But where Abbadie shows his complete ignorance of the first elements of the higher sciences is in "Letter Fourth" of his book, p. 98. We quote from Mr. Hamersley's translation. "All our ideas of faith rely solely on sense; and their value to us is measured by its certainty; and to faith, which is a conviction of divine truth, there are four essentials: God exists; he is truthful; he has revealed himself; each mystery of our faith appears in such revelation. Sir—it is noteworthy—that the senses are the sole channels of all those truths, and their SOLE vouchers." Again, "Thus the senses are the media of all evidence." (P. 99.) The materialism of d'Holbach, Cabanis, Helvetius, and Condillac is identical with this doctrine of the doughty dean of Killaloo. If the senses "are the sole channels of truth," instead of being the mere occasions of reflection, then the whole order of intelligible ideas, the ideas of God, spirit, and cause, are illusions. The senses can only tell us the sensible or phenomenal. Now, as the ideas of God, cause, spirit, truth, justice, goodness, substance, etc., are all supersensible, they cannot come from the senses. If the senses "are the media of all evidence," the only things we can know are modes or phenomena, colors, forms, sounds, etc. The senses tell us nothing more. We must, therefore, deny the existence of God, of truth, of goodness, cause, substance, etc.; and turn atheists, pantheists, sceptics, or materialists, as all who logically follow out Abbadie's or Locke's metaphysics really become. The philosophy of the warlike chaplain of Schomberg's army is thus shown to be essentially immoral.
Did Mr. Hamersley know this when he translated the book? We think not, for he is evidently too innocent of logic and too ignorant of truth to be able to understand fully even the arguments of the superficial dean of Killaloo.
We shall make good our assertion by quoting a few of Mr. Hamersley's own references: "In 1845, the pope made the Immaculate Conception a part of the Roman creed and a condition of salvation." (P. 113.) The gentleman probably was thinking of the pope's decree of 1852.
"A.D. 597, Gregory I. instructs St. Augustine to accommodate the ceremonies of the church to heathen rites." (P. 125.).
"The Maronites, originally Monothelites, protected by the Emperor Heraclius, are now incorporated in the church of Rome." (P. 126.)
"A.D. 1295, Boniface VIII. confines ex-pope Celestine V. in a cell about the size of his body, lest he may elect to resume the pontificate he has resigned—guards him night and day with 6 knights and 30 soldiers. Celestine dies of cruelty." (P. 129.)
"Gregory VII. threatens to anathematize all France, unless King Philip abandons simony. (P. 135.) This was one of Gregory's crimes in the judgment of Mr. Hamersley.
"Alexander VI. (Borgia) is elected pope—his Holiness is forthwith adored by the cardinals:" (P. 143.) What idolatry!
"Penance—a sacrament by which venial sins, committed after baptism, are forgiven." (P. 146.)