rit of the man, for he cannot
be acquitted of having, in the first instance, exhibited very
superficial notions of theology. Their instructiveness consists in the
conspicuous example they afford of the effect of certain errors which at
the present day are commonly held and rarely contradicted. When he found
himself censured unjustly, as he thought, by the Holy See, it should
have been enough for him to believe in his conscience that he was in
agreement with the true faith of the Church. He would not then have
proceeded to consider the whole Church infected with the liability to
err from which her rulers are not exempt, or to degrade the fundamental
truths of Christianity to the level of mere school opinions. Authority
appeared in his eyes to stand for the whole Church; and therefore, in
endeavouring to shield himself from its influence, he abandoned the
first principles of the ecclesiastical system. Far from having aided the
cause of freedom, his errors have provoked a reaction against it, which
must be looked upon with deep anxiety, and of which the first
significant symptom remains to be described.

On the 21st of December 1863, the Pope addressed a Brief to the
Archbishop of Munich, which was published on the 5th of March. This
document explains that the Holy Father had originally been led to
suspect the recent Congress at Munich of a tendency similar to that of
Frohschammer, and had consequently viewed it with great distrust; but
that these feelings were removed by the address which was adopted at the
meeting, and by the report of the Archbishop. And he expresses the
consolation he has derived from the principles which prevailed in the
assembly, and applauds the design of those by whom it was convened. He
asked for the opinion of the German prelates, in order to be able to
determine whether, in the present circumstances of their Church, it is
right that the Congress should be renewed.

Besides the censure of the doctrines of Frohschammer, and the
approbation given to the acts of the Munich Congress, the Brief contains
passages of deeper and more general import, not directly touching the
action of the German divines, but having an important bearing on the
position of this _Review_. The substance of these passages is as
follows: In the present condition of society the supreme authority in
the Church is more than ever necessary, and must not surrender in the
smallest degree the exclusive direction of ecclesiastical kn