is for better (lest the present occasion for restoring our religion to its pristine form should be lost that by the entire league, the most Christian king included, a truce should be agreed to with the Turks for some time to come, than for the sake of that expedition against the said Turks, long and doubtful, and expensive as it cannot but be, to set aside the opportunity of promoting the English and Lutheran business; and at the same time to shew his majesty that which will be most certain, that although the war with the Turks had turned out altogether prosperously and as desired, that the league and his victorious majesty might not be able after the victory to take vengeance upon heretics, and those who were ill-affected towards religion (male de religione meritos); they would in the meantime endeavour to conspire and invade Italy, (and) with the money of the king of England, with which he so much (maxime) abounds, and the German soldiery whereby the Lutherans are strong, would devastate and seize the provinces most deprived of protection on account of the war with the Turks. besides these things, you shall not withhold whatever shall seem to your most reverend lordship to advance the business."

And

There is no mistaking the meaning of these instructions. Pope Paul III. thought he could enlist Catholic Europe in a crusade against England, and tried to carry out his idea. This precious document might have been framed by Antonelli himself. Whoever framed it, it shews that no hope of "reducing" England was entertained except by the sword. It was hoped that the continental powers would find faithful allies in the Scottish king and the persecuting Beaton. These are not doctrines for our time. None who understand the spirit of the Gospel can approve of them. None who do approve of them can proclaim them openly with impunity.

Our readers will judge from the specimens we have given, that this is a very interesting book. Much of it is in Italian, some of it, in Latin, and a little of it in German. Those who are engaged in studying the records of the time will do well to examine it, and will find in it something worth noticing respecting most of the leading European countries and characters of that day.

Die Kirchen Geschichte des Johannes von Ephesus. Aus dem Syrischen übersetzt. Mit einer Abhandlung über die Tritheiten. ("The Church History of John of Ephesus. Translated from the Syriac. With a dissertation on the Tritheites.") By Dr. J. M. SCHÖNFELDER. 8vo. Munich Lentner. 1862.

THE literature of this work is soon enumerated. In 1853, Dr. Cureton published the Syriac text; in 1856, Dr. Land published a dissertation. upon it in German; and in 1860, the Rev. R. P. Smith published an English translation. We now have to add the German version of Dr. Schönfelder. It is to be regretted perhaps that we have not the whole

work of John, for it is in many respects very valuable. The portion which has been printed is not all that is extant, as considerably more exists among the MSS. in the British Museum. Who will undertake to copy and edit them? The greatest difficulty is the commercial one. Such undertakings do not pay; and recourse must be had either to private or public beneficence. Another difficulty lies in the way of a translator, and that is the inadequacy of existing lexicons, none of which take in all the words of works like this. Quatremère began a complete lexicon, but died without completing it; and his collections, if we mistake not, are in the hands of the Rev. R. P. Smith, who purposes publishing them with such additions as he can make. Bernstein devoted years to the same work, and actually published a first number of his lexicon; but death has removed him too. To this day therefore, all we have to recur to for general purposes, are the work of Ferrarius (1622); and that of Castell in Walton's Polyglott (1669), or as edited separately by Michaelis (1788). A lexicon is the first great want of the Syriac student. But it will probably be a generation before all the words in the MSS. actually in Europe, are all registered and their meanings determined. Meantime all who study these MSS. would do well to record what they find, and where they find them; and if they could be deposited in some common depôt so much the better. Whatever can be done should be done, and no time should be lost.

Dr. Schönfelder prefixes an introduction to his work, which will be consulted with advantage. To his translation he appends various brief notes, and the text is interspersed with Syriac words, the translation of which is uncertain, or which are on other accounts thought worthy of special notice. The translation is followed by a dissertation (pp. 267 -311) upon a sect whom their enemies called Tritheites, because they were accused of believing in three gods. The third part of John's history here translated embraces a period of about fifty years, or from A.D. 536 to 586. As the work of a monophysite it breathes a strong party spirit, but it contains many new facts in history, and much to confirm or correct what we already know. Of Mr. Payne Smith's book, the translator says he has made but little use, so that we may regard him as expressing an independent opinion as to the sense of particular passages. The version is more close than that of Mr. Smith, and so far as we have examined it appears to be tolerably accurate.

Meletemata Ignatiana. Critica de Epistolarum Ignatianarum versione Syriaca commentatio, quam scripsit AD. MERX. Halle. 1861. FOR the present, we can do no more than give an extract from the preface of this work, containing a short notice of the Ignatian controversy, and a sketch of the method pursued by Dr. Merx. He says:"Two Greek recensions of the Ignatian epistles are extant, a larger and a shorter, but the text of each is in no few cases dubious. Meier of Giessen alone defends the longer recension; but no one has accepted his theory, so that the shorter recension is held by all to be the more ancient. In all there are twelve

epistles inscribed with the name of Ignatius, five of which, to Maria Cassobolita, the Tarsenses, the Philippians, the Antiochians, and Hero, are reckoned spurious by all, because not enumerated by Eusebius. The other seven, which Eusebius names, to the Magnesians, Trallians, Smyrnians, Philadelphians, Ephesians, Romans, and Polycarp, although often challenged, have always found defenders. The three last, found in Syriac among the MSS. in the British Museum, and in a short form, are accounted genuine to the exclusion of all the rest, by Cureton, Bunsen, and Lipsius, against whom, as is wont to happen with men who take a middle ground, opposition has been raised by both parties: for Baur of Tübingen has attacked Bunsen because they retain these three epistles; and Uhlhorn, Denziger, Hefele, etc., differ from them and oppose them because they reject the rest. This being the case, that we may give every one his due, we shall so proceed, that we shall first compare the scope and form of the epistles which we have not in Syriac, with those of which a Syriac version is extant. Then we shall have to examine the nature of the Syriac version, and define its relation to the Greek text, in doing which the Syriac fragments are not to be neglected. We shall next look into the Syriac and ask whether the connexion has been well preserved with so many omissions. When we treat of the Syrian, we shall not only use the Greek recensions, but the Armenian version, which contains thirteen epistles, and which Petermann contends has been made from the Syriac. As we are ignorant of the language we yield to the authority of a greater man, and only cite the opinion of another well versed in Armenian (P. Joseph Kalergi), who says that the style of this version was a riddle to the Armenians themselves, until it was proved by Petermann that the version had a Shemitic origin. Of the larger Greek recension we do not think it needful to dispute, because to a man all count it spurious: but since the text of the lesser recension is corrupt in many places, we must sometimes ask whether the larger does not supply a better reading, which seems often probable, because the Syrian, Armenian, and larger Greek follow the same readings against the shorter Greek recension."

Dr. Merx believes that seven epistles are genuine, but that Dr. Cureton's three are not entire, but excerpts from the ancient version. Besides this ancient Syriac version, he thinks there was another in the same language, and possibly a third. The genuine epistles in their purest form are not free from corruption. The subject is ingeniously treated, and the book ought to be studied by those who are interested in the Ignatian controversy.

1. Peden the Prophet: a Tale of the Covenanters.

Founded on fact.

By the Rev. A. M. BROWN, D.D. London: John Snow. 2. The Two Thousand Confessors of 1662. BY THOMAS Coleman. London: John Snow.

3. The English Confessors after the Reformation to the days of the Commonwealth. By THOMAS COLEMAN. London: John Snow.

1. ALEXANDER PEDEN was a covenanter in the times of Charles II. He was regarded by his followers and admirers as a prophet, and strange stories are told of him. Dr. Brown has woven the almost incredible tale of his hero's life into the form of a romantic and thrilling narrative. To the spirit of the old covenanters he yields all homage, He regards them as faithful witnesses for purity of doctrine and discipline, against the errors and cruelties of the high church party. His book is one which will arouse the enthusiasm of such readers as admire the covenanters, and there are still many such. It is wellNEW SERIES.-VOL. I., NO. I.

« ZurückWeiter »