The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-04 00:00:00

DOLMAN'S MAGAZINE.

This is an unequal number, with a choice of papers—
some of considerable originality, others of singular de-
ficiency in that respect; and most of them too much
clashed with a spirit of angry nationality. The " Coun-
tess r7lem:Jicc," by the Edier, is a well imagined adapta
tion from the Sivilian I.genils of the eleventh century.—
rich in historic interest and picturesque beauty, of which
the I ditor has skilfully availed himself. This close of
the " first book" brings us to the death of the execrable
Giorgio Majone, the High Admiral; and the arch-poi-
soner of the story. " The Popular Author" is concluded
with all the powers and pathos of the author of "La
Gitaun." " Anecdotes of the Bastille," full of circum-
stantial but. terrible details, contrast fiercely enough with
a very mawkish " Vision" by a Mr. L. Buckingham: to
whom we are tempted to exclaim with the warning spirit
of the great dramatist, "Sleep no more !" The best con-
tribution of all is the " Analysis of Wit from Esop to
Pi n th." The essay entitled "Importance of Papal Bulls
as Historical Records" is written with great earnestness,
and by strie one who has devoted much research to the
it u •t ration of a subject that carries with it historic value,
as well as amusement. Nevertheless we are at once
amused and startled by the gravity with which the or-
thodoxy if tl e writer's Romanism overlooks all moral and
political wickedness in the Sovereign Pontiff in favour of
his spiritu a infallibility. Thus, in recording with great
complacency the crowned heads which in past ages in-
voked, received, or (tn,,re inexplicable still!) tolerated
the suspension of their Sovereign titles at the hands of
the reigning Pope, he allti.les to the most execrable mons-
ter of the middle ages, Rodrigo Borgia, in these terms:
B V a single stroke of his pen, Alexander VI. put an end
to the disputes between the King of Spain and Portugal,
by &titling the boundary of their American conquests."
In the a days the lay reader, we suspect, will be re-
under any feeling but one of kindred reverence
or tee arrogance of the dispensing power which excites
so witch admiration in the author, that " for 240 years
the Supreme Pontiff deprived Polonia of the rank of
kingdom, allowing is rulers to be distinguished by no
to her title thiin that of duke." But with the horrors, the
atrociti4?s, the iniamies, that have disgraced so many
ocatipiers of the papal chair, and are still, as it were,
present to our own eyes. as they will be in those of
posterity, in the vivid pictures drawn by papal secre-
taries acid historians, Burchardus, Paulus Jovius,
Plating, &e. ; we must protest against the " pious
frauds" incorporated into the following wholesale ibis-
r?present Jtion of their ministry.
" And let not the reader suppose that the pontiffs abused the
power entrusted to them, for their own selfish purposes. They
sought not to extend their territory, for they have ever been
content with their own small patrimony; they strove not to
enrich themselves, for, though the treasures of Christendom
were poured into their lap, they were freely distributed for the
good of religion and the relief of the distressed throughout the
world. The propagation of religion, the diffusion of sound
morality, the peace of Kings, and the happiness of the people,
kave formed their rule of action."
.t'-$ a live thrown a few words into italics to mark the
fine ircmy with which they reflect on the real character
of th, Johns, the Sinuses, the Juliuses, the Alexan-
ders, the Leos—of the papal rescripts and decretals
(collected into such a system of morality as that, pro-
bably, to be found in the orthodox work of Sanchez)—of
the Papal " indulgencies," and the doctrines taught by
Iccelius and others in superintending the sale of them 1

THE BRITISH iIIeIGAZIIVE.
The " original papers " of this number are " Modern
" Antiquities " (being a further series of
extracts from Archbishop Marsh's Diary), " The Church
in Newfounoland," " The Supremacy of Conscience in
the pursuit of Religious Faith," " On the restoration of
the JesVs to the Land of Canaan," (a very " so so " spe-
culation)—are of unequal interest and very various merit.
The ..miller contributions are generally of much inferior
pretensions. The reader may be amused with a more
than Pitseyite Puseyism.
" Most extraordinary passages of this description are found
in Dr. Pusey's books. For example, in his adaptation of
Surin to the use of the English church, where he talks of
truths which God inspires him to propound (p. 234), and says,
' As for me, i only follow his direction, and am hardly master
of my pen,' (p. `24s)—and in another place he says, We feel
ourselves, in fact, more enlightened in this one instant, than we
should be after ten years of study in the schools. This is done
by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and by the infusion of a
light whi. h is quite simple, with no variety of objects, but
which contains within itself the essence and abridgment of a
thousand truths,' (p. 189); arid to illustrate the superiority of
this inward light to that of reason or study, he says—
" This has been proved in very many instances, and parti-
cularly with respect to St. Theresa. Fifteen learned men
were assembled at Avila to judge by what spirit she was led.
When the examination was finished, they concluded that the
astonishing things that God worked in her were the operations
of the devil. But a holy monk, of the order of St. Francis,
passing by, perceived and declared that it was the spirit of God
that governed her ; and St. Francis of Borgia, more illustrious
for the gift of contemplation which God had given him than for
his learning, eonfirmed this declarw ion.
" • It is written in the life of St. Oar aof Monte-Falco, that
she discovered a concealed heretic, who was universally re-
gardi.d and revered as a saint. God has worked many other
wonders in his servants. Hi sent St. Bernard to destroy many
errors, and to undeceive many heretics. Yet the saint in his
youth had given but little time to study, and with all his talent,
what he had learned could not have sufficed to write the many
admirable works which he has left us.
" Even women, as St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Theresa,
and some others, have discoursed so well on the mysteries of
the faith, that their works cannot be read without admiration.
St. Ignatius, the founder of the Company of Jesus, had re-
ceived such light on the ineffable mystery of the Trinity, that
he undertook to write a book on it without having studied. St.
Francis of Assissi, when consulted on many difficult passages of
Scripture, instantly replied so clearly, that learned men were
surprised at him. You have only to read the Ckroniclesof his
order to see acme remarkable instances of this; and all this
proceeds, not from the strength and penetration of the human
mind, but. from Divine illumination. Therefore it is more fitly
called wisdom than learning.' "--p. 190, 191.
" Tue forc,:t of Icily can no further go !"