Minor Queries.
349. _Hell Paved with the Skulls of Priests._--The proverb "Hell is
paved with good intentions" (Vol. ii. pp. 86. 140.), brings to my
recollection a remark I once heard from the lips of a French priest. He
was addressing an audience chiefly composed of students in divinity, and
while descanting on the peculiar dangers to which ecclesiastics are
exposed, and the obstacles they have to encounter at every step on the
road to salvation, he said there could be no doubt that by far the
greater number of them would incur eternal damnation. "It was this"
(added he, with an emphasis which sent thrill of horror through all
present), "It was this that made one of the early fathers assert, that
Hell is paved with the skulls of priests." I think the preacher
mentioned Tertullian as his authority for this singular sentiment, but
he only gave the words: "L'enfer est pave de tetes de pretres." Can any
of your readers point out the precise passage referred to?