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much wider and more animated discussion, particularly as regards two points: 1. Its universality; whether and within what limits may or ought to be restricted the absolute universality which the Bible, prima facie, seems to attribute to it, and which all early commentators have taken for granted. 2. As regards the physical explanation of the Deluge and its connection with other now wellascertained geological facts. The Abbé Motais, in a recent work entitled "La Deluge Biblique devant la Foi, l'Ecriture, et la Science," entertained the bold proposition, already advanced or favoured by Cuvier, Quatrefages, Lenormant, and other distinguished philosophers, as serving better to explain the origin of the yellow and black races, that the Deluge was restricted to the descendants of Seth and the region they occupied, the rest of the human race being exempt. The Abbé maintained his argument with much ability, and laboured to prove that such an opinion was not repugnant either to Scripture or to the Catholic faith. His thesis has found supporters even among Catholics; but it has also met with strenuous opposition. The Civiltà Cattolica is of opinion that it will never make much way, should it not even suffer shipwreck by incurring censure. Most of the Catholic exegetists of the present day, and those of the highest authority, are inclined to adopt a medium view, which, while excluding the absolute sense of the term universal as applied to the Deluge, would attribute one which may be called relative; that is, it would comprise the destruction of the whole human race and the submersion of that portion of the earth peopled by them, along with the animals it contained.

In this opinion Alberto Cetta, the author of a valuable work on the subject of the Deluge, which has been recently published, coincides in the main; but he adds several remarkable suggestions of his own, which are reviewed at some length in the Civiltà Cattolica, but to which we can but briefly advert. While holding that the Noachian Flood was not universal in the sense of having literally covered the tops of the highest mountains on the whole surface of the globe, he opines that throughout the regions already peopled by man this divine judgment had the completeness threatened by God and described in Genesis as actually witnessed by Noe and by those enclosed with him in the Ark. In extent, therefore, the completeness of the submersion was local, not universal. Moreover, he holds that there may have been, and probably were, disturbances, contemporaneous, or approximately so, in all other parts of the earth, by which it was more or less convulsed, without being totally submerged. This view he considers to be perfectly reconcilable with Scripture, as well as most agreeable to general tradition; and not only reconcilable with the Scriptural account but more consistent, for he sees indications of its truth in the very language of God to Noe, in which the cataclysm is certainly described as universal, although the expressions which speak of every living creature perishing need not be understood in an absolute sense, such expressions being used with an implied VOL XVII.—NO. I. [Third Series.]

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restriction in various parts of the Bible; and he instances in particular Acts xi. 5, "every nation under heaven," an assertion apparently absolute, but obviously having a limited sense. So far, indeed, from its being necessary to conclude that all living animals on the face of the globe, save those in the Ark, perished, the contrary is more than implied in Gen. ix. 10, where "all the beasts of the earth" are mentioned in contradistinction to those which came forth out of the Ark, in order to their being included in the covenant which God was establishing. The Deluge, then, he believes to have been a cataclysm which, while affecting more or less all parts of the globe, utterly destroyed the whole human race, with the exception of the individuals preserved in the Ark, and entirely submerged the regions which they had peopled. Such was the Noachian Deluge, as threatened by God and described by Moses. Several other very interesting questions are touched on by the author, who, with reference to the supposed survival of other branches of Adam's descendants, observes that the difficulty which this hypothesis pretends to solve is but thrown further back, and is in no wise removed.

The greater part of Cetta's work treats of the second question, viz. the physical explanation of the Deluge, the secondary causes of this disaster, its date, its effect, and visible traces, &c., to which, indeed, these observations on its universality are but a preliminary. The whole matter seems to have been handled by him with great ability and learning, and we need scarcely say that it is one of exceeding interest. The reviewer promises to return to the subject on a future occasion.

The Nebuchodonosor of Judith.-This is the second article which has appeared in the Civiltà Cattolica concerning the identity of this personage. In the first, the reviewer simply collected the numerous opinions which have been held upon this debated question. In the present notice a selection is made of such as are at all entitled to consideration. The writer at once sets aside all heterodox views, and confines himself to the opinions of Catholics, who accept from the hands of the Church the Book of Judith as canonical and therefore divinely inspired, and presuppose its historic reality. After making this deduction, the choice amongst no less than fifteen kings as claiming to represent the Nebuchodonosor of Judith is offered to us, but the Reviewer has no difficulty in eliminating five of the number on the irrefragable authority of cuneiform inscriptions unknown at the time that they met with their several advocates. The Nebuchodonosors are thus reduced to ten: two Syrian kings, four Persian, and four Mesopotamian. These last are Nebuchodonosor the Great, Assurbanipal, Asarhaddon, and Merodach Baladan. The reviewer's choice is at once made of Assurbanipal. Even three centuries ago, Nicolo Serario, a celebrated commentator, by the sole guide of chronological computation, had divined that the Ninivite monarch who sent Holofernes against Palestine must have been a son of Asarhaddon. Petavius and Tirinus subsequently

arrived at a like conclusion. But the name of this monarch had been buried in the oblivion of twenty-two centuries, to revive, with many of the great deeds of his memorable reign, by the discovery of the indelible inscriptions on the cylinders of Ninive. This king Assurbanipal was contemporary of Manasse, king of Juda, during a portion of their respective reigns; and to that period we have every reason to refer the events recorded in the Book of Judith. No other pretender will satisfy the conditions required by the narrative. He is described in the text (i. 5) as "King of the Assyrians, who reigned in Ninive, the great city." Ninive, therefore, was still great and flourishing, and cannot yet have suffered the destruction foretold by Tobias and inflicted by the Medes and Babylonians in the year 625 B.C., or somewhat later. Up to that date it had remained the capital of the Assyrian empire, but with that empire it fell, never to resume its splendour or importance. If this be so,

and the reviewer supports his argument by strong proofs, it is clear that the Nebuchodonosor of Judith cannot be found among any of the kings who reigned after the year 600. The conclusion at which he satisfactorily arrives is that not one of the Chaldean, Persian, or Greek sovereigns who reigned in Western Asia during and subsequent to the seventh century before Christ can satisfy the fundamental conditions laid down by the Biblical text already quoted; that is, not one of them can be identified with the Nebuchodonosor who reigned in Ninive, the great city, a description which fully agrees with that of Jonas the prophet, when sent to threaten it with destruction. Having thus removed objections, the reviewer purposes to examine in a future article the proofs which militate in favour of the view he has himself advanced.

Notices of Books.

Vol. ix.)

The Life of Jean Baptiste Muard. (Library of Religious Biography.
Edited by EDWARD HEALY THOMPSON, M.A.
London: Burns & Oates. 1886.

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N noticing a fresh volume of Mr. Healy Thompson's admirable biographies, we can only repeat what has been said of all the preceding volumes, that it is scholarly, edifying, and in the best sense popular. The present work, however, may claim to be exceptionally interesting. Père Muard's life has been written before; but Mr. Thompson has had access, not only to a number of sworn depositions not yet published, but to a document which makes this volume of supreme importance and value-to a diary, that is to say, of the venerable man's personal companion, covering the whole of

his life, from the time he resigned his parish, and began his distinctive work. This diary, or life, exists in manuscript at Buckfast Abbey, and Mr. Thompson has been fortunate in being permitted to see it. It is only to be regretted that the manuscript itself has not been printed. The reader feels, as he goes through the pages of the narrative, that the very words of the saintly man's companion would have had a charm which no mere transcription can give; and Mr. Thompson, it is only right to say, expresses the same feeling

himself.

Père Muard was one of those plain, simple, devoted French priests, of whom St. Vincent de Paul, and the Curé d'Ars are the brightest examples, who move mountains without a single brilliant natural gift. Born of a peasant stock, he was seven years old at the downfall of Napoleon, and he died in 1855. For nine years he was a parish priest in the diocese of Sens; that is, from 1834 to 1843. During that time he began to feel himself called to a special life of penance, combined with preaching. With the sanction of the Archbishop he instituted at Pontigny, in the ancient Abbey Church where the relics of St. Edmund of Canterbury rest, a humble Congregation to carry out this double purpose. But as his vocation became clearer, he saw that he must have the religious life and vows to enable him to do what God called for. He, therefore, set off for Rome, with only two companions, a priest (the Père Benoit, who has written the life referred to), and a brother. After drifting about for a few months they found themselves at Subiaco. Père Muard had

at first (as was very natural) thought of the order of St. Francis. But the Father-Guardian of St. Bonaventura received him with a "covered irony," which seems not to have been very successfully covered after all, for Mr. Thompson adds that "there was no mistaking" it. The wanderers could get nothing from St. Francis, nothing from St. Bernard (to whom they appealed in the person of the Abbot of Santa Croce), and nothing from any one in Rome. But the Abbot Defazy, of St. Scholastica's, at Subiaco, took to Père Muard at once; and, during the stormy winter of 1847-48 the three mortified companions prayed and meditated near the Holy Grotto of St. Benedict. It was here Père Muard desired to adopt the Benedictine rule. Returning to France, he obtained as a gift a desolate and rocky spot called "La Pierre-qui-vire" (the Rockingstone), where he built a humble monastery on the site of an ancient druidical circle. Mr. Thompson is not at all clear as to where Pierre-qui-vire exactly is; but it seems to be in the diocese of Sens, near the small town or village of St. Leger, not far from Avallon, and not very far from Auxerre. It would be in the department of Yonne, and the ancient province of Burgundy-(a good curé, who went with Père Muard on a terrible walk to look for a site for building, made the mistake of recommending one spot because it seemed just the place for good Chablis!) It was here that the holy man gathered a small community about him, which kept up the divine office and the sacred liturgy, practised a

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most severe life, and gave missions in the diocese. The founder, however, died before the rule was approved by the Holy See. After his death, in 1855, Pope Pius IX. united his community with the Cassinese Benedictines of Abbot Casaretto's reform, and they founded one or two other houses in France. In 1880 they were expelled from Pierre-qui-vire, like the other congregations, and after a short time settled at Buckfastleigh, in Devonshire, where they now are. biography by Mr. Thompson relates all this with great variety of edifying detail. There are amusing stories, too, scattered up and down the pages, which will attract readers who may require some such little inducement to read a "spiritual" book. The impression it leaves upon us is that Père Muard had no very striking trait of character. The great characteristic of a saint-and we may venture without anticipating the judgment of the Church to call Père Muard a saint-is of course his sanctity; that perfect love of God which shows itself in heroic practice. But of the saints, some have left inspired writing, some have wrought wondrous miracles, some have been great preachers; others have laid down their lives or suffered heroically. There is nothing very striking in this life, except, perhaps, the saintly man's wonderful abstinence. But there is abundance of edifying matter-sayings, letters, acts of devotedness, pastoral solicitude, and answers to prayer. Whatever may finally be the judgment of the Holy See on Père Muard's spirit, it is certain that his holy career has left its mark not only on his own diocese and in France, but on the spiritual life of thousands who have been encouraged to penance and devotion by his words and example. This book is sold for the benefit of the struggling community at Buckfast, and all who are interested in antique observance, in the conversion of England, and in Benedictine progress, should assist in making it known.

Souls Departed: being a Defence and Declaration of the Catholic Church's Doctrine touching Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead. By Cardinal ALLEN. Edited by Rev. T. E. BRIDGETT, C.SS.R. London Burns & Oates. 1886.

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T is to be hoped that the reader who takes up this very interesting reprint may not require the advice given him by Father Bridgett -to dip into it at two specified places so as to be "encouraged " to read the whole work. Allen thought that the doctrine of purgatory "touched the very core of heresy.' No doubt it does; embracing as it does the practical answer of the Church to the Lutheran justification by faith, and the Calvinistic fatalism. Nothing can be more complete, nothing more effective, nothing more moderate and scholarly than this treatise of the great English confessor and organizer on purgatory and prayer for the departed. Not only is it not out of date at the present day, but there is no modern work of the sort in English or French, so far as we are aware, which is either half so persuasive or half so eloquent. Allen writes in long, striding sentences, as Campion wrote, and as

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