Author: M. Michelet

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-16

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9781330130803

Excerpt from Spiritual Direction: And Auricular Confession; Their History Theory and Consequences The author of this book distinctly claims, in almost so many words, that France is the world. He says that it is the centre of Europe, - that all other nations are eccentric. This is a Frenchman's pardonable vanity; and we are not so anxious to deny the influence of France upon all Europe as a jealous Briton might be. While England and France debate that question, let us make an application, to our present purpose, of the fact that Michelet holds such an opinion. When a man writes in such a spirit, if he speaks of the world, it is the French world. If he is talking of priests, they are French priests; by Woman, he means French women; and by the family, we are to understand the social relations of La Belle France. If we admit Michelet as a witness, the man and wife are oftener two, where they should be one, in that country than in any other. Nor does this differ with the received opinion. There have been causes enough to produce such an evil; causes which will be apparent to the reader as he proceeds, but which we could not here introduce, without, to borrow our authors expression, putting a large book into a small preface. The work is, moreover, eminently intended for his countrymen, although its truths, of general application, are important in all countries, and in none are more interesting and vital than in this, where, it would seem, the old polemics are to be waged over again. The gibbering Gothic ghosts of the papal regime are gliding about in full day in our streets, as well as in those of Paris. They are cunningly dressed and disguised, made sometimes to look lovely, always to look meek. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.