PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
THE object of the book which is herewith offered to the public is to present the common teaching of the Catholic moral theologians in an English dress. That common teaching is to be had in innumerable works written for the most part in Latin, but as far as I am aware there is no complete manual of moral theology in English. Yet that such a book will be found useful seems certain from the fact that works of the kind exist in abundance in other modern languages. In German we have Pruner, Probst, Linsenmann, and many others; in French, the well-known works of Gousset and Gaume; in Italian, Frassinetti; in Spanish, Villafuertes, Moran, and others. It may then confidently be expected that especially the ecclesiastical students and Catholic clergy of English-speaking countries will welcome a book intended chiefly for their benefit. The writer is not without hopes of its doing good even among non- Catholics. Among these the moral theology of the Catholic Church is little understood and constantly misrepresented and maligned. Of course, it does not merit the bad reputation which has been fastened on it by Protestant and Jansenist slander. It is the product of centuries of labour bestowed by able and holy men on the practical problems of Christian ethics. Here, however, we must ask the reader to bear in mind that manuals of moral theology are technical works intended to help the confessor and the parish priest in the discharge of their duties. They are as technical as the textbooks of the lawyer and the doctor. They are not intended for edification, nor do they hold up a high ideal of Christian perfection for the imitation of the faithful. They deal with what is of obligation under pain of sin; they are books of moral pathology. They are necessary for the Catholic priest to enable him to administer the sacra-
