up and down in some few trodden paths never get out of them never wish to look beyond them. Hence the fulness of the one, and the jejunity of the other, system.
2. S. Antony of Padua was not only one of the greatest, but, perhaps, the most popular, among the preachers of the Middle Ages. His extant Sermons, or, as they might rather be called, Sermon Notes, though coming down to us with all the disadvantages of their skeleton form, nevertheless evince a grasp of the Sacred Volume which well entitles him to the name bestowed on him by Gregory IX.,- "The Ark of the Testament." That which he exemplifies in his discourses, he shows in a not less striking manner by the " Concordantiae Morales," which are now, for the first time, presented to the English reader.
3. To enter into the question of the allegorical interpretation of Scripture in which the Middle Ages delighted, would require a volume instead of a preface. It is not denied that many of the passages adduced by S. Antony could scarcely be quoted to a modern audience in the sense in which he applies them. Nevertheless, even from these, by way of illustration, if not by way of proof, a Preacher of the present century might learn much, as a few examples presently to be given, will, perhaps, prove.
4. The "Moral Concordances" have come down to us in a very imperfect state. They were long supposed to be lost, and consideraole doubts were entertained whether such a book had ever existed. S. Antony died in 1231, and the
