The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-08
JANUARY IL. 1900.

IVA ~, ls'V'
DEAR lord CARDINAL u regret that illness
has, till now. hindered my replying to your
Eminence's last letter.
".exclusively"a az my. Ordinary" II ia also In
that character. only that I write TO you to-day,
putting aside Tor the moment the Question 81
me, The TACT Is I am exceedingly anxious TO
he a sGaa tDl" / css 10 T wis ss,S Saa to ,P,s s,Ss al
remain attached to Catholieity and It's rites, at
which. hapIen what may. ! shall not cease TO
words Of dH my friend fHHSip br. G Rss'"S Tct tSs 'h IN sas
privilege NJ a rational nature" To your Emf
nence then, as my Ordinary, confidently ap.
u point Of conscience which troubles me. =.
When ] was admitted as q Catholic ] made, Of
course, a profession OF the creed. OF Pope Plus
Nv. But have no recollection Of ever having
made. or been asked to make, the following
profession. which forms part Of the document
am now asked to sign; .
OF the Old and New Testament, with all their
parts az set forth In the fourth section Of the
Council Of Trent. and contained in the ancient
Latin ed ition, Of the yulgate. a. sacred aud
canonical, and ! firmly believe and confess that
the said Scriptures are sacred sna canonicalI
by mere human. industry, thew axe afterwarl
approved blythe Church's authority: not merely
because they contain revelation with no mix
ture Of error. but because, having been written
by the inspiration OF the Holy Ghost, they have
God for their author, and have been delivered
as such 70 the Church herself"
Now, | beg OF your Eminence. az my ecclesi-
astical superior. to tell me whether | am. or
not, right as to what would be the conseuuen.
ces OF my signing the abOvep
IL would be easy, OF course. by a little dex.
terity. to distort and evade what appears To- be-
its real, AMI obvious meaning As God IL the
that sense, heir author, Author 81 The De.
cameron OF Boccaccio. a. vol rs " the Bible.
But 70 make a profession with such a meaning
would be. IN my eyes, grossly profane and al
Your Eminencp. OF course. means and wishes
ne to sign er amino the document sent to me.
tran sp,arentiy- honest, candid. and .traie6tfoor.
ward.
Now in my judgment an acceptance and pro-
nent sent me would be equivalent To an as
~sertion that there are no errors. or altogether
false statements. or fabulous narratives, in tho
be free 70 hold and teach. without blame. that
the world was not created in any six pcrioi IL Of
time: that the story oi the serpent and the. tree
IL altogether false, that the history Of the
tower OF Babe u Q. mere fiction !deyoid Of any
particle Of truth that the story OF Noah's Ark
\, also quite erroneous; as again that
Joshua nor, Hezekiah Tnterierei with tho
regularity Of solar time; that Jonah did not
live within ths bel o, any sind OF marine an,
pillar OF salt; and that Balaam's ass never
sn9 Ike. ! Snly put thes Sc forward Td a. few ex,
dUlIIts VI StdteUlPU'N .IleUluISl winch IL seems
10 me any one who holds that the books Of the
Old and New Testaments, with all their parts.
were written by the inspiration Of the Holy
Ghost and have God for their author ought
not and could not logically or nationally make.
II. however. your Eminence can authorita.
lively tell me that Divine inspiration or author
ship does not i~clerical errors. faults OF trans
latiOns. &c. apart guarantee the truth and n
errancy OF the state mentS so inspired, II VIII
in one sens be a grea, relief to my mind and
greatly facilitate the signing OF .he. document.
your Eminenoa's decision on the subject be ing
once publicly known. and also the conditions
uLder which ! sign II.
Therefore most e earnestly adiure and entreat
your ErD inence to afford me all the spiritual
help and en- liRhtenment you can for the lues.
ton ! now ask IL my one great trouble and dir
flculty. ~Icannot and will not be false 20 science
any more than to religion.
y only your Eminence can tell me / have
judged wrongly. and Tint | shall be held free
and deemed hhmeless for denying the truth Of
statements wi e-cott The Council Of Vatican has
declared God tn he the Author. II will afford my
consc 'ence great and much-nee1ed relief.
trust | may receive an answer on Tuesday
next at the latest. feel II Ia possible, how
ever. that, az your Eminence has so far de-
clined 70 apologize. you may not accord me the
authoritative answer 10 the quest on | 40 earn
case | shall according to custom take SILENCE
to mean consent, and deem you think me right
and agree with me in Judging that no one who
accepts the DEGREES Of Trent and the Vatican
land Leo XIII about Scripture is free to pro-
claim the entire false hood OF any Of its stnte-
ments or professed histories.
have the honor 10 remain, dear Lord Cardl-
nal. your Eminence's most obedient and de.
voted servant. ST. GEORGE MIvART.