individual act, even without the concurrence of any Cardinals. There are precedents for similar proceedings. Adrian v. (1276), who reigned only a few days over a month, actually abrogated the great Bull of his predecessor Gregory X., and this repeal remained in force through six elections, until the scandalous consequences of the abolition of disciplinary provisions induced Celestine V., with his hermit nature, to revive the law of Gregory X. Still more in point would be what was done by Gregory XI. It was the time when the Holy Bee, for nearly three quarters of a century, had been pining in self-willed exile at Avignon. It was felt by all devout minds that the situation into which the Church had got herself, through tl1Ïs step, was ruinous to her interests. The Pope himself, although a Frenchman, was fully alive to the fact that to save the Church it was indispensable to satisfy the outraged conscience of Christendom, by carrying back to its natural seat, Rome, the Holy See, from its spurious residence in Avignon. But to do this effectively it required an effort of force, for the Pope in those days was in the same plight as many of his successors, of being surrounded by a
