nominally general council, by the excellent translation of it into French, by the very congenial Courayer, who, by adopting the real corrections, and by exposing the fallacies and misrepresentations of the latter historian, has pressed an unwilling witness into the service of truth, and obliged him to strengthen a cause which he sought to destroy.

There is a deficiency in both these historians, which, with the present and just views of historic evidence, is to be lamented-they both fail in a precise and satisfactory reference to their sources or authorities. The Venetian may indeed, from being nearly contemporary with the facts which he records, be considered himself as an original. But he was not personally conversant with them; and it is known, that he derived the chief portion of his information both from those who were so, and from existing documents, which, upon subsequent examination, have been found to attest his fidelity*.

The Roman has indeed made a considerable

* From Courayer's Life of Fra Paolo, prefixed to the translation of his history, ed. 4to, Basle, 1738, it appears, that when at Mantua, he became acquainted with Camillo Oliva, secretary to the cardinal of Mantua, from whom he might obtain abundance of suitable and authentic information; besides that he had free access to the archives of Venice, which, from its proximity to, and intimate concern with, the council, would leave little of importance to be learnt elsewhere. In a letter of the historian, referred to, of July 22d, 1608, speaking of some printed works, of which he had obtained a sight, and wishing to see more, he continues- for I have ' written something of it,' (the council,) 'myself, more than all this, as I 'have made collections from other Memoirs, which I have met with in these 'parts,' &c. Brown's Translation, Letter viii, p. 28. The Memoirs are alluded to again in the xxxvth Letter, Oct. 13, 1609. He always writes cautiously, as he needed. Courayer has blamed him for not pointing out his sources more frequently; but this might have been unsafe for those who supplied him with his information. The English reader is much indebted to the Rev. B. W. Mathias for rendering the substance of Fra Paolo's history more accessible to him; and likewise for making him acquainted with the entire of the canons and decrees of the council in his own language. The more valuable remaining portion of his work is expected with anxiety.

parade of reference; but, independently of the suspicion which must fairly attach to him in all cases, when his cause would benefit by suppression, his references, being to manuscript and unpublished works, if they had been intended, or calculated, to preclude hesitation, should have presented to the reader the identical words of the originals. This is the least which might reasonably be required in such a work as the apologetic and censorial one of the Italian cardinal; for even then a reader far from captiously rigid might, in many cases, demur.

It is not the object of the present more humble undertaking professedly either to confirm or confute, to correct or supersede, the above mentioned, or any other inferior histories of the Tridentine Synod. Its object is, to throw additional light upon a very important event in human and particularly ecclesiastical history, in any of the ways which have been stated, as the result may be, from sources, hitherto unpublished-sources, for the most part, still in manuscript; of an authentic and important character; the identical ones, indeed, I have no hesitation in believing, from which the papal historian drew a large proportion of his materials; although with a fidelity which no one can conscientiously pronounce to be placed above the reach of suspicion.

It may be justly expected that I should substantiate these assertions. I am in possession of a rather copious collection of manuscript volumes in folio, and of varied but competent bulk, on the subject of the Council of Trent, formerly the property of the Earl of Guilford, and forming a part of his unique and very valuable library, dispersed not many years ago. I purchased the collection, consisting of twentyeight volumes, from Mr. Thorpe, in 1832. The greater part appear to have constituted a portion of some public or extensive library, or libraries in different parts of Italy and

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Venice-the product, not improbably, of the spoliation of the collections of cardinals, or other opulent individuals interested in ecclesiastical matters, during the time in which the French were masters of that portion of the world. This conjecture is confirmed by circumstantial or internal evidence. They are probably none of them originals, but copies, of varying age; and there are among them duplicates of a part or the whole of the separate volumes.

I will describe them as satisfactorily as may be in their natural order.

I. and II. These are duplicates, and contain a general and complete history of the council from the first to the last Session. The first is entitled Diario del Concilio di Trento diviso in Otto Libri. The name of the author is not added; but the Venetian ambassador, Niccolo da Ponte, is mentioned by Pallavicino, Ist. del Conc. Trid. xxiv, xi, 11, as having written an account of the council. This, although an extended history, is evidently derived and partially at least abridged from a larger one. This is formally announced in the beginning of the second book, where the writer speaks of his author,' and in other places, where in particular he takes the liberty of curtailing the rather lengthy discussions occasionally introduced in his original. The only difference which I have observed between this volume and its duplicate, and which will be noticed is, in the presence of a single paragraph, less than a page, which is absent from the latter.

This latter has for its title Diario del Concilio di Trento ove si descrive quanto in esso occorse descritto in 4 libri dal Ambasciatore Veneto. The number written is 4; but there are eight regularly numbered books, as in the first volume. The passage here omitted is in the penultimate page of the other duplicate. It has relation to the cardinal of Lorraine; and the final page of the present volume, in

which it should be found, is in a hand-writing different from that of the rest of the volume. Courayer, speaking, in the Preface to his translation of the Council of Trent, p. 15, of this MS, of which a copy was in his hands, as he plainly does, and ascribing it, not to the ambassador, but to his secretary, represents it, not without considerable appearance of truth, as a simple abridgment of Fra Paolo's history. The coincidence is remarkable: but it may have arisen as well from both writers using a common original, as from the one copying from the other. At any rate, however, the present MS represents generally, and therefore confirms, the narrative of the published historian, and serves, in the present history, to maintain its course and connexion from a source in some respects new. With this explanation, it is superfluous to apologize for having sometimes, and in defect of better, in the class to which I mainly confine myself, used it as a guide.

III. The title of the next volume is Dell' Historia del Sacro Concilio di Trento Scritta da Antonio Milledoni Secrio. del Consiglio de X di Venetia in detto Concilio Libri Duc. Libro Primo. The first book is occupied by a compendious general history of the Christian church up to the time of the council, with which the second begins, and, as usual, with an account of Luther and his performances. The history extends to the close of the council, but in a very abridged form, except in the final sessions, which are given extendedly: as however agreeing in substance with the preceding histories, and with the known printed ones, it has its value in the way of confirmation. Its general character is very secular; and the writer is a sufficient bigot on trying points. I do not discover any reference to this volume in Pallavicino.

IV. The next work, Summarium Sacri Concilii Tridentini Bononiensis, is a very important one. It embraces

only the first assembly of the council from 1545 to 1547, but the history itself extends from 1544 to 1549. There is no name in the title; but at the beginning of the second session, (it is necessary so to indicate the place, as there are no numbers of pages or leaves,) from the words per me Angelum Massarellum Secretarium Comcilii, and from identical designations towards the end, it is evident to whom we are indebted for the work. In the last volume of Le Plat's valuable Collectio Monumentorum, &c. are inserted some fragments under the name of the Secretary, but they have nothing of the completeness, extent, and particularity of the present manuscript. This volume contains all the canons and decrees of the council, together with lists of the members present at each session, as well as detailed accounts of the various congregations. This, apprehend, is the identical work used by Pallavicino. See Ist. xi, xi, i. I cannot quite satisfy myself that it is the same manuscript as is mentioned by Courayer, in his Preface, p. xiv.

V. For the period, more or less, of the first assembly of the council, there are volumes of Letters; the first of which is-Littere Conciliari scritte dalli Legati, al Carle. Farnese nella Apertura che si fece del Concilio a Trento el! anno 1545. Li Legati furono il Card1. de Monte che fu poi Papa Giulio terzo; il Card'. de Sta. Croce che fu poi Papa Marcello, Et il Card'. Polo Inglese, homini sapientissimi et valorosissi. Cardinal Farnese was grandson of Pope Paul III, and a complete man of business. This volume, which is peculiar as having the leaves numbered, is, without doubt, one of the collection, either in whole or in part, so constantly appealed to by the Italian historian *. The letters extend

* See near the beginning of the iid book of his history, writing of the legates-Dimandarono anco una cifra per poter communicare le cose di