on.

A writer who is censured may, in the first place, yield an external
submission, either for the sake of discipline, or because his conviction
is too weak to support him against the weight of authority. But if the
question at issue is more important than the preservation of peace, and
if his conviction is strong, he inquires whether the authority which
condemns him utters the voice of the Church. If he finds that it does,
he yields to it, or ceases to profess the faith of Catholics. If he
finds that it does not, but is only the voice of authority, he owes it
to his conscience, and to the supreme claims of truth, to remain
constant to that which he believes, in spite of opposition. No authority
has power to impose error, and, if it resists the truth, the truth must
be upheld until it is admitted. Now the adversaries of Dr. Frohschammer
had fallen into the monstrous error of attributing to the congregation
of the Index a share in the infallibility of the Church. He was placed
in the position of a persecuted man, and the general sympathy was with
him. In his defence he proceeded to state his theory of the rights of
science, in order to vindicate the Church from the imputation of
restricting its freedom. Hitherto his works had been written in defence
of a Christian philosophy against materialism and infidelity. Their
object had been thoroughly religious, and although he was not deeply
read in ecclesiastical literature, and was often loose and incautious in
the use of theological terms, his writings had not been wanting in
catholicity of spirit; but after his condemnation by Rome he undertook
to pull down the power which had dealt the blow, and to make himself
safe for the future. In this spirit of personal antagonism he commenced
a long series of writings in defence of freedom and in defiance of
authority.

The following abstract marks, not so much the outline of his system, as
the logical steps which carried him to the point where he passed beyond
the limit of Catholicism. Religion, he taught, supplies materials but no
criterion for philosophy; philosophy has nothing to rely on, in the last
resort, but the unfailing veracity of our nature, which is not corrupt
or weak, but normally healthy, and unable to deceive us.[355] There is
not greater division or uncertainty in matters of speculation than on
questions of faith.[356] If at any time error or doubt should arise,
the science possesses in itself the means of correcti