BIOGRArniCVL SKETCH. XXXVll 



who li;i<l narrowly observed liis preaeliinu', wliethcr as friends or lis 

 loes, perceived distinelly how it all tended to three i)riiieipal tiuls: 



1. To take up and carry on the <,M-eat work of Lacordaire, of 

 reconciling: the lionian Catholic Church with Modern Society. 



2. Not l)y compromise of convictions, ])Ut by the points of com- 

 mon belief and practice, and by the spirit of peace and charity, 

 to draw toward each other the various communions of Christian 

 believers ; and to develop and set forth before the pet^ple the doc- 

 trine of" the soul of the Church," which is really common alike 

 to the Roman and to the Protestant theolog}': — that they are not 

 all of the church who are in the church; and that, on the other 

 hand, they are not all outside of " the soul of the church" who 

 arc outside its visible pale; but that the one universal sign of 

 true discipleship is " this sign, that the Lord knowcth them that 

 are his." 



8. To endeavor to bring back the Roman Catholic Church 

 toward the spirit of its early days. 



The real question was Avhether a preacher having these aims 

 could have liberty of speech within the Roman priesthood. This 

 question, decided in the negative in the court of first resort, is 

 now pending before the highest tribunal of the Roman Church. 

 But while that question waits for its final answer, it is not the 

 monk that is on trial, but the Church. 



It remains to add here the docmnent on which the case is car- 

 ried up. It might have been thought fit to include it among the 

 icritings of its author which follow it. But it is better here, as a 

 great act of his liie ; a memorable foct in the history of the 

 Church of Jesus Christ; "a word"— as one has said before, of 

 utterances as brave as this — " a word which is a half-battle." 



