CHAP. XIV.] A POSTSCRIPT. 441 



perfecte tune fuisse producta; quse vero interjectis gradibus con- 

 tinentur et nunc naturae viribus producuntur, virtute duntaxat et 

 seminaliter seu causaliter, tune Dei imperio extitisse. Augustini 

 opinio, semper ab errore immimis habit a pluribus placuit theologis quos 

 inter Alberto Magno. S. Thomas in Summa, p. 1, q. 74, a. 2 earn 

 reveretur, et nee ipsi nee vulgari doctrinse prsejudicandum censet.&quot; 

 pp. 15, 16. 



No liberal-minded man can see with anything but regret 

 how though no intelligent man can fail to understand why 

 Professor Huxley so eagerly endeavours to restrict within 

 the narrowest limits the faith of the greater part of the Chris 

 tian world, saying, &quot; I, for one, shall feel bound to believe 

 that the doctrines of Suarez are the only ones which are 

 sanctioned by authority,&quot; &c. 



But the attempt to represent that such literalism is binding 

 on Catholics is simply preposterous. There is no need for the 

 present Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster to give any such 

 permission as Professor Huxley speaks of (as to the six days), 

 because such freedom existed long before His Eminence 

 occupied the see, and was accepted by his predecessor, Car 

 dinal Wiseman. It would be restriction, not freedom, which 

 could alone require him to make any declaration on the 

 subject. 



We might really suppose that at this day it would be super 

 fluous to assert that Catholics are free and unembarrassed in 

 their geology and palaeontology. But that I may not seem 

 to shirk a point on which the Professor lays such stress, 

 namely, the &quot; six days &quot; of creation, I will say a few words as 

 to the position of Catholics with regard to this matter. 



Now, authorities showing the freedom of Catholics in this 

 respect are so numerous, that it is only difficult to choose. 

 In the first place we have St. Augustin and his many fol 

 lowers, also St. Hildegard, Bertier, Berchetti, Ghici, Eobe- 

 bacher, and Bossuet. Cardinal Cajetan says distinctly that 

 the six days were not real days, but meant to indicate order. 

 And I may cite also Cardinal Gousset, Theol. Dogmatique, 

 t. i. p. 103, seq. ; Frayssinous, Defense du Christianisme, 

 conf. Mo ise, Historien des Temps primitlfs ; Perrone, S. J., 



