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PREFACE.

A decorative drop cap 'L' features floral motifs.This book reveals the intention of the Author by its very title, and shows the sincerity of his purpose on every page, as well as the justice of the cause he defends: hence, it needs no Proem to declare itself, nor an Apology for its defense. It is superfluous to preach at length when the Work sustains itself. For what would this be other than to make the porch equal in space and vastness to the Temple, or to add buttresses to a building of unshakable firmness? Apologies truly render the intention of a Book suspect; since they are for the most part made to dispose the minds of readers to imbibe certain Novelties. Indeed, if someone does not dare to appear in public unless flanked by a military guard, it is a sign that he meditates strife and fosters a bad cause, which he cannot settle alone.

But if this book did not have the suffrage of Antiquity on its side, which, to speak with Tertullian, prescribes before all others and renders it no less invincible than the Laws of Nature; the authority of Tradition, which is the rule and foundation of Faith; the testimonies of the Holy Fathers, whose sense is no less irreproachable than their holy lives, eminent knowledge, and most sincere faith; the use and practice of the Church, which must serve as Law and Reason for all the faithful; the Bulls of the Pontiffs, in whose days they are Oracles; the approval of all wise men who flourished in later centuries; and the universal consensus of the people, which can neither be attacked without rashness nor condemned without folly: yet the authority of the Lord Archbishop of Paris alone—