h§ for nearly 150 years the ]*opc9 have fallen from all the virtues of their predecessors, 
 unci havu become Apostates rather tlian Apostles,' I can understand how the illustri- 
 ous Buronius must have blushed when he narrated the acts of these Roman Bishops. 
 Spcakinjj: of John XI. (931). natu, d son of Pope Serjjius and of Marozia, ho wrote 
 these words in \\\a annals—* The holy Church, that is, the Roman, has been vilely 
 trampled on by such a monster.' John XII (956) elcctod Pope at the ajre of eighteen, 
 throujfh the influence of courtesans, wa:4 not one whit better than his predecefisor. I 
 jrrieve my venerable brethren, to stir up so much flltli, I am silent on Alcxantlor VI., 
 father un'dlover of Lucretia ; Iturnawav from John XXII. (1319), who denied the 
 immortality of the soul, and was deposed by the holy tEcumcnicalCouncil of Cc istanco. 
 Some will maintain that this Council was only a private one; let it bo s >; but if you 
 refuse any authority to it, as a lo^jical sequence you must hold the nomination of 
 Martin V. as illegal. What, then, will become ot the Papal succession ? Can vom find 
 the thread of it ? I do not speak of the schisms which have dishonouted the Church. In 
 Jiose unfortunate days the ' ee of Home was occupied by two, and even sometimes by three 
 competitors. Which of these was the true Pope r Resuming" once more; as^ain I say, 
 if you decree the mfallibilitv of the present Bishop of Rome, you must estaldish the 
 infallibility of all the nreceainpr ones, without excluding: any ; but can you do that when 
 history is there establishing with a clearness equal only to that of the sun, that iho 
 Popes have erred in their teaching? Could you do it and maintain that avaricious, 
 incestuous, murdering, simoniacal Popes have been Vicars of Jesus Clirist ? Oh ! 
 venerable brethren, to maintain such anenormitv would be to betrav Christ worse than 
 Jndas; it would be to throw dirt in His face. My venerable brctdren, you crj* out; 
 but would it not be more dignified to weigh my reasons and my proofs in the balance 
 of the sanctuary ? Believe me, history cannot 1)3 made overaj^ain; it is tbere, and 
 will remain to all eternity to protest energetically against the dogma of Papal Infallibil- 
 ity. You may proclaim it unanimously ; but one vote will be wanting, and that is mine ! 
 The true faithful Monsignori, have their eyes on us,* expecting from us a remedy for 
 the innumerable evils which dishonor the church ; will you deceive them in their hopes ? 
 What will not our responsibility before God be, if we let this solemn occasion pass 
 which God has given us to heal the true faith ? Lcl as seize it, ray brethren ; Jet us 
 arm ourselves with a hoi}' courage; let us make a violent and generous eflFort; let us 
 turn to the teaching of the Apostles, since without that we have only erroi's, darkness 
 and false traditions. Let us avail ourselves of our reason and of our intelligence to 
 take the Apostles and Prophets as our only infallible masters with reference to the 
 question of questions, • What must I do to be saved }' When we have decided that, we 
 shall have laid the foundation of our dogmatic system, firm and immovable on the rock, 
 lasting and incorruptible, of the divinely inspired Hol> Scriptures. Full of cnnfidenco 
 we will go before the world and, like the Apostle Paul, in presence ot free-thinktrs, 
 we will ' know none other than Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.' We will conquer 
 through the preaching of ' the folly of the Cross.' as Paul conquered the learned men of 
 Greece and Rome ; ami the Roman Church will have its glorious 89. Your cries, 
 Monsignori, do not frighten me. If my wordi are liot my head is cool. I am neither 
 of Luther, nor of Calvin, nor of Paul, nor of Apollos, but of Christ. Anathema ! Mon- 
 signori, anathema! You know well that you are not protesting against me, but agamst 
 the Holy Apostles, under whose protection 1 should wish this Council to place tho 
 Church. Ah! if covered with their winding-sheets they came out of their tombs, wouUl 
 they speak a language different from mine ? What would you say to them when by 
 their writinus they tell you that the Papacy has deviated from the Gospel of the Son 
 of God, which they have preached and confirmed in so generous a manner by their 
 blood ? Would you dare to say to them — We prefer the teaching of our own Popes, 
 our Bellarmine, our Ignatius Loyola, to yours ? No, no; a thousand limes no; unless 
 you have shut your ears that you may not hear, closed your eyes that you may not see, 
 blunted your niinds that you may not understand. Ah ! if He who reigns above 
 wishes to punish us, make his hand fall heavily upon us, as He did to Pharaoh, he has 
 no need to permit Garibaldi's toldie»s to drive us from the eternal city. He has only 
 to let them make Pius IX. a god, as we have made a goddess of the blessed Virgin. 
 Stop, stop, venerable brethren, oa the odious and ridiculous incline on which you have 
 
8 
 
 placed voursolves : save the CliUfcli from the shipwreck which thrcatcDs her, asking from 
 the Holy Scriptures alone for the ritlo of faith which wo ought to believe and to profess. 
 1 have spoken : may God help me !" 
 
 These last words were received with the si^ns of disapprobation like those in the pit 
 of a theatre. All the Fathers rose— many left the hall. A good many Italians, Amor 
 icans, and Germans, and a little sprinkling; of French and English, surrounded the 
 courageous speaker, and with a brotherly grasp of the hand, showed that they agreed 
 in his way of thinking. This iliscourno, which in the sixteenth century would have 
 procured lor the courageous Bishop the glory of dving at the stake, in the present cen- 
 tury provoked the contempt of IMus IX., and of all those who desire to abuse the ig- 
 norance of the peoples. Poor blinded ones, they will fall themselves into the pit which 
 they have made for others. 
 
 Printed by W. Theakstcn, 141 Granville Street, over Methodist Book i^oom.