I had long since laid aside these little commentaries, composed in a concise and wholly dialectical manner; and I had resolved not to publish them unless they had been more diligently polished, enlarged by a second revision, and perfected according to my ability. Yet certain things, which seemed to me neither slight nor wholly to be neglected, brought it about that I should not adhere too tenaciously to the plan I had undertaken.
For by certain indications I learned that, in more than one place, the question concerning the eternity of punishments and the fire of hell was breaking out afresh, and that this very controversy was being agitated more vehemently especially in England, in France, and in Germany. Wherefore I judged that I ought to yield to the opportunity and seize the occasion of serving the common good.
Let the commentaries, therefore, which have already lain hidden long enough, come forth into the midst; and though they are of small bulk, let them nevertheless be a token of that zeal by which I am borne most earnestly to the defense of Catholic truth.
I wrote this at the Roman College, on the fourth day before the Kalends of February, 1854.
Carlo Passaglia, S.J.