enunciates the atheistic dogma for which he had been preparing the reader by his long and astute disquisitions. This dogma is, that "phenomena" are no more to be explained by "supernatural agencies." This is enough. It is because the book is designed as a gymnastic to prepare the mind for such principles, while it has enough that is valuable to win for it high consideration, that we have performed the unwelcome duty of signalizing its dangerous characteristics and tendencies. It is quite time for us to understand the great features of this new philosophy, and the agencies employed for its promotion. It is little else than the sensational scepticism of Hume arrayed in the plumage of modern science, and striving with bold assumption, and desperate ingenuity, to turn that science into a handmaid of irreligion and atheism.

This is none the less so, although he intimates in some places that our "knowledge may be conceived as coming to us from revelation;" or that Hume's argument against miracles is good only for him who did not, before the alleged miracles, "believe the existence of a being or beings with supernatural power; or who believed himself to have full proof that the character of the being whom he recognised is inconsistent with his having seen fit to interfere on the occasion in question." But observe, he never announces his own belief in such revelation; or in any superior being with whose character it is consistent to give it. He speaks of such belief as possible. He never implies that it is reasonable. All this can be of little account, when weighed against the positive opinions and reasonings which we have quoted from the book.

ART. IV. The Gospels: with Moral Reflections on each Verse. By PASQUIER QUESNEL. With an Introductory Essay by the Rev. DANIEL WILSON, D.D., Vicar of Islington, now Bishop of Calcutta. Revised by the Rev. H. A. BOARDMAN, D.D. In two volumes. Philadelphia: Parry & M'Millan, 1855. 8vo, pp. xli. 648, 646.

PROTESTANTS have never been slow in acknowledging the excellencies of good books produced by men within the pale of the Romish Church. In some of these cases, indeed, the authors have fallen under the animadversion of popes and councils, for the very works which edify and delight us. Jansenius, Pascal, Nicole, Arnauld, and Quesnel, have, in various degrees, received the affectionate praise of evangelical Christians. Our own pages, in more than one instance, have been largely occupied with the writings and fortunes of the Port

Royalists; and we are glad of this new occasion to acknowledge our debt in the same quarter.

In a former instance, we drew largely on the labours of Dr Reuchlin; to whose elaborate history of the Port Royalists, the celebrated article under that rubric in the Edinburgh Review, by Sir John Stephen, is likewise greatly indebted. We give full notice that, in what follows, we have borrowed freely from the same copious magazine of recondite facts. The sources on which Reuchlin chiefly relies are indeed beyond our reach, comprising a literary history of Port Royal, by Clemencet, in manuscript, and sundry others in the archives of Paris.

Quesnel was born at Paris, July 14, 1634. He was descended from a Scotch family of rank; and when we reckon backwards, and consider the religious state of the upper class in Scotland, and their close connection with France, in the days of Knox, Buchanan, and Welch, we are ready to conclude that it was the prayers and teachings of some Eunice or Lois, which resulted in the eminent piety of the young Parisian. His grandfather was a painter, and his father a bookseller. After classical and theological studies at the university, he entered the Congregation of the Oratorium Jesu, or Oratoire, in 1657, and took priest's orders in 1659. Two of his brothers, Simon and William, were also Oratorians. These religious persons followed the rule of St Augustine, but without monastic vows, and comprised some very learned men among their number, such as Malebranche, the philosopher; Morin, the linguist; and Richard Simon, the liberal critic. Young Quesnel seems to have been early led to the use of the pen; and under the generalship of St Marthe, was intrusted with the preparation of important religious writings. Thus, with Juhannet, he produced, in 1677, a Précis de Doctrine, or theological syllabus for the Congregation. When, in 1685, the court demanded of all Oratorians subscriptions to the formula against Jansenism, Quesnel was found by the inquisitorial visitor, Camoin, at Orleans, whither he had retired, because, in 1681, the Archbishop of Paris had banished him from that diocese. The archbishop had a grudge against him, partly because Quesnel had not dedicated to him the works of St Leo, and partly because he had declined to enter upon some controversies in which that prelate had looked for his aid. Quesnel refused signature, and stated his reasons in writing; but the archbishop announced to the fathers of the Oratory that such signature was the king's express command. Meanwhile, Quesnel had sought refuge in Brussels, where he joined the great Arnauld; and from this

* See Princeton Review, 1830, p. 170, art. "Provincial Letters:" 1834. p. 471, "Jansenius:" 1845, p. 239, "Jesuits;" and p. 252, "Pascal:" 1849, p. 457, "The Arnaulds."

place he sent his answer of February 13, 1685. During his residence in the Spanish Netherlands, he maintained perfectly amicable relations with the Oratorians of the country. In 1684, the deputies from these religious houses had attended a general convention of the order held at Paris. Conformably to views here expressed, Picquerry, superior of the Flemish houses, declared, in 1687, that he would not dishonour his king by subscribing instruments proceeding from another sovereign. He complained also, that the influence of the Jesuits was impairing the strength of the Augustinian doctrine in France. We have spoken of the edition of St Leo's works.* It was one of several labours which entitled Quesnel to a place among the learned. For the basis of his text he used an old Venetian manuscript, which, after being the property of Cardinal Grimani, was now possessed by the Oratoire. The notes upheld the Gallican doctrines concerning church-liberties. The work арpeared in two quartos in 1675, and in July 1676 was condemned by the Congregation of the Index; and this, as a French cardinal who was present says, without taking time so much as to peruse the volumes. Quesnel prepared a defence, which Arnauld persuaded him to suppress, lest he should still further imbitter his relations with Rome. In 1700, a second edition, in folio, appeared at Lyons.

But the work of which we have prefixed the title to our remarks is that by which Quesnel will be remembered. He began to prepare it at Paris, as a spiritual help to young Oratorians. At first it consisted only of devotional observations on the words of Jesus; and it was occasioned by a rule of the house, according to which every inmate was obliged to digest a collection of our Lord's sayings. Father Nicholas Jourdain also published a book of the same sort, which Quesnel translated into French, at the instance of Count Brienne. The Marquis d'Aigues, and some other pious persons, urged him to treat the four Gospels in the same manner. It appeared at Paris, in 1671, in duodecimo.t Vialart, bishop of Chalons, upon the recommendation of the marquis, read the work, and recommended it in a pastoral letter to his clergy and the Christian public. A third edition, in three volumes, appeared in 1679; and in 1694 there was a Latin version at Lyons. Before his retirement at Orleans, he had been advised by the celebrated Nicole to prepare similar reflections upon the Acts

* S. Leonis Magni Papæ I. Opera omnia, nunc primùm epistolis triginta tribusque de gratiâ Christi opusculis auctiora, secundùm exactam annorum seriem accuratè ordinata, appendicibus, dissertationibus, notis, observationibusque illustrata. Accedunt S. Hilarii Arelatensis episcopi opuscula, vita et apologia. Paris, 1675. 2 vols. 4to.

+"Abrégé de la Morale de l'Evangile; ou Pensées Chrétiennes sur le texte des quatre Evangelistes, pour en rendre la lecture et la méditation plus facile à ceux qui commencent à s'y appliquer."

of the Apostles, and the Epistles; and he worked at this both at Orleans and Brussels. The result was a volume of notes on the whole New Testament, printed in 1687. This, however, led to some alteration in his original Morale; for as the remarks on the Gospels were brief compared with those which followed, they were expanded in the following editions to a proportional length, so that the entire work, as re-wrought, appeared in 1687 at Paris, in two duodecimo volumes, and again in 1693-1694, and repeated reprints at Paris and in Holland, till at length it filled eight volumes, and contained an exhortation, by the author, to the study of the Scriptures. Urfe, bishop of Limoges, recommended to him the preparation of a manual upon those scraps called the "epistles" and "gospels" by Romish and other churches; and Quesnel complying, added also reflections on the Old Testament passages used in the Missal. But as the copy of this latter part was lost between Brussels and Paris, the former was issued by itself. It is not a little significant that so many dignitaries should have approved these pious labours. We have spoken of Vialart; Noailles, his successor in the see of Chalons, was no less favourable, for when he had read the book, and observed its influence among the priesthood, he also recommended it in a pastoral letter of date June 23, 1695, being the very year in which he was preferred to the archbishopric of Paris. In his new post he published, the year following, an instruction on Predestination and Grace. At this juncture appeared the fatal Problème Ecclésiastique, which was condemned to the flames, in 1699, by a decree of parliament, as also at Rome.

The archbishop caused a theologian of learning, not connected with the author's party, to prepare for the press a corrected edition; which came out in 1699 at Paris. Though Quesnel was privy to this, he took no part in it. It ought not to be omitted that, at this stage of the affair, Bossuet interested himself on the side of Quesnel's writings, and defended them against opponents, in the Justification des Réflexions, printed in 1710. There is a current anecdote, that even his holiness, Pope Clement XI., gave the Reflections a reading; by which, as he declared, he was singularly edified." A person of quality expressed his surprise that Père la Chaise should be found reading Quesnel; to which this wily persecutor replied, that he had done so daily for two years, and that the contents of the book made a deep impression upon him.

But this good opinion was so far from being universal, that Humbert de Precipiano, archbishop of Mechlin, feeling disturbed by the controversies which had begun to agitate his diocese, took advantage of an ordonnance which the Jesuits had procured to be issued by the king, and on the 30th of May

1703 caused Quesnel to be arrested and brought to his palace at Brussels. He was thrown into three prisons, of which the last was only four feet square. One of these was so damp and noisome that hundreds of fungi started out of the mouldering walls. He lay in duress for some months before he was acquainted with the offence alleged, or had a hearing. Such were the modes of the old regime, such is the contrast with our blessed Anglo-Saxon and Protestant liberties. Trinity Sunday came round,-a great day among ritualists; but he was forbidden to assist at mass, being considered as, to all intents and purposes, excommunicated. The reasons were, first, that he had said mass without the archbishop's leave; secondly, that he had done the like in his domestic chapel; and thirdly, that he had books in his possession which were forbidden by Rome. All his papers were attached. No doubt monseigneur was aggrieved by one of the daring Oratorian's publications,* as well as by Arnauld's book on Frequent Communion. receiving tidings of these events, William Quesnel, at this time a priest of the Oratory, set measures on foot for his brother's enlargement. But though he hastened to Flanders, he was not permitted to see Pasquier. William, proceeding in due form of law, notified the archbishop, July 6, 1703, of his acte de recusation, repeating the same on August 6 and September 4; he also appealed to the king, as in his sovereign council of Brabant. All this proving fruitless, William proceeded to exchange methods of law for stratagem; and on the 13th of September attempted to promote his brother's escape from prison. In this he received valuable aid from the Marquis d'Aremberg, who, at an earlier day, had been rescued from great straits by William. The conduct of the hazardous undertaking was intrusted to Count Salazar, a Spaniard, to whom d'Aremberg promised his daughter in marriage if success should crown their efforts.

On

The roof of an inn was contiguous to the prison wall; upon this roof the Spaniard mounted with a dexterous workman. The first night their operations were interrupted. The prisoner had been aroused, and trembled in every limb; he threw himself on his knees, and offered up his freedom as a sacrifice to God. But the stillness of death ensued, and he was left in uncertainty for many hours. About eleven o'clock the following night the work was resumed, and about one a practicable breach was effected, through which the emaciated priest thrust himself, after he had pushed through his Breviary, Missal, and crucifix. It must be recorded, with pain, that this good but misguided man ascribed his escape to Mary, whom

"Trés humble Remonstrance à M. l'Archevêque de Malines sur son décret du 15 Janvier 1695, pour la prohibition de plusieurs livres."