402 EVOLUTION, OLD AND NEW. 



to an old-established belief, even though her leaders 

 know it to be unfounded, so long as any considerable 

 number of her members would be shocked at its aban- 

 donment. The question is whether there are any signs 

 as though the Church of Eome thought the time had 

 come when she might properly move a step forward, and 

 I rejoice to think, as I have said above, that at any 

 rate one such sign — and a very important one — has 

 come under my notice. 



In his Encyclical of August 4, 1879, the Pope desires 

 the Bishops and Clergy to restore the golden wisdom 

 of St. Thomas Aquinas, and to spread it far and wide. 

 "Vos omnes," he writes, "Venerabiles Fratres, quam 

 enixe hortamur ut ad Catholicae fidei tutelam et decus, 

 ad societatis bonum, ad scientiarum omnium incre- 

 mentum auream Sancti Thomae sapientiam restituatis, et 

 quam latissime propagetis." He proceeds then with the 

 following remarkable passage : " We say the wisdom of 

 St. Thomas. For whatever has been worked out with 

 too much subtleness by the doctors of the schools, or 

 handed down inconsiderately, whatever is not consistent 

 with the teachings of a later age, or finally, is in any 

 way NOT PKOBABLB, We in no wise intend to propose 

 for acceptance in these days."* 



It would be almost possible to suppose that these 

 words had been written inadvertently, so the Pope 

 practically repeats them thus : " We willingly and 



* " Sapientiam Sanoti Thomie dicimus : si quid enim eat a dootoribus 

 acholastiois vel nimia subtilitate quaesitum, Tel parum considerate 

 traditum, si quid cum exploratis posterioria aevi doctrinis minus 

 cohserens, vel denique quoque modo non probabile, id uollo pacto in 

 animo est tetate nostra ad imitaudum proponi." 



