Janus considers it to be true piety "to expose the weak points of the papacy, denounce its faults, and purposely exhibit their mischievous results;" appealing to a saying of St. Bernard, Melius est ut scandalum oriatur, quam ut veritas relinquatur. It is this intense love of truth which prompts Janus "to oppose, frankly and decisively, every disfigurement" (p. 20) which the church has undergone for nearly a thousand years. "To ward off so fatal a catastrophe," with which the church is now threatened by the council, the authors have attempted in this work to contribute to the awakening and direction of public opinion, (p. 27,) and have entered this "protest, based on history," and appeal to the "thinkers among believing Christians," and are modest enough to hope that their "labors will attract attention in scientific circles, and serve as a contribution to ecclesiastical history." (Preface.)
We cannot, therefore, be surprised that a work with such a scientific programme should have caused some sensation, even among Catholic theologians, many of whom were not slow to unmask the historical representations, and "direct reference to original authorities," of which Janus makes such great parade. That Janus was hailed with great delight, not only abroad but also in this country, by an anti-Catholic press, and nearly all reviews or periodicals, cannot be a matter of wonder, when we know that such allies as Janus within our own pale are welcome to the enemies of the church.
In England, Janus was heralded by a grand preliminary and concomitant flourish of trumpets. Every thing was done by a certain very small but very zealous clique to give this book as great a publicity as possible.[62] The North British Review, the Saturday Review, and the Academy, have joined in one chorus of eulogy, exulting over the victory which they think Janus has achieved. Among the many admirers of Janus in our country, suffice it to say that one writer has been so fascinated by this "work, so entirely made up of facts," that he triumphantly exclaims, "No one can help feeling convinced of its veracity." Nay, more than this, the same reviewer pays a compliment to Janus which, considering the source it comes from, involves a strange contradiction. It runs thus,
"The author (Janus) shows himself throughout a thorough Catholic, but an earnest and liberal Christian, a learned canonist, a faithful and discriminating historian."
Without further comments, we propose to meet Janus and his admirers upon equal grounds, since it is their earnest wish
"that the reader's attention should be exclusively concentrated on the matter itself, and that, in the event of its evoking controversy, no opportunity should be given for transferring the dispute from the sphere of objective and scientific investigation of the weighty questions under review." (P. 28.)
We have no reason to dread that facts and "original authorities" must and can speak for themselves, and we too shall hope to see where the saying of Pope Innocent III. is verified, "Falsitas sub velamine sanctitatis tolerari non debet."
In presence of such a vast amount of matter as Janus gives to his readers, and we might say en passant with such little semblance of order and system, it becomes necessary to confine our examination to three leading points: 1. To the manner in which the investigation is conducted, or the scientific character of the work; 2. To the orthodoxy which the authors profess; 3. To the historical and critical parts of the book.
1. As is correctly stated in the "Translator's Notice," the substance of the volume already appeared in a series of articles in the Allgemeine Zeitung, or Gazette of Augsburg, in March, 1869, under the heading of "The Council and the Civilta." In these articles, "historical facts" were brought forward, which called forth prompt and sharp answers from the Catholic reviews of Germany, where several falsehoods were exposed and denounced as gross misrepresentations. When these articles were issued in their present form, the authors of Janus took no notice of the exposure, but quietly dropped from their book these three mendacious statements. Not a word of apology or retractation was offered. An able theologian[63] has pointed out these tactics of Janus; but, to our knowledge, no reply was given.
"Our Janus," says the same critic, "may feel quite at ease; he will not be brought to the stake either for his historical criticism, or even for his heresies; but he has branded himself as a forger by the very act of spiriting away these lies, only to come forward with a look of perfect innocence and palm off upon the world others more numerous."