Synopses & Reviews
AMONG the many arid inportant evils which have been the necessary esult of the profound revolutions of rnoder lt i nest, here appears a good extremely aluahlr to science, and which will probably hare a br n fici il influence on the hu1na11 race, -l meall the lore rjf studics having for . heir object man ancl society. Ille shc cksh a ebe en so rude, that the arth has, as it - vere, opener undchr our fret and the human nind, r-llich, full r f pride and haughtiness, but lately advanced on a triur lphal car amid acc, s nations ant1 cries of victory, has been dal. med and stopped in its career. Alsorhc I by an important thought, oreraoroe by a prohrind reflection, ii has asked itself, l lIThat am I whence dn I cornc rrhat is my tlestination eIigious questiotis lmve rt. ga ried il ei I ich inportance and u-her they might hare bren suj1poset1 tn hurc men scattered by the breath of indiKerence, or almopt anniliilated by the as onisliing d evelopment of inaterial interests, by the progress of the natur tl and exact sciences, by the continually increasing arrlour of political debates, -we have sect that, so far horn havirig beer1 stifletl Ily the immense weight wliich seemed lo have overwhel nedi he nt, h ey hare reappeared on a sudden in all thrir rnagnitudc, in their gigantic form, predominant over society, and reaching from the heavens to the abyss. This disposition of meris minds aaturally drew their attention to the religious revolution of the sixteenth century it was natural that they should ask wtiat this revolution had done to promote the interests n liumanity. Unhappily, great mistakes have been made in this inquiry. Either because they hare Iooketl at the facts through the distortedmerlium of sectarian prejudice, or because they 1i lce only considered them superficially, men hare arrived at the conclusion, that thc rcfnrmers of the sixteenth century conferred a signal benefit on the nations of Europe, by contributing to the development of science, of the arts, of tmnari liberty, and of every thing t-llicll is comprised in the word civilizczti What d o history and philosophy say on this subject How has man, pitl eri ndividually ur collective y, c orisitlered in a religious, social, politi cal, or literary poizt of view, been benefited by the reform of the sixteenth century Did Europe, under the excIusive influence of C m k city, pursue a prosperous career Did Catholicity impose a sm ttw on the movements of civilization i This IS the examination wnich I propose to make in this work. Every age has its pecuiiar wants, and it is much to be wished that all Catholic writers were convinced, that the complete examination of these questions is one of the most urgent neces sjtip o f the times in which we live. Bellarrnine and Bossuet havy done what was required for their times we ought to do the sarne foi ours 1 am fuIly aware of the immense extent of the questions I hake xdvt rted to, and I do not flattcr myself that I shall be able to elucidate thclrl as they deserve but, however this inay be, I promise to enter on my task with the courage which is inspir d by a lore of truth and when my strength shnll be exhausted, I shalI s d t o wn viihtr anquil i n f mind, in expectatinn that another, iriore rigorous than myself, M-ill cnrry into effect so important an enterprise. THE work of Balmes on the cornpnrative influence of Protestantism and Catholicity on EurnpeanciciIization, which is now presented to the American public, was written in Sy anisll, and won for the author atnong his own countrymen a very high reputation. h French edition was pub...
Synopsis
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.