Part 7

The contents of the volume are distributed as follows: An introduction (ix.-xxiv.) by Dr. Todd is followed by an appendix (xxiv.-xlix.) containing “a number of memoranda, references to authorities, and miscellaneous notes, which have been written by the author, and others, through whose hands the MS. has passed, on the fly-leaves at the beginning and end of each volume”. Many of them are of great interest. Then come the _Testimonia et Approbationes_ (xlix.-lv.) of Flann Mac Egan, Conner McBrody, Dr. Malachy O’Cadhla, Archbishop of Tuam; Dr. Boetius Mac Egan, Bishop of Elphin; Dr. Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin; and Dr. Roth Mac Geoghegan, Bishop of Kildare. The _Martyrology_ proper follows (1-351) with the Irish text on one page and Dr. O’Donovan’s translation on the other. The notes appended are but few, and serve merely to explain obscurities in the text, to settle the reading, or to correct some obvious mistake. For almost all the notes we are indebted to Dr. Todd himself. A table of the _Martyrology_, compiled by the author, and translated by Dr. Todd, occupies from page 354 to page 479, and is followed by three indexes, compiled by Dr. Reeves, one of persons (485-528), another of places (529-553), and a third of matters (544-566). These indexes, says Dr. Todd, “possess a topographical and historical interest quite independent of their connection with the present work, and are in themselves a most important practical help to the study of Irish history”.

What is the value of this work? What position does it occupy among Irish Ecclesiastical documents? It cannot be regarded as an _original_ authority. “It is confessedly a compilation, and of comparatively recent date, having been completed, as we have seen, in the early part of the seventeenth century. But it is a compilation made by a scholar peculiarly well fitted for the task, who had access to all the original documents then extant in the Irish language, the matter of which he has transferred either in whole or in part into the present work, quoting in almost every instance the sources from which he drew his information” (Introd., p. xiii.). The bare enumeration of these sources will serve to show the value of the book. I. _The Metrical Calendar, or Festilogium of Aengus Ceile De_, commonly called the _Felire of Aengus_. Its author was a monk of Tallaght, near Dublin, in the days when Saint Maolruain was abbot, about the beginning of the ninth century. Dr. Kelly of Maynooth has published a translation of a portion of this _Metrical Calendar_ in his _Calendar of Irish Saints_. II. The _Martyrology of Tallaght_. This is a transcript of a very ancient martyrology containing the names of the saints and martyrs of the entire Church, with the Irish saints added under each day. It was composed at the close of the ninth or very early in the tenth century. The Brussels MS. is an abstract of the ancient copy at Saint Isidore’s at Rome, but it contains the Irish saints alone, omitting altogether the general martyrology. It was from a transcript of the Belgian MS. that Dr. Kelly published in 1857 the calendar alluded to above. III. The _Calendar of Cashel_, which is not now known to exist. According to Colgan, its author flourished about the year 1030. IV. The _Martyrology of Maolmuire_ (or _Marianus_) _O’Gorman_, written in Irish verse, in the times of Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh, about 1167. Its author was abbot of Knock, near Louth, and the work is taken from the _Felire of Tallaght_, and is not confined to Irish saints. V. _The Book of Hymns_, a portion of which has already been published by the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, and of which a second portion is in the press, under the care of Dr. Todd. VI. Poems, such as the _Poem of St. Cuimin of Condeire (Connor)_, of the middle of the seventh century, published by Dr. Kelly, with a translation by Professor O’Curry; the _Naoimhseanchus_, attributed by Colgan to Selbach of the tenth century; the _Poem of St. Moling of Ferns_ (A.D. 675-695), and several minor poems. VII. Several of the great collections or _Bibliothecae_, of which he names expressly the _Book of Lecan_, the _Leabhar na Huidre_, and the _Book of Lismore_. VIII. The lives of saints in Irish and Latin. Of these he quotes no less than thirty-one. From this list it will be seen that almost all the literature of the early Irish Church has helped to enrich the pages of the _Martyrology of Donegal_. And since _norma orandi legem statuit credendi_, we could scarcely find a nobler monument of the faith and practice of our forefathers. The Church that places on her list of saints, bishops, and priests, and abbots, and consecrated virgins, and hermits, possesses in that very calendar a mark deep and broad enough to distinguish her from all the sects that belong to modern Protestantism.

II.

_Lectures on Modern History, delivered at the Catholic University of Ireland._ By Professor J. B. ROBERTSON; cr. 8vo, p.p. xvi., 528. Dublin: W. B. Kelly, 1864.

The lectures included in this volume were delivered in the Catholic University of Ireland, on various occasions, in the years 1860 to 1864, and their purport has been well expressed in the author’s own words. Speaking in reference to all his literary labours, “I devoted”, says Professor Robertson, “my feeble powers to the defence of God and His holy Church against unbelief and misbelief; and of social order and liberty, against the principles of revolution, which are but impiety in a political form”. In these words we have the key-note of the entire work. The “History of Spain in the Eighteenth Century” forms the subject of two lectures. To these is added a supplement of more than fifty pages, in which the late Mr. Buckle’s “Essay on Spain”, contained in his “History of Civilization”, is severely but most deservedly criticised, and, we may add, is refuted by solid and convincing arguments.

In four lectures our author discusses the “life, writings, and times of M. de Chateaubriand”, involving, much of the internal history of France, especially as regards literature and religion under the first Napoleon and the succeeding governments down to the Revolution in 1848. These lectures are full of interest. But what must be considered as by far the most important portion of this volume is that in which Professor Robertson treats of the “Secret Societies of Modern Times”. In two lectures he traces the origin and progress of the Freemasons, the Illuminati, the Jacobins, the Carbonari, and the Socialists; and in an appendix adds a “brief exposition of the principal heads of Papal legislation on Secret Societies”.

Such are the contents of the work. The style is agreeable and clear, the diction felicitous, and above all, the sentiments just, equally characterised by extensive information, political sagacity, and a profound reverence for divine faith. The professor has happily avoided both the tedious exhaustiveness of the German, and the brilliant flippancy which so often charms us in the French. Nor has he been unmindful of the more laborious students who would not shrink from the toil of research after further information. For these he has provided such an array of authorities, on each of his subjects, as must greatly facilitate the progress of those who would engage in diligent historical investigation. We know not where else there could be had so intelligible an account of the secret societies which have been so active in all the political convulsions of Europe, from 1789 to the present time. We need not advert to the part which secret societies have had in producing the present deplorable state of Italy. To the readers of the _Civiltà Cattolica_ such reference would be unnecessary. To those who have not the advantage of regularly reading that most instructive periodical we would recommend Professor Robertson’s lectures, as containing, in a moderate sized volume, a most perspicuous summary of what is requisite to be known concerning those dark conspiracies and their objects. If it were only for this, the volume would be a most welcome addition to our historical library.

The book has been brought out with the utmost elegance of paper, type, and printing.

III.

_La Roma Sotterrana Cristiana descritta ed illustrata_ dal Cav. G. B. de Rossi. Publicata per ordine della Santità di N. S. Papa Pio IX. Chromolithografia Ponteficia Roma, 1864. vol. 1.

_Christian Subterranean Rome, described and illustrated_ by Cav. G. B. de Rossi. Published by order of His Holiness Pope Pius IX., vol. 1.

In 1861 Cavalier de Rossi published the first volume of his _Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae seculo VII. antiquiores_. On to-day we announce the appearance of the first volume of his long expected work on Subterranean Rome. In the introduction the author passes in review all that has been done to explore the Catacombs, from the fourteenth century to our day. Pomponius Laetus, Pauvinius, Ciacconius, and especially Bosio and Bottari, claim his attention in turn. After a sketch of the results of the labours undertaken in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Cav. de Rossi shows what yet remains to be done, and what part of this he himself proposes to accomplish.

The second part of the volume is entitled “Remarks on ancient Christian Cemeteries in general, and on those of Rome in particular”: the whole is divided into three parts. Part I. on the Christian Cemeteries in general, treats of their antiquity, their divisions into subterranean and non-subterranean, and the respective marks of each class. The author here proves that even in the third century, when Christianity was persecuted to the death, the Christian Cemeteries had a legal existence recognized by the Emperors. Part II. is devoted to the documents which illustrate the history and topography of the Catacombs, and embraces contemporary documents, historical and liturgical treatises later than the fourth century, lives of Pontiffs, etc. Part III. contains a general history of the Roman Cemeteries, arranged in four periods: beginning respectively, with the apostolic times; the third century; the peace of Constantine (312); and the fifth century, A.D. 410. In the second century the catacombs were of slow growth; in the third, their extent became most remarkable; after Constantine, they began to be abandoned as places of sepulture; with the fifth century set in their decay, leading to the removal of the relics of the saints to the churches within the walls, whither the sacrilegious hands of Goths and Lombards, who periodically pillaged the Campagna, could not reach; finally, after the ninth century, they were almost forgotten. Part IV. contains the analytical description of the Christian Cemeteries. The Cemetery of Callixtus, the most ancient and most celebrated of all, is described at length.

IV.

_Vetera Monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum Historiam Illustrantia; quae ex Vaticani, Neapolis, ac Florentiae Tabularis depromsit, et Ordine chronologico disposuit_ Augustinus Theiner, Presbyter Cong. Oratorii, Tabulariorum Vaticanorum Praefectus, etc. Folio, Romae, Typis Vaticanis, 1864. One Volume folio, pages 624.

The notice of the See of Ardagh in the sixteenth century, printed in our opening number, has probably prepared our readers to estimate the value of the important series of documents upon which it is founded. We purposed to urge strongly upon the clergy of Ireland the duty of supporting generously the distinguished scholar, who in his love of Ireland has undertaken the costly and laborious work of publishing all the manuscript materials of Irish history which are preserved in the archives of the Vatican, and has already given in the opening volume an earnest of their extent, as well as of their historical value. We are happy, however, to find that what we had desired and intended, has already been put in a practical form, and that an effort has been made to forward among the friends of Irish history the sale of this most interesting collection. We cannot, therefore, we believe, advance more effectually the object which we have at heart, than by transferring to our pages the following notice, which has been printed for private circulation:—

“Monsignor Theiner’s Collection from the Secret Archives of the Vatican, of Naples, and of Florence, is unquestionably the most important contribution to the history of the Church in these countries since the great historical movement of the seventeenth century. It comprises upwards of a thousand original documents, Pontifical Bulls, Briefs, and Letters, Consistorial Acts, Inquisitions, Reports, etc., ranging from the pontificate of Honorius III., 1216, to that of Paul III., 1547.

“These papers, in the main, relate to the history of Ireland and of Scotland, especially of the former country. There is hardly a diocese in Ireland of which they do not contain some notice, and in many cases, as, for instance, that of Ardagh, already noticed by the learned editor of the Essays of the lamented Dr. Matthew Kelly, but traced in detail in the _Irish Ecclesiastical Record_, No. I., pp. 13-17, they serve to fill up important breaks in the existing records, and to correct grave and vital errors in the received histories.

“But, in addition to the Irish and Scotch documents, the volume contains many of wider and more general interest; among which it will be enough to specify a single series—nearly a hundred unpublished letters of Henry VIII., relating chiefly to the negociations regarding the divorce, which they present in a light almost completely new.

“This volume is printed entirely at the expense of the distinguished editor. It is meant as an experiment; and, should the sale, for which he must mainly rely upon the countries chiefly interested, suffice to cover the bare cost of publication, it is his intention to continue the series from the archives of the Vatican, down through the still more interesting, and, for Irish history, more obscure, as well as more important, period of Edward VI., Mary, Elizabeth, and James I.

“Mgr. Theiner has requested his friend, Rev. Dr. Russell, President of St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, to receive and transmit to Rome any orders far the volume with which he may be favoured.”

FOOTNOTES

_ 1 Sacred Latin Poetry_, selected and arranged by R. C. Trench, D.D., Archbishop of Dublin, etc. Macmillan and Co., London and Cambridge. 1864.

2 “Nihil obstat si etiam in his omnibus et Ipse (Redemptor noster) signetur. Ipse enim Unigenitus Dei Filius _veraciter_ factus est _homo_: ipse in sacrificio nostrae redemptionis dignatus est mori ut _vitulus_: ipse per virtutem suae fortitudinis surrexit ut _leo_.... Ipse etiam post resurrectionem suam ascendnes ad coelos, in superioribus est elevatus ut _aquila_. Totum ergo simul nobis est, qui et nascendo _homo_, et moriendo _vitulus_, et resurgendo _leo_, et ad coelos ascendendo _aquila_ factus est”—_S. Greg. Magn., Hom._ iv. _in Ezech._

_ 3 The Destiny of the Irish Race_: a lecture delivered at Philadelphia on the 17th of March, 1864, by Rev. M. O’Connor, S. J. In order to give to our readers the beautiful lecture of the ex-Bishop of Pittsburgh, we have increased the number of pages in this month’s RECORD.—ED. I. E. R.

4 Col. 1. v. 26. 1.

5 Hebr. 1, v. 1, 2.

6 Joan. 1, v. 18.

7 Joan 1, v. 17.

8 1 Corint. v. 2, 7, 8, 10, 11.

9 S. Joan. Chrys. hom. 7. in 1. Corinth. S. Ambros. de fide ad Grat. S. Leo de Nativ. Dom. Serm. 9. S. Cyril. Alex. contr. Nestor. lib. 3. in Joan, 1, 9. S. Joan, Dam. de fide orat. II, 1, 2, in 1, 2, in 1 Cor. c. 2, S. Hier. in Galat. III, 2.