DOLLART, TnE, a gulf of the German ocean, at the mouth of the river Ems, between Hanover and Holland. It is about 10 m. in length by 7 in breadth, and was formed by inundations of the sea, the first of which took place in the latter half of the 13th c., and the last in the 16th century. By these watery inroads a large number of villages were submerged, and thousands of persons perished.
DoLLINGER, JOHN J. Iexints vox, one of the most distinguished of the Roman Catholic divines of modern Germany, was b. at Bamberg, Feb. 28, 1799. He was edu cated at Wtirzburg, where he received holy orders. For a time he was engaged in parochial duties in his native diocese; but having manifested a peculiar fitness for a literary life, he was appointed a professor at Aschaffenburg, whence, in 1826, he was removed to the chair of ecclesiastical history in the newly established university of Munich. From the first he was distinguished as a ready and profound writer. He inaugurated his new professorial career by a work on The Doctrine of the Eucharist during the First Three Centuries, in 1826, and a History of the Reformation, being a continuation of Hertig's Handbook of Church History. He subsequently undertook a new History of the Church (vol. i. 1833, vol. ii. 1835), which was speedily translated into French, and also into English, and was carried' down to the 15th c.; with a compendium which came down to the reformation (1836-43). His very learned and suggestive essay on The His tory, Character, and Influence of Islamism appeared in 1838, and The Reformation, its Internal Development and Effects, in 3 vols., in 1846-48. The design of this work, which consists almost entirely of extracts (connected by a very slight thread of narrative) from the writings of the leading reformers and other contemporary Protestant divines, is to present in the words of the actors in the great religious drama of the 16th c., a picture. doctrinal, moral, social, and political, of the reformation and its results; but as the great body of the authorities (exclusively Protestant) are German, the interest of the work is mainly national.
For a time, D. undertook the chair of dogmatic theology, in which capacity he delivered lectures on "The philosophy of Religion," on " Symbolism," and on " Patristic Literature," none of which, however, have been published. He was a frequent contri butor to the Historiselt,politische BlOtter; he published several pamphlets on subjects of occasional interest; and was one of the chief contributors to the Catholic cyclopredia, entitled Kirchen-Lexicon, in which his articles on Luther, on Bossuet, and on Duns Scotus attracted much attention. In the politico-religious movement of 1846-47, D. was elected to represent the university of Munich in the Bavarian chamber; but being deprived of his professorship, he became disqualified to sit in the chamber. In the par liament of Frankfort, in 1848, he was recognized as the leader of the Catholic party. Most of the measures of importance bearing on the relations of church and state which (however ineffectively) were originated in that assembly were prepared or suggested by him. In 1849, he was restored to his professorship at 'Munich, and also to his place in the Bavarian chamber, which he held till 1852. Since that year, he has devoted himselt entirely to theological literature. His work entitled Hippolytus and Kallistus (18.53) is a masterpiece of patristic criticism; and his Heathenism, and Judaism, the Vestibule of the History of Christianity, is a most masterly survey of the religious, moral, and social con dition of the world at the advent of our Lord. It was quickly followed by The First Ages of Christianity, to which it had been designed as an introduction. During the early discussions on Italian unity, D. delivered an address at Munich, which was repre sented as hostile to the temporal sovereignty of the pope. In order to explain his real
opinions on that important question, D. published, in 1861, an elaborate work entitled' The Church and the Churches, which was partly a comparative survey of the condition of the non-Catholic communions, and of the church, and partly a resume of the history and condition of the papal states; showing that, while the temporal sovereignty was'the, means providentially established for maintaining the spiritual independence of the papacy, yet it was by mo means essential; that the papacy long existed without it, and that even if it were overthrown, Providence would devise another means ,of attaining the same end. The second part was a criticism of the administration of the papal states, which is understood to have-given.dissatisfaction to the authorities, as being, although well meant, inopportune, and from this.inopportuneness, unfriendly. A similar feeling is said to have been drawn forth by the part.taken.by Dr. to,in reference to the ,` Catholic union," some of the principles of which, were supposed to trenchdangerously upou the province of authority in matters of religious Inquiry; but his, orthodoxy and learning were unquestioned, and his influence, espeeially among Catholics of his own nationality, was very great until the approach of the time for the celebration of council of the Vatican. It being understood that the doctrine of the infallibility of the pope would form a subject of discussion, took an active.part in organizing an opposition. `Arti cles which appeared in the Augsburg Gazette, in-Mar., 1869; and which were reprinted more fully under the nam de plume. Were ascribed to him' or to his influence; and during the discussions of the c,ouncil,,,he was entirely, identified with the party opposed to the Ultramoutane view. ! On the publication of the , decree of the council, which defined the infallibility of the pope in all, doctrinal, teachings on faith, and morals addressed ex cathedra to the universal church, D. refused to accept the doctrine.. In Oct., and in depreciation of the impending censure of excommunication by the archbishop of Munich, he published an address to the archbishop, in which he claimed to be heard-in the synod of German bishops,- or before a committee of the cathedral chapter. His declaration on papal infallibility called forth replies from Dr, Hergenrother and others, and was accepted, on the other hand, by the so-called old Catholic party, D. was elected rector of the university of Munich (Feb. 29, 1817) by a large majority of votes. Persisting in his refusal to submit to the authority of the council, he was exconi, municated by the archbishop of Munich on the 18th of April, 1871. In 1874, Dr. D. presided over the "old Catholic conference" at Bonn, where he frankly declared that lie and his colleagues did not consider themselves bound by the council of Trent. He also introduced a declaration, adopted unanimously, that the eucharistic celebration in the church is not a continuous repetition or renewal of the. great propitiatory sacrifice. His literary activity is little diminished. In relation to the prophecy of Orval, and other French prophecies supposed to bear upon the late war with Germany, he, published recently an elaborate essay On Prophecies and the Prophetical ,Spirit, which has been trans lated into English by Alfred Plummer. In addition to his accomplishments in book learning, Dr. D.,'s attainments as-a linguist, both.in ancient and modern 'languages, are very remarkable. In 1871, D. received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from Oxford uni versity; and in 1872, that of LL.D. from Edinburgh. In 1872, the king of Bavaria con ferred on him the order of merit; and in 1874, the emperor of Germany the order of the red eagle, second class. In 1873, he was appointed president of the royal academy of science at Munich.