The New York herald., 1869-11-22

BcniDinSeS-Xhc Gcner1l CUuucus OIL the
Chnrch-What Has Been Declared, Defined
ind Accomplished.
LONDON, Nov. s, 1869.
The Ecumenical Council, which will assemble this
day month at Rome, is to be called 1.-The First COun
Gil Of the Vatican" and will be the nineteenth gene
raj council or the Catholic Church according to the
opinion OF the leading, or might say OF ALL the an-
thorties OF that Church. both living and dead. As
proposed In former letter on this subject 1t may
not be uninteresng to give short account OF these
eighteen councils that have preceded the
about to ana to note down briefly what each
has done towards afIlrmIng, defining or condemning
doctrines and that has been the result OF each such
assembly upon the Church over which its decisions
have ruled. And first Will give yon nominal list
OF these General Councils, dividing them, or rather
classifying them. afterwards in such Q manner as
may make their workings all the more easy to
derstaud Let me only remind you once more that In
writing OF historical facts concerning the Catholic
Church l nave consulted almost entirely Catholic
historians and writer's, just as would II engaged
upon history OF your great republic 90 to Amerl-
can, and not TO British French, writers Tor the
data upon which to write.
According. then to the universally received opin-
Ton among Catholic writers the subject the egh-
teen general councils OF the Church that have been
held up to this time
Ftrst-The first Council OF Nice hed In the year
325.
.Second-The first Council OF Constantinope, held
Tlird-rhe Council of Ephesus, held In AL.
F0urut-Ihe Council OF Chalcedon held In 451.
FJlh-The second Councn OF Constantinopie, held
IN 553.
.St1th-The third Council OF Constantinople, held
III $50.
lssU6nth-The second Council Of Nice, held in 1877.
| EtgltLl-rhe fourth Council OF Conssantinope,
| held in S69
| NiaGt-Tne first Council OF Lateran held In 1125.
| Tenth the second Council OF Lateran, held IN
| 113o
Eleventh The tnrd Council OF Lateran, held In
1l1a.
| TDeyra-The fourth Council OF Lateran, held in
1915.
Y7lirteenth--The 1rst Council OF Lyons, held In
/ 1915.
| 1874.
| SlIteentlt-The CounCn of Florence, held In 1889.
/ Sere3ueeaut-Ihe 1itn Council or Laterau, held In
Etgnteentn-The Council OF Trent, held in 1915.
And nineteenth, the first Councn OF the vatican,
| to be opened December 5, 1869.
| These eighteen Ecumenical Councils may be
| cassed under the following four heads
FirstThe lirst OF THESE inciudes the eight coun.
cils which head my list, all OF which were held IN
| Second-The second comprises the four councils
| held in the Basilica Churcn OF ST. John Lateran
| at Rome, ana termed respectively the First Second
Third and Fourth Councils OF Lateran, which ex-
tended the years from llz4 to 1915, both nclu
| Tnfrd-The third group, so 10 SPEAK, OF General
Councils includes the First and second Councils OF
Lyons, thar OF vienne and that OF Florence, and the
| Fifth Council or Lateran-hve councils extendi ng
from l235 TO 1912.
| FO1uth--rhe fourth classification includes onl y
| that or Trent, held III l545.
of the first group may be said taat the work OF
| those eight chiefly that OF defining theoogi-
| cal dogmas AS | said before, the eight Councils
were all held In the East, and those mostly inter
| ested respecting 'tnem were Greeks; Tor they took
place before the separation between the Eastern and
the Western Churches, Tue Greeks we're always
more or less speculative in their IDEAS and during
the rst ages OF the Church they repelled against the
doctrines OF the Trinity, OF the Incarnation and OF
the Divinity Of onr saviour The famous Arian q
Greek by birth, bu. priest OF Alexandra by occu
patton, was the founder OF wnat Is called In the
Catholic Church the Arian heresy. He proclaimed
| boldly That Jesus Christ was not equal to God the
| with sinless nature. This heresy spread all
| over the East Win rapidity that nothing
could stop, and was accepted BY pariarchs, bishops
priests and lay men throughout the various Churches
In Africa ana Asia. IL was 10 combat THIS doctrine
that the first Ecumenlca Council was called to
Pethef 81 nce III the year S2 and there $50 bishops
| decided and proclaimed that God the son IL eq ual
| and consnustantal with God tho Father. There, aso
IL was that the "Nicene Creedn winch IL an enlarge
| ment, OF development or that which is called tno
Apostles Creed,i was drawn up, and IL to th8 dag
| used as the Roman Catholic Missa, as well M tie
BOOK OF Common frayer or tue Protestant Episcopal
| Church.
About nifty or sixty years after the Council OF
Nice another heresy sprung into existence thC
| author OF which was Macedonius, patriarch
| OF Constantnople. the chief feature o
| this doctrine was to deny the divinity or the
| Holy Ghost. the Third Person Of the Holy Trinity