tions-The spirit which presided over marriage-The marital love of
the middle ages-Heroic examples-The regard and respect evinced for

women

p. 72

CHAPTER IV.

The loves of the middle ages sanctified and rendered a source of moral

improvement: associated with the life of faith and the hopes of heaven

-Examples of devotion in love-The danger and evil incident to it-

How atoned for

p. 172

CHAPTER V.

Institution and action of the clergy in relation to justice-Discipline-

Celibacy-The hierarchy-Supremacy of the Roman See-Origin of its

temporal power-The council of cardinals-Legates-The episcopal state

in general-The parish priests-Life in community-Synods-Appeals

to Rome Support of the clergy in relation to justice-Tithes-Annats,

exemptions-Reverence shown to the sacerdotal office-General causes

of promotion-No national or local prejudices-Intellectual greatness of

the episcopacy in the middle ages-Provisions against simony-Justice

of the men in ecclesiastical order-The popes-The sacred college-The

bishops-The parish priests-Distribution of the church revenues in

relation to justice-Charity and poverty of the clergy personally-Manual

labour practised by them: keep aloof from temporal affairs-Origin of

their employment in the civil government-Their integrity in regard

to it-The beneficial result to society-Their frugality and moderation-

They keep aloof from profane amusements-Their hospitality-Their

direct influence in regard to justice-Their particular and incidental

action-Their ordinary and universal action-The missionaries of the

middle ages-The preachers of the middle ages-Ideas of the moderns

respecting them-The sermons of the middle age in relation to justice-

In relation to eloquence and taste, and effect-Incidental evidence fur-

nished by them to the spirit of those times

CHAPTER VI.

p. 183

The justice of the ages of faith, heroic-Consequent interest inspired

by Catholic histories-Grandeur and virtue of the middle ages-The

local histories-The heroic justice of canonized saints-The high stan-

dard proposed to all men-The mercantile character-The knightly cha-

racter-The moral philosophy of the middle ages opposed to the utili-

tarian-The Catholic doctrine respecting motives

p. 350

CHAPTER VIL

The justice of the ages of faith, supernatural; yet in harmony with

nature-Testimony of the Gentiles-Insufficiency of nature-The mo-

rality of faith higher, and in some points different-A supernatural

standard proposed to all men-Opposition to the sensual ideal-Thoughts

of the ancients respecting it

p. 383

CHAPTER VIII.

The justice consequent on confession and penance Origin and his-

tory of the institution-Thoughts of the middle ages respecting it.-

Zeal for effecting conversions to justice-The confessional in relation to

the feelings of men-Its influence and effects-Objections of the moderns

respecting examination of conscience, penance, and absolution-In-

dulgences- Their origin -Doctrine of the church- The practical

effects

p. 401

CHAPTER IX.

Contrast between the Catholic morality and that of the ancient and

modern world—A glance at the justice of the Gentiles, and at that of the

moderns-Change of manners consequent on the change of faith-The

proposition that morality is now better understood, considered-Essen-

tial character of the modern systems-Testimony of their supporters-

Contrast of modern to Catholic manners, in relation to the love of truth,

to the delicate sense of justice, to integrity in public life, to the absence

of ambition, to national justice, to wisdom of government, to the obe-

dience of subjects, to purity of morals in the people, to the sense of a

spiritual combat, to the ideal and realization of a just man, to prac-

tical consistency with the christian doctrine, and to heroism in jus-

tice

p. 454

CHAPTER X.

Other features of the Catholic morality-Its precise and certain law-

Its practical and poetic character-Its provisions against all extrava-

gance Its strictness respecting common duties-Payment of creditors-

Justice of municipal laws-Provisions against usury-It included all

virtues in one-Its influence even upon art-Effects seen in the edifices

of the middle age-General ideas of justice derived from the example

of Christ-From the models which he proposed, and from the observa-

tion of the visible world

p. 502

CHAPTER XI.

The subject resumed-Doctrines were the foundation of duties, and

the divine authority their principle of force and efficacy-Motives fur-

nished by the knowledge of a future judgment-The Catholic morality

was spiritual and living-The charge against it of superstition refuted-

Its efficacy in the determination of the will-Free agency of man and

power of the will, maintained, and the practical consequences in the

middle ages-The fatalism of the moderns, and the custom of life re-

sulting from it-Genuine and exalted merit of the Catholic morality

acknowledged by a late philosopher

p. 525

CHAPTER XII.

Objection to the Catholic morality on the supposed ground of its in-

compatibility with the Christian doctrine of justification, refuted by the

testimony of the holy fathers-Of the scholastic and mystic authors-Of

the church herself in her liturgy-Of the laity, philosophers, and poets,

and of the tombs and other material monuments of the middle ages-

Conclusion

p. 545

ERRATA.

Page 192.-For conciatus read cruciatus.

454.-For confining read conferring.

OR,

AGES OF FAITH.

THE SIXTH BOOK.

CHAPTER I.

Now let us to the blind, external world descend, for some will say that we have hitherto seen only shadows of justice on ideal ground; yet, reader, after we shall have left the region of desires, and advanced some space along the path on which we are now entering, which seems with more realities beset, you will perhaps, at times, be well content to have incurred that charge. There may be moments in which you will feel like the pensive traveller at twilight hour, who journeys on through an obscure, cold forest, when he looks back with regret to the pleasant cloister's pale which had received him for a short space at noon; brings before his mind's eye the rich garniture of its sanctuary, and imagines that he still gazes upon each peaceful nook, which he had noted with such interest, remarking how sweetly it was for prayer and meditation meet; thinks too that he sees the solemn, hooded men, and their youthful disciples, assembled in angelic choir, leaving no place vacant, while rings aloud that quick melody,

"Te lucis ante terminum."

Your feelings perchance will resemble his, when he contrasts this scene of peace and order which he has left, with the desert around him, dusk with horrid shades, and with his own wild state, solitary, wending he knows not whither-when o'er the broken passes, now each moment

darker, there comes a gloomy sound, and a wind impetuous, sprung from conflicting vapours, drives all its might against the forest, plucks off the branches, hurling them afar, while beasts and shepherds fly.

"Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam : quoniam ipsi saturabuntur;" truly mystic words of the Divine Ruler, which seem at first to promise no speedy consolation; for how can the natural thirst, ne'er quenched but from the well whereof the woman of Samaria craved, be ever satiated on that earth which is not his kingdom? It is true, a confidence in the ultimate triumph of justice characterized in a very remarkable manner the men of the middle ages. "One finds" says William of Jumiège, "in almost every page of Scripture that the son's house is overthrown by the iniquities of a wicked father, and also conversely, that it is rendered firmer by the merits of a good father" Speaking again of the conquest of England by William, the same historian beholds only fresh proof of the justice of God. "The English," he says, "were punished for the murder of the innocent Alfred, and for their remorseless massacre of Toustain; and on the following night God avenged them in causing a great slaughter of the Normands, because they had sought plunder, and their feet had been swift to shed blood+.' Such observations are common in all writers at that time. Nevertheless, profoundly was it felt in the hearts of those thoughtful men that the beatitude arising from the spectacle of justice was not reserved for them here. Follow St. Bonaventura in his meditations on the Baptist's death:

"O God, how didst thou permit this?" exclaims the seraphic doctor. "What is to be thought of this, that John should thus die, who was of such perfection and sanctity that he was thought to be Christ? Consider the greatness and excellence of John. Peter is crucified, and Paul is put to death with the sword, but yet the dignity remains to the precursor. Rome is purpled with the blood of Martyrs, but John is admirable above them all. Who so gloriously announced? Who thus filled with the Holy Ghost even in his mother's womb? Of what other man does the Church celebrate the nativity? It was he who first preached penance; it was he who baptized the King

Hist. Norman. Lib. VII. c. 1. + Ib. VII. 36.