iSS
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■^■■■■■aKHKiEia
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
A
PORTRAITURE
OF THE
ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION, fcc.
PORTRAITURE
ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION
OK,
AN UNPREJUDICED SKETCH
HISTORY, DOCTRINES, OPINIONS, DISCIPLINE
AND PRESENT STATE OF
CATHOLICISM:
WITH AN
APPENDIX,
CONTAINING
A SUMMARY OF THE LAWS NOW IN FORCE AGAINST
ENGLISH AND IRISH CATHOLICS.
REV. J. NIGHTINGALE,
AUTHOR OF C A PORTRAITURE OF METHODISM,' c\C\
I take myself bound to charge no man to be of a religion which he denieth.
BAXTER.
EonDon:
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,
PATERNOSTER-ROW ;
AND J. BOOKER, NEW BOND-STREET.
1812.
J. M'Creery, Printer,
Black-Horse-Court, London.
<
PREFACE.
SINCERELY devoted to the great cause
of Catholic Emancipation, yet zealously at-
tached to the religion of Protestants, I he-
sitated for some time on the propriety and
usefulness of publishing the result of my
inquiries concerning the faith and wor-
ship of Roman Catholics. To encounter
the prejudices and mistakes of my friends,
and my enemies, if I have any, by tak-
ing, what some will call, a favourable view
of the Church of Rome, presented no
contemptible obstacle to my mind. Yet,
convinced that hitherto no Protestant
writer has done full justice to the subject,
I was not willing to forego the pleasure of,
at least, endeavouring to shew, that the re-
ligion of our ancestors has been mistaken,
and that unworthy and groundless alarms
are excited in consequence of that mistake.
Some of my friends, themselves favourably
inclined towards the claims of Catho-
lics, had their fears, that if I drew a true
portrait of the Catholic Church, so far from
serving, I should considerably injure the
a
1490£,<:*
Vlll
ciscd towards me. When I first suggested
to them the plan and design of this work,
I was a perfect stranger, otherwise than as
I might be known through the medium of
my former publications ; but they all ear-
nestly urged me to undertake it, and to
form my account of their Church and te-
nets from their own formularies, and writ-
ings of acknowledged authority among
them, and not from the publications of their
adversaries. They, moreover, advised me
to distinguish between the Articles of their
Faith, and the opinions of individuals.
With these intimations, and this advice,
seconded by the greatest condescension
and goodness in procuring me such books
as lay in their power to supply me with,
they left me to my own impressions, with-
out, in the most distant or slight degree, at-
tempting to influence me in my inferences
or conclusions. If, therefore, I have erred
in my statements, the fault must be my
own — if I be correct, I owe it not to any
positive assistance, otherwise than by books
and general advice ; and I may be allowed
to claim, at least, the merit of patient indus-
try and impartial investigation. The name
of the gentleman, who kindly furnished me
with the short view of the arguments in
support of the Pope's supremacy, is given
along with that paper.
When, on a former occasion, I ventured
IX
before the public as the author of a Por-
traiture of Methodism, 1 .' a system of faith
supported by people very different in
many of their habits and views from those
whose history I have now attempted to
delineate, I felt myself secure in the gene-
ral accuracy of all my statements. I wrote
with freedom, because 1 knew it was impos-
sible for me materially to err : but in this
instance, I must confess, almost every page
has been committed to press with fear and
trembling, lest I should injure, through my
mistakes, rather than promote by the faith-
fulness of my representations, a cause in
which I feel a deep and serious interest —
THE EMANCIPATION OF ROMAN
* Perhaps I may be allowed, in allusion to that work, in
this place to say, that, had I been aware or' the ill use which
some persons, professed enemies of the Methodists, have
since made of some facts therein stated, I certainly should not
have felt myself free to have communicated them ; and
even could I have conceived it possible, that the general
strain of writing pursued in the Portraiture of Methodism
could have been construed into an indirect attack on a
numerous and valuable body of my fellow Christians,
among whom I have still the pleasure to enumerate some
of my warmest and most affectionate friends, I should have
paused ere I had written any thing that could be regarded
as disrespectful to religion, or painful even to the harmless
prejudices of any pious and well-meaning Christian. With
these concessions, which 1 make in the most voluntrry
manner, I wish to be perfectly understood, that I have
no fact to contradict — no statement of consequence to
deny.
CATHOLICS, AND THE REPEAL OF
ALL THOSE DISGRACEFUL PENAL
STATUTES WHICH AGGRIEVE AND
OPPRESS THE DISSENTERS OF THIS
GREAT AND ENLIGHTENED EM-
PIRE.
Ever accustomed freely and openly to
express my sentiments, religious or poli-
tical, whatever inconveniences I might suf-
fer in consequence, I have not hesitated,
in the following pages, at times, to write in
terms which I fear will not prove pleasing
to any party. In mentioning the Fathers,
for instance, on page 25, if I have seemed
to speak with disrespect concerning those
venerable sages, it has not been because I
feel no regard for the opinions or the reason-
ings of many of the ancient and primitive
defenders of our common salvation; but I
am nevertheless convinced, that an implicit
reliance on the reasonings or decisions of
even those early writers is injurious to the
cause of truth, and the real interests of reli-
gious inquiry ; and 1 may here add, that in
asserting that the Fathers have agreed in
hardly a single point of doctrine or disci-
pline, I am supported by no less an autho-
ritv than our own Royal Martyr (as he is
oddly termed), Charles I., who speaking of
these very writers, in his conference with
the Marquis of Worcester, A. D. 1646, in
XI
Ragland Castle,* thus expresses himself:
" I discover no Father's nakedness, but de-
plore their infirmities, that we should not
trust in arms of flesh. Tertullian was a
Montanist ; Cyprian a Rebaptist ; Origen
an Anthropomorphist ; Jerome a Monoga-
nist ; Nazianzen an Angelist ; Eusebius an
Arian : St. Austin had written so many
errors, that he wrote a book of Retracta-
tions ; and, indeed, they have often con-
tradicted one another, and sometimes even
themselves.''
If in some instances it should be thought
I have written with too much freedom re-
specting the Church establishment of this
country, or rather against Church and State
unions in general, I beg it may be under-
stood, that so far from washing to feel dis-
respect towards the national Church, I
have a sincere and warm regard for the
morals and learning of many, nay, of a
large majority of our clergy ; and this re-
gard I have never failed to express on all
proper occasions.-)- But I am, nevertheless,
* Certamen Re/igiosum, p. 1 14.
•f It may not be improper here to notice, that I am at
present engaged in collecting materials for " A POR-
TRAITURE of the CHURCH of ENGLAND;
or, a View of the Origin, History, Doctrines, Discipline,
and present State of the reformed Religion of GREAT
BRITAIN." Should any of my readers favour me,
through the medium of my booksellers, with their advice
or assistance in this undertaking, I shall hold myself under
great obligations to them.
Xll
decided in my opinion, that the union of
Church and State, after the manner in
which these things are usually conducted,
is a forced and unnatural connexion ; really
injurious to the true interests of both, and
contrary to the spirit and letter of the New
Testament of Jesus Christ.
Many Protestant readers will inquire
why I have omitted to notice in the fol-
lowing work, the various prophecies of the
Sacred Scriptures which are thought, by
some, so clearly to allude to the rise, pro-
gress, decline, and destruction of popery.
I wish to treat the opinions of those many
eminent and excellent writers who have
treated on this subject with respect ; but I
must throw myself on their candour, while
I state, that it is my firm persuasion, no
clear and unequivocal proof can be made
out, that either Daniel or St. John had an
eye peculiarly directed against the Church
of Rome, or even against the spiritual head
of that church. I perused with attention all
that Bishop Newton, Mr. Mede, Mr. Faber,
Mr. Kett, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Bicheno, and
many other writers have written on the
subject, and had prepared a Sec ion on the
prophecies supposed to relate to the Church
of Rome, and the destruction of Spiritual
Babylon; but motives of respect for the
opinions of many Protestant writers of the
highest celebrity, from whom I have felt
Xlll
myself compelled to differ, have induced me,
for the present, to withhold my sentiments on
these topics. I have been often amused by
comparing the various interpretations which
commentators have given of the passage
in the 13th chapter, and the 18th verse,
of the Book of Revelations : — " Let him
that hath understanding count the number
of the beast : for it is the number of a man,
and his number is six hundred, threescore
and six." Without pretending to deter-
mine which of them is right, I have met
with such a confusion and contrariety
among learned Commentators on this pas-
sage, that I should have thought it imper-
tinent in me to have alluded to any one of
them, in treating of the faith of Roman
Catholics. It has served, however, to
exercise the ingenuity of Expositors of
every description. One will have the
mystical number to mean the Poj-e — an-
other, Louis XVI. — a third is quite clear
that St. John meant thereby to designate
Martin Luther, and a large number of ex-
pounders have lately discovered that cer-
tainly the name of the beast is the number of
Napoleon Bonaparte! The Roman Catholic
interpreters are quite clear that the mystical
Babylon of the Apocalypse is no other than
idolatrous Rome, before the introduction
of Christianity ; and Sig. Pastorini, in his
History of the Church, is decided, that
the Reformation in Germany was the iden-
XIV
tical smoke of the bottomless pit ! Though
some learned Protestants tell us, that Papal,
and not Pagan, Rome is clearly the Baby-
lon* of the New Testament ! — yet the late
Mr. Simpson seemed quite sure that not to
" be partaker of her sins," he must sepa-
rate from the Church of England! It is
somewhat strange, that few, if any one,
should have conceived that these meta-
# That Rome is not the Great Babylon of the Apo-
calypse is very doubtful, because, 1. Babylon is re-
presented as one of the greatest cities in the world (Rev.
xvii. 18, and xviii. 18); but modern Rome is a very small
city, compared with others, and but the tenth part of what
it was. c 2. Babylon is one of the strongest cities in the
world (Rev. xviii. 7 and 8) ; but Rome is so weak that it
has seldom been besieged without being taken. 3. Babylon
is one of the most prosperous cities in the world, and was
never to know sorrow, till sudden destruction came upon
her ; but Rome, though she has had her days of pleasure
and prosperity, has had those of affliction and sorrow also,
which Babylon is to have but once, that is, when her sud-
den destruction comes upon her, and not before. (Rev.
xviii. 9, 8, 10. Rev. xvii. 19, 21.) 4. Babylon is repre-
sented so confident of her own strength, as to flatter herself
she shall never be conquered ; but Rome has been frequently
a prey to the Goths, Vandals, &c, and therefore might justly
fear she might be taken again. 5. Babylon was not to
taste the cup of God's wrath before the seventh, or latt
vial was poured out (Rev. xvi. 9); but the city of Rome
has tasted it often, and was at one time brought to such a
desolate state, that neither man, woman, nor child was seen
in it for forty days together ; and, lastly, Babylon is seated
near the sea, and her merchants were to carry on immense
trade and commerce, till the very moment of her ruin
(Rev. xviii. 1 1, 19-)> while Rome, since she became the seat
of the sovereign pontiffs, has been not only without trade
entirely, but even a closed port.
XV
phorical allusions might very well be sup-
posed to relate, not to this or that church
in particular, but to a general apostasy
from the plain and simple doctrine of
Christ and his apostles. To this conclu-
sion they might have come, by observ-
ing that, whatever else is meant to be
understood by the figure, the apostle
describes the personified apostasy, by in-
forming us, that " upon her forehead was
a name written, MYSTERY, Sec." I wish
those who are so desirous of introducing
mysteries into the revealed religion of the
Son of God would reflect on this ; and then
let those who are free on this score cast
the first stone at the mysterious Church of
Rome.
When I first conceived the idea of the
following work, I had a wish and intention
of introducing some topics of importance,
which upon mature reflection, and expe-
rience in the undertaking, I have found
it impossible to do. The subject is great
and extensive; and to have done jus-
tice to every part of it, which I had first
projected, would have swelled my work
very much beyond its present bulk ; but
it is not improbable, should the present
volume meet with a favourable reception
with the public, that I may be induced to
pursue the subject ; by which I shall be able
to introduce those points, and particularly
XVI
that relating to the origin and progress of
the Catholic question, which I have now
unavoidably omitted. The history of the
Jesuits and the Jansenists would of itself
form a highly curious and interesting
work ; and a general view of the history
of Catholicism in this country since the
Revolution of 1688, with a view of its pre-
sent state in the various countries of Chris-
tendom, would not be unworthv the notice
and regard of the religious and political
world.
The influence which the French Revolu-
tion has had on Catholicism was a topic on
which I much wished to have enlarged,
giving at the same time a general view of
the Gallican Church, which at all times has
manifested a praiseworthy spirit of inde-
pendence on the Pope and the Court of
Rome. Did not this subject lead too
much into extensive detail, I am con-
vinced it would add considerably to the
value and interest of my work; at least
it would furnish this important infer-
ence, that the practice of persecution in
any Catholic state has not depended on the
influence or authority of the papal power,
or the peculiar nature of the Roman Ca-
tholic religion ; seeing, that in France,
where that influence was ever the least
operative, more victims have been immo-
lated at the shrine of bigotry and state ty-
•
XVJl
ranny than in any other kingdom or state
of Europe.*
* On page 50 1 , in a note, 1 have mentioned the name of
Lord Petre : since that part was printed, I have met with
the following particulars, which I will take this opportu-
nity to introduce : — The character of Lord Petre w as re-
markably dignified and amiable; it is thus sketched in the
preface to Dr. Geddes's Translation of the Psalms : — " His
Lordship's exalted and amiable character will not soon be
forgotten. — Adored by his family, the centre of a numer-
ous and honourable band of friends, connected with some
of the most illustrious personages in the kingdom, all of
whom revered and loved him ; the warm and steady friend
of civil and religious liberty ; the soul of the successful
attempts in 1778 and 1779, for the relief of his Roman
Catholic brethren ; but, in his expanded benevolence,
knowing no difference of Catholic, Protestant, Jew, or
Infidel, his Lordship seemed to exist only for purposes of
charity and munificence : his death (though his conscien-
tious adherence to his religious principles kept him from
the public situations to which his birth, his possessions, and
his character, entitled him) was generally bewailed as a
public loss."
The following circumstance, in which his Lordship bore
a principal part, is one of many proofs of Roman Catho-
lic loyalty. In consequence of some occurrences, in the
years 1791 and 1792, the committee of the Roman Catho-
lic body, had thoughts of sending the late Dr. Hussey, the
titular Bishop of Waterford, to Rome, to clear up the er-
roneous notions, which, they thought, were entertained there
of their proceedings ; and Lord Petre undertook to de-
fray the expenses of the Dr.'s journey. — The instructions
given to Dr. Hussey contain the following article : — " If
any scruple should be raised about the act of settlement,
and limiting the succession of the crown to the Protestant
line, Mr. Hussey will not permit that subject to be dis-
cussed, because the English Catholics acknowledge no au-
thority to interfere with the succession of their kin^s, but the
law of the land, the authority of winch law, they have already
solemnly acknowledged by their oath of allegiance of 1774-"
Dr.
XV111
If any Protestant should infer, that be-
cause I have taken a somewhat favour-
able view of Popery, as it is called, I am,
therefore, inclined to admit the truth of its
doctrines, or the scriptural authority of its
discipline, let me be permitted to assert,
that so far from having become more in-
clined to admit those doctrines, by the in-
vestigations in which I have been neces-
sarily engaged, / am, if possible, more dis-
posed to express my gratitude and praise
to the Great Governor of the Universe, that
I have been born and educated amtng Pro-
testants, and that I have the unspeakable
privilege of deciding for myself what ap-
pears to my own mind to be the genuine
religion of the Son of God, and what the
weak and fallible "commandments of men."
It is not needful for me to say a single
word respecting the style and manner in
which this publication has been written ;
nor how far I have made a good or ill use
of the materials before me. These are mat-
ters which belong so entirely to the public
and the critics, that I must be content to
submit to their decisions, as I shall always
be happy to profit by their advice.
London, July 18, 1812.
Dr. Hussey's projected journey did not take place : but the
above extract of his instructions deserves to be preserved, on
account of the true sentiments of loyalty, which it expresses.
CONTENTS.
pAGfe,
PREFACE v— xviii.
PART I.
SECTION I.
Difficulties attending an undertaking of this nature.
— Design of the present work. — On the use of the
term Catholic. — Papist a term of reproach. — Le-
gal appellation of Catholics in Great Britain . . 1 — 15
SECTION II.
The Pope's supremacy. — Conversion of Constan-
tine. — Temporal power of the Pope. — The De-
cretals — Gift of Constantine 16 — 66
section in.
Council of Nice. — The Arian controversy . . . 66 — 78
section IV.
View of the state of the Church, and the attempts
at Reform previous to the time of Luther . . . 78 — 100
section v.
Causes that led to the Saxon and German Reform-
ation 100—142
SECTION VI.
General view of the nature, character, and decline,
of Monastic Institutions 142 — 175
section vii.
Sketch of the origin of the Reformation in Ger-
many 175 — 230
SECTION VIII.
Influence of the Reformation on Literature and the
Arts 231 — 249
SECTION IX.
On the influence of the Reformation on religion and
morals in general 249 — 272
XX CONTENTS,
PART II.
SECTION I. PAG!
Brief summary of the Catholic doctrines. — Roman
Catholic principles, in reference to God and the
King. — Points of faith literally universal. — Of the
Holy Trinity 273—301
SECTION II.
Summary of the Catholic doctrines, opinions, &c.
as contained in the Creed of Pope Pius J.V., the
Council of Trent, and other authorities . . . 301 — 333
SECTION III.
A Commination against numerous errors and blas-
phemies. — Address of the Roman Catholics to
Protestants 333—347
SECTION IV.
Some other points on which Protestants have mis-
taken, and consequently misrepresented Catho-
lics 347—373
SECTION V.
Of the Mass, and various other parts of doctrine,
discipline, and church government .... 373 — 431
SECTION VI.
Of Persecution, and the Violation of Faith with
Heretics , 431—488
APPENDIX,
Containing a brief view of the Laws now in
force against the Catholics of England and
Ireland, with Remarks ....... 489—535
A PORTRAITURE, be.
PART I.
SECTION I.
Difficulties attending an undertaking of this na-
ture — Design of the present Work — On the use
of the term Catholic — Papist a term of reproach
— Legal appellation of Catholics in Great Bri-
tain.
J.N narrating the History, and portraying the
Character of the Roman Catholic Religion, a
most valuable and elaborate mass of materials
presents itself. Whatever is venerable in Anti-
quities, important in History, or interesting in
Religion and Politics, calls for consideration in
an investigation of this nature. During the
long eventful succession of, perhaps, thirteen
centuries, the Religion of Christian Rome has
possessed the minds of Princes, and guided the
B
councils of Politicians in almost all the king-
doms and states of the civilized world.
A subject so extensive in its objects, impor-
tant in its consequences, and, withal, so remote
in its origin, must necessarily be attended with
considerable difficulty and obscurity. These
unavoidable perplexities are increased by those
clouds of superstition, ignorance, intolerance,
prejudice, vindictiveness, and mistake, which
for centuries have been collecting, in almost
impenetrable masses, to shut out the rays of
truth and darken every avenue to historical ac-
curacy.
Another Circumstance, particularly unfavour-
able to the early part of my undertaking, arises
in the triteness of the subject. The same truths
have been narrated again and again ; the same
falsehoods have been stated, defended, and re-
futed in every possible shape. Syllogisms with-
out number have demonstrated and destroyed
the same fact; sophism and argumentation have
in their turns exemplified and confused the same
event :
One thinks on Luther Heaven's own spirit fell.
Another deems him instrument of Hell ;
and as one or other of these mistakes has pre-
dominated, the records of history have been
twisted to answer any or every purpose. Yet
this subject in one point of view remains, as
far as I know, untouched : I believe no protes-
tant writer has ever yet attempted to describe
the Catholic Church, as distinct from the Catholic
Court of Rome; and to display the doctrines and
internal discipline of that Church as they are stat-
ed and explained by accredited, and universally-
acknowledged authors among the Catholics them-
selves. I know of no writer, who has paid suffi-
cient attention to this obvious truth : that every
well informed Christian, of whatever Church or
Sect, better knows his own 'opinions, and con-
ceives more justly of the bearings and tendency
of his own faith than any other person ; that
every Church or Society must be the properest
judges of its own doctrine and government.
This then is the ground I take ; this the great
design of my work, to give a faithful account of
the Catholic Religion, in doctrine and disci-
pline; and to represent these points exactly as
Catholics themselves understand and describe
them. I am to draw a picture of a living ob-
ject ; and that I may not give an unfair or an
improper likeness, I have placed the original
before me, rather than copy any picture of the
same object that has hitherto been given. But
it may be asked, by those who do not discriminate
between the candid statement of a fact, and the
defence of its consequences, what Protestant,
particularly what Protestant Dissenter, will pre-
sume to lift up his voice to advocate the cause of
the " mother of harlots ?" Who will venture his
B <2
4
reputation in the little band against the my-
riads of zealots, learned and unlearned, priest
and layman, king and subject, to support "the
beast with seven heads and ten horns ?" Who,
that is not himself " drunk with the wine of her
abominations," will plead for " the scarlet whore
of fallen Babylon ?" And who, however willing, is
" sufficient for these things?" Not the present"
writer, truly i he is neither willing nor able to
cope with powers so mighty; but he dare plead
the cause of justice and of charity; he has
sufficient courage to meet the most pointed
shafts of prejudice and mistake, armed, as he
feels himself, to be, with the invulnerable pa-
noply of truth. Strictly speaking, in describ-
ing the Religion of Catholics he has nothing to
do with the burning of heretics; the deposition
of kings; the interdicts of Churches or of na-
tions, though these matters shall not be over-
looked by him. No one can be more willing
than himself to reprobate, in the strongest pos-
sible terms, the wickedness of Popes, or the ar-
rogance and spiritual tyranny of Priests. He
is a Protestant, from long and serious convic-
tion ; but does it, therefore, follow, that he should
cherish in his bosom feelings of revenge against
those who still adhere to the religion of his ances-
tors, merely because those ancestors, in some
instances, acted unworthy of their Christian
calling, and fell into the common snares and
common errors of their times ? And he must
add, that even could it enter into the design of
this work to attempt an apology for the princi-
ples, or an excuse for the practices of any part,
or of any age of the Catholic Church, it would
be no very difficult task to demonstrate, that
the crimes by which her annals are disgraced,
have in no instance originated from an adher-
ence to any prescribed forms of religious con-
duct; or any sentiment enforced in her books
of devotion and worship.* Much in extenua-
tion might be offered on account of the mental
darkness, the political bondage, and the mistaken
policy of the ages in which those enormities
were committed; while much obloquy would
be removed, by distinguishing between the acts
of princes and politicians, and those of the heads
and ministers of religion.
To state with candour, and to delineate with
faithfulness, some of the leading features of Ca-
tholic history, and all the great doctrines of the
* " We are never to confound the weakness of the minis-
ter with the holiness of his ministry. We respect the sanc-
tuary in which Stephen officiated, — though Nicholas pro-
faned it: we revere the place from whence Judas fell, —
and to which Matthias was promoted : the Scriptures respect
the chair of Moses, — though they censure several pontifl's
who sat in it; and no Catholic canonizes the vices of popes,
— though he respects their station and dignity. The ponti-
fical throne is still the same, vvheLher it he filled by a cruel
Alexander VI. or a benevolent Ganganelli." See the Rev.
Arthur OLeary's Remarks on Mr. Wesley's Letter and Defence
of the Protestant Association, p. 39.
6
Catholic faith, uninfluenced by the zeal of a par-
tisan, or the disingenuous arts of an apologist, is
the chief, if not the sole, duty incumbent on the
author of this work. If in the discharge of this
duty, it should appear that a great majority of
our fellow Christians have been, and still are, mis-
understood in regard to their tenets, and misre-
presented in their history ; and that from these
mistakes, to give them no harsher a term, have
been generated and fostered a spirit and conduct
on the part of Protestants, unworthy of their prin-
ciples, and impolitic and unjust in the results, a
most important point will be attained, and a
desirable object accomplished : for the liberal
genius of the Protestant doctrines is most as-
suredly hostile to all acts of oppression, and all
sentiments manifestly unjust.
Prejudice, the source of a thousand evils,
would be much lessened against our Catholic
brethren, were Protestants carefully to abstain
from using terms of reproach and invidious
epithets. The very name, though erroneous, by
which we first designate a real or su pposed enemy,
so strongly prepossesses the mind, that no sub-
sequent facts can erase the impression, as long
as the first error is persisted in. On this ac-
count, a spirit of conciliation will always sug-
gest the propriety of even making some conces-
sions on the side of chanty ; and will infallibly
lead to the use of such terms as the adverse
parly cannot property object to ; at least, such
a mode of expression will be adopted as is not
in its obvious tendency degrading and offensive ;
and all irritating associations will be carefully
avoided.
The first acknowledged generic term given
to the followers of Christ, after the one applied
to them at Antioch,* seems to be that of Catholic.
It was used to distinguish the true Church, or
Society, of Jesus from all separate Societies,
such as the Donatists in Africa, and other schis-
matics. It is argued by Protestants, that,
strictly speaking, this term was never appro-
priate; seeing that in no age of the church,
after the death of its founder, have Christians
been uniform in their belief; or universal as a
body. The history of heretics, particularly of
those of the two first centuries, furnishes abun-
dance of evidence against the catholicity of
any particular church ; though it must be con-
fessed, that the number of ancient heretics
has been, in general, improperly stated. Epi-
phanius counts sixty, after the death of
Christ to his own time, the close of the fourth
century; and Philastre gives at least one hun-
dred and twenty-two, after the Saviour's mis-
sion ; but it should not be overlooked, that many
of these supposed heresies were some trilling and
often absurd notion, not at all affecting the doc-
trines of the church. The learned Dr. Larducrf
♦ Acts, c. xi. ver. 26. f History of Heretics, p r 17.
states, that fe most heresies of the two first cen-
turies may be reduced to two kinds." In this
conclusion he is partly supported by the early
authority of Theodoret.
Chillingworth, the great champion of Protes-
tantism, says, that the meaning of the phrase,
Holy Catholic Church in the Apostks' Creed, is
" the right the church of Christ, or rather, to
speak properly, the Gospel of Christ, hath to be
universally believed. And, therefore, the article
may be true, though there were no Catholic
Church in the world."* This capacious mode
of explication seems much more convenient than
true : how the holy catholic church could be
believed in, were there " no catholic church
in the world, 5 ' I must own, with all my re-
pect for Chillingworth, somewhat puzzles and
perplexes me.
It is, however, this appellation, as united with
the adjunct Roman, that demands immediate
consideration. I will not fatigue the reader's
patience and my own by wading through the
elaborate squabbles of ecclesiastics, about the
fact of St. Peter's residence at Rome.f The
* Works, folio, p. 196.
f The curious in this matter may consult the Art. Church
of Rome, in Broughton's Historical Library, vol. i. Also
Christianisimus Primativus, b. II. ch. i. p. 12. Dr. Benson's
Account,
9
great probability, at least as far as it appears
to me, is, that the apostle did visit that city ;
and that he was a teacher of Christianity there
at the time of his death, during the persecution
of the Christians by Nero.
However this may have been, it is a fact, that
a pretty regular succession of Roman Bishops
may be traced from Alexander I. at the close
of the first, or early in the second, century, to
Sabinianus, in the beginning of the seventh ;
from which time the succession is considered
somewhat doubtful for several ages. I am pre-
vented from beginning earlier by my determi-
nation to avoid controversy as much as possible;
and having compared several catalogues, I find
some difference with respect to the first six or
seven Bishops, and a little confusion, occasioned
in the succession, owing to the discrepancy of
opinion relative to the names of Cletusand Ana-
cletus; some contending that these were one
and the same Bishop. Perhaps, the most ample
list of Popes ever published is the one lately
given by an intelligent writer in the Rev. Robert
Adam's very candid and liberal publication, en-
Account of St. Peter's visit to Rome, A. D. 58, and fourth
of Nero, in his Hist, of the first planting of Christianity,
vol. ii. p. 184. Whiston's Memoirs, Bp. Pearson's Post-
humous Works, London, 1688, p. 2? et seq. and Baratier's
Inquiry about the Ancient Bishops of Rome, printed at
Utrecht, in 1740.
10
titled " The Religious World Displayed."* This
Catalogue is confessedly taken, for the most part,
from Berti's Ecclesiastical History. It com-
mences with St. Peter, and ends with the present
much injured Pius VII., including a succession
of 252 Roman Bishops, exclusive of the Anti-
popes, Dioscorus, in the sixth century ; Con-
stantine, in the eighth; Anastasius, in the ninth;
Leo VIII., and Boniface VII., in the tenth; and
John XVI., Benedict X., Honorius II. and
Clement III., in the eleventh century. The
succession of Roman Pontiffs is of more conse-
quence to the interests of religious truth than
some Protestftnt writers have been willing to
admit. I confess, for my own part, that could
I be convinced of the perfect accuracy of any
one of the catalogues that have been hitherto
published, I should feel myself somewhat em-
barrassed in disputing the ecclesiastical authority
and superiority of the supreme head of the
Catholic Church ; not that I should ever admit,
that any man, or set of men, has a right by any
prescription of mere time, to trample on the sa-
* This work is incomparably the best book of the kind
ever published. Mr. Evans's is professedly a " Sketch" but,
as far as it goes, it is, upon the whole, correct and can-
did. The View of all Religions, by Hannah Adams, is good,
and, generally speaking, just ; but there is too much attempt-
ed on so small a scale. The English edition, by Mr. Fuller,
is certainly the best, though some will think he has not im-
proved it by his " Essay on Truth."
11
cred exercise of reason, or the unalienable rights
of conscience ; but how episcopalians can satisfy
their consciences on this subject, has often
puzzled and surprised me. If visibility and
episcopal ordination are, indeed, essential to the
character of the church of Christ, it would seem
to follow, that a regular uninterrupted succes-
sion of christian Prelates from the Apostles is a
matter of vital importance. As a Dissenter, I
I have no uneasiness on this point : as a Church-
man I should tremble for the validity of my sacred
office.*
I will not, however, enter into any controversy
on the divine right of Episcopacy, in the issue of
which question I have so trifling an interest;
and upon which it is my firm conviction the
holy scriptures are completely silent. Let ca-
nonists and schoolmen, civilians and proctors
fight the matter out as well as they are able,
and dogmatize about non-essentials till they are
all weary of the useless contest, and sit down
* " Our Lordhimselfe telleth us, that he that is baptized,
and beleeveth, shall be saved : now to persuade such a one
that is baptized, and heleeveth, that he is no member of
Christ's church, except he can also set downe a catalogue of
the names of his spirituall parents, since Christ, is al one, as
to perswade such a one that he is no man, because lie can-
not reckon up his naturell parents, and fetch his pedigree
from Noah or Adam." Christianographie, or the Description
of the multitude and sundry sorts of Christians in ti<e World, not
subject to the Pope, 2nd. Ed. 1636. Epistle Dedicator ie.
n
contented to fear God and work righteousness;
it is quite sufficient to my purpose to shew,
that, whatever variations of discipline may at
different timeshave obtained in the Church, long,
very long, before the humble religion of Jesus
came to be established by human laws, or were
incorporated with state politics, the great arti-
cles of Faith, with but few exceptions, held to
the present hour by Roman Catholics, were the
standards of public doctrine, and the almost
universally acknowledged dogmas of the whole
Christian world; and as the chief head or
Bishop of the Church holding those doctrines
had his seat and spiritual court at the city of
Rome, that great society of Christians became
at length designated by the appellation of Ro-
man Catholics, at first used merely to distinguish
the Latin and Greek Churches. It concerns
me not to shew, that these doctrines are true
or false : what they were, they still are ; and so
far the Catholics of the present day have a legi-
timate claim to the appellation they have
adopted.
It never had occurred to any of their oppo-
nents before the time of Luther, that the re-
proachful term Papist, was properly applicable
to the members of the Church of Rome. This
word, it is true, is no otherwise improper than as
it is meant to convey an offensive idea. It is
derived from n«7r«, father*, and was given to the
Catholics, to insinuate that they look upon the
IS
Pope as their infallible, as well as supreme, head
and governor: equal, if not superior, to the
primitive apostles of Christ, the Saviour: a
calumny as false as it is foolish.
It only remains in this section to state how
the Catholics are at present recognized in the
public acts of this Empire.
When the early Reformers had, with a perti-
nacity unbecoming their extraordinary preten-
sions to purity of doctrine and spirituality of
character, succeeded in fixing on their old
friends the nickname of Papists,* and the faith
they had deserted that of Popery, the prejudice
these terms were intended to inspire, found its
way from the pen of the zealot and the lips of
the declaimer to the solemn acts of nations and
the edicts of the reformed princes. The liberal
and enlightened spirit of modern times has dic-
tated a wiser course; and the term Roman Ca-
tholics is that by which those formerly called
Papists are now designated in all the great sta-
tutes of this country. A writer of the present
day observes, that the Legislature has curiously
varied in this particular. From the time of the
introduction of the Protestant creed into Ire-
land, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, to that of
* See the Rev. Dr. Milner's Letters to a Prebendary, 4th
ed. p. 3. 8vo.
14
William III., the appellation used in the statutes
appears to have been " persons in communion
with the Church of Rome." In the commence-
ment of the reign of William III. in 1692, the
Catholics were expelled from the Irish Parlia-
ment. A hostile phraseology then appeared :
" Papists," " Popish People," &c. are to be
found in all statutes, affecting the Catholics,
from the 2 William III. to the 32 George III.
inclusive, and even later. The 33 George III.
at length styles them " Papists, or persons pro-
fessing the Popish or Roman Catholic Religion."
However, the latest statute, relating to the Ro-
man Catholics, 43 George III. chap. 30, drops
the harsher names ; and, by its title, denomi-
nates them "Roman Catholics." This may,
therefore, be taken to be their legal description
at this day. The reproachful epithets of " Pa-
pist," " Romanist," " Popish," " Romish,"
&c. are no longer applied to them by any gen-
tleman or scholar.*
The cruel riots, under the direction of the
insane and furious Lord George Gordon, presi-
dent of the intolerant and disgraceful Protestant
Association in 1780, raised the cry of " No
Popery," which, to adopt the words of the pre-
sent learned and liberal Dr. Butler, of Shrews-
bury, " is still a fertile theme of declamation to
* See Advertisement prefixed to " A Statement of the
Penal Laws which aggrieve the Catholics of Ireland."
lo
the old women and children of the year 1811."*
This term Papist is reproachful, conveys an
erroneous idea, keeps alive a dishonourable pre-
judice, and ought to be abolished; nor will 1
ever believe that man sincerely friendly to
Christian liberty who persists in the use of it.
Many of the latest and most respectable Pro-
testant writers against Roman Catholicism that
I have met with, seem to be conscious that there
is something not quite charitable in the use of
this term Papist ; hence they either lay it aside
altogether or apologize for retaining it. " I use
the term Papist or Romanist," says the present
Bishop of Durham,f " not as a reproach, but
in assertion of our own right." " The terms
' Popery, Papist and Romanist' are used," says
Mr. Stephenson, J " solely to avoid the repeti-
tion of that of Catholic." This being the case,
the author would have been rather more con-
sistent, had he adopted the word Catholic in-
stead of Romish* in his title page.
* See this gentleman's most excellent Sermon preached at
St. Mary's, Cambridge, at the Installation of the present Chan-
cellor, his Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, January
30th, 1811, p. 61. (Notes). The Church of England would
have nothing to fear, either from Catholics or Sectarists,
were all her Ministers equal in learning and candour to this
writer.
f Sermons, Charges and Tracts, p. 352.
1 " The Romish Church ; or, an Historical and Critical View
of some of the leading doctrines of the Church of Rome,"
p. 10, (Note).
" I thought
16
SECTION II.
The Pope's Supremacy — Conversion of Cons t an -
tine — Temporal pcwer of the Pope — The De-
cretals — Gift of Constantine.
IT is of great importance to be well ac-
quainted with the meaning and application of
terms; let us then pursue this idea by an in-
quiry into the first use of the word Pope, and of
the phrase Universal Bishop. In the earliest
ages of Christianity, this word Pope, which has
been so long, and often so unjustly, associated
with the idea of whatever is depraved in morals,
or cruel in government, was given to every
bishop, or pastor, presiding over a diocese or
district;* and it is still applied in the east to all
Christian Priests. I am perfectly aware that,
even among Catholics, much acrimonious con-
troversy has arisen out of the question concerning
the authority of Bishops. In this controversy, I
am no farther concerned than as a medium for
the conveyance of what, upon a sober and impar-
tial investigation, appears to be the prevailing
sentiment of the church.
" I thought this outlandish term (Romish Church) was
no longer used in England, at least on any solemn occasion ;
perhaps, we shall soon hear of the Greekish Church, unless the
Emperor Alexander will break off his alliance with Napo-
leon." Vide The Introduction prefixed to the Protestants'
Apology for the Roman Catholic Faith, p. 73. 1S09.
* Bingham's Origines Ecclesiastics?, lib. i. c. 2.
17
About the close of the third century, St. Cy-
prian, a prelate of the Latin church, declared
that no bishop was superior to his brethren,
since none of them established himself the
bishop of bishops, nor reduced his equals to obey
him by any tyrannical power, since every one
had an absolute liberty of his will, and entire
power j and as no one could be judged by ano-
ther, so neither could he judge. On this, the
Abbe Fleury remarks, that this is true, where
there is no decision of the church.* St. Jerome,
no very long time afterwards, writes thus:-—
" Wheresoever there is a bishop, be it at Rome,
at Eugubrium ; at Constantinople, or at Rhe-
gium; at Alexandria, or at Tanis, he is of the
same worth, and of the same priesthood : the
power of wealth and the lowliness of poverty
renders not a bishop more high or low : for all
of them are successors of the apostles. "f " A
Christian diocese," says Mr. Gibbon, if I may
be allowed to adduce his authority, " might be
spread over a province, or reduced to a village;
but all the bishops possessed an equal and in-
delible character : they all derived the same
powers and privileges from the apostles, from
the people, and from the laws."J The canons
of Gregory Thaumaturgus, bishop of Neo-Cae-
* Eccles. Hist. 1. vii. c. 29.
t Jerora. in Ep. Evangel. 101. nov. ed. torn. v. p. 802,
apud Geddes's Modest Apology, p. 81, 82.
X Decline and Fall, v. iii. p. 32, 8vo. ed.
C
IS
sarea, passed about A. D. 240, after the Goths
had ravaged Asia, in the reign of Galierius, are
contained in a circular letter sent to every
bishop by Euphrosynus, whom Thaumaturgus
styles his Old Friend. This letter begins by ad-
dressing every bishop as " Most Holy Pope."
Pope Pelagius II. A. D. 589, in a letter
annulling the acts of the council of Constanti-
nople, in which John the Patriarch took upon
himself the title of Universal Bishop, condemned,
as much too arrogant for any Christian Bishop,
this unbecoming claim of superiority.* This
opposition to John the Fraster is known to
every one ; but as some improper use seems at
times to have been made of it, I will continue
the subject a little further. Pelagius II. was
succeeded in the Pontificate by the celebrated
Gregory the Great, a person remarkable for
his humility and his ardent piety, and rendered
dear to Britons as the apostle of England. f The
disputes about the title of universal bishop, in
which this pope took so honourable a part, are
detailed in every respectable writer on ecclesias-
tical history since that period, though much
more has been made of the language of Gre-
gory than the factr, seem to warrant. " Do not
you know," says he, in a letter to the Constan-
♦ Banck, de Tyrannide Papa;, c. 16, in 1' Historie de*
Papes, in Vit. Pelag. II.
| Bede Eccles..HisU
19
tinoplitan bishops, " that the bishops of this
Apostolic See were called Universal, as a mark
of honour offered to them by the venerable
Council of Chalcedon ; but none of them usurp-
ed that arrogant title, lest by attributing to him-
self alone the dignity of episcopacy, he might
seem to deny the rights of all his brethren."*
In this epistle, the pope thus expostulates with
his brother prelate: " What wilt thou reply to
Christ, the Head of the Universal Church, that
thou goest about by the appellation of Universal
Bishop, to make all his members subject to thee ?
Whom dost thou imitate in so perverse a name,
but Lucifer, who sought to be singular, and
raise himself above his fellow angels ?" In thus
opposing the claim of John the Fraster, he does
not appear to have any private or sinister view
to his own honour ; for, in a letter which he ad-
dressed to Eulogius, patriarch of Alexandria,
who had complimented him with this obnoxious
title, he says,f " I request you will not address
me in that manner again, whereas, by giving to
others more than they are entitled to, you are
deprived of it yourselves. I do not wish to rise
by words, but by good conduct. Nor do I con-
sider as an honour, that, whereby, I know, my
brethren lose their honour : for my honour is
* Lib. iv. Ep. 38.
t I am, in this instance, quoting his words as I find them
translated in the Introduction to The Protestants' Apology
p. 119.
C 2
«0
the honour of the Universal Church. My ho-
nour is the firm vigour of my brethren j and,
indeed, I am then truly honoured, when to
every one of them their due honour is not de-
nied. Now, if you call me Universal Bishop,
you deny yourself to be that, of which you at-
tribute to me the universality. God forbid such
things should be thought of; away with phrases
that puff up by vanity, and wound charity !"
Agreeably with these sentiments, this great
bishop, writing to Eusebius of Thessalonica, and
other bishops, says, " If one bishop be uni-
versal, it remains, that you are not bishops:"
and in a letter to Sabinius, his nuncio at Con-
stantinople, he observes, that "as the govern-
ment cannot defend us against the swords of
our enemies, and as it has made us lose our pro-
perties for the protection of the state, it is most
shameful, that they should endeavour to make
us lose also our faith by consenting to this un-
just title." On this passage, Fleury remarks,
" St. Gregory considered this dispute as a ques-
tion of faith, because, in fact, we are not allowed
by faith to acknowledge but one only bishop,
of whom the others would be only vicars."* In
other parts of this pope's epistles, he exclaims,
* f Oh ! my great lord,. it is not for my own right
or honour that I dispute : I speak unequivo-
cally and boldly: whosoever shall call himself
universal bishop, or desire to be so called, in the
, i . . II. I . || III II ,....,! i , . i ■ i, | | | I 1 1 «■———?»
♦ Hist. Eccles. liv. xxxv. $ 39.
21
pride of his heart, is the forerunner of Anti-
christ."* And again, in his epistle to the Em-
peror, " the Universal Church," says he, " must
go to ruin, whensoever he that is the Universal
Bishop shall chance to falL"f "In his rival,"
says Gibbon,{ speaking of Gregory I., " the
patriarch of Constantinople, he condemned the
antichristian title of universal bishop, which the
successor of St. Peter was too haughty to con-
cede, and too feeble to assume ; and the eccle-
siastical jurisdiction of Gregory was confined to
the triple character of bishop of Rome, primate
of Italy, and apostle of the West." In this esti-
mate of the Roman Pontiff's jurisdiction, this
sweeping historian is somewhat inaccurate j and
it is proper now to shew the use which some
disputants have made of Gregory's humble and
pious concessions. It is argued from hence,
that before the age of Gregory, the Popes of
Rome had no exclusive spiritual authority in
the Church beyond the limits of their own dio-
cese. Before we proceed to examine into this
matter, it may be proper to take some notice of
what the pope says in the epistle wherein he
alludes to the council of Chalcedon, as having
honoured the bishops of the Roman See with
the title of Universal. " On ne trouve point
dans les actes de ce Concile ce que dit le Papo
S. Gregoire dans ses lettres, qu'il ofFrit au Pape
• Lib. vi. Ep. 30. f Lib. iv. Ep. 32.
% Decline and Fall, vi. p. 167.
22
le titre d'EvSque cecumhiique ou universel. Ba-
ronius croit que ce titre se trouvoit donne au
Pape dans 1' inscription de la lettre qui lui fut
adressee par le Concile."* And, indeed, one is
reduced to the alternative of believing, either that
his holiness there refers his rival John to a fact
which had no existence, which, however, is by
no means likely, or of admitting the probable
conjecture of Baronius, that this title was given
to Gregory in the inscription of some letter ad-
dressed to him by the Chalcedonian Fathers.
With respect to the objections made to the
supremacy of the Bishops of Rome from the
language of St. Gregory in the epistles just quot-
ed, it is my duty to state the explanations which
Catholics have given of it; and on this point,
perhaps, I cannot do better than quote what the
learned Dr. Milner,f and the equally learned
anonymous author of the Introduction to " The
Protestants' Apology," have said relative to the
Pope's supremacy.
Speaking of this papal attribute, Dr. Milner
observes : li We find this superiority in the
clearest and strongest terms, attributed to the
Popes, during the first three centuries, by the
illustrious fathers and writers who lived in them;
* Abrege Chronologique de 1' Histoire Ecclesiastique,
tome i. p. 317.
f Letters to a Prebendary, Lett. II.
23
particularly by St. Irenaeus, who boasts of his
having been instructed by St. Polycarp, the dis-
ciple of the apostles ; by Tertullian, the most
ancient Latin father whose works are extant ;
and by St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, the
great light of the church in the third century.
We find this prerogative claimed and exercised
by pope Victor in the case of the churches of
Asia Minor, which he threatened to excommu-
nicate ; whether on sufficient grounds or not, is
foreign to the present question ; likewise in the
case of the Montanists, and several other heretics,
whom the same pope actually did cut oif from
the communion of the church. Finally, not to
multiply instances, we find this prerogative ex-
ercised in the case of several bishops, and other
individuals in Gaul, in Spain, and in Africa,
which were judged and decided upon at Rome
by pope Stephen, during the period in question."
These arguments certainly go to prove, what
I should think few sensible readers will feel in
the least disposed to question : that, from a
very early period of Christianity, the bishops
of Rome have held a peculiar authority over
a large portion of the christian world ; and
that, whether from the dignity of their dio-
cese, as including the metropolis of the Roman
empire, or from whatever other cause, the
Roman Pontiffs have always exercised a kind of
supremacy in spiritual matters; and this will
appear still more clearly when I have adduced
the arguments employed by the anonymous
14
author already alluded to: "While St. Gregory,"
says he, " was anxious for the rights of his coir
leagues, he was not forgetful of his own. In the
letter to John of Constantinople, he mentions
St. Peter as the first member of the holy univer-
sal church, and speaks of his own appointment
to the government of the church." Writing to
the emperor Mauritius, by whom John was patro-
nised, he says : " the management and primacy
of the whole church had been given to St. Peter."
Elsewhere he asserts, that *< the apostolic see is
the chief of all churches ;" and with regard to
the very church of Constantinople, he says, in
a letter to John, bishop of Syracuse, that " no
one doubts of its being subject to the see of
Rome." In another letter to the same prelate,
he writes thus : " As to his saying that he is
subject to the apostolic see ; if bishops be guilty
of faults, I do not know of any bishop, who is
not subject to it ; but when nothing culpable
requires its interference, they are all equal, ac-
cording to the rule of humility." On this pas-
sage Fleury remarks thus: " These words of
St. Gregory indicate, in a precise manner, the
limits of the power of the head of the church.
As long as bishops do their duty, he treats them
as his equals : but he is the superior of all of them,
when there is a question of correcting them."
I have quoted quite sufficient to shew, that
the popes of Rome have early claimed, and it
has been granted to them, a government and
25
supremacy over the rest of their brother bishops,
in points of general discipline and order in the
church : nor do I see why protestants should
feel so extremely sore on this point: to my
mind, it only proves, that the simplicity of the
gospel of Christ was encroached upon in very
early times, even earlier than most writers seem
to allow. But that St. Peter had any superior
rank or authority over the rest of the apostles,
is not by any means clear. The Acts of the
Apostles, the first, and the only correct, Eccle-
siastical History, does not, according to my
views, convey any such a notion ; and I feel
very little concern about the Acts of any other
Apostles besides those of whom we have clear
and authentic accounts in the New Testament.
It is to be feared, we all lay too much stress upon
the Fathers: writers who agreed upon hardly a
single point of doctrine or discipline; and too
little upon the sacred volume, which contains
every thing necessary to be known or believed
relative to our future happiness.
If Protestants cannot maintain their ground
with Catholics, armed, like David against the
giant of Gatli with a sling and a stone, from the
Bible only, they had better give up the contest:
for it is hopeless to fight against the army
of Councils, Synods, Fathers, and Schoo'men,
which Catholics are able to bring into the field
on these occasions. One little book, which I
can carry in my bosom, and refer to in every
26
exigence of moment to my soul's peace, is
worth all the mighty tomes of the Vatican ;*
superior, in my estimation, to all that bishops
ever wrote, or canonists have quarrelled about.
Which of the councils, from the first of Nice,
to that of Trent, will point out in clear,
unequivocal terms, " what we must do to be
saved ?" and of which of the Fathers shall we
inquire " the way to the kingdom of heaven?"
Alas! alas! they all deceive or confuse us;
and we are compelled to recur to those records
of immortality, which are alone infallible, to
learn this simple truth, that " to enter into life,
we must keep the commandments ;" and that
doing this, it boots little who is the visible
head of the church ; when, or how, he acquired
his real or pretended supremacy; nor am I
painfully anxious to know whether Gregory the
Great or John the Fraster first lorded it over
God's heritage ; whether Pallavicini or Paolo
Sarpi, give the truest history of the council
of Trent — whether the lascivious and cruel
Harry VIII. or the luxurious and careless
* " While we possess the Bible, which is every day be-
coming more free from faulty corruptions of the text, we
need have no other guide : for we know, that erroneous doc-
trines had even crept into the religion of Christ during the
days of the Apostles." MS. note, in the hand writing of the
late excellent Duke of Grafton, on the margin of page v, of
Simpson's Apology for the Doctrine of the Trinity ; formerly
his Grace's copy. — How seldom do Dukes concern them-
selves about the sacred text or the doctrines of the Gospel '
27
Leo X. was the head of the national church. Ne*
vertheless, though these may be my private feel-
ings on subjects so remotely connected with
the pure and undefiled religion of the gospel,
it is not less my duty to discuss these matters
in treating of the great events of Ecclesiastical
History.
However strongly Gregory might oppose the
exorbitant ambition of John of Constantinople,
that patriarch persisted in calling himself the
Universal Bishop, though not, it would seem, in
the sense in which he had been understood by
the Roman Pontiff. In any sense the title was
offensive, and the bishop of Rome did not fail
to exert all his power, and to use every art to
induce the eastern prelate to lay it aside. We
have seen that this title was first claimed, or
rather revived, (for some such appellation had
been conferred on Leo I. in the years 44.5 and
450, by Valentinian III. emperor of the West,
and Marcian of the East,*) during the pontifi-
cate of Pelagius II., and that his successor
Gregory the Great strenuously opposed it. But
the next pontiff, Boniface III. we are informed,
* History of Popery, vol. i. p. 1. Essay on Scripture
Prophecy, p. 104. Carolus Sigonius de Occid. Imper. p. 106,
314, and the learned Annotator on Mosheim, says, that Leo
and Justinian had conferred this title on the Bishops of Con-
stantinople. See note s. vol. ii. p. 112. of his translation of
Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. 8vo. ed.
38
tried every measure in his power to have the title
made over, by an inalienable right, to himself
and his successors of the apostolic see of Rome.
He used all his influence with the emperor
Phocas to assist him in this struggle for mas-
tery, or rather for the honour of a name ; and
he is said to have succeeded; yet it does not
appear at present, that the bishops of Rome
have any such title, further than as they are
styled the Head of the^Church, an appellation,
which, in some sense, the patriarchs of Con-
stantinople themselves at first granted to them.
The contests, however, on this subject, at
length grew so furious, that a foundation was
laid in them for that great schism which after-
wards divided the Greek and Latin churches.
The reader should observe, that this question
has nothing to do, strictly speaking, with the
title of Pope. Of the use of this word, no dis-
pute arose till a much later period, when Gre-
gory VII. A. D. 1076, transferred this title to
himself only and his successors.* Nor should
the reader fall into that common mistake, so
* Padre Paolo sopra Bencf. Eccles. c. viii, and the other
authorities referred to in Card's Historical Outlines of the
Rise and Establishment of the Papal Power, p. 5. Without
admitting all the reasoning of this latter writer, I cannot
mention him without noticing the elegance and the majesty
of his style, the great extent of his reading, and the general
value of his various publications.
29
confusing and injurious to this subject, of con-
founding the supremacy of the bishop of Rome,
an honour allowed to him by all Catholic
writers,* with the infallibility of the Pope, an
attribute never granted to him by the Church,
though some persons, who would have written
any other nonsense to gain the favour of the
Roman Court, have ridiculously asserted it.
For the present I will dismiss this subject of
the supremacy : we shall shortly have occasion
to advert to it. As, however, it is so obviously
connected with the origin of national ecclesias-
tical establishments, and the subsequent tem-
poral authority of the Pope ; and as those
establishments have a relation so near to the
conversion of Constantine the Great, I will
here glance at the accounts we have received of
this great and important event in the history of
the church and of the Roman Empire.
Either at noon, or at midnight — awake, or
asleep — alone, or in the midst of his army — on
a march, or during the heat of battle — in the
* Except, indeed, such accommodating and " modest" au-
thors as the late Doctor Alexander Geddes ; who seemed al-
most inclined, as some have thought, to give up Transub-
atantiation, to please the Church of England ; the Trinity,
to gratify the Unitarians; and even, it is to be feared, the
Scriptures themselves, to conciliate the Deists ; though can-
dour should lead one to hope, that the Doctor was guided in
these matters by the honest dictates of his mind.
30
south, or in the east, or in both at the same
time — on his passage over the Alps, at Treves,
Besancou, or some other place,* Constantine
the Great saw, or thought he saw, a mira-
culous vision, which was followed by two very
opposite consequences : — his conversion to a
religion which forbids the shedding of blood,
and the immediate destruction of a whole army.
The task were endless and useless to trace this
story and the evidences of it through the vari-
ous channels and the perplexing ramifications
by which it is attested, confirmed, amplified
and confuted. The sacred oath of the Empe-
ror to his doubting biographer, Eusebiusf — the
martyr and veteran Artemius,J whose apo-
cryphal Acts are prudently rejected by Tille-
mont,§ and unnoticed by Du Pin ; the flowery
Lactantius,|| or as Mr. Gibbon conjectures,
Cfecilius^y ; the poet Prudentius, ** Baronius,f f
* Vid. Tillemont des Empereurs, torn. iv. p. 573.
t Euseb. in Vit. Const. 1. i. c. 28.
1 Act. S. Artem. apud Metaphor. 20 Octob. in Cressey's
Church History of Brittany, p. 122.
(J Mem. Eccles. torn. vii. p. 1317.
|| De Mortibus Persecut. c. xlvi.
% Dec. and Fall, iii. 16. Mr. Gibbon is partly supported
in this conjecture by Le Clerc (Bibliotheque Ancienne et
Moderne, torn. iii. p. 438,) and by the learned and rational
Lardner (Cred. part II. vol. vii. p. 94.) In ascribing' this
declamation on the death of Persecutors to Caecilius, the
Roman Historian " tamely follows the Colbert MS."
** Prud. contra Symmach. 1. 1. 464,482.
ft An. Eccles. A. D. 312.
31
Philostorgius,* Gelasius of Cyzicus,f and along
train of others, both sacred and profane, histo-
rians, poets, and panegyrists narrate, in nume-
rous forms, and with an amusing variety of in-
cident and contradiction, the following fact :
After the death of his father, Constantius
Chlorus, who expired at the imperial palace, in
the city of York, A. D. 306, Constantine
marched into Italy, against the cruel persecutor
Maxentius, with an army of 40,000 men. Dur-
ing this march, he became extremely sensible
of the danger of the expedition which most
probably would decide the fate of the empire;
and feeling some doubt as to the power of his
troops, and more still, it would seem, as to the
national deities whose promises had excited the
hopes and disappointed the confidence of for-
mer emperors in similar exigencies, he turned
his thoughts towards that Being in whom his
father had more successfully trusted; and ear-
nestly desired that some signal of the divine
approbation should be afforded him. In the
midst of these devout and fervent aspirations,
there appeared to him, early in the afternoon,
during a clear and open day, the figure of a
luminous cross, immediately above or upon the
body of the sun ; and this was visible to his
* Eccles. Hist, apud M. i' Abbe Du Voisin's Dissertat.
»ur la Vision de Constantin.
t Act. Con. Nicen. 1. i. c. 4.
S3
whole army, or at least to that part of it then
present with him. The cross had this inscrip-
tion n$lu tutit ; by this Conquer.*
It is needless to remark, that this miraculous
appearance astonished and confounded every
beholder ; but it is curious to observe, that the
Emperor himself had little or no conception of
its import till the following night, when, during
a dream, the amiable form of the Saviour of
men presented itself before him, and exhibiting
the same sign he had seen in the heavens, com-
manded the astonished Emperor to make a stan-
dard of the same shape; assuring him that
under its banners his arms should prove victori-
ous. This additional prodigy was, early in the
morning, communicated to the Emperor's
friends ; and the combined efforts of jewellers
and lapidaries soon produced the standard that
should destroy the legions of paganism, and
erect, on an imperishable foundation, the tem-
ples of true religion. Labarum, a name ren-
dered mysterious by the obscurity of its etymo-
logy, but subsequently venerated for its trium-
phant efficacy, was given to it. It consisted of
a long pike intersected by a transversal beam.
A silken veil hung down from the beam, and
was curiously inwrought with images of the
» Platina says, the emperor heard the Angels near the
cross repeat these words. Life of S. SylvtsUr.
reigning monarch and his children. The sum-
mit of the pike supported a crown of gold which
enclosed a mysterious monagram, at once ex-
pressive of the figure of the cross, and the initial
letters of the name of Christ.* The laharum
was intrusted to the care of fifty soldiers, of
tried courage, whose office was rewarded with
distinguished honours and emoluments, and
even their persons deemed invulnerable during
the discharge of their duty.
Whatever truth or reality there may be in
this event, f the destruction of the army of Max-
entius, and the conversion of the imperial vic-
tor, speedily followed. Constantine became
firmly seated on the throne, with no rival
besides Licinius ; and he also fell, shortly after-
wards, before the invincible powers inspired by
the labarum.
The gratitude and the interest of Constantine
urged him to proceed in the labour he had pre-
viously commenced, of promoting the interests
of the christian faith ; and he laid the foundation
of the church's greatness in gold and silver; in
jewels, and treasures of every kindx The first
of the christian emperors resolved to extend and
perpetuate his fame by the legal establishment of
* Gibbon.
I The subject lias been ably treated by Mr. Henley, in
:m Appendix to Gregory's Hist, of the Christ. Church, vol. i.
1)
34
the new religion, and the abolition of paganism.
Liberality of sentiment in the mind of the em-
peror sensibly contracted in proportion as his
faith expanded. Whilst he halted between the
rival religions, his scepticism on both hands
came in aid of his philosophy and good
nature; but when he found himself strong in
the principles of the new faith, his zeal kindled
against the idols of antiquity. On the ruins of
the magnificent temples of paganism were erect-
ed innumerable churches, sacred to the Saviour,
the Blessed Virgin, and all the Saints. If he
did not wholly destroy, he mutilated and ren-
dered useless, the most beautiful edifices. The
Holy Sepulchre, which had been profaned by
an image, or a temple, of Venus on its site, was
cleared of its rubbish, and a stupendous chris-
iian church erected on the spot.* A temple
* ' f His mother Helena undertook a journey to the East,
purposely to build the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at Je-
rusalem ; where, as the workmen were digging to lay the
foundation of it, they found the cross on which our Saviour
was crucified. Helena sent part of this precious relique to
her son, and left the remainder at Jerusalem." So far the
story of " finding the cross" may be true and rational ; but,
adds the author whose authority I am now quoting, " the
cross has so multiplied since, that if all the pieces of wood now
said to have been part of it, and exposed as such in Roman
.Catholic countries, were to be put together, I may venture
to say, it would afford fuel for all the inhabitants of this me-
tropolis [Paris], during the severest winter. There is hardly
a Romish chapel abroad, that does not boast of having a
piece
35
dedicated with every rite of prostitution and
uncleanness, to the same goddess, at Aphaca, on
Mount Libanus ; another, sacred to the honour
of vEsculapius, at vEgas, in Cilicia j and a third
also devoted to the service and the rites of the
mother of Cupid, at Heliopolis, in Syria, were
totally demolished. The emperor, shortly after
his conversion, caused all the heathen temples to
be shut up in Constantinople, a city which he
had himself built upon the ruins of the ancient
Byzantium, and honoured with the name of
New Rome. The vestibules and the roofs were
destroyed, and the images of superstition re-
piece of the true cross. What abuses !" — History of the
Popes, translated from the French, by John Mills, Esq. vol.
i. p. 102.
This is a species of hyperbole not very creditable to the author's
sincerity. The ancient and venerable ruins of Holy Cross, in
Ireland, once an Abbey of the order of Cisteaux, in Burgundy,
a branch of the benedictine order, was built "for the par-
ticular purpose of preserving a portion of the true cross, on
which our Saviour suffered death." This " identical portion
of the true cross" was preserved by the Ormond family
in the reign of Henry VIII., and " by them transmitted to
the family of Kavenagh," one. of the descendants of which,
deposited it with the present owner, a friend of the present
Rev. Dr. Milner's, who remarks, " that it is the largest piece
of the cross he ever met with, being about two inches and a
half long, and about half an inch broad, but very thin. It
is inserted in the lower shaft of an archiepiscopal cross,
made of some curious wood, and enclosed in a gilt case." —
Vide Dr. Milner's Inquiry into certain vulgar opinions con-
cerning the Catholic Inhabitants and Antiquities of Ireland,
pp. 128.129.
D<2
36
moved from their sacred niches and pedestals to
adorn the squares and the public places of the
city. The Pythian Apollo, and the Sminthian,
the divine tripods of Delphos, and the muses of
Helicon, were exposed to the gazing contempt
of the multitude, or preserved to ornament the
Circus and the Palace.*
Whatever may be the partial feelings of the
classic antiquary on a review of these innova-
tions, the moralist and the rational christian will
secretly rejoice at the abolition of so many
abodes of vice, and nurseries of prostitution.
This pleasure will be heightened by the consi-
deration, that while the imperial convert direct-
ed his zeal against the vices of paganism, and
the impurities of superstition, he protected, with
a laudable justice, the persons and the private
property of his subjects.-}' By a wise and a li-
beral policy, unhappily but little known or prac-
tised in later times, he subdued the prejudices,
and secured the affections, of persons of all re-
ligions. This, at least, was his conduct in the
earliest days of his conversion ; nor did he in-
* Euseb. in Vit. Const.
t The following circumstance is mentioned by Socrates
[1. i. c. 10.] It affords an interesting proof of the liberal
spirit of the emperor : Acesius, a Novatian Bishop, having
been commanded to give an account of his dissent from the
church, the emperor heard patiently what he had to urge in
his defence, and then said : — " Well, set up your ladder, Ace
sius, in your own way, and go to heaven upon it alone."
37
jure the persons, or infringe the rights of any
of his pagan or christian subjects, till his zeal
heightened into an exorbitant thirst to be in-
strumental in rendering the church he had es-
poused respected for her grandeur, magnificence,
and riches. Here lies the root of the evil. — In
this single principle were generated every cala-
mity, all the wickedness, bloodshed, and tyranny
that unbelievers have so wantonly and so un-
justly thrown in the teeth of Christianity. The
religion of Christ is in its very essence simple
and unassuming. It connects not itself with
the kingdoms of this world. — It requires not the
officious hands of an imperial Uzza to support
it. To adopt the words of a late spirited writer
of the Church of England, " it wants nothing
but fair play. Human mixtures pollute it.
Human aids disgrace it."* But Constantine
disfigured the lovely form of Christianity, when
he bedecked her in the gaudy trappings of
worldly grandeur.f He himself became a
preacher,]; and the church gratefully acknow-
ledged him as her temporal head. This unfor-
tunate honour confirmed the evil which his
officious piety had already introduced. The
* The Rev. D. Simpson's Key to the Prophecies, pref.
p. xvi. Ed. 1S09.
t "When kings interfere in matters of religion, they don't
protect it, they enslave it." — Fenelon's Letter to Charles, son
of our James II., in Mr. Butler's interesting Life of that
great and good man.
t Euseb. in Vit. Const. 1. 4. c. 15, 32.
3B
ministers of a religion, of which the greatest em-
peror in the world was the temporal head and
protector, could not with decency any longer
remain in obscurity or poverty ; nor was it be-
coming, that those whose sacred duties led them
daily to temples ornamented with whatever the
refined taste of the ancients could suggest, with
the richest treasures of the arts, and all that an
elegant superstition could invent, should them-
selves appear before a courtly auditory dressed
in plain and simple garments, respected for their
virtues only, and loved but for their holy office'
and good works' sake : other honours, and on
other grounds, awaited them.
From this time, the superior rank of the Bi-
shop of Rome in the Christian hierarchy was
visible to all the Roman world. His right to it,
the object of these pages does not require me
to discuss: I shall content myself with present-
ing the reader with a succinct statement, put
into my hands by Charles Butler, Esq. a well-
known Roman Catholic gentleman, which pro-
fesses to shew, that in point of fact, the Bishop
of Rome has, in every age of Christianity, unin-
terruptedly enjoyed this splendid pre-eminence,
with the universal consent of Christendom.
"THE first distinction among christians, is of
those who believe, and those who disbelieve,
the supremacy, in jurisdiction and rank, of the
Pope. Leaving at present, out of considera-
39
tion, the point of his right to this supremacy,
the following deduction seems to shew that, in
point of fact, he has been in the actual posses-
sion and exercise of it, from the dawn of Chris-
tianity to the present time. It is observable,
that Mr. Gibbon* remarks, that ' till the great
' division of the Church, in consequence of the
' Greek schism, the Roman bishop had ever
* been considered by the orientalists, as the
* first of the five patriarchs.'
" I.— A. D. 500. With the exception of
the schismatics of the Greek church, the sects
in the east, a few Waldenses in Lucerne, a few
Hussites in Bohemia, and a few obscure Pauli-
cians, the whole christian world, at the begin-
ning of the \6th century, acknowledged the su-
premacy of the Pope. Luther himself in 1.518,
i prostrated himself at the feet of his holiness,
' resigned himself to him, for his absolution or
c condemnation, and professed to receive his
' decision, as he should use the word of Jesus
' Christ himself.'f 1° 1519, he declares, that
c it never had been his design, either to attack
' the Pope or the Church of Rome ; that the
' Church of Rome was superior over all ; that,
* except Jesus Christ himself, there was nothing
' in heaven or earth that could be preferred to
« her.'t
* Dec. and Fall, Vol. VI. p. 400.
t Ed. Jen. t. i. p. 58. * I. i. 144.
40
" II.— A. D. 1439. From this time, ad-
vancing upwards to the commencement of the
christian era, the first event of importance
on which we alight, is the Council of Florence.
It was there defined, < that full power was de-
' legated to the bishop of Rome, in the person
* of St. Peter, to feed, regulate, and govern the
c universal church, as expressed in the general
* councils and the holy canons.'*
" III.— A. D. 860. The object of the
Council of Florence, was to re-unite the Greek
and Latin Churches : this leads to The Schism
which separated them. All persons conversant
in ecclesiastical history know, that the schism
had its origin in the deposition of St. Ignatius,
the patriarch of Constantinople, and the elec-
tion of Photius in his place. Now, as soon as
Photius was elected, he himself sent his four
metropolitans to Rome, to inform the Pope of
the deposition of St. Ignatius, and of his own
election, and to solicit the Pope's confirmation
of his election. But if the Pope had not an
acknowledged supremacy of jurisdiction, in the
the general opinion of the Eastern empire, this
deputation to Rome could have answered no
purpose, and would never have been thought
of. The Pope's answer to it was expressed in
the genuine style of admitted and undisputed
* Sess. 10.
41
authority. He addressed a letter to all the
faithful of the East j and, particularly address-
ing himself to the patriarchs of Alexandria, An-
tioch and Jerusalem, c You,' says his holiness,
' in virtue of my apostolic authority, I order to
f think as I do, of the merits of the cause be-
' tween Ignatius and Photius, and I enjoin you
* to have these letters read through your re-
' spective dioceses, that their contents may be
c made known to all.' Thus, then, at the com-
mencement of the schism, the supremacy of
the Pope was as much acknowledged by the
Greek, as it was by the Latin Church.
" IV. — A. D. 7<50. If we continue our ad-
vances, the next period which engages our atten-
tion, is the Translation of the Empire of the West
to the Latins, the important event which con-
nects ancient and modern Rome. Turning
from the part which the Popes took in the tem-
poral causes and effects of that momentous
event, their spiritual power was there most fully
and unequivocally recognized. The political
revolution which it occasioned, had necessarily
a considerable degree of influence on the spiri-
tual concerns of the church, and gave rise to
much conscientious doubt. In that state of
general scruple and uncertainty, the universal
resort was to Rome. The French did not
apply to their primate at Lyons, or to the
bishop of the metropolis, the Germans to Vien-
na, the Hungarians to Strigonium, or the Bohe-
42
mians to Prague. They all applied for instruc-
tion to the bishop of Rome, and followed his
instructions.
" V. — A. D. 500. Advancing higher, we come
to the time, when the Faith was first preached to
the Barbarians. The preacher was generally
sent by the see of Rome. If it happened, that
the faith was not originally planted in a coun-
try by a particular mission, but was diffused
there by the accidents of w 7 ar or commerce, or
by any other circumstance, it always followed,
that as soon as the numbers of the faithful be-
came considerable, and the church acquired a
consistency, the see of Rome invested proper
persons with powers to confirm her in her faith,
to establish her hierarchy, and settle her disci-
pline.
" We are struck at the grandeur of Pagan
Rome, when we read of her highways, which
issuing from the forum, towards Italy, pervaded
the provinces, and were terminated only by the
frontiers of the empire. Far beyond those, the
successor of St. Peter sent from christian Rome
the ministers of his divine commission to an-
nounce the faith to the nations of the earth.
" Sedes Roma Petri, quae pastoralis honoris
" Facta caput mundo, quid quid, non
" Possidet armis,
" Religione tenet.
" St. Prosper/'
43
" VI. A. D. 451, 401, 381.— Pursuing the in-
quiry, we come to the Four first General Councils.
At that of Chalcedon, the fourth of them, held
in 451, the fathers addressed St. Leo the Great
* as the archbishop of all the churches, as the
' head, as the person to whom the care of
' Christ's vineyard was committed.' They sent
the proceedings of the council to him { for his
* confirmation, «« @i@muo-u.' At the council of
Ephesus, the 3d general council, held in 401,
the fathers assembled, condemned Nestorius,
and sent to the Pope, an account of their pro-
ceedings. They tell him, ( that they were forced
' to that melancholy step by the canons, and
' the letters of their holy father Celestine, the
c bishop of Rome.' On receiving pope Celestine's
letter, they exclaimed, — c the sentence is just,
' the synod returns thanks to Celestine, the
* guardian of the faith.' One of the legates, in
his address to the council, says, ' that in every
' age, it had been known that St. Peter, to whom
' Celestine was in succession, was the prince and
* chief of the apostles, the pillar of faith, and
' the foundation of the church.' Before the
opening of the second general council, (which
was held at Constantinople in 381), the Empe-
ror Theodosius, and the principal ecclesiastical
dignitaries of the eastern church, sent an em-
bassy to Rome, to pope Damascus, with orders
to take his directions on what should be done,
and to follow them. In their condemnation of
Macedonius, they used the Pope's expressions.
44
A notion prevailing, that the council exceeded
the limits of its authority, the Pope examined
their proceedings, and, in some instances, con-
firmed, in others, annulled them. That the council
might be attended by the prelates of the eastern
church, the Pope summoned the fathers as-
sembled at Constantinople to Rome. In their
answer, ' they call themselves his members - 3
* they wish for the wings of a dove to fly to him,
c and repose in his bosom;' but they represent
to him, * that so long an absence might be dan-
c gerous to their churches.' In his reply, he
compliments them ' on the respect they shew
' to the holy see ; and informs them, that Ti-
' motheus, a disciple of Apolinaris, whom they
e had petitioned his holiness to depose from his
e see, had been deposed.' Now, except on ac-
count of his superior jurisdiction, they never
could have made this application to his holiness.
At the first of the general councils, (held at Nice
in 325), St. Silvester presided by his legates.*
" VII. A. D. 300, 100.— This brings us to
the 3d century. Public events, in some mea-
sure, forsaking us, in this place, we must refer
to the writings of individuals, and of these, a
very small number can be mentioned. In the
third century, St. Cyprianf complains of certain
* This, at least, is the opinion of many, though, as we
shall hereafter have occasion to remark, this point is by no
means clear.
f Ep. 3 ed. Bas. p. 14,
45
schismatic bishops of Africa, * who sailed to-
' wards the chair of St. Peter, the principal
f church, from whom the unity of the church
* arises.' He calls the church of Rome ' the
' mother and roof of the catholic church.'* He
says, * there is but one God, one Christ, one
' church, and one chair, founded on St. Peter,
£ by the word of God. No one can raise any
* altar or priesthood, besides that which is estab-
* lished : he that soweth elsewhere does but
s scatter and throw away.' In the second cen-
tury, we have the celebrated declaration of St.
Irenseus : ' Ad hanc enim ecclesiam Romanam>
* propter potior em principalitatam, necesse est
4 omnem convenire ecclesiam.' In the first cen-
tury, a division arose in the church of Corinth.
Some of the apostles were then living. To those,
notwithstanding the exalted rank and high in-
fluence which their apostolic character gave
them, the deposed priests did not appeal. Their
appeal was made to St. Clement, the second
pope in succession to St. Peter, and he confirm-
ed their deposition. The letter addressed by him
on this occasion to the Corinthians, is still ex-
tant. The modesty and humility with which he
expresses himself in it are edifying j but he in-
sists on the supremacy of the Roman see. ' The
' chief priest,' he says, ' has his privileges : the
1 priests have their place; the deacons theirs;
* Ep. 3 ed. Bas. p. 135.
46
' the laity have their duties.' In the language
of the two first ages of Christianity, the word
e priest' was applied generally to bishops and
priests : St. Clement, therefore, points at the
chief priest as above them all.
te VIII. Thus, from a regular chain of his-
torical facts, beginning with the earliest mo-
ments of the reformation, and ascending up-
wards, through the council of Florence, the
Greek schism, the translation of the modern
empire to the Latins, the conversion of the bar-
barians, the four first general councils, and the
primitive ages, (the six great epochs of the his-
tory of Christianity), to the time of Christ him-
self, we find the supremacy of the bishop of
Rome, both in rank and jurisdiction, an admitted
article of christian belief.
" IX. A. D. 32. — We now hear the Son of
God himself say : ' Thou art Peter, and upon this
c rock will I build my church ; and the gate of
' hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give
c unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven :
t and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall
' be bound in heaven; and, whatsoever thou
c shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.' *
Were it my duty or inclination to offer any
remarks on the above summary view of the his-
torical evidence for the Pope's supremacy, I
47
trust, it would be no difficult task to shew, that
in many instances, and particularly in what re-
lates to the words of Jesus Christ to St. Peter,
the reasoning and conclusions are by no means
satisfactory. It is, however, the plain statement
of an intelligent catholic, and as such I give it.
Let those answer it who have a taste for, and an
interest in, this kind of controversy. It is a
matter purely belonging to the episcopa-
lians : — catholics, — members of the Greek
church, — church-of-England-men, and, per-
haps, to the quiet and modest Unitas Fratrum ;
and, may we not further add, even to the newly-
created Methodist episcopacy of America, now
under the spiritual direction of the good bishop,
Mr. Francis Asbury !*
We may now pass on to a review of the origin
of the Pope's temporal power, a subject that
ought always to be kept distinct from that of
his spiritual jurisdiction.
The contradictory obscurity of the early an-
nals of church history will readily furnish a
sufficient apology for an apparent want of
chronological arrangement in this professedly
imperfect sketch ; and I gladly avail myself of
so reasonable an indulgence, whilst I endeavour
* See the Author's Portraiture of Methodism, Letters xxxvii.
and xxxviii. O tempore ! O mores!
48
to inquire into the origin of the celebrated papal
Decretals, and the supposed liberal Donation of
Constantine to pope Sylvester of ail Italy.
The Decretals are supposed to have almost im-
mediately preceded what Mr. Butler* calls the
middle period of the history of the canon law,
which commences with the ninth century, at the
beginning of which, or towards the end of the
preceding one, this learned and judicious writer
observes : — " the collection of Isidore Pecca-
tor, or Mercator, probably made its appearance
(A. D. 760)."
Who the compiler of it was, and why he as-
sumed the name of Peccator, or Mercator, are
merely matters of conjecture. It sets out with
describing the manner in which a council should
be held ; then the fifty-first of the canons of the
apostles follow. " Deinde," says the author,
Cf quarumdam epistolarum decreta virorum apos-
" tolicorum inseruimus, id est, dementis, Anac-
{C leti, Evaristi, caeterorum apostolicorum, quas
" potuimus hac tenus reperire, epistolas usque
" ad Sylvestrem Papam."
The Decretals are papal epistles, forming the
second part of the Canon Law. They were
formerly appealed to in cases of difficult points
* Iiora; Juridical Subsecivae, p, 111.
49
of discipline, and church authority, but chiefly
to support the high pretensions of the Popes to
spiritual majesty over the faithful. The first of
these celebrated forgeries is attributed by some to
St. Clement, and is said to have been addressed to
St. James, the brother of our Lord. According
to Du Pin,* this epistle bears the greatest au-
thority. The first part was translated by Ruf-
finus, and Isidore added a second. It is not
requisite to enumerate all the epistles attribut-
ed to the popes before Siricius, in the eighth or
ninth century. f It is sufficient to glance at the
arguments usually advanced by both Catholic
and Protestant writers, to prove their spurious-
ness. Except the one I have just mentioned,
they were all unknown to the earliest fathers of
the church ; nor were they ever cited in any
controversial or other writing before the ninth
century. It is justly recorded, J that no rational
man can believe that such a number of epistles,
written by the popes themselves, and contain-
* Eccles. Writ. &c. vol. i. p. 175. English ed. 1696.
t In the year 867, at the Council of Trois, the Gallic
bishops submitted, as Fleury observes, to the novel right of
false decretals, when they wrote a synodical letter to the Pope,
requesting his Holiness not, in future, to permit any bishop
to be deposed without the consent of the Holy See, " accord-
ing," as they say, " to the decretals of the Popes. 5 ' Vide
Abrege Chronologique de l'Histoire Ecclesiastique, tome ii.
p. 71. Paris, 176$.
X Abrege Chronologique de l'Histoire Ecclesiastique, tome
ii. p. 173.
E
50
ing such a mass of evidence in favour of the
dignity and authority of the church, could be
wholly unknown to such writers as Eusebius,
St. Jerome, St. Augustin, St. Basil, and other
accurate and faithful historians and divines.
And it is urged, as indubitable evidence of their
non-existence, that even the popes themselves,
to whom these letters are so very favourable,
never cited them, nor were they once glanced
at in any council, or in any canon, prior to the
time already mentioned.
Hincmar, whom the Abbe Fleury* styles
a grand canoniste, says, that the first person
who collected and published them was one Ri-
culphus ; or rather he is said to have brought
the book of epistles, which were collected by
Isidore, out of Spain, and dispersed them in
Germany. Fleury indirectly charges Hincmar
with disingenuousness in regard to the decre-
tals. His words are : " Hincmar, tout grand
canoniste qu'il etoit, ne put jamais demeler
cette faussete : il savoit bien que ces decretales
etoient inconnues aux siecles precedens, et c'est
lui qui nous apprend quand elles commencerent
a paroitre : mais il ne savoit pas assez de critique,
pour y voir les preuves de supposition, toutes
sensibles qu'elles sont; et lui-meme allegue
* Diseours sur l'Histoire Ecclesiastique, tome i. p. 173.
12mo. Paris, 1750.
ces decretales quand elles lui sont favourables."*
This, indeed, was the practice with other writers ;
as the papal letters were seldom mentioned, ex-
cept when a paucity of argument rendered an
appeal to authority absolutely necessary ; and in
those cases but little attention has been paid to
the genuineness of the sources whence such au-
thorities have originated. The anonymous au-
thor of the Histoire des Papes,t says, that all
the decretals down to Siricius are plainly forged,
and that this has been demonstrated by many,*
whose arguments F. Pagi§ has summed up with
great judgment and perspicuity. BellarmineJ
and a few other warm men of high notion?, have
made use of these decretals to answer the pur-
poses of their arguments ; but there are few or no
well written defences of them, if we except the
author of the celebrated treatise, " Quis est
Petrus," in whom, as Mr. Butler if observes,
* Troisieme Dis. f Vol. i. p. 26. Pdills.
% De Merca, 1.3. de Concord. Sacerdotii et Imperii. Schel-
fctraet, 2 part. Antiq. illustr. Dissert, 3, Blondel, Pseudo-Isi-
dorus, et Turrianus vapulantes, and some others,
§ In Anaclete vita.
|| And even this Cardinal writes thus: " At luec testimo-
nia nihil respondent nisi esse recentia et supposititia, at
quamvis aliquos errores in eas irrepsisse'non neg-averim, nee
indubitas esse aflirmare audeam, certe tamen antiquissimas
nihil esse dubito." De Romani Pont. Eccles. Mon. 1. ii.
c. xiv.
^T Horse Juridical Subsecivse, p. 212.
E 2
52
they have both a zealous and an able advocate :
but he seems to concede, that so much spuri-
ousness is proved on them, as to make them,
when they stand alone, of no authority : nor do
the Popes themselves appear to be over anxious
to multiply opportunities of appealing to their
authority. It is now almost universally acknow-
ledged that they were forgeries of the 8th or
9th centuries, and no power is even pretended
to be founded on them.*
The supposed Donation of Constantine stands
upon the same authority as the Decretals.
The learned Mr. Butler, calls it a fable.f I fc
is, however, of somewhat later origin than the
collection of Mercator ; J and even were it
* They are often punned upon by Catholics, as the putrid
wares of Mercator : — Mercatoris putidas Merces.
f Revolutions of the Germanic Empire, p. 8, new ed.
X The learned Du Pin has ably summed up the evidence
against the authenticity of this bungling forgery. Eccles.
Writ. ii. p. 17. et seq. Eng. ed. The Orlando Furioso of
Ariosto, a poem deservedly honoured with the approbation of
Leo X. describes this famous^ donation as a huge mountain
in the moon, found among the useless things once belonging
to the earth, and which had, at one time, a pleasant smell :
Di. vari fiori ad un gran monte passa,
Ch'ebbe gia buono odore, or puzza forte ;
Q,uesto era il dono (se per6 dir lece)
Che Costantino al buon Silvestro fece.
Orl. Fur. cant. 34. st. 80.
That famous convert, the Cardinal du Perron tells us, that
he
53
ever of weight, the recent usurpations of the
Emperor of the French have so completely
destroyed its effects, that the Pope does not
now possess an inch of ground in all Italy, and
the donation itself is nearly forgotten. If the
present Roman Catholics could, with any
colour of argument shew that the Pope of
Rome has still any power, civil or ecclesiasti-
cal, by virtue of the decretals or the donation
of Constantine; or did they even pretend to
support the power of the Church on any such
grounds, then, indeed, there would be some
reason for crying out against the usurpations
and tyranny of popery, and a good argument
would be adduced for using every lawful means
to keep in subjection a power so enormous,
and approaching so nearly to what would be
the most dreadful of all general calamities, —
universal domination. These facts would not
have been alluded to, were it not that some
persons, in writing against the Church of Rome,
and hunting about for historical arguments to
support the system of intolerance exercised by
Protestants against their Catholic brethren,
have thought it convenient to their purpose to
he one day discussed this matter of the donation with the
Pope, who, laughing and shrugging his shoulders, as is cus-
tomary with the Italians, when they would express a con-
temptuous sneer, exclaimed " Che volettc? iCanonici lo lego-
no!" What will ye have of it ? or make what you please of
it. The Canonists will have it so !
54
cast in the teeth of our present Catholics these
ridiculous forgeries of some of their ambitious
ancestors, who in this, as in many other in-
stances, thought proper to promote their tem-
poral interests by the sacrilegious use of a spi-
ritual jurisdiction; contrary to the whole spirit
and temper of their own church, whose prayers
and religious services would have taught them,
that the pure religion of Jesus Christ is incom-
patible with every species of fraud, and every
inordinate thirst after the honour that cometh
of man, and the love of riches, which is the
root of evil. The morality of the Roman Ca-
tholic religion is the same, and to the full as
strict, as the morality of any sect that has de-
parted from her communion; and it allows not,
either in the head or members of the Church,
the slightest deviation from the known precepts
of the gospel. From all which I infer, that the
inventors of the decretals and the gift of Constan-
iine, whether they were popes, kings, or private
individuals, departed from the obligations of their
own faith, and attempted to raise a superstructure
of temporal power on a foundation untenable even
on the grounds of their own religion; and that as
these forgeries are now disowned by Catholics
themselves, it is both cruel and unjust to adduce
them as arguments against the freedom and
rights of any class of Christians of the present
day. Whereas, had they been fundamentals of
Roman Church Government, a fear might na-
turally be excited, that should the Catholics ever
55
regain an ascendancy in our councils, these do-
cuments would be immediately resorted to, on
which to rebuild a temporal and spiritual hier-
archy, once more to tyrannize over the minds
and the persons of the whole Christian world.
It is of greater importance than would appear
at first sight, that the real power of the Pope
should be thoroughly understood. It is of im-
portance to Protestants, that they may judge of
the propriety of confiding power to their Catho-
lic neighbours ; and it is of consequence to
Catholics, that they may be able to shew not
only the justice of their claims, but the perfect
compatibility of their religion, with the con-
stitution and government of the country in
which they reside, whether Catholic, or Pro-
testant. For these reasons, I would gladly have
pursued this inquiry to a much greater length
than I feel myself at liberty to do on the limited
scale to which I have confined myself. A very
slight attention to ecclesiastical history, parti-
cularly to the history of the celebrated Fleury,
will shew that the popes of Rome have in reality
no exclusive jurisdiction but what has been ei-
ther usurped in the dark ages, or voluntarily
conceded to them in honour of their ancient
see, and the dignity of the chair they are sup-
posed to fill, as the immediate successors of St.
Peter. This fact of the primary power of the
bishops of Rome is one, certainly, of infinite
importance to the Christian world ; inasmuch as
it is essential to the peace of Christendom, that
56
it should be clearly understood what extent of
jurisdiction properly belongs to the spiritual
Head of the whole Catholic Church, which
forms too large a portion of the whole civilized
world to be regarded with indifference or con-
tempt.
With respect to the real origin of the Pope's
temporal authority, and of the union of that
authority with the spiritual power which the
Roman pontiffs had always enjoyed, the reader
of taste will be obliged by my quoting the
words of the elegant and impartial biographer
of Leo X., although in that account some slight
repetition will be observed. " As the power of
the emperors declined," says Mr. Roscoe,
" that of the popes increased ; and in the con-
tests of the middle ages, during which the
Huns, the Vandals, the Imperialists, and the
Franks, were successively masters of Italy, a
common veneration among these ferocious con-
querors for the father of the faithful, and the
head of the christian church, not only secured
his safety, but enlarged his authority. * From
* The coining of money by the Roman pontiffs may be
considered as a mark of sovereign and independent autho-
rity ; but at what precise period they began to exercise this
right, is not easily ascertained. Muratori, in his Annali
d'ltalia, vol. iv. p. 464, informs us, that the popes coined
money, in gold, silver, and copper, from the time of Charle-
magne (about the year 800), and that the city of Kome had
enjoyed
57
the time of the emperor Constantine, various
grants, endowments, and donations of extensive
territories, are said to have been conferred by
different princes on the bishops of Rome ; inso-
much, that there is scarcely any part of Italy
to which they have not at some period asserted
a claim. That many of these grants are suppo-
sititious is generally acknowledged ; whilst the
validity of others, which are admitted to have
existed, frequently rests merely on the tempo-
rary right of some intruder, whose only title was
his sword, and who, in many instances gave to
the pontiff what he could no longer retain for
himself. Under the colour, however, of these
donations, the popes possessed themselves of
different parts of Italy ; and among the rest, of
enjoyed that privilege ab antiquo. Other writers have as-
feigned an earlier date, which opinion they have founded on
a coin of Zacharia, who filled the pontifical chair from the
year 740 to 751 — v. Dissertaz. del Conte Giacono Acami
dell 'origine ed antichita iella Zecca Pontificia, p. 8, Ed. Rom.
1752. This subject has given rise to serious controversy,
even among the firmest adherents to the church. Muratori
and Fontanini have embraced different opinions, which they
Have endeavoured to support in several learned publications,
in which the ancient rights of the emperors and the popes
to various parts of Italy are particularly discussed. All col-
lectors however agree in commencing their series from
Adrian I., created pope in 7S2, from which time Acami has
given a succession of thirty-four coins of different pontiffs,
some of which are, however, supposed to have issued from
the metropolitan sees of England, for the purpose of paying
tribute to Rome.
58
the whole exarchate of Ravenna, extending
along a considerable part of the Adriatic coast,
to which they gave the name of Romania or
Romagna. The subsequent dissensions be-
tween the popes and the emperors, the frequent
schisms which occurred in the church, the un-
warlike nature of the papal government, and
above all, the impolitic transfer of the residence
of the supreme pontiffs from Rome to Avignon,
in the fourteenth century, combined to weaken
the authority which the popes had in the
course of so many ages acquired j and in parti-
cular the cities of Romagna, throwing off their
dependence on the papal see, either formed for
themselves peculiar and independent govern-
ments, or became subject to some successful
adventurer, who acquired his superiority by
force of arms. No longer able to maintain an
actual authority, the Roman pontiffs endea-
voured to reserve at least a paramount or confir-
matory right ; and as the sanction of the pope
was not a matter of indifference to these subor-
dinate sovereigns, he delegated to them his
power on easy conditions, by investing them
with the title of vicars of the church.* It was
* Guicciardini Historia d' Italia, lib. iv. The passage
here referred to, in which the historian has traced with great
ability the rise and vicissitudes of the temporal authority of
the popes, is omitted in the general editions of his works,
and even in that of Torrentino, Flor. 1561, fol. but may be
found in those of Stoer, 1636, 1645. Geneva. Mr. Roscoe
might
59
thus the family of Este obtained the dominion
of Ferrara, which they had extended, in fact, to
an independent principality. Thus the cities
of Rimini and Cesena were held by the family
of Malatesta ; Faenza and Imola by the Man-
fredi; and many other cities of Italy became sub-
ject to petty sovereigns, who governed with despo-
tic authority, and by their dissensions frequently
rendered that fertile, but unhappy country, the
theatre of contest, of rapine, and of blood.
From this period the temporal authority of
the popes was chiefly confined to the districts
entitled the patrimony of St. Peter, with some
detached parts of Umbria, and the Marca
(TAncona. The claims of the church were not,
however, suffered to remain dormant, whenever
an opportunity of enforcing them occurred,
and the recovery of its ancient possessions had
long been considered as a duty indispensably
incumbent on the supreme pontiff. But al-
though for this purpose he scrupled not to avail
himself of the arms, the alliances, and the trea-
sures of the church, yet, when the enterprise
proved successful, it generally happened, that
the conquered territory only exchanged its
former lord for some near kinsman of the reign-
might have added, that this passage, or, as it is there called,
this digression, so offensive to the Roman Court, has been
restored in the third edition of Fenton's translation of Guic-
ciardini's History, lib. iv. p. 173—178. 1618.
60
ing pontiff, who during the life of his benefac-
tor, endeavoured to secure and extend his au-
thority by all the means in his power.
The Roman pontiffs have always possessed
an advantage over the other sovereigns of Eu-
rope, from the singular union of ecclesiastical
and temporal power in the same person ; two
engines, which long experience had taught
them to use with a dexterity equal to that, with
which the heroes of antiquity availed them-
selves by turns of the shield and the spear.
When schemes of ambition and aggrandizement
were to be pursued, the pope, as a temporal
prince, could enter into alliances, raise supplies,
and furnish his contingent of troops, so as
effectually to carry on an offensive war : but
no sooner was he endangered by defeat, and
alarmed for the safety of his own dominions,
than he resorted for shelter to his pontifical
robes, and loudly called upon all Christendom
to defend from violation the head of the holy
church.*
Thus we have seen that the temporal power
and property of the popes of Rome, stand
on grounds as fair and legitimate as the property
or dominions of any other princes. It would,
perhaps, hardly be a proper investigation at this
time of day, to inquire by what means any
* Roscoe's Leo X. vol. i. p. 8 — 14. Svo. ed.
61
monarchy in Europe first acquired its powers
and territories, for the divine right is now hap-
pily exploded. Such speculations would lead to
an inquiry into the chimerical principles of agra-
rian law not entirely creditable to the memories of
some of our ancestors. It is only necessary to
observe, that the monarchs of Rome have as fair
a title to their dominions as any other monarchs j
and that the robberies and plunders, by Bona-
parte, of the Pope's temporal possessions are as
great and as unjust as any other of that tyrant's
usurpations over the princes of the continent.
Yet I am sorry to find that some persons seem to
rejoice at the downfall of the Pope, as they call
it ; as if the plundering him of his property were
an act of Christian obedience to the commands of
the gospel, and a righteous fulfilment of scrip-
tural prophecy. How any one can palliate an
usurpation so flagrant, and a robbery so palpable,
I am at a loss to discover ; only that all is fair
against the man who has "the mark of the beast
in his forehead !" that we may make perfectly free
with the possessions of antichrist, and walk off,
like gentlemen, with the patrimony of St. Peter,
just as our " most gracious and religious king
and governor," the first Head of the true Church,
Henry VIII., of reforming memory, did with
the property of the clergy, the monks and the
nuns of his enlightened days !
At the period when the Church became rich,
commenced her pride, her insolence, and her
62
tyranny ; the bishops of Rome, not contented
with the divine right of primacy over the whole
church, in what related merely to seeing that
the canons which were enacted by general
councils, to which they had ever been subject,
were properly obeyed, began to extend their
right to the consciences of Christians, the
nomination of bishops,* and the making of
laws, by an arbitrary issuing of bulls and
anathemas, beyond the limits of their own dio-
cese over the whole Christian world. The
Church and the State became united, and the
most extravagant notions of power and preroga-
tive were, by degrees, usurped by the popes, or
ignominiously granted by superstitious princes.
The beneficence of Pepin and Charlemagne f is
in every one's mind, and the writers against
* This subject of the right of nomination to vacant bi-
shoprics, is amply treated in Mr. Butler's Revolutions of the
Germanic Empire. It will claim our attention in a subse-
quent part of the present work.
f " The validity of these donations, and particularly those
of Pepin, king of France, and of his son Charlemagne, is
strongly insisted on by Ammirato, who attempts to shew,
that the authority of the Popes extended far beyond the
limits of Italy ; but as he appears not to have distinguished
between their temporal and their ecclesiastical power, little
reliance is to be placed on his opinion. Ammir. Discorso
come la Cltiesa Romana sia cresciuta ne' bent temporali. Opusc.
v. ii. p. 67. Those readers who are inclined to examine
more particularly into this subject, may consult the Fascicu-
lus rerum Expetendarmn fy Fugiendarum, torn. \, p. 124." Eos-
coe's Life of Leo the Tenth, (note) p. 11.
63
popery have swelled the ambitious demands of
Pope Stephen, and the domineering spirit of
Gregory, to a gigantic and terrific size. Every-
thing has been made to have issued from the
avarice and pious frauds of the Popes, and little
has been allowed for the gratitude or the weak-
ness of the monarchs.
Yet the papal government, although founded
on so singular a basis, and exercised with despotic
authority, has been attended with some advan-
tages peculiar to itself, and beneficial to its sub-
jects. Whilst the choice of the sovereign, by
the decision of a peculiar body of electors, on
the one hand, preserves the people from those
dissensions which frequently arise from the dis-
puted right of hereditary claimants ; on the
other hand, it prevents those tumultuous de-
bates which too frequently result from the vio-
lence of a popular election. By this system
the dangers of a minority in the governor are
avoided, and the sovereign assumes the com-
mand at a time of life, when it may be presumed
that passion is subdued by reason, and expe-
rience matured into wisdom. The qualifica-
tions by which the pope is supposed to have
merited the supreme authority, are also such as
would be most likely to direct him in the best
mode of exercising it. Humility, chastity,
temperance, vigilance, and learning, are among
the chief of these requisites ; and although some
of them have confessedly been too often dis-
pensed with, yet few individuals have ascended
the pontifical throne without possessing more
than a common share of intellectual endow-
ments. Hence the Roman pontiffs have fre-
quently displayed examples highly worthy of
imitation, and have signalized themselves in an
eminent degree, as patrons of science, of letters,
and of art. Cultivating, as ecclesiastics, those
studies which were prohibited or discouraged
among the laity, they may in general be consi-
dered as superior to the age in which they have
lived ; and among the predecessors of Leo X.
the philosopher may contemplate with appro-
bation the eloquence and courage of Leo I.,
who preserved the city of Rome from the ra-
vages of the barbarian Attila j the beneficence,
candour, and pastoral attention of Gregory I.,
unjustly charged with being the adversary of
liberal studies ; the various acquirements of Sil-
vester II., so extraordinary in the eyes of his
contemporaries, as to cause him to be consi-
dered as a sorcerer; the industry, acuteness,
and learning of Innocent III., of Gregory IX.,
of Innocent IV., and of Pius II. ; and the muni-
ficence and love of literature so strikingly dis-
played in the character of Nicholas V.*
It is not necessary to trace the power of the
popes any further in this place ;f it will come
* Leo X. i. 15—17. The Rev. Dr. Milner has ably, but
somewhat partially, summed up the virtues of the Popes, in
his Second Letter to a Prebendary.
t There is a good account of the rise and decline of the
Pope's temporal power in Mr. Butler's admirable Work on
the Revolutions of the Germanic Empire.
65
under consideration en passant. In the eighth
or ninth century, that power commenced,
in the eighteenth, it was destroyed. It was"
granted in an age of superstition ; it was
taken away in one of military plunder, and
political robbery : yet the Roman Catholic Re-
ligion remains the same, the primary power of
the Pope as Head of the Church, the only
power, in fact, independent of his lawful prero-
gatives as a temporal prince, to which he was
ever properly entitled,* is still unimpaired in the
mind and conscience of a pious Catholic; and
the original doctrines of the church have re-
mained unaltered, amidst the revolutions of ages,
the depravity of the popes, the superstitions of
the priesthood, the backslidings of the people,
and the rancour of polemics. And it should not be
overlooked, that it is a Portraiture of the Roman
• "The Pope can never grant any dispensation, to the in-
jury of any third person, and can never allow any one to do
what is unjust, or to say what he knows to be false, whatever
advantage might be expected from it." Encyclopedia Brit.
Ed. 1S10. Art. Pope.
In acknowledging him as the first pilot to steer the vessel,
says Mr. O'Leary, we acknowledge a compass by which he
is to direct his course. He is to preserve the vessel, but ne-
ver to expose it to shipwreck. Any deviation from the laws
of God, the rights of nature, or the faith of our fathers,
would be the fatal rock on which the pope himself would
split. In a word, the pope is our pastor ; he may feed, but
cannot poison us: we acknowledge no power in him either
to alter our faith, or to corrupt our morals.
F
66
Catholic Religion, rather than of the Roman
Catholic Court, that I have undertaken to give.
SECTION III.
Council of Nice. — The Arian Controversy.
IT was my* wish and intention at the close
of the last section to have noticed some other
great traits of Catholic history ; to have given
a short account of the Greek schism, and
then to have pursued my narrative of the
progress of Catholicism to the fall of the
Western Empire: the limits, however, to
which I have necessarily confined myself,
will not admit a detail, however important, so
extensive in its nature, and so multifarious in
its objects. I must, therefore, content myself
with a reference to many of these circumstances
when I come to other parts of my history, with
which it will be found those events have an in-
timate connexion. I shall now notice the cele-
brated Council of Nice, and give some little
account of the Arian controversy, and of the
part which the bishop of Rome appears to have
taken in those proceedings.
Once more I am compelled to claim the can-
dour of my readers, on the grounds of the un-
certainty of ecclesiastical history at this early
period of the church. Few writers are agreed
67
as to the period when the famous Council of
Nice was calied, and fewer still as to the real
motives and absolute usefulness of many of its
decisions. The great objects, however, of this
general Council, were the following: the con-
demnation, of Arius, the true time for the cele-
bration of Easter, the suppression of the Mele-
tian schism, and the proper rank and privi-
leges of various bishoprics. Christian writers
diifer exceedingly concerning the number and
the nature of the laws enacted ; but, as the
learned and judicious Mosheim remarks, while
these good prelates were employing all their
zeal and attention to correct the mistakes and
errors of others, the)' - were upon the point of
falling into a very capital one themselves; for
they had almost come to a resolution of im-
posing upon the clergy the yoke of perpetual
celibacy, when Paphnutius put a stop to their
proceedings, and warded off that unnatural
law.* The most prominent feature of this
Council is, that part of it which concerns what
is called the Arian heresy. Three hundred and
eighteen bishops, -J- besides a considerable num-
* Moshehn's Ecclesiast. Hist. i. p. 410, who refers to So-
crates. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. viii. compared with Franc.
Baldwinus, in Constant. Magn. and George Cohxtus, De Con-
jugio Clericorum, p. 1 10.
t Euseb. in Vit. Const, lit), iii. says, that there were at the
Council of Nice more than '250 bishops ; Eustathius says,
about 270; St. Athanasius, in his Book of Decrees of the
F2
68
ber of inferior clergy and other church officers s
with the Roman emperor in their midst, voted
into orthodoxy the curious and mysterious
dogmas still known and read in all our churches,
called the Nicene Creed. After several days
spent in noisy clamour, indecent wrangling,
and personal railing against each other, these
venerable fathers, awed by the presence, and,
perhaps, dazzled by the gaudy purple of the
emperor, who prudently threw all their written
libels against each other into the fire,* came
to a resolution, that " Jesus of Nazareth, a
man approved of God, by miracles, and won-
ders, and signs which God did by him,"f was
indeed " of one substance with the Father." {
This hard and uncouth word, homousion, and
Council of Nice, says about 300 ; and in his letter to the
Africans, states the number at 318. In this he is followed
by several other writers. Du Pin, i. 251.
* Euseb. Hist. lib. cap. 8. p. 20.
f Acts ii. 22.
t " It is probable that in this, as in almost every other pub-
lic transaction, every thing of consequence was previously
settled by the principal actors, who were in the confidence
of the Emperors." — Priestley s History of the Church, ii. p. 45.
Was it quite decorous in this learned writer, thus to im-
peach the integrity of such a number of venerable ministers
of religion, many of whom " bore in their bodies^ ' as St.
Paul expresses it of himself, " the marks of the Lord Jesus
Christ?" i.e. some visible testimony that they had suffered
persecution for the truth of the Gospel. Would the Doctor
have so expressed himself had the friends of Ari us triumphed
in this Council ?
69
its equally puzzling companion, homoiousion,
have set the world in an uproar. The one
simply means of the same substance, and the
other of the like substance; a distinction impor-
tant enough in itself, as far as the mere signifi-
cation of a word extends, but never had a suffi-
cient importance attached to it, necessarily to
produce all that rancour and ill blood which it
has excited in the breasts of fierce and conten-
tious polemics. When Constantine the Great,
at this same Council of Nice, asked the pre-
siding bishop, Osius, which of these two words
was right, he prudently replied, that they were
both right. The rest of his brethren thought
he was jesting with sacred things ; some of
them laughed; but others accused him of he-
resy. Thus have christian men, forgetting the
peaceful injunctions of their Divine Master, in all
ages, made one another " sinners for a word."*
The homousiojis triumphed, and Alius, with
some of his followers, was banished, and his
doctrine condemned. The practice of burning
was not then thought needful or even lawful
in the extirpation of heresy ; for the laws re-
lating to religion were as yet principally under
the influence of Christian Bishops: Christian
Princes invented the law of burning; hence
the foiled Presbyter of Alexandria was soon
after recalled, and his principal opponent
* Vide Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, p. 183.
70
Athanasius, sent in his turn also into exile.
Throughout the whole of this affair, which ha&
been dignified with the appellation of the
Arian Controversy, the odium theologicum had a
most glorious exhibition. Both sides alter-
nately triumphed, and were repulsed ; perse-
cuted and suffered, and both parties wrought
miracles in confirmation of their contradictory
faith.*
As Arius, on one occasion was about to be
re-admitted to the fellowship of the church, he
was suddenly seized in the street with a desire
to be relieved from the presence of his friends
for a i'ew moments; a convenient place being
pointed out to him, he retired, and shortly
afterwards was found dead, of what the Greeks
call a7T£(pS»o-/xa, iii fact, apj^olapsus ani. This was
a signal triumph to the Athanasians, who did
not fail to represent it in the most horrid and
frightful terms imaginable ; and, above all, to
declare that nothing but the just judgment of
Almighty God could have produced so timely a
prevention of the re-establishment and future
peace of this arch heretic ; of him whose doc-
trine taught, that God the Father is the only
supreme Jehovah, uncreated, and unbegotten,
alone possessing inherent immortality, and the
sole Dispenser of life to all other beings what-
Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. 9, 10. p. 478.
71
ever.* It is worthy of observation, that our
views of the awful dispensations of Providence
vary according to our opinions of the objects
of the Deity's attention. A sudden afflictive
circumstance happening to one of our own
church is the gracious chastisement of a loving
parent, or, if death ensue, our brother is merci-
fully snatched, as a brand out of the burning,
from the cares and evils of a miserable and sinful
world; but when these events come upon the
opponents of our faith, or the seceders from our
party, they are the awful judgments of a
righteous Providence, and the fearful indica-
tions of eternal vengeance; so differently do the
same objects appear, according to the rarity or
the severity of the medium through which they
are viewed ! " After having considered this
matter with the utmost care," savs Dr. Ala-
claine, " it appears to me extremely probable,
that this unhappy man was a victim to the re-
sentment of his enemies, and was destroyed by
poison, or some such violent method. A blind
and fanatical zeal for certain systems of faith,
has in all ages produced such horrible acts of
cruelty and injustice." j" In this instance,
as in some others, this learned doctor is rather
illiberal.
* If I mistake not, Calvin somewhere describes Jehovah
as the Fountain of Deity.
t See Note [ y] in his Translation of Mosheiui's Eccles.
Hist. Vol. I. 4 IS.
n
There is a material difference between infalli-
bility and omnipotence: whatever the subtilties
of argument might do in allowing to the church
a tolerably fair and plausible reason for the first
of these attributes, the natural superiority of the
human mind, and the daily experience of every
man, have hitherto prevented her from exposing
her weakness by putting in a claim to all the
power, as well as all the truth, in, heaven and
in earth 5" and it is well for the church that
she has been thus prevented ; for however true
and just may have been any of her decisions of
Council, it is a fact that those decisions have
seldom been promptly obeyed. This was par-
ticularly the case with the Nicene Council: —
the Arian heresy was not suppressed, though
condemned. The difference of practice in the
time for celebrating Easter still continued.
The rank and prerogatives of the various sees,
and the power and jurisdiction of the bishops,
though defined and ordered,* remained still a
subject of dispute and dissension. Nor could
the canons of the Council, though aided by the
power and authority of the emperor, suppress,
perhaps, not even impede, the spread of heresy.
The enemies of the Catholic Church rallied and
returned to thecharge; till, at length, the empe-
ror issued a solemn and fulminating rescript to
the heretics, in which are specified the Nova-
* Fleury, 1. ii. v, 20.
73
tians, Valentinians, Marcionites, Paulians, and
Cataphrygians. It is remarkable that the
Arians, who have cut so capital a figure in al-
most every subsequent list of apostates and
heretics, are not included in this first royal Act
of Uniformity. Was it that to deny the divinity
and eternity of Jesus Christ was not in those
days really thought to be so completely dam-
nable, as some more modern divines have en-
deavoured to maintain? Or that the Creed
attributed to St. Athanasius had not yet
been invented, to declare the heart-appalling
truth, that " without doubt he shall perish ever-
lastingly who does not keep whole and undented"
this most obvious and lucid proposition, that
" the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the glory equal,
the majesty co-eternal ?" Sozomen informs
us, that the reason why the Arian heretics were
not included in the rescript of Constantine, was
because they did not form a distinct sect, but
were in union with the Catholic Church. The
banishment and persecution of the principal
Arian bishops shew, however, that this could
not have been the reason : it is more likely that
their numbers, their influence, and the antiquity
and popularity of their faith, with, probably, a
favourable bias in the mind of so enlightened
an emperor, conspired to induce him to omit
the mention of them in his letter of proscrip-
tion.
It does not appear, in these proceedings
74
against the Arians, that the Bishop of Rome
took any very important or active share, or that
he was ready to interpose his influence in the
suppression of so dangerous a heresy as it is
represented, to have been. The Council was
called by the emperor solely, and the Roman
Pontiff was not even present at the Assembly,
but sent two priests, or proxies, to give his vote
and sign the Acts; neither does it appear, that
these priests enjoyed any superior rank or influ-
ence.* Who presided there is not known ; but
it is nevertheless a matter of considerable im-
portance to my subject briefly to inquire into
this fact. St. Athanasius in his second apo-
logy, calls Osius, the bishop of Cordova, in
Spain, the Father and President of all Councils.
The name of this bishop is first in all the sub-
scriptions. Alexander, bishop of Alexandria,
was much esteemed, as is evident from the
epistle of the Council ; but both Procus and
Facundus assert, that Eustathius, who was first
bishop of Beicea, and afterwards of Antioch,
was president of the Council. If Osius pre-
sided, as appears to be the prevailing opinion, j-
* When all were seated, according to Eusebius, the
bishop, whose place was the first at the right hand of the Em-
peror, rose and opened the business of the Council. Dr.
Priestley conjectures, that Eusebius himself sat at the right
hand of the Emperor. Hist, of the Christian Church, Vol. II.
p. 42.
f Fleury, ii. v. 5.
75
it is a desirable fact to be ascertained, whether
he presided in his own name, or in that of the
Bishop of Rome. And it is observed by Du
Pin,* that it is more probable that Osius pre-
sided there in his own name, and not in the
Pope's : or, as Fleury remarks, he might repre-
sent the western church, or be there on the
part of Constantine;! for, adds this writer, he
no where assumes the title of Legate of the
Holy See, and none of the ancients say that he
presided in tins Council in the Pope's name.
Gelasius of Cyzicus, who was of the eastern
church, and who first affirmed ir, savs it with-
out any proof or authority. Whoever presided,
there can be little doubt that the Emperor's
presence had considerable influence over its
decisions; and by his subsequent very active and
independent conduct, it is evident that he consi-
dered himself a sort of supreme head and dictator
in the church. J It should not, however, be over-
looked, that, as some writers assert, § before the
Council finally broke up, which was at the end
of about two months, they drew up a letter to
Sylvester, bishop of Rome, requesting him to
give his sanction to their proceedings ; very
* Eccles. Writers, i. p. 251.
f Fleury, Eccles. I list. 11. v. 5.
I In these pretensions Constantine was followed by his
successors for several ages. See Dr. Wake's Authority of
Christian Princes, If c. passim.
§ History of the Christian Church, by the Rev. Joseph
Reeve, Vol. I. p. 163.
76
justly conceiving, that the personal approval of
so revered and respectable a prelate as that of
Rome, the old imperial capital, must have con-
siderable weight with those bishops in different
parts of the world who had not themselves at-
tended. Yet if this was, indeed, the case, it
would seem, that the two priests, Vitus and
Vincent, whom it is said the Pope of Rome de-
puted to attend, had no authority to give any
vote or to take any measures in his name : un-
less, indeed, it is true, what some Catholic
writers assert, that Osius and the two priests
acted in his name merely in his capacity of a
common bishop, and that his final sanction was
requisite, as the supreme Head of the Church,
and universal Pastor over all Christendom.
This opinion was not, however, by any means
unanimous among the bishops of that period.
The twenty-eighth canon of the Council of
Chalcedon, which appears to have been held
about a century after that of Nice, ordains as
follows : " We, following in all respects the de-
crees of the fathers, and recognizing the canon
of the one hundred and fifty bishops,* most be-
loved of God, which has now been read, de-
cree and vote the same things concerning the
privileges of the most holy church of Constan-
tinople, which is New Rome: for the fathers,
with good reason, granted certain privileges to
• The third canon of Constantinople.
77
the throne of Old Rome, on account of her
being the imperial city ; and the one hundred
and fifty bishops, most beloved of God, acting
with the same view, have given the like privi-
leges to the most Holy Throne of New Rome :
rightly judging, that the city which is the seat
of empire and of a senate, and is equal to the
old imperial Rome m other privileges, should
be also honoured as she is in ecclesiastical con-
cerns, as being the second and next after her;
and that the metropolitans not only of the Pon-
tic, Asian, and Thracian dioceses be ordained
by the most holy Throne of Constantinople;
but even the bishops of the said dioceses which
lie among the barbarians; the metropolitans of
the said dioceses ordaining bishops subject to
them, and the Archbishop of Constantinople
ordaining the said metropolitans, after the elec-
tions have been first made according to custom,
and reported to him."
It is true, this canon, or more properly, this
synodical act, has never been admitted by the
canonists of the ancient Latin Church; hence
it is omitted in the Latin code of Dionysius
Exiguus ; but it is found in the more ancient col-
lection of Justellus, among the Constantinopo-
litan canons, which were decreed at a General
Council, A. D. 381—382. It is a most im-
portant document, and ought not to be over-
looked in an inquiry into the primitive jurisdic-
tion of the see of Rome ; especially as the sixth
78
of the Nicene Canons evidently conveys the same
general idea, that the See of Rome had prece-
dence of those of Alexandria and Antioch, solely
as being the most ancient imperial metropolis.
SECTION IV.
View of the state of the Church, and the attempts
at Reform previous to the time of Luther.
THE extraordinary power and growing am-
bition of the Roman court had so completely
blinded the eyes and darkened the understand-
ing of men, as to occasion, even as early as the
eighth century, a melancholy falling away from
the purity and simplicity of the Christian dis-
cipline. But this defection was not unnoticed
by the wise and discerning portion of Christian
writers. The calamities, which were evidently
coming on the Church, roused the zeal and ex-
cited the pious sorrows of many. " Who will
grant me," exclaimed St. Bernard, in the 12th
century, " to see before I die the Church of
God, such as she "was in primitive times?"*
<c Through his whole life," as Bossuet informs us,
" did this eminent saint bemoan the grievances of
the Church. He never ceased giving notice of
them to the people, the clergy, the bishops,
History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches, i. 2,
79
and popes themselves. Nor did he conceal his
sentiments on this head from his own religious,
who partook of his affliction in their solitude,
and so much the more gratefully extolled the
divine goodness, which had prompted them to
it, as the world was more generally corrupted."
In the Council of Vienne, in Dauphiny, held
during the pontificate of Clement V., A. D.
1311, an attempt was made, through the reso-
lute zeal, or vindictive courage, of Philip the
Fair, to reform the morals and discipline of the
Church. The protection which this French
monarch gave to the person of William de No-
garet, the infuriate and implacable enemy of
Boniface VIII., is well known; and the stand
which he made against the usurpations of the
papal power is creditable to his independence
and his courage. Perhaps, his enmity towards
the Knights Templars was greater than his ab-
horrence of the immorality of the clergy; but
he so contrived it, that even the obsequious
Pope himself " laid it down for a ground- work to
the Holy Assembly at Vienne, that they ought
to reform the Church in her Head and Mem-
bers." This mode of expression soon became
extremely common ; and every writer of credit
and character protested, though, alas ! in vain,
against the depravity, the pride, and extrava-
gance of the Church ; and the immorality and
laxity of many of her children. Even Peter
d'Ailly, the redoubted champion of the Pope
80
and well known opponent of Huss, at the Coun-
cil of Constance, did not omit to forewarn the
Church of the dangers that threatened her if
she did not reform herself. The more amiable
and excellent Charlier, or, as he is generally
called, Gerson, exerted his great talents and
excellent qualities to save the Church from the
impending storm. At frhe Council of Pisa,
A. D. 1409, it was declared by some of the
members, that the universal Church absolutely
required a reform both in regard to her chief
and her whole discipline. Mosheim remarks,
that the most eminent writers of the time unani-
mously lament the miserable condition to
which the Christian Church was reduced by the
corruption of its ministers, and which seemed
to portend nothing less than its total ruin, if
Providence did not interpose, by extraordinary
means, for its deliverance and preservation.
The vices that reigned among the Roman pon-
tiffs, and, indeed, among all the ecclesiastical
order, were so flagrant, that the complaints of
these good men did not appear at all exagge-
rated, or their apprehensions ill-founded; nor
had any of the corrupt advocates of the clergy
the courage to call them to an account for the
sharpness of their censures, and of their com-
plaints. Nay, the more eminent rulers of the
Church, who lived in a luxurious indolence, and
the impious practice of all kinds of vice, were
obliged to hear, with a placid countenance, and
even to commend these bold censors, who de-
81
claimed against the degeneracy of the Church,
and declared that there was almost nothing sound,
either in its visible head, or in its members ; and
demanded the aid of the secular arm, and the
destroying sword, to lop off the parts that were
infected with this grievous and deplorable con-
tagion. Things, in short, were brought to such
a pass, that they were deemed the best Chris-
tians, and the most useful members of society,
who, braving the terrors of persecution, and
triumphing over the fear of man, inveighed, with
the greatest freedom and fervour, against the
court of Rome, its lordly pontiff, and the whole
tribe of his followers and votaries.*
This deplorable state of things commenced
with the Church's temporal greatness. Every
century, and every year, discovered some new-
source of complaint, — some fresh departure from
the purity of christian morality, or the relaxation
of some point of Christian discipline. The
fifth general council of Vienne, already men-
tioned, appears to have been the first venerable
assembly of the kind that condescended to re-
mark upon and censure a falling off so foul and
dangerous: yet nothing was done in that Coun-
cil to any purpose. The Holy Prelates, with
the Pope at t.ieir head, seemed to think they
had done quite sufficient when they had abolish-
* Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. iii. 400.
G
82
ed the military order of Knights Templars,
and suppressed the ridiculous heresy of the
Brethren of the Free Spirit. As to the Knights
Templars, there cannot be a doubt but that their
crimes were magnified beyond all truth, and
even all probability. They were not suffered
to be heard in their own defence, while the
most unbounded censures were passed upon them
by those who, having themselves never been
initiated, could know nothing, with certainty,
either of their principles or their practices.*
Bartholomew, Archbishop of Bari, who, upon
the demise of Gregory XI., was elected Pope,
and assumed the title of Urban VI., exerted
his zeal against the vices and luxury of the
Cardinals, and laboured to bring about a re-
form in regard to general discipline. His zeal,
however laudable in itself, was not altogether
guided by knowledge and prudence ; and his
seventy, which often rose to great cruelty, gave
the enraged cardinals a pretext to throw the
whole Church into confusion. In the sequel
they elected a new Pope, Cardinal Cevennes,
who took the name of Clement VII. The
Church had now two Popes, and the consequence
was, as might naturally be expected, an increased
laxity of discipline among the clergy, and of
depravity in the people. The supremacy of the
* Feijoo's Teatrico Critico contains a masterly defence of
the persecuted Order of Knights Templars.
S3
successor of St. Peter was not denied by either
of the factions into which the Church unhappily
divided ; but to decide which of the rival Pon-
tiffs had a canonical and just title to the holy
chair, caused the most unfortunate wars and
schisms. The work of reformation was, there-
fore, retarded.
In 1394, the anti-pope Clement died suddenly
at Avignon. His cardinal partisans elected the
politic Peter de Luna, who assumed the name
of Benedict XIII., and under his influence the
schism continued during the space of thirty
years. Urban VI. died a year or two before
his rival, Clement, and was succeeded, though
not immediately, by Boniface IX., a Pope who
certainly advanced little the cause of reform, be-
ing too eager to aggrandize his own family* with
the riches of the Church, to listen to any com-
plaints or grievances. This latter pope was suc-
ceeded by Innocent VII., and he by Gregory
XII., Alexander V., and John XXIII., during
whose pontificate effectual measures were adopt-
ed, principally through the powerful influence
of the faculty of the Sorbonne, from the Uni-
versity of Paris, *f to heal the wounds of the
* Platina, in Vit. Boniface IX.
f " The leading and decisive part which France assumed
in the schism, is stated by Peter du Puis in a separate his-
tory, extracted from authentic records, and inserted in the
seventh volume of the last and best edition of his friend Thu-
anus, P. xi. p. UO— 184." Gibbon.
G2
84
Church, which had been open during nearly
half a century. The Parisian doctors, however,
succeeded only in procuring a transient peace
by the resignation or deposition of all the Popes,*
and the election of Martin V. This great event
was not followed by any immediate or effectual
reform.
The eyes of all Europe were fixed on the
Council of Constance, from an universal per-
suasion of the necessity of a reformation, and
an ardent desire of seeing it happily brought
into execution. Nor did the assembled Fathers
deny that this reformation was the principal end
of their meeting. Yet this salutary work had
so many obstacles in the passions and interests
of those very persons by whom it was to be
effected, that little could be expected, and still
less was done. The cardinals and dignified
clergy, whose interest it was that the Church
should remain in its corrupt and disordered state,
employed all their eloquence and art to prevent
its reformation ; and observed, among other art-
ful pretexts, that a work of such high moment
and importance, could not be undertaken with
any prospect of success until a new pontiff was
elected. And, what was still more alarming,
the new pontiff was no sooner raised to that
* For there were at this time, in fact, three popes: one »t
Home, another at Avignon, and 2 third in Spain.
85
high dignity, than he employed his authority to
elude and frustrate every effort that was made to
set this salutary work on foot ; and made it ap-
pear most evidently, by the laws he enacted,
that nothing was more foreign from his intention
than the reformation of the clergy, and the re-
storation of the church to its primitive purity.*
Yet Martin V. has been, not unjustly, considered,
upon the whole, an honest and excellent man.
Upwards of five years elapsed before any
other effort of importance was made to produce
a reformation so obviously necessary, and so
ardently longed for by the wise and the good of
every class.
In 1431, the Council of Basil, which was first
summoned by Martin V. to meet at Pavia, re-
newed the question of reform. This subject, so
galling to the feelings of the pontiff, was there
warmly and stoutly canvassed 5 but he did not
live to witness the proceedings. He died sud-
denly on the 21st February of the same year.
Eugenius IV. succeeded to the throne and the
prejudices of his predecessor. Notwithstanding
the strong opposition of Eugenius, a check was
given to his power, and some slight instances of
reform produced. Rather, however, than tamely
submit to any encroachments on his real or sup-
posed prerogatives and rights, he resolved, once
* Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. Cent. XV. Padre Paolo, Bcnef.
p. 196.
86
more, to break the peace and harmony of the'
universal church. He hastily dissolved the
council, and another schism ensued. France
and Germany received the decrees of this coun-
cil, though they were rejected by Italy ; and
A. D. 1438, the celebrated Pragmatic Sanction,
which has been denominated the bulwark of the
Gallican church, was published. This pact
restored the Gallican elections to the chapters,
the collations to the ordinaries, and abolished,
with one stroke, the offensive Reservations. But
more of this when we come to treat of the pecu-
liar privileges of the Gallican church, and of
the History of the Reformation in France.
The steadiness and consistency of Eugenius
IV., or the determination and assumed indepen-
dence of the Basilian fathers, produced another
afflicting schism, which commenced with the
election of Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, to the
papal dignity. This Anti-Pope of the Basilians
took the name of Felix V. He had previously
lived in the most retired manner at the Priory
of ,Ripaille, near the borders of the Leman Lake.
From this peaceful retreat he was, with real or
pretended reluctance, dragged, to become the
vicar of Christ on earth ; and from this period
a schism ensued, still more painful in its effects,
and bitter in its operations, than the one just
healed by the council of Constance. It was
not now, as iu the former instance, a simple
quarrel between rival popes, but a dispute and
87
fierce contention of the two councils of Basil
and Florence. Eugenius IV. was at the head
of the Florentine assembly, and Felix V. gave
authority to the decisions of the council of Basil.
The cause of Eugenius was adopted by a large
majority of the faithful, though a respectable
number adhered to the Basilian faction. On
this side were ranged many learned academies,
together with the University of Paris, a commu-
nity that has ever made a most important figure
in the history of the church, and even in the civil
affairs of the French nation.* This council,
though it was not considered as dissolved, sus-
pended its labours in the year 1443. The coun-
cil of Florence directed its efforts to unite, once
more, the Greek and Latin churches, and these
efforts, principally through the influence of the
Cardinal Bessarion, were attended with a tem-
porary and partial success. The council ended
in 1442, but the ungovernable Greeks shortly
afterwards revolted against their own decisions,
* See the valuable ' ' ronicles of Froissart and Monstrelet,
passim. I will not let this opportunity escape me, of contri-
buting my mite of acknowledgment to the spirited and use-
ful exertions of the London booksellers, in republishing, as
they have done, and are still doing, at an incredible expense,
all the old and established Chronicles of our early writers and
historians. Nor should the meed of praise be withheld from
Mr. Johnes, for the great labour he has taken in giving to
the world faithful translations of the most approved French
Chronicles. In this feeble testimony, I shall be gratefully
joined by every real friend to the literature of this country.
88
and the spiritual war broke out afresh, headed
by Marcus Eugenius, the metropolitan of Ephe-
sus, who had never yielded his assent to the
decisions of the council of Florence. In this
opposition he stood singly, all the rest of the
Greek bishops acknowledging that the Latins
had proved all the " five points"* of discus-
sion. They were : 1st. The procession of the
Holy Ghost from the Son, as well as from the
Father. 2d. The addition of the word Filioque,
inserted in the symbol. 3d. The state of de-
parted souls before the general judgment. 4th.
The use of leavened bread in the Eucharist :
and, 5th. The primacy of the Roman See.
Perhaps, this last point was considered, at least,
by the Latins, of the greatest importance of all.
Probably, it may be thought necessary to advert
to the other four in another place.
Marcus, of Ephesus, as has just been observed,
again raised the standard of revolt, and con-
trived to bring over several of the bishops to
retract their signature and dissolve the union.
In this new quarrel, the emperor does not ap-
pear to have taken part with the advocates for
peace and union. He, however, appointed a
public disputation, in which Marcus, of Ephesus,
* It is to be feared this is an unfortunate number in the
arithmetic of theological disputants. We all know The Five
Points so ably discussed among Protestants by the learned
Whitby.
59
and Bartolomeo, of Florence, took the most
active part. Both sides claimed the victory j
nor did the death of the Ephesian metropolitan,
which happened rather suddenly, put an end to
the quarrel. Marcus, in his last moments, insist-
ed that no one who had consented to the union
should pray to God for him, or assist at his fu-
neral.* This unnatural schism was never heal-
ed. In 1452, every thing was again thrown
into disorder, and an open and perpetual se-
paration took place. Before this time, Thomas
de Sarzano, bishop of Bologna, had succeeded
to the pontifical chair, and taken the name and
title of Nicholas V. This prelate has ever ranked
high in the estimation of good and wise men of
all parties. Felix, the anti-pope, very prudently,
or forced by the power of the Emperor Fre-
derick, resigned his pretensions, and quietly re-
turned to his favourite hermitage at Ripaille.
Amidst all these bickerings and this afflicting
schism, the work of reformation gained little or
no ground. The hearts of the reflecting and
the pious sunk within them when they foresaw
the evils which these endless animosities, and
the consequent immorality and laxity of disci-
pline, were bringing upon the Church. The
disorders of the clergy had now grown to an
enormous pitch; the German clergy, in parti-
* Reeve's History of the Church, iii. p. 28.
90
eular, are mentioned as notoriously disgraceful
This melancholy state of affairs is thus la-
mented by the excellent Cardinal Julian : —
" These disorders excite the people's hatred
against the whole ecclesiastical order, and
should they not be corrected, it is to be feared,
lest the laity, like the Hussites, fall foul on the
clergy, as they loudly threaten us." If the
clergy of Germany were not speedily reformed,
he foretold, that to the heresy of Bohemia,
though it were extinguished, another still more
dangerous would succeed ; (e for it will be said,"
he proceeds, " that the clergy are incorri-
gible, and will apply no remedy to their disor-
ders." " When they shall find no hopes left
of our amendment, then will they fall foul upon
us. The minds of men are big with expecta-
tion of what measures will be taken, and they
seem full ripe for something tragical. The ran-
cour they have imbibed against us becomes
manifest: they will soon think it an agreeable
sacrifice to God to plunder and abuse ecclesias-
tics, as abandoned to extreme disorders, and
hateful to God and man. The now but small
remains of respect to the sacred order, will
shortly be extinguished. The blame of all
these abuses will be thrown on the Court of
Rome, which will be reckoned the sole cause
thereof," because it neglected to apply the
necessary remedy. This great cardinal after-
wards speaks still more emphatically : " I
see the axe is at the root, the tree begins
91
to bend, and instead of propping it, whilst we
may, we hasten on its fall." He foresees a
speedy desolation in the German clergy. The
desire of taking from them their temporal
goods, was to be the first spring of motion :
" Bodies and souls," says he, " will perish to-
gether. God hides from us the prospect of our
dangers, as he is used to do with those he de-
signs to punish : we see the fire enkindled be-
fore us 3 and yet run headlong into it."* Thus
writes this faithful spiritual watchman to Pope
Eugenius IV. How strikingly his prognostica-
tions and fears were realized, the Reformation,
begun by Luther, early in the succeeding cen-
tury, fully, and in many instances, painfully,
demonstrated.
Besides the just fears of the discerning, on
account of the danger to which the Church was
daily exposing herself from the immorality of
her clergy and people, a source of grief had long
flowed from the ridicule and sneers of numerous
licentious and satirical authors, who failed not
to observe with severity on the conduct of the
clergy. In the early part of the 14th century,
the bold and daring Dante, described the Vicars
of Christ as living in the infernal regions. Pe-
trarca, no very long time afterwards, identified
* Ep. I. Julia. Card, ad Eug. IV. inter Op* JEn. Silv. pp.
66 — 76, as cited in Bossuet's Variations, &c. i. p. 2, 3.
92
the Court of Rome with that of ancient Baby-
lon. The Decameron of Boccaccio, in spite even
of the repentant author's own efforts to suppress
it,* is to this day in every body's hands, and is
preserved in every public library of Europe. It
is full of raillery at the vices, or the weaknesses,
of the clergy, and the disorders of the convents
and the religious. While the sonnets of Petrarca,
his tried friend, abound with virulence and re-
proach. In one of them, " he seems to have
exhausted, on this theme, every epithet of re-
proach and abhorrence, which his native lan-
guage could afford, f It is true these reproaches
apply to the papal court of Avignon; but, alas!
" the whole head was sick, and the whole heart
was faint !" But what need I mention or allude
to poets, or even divines, while such a man as
Giovanni Frencesco Pico, the nephew of Pico
de Mirandula, has so powerfully pleaded the
cause of reform, even to the face of one of the
greatest popes that ever filled the papal chair.
I will oblige the reader, and honour my work,
by a translation of some of the passages of his
celebrated oration, as delivered in the year 1517,
at the Council of Lateran. j Speaking of the
necessity of enacting many new laws : " I think
it better," says he, " that the most holy decrees
* See Mrs. Dobson's entertaining Life of Petrarch. II. 298,
et seq.
f Roscoe's Leo X. III. p. 197.
% The original forms No. CXLVI. in the Appendix to
Mr. Roscoe's invaluable Life of Leo the Tenth.
93
of the ancient fathers, and their venerable insti-
tutions, should be kept by the principal men
among us, and by the cardinals themselves, by
whom the whole weight of the christian com-
monwealth ought to be supported. If this were
done, he adds, the people would easily follow
the prelates, as animated and living laws, and
would be recalled to the rule of piety and true
discipline." Further on, he thus addresses the
pope: — " Great Pontiff! powerful exertions must
be used, lest Christianity should sustain any de-
triment ; for war is to be carried on with a nu-
merous army ; an intestine war, dangerous and
calamitous ; and which can be averted only by
the severity and rigour of discipline. Restrain
the luxury of every rank, — set bounds to ambi-
tion, — bridle the stubborn and unrestrained mad-
ness of impurity and lust, — prescribe restrictions
to the suspicious familiarities of priests, — give
limits to cupidity, to avarice, and to the accursed
thirst after large possessions,— claim those gifts and
donations of pious men, which, instead of being
faithfully applied by the priests to whose care
they have been entrusted, are rather devoured
by them, and cause them to be disposed of agree-
ably to the wills of the donators, lest they be finally
ingulphed in the whirlpool of all wickedness."
Alluding to that rage for simoniacal contracts,
which, in every age of the church, has been a
sure prognostic of approaching decay, he strong-
ly recommends the punishment of those who
nave concerned themselves in the sale of holy
things ; and advises, that those who have had
no regard to the flock committed to their trust ;
but have indulged in every kind of vanity, de-
lighting in superstitions, carousings, banquetings,
and loose and familiar practices, shall be either
wholly reformed or cut off from their sacred
functions j seeing, as he justly remarks, they
profane all things by their example, and cor-
rupt by their depravity, even those who are well
instructed and conscientious. He further refers
the Council to John Chrysostom for the truth
of his assertion, that from the depravity of the
priesthood has proceeded the ruin of the peo-
ple ; and produces Jerome as asserting, that he
never found any persons so well calculated to
seduce the people as their priests. He then ex-
horts the Pope to use coercive measures, and to
restrain the vices of the clergy without nicely
consulting their own wills on the occasion :
" You can," he exclaims, " supreme Pontiff,
and there is none upon earth besides that can,
do this; and whereas you can, you ought." The
Pope is then reminded of the conduct of old Eli,
and of the evils he sustained by neglecting to
restrain the base appetites of his unruly sons :
" for those," says he, " who command, should
not only be innocent themselves, but have suffi-
cient fortitude to restrain others."
This intrepid orator then goes on to paint
in glowing colours the dreadful state of public
95
morals, particularly of the clergy, to whom he
attributes every vice, natural and unnatural,
which at any time has disgraced, and even
destroyed human nature; and then he demands,
with unparalleled boldness, whether Leo X.
will put up with such abominations ; and whe-
ther he will both see and suffer such horrid
abuses and profanations ; at the same time ad-
vising him strenuously to oppose himself to this
torrent of corruption, and check at once the
overflowing luxury, the growing ambition, and
wanton dissipations that result from extensive
simony and profane traffic.
In such strains of invective, of expostulation
and warning, did this eminent man labour to
ward off the storm which every wise man
plainly saw was gathering thick above them.
The patient pontiff listened to and approved,
but unhappily disregarded, the wholesome coun-
sel ; till the storm burst, and overwhelming, in
one sweeping deluge, some of the best portions
of Christendom, let loose upon all the ancient
and venerable establishments of religion a host
of unruly and daring spirits, whose zeal could
not wait coolly to calculate upon consequences,
nor to discriminate between a depraved disci-
pline and a sacred rite, — between what they
themselves but a short time before had deemed
the undoubted truths of the Gospel, and the
obvious innovations of corrupt and ambitious
men. And yet some have thought, and per-
96
haps justly, that the early Reformers did but
half finish the work they so successfully begun.
Of the immediate causes that led to the Saxon
and German Reformation, I will treat hereafter :
at present it is proper to remark, that not any
of the writers I have alluded to, not even the
most profligate and satirical, seem ever to have
meditated an attack on the Doctrines of the uni-
versal Church. It was against the relaxed dis-
cipline, against the ambition and the vices of
the Clergy, and the almost general backsliding
of the people, that they directed their argu-
ments or their reproaches.
Not any one of these persons enlisted under
the banners of the Augustine Friar, Martin Lu-
ther, when with the most daring freedom he
entirely departed from the Catholic Church,
and sought not to reform, but to revolutionize
the principles of his ancestors and brethren.
The most violent advocate of Reform would
have trembled and shrunk back with horror at
a proposal to dethrone the holy Pontiff, to
question the purity of the Church in regard to
her doctrines, or the validity and usefulness of
the ancient discipline 3 nor, indeed, did the Lu-
theran Reformers themselves, in the first in-
stance, attack any of the received and sacred
dogmas of the Church. It was not till they
were emboldened by success, or irritated by op-
position, that they presumed to lay tke axe to
97
the root, or even to aim a single blow at the su-
premacy of the Pope, or the infallibility of the
Church.
Concerning the real sentiments and inten-
tions of the friends of Reform, Bossuet writes
thus :* " Protestants cite to us St. Bernard,
who, enumerating the Church's grievances, and
those she suffered from heresies in her progress,
and those she was exposed unto in latter days
by the depravation of manners, allows them to
be far more dreadful, because they taint the
very vitals, and spread infection through all the
members of the Church: whence, concludes
this great man, the Church may truly say with
Isaiah, c her most painful and most grievous
bitterness is in peace ;' when left in peace by
infidels, and unmolested by heretics, she is most
dangerously assaulted by the depraved manners
of her own children. Even this were enough to
shew, that he does not, like our Reformers,
bewail the errors the Church had fallen into,
(on the contrary, he represents her as secure on
that side) but such evils only as proceeded from
relaxed discipline. Accordingly, when instead
of discipline, the church's dogmata were at-
tacked by turbulent and restless men, such as
Peter de Bruis, as Henry, as Arnold of Bresse ;
this great man would never suffer their wcak-
* Variations, i. 4 — 6.
H
9S
ening, so much as one of them, but foughi
invincibly, as well for the faith of the Church,
as for the authority of her prelates.
" The case is the same with the rest of the
Catholic doctors, who, in the succeeding ages,
lamented abuses, and demanded a reformation
of them. Of all these the most renowned is
Gerson, and none more loudly called for it m
the Church's head and members. In a sermon
he made after the Council of Pisa before Alex-
ander V., he introduces the Church, requesting
of the Pope the reformation and re-establish-
ment of the kingdom of Israel 5 but to shew
he complained of no error, that could be ob-
served in the Church's doctrine, he addresses
the Pope in these words : — ' Why do you not
send to the? Indians, whose faith may easily
have been corrupted, they not being united to
the Church of Rome, whence certainty of faith
must be derived?' His master, Cardinal Peter
d'Ailly, sighed also for a reformation ; but the
principle he went upon was far different from
that of Luther, who, writing to Melanethon,
gave it for a maxim, ' that sound doctrine
could not subsist whilst the Pope's authority
subsisted :' whereas, this Cardinal was of opi-
nion, ' that the members of the Church being
separated from their head, during the schism,
and there being no administrator and aposto-
lical director, namely, no Pope, that all the
Church acknowledged^ it was not to be hoped
99
that a reformation could be well brought about.'
Thus one made the reformation to depend on
the subversion of the Papacy; the other, on
the perfect re-settling of that sacred authority,
which was established by Jesus Christ on pur-
pose to keep up unity among his members, and
withhold all in their respective duties.'*
Indeed, the Catholic Reformers, for so it may
he convenient to distinguish them, never once
thought of asserting, that any thing could " be
wrong in the faith or worship of the Church;'*
nor did they ever so much as attempt to shake
the foundations of that authority, which they at
all times supposed " the Church, her supreme
pastor, and her prelates, received from Christ,"
and which, they firmly maintained, could never
be altered or impaired, though as we have al-
ready seen, they are free enough to " admit,
that when Luther first made his attack on the
Church of Rome, much reformation in the
Church, both in respect to its head and mem-
bers, was wanting in discipline and morals."*
I close with regret this feeble sketch of what
the Germans would call Reformationis ante Re-
format to nem, a well-written history of which,
as Mr. Butlerf very justly remarks, is much
Butler's Revolutions of the Germanic Empire, p. 67,
3d ed.
f Ibid.
H 2
100
wanted. The editors of Beausobre's Histoire de
la Reformation say that something of this kind
was found among his papers, with the title of
PreJiminaires de la Reformation ; but we are
not informed whether it was ever printed, and
it appears there is no knowledge of it in this
country.*
SECTION V.
Causes that led to the Saxon and German Re/or-
mation.
THE more proximate causes of the Saxon
and German Reformation, first begun in the
early part of the sixteenth century, may be
sought for:— I. In the continued profligacy and
laxity of the clergy. II. The pride and obsti-
nacy of the Roman Court. III. The extrava-
gance and indifference of the supreme Pontiff,
Leo X. IV. The recent invention of the inva-
luable art of printing. V. The disgraceful use
which Tetzel and others made of the doctrine
and sale of indulgences. VI. The persevering
boldness of Luther. And, lastly, though by
no means the least, VII. The avarice and ra-
* I have made diligent, and even laborious, inquiry among
the London booksellers, concerning this, but without suc-
cess; Mr. Butler says " it has not found its way to the Lon-
don market." — Revolutions, fyc. p. 87.
101
pacity of several princes, and inferior magis-
trates, who instigated and encouraged opposi-
tion to the papal power, that they might them-
selves partake of the spoils or the prerogatives
of the Church.*
Other causes have been enumerated by Pro-
testant writers. Dr. Sturges, •]• in particular,
mentions, as one of these pre-disposing causes,
*^the doctrines which the Church ingrafted on
Christianity and imposed on the world ;" —
" doctrines," he adds, " unauthorized by Scrip-
ture, repugnant to the common sense of man-
kind, and for the most part calculated to
answer some indirect purpose of policy or
profit." It would be foreign to the object
of this work to engage in any controversy on
the side of Catholicism; and were it not so,
there are few writers, whose positions, in many
cases, I should feel more repugnance in com-
bating than those of this learned and gentle-
manly author ; but, with submission, it would
appear, that the question of doctrines is one
the most remote from % this subject. For, in the
first instance, it was not against the Catholic dog-
mata,! but against the abuses, and the corrup-
tions of the papal court, or, as Dr. Sturges him-
self justly expresses^ it, " the gross instance of
* " Pinguis est panis Christi, et praebebit delicias regibus.
t Reflections on Popery, p. 60, 4to. ed.
% Vide ante, p. 39. § P. 62.
102
papal abuse" "in the case of indulgences," that
Luther and others directed their zeal. Our in-
trepid Reformer does not appear at all to have
contemplated an attack against the trinity,
transubstantiation, original sin, vicarious pu-
nishments, purgatory, praying for the dead,
the use of images and pictures as helps to de-
votion, the veneration of reliques, the sacra-
ments, the Catholicity and authority of the
Church, tradition, the invocation of saints, or
even against the use and sale of indulgences.
It was not, I say, against all or any of these
Catholic tenets, that the Reformers, in the first
instance, protested ; nor are we certain, had no
flagrant abuse been made of some branches of
discipline, that any efforts would then have
been made to restore the ancient simplicity of
faith, or the purity of the primitive discipline.
It will not be contended, that the doctrines
just enumerated are not, as Dr. Sturges asserts,
some of them at least " unauthorized by Scrip-
ture," or even " repugnant to the common
sense of mankind ;" but certainly, neither their
unscripturalness, nor their repugnance to com-
mon sense, had any share in producing the
earliest efforts of the Reformers ; nor were they
alleged as grounds of complaint. They em-
brace all, or at least the most prominent fea-
tures of the Catholic creed ; and some of them
are retained by Dr. Sturges himself. It is
worthy of remark, that of most of those Catholic
105
tenets which the majority of the reformed
churches have thought proper to retain, there
has always been a learned and respectable, if
not a very numerous, class who strenuously
maintain, that even they " are unauthorized by
Scripture, repugnant to the common sense of
mankind, and for the most part calculated to
answer some indirect purpose of policy or
profit." Similar causes may produce similar
events ; if, then, Dr. Sturges's reasoning be con-
clusive in this instance, let the Church of
England look to it, lest reform or ruin should be
denounced even against her establishments.*
* The reader will do well to read, with peculiar attention,
that spirited, though it is to be hoped somewhat too severe,
publication, the Hints to the Legislature and the Public on the
nature and effects of Evangelical Preaching. By a Barrister.
The two last parts are by far the best. And those who feel
concerned for the safety of our national Church, which every
peaceable man ought to do, should read, with some allow-
ance, the second edition of Simpson's Plea for Religion and
the Sacred Writings. In this writer one may almost recog-
nize the spirit which formerly animated the souls of St. Ber-
nard, Gerson, the Cardinal Julian, and Giovanni Francesco
Pico ; and it is not a little curious to hear a respectable cler-
gyman of our own national establishment in the ISth cen-
tury thus express himself: — " I do not see how I can, either
in honour or conscience, continue to officiate any longer as a
Minister of the Gospel in the Establishment of my native
country. It appears to me, in my coolest and most consi-
derate moments, to be, with all its excellencies, a main
branch of the anti-christian system. It is a strange mixture,
as hath been already observed, of what is secular and what
104
It may be expected from a Protestant writer,
that he should enumerate among the causes of
the Reformation, the secret, if not even the open
and visible, interposition of Divine Providence.
And some will even think, that the fulfilment
of the Apocalyptical prophecies, and the pre-
is spiritual. And I strongly suspect, the day is at no very
great distance, when the whole fabric shall tumble into
ruins, and the pure and immortal religion of the Son of God
rise more bright, lovely, and glorious from its subversion.
The several warnings of the Sacred Oracles seem to be of vast
importance, and necessary to be observed : Flee out of the
midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut
off in her iniquity ; for this is the day of the Lord's vengeance ;
he ivill render unto her a recompense. Jer. li. 6. — We would
have healed Babylon, but she is not healed ; forsake her, and let
let us go every one unto his own country. Ibid. li. 9. — When ye
shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel,
the prophet, stand in the holy place, then let them which be in
Judea,flee to the mountains. Matt. xxiv. 15, 16. — These are
only remotely applicable to the business in hand. The fol-
lowing is more directly so. — I heard a voice from heaven,
saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not par-
takers OF HER SINS, AND THAT YE RECEIVE NOT OF HER
plagues. Rev. xviii. 4."
It is to be hoped this good man's fears were much too
strong, and his representations too highly coloured. Mr. Simp-
son died soon after the second edition of the " Plea," which
contained the Appendixes, was printed, but before it was pub-
lished- and his executors took some pains to prevent its circula-
tion. His son, the present Mr. Simpson, on his coming of
age, claimed possession of the work and gave it to the world.
The book made some noise at the time, but seems now to be
little read. It is the production of a singularly honest and
pious man.
105
dictions of Daniel the prophet, should be taken
into this estimate. Such pious readers may-
rest assured that these points are only omitted
because it is the author's firm persuasion that
to have adduced them on this occasion would
naturally be construed by Catholics into a beg-
ging of the question, and would, moreover, lead
to criticisms and speculations tending rather
to perplex than to elucidate the great subject
under consideration. Yet, so firmly fixed is the
author's belief in the consoling doctrine of di-
vine agency in all the great revolutions of the
universe, that he has no hesitation in assent-
ing to the reasoning of Dr. Robertson on this
point ; and he hopes that, once for all, it will
satisfy the most scrupulous of his brethren,
to quote what this eminent historian has writ-
ten on this subject of Providence : — " To over-
turn a system of religious belief, founded on
ancient and deep-rooted prejudices, supported
by power, and defended with no less art than
industry ; to establish in its room doctrines of
the most contrary genius and tendency; and to
accomplish all this, not by external violence or
the force of arms, are operations, which histo-
rians, the least prone to credulity and supersti-
tion, ascribe to that Divine Providence, which,
with infinite ease, can bring about events which
to human sagacity appear impossible. The in-
terposition of Heaven in favour of the Christian
religion, at its first publication, was manifested
by miracles and prophecies wrought and ut-
106
tered in confirmation of it. Though none of
the reformers possessed, or pretended to possess,
these supernatural gifts, yet that wonderful pre-
paration of circumstances which disposed the
minds of men for receiving the doctrines, that
singular combination of causes which secured
their success, and enabled men, destitute of
power and of policy, to triumph over those who
employed against them extraordinary efforts of
both, may be considered as no slight proof,
that the same hand which planted the Christian
religion, protected the reformed faith, and
reared it from beginnings extremely feeble, to
an amazing degree of vigour and maturity."*
And now I may be permitted to pass on to a
review of those less equivocal or controvertible
causes already enumerated, which produced this
most extraordinary event.
I. The extreme laxity and even profligacy of
the clergy, had long been a source of painful
regret to the wise and the good, and of sarcasm,
impious pleasure, and contempt to the wicked
and the vain. Cardinal Bellarmine, a writer,
as all the world knows, but seldom disposed to
say a syllable in disparagement of the Church
of the Roman Court, confesses that " for some
years before the Lutheran and Calvinistic here-
* Reign of Charles V. i. pp. 235—236. ed. 1809.
107
sies," as he expresses it, " were published,
** there was not (as contemporary authors tes-
tify) any severity in ecclesiastical judicatories,
any discipline with regard to morals, any know-
ledge of sacred literature, any reverence for
divine things ; there was not almost any religion
remaining."*
It would be easy to enlarge on the represen-
tations which have been made by writers of every
description, of the depravity of the times, both
long before and immediately preceding, the re-
formation. But enough on this head has already
been given in the preceding section ; and charity
would lead us to hope, nay, it is absolutely cer-
tain, that, bad as have been the popes and the
clergy, they never were so utterly depraved as
they are represented to have been ; though I fear
it is too much to say, with Dr. Milner, - ]* that not
more than thirty of the 2.55 pontiffs have dis-
honoured their high office and sacred profession.
It must, however, be granted, that a very large
majority of the popes of Rome, and of the mi-
nisters of religion, have been men of piety, vir-
tue, and benevolence. The Rev. Alban Butler's
* Bcllar. Concio xxviii. Oper. torn. vi. col. 296. ed. Co-
lon. 1617, apud Gerdesii Hist. Evan. Renovati, Vol. I. p. 25,
in Robertson's Reign of Charles V. vol. ii. p. 258.
t Letters to a Prebendary, p. 38.
108
Lives of the Saints*, exhibits some instances of
the most exalted goodness that ever adorned hu-
man nature ; and the several published Histories
of the Popes, even the most prejudiced^ attest
the important fact, that many of the Roman
pontiffs have " been persons of eminent virtues
and heroic sanctity, whose example is publicly
held out for the edification and example of chris-
tians." And why should any Protestant blame
this just tribute of praise? Yet, blamed it will
be j and many will regard the author as little
less than in " league with devils." Thank God !
the system of faith he has adopted, as being, in
his judgment, the Faith of the Gospel, stands in
no need of support from the vices, or even the
virtues of popes. Were all the Roman prelates
Saints, that would not alter the records of truth - y
had all of them been demons, the divine veracity
would remain unshaken. It is, therefore, with
far other feelings than those of envy or mistrust,
that I discover, (for, as to myself, I announce it
as a discovery, in opposition to the slanders or
* Of this book Mr. Gibbon thus speaks : — " A work of
merit ; the sense and learning belong to the author : his pre-
judices are those of his profession." Dec. and Fall, vi. p. 166.
[Note t] See, too, the Life of this eminent and excellent
divine, by his nephew, the present Charles Butler, Esq.
t Not even excepting the work of the reformed Councillor
of the Inquisition, Bower, a book which has happily sunk
into contempt and oblivion.
109
the pious prejudices of the nursery,*) that
many of the Popes of Rome have been men
that would have honoured any church to which
* Those who have no interests to serve but those of truth ;
no mistake but what they would gladly have removed, will
not blame me for inserting, in this place, the following ex-
tract from Mr. Gother's curious little work, entitled, u A
Papist Misrepresented and Represented ; or a Two-fold Cha-
racter of Popery." The extract is made from the edition of
1811:
" Of Wicked Principles and Practices.
" The papist misrepresented is a member of a church
called holy ; but in her doctrine and practices, so foul and
abominable, that whosoever admires her for sanctity, may
upon the same grounds, do homage to vice itself. Has ever
any society, since Christ's time, appeared in the world so
black and deformed with hellish crimes as she ? has she not
outdone even the most barbarous nations and infidels, with
her impieties, and drawn a scandal upon the name of Chris-
tian, by her unparalleled vices ? Take but a view of the
horrid practices she has been engaged in ; consider the French
and Irish massacres, the murder of Henry III. and IV. kings
of France, the holy league, the gun-powder treason, the
cruelty of Queen Mary, the firing of London, the death of
Sir Edmund Bury-Godfrey ; and an infinite number of other
such like devilish contrivances; and then tell me, whether
that church, which has been the author and promoter of
such barbarous designs, ought to be esteemed holy, and re-
spected for piety and religion, or rather to be condemned
for the mistress of iniquity, the whore of Babylon, which
hath polluted the earth with her wickedness, and taught no-
thing but the doctrine of devils ? And let never so many
pretences be made ; yet it is evident, that all these execrable
practices have been done according to the known principles
of
iia
they might have belonged. Let others, who
are so disposed, build their favourite systems on
the ruins of the papal character j and fancy, as
of this holy church, and that her greatest patrons, the most
learned of her divines, her most eminent bishops, her prelates,
cardinals, and even the popes themselves, hav ebeen the chief
managers of these hellish contrivances. And what more con-
vincing argument that they are well proved, than that they
are conformable to the religion taught by their church ?"
" The papist truly represented is a member of a church,
which, according to the Ninth Ai'ticle of the Apostles' Creed,
he believes to be holy ; and this not only in name, but also
in doctrine ; and for witnesses of her sanctity, he appeals,
to her councils, catechisms, pulpits, and spiritual books of
direction ; in which the main design is, to imprint in the
hearts of the faithful this comprehensive maxim of Christi-
anity ; that they ought to love God above all things, with
their whole heart and soul ; and their neighbour as themselves;
and that none should flatter themselves with a confidence to
be saved by faith alone, without living soberly, justly, and
piously ; as it is taught in the Council of Trent, Sess. 6. c. 11,
So that he doubts not but that as many as live according to
the directions of his church, and in observance of her doctrine,
live holily in the service and fear of God ; and with an humble
confidence in the merits and passion of their Redeemer, may
hope to be received after this life into eternal bliss. But that, all
in communion with his church do not live thus holily, and in
the fear of God, he knows it is too evident ; there being many
in all places, wholly forgetful of their duty, giving themselves
up to vice, and guilty of most horrid crimes. And though
he is not bound to believe all to be true, that is charged upon
them by the^r adversaries ; there being no narrative of any
such devilish contrivances and practices laid to them, wherein
passion and fury have not made great additions j wherein
things
Ill
they may, that their own elevation must as-
suredly advance with the depression and degra-
dation of popery.
things dubious are not improved into certainties, suspicions
into realities, fears and jealousies into substantial plots, and
downright lies and recorded perjuries, into pulpit, nay, gos-
pel truths ; yet he really thinks, that there have been men
of his profession, of every rank and degree, learned and un-
learned, high and low, secular and ecclesiastic, that have
been scandalous in their lives, wicked in their designs, with-
out the fear of God in their hearts, or care of their own sal-
vation. But what then ? Is the whole church to be con-
demned for the vicious lives of some of her professors ; and
her doctrine to stand guilty of as many villanies as those
commit, who neglect to follow it ? If so, let the men of that
society, judgment, or persuasion, who are not in the like cir-
cumstances, fling the first stone. Certainly, if this way of
passing sentence be once allowed as just and reasonable,
there never was, nor ever will be, any religion or church of
God upon earth. A confident undertaker would find no dif-
ficulty in proving this, especially if he had but the gift of
exaggerating some things, — misrepresenting others, — finding
authors for every idle story, — charging the extravagant opi-
nions of every single writer upon the religion they profess,—
raking together all the wickedness, cruelties, treacheries, plots,
conspiracies, at any time committed, by ambitious despera-
does, or wicked villains : and then positively asserting, that
what these did, was according to the doctrine of that church
of which they were members ; and that the true measures of
the sanctity and goodness of the church in whose communion
these men were, may be justly taken from the behaviour of
such offenders. But certainly no man of reason or con-
science can allow of such proceedings. No sober man would
ever go to Newgate or Tyburn, to know what is the religion
professed
112
But to proceed with the subject, that the
laxity and depravity of the Roman clergy, form-
ed one strong cause of the reformation of the
professed in England according to law ; nor would look into
all the sinks, jakes, dunghills, common sewers about town,
from such a prospect to give a true description of the city.
Why, therefore, should the character of the church of Rome
and her doctrine be taken only from the loose behaviour and
wicked crimes of such, who, though in communion with her,
yet live not according to her direction ? She teaches holiness
of life, mercy to the poor, loyalty and obedience to princes,
and the necessity of keeping the commandments ; witness
the many books of devotion and direction, made English for
public benefit, written originally by papists, and great num-
bers there are, God be praised, who practise them in their
lives. And now if there be many also who stop their ears to
good instruction, and following the suggestion of their own
"ungovernable appetites, of pride, ambition, covetousness,
luxury, &c. who lay aside all concern of salvation, and be-
come so unchristian both to God and their neighbour, that
they are a shame to their profession ; why should the church
be represented according to the wickedness of those that neg-
lect her doctrine ; and not rather by the piety and exemplary
lives of such as follow it ? Let the character of the church be
given according to what she teaches, and net according to the
tvritings of every positive opiniator, or the practices of every
wicked liver, and there is no fear of its coming out so ugly and
deformed. Neither let any one pretend to demonstrate the
faith and principles of papists, by the works of every divine
in their communion ; or by the actions of every bishop, car-
dinal, or pope ; which are not any rule of their faith. They
own that many of their writers are too loose in their opinions;
that all bishops or cardinals are not so edifying as becomes
their
113
Church. For although their crimes were not
quite so black, nor so numerous, as some have
stated, they were sufficient to excite the hatred
of many. Had the moral conduct of the head and
ministers of religion been such as became their
holy office, it is more than probable that no parti-
cular outcry would have been raised against the
Catholic doctrines to the present hour. It was
not the light of science, the encouragement at
that time given to the arts and to elegant litera-
ture ; it was not any new discovery that had
then been made in regard to morals, meta-
physics, or religion, that first enabled the re-
formers to attack, with success, the principles
their state ; and that popes also may have their failings. But
what then ? the actions of popes concern not the faith of those
who are in communion with them; they may throw a scan-
dal indeed upon the religion, but they can never alter its
creed. But what need any other return to the numerous
clamours made daily against the wickedness of the papists ?
It is a sufficient vindication of their chief pastors and popes,
to use the words of Lord Castlemain in his apology, that
among two hundred and fifty, that have now successively
borne the charge, there are not above ten or twelve, against
whom their most malicious adversaries can find occasion of
spitting their venom ; and that a challenge may be made to
the world, to shew but the fifth part of so many successive
governors, since the creation, of which there have not been
far more that have abused their power. And as for his flock,
the people owning his authority, it is true, that many wicked
things have been done by some of them ; and too many like
libertines, neglect the care of their fold : but, however, the
generality of them live like christians."
I
114
of the old faith, or the peculiarities of the ancient
discipline. Even before that event, the arts
were encouraged because they contributed to
support the primitive superstitions. The liberal
sciences were no where so successfully cultivated
as in the cloisters and at the sacred colleges.
The profound learning of the Benedictine
monks has been the subject of a warm panegy-
ric from the able pen of Mr. Gibbon ; and Mr.
Roscoe, as we have already seen,* bears ample
testimony to the learning and talents of many of
the supreme pontiffs. Indeed, as we shall here-
after have occasion to remark, the Reformation,
so far from being the result of a love of literature
and the arts, tended very materially, in the out-
set at least, to damp the generous ardour of the
poet and the painter -, to restrain the powerful
efforts of the sculptor ; and to turn the stream of
useful studies into those channels of scholastic
and metaphysical wrangling in which the de-
praved taste of angry polemics has ever since
delighted to wanton.
No : it was the base conduct of the clergy
that first sounded the tocsin of religious war.
This depravity had, naturally enough, become
the subject of public ridicule, of reproach, and
at last, of contempt and open opposition. The
universal cry was " REFORM!" and when this
* Vide ante, p. 64.
115
call was rejected, another, still more powerful and
dreadful, was raised, of « DESTRUCTION 1"
The Holiness of the Church became the first
object of general attack ; and, unfortunately for
herself, that which should have been her strongest
hold, was the most vulnerable part in the whole
fortress. This taken, nothing was left really
worth contending for. Her Unity, Catholicity,
and Apostolicity, could make but a poor defence,
seeing she exhibited so miserable a stand on the
once boasted ground of her Holiness. In those
states wherein the Church may be said to have
fallen, it is fair to remark, that she fell, in a
manner, by her own hand. The prophet's
reproach may justly be applied to her: —
" O Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself!" It
is with communities as with individuals: little
"can harm them whilst they are followers of that
which is good." As " Charity hides a multitude
of sins," so does much active goodness conceal
from the view a thousand errors of opinion, and
many superstitions of worship. The subsequent
ridicule and indecent abuse about the " wafer
god," would, doubtless, have been spared had
the Catholic clergy but minded, as they ought,
by a life of devotion and obedience, " to honour
and serve that God," whom they believed to be
present in the consecrated elements of which
the wafer was composed. The outcry was not
against the Host, but against him by whom it
was elevated. Holy images, pictures, reliques,
and shrines, were never despised till they were
I 2
116
abused and profaned by those to whose cus-
tody they had been piously consigned. Let not,
then, the present adherents to the Catholic re-
ligion complain of us Protestants, that the vices
of their ancestors have opened our eyes, that
some of us now disregard and abjure, as mon-
strous errors, those doctrines, under the profes-
sion of which so much mischief has been per-
petrated. We were first alarmed, then scanda-
lized, then disgusted, and at length, enlightened.
We trembled for the safety of the ark of the
Lord. We touched it, somewhat rudely I grant,
and it fell, and in its fall it broke ; and, to our
utter surprise, we discovered its contents to be
of a very different character from that which we
had ever been taught. The " Tables of Testi-
mony" turned out to be, at least in our estima-
tion, the weak and contradictory traditions of
fallible, sometimes wicked, men. The writings
on these tables did not appear to us to have any
traces of the Finger of God. We awoke from
a sleep of many centuries ; during which our
senses had been imposed upon by delusions about
infallibility, indefectibility, pious pilgrimages,
miracles, mysteries, saints, and devotions, and
" behold it was a dream !"
But it will be asked, that, seeing the depravi-
ty of the Roman clergy was a principal cause
of revolt, now that the necessary reformation has
taken place, and Catholic ministers, as a body,
no longer dishonour their profession, why do not
117
Protestants return to the bosom of the church,
and conform to her discipline ? This question
I profess myself not fully competent to answer.
It must be left, as in other cases, to Protestant
episcopalians of the established Church. To
those who allow that " The church hath power
to decree rites and ceremonies,* — who have im-
plicit faith in the Fathers, — who admit mysteries
as articles of belief, — who yield their judgment
and prostrate their reason at the shrine of the
Three Creeds, and still retain tlw damnatory
Clauses,^ to all such this question must, I
should conceive, prove rather knotty and pro-
voking ; and to them and theirs I gladly con-
sign it. J
* Vide the XXth Article of Religion, in the Book of
Common Prayer. It is of small purpose now to assert the
fact, that this singular passage is a forgery, foisted into
the article by some designing person. It is now believed
and acted upon.
f " Whoever would be saved, before all things it is neces-
sary that he hold the CATHOLIC faith ; which faith, ex-
cept every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt
he shall perish everlastingly."
" And the CATHOLIC faith is this :— » *
# 9 # # * ^
# # * * » #
" This is the CATHOLIC faith ; which except a man be-
lieve faithfully, he cannot be saved : Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!" Vide " The Creed
of Saint Athanasius," as, upon certain occasions, it is " ap-
pointed to be said or sung at the morning prayer, by the
minister and people standing."
t I have read the Bishop of Durham's " Grounds on
118
II. The growing pride of the court of Rome,
naturally engendered by the union of church
and state, was one of the strong symptoms of
approaching revolt. Corrupt princes may boast
of the divine stability of their thrones, and even
persecute and destroy those who forewarn them
of their danger ; but, under God, the fountain
of power is in the people : from them it originally
emanates, and to them it must ultimately re-
vert, whenever those to whom they have dele-
gated any portion of it shall refuse to listen to
their just complaints, or become wicked beyond
a certain extent. Dreadful are those convulsions,
and inconceivably alarming their consequences,
which are produced by popular fury, roused into
action by the rejection of reason, and the pride
and stubbornness of wicked governors. " But
the Reformation was an affair of religion and mo-
rals, and not a political convulsion." It was
both: yet the origin of the tumult was political,
and in many cases it was conducted upon poli-
tical principles. If the revolters at length enter-
ed the temples of religion, it was because the
pride, the arrogance, and the domineering spirit
of the ministers of truth had led them to incor-
porate the mysteries of faith with the specula-
tions of worldly aggrandizement; and we often
which the Church of England separated from that of Rome ;"
but I have also read " Remarks" on those " Grounds," by
the Author of " Remarks on the Bishop of Durham's Charge;'*
sold by Booker, and Keating and Co.
119
find, that the same storm which casts down
the throne, makes the holy altars tremble to their
base.
When proud men in power are hard pressed
with the arguments or the complaints of their
inferiors, there are only two methods, as they
suppose, of parrying the ignoble thrusts of the
adversary : they must either crush by authority
their troublesome opponents; or, shrouding them-
selves in a delusive security, treat the reasoning
of their humble but powerful enemies with " si-
lent contempt:" often the miserable subterfuge
of the cowardly and the vanquished. This was
the conduct of the Roman court. The remon-
strances of the wise and good were listened to,
but disregarded ; the satires and lampoons of the
poets were laughed at, and forgotten ; and, for
a long time, the innovating zeal of Luther, " an
obscure monk, in a corner of Germany," was
treated with what was mistakenly deemed, a
merited disregard.
Perhaps, it may be said, and truly, that the love
of ease, refinement, and polite literature, rather
than the pride, of Leo the Tenth, operated to
the prejudice of the church, and collaterally
strengthened the cause of the reformers. But it
was those very feelings, swelling into disdain for
the remonstrances and homely vulgarities of the
real friends of religion and public virtue, that
preyed like a canker on the papal power; and,
120
by its corrosive qualities, weakened, if it could
not destroy, the foundations of its own imperious
dignity. In every point of view, the church
acted the part of a suicide ; and this conduct
seems inseparable, in a greater or lesser degree,
from that fatal union of church and state, by
which the same person is allowed to sustain the
two opposite characters of a temporal prince and
a minister of religion. By the one he is taught
the common duties and principles of a christian,
and to obey him who said " Be ye not called
Rabbi ;" by the other, he imbibes maxims of the
world j and universal experience shews, that man-
kind in general are more promptly, if not more
powerfully, influenced by prospects of immediate
temporal enjoyment, than by the unseen and re-
mote assurances of faitb and virtue. The church
of Christ will never fail : the providence of its
founder is the invulnerable bulwark of its safety,
and the promise of the Redeemer the imperish-
able charter of its eternal inheritance. But the
unnatural union of the church with civil govern-
ments must, sooner or later, be dissolved in every
state of Christendom. They do not support,
they clog and incommode each other. It is the
connexion of Christ and of Belial : a sort of
spiritual incest, forbidden in nature, and op-
posed by religion. Its offspring is not uni-
formity, but hypocrisy and persecution.
Under these circumstances, in countries ini-
mical to religious toleration, the church will be
121
filled, for the most part, either with hypocrites
or with men altogether indifferent to religion.
On the other hand, in states where each indivi-
dual enjoys full liberty of conscience, and the
free exercise of his peculiar forms of worship, the
establishment will be deserted, and the commu-
nity split into innumerable sectaries, as is the
case in this country. All this results from the
pride of a worldly, national, or secular creed;
and this was the case with the church of Rome.
Where she has fallen, she has been the prey of
that proud and fatal principle of uniting, what
should be for ever separate, the honours and
duties of the clerical order, with the powers and
prerogatives of temporal princes.
The plain inference, as it relates to the Reform-
ation is this : — that had the church of Rome
kept herself apart from courts, she had never
been infected with that virus of earthly domi-
nion, which at length found its way to her vit.ils,
poisoned, inflated, and will, probably, at length
destroy her as a worldly system, and exhibit her
once more relying only on the strength of her
faith, and the purity of her morals.
The French expose of 1809, under the head
of Religious Worship, has some excellent obser-
vations, which even the villainous motives of
the plunderer of Europe who made them, can-
not invalidate. " Every one knows," says he,
" the evils caused to religion by the temporal
m
sovereignty of the Pope. Without this, half
Europe would not be separated from the catholic
church. There was but one method of saving
her for ever from such great dangers, and of re-
conciling the interests of the state with those of
religion. It was needful that the successor of
St. Peter should be a pastor like St. Peter; who,
solely occupied with the salvation of souls, and
with spiritual interests, might cease to be agitated
by worldly ideas, by pretensions to sovereignty,
and by disputes concerning boundaries, territo-
ries, and provinces. It is a benefit, then, to se-
parate religion from what is a stranger to her,
and to have placed her in her state of evangeli-
cal purity." In another part of this expose, it
is justly remarked, that " priests should live by
the altar, and be attentive to such things only
as concern their holy functions."
Whoever would appreciate the value and the
excellence of this reasoning, must detach it en-
tirely from its hypocritical cant of respect for
the true interests of the church j* and bear in
mind, that had the spiritual power of the pope
been as valuable in the estimation of Bonaparte
as were his temporal possessions, this rapacious
Caesar would never have talked of " rendering
♦ " This he said, not that he cared for the Church, but
because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was
put therein." John, c. xiii. v. 6.
123
unto God the things that are God's." In the
same expose he says, that " the Pope must,
according to the principles of Jesus Christ, give,
like others, to Caesar what is due to Caesar ;"
adding, very truly, but with the same diabolical
motive of plunder, that " the temporal crown
and the sceptre of this world were not put into
the pope's hands by him whose will it was that
he should call himself the servant of the servants
of God, and who recommended to him, at all
times, charity and humility."
III. Next to the lordly pride of the Roman cou rt,
we may reckon, among the proximate causes
of the Reformation, the luxury, extravagance,
and religious indifference of Leo the Tenth.
About the period of Luther's first attack on
the religion of Catholics, Rome was in profound
peace; and this interval of repose Leo the Tenth
occupied in expensive schemes for aggrandizing
the family of the Medici ; in extending the splen-
dour of the papal see ; and in lavishing presents
on authors, artists, profane wits, and buffoons.
To support the enormous expenses to which
these propensities subjected the supreme pontiff,
required far greater resources than the almost
exhausted treasury of the papal court could
furnish ; for that treasury had been pretty
well drained by the recent war of Urbino, and
other causes, which it is needless now to enume-
rate. Yet, at no time was the Roman court in
124
greater splendour, nor did the vicars of Christ
ever exhibit a magnificence so imposing, as that
displayed during the pontificate of Leo the
Tenth. Every decoration that art could sug-
gest ; every wish that the most voluptuous ap-
petite could engender; and every refinement
that an unbounded love of science and literature
could devise, found a patron in that luxurious
prince. This great Macenas of the age, in his
unrestrained admiration of talent and genius,
scrupled not to lend his countenance, and open
his coffers, to many palpable empirics, and vul-
gar buffoons.
Speaking of the spiritual splendour of the
Roman see, A. D. 1517, the biographer of Leo
X.* gives us the following animated description:
tf The revenues of the numerous benefices, rich
abbeys, and other ecclesiastical preferments be-
stowed upon each of the cardinals and great dig-
nitaries of the Church, frequently amounted to a
princely sum, and a prelate was comparatively
poor whose annual income did not amount to
eight or ten thousand ducats. On the death of
Sixtus della Rovere, the nephew of Sixtus IV.,f
* Roscoe's Life of Leo X. iii. 185.
+ The annual income of this debauched ecclesiastic
amounted to upwards of 40,000 ducats ; although Paris de
Grassis informs us, that he was so ignorant as not to be able
to write or read ; to which he adds, in allusion to the disease
under which he laboured : " ab umbilico ad plantus pedum
125
in the year 1517, Leo appointed his cousin
Giulio de Medici vice chancellor of the holy
see ; which office alone brought him the annual
sum of twelve thousand ducats. Nor was it
only from within the limits of Italy that the
cardinals and prelates of the Church derived
their wealth and dignities. All Europe was
then tributary to the Roman See ; and many of
these fortunate ecclesiastics, whilst they passed
their days amidst the luxuries and amusements
of Rome, supported their rank and supplied
their dissipation by contributions from the re-
motest parts of Christendom. The number of
benefices held by an individual was limited only
by the will of the pontiff 5 and by an ubiquity,
which although abstractedly impossible, has
been found actually and substantially true, the
same person was frequently at the same time
an archbishop of Germany, a bishop in France
or England, an abbot or a friar in Poland or in
Spain, and a cardinal at Rome."
This profusion and magnificence in the su-
preme Pontiff was amply copied by the chiefs
and the princes of the Roman Court, who vied
with each other in the grandeur and sump-
tuousness of their palaces and the prodigality
and gaiety of their entertainments. Nor did it
totum perditus, ut nee stare nee incidere posset." r. Fabron.
Leon. X. in advot. 53, p. 287.
126
deduct from the pressure to which this extrava-
gance exposed the subjects of the papal do-
minions, that a considerable portion of the
riches which were drained from the labour
or the purses of the poor, were lavished,
without discrimination, on artists, painters,
and sculptors. Unusual splendour, although
it may beget a temporary and meretricious re-
spect in the minds of the vulgar, will not fail,
sooner or later, to create a dangerous envy, and a
spirit of hatred, in the hearts of those who
are called upon to contribute towards its sup-
port. And such was the effect produced on a
very large portion of the christian world.
Every one boasted of the glory of the Church,
because he wished to persuade himself and
others, that a ray of that glory might obliquely
glance on himself; but in the midst of every
boast, and during the loudest panegyric, a
latent feeling of envy lurked in numerous
breasts; and few could discover in the princely
Vicar of Christ, the visible Chief of the Catholic
Church, any traces of that spirit which actuated
Him who " had not where to lay his head."
Such were the feelings and the views of the
bulk of christians when Luther stepped forth
to put his torch to the parched and inflexible
combustibles, by which a flame was enkindled,
which no authority, no persecution, no art or
logic has ever been able to extinguish ; which
will, doubtless, burn till all the corruptions that
127
mistaken ministers and crafty politicians have
grafted on the pure faith of the Gospel are for
ever destroyed ; and it shall be deemed a satis-
factory characteristic of a believing christian,
that he " does justly, loves mercy, and walks
humbly with his God."
But the expensive dignity of the see of Rome
was not the only ground of complaint. In the
midst of courtly gaieties and costly pageantry,
the mind of the supreme Pontiff became in-
sensible or indifferent to the dangers that were
collecting around him. Leo X. has been ac-
cused of a natural disregard of theological
studies and the religious affairs of the Church.
But of what has not this pontiff been accused ?
All the vices that attach to atheism and infi-
delity have been made to centre in his charac-
ter ; and on the single testimony of John Bale
nearly three or four hundred authors, or com-
pilers, have re-echoed the senseless slander
against him, respecting the profitableness of
the fable of Jesus Christ. It is impossible not
to feel, when Protestants object against Ca-
tholics, as they do, that their popes them-
selves believe, that Christianity is nothing
more than an engine of state, — a mere profit-
able fable. Such are the hyperbolical charges
of prejudice and ignorance, that a single slan-
der issued against one pope, supported on the
sole testimony of an interested opponent, is
128
made to pass as a general stigma on almost every
pontiff that has filled the papal chair.
The character of Leo X. has been justly ba-
lanced by the judicious hand of Mr. Roscoe ;
and his attention and proficiency in sacred
studies shewn to have been much misunderstood.
Yet both Fra Paolo and Pallavicini concur in
censuring this pontiff for his great remissness in
the affairs of the Church. The moderation of
Leo, to which he was urged, as well by his own
disposition as by the wise counsel of his learned
friend and correspondent Erasmus, in some
cases might be construed into indifference and
unconcern. It is certain that he delayed till it
was too late to exert his power to suppress the
Reformation ; and when, at length, he did
awaken to a sense of his danger, the violence
which he manifested or encouraged, tended
only to add fuel to the flame. Divine Provi-
dence intending, on the one hand, to chastise
the church for her profligacy of manners, and
on; the other, to free the Gospel of Christ from
the errors and corruptions which had grown
upon it, seems to have lulled the supreme Pon-
tiff to a fatal security, and to have struck with
blindness those whom it designed to punish.
IV. The recent invention of the invaluable
art of printing operated in a powerful manner
to bring into circulation those principles which
129
at length produced the Reformation. The re-
vival of literature about this period, under the
especial patronage of Leo X., gave a stimulus
to every effort of intellect. Hence the re-
proaches so profusely cast on the conduct of
the clergy were carried, by means of the press,
to every cottage, and were read with eagerness
by both the pious and profane ; by those who
saw the decay of devotion in the people, and the
licentiousness of the clergy, with sentiments of
sorrow and a wish to have them reformed ; and
also by those who saw these evils with a mali-
cious pleasure, and a secret desire for the ruin
of the Roman Court and the destruction of the
papal hierarchy. In great convulsions of king-
doms and state churches, one description of
men fall, and another, perhaps, no better, rise
upon their ruins. The restless and the despe-
rate, the oppressed and the resentful, delight in
changes ; and when a change bids fair to pro-
mote the cause of truth and virtue, the revolters
are joined even by the wise and good. On these
occasions, every engine is set to work, — all
hands conspire to effect the grand revolution.
And what more powerful instrument than the
press ? The virtuous employ it for the dissemi-
nation of just principles ; the vicious use it
to " scatter fire-brands, arrows, and death."
From both these motives was the art of printing
calculated to accomplish the Reformation of reli-
gion. The violent and outrageous battered the
K
130
fortress, beat down the walls, broke through the
phalanx, and entered the castle ; while the pru-
dent and discerning quietly set about to new mo-
del the Church government, and to enact laws
more congenial to their own views and interests.
Between the one and the other, by the righ-
teous interference of Providence, much good has
resulted. New truths have been elicited ; many
errors have been exposed - y and a way has been
opened for the peaceable revival of the pure
precepts and uncorrupted truths of the Gospel
of Christ.
V. There is one cause of the Reformation
which seems to have escaped the observation of
most Protestant writers on this subject. It
does not appear that they have taken into
this account the rapacity and avarice of se-
veral Princes, who evidently promoted the
cause of Reform from the prospect which it
afforded of furnishing a plausible pretext to en-
large their individual dominions, and give them
a degree of influence and independence they
had never yet enjoyed. It has already been
remarked, that the reforming zeal of the pre-
sent ruler of France evidently owes its origin to
the lust of power, and the thirst after conquest.
A similar spirit no doubt actuated the conduct
of some of the reformed princes on the conti-
nent; and we all know in what impure fervors
the Reformatien was engendered in the breast
of our Henry VIII. The " Man of Sin" gra-
131
dually rose into view as the cupidity of the
monarch sunk him to the depths oflicentious
and lawless propensities. The Defender of the
Faith became ambitious to be head of the
Church. This reflection naturally awakens the
idea, that a most powerful stimulant to reform
was found in the spiritual ambition of every aspir-
ing magistrate. An entirely new axiom of civil
government was discovered, which I will state
in the words of the learned Dr. John Sturges :*
" Between the different modes and tendencies
of different religious sects," says this enlightened
prebendary, " the magistrate is to chuse, which
he will make the national religion, as most use-
ful, and most adapted to his country, by giving
it a decided preference, and making a compe-
tent public provision for its ministers; other
sects he will merely tolerate; others as perni-
cious (if there should be any such) he would
totally exclude." This novel doctrine natu-
rally grew out of the opposition which was
made to the spiritual and temporal authority of
the bishops of Rome ; and it would be paying
an unmerited compliment to human nature,
were we to suppose, that a doctrine so conge-
nial to the ambition of magistrates, could be
wholly rejected or discountenanced by them.
Hitherto the state had been subservient to the
church ; and their union, whatever other mis-
* Reflections on Popery, p. 20
K 2
chiefs it might create, had as yet no influence
on religious doctrines, nor any control in the
affairs of salvation. Had the reformers pro-
posed to dissolve the union of secular and spiri-
tual interests, rather than to transfer the authority
of the clergy to the hands of the magistrate, little
encouragement would they have met with among
princes and lawyers. The use, which many of
the reformed " rulers of this world" made of
their power, shews the motives by which they
were actuated in lending their aid to lessen and
suppress the errors of the Church. Some of
the most offensive and really objectionable
tenets and practices of the Catholic Church
were retained, and only a few of the withered
branches severed from the trunk.
" The Bible ! the Bible only ! is the religion
of Protestants !" exclaims good William Chil-
lingvvorth. — " Very true," says the judicious
Hooker,* in his Ecclesiastical Polity ; " but
then you must submit to receive the Bible from
the hands of Church-of-England men" — " Cer-
tainly, the Bible, by all means," adds the learned
Margaret Professor ; " yet the Bible is no-
thing without the Book of Common Prayer." j-
— " Nay, nay, the Bible is not the thing you
* I pretend not to quote, in these instances, verbatim ;
but am, nevertheless, correct in substance and matter of fact.
f See Dr. Herbert Marsh's Inquiry into the consequences
of neglecting to give the Prayer-Book with the Bible.
133
want, unless you discover in it all the great and
precious truths contained in the Assembly's
Catechism, and can submit to the wholesome
discipline of the Directory," replies the pious
and sober Presbyterian. " No, No, No," says
the zealous Methodist, " it is the Bible collated
with Mr. Wesley's Sermons, and Mr. Flet-
cher's Checks*, that is the religion of Protest-
ants." " And thou mayest read the Bible and
the Checks likewise till Doomsday, friend, to
no purpose, unless thou hast the light of the
Spirit," adds the modest Quaker. — " A truce
with your spirit !" exclaims the Swedenbor-
gian, " why don't you read the works of the
highly illuminated Baron ; wherein" are an-
swered all questions, e be they high as Heaven
or deep as Hell ?' " — " You all are right and all
are wrong," rejoins the Rev. Dr. Sturges, the
Prebendary of Winchester, " provided * the
magistrate chuses' to say so ; for it is his pro-
vince to decide which shall be the 'National
religion ;\ and if he take it into his head that
all or any one of your sects are * oernicious,' he
* In many trust-deeds belonging to the chapels of the
Wesleyan Methodists, it is provided, that no preacher shall
officiate in those meeting-houses, who does not conform his
preaching to the Bible and to the doctrines taught in the eight
volumes of Mr. Wesley's Sermons, and Mr. Fletcher's
Checks to Antinomianism. So essential a thing is uniform-
ity!
134
will e totally exclude you ;'* but if you be not
very obnoxious to his views, he will kindly con-
sent ' merely to tolerate' you ; at all events,
he will c make a competent public provision,'
by levying a tax on every soul of you, for those
c ministers' to whom he * gives a decided pre-
ference."
And if this be the religion of Protestants, no
wonder that civil magistrates were friendly to
the Reformation ! After all, the greatest benefit
derived to religion by the efforts of the Reform-
ers, is that doctrine which they so often disal-
lowed to others, but which they found so con-
venient to themselves, of acknowledging the
unrestrained right of private judgment in mat-
ters of faith j and there is little risk in asserting,
that whoever proposes any contrary terms or
articles of union as necessary to be admitted,
violates one of the leading and fundamental
principles of the Protestant Reformation. " But
this would lead to downright Socinianism, as
the Catholics charge upon us." May be so. —
The charge is not without foundation, notwith-
standing what some excellent Protestants have
written on the subject.-)- This dreadful conse-
quence may follow: it is a lamentable case; but
there is no way to prevent it, while you allow
* Quere. — By fire and faggot ?
f Vide The Religion of Protestants a safe way to salvation.
135
the principle. You may issue your orders of sy-
nods, convocations, conferences, and acts of
uniformity — you may enlarge or curtail your
Thirty-nine Articles — you may even pronounce
sentences of " God's wrath and everlasting dam-
nation," against heretics and schismatics ; so
long as you admit that ground-work of the Re-
formation, the right of private judgment, though
you spend your strength in fulminations, and
your skill in devising new terms of salvation,
you will only be laughed at by the discerning
Christian as inconsistent and intolerant.
VI. The ill use which Tetzel and others
made of the sale of Indulgences is a cause of the
Reformation, which has been repeated by every
writer on the subject since the days of Luther.
This is not the place to enter into the nature
and merits of this branch of the Catholic reli-
gion. The splendour and magnificence of the
papal see have already been the subject of our
consideration j but we deferred to notice the
enormous expenses to which the Roman go-
vernment was subjected in the completion of
that astonishing fabric, begun during the pon-
tificate of Julius II., the church of St. Peter at
Rome. To accomplish this stupendous under-
taking, large supplies were become indispen-
sably needful; and Leo X., as almost a last
source, resorted to a measure which had been
applied as early as A. D. 1 100, when Urban II.
granted a plenary indulgence and remission of
136
sins to all such persons as should join in the
crusades, to liberate the sepulchre from the
hands of the infidels.* In thus reviving an an-
cient practice, Leo X. was not introducing any
new mode of taxation; but he took no pains
to secure the Church from the disgrace which
she subsequently sustained by the improper use
of this extraordinary species of traffic.
Neither the interests of truth nor the credit of
this history require that any thing should be
concealed from the reader, on this or any other
topic connected with the subject. But neither
is it necessary to repeat all the lying calumnies
which have been retailed out to the public in
every petty sixpenny Preservative against Po-
pery since the era of the Reformation. What
I have at present to say on this subject relates
entirely to the abuse which was practised with
respect to this mode of raising money for the
papal exigencies.
An indulgence, according to the genuine faith
qf the Catholic Church, may be correctly un-
derstood from what the celebrated Bossuet has
written on the subject :f " When the Church
imposes upon sinners painful and laborious works,
* Roscoe's Leo X. iii. 212.
t Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholic Church in
matters of Controversy, Paris ed, 1729, pp. 175, 176.
137
and they undergo them with humility, this is
called satisfaction ; and when, regarding the fa-
vour of the penitents, or some other good works
she has prescribed them, she pardons some part
of that pain which is due to them, this is called
indulgence.'" This learned prelate thus remarks,
that "The Council of Trent* proposes nothing
else to be believed concerning indulgences, but
that the power to grant them has been given to
the Church by Jesus Christ, and that the use of
them is beneficial to salvation : to which this
Council adds, That this power ought to be re-
tained ; yet nevertheless used with moderation,
lest Ecclesiastical discipline should be weakened
by an over great facility."! This is one of the
most important points of dispute against Catho-
lics. It shall have an appropriate share of
attention paid to it in another place.
Though Leo X. thought proper to resort to
this expedient to raise money, it does not ap-
pear that he was warranted in this proceeding by
any Catholic or universal doctrine of the Church,
though he had the example of Urban II. before
* Contin. Sess. 2.5, Dec. de Indulg.
t It is unaccountable how such a writer as Dr. Robertson
could so grossly mistake the real doctrine of Indulgences, as
taught by the Catholic Church ; and blunder so egregiously
between the power of granting an Indulgence, and that
which is called, emphatically, the power of the Keys. Vide
Hist, of Charles V. vol. i.
188
him. This was one of the abuses of which the
faithful had cause to complain ; and they did
complain, loudly and bitterly. But the mere
act of vending remittances of holy discipline was
not all. The commissioners in this ignoble traf-
fic were not chosen from among the ranks of
wise, prudent, and honest men. John Tetzel,
a Dominican friar, of the most depraved habits
and vicious principles, was appointed by Albert,
archbishop of Mentz, to dispose of these dis-
honourable wares to the credulous and deluded
people. Being determined to extend the benefit
of his commerce as much as possible, he scrupled
not to exceed the bounds of his commission, nor
to extol his merchandise as abounding with every
virtue that the most meritorious sacrifice or ser-
vice could confer. To such an impious length
did this minister of iniquity extend his blas-
phemies, as to declare, that these indulgences
would atone for every vice, past, present, or to
come; and remit every punishment, both in
this life and the next, to which the most profli-
gate wretch could be exposed.* A copy of one
of these profitable instruments of pardon has
been translated from Seckendorf,f and copied
from Dr. Robertson into almost every account
* It should not be overlooked that Miltitz, the Pope's le-
gate, warmly opposed the conduct of Tetzel, who died soon
after, bitterly lamenting the depravity of his manners, and
the baseness of his designs.
t Comment, lib. i. p. 14.
1S9
of popery which has hitherto issued from the pro-
testant press ; and yet it is notorious, that the ge-
nuineness of this instrument is extremely doubt-
ful. As a matter of curiosity, however, and be-
cause some would, otherwise, charge the author
with disingenuousness, this nonsensical imposi-
tion shall be inserted here also. It is in form
and substance as follows :
" May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy
upon thee, and absolve thee by the merits of his
most holy passion ! And I, by the authority of
his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and of the
most holy Pope, granted and committed to me
in these parts, do absolve thee, first, from all
ecclesiastical censures, in whatever manner they
may have been incurred, and then from all thy
sins, transgressions, and excesses, how enormous
soever they be, even from such as are reserved
for the cognizance of the holy see ; and, as far
as the keys of the holy church extend, I remit
to thee all punishment which thou dost deserve
in purgatory on their account ; and I restore
thee to the holy sacraments of the church, to
the unity of the faithful, and to that innocence
and purity which thou didst possess at bap-
tism j so that when thou dost die, the gates of
punishment shall be shut, and the gates of the
paradise of delight shall be opened ; and if thou
shalt not die at present, this grace shall remain
in full force when thou art at the point of death !
140
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost."
This blasphemous and most ridiculous fraud
was, it is said, played off upon the people in
every possible shape ; while the infamous fabri-
cator and vender wallowed in every species of
luxury, debauchery, and wickedness. An abuse
so flagrant could not but rouse the honest indigna-
tion of every thinking person ; accordingly, when
a knowledge of these practices came to the ear of
Martin Luther, all the greatness of his soul was
called into action, and he inveighed not, at first,
against indulgences themselves, but against
that torrent of corruption which Tetzel's abuse
of them was bringing into Christendom. It has
been asserted by Catholic writers, and also by
some Protestants,* that the motives which in-
fluenced this intrepid reformer to oppose the
sale of Indulgences, had their foundation in
envy, the commission not having been granted
to the monks of his order ; but Dr. Maclaine
has amply refuted this unworthy charge, in a
very able note to his translation of Mosheim.
VII. But it is not to be supposed, that an in-
stitution of so long standing, ingrafted on so
many prejudices and interests, and supported by
* If Mr. Hume may be allowed to rank in this honourable
community : see his History of England, vol. iv. p. 35.
141
such an extraordinary weight of power and in-
fluence, could be overturned by any of the afore-
named causes, unless tho^e causes had been
called into action by some bold and intrepid
spirit ; some daring soul, impatient of the crown
of martyrdom, and indifferent to every consider-
ation that contributed not to advance the glory
of his character and the immortality of his me-
mory. Such a man the Reformation found in
Martin Luther. Inspired by a zeal which could
consume the most obdurate prejudice, and a
courage that could brave the most potent au-
thority, he carried every thing before him that
retarded his designs. He knew when to ad-
vance, and when to make good a safe retreat ;
when to trust the energies of his own mind, and
when to profit by the advice of others. In
our sketch of the History of the Reforma-
tion, it will be seen with what persevering bold-
ness he laid siege to the most ancient rules of
discipline, and the most solemn rites of devotion
and piety : to that place then, we shall defer
any further account of Luther's zeal and ener-
gies in the cause of reform. But as this event
gave rise to much palpable error and gross mis-
representation, respecting many branches of
discipline, and particularly concerning monas-
tic establishments, I will, previously to an ac-
count of the Reformation, give the reader a
rapid view of the character and elevation of
the monks, and of the general influence these
142
societies had on the manners and customs of the
people that surrounded them.
SECTION VI. '
General View of the Nature, Character, and
Decline of Monastic Institutions.
EVERY religious profession, as well as the
peculiar opinions and speculations of eminent
men on subjects of morality and religion, im-
prints a certain characteristic and peculiarly
distinctive mark on its votaries and followers.
The private and public conduct, morals, and
institutions, of Catholics, are strongly affect-
ed by the principles of the religion they pro-
fess. Men of experience and observation, who
have resided in Catholic countries, will easily
recognize some of the following peculiarities, as
forming the most prominent features in the com-
position of that extensive body.
What principally characterizes Catholic coun-
tries, is the superior magnificence of their
temples, the awful dignity of divine service,
the splendour of the sacred utensils, and the
august ceremonies whereby the most solemn
act of christian worship, by the modern Romans
and Italians termed culto, is celebrated. These
143
people have inherited from the ancient Ro-
mans, their illustrious progenitors, this lau-
dable magnificence, in every thing that re-
gards divine service. Sallust asserts their an-
cestors to have been remarkable for their
donations, magnificence, and splendour, in the
worship of the Deity : in suppliciis Deorum mag-
nifici. The same commendable practice has
been propagated from the Roman metropolis to
the rest of the Christian and Catholic world - y
and to the same principle we may ascribe the
great encouragement held out in that Church
to the fine arts, particularly architecture, sculp-
ture, painting, and music ; as also the cultivation
of the sciences and learned languages, especi-
ally the Latin, the use and knowledge of which
is of absolute necessity to the ministers of that
religion, both because the public liturgy is per-
formed in that language, and because it is the
most general vehicle of all theological informa-
tion. Numerous and respectable Doctors, in
all ages have in that language displayed their
talents and erudition, in the defence and service
of the church, in expounding her doctrines,
and asserting her authority. The introduction
of monastic institutions and establishments,
devoted to the service of God, and for the pur-
poses of humanity and public utility in the va-
rious charitable offices of religious and literary
instruction, both at home and in barbarous and
infidel countries, is also peculiar to the Catholic
144
Church. A great proportion of the monks de-
dicate their attention to the relief and sup-
port of the infirm and indigent, in hospitals
and charitable houses, solely erected by their
pious zeal and benevolent exertions. These
people, the more effectually to accomplish their
engagements, and perpetuate and secure to suc-
ceeding generations such spiritual and tempo-
ral advantages, bind themselves down by solemn
vows of celibacy, obedience to their regular su-
periors, and abjuration of all private or separate
property : hence their irrevocable and perpetual
obligation to perform the duties of their station,
and religious vocation. Much good has been
effected by the persevering endeavours of those
exemplary and laborious men. After the con-
vulsion of the civilized world, occasioned by the
universal dominion of the Roman emperors, the
consequent abuse of despotism and arbitrary
power, the monks rendered the most essential
services to the cause of humanity, religion, and
science, by forming themselves into societies or
associations, which enabled them, by mutually
administering to each other's wants, and leading
a single life, entirely devoted to the service of
the community, to keep alive the seeds of
learning and religion -, whilst the generality of
mankind, in consequence of the lawless and un-
settled state of the world, were immersed in ig-
norance, barbarity, vice, and their concomitant
evils.
145
These men, separated from the people, and
therefore not so much exposed to the general con-
tagion, chiefly occupied their time in discharg-
ing the religious duties peculiar to the monastic
profession, and in cultivating the ground ; that
they might be in a condition not only to main-
tain themselves, but also to perform the rights of
hospitality, and other acts of beneficence, calcu-
lated to relieve the distresses and calamities inci-
dent to those unhappy times. Some portion of
it however was dedicated to study, and copying
the best originals, both sacred and profane,
which, without their exertions, would have been
lost to the literary world. They, moreover, af-
forded an asylum to secular men, disposed to pur-
sue the career of knowledge, as well as to youth,
whom they instructed in learning, religion, and
morals, within the precincts of the cloister. Is
it matter of wonder, then, that a body of men, so
eminently useful, so attentive to cultivate and
preserve the sciences, to promote the arts by
the erection of superb and magnificent build-
ings, and to convert, by their labour and per-
severance, immense tracts of waste and desert
land into fertile and highly cultivated districts,
should, in a short time, acquire uncommon
influence; and that at a season when the
virtues of economy, application, and industry,
were little known ? Certainly not ; and accord-
ingly, their prosperity and success were prodi-
giously rapid. This naturally resulted from
these exertions, aided by the munificence cf
L
146
princes, and the liberal piety of wealthy indivi-
duals, who made over to these institutions con-
siderable possessions, sometimes for the support
of the monks themselves, to enable them to
discharge certain religious functions, but more
generally for the instruction and edification of
mankind, and for the benefit and assistance of
the poor. In all these cases, the property was
to be rigidly and scrupulously applied, according
to the will and intention of the donors, who rea-
sonably presumed that a society formed by its
constitution and profession to survive the shock
of ages, was better entitled to this trust than in-
dividual executors, who could not ensure, after
death, the fulfilment of their pious intentions.
At length, when by all these means, the mo-
nastic establishments had accumulated immense
wealth, they were marked out as a prey for the
cupidity and rapacity of the great ; who be-
gan to seize on their estates; sometimes under
the specious pretence of defending their rights;
at other times by downright plunder. Kings
and princes remunerated their favourites and
minions out of these funds, and laid their sa-
crilegious hands 6n possessions destined for
the support of the poor — patrimonio pauperum,
— for the erection of christian temples, and for
the purchase of books and sacred utensils for re-
ligious worship. This kind of extortion seems
to have been sanctioned and countenanced at
an early period. We find Hugh Capet, the
147
founder of the third race of the French dynasty,
to have been styled Hugh l'Abbe, or the
Abbot, on account of the great number of ab-
beys and monastic property occupied by him,
under various titles.
When the monks first settled, and cultivated
a piece of waste land, which they rendered ex-
tremely productive by continual labour, they did
not foresee that their labour and rigid economy
would expose them to the brutal cupidity of the
great and powerful ; from whom, in addition to
their own private acquisitions, they received daily
accessions to their original stock. But, alas!
from being objects of respect and veneration,
as they had hitherto been, this accumulation of
wealth contributed to relax the monastic disci-
pline, by the introduction of splendid and luxu-
rious living, which lessened, in the eyes of the
people, the respect and esteem they had justly
merited by their former temperance, privations,
self-denial, and devotedness to the interests of
humanity.
These monks, after the lapse of a few gene-
rations, neglected the means by which their au-
thority and power was to be secured. They
forgot the toils and abstemiousness of the first
monks, and thought themselves equally entitled
to enjoy the fruits of their revenues, as if they
had succeeded to them by inheritance or pur-
chase. This was particularly the case with the
L <2
148
great abbots and monastic prelates ; some of
whom, in consequence of lands called fiefs, pos-
sessed by them as vassals, under a feudal tenure,
were obliged to furnish their lords paramount
with their contingents of military men, and also
command them in the field. It may be easily
supposed that such abbots, no longer subject to the
yoke and discipline of a monastic life, had very
little feeling for the other monks. They had a
sumptuous abbatial table, and magnificent palace,
separate from the monastery, contrary to the
rule and institutions of the primitive founders of
the cenobitical profession. St. Basil and Bene-
dict, like simple monks, performed the conven-
tual duties, and conformed to the community.
And, notwithstanding the scandals caused by
the depravity and pride of some regular prelates,
many communities were remarkable for strictly
maintaining their respective statutes and rules.
Many individual members, in the most ignorant
ages, exhibited themselves most able defenders
of the Church of which they were the greatest
luminaries.
Whoever takes the trouble to review the
annals of past times, will be easily convinced
of the services rendered by those learned
and indefatigable monks, not only to religion,
but to the cause of general literature, par-
ticularly in history; notwithstanding the calum-
nies and unprincipled aggressions of modern
scholiasts, who would refuse to that society not
149
only the merit of learning, but even the attributes
of men. The works of the venerable Bede, St.
Bernard, and St. Thomas, though written in
times confessedly reputed the most unenlighten-
ed of any former or subsequent period, are
written in a clear intelligible style, not devoid
of elegance, solidity, or depth of judgment.
Yet these are the men whom some pretenders
to superior refinement, brand with infamy,
and every opprobrious epithet. In this, as in
many other cases, we have a most striking in-
stance of human ingratitude : persons who have
rendered signal benefits to learning and the
fine arts, are accused of having disgraced them
by their ignorance and gothic taste ; yet, had it
not been for the exertions of the Roman monks,
St. Augustine and his companions, this country
would certainly have been a long time destitute
of the blessings of science and true religion.
Those learned monks introduced into this island
the Christian faith 3 and the Latin language
as connected with it, together with the prin-
ciples of civilization and moral refinement.
Shortly after their introduction, seats of
learning, religious houses, and temples for di-
vine worship, were erected to secure the ad-
vantages of religious and literary instruction.
If this had not happened, there would have
been neither laws nor any other salutary in-
stitution. The great Alfred, the legislator, in-
structor and deliverer of his country, would,
perhaps, be little known, had not his inter-
150
course with enlightened monks, both in Rome
and this country, enabled him to contrive and
execute his plans of justice and beneficence.
When the country was harassed and despoiled by
the Danes, and other barbarians ; when every
vestige of learning and the arts was almost ex-
terminated in many parts of the country by the
periodical inroads of these marauders, some of
those repositories of science escaped, and pre-
served the sacred deposit ; yet, in our days, there
is nothing so common as loud outcries against
monks. — But of this enough.
-We must consider that all human establish-
ments are liable to degenerate and swerve from
their original institutions. The monks were not
exempted from this common fate of other bodies.
Of this they were very well aware, and tried
often to introduce salutary reforms. The Cis-
tercians, in particular, were a reformed society
of the Benedictine order. In later times,
both monks, prelates, and secular priests, in
consequence of the general relaxation, indo-
lence, and indifference caused by opulence,
neglected the discharge of their respective
duties.
A new order of monks sprung up, not known
before, under the name of Mendicant Friars j
some of whom, from a consciousness of the bad
effects of too much wealth, professed the strict-
est poverty, not admitting property even in com-
151
mon, or the receipt of any money. They lived
solely on the voluntary contributions of the faith-
ful. These evangelical men, chiefly of the order
of St. Francis, contributed very much, at that
season of universal neglect and inobservance,
to raise the spirit of religion. Hence Machi-
avelli, treating on the necessity in a state of
bringing things back to their first principles, in
order to cause it to prosper, adduces the ex-
ample of the advantages that accrued to the
Church from the austerity and disinterestedness
of the Mendicant orders, which counterbalanced
the luxury and pride of potent bishops, and other
rich ecclesiastics. Much the same idea has been
expressed by an ancient Roman writer, on a si-
milar occasion, where he says, " omne imperi-
um facile retinetur Us artibus quibus initio par-
turn est." Every sovereignty is easily maintain-
ed by those means whereby it has been origi-
nally acquired. The spiritual dominion had
been gained principally by the exemplary lives
of its first teachers and professors ; which, if
their successors mean to retain entire, they must
certainly practise the same methods, notwith-
standing the superior austerity, stricter disci-
pline, and poverty, of the new Mendicant order.
We must not pretend to ascribe to those men a
perfect renovation of the Hierarchy, or general
state of Christendom. They have been useful,
it is true, in their activity and zeal in teaching,
exhorting, and administering the sacraments ; in
assisting the parochial clergy, and even dissemi-
152
nating the gospel in Mahometan and infidel
countries ; a practice that had been intermitted
for some time, in consequence of the general
relaxation that had taken place among the re-
gular and secular clergy. But, notwithstanding
all those laudable and meritorious functions, it
would be unreasonable to expect those^men
could preserve themselves from the contagion of
the times, and the influence of human passions.
They sprung up in an age that still laboured un-
der many mental and political disadvantages.
The literary world, however, seemed to bid fair
for soon emerging from that state of ignorance
to which it had so long been subject ; though,
unfortunately, the sciences generally cultivated
at that time in the schools, or universities, as
seats of general learning began to be then
called, were not much calculated to disperse
the thick mist of prejudice, or improve the un-
derstanding. The attention of those who had
been appointed to teach the sciences in the
new schools, was for the most part unhappily
directed to the study of the Aristotelian logic,
ethics, and other branches of a false philoso-
phy. These works had been communicated
through a Latin medium, or translation from
the Arabic, when even the original, though
well understood, could not be an object of
such important disquisition. For the Greeks,
with all their taste, brilliancy of imagina-
tion, and acumen, were never admired for
their philosophic precision, depth of thought,
153
or solidity of argument. Mankind were yet
wholly ignorant of those just regula philosophandi*
which Bacon laid down, and to the observance
of which, the vast superiority of modern learn-
ing over that of the ancients, is unquestionably
owing. Bad as it was, however, the new Men-
dicant orders were the foremost in cultivating
this species of learning. Investigations of so
puzzling and quibbling a nature diverted their at-
tention from the pursuit of more serious and pro-
fitable objects, such as the study of the Scriptures,
the Fathers, Church History, Canons and Coun-
cils. The method of teaching theology was
altered. The most obvious propositions were re-
duced to the syllogistic form, with a number of
supposed arguments for and against them, where-
in they proceeded to fabricate different systems
of doctrines, both in philosophy and divinity.
Hence sprung the champions of the schools, the
promoters of scholastic studies, to the great
detriment of the advancement of true science
and harmony among the polemical litigants,
who sometimes overheated themselves in the de-
fence of their respective systems ; witness the
violent altercations and long agitated debates be-
tween the Scotists and Thomists. Yet those scho-
lastic disputes did not often proceed to acts of vio-
lenceor open hostility. They did not even violate
the universally acknowledged doctrines of the
Church. They were both equally clamorous
in contending for the rights or pretensions
of the Court of Rome, against the rights of
154
princes, bishops, and other rulers. They also
tried to bring into repute and popularity all those
privileges granted to them by the same court.
Hence their constant practice of extolling indul-
gences, and every thing that would contribute
to extend the influence and temporal power
of their spiritual lord and protector, by whom
they were particularly favoured, in consequence
of the nature of their institution, and professed
attachment and devotion to the Holy See.
Hence, too, on account of their known fidelity,
address, and talents, they were often commis-
sioned to transact business of high civil and
spiritual importance, in the courts of secular
princes; and they were soon promoted to pre-
lacies and the first dignities of the Church.
Sixtus Quintus, who had been a Mendicant
himself, of the Franciscan order, ordained there
should be constantly in the Sacred College, a
Cardinal from each of the four Mendicant orders;
but this ordinance has not been kept up.
Most of the religious orders had a house or con-
vent in Rome, where their principal or procura-
tor-general resided; so that they had always a free
communication with that Court; which enabled
them to profit by the dispensations and privi-
leges obtained there, by communicating them
to their constituents in the different provinces.
This close connexion with the Roman Court ren-
dered them obnoxious to the bishops and secular
clergy, particularly in France, where the national
155
clergy were extremely vigilant to prevent the
slightest approaches of papal encroachment on
theircivil or spiritual rights. Hence the frequent
disputes of the Sorbonne, aided by the Parlia-
ments; for in those assemblies, also, were persons
well versed in the canon and civil laws, with
the Popes, and the establishment of the in-
quisition, for which the friars demonstrated too
much zeal. Their active interference in caus-
ing the laws of that iniquitous tribunal to be
put in execution, in a peculiar manner, deser-
vedly exposed the Mendicants to public de-
testation. It never was a tenet of the Ca-
tholic Church, to establish her doctrines by fire
and sword, nor by any other kind of violence;
though some of the Roman Pontiffs, instigated
by the selfish passions of avarice and resentment^
encouraged and permitted this dreadful engine of
political and religious tyranny. It was also coun-
tenanced and supported by some princes; who,
from their shallow conceptions of the science of
government, and their natural imbecility, had
recourse to this miserable expedient. But it
must not be supposed that Catholic princes
exclusively exercised this horrid and barbarous
practice. It is but too well known that Pro-
testant kings have made use of spies and inform-
ers to detect those whose religious opinions
might have been obnoxious to the court or reign-
ing religion ; hence the massacre of many Ca-
tholic ecclesiastics. Whether they had their
purpose effected by the instrumentality of a
156
tribunal termed Inquisition, or by an Act of Par-
liament, does not surely increase or diminish the
atrocity of such proceedings. I repeat it: the
forwardness displayed by the friars in this diabo-
lical business brought great odium on them in
those countries which were under the jurisdic-
tion of the papal Court. It was totally rejected
in most of the Catholic States; and repro-
bated by all sound and respectable theologians,
who knew that a doctrine not sanctioned by the
authority of Christ, but disavowed by him and
condemned by the fathers, could never, by the
mere authority of any human power, become an
article of faith or rule of conduct. For it has
always been the invariable doctrine of the Church,
that no rule or opinion could bind the faithful,
which had not been previously recommended
by the following test, so aptly expressed by
Vincent of Lerins : quod ubique quod semper quod
ab omnibus creditum est. To give any doctrine
practical authority, the belief of it must have
been constant and universal in regard to time,
place, and persons; which is not the case with
the Inquisition, for it wants all these conditions.
It has not been a prevalent doctrine every where
always, and embraced by the generality of the
faithful. But more of this elsewhere.
Another cause that contributed very much
to the depression of the Mendicant orders was
their inattention to polite learning. They neg-
lected to cultivate Greek and Roman literature
157
in those branches, from which alone they could
hope to derive real benefit and instruction.
Viewed as metaphysical inquirers, the produc-
tions of these nations are of little importance ;
but, regarded as orators, historians, and poets,
they exhibit the finest models of taste and ge-
nius which the mind of man has hitherto been
able to draw. Disregard to the study of classi-
cal learning was certainly a most unaccountable
blunder, at a period when many individuals among
the most distinguished of the laity for birth and
character, as also many of the secular clergy,
began to apply themselves to the cultivation
of it with considerable success; particularly
in Italy, where the mendicants were numer-
ous, and had even gained consequence be-
fore that period. But they would not open
their eyes to the light that began to diffuse
itself on every side. It was in vain that the
Italian wits and literati sought by exposing
their ignorance to turn their attention to solid
and useful studies: they should at least have
benefited by the warning, whether it came from
friends or enemies ; but they still continued
to follow the steps of their scholastic guides,
with a scrupulous attention not to innovate or im-
prove, blindly attached to the opinions delivered
by preceding teachers, whom they had desig-
nated under the high-sounding titles of Doctor
IrrefragabiliSy Doctor Subtillis, Doctor Angelicus,
Doctor Seraphicus, &c. They thought it suf-
ficient if they could illustrate, preserve, and ex-
158
pound, the doctrines and philosophy of those great
names ; though they had long lost their influence
among the learned, and were only known on the
shelves of the convent libraries. This delusion con-
tinued, not only until the revival of learning in
Italy and France, but even to our own times, as
any one may have seen who has travelled into
Catholic countries, or read their publications.
This inferiority in point of classical and elegant
literature became an object of triumph to such
of the first reformers as prided themselves on
their erudition; especially the German scholars,
on whom the light, reflected from beyond the
Alps, began to have some influence, to stimu-
late their torpid dispositions to a little mental
energy. Some few of them began to relish
and peruse the works of the Italian scholars, and
were not a little pleased at the sarcasms on the
monks, which they alleged as sufficient author-
ity to exterminate all monastic institutions ;
though their masters never attempted to advance
any such opinions. Those German scholars,
manifested their pedantic affectation, by me-
tamorphosing their barbarous Teutonic names
into Roman, by making them terminate in
us, as Buckiws, Brosiz^; and by assuming
Latin names, that expressed the significa-
tion of their national German. Yet with all
this affectation of elegant scholarship, their
Latin composition was wretched and despi-
cable. None of them could be compared to
Sadoletti, Bembo, Strada, Vida, or the other
159
Italian scholars, who did not think themselves
justified to impugn the doctrines of the Church,
because the priests did not write classical
Latin. Their countryman Erasmus was almost
the only man among them that distinguished
himself for purity of style or real learning ; and
though he reprobates the ignorance of the men-
dicants, and their professed and decided aver-
sion to literary improvement, and the patrons
of it, yet he did not take such a decided part
against the Latins as to cause him to be ranked
among the reformers of the sixteenth century.
We should not lose sight of another cause
that contributed in an eminent degree to bring
those orders into disrepute ; I mean their num-
bers, and condescension in admitting can-
didates to the religious profession, without
any choice, or much regard to their proficiency
in learning, moral character, or standing in
society. This was especially in the order of St.
Francis, where an absurd opinion had been
cherished and entertained, that the more nu-
merous the friars were, the more abundantly they
should be supported. In consequence of this
notion, that order became extremely numerous ;
and the receptacle of many persons ill calcu-
lated to promote the cause of learning or reli-
gion. The other orders were also become very
numerous ; as they were also anxious to in-
crease their numbers, for which they had suffi-
cient means ; for they both possessed property
160
and enjoyed the privilege of begging in com-
mon with the Franciscans. It is not then to
be wondered at, that a society which had been
so widely dispersed in town and country, and
been so little reserved in its intercourse with
seculars, did not meet with that degree of vene-
ration they would be entitled to, if they had
been less numerous, more retired, better chosen,
and consequently more learned and respect-
able. By this indiscriminate reception of every
body, they became a burden and a nuisance to
the Church, and the great dishonour of the hie-
rarchy, which gave rise to many complaints
and subsequent restrictions. But notwithstand-
ingthese inconveniences, the natural result of neg-
lect in ecclesiastical and civil superiors, to regulate
their numbers and determine the qualifications
requisite for becoming members of religious com-
munities, and forcing them to the observance
of statutes, it is unfair to blame the institu-
tion itself, as it might be made subservient
to good purposes, provided those intrusted with
the high and important charge of directing the
energies and powers of the different orders to
the improvement of general society, were vigi-
lant in their posts, and caused them to fulfil their
respective engagements and professions.
As the mendicant orders owe their establish-
ment to the neglect and indolence of the secu-
lar clergy, and ancient monastic establishments,
so another order, partaking of the privileges
161
and advantages of the other three, sprung up
from the exigencies of the times. These are the
regular clergy, or priests : Clerici regulates —
chierici Regolari. This society divided into
various congregations under different founders,
engagements, and institutions. Some were
bound down by solemn monastic vows, others
by simple promises ; but all of them partook of
the benefit of monks, because they could possess
property as a regular body corporate ; and they
enjoyed the privileges of mendicants, because
they might have recourse to begging. They
likewise were at liberty to use the immunities
of secular priests, inasmuch as they were ex-
empted from reciting or singing the service in
choir. They also dressed much in the manner of
secular priests. Those who made solemn vows
were the Theatines,* Barnabites,-j- Jfsuits, So-
maschi, Scolopians, or teachers of pious schools,
and a few more. Those who made only simple
vows were of the following congregations: —
Philip de Neri, of the oratory, a society that
has produced many eminently learned men;
Vincent, of the missions; St. Lazarus, of the
foreign missions ; and St. Sulpicius, for the edu-
cation of young ecclesiastics. Most of these
* This regular order was founded by St. Cajetan, of Thiene ;
and Caraffa, bishop of Theate, afterwards Pope Paul IV., hav-
ing been their first superior, they took their name from thence.
+ So called from the Church of Milan, which they were
permitted to use. and which was dedicated to St. Barnabas.
M
162
different congregations or associations sprung
up to counteract the various divisions that en-
sued after the period of the Reformation j and
these new ecclesiastical militia have proved
themselves a valuable acquisition to the service
of the Church, by their zeal and exemplary-
conduct, the dignity of their general deportment,
and their personal respectability and learning.
In this place it was thought necessary to
present to the reader a short sketch of the rise,
decay, reformation, innate resources, and eco-
nomy of the different religious and monastic
establishments, which have acted so distin-
guished a part in the annals of the Catholic
Church. It is not pretended to prove that these
societies, at least many of the individual mem-
bers of them, were actuated on every occasion
by the principles of their original institutions ;
because, notwithstanding the eminent purity and
even sanctity of the religious profession, they
were not, as has already been remarked, exempt
from the imperfections incident to human nature ;
and they were also liable to be infected by the
failings and prejudices of their contemporaries.
Wealth and honours must also have had great
influence on their conduct, no less than the
prevailing opinions of the day respecting poli-
tics, philosophy, and even theology; which lat-
ter has afforded a wide field for controversy at all
times, especially in a Church that allows such
extensive scope for debate on many subjects
163
she has never thought proper to define as ar-
ticles of faith. On all these occasions, it was
natural that the monks, like all other men, should
be biassed by the same common propensities.
Who could be so unreasonable as to expect they
would not ? Yet their superiors have been
sometimes vigilant to remove abuses, and re-
form and alter the statutes, when they saw de-
generacy and corruption prevail, as happened
so often among the Benedictines. Hence to this
very day so many different and independent
congregations of that illustrious order. We have
also remarked that the mendicant orders them-
selves, that sprung up a long time after the estab-
lishment of the ancient monkish institutions,
were no more, properly speaking, than a reformed
branch of the latter Though they did not
spring immediately from them, they followed
the most essential points of the regular profes-
sion.
We have pointed out the many disadvantages
the mendicants had to encounter, from the poli-
tical and literary condition of the age, from their
neglect of polite literature, and from their over-
grown numbers, which of itself would have been
sufficient to expose them to the contempt of the
people. These, however, were only adventitious
inconveniences. The spirit and intention of
the regular institutions were good and laudable.
The individuals that composed them, originally
at least, had been induced to lead a monastic
M 2
164
life from the purest and most disinterested mo-
tives — the good of mankind and the glory of
God. As then those great bodies were profess-
edly devoted to the service of God and the
benefit of the human race, the guardians of the
public weal, both civil and ecclesiastical, ought
to have corrected the abuses prevailing in them,
and have established rules for their prevention
in future. There have always been enlightened
men, conversant in the canon and Roman law,
and well acquainted with the exigencies of society,
who, if they had united with the prelates to ef-
fect a reformation in the convents, would, unques-
tionably have rendered the monks, instead of a
burden and a nuisance to society, an honour and
an ornament to the Church and their country.
Had princes and rulers, in conjunction with the
priesthood, really attempted this task, nobody
would certainly have accused them of usurping
a power that did not belong to them. They
would, on the contrary, have been praised for
their exertions; but, unfortunately for the
Church and humanity, abuses were suffered to
accumulate without the interference of due au-
thority. At last, when the civil powers did in-
terfere, it was for the purpose of seizing their
property, rather than of directing their efforts to
the service of the community. Their object
was destruction, not reformation. But, though
those who possessed power, and were, on that
account, the persons best fitted to effect reform-
ation in the monasteries, neglected the duty at-
165
tached to their station, the abuses which
reigned in the conventual system, did not escape
the attention of many zealous and enlightened
churchmen. The prodigious accumulation of
monks which took place in later ages, has fre-
quently been a subject of deep and serious re-
gret. St. Bernard, a monk, a reformer of monks,
and the founder of several monasteries, often
expressed his sorrow and disapprobation of their
enormous increase, and loudly censured the im-
prudence and danger of imposing religious obli-
gations on persons who were never intended to
perform them. He says, what is true : — " rara
est in terris pudicitia :" chastity is very uncom-
mon among men; and the same may be said
of most of the virtues necessary to support the
austerities and privations of a monastic life.
If these qualities, then, be so rare, why pre-
tend to impose them on such multitudes ?
It never was intended by the Deity that men
whose talents and propensities were clearly suit-
ed to the common duties of the world, should
withdraw themselves from general society, solely
for his spiritual service. But, though St. Bernard
disapproved of the great increase of monks, and
exclaimed with the prophet Isaiah, " Multi-
plicasti gentem sed non magnificasti letitiam,"
he never thought of totally suppressing mo-
nastic institutions. He knew how beneficial
they might prove to the community, if pro-
perly controled and directed. He was aware
that much good might be derived to the State
166
from the labours of a body of men who had no
secular attachments, but were solely devoted to
the service of God and their fellow creatures.
This is not a solitary or strange opinion. Many
eminent and learned men have been of the same
sentiment. Lord Bacon says, that more good
is to be expected from single men than others ;
and instances the monuments of beneficence
left by persons of that description in this coun-
try, most of whom were of the monastic order,
or at least tied down to celibacy. The same
great man also allows that body of men, par-
ticularly the Jesuits, uncommon abilities in con-
ducting the studies of youth in colleges and
public schools. It is a great pity then, that
governors and rulers have not tried to direct
such engines to laudable purposes ; but the
world is so full of inconsistencies that we are
no longer surprised at any thing. Means might
surely be devised to diminish their number, and.
yet secure their usefulness to the state; but this
is a matter on which it hardly becomes a Pro-
testant writer to dictate ; though the same liberal
spirit which influenced the zeal of the late Bishop
of Elphin to make good Catholics of those whom
he found it impossible to convert to Protestantism,
might be usefully employed in giving wholesome
advice, even to an enemy. Acting upon this prin-
ciple, our Catholic neighbours might be recom-
mended to admit to their orders only men of
talents, honour, and virtue, which under their
present regulations cannot be the case. Some-
167
thing of a similar nature should be adopted be-
fore conferring the order of priesthood on those
who are not engaged by monastic vows ; these
also being, in some countries, much too nu-
merous, and, consequently, liable to the same
objections. The qualifications required of them
previous to ordination are, a patrimony, more
or less, according to the country — a benefice,
chaplainship, or some other church employment;
but many of these worthy ecclesiastics, it
may be presumed, are not much better qualified
than poor Gil Perez.
The remedy proposed, besides merely reduc-
ing the number, and furnishing the community
with a class of useful men, would also promote
the interests of real religion. In those countries
that are most deluged with friars, the people are
generally the most vicious, superstitious, and
ignorant ; as every person who has travelled in
Spain, Portugal, or Italy, must have remarked.
This should not be attributed to the natural de-
pravity of those nations, which are generally
allowed to surpass many others in goodness and
humanity, as is evident from the conduct of
those whose condition renders them proof
against the dangers and evils of bad example.
In former times, all who felt for the honour
and dignity of the Church, all who had any
sense of order and propriety, and were interest-
ed in the amelioration of society, continually
deplored the disorders originating in the abuse
168
of the monkish establishments; but the prospect
of being able to effect a salutary reform appear-
ed very unpromising. There were too many
difficulties to encounter, arising principally from
the disagreement of the secular and ecclesiastical
rulers. The superiors of the religious orders
were determined, let the consequences be what
they would, to maintain their old system of
government, their privileges and usages, without
paying any attention to the great alterations
that had been effected in the public opinion
since the foundation of their respective orders.
When St. Francis established his order, his
plan and regulations were founded on the prin-
ciples of wisdom and prudence.* At that time,
churchmen of all descriptions, were enervated by
the excess of riches, which necessarily exposed
them to the vices incident to high life. The plea*
sures of the table, the sports of the field, the
allurements of luxury and sensuality, were all in-
dulged without restraint. The establishment
* " The brothers or sisters, that are to be received to this
order, ought to be faithful Catholiques, not tyed to matri-
mony, free from debts, sound in body, prompt in minde,
not touched with any publicke infamie, recociled to their
neighbour ; and before their admittance they are to be dili-
gently examined of these things, by those that have power
to receive them." The Role of Penanee of the Seraphical Fa-
ther S. Francis. By Br. Jngchs, Friar Minour. Dovat,
1644."
169
of an order founded on the injunctions of our
Lord to his disciples, when he says : " provide
neither gold nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats,
nor shoes, nor yet staves : for the workman is
worthy of his meat," was, under these circum-
stances, highly proper. St. Francis built an edi-
fice extremely well calculated to be beneficial to
mankind, had his successors entirely followed
the essential part of his regulations. He, no
doubt, intended his followers should be abste-
mious and moderate in all their appetites, but
he likewise intended that they should labour
with their hands for their subsistence, and serve
the public in spiritual matters almost gratuitous-
ly. Instead, however, of observing those wise and
benevolent rules, they attached themselves more
particularly to the observance of the most rigid
poverty, and a superstitious adherence to the
coarseness and form of the habit, particularly
to the figure of the Capuce, which became the
cause of many divisions, and finally occasioned
the separation of the society into three distinct
and independent orders, besides other subdivi-
sions, with particular statutes.
Had these good brothers only considered the
principal objects of their institution — the service
of God, their own salvation, and the general
good of society, they certainly would have seen
the absurdity of seizing the shadow for the sub-
stance. Charity might easily have dictated to
170
them, not to fall out among themselves ; and
justice might have suggested to them the pro-
priety of being as little burdensome as possible
to the community, especially as their situation
bore so little analogy to that of the Apostles ;
who, in consequence of their evangelical la-
bours, were justly entitled to support; but the
friars, at least in those countries where they had
been so enormously multiplied, had no such
labours to perform. The vineyard was already
too full of workmen, even to the detriment of
the vintage. They should, therefore, have en-
deavoured to acquire an honest independence, by
their mental and manual exertions, and not have
thrown themselves upon the charity of the pub-
lic. For this very object they were divided into
two classes, priests and lay brothers : the one
destined to perform the duties of religion, and
to diffuse theological knowledge; whilst the
other was occupied in the menial services of the
community. By this happy union of religion
and science with the mechanical arts or labour,
they might have employed their talents to real
advantage, and not have subjected themselves
to any obligation to others for their support.
They might have been in a condition to have
assisted the poor and infirm, instead of encroach-
ing, as they have done, upon their indubitable
rights.
If those religious ever mean to recover their
171
ancient dignity, they must, undoubtedly, en-
deavour to become useful to society ; and this is
to be effected only by conforming themselves to
the spirit of the times, and the present more
improved state of society, without paying so
much attention to the trifling circumstances
already mentioned. The more important con-
siderations of public and private utility, the
advancement of religion, science, and good
order, should prevail before all others. Indeed,
in the present age, such has been the change
which has taken place in the public mind, that the
observance of the old practices are perfectly out
of season. Who, for example, can derive any
benefit or gratification from the partial nudity —
tonsurage — the uncouth and barbarous appear-
ance of a Spanish Franciscan ? The very sight
would suffice to indispose many, not only against
the individual, but against religious orders in ge-
neral -, and, perhaps, indeed, excite antipathy
to the Catholic Church itself, as suffering and
encouraging a system of vandalism.
From these observations on monachism, it
will be observed, that while I am well aware
of the present wretched condition of the cenobit-
ical system, I have, nevertheless, a firm convic-
tion, that in countries where Catholicism is the
prevailing religion, these fraternities of men
might easily be converted into sources of na-
172
tional usefulness.* If instead of making age, and
pious pretensions, tests for the religious profes-
sion, real demonstrable merit were required, those
disorders that now prevail would soon cease.
No one should be admitted who cannot acquire
by his talents an honourable independence in
the world. It was an attention to such qualifi-
cations that rendered the French clergy so su-
perior to ail others on the continent, and enabled
them to support the dignity of the sacerdotal
character with suitable propriety. Their learn-
ing, urbanity, and strict adherence to the prin-
ciples of decorum, afforded them the means of
rendering themselves both useful and acceptable
in foreign countries during their exile and dis-
persion, whereas their mere character of priest-
hood or religious profession, would have availed
them nothing.
Of the truth of the opinion I have now stated,
America furnishes an excellent example. A few
gentlemen of the congregation of St. Sulpicius,
who were fortunate enough to escape the horrors
of the French revolution, and save a little remnant
of their property, took refuge in the United States,
and established themselves at Baltimore, where,
* Little ought to be calculated on the devastations which
Bonaparte has rapaciously made on the Peninsula, among
the religious orders and establishments.
173
conformably to their profession, they engaged
themselves in communicating religious and lite-
rary information. In the beginning, their la-
bours were confined to the instruction of young
men destined for the Church ; but the candidates
for priesthood being few in that country, they af-
terwards admitted respectable persons of every
description to the participation of the advantages
afforded by their institution. Such as profess the
Catholic communion are regularly instructed
in the doctrines and practices peculiar to their
Church ; whilst the Protestants are merely oblig-
ed to attend the places of worship to which they
respectively belong. By this impartial and equit-
able line of conduct, proper discipline, and a
strict attention to their professional duties, they
have founded one of the most respectable literary
establishments of the present day. Their course
of education is not limited to the study
of Greek and Latin literature, philosophy, and
different branches of the mathematics j it com-
prehends also the liberal and ornamental arts ;
such as drawing, music, botany, natural history,
and the living languages. Besides these advan-
tages, that may be considered as purely local and
academical, the benefits of this college are ex-
tended to the whole country. The inhabitants
of Baltimore and its vicinity are particularly
benefited by the residence of these worthy eccle-
siastics ; for notwithstanding their principal oc-
cupation consists in the discharge of their pro-
fessional duties, they do not neglect the culti-
174
vation of those arts which are subservient to the
comforts of life. They have a large portion of
land sufficient to furnish their numerous com-
munity with abundance of fruit and vegetables
of every kind; and they have naturalized many
exotics; indeed, a great number of the produc-
tions of the West India Islands, and that without
any shelter or artificial heat. In their green
and hot houses they raise such plants as cannot
thrive in the open air, for the purpose of bota-
nical improvement, and the benefit of the cu-
rious. They have also erected an elegant little
church, in the most ancient style of architecture.
Thus they contribute to diffuse a taste for the
line arts in that country ; at the same time that
the labouring and industrious parts of the com-
munity are benefited by finding employment
under them.
Against such establishments as we have been
endeavouring to characterize, were the efforts of
the early Reformers principally directed. With
a zeal not always guided by knowledge or pru-
dence, they levelled all distinctions: a monk
became only another word for deceit, supersti-
tion, or wickedness;* and those who had long
found it difficult to observe the rigid vows which
* " Quien dice Frayle dice Fraude." — He who says Friar
says Fraud — is a punning proverb used to this day among
Spaniards.
17*
they had imposed upon themselves, easily im-
bibed the most inveterate prejudices against the
austerities and mortifications which the Re-
formers endeavoured to abolish. In the end,
an enlightened and daring policy relieved one
half of Christendom from the thraldom of reli-
gious abjurations, unsocial seclusions, unnatural
restraints, and many ridiculous superstitions ;
though that these ends could not have been ac-
complished without a total abolition of such so-
cieties as have just been described, is a matter
by no means clear.
SECTION VII.
Sketch of the Origin of the Reformation
in Germany.
THIS is, perhaps, the most difficult, because
the most delicate, point, of the whole Catholic
history. It is hardly possible to touch upon it,
without incurring the risk of giving offence to
one or other, perhaps, both, of the two great
bodies into which the Christian world has been
divided by that event. Nor is it easy to exhibit
the subject in any new point of view. The facts,
however, being well known, there will be less
occasion to enlarge.
It is not intended, in this section, to trace the
176
progress B ^rmation in the various coim-
tr .. nas been received. Neither do I
p I to give any farther history of that great
e\ ;hi than i< absolutely needful to connect the
si ing lineaments of this portrait.
We have already seen the ill use which was
made of the promulgation of Indulgences ; and
the ground it afforded on which to attack, with
advantage, the Church and Court of Rome.
This attack commenced in the year 1517-
Martin Luther, a friar of the Augustine Order,
first opened the warfare ; and his conduct
was very generally approved by the people ;
by some princes, bishops, divines, cardinals,
and even by several monks. Making common
cause, as he pretended, with the friends of lite-
rature, he attached to his standard numerous
learned and intelligent men. Even Erasmus,
perhaps, the most profoundly learned man of
the age, once entertained a favourable opinion
of Luther's principles. He, at first, believed that
Almighty God had raised him up to reform the
Church ; but his opinion of our Reformer chang-
ed, when he perceived that it was not only against
abuses, but even against the very vitals of the
Church, that he meditated a serious attack.
The rashness and precipitation of Luther but
ill accorded with the mild and moderate views
of Erasmus ; and though he complained, that
Luther's adversaries loaded him with calumnies,
instead of answering his arguments; and that
177
they cried him down as a heretic, instead of
amending their own manners, he could never
reconcile his mind to the war which Luther
waged with what was deemed the fundamental
doctrines of religion. The moderation of Eras-
mus displeased both parties, and he was loaded
with every opprobrious epithet an enraged bi-
gotry could suggest.
On the 30th September, 1517, Luther de-
livered ninety-five propositions, in which he
censured, in the boldest manner, the extrava-
gant conduct and extortions of the papal com-
missioners for the sale of Indulgences. These
propositions were promulgated at Wittem-
berg, at the college in which he was a doc-
tor. Ignorant of a stipulation made between
Leo X. and Albert of Brandenburg, by which
the latter should retain one half of the pro-
fits arising from these indulgences, Luther
addressed a letter of remonstrance to this elec-
tor 3 but, as might naturally have been supposed,
no regard was paid to his complaints. Exas-
perated by this neglect, he next published to
the world the Propositions he had read in the
Church of Wittemberg. They contained
many censures on the Pope himself, but were
rendered as palatable as possible by repeated ex-
pressions of obedience to the papal authority
and the doctrines and decisions of the Church.
On the first appearance of these Propositions,
N
178
Tetzel, the principal vender of the Indulgences
by the appointment of the elector of Mentz, en-
deavoured to defend a traffic in which he had so
much personal interest. To effect this purpose,
he published a set of counter-Propositions, and
then publicly burned those by Luther. The friends
of Luther, in the same spirit of destruction, re-
joined, by burning eight hundred copies of
Tetzel 's Propositions in one of the public
squares of Wittemberg. This conduct Luther
had the moderation or good sense to lament;
and he affirmed, that it was adopted without his
knowledge.
Among the opponents of Luther, at this early
stage of the schism, we may notice Johannes
Eccius, and Silvestro Prierio. The one was
Vice-Chancellor of Ingoldstadt, and the other
Master of the Apostolic Palace and Inquisitor-
General. The attacks of these writers against
the innovating spirit of Luther, were made in
a manner but little calculated to effect the pur-
poses for which they were intended ; and he
did not fail to describe his opponents as liars and
blasphemers, engaged in the service of the devil •>
asserting, at the same time, that if the Pope and
his cardinals should give their support to such
doctrines as were maintained in the books of
Prierio, Rome itself must be the seat of Anti-
christ.
Leo X., confiding in the professions ofLu-
179
ther, who had declared to him, " that he would
regard whatever came from him as delivered by
Christ himself," took no immediate steps to
curb the zeal of the Reformers, nor to remove
the cause of their just complaints. At length,
however, the indolent Pontiff roused from his
danger; and, in 1518, he summoned Luther to
appear before him at Rome, within sixty days,
there to answer the- questions which should
be proposed to him by Prierio, his virulent op-
ponent.
It required no extraordinary degree of pene-
tration to perceive what must be the issue of a
trial, wherein the judge and the plaintiff were
one and the same person. Accordingly, Luther
made sufficient interest to have his cause heard
in Germany. Tomaso de Vio, Cardinal of Gaeta,
the Pope's legate at the diet of Augsburg, was
empowered to summon Luther before him j and,
if he should persist in his errors, to hold him in
custody till further instructions should be sent
from Rome. It was of small consequence to
Luther, whether his cause should be heard
before the prejudiced and interested Prierio
at Rome, or by the equally interested Domi-
nican Cardinal of Gaeta, in Germany. What-
ever might have been the lenient principles at
first cherished by the Pope, this precipitate and
rash determination gave great and just cause of
offence to Luther and his friends. No alterna-
tive, however, remained ; and Luther, having
N 2
180
obtained, with great difficulty and delay, »
safe-conduct from the Emperor, repaired to
Augsburg.* Previously, however, to this, and
after the Pope had sent his monitory to the
Cardinal of Gaeta, a power had been dele-
gated to that cardinal, to hear his defence;
and, in case of penitence and submission, again
to receive him to the communion of the faith-
ful.
The accounts given of the behaviour of
the cardinal at this celebrated conference,
on which, indeed, depended the fate of the
Reformation, are various and contradictory.
Fra. Paolo j says, that " after a conveni-
ent conference upon the controverted doctrine,
the cardinal, having discovered that, by terms
of school-divinity, in the profession of which
himself was most excellent, Martin could not
be convinced that he always served himself of
the Holy Scripture, which is used but a little
by the school-men, declared that he would
dispute no more with him, but exhorted him to
a retraction ; or, at least, to submit his books
and doctrine to the judgment of the Pope;
* In fact, the safe-conduct was not obtained till Luther
had been arrived at Augsburg some days, and he had repeat-
edly refused to appear before the Cardinal without it.
+ History of the Council of Trent, p. 7. Sir It. Brent's
translation.
181
shewing him the danger he was in if he persist-
ed, and promising him favours and benefits from
his Holiness if he yielded. Martin not an-
swering to the contrary, he thought it not fit
to wring from him a negative, by pressing him
too much, but rather to give space, that the
threats and promises might take impression;
and, therefore, gave him leave to depart for that
time."
On this statement of Father Paul's, Dr. Ro-
bertson, in an early edition of his Reign of
Charles V., asserted, that the Cardinal of Gaeta
thought it beneath his dignity to enter into any
dispute with Luther; but, it seems, M. Beau-
sobre,*and Seckendorf,-}- convinced the Doctor of
his mistake. Yet it does not appear, even from
Fra. Paolo's account, but that the Cardinal did
enter into a dispute with Luther ; and that he did
not at first resort to the authority with which
he was invested, of demanding from this un-
bending Reformer, a prompt and decided obe-
dience to the decision of the Church. And it
should be particularly remarked, that hitherto
Luther had professed his unreserved submission
to the Pope, and the doctrines of the Catholic
Faith. The Cardinal had a right to consider,
that he was admonishing a mistaken brother,
* Histoire de la Reformation, vol. i. p. 121. et seq.
t Com. Lib. i. p. 46, et seq.
182
rather than conferring with a decided enemy ;
and this view of the matter will go very far to-
wards justifying ff the high tone of authority,"
which, it appears, he used on that occasion.
The question is not whether the Church had
any right to these assumptions, but whether
Luther, professing himself an obedient son of
the Church, and willing, as he pretended,
to submit to whatever she should com-
mand, had any right to complain, when the
Cardinal of Gaeta demanded unqualified sub-
mission. A reference to the Scriptures, under
these circumstances, could have very little
weight, unless he had shewn that the Church
put the same sense on those Scriptures as he him-
self had done ; and this, it will not be disputed,
he might have done.
Encouraged by several powerful and determin-
ed patrons, Luther contemned the authority of
the legate ; and refused to make any conces-
sions, or to violate his conscience, as he termed
it, by disavowing what he knew to be the truth.
He yielded, however, so far as to consent that
his opinions should be submitted to such uni-
versities as he should name; and promised in
future to desist from impugning the discipline
of Indulgences, provided his adversaries were
likewise to be silent concerning them.* I
* Luther Oper. vol. i. p. 160. in Rob. Charles V. vol. i.
p. 246.
183
hazard nothing in asserting, that were the spirit
and genius of the Catholic religion but half so
sanguinary and cruel as some Protestants have
been induced to believe, Luther had never sur-
vived a proposal so full of disobedience to the
legal authority of his superiors. Happy for
himself, and for the cause of reform, the Car-
dinal wisely and temperately agreed not to
push matters to extremities at that time. There
might, in this forbearance, have been something
of fear or of respect to the many powerful
friends of Luther; but the Papal Court, in sub-
sequent times, has shewn, that no fear or re-
gard for kings, or kingly authority, could deter
it from boldly, and even arrogantly, asserting
its real or pretended rights and powers. The
fact is clearly this : — The steady adherents of
the Church, not having before been roused into
resentment, or irritated by misrepresentation
to acts of a vindictive nature, followed more
closely the true and proper spirit of their Chris-
tian faith.* Not but that the case of John
* Wickliffe, who, with all his great virtues, and he
had many, had certainly taken upon himself to reform
the Church from a sordid and unworthy spirit of revenge,
and wrote against the received authorities of the time in
a manner which no regular government, either before or
since, would tolerate, died in his bed, and in possession
of his living of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire. Where slept
the spirit of persecution then ? Had the Church not then
learned the use of fire and faggot ? And yet we are told
that " Popery is always the same ;" and that nothing but
want of power in the Catholics prevents their burning us, en
masse, in Smithfield ! But more of this hereafter.
184
Huss and Jerome of Prague, a century before,
had convinced the world, that the Court of
Rome knew how to maintain, even with rigour
and cruelty, the authority it had acquired : and
that rebellion and sedition, as all opposition to
established power is usually denominated, might
meet with condign punishment.
However this might be, Luther, after these
different meetings, was permitted to depart j
when his friends, judging from the bold or rash
manner of his proceeding, and the known au-
thority of his adversaries, that it would not be
prudent for him to remain any longer in
danger, advised a secret flight from Augsburg.
Prior, however, to his departure, he published
a solemn appeal to the Supreme Pontiff pre-
judiced and misled, to the same Pontiff when
better informed. Soon afterwards he addressed
a modest and respectful letter to the Cardinal,
clearly indicating that he had no just ground of
complaint against him :* yet almost all Protes-
tant writers since the Reformation join in cen-
suring, in the bitterest manner, the haughty
conduct of this Cardinal. This mistake, for so
it certainly appears to be, most probably had
its origin in the angry mind of Fra. Paolo, who,
without giving any authority for the assertion,
declares that the conduct of the Cardinal
* Roscoe's Leo X. vol. III. p. 239.
185
of Gaeta was censured even at the Roman
court ; by whom, as this writer further takes
upon himself to add, he was blamed for not
having promised Luther great riches, a bishop-
ric, and even the red hat of a Cardinal. On
this slender authority, and from this, to say the
least of it, doubtful source, have our writers co-
pied and re-copied, echoed and re-echoed, the
most extravagant slanders against a man who,
upon the whole, appears to have been directed
in his zeal against Luther, by the most honour-
able and benevolent motives ;* and who con-
ducted himself, considering the high powers with
which he was vested, in a mild and moderate
manner.
The abrupt departure of Luther from Augs-
burg naturally awakened the resentment of the
Cardinal, and he immediately addressed a letter
to the elector of Saxony, to whose protection
Luther fled, expressing his surprise and in-
dignation at his conduct, at the same time
requesting that, if he should continue to hold
and defend his opinions, he might be sent to
Rome, or at least banished from the elec-
* Mr. Roscoe, with a magnanimity highly becoming the
gentleman and scholar, is almost the only pvotestant writer I
have met with, who has ventured to do justice to the charac-
ter of the Cardinal of Gaeta. Leo X. vol. III. chap. XV.
Even the candid Mosheim has copied., professedly, from
Paolo Sarpi, these unjust slanders.
186
tor's dominions. This letter,* which contains
the Cardinal's interview with Luther, shews
clearly enough that every indulgence was grant-
ed the Reformer which the circumstances of the
case would permit.
It must, however, be admitted, that many of
Luther's adversaries were not equally careful to
abstain from violence and insult. He was as-
sailed from various quarters by the most virulent
and indecent abuse ; and even the Pope himself
began considerably to increase in the rigour
and severity of his measures. He issued a
special edict in November of the same year,
commanding all his spiritual subjects to yield the
most implicit faith in the power and efficacy of
his ridiculous indulgences.
Frederic, the elector, replied in a respectful
manner to the legate's letter, but refused to
condemn Luther before his opinions were proved
to be erroneous.
Every day increased the danger to which Lu-
ther was exposed by his intrepid zeal and per-
severance; but the powers claimed by Leo X.,
in the bull he had just issued, reduced him to
this most difficult alternative : — either openly
to acknowledge, as he had ever done, his per-
It may be seen in the works of Luther, vol. i. p. 173.
187
feet obedience to the Holy See, by submitting
his judgment to the decisions of the Pope, or at
once renounce obedience to the Vicar of Christ,
and declare open war against the whole Chris-
tian world. With a boldness unparalleled, he
resolved on the latter, and immediately appealed
from the Pope to a General Council. He was
then at Wittemberg. To justify himself in this
measure, he truly declared that General Councils
" are superior in power to the Pope, who being a
fallible man, might err, as St. Peter, the most
perfect of his predecessors, had erred."* He fur-
ther remarked, that the prophet forbids us to put
trust or confidence in men, even in princes, to
whose judgment nothing ought less to be com-
mitted than the word of God ;f protesting,
however, at the same time, that lie had no
intention to speak any thing auainst the holy
Catholic and Apostolic Church, nor against
the authority of the Holy See. He relates
what passed at Wittemberg and Augsburg
upon his account ; and adds, that perceiv-
ing they would proceed against him at the
Court of Rome, and that his pretended judges,
without regard to his submission or protesta-
tions, designed his condemnation, he was forced
to appeal from Leo X. misinformed, from the
commission of his present judges, their citation,
* Sleid. Hist. 12. Luth. Oper. v. i. p. 179.
t Fra. Paolo Storia del Concil. Tridcntiao, lib. i.
188
process, excommunication, and all other cen-
sures, which they had or could inflict ; and from
all the consequences that had followed or might
follow ; and that he demanded the letters of his
appeal, with a protestation to prosecute it, and
do himself justice as he should think it conve-
nient.*
Leo X., still unwilling or afraid to push mat-
ters to extremities against this unruly son of the
Church, addressed a conciliatory message to the
Elector of Saxony. This was accompanied by
a present, which a very short time before would
have had the most pleasing effects on the mind
of the Elector : it was the consecrated Rose,
which the Pontiff had been in the habit of send-
ing annually to those princes for whom he pro-
fessed a more than usual affection and regard.
This sacred and honourable present came too
late. The rose had lost its fragrance with the
half-reformed Elector. And even had this not
been the case, a circumstance occurred at
that time, which diverted the attention of the
Pope from the affairs of the Church, fur-
nished the Elector with additional motives to
continue his protection to the Reformer, and
gave Luther himself time and new means to
promote the great objects of his opposition to
the Court of Rome, and the authority of the
* Dupin, Eccles. Hist, book ii. cent. xvi.
189
Pontiff. The letters and present of the Pope
were sent by the hands of Miltitz, a Saxon knight
attached to the papal Court, and one of Leo's
chamberlains. By the same person, the Pope
wrote to Pfeffinger, Councillor of State to the
Elector, requesting him to use his influence with
his master to stop the progress of the Reforma-
tion, and to imitate the piety and religious zeal
of his ancestors. A similar request was made
to Spalatino, Secretary of State to the Elector.
These letters are dated early in January 1519s
but before Miltitz arrived with them in Ger-
many, the Emperor Maximilian died, and his
death, for a time, changed the face of affairs.
This circumstance somewhat delayed the ne-
gociations of Miltitz j yet in the course of the
year a conference was had with Luther at Al-
tenburg - 3 and this prudent and sensible minis-
ter so far succeeded with him, by playing off
upon his vanity, and by solemnly and earnestly
reprobating the wicked conduct of Tetzel, that
our hitherto inflexible Reformer consented to
write a submissive letter to Leo X., and once
more promised to be silent respecting indulg-
ences, provided that the same obligation should
be imposed upon his adversaries.* Previously,
however, to writing this obedient letter, Luther
wrote one to Miltitz, in which he censures, in
* Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. vol. iv. p. 39.
„ 190
somewhat severe terms, the conduct even of the
Pope himself, who had given the Archbishop of
Mentz a dispensation to hold several bishop-
rics, by which he had so nourished his ambition
and avarice, that a kind of necessity had been
imposed upon him to abuse the promulgation of
Indulgences, in order to raise money for the nu-
merous expenses to which he had exposed him-
self. Luther also charged the Pope with being
under undue influence to the Florentines, parti-
cularly to his own family of the Medici, who
were accused of great covetousness, pride, and
ambition.
This letter was given into the hands of Mil-
tiz ; but, for some reason which does not ap-
pear, Luther recalled these injurious reflections,
and addressed a letter to Leo X., in which he
declares, that it is a very great grief to him to
find himself accused of want of respect to the
Church of Rome, in a matter which he had un-
dertaken purely with a design to maintain her
honour; which was also the motive that de-
termined him not to retract his assertions, as his
writings were spread through all Germany, and
he could not renounce the sentiments those
writings conveyed, without dishonouring the
holy Catholic Church. It is more than probable,
however, that in this last profession, our pious
Reformer is somewhat satirical : his subsequent
conduct, and, indeed, his whole behaviour from
the time he commenced open rebellion against
191
the Roman Court, shew that he was influ-
enced by views not very favourable to the
interests of the Catholic Church. In this
letter he repeats his complaints against the
conduct of his opponents, and throws the
whole blame of the threatened schism on their
heads. He then protests before the living God,
that he never intended to diminish the authority
of the Church of Rome or of the Pope. He
acknowledges that the power of that Church is
above all things, and that there is nothing to be
preferred to it, either in heaven or earth, except
our Lord Jesus Christ. He, moreover, engages
in this letter to publish some writings, to exhort
his friends and adherents to honour the Roman
Catholic Church, and not impute to it the rash-
ness of private men. He promises also that in
those writings he will exhort his readers not to
impute the sharpness of style, in which he had
before written, to any other motive than the
most earnest desire to save the Church from be-
ing disgraced with the imputation of avarice.
This letter is dated March 13, 1519.*
As the cause of truth and religion fortunately
does not rest on the good or bad qualities of Lu-
ther, or any other of the Reformers, I have no
hesitation in giving it as my opinion, that in
* Dupin, book ii. cap. iii. cent. xvi. Brandt's Hist, of the
Reformation, book ii.
192
these professions of respect and obedience to the
Pope, Luther was acting a double part ; and that
he therein departed from that boldness and de-
cision which he generally observed during his
war with the Church. But this was not the only
instance in which our Reformer shewed himself
capable of managing his matters more in the
spirit of a politician than in that of a Christian
Minister. He might not, however, be averse
to a reconciliation at this time ; though how he
might reasonably expect his professions of obe-
dience to be received, by the party against whose
authority he had already appealed, there can be
little difficulty in deciding : for Luther was not
without great foresight or knowledge of the hu-
man heart. Yet Leo X., naturally disposed to
pacific measures, and ready to put the most fa-
vourable construction on every thing, replied to
Luther in a style equally mild and conciliatory.
The friends of peace now began to hope that
these differences would speedily subside.*
But though the Roman Court received the
professions of Luther with anticipations of this
• The IXth. Section, of Dr. Machine's Translation of Mo-
sheim, was added by the translator, because, as he says, he
thought that this part of Luther's history deserved to be related
in a more circumstantial manner than it is in the original. The
admirers of Mosheim would have been obliged to his transla-
tor for this and other liberties he has taken, had he been care-
ful to have observed the spirit and faithfulness of his original ;
but
193
pleasing nature, other circumstances arose
which blasted all these hopes, revived the fer-
mentation of theological disputes, and gave new
life to those animosities which seemed in that
age to be their natural and invariable result.*
About this period, Andrew Bodenstein, called
by himself Carlostadt, from the place of his
birth, having embraced the opinions of Luther,
published a thesis in their defence. This called
forth once more the learning and powerful abili-
ties of Eccius.
To enter into a detail of the disputes at Leip-
sic between Eccius, Carlostadt, and Luther,
would neither edifv the reader, nor illustrate this
history. As usual, both sides claimed the vic-
tory : — an indifferent observer might remark,
that neither deserved it. These disputes com-
menced on the 25th of June, and ended on the
but whoever will compare Mosheim's note (u) vol. iv. p. 39,
with Machine's reflections on the conduct, of Leo X. (p. 42 of
the same volume), will perceive a manifest discrepancy be-
tween the statements of these writers. According to the one,
the Court of Rome received the submission of Luther in the
most friendly manner: according to the other, that Court
had not prudence enough ft) take so wise a step. In a sepa-
rate work, this conduct of Dr. Machine's might have been
excused: in a re-publication of Dr. Mosheim, it is highly re-
prehensible.
* Roscoe's Leo X. vol. iv. p. P.
O
194
15th of July following. Before they entered
upon the debate, which was conducted in the
hall of the Castle at Leipsic, in the presence of
George, Duke of Saxony, and a large concourse
of other eminent persons, Eccius proposed to
appoint suitable judges. Luther, with his cha-
racteristic boldness and impetuosity, replied,
that all the world might be the judge. The
Universities of Paris and Erfurt were at length
fixed upon.* The questions agitated embrace
many of the opinions which still divide the Ca-
tholic and Protestant Churches ; and they were
discussed in a manner and with a spirit by no
means honourable to either of the disputants, or
the Universities of Paris and Erfurt. If, however,
these disputes had but little effect, while they were
carried on by both parties in propria persona,
when they were renewed in writing, they called
forth the efforts of many learned and eminent
scholars ; amongst whom were Melancthon and
Erasmus, whose various publications awakened
the spirit of inquiry, and forwarded, in a very
powerful manner, the cause of the Reform-
ation.
After the fruitless disputes at Leipsic, Luther
returned to Wittemberg, where Miltitz renewed
* Dupin, with his usual candour and impartiality, has
given an ample detail of the points in dispute, in the 5th
chapter of the 2d book, cent. xvi. of his history.
195
his efforts to reconcile Luther to the Pope and
the Church. Whatever resolution our zealous
and intrepid Reformer might manifest in his op-
position to the papal authority, he appears to
have been but ill-prepared to withstand the at-
tacks of flattery 3 and, accordingly, Miltitz, who
seems properly to have appreciated the mind of
Luther, prevailed upon him, by calling in the
assistance of the society of the Augustine Monks,
to which, as we have seen, Luther belonged, to
write again to the Pope, with a further and more
explicit account of his conduct. This applica-
tion to the Augustine Monks seems to have been
particularly pleasing to Luther.
The indefatigable and truly impartial Mr.
Roscoe has treated this part of the subject in
his usual interesting and just manner ; and as it
is one of the most essential traits in the early
history of the Reformation, I will give the ac-
count of Luther's letter, as it appears in this
author's Life of Leo X.*
" Under the pretext of obedience, respect,
and even affection for the pontiff, he has
conveyed the most determined opposition,
the most bitter satire, and the most mark-
ed contempt ; insomuch, that it is scarcely
possible to conceive a composition more
* Vol. IV. p. 13, et seq.
O 2
19r]
replete with insult and offence, than that which
Esther affected to allow himself to be prevailed on
to write by the representations of his own frater-
nity. c AmOngst the monsters of the age,' says
Luther, f with whom I have now waged nearly a
1 three years' war, I am compelled, at times, td
' turn my regards towards you, O most holy
* father Leo ; or rather I may say, that as you
* are esteemed to be the sole cause of the contest,
c you are never absent from my thoughts. For
' although 1 have been induced by your impi-
c ous flatterers, who have attacked me without
{ any cause, to appeal to a general council, re-
*' gardless of the empty decrees of your prede-
* cessors, Pius and Julius, which, by a kind of
* stupid tyranny, were intended to prevent such
; a measure, yet I have never allowed my mind
i to be so far alienated from your holiness, as
' not to be most earnestly solicitous for the hap-
* piness both of yourself and your see, which I
* have always endeavoured, as far as in my
( power, to obtain from God by continual and
' ardent supplications. It is true, I have almost
' learnt to despise and to exult over the threats
' of those who have sought to terrify me, by the
* majesty of your name and authority ; but there
' is one circumstance which I cannot contemn,
' and which has compelled me again to ad-
' dress your holiness. I understand I have been
c highly blamed, as having had the temerity to
' carry my opposition so far as even to attack
1 your personal character.
197
<k ' c I must, however, most explicitly assure
: you, that whenever I have had occasion to
: mention you, I have never done it but in the
c best and most magnificent terms. Had I done
: otherwise, I should have belied my own judg-
: ment, and should not only concur in the opi-
: nion of my adversaries, but most willingly ac-
1 knowledge my rashness and impiety. I have
' given you the appellation of Daniel in Baby-
' Ion, and have even endeavoured to defend you
' against your great calumniator Silvester
* (Prierio) with a sincerity which any reader
' will abundantly perceive in my works. The
' unsullied reputation of your life is, indeed, so
' august and so celebrated in every part of the
' world by the applauses of learned men, as to
* set at defiance any aspersions which can be
' thrown upon it. I am not so absurd as to
* attack him whom every one praises, when it
c has always been iny rule to spare even those
1 whom public report condemns. I delight not
1 in blazoning the crimes of others, being con-
c scious of the mote which is in my own eye,
* and not regarding myself as entitled to throw
' the first stone at an adultress.'
" After justifying the asperity with which he
has commented on the misconduct of his adver-
saries, by the example of Christ, and of the
prophets and apostles, he thus proceeds: ' I
f must, however, acknowledge my total abhor-
f rence of your see, the Roman court, which,
198
neither you nor any man can deny, is more
corrupt than either Babylon or Sodom, and
according to the best of my information, is
sunk in the most deplorable and notorious im-
piety.* I have been, therefore, truly indig-
nant to find, that under your name, and the
pretext of the Roman church, the people of
Christ have been made a sport of; which 1
have opposed, and will oppose, as long as
the spirit of faith shall remain in me. Not
that I would attempt impossibilities, or expect
that my efforts could avail against such a hos-
tile throng of flatterers, and in the midst of
the commotions of that Babylon. I owe,
however, something to my brethren, and con-
ceive that it behoves me to keep watch that
they are not seized in such numbers, nor
so violently attacked, by this Roman plague.
* " It must be observed, that Luther had been in Rome,
in the year 1510, on the affairs of his convent, where he had
been greatly disgusted with the conduct of the clergy, and
the manners of the people, in the performance of religious
worship. « Ego Romae,' says he, ' non diu fui. Ibi ce-
' lebravi ipse, et vidi celebrari aliquot missas, sed ita, ut,
« quoties recordor, execrer illas. Nam super mensam, in-
' ter alia, audivi Curtisanos quosdam ridendo gloriari ; non-
' nullos in ara super panein et vinum haec verba pronun-
« tiare,' Pants es, pants manebis ; vinum es, vinum manebis.
Ex Luther, op. German, torn. vi. Jena, ap. Melch. Adam in
vita, 49. Speaking of this journey in his Colloquia, he ob-
serves, that he would not have exchanged it for a thousand
florins. lb.
199
For what has Rome poured out for these many
years past (as you well know) but the desola-
tion of all things, both of body and soul, and
the worst examples of all iniquity. It is, in-
deed, as clear as day-light to all mankind, that
the Roman church, formerly the most holy of
all churches, is become the most licentious den
of thieves, the most shameless of all brothels,
the kingdom of sin, of death, and of hell ; the
wickedness of which not antichrist himself
could conceive.
" ' In the mean time, you, O Leo, sit like a
lamb amidst wolves, and live like Daniel amidst
the lions, or Ezekiel among the scorpions.
But what can you oppose to these monsters ?
Three or four learned and excellent cardinals !
but what are these on such an occasion ? In
fact, you would all sooner perish by poison,
than attempt a remedy to these disorders.
The fate of the court of Rome is decreed -, the
wrath of God is upon it ■ advice it detests ;
reformation it dreads; the fury of its impiety
cannot be mitigated, and it has now fulfilled
that which was said of its mother, We have
medicine d Babylon and she is not healed ; let us
therefore leave her. It was the office of you
: and of your cardinals to have applied a remedy ;
; but the disorder derides the hand of the phy-
1 sician, nee audit currus habenas. Under these
' impressions I have always lamented, O most
* excellent Leo, that you, who are worthy of
200
* better times, should have been elected to the
e pontificate in such days as these. Rome
c merits you not, nor those who resemble you,
1 but Satan himself, who in fact reigns more
c than you in that Babylon ; would that you
c could exchange that state, which your inve-
c terate enemies represent to you as an honour,
c for some petty living ; or would support your-
c self by your paternal inheritance; for of such
c honours none are w 7 orthy but Iscariots, the sons
c of perdition.'
" After pouring out these invectives, and others
of a similar kind, always pointed with expres-
sions of the most contemptuous kindness for the
pontiff, Luther proceeds to give a brief history
of his conduct, and of the efforts made to pacify
him by the Roman court; in which he speaks
of Eccius as the servant of Satan, and the ad-
versary of Jesus Christ, and adverts to the con-
duct of the cardinal of Gaeta with an acrimony
by no means consistent with his former profes-
sions in this respect. He then declares, that in
consequence of the representations of the Au-
gustine fathers, who had entreated him at least
to honour the person of the pontiff, and assured
him that a reconciliation was yet practicable,
he had joyfully and gratefully undertaken the
present address : c Thus I rome,' says he,
e most holy father, and prostrating myself be-
c fore you, entreat that you will, if po.-sible, lay
e hands on and bridle those flatterers who, whilst
201
* they pretend to be pacific, are the enemies of
' peace. Let no one, however, presume to
' think, most holy father, that I shall sing a
* palinode, unless he wishes to give rise to a still
* greater storm. I shall admit of no restraints
* in interpreting the word of God; for the word
* of God, which inculcates the liberty of all,
1 must itself be free. Except in these points,
* there is nothing to which I am not ready to
* submit. 1 hate contention, I will provoke no
1 one ; but being provoked, whilst Christ assists
* me, I will not be mute. With one word your
* holiness might silence these commotions, and
* establish that peace which I so earnestly
* desire.
" ' Allow me, however, to caution you, my
* good father Leo, against those syrens who
* would persuade you that you are not alto-
c gether a man, but a compound of man and
e God, and can command and require whatever
4 you please. This, I assure you, will be of no
' avail. You are the servant of servants, and of
* all mankind, are seated in the most deplorable
f and perilous place. Be not deceived by those
f who pretend that you are lord of the earth,
* that there can be no christian without your
c authority, and that \'OU have any power in
e heaven, in hell, or in purgatory. They are
* your enemies, and seek to destroy your soul, as
' it was said by Esaias, O my people, they who
"■ pronounce you happy deceive you. Thus they
202
impose upon you, who exalt you above a coun-
cil, and the universal church ; and who attri-
bute to you alone the right of interpreting the
scriptures, and endeavour, under your name to
establish their own impiety. Alas, by their
means, Satan has made great gain among your
predecessors.'*
" This letter, which bears date the sixth day
* " Some of the protestant writers, willing to attribute the
schism of the church wholly to the rash and intemperate con-
duct of the Roman pontiff, have passed over in silence this
provoking letter of Luther, although published in the general
collection of his works (v. Cha. Chais, Mosheim, Robertson,
Sfc.J ; others who have cited it, have supposed that Luther
was serious in his professions of respect and attachment to
Leo X., and that the pontiff should have considered it as a
peace-offering (v. Sleidan and Seckendorf) ; but it is not dif-
ficult to perceive that the whole is a bitter satire, rendered
more galling by the pretended anxiety of the writer for the
temporal and eternal welfare of the pope. Seckendorf has
also attempted to prove, that although this letter bears the
date of the 6th April, 1520, it was not written till the month
of October following ; in which opinion he has been incau-
tiously followed by other writers. To say nothing of the de-
cisive internal evidence of the letter having been written be-
fore the issuing of the papal bull, it may be sufficient to
notice the following facts ; a due attention to which would
have prevented Seckendorf and his followers from falling into
such an error.
" I. The letter in question was prefixed, as the actual dedi-
cation to Leo X., of the book of Luther, de Libertate Christi-
ana.
20S
of April, 1520, was prefixed by Luther as a dedi-
cation to his treatise on Christian liberty, which
ana. In this form it appears in the Jena Edition of the works
of Luther, where it immediately precedes the treatise, and is
entitled Epistola Lutheri ad Leonem X. Rom. Pontificem, Li-
bello be Libertate Christiana pr^fixa. The dedicatory
words at the close of the letter admit of no doubt that it was
published with the book, ' In fine, ne vacuus advenerim,
* B. P. mecum affero tractatulum hunc, sub tuo nomine editum,
* vel ut auspicio pacis componendae et bonae spei,' &c.
" II. The precise time of the publication of this treatise is
marked by the dedicatory letter itself; viz. the 6th April,
1520. It preceded, in the order of publication, the treatise,
de Captivitate Babylonica ; and the latter treatise had made
its appearance in the month of August, 1520. v. Sleidan. lib.
ii. Seckend. lib. i. sec. lxxiii.
" III. The Jena Edition of the works of Luther was super-
intended by his particular friends soon after his death, and
the greatest care was taken in arranging his writings, in
order of time, according to their proper dates. This is re-
peatedly insisted on, in the preface by Amsdorf, as one of the
chief merits of the work, ' Nam multi, non considerata
' temporum serie, turpiter hallucinantur, dum praetextu Scrip-
' torum Lutheri, Christum et Belial conciliare student.' In this
Edition the letter appears in its proper place, with the date
of the 6th April, and before the bull of Leo X., which is
dated the 15th of June.
" IV. Any correspondence between Luther and Leo X.
aftef the issuing the bull must have been well known, and
given rise to great observation, as it would have shewn the
conduct of Luther in a very different light from that in which
it now appears, and led to very different conclusions respect-
204
he professes to transmit to the Pope as a proof
of his pacific disposition, and of his desire to
attend to his studies, if the flatterers of the pon-
tiff would allow him ; but which the advocates
of the Roman church have considered as an ad-
ditional proof of his arrogance and his disobe-
dience."
Had the friends of the Roman court viewed
this letter in the light which some Protestants
have considered it, and not as in fact, complet-
ing " the measure of his offences" against the
Pope and the Holy Catholic Church, the bull
of excommunication which Leo X. unwillingly
issued against the author of it, would never have
been put in force. After repeated persuasions,
however, on the 15th of June, L520,* a bull
ing his character. To have omitted or misplaced it in the
Jena Edition of the works of Luther, which professes to give
a history of the reformation for the years 1517, IS, 19, 20,
and 21, by a regular series of authentic documents, would
have been unpardonable. Even Seckendorf himself has not
ventured to introduce, or even to mention such letter in his
commentaries, at the time when he contends it was written ;
and only undertakes, in a former part of his work, to raise
some doubt on the subject ; ' dubitationem quandam infra ape-
' riam;' a doubt which a proper examination would effec-
tually have removed." This point has been still further clear-
ed in Mr. Roscoe's Preface to the 2nd. Edition of his work.
* Era. Paolo, Concil. di Trento. lib. i. p. 10. (Brent). Pal-
lavicini, Concil. di Trento, cap. xx. p. 119.
205
of condemnation was issued against Luther
and his doctrines. This bull completed the
schism which had been evidently begun three
years before. It states the various causes of
complaint against Luther, his adherents, and
writings, from which forty-one articles were se-
lected as heretical, dangerous, and scandalous ;
offensive to pious ears, contrary to Christian
charity, the respect due to the Roman church,
and to that obedience which is the sinew of ec-
clesiastical discipline. The most pointed con-
demnation is there passed upon them, and a
strict prohibition laid upon every person, under
pain of excommunication, from advancing, de-
fending, or favouring, either in writing or preach-
ing, any such opinions. The books themselves
are ordered to be collected and publicly burned.
The bull then proceeds to narrate the mild and
paternal behaviour of the pontiff; and contrasts
it with the pertinacious and obstinate conduct
of Luther, whom the papal court might in-
stantly condemn as a notorious heretic ; but
that, unwilling to proceed to harsh measures,
Luther and his adherents are conjured to return
to their duty, and renounce their errors ; assur-
ing them, that if they give manifest proof of
their obedience, by destroying and disavowing
their writings, within sixty days, they should be
graciously received to the bosom and protection
of the Church; but that, should they persist in
their errors and contumacy, after the time spe-
cified, they should be proceeded against imme-
206
diately as obstinate and perverse heretics ; and
receive the punishment which the law in such
cases has provided.*
The bull of Leo X., instead of allaying the tu-
mults, called forth all the zeal and energy of
Luther, and his powerful and numerous friends.
To such a pitch of exasperation did this mea-
sure raise the intrepid and daring innovator,
that he threw off, in the most unequivocal man-
ner, all forms of respect, and even decency, to-
wards the Pope, the Councils, and the Catho-
lic Church. Refusing to appear to the Pope's
citation, he boldly exclaimed, " I defer my ap-
pearing there until I am followed by five thou-
sand horse and twenty thousand foot : then will
I make myself believed. "f No epithet of a
rude and offensive nature was spared in repre-
senting the character and conduct of the pope
and his whole court. He once more appealed
to a general council, and hesitates not to call the
supreme pontiff, whose authority he had lately
declared as inferior only to that of the Lord Jesus
Christ, a tyrant, a heretic, an apostate, and An-
* This bull has been copied, from the works of Luther,
into the Appendix (No. clxxxiii.) to Mr. Roscoe's Life of Leo
X. ; and the substance of it may be found, translated, in Du-
pin's Ecclesiastical Writers, Cent. xvi.
f Adver. execr. Antichrist. Bull, T. 2. p. 91. ap. Bossuet
Var. i. p. 24.
207
tichrist himself. He even summons the pope
and his cardinals to repent of their sins, and re-
nounce their errors, or he would otherwise de-
liver over both them and their bull, with all their
decretals, to Satan, that by the destruction of
the flesh, their souls may be liberated in the
coming of our Lord. Accordingly, not being
in a capacity to carry his threat into execution
in any other way, "On the 10th of December,
1520, he caused a kind of funeral pile to be
erected without the walls of Wittemberg, sur-
rounded by scaffolds, as for a public spectacle;
and when the places thus prepared were filled
by the members of the university, and the in-
habitants of the city, Luther made his appear-
ance with many attendants, bringing with him
several volumes, containing the decrees of Gra-
tian, the decretals of the popes, the constitu-
tions, called the Extravagants, the writings of
Eccius, and of Emser, another of his antago-
nists, and, finally, a copy of the bull of Leo X.
The pile being then set on fire, he, with his
own hands, committed the books to the flames,
exclaiming at the same time, Because ye have
troubled the holy of the Lord, ye shall be burnt
with eternal fire."* That there might be no
mistake respecting the real sentiments of these
zealous Reformers, on the following day, Luther
* Luther Op. vol. ii. p. 320. Pallavic. Cone, di Trcnto, cap.
xxii. p. 126. in Roscoe Leo X. iv. p. 31.
208
mounted the pulpit, and openly declared that
the conflagration they had just seen was a mat-
ter of small importance ; that " it would be
more to the purpose if the Pope himself, or in
other words, the Papal See, were also burnt 1"*
This indecent and persecuting behaviour was
imitated by the friends of the Reformation in
several other parts of Germany. How unlike
the conduct of him who, when he was reviled,
reviled not again ; when he suffered, threatened,
not ! What a pity that these Reformers
should have been so anxious to get rid of every
thing in Popery, but its persecuting spirit ! That
the strict discipline, and the various means and
motives to a holy life, which are found in the
Catholic Church, should be all rejected as '* filthy
rags,'' and nothing be retained but that gloomy
spirit of bigotry, which in fact does not belong
essentially to any religious profession, but which
the darkness of the age had so injuriously in-
grafted on the faith of Christians ! Nor was this
the only instance of Luther's intolerant zeal :
he called upon Charles V., the young Emperor,
to rise up and oppose himself to the kingdom of
antichrist; and he addressed a book in the
German language to the Emperor and nobles,
* " Parum esse hoc deflagrationis negotium ; ex re fore,
ut Papa quoque, hoc est, sedes Papalis consumaretur." Luth.
Op. vol. ii. p. 320.
209
endeavouring to excite them to war against the
Pope,* whom he called a wolf, possessed by an
evil spirit, and who, as he afterwards said, " is
so full of devils, that he spits them from his
mouth, and blows them from his nose."j" Nor
was this, as Bossuet remarks, J an orator, whom
the warmth of the harangue might have hurried
into indeliberate conclusions ; but a doctor that
dogmatized in cold blood." When abuse and
slander had been pretty well lavished and ex-
hausted, he turned the strains of his invective
into the most foul and disgusting railing, em-
ploying the lowest figures, the vilest comparisons,
and the most execrable puns, which his fertile
imagination could devise, to pour contempt and
reproach on the head of the Church; insomuch,
that his language had at times much more the
appearance of delirious ravings, than that of a
wise and holy reformer of abuses.
Supposing himself to be speaking to the Pope,
Paul III., he says: " My little Paul, my little
Pope, my little ass, walk gently, the frost has made
it slippery ; thou wilt break a leg — thou wilt be-
foul thyself, and people will cry out, O the de-
vil ! how the little ass of a Pope has befouled
* Seckendorf Comment, dc Lutheran, lib. i. sec. xxiv.
p. 127.
t Luth. Op. torn. vii. in Reeve's Christian Church, vol. iii.63.
X Variations of the Protestant Churches, vol. i. p. 24.
P
210
himself!" Again : " An ass knows that he is an
ass ; a stone knows that it is a stone ; but these
little asses of Popes do not know that they are
asses. The Pope cannot take me for an ass ; for
he knows very well that through God's good-
ness and his particular grace, lam more learned
in scripture than he and all his asses put toge-
ther." He afterwards adds : "Were I sovereign of
the Empire, I would make but one bundle of both
Pope and Cardinals, and souse them all together
into the little ditch called by the Latins the
Tyrrhen sea. This bath would cure them, I
pass my word for it, and give Jesus Christ for
surety !"* Surely, one would have thought this
latter blasphemy might have been spared ! It
could hardly have been needful to enlist the meek
and lowly Jesus in this ignoble service. Yet with
all the good intentions of our enraged Reformer,
his attempt to create a real war against the Pope
did not succeed, at least not immediately.
Such was the spirit and behaviour of Luther !
And yet our reason has been beguiled during the
long space of three hundred years about this holy
man of God — this Apostle of the Most High —
this incomparable reviver of all that is good in
religion and morals, " the ever-glorious Lu-
ther !"f If to be a good Catholic, it is required
that we adopt the spirit of some Catholic princes
* Vid. Papasinuli, in torn. vii. p. 474.
f Walch'6 Lives of the Popes, p. 248.
211
and other bigots — if to be a Lutheran, it is need-
ful to follow the example of this Augustine friar
— if to be a pious Calvinist, it is indispensable to
imitate the conduct of the infuriate priest who
burned Servetus* — if no one can be a good Pro-
testant who does not conform himself to all the
maxims of the earliest Reformers, then, i ndeed, the
author of the present work is neither a Catho-
lic, a Lutheran, a Calvinist, nor any kind of Pro-
testant ; for, whoever may be offended at the as-
sertion, he fears not to say, that he is as much
ashamed of the conduct of most of the Reform-
ers, as he abhors the persecuting edicts and ful-
minating decrees of some princes, hot-brained
popes, and intolerant priests. But it will be
said that Luther's intolerance was the fault of
the age. True : yet it should not be forgotten,
that he was raised up, as he pretended, to cor-
rect the faults of the age ; and, therefore, was
more inexcusable: for there was not a single
error of the Roman Court, against which he
directed his mighty talents, so hateful in the
sight of God, so injurious to the welfare and
happiness of Christians, or so disgraceful to re-
ligion and morals, as that which sanctioned the
* Readers, who can distinguish between Calvinism, as a
system of Religion, and the conduct of its founder (as every
Protestant should do with regard to the Catholic Religion
and Popery in its worst sense), may consult, with advantage,
that faithful and interesting book, entitled, An Apology for
Servetus, by the Rev. R. Wright.
P 9
5212
burning of heretics ; and yet it is evident that
this practice, of all others, he cherished and
wished to have imitated !
Every one, however, must allow to Luther
the merit of uncommon fortitude, zeal and con-
stancy. This was manifested in a conspicuous
manner at the Diet of Worms, which was as-
sembled early in the year 1521, by the Emperor
Charles V. To this assembly Luther was sum-
moned to appear; and he did not hesitate
promptly to obey the summons, declaring to his
friends, who were alarmed for his safety should
he comply, that were he sure to encounter there
as many devils as there were tiles on the houses,
he would not disobey the call.*
He arrived at the city of Worms on the six-
teenth day of April, attended by a numerous
and splendid retinue, and was conducted to the
Diet on the following day by the Marshal Count
Pappenheim, who informed him that he would
not be permitted to address the assembly, but
must give unequivocal answers to such questions
as should be put to him. Being asked whether
the books published in his name, the titles
whereof were recited to him, were, indeed, his
own publications, and also, if they were, whe-
* Luther. Ep. in Seckend. lib. i. p. 152. Fra. Paolo, Hist.
Con. Trent, p. 12.
213
ther he was prepared to retract what had been
condemned by the Pope's bull in them, he re-
plied, that certainly the books were his, and that
he should never deny them ; but that with res-
pect to retracting any thing he had advanced in
those books, it was a matter of such importance,
that he requested a little time to consider before
he gave his answer. Accordingly he was al-
lowed till the following day to deliver a verbal
and decided resolution. Encouraged by the
plaudits and the advice of numerous friends,
and urged on to constancy by the admiration of
the populace, he again appeared before the Diet
at the time appointed. He delivered a very long
and eloquent oration, in which he declared that
some of his writings being published purely for
the promotion of piety and good morals, he
could not be expected to condemn what both
friends and enemies allowed to be useful and in-
nocent ; — that others being directed principally
against the tyranny of the papistical doctrines,
which had given such general offence, he could
not retract them without betraying the cause of
liberty and truth, which he had hitherto resolv-
ed to support ; — but that with respect to the
third portion of his writings, which were those
written directly against his various adversaries v
he would confess he might have departed from
that strict line of mildness and decorum which
he ought to have observed ; and that as he made
no extraordinary pretensions to sanctity, and was
rather disposed to defend his doctrines than his
214
manners, he should only reply, in the words of the
Saviour, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the
evil. This was the only concession he appeared
disposed to make, except, that if any of his doc-
trines could be proved to be opposed to the Holy
Scriptures, he himself would be the first to com-
mit them to the flames. Addressing himself im-
mediately to the Emperor and the other princes
who were present, he said, that the true doctrine,
when publicly acknowledged, was at all times
to be regarded as a divine blessing ; but that to
reject it, would infallibly bring upon them many
serious calamities.
This harangue not being deemed a satisfac-
tory answer, it was demanded of him to say,
simply and unequivocally, whether he would or
would not retract his opinions and writings.
Now it was that all the native greatness and
dignity of his soul became manifest, and he
boldly replied in the following terms, which I
give as translated by Mr. Roscoe :
" Since your Majesty, and the sovereigns
now present, require a simple answer, I shall
reply thus, without evasion and without vehe-
mence. Unless I be convinced, by the testi-
mony of Scripture, or by evident reason (for I
cannot rely on the authority of the Pope and
councils alone, since it appears they have fre-
quently erred and contradicted each other), and
unless my conscience be subdued by the word of
215
God, I neither can nor will retract any thing,
seeing that to act against my own conscience
is neither safe nor honest." After which he add-
ed, in his native German, for he had previously
spoken in Latin, " HlER STEHE ICH, ICH
GAN NICHT ANDERS. GOTT HELFF MIR. AMEN."
" Here I take my stand ; I can do no other ; God
be my help I Amen." Never, through his whole
life, did Luther appear to so much advantage as
on this memorable occasion. Adverting to this
magnanimous reply, a short time before his death,
he said : " Thus God gives us fortitude for the
occasion ; but I doubt whether I should now
find myself equal to such a task."
The answer which Luther had given to the
Diet seemed to have placed the matter beyond
all further dispute, and that nothing remained
but to put the law against heretics in force
upon him ; yet, through much persuasion, the
Emperor was induced to allow him to remain
three days longer at Worms, and in the mean
time several persons were permitted to use their
best efforts in private to persuade him to obe-
dience. But every mild and lenient method
proving abortive, he was commanded to depart
from the city, and not to be found within the
Emperor's dominions after the expiration of
twenty days. Some persons even advised the
Emperor to disregard the safe-conduct which
had been granted, and imitating the Council of
Constance, to destroy at once so dangerous a
heretic ; but, to the eternal honour of Charles V.,
216
he replied, that he would not give himself oc-
casion to blush, as the Emperor Sigismund had
done in the case of John Huss. In thus nobly
refusing to depart from the spirit of his religious
profession he was encouraged by Lewis, the
Elector Count Palatine, who declared that such
an act would brand the German name with
perpetual infamy ; and added, that it was into-
lerable that the empire should be for ever dis-
graced and reproached for not keeping the pub-
lic faith, merely to gratify the resentment of a
few priests. It is peculiarly worthy of remark,
that the few advocates for not keeping faith with
the heretic Luther, did not, as in other cases,
refer the Emperor to some established doctrine
of the universal Church, which, undoubtedly,
they would have done, had any such doctrine
ever been taught by the Church.*
Luther left the city of Worms on the twenty-
sixth day of April, accompanied by the imperial
herald. He was met at the gate of the city by a
numerous body of his friends, from whom he re-
ceived the warmest congratulations and ap-
plauses. He then proceeded on his journey to
Wittemberg. On the twenty-sixth dayf of May,
* The case of John Huss, and the origin of the mistake
about not keeping faith with heretics, the reader will find
noticed in another place.
f This edict was dated, according to Seckendorf, on the 8th
of May. Seckendorf also says, that the Electors of Saxony
and
217
one month after his departure, the Emperor,
after repeated solicitations, issued a decree of the
Diet against him, in which he is represented
" as the devil in the semblance of a man and
the dress of a monk ;" and all the subjects of
the imperial dominions are required to seize
upon him and his adherents, to destroy their
property and burn their books and writings ; and
all printers are therein forbid to publish any of
their works without the consent of the Ordinary.
Such was the disgraceful law of the German em-
pire at that time ; and such, to a certain extent,
is the law of our own country at the present
day, against those who impugn the doctrines of
the established Church of England.* Luther,
and Palatine, were wholly ignorant of it ; and were very
angry at its publication when they knew it. It was dated the
8th of May, he adds, that the people, knowing there was a
full session on that day, might believe that it had the entire
consent of all the princes of the empire.
* See the seventeenth section, or clause, in the " Act for
exempting their Majesties' Protestant subjects dissenting from
the Church of England from the penalties of certain Sta-
tutes," generally called, The Toleration Act. Let this clause
be compared with the following Statutes: 9 and 10 William
III. c. 32. lEdw. VI.c. 1. lEliz. c. 1,2. 23 Eliz. c. 1. 3
Jac. I. c. 4. 22 Car. II. ; and all other penal Statutes of this
nature not repealed by the Statute 29 Car. II. c. 9. The
common law proceedings against libellers of the Christian
religion are not taken away by 9 and 10 of William III. c.
32. This was the course adopted in the case of the King v.
Thomas Paine. See 1 East. P. C. 5 ; apud Archbold's edi-
tion of Black. Com. iv. 44. Should it be answered that a
material difference exists between a person who blasphem-
ously
218
however, escaped the rage of his enemies, by a
very fortunate and unlooked-for circumstance.
Passing through a wood on his way to Wittem-
berg, with but a small band of attendants, he
was seized by several persons in masks, em-
ployed by the Elector of Saxony, and forcibly
carried to the castle of Wartburg, where he re-
mained in privacy the space of nine or ten
months, during which Leo X. died, and was suc-
ceeded by Adrian VI. This master-piece of
policy and humanity in Frederic was attended
by several beneficial effects. The adversaries
of the Church spread a report that Luther was
ously denies the truth of the Christian religion, and one who,
to say the worst of it, denied only a part of that religion, we
may reply by a reference to the case of the Rev. F. Stone,
who in the year 180S was publicly tried and degraded (so, I
believe, our modern canonists term taking away a poor par-
son's bread), for preaching and writing against some doc-
trines of the book of Common Prayer. The Monthly Repo-
sitory for that year, (p. 274, et seq.) contains a curious detail
of the Proceedings in Mr. Stone's case ; and also (p. 210) a
comparison of Mr. Stone and Martin Luther. The author of
this work, who was present during the trial of Mr. Stone, ne-
ver approved of that Rev. Gentleman's manner of proceeding ;
but this case and some others may serve to shew, that those
Protestants who justly complain of the conduct of the Roman
Court, towards Martin Luther, will do well to moderate their
invectives against the Catholic religion, by turning their at-
tention to the conduct of their own Church under similar
circumstances ; and, certainly, we shall feel additional reason
to be silent on the score of persecution, when we reflect
that the trial of Luther was in the beginning of the 16th
century, and that the facts which are here alluded to took
place
219
imprisoned, perhaps, destroyed, by the emissaries
of Rome, and from thence excited a spirit of
revenge, and additional hatred, against the ene-
mies of Luther; and those enemies not knowing,
or rather humanely affecting not to know,*
what was become of him, he was suffered to en-
joy the ease and the literary and religious advan-
tages of what he emphatically called his Patmos.
During this retreat he employed himself in
composing many of those works which have
since become, in a manner, the ground- work of
the Reformation. Here, also, he translated a
great part of the New Testament into the Ger-
man language ; and wrote numerous letters to
his friends in various parts ; so that the work of
reformation went on with a rapidity equal to his
most sanguine wishes, notwithstanding the op-
position it met with from the apostolic nuncios
and others. During this retirement, Luther also
employed a portion of his time in hunting with
his companions, passing under the character of
a country gentleman, and assuming the name of
Yonker George.^
place at the latter end of the eighteenth ; at a time, too, when
the nation was engaged in loud and intolerant outcries
against Popery and Persecution !
* It has been thought by some, and that not without
probability of its truth, that the emperor himself knew of
this event, and of the retreat of Luther. See Moshcim's Eccles.
Hist. iv. p. 57.
| Note &$> [S] by Dr. Machine, in Mosheim. Eccles. Hist,
iv. p. 27. Were many good Christians in these days of grace to
know,
no
Luther had not been long in his retirement
before he was called from it by the intemperate
zeal of one of his disciples, Carlostadt, who, with
some others, fired with iconoclastic indignation
against the use of images in the churches, began
to excite considerable tumults in Saxony, by
throwing down and breaking the images, and
despoiling the sacred pictures which adorned the
church of Wittemberg. From these acts of sa-
crilege and fanatical intemperance, Carlostadt
encouraged the people to every kind of violence,
even to mutiny and sedition.* Luther, who
had no very inveterate dislike to the use of ima-
ges as helps to devotion, the only use, in fact,
for which the Church had ever designed them,
opposed the fury of these reformed Goths and
Vandals with his usual fortitude and courage.
<c But, perhaps," says Dr. Maclaine,-]- " the true
reason of Luther's displeasure at the proceedings
of Carlostadt, was, that he could not bear to see
know, that this holy man of God employed any portion of
his time in such profane pastimes as hunting, they would be
led to withhold many of those panegyrics with which they
honour the memory of the Reformer ; but, fortunately, most
of those who would despise Martin Luther on this ground,
are not likely to know, or to believe, that so good a man did
ever commit so great a sin as that of hunting ; and hence all
parties, churchmen and dissenters, may consistently continue
to fall out about who shall have him as their peculiar apostle-
* Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. iv. p; 59.
t Note [i] Mosh. Eccles. Hist. iv. p. 59.
221
another crowned with the glory of executing a
plan which he had laid ; and that he was ambi-
tious of appearing the principal, if not the only
conductor, of this great work. This is not a
mere conjecture. Luther himself has not taken
the least pains to conceal this instance of his am-
bition; and it appears evidently in several of
his letters."
From this period, the Reformation may pro-
perly be said to have taken effectual root. The
limits of the present work will not allow me to
trace its progress with minuteness, through the
various countries in which it now began to
spread. We may, however, observe, that the
new doctrines " diffused themselves with the ra-
pidity of an inundation."* Besides Frederic,
elector of Saxony, already mentioned, John Fre-
deric, his successor, and Philip, Landgrave of
Hesse, became Luther's disciples. Within the
space of four years, these doctrines spread from
Hungary and Bohemia to France and England.
Gustavus Ericus, king of Sweden, and Christiern
III., king of Denmark, declared in favour of
Lutheranism ; and, by degrees, it spread into
Brandenburgh, Pomerania, Mecklenburgh,Hol-
stein, &c. Poland adopted, to a consider-
able extent, the religious opinions of Socinus;
* Sig. Pastorini's General History of the Christian Church,
p. 204.
22$
and though the Catholic religion has been since
made the established creed, the Poles seem never
to have had a great relish for the Roman faith.*
As early as the year 1.528, four Cantons of
Switzerland embraced the reformed creed of
Zuinglius ; but these cantons afterwards coalesc-
ing with Geneva, again changed their opinions for
those of Calvin. The dogmas of this last named
reformer were received in many parts of Ger-
many; and were propagated with a zeal not
very creditable to the honour, or even the Chris-
tianity of their founder. Munzer,f deserting
from Luther, spread the opinions of the ana-
baptists in Suabia, and other provinces of Ger-
many and the Low Countries. Calvinism was
propagated in Scotland, by the furious zeal of
John Knox 5 while the faith of Luther was
* Vide Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, p. 554, et
seq.
f When Munzer assumed the title and functions of a pas-
tor, Luther demanded who had given him commission to
preach. " Should he answer, 'God/ let him prove it," said
Luther, " by a manifest miracle : for when God intends to
alter any thing in the ordinary form of mission, it is by such
signs that he declares himself." Sleiden, lib. v. ed. 1 555, 69.
It was singular that this thought never occurred to Luther
himself, when he began to oppose the ordinary forms of mis-
sion in the Catholic Church. But the founders of all sects
and churches have ever talked in this strain, when they have
themselves got, as they suppose, a good and fair footing. It
is then " stand by thyself: for I am holier than thou." — " The
Temple of the Lord are we !"
223
fostered, in England, by the lust and avarice of
Henry VIII., till it came to be publicly received
and conscientiously believed by some succeeding
monarchs.
These various classes of reformed Churches
again split into that multiplicity of inferior sects
and parties, which the doctrine of the right of
private judgment in matters of faith is so emi-
nently calculated to promote, and which has been
the means of producing one of the most interest-
ing works against Protestants ever published;*
which, however, was answered by another equally
curious production in defence of protestant-
ism, f
This rapid view of the rise of the reformed
churches shall be concluded by the estimate
which Mr. GibbonJ has made of the real value
of the Reformation. Speaking of the early
Reformers, this singular historian says : " A
philosopher who calculates the degree of their
merit, and the value of their reformation,
will prudently ask from what articles of faith,
above or against our reason, they have enfran-
* Bossuet's History of the Variations of the Protestant
Churches.
*T M. J. Basnage's History of the Reformed Churches.
1 Decline and Fall, vol. vii. p. 403, et seq.
224
chised the Christians j for such enfranchisement
is, doubtless, a benefit, so far as it may be com-
patible with truth and piety. After a fair dis-
cussion we shall rather be surprised by the ti-
midity, than scandalized by the freedom, of our
first Reformers.* With the Jews, they adopted
the belief and defence of all the Hebrew scrip-
tures, with all their prodigies, from the garden
of Eden to the visions of the prophet Daniel ;
and they were bound, like the Catholics, to jus-
tify against the Jews the abolition of a divine
law. In the great mysteries of the Trinity and
Incarnation, the Reformers were severely ortho-
dox : they freely adopted the theology of the
four, or the first six councils j and with the Atha-
nasian creed, they pronounced the eternal dam-
nation of all who did not believe the Catholic
faith. Transubstantiation, the invisible change
of the bread and wine into the body and blood
of Christ, is a tenet that may defy the power
of argument and pleasantry ; but instead of con-
sulting the evidence of their senses, of their
sight, their feeling, and their taste, the first
Protestants were entangled in their own scruples,
and awed by the words of Jesus in the institu-
* The opinions and proceedings of the Reformers are ex-
posed in the second part of the general history of Mosheim :
but the balance, which he has held with so clear an eye, and
so steady an hand, begins to incline in favour of his Lutheran
brethren.
225
tion of the sacrament. Luther maintained a
corporeal, and Calvin a real, presence of Christ
in the eucharist; and the opinion of Zuinglius,
that it is no more than a spiritual communion,
a simple memorial, has slowly prevailed in the
reformed churches.* But the loss of one mys-
tery was amply compensated by the stupendous
doctrines of original sin, redemption, faith,
grace, and predestination, which have been
strained from the epistles of St. Paul. These
subtle questions had most assuredly been prepar-
ed by the fathers and schoolmen ; but the final
improvement and popular use may be attributed
to the first reformers, who enforced them as the
absolute and essential terms of salvation. Hither-
to the weight of supernatural belief inclines
against the protestants ; and many a sober
Ciiristian would rather admit that a wafer is
God, than that God is a cruel and capricious
tyrant.
" Yet the services of Luther and his rivals
are solid and important; and the philosopher
must own his obligations to those fearless enthu-
* " Under Edward VI., our reformation was more bold
and perfect : but in the fundamental articles of the Church
of England, a strong- and explicit declaration against the
real presence was obliterated in the original copy, to please
the people, or the Lutherans, or Queen Elizabeth (Burnet's
History of the Reformation, vol. ii. p. 82. 12S. 302).
Q
226
siasts*. I. By their hands the lofty fabrick of
superstition, from the abuse of indulgences to
the intercession of the Virgin, has been levelled
with the ground. Myriads of both sexes, of the
monastic profession, were restored to the liberty
and labours of social life. An hierarchy of saints
and angels, of imperfect and subordinate deities,
were stripped of their temporal power, and re-
duced to the enjoyment of celestial happiness :
their images and relics were banished from the
church ; and the credulity of the people was no
longer nourished with the daily repetition of
miracles and visions. The imitation of Pagan-
ism was supplied by a pure and spiritual wor-
ship of prayer and thanksgiving, the most worthy
of man, the least unworthy of the Deity. It
only remains to observe, whether such sublime
simplicity be consistent with popular devotion ;
whether the vulgar, in the absence of all visible
objects, will not be inflamed by enthusiasm, or
insensibly subside in languor and indifference.
II. The chain of authority was broken, which
restrains the bigot from thinking as he pleases,
and the slave from speaking as he thinks : the
popes, fathers, and councils, were no longer the
supreme and infallible judges of the world ; and
* " ' Had it not been for such men as Luther and my-
self/ said the fanatic Whiston to Halley the Philosopher,
' you would now be kneeling before an image of St. Wini-
fred.'
227
each Christian was taught to acknowledge no
law but the scriptures, no interpreter but his
own conscience. This freedom, however, was
the consequence, rather than the design, of the
Reformation. The patriot Reformers were ambi-
tious of succeeding the tyrants whom they had
dethroned. They imposed with equal rigour
their creeds and confessions; they asserted the
right of the magistrate to punish heretics with
death. The pious or personal animosity of Cal-
vin proscribed in Servetus* the guilt of his own
rebellion j j* and the flames of Smithfield, in
* " The article of Scrvet in the Dictionaire Critique of
ChaufFepie, is the best account which I have seen of this
shameful transaction. See likewise the Abbe d'Artigny,
Nouveaux Memoires d'Histoire, &c. torn. ii. p. 55 — 154.
t " I am more deeply scandalized at the single execution
of Servetus, than at the hecatombs which have blazed in the
Auto da F£s of Spain and Portugal. 1. The zeal of Calvin
seems to have been envenomed by personal malice, and per-
haps envy. He accused his adversary before their common
enemies, the judges of Vienna, and betrayed, for his destruc-
tion, the sacred trust of a private correspondence. 2. The
deed of cruelty was not varnished by the pretence of danger
to the church or state. In his passage through Geneva, Ser-
vetus was an harmless stranger, who neither preached nor
printed, nor made proseljtes. 3. A Catholic inquisitor
yields the same obedience which he requires, but Calvin vio-
lated the golden rule of doing as he would be done by ; a rule
which I read in a moral treatise of Isocrates (in Nicole, torn. i.
p. 93. edit. Battie), four hundred years before the publica-
tion of the gospel. *A irxcr^ovrn; 1$ tTifuv opytfy-St, txvtx tok
aMo»j (At) 7r<miT*.
Q 2
228
which he was afterwards consumed, had been
kindled for the Anabaptists by the zeal of Cran-
mer.* The nature of the tiger was the same,
but he was gradually deprived of his teeth and
fangs. A spiritual and temporal kingdom was
possessed by the Roman pontiff : the Protestant
doctors were subjects of an humble rank, with-
out revenue or jurisdiction. His decrees were
consecrated by the antiquity of the Catholic
church : their arguments and disputes were sub-
mitted to the people ; and their appeal to pri-
vate judgment was accepted beyond their wishes,
by curiosity and enthusiasm. Since the days of
Luther and Calvin, a secret reformation has been
silently working in the bosom of the reformed
churches; many weeds of prejudice were eradi-
cated, and the disciples of Erasmusf diffused a
spirit of freedom and moderation. The liberty
of conscience has been claimed as a common
benefit, an inalienable right: J the free govern-
* " See Burnet, vol. ii. p. 84 — 86. The sense and huma-
nity of the young king were oppressed by the authority of the
primate.
f " Erasmus may be considered as the father of rational
theology. After a slumber of an hundred years, it was re-
vived by the Arminians of Holland. Grotius, Limborch, and
Le Clerc : in England by Chillingworth, the latitudinarians
of Cambridge (Burnet, Hist, of own Times, vol. i. p. 261 —
268. octavo edition), Tillotson, Clarke, Hoadley, &c.
% " I am sorry to observe, that the three writers of the last
age,
229
ments of Holland* and Englandf introduced the
practice of toleration ; and the narrow allowance
of the laws has been enlarged by the prudence
and humanity of the times. In the exercise, the
mind has understood the limits of its powers, and
the words and shadows that might amuse the
child, can no longer satisfy his manly reason.
The volumes of controversy are overspread
with cobwebs : the doctrine of a Protestant
church is far removed from the knowledge or
belief of its private members ; and the forms of
orthodoxy, the articles of faith, are subscribed
with a sigh or a smile by the modern clergy. Yet
the friends of Christianity are alarmed at the
boundless impulse of inquiry and scepticism.
The predictions of the Catholics are accomplish-
ed : the web of mystery is unravelled by the Ar-
minians, Arians, and Socinians, whose numbers
age, by whom the rights of toleration have been so nobly
defended, Bayle, Leibnitz, and Locke, are all laymen and
philosophers.
* " See the excellent chapter of Sir William TempU: on
the religion of the United Provinces. I am not satisfied with
Grotius (de Rebus Belgicis, Annal. 1. i. p. 13, 14. edit, in
12mo.), who approves the Imperial laws of persecution, and
only condemns the bloody tribunal of the inquisition.
f " Sir William Blackstone (Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 33.
54.) explains the law of England as it was fixed at the Revo-
lution. The exceptions of Papists, and of those who deny
the Trinity, would still leave a tolerable scope for persecution,
if the national spirit were not more effectual than an hun-
dred statutes.
230
must not be computed from their separate con-
gregations ; and the pillars of revelation are
shaken by those men who preserve the name
without the substance of religion, who indulge
the license without the temper of philosophy."*
I would not omit the concluding part of this
extract, though conscious of its great unjust-
ness and illiberality. Those Christians need not
be ashamed of a creed, which meets with the
disapprobation of such sneering and disingenuous
unbelievers-]- as Mr. Gibbon.
* " I shall recommend to public animadversion two pas-
sages in Dr. Priestley, which betray the ultimate tendency of
his opinions. At the first of these (Hist, of the Corruptions
of Christianity, vol. i. p. 275, 276.) the priest, at the second
(vol. ii. p. 484.) the magistrate may tremble."
f Dr. Priestley has ably answered this gross misrepresen-
tation of Mr. Gibbon ; a misrepresentation evidently pro-
voked by the just castigation the Doctor gave him in the
General Conclusionto the work which is so oddly " recommend-
ed to public animadversion." Nor can I forbear to remark,
that though, perhaps, less disposed to admit some of the
tenets in Dr. Priestley's creed than even Mr. Gibbon
himself, it is surely a little out of character in the author of
the Decline and Fall, to complain of any thing at which " the
priest may tremble :" as to the magistrates, Mr. Gibbon was
well known to have been a very staunch power s-that-be-man,
though it is equally notorious, that he directed the most in-
vidious attack against the powers of heaven.
231
SECTION VIII.
Influence of the Reformation on Literature and
the Arts.
THE influence of the Reformation on the
arts was decidedly and extensively injurious.
During the long and splendid pre-eminence of
the Catholic church, a multitude of painters,
architects, and sculptors, arose to extend the
dominion of taste, and give beauty and magni-
ficence to the sacred structures of the country.
The productions of men, inspired by genius, and
excited by religious zeal, far surpassed, in the
loftiness of their conception, in brilliancy of
execution, and in all the minute graces that en-
thusiasm and perseverance could alone bestow,
every monument of human art that men,
desirous of temporal fame and the common
excitements of gain and popularity, have ever
been able to produce. To the operation of re-
ligious faith, the Greeks were indebted for much
of their excellence in art : the temples of the
heathen deities were the noblest monuments of
ancient taste, munificence and grandeur. But
even in the pagan world, the arts were the
business of a few : enthusiasm might animate
the professional sculptor, but could not form a
Phidias or a Praxiteles. It was reserved for the
religion of the Roman world, to exhibit the
232
extraordinary spectacle of a whole empire de-
voting itself to the cultivation of those arts
that best contribute to the embellishment of
religious structures, and to the sanction of its
external ceremonies. Having once been taught
to worship the Deity through the medium of his
visible presence, the Catholic world spared nei-
ther labour, nor talent, nor expense, to render
the sensible images by which they were reminded
of religious truths, or impressed with the pre-
sence of omnipotence, worthy of the sincerity
of their faith, and the ardour of their worship.
The churches of the Roman Catholics were not
erected and adorned by the regular masters of
the art : the great body of men to whom the
construction and embellishment of religious edi-
fices were committed, undertook the most ex-
traordinary works, and arrived at the most un-
expected excellence ; and there are still to be
found, within the circumscribed limits of this
island, statues and paintings, the production of
obscure and, probably, uneducated men, that
a Raphael or a Phidias might not have been
ashamed to own.
This excellence, while it was excited by reli-
gion, was corrected and preserved by the neces-
sary presence of immediate and continual criti-
cism. The productions of art, by which devotion
was inspired, and infidelity abashed, were expos-
ed to every eye, and scrutinized by every devotee.
Comparison was easy ; zeal, accustomed to gra-
233
tification, would become fastidious : the artist,
who failed of pleasing his fellow-christians, not
only sustained the disgrace of imperfection
or negligence, but felt the reproaches of re-
morse : unable to fulfil his own conceptions, he
blamed his want of faith as much as he la-
mented his deficiency in skill, and was excited
to more successful efforts by the emulation of
the artist, and the enthusiasm of the Christian.
The innumerable statues that still remain,
after all that mistaken zeal, or protestant in-
tolerance (for the Reformers were not without
errors) have been able to destroy, are the best
proof of the regular and extensive effect of
Catholicism, in the improvement and cultivation
of the arts. The multiplicity of the works of
art, and the baneful influence of the Reforma-
tion in its progress, are both exemplified in the
history of Henry theVIIIth, as a Reformer. He
issued a proclamation, by which all images what-
ever were commanded to be destroyed. The
work of destruction began, and was continued
for nearly six weeks, when accident alone pre-
vented its completion : yet such was the multi-
tude of statues and images, and so great was
the excellence of their execution, that though
it is to be presumed that the best and most
conspicuous productions became the first ob-
jects of iconoclastic fury, and though the man-
date of the king was obeyed with the united
alacrity of zeal and servility, the number of the
234
works even of those that have remained, is so
great as to have deserved our astonishment and
admiration, even supposing them to have been
all that had originally existed.
It was not by the mere destruction of images,
that the Reformation was productive of injury
to the fine arts ; but by the introduction of a
penurious and puritanical spirit. From hating
the reliques of Catholicism, they proceeded to
condemn and to discountenance the instruments
of their production ; because the beauty and
sublimity of human workmanship had been dis-
played in the productions of idolatry : the skill
that produced them, and the qualities they dis-
played, became themselves the objects of fear
or disgust. In progress of time, external orna-
ment began to be regarded as indicative of popish
feelings, or characteristic of idolatry : he who
wished to display the sincerity of his Protestant-
ism, found it necessary to frequent an humble
and unadorned place of worship ; and whatever
decorum or magnificence the English Church
has been able to preserve, it has secured by the
secession, rather than the amelioration, of its
puritanical members.
It might have been imagined, indeed, that of
whatever disadvantages to the progress of sculp-
ture the Reformation may have been the cause,
it would at least release it from the trammels of
uniformity : that the monotonous groups, which
235
adorned the temples of Christian worship, would
have given way to the productions of vigorous,
unrestrained, and sportive fancy. But it was soon
discovered, that by ceasing to do one thing well,
the great body of sculptors did many things im-
perfectly or extravagantly. Instead of display-
ing variety of excellence, they exhibited de-
formity under every shape, and in every mode
of combination. The regions of profane fable
were yet unknown, and they created an ima-
ginary and hideous world of monsters and
chimeras.
Even the saying of mass for the souls of the
dead, and many other ceremonies connected
with the Catholic faith, as prescribed by the
Romish ritual, were of essential utility in pro-
moting the progress of general art, and contri-
buting to the encouragement of the inferior as
well as the higher branches of design. The
vanity of the rich and the emulation of the poor
excited them to provide for the solemn rites of
sepulture and interment with all the means that
fortune had bestowed. The remains of the
dead were an object not only of casual observa-
tion, but of deep anxiety, to the living. The
mourners completed a ceremonial, towards which
their deceased brother had looked forward be-
fore he sunk into the sleep of death. From the
hopes of the one and the sympathy of the other,
art derived considerable accessions, not so much
in the individual skill employed on particular
236
monuments, or on the repositories of sacred re-
liques, as by the general impulse communicated
to the public mind. Wealth, excited by the
hope of posthumous honour, or the fear of
posthumous degradation, will do much ; the
ministers to the laudable anxieties of poverty
would contribute by example or suggestion to
the excellence of those employed by the princely
and the rich ; and where there is employment,
there will be no want of useful competition.
While the productions of art, so effective in
assisting the devotion of the Catholics, required
an edifice in which they could be exhibited to
advantage, the ceremonials of the church, so
impressive in their form, demanded for their ce-
lebration a structure accordant in sublimity and
magnitude with the awful and mysterious rites
of which it was the consecrated scene. It be-
came an act of equal taste and piety to render
their churches worthy of the paintings and
statues by which they were adorned, and to dedi-
cate to the service of religion, structures of
which the loftiness and magnificence might
correspond with the sublimity of the Catholic
ceremonial, and be congenial to the temper of
the Catholic religion. The jewels and the
works of art, devoted to the Church as the vo-
luntary offerings of the living, or the legacies of
the dead, at once required of a grateful clergy,
that they should be exhibited to the view of the
devout, in edifices of appropriate grandeur;
and enabled them to gratify the pride of en-
237
thusiasm, while they fulfilled their duty to their
benefactors. The dedication of a superb edi-
fice to the service of the Catholic religion was,
therefore, an act of equal necessity and facility.
The wealth of the Christian community was at
the command of its spiritual guides, in the
form of donations or bequests. The avaricious
or the lukewarm, who during their lives had
been contented with the payment of their legal
proportion to the support of the Catholic esta-
blishment, frequently contributed to its revenues,
by their anxiety to obtain the ceremonial of the
mass, and the other less important rites of se-
pulture : and the friends and relatives of the de-
ceased person spared no expense, to do honour
to his memory, or to redeem him from the pains
of purgatory, by liberal contributions to the
clergy.
The religious structures, therefore, that remain
to testify the piety and magnificence of former
ages, were erected in the unrestrained spirit of
religious enthusiasm, conscious of extensive re-
sources, and animated to exertion by every
motive of temporal ambition, and of future
hope; and directed by a lofty ardour of concep-
tion, accordant with the character of the Catho-
lic worship. But the progress of the Reforma-
tion, not only taught the people to abhor the
appearance of pomp in architecture, as indica-
tive of Catholicism ; but to regard it as unsuit-
able to the simplicity of the forms of Lutheran
238
and Calvinistic worship. On the continent
the lofty structures that had commanded the re-
verence of their forefathers were divided by the
disciples of Calvin into miserable compartments,
and divested of their ornaments, or deserted for
edifices of coarser materials, confined extent,
and unadorned proportions. In England the
same causes conspired to divert the people from
the preservation of ancient structures, or from
the erection of any edifices of similar extent
and magnificence, and to circumscribe the
exertions of those less cautious, or less bigoted
Reformers, who believed that simplicity might
be united with grandeur, and decorum with ele-
gance. After the reign of Elizabeth, the reli-
gious structures were erected by forced contri-
butions on the subject, and except in one or two
instances, under the superintendence of Sir
Christopher Wren, were circumscribed in their
extent by attention to considerations of econo-
my. In the times of Catholicism the expense
of a structure like St. Paul's might have been
defrayed by a small proportion of the offerings
presented to its tutelary saint, or the bequests
it had obtained for the celebration of the mass.
If Henry the Vlllth had undertaken a great
work, his subjects would cheerfully have
contributed to its erection by voluntary gifts;
and the monarch, who exhausted his treasury in
the accomplishment of similar undertakings,
even while he acknowledged the immensity of
the revenues in the hands of the clergy, obtained
239
the applause of his subjects for his piety, in-
stead of exciting their clamours by his injus-
tice or profusion.
The observer, who compares the magnitude,
the number, and the magnificence of the struc-
tures erected within the compass of three hun-
dred years (between A. D. 1000 and A. D.
1400), with the progress of ecclesiastical archi-
tecture in England, since the accession of
Elizabeth, will find no hesitation in admitting,
that within any twenty years of that period, a
greater amount of architectural taste, and of
wealth and enthusiasm to render that taste effec-
tual, was called into action, than during the
whole of the 17th or 18th centuries. The la-
bours of Sir Christopher Wren, unremitted and
extensive as they were, scarcely effected so great
a progress in ecclesiastical architecture, as was
conceived and executed by men whose names are
now forgotten. The very conception of Henry
the VHth's chapel demonstrates an enthusiasm
of feeling, and a confidence in the limitless ex-
tent of his resources, that at once exalts the
character of the architect, and evinces the spirit
of the age, as operated upon by the character of
its religion.* Whatever may be the ultimate
decision of men of taste, on the comparative ex-
* The observations contained in this Section, are ably and
amply illustrated in Mr. Britton's excellent work, now in the
course of publication, entitled Architectural Antiquities of
Great Britain.
240
celleneies of Grecian and Gothic architecture, it
must be admitted that in England the produc-
tions of the admirers of the ancients bear no
comparison, even as works of genius and taste,
with those of the Catholic artists. Even St.
Paul's, the greatest effort of English Protestant-
ism, would not have existed but for the model
and the example afforded by Catholic enthusi-
asm. And what comparison can even this
structure, and many of the most celebrated ef-
forts of the same architect sustain, with the clas-
sical structures that, beneath the sway of Catho-
licism, have exalted modern Rome into the rival
of its parent ?
The religious enthusiasm of the people of
Italy, and the peculiar bias of the Catholic reli-
gion in that portion of Europe, were restrained
and directed, by the models of ancient architec-
ture continually occurring to their view, and
operating with imperceptible influence on their
architectural taste: but the northern nations,
having no models to imitate, yet excited by the
same devotional feelings, struck out a new path
of architectural science ; and by the united force
of piety and genius, accomplished the erection
of those mighty and picturesque structures,
which strike the vulgar with awe, and the judi-
cious with admiration. Every form of grace is
exhibited in these wonderful fabricks, ennobled
by the most lofty magnificence, and varied by
the most exhaustless ingenuity. To him who
241
estimates the excellence of a building by the rule
and compass, or admits nothing to be excellent
that was not invented by the Greeks and admired
by the Romans, the beauty and magnificence of
Gothic architecture maybe invisible ; but by all
who possess susceptibility of feeling, or in whom
a cultivated taste directs, rather than represses,
the enthusiasm of sentiment, the productions of
Gothic art must excite the most lively emotions
of pleasure, astonishment, and veneration.
It would appear, therefore, that the natural
consequence of the Reformation has been to
deprave our taste for Grecian architecture, to
reduce the Protestants, even as the imitators of
the classical models, beneath the level of their
Catholic predecessors and contemporaries, to
circumscribe the operation of that small portion
of taste which actually remained ; and to render
their efforts even less successful and less exten-
sive. It has also tended to retard the progress,
and prevent the arrival at perfection of that style
of Gothic architecture, which is in its present
state so worthy of our admiration, and which,
had the same stimulus to its pursuit, andthe same
means of advancing it continued to exist, would
have, probably, been modified into a perfect
system, as regular in its laws and proportions, as
effective in its combinations.
The unfavourable influence of the Reforma-
tion on the arts may be regarded, however, as
more than counterbalanced, by its propitious
R
242
effect on the world of literature. That its ten-
dency, indeed, was exclusively beneficial to the
interests of learning or the belles lettres, cannot
be admitted ; and that many of the revolu-
tions in poetical taste, and on general science,
must be ascribed to causes that would have
operated, had the Reformation never been ef-
fected, it does not become the candour or the
honesty of a Protestant writer to deny. The
history of poetry and the other departments of
elegant literature, does not justify us in suppos-
ing that its immediate operation was in any de-
gree favourable to refinement of taste, or to the
successful flights of poetical genius. The most
celebrated poets and historians of modern Eu-
rope — men whose genius was only equalled by
their learning and their taste — Tasso, Guarini,
Metastasio, Ariosto, and Boccaccio, were na-
tives of Italy, and sincere Catholics. Many
of them existed before the Reformation, and
yet displayed a freedom of excursion into
the regions of profane literature, of which a
Protestant might not be ashamed. The solemn
and lofty character of the Catholic worship is
chiefly observable when it ennobles their images,
and exalts their sentiments. It would appear a
priori, indeed, that the influence of the Reform-
ation on the poetical taste of the continental con-
verts, must have been in some degree injurious.
It dissipated the habits and the emotions that
must have been impressed and excited by the
frequent contemplation of Catholic magnifi-
cence, and by the frequent participation of the
us
awful and magnificent ceremonies of the Church.
In place of these, it substituted an austerity of
manner which characterized even those indivi-
duals who had no regard to strictness of con-
duct, and taught even the most enlightened Pro-
testants to regard every description of tasteful
illusion, or splendid display, as partaking of sin-
fulness and idolatry. Those pleasing associa-
tions which are the offspring of superstition,
contribute to the excellence of every production
of fancy, and animate and assist the strains of
legitimate poetry. From the use of many allu-
sions and images, also, of essential consequence
to poetical effect, the continental Protestants
were excluded ; and even in England a large pro-
portion of the community regarded the " holy
anthem sounding from afar," and the " full-
drawn toneof the organ," as reliques of the most
detestable idolatry.
In Germany and the Netherlands, indeed,
poetry had not flourished, and, therefore, could
not be degraded by the progress of the Reform-
ation ; but it is not unreasonable to presume
that the latent predisposition to that art, so evi-
dent in all communities emerging from a state of
comparative barbarism and oppression, was re-
pressed by the austere plainness of external ob-
servance, and the abhorrence of every thing
united with their former superstition. Part of
the English Reformers, indeed, held a middle
course; they preserved in their ceremonials a
R 2
244
mixture of grandeur and simplicity, and this
association at once ennobles and animates the
poetry of Milton.
Though the history of Italy, however, dis-
proves the supposition that the Reformation
had a favourable influence on literary taste, and
the annals of our own country tend to corrobo-
rate our conclusion, its tendency to develope
much more useful faculties than poetical genius,
and to assist the human mind in its investigation
of the most useful and important subjects, can-
not be disputed. In all that relates to the con-
duct of man, to the knowledge of his mental
structure, and to the gratification of his natural
aptitude for knowledge, the Protestants have
proceeded with a progress to which the Catho-
lic religion would have presented the most insur-
mountable obstacles. The Reformation not only
relieved philosophy from the oppression of a reli-
gion that abhorred the very approaches to un-
bounded inquiry, but by the exercise that it gave
to the faculties of man, and by the example it af-
forded of extrication from ancient prejudices, con-
tributed to the activity as well as the freedom of
investigation. The very act of thinking different-
ly from the Church of Rome restored an indivi-
dual to the full exercise of his faculties. He who
burst asunder the fetters of habit and education
would not rest contented with the devotion of his
talents to theological questions : he would em-
ploy the powers of which he had recovered the
245
exercise, in making incursions into the regions
of science and philosophy.
Of the innumerable men of genius, who have
discussed the laws of intellectual association,
who have investigated the motives of human
action, and extended the progress of knowledge
in spite of the opposing bulwarks of prejudice
and authority : the intellectual acuteness would
not have been awakened in Catholic countries,
nor been devoted to subjects so dangerous to the
authority of a church that professed to be infal-
lible. Nor does it detract from the correctness
of this reasoning, that the philosophers of France
have displayed a boldness of investigation more
than equal to that of the English and German
metaphysicians. But for the example of Puf-
fendorf and Grotius, Mallebranche and Montes-
quieu would never have written. In the early
writers of France, their liberality of sentiment
may be traced to their collision with the great
body of their fellow Protestants, and in later
times, philosophy has only been another name
for atheism and licentiousness.
In the paths of theology, the progress of the
first Reformers was rapid and successful. Their
inquiries were conducted with the energy of
truth, condemned to struggle against the sophis-
tries of authority and the prejudices of the
world. To give a reason for the hope that was
in him, became the duty of every man who
,246
did not wish to be considered as an impious de-
serter of religion, and a renegado from a faith
of which it was possible that he might only dis-
like the restrictions and austerity. The foun-
ders of a new sect, or the seceders from an es-
tablished worship, are equally excited by the
necessity of justifying their own conduct, and
of obtaining proselytes. Luther and Calvin were
urged to the composition of their theological
works by a regard to their personal authority, as
the leaders of their respective sects, and by the
expedience of refuting the calumnious sophis-
tries of their enemies, as much as by any pre-
vious attachment to ecclesiastical or theological
literature. Even after the Protestant faith had
obtained, in England, a settled pre-eminence,
the remembrance of a struggle so arduous as
that in which it had lately been victorious, and
the contemplation of the still formidable means
of re-ascendency that remained in the hands of
the Catholics, impressed the Reformers with the
necessity of unremitted activity and constant
vigilance. The names of Cudvvorth and Baxter,
with those of their predecessors and contempo-
raries, evince the anxiety of the members of the
English church to guard the people from the de-
ception of the Catholic doctrines, and the learn-
ing and ability which that anxiety tended to de-
velope. Among the Catholic clergy, freedom of
inquiry was restrained by the conviction of the in-
fallibility of the Church, and by the fear of excit-
ing the curiosity of the vulgar, respecting truths in
247
which it would be better that their faith should
be implicit, than that their understanding should
be enlightened. But the reformed divines were
excited to extensive and varied inquiry by the
very causes that restrained or forbade the inves-
tigations of their Catholic predecessors and op-
ponents. They believed that the more deeply
they fathomed the resources of theological know-
ledge, and of ecclesiastical history, the greater
would be their triumph over the doctrines and
reasonings of Catholicism. Ancient and modern
history, therefore, every department of learning,
and every branch of science, became the sub-
jects of their research, and afforded them the
materials of argument. The erudition of the
scholar was animated and enforced by the
earnestness of the divine, and the enthusiasm
of the Reformer. Productions of which the
materials must have demanded a long continu-
ance of almost unexampled industry, and bear-
ing in their expression the character of solemn
and fervid eloquence, remain to testify at once
the labour and the zeal of these celebrated men.
But it was in the science and practice of po-
litics that the influence of the Reformation was
most strikingly observable. The members of
the Catholic church, accustomed to regard their
spiritual superiors as the delegates of heaven,
resigned all sense of personal independence, and
every power of volition to their ecclesiastical
superiors. The practice of auricular confession
248
was admirably calculated to induce a habit of
submission to their spiritual guides, and to im-
bue them with a spirit of general dependence
and subservience. The Catholic regarded the
lights of his church with a reverence bordering
on devotion, and so intimately was the ecclesi-
astical united with the temporal power that, ex-
cept in extreme cases, to offend the majesty of
the sovereign, was not only violating a political
duty, but a religious obligation.
The divine right of kings was, during the
supereminence of Catholicism, adoctrine univer-
sally received ; and while the monarch did no-
thing to incur the anger of the head of the
church, he possessed in himself the united attri-
butes of the political governor, and the spiritual
guardian. But the ideas of regal infallibility,
and the reverence for absolute power, vanished
with the downfal of the papal supremacy. The
spirit of free inquiry extended from theology
to politics : they who had not been afraid to
deny the infallibility, or defy the despotism, of
the Pope, could not be expected to entertain a
greater portion of delicacy for the temporal
princes of Europe : they discussed without fear
or restraint, the relation between the monarch
and his subjects; and the favour of the head of
the church, that had been so lately the chief
security of every Christian sovereign, was now
a substantial pretext for the disobedience of his
people. The multitude who had, within the
249
period of a few years, been admitted in most of
the reformed countries to some share in the go-
vernment of the church, were excited, by the
novel and unexpected exercise of power, to ex-
tend their authority over the civil as well as the
spiritual departments of the state ; and that uni-
versal suffrage which had first been exercised in
the election of their spiritual superiors, was ob-
served to be capable of beneficial extension to
the choice or approval of their civil governors.
SECTION IX.
On the Influence of the Reformation on Religion
and Morals in general.
IN forming an estimate of the real influence
which the Reformation had on religion and mo-
rals, it will be necessary to inquire into the ex-
tent of the change which that event produced in
regard to religious opinions ; and to make some
observations concerning that diversity of senti-
ment on almost every point of Christian doc-
trine and worship which the Reformation na-
turally engendered.
We have seen, that till the period of the Re-
formation, though there, undoubtedly, had long
been a considerable diversity of opinions respect-
ing the minor parts of the Christian faith, and
250
more particularly concerning various branches
of church discipline, the general creed of Chris-
tians had never been infringed upon, to any
great extent, since it was settled and defined by
the first Council of Nice.
The Faith of Catholics has, at all times, and in
all places, been ever the same. — The Opinions of
private individuals, members of that great and
general community, have varied. But, long
before the Reformation, large portions of Chris-
tians, in various parts of the world, had been
either not subject to the papal see, or, if
properly belonging to that communion, were
privileged with various exemptions, and tolerat-
ed in some customs and opinions, which the
peculiar nature of their circumstances or coun-
tries might obviously require.
In Europe, the Greek Church was early se-
parated from the papal jurisdiction ; but they
retained all the great and obvious tenets of the
Roman Catholic faith ; and the Greek schisma-
tics were hardly chargeable with the crime of
heresy, according to the common acceptation
of that term. It is chiefly on points of disci-
pline that the Roman and Grecian churches dif-
fer. The Muscovites, who have their peculiar
Patriarch of Moscow, may be considered nearly
in the same light as the members of the Greek
church.
2M
Asia was very early distinguished by several
sorts of Christians ; as those of Palestine, under
the Patriarch of Jerusalem ; the Syrians, or
Melchites, under the Patriarch of Antioch ;
the Armenians, under the two Catholic Patri-
archs; the Georgians, under their respective
Metropolitans; the Mingrellians, Circassians,
and Christians of Asia Minor, under the Con-
stantinopolitan Patriarch; a few Christians in
the same quarter of the globe, under the Pa-
triarch of Moscow ; the Nestorians, under
the Patriarch of Mousul ; the Jacobite Mono-
physites, under their peculiar Patriarch; the
Christians of St. Thomas;* and, lastly, the Ma-
conites, under their own Patriarch. To these
Asian Christians might be added, those who
were subject to the Emir of Sidon ; the Mord-
wits, between the Russias and Tartary; and the
Christians, inhabiting the great isle of Tarobana
and the islands adjoining.
* In a Chaluee Breviary, entitled Gaza, belonging to the
church of Malabar, there is the following singular enumera-
tion of the good deeds performed by St. Thomas : — " By St.
Thomas, the error of idolatry vanished from India: by St.
Thomas, the Chinese and Ethiopians were converted to the
truth : by St. Thomas, they received the Sacrament, and the
adoption of son< : by St. Thomas, they believed and confess-
ed the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: by St. Thomas, they
kept the faith which they had received in One God : by St.
Thomas, the splendour of the life-giving doctrine appeared
to all India : by St. Thomas, the kingdom of heaven fled ra-
pidly into China."
252
Africa, in like manner, has had its divisions
of Christians ; particularly, the Egyptians, or
Copts, under the Patriarch of Alexandria ; and
the Ethiopian Christians, subject to their Abun-
na, or Patriarch of Ethiopia.
On examining the several creeds or formula-
ries of these various denominations, it will ap-
pear, though they added, in a few cases, many
absurd opinions and superstitious practices to
the leading articles of faith, held by the churches
of Rome or of Constantinople, they might be
regarded rather as schismatics than as heretics,
and as differing, in doctrinals, but very slightly
from the universal Church. Unless, indeed, we
may except the Nestorians,* whose opinions, or
* Some of my readers will think that notice should have
been taken of the ancient Culdees. I have read Mr. Jamie-
son's very curious and interesting account of the Culdees of
Iona. But I am convinced that little reliance ought to be
placed on the vague and meagre Culdean history. The Cul-
dees were certainly not of Scottish but of Irish origin, and
were in fact attached to the Roman episcopacy, though they
were, particularly in Scotland under their first teacher, Co-
lumba, privileged with certain favours, in having a sort of
chief abbot or presbyter governor, to whom, as Bede informs
lis, the whole province, and even the bishops themselves, by
an unusual constitution, were subject. Columba himself was
not a bishop, but a presbyter and monk. Whatever might
have been the peculiar character of the discipline or govern-
ment of the monks of Iona, their leading articles of faith
were, doubtless, conformable to the Catholic creed. The
reader may consult, along with Mr. Jamieson's work on this
subject, the Columbanus ad Hibernos of Doctor O'Connor,
No. IV. p. 40, et seq.
253
rather whose phraseology, respecting the Virgin
Mary, whom they style the Mother of Christ,
instead of the Mother of God, as the Latins
phrase it, had some resemblance to the no-
tions of the Arians. Since the origin of the
Nestorian sect, a considerable change has taken
place in regard to their opinions about the two
natures in Christ. Many of them verged into a
more consistent orthodoxy j and the Pope has
now, I believe, a titular Patriarch of Mousul.
This point of the analogy of the Latin and
Greek dogmas will be clearly illustrated by the
following testimonies :
" With Rome the Greek Church concurs in
the opinion of transubstantiation ; and, gene-
rally, in the sacrifice and whole body of the
mass. *
Dr. Potterf and Bishop ForbesJ tell us,
" That the question in the Florentine Council,
between the Latins and Greeks, was not whe-
ther the bread of the Eucharist were substan-
tially changed into the body of Christ or not,
but by what particular words this wonderful
change was effected."
• Sandys' Relation of West. Religions, p. 233.
t Potter's Answer to Charity Mistaken, p. 223.
X Forbes' De Luc. lib. i.e. c. 3. p. 412.
254
" The sacrifice of the mass is also used by
the Greeks for the quick and the dead."*
" The Greeks of Venice, and all other
Greeks, adore Christ in the Eucharist; and who
dare either impeach or condemn all these Chris-
tians of idolatry ?"j*
" The Greeks reckon seven sacraments, the
same with the Church of Rome."J <c And
are no less for Church authority and tradi-
tion than Roman Catholics ; agreeing with
Rome, too, in praying to saints, in auricular
confession, in offering of sacrifice and prayers
for the dead, and placing much of their devo-
tion in their worship not only of the blessed
Virgin Mary, but in the intercession, prayers,
help, and merit of other saints, whom they invo-
cate in their temples. "§
" The Greeks of note are obliged to confess
four times a year; the priests obliging them to
confess every thing, saying they cannot other-
wise release them."||
" Though they do not hold a purgatory
* Ross' View of the Religions of Europe, p. 479.
f Forbes, Cons. Imodes de Euch. p. 442.
J Atlas Geographicus, v. 2. p. 1724.
§ Ross' View, &c., p. 479.
H Atlas Geographicus, p. 172.
255
fire, yet they believe a third place between that
of the blessed and the damned, where they re-
main who have deferred repentance till the end
of their life : but if this be not purgatory, I know
not what it is, nor what souls do there !"*
Archbishop Whitgift, in his defence against
Cartwright,* adds the doctrines of free will,
merits, &c.
It was not, therefore, on any of the above-
named classes of Christians, that the Reform-
ation had any material effect, except, indeed, as
was natural, that of causing some of them to
rally round the Catholic Church, to oppose, as
they imagined, the common enemy, the Lu-
therans, Calvinists, Zuinglians, and other Pro-
testants.
That great and immutable principle, THE
RIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT IN
MATTERS OF RELIGION, having been
once acknowledged, it was no longer in the
power either of Catholics, or the Reformers of
Catholics, who do not appear to have been them-
selves aware of the lengths to which that prin-
ciple would carry the human mind, to stem the
» Tract, p. 473. The reader is referred, for a fuller view of
this subject, to Mr. Woodhead's Guide in Controversies,
dis. 3. c. 8. s. 82. Protestant Apology, p. 30—33,
256
impetuous stream of liberty which burst forth on
the Christian world. " Let every man be fully
persuaded in HIS OWN MlND," was a text on
which myriads began to descant, who had never
before listened to any others, except — "Thou art
Peter—feed my lambs — feed my sheep :" and
" Hear the Church." Priests had long ridden
the people, and now the people, having obtained
their liberty in Christ, determined in their turn
to ride the priests. Wherever the Reformation
took effect, authority was at an end : yet a
struggle for mastery ensued. It was the eman-
cipation of intellect, and a thousand specula-
tions, some rational and modest, others wild and
unruly, were indulged, to the astonishment of
many, and the grief of more. All pretended to
antiquity; every one pleaded the authority and
sanction of scripture, the earliest fathers, and ge-
neral councils of the Church, the example of the
Saviour, and the precepts of his apostles. From
the self-same premises, the most contradictory
conclusions were deduced ; yet all and every of
them claimed a suitable portion of infallibility
and authority. In no point were the jarring
Reformers so agreed as in their hearty abhor-
rence of the Church which they had all de-
serted :
" 'Twas Babel, Antichrist, and Pope, and Devil."
On a sudden, a new flood of light burst upon
the wondering sight of multitudes. Articles of
faith, opinions, forrn^, and practices, held sacred
257
for centuries by the whole Christian world, were
discarded, ridiculed, abhorred, and condemned,
as blasphemous, idolatrous, damnable, heretical,
dangerous to the souls of men, inimical to the
peace and well-being of society, derogatory to
the honour of God, and subversive of truth, rea-
son, and common sense. Men stared with as-
tonishment, and were ready to beat themselves
with vexation, to think they should have been
reading the prophecies of Daniel, the epistles of
St. Paul, and the apocalypse of St. John from
their youth up, and could never before discover,
that the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church, was all the while nothing more nor less
than the mystical Babylon — a whore, a scarlet
whore, a drunken scarlet whore — nay, the very
mother of harlots, bloated with the wine of her
abominations j reeling and intoxicated with the
blood of the saints, and ripe for the sickle of
God's eternal vengeance. This discovery, how-
ever it might shock the timid and fearful, glad-
dened the hearts of those who had courage to
make head against the beast ; and these cou-
rageously resolved not only to " hate the
whore," but to " make her desolate and naked,
eat her tlesh, and burn her with fire."* Before
* Those who are acquainted with the writings of our ear-
liest Reformers, and particularly with those of Luther, will
know that in this and other places, where I have alluded to
their spirit and language, when speaking of the Pope and
other
S
258
all this could be accomplished, it was evident
that some better Church should be planted. A
Christian country without a Christian Church
would have been like a head without a body,
or a body without a soul. Therefore, every one
proceeded, forthwith, to strike out such a model
as suited best his own views of the matter; and
doctors and theologians, of every possible de-
scription, took their seats among the learned or
the unlearned, as the case might happen to be, in
almost every town of Germany, Holland, Eng-
land, Denmark, Sweden 3 Switzerland, and other
places :
" All quit their spheres, and rush into the skies."
This was the natural result of unrestrained in-
quiry; nor should the principle itself be con-
demned because of the ill use which enthusiasts
and fanatics have made of it. Differences of
religious opinions cannot possibly be injurious
either to divine truth or to Christian morals;
upon the whole, they are rather useful : it is
only when men become intolerant and presump-
tuous, that their opinions are really hurtful.
With as much consistency might a pious Jew
cast reproaches on Christianity, because it is
other Catholic prelates, not the slightest exaggeration has
been used. On the contrary, it is a fact that scurrility, even
to the most indecent and immodest extent, was not unfre-
quently resorted to by Luther and others. See particularly
torn. ii. and vii. of his works.
259
attended with a diversity of opinions, as the
Catholics condemn the Reformation, and the
great principle on which it is founded, on ac-
count of the many sects and parties of which it
has been the innocent cause. But while I assert
this truth, I can see no reason whatever for
withholding from public reprehension, those bit-
ter animosities which the Reformers indulged
against the Catholics, and even against one
another, on many points of doctrine and modes
of discipline. The best and most impartial Pro-
testant writers have uniformly condemned the
rancour and ill-blood which actuated the Re-
formers on many occasions. Brandt, Mosheim,
and his learned translator, have depicted, with
just severity, the spirit and conduct of some of
the earliest Protestants. But, as Dr. Maclaine
justly remarks,* " bad men may be, and often
are, embarked in the best of causes ; as such
causes afford the most specious mask to cover
mercenary views, or to disguise ambitious pur-
poses."
The Reformation, however, has been of incal-
culable benefit to the Christian world, inasmuch
as it has established a principle, the operation of
which will one day destroy every doctrine and
practice that has not the plainest injunctions of
revelation, and the most obvious reason for its
Appendix I. vol. iv. p. 136, of Mosheim's Eccles. Hist.
S 2
260
support, and exhibit the pure and undefiled faitk
of Jesus, free from every corruption and every
entanglement with which its officious nursing-
fathers have so long clogged and embarrassed it.
This being the case, we should reflect with can-
dour on the errors, and with gratitude on the
labours, of that intrepid band of Reformers, who
first taught us to withstand the courtly enemies
of liberty, and to look without dismay on the
threats and anathemas of bigoted priests and
superstitious prelates. And we have an addi-
tional motive for thus regarding with some allow-
ance, the mistakes of the Reformers, in the re-
flection, that the Reformation has had a be-
neficial effect, even on Catholics themselves j
who have ceased to employ weapons which ex-
perience has convinced them are become useless,
and, no longer resorting to the strong arm of
power, have quietly returned to the mild and
legitimate warfare of reason, scripture, and fair
argumentation. Their doctrines remain the
same; but their general method of defending
them is materially changed for the better ; and
the spirit that has dictated this wiser course has
been revived and encouraged just in proportion
as the genius of the Protestant doctrines, or ra-
ther we should say, the great and fundamental
principle of Protestantism, has been extended
and understood. Besides : the vigilance and pru-
dence of Catholics have been kept alive by the
consideration, that their actions are constantly
under the scrutinizing eye of a keen and watch-
261
ful censor, who will mark their failings, and rigor-
ously weigh all their motives and actions. It is not
so much owing to the change that has taken
place in doctrinals, for that, in most Protestant
churches, is not deserving notice, it is so slight;
but to the recognition of that principle, which
can never be too much extolled, that men are
accountable to God alone for their religious opi-
nions; and that they have a natural right to
make the best use they are able of their own rea-
son in the choice of their religion, that the Re-
formation has been of benefit. And if Protest-
ants have not yet availed themselves of the full
extent of their principles, it is because they do
not yet see the entire victory which, under God,
they have achieved over spiritual wickedness in
high places. We are still in the morning of a
gospel day: but the glorious luminary of truth
advances rapidly to its meridian splendour. Al-
ready the fogs disperse — the noxious mists
begin to evaporate, and soon will the Christian
world be illuminated by the invigorating rays of
the divine effulgence ; and the fair and lovely
form of truth appear freed from the shackles of
human establishments, obnoxious tests, persecut-
ing laws, unmeaning mysteries, priestly and
courtly frauds, contradictory and ridiculous
creeds, and impositions and anathemas, as point-
less as they are absurd, and as useless as they are
false. Then shall the slanders of infidelity be
for ever silenced, the clamours of enthusiasm,
262
and the fires of fanaticism cease to annoy the
" way-faring man ;" Jehovah shall be One, and
his NAME ONE ; and his only begotten Son
Jesus, " the first-born of every creature," the
beginning of the creation of God," the first
of all created intelligences, be confessed by
Christians as the Messenger of Peace, and the
restorer of every good and perfect gift. Then
will men love as brethren, and lay aside their
narrow prejudices, their party railings, and un-
social animosities, esteeming it of infinitely
greater moment, that they should unite together
for mutual happiness and practical godliness,
than to be able to discern the minute shades of
error in each other's creed, or even the bolder
features of mistake, which now so unhappily
disunite and distract the Christian world.*
But to return to our inquiry into the real ex-
tent of the change produced by the Reform-
ation on the religious opinions of professing
Christians ; and this, it will appear, is not near
so great as many are led to imagine. But, in-
deed, there is some difficulty in making the esti-
mate : for among the various divisions and subdivi-
* The real lovers of union and peace, will be pleased and
edified by the perusal of the Reflections, annexed to the 12th
edition of Mr. Evans's liberal and useful volume, entitled
A Shetch of Denominations ; as also by the sequel to that work,
4th ed.
263
sions which have resulted from the Reformation,
some dissented much more than others from the
faith and worship of the Catholic Church. I
speak, however, of the majority of Protestants,
and of those doctrines which the bulk of the
Reformed churches retained ; as also of the
new tenets which Luther and others intro-
duced.
Taking up, or rather preserving, the old opi-
nion, that there cannot be two acceptable me-
thods of worshipping God, or of viewing his
attributes,* the early Reformers and later Protest-
ants, have found themselves somewhat embar-
rassed in their dissent ; yet, however they may
dislike the church of Rome, and her ritual, they
still acknowledge that she is a true Church,
* " As we believe in one God, so we most constantly be-
lieve, that there hath been, now is, and to the end shall be,
one Kirk ; out of which Kirk neither life nor felicity is to be
hoped for, or had ; and, therefore, we utterly abhor the blas-
phemy of those who affirm, that men, who live according to
equity and justice, shall be saved, in whatever religion they
may have lived." Original Profession of the Kirk of Scotland.
Art. 16. The same sentiment is continued by the Westminster
Divines, and approved and ratified by Parliament, A. D.
1649.
The Church of England, in like manner, A. D. 1612,
through the medium of her supreme head, thus declares :
" The king believes, without fallacy or distrust, that there is
but one true Church, called Universal, or Cathulic, out of
which he holds no salvation is to be expected." Casauboni ad
Epist,
264
orthodox in all fundamental points, and that sal-
vation is to be attained in her communion.*
Luther himself, when writing against the Ana-
baptists, says thus : " I confess, that under the
papacy are many good Christian things; nay,
all that is good in Christianity. And that we
had them from thence, for I acknowledge, that
in popery is the true scripture ; true baptism ;
the true sacrament of the altar ; true keys for
the remission of sin ; true office of preaching;
true catechism; the ten commandments; and
the articles of faith. Nay, I say, that in popery
is true Christianity, even the very kernel of
Episl. Card. Perron. Responsio pro Rege, p. 10. Ed. London.
1612.
The Reformed Church of France also declares, that out
of the Church there is nothing but death and damnation,
" For," says she, " doubtless, all such as separate from the
society of the faithful, and form a sect apart, can never ex-
pect salvation." Vide the Galilean Reformed Catechism, p. 2S3.
Amsterdam Ed. 1710. This sentiment has been maintained
by numerous Protestant writers of eminence, since the Re-
formation. The reader may consult Calvin. Inst. lib. iv. c. i.
§ iv. Luth. on the 4:7th of Gen. torn. vi. Perkins on the Rev. p.
308. Abp. Tillotson, v. 6. p. 245, et seq. Pearson on the Creed,
p. 349. Ed. 1669. Indeed, we are all too much in the habit
of making our own particular church, or sect, the only way
to the kingdom of heaven.
* I am aware that Tillotson, and some others, have affect-
ed to doubt of the salvation of Catholics ; or, at least, they
have deemed it dangerous to hold communion with so cor-
rupt and idolatrous a church. I have, however, too high an
opinion
2&5
Christianity." This opinion has been held by
a host of Protestant writers since the Reform-
ation."* It is a feature in the history of the Ca-
tholic church of considerable importance, inas-
much as it shews, that the objections which
Protestants urge against their Catholic brethren,
are by no means so serious, or well founded, as
many are led to suppose; and the friends of
peace will always be ready to embrace every
opportunity of weakening the grounds of war
and opposition. However it may be, it is a
subject closely connected with a view of the in-
fluence of the Reformation on religion and
morals, f
The change which the Reformation introduc-
ed, respecting religious opinions, was, undoubt-
edly, favourable, as far as it went, to the real
doctrines of the scriptures. As far as I have
opinion of these Protestants to believe they were quite serious
in these surmises. The authors of the Irish Protestant Charter-
School Catechism, and Dr. Duigenan, may be admitted to have
very serious doubts on this point : such men as Tillotson
would never have pressed so unworthy a notion.
"* The united testimonies of many of them maybe seen in
that very singular publication, the Protestant Apology for the
Church of Rome, before referred to. Others are quoted, or
referred to, in Geddes's Modest Apology.
f The late Dr. Geddes accommodated too much on this
point; yet the reader should not fail here to turn to his
Modest Apology.
266
been able to gather from an almost infinity of
statements, it appears to me, that the main
points of difference between the Catholic and the
Protestant Churches are the following : Catholics
hold the supremacy, or rather primacy, of the
Bishop of Rome : Protestants, I mean Protestants
of the Church of England,* hold the supremacy
of the King, who is the Head of the Church :
Catholics contend for the infallibility of their
Church: Protestants say, that " the Church has
power to decree rites and ceremonies," but that
she is not, therefore, infallible. " The follow-
* But some will say, it is difficult to define the real senti-
ments and doctrines of the Church of England. There is,
certainly, considerable force in this observation. The laxity,
or the liberality of the English clergy, I have noticed in a
former work (Portraiture of Methodism), wherein I have not
failed to award to them what I conceived to be a suitable por-
tion of merit for their many public and private virtues. Some
few of my dissenting brethren havechosen to be offended on this
account. — I am sorry for it ; but am certainly more sorry for
their offence, than for the cause of it ; and I here repeat it,
that a more learned, candid, and moral body of people, than
our English clergy, never existed. The exceptions, consider-
ing their numerous temptations, and the rank they hold in
society, are comparatively trifling. I am compelled, how-
ever, to abate somewhat of my admiration of the public con-
duct of most of our Right Reverend Bishops. It is a la-
mentable indication of great deficiency of the true spirit of
Protestantism, that only one or two of the whole bench should
choose to avow themselves the friends of Catholic Emanci-
pation. They have not succeeded in clearing the Church
of heretics, though they have taken away the bread of poor
Mr.
267
ing quotation," remarks Dr. Geddes,* " from a
Dedication to Clement XI., prefixed to Sir
Richard Steele's Account of the State of the Ro-
man Catholic Religion, will, perhaps, explain how
matters stand in this respect, between Catholics
and Protestants : — " Your HOLINESS is not
aware, how near the Churches of us Protestants
have at length come to those privileges and per-
fections which you boast of as peculiar to your
own : so near, that many of the most quick-
sighted and sagacious persons have not been able
to discover any difference between us, as to the
main principle of all doctrine, government, worship,
and discipline — but this one, viz. That YOU can-
not err in any thing you determine ; and WE
never do. That is to say, in other words, that
YOU are infallible, and WE always in the right . .
. . . And you must pardon us, if we cannot help
thinking it to be as great and as glorious a privi-
lege in US, to be always in the right, without
Mr. Stone. We have still professed Swedenborgian clergy-
men ; many known Unitarians; and an odd mixture of Cal-
vinistic Predestinarians, who adhere to the strict letter of the
17th Art. ; and of Arminians, who, with the venerable Bishop
of Lincoln at their head, can see nothing Calvinistic in the
whole book of Common Prayer. Nay, we have now in our
church, at least one clergyman who is an avowed believer in
the dreams and vagaries of Joanna Southcott. It is not,
however, from this heterogeneous mass, but from generally
received authorities, that I speak concerning the doctrines
of the Establishment.
♦ Modest Apology, p. 71—72.
268
the pretence to infallibility, as it can be in YOU
to be always in the wrong with it. Thus the
Synod of Dort, the Councils of the Reformed in
France, the Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland,
and, if I may presume to name it, the Convo-
cation of England, have been all found to have
the very same unquestionable authority which
your Church claims upon the infallibility which
resides in it; and the people to be under the
very same strict obligation of obedience to their
determinations, which, with you, is the conse-
quence of an absolute infallibility. The reason,
therefore, why we do not openly set up an in-
fallibility is, because we can do without it. Au-
thority results as well from power as from RIGHT;
and a majority of votes is as strong a foundation
for it, as infallibility itself. Councils that may
err, never do : and, besides, being composed of
men whose peculiar business is to be in the right,
it is very immodest for any private person to
think them not so : because this is to set up a
corrupted private understanding, above a public
uncorrupted judgment. Thus it is in the north
as well as in the south, abroad as well as at
home; all maintain the exercise of the same au-
thority in themselves, which yet they know not
how so much as to speak of without ridicule in
others !"
Another difference between the two Churches
regards the number and nature of the Sacra-
ments. Catholics have seven sacraments — Pro-
269
testants have two only. Baptism is admitted by
both Churches, and so is the Eucharist, or Lord's
Supper. Though Confirmation is appointed by
the Reformed Churches as a sacred rite, it has not
been considered as " generally necessary to sal-
vation ;" but in the Catholic Church it is rec-
koned a sacrament. In the same light, also, is
the institution of Marriage considered. It is a
sacrament in the one Church, and a divine and
holy ceremony in the other. Extreme Unction,
or practice of anointing the sick, is entirely abo-
lished by the Reformation, but preserved as a
sacrament among Catholics. — Penance is used
by both Churches, but regarded as a sacrament
by the Catholics only. — Ordination, another of
the Catholic sacraments, is used also by Protest-
ants ; and is regarded as an indispensable cere-
mony for the conferring of spiritual gifts and
powers.
The doctrines, or rather notions, about Grace
have been various in both Churches - 3 and the
same may be remarked of Sanctification, Faith,
and some other points of a similar character.
The Calvinistic dogmas concerning Free-Will
(or, as it might more correctly be denominated,
No-Will), Election, and Reprobation, which lat-
ter is called by Calvin the horrible decretum, the
horrible decree — Justification by Faith alone, xvith-
out works — The Imputation of Christ's Righteous.
ness, by virtue of a Predestination to Life — The
total inability of man to do any thing tozvards his
270
own salvation, &c, seem all to be new inventions
of the Reformers. The opinions concerning
works of supererogation; auricular confession;
purgatory ; with the practice of praying for
the dead — The invocation of Saints — The vene-
ration of holy images, pictures, and relicks —
The celibacy of the clergy — The ivithholding the
cup from the laity in the Eucharist — The use of
the Latin tongue in the mass ; — and some other
practices and institutions, as the utility of tra-
dition, monastic institutions, pilgrimages, indul-
gences, beads, rosaries, &c. &c, were, for the
most part, rejected by the Reformers.
It will readily be seen, that the influence of
the Reformation on religious opinions and prac-
tices, has not materially aiTected the great articles
of faith, nor has much relation to the Supreme
Object of divine worship, or the means of con-
ciliating his favour.
As to the immediate influence of the Reform-
ation on the manners and moral habits of the peo-
ple, there are but too many unfavourable proofs
that little good was done in this way. Brandt,
in the Dedication of his History of the Reform-
ation in the Low Countries, draws an unpleasant
picture of the spirit of the Reformed Christians,
immediately succeeding the Reformation. The
Protestants, he observes, have not made a good
use of the Reformation ; that, instead of inno-
cence, gentleness, humility, and charity, vice,
271
persecution, hatred, envy, and self-love, have
prevailed among them ; that every body accom-
modates the Word of God to his own prejudices ;
and has a gospel of his own making. The Pro-
testants, he adds, have recourse to the secular
arm : they use violent means to gain proselytes.
Many of them, when they separated from the
Church of Rome, rejected not only what was
bad in that Church, but also what was good, or,
at least, innocent. They believe, says he, that
none but themselves have the truth on their side;
and they fancy that every body ought to em-
brace their opinions. They acknowledge they
may fall into error, but they maintain they never
do. The learned Cudworth* seems to have
entertained a similar opinion of the effects of
the Reformation : " 'Tis to be feared,"
says he, " that many people among us, who
throw down idols in churches, set them up
in their hearts ; and that, whilst we exclaim
against paintings upon church windows, we do
not scruple to cherish many unlawful passions
within us, and to commit idolatry with them."
Complaining of the schisms occasioned by the
Reformation, we might reckon, says Brandt,
above three hundred questions, that are disput-
ed in the Church of Rome, and yet they occa-
* Epistle Dedicatory to the House of Commons, prefixed
to a Sermon which he preached to that Assembly, in the yeai
1647 ; cited in Michael de la Roaches Abridgment of Brandt's
History of the Reformation, vol. I, p. iii.
272
sion no schism among the Catholics. Indeed,
it must be confessed, that the hot and furious
rancour in which the Reformers indulged against
those who agreed not with them in every point,
is by no means a favourable specimen of the
good effects of the Reformation; though, upon
the whole, I have no doubt but that great good
has resulted, and will result, to the morals and
happiness of mankind, from the Reformation of
religion. It is a great pity, that we could not
be contented to have used our liberty in Christ
without abusing it, — that our earliest friends,
and I wish I had no reason to add, our later
brethren, had carried their Reformation to their
own conduct, and, while they disavowed the
principle of persecution in the Church of Rome,
they had been equally solicitous to have abstain-
ed from the practice of it themselves.*
* Roman Catholics complain, and but too justly, that we
do not act fairly towards them, in keeping out of sight our
own blemishes, and in magnifying and exposing theirs. By
the help of God, I will endeavour to wipe off the reproach.
No fears — no censures— no reproaches, shall deter me from
holding up to deserved reprobation, the practice of persecu-
tion, by whatever party it has been exercised, when I come
to treat of that portion of the Catholic History.
PART II.
SECTION I.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINES.
" Roman Catholick Principles in Reference to God
and the King. — Points of Faith literally uni-
versal. — Of the Holy Trinity.
THERE is certainly some difficulty attend-
ing this part of the subject; but it does not
arise from any ambiguity or doubt on the points
to be discussed. No doctrines can be more
clear or explicit. Would to God they were as
true ! or, rather, that our Roman Catholic
brethren had been as solicitous to " know the
truth" as they have ever been to preserve and en-
force what they have received as such from their
forefathers. The great difficulty arises from the
multiplicity of documents that are presented as
authentic sources of information, and from the
limited nature of my plan, to admit a proper
and judicious selection. I will, however, adopt
the plan suggested by a well-known Protestant
writer, and leave the result to the candour and
moderation of the Catholic reader.
" I would ask them [Catholics]," says
T
274
Richard Baxter, the non- conformist,* " whether
we or they do better know our religion; and,
consequently, what a Protestant is ? If they
know it at all, it is from our writings or expres-
sions; for sure they will not pretend, without
signs, to know our hearts, and that better than
ourselves. — You must take it from us, if you will
know what our religion is, as we must take it
from you, if we will know yours. And, there-
fore, delude not silly souls by persuading
them that you know what our religion is
better than we. If you will believe our books
that tell you, believe our sayings also, and be-
lieve me that here tell you my own religion."
This is a just, and, indeed, the only proper
ground to take ; and, agreeably to this principle,
I shall proceed in laying before the reader the
following clear and distinct view of
" ROMAN CATHOLICK PRINCIPLES, in
REFERENCE to GOD and the KING,
Explained in a Letter to a Friend, f
" Sir,
I FIND your last as full of doubts and in-
* Key for Catholics, pref. p. 5.
f These were first printed in a little pamphlet in the reign
of Charles II. j and in here reprinting them, which I do from
the
275
quietudes, as your former was of heat and zeal :
whether mere compassion hath altered your
judgment, or that you fear your own turn may
be next, I cannot tell ; but I easily perceive
you, and the greatest part of honest thinking
Protestants, as well as you, begin, though late,
to suspect, that Catholicks have wrongfully suf-
fered the loss of their fame, their goods, their
fortunes, and many their lives. Nor do I won-
der to see you touched with some concern at our
miseries ; for besides the sad spectacles of bloud-
shed, (which I mention without any resentment,
or disrespect to the government) the prisons have
been filled with us, whole families ruined and
exiled, poor widows and innocent orphans have
perished through distress, the very woods and
deserts have not wanted men dying with cold
the original copy, now before me, I am doing only an act of
justice to the Catholics, and am conforming to the rule laid
down by Baxter, in his work just mentioned.
The name of the author does not appear. It is said to
be " By a Well-Wisher to his Countrey," and is subscribed
M. B. The reason given for its being first made public, is
" to shew the connexion between the principles it contains,
and the late Popish Plot." In the original, there are several
marginal notes, and references to the texts of scripture quot-
ed. These 1 have omitted, as unnecessary ; and for the same
reason, about two pages at the end, of a conclusion and
objections answered, are left out. The other alterations are
still more trifling.
T 2
and hunger ; and all this upon account of a plot,
horrid indeed, and detestable in itself, but which
could never yet be proved against us, by any
one credible witness, or probable circumstance
evincing the crime.
True it is, Dr. Oates, Captain Bedloe, and
others, of debauched lives and desperate fortunes.
allured by gain, and encouraged by indempni-
ties, have positively sworn (if bare positive
swearing, without any other probability of truth,
may stand for good evidence), to a multiplicity
of particulars. But these men have been, and
are, so notoriously stigmatized with all sorts of
vice and infamy; their oaths have been con-
fronted with so many self-contradictions; their
forgeries accompanied with such incredible, such
impossible circumstances; their lyes and fables
so stuffed with absurdities, non-sence, and follies ;
the crime of perjury so often, so palpably proved
against them : in short, both their past and pre-
sent villainies are now become so apparent and
perspicuous, that the greatest part of the nation
hath an abhorrence of them.
But you tell me, (and you are in the right)
that the thing which hath rendered credible the
testimony of otherwise incredible witnesses
against us, and which hath invalidated all con-
trary evidence given in our behalf, is a perswa-
sion many Protestants have, that the Catholick
277
religion is made up of traitorous principles, de-
structive to peace and government. You say,
you have been informed by common report, by
printed books, nay, by some ministers in their
very pulpits, that Catholicks hold it an article
of faith to believe, that the Pope can depose
kings, absolve their subjects from their allegi-
ance, and dispose of kingdoms to whom he
please. That to murder Protestants, and de-
stroy the nation by fire and sword, for propaga-
tion of the Catholick faith, are works of piety,
and meritorious of heaven. These, and the like
horrid aspersions, together with I know not
what feigned idolatries, superstitions and abuses,
are (as you have rightly intimated) laid to the
charge of Roman Catholicks, whereby to render
both their faith and persons odious to many
otherwise well-meaning people, who, not suffi-
ciently examining the truth of tilings, but taking
all for granted, judge nothing ill enough can be
said or done against men so principled.
And is it not strange and severe, that principles,
and those pretended of faith too, should be im-
posed upon men, which they themselves re-
nounce and detest? If the Turk's Alcoran
should, in like manner, be urged upon us, and
we hanged up for Mahometans, all we could do
or say in such a case, would be patiently to die,
with protestation of our own innocence. And
this is the posture of our present condition ; we
abhor, we renounce, we abominate such prin-
278
ciples ; we protest against them, and seal our
protestations with our dying breaths. What
shall we say ? What can we do more ? To ac-
cuse men as guilty in matters of faith, which
they never owned, is the same thing as to con-
demn them for matters of fact, which they never
did.
You press the question, and say, some of our
general councils, several papal decrees, and
many of our doctors and divines, assert the
aforementioned principles. Sir, I have been in-
structed in the articles of my faith, and I ac-
knowledge the lawful authority of general coun-
cils, yet I profess I never learnt, or found asserted
in any of them, such principles. And I propose
unto you, this plain and short dilemma; either
the above-named principles are esteemed by us
matters of faith, or not. If they be, what farther
can be required of us, than to deny and forsake
such a faith ? And this we constantly do. But
if they be not matters of Catholick faith, nor
owned by us as such, why are Cathoiicks, as Ca-
tholicks, punished for them ? Whj r is our religion
persecuted on that account ? Let those in God's
name, if any there be of what religion soever,
who hold such tenets, suffer for them. Why
should the innocent be involved with the guilty ?
There is neither reason nor justice in it.
Hereunto some persons (I hope out of zeal
and misinformation, rather than malice) stick
279
not to say, that dispensations, and I know not
what indulgences and pardons, whereby to legi-
timate the crimes of lying and forswearing,
when the interest of our church requires, is a
main part of our religion; and by consequence,
the denial of our principles, is no sufficient jus-
tification of our innocence. I answer, first, it
is in the highest measure censorious in any one,
to impose upon all our ancestours, and the
greatest part of mankind, who are, or have been
members of our religion, such an excess of folly
and wickedness ; as must needs have perverted
all humane society. Secondly, if we could law-
fully deny the principles of our faith, when in-
terest requires, why have we lost our estates,
our liberties, our lives, for the profession of it?
To what purposes are oaths and tests devised, to
entangle us ? How impertinently is the frequent-
ing the Protestant church, and receiving the com-
munion, proposed unto us, and refused by us ?
Thirdly, Though many men may be induced to
lye, and forswer, when they have some hopes
or prospect thereby of temporal advantage, yet
that persons dying for their conscience and re-
ligion (as divers have done, and those no fools
even by the confession of our adversaries)
should be so stupendously sottish and mad,
either to imagine that lyes and perjuries, for
concealment of treason, murder, massacre, and
destruction of others by fire and sword, should
be acts of virtue, pleasing to God, dispensable
by the Pope, and meritorious of heaven; or
280
that, on the contrary, knowing and believing,
as needs they must, such monsters and horrours
to be odious and detestable in the sight both of
God and man, they should, nevertheless, upon
the very brink of eternity, wittingly and will-
ingly cast themselves head-long into an assured
damnation, and this at a time when they might
have saved both bodyes and souls, by meerly
discharging a good conscience in acknowledg-
ing the truth, and becoming honest men; this
I say is inhumane, and contradictory to all
sense and reason to believe.
Now, therefore, I am come to what you so
often and so earnestly press me to, viz. to sa-
tisfy the world, and cleare myself, my fellow-
sufferers, and my religion, from the imputation
laid upon us, on pretence of such principles,
by a true and candid explanation of my belief
and judgment, in the main points of faith and
loyalty, controverted between Catholicks and
Potestants as they severally relate to God and
the king :
(e Of the Catholick Faith, and Church in gene-
ral. — I. The fruition of God, and remission of
sin, is not attainable by man, otherwise than in
and by the merits of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, who gratis purchased it for us.
2. These merits of Christ are not applyed to
ns, otherwise than by a right faith in Christ.
281
3. This faith is but one, entire and conform-
able to its object, being divine revelations, to
all which faith giveth an undoubted assent.
4. These revelations containe many mys-
teries, transcending the natural reach of humain
wit or industry. Wherefore,
5. It became the divine wisdom and goodness,
to provide man of some way or means whereby
he might arrive to the knowledge of these mys-
teries j means visible and apparent to all ; means
proportionable to the capacityes of all ; means
sure and certain to all.
6. This way, or means, is not the reading of
Scriptures, interpreted according to the private
reason or spirit of every disjunctive person, or
nation in particular. But,
7. It is an attention and submission to the
doctrine of the Catholick or Universal Church,
established by Christ for the instruction of all,
spread for that end throughout all nations, and
visibly continued in a succession of pastors and
people throughout all ages : from which Church,
guided in truth, and secured from error in mat-
ters of faith, by the promised assistance of the
Holy Ghost, every one may and ought to learn
botli the right sence of scripture, and all other
Christian mysteries and duties, respectively ne-
cessary to salvation.
282
8. This church, thus spread, thus guided,
thus visibly continued, in one uniform faith, and
subordination of government, is that self-same
which is termed the Roman Catholick Church,
the qualifications above-mentioned, being ap-
plicable to no other church or assembly what-
soever.
9. From the testimony and authority of this
church it is, that we receive and believe the
scripture to be God's word. And as she can
assuredly tell us, this or that book is God's word,
so can she with the like assurance, tell us also
the true sence and meaning of it in controverted
points of faith ; the same spirit that writ the
scripture, enlightning her to understand both it
and all other matters necessary to salvation.
From these grounds it followeth,
10. All and only divine revelations delivered
by God to the church, and proposed by her to
be believed as such, are and ought to be esteem-
ed articles of faith, and the contrary opinions,
heresie. And
11. As an obstinate separation from the unity
of the church, in known declared matters of faith,
is formal heresie j so a wilful separation from the
visible unity of the same church, in matters of
subordination and government, is formal schism.
12. The church proposeth unto us matters of
283
faith : First, and chiefly, by the holy scripture,
in points plain and intelligible in it. Secondly,
by definitions of General Councils, in points not
sufficiently explained in scripture. Thirdly, by
apostolical traditions, derived from Christ and
his Apostles, to ali succeeding ages. Fourthly,
by her practice, worship, and ceremonies, con-
firming her doctrine.
* f Of Spiritual and Temporal Authority. — 1. Ge-
neral Councils (which are the church of God,
representative) have no commission from Christ
to fraime new matters of faith, (these being sole
divine revelations) but only to explain and ascer-
tain unto us, what anciently was, and is receiv-
ed and retained as of faith in the church, upon
arising debates or controversies about them.
The definitions of which, general Councils in
matters of faith only and proposed as such,
oblige, under pain of heresie, all the faithful, to
a submission of judgement. But
2. It is no article of faith to believe, that ge-
neral Councils cannot err, either in matters of
fact or discipline, alterable by circumstances of
time and place ; or in matters of speculation or
civil policy, depending on meer humane judge-
ment or testimony. Neither of these being divine
revelations, deposited in the Catholick church;
in regard to which alone she hath the promised
assistance of the Holy Ghost. Hence it is de-
duced :
284
3. If a general Council (much less a Papal
consistory) should undertake to depose a king,
and absolve his subjects from their allegiance,
no Catholick, as Catholick, is bound to submit
to such a decree. Hence, also, it followeth :
4. The subjects of the king of England law-
fully may, without the least breach of any Ca-
tholick principle, renounce, even upon oath, the
doctrine of deposing kings excommunicated for
heresie, by any authority whatsoever, as repug-
nant to the fundamental laws of the nation, in-
jurious to sovereign power, destructive to the
peace and government, and by consequence, in
his Majesty's subjects, impious and damnable.
Yet not properly heretical, taking the word
heretical in that connatural, genuine sence, it
is usually understood in the Catholick church ;
on which account chiefly it is, that many Catho-
licks of tender consciences refuse the oath, com-
monly called the oath of allegiance.
5. Catholicks believe, that the bishop of Rome
is the successor of St. Peter, vicar of Jesus Christ
upon earth, and Head of the whole Catholick
church ; which church is therefore fitly styled
Roman Catholick, being an universal body unit-
ed under one visible head. Nevertheless,
6. It is no matter of faith to believe, that the
Pope is in himself infallible, separated from a
general Council, even in expounding the faith :
285
by consequence, papal definitions or decrees,
though ex cathedra, as they term them, oblige
none, under pain of heresie, to an interior as-
sent.
7. Nor do Catholicks, as Catholicks, believe
that the Pope hath any direct, or indirect, autho-
rity over the temporal power and jurisdiction of
princes. Hence, if the Pope should pretend to
absolve or dispence with his Majesty's subjects
from their allegiance, upon account of heresie
or schism, such dispensation would be vain and
null ;' and all Catholick subjects, notwithstand-
ing such dispensation, or absolution, would be
still bound in conscience to defend their king
and countrey, at the hazard of their lives and
fortunes, even against the Pope himself, in case
he should invade the nation.
8. And as for problematical disputes, or er-
rors, of particular divines, in this or any other
matter whatsoever, the Catholick church is no-
wise responsible for them : nor are Catholicks,
as Catholicks, justly punishable on their account.
But,
9. As for the king-killing doctrine, or murder
of princes, excommunicated for heresie, it is an
article of faith in the Catholick church, and ex-
pressly declared in the general Council of Con-
stance, that such doctrine is damnable and he-
286
retical, being contrary to the known laws of God
and nature.*
10. Personal misdemeanours of what nature
soever, ought not to be imputed to the Catholick
church, when not justifyable by the tenets of her
faith and doctrine ; for which reason, though
the stories of the Paris massacre ; the Irish cru-
elties; or powder plot, had been true (which
yet, for the most part, are notoriously misrelat-
ed), nevertheless Catholicks, asCatholicks, ought
not to suffer for such offences, any more than
the eleven apostles ought to have suffered for
Juda's treachery.
11. It is an article of the Catholick faith to be-
lieve, that no power on earth can license men to
\ye t to forswear, and perjure themselves, to mas-
sacre their neighbours, or destroy their native
countrey, on pretence of promoting the Catho-
lick cause or religion ; furthermore, all pardons
and dispensations granted or pretended to be
granted, in order to any such ends or designes,
have no other validity or effect, then to add sa-
crilege and blasphemy to the above-mentioned
crimes.
12. The doctrine of equivocation, or mental
reservation, however wrongfully imposed on the
* Cone. Const. Sess. 15.
287
Catholick religion, is, notwithstanding, neither
taught nor approved by the church, as any part
of her belief. On the contrary, simplicity and
godly sincerity are constantly recommended by
her as truly Christian vertues, necessary to the
conservation of justice, truth, and common so-
ciety.
"Of some particular controverted Points of Faith.
— 1. Every Catholick is obliged to believe ; that
when a sinner repenteth him of his sins from the
bottom of his heart, and acknowledgeth his
transgressions to God and his ministers, the dis-
pensers of the mysteries of Christ, resolving to
turn from his evil vvayes, and bring forth fruits
worthy of penance, there is (then and no other-
wise) an authority left by Christ to absolve such
a penitent sinner from his sins ; which authority
Christ gave to his apostles, and their successors,
the bishops and priests of the Catholick Church,
in those words, when he said, Receive ye the
Holy-Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they
are forgiven unto them, &c.
2. Though no creature whatsoever can make
condign satisfaction, either for the guilt of sin,
or the pain eternal due to it, this satisfaction be-
ing proper to Christ our Saviour only ; yet pe-
nitent sinners redeemed by Christ may, as mem-
bers of Christ, in some measure satisfle by
prayer, fasting, alms deeds, and other works of
piety, for the temporal pain, which by order of
288
divine justice sometimes remains due,, after the
guilt of sin, and pains eternal are (gratis) re-
mitted. These penitential works are notwith-
standing satisfactory no otherwise then as joyned
and applyed to that satisfaction, which Jesus
made upon the cross, in vertue of which alone,
all our good works find a grateful acceptance in
God's sight.
3. The guilt of sin or pain eternal due to it, is
never remitted by indulgences ; but only such
temporal punishments as remain due after the
guilt is remitted ; these indulgences being no-
thing else than a mitigation or relaxation upon
just causes, of canonical penances, enjoy ned by
the pastors of the Church on penitent sinners,
according to their several degrees of demerit.
And if any abuses or mistakes be sometimes
committed, in point either of granting or gain-
ing indulgences, through the remissness or igno-
rance of particular persons, contrary to the an-
cient custom and discipline of the Church;
such abuses or mistakes cannot rationally be
charged on the Church, nor rendered matter of
derision, in prejudice to her faith and doctrine.
4. Catholicks hold there is a Purgatory, that
is to say, a place or state, where souls departing
this life, with remission of their sins, as to the
eternal guilt or pain, yet obnoxious to some
temporal punishment still remaining due, and
not perfectly freed from the blemish of some
289
venial defects, or coordinations, (as idle words,
&c. not liable to damnation) are purged before
their admittance into Heaven, where nothing
that is defiled can enter. Furthermore,
5. Catholicks also hold, That such souls, so
detained in purgatory, being the living members
of Christ Jesus, are relieved by the prayers and
suffrages of their fellow-members here on earth :
but where this place is ; Of what nature or qua-
lity the pains are ; How long each soul is de-
tained there ; After what manner the suffrages
made in their behalf are applyed ; Whether by
way of satisfaction or intercession j &c. are
questions superfluous, and impertinent as to
faith.
6. No man, though just, can merit either an
increase of sanctity or happiness in this life, or
eternal glory in the next, independent of the
merits and passion of Christ; nevertheless in
and by the merits of Christ Jesus, the good
works of a just man, proceeding from grace and
charity, are acceptable to God, so far forth as to
be, through his goodness and sacred promise,
truly meritorious of eternal life.
7. It is an article of the Catholick faith, That
in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist,
there is truly and really contained the body of
Christ, which was delivered for us, and his bloud,-
which was shed for the remission of sins ■> the
substance of bread and wine, being by the
U
290
powerful words of Christ, changed into the sub-
stance ofhis blessed body and bloud, the species
or accidents of bread and wine still remaining.
Thus,
8. Christ is not present in this sacrament, ac-
cording to his natural way of existence, that is,
with extension of parts, in order to place, &c,
but after a supernatural manner, one and the
same in many places, and whole in every part of
the symbols. This therefore is a real, substan-
tial, yet sacramental presence of Christ's body
and bloud, not exposed to the external senses,
nor obnoxious to corporeal contingences.
9. Neither is the body of Christ in this holy
sacrament, seperated from his bloud, or his bloud
from his body, or either of both disjoyned from
his soul and divinity, but all and whole living
Jesus is entirely contained under either species ;
so that whosoever receiveth under one kind, is
truly partaker of the whole sacrament, and no
wise deprived either of the body or bloud of
Christ. True it is,
10. Our Saviour Jesus Christ left unto us his
body and blood, under two distinct species or
kinds ; in doing of which, he instituted not only
a sacrament, but also a sacrifice; a commemo-
rative sacrifice distinctly shewing his death or
bloudy passion, until he come. For as the sa-
crifice of the cross was performed by a distinct
effusion of bloud, so is the same sacrifice com-
291
memorated in that of the altar, by a distinction
of the symbols. Jesus therefore is here given
not only to us, but for us; and the Church
thereby enriched with a true, proper, and propi-
tiatory sacrifice, usually termed mass.
11. Catholicks renounce all divine worship,
and adoration of images or pictures. God alone
we worship and adore ; nevertheless we make
use of pictures, and place them in churches and
oratories, to reduce our wandring thoughts, and
enliven our memories towards heavenly things.
And farther we allow a certain honour and ve-
neration to the picture of Christ, of the Virgin
Mary, &c. beyond what is due to every pro-
phane figure ; not that we believe any divinity
or vertue in the pictures themselves, for which
they ought to be honoured, but because the ho-
nour given to the pictures is referred to the pro-
totype, or things represented. In like manner,
12. There is a kind of honour and veneration
respectively due to the Bible, to the cross, to the
name of Jesus, to churches, to the sacraments,
&c, as things peculiarly appertaining to God ;
also to the glorified saints in heaven, as domestick
friends of God - 3 yea, to kings, magistrates, and
superiors on earth, as the vicegerents of God.
To whom honour is due, honour may be given,
without any derogation to the majesty of God,
or that divine worship appropriate to him. Fur-
thermore,
U 2
292
13. Catholicks believe, That the blessed saints
in heaven, replenished with charity, pray for
us their fellow-members here on earth ; that they
rejoyce at our conversion ; that seeing God,
they see and know in him all things suitable to
their happy state ; that God is inclinable to hear
their requests made in our behalf, and for their
sakes granteth us many favours ; that therefore
it is good and profitable to desire their interces-
sion; and that this manner of invocation is no
more injurious to Christ our Mediator, nor su-
perabundant in itself, than it is for one Christian
to beg the prayers and assistance of another in
this world. Notwithstanding all which, Catho-
licks are taught not so to rely on the prayers of
others, as to neglect their own duty to God ; in
imploring his divine mercy and goodness ; in
mortifying the deeds of the flesh ; in despising
the world ; in loving and serving God and their
neighbour ; in following the footsteps of Christ
our Lord, who is the way, the truth, and the
life : to whom be honour and glory for ever and
ever, Amen."
It will appear, upon examination, that the
doctrines contained in the foregoing extract are
strictly conformable to the decisions of the
Council of Trent; the Creed of Pius IV. ; the
Exposition of Bossuet ; Gother's Papist Misre-
presented; the writings of Bishop Challoner;
293
the acknowledged Cathechisms, and other
books of public instruction in the Catholic
Church. From these various sources of inform-
ation, therefore, I will lay before the reader a more
detailed account of the leading articles of the
Catholic faith. But, first, let us briefly notice
a few points in which the Church of Rome agrees
with all other Churches that have separated from
her communion ; ana" also remark that leading
article of all religion which immediately regards
the Supreme Object of divine adoration, in
which, likewise, Roman Catholics agree with a
majority of the Reformed Churches, but differ
from some of them.
The points in which the church of Rome
is agreed with all other churches, are more in
number and importance than many Protestants
are apt to suppose, or willing to allow. Indeed,
if <c each distinction of Christians" would fol-
low the excellent advice of Mr. Butler,* and
" earnestly wish to find an agreement between
themselves and their fellow Christians," the
points of dispute would be considerably lessen-
ed ; and, even wherein they should still continue
to differ, much of that acrimony by which a
large majority of religious disputants are at pre-
sent so shamefully characterized, would be ef-
fectually destroyed. It is sufficient to the pre-
sent purpose to transcrihe, from the little work
Life of Fenelon, p. 236.
294
just quoted, what the enlightened and truly
Catholic author has said on the " essential
articles of the Christian religion," in which all
Christians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Cal-
vinists, and Unitarians, are agreed : — " All
Christians," says he, " believe — 1st. That there
is one God : 2d. That he is a Being of infinite
perfection : 3d. That he directs all things by
his providence : 4th. That it is our duty to
love him with all our hearts, and our neighbour
as ourselves : 5th. That it is our duty to repent
of the sins we commit : 6th. That God par-
dons the truly penitent : 7th. That there is a
future state of rewards and punishments, when
all mankind shall be judged according to their
works : 8th. That God sent his Son into the
world, to be its Saviour, the author of eternal
salvation to all that obey him : 9th. That he
is the true Messiah : 10th. That he worked
miracles, suffered, died, and rose again, as is
related in the four gospels: 11th. That he will
hereafter make a second appearance on the
earth, raise all mankind from the dead, judge
the world in righteousness, bestow eternal life
on the virtuous, and punish the workers of ini-
quity." When it is considered, that, though
Roman Catholics, in common with all other
Christians, maintain all the above-named " es-
sential articles of religion^" and that they hold
no other tenet in direct opposition to any one of
them, it is unaccountable that so much mistake
should have gone abroad, on the subject of the
Catholic faith.
295
The points of doctrine which Catholics
maintain, in common with a majority of the
Reformed Churches, but which are denied by
some Protestants, are also numerous and impor-
tant. Besides the Catholic articles just mention-
ed, they hold the necessity of believing in a Tri-
nity of Persons in the Deity, equal in power, wis-
dom, and glory. The following reasoning on,
and illustration of, this ineffable mystery, which
the Author of our religion did not see proper to
reveal, or explain, to his immediate disciples,
is taken from one of the books* acknowledged
as authority in the Catholic church : " Of the
Mysterie of the blessed Trinity." 1st. Was God
solitarie and all alone before the creation of the
world ? — No j he was from all eternity the most
sacred company of the blessed Trinity: for as he
is the cause of all fruitfulness in creatures, so is
he first of all most fruitful within himself, in re-
gard of his fecundity, both in his understanding
and in his will ; and, therefore, although there
were no more things but himself, and he him-
self was but one thing, yet this one thing was
always existent with three personalities. And
this is that which we call the mystery of the
blessed Trinity and Unity of God.
2d. How can this be ? — It is a thing which
* *' A Declaration of the Principall Pointes of Christian
Doctrine, gathered out of diverse Catechismes, and set forth
by the English Priests duelling in Tournay Collcdge/' p. 15,
et. seq. Printed at Paris, A. D. 1647.
396
we cannot comprehend : for as God himself is
incomprehensible to us, so is all that which is
in God, and particularly this mystery of the
most blessed Trinity.
3d. Is there no example to help us to con-
ceive this mystery ? — Yes ; it may, in some sort,
be exemplified in a fountain, which produceth
a river, and the river and it together, a lake : for
the lake, the river, and the fountain, are dis-
tinguished from one another, and yet, the water,
by which they are all constituted, is one and the
same, in every one of them.
4th. What, then, meaneth the mystery of the
Unity and Trinity of God ? — It meaneth, that
in God there is only one divinity, or, as we say,
essence and divine nature ; which, nevertheless,
is in three divine persons, who are called Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, and so there is but one
God, and every person is truly that one God.
5th. Wherefore are the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost, three distinct persons ? — Be-
cause they have three distinct notions; for though
the being of the Godhead be most single and
indivisible, and, consequently, the self-same in
all three ; yet the manner of this being is not
the same, but each one hath his special manner
of being, which cannot be common to the rest.
For the Father is the fountain from whence the
other two persons do proceed, and he hath no
297
Source himself to proceed from, and, therefore,
he produceth, but is not produced. The Son
proceedeth from the Father, and only from him.
The Holy Ghost proceedeth both from the
Father and the Son. And hence it ariseth, that
the three persons are distinguished (though not
divided) one from another : and, therefore,
though we cannot say, that the Godhead of the
Son proceedeth from the Godhead of the Father,
or the Godhead of the Holy Ghost from the
Godhead of the Father and the Son ; yet we are
bound to believe, that the person of the Son pro-
ceedeth from the person of the Father, and the
person of the Holy Ghost, from the persons of
the Father and the Son.
6th. How doth the Son proceed from the
Father ? — He is not made, nor created, but be-
gotten of his Father's own substance, by his
understanding. For the Father knowing him-
self by an infinite knowledge, produceth by his
understanding, a most perfect word, or expres-
sion of himself; which is his Son co-eternal, and
equal in all things to himself, and must needs
possess the same nature with him, because he
is produced of his own substance.
7th. Why is he called his Son ? — Because his
production is a true generation. For as the end
of generation in creatures is to make a thing like
in nature to that from which it proceeds, so doth
the word of the divine understanding produced
298
through the force of the Father's intellectual
nature, by the manner of its production na-
turally express the thing which is understood,
which is God the Father himself.
8th. Hath God the Father but one Son, be-
gotten of his own substance ? — No ; neither can
he have anymore than one: for it is otherwise in
God than in men; because no man can give all
that he himself is to any son, and therefore he
may have many children ; but God Almighty
doth give his own substance so perfectly to his
son by generation, as that he giveth him all that
is in himself, and can be communicated ; inso-
much that there remaineth nothing to be given
by way of generation to any other.
9th. How doth the Holy Ghost proceed from
the Father and the Son ? — He doth proceed from
them both, as from one only source, and not as
made or created, nor as begotten, but produced
through the will by an ineffable way, which di-
vines term spi ration.
10th. What is spiration ? — It is a breathing
or impulse of the will, by which it expresseth its
affection : for the Father loving his Son infinitely,
as being his only begotten, and the Son his Fa-
ther, as the fountain from whom he proceedeth,
they produce a mutual bond of love, whereby
the Father and Son are ineffably linked toge-
ther : and this is the Holy Ghost, the third
299
person of the blessed Trinity, eternal God, and
equal to both the other two persons.
11th. Why are these three persons one only
God ? — Because they have one self-same es-
sence, one self-same power, one self-same wis-
dom, one self-same goodness, one self-same un-
derstanding, and one self-same will.
12th. Did then all these three divine persons
create the world ? — Yes, for all three having
from all eternity the same power, the same will,
and the same understanding, whatsoever is done
out of God by one, is done by all."*
The Church is defined by the Council of Trent
to be the one, visible, holy, and Catholic, that is,
universal Church, established by God on a solid
* It is hardly necessary to remark, that this doctrine of the
Trinity is admitted into the creeds of a very large majority
of the Reformed Churches. It is, however, denied by many
of the Churches of Transylvania, and other places, remnants
of the Polish Socinians. At home, the Trinity is rejected by
the following sects: Arians, Modern Socinians, Humani-
tarians, or Unitarians, Sabellians, Swedenborgians,f and by
a very large portion of Quakers. There are now many cler-
gymen of the Church of England who are reputed Anti-Tri-
nitarians ; and the opponents of this tenet seem of late years
to have very rapidly increased in this country ; though the
penal laws are very severe against htreticks of this de-
scription.
t This modern sect believe that Jesus Christ is the only true God -
they are a sort of Modalists.
300
basis, who has bestowed on it the power of open-
ing the gates of heaven to all true believers, and
shutting them to all heretics and infidels: it
likewise has the power of pardoning and absolv-
ing sins, and excommunicating all such as are
disobedient*. — This Church is both triumphant
and militant : the former is the illustrious socie-
ty of those blessed spirits and saints, who hav-
ing triumphed over the world, the flesh and the
devil, enjoy everlasting happiness in peace and
security : the latter is tb,e congregation of all
true believers upon earth, who are constantly
obliged, during their whole lives, to resist the
world, the flesh and the devil. — Jesus Christ is
the immediate governor of that part of the
Church which is triumphant in the heavens ; but
as the Church militant required a visible head
or director, he has substituted one in his room,
who is accounted, by all true Catholics, as the
sole and sovereign depository of the faith, and
perpetual director of the belief of all true Chris-
tians,"|- who is commissioned to promote some of
them to the highest preferments in heaven, J and
to confer on others such briefs as will one day
entitle them thereunto : § it must not here be
objected, that he breaks in upon the prerogative
* Catechism of the Council of Trent,
f Monsieur Picart's Religious Ceremonies and Customs of
all Nations, vol i. p. 284.
% The Canonization of Saints.
§ Beatification.
301
of Jesus Christ, since on the contrary no true
believer can enter into heaven, but through the
recommendation of this his visible vicegerent.
Besides the ecclesiastical laws and canons,
which are the bulwark of the constitution of the
Roman Church, there are other institutions of
that Church more especially calculated for pre-
serving an uniformity of faith among Christians.
These formularies or creeds are chiefly three,
viz. that called the Apostles, the Nicene, and
the Athanasian, which it is not necessary here
to repeat.
SECTION II.
Summary of the Catholic Doctrines, Opinions, S(c.
as contained in the Creed of Pope Pius IV., the
Council of Trent, and other Authorities.
What follows is a summary of the doctrines,
discipline, and ceremonies of the Church of
Rome, as contained in Pope Pius's creed,* and
as those doctrines, &c. are expounded and en-
forced by various Authorities.
* I omit the twelve first Articles : they are composed from
the Nicene Creed, and are admitted by most Protestants.
302
* c Art. XIII. I most firmly admit and embrace
the apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and
and all other observations and constitutions of
the same Church."*
They affirm that divine truth, which we are
all bound to receive, to be partly written, and
partly delivered by word of mouth ; which is
more fully expressed in the preface to the Ro-
man catechism, drawn up by order of the
Church of Rome, where we find these words to-
wards the conclusion of it : — " The whole doc-
trine to be delivered to the faithful is contained
in the word of God, which word of God is distri-
buted into scripture andtradition."f
" Art. XIV. I do admit the holy scriptures in
the same sense that Holv Mother Church doth,
whose business it is to judge of the true sense
and interpretation of them, and I will interpret
them according to the unanimous consent of the
fathers."!
The Council of Trent decreed that the scrip-
ture alone is not a rule of faith without tradition,
* Pope Pius's Creed, Art. xiii.
f Romish Catechism.
+ Pope Pius's Creed, Art. xiv.
303
and traditions are to be received with the like
regard and veneration as the scriptures.*
The author of the Profession of Catholic faith,
on the article of scripture and tradition, asks,
" Cl. What do you believe concerning the
scriptures ? — A. That they are to be received
by all Christians as the infallible word of God.
" Q. Do you look upon the scriptures to be
clear and plain in all points necessary to salva-
tion ? — A. No.
" Q. How then is the danger to be avoided ? —
A. By taking the meaning and interpretation of
the scripture from the Church, and by apostolical
and ecclesiastical tradition.
" Q. What do you mean by apostolical tradi-
tion ? — A. All such points of faith or Church dis-
cipline which were taught or established by the
apostles.
" Q. What difference is there between apos-
tolical and ecclesiastical traditions ? — A. Apos-
tolical traditions are those which had their origin
or institution from the apostles, such as infant-
baptism, the Lord's day, (or first day of the
* Con. Trident, scss. iv.
304
week) receiving the sacrament, fasting, &c. Ec-
clesiastical traditions are such as received their
institution from the Church, such as holidays,
feasts, and fasts.
" Q,. How are we to know what traditions are
apostolical, and what not? — A. In the same
manner, and by the same authority, by which
we know what scriptures are apostolical, and
what not ; that is, by the authority of the apos-
tolical Church, guided by the unerring spirit of
God.
" Q. But why should not the scripture alone be
the rule of our faith, without having recourse to
apostolical traditions ?- — A. First, Because with-
out the help of apostolical traditions we cannot
so much as tell what is scripture, and what not.
Second, Because infant-baptism, and several
other necessary articles, are either not at all
contained in scripture, or at least are not plain
in the scripture without the help of tradition.
Tor Christ has left his Church, and her pas-
tors and teachers, to be our guides in all contro-
versies relating to religion, and consequently of
holy writ."*
"Art. XV. I do profess and believe that there
* Profession of Catholic Faith, p. 19.
305
are seven sacraments, truly and properly so
called, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and
necessary for the salvation of mankind, though
not all of them to every one, viz. baptism, con-
firmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction,
orders, and matrimony j and that they do con-
fer grace ; and that of these, confirmation, and
orders, cannot be repeated without sacrilege. — I
also receive and admit the received and approved
rites of the Catholic Church, in her solemn ad-
ministration of all the aforesaid sacraments. "
A sacrament is an institution of Christ, con-
sisting in some outward sign or ceremony, by
which grace is given to the soul of the worthy
receiver.*
Baptism is a sacrament instituted by Christ,
according to his commission, and from the belief
and practice of the Church of Christ in all ages,
and of the apostles themselves, who administered
baptism in water. f
Confirmation is a sacrament wherein by the
invocation of the Holy Ghost, and the imposi-
tion of the bishop's hands, with the unction of
holy chrism, a person receives the grace of the
* Profession of the Catholic Faith, p. 15, 16, and 17.
t See the Xth Article of this Creed. Also, Profession of
Catholic Faith, p. 20.
X
306
Holy Ghost, and a strength, in order to the pro-
fessing of his faith.*
Confirmation is that which makes us perfect
Christians, and impresses an indelible character
after baptism, and imparts to us the spirit of
fortitude, whereby we are enabled to profess
Christianity even at the hazard of our lives ; and
is therefore deemed a sacrament by the Church. t
Penance or infliction, the act of using or sub-
mitting to punishment, public or private, as an
expression of repentance for sin, is deemed one
of the seven sacraments.
When the question is asked in the "Grounds,"
&c. What do you mean by the sacrament of
penance ? — The answer is, Confession of sins
with a sincere repentance, and the priest's abso-
lution. f
Penance is elsewhere defined to be, " A sa-
crament, consisting in some outward sign or ce-
remony, by which grace is given to the soul of
the worthy receiver, instituted by Christ when,
breathing upon the disciples, he gave them the
Holy Ghost to remit and retain sins j that is, to
reconcile the faithful fallen into sin after bap-
* Calmet's Diet. Article of Confirmation,
f Grounds of the Catholic Faith, p. 21,
507
tism : it differeth from baptism not only in mat-
ter and form, but also, because the minister of
baptism is not a judge in that ordinance ;
whereas after baptism the sinner presents himself
before the tribunal of the priest as guilty, to
be set at liberty by his sentence : it is, however,
as necessary as baptism : the form consists in the
words, " I do absolve thee." Contrition, con-
fession, and satisfaction, are parts of penance,
and the effect is reconciliation with God.
Extreme unction is a sacrament, and to be ad-
ministered when persons are in imminent dan-
ger, and last of all to be applied.*
" Q. What do you mean by extreme unction r
— -A. You have the full description of it in
James v. 14, 15. " Is any sick among you, let
him call for the elders (the priests) of the Church,
and let them pray over him, anointing him with
oil in the name of the Lord ; and the prayer of
faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise
him up, and if he have committed sins, they
shall be forgiven him."f
Orders. " If any one shall say, that orders or
holy ordination is not truly and properly a sa-
crament, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, or
* Cone. Trident, session xiv. <. \.iii.
t Grounds of the Catholic Faun, p. 23.
X 2
308
that it is a human contrivance invented by men,
who were ignorant of ecclesiastical affairs, or
that it is only a particular rite of chusing minis-
ters of the word of God, and of sacraments, let
him be anathema 5* — or that the Holy Ghost
is not given by holy ordination, let him be
anathema."f
<f Orders," savs the author of the Profession of
the Catholic faith, " is a sacrament instituted by
Christ, by which bishops, priests, &c. are con-
secrated to their respective functions, and re-
ceive grace to discharge them well."
Matrimony. " If any man says that this is not
truly and properly one of the seven sacraments,
instituted by Jesus Christ, but that it is an
institution only of the Church, and does not
confer grace, let him be anathema.J" " And
if any man says, a churchman in holy orders
may marry or contract marriage, and that
when it is contracted it is good and valid, not-
withstanding any ecclesiastical law to the con-
trary, or that any who have vowed continence
may contract marriage, let him be ana-
thema.§"
. * Dupin's Hist, of the Council of Trent, Session xxiii."
Canon iii. t Ibid. Canon iv.
f Session xxiv. Canon i. v § Canon ix.
309
" Art. XVI. I embrace and receive every
thing that hath been defined and declared by the
holy Council of Trent, concerning original sin
and justification."*
" Good works do truly deserve eternal life, and
whosoever holds the contrary is accursedf."
The Council of Trent declares, that all of the
human kind have lost their holiness and righte-
ousness by the sin of Adam, J making an excep-
tion for the Virgin Mary.
" Eternal life ought to be proposed to the
children of God, both as a grace mercifully pro-
mised, and as a reward faithfully bestowed on
them for their good works and merits. "||
" The good works of a justified person are
not so the gifts of God, that they are not also
the merits of the justified person; and that he,
being justified by the good works performed by
him, through the grace of God and merits of
Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does
truly merit increase of grace and eternal life.§"
Bossuet, on the doctrine of merit, observes,
* Pope Pius's Creed, Article XVI.
t Trid. Session vi. c. xvi. Canon xxxii.
% Session v. section 2.
|| Bossuet's Exposition of the Catholic Catechism.
§ Con. Trid, Session vi. Canon xxxii.
310
that the church professes her hope of salvation
to be founded in Christ alone. " We openly de-
clare," says he, " that we cannot be acceptable
to God but in and through Jesus Christ ; nor
do we apprehend how any other sense can be
imputed to our belief, of which our daily peti-
tion to God for pardon, through his grace, in the
name of Jesus Christ, may serve as a proof."*
" Art. XVII. I do also profess, that in the mass
there is offered unto God, a true, proper, and
propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the dead ;
and that, in the most holy sacrament of the
eucharist, there is truly, really, and substan-
tially the body and blood, together with the soul
and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ j and that
there is a conversion made of the whole sub-
stance of the bread into the body, and of the
whole substance of the wine into the blood;
which conversion, the whole Catholic church
call Transubstantiation."
" This sacrifice was only ordained as a repre-
sentation of that which was once accomplished
on the cross, to perpetuate the memory of it for
ever, and to apply unto us the salutary virtue
of it for the absolution of those sins which we
daily commit. f"
* Picart Ceremon. vol. i. p. 260, where the quotations are
larger.
f Modest and True Account of the chief Points in Contro-
versy, p. 108.
311
The " Catholic Christian" urges, in support of
this doctrine, that our church catechism, in
answer to the question, What is the inward part
or thing signified ? says, the body and blood of
Christ, which is verily and indeed taken and
received by the faithful in the Lord's supper.*
And the council of Trent, decrees " that, if
any one says, that a true and proper sacrifice is
not offered up to God at the mass, or that to be
offered is any thing else than Jesus Christ given
to be eaten, let him be anathema."
" Canon III. If any one says, that the sacrifice
of the mass is only a sacrifice of praise and thanks-
giving, or a bare memorial of the sacrifice,
which was completed upon the cross, and that
it is not propitiatory nor profitable to any but
him that receives it, and that it ought not to be
offered for the living and for the dead, for their
sins, their punishments, their satisfactions, and
their other necessities, let him be anathema."
" Canon IX. If any one says, that the usage
of the church of Rome, to pronounce part of
the canon, and the words of consecration, with
a low voice, ought to be condemned ; or that
* Preface to the Catholic Christian,
t Sess. 22. Can. 1.
312
the mass ought only to be celebrated in the vul-
gar tongue j and that water ought not to be
mixed with the wine, which is to be offered in
the cup ; because it is against the institution of
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema."
These definitions of faith were followed with
a decree to enforce them.*
When it is asked, in the Catechism, What is
the Catholic doctrine as to the mass? It is
answered, The consecration and oblation of the
body and blood of Christ, under the sacramen-
tal veils or appearances of bread and wine,
wherein is offered a true, proper, and propiti-
atory sacrifice for the living and the dead.f
The church of Rome declares, that, upon the
priest's pronouncing these words, Hoc est corpus
maun, the bread and wine in the eucharist are
transubstantiated into the natural body and
blood of Christ, the species or accidents only of
the bread and wine remaining, and has made it
an article to be believed under an anathema. J
That in the sacrifice of the mass, Christ is
* Dupin's Eccles. Hist, of the Sixteenth Century, b. iv.
ch. xviii.
•J- Grounds of the Catholic Doctrine, p. 31.
% Concil. Trident. Sess. 13, de Real. Pres.
313
offered as often as that is celebrated ; and that,
though therein he be unbloodily offered, yet it is
a true propitiatory sacrifice for the sins both of
the living and dead, and denounces the person
accursed that denies any part of this.*
Solitary masses, wherein the priest communi-
cates alone, are approved and commended, and
whosoever saith they are unlawful, and ought
to be abrogated, is accursed, f
" Art. XVIII. And I believe, that under one
kind only, whole and entire, Christ is taken and
received."
Bread and wine, after consecration, are turn-
ed into the substance of Christ's body and blood,
without changing the species. — And the people
are forbidden to receive the sacrament in both
kinds. J
The council of Constance decreed, that Christ
did institute this sacrament in both kinds, and
that the faithful in the primitive church did re-
ceive in both kinds : yet, that the practice of
receiving in one kind was highly reasonable,
they appointed the continuance of consecration
* Cone. Trident. Sess. 22. cap. I.
t Ibid. can. viii.
i Cone. Trident. Sess. 13.
314
in both kinds, and of giving to the laity only in
one kind, since Christ was entire, and truly
under one kind.* And they assigned these fur-
ther reasons, lest the blood of Christ should be
spilt — lest the wine kept for the sick should fret
— lest wine may not always be had — or lest some
may not be able to bear the smell or taste.
Let their own words testify for them :f * f In
the name of the holy and undivided Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen. This
present sacred, general council, declares, de-
crees, and determines, that, although Christ
instituted and administered to his disciples this
venerable sacrament after supper, under both
kinds of bread and wine, yet this, notwithstand-
ing the laudable authority of sacred canons, and
the approved custom of the church, hath main-
tained, and doth maintain, that such a sacra-
ment as this ought not to be made after supper,
nor to be received by the faithful otherwise than
fasting, excepting in case of infirmity, or other
necessity granted or admitted by law, or by the
church : and since, for avoiding some dangers
and scandals, the custom has been rationally
introduced, that though this sacrament was in
the primitive church received by the faithful
* Cone. Constan. Sess. 13, held A. D. 1414.
t Cone. Constan. apud M. l'Abbe, torn. xii. p. 100.
315
under both kinds, and afterwards by the makers
of it under both kinds, and by the laity only
under the species of bread ; such a custom as
this ought to be accounted a law, which must
not be rejected, or at pleasure changed, without
the authority of the church. They who assert
the contrary are to be driven away as heretics,
and severely punished by the diocesans of the
places, or their officials, or by the inquisitors of
heretical pravity."
The council of Florence has the following pa-
ragraph, in relation both to this and the eucha-
rist: "The priest, speaking in the name of Christ,
maketh this sacrament ; for, by virtue of the
very words themselves, the bread is changed
into the body of Christ, and the substance of the
wine into his blood : yet so that whole Christ is
contained under the species of bread, and whole
under the species of wine ; also in every part of
the consecrated host and consecrated wine, when
a separation is made, there is whole Christ."*
" Art. XIX. I do firmly believe, that there is a
purgatory, and that the souls kept prisoners there
do receive help by the suffrage of the faithful. "f
That the souls of the patriarchs and holy men,
who departed this life before the crucifixion of
* L'Abbe Council, torn. xiii. p. 537.
t Pope Pius's Creed.
316
Christ, were kept as in prison, in an apartment
of hell, without pain. — That Christ did really go
into local hell, and delivered the captive souls
out of this confinement.* — Some of the fathers
assert, that our Saviour descended into hell, went
thither specially, and delivered the souls of the
fathers out of that mansion."!
Bellarmine says, " there is a purgatory after
this life, where the souls of those that are not
purged, nor have satisfied for their sins here, are
to be purged, and give satisfaction, unless their
time be shortened by the prayers, alms, and
masses of the living."J
The council of Trent says, that souls who die
in a state of grace, but are not sufficiently
purged from their sins, go first into purgatory,
a place of torment, bordering near upon hell,
from which their deliverance may be expedited
by the suffrages, that is, prayers, alms, and masses,
said and done by the faithful. §
" Souls are to continue in purgatory till
they have made full satisfaction for their sins,
and are thoroughly purged from them; and
* Bellarmine de Christo, lib. iv. cap. 11, 12.
f Rhem. Annot. on Luke xvi. 27.
X Bellarmine de Purgat. lib. ii. c. vi.
§ Cone. Trident, sess, xxv.
317
whoever says that there is no debt of temporal
punishment to be paid, either in this world or
in purgatory, before they can be received into
heaven, is accursed."*
In fine, "the Catholic church, being instructed
by the Holy Ghost, having always taught, pur-
suant to the holy scriptures, and the ancient
tradition of the fathers, that there is a purgatory,
and that the souls there detained are comforted
by the suffrages of the faithful, especially by
the acceptable sacrifice of the altar, the holy
council commandeth bishops to take particular
care that the faith and belief of the faithful, con-
cerning purgatory, conformable to the holy doc-
trine handed down to us by holy fathers and
holy councils, be believed, and every where so
taught and preached." f
<( Art. XX. I do believe that the saints, reign-
ing together with Christ, are to be invoked,
and that they do offer prayers unto God for
us, and that their relicks are to be had in vene-
ration."!
In answer to this question,§ "What is the Ca-
* Concil. Trident, sess. vi. can. xxx.
t The decree of the council, at the opening of the 25th
sess.
% Pope Pius's Creed, article xx;
§ Grounds of the Catholic Doctrine, p. 37—38.
318
tholic doctrine, touching the veneration and
invocation of saints ?" The answer is, we
are taught, 1st, " That there is an honour and
veneration due to the angels and saints ; —
2d, That they offer prayers to God for us ; —
3d, That it is good and profitable to invoke
them, that is, to have recourse to their inter-
cession and prayers ; — 4th, That their relicks
are to be had in veneration."
When the reason of it is asked, the answer is,
" Because the church, in all ages, has paid this
honour and veneration to the saints, by erect-
ing churches and keeping holidays in their me-
mory : a practice which the English Protestants
have also retained."
The church, says Bossuet, in his Exposition
on the Creed, in telling us, that it is beneficial
to pray to the saints, teaches us to pray to them
in that spirit of charity, and according to that
order of brotherly love, which inclines us to re-
quest the assistance of our brethren living upon
earth ; and the catechism of the council of Trent
teaches us to beg of them to be our advocates,
only using this phrase, Fray for us. And in
vindication of this their sentiment and practice,
they allege, that the church of England still
retains this collect upon the day of St. Michael
and All Angels : " O everlasting God, who has
ordained and constituted the service of angels in
319
a wonderful order, mercifully grant, that as thy
holy angels always do thee service in heaven, so
by thy appointment they may succour and de-
fend us on earth."*
"Art.XXI. I do firmly believe, that the images
of Christ, of the blessed Virgin, the mother of
God, and of other saints, ought to be had and
retained, and that due honour and veneration
ought to be paid unto them.f"
All the devotion paid to their saints extends
no farther than to desire their prayers, and that
the pictures and images of them, which we see
in their churches, are no more than mere me-
morials, designed to express the esteem which
they retain for the persons so represented, or as
helps to raise their affections to heavenly things ;
every child amongst them knows this to be
true. J
" Art. XXII. I do affirm, that the power of
indulgences was left by Christ in the church,
and that the use of them is very beneficial to
Christian people. §"
* Plain and Rational Account of the Catholic Faith, p. 48.
Book of Common Prayer,
t Pope Pius's Creed, art. xxi.
X Prof, of Cath. Faith, p. 39.
§ Pope Pius's Creed, art. xxii.
320
Indulgences. — The council of Trent proposes
nothing more relative to indulgences, according
to Mons. Bossuet, but that the church had the
power of granting them from Jesus Christ, and
that the practice of them is wholesome ; which
custom, that council adds, ought still to be pre-
served, though with moderation, lest ecclesias-
tical discipline should be weakened by too great
a toleration.
By indulgences granted by the popes and
prelates of the church, persons are discharged
from temporal punishment, here and in pur-
gatory.*
<c Plenary indulgences, or Full Release, from
the weightier satisfactions of Penance, are of-
fered by the Church to the faithful in this king-
dom, at the following seasons of the year : — I.
From Christmas to the Epiphany, or Twelfth-
day, inclusive!/. II. From the first to the se-
cond Sunday in Lent. III. At Easter, viz. From
Palm to Lord Sunday, inclusively. IV. From
Whitsunday till the octave of Corpus Christi,
inclusively. V. On and during the octave of
the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul. VI. From the
Sunday preceding the Festival of the Assump-
tion of the B. V. M. to its octave, the 22d of
* Cone. Trident, sess. xxv. Bull, p. ii. 4.
321
August. VII. From the Sunday preceding the
Festival of St. Michael to the Sunday following.
VIII. From the Sunday preceding the Festival
of All Saints to the 8th day of November.
When the Festivals of the Assumption, St. Mi-
chael, or All Saints, fall on a Sunday, the in-
dulgence does not commence before the festival.
Conditions of the I. III. VI. and VII. are 1. To
confess their sins with a sincere repentance to a
priest approved by the Bishop. 2. Devoutly and
worthily to receive the holy communion. 3. To
visit some chapel or oratory, where the eucha-
ristic mysteries are celebrated, and there offer
up their prayers for the peace and welfare of
the Church of God. 4. That they may be in
a disposition of mind to assist the poor with alms
in proportion to their abilities ; or to frequent
catechisms or sermons ; or to visit and comfort
the sick, or such as are near their end, if they
have the opportunity.
Conditions of II. IV. and VIII. are, 1. To
confess their sins with a sincere repentance to
a priest approved by a bishop. 2. Devoutly
and worthily to receive the holy communion.
3. If able, to give some alms to the poor, either
on the eve, or on the day of their communion.
4. On the day of their communion, to offer up
some prayers to God for the peace and welfare
of the Catholic Church throughout the world.
For the bringing all souls to the fold of Christ.
Y
322
For the general peace of Christendom, and for
the blessing of God upon this nation.
Conditions to the V. — To the indulgences for-
merly granted, His Holiness Pope Clement
XIV. was pleased to add a new one in favour of
all the faithful living in the English mission,
who being truly penitent, and having confessed
their sins, shall worthily receive the holy com-
munion on the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul,
June 29, or on any day within the octave, and
shall for some space of time pray to God with a
sincere heart; for the conversion of infidels and
heretics, and for the propagation of the Holy
Faith."*
This is the real state of the case, with respect to
Indulgences. If some Catholics in former times
have (as it must be confessed has been the case)
abused this branch ofchurch discipline, no blame
ought to attach to their successors of the present
times. It is in the greatest degree illiberal and
unjust, to charge any body of Christians with
all the abuses to which wicked men will ever
profane even the best of doctrines. I am no
advocate for Indulgences, according to any form
yet prescribed by the Church of Rome ; but I
* See the Preface to the " Liturgy, or a Book of Common
Prayers, and Administration of Sacraments, &c." By the Rev.
Peter Gandolphy. 1812.
323
must confess it will afford me the most sincere
satisfaction, if any thing I can say to elucidate
this point, shall remove prejudice and mistake
from the minds of any of my Protestant brethren ;
and, with this view, I will extract the reasoning
and statement which a learned and pious " Mi-
nister of the Church of England"* has published
relative to the practice of granting Indulgences :
It is asked " Whether Indulgences are not
abominable, which either give leave to sin, or
grant the pardon of past sins, and these obtained
for a sum of money ?
* See " An Essay towards a Proposal for Catholic Com-
munion, wherein above sixty of the principal controverted
Points, which have hitherto divided Christendom, being
call'd over, 'tis examined how many of them may, and ought
to be, laid aside, and how few remains to be accommodated,
for the effecting a general Peace. By a Minister of the
Church of England." This most excellently .well-meant
Essay was first printed in 1704 ; and was re-printed, by Faul-
der, in 1801. My own religious sentiments on some points
of primary importance, being so very remote from those held
by the author of this valuable work, it cannot be supposed
that I should concur in all the writer's reasoning and conclu-
sions ; but, I must confess, it appears to me, that were the regu-
lar and moderate clergy of the establishment to peruse this book
with candour, and earnestly strive to adopt its maxims and
spirit, a union of the two Churches of Rome and of England
would soon be the consequence. Were I a clergyman of the
national church, I would much rather be the author of such
a work as this little Essay, than even have the praise of a
Tillotson, a Burnet, or a Hooker.
Y 2
324
" This was the opinion I formerly had of In-
dulgences ; but since I began to follow other
measures, besides taking upon trust, upon dili-
gent examination I have found, that Indulgences
in the Church of Rome are neither pardons for
sin nor leave to commit sin, but the same which
has been practised in the purest ages of the
Church ; and that is, a remission of some part of
those canonical penances, which were wont to
be inflicted for some greater crimes. This power
of binding and loosing we own in the Church,
and retain it in our canons j ar d 'tis yet in force
in respect of some crimes. And Dr. Cave shews
it to have been practis'd in the Primitive Church.*
The Church of Rome proposes no more in her de-
finitions of faith, than that the power of granting
Indulgences is given to the Church by Jesus Christ,
find the use of them beneficial to the faithful.
This is all that is proposed as a term of com-
munion by that Church, which being according
to the doctrine of our own, I don't see any rea-
son to divide upon this account. Especialty
since the Council of Trent,f in its decree of In-
dulgences, refers to antiquity, and to what has
been established by antient Synods : In which
nothing more was taught besides the dispensing,
upon due motives, with the rigour of discipline;
* Prim. Christ, p. 3. c. 5. p. 369. 374.
t Sess. 25. c. 21. de Reform.
325
for by this it appears, there's no other meaning
of Indulgences imposed upon any, besides that
which was primitive, and we still retain.
These Indulgences having been formerly call-
ed pardons, I presume, has been the occasion of
their having been reputed pardons for sins : and
whereas giving of alms has been generally one
condition required for gaining such Indulgences;
hence has it been thought, that the pardon of
sin was offered for money. But, upon enquiry,
I find these to be mistakes. For all books of
doctrine in the Church of Rome unanimously
teach, that there's no pardon of sin, without true
repentance, and an humble confession of sin;
and if these do not precede, no Indulgence can
avail them, in order to the pardon of their sin.
In this I am certain we join, and they require
no more for our joining with them; and there-
fore as to this point, I see great hopes of an ami-
cable accord."
It is then asked <c Whether the granting Indul-
gences for many thousand years, and such as are
found in many books, of many years' pardon, with
the release of a soul out of purgatory, granted for
saying one short prayer, or wearing some medal,
be not scandal enough to discourage all men of
sense from joining with the Church of Rome ?
The canonical penances of the Primitive
Church, I observe, were for many years; whence
326
it cannot be wondered, if the tenor of Indulgen-
ces, which are the release of such penalties, be
for many years. But as to the thousand years'
pardons, with the rest now mentioned, there are
none of these offered by any General Council,
nor have place in any profession of faith ; and,
therefore, being not imposed on any, though
never so corrupt, yet, according to our second
rule,* they are not to obstruct Communion,
since joining in communion with that Church,
does not oblige to consent to or approve any
such practices. It being as common in that
Church to disapprove the concession of Indul-
gences for frivolous causes, and some slight
work, as by others that are out of it."
Another question asked is, " Whether the doc-
trine of Indulgences was not that which obliged
Luther to depart from the Church, and under-
take a Reformation ? How then can the Reform-
ation join with it ?
* This rule is expressed as follows : " That errors in a
Church, as to matters of doctrines, or corruptions, as to mat-
ters of practice, so long as these errors and corruptions are
only suffered, but not imposed, cannot be sufficient cause of
separation : The reason is, because these things are not sins
in us, so long as we do not join with the Church in them."
I fear there is a little fallacy in this conclusion. It savours
too much of the spirit of Naaman, who prayed that when he
should in future bow down in the house of Rimmon, the
Lord would pardon him, though he had previously resolved
to " offer neither burn offering nor sacrifice unto other gods
but the Lord." See 2 Kings, v. 18.
327
By the best account of history, I find there had
been great abuses in this point of Indulgences,
such as were not less injurious than provoking •>
so that I do not wonder at Luther in making a
party against them, but think he had deserved
the applause of the Christian world, had he done
it in a canonical way. But I find, too, he was
not the only person that expressed a zeal against
such corrupt practices. Pope Innocent III. had
long before complained of them in the great
Lateran Council, an. 1215, laying the intoler-
able abuses on the Questors, or collectors in
those days. Clement V., in the Council at
Vienna, an. 1311, oensures the evil practices
of those times much more, and makes a severe
order against the wicked ministers and under-
officers of the inferior clergy, to whom the pub-
lishing of Indulgences, and collection of the
people's alms, for some publick and pious uses,
was committed. He exposes their crime in un-
dertaking, with much rashness and the delusion of
souls, to grant Indulgences, to release penances,
and deceitfully to promise to those that gave
them alms, the release of three or four of their
parents' or friends' souls out of purgatory ; re-
presenting them as great liars and cheats : and
then taking care to put an effectual stop to all
such abuses. But this is best seen in the words
of the Constitution.
Having given this character of these Questorcs:
,c Illos insuis praedicationibussimplices decipere,
328
<s & aurum extorquere, in animarum periculum,
" & plurimorum scandalum." He then goes on
thus: " Cum aliqui ex hujusmodi quaestoribus,
" sicut ad nostram audientiam est perlatum,
* c non sine multa temeritatis audacia, deceptione
* f multiplici animaruna, indulgentias populo,
" motu suo proprio, de facto concedant ; super
" votis dispensent ; in perjuriis, homicidiis, &
" peccatis aliis sibi confitentes absolvant; male
<c ablata incerta (data sibi aliqua pecuniae quan-
" titate) remittant ; tertiam aut quartam partem
" de poenitentiis injunctis relaxent ; animas tres
" vel plures parentum vel amicorum illorum qui
" eleemosynas eis conferunt, de Purgatorio (ut
" asserunt mendaciter) extrahant, et ad gaudia
<c Paradisi perducant ; benefactoribus locorum,
<c quorum questores existunt, remissionem ple-
" nariam peccatorum indulgeant ; & aliqui ex
ce ipsis, eos a poena & a culpa (ut eorum verbis
" utamur) absolvant. Nos abusus hujusmodi
" omnimode aboleri volentes, inhibemus."*
Here is confessed the origin of those extrava-
gant Indulgences above mentioned, and care
taken for removing the grand abuses, by which
those trading Questors had imposed upon the
people, and most scandalously enriched them-
selves. This care might probably have some
effect ; but where covetousness had so great a
* Constit. Clem. 1. 5. tit. 9. c. 2.
329
prey, the cure was not lasting: the like abuses
returned again, and were those with which the
Church was deformed in Luther's days. Now,
had the Church of Rome undertaken to justify
and defend such abuses, his arming the State
against the Church might have had some colour.
But although there did not appear that zeal for
so timely a reforming them, as the scandals
seemed to require, yet as Clement had done be-
fore, so did the pastors of the Church afterwards,
lament those corruptions, and take more effec-
tual care for their being removed, and their re-
turn prevented.
For the Council of Trent, complaining of the
fruitless^endeavours of preceding Councils, quite
abrogated this office of Questors, and, in abhor-
rence of their scandals, wholly abolished their
name, with all the privileges belonging to them;
and committed the publishing of such indulgen-
ces, and collecting charities, to the ordinary,
with two of the chapter joy ned with him, to be
done, nulla prorsus mercede accept a.*
And then for reforming all abuses, see what
decree it has made :f
The holy synod desires that moderation be
* Sess.21.c. 9.
t Sess. 25. c. 21 . Deer, de Indui.
330
used in granting Indulgences, according to the
antient and approved custom in the Church, lest,
by too much facility, ecclesiastical discipline be
weakened. And being solicitous, that abuses
which have crept in be reformed and corrected,
which have given occasion to hereticks of blas-
pheming the venerable name of Indulgences ; it
ordains in general by this present decree, That
all wicked lucre for obtaining them, which has
been the cause of many great abuses among the
faithful, be wholly abolished. And as for all
other abuses, which are occasioned by supersti-
tion, ignorance, irreverence, or from what other
cause soever, since they cannot be here in par-
ticular forbid, by reason of the manifold corrup-
tions of places and provinces in which they are
committed ; therefore the Synod strictly enjoy ns
all Bishops to take a particular list of such abuses
in their respective dioceses, and give a memo-
rial of them to the first provincial Synod ; that
being acknowledged by the sentence of other
Bishops, they may be forthwith laid before the
Bishop of Rome ; by whose authority and pru-
dence may be ordained what may be expedient
for the whole Church.
Thus stands this point of Indulgences, which
has been attended with great abuses : But since
the Church of Rome maintains not such abuses,
but joins with Luther, and the rest of the Reform-
ation, in using means for their being removed,
331
we ought not to make such abuses an exception
against Communion."
<c Art. XXIII. I do acknowledge the holy
Catholic and Apostolic Roman church, to be the
mother and mistress of all churches ; and I do
promise and swear true obedience to the bishop
of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, the prince
of the apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ."*
" What is the Catholic doctrine as to the
Pope's supremacy ?f — I. That St. Peter was head
of the church under Christ. II. That the Pope,
or bishop of Rome, is at present head of the
church, and Christ's vicar upon earth.
<e Q. How do we prove these propositions ? —
A. By the unanimous consent of the fathers,
and the tradition of the church, the bishops of
Rome are the successors of St. Peter, who trans-
lated his chair from Antioch to Rome, and died
bishop of Rome. Hence the see of Rome, in
all ages, is called the see of Peter, the chair of
Peter, and absolutely the see apostolic ; and in
that quality has, from the beginning, exercised
jurisdiction over all other churches, as appears
from the best records of ancient church history."
* Pope Pius's Creed, art. xxiii.
t See before, pp. 3S — 46.
332
" Q. Why do you call the Romish church the
mother and mistress of all churches? — Because
her bishop is St. Peter's successor, and Christ's
vicar upon earth, and, consequently, the father
and pastor of all the faithful j and, therefore,
this church, as being St. Peter's see, is the
mother and mistress of all churches."*
<c Art. XXIV. I do, undoubtedly, receive and
profess all other things that have been delivered,
defined, by the sacred canons and oecumenical
councils, and especially by the holy synod of
Trent, and all other things contrary hereunto;
and all heresies condemned, rejected, and ana-
thematized, by the church, I do likewise con-
demn, reject, and anathematize. "f
The Creed then concludes as follows : " I,
N.N., do at this present freely profess, and
sincerely hold this true Catholic faith, without
which no one can be saved j ; and I promise
most consistently to retain and confess the same
entire and inviolated, with God's assistance, to
the end of my life."
* The Grounds of the Catholic Faith, p. 51—52.
t Pope Pius's Creed, Art. xxiv.
. j Here is a spice of the old leaven : another sample of the
damnatory clauses. — How much better are many Christians
than their Creeds! How kind and liberal are multitudes, in
spite of their faith! and what a mercy it is, that those who
invented these damnatory sentences reserved their execution
till that period when we shall be in other hands than theirs !
323
This summary of the Catholic faith has been
collected from such authentic sources as have
come before me, and I acknowledge assistance
to have been derived here, and in other instances,
from the History of Religion,* published anony-
mously, by a Protestant writer of considerable
merit.
SECTION III.
A Commination against numerous errors and blas-
phemies. — Address of the Roman Catholics tq
Protestants.
m
I WILL next lay before the reader the sub-
stance of a little tract, j- containing a solemn
declaration and commination against certain
tenets and opinions with which some of our
brethren have so improperly charged the Roman
Catholics :
" 1. Cursed is he that commits idolatry, that
prays to images or relicks, or worships them for
* Vol. i. p. 138, et seq.
t A Vindication of the Roman Catholics, printed at Lon-
don, early in the reign of king James, and re-printed in the
year 1743, when an invasion was designed against England,
by the Pretender.
334
gods. 2. Cursed is every goddess worshipper,
that believes the Virgin Mary to be any more
than a creature ; that honours her, worships her,
or puts his trust in her as much as in God;
that believes her above her Son, or that she
can in any thing command him. 3. Cursed is
he that believes the angels or saints in heaven to
be his redeemers, that prays to them as such,
or that gives God's honour to them, or to any
creature whatever. 4. Cursed is he that wor-
ships any breaden god, or makes gods of the
empty elements of bread and wine. 5. Cursed
is he that believes that priests can forgive sins,
whether the sinner repents or no ; or that there
is any power in earth or heaven that can forgive
sins without a hearty repentance and serious
purpose of amendment. 6. Cursed is he that
believes that priests can give present absolution
to any persons for sins they may commit in time
to come. 7. Cursed is he that believes there is
authority in the Pope, or any other that can give
leave to commit sins, or that can forgive him his
sins for a sum of money. 8. Cursed is he that
believes, that, independent of the merits and
passion of Christ, he can merit salvation by his
own good works, or make condign satisfaction
for the guilt of his sins, or the pains eternal due
to them. 9. Cursed is he that contemns the
word of God, or hides it from the people, on
design to keep them from the knowledge of
their duty, and to preserve them in ignorance
and error. 10. Cursed is he that undervalues
335
the word of God, or that, forsaking scripture,
chooses rather to follow human tradition than it.
11. Cursed is he that leaves the commandments
of God, to observe the constitutions of men.
12. Cursed is he that omits any of the Ten
Commandments, or keeps the people from the
knowledge of any one of them, to the end they
may not have occasion of discovering the truth.
13. Cursed is he that preaches to the people in
unknown tongues, such as they understand not;
or uses other means to keep them in ignorance.
14. Cursed is he that believes that the Pope
can give to any, upon any account whatsoever,
dispensations to lie, or swear falsely ; or that it
is lawful for any, at the last hour, to protest
himself innocent in case he be guilty. 15. Cursed
is he that encourages sins, or teaches men to
defer the amendment of their lives, on presump-
tion of a death-bed repentance. 16. Cursed is
he that teaches men that they may be lawfully
drunk on a Friday, or on any other fasting day,
though they must not taste the least bit of
flesh. 17. Cursed is he who places religion in
nothing but a pompous shew, consisting only in
ceremonies, and which teaches not the people
to serve God in spirit and in truth. 18. Cursed
is he who loves or promotes cruelty ; that teaches
people to be bloody-minded, and to lay aside the
meekness of Jesus Christ. 19. Cursed is he who
teaches that it is lawful to do any wicked thing,
though it be for the interest and good of mother
church i or that any evil action may be done that
336
good may come of it. 20. Cursed are we, if,
amongst all those wicked principles and damn-
able doctrines commonly laid at our doors, every
one of them be the faith of our church; and
cursed are we, if we do not as heartily detest all
those hellish practices, as they that so vehe-
mently urge them against us. 21. Cursed are
we, if, in answering and saying Amen to any of
these curses, we use any equivocation, or mental
reservations ; or do not assent to them in the
common and obvious sense of the words." To
each of these several comminations the usual
response of "Amen" is added.
Notwithstanding these, and many similar, de-
clarations, which Catholics have from time to
time made, many Protestants have persisted in
charging them with the doctrines therein denied.
I will, therefore, insert, in this place, the follow-
ing clear and satisfactory address, published not
long ago:
cc An Address of several of His Majesty's Roman
Catholic Subjects, to their Protestant Fellow-
Subjects :
His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects flat-
tered themselves, that the declarations they had
already made, of the integrity of their religious
and civil tenets, — the oaths they had taken to His
Majesty's person, family, and Government, —
the heroic exertions of a considerable proportion
337
of them in His Majesty's fleets and armies, — the
repeated instances in which they have come for-
ward in their country's cause, — their irreproach-
able demeanour in the general relations of life, —
and, above all, the several acts of Parliament
past for their relief, avowedly in consequence of,
and explicitly recognizing their meritorious con-
duct, would have been a bond, to secure to them
for ever, the affection and confidence of all their
fellow subjects, and to make any further decla-
ration of their principles wholly unnecessary :
But, with astonishment and concern, they
observe, that this is not altogether the case : —
they are again publicly traduced; and attempts
are again made to prejudice the public mind
against them :
We, therefore, English Roman Catholics,
whose names are hereunder written, beg leave
again to solicit the attention of our countrymen,
and to lay before them the following unanswered
and unanswerable documents, of the purity and
integrity of the religious and civil principles of ALL
His Majesty 's Roman Catholic subjects, in respect
to their King and their Country.
We entreat you to peruse them; — and when
you have perused them , to declare, — Whether
His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects maintain
a single tenet, inconsistent with the purest loyal-
ty ; or interfering, in the slightest degree, with
z
ass
any one duty, which an Englishman owes his
God, his King, or his Country ?
I. — The first document we present to you, is
the Oath and Declaration prescribed by the
British parliament, of the 31st of his present
Majesty, and which is taken by all English Ca-
tholics.
I A. B. do hereby declare, that I do profess
the Roman Catholic Religion.
*&■
" I A. B. do sincerely promise and swear, that
I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to His
Majesty King George the Third, and him will
defend to the utmost of my power, against all
conspiracies and attempts whatsoever that shall
be made against his person, crown, or dignity:
and I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose
and make known to His Majesty, his heirs, and
successors, all treasons and traitorous conspira-
cies, which may be formed against him or them :
And I do faithfully promise to maintain, support,
and defend, to the utmost of my power, the suc-
cession of the crown; which succession, by an
act, entitled, * An Act for the further limitation
of the Crown, and better securing the Rights
and Liberties of the Subject,' is, and stands
limited to the Princess Sophia, Electress and
Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of
her body, being Protestants ; hereby utterly re-
nouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegi-
539
ance unto any other person claiming or pretend-
ing a ri^ht to the crown of these realms. And
I do swear, that I do reject and detest, as an
unchristian and impious position, that it is law-
ful to murder or destroy any person or persons
whatsoever, for, or under pretence of, their be-
ing heretics or infidels ; and also that unchristian
and impious principle, that faith is not to be
kept with heretics or infidels: And I further de-
clare, that it is not an article of my faith ; and
that I do renounce, reject, and abjure, the opi-
nion, that princes excommunicated by the Pope
and council, or any authority of the see of Rome,
or by any authority whatsoever, may be depos-
ed or murdered by their subjects, or any person
whatsoever: And I do promise, that I will not
hold, maintain, or abet any such opinion, or
any other opinions contrary to what is ex-
pressed in this declaration : And I do de-
clare, that I do not believe that the Pope of
Rome, or any other foreign Prince, Prelate,
State, or Potentate, hath, or ought to have, any
temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority,
or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within
this realm: And I do solemnly, in the presence
of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do
make this declaration, and every part thereof, in
the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this
oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or men-
tal reservation whatever, and without any dis-
pensation already granted by the Pope, or any
authority of the see of Rome, or any person
Z 2
340
whatever, and without thinking that I am, or
can be, acquitted before God or man, or absolved
of this declaration, or any part thereof, although
the Pope, or any other person or authority what-
soever, shall dispense with, or annul the same,
or declare that it was null or void.
So help me God.'*
II. — The next documents we present to you
are, the Oaths and Declarations prescribed by
the Acts of the Irish Parliament to Irish Roman
Catholics :
The first is the oath of allegiance and declar-
ation, prescribed by the Irish act of the 13th and
14th of his present Majesty ; and is taken by all
Irish Roman Catholics.
" I A. B. do take Almighty God, and his only
Son Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, to witness, that
I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to our
most gracious sovereign Lord King George the
Third, and him will defend to the utmost of my
power against all conspiracies and attempts
whatsoever, that shall be made against his per-
son, crown, and dignity ; and I will do my ut-
most endeavour to disclose and make known to
His Majesty, and his heirs, all treasons and trai-
torous conspiracies, which may be formed against
him or them ; and I do faithfully promise to
maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of
341
my power, the succession of the crown in His
Majesty's family, against any person or persons
whatsoever, hereby utterly renouncing and ab-
juring any obedience or allegiance unto the per-
son taking upon himself the style and title of
Prince of Wales, in the life-time of his father,
and who, since his death, is said to have assumed
the style and title of King of Great Britain and
Ireland, by the name of Charles the Third, and
to any other person claiming, or pretending a
right to the crown of these realms ; and I do
swear that I do reject and detest, as unchristian
and impious to believe, that it is lawful to mur-
der or destroy any person or persons whatsoever,
for or under pretence of their being heretics,
and also that unchristian and impious principle
that no faith is to be kept with heretics : I fur-
ther declare, that it is no article of my faith, and
that I do renounce, reject, and abjure, the opi-
nion that princes excommunicated by the Pope
and Council, or by any authority of the see of
Rome, or by any authority whatsoever, may be
deposed or murdered by their subjects, or by any
person whatsoever; and I do promise, that I will
not hold, maintain, or abet, any such opinion,
or any other opinion, contrary to what is ex-
pressed in this declaration : and I do declare,
that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or
any other foreign Prince, Prelate, State, or Po-
tentate, hath, or ought to have, any temporal
or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-
eminence, directly or indirectly, within this
342
realm ; and I do solemnly in the presence of
God, and of his only Son Jesus Christ, my Re-
deemer, profess, testify, and declare, that I do
make this declaration, and every part thereof, in
the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this
oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or
mental reservation whatever, and without any
dispensation already granted hy the Pope, or
any authority of the see of Rome, or any person
whatever, and without thinking that I am, or
can be acquitted before God or man, or absolved
of this Declaration, or any part thereof, al-
though the Pope, or any other person or persons
or authority whatsoever, shall dispense with or
annul the same, or declare that it was null and
void from the beginning.
So help me God."
The next is the Oath and Declaration pre-
scribed by the Irish Act of the 33d of His pre-
sent Majesty, and is taken by all Irish Roman
Catholics, wishing to entitle themselves to the
benefit of that Act.
" I A. B. do hereby declare, that I do profess
the Roman Catholic Religion."
" I A. B. do swear that I do abjure, condemn
and detest, as unchristian and impious, the prin-
ciple that it is lawful to murder, destroy, or any
ways injure any persons whatsoever, for or un-
der the pretence of being a heretic : And I do
343
declare solemnly before God, that I believe that
no act in itself unjust, immoral, or wicked, can
ever be justified or excused, by or under pretence
or colour that it was done either for the good of
the Church, or in obedience to any ecclesiastical
power whatsoever : I also declare, that it is not
an Article of the Catholic Faith, neither am I
thereby required to believe or profess that the
Pope is infallible, or that I am bound to obey
any order, in its own nature immoral, though the
Pope, or any ecclesiastical power, should issue
or direct such order, but on the contrary, I hold
that it would be sinful in me to pay any respect
or obedience thereto : 1 further declare, that
I do not believe that anv sin whatever cora-
mitted by me, can be forgiven, at the mere
will of any pope, or any priest, or of any person
or persons whatsoever, but that sincere sorrow
for past sins, a firm and sincere resolution to
avoid future guilt, and to atone to God, are pre-
vious and indispensable requisites to establish a
well-founded expectation of forgiveness, and that
any person who receives absolution without
these previous requisites, so far from obtaining
thereby any remission of his sins, incurs the ad-
ditional guilt of violating a sacrament : And I
do swear that I will defend, to the uttermost of
my power, the settlement and arrangement of
property in this country, as established by the
laws now in being : I do hereby disclaim, dis-
avow, and solemnly abjure, any intention to
subvert the present Church Establishment, for
344
the purpose of substituting a Catholic Establish-
ment in its stead : And I do solemnly swear,
that I will not exercise any privilege to which I
am or may become entitled, to disturb and
weaken the Protestant Religion and Protestant
Government in this Kingdom.
" So help me God."
Such are the principles which His Majesty's
Roman Catholic subjects have publicly and so-
lemnly declared and professed on oath. There
is not, in any of them, a single principle, which
every Roman Catholic subject of His Majesty
does not profess, or which, if his King and
Country required it, he would not think it his
duty to seal with his blood.
HI. — In the year 1788, a Committee of the
English Catholics waited on Mr. Pitt, respecting
their application for a repeal of the Penal Laws.
He requested to be furnished with authentic
evidence of the opinions of the Roman Catholic
clergy and the Roman Catholic universities
abroad, " on the existence and extent of the
Pope's dispensing power." — Three questions
were accordingly framed, and sent to the Uni-
versities of Paris, Louvain, Alcala, Doway, Sala-
manca, and Valadolid, for their opinions. The
questions proposed to them were, 1. Has the
Pope or Cardinals, or any body of men, or any
individual of the Church of Rome, any civil au-
thority, power, jurisdiction, or pre-eminence
345
whatsoever, within the Realm of England ?
2. Can the Pope or Cardinals, or any body of
men, or any individual of the Church of Rome,
absolve or dispense with His Majesty's subjects
from their oath of allegiance, upon any pretext
whatsoever ? 3. If there is any principle in the
tenets of the Catholic Faith, by which Catholics
are justified in not keeping faith with heretics,
or other persons differing from them in reli-
gious opinions, in any transaction, either of a
public or a private nature ?
The Universities answered unanimously: —
1. That the Pope or Cardinals, or any body of
men, or any individual of the Church of Rome,
has not any civil authority, power, jurisdiction,
or pre-eminence whatsoever, within the Realm
of England. 2. That the Pope or Cardinals, or
any body of men, or any individual of the Church
of Rome, CANNOT absolve or dispense with His
Majesty's subjects from their oath of allegiance,
upon any pretext whatsoever. 3. That there
is no principle in the tenets of the Catholic
Faith, by which Catholics are justified in not
keeping faith with heretics, or other persons dif-
fering from them in religious opinions, in any
transactions either of a public or a private na-
ture. As soon as the opinions of the foreign Uni-
versities were received, they were transmitted to
Mr. Pitt : but we earnestly beg of you to ob-
serve, that it was for his satisfaction, not ours,
that these opinions were taken : — Assuredly,
346
His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects did not
want the wisdom of foreign Universities to in-
form them, that His Majesty is the lawful sove-
reign of all his Roman Catholic subjects, and
that, by every divine and human law, his Roman
Catholic subjects owe him true, dutiful, active,
and unreserved allegiance.
Such then, fellow countrymen and fellow
subjects, — such being our religious and civil prin-
ciples, in respect to our King and our Country,—
let us now again ask you, — Is there in them, a
single tenet, which is incompatible with the
purest loyalty, or which, in the slightest degree,
interferes with the duty we owe to God, our
King, or our Country ?
But, — are these principles really instilled into
us ? Do our actions correspond with them ? —
In reply we ask, — Are there not, at this very
moment, thousands of His Majesty's Roman
Catholic subjects, who daily and hourly make
the most heroic exertions and sacrifices in those
fleets and armies, to whose patient and adventu-
rous courage it is owing, that we are still blessed
with a King and Country.
Now then, fellow r countrymen and fellow sub-
jects, be assured, that, among these heroic and
inestimable defenders and supporters of their
King and their Country, there is not one, whose
parents and whose priests have not taught him,
347
that loyalty is a religions as much as a civil
duty; and that, when he is fighting for his king
and his country, he is performing a duty to his
God."
This paper is signed by 59 of the most respect-
able Catholic noblemen and gentlemen of the
kingdom, with the late venerable Dr. Douglass,
Vic. Ap. London, at their head.
SECTION IV.
Some other Points on which Protestants have
mistaken, and consequently misrepresented ,
Catholics.
THE chief points on which we have been in
the habit of mistaking, and, consequently, of
misrepresenting, Roman Catholics appear to be
the following: The opinions held by some Ca-
tholics concerning the infallibility and power
of the Pope, — the notions concerning works of
supererogation, the use of images, — the practice
of persecution, — the opinions relative to the salva-
tion of heretics, — the use of the scriptures, — and,
the belief in miracles. Had I undertaken,
instead of a Picture of the Catholic Church,
a description of the Faith of Cardinal Bellar-
mine, the vagaries of the schoolmen, or of any
348
other writer, or the rhapsodical flights of certain
mystical Nuns and fanatical Friars. — Nay, if
the faith of the Church were not distinct from,
and independent of, the opinions of the highest
individual authority, whether of a Pope,* a Car-
dinal, or a Bishop, ancient or modern, then, in-
deed, my task would have been an Herculean
labour ; and to have lessened the mistakes of my
Protestant brethren, I must have explained ten
thousand contradictory opinions, which have
amused the leisure, or indulged the fancy, of
* I am sorry to have occasion to explain or correct what
I have said on a former page (300-301) relative to the belief
of Catholics, in regard to the spiritual government of the
Pope. What is there unguardedly said on this subject is
liable, I fear, to a misconception, and I take this early oppor-
tunity of correcting myself. Catholics do not believe that
the Pope is literally the sole depository of the faith of Chris-
tians ; but that he, as head of the Church, when connected
with, and concurring in all the decisions of the whole
Church, may be regarded as the director of the belief of all
the faithful ; so long as he does not attempt to teach any
new doctrines, or any thing not before received by the whole
Catholic communion. And Avhen I say (p. 301), it is a doc-
trine held by Catholics that no true believer can enter hea-
ven but through the recommendation of the Pope as Christ's
▼isible vicegerent, I mean, and ought to have written, that it
is an opinion of Roman Catholics that no one can enter hea-
ven who does not admit the doctrines taught and believed by
the Vicar of Christ, and the whole Christian Church. This
timely explanation will, I trust, prevent Or remove any im-
proper impressions which my former assertions might have
produced on the mind of the reader.
349
doctors and canonists without number, in every
age of the Church.
The following extracts from Mr. Gother's
curious little pamphlet,* are so much to my pre-
sent purpose, that I cannot do better than lay
them before the reader in this place : —
" Of Praying to Images.— A Papist truly represented
believes it damnable to worship stocks and stones for gods,
to pray to pictures or images of Christ, of the Virgin Mary,
or of any other saints, to believe any virtue or divinity in
them, or to put any trust or confidence in them. He is
expressly taught the contrary to all this by the council of
Trent, and his very children are instructed in their Cate-
chisms, which are in the hands of all, that they must " by
" no means" pray to pictures or images, because they can
" neither $ee, nor hear, nor help them." But what use
then does the Papist make of pictures or images of Christ,
* " A Papist Misrepresented and Represented ; or, a Two-
fold Character of Popery." It is gratifying and encouraging
to find that I am anticipated in referring to, and extracting
from this little pamphlet, by the learned and liberal Dr. But-
ler (See his Installation Sermon, before referred to). In mak-
ing these extracts, I have purposely omitted not only some
entire points or characters, but have also withheld the first
character of Popery, as it is " Misrepresented." The substance
of those real or supposed misrepresentations, will easily be
gathered from what the author states in his " Papist Repre-
sented." It is not necessary to repeat, that the author of the
present work does not take upon himself to maintain or re-
commend the doctrines and practices represented in these ex-
tracts. They are given from a sincere and disinterested love
of truth and justice. With such a view may tbey be read !
They are printed in a smaller type, that they might occupy
as little space as possible,
350
of the blessed Virgin, or other saints ? Why he keeps them
by him to preserve in his mind the memory of the persons
represented by them ; as people are wont to preserve the
memory of their deceased friends by keeping their pictures.
He is taught to use them, so as to cast his eyes upon the
pictures or images, and thence to raise his heart to the things
represented, and there to employ it in meditation, love, and
thanksgiving, desire of imitation, &c. as the object requires:
as many good Christians, placing a Death's head before
them, from the sight of it, take occasion to reflect often
upon their last end, in order to their better preparing for
it; or by seeing Old Time painted with his fore-lock, hour
glass, and scythe, turn their thoughts upon the swiftness of
time, and that whosoever neglects the present is in danger
of beginning then to desire to lay hold of it when there is
no more to come. These pictures or images having this
advantage, that they inform the mind by one glance of what
in reading might require a whole chapter. There being no
other difference between them, than that reading represents
leisurely, and by degrees ; and a picture all at once. Hence
he finds a convenience in saying his prayers with some de-
vout pictures before him, he, being no sooner distracted but
the sight of these recals his wandering thoughts to the
right object ; and as certainly brings something good into
his mind, as an immodest picture disturbs his heart with
filthy thoughts. And because he is sensible that these holy
pictures and images represent and bring to his mind such
objects, as in his heart he loves, honours, and venerates ;
he cannot but upon that account love, honour, and respect the
images themselves. As whosoever loves their husband, child,
or friend, cannot but have some love and respect for their pic-
tures; whosoever loves and honours his king, will have some
honour and regard for his image. Not that he venerates
any image or picture, for any virtue or divinity believed to
be in them, or for any thing that is to be petitioned of them ;
but because the honour, that is exhibited to them, is re-
ferred to those whom they represent. So that it is not pro-
perly the images he honours, but Christ and his saints by
the images : as it is not properly the images or pictures of
kings or other men that we respect or injure : but by their
images or pictures we respect or injure the persons them-
selves. All the veneration therefore he expresses before
all images, whether by kneeling, lifting up the eyes, burn-
351
ing candles, incense, &c. it is not at all done for the image,
but is wholly referred to the things represented, which he
intends to honour by these actions, and how by so doing,
he breaks the second commandment, he cannot conceive ;
for he acknowledges only one God, and to him alone gives
sovereign honour ; and whatsoever respect he shews to a
crucifix, picture, or image, seems to him no more injurious
to any of the commandments, than it is for a Christian to
love and honour his neighbour, because he bears the image
of God in his soul ; to kiss and esteem the Bible, because
it contains and represents to him God's word ; or to love
a good preacher, because he reminds him of his duty ; all
which respects do not at all derogate from God Almighty's
honour; but are rather testimonies of our great love and
honour of him, since, for his sake, we love and esteem
every thing that has any respect or relation to him.
2. Of worshipping Saints. — The Papist truly represent-
ed believes there is only one God, and that it is a most
damnable idolatry to make gods of men, either living or
dead. His Church teaches him indeed, and he believes
that it is good and profitable to desire the intercession of
saints reigning with Christ in heaven ; but that they are
gods or his redeemer is no where taught ; but detests all
such doctrine. He confesses that we are all redeemed by
the blood of Christ alone, and that he is our only Media-
tor of redemption : but as for mediators of intercession,
(that is, such as we may lawfully desire to pray for us) he
does not doubt, but it is acceptable to God, we should
have many. Moses was such a mediator for the Israelites;
Job for his three friends ; Stephen for hrs persecutors.
The Romans were thus desired by St. Paul to be bis medi-
ators ; so were the Corinthians, so the Ephesians ; so
almost every sick man desires the congregation to be his
mediators, by remembering him in their prayers. And so
the Papist desires the blessed in heaven to be his mediators ;
that is, that they would pray to God for him. And in this
he does not at all needed coming to God, or rob him of
his honour ; but directing all his prayers up to him, and
making him the ultimate object of all his petitions, lie only
desires sometimes the just on earth, sometimes those in
heaven to join their prayers to his, that so the number of
petitioners being increased, the petition may find better ac-
352
ceptance in the sight of God. And this is not to make
them gods, but only petitioners to God ; it is not to make
them his redeemers, but only intercessors to his Redeemer;
he having no hopes of obtaining any thing but of God alone,
by and through the merits of Christ ; for which he desires
the saints in heaven, and good men upon earth, to offer up
their prayers with his ; the prayers of the just availing much
before God. But now, how the saints in heaven know the
prayers and necessities of such who address themselves to
them, whether by the ministry of angels, or in the vision of
God, or by some particular revelation, it is no part of his
faith, nor is it much his concern it should be determined.
For his part he does not doubt, but that God, who acquaint-
ed the prophets with the knowledge of things, that were yet
to come many hundred years after ; that informed Elisha of
the King of Syria's council, though privately resolved on, in
his bed-chamber, and at a distance, ran never want means
of letting the saints know the desires of those who beg their
intercession here on earth : especially since our Saviour in-
forms us, that Abraham heard the petitions of Dives, who
was as yet at a greater distance, even in hell ; and told him
likewise the manner of his living, while as yet on earth.
Nay, since it is generally allowed, that even the very devils
hear these desperate wretches who call on them, why then
should he doubt that the saints want this privilege, who,
though departed this life, are not so properly dead, as trans-
lated from a mortal life to an immortal one ; where, enjoy-
ing God Almighty, they lose no perfections which they en-
joyed while on earth, but possess all in a more eminent
manner; having more charity, more knowledge, more in-
terest with God than ever, and becoming like angels. And
as these offered up their prayers for Jerusalem and the
cities of Judah, so undoubtedly they likewise fall down he-
fore the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and gol-
den vials fall of odours, which are the prayers of the
saints. Apoc. v. 8.
3. Of addressing more Supplications to the Virgin
Mary than to Christ. — The Papist truly represented be-
lieves it damnable to think the Virgin Mary more power-
ful in heaven than Christ ,• or that she can in any thing com-
mand him. He honours her indeed, as one that was chosen
to be the mother of God, and blessed amongst all women ;
353
and believes her to be most acceptable to God, in her in-
tercession for us : but owning her still as a creature, and
that all she has of excellency is the gift of God, proceed-
ing from his mere goodness. Neither does he at any time
say even so much as one prayer to her, but what is directed
more particularly to God ; because offered up as a thankful
memorial of Christ's incarnation, and acknowledgment of the
blessedness of Jesus the fruit of her womb : and this without
imagining there is any more dishonouring of God in his re-
citing the Angelical Salutation, than in his first pronouncing
it by the Angel Gabriel and Elizabeth ; or that his frequent
repetition of it is any more an idle superstition than it was
in David to repeat the same words over twenty-six times in
the 126th Psalm.
4. Of paying divine Worship to Relics. — The Papist
truly represented believes it damnable to think there is any
divinity in the relics of saints, or to adore them with divine
honour, or to pray to their rotten bones, old rags or shrines,
or that they can work any strange cures or miracles, by any
hidden powe/ of their own. But he believes it good and
lawful to keep them with veneration, and to give them a
religious honour and respect. And this he thinks due to
them, inasmuch as knowing himself obliged to respect and
honour God Almighty from his heart ; lie looks upon him-
self as obliged to respect and honour every thing that hay
any particular relation to him ; but this with an inferior
honour; such as the Jews shewed to the Ark, to the
Tables of the Law, to Moses's rod, to the Temple, to
the Priests. Such as we generally allow the Bible, because
it contains God's word; to the church, because it is God's
house ; to holy men and priests, because they are God's
servants. And so he does to relics, because they apper-
tain to God's favourites : and being insensible things, are
yet sensible pledges, and lively memorials of Christ's ser-
vants, dead indeed to this world, but alive with him in
glory. And more especially because God himself has been
pleased to honour them, by making them instruments of
many evident miracles which he has visibly worked by them;
as is evident upon undeniable record. And this he believes
as easy for God Almighty now, and as much redounding
to the honour of his holy name, as it is in the old law, to
work such miraculous effects by Moses's rod, by Elias's
2 A
354
mantle, after he was taken up into heaven, Eliseus's bones,
and infinite other such like insensible things: and also in
the new law, by the hem of his own garment, by the shadow
of St. Peter, by the napkins and handkerchiefs that had
but touched the body of St. Paul, casting out devils, and
curing diseases, and such like. And thus by having a vene-
ration and respect for these, he honours God : and does
not doubt, but that they that contemn and profane these,
do the like to God, as much as they did who profaned the
bread of propitiation, the temple, and vessels that belonged
to it.
5. Of the Eucharist. — The Papist truly represented be-
lieves it abominable to commit any kind of idolatry ; and
most damnable to worship or adore a breaden god, or to
give divine hononr to the elements of bread and wine. He
worships only one God, who made heaven and earth, and
his only Son Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who, being
in all things equal to his Father, in truth and omnipotency,
he believes, made his words good, pronounced at his last
supper ; really giving his body and blood to his apostles ;
the species or accidence of bread and wine remaining as
before. The same he believes of the most holy sacrament
of the Eucharist, consecrated now by priests ; that it really
contains the body of Christ, which was delivered for us ;
and his blood, which was shed for the remission of sins :
which being there united with the divinity, he confesses
whole Christ to be present. And him he adores and
acknowledges his Redeemer, and not any bread or wine.
And for the believing of this mystery, he does not at all
think it meet for any Christian to appeal from Christ's word
to his own senses or reason, for the examining the truth of
what he has said, but rather to submit his senses and reason
to Christ's words^n the obsequiousness of faith ; and that be-
ing the son of Abraham, it is more becoming him to be-
lieve as Abraham did, promptly with a faith superior to all
sense or reason, and whither these could never lead him.
With this faith it is he believes every mystery of his religion,
the Trinity, Incarnation, &c. ; with this faith he believes,
that what descended upon our Saviour at his baptism
in Jordan, was really the Holy Ghost, though senses or
reason could discover it to be nothing but a dove ; with
this faith he believes, that the man that Joshua saw
355
Standing over against him with his sword drawn, and
the three men that Abraham entertained in the plains of
Mambre, were really and substantially no men ; and that
notwithstanding all the information and evidence of sense,
from their colour, features, proportion, talking, eating, &c.
of their being men ; yet without any discredit to his senses,
he really believes they were no such thing, because God's
words has assured him of the contrary : and with this faith
he believes Christ's body and blood to be really present in
the blessed sacrament, though, to all outward appearance,
there is nothing more than bread and wine : thus, not at all
hearkening to his senses in a matter where God speaks, he
unfeiguedly confesses, that he that made the world of no-
thing by his sole word ; that cured diseases by his word ;
that raised the dead by his word ; that commanded the
winds and seas ; that multiplied bread ; that changed water
into wine by his word, and sinners into just men, cannot
want power to change bread and wine into his own
body and blood by his sole word. And this without dan-
ger of multiplying his- body, of making as many Christs as
altars, or leaving the right hand of his Father ; but only by
giving to his body a supernatural manner of existence, by
which, being without extension of parts, rendered indepen-
dent of place, it may be one and the same in many places
at once, and whole in every part of the symbols, and not
obnoxious to any corporal contingencies. And this kind of
existence is no more, than what in a manner he bestows
upon every glorified body ; than what his own body had,
when born without the least violation of his mother's virgi-
nal integrity ; when he arose from the dead, out of the
sepulchre, without removing the stone ; when he entered
amongst his disciples, the doors being shut. And though
he cannot understand how this is done, yet he undoubtedly
believes that God is able to do more than he is able to un-
derstand.
7. Of Confession. — The Papist truly represented be-
lieves it damnable in any religion to make gods of men.
However, he firmly holds, that when Christ, speaking to
his apostles, said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost; zvhose sins
you shall forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you
shall retain, they are retained; he gave them, and
their successors, the bishops and priests of the Catholic
c 2 A2
356
Church, authority to absolve any truly penitent sinner from
his sin. And God having thus given them the ministry of
reconciliation, and made them Christ's legates, Christ's
ministers, and the dispensers of the mysteries of Christ,
and given them power that whatsoever they loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven, he undoubtedly believes, that
whosoever comes to them making a sincere and humble
confession of his sins, with a true repentance and firm pur-
pose of amendment, and a hearty resolution of turning from
his evil ways, may from them receive absolution, by the
authority given them from heaven, and no doubt but God
ratifies above the sentence pronounced in that tribunal;
loosing in heaven whatsoever is thus loosed by them on
earth. And that, whosoever comes without the due pre-
paration, without a repentance from the bottom of his
heart, and a real intention of forsaking his sins, receives no
benefit by the absolution ; but adds sin to sin, by a high
contempt of God's mercy, and abuse of his sacraments.
8. Of Indulgences. — The Papist truly represented be-
lieves it damnable to hold, that the Pope, or any other
power in heaven or earth, can give him leave to commit
any sins whatsoever : or that for any sum of money he can
obtain an indulgence or pardon for sins that are to be com-
mitted by him, or his heirs, hereafter. He firmly believes
that no sins can be forgiven, without a true and hearty re-
pentance : but that still, there is a power in the Church of
granting indulgences, by which, as he is taught in his cate-
chism, nothing more is meant than a releasing, to such as
are truly penitent, the debt of temporal punishment, which
remained due on account of those sins, which as the guilt
and eternal punishment had been already remitted by re-
pentance and confession. For we see in the case of King
David, that the debt of the temporal punishment is not al-
ways remitted, when the guilt of the sin is remitted ; and
as the Church of God from the beginning was ever con-
vinced of this truth, therefore, besides the hearty repentance
and confession, which she insisted upon in order for the
discharge of the guilt of sin ; she also required severe pe-
nances, sometimes of three, seven, ten years or more, for
the discharge of the debt of the temporal punishment due
to divine justice. Now the releasing or moderating for just
causes these penalties incurred by sin, is called an indul-
357
gence. And the power of granting such indulgences is
visibly implied in the promise of the keys, and of binding
and loosing made to the pastors of the Church. And the
exercise of this power was frequent in the primitive church;
and is even authorized by the example of St. Paul himself,
who granted such an indulgence to the incestuous Corinthian,
forgiving, as he says, in the person of Christ ; that is, by
the power and authority he had received from him. Now
the good works usually required for the obtaining indulgen-
ces, are prayer, fasting, visiting churches, confession, com-
munion, and alms-deeds ; but what money there is given at
any time on this account concerns not at all the Pope's cof-
fers, but is, by every one given as they please, either to the
poor, to the sick, to prisoners, &c, where they judge it
most charity. As to the rest, if any abuses have been com-
mitted in granting or gaining indulgences, through the fault
of some particular persons, these cannot in justice be charg-
ed upon the church, to the prejudice of her faith and doc-
trine ; especially, since she has been so careful in the re-
trenching them ; as may be seen by what was done in the
council of TVent.
9. Of Satisfaction. — The Papist truly represented be-
lieves it damnable to think injuriously of Christ's passion.
Nevertheless he believes, that though condign satisfaction
for the guilt of sin, and the pain eternal due to it, be pro-
per only to Christ our Saviour ; yet that penitent sinners
being redeemed by Christ, and made his members, may in
some measure satisfy by prayers, fasting, alms, &c. for the
temporal pain, which by order of God's justice, sometimes
remains due after the guilt, and the eternal pains are remit-
ted. So that trusting in Christ, as his Redeemer, he yet
does not think that by Christ's sufferings, every Christian is
discharged of his particular sufferings ; but that every one
is to suffer something for himself, as St. Paul did, who by
many tribulations, and by suffering in his own flesh, filled
up that which was behind of the passion of Christ ; and
this not only for himself but for the whole church, and
this he finds every where in scripture, viz. people admo-
nished of the greatness of their sins, doing penance mjast-
ing, sackcloth, and ashes, and by voluntary austerities, en-
deavouring to satisfy the divine justice. And these personal
satisfactions God has sufficiently also minded him of in the
558
punishments inflicted on Moses, Aarog, David, and infinite
others ; and even in the afflictions sent Dy God upon our own
age, plagues, wars, fires, persecutions, rebellions, and such
like: which, few are so atheistical but they confess to be
sent from heaven for the just chastisement of our sins ; and
which we are to undergo, notwithstanding the infinite satis-
faction made by Christ, and without any undervaluing it.
Now being thus convinced of some temporal punishments
being due to his sins, he accepts of all tribulations, whether
in body, name, or estate, from whencesoever they come,
and with others of his own chusing, offers them up to God,
for the discharging this debt ; still confessing, that his offen-
ces deserve yet more. But these penitential works he is
taught to be no otherwise satisfactory than as joined and
applied to the satisfaction which Jesus made upon the cross;
in virtue of which alone, all our good works find a grateful
acceptance in God's sight.
10. Of reading the Holy Scriptures. — The Papist truly
represented believes it damnable in any one to think, speak,
or do any thing irreverently towards the scripture ; or by
any means whatsoever to bring it into disrepute or disgrace.
He holds it in the highest veneration of all men living ; he
professes it to be the pure oracles of God ; and that we
are rather bound to lose our lives, than concur any way to
its profanation. It is true, he does not think it fit to be
read generally, by all, in the vulgar tongues : not for any
disrespect to it ; but, 1 , Because he understands, that pri-
vate interpretation is not proper for the scripture, because
in the epistles of Saint Paul are certain things hard to be
understood, zohich the unlearned and unstable wrest, as
also the rest of the scriptures, to their own perdition.
Because God hath given only some to be apostles, some
prophets, other some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers. For these reasons he is taught, that it is not
convenient for the scripture to be read indifferently by all
men, but only by such as are humble, discreet and devout,
and such as are willing to observe directions in the perusing
this sacred volume : that is, to take notice of all godly his-
tories, and imitable examples of humility, chastity, obedi-
ence, mercy to the poor, &c. and in all hard, obscure and
disputable points to refer all to the arbitration of the church,
to the judgment of those whom God hath appointed pastors
350
and teachers: never presuming to contend, controul, teach,
or talk of their own sense and fancy in deep questions of
divinity, and high mysteries of faith; but expecting the
sense of these from the lips of the priest, zvho shall keep
knowledge, and from whose mouth they shall require the
law. And this caution is used, lest the scripture coming
into the hands of a presuming sort of proud, curious, and
contentious people, be abused and perverted : who make it
their business to enquire into high and hidden secrets of
God's counsels, and upon the presumption of I know not
what spirit, immediately become teachers, comptrollers,
and judges of doctors, church, scripture and all ; and ac-
knowledging no authority left by Christ, to which they are
to submit ; under pretence of scripture and God's word,
make way for all sort of profaneness, irreligion, and athe-
ism. So that it is not for the preserving ignorance, he al-
lows a restraint upon the reading the scriptures, but for the
preventing a blind ignorant presumption ; and that it may
be done to edification and not to destruction, and without
casting what is holy to dogs, or pearls to swine.
1 1 . Of the Scripture as a Rule of Faith. — The Papist
truly represented believes it damnable to undervalue the
scripture, or to take from it the authority given it by Christ.
He gives it all respect due to the word of God ; he owns
it to be of the greatest authority upon earth, and that it is
capable of leading a man to all truth, where it is rightly
understood. But to any one that understands it, and takes
it in any other sense than what it was intended by the Holy
Ghost, he believes it to such a one, to be no scripture, no
word of God ; that to such a one, it is no rule of faith,
nor judge of controversies ; and that what he thinks to be
the doctrine of Christ, and command of heaven, is nothing
but his own imagination and the suggestion of the devil.
And since by the experience of so many hundred heresies
since our Saviour's time, all pretending to be grounded on
scripture, he finds that almost every text of the bible, and
even those that concern the most essential and fundamental
points of the christian religion, have been interpreted seve-
ral ways, and made to signify things contrary to one
another ; and that while thus contrary meanings are by se-
veral persons drawn from the same word, the scripture is
still silent, without discovering which of all those senses is
360
that intended by the Holy Ghost, and agreeable to truth *
and which are erroneous and antichristian : he concludes
that the scripture alone, without taking along with it the
interpretation of the church, cannot be to every private
person the whole rule of his faith. Not that there is any
authority wanting on the scripture side ; but because no
private person can be certain whether, amongst all the seve-
ral meanings every text is liable to, that which he under-
stands it in, is right, or not. And without this certainty of
truth, and security from error, he knows there is nothing
capable of being a sufficient rule of his faith.
12. Of the Interpretation of Scripture. — The Papist
truly represented believes that the church is not above the
scripture; but only allows that order between them, as is
between the judge and the law ; and is no other than what
generally every private member of the reformation chal-
lenges to himself, as often as he pretends to decide any
doubt of his own, or his neighbour, in religion, by inter-
preting the scripture. Neither is he taught at all to dis-
trust the scripture, or not to rely on it; but only to
distrust his own private interpretation of it; and not
to rely on his own judgment in the resolution of
any doubt concerning faith or religion, though he can
produce several texts in favour of his opinion. But
in all such cases he is commanded to recur to the
church ; and having learnt from her the true sense of all
such texts, how they have been understood by the whole
community of Christians, in all ages since the apostles;
and what has been their received doctrine, in such doubt-
ful and difficult points ; he is obliged to submit to this, and
never presume on his own private sentiments, however
seemingly grounded on reason and scripture, to believe or
preach any new doctrine opposite to the belief of the
church ; but as he receives from her the book, so also to
receive from her the sense of the book ; with a holy confi-
dence, that she that did not cheat him in delivering a false
book for the true one, will not cheat him in delivering him
a false and erroneous sense for the true one ; her authority,
which is sufficient in the one, being not less in the other :
and his own private judgment, which was insufficient in
the one, that is, in finding out the true scripture, and dis-
cerning it from all other books, being as incapable and in-
361
sufficient in the other ; that is, in certainly discovering the
meaning of the Holy Ghost, and avoiding all other hetero-
dox and mistaken interpretations.
J.\>. Of Tradition. — The Papist truly represented be-
lieves the scripture not to be imperfect, nor to want human
ordinations, or traditions of men, for the supplying any de-
fects in it ; neither does he allow the same authority to
these, as the word of God ; or give them equal credit ; or
exact it from others, that desire to be admitted into the
communion of his church. He believes no divine faith
Ought to be given to any thing, but what is of divine reve-
lation; and that nothing is to have place in his creed, but
what was taught by Christ and his apostles, and has been
delivered and taught in all ages by the church of God,
the congregation of all true believers, and has been so
delivered down to him through all ages. But now, whe-
ther that which has been so delivered down to him, as the
doctrine of Christ and his apostles, has been by word of
mouth or writing, is altogether indifferent to him, he being
ready to follow, in this point, as in all others, the command
of St. Paul, f that is, to standfast, and hold the tradition
he has /earned, whether by word or epistle, and to look
upon any one as anathema, that shall preach otherwise
than as he has (thus) received. So that as he undoubtedly
holds the whole bible to be the word of God, because in
all ages it has been so taught, preached, believed, and deli-
vered successively by the faithful ; although they are not,
nor have not at any time been able to prove what they have
thus taught and delivered with one text of scripture ; in the
like manner, he is ready to receive and believe all this same
congregation has, together with the bible, in all ages suc-
cessively, without interruption, taught, preached, believed,
and delivered as the doctrine of Christ and his apostles ;
and assents to it with divine faith ; just as he does to the
bible ; and esteems any one anathema, that shall preach
otherwise than he has thus received.
14. Of Councils. — The Papist truly represented believes
that the faith of his church can receive no additions, and
that he is obliged to believe nothing, besides that which
Christ and his apostles taught ; and if any thing contrary
to this should be defined and commanded to be believed,
even by ten thousand councils, he believes it damnable in
362
any one to receive it, and by such decrees, to make addi-
tions to his creed. However, he maintains the authority of
general councils lawfully assembled ; whose business it is,
not to coin new articles of faith, or devise such tenets ; but
only, as often as any point of received doctrine is impugned
or called in question, to debate the matter; and examine
what has been the belief of all nations, who are there pre-
sent, in their prelates, in that point ; and this being agreed
on, to publish and make known to the world, which is the
catholic doctrine, left by Christ and his apostles; and
which the new broached errors. And by this means to
prevent the loss of an infinite number of souls, which might
otherwise be deluded, and carried away after new inven-
tions. And in this case he believes that he is obliged to
submit, and receive the decrees of such a council: the pas-
tors and prelates there present being by Christ and his
apostles appointed for the decision of such controversies ;
they having the care of that flock committed to them, over
which the Holy Ghost has made them overseers to feed the
Church of God, and to watch against those men who
should arise from among themselves, speaking perverse
things to draw disciples after them. And he that received
command, as likewise the whole flock of Christ, has to obey
their prelates, and to be subject to them, who watch, and
are to render an account for their souls, with an assurance,
that he that heareth them, heareth Christ ; and he that
despiseth them, despiseth Christ.
20. Of the Mass. — The Papist truly represented be-
lieves that the sacrifice made by Christ upon the cross was
altogether sufficient : that by it he saved and redeemed us,
paying the debt of sin, and satisfying the infinite justice of
his Father: that by it he procured for us all means for our
salvation; all graces in order for faith and good works;
all the sacraments ; and which of all things is most ho-
nourable to God, the offering of a sacrifice. But as
Christ's worshipping of God, his fasting, praying and
suffering for us, does not hinder or evacuate our worship-
ping of God, our fasting, suffering, or praying for our-
selves ; so neither did his sacrifice hinder or evacuate all
sacrifices for ever. And as he instituted fasting, praying,
and suffering for his followers, that by so doing, they might
apply what he did to themselves ; so also he instituted a
sacrifice, that by it they might apply the merits of his sa-
363
crifice, and make it beneficial to their souls. So that
though he firmly believes that Christ offered sacrifice for
our redemption, and by the one only offering, spoken of
by St. Paul, perfected, by way of redemption, the sanctifi-
Cation of all those that are sanctified ; yet he also believes,
that to receive the benefit of this offering, we must also do
our parts, by our good works concurring with Christ, and
in some manner purifying our own souls, and therefore not
omit the best of all works, which is sacrifice : which our
Saviour Jesus Christ instituted at his last supper, when
leaving to us his body and blood under the two distinct
species of bread and wine, he bequeathed as a legacy to
his apostles, not only a sacrament, but also a sacrifice : a
commemorative sacrifice, lively representing, in an un-
bloody manner, the bloody sacrifice which was offered for
us upon the cross ; and by a distinction of the symbols, dis-
tinctly shewing forth his(Christ's) death until he come. This
he gave in charge to his apostles, as to the first and chief
priests of the New Testament, and to their successors to
offer ; commanding them to do the same thing he had
done at his list supper, in commemoration of him. And
this is the oblation, or sacrifice of the Mass, which has
been observed, performed, frequented by the faithful in all
ages, attested by the general consent of all antiquity, uni-
versal tradition, and the practice of the whole church :
mentioned and allowed of by all the fathers, Greek and
Latin, and never called into question till of late years ; be-
ing that pure offering which the prophet Malachy foretold
should be offered among the Gentiles in every place, as
this text was ever understood by the ancient fathers.
21. Of Purgatory. — The Papist truly represented be-
lieves it damnable to admit of any thing for faith that is
contrary to reason, the word of God, and all antiquity :
but that the existence of a third place, called purgatory, is
so far from being contrary to all, or any of these, that it is
attested, confirmed, and established by them all. It is ex-
pressly taught in the second of Maccabees, c. xii., where
money was sent to Jerusalem that sacrifice might be of-
fered for the slain, and it is recommended as a wholesome
practice to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from
their sins. Now these two books of Maccabees were cer-
tainly held in great veneration by all antiquity ; and, as St.
364
Augustine informs us, were then accounted canonical by
the church. The being also of a third place is plainly irw
timated by our Saviour, where he says, whosoever speaks
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, nei-
ther in this world, neither in the world to come. By which
words Christ evidently supposes, that though these shall
not, yet some sins are forgiven in the world to come ;
which, since it cannot be in heaven, where no sin can en-
ter ; nor in hell, where there is no remission ; it must ne-
cessarily be in some middle state ,• and in this sense it was
understood by St. Augustine about 1800 years ago. So
also by St. Gregory the Great. In the same manner does
St. Augustine understand these words of St. Paul. He
himself shall be saved ; yet so as byjire. When he thinks
him to speak of a purging fire, so the same father under-
stands that prison of which St. Peter speaks, to be some
place of temporal chastisement. And if this great doctor
of the church, in those purer times, found so often in the
bible a place of pains after this life, from whence there
was release, how can any one say, without presumption,
that the being of a third place is contrary to the word of
God ? Neither can the antiquity of this doctrine be more
justly called in question, of which is found so early men-
tion, not only in this holy father, but in divers others his
predecessors, who came not long after the apostles, and
were the best witnesses of their doctrine. As to the rea-
sonableness of this tenet, his reason convinces him, 1 . That
every sin, how slight soever, though no more than an idle
word, as it is an offence to God, deserves punishment, and
will be punished by him hereafter, if not previously can-
celled by repentance here. 2. That such small sins do not
deserve eternal punishment. 3. That few depart this life
so pure as to be totally exempt from spots of this nature,
and from every kind of debt due to God's justice. 4. There-
fore, that few will escape without suffering something from
his justice for such debts as they may have carried with
them out of this world ; according to that rule of divine
justice by which he treats every soul hereafter according to
their works, and according to the state in which he finds
them in death. Thus his reason convinces him that there
must be some third place ; for, since the infinite goodness
of God can admit no one into heaven who is not clean, and
pure from all sin, both great and small, and his infinite jus-
36.5
tice can permit none to receive the reward of bliss, who as
yet are not out of debt, but have something in justice to
suffer ; there must of necessity be some place or state,
where souls departing this life, pardoned as to the eternal
guilt or pain, yet obnoxious to some temporal penalty, or
with the guilt of some venial faults, are purged and purified
before their admittance into heaven. This is what he is
taught concerning purgatory : which, though he knows
not where it is, nor of what nature the pains are, nor how
long each soul is detained there ; yet he believes that
those that are in this place, being the living members of
Jesus Christ, are relieved by the prayers of their fellow-
members on earth, as also by the alms and masses offered
up to God for their souls. And as for such as have no re-
lations or friends to pray for them, or to give alms, or
procure masses for their relief, they are not neglected by the
church, which makes a general commemoration of all the
faithful departed in every mass, and in every one of the ca-
nonical hours of the divine office.
23. Oft/fe Seco?id Commandment. — The Papist truly
represented is instructed in his whole duty towards God,
and most especially in the ten commandments. He is
taught to understand them all and every one, that there is
an obligation of observing them, under pain of eternal
damnation ; and that whosoever breaks any one of them
loses the favour of God, and as certainly hazards the loss
of his soul, as if he broke them all. And though in some
short catechisms in which the whole christian doctrine is
delivered in the most compendious and easy method, in
condescension to weak memories and low capacities, the
second commandment, as it is reckoned by some, be omit-
ted ; yet it is to be seen at length in other catechisms, ma-
nuals, and doctrinal books, to be met with every where in
great plenty. And if any one should chance not to see any
of these, yet would he be out of all danger of falling into
any superstitious worship or idolatry ; for that having read
the first commandment, Thou shalt have no other Gods
before me } he is taught by this, that he is commanded to
serve, love, adore and worship one only true, living and
eternal God, and no more : that it is forbidden him to
worship any creature for a God, or to give it the honour
due to God; and that whosoever worships any idols,
366
images, pictures, or any graven thing, whatsoever the ob-
ject be, whether in heaven above, in the earth beneath, or in
the waters under the earth, for God, breaks the command-
ment, by committing idolatry, and stands guilty of an in-
excusable and most damnable sin. Now having been
taught that this is the intent of the first precept of the de-
calogue, he thinks there can be but little danger of his be-
coming superstitious in his worship, or an idolater, for
want of the second ; there being nothing in this, but what
he is fully and expressly instructed in, by having learnt the
first ; it being rather an explication of this than any new
and distinct precept : and for this reason he finds them in
his books put together as one, or rather as the first com-
mandment, with its explication ; by which means it comes
about, that there are only three in the first table, teaching
him his duty towards God ; and seven in the latter, con-
cerning his duty to his neighbour ; which is the division as-
signed by St. Augustine. And though St. Jerom observes
not this method, but divides them into four and six ; yet
there being no direction in scripture concerning the num-
ber of the commandments to be assigned to each table,
nor to let us know which is the first, which the second,
which the third commandment, or which the last ; he is
taught that it is but an unnecessary trouble to concern
himself about the number or division of them, when as his
whole business ought to be the observance of them in his
life and conversation.
24. Of mental Reservations. — The Papist truly repre-
sented is taught to keep faith with all sorts of people,
of whatsoever judgment or persuasion they be, whether in
communion with his church or not ; he is taught to stand
to his word, and observe his promise given or made to any
whatsoever ; and that he cannot cheat or cozen, whether
by dissembling, equivocations, or mental reservations, with-
out defiance of his own conscience, and the violation of
God's law. This is the instruction he receives from the
pulpit, the confessionary, and his books of direction, and
nothing is more inculcated in his church than sincerity and
truth. But as to the doctrine and practice of equivoca-
tions and mental reservations, so far from being approved
by his church, he finds it expressly censured by Pope In-
nocent XI. in a decree issued forth March 2, 1679, pro-
3^67
hibiting the teaching or maintaining of it under pain of ex-
communication. He is taught therefore to speak plainly
and sincerely, without any such artifices, which cannot but
be very injurious to all society, and displeasing to the first
truth. And now, if any authors in communion with his
church, be produced as patrons and abettors of these
mental juggles, let them hold up their hands, and answer
for themselves : their church has approved of no such doc-
trine, and is no more to be charged with their particular
opinions, than with the unexemplary lives of other her
members, whose irregularities are not at all derived from
their religion, but from following their own corrupt inclin
ations, and giving way to the temptations of their enemy.
26. Of Fasting. — The Papist truly represented is taught
by his church that the appearance of devotion, the name
of mortification, and pretence to it, are only vain and
fruitless things, if they are not accompanied with the
substance. And that it is but a very lame compliance with
the ecclesiastical precept of fasting, to abstain from flesh,
unless all other excesses are at the same time carefully
avoided. It is true, his church has not forbidden on these
days the drinking of wine, but permits a moderate use of it,
as at other times : but is so far from giving liberty to
any of her flock of committing excesses, that she declares
drunkenness and all gluttony whatsoever, to be more hein-
ous and scandalous sins on such days, than any other ; they
being expressly contrary, not only to the law of God, but
also to the intention of the church, which appoints these
times for the retrenching debaucheries and conquering our
vicious appetites. And now, if any of his profession make
less scruple of being drunk on a fasting-day, than of eating
the least bit of flesh, he knows nothing more can be said
of them, than of many of another communion, who will
not break the sabbath-day, by doing any servile work on it,
for all the world, looking on this as a most damning sin ;
and yet at the same time, have but little scruple of swear-
ing, cursing, lying, or revelling the greatest part of the day ;
which is not, because they have more liberty for these than
the former, they being all most wicked offences ; but be-
cause they that do thus are but Christians by halves, who
with a kind of pharisaical and partial obedience, seem to
. bear some of the commandments most zealously in their
368
hearts, while they trample others under their feet ; scru-
pling many times at a mote, and on other occasions passing
by a beam undiscerned ; for which their church is not to
be accountable, but they themselves, as being guilty of a
wilful blindness, and a most unchristian negligence. This
is the real case of such of his communion, who, on days of
humiliation, while they abstain from flesh, yet give scandal
by their intemperance. They have a command of God, by
which they are obliged on all days to live soberly, and to
avoid all gluttony and drunkenness ; and on fasting-days,
besides this command of God, they have a church precept,
by which they are bound, if able to eat but one meal in a
day, and that not of flesh. And now if some are so ignorant
and careless, as to be scrupulously observant of one of these
commands, and wholly negligent of the other, it is not be-
cause their religion teaches them to do so (which detests
and condemns all such scandalous partiality, and complying
with their duty by halves) but because they shut their ears
to all good instruction, and choose rather to follow their
own corrupt appetites, than the wholesome doctrine of
their church.
28. Of Friars and Nuns. — The Papist truly repre-
sented is taught to have a high esteem for those of his com-
munion, who undertake that sort of life, which, according
to Christ's own direction, and his apostles, is pointed out
as the best. A sort of people who endeavour to perform
all that God has commanded, and also what he has coun-
selled as the better, and in order to more perfection. They
hear Christ declaring the danger of riches ; they therefore
embrace a voluntary poverty, and lay aside all titles to
wealth and possessions. St. Paul preaches, that he that
giveth not his virgin in marriage, doth better than he that
does ; and that she that is unmarried, cares for the things
of the Lord, how she may be holy both in body and in
spirit ; they therefore choose a single state, consecrating
their virginity to God, that so they may be wholly intent on
his service, and careful how to please him ; while she that
is married cares for the things of the world, how she may
please her husband. The gospel proclaims, that those that
will follow Christ, must deny themselves: they therefore
renounce their own wills, and without respect to their own
proper inclinations, pass their life in perpetual obedience.
569
And because the world is so corrupt, that to a pious soul
every business is a distraction, every diversion a temptation,
and more frequently provocations to evil, than examples to
good ; they therefore retire from it as much as possible,
and confining themselves to a little corner or cell, apply
themselves wholly to devotion, making prayer their business,
the service of God their whole employ, and the salvation
of their souls their only design. And now, if in these re-
tirements, where every thing is so ordered as to be most ad-
vantageous for the promoting of virtue and devotion, and
nothing permitted that is likely to prove a disturbance to
godliness, or allurement to evil, yet if some (for, God be
praised, it is far from being the case of the generality)
live scandalously, and give ill example to the world, what
can be said, but that no state can secure any man ; and
that no such provision can be made in order to a holy life,
but may be abused ? But yet he does not think that such
abuses, and the viciousness of some, can be argument
enough to any just and reasonable man, to condemn the
whole, and the institution itself. Is not marriage abused
an infinite nunjber of ways, and many forced to embrace
this state, or at least to accept of such particular persons
contrary to their own choice and liking ? Is there any state
in this world, any condition, trade, calling, profession,
degree, or dignity whatsoever, which is not abused by
some? Are churches exempt from abuses? Are not
bibles and the word of God abused ? Is not Christianity
itself abused, and even the mercy of God abused ?
If therefore there is nothing so sacred or divine in the
whole world, which wicked and malicious men do not
pervert to their ill designs, to the high dishonour of God,
and their own damnation, how can any one, upon the mere
consideration of some abuses, pass sentence of condemna-
tion against a thing, which otherwise is good and holy ? It
is an undeniable truth, that to embrace a life exempt, as
much as can be, from the turmoils of the world ; and in
a quiet retirement to dedicate one's self to the service of
God, and spend one's days in prayer and contemplation, is
a most commendable undertaking, and very becoming a
Christian. And \et if some, who enter upon such a course
of life as this, fall short of what they pretend, and instead
of becoming eminent in virtue and godliness, by their un-
exemplary lives, prove a scandal to their profession ; is the
^ B
370
rule and institution to be condemned ; or rather, they who
swerve from it ? No, let not the dignity of an apostle suffer
for the fall of Judas ; nor the commandments lie under an
aspersion upon account of those that break them.
3 1 . Of Holy Water. — The Papist truly represented ut-
terly disapproves all sorts of superstition ; and yet is taught
to have an esteem for holy water, blessed candles, and holy
oil, not doubting but that such men, as have consecrated
themselves to the service of God, in the preaching the gos-
pel, and administration of the sacraments, have a particular
respect due to them above the laity ; as churches dedicated
to God are otherwise to be looked on, than other dwelling
houses : so likewise other creatures, which are particularly
deputed by the prayers and blessing of the priest to certain
uses for God's own glory, and the spiritual and corporal
good of Christians, ought to be respected in a degree above
other common things. And what superstition is there in
the use of them ? Has not God himself prescribed such
inanimate things, and holy men made use of them, for an
intent above their natural power ; and this without any su-
perstition ? Was there superstition in the waters of jealousy,
or in the salt used by Elisha for sweetening the infected
waters ? Was it superstition in Christ to use clay for
opening the eyes of the blind ? or in the apostles to make
use of oil for curing the sick ? And though there be no
express command in scripture, for blessing water, candles,
&c. yet there is this assurance, that every creature is sanc-
tified by the word of God and prayer, and frequently
promises that God will hear the prayers of the faithful.
Why therefore should he doubt, but that these creatures on
which the blessing of God is solemnly implored by the
word of God, and the prayers of the priest and people,
for their sanctification, are really sanctified, according to
the assurance of the apostle, and the promises of God } St.
Cyril of Jerusalem, who lived in the beginning of the
fourth century, made no question, but that as those things,
which are offered to idols, though pure in their own na-
ture, are made impure by the invocation of devils ; so, on
the contrary, simple water is made holy, and gets a sancti-
ty, by virtue received from the invocation of the Holy
Ghott, of Christ our Lord, and his eternal Father. And
that the blessed water was capable, by virtue received from
371
heaven, of working effects above its own nature, was cer-
tainly the sentiment of the Christians in the primitive times.
St. Epiphanius relates a passage at length, how water be-
ing blessed in the name of Jesus, and sprinkled upon fire,
which by witchcraft was made inactive, and hindered from
burning, immediately the enchantment ceased, and the fire
burned : as also, that a possessed person being sprinkled
with blessed water, the party was immediately cured. The-
odoret has the like narrative of the devil hindering fire from
burning, and how he was chased away, and the charm dis-
solved by blessed water being thrown on it. And St. Je-
rom relates how Italicus took water from blessed Hilarion,
and cast it on his bewitched horses, his chariot, and the
barriers from which he used to run, and that the charms of
witchery did cease upon the sprinkling this water ; so that
all cried out, Mamas victus est a Christo ; Christ hath
conquered Mamas, the idol. And now there is no jeering
or ridiculing these things, that will ever make them look
like idle superstitions, to one that considers seriously how
much they are grounded upon reason, the word of God,
antiquity, and the authority and practice of the Catholic
Church, which Approves the use of them, yet so as plainly
to teach that there is no confidence to be put in any thing,
but only in Jesus Christ; and that what power these things
have, they have it not of themselves, but only from heaven,
and by the invocation of the name of Jesus ; who as by
his heavenly blessing he enables us to do things above the
power of nature, so also by the prayers of his church, he
blesses these things, in order to the working effects above
their own natural qualities, that by them his fatherly bene-
fits may be applied to us, and that so the faithful may more
particularly honour and bless him in all his creatures.
32. Of Breeding up People in Ignorance. — The Pa-
pist truly represented has all the liberty, encouragement,
and convenience of becoming learned of any people or per-
suasion whatsoever. And none that has ever looked over any
library, but has found that the greatest numbers and choic-
est books of all sciences, have had men of his communion
for their authors: none that in his travels has taken a tho-
rough view of the universities in Popish countries, of Paris,
Louvain, Salamanca, Bologna, &c. (and considered their
372
laborious studies, in philosophy, divinity, history, the fa-
thers, councils, scriptures, &c. ; and besides the stu-
dents here, has seen how many thousands there are in
religious houses, who free from the disturbances of
the world, make virtue and learning the business of their
whole life ; will ever lay ignorance to the charge of the
Papists), but must in justice confess, that amongst them are
to be found as many and as great scholars, as amongst any
people or societies in the world. And as to the vulgar and
common sort of that profession, though they understand
not Latin, yet they are not trained up in ignorance of their
religion, nor led along in blindness ; but are so well provid-
ed with books in their own mother tongue, of instruction
and devotion, wherein is explained the whole duty of a
Christian, every mystery of their faith, and all the offices
and ceremonies performed in the church, that they must be
very negligent, or else have very mean parts, who do not
arrive at a sufficient knowledge of their obligation in every
respect. And whoever has seen the great pains and care
some good men take abroad, in explaining on Sundays and
holy-days in their churches, and on week-days in the streets,
the christian doctrine to the crowds of the ignorant and
meaner sort of people, not omitting to reward such as
answer well with some small gifts, to encourage youth, and
provoke them to commendable emulation, will never say that
the Papists keep the poor people in ignorance, and hide from
them their religion ; but rather that they use all means for
instructing the ignorant, and omit nothing that can any ways
conduce to the breeding up of youth in the knowledge of
their faith, and letting them see into the religion they are
to profess. Neither does it seem to him, even so much as
probable, that if the church offices and service, &c. were
performed in the vulgar tongue, that upon this the now
ignorant people would immediately discover so many idle
superstitions, senseless devotions, and gross errors, that they
would in great numbers upon the sight become deserters of
that communion, of which they are now professed mem-
bers. For since there is nothing done but in a language,
which the learned, judicious, and leading men of all nations
every where understand, and yet these espy nothing to fright
them from their faith ; but notwithstanding their seeing all
through and through, they yet admire all for solid, holy and
373
apostolical, and remain steadfast in their profession, how-
can it be imagined, that the vulgar, weak, and unlearned
sort, did they understand all as well as they, would espy
any such errors and superstitions, which these others, with
all their learning and judgment, cannot discover ? No, he
thinks there is no reason to fear, that what passes the test
among the wise and learned, can be groundlessly called in
question by the multitude.
SECTION V.
Of the Mass, and various other Points of Doctrine,
Discipline, and Church Government.
THE council of Trent decrees, that divine
service shall not be performed in the mother
tongue ;* this, however, is only the case as far
as concerns the Latin Church: the numerous
churches of the east, which are still in com-
munion with Roman Catholics, are allowed to
have service performed in their respective na-
tional tongues. The Coptic, Sclavonian, Ar-
menian, and Greek languages are used in nu-
merous churches ; and many of the eastern
Catholics have colleges at Rome, and perform
the liturgy each in their respective languages.
Many Protestants erroneously suppose, that
» Sess. 22. cap. 8.
574
Catholics uniformly offer up all their public
prayers in the Latin tongue. If we would
now and then give ourselves the trouble to
shake off our prejudices, and join in the wor-
ship of the common God of Christians in a Ca-
tholic chapel even in this country, we should
find our mistake in this point. For my own
part, I see no reason for the use of the Latin
tongue in the services of religion ; but neither
do I see any very strong reasons for the dreadful
outcry about the use of a Latin liturgy. At any
rate, it is only fair to let the Catholics speak for
themselves on this point ; and they tell us, that
" The liturgy in the vulgar tongue of every
country would be attended with great inconve-
nience : neither is it," they say," so very requi-
site, seeing the priest at mass is not preaching but
praying, and offering sacrifice for the people;
and they are otherwise instructed in the mean-
ing of this sacrifice."* Besides, the mass is
translated for the benefit and instruction of all
worshippers who use it.
I will now lay before the reader, in a concise
manner, the ceremonies of the mass, which
many Catholics look upon as the most accept-
able of all adorations, and the most effectual of
♦ The Poor Man's Controversy, by J. Mannock. p. 69. Ed.
1769,
375
all prayers. The church not only prays herself
at this sacrifice, which the priest offers up to
God in the most solemn manner, but Jesus
Christ, by the sacrifice of his own body, is sup-
posed to offer up to his Father the most perfect
adoration that can possibly be paid him, since
it is offered up by a God.
The mass consists of two parts : — the first,
from the beginning to the offering, which was
formerly called the mass of the catechumens;
and the second, from the offering to the conclu-
sion, called the mass of the faithful. All persons
without distinction were present at it till the
offering; then the deacon cried out, holy things
are for sactt as are holy j let the profane depart
hence.
Monsieur Picart presents us with thirty-five
curious prints to illustrate the several descrip-
tions of these ceremonies.*
1. The priest goes to the altar, in allusion to
our Lord's retreat with his apostles to the gar-
den of Olives. 2. Before he begins mass, he says
a preparatory prayer. The priest is then to
look on himself as one abandoned of God, and
driven out of paradise for the sin of Adam.
* Vol. i. p. 324. et seq. See also the Explanation of the
Mass.
376
3. The priest makes confession for himself, and
for the people, in which it is required that he be
free from mortal and from venial sin. 4. The
priest kisses the altar, as a token of our recon-
ciliation with God, and our Lord's being be-
trayed by a kiss. 5. The priest goes to the
epistle side of the altar, and thurifies or perfumes
it. Jesus Christ is now supposed to be taken
and bound. 6. The Introite, said or sung, i.e.
a psalm or hymn, applicable to the circumstance
of our Lord's being carried before Caiaphas the
high priest. 7- The priest says the Kyrie Eloison,
which signifies, Lord, have mercy upon us, three
times, in allusion to Peter's denying our Lord
thrice. 8. The priest turning towards the altar,
says, Dominus vobiscum, i. e. The Lord be with
you: the people return this salutation, cum Spi-
riin tuo, and with thy Spirit, Jesus Christ looking
at Peter. 9. The priest reads the epistle relating
to Jesus being accused before Pilate. 10. The
priest bowing before the altar, says Munda cor,
i.e. Cleanse our hearts. The gradual is sung.
This psalm is varied according as it is the time
of Lent or not. The devotion is now directed
to our Saviour's being accused before Herod,
and making no reply. 11. The priest reads the
gospel wherein Jesus Christ is sent from Herod
to Pilate. The gospel is carried from the right
side of the altar to the left, to denote the tender
of the gospel to the Gentiles, after refusal by
the Jews. 12. The priest uncovers the chalice,
hereby to represent our Lord was stripped in
377
order to be scourged. 13. The oblation of the
host, the creed is sung by the congregation.
The priest then kisses the altar, then the priest
offers up the host, which is to represent or im-
port the scourging of Jesus Christ, which was in-
troductory to his other sufferings. 14. The priest
elevates the chalice, then covers it. Here Jesus's
being crowned with thorns is supposed to be figur-
ed to the mind, shewing that he was going to be ele-
vated a victim; and it is well known the victims of
the Pagans were crowned before they were sacri-
ficed to their idols.* 15. The priest washes his fin-
gers, as Pilate washed his hands, declares Jesus in-
nocent, blesses the bread and the wine, blesses the
* If we were ignorant of the motive, we might be inclin-
ed to smile at the folly of republishing such books as Doctor
Middleton's Letter from Rome. If it be true that " compa-
risons are odious," what should the lovers of toleration and
religious union think of such publications as this Letter from
Rome, and its kindred work, Bishop Lavington's Enthusiasm
of Methodists and Papists compared? I have been led to this
remark by the circumstance of a republication of Middleton's
Letter this very year (1812), with " Additional proofs and
illustrations, by Publicola." Proofs and illustrations of
what? That the rites and doctrines of popery are of pagan
origin. Let Publicola carry this idea to its full extent, and
let him seriously consult, in his ignoble comparisons, the
Indian Antiquities of Mr. Maurice ; and then let him, if he have
courage so to do, tell us what he thinks of the doctrine of
the holy and undivided Trinity ! I will not, I am sure, dis-
pute the validity of his, or even of Dr. Middleton's, conclu-
sions:
378
frankincense, and perfumes the bread and wine,
praying that the smell of this sacrifice may be
more acceptable to him than the smoke of vic-
tims. 16. The priest turning to the people,
says, Oratre, Fratres, i.e. let us pray. He then
bows himself to the altar, addresses himself to
the Trinity, and prays in a very low voice.
This is one of the secretums of the mass, and
the imagination of the devout Christian is to
find out the conformity between this and Christ
being cloathed with a purple robe ; but we shall
sions ; for I fear a rigid investigation into the origin and
grounds of many doctrines, adopted by, not peculiar to, the
Roman Catholics, would lead us much beyond the age of po-
pery. But it is curious to observe, to what a chaos of com-
parisons the enemies of Catholicism have reduced their rea-
sonings : One " reverend and learned" Doctor of Divinity,
tells us that popery is paganism ; another, still more learned,
and right reverend Doctor and Bishop, tells us that popery
and methodism are the same ! Perhaps, Publicola thinks
there is less danger to the " Protestant Cause," as it is em-
phatically, but ludicrously, called, from the mixture of me-
thodism and popery, than from that of popery and paganism,
or he would favour us with a republication of Bp. Laving-
ton's work; for that also is out of print ; and the " Hints"
of " a Barrister" might furnish him with many " additional
Proofs and Illustrations." What the writer of the present
sheets thinks of this disgraceful publication of Bp. Laving-
ton's, the reader will find in the Preface to the Portraiture
of Methodism. It was once a common saying, that "po-
pery is rather to be chosen than presbytery ; and that it is
better
379
be cautious of adding more on this head, that
we may not lose ourselves in the boundless
ocean of allusions. 17. The priest says the
preface at the close of the Secretum. This part
of the mass is in affinity to Jesus Christ being
condemned to be crucified. The priest uses a
prayer to God the Father, which is followed by
the Sanctus, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, &c.
which the people sing. 18. The priest joining
his hands, prays for the faithful that are living.
This is said to be in allusion to Jesus Christ
bearing the cross to die upon, that we might
live. 19- The priest covers with a cloth the host
and chalice, St. Veronica offering her handker-
chief to Jesus Christ. 20. The priest makes
the sign of the cross upon the host and chalice,
better to be a papist than a presbyter." See De Laurie's
" Plea for the Non-Conformists," p. 95. (1720). Those ene-
mies to the claims of the Catholics who ground their argu-
ments on the persecutions of former times, will do well to con-
sult the •' Narrative of the Sufferings of Thomas De Launc, for
printing and publishing a late book, called, " A Plea for the
Non-Conformists," &c. It is a curious fact, that the " libel,"
as it was called, for which poor De Laune was made to suffer
so very severely, consisted in comparing the Church of Eno--
land to that of Rome, a parallel which he supported with
quite as much consistency as did the two " learned and re-
verend" gentlemen whose works are quoted in this note,
their pagan and methodist comparisons. Some have said
popery is like socinianism ! It is like paganism, and me-
thodism, and the Church of England, and socinianism ; in
short, what is it not like ?
380
to signify that Jesus Christ is nailed to the cross.
21. The priest adores the host before elevated,
and then he raises it up, in the best manner, to
represent our Saviour lifted up upon the cross.
He repeats the Lord's prayer, with his arms ex-
tended, that his body might represent the figure
of a cross, which is the ensign of Christianity.
22. The priest likewise consecrates the chalice,
and elevates it, to represent the blood of Jesus
Christ shed upon the cross. 23. The priest says
the Memento for the faithful that are in purgatory.
This prayer is in allusion to that which our Lord
made for his enemies; but this allusion would
be forced and unnatural, unless the devotees
looked upon themselves as his enemies. 24. The
priest then raises his voice, smiting his breast,
begs God's blessing on himself and congregation,
for the sake of such saints as he enumerates, and
implores the divine Majesty for a place in para-
dise, to imitate the thief upon the cross. 25. The
priest elevates the host and cup, and says the per
omnia, then the Lord's prayer. The sign of the
cross, which he makes on the host, the chalice,
and the altar, is to represent to God that bleed-
ing sacrifice which his Son offered up to him of
himself; then the devout Christian becomes the
child of God, and all this is an allusion to the Vir-
gin Mary's being bid to look on St. John as her
son. 26. After the 'Lord's prayer, the priest says a
private one to God, to procure his peace by the
mediation of the Virgin Mary and the saints,
then puts the sacred host upon the paten, and
381
breaks it, to represent Jesus Christ giving up
the ghost. 27. The priest puts a little bit of the
host into the chalice. The true Christian is now
with an eye of faith to behold Jesus Christ des-
cending into Limbo, i. e. hell. 28. Then the
priest says, and the people sing, Agnus Dei, &c.
thrice over, and the priest smites his breast.
This action is an allusion to those who, having
seen our Lord's sufferings, returned home smit-
ing their breasts. 29- After the Agnus Dei is
sung, the priest says a private prayer for the
peace of the church. He then kisses the altar,
and the instrument of peace called the paxis,
which being received at his hands by the deacon,
it is handed about to the people to be kissed,
and passed •from each other with these words,
peace be with you ; and, whilst the paxis is kissing,
the priest prepares himself for the communion
by two other prayers, when he adores the host,
and then says, with a low voice, I will eat of the
celestial bread ; and smiting his breast, says, J
am not worthy that thou shouldest enter into my
house, three times after eating of the bread.
He uncovers the chalice, repeating vers. i. of the
115th psalm, according to the Vulgate. When
the priest has received the communion, he ad-
ministers it to the people. The application of
these ceremonies is to the death and burial of
Jesus Christ, and his descent into hell. 30. After
this, the priest, putting the wine into the chalice,
in order to take what is called the ablution, re-
peats a short prayer ; then he causes wine and
382
water to be poured out for the second ablution,
accompanied with another short prayer, and
then salutes the congregation. These ablutions
allegorically represent the washing and embalm-
ing the body of Jesus Christ, &c. 31. The
priest sings the post communion, or prayer for a
good effect of the sacrament then received, ex-
pressed by the glorious resurrection of the rege-
nerate Christians, and is to be looked upon as
the representation of our Lord's resurrection.
32. The priest, turning to the people, says,
Dominus vobiscum, salutes the congregation, as
the ambassador of Christ, with the message of
peace. 33. The priest reads the beginning of
St. John's gospel, and particularly of Jesus's ap-
pearing to his mother and disciples, and uses
some short prayers. 34. The priest dismisses
the people with these words, Ite, missa est, de-
part, the mass is concluded : to which they
answer, God be thanked. This, they say, points
to the ascension of Jesus Christ, where he re-
ceives the eternal reward of that sacrifice, both
as priest and victim. 35. The people receive
the benediction of the priest or bishop, if he is
present, to represent the blessings promised, and
poured down upon the apostles by the Holy
Ghost.
This benediction must be given after kissing,
with eyes erected to heaven, and their arms
stretched out, and then gently brought back to
the stomach, that the hands may join in an
383
affectionate manner, for the congregation of the
faithful. The extension of the arms, and join-
ing of the hands, are both mysterious, and shew
the charity with which the priest calls his spiri-
tual brethren to God. When he pronounces
the benediction, he must lean in an engaging
posture towards the altar, as prescribed by the
Italian symbolical authors, viz. Piscara, Baudry,
and others.*
The general division of masses is into high
and low. High mass, called also grand mass, is
that sung by the choristers, and celebrated with
the assistance of a deacon and subdeacon. Low
mass, is that wherein the prayers are barely re-
hearsed, without any singing, and performed
without much ceremony, or the assistance of a
deacon and subdeacon.
There are several sorts of solemn masses ;
such are the collegiate, the pontifical, those
celebrated before the Pope, cardinals, or bishops,
at Christmas, passion week, &c.
When High Mass is performed episcopally,
or by a bishop, it is attended with more cere-
mony and magnificence. As soon as the bishop
is observed to come in sight, the bells are rung;
Picart's Religious Ceremonies, vol. i.
384
on his setting his foot within the church-doors,
the organs begin to play. A person is ap-
pointed to give the sprinkler to the head canon,
who presents it, after he has kissed both that
and his sacred hand. His lordship sprinkles
himself, and then the canons, with it, in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost ; and then goes and says a prayer
before the altar, on which stands the holy sacra-
ment, at a desk prepared for that particular pur-
pose, and does the same at the high altar; from
whence he withdraws into the vestry, and there
puts on his peculiar ornaments, in the following
order : The subdeacon goes to a little closet con-
tiguous to the altar, and takes from thence the
episcopal sandals and stockings, which he ele-
vates and presents to the bishop. Then the dea-
con kneels down, and pulls of his lordship's shoes
and stockings, who is in the midst of seven or
eight acolites, or readers, all upon their knees,
as well as the deacon, in their respective habits,
who spreads the prelate's robes. Two acolites,
after they have washed their hands, take the
sacred habiliments, hold them up, and give
them to the two deacon assistants, to put upon
the bishop as soon as he has washed his hands.
The deacon salutes the bishop, takes off his
upper garment, and puts on his amiot, the cross
whereof he kisses; then they give him the albe,
the girdle, the cross for his breast, the stole,
and the pluvial. He kisses the cross upon re-
385
ceiving each of them, thereby to testify his ve-
neration of the cross ; the deacons and assistants
likewise kiss these sacred vestments. As soon
as the bishop is seated, they put his mitre on,
and a priest presents him with the pastoral ring.
The deacon gives him his right glove, and the
subdeacon his left, which each of them kiss, as
also the hand they hare the honour to serve in
all these circumstances. There are some cere-
monies to be observed, which those who are fond
of mysteries may endeavour to account for, but
should not ridicule. It is more material to ac-
quaint the reader, that ejaculatory prayers have
been adapted to each individual piece of the
episcopal robes, and that the devotion of this
ceremony is»supported and confirmed by the
singing the office of tierce.*
The bishop being thus drest in all his habili-
ments, f his clergy range themselves round about
» Prayers intended to return God thanks for the sanctifi-
cation of his church by the Holy Ghost.
•f Each of these have a mysterious significance ; the stole
represents the yoke of the gospel ; the shoes being taken off,
alludes to Moses putting off his shoes ; the Dalmatica is to
represent to the deacon that he must be crucified to the
world : the alb denotes the purity of the priest's soul ; the
pastoral ring implies the priest's spiritual marriage with the
church : his gloves are to denote that he is insensible of his
good works ; the girdle, that he will be girded with justice
and virtue ; the sandals, that he is to walk in the paths of the
Lord ; the horns of the mitre, the Old and New Testament ;
the
2 C
386
him. Two deacons, who are canons, place
themselves on each side of him, both in their
dalmaticas; and after them, a deacon and sub-
deacon. Then the incense-bearer, with the cen-
ser, and a priest, with the navet, out of which
the shepherd's crook, his correction and paternal authority;
the pluvial, which was formerly used by travellers, to repre-
sent the miseries of this life, and thus the bishop is to be-
come a living image of the true Christian. This account is
given by Casalius ; but to shew us the propriety and reality
of these characters, requires some farther explanation and
proof. Picart's Ceremonies, vol. i. p. 335.
The Rev. Peter Gaudolphy, in the preface to his edition of
the Liturgy, has explained the use and signification of most
of the vestments worn by the Catholic clergy, which ap-
pear so uncouth and strange to Protestants of the present
day. " It is the duty," says he, " of every one to seek and
learn the signification of the ceremonies of religion, although
it must be admitted that it is often difficult to discover it,
obscured as they are in the mist of antiquity. — Composed
for the edification of the faithful, they were mostly intended
to bear a mystical signification, though convenience and pro-
priety also, often dictated the adoption of some. Thus the
praying with uplifted hands, in imitation of Moses, mysti-
cally expresses the elevation of our thoughts to God. St. Paul
also gives a mystical reason for the custom of men praying
uncovered in churches — and even to many of those cere-
monies which propriety introduced, the Church has added
a spiritual sense. — Thus the altars in our churches, are always
raised above the level of the pavement, that the people may
more easily observe the mysteries, as they are celebrated;
yet in this the Church proposes to herself a meaning of the
mystical kind ; which is, that they are the altars of mediation
between heaven and earth
" In the same manner the sacred vestments, such as the
Chasuble
387
the bishop takes incense, puts it into the censer,
and gives it his benediction. After this he kisses
the cross, which is upon the vestry altar, and
Chasuble — Dalmatic,* the Cope,f the Stole,t Manuple, §
Amice,|| Alb,f Girdle,** &c. originally common garments,
were in universal use when first introduced into the offices of
the Christian religion. But abandoned by fashion, the
Church soon affixed to them a mystical signification, and
piously assimilated them to the virtues in which the Christian
soul is ever supposed to be arrayed. The Amice or Head-
cloth, for instance, was compared to the protecting helmet of
spiritual grace and salvation (Ephes. vi. 17.) ; — the long Alb,
or white linen garment, of future glory and immortality
(Apoc. vii. 9.) ; — The Manuple to be an emblem of persecu-
tions and sufferings for Christ (Matt. xvi. 24.) ; — and the
Chasuble, Dalmatic, &c. to express the yoke and burthen of
the gospel."
This dangerous system, of spiritualizing the most common
subjects
* The Chasuhle and Dalmatic were coloured dresses, corresponding
in shape to the Frock worn by our labouring peasants : convenience
has taught us to leave the seams unsewed at the sides.
f The Cope is an exact pattern of our modern trooper's cloak.
J The Stule was a smaller cloak, more resembling a tippet or Spanish
mantle, which the scissars have gradually narrowed to its present shape.
§ The Manuple was originally a cloth hanging from the left arm, to
wipe the face.
|| The Amice was a cloth tied over the head ; used, perhaps, for
warmth, and so placed that it might be drawn back upon the neck and
shoulders at pleasure.
^| The Alb was the universal under-garment of all ranks, full, and
reaching down to the heels ; and is still the common dress of the
\siatics.
*• The Girdle was a cord necessary to confine it close to the body —
The Surplice, in Latin Superpelliceum, was a short loose white dress, and
so called because occasionally worn over a dress made of the fur and
hair of animals.
O c 2
388
then goes in procession to the other altar, where
he is to celebrate the mass. The incense-bearer
walks at the head of the procession ; two wax-
candle bearers, with lighted tapers in their hands,
march next on each side of him who bears the
cross ; all the clergy follow them ; the subdeacon
who is to sing the epistle, carries before his
breast the New Testament, shut, with the
bishop's manuple in it; a deacon and priest
march just before the bishop ; the bishop carry-
ing his shepherd's crook in his left hand, to dis-
pense his blessings to those good Christians he
passes in the way. The bishop being advanced
to the altar, bows himself once to the clergy,
and when he enters on the first step of the altar,
delivers his crook to the subdeacon, and the
deacon takes off the mitre; then the prelate and
clergy bow to the altar, or rather to the cross on
the altar; after which the clergy withdraw, ex-
cept two priests' assistants, one on his right, and
the other on his left hand, with the incense-
bearer, the subdeacon, and two deacons assis-
tants, and then the ceremony of the mass ser-
vice begins with the Conjiteor,* &c, and the
choir sings the introite.t
subjects and things, was formerly carried to an enormous ex-
tent ; and, finally, begat, in the minds of the vulgar, those su-
perstitious notions concerning the sanctity of "holy things"
for which the Catholics have been so long distinguished.
* See Picart's Religious Cer. vol. i. p. 336.
+ Offices, Vestments, and other Distinctions, see the Diet.
389
The solemn Mass, celebrated by the Pope, has
much of magnificence and ceremony : I will
describe a simple part.* A pontifical solemn
mass principally differs in two respects, always
observed when his holiness himself officiates.
The first is this, the two gospels are sung, one
in Greek, and the other in Latin; the second,
that the communion is different in the papal
mass, and performed after the following manner:
after the Agnus Dei is sung, his holiness goes to
his throne; the cardinal deacon of the gospel
stands in such a manner on the epistle side, with
his hands closed together, that he cannot only
see the sacrament on the altar, but the Pope
likewise going to his throne. When his holiness
is seated, the deacon goes and takes the conse-
crated host upon the paten, covered with a veil,
and, turning to the people, elevates it three times
successively, that is to say, in the middle and at
each end of the altar. After that, he gives it to
the subdeacon, who carries it to his holiness; in
the mean time, the same deacon takes the cha-
lice, in which is the consecrated wine, and hav-
ing elevated it three times as he did the water
before, carries it to the Pope, who adore Jesus
Christ under both kinds, as soon as they are
brought to him, which he performs with a mo-
derately low bow of half his body, in a standing
* Apion's Account, in his Tableau de la Cour de Rome,
and Picart's Cer. vol. i. p. 339.
390
posture ; and when the deacon, and subdeacon,
are come close to him, they place themselves
one on his right hand, and the other on his left
hand; his holiness takes the large host which is
upon the paten, and communicates, putting it
into his mouth : he then gives two small ones
to the deacon and subdeacon, who are kneeling,
and kisses hand before they receive them. The
deacon, however, still holds the chalice, till the
assistant cardinal bishop, dressed in his cope,
comes up to the pontifical throne, when the
Pope's vestry-keeper presents him with a small
gold pipe, one end whereof he dips into the
chalice, and his holiness at the same time takes
hold of the other, and inclining his head a little,
sucks up a part of the consecrated wine, leaving
the rest to the deacon, who carries the chalice
to the altar, and there sucks up a part of it, and
leaves a little for the subdeacon, who drinks it
without the pipe, as also that which is poured
out for the ablution of the chalice, which he
wipes with the purificatory, or white linen cloth :
in the mean time His Holiness gives the kiss of
peace only to the deacon, and the communion
only under one kind to the other cardinals, am-
bassadors, princes, prelates, and sometimes to
private persons, who have desired to receive that
mark of honour from him, after which he re-
turns to the altar, and goes through the mass
with the usual ceremonies and solemnity.
We may here describe the peculiar ceremonies
391
attending high mass at Christmas, when His
Holiness officiates, who, being dressed in all his
pontifical ornaments (the most remarkable
whereof on this occasion are the white pluvial
and precious mitre) by the cardinal deacons al-
ready in their robes, blesses the incense pre-
sented to the thurifier ; after that the pontiff is
preceded by the Roman and other prelates,
who all wear white mitres. On this occasion
the incense-bearer, and seven acolites, each
with a wax-taper in his hands, walk before the
cross-bearer, and a clerk of the chamber before
the incense-bearer, who holds a sword lifted up,
with a cap upon it, which is a representation
perhaps of the irresistible power and efficacy of
the pontifical sword, which Christ's vicar has
inherited from St. Peter, with that of freeing
Christians from the bondage of the devil, by a
right acquired by the Son of God, whose nativity
is then celebrated. It is considered likewise as
an emblem of the Church's dignity and freedom
under the government of the Pope. Many of
the superior clergy make up this holy proces-
sion ; and should any Catholic prince, happen
to be at Rome at that time, he must carry the
train of the Pope's mantle: two cardinals like-
wise hold up the two ends of it. His Holiness
walks in a very stately and majestic manner,
under a canopy supported by eight gentlemen
of the first rank.
As soon as the Pope is got into the church.
3W
he passes on to a chapel, and then sits down.
The cardinals come and bo>.v to him, and kiss*
the hem of the holy father's pluvial on the right
side; then come the other prelates in order,,
and kiss his right knee. The Latin and Greek
deacons, who assist His Holiness, stand in rea-
diness at the altar. After some anthems are
sung, a vestry-keeper puts on the arms of a La-
tin subdeacon, a small napkin, whereon are
laid His Holiness's sandals and stockings. The
subdeacon carries altogether to the Pope, with
his hands held up to his eyes. The acolites fol-
low him, and whilst the subdeacon and a gen-
tleman of the privy chamber get under the
Holy Father's pluvial, to put on his stockings
and his sandals, the acolites take care to spread
the borders of the pluvial whilst the subdeacon
is putting them on. The assistant bishops who
are present at this religious ceremony hold be-
fore His Holiness a book and a wax-taper, who,
with his assistant deacons, sings an anthem and
a psalm. The choir sing tierce, during which
the Pope rises, and an assistant bishop goes up to
him with the pontifical ; two taper-bearers at-
tend with lights in their hands. The pontiff
takes off his mitre, which is done frequently in
this ceremony, and puts it on again. Then an
assistant bishop lays the pontifical on his own
head, that His Holiness may read the office of
the day, and another assistant supports the book
in one hand, and holds a taper in the other:
when the pontiff is seated again, and his mitre
395
put on, he is presented with some water to wash
him. His Holiness having washed, the gospel
deacon, assisted with two others, takes off his
mitre, pluvial, and stole, in order to put on se-
veral other robes, which the acolites bring him
from the altar, viz. the girdle, the breast-cross,
the dalmatica, the tunic, the albe, the gloves,
&c. all which must be devoutly kissed, and the
pallium, the cross whereof His Holiness kisses.
Lastly, they put the ring on his finger, called
the pontifical ring. His Holiness thus equipped,
and followed by two auditors, holding up the
corners of the pluvial, humbly proceeds to the
Confiteor before the steps of the altar, and the
three youngest cardinal priests advance to kiss
the Holy Father's mouth and his breast. Then
the gospel deacon censes His Holiness, and His
Holiness the altar, and then the ceremony of the
service begins ; during which there is the cere-
mony of delivering to the Pope a purse with
twenty-five Julio's in it of ancient money; and
the subdeacons and the master of the ceremonies
kiss the Pope's feet, with some other insignifi-
cant ceremonies.
Of the Devotion of Catholics to the Virgin Mary.
— 1. It is, they say, grounded upon her great
dignity as mother of God, and the close relation
which she has thereby to Jesus Christ her son;
for how is it possible, they add, to love and ho-
nour Christ with our whole heart, and not value
and love his mother ? — 2. It is grounded upon
394
that supereminent grace, which was bestowed
upon her, to prepare her for that dignity ; upon
account of which she was saluted by the angel
Gabriel, St. Luke, i. 28. full of grace, and by St.
Elizabeth she is stiled blessed among women, Luke
i. 42. — 3. It is grounded upon her extraordinary
sanctity ; for if she was full of grace before she
conceived in the womb the fountain of all grace,
to what a degree of sanctity and grace must she
have arrived, during so many years as she lived
afterwards ? especially since she bore nine
months in her womb the author of all sanctity,
and had him thirty years under her roof, ever
contemplating him and his heavenly mysteries,
St. Luke ii. 19 and 51. and on her part never
making any resistance to the affluence of his
grace ever flowing in upon her happy soul. —
4. It is grounded upon that supereminent de-
gree of heavenly glory with which God has now
honoured her, in proportion to her grace and
sanctity here upon earth, and the great interest
she has with her blessed Son, and through him
with his heavenly Father.*
Of the Use of Beads, the Rosary, Kc.—Q. Why
do Catholics so often repeat the Hail Mary ? —
A. To commemorate the incarnation of the Son
of God ; to honour his blessed mother, and to
desire her prayers.
* Catholic Instructed, p. 235,
395
Q. What is the meaning of the Beads ? — A.
It is a devotion, consisting of a certain number
of our fathers and hail Maries, directed for the ob-
taining of blessings from God, through the
prayers and intercession of our Lady.
Q. Bat is it not highly absurd, that, according
to the common way of saying the beads, there
are repeated ten hail Maries for one our father P
— A. It would be absurd indeed, and blasphem-
ous too, if the meaning of this were to signify
that the blessed Virgin is either more powerful
or more merciful than her son, or that we have
a greater confidence in her than in him ; but we
are far from any such notions.
Q. Why then is the hail Mary repeated so
much oftener in the beads than the Lord's
prayer ? — A. Because the beads being a devo-
tion particularly instituted to commemorate the
incarnation of Christ, and to honour him in his
blessed mother, it was thought proper to repeat
so much the oftener that prayer, which is parti-
cularly adapted to these ends. In the mean
time, it may be proper to take notice, 1. That if
in the beads there be ten hail Maries said for one
our father, in the mass and office of the Church,
almost all the prayers are directed to God alone.
2. That every hail Mary, both by the nature of
the prayer, and the intention of the Church, is
directed more to the honour of the son than of
the mother, as well because the Church, in ho-
396
nouring the mother, has principally in view the
honour of the son, as also because this prayer
particularly relates to the incarnation of Christ;
and if withal it begs her prayers, then she is only
desired to pray for us.
Q. What is the meaning of the Rosary /'—A.
The rosary is a method of saying the beads, so
as to meditate upon the incarnation, passion and
resurrection of Christ; and it is divided into
three parts, each part consisting of five mysteries,
to be contemplated during the repeating of five
decads or tens upon the beads. The first five
are called the five joyful mysteries, viz. the
Annunciation, when our Lord was conceived in
his mother's womb; the visitation, when the
blessed Virgin visited her kinswoman St. Eliza-
beth, and by her was declared blessed among wo-
men, &c. ; the nativity of our Lord, his present-
ment in the temple, together with the purifica-
tion of the blessed Virgin, and his being found
in the temple in the midst of the doctors, &c.
The five next are called the dolorous and sorrow-
ful mysteries, as having relation to the passion
of Christ, and are, his prayer and agony in the
garden, his being scourged at the pillar, his
crowning with thorns, his carriage of his cross,
and his crucifixion and death. The five last are
called the five glorious mysteries, viz. the resur-
rection of our Lord, his ascension into heaven,
the coming of the Holy Ghost, the assumption
of the blessed Virgin, and her coagmenation, to-
397
gether with the eternal glory of the saints in the
kingdom of heaven.*
Of the Invocation of Angels and Saints. — Q.
What is the doctrine and practice of the Ca-
tholic Church, with regard to the invocation of
angels and saints ? — A. We hold it to be pious
and profitable to apply ourselves to them in the
way of desiring them to pray to God for us ;
but not so as to address ourselves to them
as if they were the authors or disposers of
pardon, grace, or salvation, or as if they had any
power to help us independently of God's good
will and pleasure.
Q. But, m some of the addresses made to
the saints and angels, I find petitions for mercy,
aid, or defence ; what say you ? — A. The
meaning of those addresses, as far as* they
are authorized by the Church, is no other than
to beg mercy of the saints in this sense, that
they would pity and compassionate our misery,
and would pray for us. In like manner, when
we beg their aid and defence, we mean to beg
the aid and defence of their prayers; and that
the angels to whom God has given a charge
over us, would assist us and defend us against
the angels of darkness; and this is no more
* Catholic Christian instructed, page 234, ct seq.
398
than what the Protestant Church asks in the
collect for Michaelmas day, praying that as the
holy angels always serve God in heaven, so by
his appointment they may succour and defend
us upon earth.*
Of the Use and Veneration of Relicks in the
Catholic Church. — Q,. What do you mean by
relicks ? — A. The dead bodies or bones of the
saints we call relicks ; as also whatever other
things have belonged to them in their mortal life.
Q. And what is the doctrine and practice of
the Church with regard to these things ? — A.
"We keep such things as these with a religious
respect and veneration, for the sake of those to
whom they have belonged, but principally for
the sake of him to whom the saints themselves
belonged ; that is, for the greater glory of God,
who is glorious in his saints, and to whom is re-
ferred all the honour that is given to his saints.
Q. What reason has the Church for shewing
this respect to the dead bodies or bones of the
saints? — A. 1. Because they have been the vic-
tims, and the living temples of God, in which
His Divine Majesty has, in a particular manner,
inhabited, and which he has sanctified by his
presence and grace ; and, therefore, if God
* Catholic Christian, page 224.
899
required of Moses, Exod. iii. 5. and of Joshua,
Josh. v. 15. to loose their shoes from off their
feet, in respect to the ground on which they
stood, as being rendered holy by his presence,
or that of his angels, we must think that it is
agreeable to His Divine Majesty, that we should
testify the like honour to that venerable earth of
the bodies of his saints, which he in such an ex-
traordinary manner has sanctified, by abiding
in them as in his temples. 2. We know the
bodies of the saints are pre-ordained to a happy
resurrection and eternal glory, and upon this
account also deserve our respect. 3. The bo-
dies and other relicks of the saints have been
and are daily the instruments of the power of
God for the working of innumerable miracles;
which God, who is truth and sanctity itself,
would never have effected, if it had not been
agreeable to him that we should honour and res-
ts
pect these precious remnants of his servants.
4. The relicks and shrines of the martyrs and
other saints serve very much to encourage the
faithful to an imitation of their virtues, and to
help to raise their souls from the love of things
present and temporal to the love of things
eternal."*
The following account of the offices of Car-
dinals, Deacons, &c. is extracted from a very old
work, bearing every mark of authenticity and
correctness. It will afford considerable inform-
* Catholic Christian, &c
400
ation to the curious inquirer on this subject.
Strictly speaking, the present dignity of the
Cardinals is not absolutely essential to the re-
ligion of Roman Catholics. It is a branch of
discipline more immediately connected with the
temporalties of the Church, and the regal cha-
racter of the Pope, circumstances forming no
essential portion of a pious Catholic's faith or
worship.
" Of the Cardinalls, and their Original!. — This
word Cardinall, signifies no other, then Presbyter
principalis ; nam altissima: Cali port<z vocantur
cardines, ventique inde venientes appellantur cardi-
nales. In Parochia in qua erant plures Clerici ;
qui c&teris praerant in ea parochia, $f qui suberat
Episcopo, appellabatur Presbyter Cardinalis, Sf ista
convertebantur, habebat curam annimarum, et erat
Presbyter Cardinalis.
This word, as it is likely, was found out in
the time of Pope Higinius, an hundred and fifty
yeares after Christ, whereas many priests were
placed in parishes, and degrees of them settled,
whereupon the office being found, it was pro-
bable the name was then also found.
The first mention of the word Cardinall
was in the time of Saint Silvester, three hundred
yeares after Jesus Christ our Lord appeared, by
the Synod held in Rome under Saint Silvester.
This word Cardinall is at this day common to
401
three degrees; to Priests, Deacons, and Bishops.
At the first, as we see before, it was given to
Priests only, whose office it was then in par-
ticular, to have a care of the buriall of the faith-
full, whereunto the other Priests were not ad-
mitted, as is extant in Anastasius the Bibliothe-
carie, in the life of Pope Marcellus. As for the
rest, the Priests were equall, in preaching, in
administring the sacraments, (except baptisme,
as I have already said), in assisting the Pope, in
being employed as Legates ; and this before
Constantine.
After Constantine, the Priest Cardinalls began
to have I know not what kind of more preroga-
tive above other Priests that were not Cardi-
nals;* so that leaving off that particular care of
baptisme, and burialls, they onely went forth
in legations, and of them above for the most
part was the Pope made, having power over the
Priests, and Clerks of their jurisdiction.
This continued sixe hundred yeares, until!
Gregory the Seventh ; at which time, aswell by
the Emperor, as of the rest of the clergy, and
people from the election, the authority of the
Cardinalls increased, for that they were they
alone, which made the Pope, and commonly
* It is not now absolutely necessary that a Cardinal should
be in holy orders prior to his election.
2 D
402
out of their own order. Now that they might
maintain their dignity, the revenew of their
titles not being sufficient for many of them,
they began to have in commenda simple benefi-
ces, canonships, archpresbyters, and the like.
When a Bishoprick was given to any of these,
the dignity of Cardinall was void, as inferior to
the other. Afterwards, when they were made
Bishops, they demanded that by way of grace
they might retain the nomination only, leaving
the title of Priest, calling themselves Sancta
Romance Ecclesia Cardinales, without title, but
Cardinales Ecclesice Dei. In the time of Pope
Alexander the Third, after they were made
Bishops, perceiving that to bee a Cardinall was
a great importance for their attaining to the
Papacie, and for their intervening in their elec-
tion of the Pope, they began to retaine the title,
as to be both Bishop of a place, and a Cardinal!
of Rome together, howbeit with this advertise-
ment, that no Bishop was made a Cardinall,
because it was reputed a descending in degree :
but if the Cardinall was made a Bishop, he re-
tained both the one and the other.
In processe of time, the Bishops beginning
to desire to be Cardinalls, sought for means to
make Cardinalls that were no Priests, but they
were not able to do it untiil Boniface the Eight
was Pope, when as the court went to Avignion,
where every thing going to confusion, both
403
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, were made Car-
dinalls; and Cardinalls had Bishopricks, and Ab-
bacies more than one, given them in commenda:
upon this occasion too the Cardinalls began to
proceed Bishops, that were meere Bir>hops ; and
this precedencie began not absolutely, but in
Avignion.
Of Deacons and Priests Cardinalls. — Deacons
Cardinalls were anciently seven, like unto the
seven Deacons which were instituted by the
apostles ; the chief of the Deacons was called
Deacon-Cardinall, or Archdeacon, that signified
asmuch in imitation of the Priests Cardinalls,
who were in title above the other Prelates, as
appears in the synod of Saint Silvester.
These Deacons had care of the revenues of all
the Churches, and the almes of the faithfull, pro-
viding for all the Priests, aswell Priests Cardi-
nalls, as others, and for the Pope also; and this
unto the time of Constantine. But here is to
be noted, that the sub-deacons had the care of
receiving the revenues, and the Deacons of keep-
ing and dispensing them, according as it was
ordained.
In the time of Constantine, persecutions ceas-
ing, those seven Deaconships not sufficing, Dea-
cons for the service of every title were appointed
in the parishes where there were Priests and
Priests Cardinalls, who had a care of the Popes,
2D2
404
that is, the Church of Rome's revenues ; and
those were called Deacon Cardinalls, untill the
year a thousand, in the time of Pope Silvester,
or thereabout.
At which time, the Deacons attending no
longer on the revenue, whereof there was a new
particular officer constituted, they were left only
to the reading of the gospell before the Pope ;
in which time, because the number of the seven
regionary Deacons were increased, for Rome
was then divided into so many regions, and
every one of them had the charge of reading the
gospell in the church of his region, when as the
Pope went to say Masse in either of their said
churches; and they were called Cardinalls of
the first, of the second, and of the third region,
according as the region was named, whereof
they were intituled Cardinalls.
The other four Deacons were called Palatine
Cardinalls, in the Lateran, Altaris Ministri, be-
cause they read the gospell before the Pope in
Saint John de Lateran.
These Deacons had their settled dwellings in
Rome, neer to certain churches, or oratories,
without cure of soules; from which churches
leaving the name of regions, they began to have
their denominations ; that is, Petras Diaconus,
Cardinalis sancti Adriani, whereas they said be-
fore, Re°ioms talis, and this was five hundred
405
yeers agoe, or thereabouts, in the time of Pas-
chall the Second.
The reputation of these grew up together,
with that of the Priests Cardinalls, in regard
they had all of them the name, and prerogative
of a Cardinal!, and assisted at the election of
the Pope.
Of Bishops Cardinalls. — There are here to be
noted, three things : the first, in regard to the
translation from one Bishoprick to another, was
anciently held inconvenient, for three hundred
yeares space together, namely, to the yeare nine
hundred, none that was a Bishop of another
place, was ever chosen Pope of the Church of
Rome, but one still that was either a Priest or
a Deacon of the said Roman Church ; and the
reason thereof it may be was, because the Priests
of Rome would have none elected but one of
their owne number : the first that was otherwise
elected was Formosus, Bishop of Porto, in the
eight hundred ninfcie and one : whereupon arose
many uproares for transgressing the ancient
custome, as may be seen in the Platina.
The second, that a citty being once possest
by the enemy, the Bishop thereof was admitted
into some other Bishoprick that was void, with
condition, that upon restitution to his owne
church, he should returne to his flock, and be
called the Priest or Bishop of that place, which
406
had been committed unto him : as if Fundi had
been taken by the Turks, thus it would be said,
Petrus Episcopus Fundanus et Sacerdos, Cardi-
nalis Ferracinens. If so be the charge ojf the
Bishoprick of Ferracina had been conferred on
him, as appears in Saint Gregory, where there
are foure or five examples of it.
The third, that in the consecration of the
Pope, there were deputed seven Bishops, namely,
Albanus, Ostiensis, Portuensis, Sanctae Rufinas,
Tusculanus, Prenestinus, Sabinensis : And these,
in the beginning, did not intervene in the elec-
tion, but only in the consecration.
Foure hundred years after, or thereabout, in
the time of Alexander the Third, they were ad-
mitted to the election, and then they began to
be called Bishops Cardinalls, like unto the Priests
and Deacons Cardinalls, which intervened in
the Election of the Pope ; but before that, there
was never any called Bishop Cardinal!.
Of the Cardinalls Titles. — The titles of Priests
Cardinalls, were of a determinate number, that
is, eight and twenty, and those of the Deacons
eighteen, as those of the Bishops seven. Now
in Rome there were five churches built, which
were called Patriarchall ; that is, Saint John de
Lateran, representing the Pope: Saint Peter,
representing the Patriarch of Constantinople:
Saint Paul, that of Alexandria, Sancta Maria
407
magiore, that of Antiochia, and Saint Laurence
without the Walls, that of Jerusalem.
To the Ministers of the Lateran (for that it
was the Cathedrall) were deputed the seven
Bishops Cardinalls, to that of the others (because
they were of lesse dignity) seven Priests Car-
dinalls for each of themj and this number was
settled for twelve hundred veers, untill the time
of Innocent the Second ; before whom, Cardi-
nalls were not made many together, but one by
one, as they came to be void.
Innocent the Second, finding divers Cardinall-
ships void, began first to make many Cardinalls
together, which was continued untill about four
hundred years since; at which time the number
of Cardinalls seeming to be too great, they be-
gan when Cardinalls dyed, not to put others in
their roomes, but to give them in commendum
to other Cardinalls, or leave the government of
them to the Cardinalls Archpriests; so that in
processe of time it came to that passe, as no
longer minding the antient number of fifty-three,
they grew to be exceedingly diminished : how-
beit, Pope Leo the Tenth not only restored them
to the said number again, but it was by him, and
Pope Paul the Third, and Pope Pius the Fourth
exceeded, insomuch that the eight and twenty-
titles of the Priests Cardinalls not sufficing,
Pope Leo made thirteen, Pope Julian the Third
three, and Pope Paul the Fourth one more.
408
Now it is to be noted, that before Pope Leo,
they never exceeded the number of fifty and
three.
It was an antient custome observed in the
Church, for fourteen hundred yeers together,
that no opposition was amongst the Cardinalls ;
for a Deacon made not himselfe a Priest, unlesse
he lost his Deaconship, and then took upon him
the title of Priest; and in like sort, if a Priest
became a Bishop, he left the title of Priest, but
continuing a Priest, he never changed his title,
neither a Bishop his Bishoprick, nor a Deacon
his Deaconship.
One of those actions sprang from the schisme
of the Councell of Pisa, where the Cardinall
yeelding to the one and the other obedience,
some Cardinals of Avignion and Rome, being of
the same Cardinallship, it was necessary that
one of them should relinquish his, and for this
they began afterwards to change, which hath
been the mine of the churches, where there
were titles of Deaconships.
It was an antient custome, likewise, which
lasted five hundred yeares, even to the time of
Pope Sixtus Quartus, that a Deacon should have
no title, nor a Priest a Deaconship, it being a
thing repugnant to give the cure of soules to a
Deacon, and to a Priest a Deaconship.
409
Pope Sixtus Q.uartus was the first that con-
founded this Cardinallship, giving to Priests
Deaconships, and titles to Deacons; and the
matter went so farre forward, that there is not a
title, which hath not had a Deacon : wherein
yet is to be noted, that the Deacon, although he
hath a title, as the Cardinall Montallo had of
San Lorenso in Domaso, yet hee useth not the
name of title, as to say, Alexander Sancti Lau-
rentii, and Damaso Diaconus Cardinal is, with-
out mention of the title : and contrarily the
Priest Cardinall, that hath a Deaconship, where-
as he ought to speake of the title, not because it
hath no title, yet he adjoynes it, as Jacobus Sa-
bellus of the title, &c.
Of the Habit of the Cardinalls. — The Cardi-
nalls, before Innocent the Fourth, untill the
yeare a thousand, two hundred and fifty, went
in the ordinary habit of a Priest, like to that of
the Monks. Innocent the Fourth first of all
added to it the red hatt ; afterwards, in the time
of Boniface the Ninth, they had the red and
violet habit, in the same manner and forme as
it is used at this day. Pope Paul the Second
gave the myter of silke, the red cap, the red
cloth for the mule, and guilt stirrops. Gregory
the Fourteenth gave the red cap to the regular
Cardinalls, going otherwaies apparelled in that
colour, which those of the order, whereof they
were then used, but of the same fashion and
stuffe as the other Cardinalls went in ; howbeit
410
they wore no rochets, nor cassock of cloth ; and
when they adorne themselves, instead of a rochet,
they put on a coate with wide sleeves, and adorne
themselves over that; the other Cardinalls, which
are not regulars, put on the ammius over the
rochet, which they weare ordinarily, and then
their ornaments ; in like manner the regular
Cardinall ought to put on the ammitt over the
coat. The shaven crowne is the common badge
of all the clergymen ; the manipule is the badge
of the Subdeacon, ; the cross-stole of the Deacon ;
the planeta of the Priest ; the myter of the
Bishop - y the pall of the Archbishop, of the Pri-
mate, and of the Patriarch ; and the diadem of
the Pope, which, for sixe hundred yeares to-
gether, was adorned with onely one crowne,
but at the return of the Apostolick See from
Avignion to Rome, the Popes began to weare the
triple crowne.
Of the Creation of the Cardinalls. — The Pope
doth use to make Cardinalls two severall waies ;
the first is this : Those persons which are abid-
ing in Rome, whom his Holinesse purposeth to
promote, have notice given them thereof over
night, by the Cardinall Nephewes, whereupon,
the next morning, they repaire to the palace at
the usuall houre.
The Pope, when as the secret consistory is
shut up, pronounceth the Cardinalls, whom he
intends to make; and in the same consistory
411
causes them to bee called in, where, kneeling
downe at his Holines feet, the Pope puts the
red hatt on his head, and making the sign of
the cross on it, hee saves to him, Esto Cardinalis,
and weare this red hatt, as a signe, that thou
wilt, without feare, expose thyself even to death,
and the effusion of thy dearest bloud, for the ex-
altation of the holy faith, for the peace and quiet
of Christian people, and augmenting the state of
the holy Roman Church ; in the name of the
Father, of the Sonne, and of the Holy Ghost,
Amen. Then the new Cardinal takes offtlte hatt
from his head, and kisseth his Holinesse feet.
The second way is this. In the secret consis-
tory, the Pope pronounceth in order of dignitie
the Cardinalis which he hath made, and then
gives a list of them to the Cardinal Nephewe,
who sends his Master of the Chamber with his
owne coach to fetch those persons which are pro-
moted, from out of such parts of the city as they
live in, and bring them to his Eminencies lodg-
ings. There they have their crowns shaven, and
are attyred in purple like Cardinalis; the gar-
ments wherewith they were apparrelled before are
the vailes of the Cardinall Nephewes adjutant of
the Chamber ; and the Cardinall Nephewes Barber
that shaved their crownes, receives from them
five and twentv duckets for his fee. After dinner
the same Cardinal having feasted the new Cardi-
nalis, conducts them to his Holiness, before whose
feet, kneeling on their knees, they have the red
41.2
hatt put upon their heads, in the manner before
declared ; and after many words of humility, and
thanks, they depart away j and so goe all in the
habit of a Cardinall together to visit his Holi-.
nesse kinsfolks, as well men as women, continuing
afterwards in their houses untill the publique
Consistory, alwaies cloathed in purple till the
day of the said Consistory, though it bee extra
tempora, and giving audience to every one that
comes to visit them. Now all the time before
the publique Consistory, the new Cardinall
ought not to accompany any one, and if he does
so, he does ill ; for albeit Cardinalls come to
visit him, he cannot, nor ought not, to accom-
pany them farther then the chamber doore,
where hee received the visit : But the ancient
good rule was, that the Cardinalls did not visit
the new Cardinalls before the publique Consis-
tory ; and if they chanced to doe it, by occasion
of kindred, as otherwaies, they went to them by
night, and were not seene.
Of those that are made Cardinalls, being absent
from Rome. — He, who in his Holinesse name
is advertised, that he is created a Cardinall,
must presently cause a shaven crowne to be
made him, and attyre himselfe as a Cardinall,
but in purple ; for he may not use red, until he
have received the hatt sent unto him by the
Pope: and from that time he is to be called
Cardinall, and so he may subscribe himselfe.
415
The red hatt is alwaies carried by one of the
Popes Chamberlaines, accompanied with his
Holinesse brieve, for which the new Cardinal!
pays an hundred duckets to the Chamber. Now
the ceremonie of conferring the hatt upon him,
is performed, where there is no nuntio by the
Emperor, the King, the Archbishop, or Bishop,
of the place.
The newes of the Cardinalship, before the
hatt is brought, together with the Popes, or one
of his Nephewes letters, is carried by a courrier,
unto whom a good reward is given, as also to
the Chamberlaine that brings the hatt, there is
a great reward also given, which usually, from
them who are present in Rome at their promo-
tion, is at least five hundred duckats, and from
them which receive the hat out of Rome, a thou-
sand duckats, with three hundred more at the
publick consistory, when they are confirmed in
their dignity ; which reward is divided amongst
the secret participant chamberlaines ; and to the
chamberlain that carried the hatt, belongs an
equall share, although he be none of the parti-
cipants. Of the rewards given to the courrier
are three parts made, one to the Cardinall
Nephewes secretary, one to the Master General
of the Posts, and the third to the courrier himselfe,
the expence of the voyage being first deducted
out of it.
The Cardinall which goes to Rome to take
414
the hatt, is to goe in the travelling habit of a
Cardinal!, but of purple colour, and on his head
an ordinary hatt, with a gold band, and faced
with red silk : being arrived at Rome, he will be
met with the Caroches, which the Cardinalls
send, and in particular with the Cardinall
Nephews, wherein he shall be conducted to the
apostolical palace, and being come to the said
Cardinall Nephews lodgings, he must comple-
ment with his Eminencie, and then by his Bar-
ber, he must have the Cardinals shaven crowne
made on his head, and putting off his travelling
habit, he must put on a long robe with a rochet,
and so he must be conducted by his Eminency
to the Pope, upon the sight of whom, the new
Cardinall must kneel down before him, and
then after other bowings of himselfe, he must
goe and kiss his Holinesse feet, and hand;
that done, having been admitted ad osculum,
used many words of thankfulnesse for the dig-
nity of a Cardinall conferred on him, and taken
leave of his Holinesse, he must accompany the
Cardinall Nephew to his lodgings, were he must
complement him anew, and from thence he
must goe and visit the Popes kinsfolks, who
most commonly dwell in places remote from his
palace.
Having performed all this, he must repair to
his owne house, out of which he may not stir
till his Holinesse give him a public consistory;
howbeit, he may in the mean time receive visits,
415
but privately without going forth of his chamber,
and without accompanying the visitors, let them
be what thev will, as is delivered before.
On the day of the public consistory, the ac-
customed pomp of the solemne riding is used,
and the new Cardinall, if he be an Archbishop
or Bishop, wears on his head a black Pontifical
hatt, faced with green ; but if he were before
only a Priest, a Prelate, or of the short robe, he
must wear a hatt in the same manner, but faced
with black, and must go attired in red, if the
day doe permit it ; and his cloake must be of
raterd grogeram, being accompanied with all the
Cardinalls, and so he goes to receive the red
hat from the hands of his Holinesse : In which
solemnities many ceremonies occurre, but one
cannot erre therein, because all is guided by the
masters of the ceremonies.
The same day, the Popes Cardinall Nephew
feasts the new Cardinall; he is afterwards to
visit the whole sacred College with all his traine,
and in his habit, beginning at the Deacon Car-
dinall, and then the rest one after another, with-
out order : and in the same habit he is to receive,
and render the visits of, and to the ambassadors
of kings, and princes, and other great person-
ages.
In the first secret consistory, after the public
consistory, the Pope performs the ceremony of
416
shutting up the new Cardinalls mouth, his Holi-
nesse speaking and praying, and the new Car-
dinall not saying a word. This shutting up of
the mouth, deprives the new Cardinall of his ac-
tive and passive voice.
In the second consistory, his Holinesse opens
his mouth, declares his title unto him, and es-
pouses him with a gold ring, that hath a saphire
set in it, for which in times past, the Cardinalls
heir (in case he dyed) paid five hundred duckats
in the chamber: Pope Gregory the Thirteenth
gave this fee of the ring to the German Colledge
of Rome, but afterwards Pope Sixtus Quintus
took it from thence, and by Gregory the Fifteenth
it was assigned to the sacred Colledge de propa-
ganda fide, and it was by a Pontificall Bull
ordained, that it should be alwaies done by every
Cardinall from the very day of his promotion.
Any one that shall be made a Cardinall, and
before his coming to Rome shall be declared a
legat ; he may exercise his legatship, if his Holi-
nesse pleasure be not otherwise, untill he hath
first the hat : and in that case the Pope useth to
send it unto him with a brieve : afterwards,
when that legation is finished, and that the same
Cardinall comes to Rome, he is at any hand to
have a publique consistory granted to him, to-
gether with the wonted solemn riding. Every
Cardinall hath the hatt, which his holiness puts
on his head, brought home to him to his house
417
By a secret Chamberlain, in a silver and gilt
bason, that is carried by the Pope's cupboard-
keeper, unto whom is used to be given a reward
of five and twenty crowns of sold.
Besides these, the new Cardinall is to give the
rewards which are mentioned hereafter.
Every Cardinall passeth the bull of his Car-
dinalship, which being subscribed by the Pope,
and all the Cardinalls present in Rome, the
usuall seal of lead is put to it, and sometimes
one of gold."
" Of the Congregations of Cardinalls, and first
of the Congregation of the Holy Office. — There are
many, and divers congregations of Cardinalls,
whereof the congregation of the holy office is
one, which assembles twice a week ; on Wed-
nesday in the convent of the Dominicant alia
Minerva; and on Thursday before the Pope,
concerning causes, and matters of the Inquisi-
tion, and other heresie; where many Cardinalls
intervene, at the least twelve, or more, as are
by his Holinesse deputed ; together with a good
number of Prelates, and other divines, religious
orders, all of them of the title of Consultors of
the Holy Offiee; the seale whereof is kept by an
eminent Cardinall, who hath a palace, with a pri-
son, and many officers and ministers; amongst
whom is the Commissarie, which office alvvaies
belongs to the fathers of the order of St. DomU
2 E
418
nick ; and the assessors, a Prelate, or one of his
Holinesse chamberlaines of honour, whose care
it is to report the causes in the congregations.
Of the Congregation concerning the Affaires of
Bishops and Regulars. — There is the congrega-
tion concerning the affaires of Bishops, and Re-
gulars; whose jurisdiction is over the differences
which arise betweene Bishops and their subjects;
and also amongst Regulars; and likewise in pro-
viding for the occurrences of Bishops, which
have need of consultation. The head thereof is
an eminent Cardinal!, in whose house it is held
every weeke upon Fryday.
Of the Congregation of the Councell. — There is
the Congregation of the Councell, whose juris-
diction is to interpret the text of the sacred
Councell of Trent. It is held in the house of
the oldest Card i nail, who is head thereof, but
another eminent Cardinall keepes the seale.
And it is held once every weeke, either on
Sunday, or three dayes ad libitum of the Cardi-
nall- head.
Of the Congregation of the Ecclesiastical Immu-
nitie. — For that delinquents in many, and sun-
dry causes enjoyed not the ecclesiasticall immu-
nitie; and because the judgement thereabout
was through the diversity, and mixture of offen-
ces oftentimes rendered very doubtfull, Pope
Vrbane the Eight instituted and erected the sa-
419
cred congregation of the ecclesiastical immunitie
which useth to be held on Tuesdayes in the
ancientest Cardinalls house. Many Cardinalls
are there present, as also an Auditor delta Ruota,
aClerke of the Chamber, a voter of the signature,
and the secretary, that usually is a referendarie,
both of the one and of the other signature, to-
gether with the Cardinall Prefect thereof, who
keepes the seale, and hath the entertainement
of a thousand crownes a yeare from the Cardi-
nall.
Of the Congregate n of Slate. — The Congrega-
tion of State useth to be held sometimes before
ids Holiness, and sometimes before the Cardinall
Nephew of the Pope living, and therein doe usu-
ally sit all the Cardinalls, which have been apos-
tolical nuntions, together with his Holiness Se-
cretary of State.
Of the Congregation for the propagating of the
Faith. — The Congregation abovesaid was erected
by Gregory the Fifteenth, for the finding out of
all waies, and meanes of propagating the Catho-
lique Faith in all parts of the world; and of what
was most conducing to the utility of a bnsinesse
of that importance. It useth to be held once a
moneth, before the Pope, on a Munday, and
oftentimes in the palace of the colledge, surnam-
ed de propaganda jide. In it do many Cardinalls
sit, as also an Apostolicall Pronotarre, his Holi-
ness Secretary of State, the Judge, who usually
Q E c 2
420
is a referendary both of one and the other signa-
ture, the assessor of the holy office ; and the
Secretary of the same congregation. There is
now a palace building, of no ordinary greatness,
in the piatza of the most holy Trinity de Monti,
for the receiving all those which being converted
to the Catholique Faith, come to visit the holy
place of Rome ; as also of many poore Bishops
and Priests ; who are all supplied with things
necessary for their dyet and lodging : It main-
tains a printing-house for all sorts of strange
languages, where continually are printed missalls,
breviaries, and other kind of books appertaining
to the Catholique Faith, which are sent into
those parts where there is need of them. Cardi-
nal! Antonio Barberino is at the present prefect
of this congregation.
Of the Congregation of Rites. — There is the
congregation of rites, whose jurisdiction is about
the differences arising concerning rites, cere-
monies, precedencies, canoniziations of Saints,
and the like ; whereof the antientest Cardinall
of the deputed is head ; and in his house the
congregation is also held ordinarily once a
moneth, and oftener if need be; it belonging to
the Cardinall-head to intimate it, as it doth like-
wise to all the other Cardinalls, who are heads
of congregations.
Of the Congregation for Water. — There is the
congregation for water, wherein are handled mat-
421
ters concerning rivers, brookes, bridges, and the
like j and a Cardinall is head thereof, in whose
house the congregation is held, only at such
times as there is need, wherefore there is no set
day for it.
Of the Congregation for Fount aines and the
Streetes. — There is also a congregation concern-
ing fountaines, and the streetes, of which the
Cardinall Chamberlaine is head; but the con-
gregation is held in the senior Cardinalls house,
and hath no set day for meeting. The businesse
of'it is concerning the Aquaeducts which bring
water to Rome, and the manner of distributing
it over the City; as also how the streets may be
made more commodious and enlarged.
Of tli e Congregations for printing of Bookes. —
There is the congregation for the correcting and
printing of Bookes, whereof a Cardinall is head,
in whose house it is held, but they seldom meet,
and therefore there is no set time for it.
Of the Councellfor the Government of the State
of the Holy Church. — There is the Councell where-
in the government of the whole State of the holy
Church is managed, and the head of it is the
Cardinall Nephew to the Pope pro tempore, in
whose lodging in the pallace it is held twice in
a weeke, upon Frydayes and Tuesdayes, whereat
are five or sixe Cardinalls, seven or eight Prelates,
422
and a Secretary, who is alwaies a Prelate, and a
great confident of the Cardinal! Nephews. In
the said Councell is the whole governement of
the state of the Church handled ; for the Vice-
Legates, Prefects, Governors, Podestaes, and
other officers, give an accompt to the councell
at Rome, of all the important causes which hap-
pen in their governments ; and the councell de-
termines by decree what shall bee done in those
cases, whereupon the Secretary drawes up the
letters of order, and the Cardinall head subscribes
them. Amongst the Prelates, which assist in
the Councell, are the provinces divided, and they
afterwards reade the busines of their provinces
in the Councell. But the legation of Avignion,
the government of Benevento in the kingdome
of Naples, of the city of Ceneda in the State
of Venice, are not submitted to the councell at
Rome, but they who governe in those places are
free masters of them ; neither is the government
of the state of Fermo, and Spoleto subject there-
unto. The Prelates of the said Councell have
three parts of the palace, and a thousand crownes
a yeare a peece in perquisites: the Secretary
hath two thousand.
Of the Congregations fur the easing of the Peo-
ple, & de bono Regirnine. — There are the Con-
gregations for the easing of the people, &* de bono
Regirnine, whereof the Popes Cardinall Nephew-
pro tempore is the head ; unto them have the
Comminaltie recourse for the easing of their
423
grievances, wherewithall they are oppressed ;
they are held on the Saturday in the very same
roomes, where the councell useth to sit ; the
congregation de bono Regimine in one, and that
for the easing of the people in another, both of
them in their turnes, with the intervening therein
of five or six Cardinalls, and seven or eight Pre-
lates, with one Secretary being alvvaies present,
and all of them ever the same in the two con-
gregations.
All the letters and orders proceeding from
them, are subscribed by the Popes Cardinall
Nephew ; and the Prelates have the same emo-
lument which those of the councell have; every
one of the said congregations, with the Secre-
tary thereof, goe attyred in purple, and carry
the title of his Holiness servants.
Of the Congregation concerning the Mint. —
There is the Congregation for the Mint, in
which all matters are handled that concerne the
coyning of money, and all other monies of other
jurisdictions, to the end they may be spent in
the State of the Church. In it are foure Cardi-
nalls and four Chamberlaines : the head of it is
a Cardinall, in whose house the Congregation is
alwaies held, when there is occasion for it.
Of the Congregation for the examining of persons
destined to Bishopricks. — There is a Congregation
for the examining of new Bishops, which is held
424
before his Holinesse, and it consists of nine or
ten Cardinalls, some Prelates, and others, Fathers
of certaine Orders of Religion ; wherein are
examined all such persons as are to be promot-
ed to Bishopricks, for the Churches only of Italy.
The party that is to bee examined remaines al-
waies kneeling on a cushion before the Pope,
and every one of the Congregation hath power to
examine him : after he is examined, and ap-
proved of, he is written down in a booke, which
the Secretary of the Congregation keepes. A
Bishop that is once examined, if he changeth
his Church, goes not againe to examination,
one time onely sufficing for it : but if a Bishop,
that was never examined, be promoted to an-
other Church, hee must goe to examination : the
Cardinalls alone are exempted from this examin-
ing. And this Congregation was instituted by
Pope Clement the eight, who used to examine
those persons himselfe, which made profession of
the Law, but the professors of Divinity were
examined by Cardinall Bellarmine.
Of the Congregation j vr Consistoriall Affaires. —
There is a Congregation concerning Consis-
toriall matters, whereof the chief Cardinall Dea-
con pro tempore is the Head. It is held very sel-
dome, because there are very few particular mat-
ters to be handled in it, but such as are, his Ho-
liness appoints a day for them ; and they use to
be resignations of Bishopricks, the interests of
taxations of the Church, of Consistoriall Abbeys,
425
and such like. This Congregation is held in
the house of the Cardinall Head.
In every one of the Congregations before
named many Cardinalls doe assist, and particu-
larly in that of Bishops, and Regulars, are foure
and twenty ; every Congregation hath its parti-
cular Secretary, who drawes up the Letters, ac-
cording to the Decrees which are established in
full Congregation, and every Cardinall-Head
subscribes the letters of his own Congregation,
which are afterwards sealed by each Secretary,
with the Seale of that Cardinall who hath sub-
scribed them ; and the Register of them remaines
in the hands of each severall Secretary. It is to
be noted, that whilst there is a Consistory, no
Congregation is ever held ; and if any one bee
intimated, and the Pope holds a Consistory, they
leave the Congregation and go to the Consis-
tory j which is alwaies held every week, either
on Munday, Wednesday, or Friday : and that
Congregation which was intituled before, is
usually held after dinner the same day, for the
Consistory is ever held betimes in the morning.
Of the three Archpriesthoods which are in the
persons of Cardinalls. — There are also in the per-
sons of some Cardinalls, three Archpriesthoods
of the chiefe Churches of Rome ; that is, of
Saint Peter in the Vatican, and of Santa Maria
Magiore : all three are esteemed great dignities;
and every one of these Cardinalls deputes a
426
Vicar for his Church, and assignes them such
emoluments for their persons as seem good to
them, which commonly is the profit of a com-
mons place of that Church. These three Arch-
priests have the power of conferring, each of
them in his Church, all the Benefices, Livings,
Chaplaineships, and others, that fall voyd there-
in. The Archpriest of Saint John de Lateran
administro Justice, both in criminall and civill
causes, to all those persons which inhabit above
that Church, for a certaine extent, according to
the jurisdiction thereof, and in the holy yeare
every Archpriest goes pontifically to his Church,
accompanied with a great traine of horses, to
open the holy Gate; and to that of Saint Paul
the Cardinal I Deacon goes : and the very same
order is kept in shutting the holy Gate; but the
holy Gate of Saint Peters is not opened nor shut
by the Cardinall Archpriest, for that function is
performed by the Pope himself.
In which Church the Fathers of the Society of
Jesus are Penitentiaries; in that of Saint John
de Lateran the Fathers of the order of Saint
Francis are penitentiaries ; and in that of Santa
Maria Magiore are the Fathers of the order of
Saint Dominick Penitentiaries : In each of these
places is a Penitentiarie, with good lodgings and
commodious, where the said Fathers Peniten-
tiaries doe continually reside, hearing confes-
sions daily in their Churches ; and amongst them
are divers Fathers, which confesse in divers
427
Languages, yea even in the Oriental], and one
of them for each severall place is Rector of the
Penitentiaries.
Of the Ruota. — After those Offices, and Ma-
gistrates, in the persons of the Cardinalls, fol-
iowes the Ruota, which hath twelve Prelates,
whereof there is a Germane, a Frenchman, two
Spaniards, and eight Italians, that is, a Bolo-
gresse, a Ferraese, a Venetian, a Toscan, a Mi-
lanese, and three Romans. Every Auditor hath
foure Notaries, and they assemble in theAposto-
licall Palace twice a weeke, unlesse it be vaca-
tion time, namely on Munday, and Friday. The
jurisdiction of it is the beneficiall causes, both
of the Catholicke Provinces, as of those that are
in Schisme, and as well of Rome, as of the State
Ecclesiastical!, most of all in tearmes of appeales.
This Court gives over sitting the first weeke in
July, and the last Ruota his Holinesse makes
the Auditors a great Banquet in his owne Apos-
tolicall Palace, where he gives to every Auditor
an hundred Duckets of the Chamber, and to the
Deacon two hundred; and they eate in the very
same roome where they assemble together when
they hold the Ruota.
This goodly custome was instituted by Pope
Clement the eight, for that his Holiness had
been the Auditor of the Ruota, being made so
by Pope Pius Ghiintus of happy memory. The
first of October the Ruota opens, and the iirst
428
Ruota belonging to the two last Auditors, who
goe pontifically on their Mules, with a great
traine of horse, and alight at the place where the
Ruota is held : howbeit every Auditor rides
alone by himselfe. Now it is to be noted, that
in this riding of theirs, the Prelate Auditor goes
formest, and all these who accompany him come
behind, for a difference between the ryding and
the Lords Cardinalls, before whom their traine
and attendants doe alwaies ride, and their Emi-
nencies follow after them. The office of every
Auditor of the Ruota yields him a thousand
crownes a yeare ; and in the first Ruota the
lowest Auditor makes an Oration. The Popes
are wont to give unto those Auditors, for a re-
compence of the great paines they take, and be-
cause they are prohibited from receiving any
fees for the sentences they pronounce, good Ec-
clesiasticall Revenews, and afterwards they are
sometimes made Cardinalls, as Pope Clement
the eight used to doe, who created five Auditors
of the Ruota Cardinals, which were remarkable,
and eminent persons, namely, Arigone, Bian-
chetto, Mantica, Cerafino, and Panfilio ; now
what these five were, doth appeare by their
workes, which are in print.
Of the Reverend Chamber Apostolicall. — There
is the Chamber Apostolicall, which useth to sit
twice a weeke in his Holiness Palace, upon
Munday, and Friday, and on such dayes as the
Consistorie is held. There sits in it the Cardi-
429
nail Chamberlaine, the Lord Governor of Rome,
a Vicechamberlaine ; the Lord Treasurer Gene-
rail ; the Lord Auditor of the Chamber 3 the
Lord President of the Chamber; the Auditor
of the Poore ; the Fiscall Advocate ; the Com-
missary of the Chamber ; and twelve Clerkes
of the Chamber, foure of which are alwaies, the
one Prefect of corne and victual ; one Prefect
of flesh, and white meates ; one Prefect of the
prison, and one Prefect of the States, as shall be
declared in its place. The jurisdiction of the
Chamber Apostolicall is over all matters where-
in the interest thereof is concerned ; over all the
writings and deeds concerning the Prefects, and
revenewes of the Sea Apostolicall ; over the
Treasures of the Provinces of the State Ecclesi-
astical! ; over causes of the Comminalty, and
Ecclesiasticall Feudes ; over causes of reprisall,
and causes of accompt with the Officers, and
Ministers of the State, over the coyning, and
causes of money ; over causes of Appeales from
the Masters of the Streets about buildings, and
jure congrni ; over matters of Customes, Taxes,
and impositions, and other such like. The
whole Chamber together hath nine Notaries,
every one of the which holds of his Office apart
by himselfe, with a substitute, and many others,
that write under him. All the causes before
mentioned are distributed by assignement
amongst the said Clarks, together with the pro-
portions that are made in the said Chamber.
A Clerkes place of the Chamber is worth two
430
and forty thousand crownes, and yeelds three
thousand crownes a yeare. The Chember Apos-
tolicall gives over sitting at the same time the
Ruota doth ; and at the holding of the last
Chamber his Holinesse makes a great banquet
in the Palace Apostolicall, for all that are be-
longing to the Chamber : and another that is
made the first of August by the Cardinall Cham-
berlaine. Upon Saint Peters Eve all the tri-
butes of the Feudataries of the Holy Church are
paid into the Chamber, whereof the ready mo-
ney remaines in the custody of the Reverend
Chamber, but some plate, as cupps, and such
like, are the Treasurer Generalls Fees, and the
wax is divided amongst the Clerkes of the
Chamber. Every one of the Officers aforesaid,
which belong to the Chamber, hath his jurisdic-
tion distinct and severall."*
* See a book entitled, " The Court of Rome, &c. printed
in the year 1654." — It is hardly necessary to inform the reader,
that the persecuted and humiliated condition of the Pope now
renders the use of several ceremonies, expensive and splendid
in their nature, almost impossible to be attended to. The de-
scription which is here attempted has a principal reference to
the state of Catholicism in more prosperous times than the pre-
sent. The state of religion in the city of Rome somewhat re-
sembles that of the Jewish services, at this time, in Christen-
dom. Doubtless, sanguine believers in both Churches look
anxiously for a restoration of their ancient dignity and glory.
If my memory do not fail me, the Rev. J. Berington, one
of the most liberal and enlightened priests in England, has
somewhere expressed a hope and expectation of this nature.
I believe this idea will be found in that gentleman's Lives of
Abelard and Eloisa.
431
SECTION VI.
Of Persecution, and the Violation of Faith with
Heretics.
THE present writer has no interest in deny-
ing that the Court of Rome has been in many
instances a sanguinary and cruel Court; that
thousands have been immolated on the altars of
superstition and bigotry by the bloody acts
and mandates of many Catholic princes, or ra-
ther, we should say, of many princes and popes,
who have professed and abused the Catholic
faith. But even on this subject much more has
been said and written than is true ; and suffi-
cient care has not been taken to discriminate
between the punishment of real or supposed re-
bels, and the martyrdom of innocent persons
cc for righteousness' sake."*
What Baxter said on another occasion may,
with great propriety, be repeated on the subject
of persecution, by Roman Catholics of the pre-
sent day : — " Either it is true or false; if false,
shame to the reporters ; if true, what doth it
* A candid and just investigation of the real causes of
Persecution, distinguishing the political from the purely reli-
gious instances of it, would form an interesting and useful
volume.
432
concern us here, or any that are innocent, any
further than to abhor it and lament it ?"* It
would be also unbecoming the dignity and can-
dour of truth to deny, that Protestants have
themselves been guilty of persecution ; and that
not only of Roman Catholics, but also of one
another. A perfectly fair and correct History
of Persecution has never yet been given, though
attempts have been made by one or two respect-
able authors. | Pagans have persecuted Jews
* See the Paper entitled, " What History is credible and
what not/' prefixed to Baxter's History of Councils, p. 8. The
same author also judiciously exclaims : " Alas! how little are
most histories to be believed, when they prove not what they
say: there are about sixty that say there was a Pope Joan,
and near as many [there are now many more] that say no
such thing." Ibid.
t The reader will not need to be reminded of Dr. Chand-
ler's "History of Persecution, as it has been practised by Hea-
thens, Christian Emperors, under the Popery, and among
Protestants ;" it is, in many respects, a valuable work. I
find an Abridgment is advertised, by the Rev. Charles At-
more, an intelligent and industrious preacher in the Wesleyan
connexion of Methodists. There is also " A short History
of Persecution," by A. Robinson, written with considerable
shrewdness and point. The Martyrologies are not to
be depended on. The histories of the Inquisition are
dictated with an honourable, yet not always with a just,
indignation against the Court, and too often even against the
Church, of Rome. Lewis de Enarolles' Memoirs of the Perse-
cutions of the Protestants in France, and Lockman's History of
Popish Persecution develope some bloody scenes ; but they are
extremely partial, and often very inaccurate. The Acts and
Monuments
433
and Christians; Jews have persecuted Chris-
tians and Pagans ; and Christians have perse-
cuted Pagans and Jews. Catholics have perse-
cuted Episcopalian Protestants, and Episcopalian
Protestants have persecuted Catholics; Dis-
senters from both have persecuted both, and
both have persecuted Dissenters, who have la-
boured pretty successfully in persecuting one
another.*
Monuments of Fox, in many cases, merits a much stronger
censure than that it is incorrect. Anthony Wood and other
Protestant writers have concurred in reprobating- the par-
tialities and errors of fox, though his huge volume is still
chained, along with the Bible to the desks in many of our old
churches; and also, which I feel scandalized in having oc-
casion to add, is allowed to lie on the tables of many Dissent-
ing Vestries, for the edification of the faithful !
* In addition to the books referred to in the preceding
note, the reader will find these melancholy facts confirmed
in Neale's History of the Puritans, of which the best edition
is the venerable Dr. Toulmin's ; in Palmer's Non -conformist's
Memorial, Wilson's History and Antiquities of Dissenting
Churches, a liberal and useful publication ; in Bogue and
Bennet's History of Dissenters, an illiberal work, but
containing, nevertheless, much valuable information ; in
Pen n's Life of George Fox, and in Best's Sufferings of the
Quakers. Doctor Milner's History of Winchester, and the
same author's letters to a Prebendary, may also be consulted
on this subject. A sensible and intelligent writer in the
Monthly Repository,^ has begun a series of Letters, of which
four
t I will here take the liberty of recommending this periodical pub-
lication to the notice of my Roman Catholic readers, as a liberal
and respectable vehicle, through which they may freely, (if the
professions
9 F
434
Various have been the kinds of persecution
which erring Christians have exercised against
each other, almost ever since the reign of Con-
stantine the Great, when the kingdoms of this
world first began to meddle with the doctrines of
religion and the government of the Church. Some
have defined persecution to be threefold : " 1.
Mental, when the spirit of a man rises up and
opposes another. 2. Verbal, when we give hard
words, and deal in uncharitable censures. 3.
Actual, or open by the hand," or, perhaps, more
properly Manual, ie such as the dragging of in-
nocent persons before the tribunal of justice."*
There is another species of persecution not
.often spoken against : it is a sort of constructive
persecution ; such as is exercised against Roman
Catholics in some Protestant countries. There
is, too, a certain furious and savage way of writ-
ing and speaking even against persecution itself,
which often savours pretty strongly of the spirit
four have already appeared, containing a " Sketch of Eng-
lish Protestant Persecution." I say nothing here of the nu-
merous Church Histories, which are little more than illustra-
tions of bigotry, exhibiting the lamentable effects of Church
and State Alliances, the mother and offspring, the root and
the branch of Persecution.
* See Buck's Theological Dictionary, Art. Persecution.
professions of the Editor may be relied upon, and he has never yet
deceived his readers) advocate their cause before a Protestant public ;
the pages of this work being opeu to all sects and parties without
exception.
435
which such writers themselves reprobate. Now,
if persecution do really admit of these seve-
ral explications, it is to be feared we are all
sadly involved in this most hateful crime. " Men-
tal persecution'' appears in most ancient and
modern works of religious controversy j it lurks
in obsolete Acts of Parliament, it steals into
many of our prayers, and infuses its poison into
most of our public services of Religion. " Verb-
al Persecution" is heard from almost every pul-
pit, and " goeth about, seeking whom it may de-
vour", into social parties, meetings, and assem-
blies wherever religion is allowed to come into
discussion. As to the last description of perse-
cution ; that which is manual, " actual or open
by the hand," as I have already remarked, it
has been but too general, and is still practised
even by all those Protestants in this country
who persist in forcing their fellow subjects to
support measures or perform services at which
their principles revolt, or by excluding them
from places of honour and profit, purely on ac-
count of some real or supposed religious mis-
takes.*
In writing of persecution, as it has been
maintained by some Catholics, it is proper to
* I allude principally to the tithe laws, the Test and
Corporation Acts, and all taxes and services deemed eccle-
siastical, which bear heavily on Catholics and Dissenters.
2 F 2
436
repeat, that such a spirit and conduct are directly
opposed to the religion of the Roman Catholic
Church.* To talk, therefore, of the Church as
a persecuting Church, is to libel and defame
the religion of our ancestors. If this were not
the case, then all Catholics who do not practise
persecution are bad Catholics; they would be
considered as departing from the rules and obli-
gations of their religion, and would receive the
spiritual censures which attach to every wilful
deviation from the faith and discipline of the uni-
versal Church. Yes : — if the religion of Catholics
taught persecution, then we should find prayers,
creeds, articles, and charges enforcing coercion
and severity against the opponents of the
Church 5 and bulls, anathemas, censures, and
excommunications would abound against all
those who should refuse to persecute, hate, and
* " Because we are Catholics, it is not necessary that we
should he actuated by a persecuting spirit against those who
are averse to our religion. Meekness and charity are its
grand characteristics, and the examples left us by our prede-
cessors recommend to us a contrary conduct." See the
" Answer to the third Question" proposed to the University
of Salamanca, respecting the supposed tenet of not keeping
faith with heretics. The reader will find an abstract of these
several questions and answers in a former part of this work,
and a still more extended abstract jn the Appendix to Sir
John Cox Ilippesley's Speech on the Catholic Question, in
1810. The answers and judgment of the several Universities
are given in length at the Appendix to Cuthell and Martin'*
Edition of the Catholic Debates in Parliament, in 1805.
437
destroy heretics. It would be a sin, in the eye
of a good Catholic not to inflict misery on the
body of his religious neighbour who should differ
from him, and it would form a subject of con-
fession to all the faithful who should neglect to
propagate the truth by means of force. But
who ever yet heard of a mass for the hanging of
unbelievers? What general council lias decreed,
ex cathedra^ that whosoever does not burn heretics
Avithout doubt he shall perish everlastingly ? Did
ever any Catholic lady go to confession, bitterly
lamenting that she had not poisoned her heretic-
al husband, or any husband that he had not
strangled his infidel wife? Was any monarch
ever deposed, or any kingdom interdicted, be-
cause all the non-conforming subjects had not
been hanged, drawn and quartered ? And what
is the price of an indulgence for having neglect-
ed to rob and plunder a Protestant ? I repeat it
— if persecution be a tenet of the Catholic
Church, how erroneously have the biographers
of the mild, the excellent Fenelon, estimated his
merits as a Catholic. The almost seraphic
Madame de Guion, the truly devout Mons. de
Renty, and the pious Thomas a Kempis, were all
hypocrites, and contumacious despisers of the
religion which they professed, and to whose in-
terests they appeared to have been so sincerely
devoted. And what should we say, in that case,
to the great body of English and Irish Catholics
of our own day ? What inconsistency appears in
the conduct of such Catholics as the Earl of Fin-
438.
gal, who, with others, took up arms in the County
of Meath against his rebellious brethren, and in
defence of a Protestant government, and an he-
retical monarch!* How supine and negligent
is the conduct of such men as the author of the
Lives of Abelard and Eloisa,f the learned and
liberal author of Horae Biblicag,J or the friend of
the pious and excellent, but afflicted Cowper.§
Men with whom numerous highly respectable
Protestants have thought it an honour to be ac-
quainted, and who never yet manifested the
most distant disposition to persecute others on
account of their religion.
There is another consideration worthy of re-
gard, on the supposition that persecution is a
tenet of the Catholic Church, which manv Pro-
testants have imagined to be the case:|| I be-
* See Mr. Wakefield's Account of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 367.
Whoever would become perfectly acquainted with the true
state of this oppressed and injured country will find ample
gratification in the perusal of this invaluable publication,
which has but just made its appearance.
f The Rev. Joseph Berington.
% Charles Butler, Esq.
§ Sir John Throckmorton, Bart. See the Letters of Cow-
per, in Hay ley's Life of that poet.
|| " If it be true," says Dr. Sturges, " that persecution was
not a tenet of the Roman Catholic Religion, all of us Protes-
tants must have been long under a most egregious mistake."
This observation owes its origin to what Dr. Milner said,
" that if Mary was a persecutor, it was not in virtue of any
tenet
439
lieve it will be granted, that there is not a single
article of faith to be found in any acknowledged
Catholic Catechism, Creed, or Council, which has
not, at one time or other, been defended from the
press, and been urged upon the people as essential
to their final salvation. It is with the Catholic
articles of divine faith, as Mr. Pope declares to be
the case with the universal system of nature, from
the chain which if you strike either a " tenth or
a ten thousandth" link, it is equally broken.
The religion of Catholics, according to their
ideas, as it admits of no additions, neither does
it allow of any deductions. So common is this
opinion, that Protestants have even charged it
against the Catholics as a mark of extreme ob-
stinacy llhd prejudice.* Now I should be glad
to know what Catholic author ever wrote ex-
pressly in defence of persecution, as an article
of divine faith, which has been received by all
Christians, at all times, and in all places, accord-
ing to the rule of St. Vincent, so often referred
to. Some writers may, nay, doubtless, have ap-
peared to extenuate, or even justify the inter-
ference of the magistrate, when the doctrines of
religion have been opposed ; but these mistakes,
to give them no harsher a term, are unfortu-
tenet of her religion that she became so," than which a more
just remark could not have been made. See Sturges's Reflec-
tions on Popery, p. 52 ; and Milner's History of Winchester,
vol. i. p. 355.
* Se« " Popery always the same."
440
nately not confined to Catholic writers.* The
learned Bossuet has been accused, and not with-
out some shew of reason, of defending this doc-
trine of magisterial interferencef in the suppres-
sion of heresy ; but it should be remembered, that
the arguments used by the Bishop of Meaux, in
defence of this hateful tenet, are not drawn from
any article of faith, or any decree of Council,
* The defenders of the Catholic faith in these days write
with much more candour, and allow of a much greater lati-
tude of explication in definitions of heresy, and heretics, than
did the writers of earlier times. See " Charity and Truth; or
Catholics not uncharitable in saying- that none can be
saved out of the Catholic Church/' by the Rev. Dr. Edward
Hawarden. It is a thick 8vo. vol. published in 1S09. The
reader may also peruse with advantage, a little pamphlet,
published at Gloucester, in 1811, entitled " The Protestant's
best Guide" &c. But above all, he should read the Miscel-
laneous Tracts of the Rev. Arthur O'Leary, particularly the
Essay on Toleration. There is an almost irresistible strain of
wit and irony in this gentleman's writings, mixed, in some
instances, with that tincture of sophism for which the priestly
defenders of the faith are but too conspicuous. In his Defence
of the Divinity of Christ, a subject, which, more than any
other, has a tendency to "try the spirits" of our Christian
controverti.-ts, he is quite as liberal as most of the Protestant
advocates of the same doctrine.
f When magistrates are engaged in preserving the peace,
and protecting the innocent, they ought to be had in the
highest veneration and respect; but when they depart from
the proper line of their office to lay their hands on religion,
" whatever they touch they fly-blow, and leave it to ferment
and fester;" a figure once most unjustly applied against the
laborious ministers of Methodism. See Annual Review, vol. i
art. Myles's Chronological History of the Methodists.
441
but, as Dr. Milner* properly remarks, " by an
argumcntum ad hominem, or a reference to the
doctrine of the founders, and other most illustri-
ous writers of the Reformation on the point in
question." The passage referred to in Bossuet,^
lias, perhaps, been misunderstood by Bishop
Hurd,J and his copier, Dr. Sturges ;§ and this
misunderstanding has arisen out of a supposed
false translation of the French word souffrance,
which, Dr. Sturges contends, means toleration,
and not suffering ;|| and the connexion in which
the word stands would appear to countenance
such an application of the term. " There is no
need," says Bossuet, " of explaining myself on
the question, whether or no Christian princes
have a right to use the sword against such of
their subjects as are enemies to sound doctrine
and the Church, the Protestants agreeing with
us on that point." He then cites Luther,^ Me-
* Letters to a Prebendary, p. 117-
f Variations, book x. sect. 56. p. 52. Eng. translation.
X Introduction to the Prophecies, p. 3S1.
§ Reflections on Popery, pj>. 55, 56.
j| The truth is, that this word is used in both senses ; yet,
all its derivatives seem to convey no other idea than that of
patient suffering. Besides, our English word toleration is not
rendered into French by the word solffrance, but tolerance ;
yet the French uoid tolerable means that which is allowable,
or which may be tolerated.
% Luth. de Magist. T. iii.
442
lancthon,* and Jurieu,f as also the established
discipline of the Reformed Church of Geneva,
in support of his assertion and opinion; and
concludes by saying, — " II n'y point d'illusion
plus dangereuse, que donner la sourTrance pour
un charactere de vraye eglise." There cannot
be a more dangerous illusion, than to regard
suffering (or patient endurance) as a charac-
teristic of the true Church; " nor do I know,"
he adds, '* amongst Christians, any besides
Socinians and Anabaptists, who oppose this
doctrine."J But if Bossuet, or any other
writer, have defended this execrable opinion, to
what does it amount ? Certainly not, that it is
taught in the creeds, catechisms, and devotions
of all Roman Catholics; and I contend, that no
article is considered as a tenet of the Church,
that is not so conveyed.
The tenth book of Bossuet's " Variations,' ,>
from which I have been quoting, treats princi-
* Calvin opusc. p. 6.59. Ibid. 600, 659.
t Jur. Lyst. ii. c.22. 33.
t If the Bishop of Meaux did indeed mean, by the word
souffrance what we generally understand by toleration, the
Socinians and Anabaptists ought to feel grateful for the un-
designed compliment. Would to God that all Christians
would be careful to number among the " Notes of the Church"
this divine right of unbounded toleration, or rather of unli-
mited freedom in matters purely religious !
443
pally of " the Reformation in England, during
the reign of queen Elizabeth, and on the civil
wars of France, which he accuses her of foment-
ing, and which, he affirms, were produced by a
leading principle of the early Reformers, that
it is lawful for subjects to levy war against their
Sovereign, on account of religion;"* a position
as false, and almost as dangerous, as the one I
have been reprobating. It is not, however, to
the opinions of this or that individual Doctor,
Bishop, Pope, or Priest, that we are to look for
the genuine doctrines of the Church. No com-
munion admits a more extended range of specu-
lation, or a more unlimited freedom of mere opi-
nion, on points not universally admitted as articles of
divine faith, than the Communion of the Church
of Rome. To this day, various are the differences
on minor points of religious opinion, and on
several branches of Christian discipline, among
Catholics ; and warm, I wish I could not add,
sometimes even bitter and acrimonious, are the
disputes which they maintain among themselves. f
To take the opinions, therefore, of any one man,
* See Mr. Butler's interesting "Account of the Life and
Writings of James Benigne Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux," p. 71.
f In collecting the materials for this work, I have amassed
a vast pile of Catholic Controversy in pamphlets, and larger
volumes, that would surprise, perhaps, undeceive, man)- Pro-
testants, who imagine that Catholics never differ but they
damn ; never dispute but they divide. They form no part of
the
444
or of any number of men, short of the universal
Church, as articles of faith, were to the highest
degree improper and erroneous.
But it will be contended, that the practice of
Catholics in all ages, has been to prosecute and
destroy hei etics; and that the various laws enact-
ed and acted upon by the Church clearly mani-
fest that persecution is indeed a genuine article
of the Catholic Church; and that if it were not
so, those princes, and others who have perse-
cuted, would have been censured by the Church
for their cruelty and disobedience. This objec-
tion would have considerable weight if the prac-
tice had existed to the same extent, at all times,
by all princes, and in all places ; and if perse-
cuting princes had never received any censures
for their cruelty. But neither of these cases
can be made out. It would also deserve a more
minute investigation were the practice of perse-
cution peculiar to Roman Catholics; but neither
is this true : for even Protestants have practised
and defended persecution, by fire and sword;
and have written large books in support of their
measures and tenets.* " One would indeed have
the picture I engaged to draw, and I have not thought it ne-
cessary to portray these differences on the same canvas which
is occupied by a delineation of the religion of Roman Catho-
lics.
* See particularly, " A Declaration for maintaining the
445
imagined," says Dr. Benson,* f< that the cruel-
ties exercised by the papists upon all who op-
posed their superstitions in worship, and their
corruptions in doctrine, should have given the
first Reformers an utter abhorrence of all me-
thods of persecution for conscience-sake, and
have kept them from ever entering into any such
measures themselves. But it must be confessed,
that however they differed from the Church of
Rome, as to doctrines and discipline, yet, that
they too generally agreed with her in the me-
thods to support what they themselves appre-
hended to be truth and orthodoxy; and were angry
with the papists, not for persecuting, but for per-
secuting themselves and their followers ; being
really of opinion that heretics might be perse-
cuted, and in some cases persecuted to death.
And that this was their avowed principle, they
gave abundant demonstration by their practice."
Luther's opinion concerning persecution was
not so cruel as was Calvin's, on the same subject.
The Saxon Reformers were only for having here-
true Faith, held by all Christians, concerning the Trinity of
Persons in one only God, by John Calvin, against the detes-
table errors of Michael Servetus, a Spaniard. In which it is
also proved that it is lawful to punish heretics, and that this
wretch was justly executed in the city of Geneva. Geneva,
1554."
* History of Persecution, p. 30S.
446
tics banished,* corrected, and forced at least to
silence, if they publicly deny any one of the ar-
ticles received by all Christians, and particularly
that Christ is God, affirming him to beamere man
or prophet. In another place, f Seckendorf goes
further, and says, that heretics are not indeed to
be put to death, but may be confined, and shut
up in some certain place, and put under restraint
as madmen. But against the Jews he would
act more severely, and have their Synagogues
levelled with the ground, their houses destroyed,
their books of prayer, and of the talmud, and
even those of the Old Testament, taken from
them; their Rabbis forbid to teach, and forced
by hard labour to get their bread ; and if they
would not submit to this, that they should be
banished, as was formerly practised in France
and Spain. J
* Benson's Hist, of Persecution, p. 310. from Seckendorf,
1. 2. sect. 36. § 83.
f Seek. 1. 3. sect. 8. § 28. Benson.
t lb. 1. 3. sect. 27. 3. I. 3. sect. 32. § 125. Benson. It
is a singular fact, that the Jews are in a much better condi-
tion in France, under a Catholic government, and the tyranny
of Bonaparte, than they are in England, under a Protestant
government, and the mild and gentle sway of a British mo-
narch. In France, Jews are treated as free citizens, and are
fast emerging from that state of ignorance, meanness, and
wretchedness, into which the bigotry of former times had
plunged them. See Mr. W. H. Reid's New Sanhedrin and
Causes and Consequences of the French Emperor's Conduct towards
the Jems, passim. In England, they are still " a people peeled
and
447
Nor was this intolerance of Luther directed
against Jews and Papists only. He persuaded
the Electors of Saxony not to tolerate the fol-
lowers of Zwinglius, in the opinion of the sa-
crament, because he esteemed the real presence
an essential and fundamental article of faith, nor
to enter into any terms of union with them, for
their common safety and defence, against the
Catholics. They were accordingly left out of
the common league against the papists; the
Elector having been persuaded by Luther, Me-
lancthon, and others of the party, to refuse them
this protection ; and all this because' the disci-
ples of the Swiss Reformer " taught articles con-
trary to those received in Saxony."*
Nor was this all : we are informed by Secken-
dorf, that the Lutheran lawyers of Wittemberg
and trodden upon," refused the occupation of landed pro-
perty, excluded from all places of honour and trust, for the
most part despised and insulted ; except in one or two in-
stances, wherein the parties are rich ; and then, indeed, all
due respect is paid to them, even hy our princes and nobles.
An instance of this kind must be fresh in the recollection of
most of my readers. It is not less worthy of remark, that
the Catholics of the Gallican Church are much more liberal
towards Sectaries, than are the Episcopalians of the Reform-
ed English Church. Protestants, as a body, are now protect-
ed, and even encouraged in France; Catholics are degraded,
and even insulted in England ! And yet we are perpetually
clamouring against Popish intolerance and persecution !
* Benson's History of Persecution, pp. 310, 311.
448
condemned to death one Peter Pestelius, for be-
ing a Zwinglian, and several of the Anabaptists
were put to death for propagating their opinions;
though the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel declared
himself favourable to more moderate proceed-
ings.*
If the doctrines of Luther discountenanced
persecution to death, those of Calvin were of
a very different complexion. It is hardly pos-
sible to reflect with candour on the wicked con-
duct of the Genevan Reformer on a variety of
occasions. To dispute his notions about Predes-
tination, Election, Free- Will, and Faith, was,
in his estimation, a perfectly fair ground for the
severest punishment that could be inflicted. Nor
did he think it any crime to pursue the most
artful, perfidious, and unjust measures to bring
his enemies to destruction. Falsehood and per-
fidy, slander the most malignant, and malice
the most inveterate, were all indulged by this'
hot-brained Predestinarian, when a heretic was
to be impeached and hunted down. His con-
duct towards Castellio, whom he protected and
betrayed, flattered and persecuted, patronised
and punished, is of itself sufficient to ruin his
character in the eyes of all thinking persons.
Nor was this reformer's conduct much less
Benson's Hist, of Persecution, p. 310, 31L
449
base towards the poor converted Carmelite
monk, Jerom Bolsec, whom he caused to be
apprehended, sent to prison, and afterwards ba-
nished from the city of Geneva for ever, or, if
he returned, to be whipped for his contumacy.
And all this, because the poor monk held the
doctrines of free-will, predestination to life, upon
the foresight of good works.*
But the conduct of Calvin, in the above in-
stances, was mild and amiable, compared to that
which he practised in his treatment of the
learned and pious Spanish physician, Michael
Servetus, who, after a series of almost unparal-
leled suffering, brought on by the treachery and
bigotry of Calvin, was publicly burned to death,
in the PROTESTANT city of Geneva.f
Melancthon, the " mild Melancthon," as we
sometimes denominate him, in a letter to Bullen-
ger, says he thinks the senate of Geneva did right
in putting to death Servetus ; and he wonders that
there are any who disapprove that severity. J
* The reader will find these facts confirmed in Beza's Lift
of Calvin, to which Dr. Benson refers as his authority for
stating them.
f This affair of Calvin's diabolical conduct towards Serve-
tus has been detailed with suitable severity in Mr. Wright's
Apology for Servetus ; and it has been palliated and even
sometimes justified, in various Calvinistic publication^ both
in this and other countries.
% Works of Calvin, the last volume.
2 G
450
Bucer, another reformer of Popery, declares
that Servetus " ought to have his bowels pluck-
ed out, and be torn to pieces ;" and Farrel, in a
letter to Calvin, says he deserved to die ten
thousand deaths ; with much more of the same
liberal cast. The reformed pastors of the Church
of Basil, those of Berne, the ministers of Zu-
rich, and also of Scaff husen, all agree in the
sentence of the Senate, or urge that body to se-
vere measures in regard to Servetus.* These
facts " clearly demonstrate," says Dr. Benson,
" that Calvin acted seriously and deliberately in
this affair."
The persecutions and martyrdoms at Berne,
Basil, Zurich, in Holland, by the Synod of
Dort, and even in this country, all shew that
the practice is not confined to the Church of
Rome,f or to princes and priests of that com-
munion. Nor had the spirit of persecution sub-
sided even in much later writers. Chilling-
worth has very little hope of the salvation of
those who live and die in the communion of the
* See the Letters printed at the end of Calvin's Institutes.
f They are detailed in the Letters above referred to, at the
end of Calvin's Institutes ; Gerrard Brandt's History of the
Reformation in the Low Countries, Beza's Life of Calvin,
Burnet's History of the Reformation, and the other works
mentioned in Benson's History of Persecution. Dodd's Church
Jlistoiy of England abounds with instances of Protestant per-
secution.
451
Church of Rome ;* yet Chillingworth has been
thought by many to have been tinctured with
Unitarianism, a system, perhaps, less stain-
ed with persecution than any other, not even
excepting the Quakers. Tillotson has his fears
on the same subject.f Nay, even much later
writers than these have shewn a disposition
by no means favourable to the final salvation
of Roman Catholics; and the laws still in force
against both them and Dissenters, are standing
and damning proofs that the age of religious op-
pression is not yet entirely past. Nor should it be
forgotten, that the points for which the reformed
have cut the throats of heretics, have been of
much less importance, for the most part, than
those for which Roman Catholics have contend-
ed in the same way. Who does not know what
has been said and done in Scotland about the use
of the surplice, the ring in marriage, the sign of
the cross in baptism, and the genuflexions at the
Eucharist? To deny the mystery of the blessed
Trinity, the incarnation of the Son of God, the
mysterious doctrine of transubstantiation, or the
opinions concerning the supremacy of the Pope,
the infallibility of the Church, and the belief in
purgatory, are, it must be allowed, deviations
from the old doctrines of somewhat more spiri-
* See The Religion of Protestants a safe Way to Salvation,
parti, chap. iii. p. 129. Ed. 1674.
t See the Sermon on this point in his works.
2G 1
452
tual importance than any of the terms of the so-
lemn League and Covenant, the shape of a gar-
ment, or the position of the knee at the Lord's
supper.*
But Protestants have never been as cruel in
their punishments as the Catholics : — the one
burned people at the stake ; the other only be-
headed, hanged, drowned, starved or pinched
their victims to death. Alas ! I wish it were
true that we have never burned heretics ; but,
alas ! Protestants have had their fires also; and
were I to adduce all the instances of this nature
with which our history is so much tarnished, it
is to be feared many of my brethren would ac-
* The persecutions against sectaries have always heen nu-
merous and vexatious ; and the most powerful and rich have
ever thought themselves fully entitled to treat with rigour and
contempt the dissenter and the disobedient. Dr. Plot mentions
three causes, which it appears have a beneficial effect in sup-
pressing three corresponding evils, now so common in every
petty village in the kingdom. The parish of Br ightwell, the
Doctor observes, is particularly " worthy of memory " for its
Christian unanimity ; and that " there has not been known
any such thing as an ale-house, a Sectary, or suit of law
commenced in the whole parish in the memory of man."
This he mentions to " the eternal honour of its inhabitants/'
and attributes the cause to the piety and prudence of the
" Lord of the town," meaning the mayor, the rector, and his
predecessors, " and the good disposition of the people them-
selves ;" much better antidotes against vice and error than
fire and faggot, or even than hanging and starving. The
tempers of Christians have improved since A. D. 1676, when
Plot wrote. See Plot's Nat. Hist, of Oxfordshire, p. 203.
453
cuse me of a leaning towards popery, and of
prejudice against the Reformation; so little do
some Protestants concern themselves to learn
the whole truth on this subject.*
But, it will be further asked, are not Ro-
man Catholic priests and bishops bound by an
oath to resist and persecute heretics, schisma-
tics, and rebels to the Pope and his successors ?
To say the least of this, Dr. Troyf has shewn,
that in countries not in communion with the
See of Rome, that part of the oath is now omit-
ted; but the repeatedly avowed principles, as well
as the uniform conduct of the Roman Catholics,
have long demonstrated, that no such sense as
Dr. Duigenan, and others of the same party,
have put upon that oath, is admitted by Catho-
lics. Surely no persons were ever more unfor-
tunately circumstanced than the present race
* The total number of Catholics, who suffered the death
of traitors for denying Henry VIII., to be the spiritual head
of the Church was sixty. Of these, John Fisher was bishop
of Rochester ; three were Benedictine Abbots ; three others
Carthusian Priors ; sixteen Monks ; twenty-three Clergy-
men ; and the rest Knights, Gentlemen and Yeomen. Be-
sides these, sixty-four other Carthusians or Franciscans were
condemned to death, most of whom were starved in prison.
See Dodd's Church Hist. vol. i. p. 342, and Sanders de Visibili
Monarchia Ecclesia, cited in Milner's Letters to a Prebendary,
p. 1*1.
f Pastoral Letter, as quoted by Doctor Duigenan, in his
speech against the Catholics on the 25th of March, 1805.
454
of Roman Catholics in this country :" They are
told that their faith is hostile to the safety of a
Protestant state, and that they cannot be even
tolerated without some security for their alle-
giance. For this purpose an oath is framed,
and framed too, for the most part by those who
so imperiously demand it.* When this oath is
tendered and taken, then the Catholics are again
insultingly branded with holding the very te-
nets they have abjured by all the solemnities of
an oath, and all the obligations of the laws.
When they complain of this as hard usage, they
are called restless, ambitious, turbulent, and per-
secuting /In these cases well might Mr. Grat-
tan say,-f- that when his opponent imputed, as
he had done, to the Catholic principles which
he had thus abjured, it " is not the Catholic
who breaks faith with him, but it is he (Dr. D.)
who breaks faith with the Catholic."
The cruel accusation against Catholics, of
not keeping faith with heretics, has been again
and again so clearly refuted, that I should not
have thought it necessary to enlarge upon it,
were I not persuaded that something on this
subject will be expected from me : nor would I
otherwise waste the reader's time by any formal
* See Mr. Grattan's speech in confutation of Dr. Duige-
nan, on the day above referred to.
f Ubi supra.
455
proof of the injustice of this charge. I deny,
most positively, that any such opinion either is,
or ever was, an article of faith in the Catholic
Church ; let those who persist in the charge,
prove that I am mistaken, and I submit : but
they must prove it, not from the conduct of
any individual prince, or even bishop ; from
the supposed act of any single council ; but
by the rule of St. Vincent, and the cate-
chism, prayers and devotions of the Catholic
religion. Do this, and I will be ready to add
even this objection to many others which I have
to the religion of Roman Catholics. Yet it is
not even true that the Council of Constance ever
decreed any such general principle as the not
keeping faith with heretics ; but only that no
safe-conduct granted by any temporal sovereign,
should be allowed in stay of the proceedings or
right of any council to condemn heretics. Let
us, however, carefully and dispassionately exa-
mine the facts on which this extraordinary
charge is founded. If it be true that the Ro-
man Catholic Church have ever taught that no
faith is to be kept with heretics, then I grant
that persecution of the most hateful and diabo-
lical nature is indeed a tenet of that religion ;
and that to grant power and toleration to people
holding such a damnable doctrine, would be the
height of folly and madness.*
* Nothing, I am firmly persuaded, but the most deeply
rooted mistake concerning the faith of Catholics in this par-
ticular,
456
The council of Constance was called by the
Emperor Sigismund, and Pope John XXIII.,
towards the close of the year 1414. The great
objects for which this celebrated Council was
called, have already been mentioned.* At this
Council, the famous John Huss, and his friend
and companion, Jerome of Prague, were tried
and found guilty of heresy, and of several at-
tempts to disturb the peace of the Church, and
even to raise a general rebellion against the
Court of Rome, and the temporal authority of
the Pope. Several Bohemian students having
been in England, for the advantage of learning
at the University of Oxford, met with the writ-
ings of Wickliffe, and imbibed his principles,
civil and religious. These opinions they carried
back with them to Prague, as well as the books
in which they were contained, which fell into
the hands of John Huss, rector of the uni-
versity of that city, and a man of great learning,
ticular, could induce many persons who object to their claims
to persist in that system of intolerance, which so much dis-
honours and scandalizes the Protestant name. I am far from
wishing to join in the clamour against these persons, as if
they were really friendly to persecution and bigotry, and
that they take pleasure in opposing the just demands of the
Catholics, merely because they do not like their religious
opinions. The fear is natural ; but the mistake that gives
birth to it is unfounded. There is no illiberality in prudence
and self-defence, but there is a want of candour in not pa*
tiently investigating the causes of prejudice. But, I fear, there
are more political than religious objectors to emancipation.
* Vide ante, Part I. |J iv. p. 78.
457
eloquence, and enterprise. These notions were
exactly suited to the disposition of Huss, and he
did not hesitate to recommend them in the most
public manner possible. The sanctity of his
life, the purity of his morals, and the zeal and
eloquence of his harangues, soon gained him
numerous proselytes : among whom there was,
particularly, a professor of divinity, though not
in holy orders, named Jerome of Prague, a man
of a warm and sanguine habit, pious, zealous,
subtle in argument, and witty and satirical in
disputation. The errors, real or supposed, which
these persons disseminated, soon attracted the
notice of the council of Constance, then assem-
bled, and Huss was cited to appear before that
assembly, to answer such interrogatories as
might be put to him. This summons, with ap-
parent willingness, he immediately obeyed, hav-
ing first obtained a safe-conduct, or passport,
from the Emperor Sigismund, confident that no
heresy could be proved against him, and willing,
should this be done, to retract his errors, or
cheerfully yield to the sentence of his superiors,
whose authority in spiritual matters he had never
disputed, and whose leading and fundamental
doctrines he had never denied.
Most of the errors, charged against John Huss
and his friend Jerome of Prague, were collected
from the writings of Wickliffe; and it must be
confessed, that many of the charges were of a
serious and dangerous nature, affecting not
458
merely the speculations of the fashionable reli-
gion of the time,* and the exorbitant power
and luxury of the clergy; but even aiming a
blow at the authority of the state, and the
rights of all government. I am well aware
how very common, and unjust, it is to brand
every attempt at Reform as an attack on
order and government; and thus to stifle and
crush the wise and benevolent efforts of good
and patriotic men. And this was, in many in-
stances, the case with respect to the Lollards,
as the disciples of Wickliffe were called. f
* Doctor Heylin says, that " many of Wick] iffe's opinions
were so far from truth, so contrary to peace and civil order,
so inconsistent with the government of the Church of Christ,
as to be utterly unworthy of so great a character. But such
is the humour of some men, as to call every separation from
the Church of Rome the gospel, and the greater the separation,
the more pure the gospel." Animadversions on Fuller, p. 65.
f The 8th session of this Council of Constance decreed,
that the bones of Wickliffe should be taken up, as unworthy
of the sacred ground in which they were quietly reposing,
and the following articles, collected from his writings,
were condemned as heretical and dangerous: — "1. That
the substance material of bread and wine remain in
the sacrament of the altar. 2. The accidents of bread re-
main not without the substance. 3. Christ is not identi-
cally and really in his proper bodily presence in the sacra-
ment. 4. If a Bishop or Priest live in mortal sin, he ordain-
eth not, baptizeth not, consecrateth not. 5. The gospel saith
not that Christ instituted the mass. 6. God ought to obey
the devil. 7. If a man be contrite aright, outward confession
is
459
The Rev. Mr. O'Leary, in his second Letter
addressed to the conductors of the Free Press,
is needless and unprofitable. 8. If the Pope be a reprobate,
and wicked, and so a member of the devil, he hath no power
over the faithful given hitn by any but Caesar. 9. Since
Urban the Sixth, none is to be taken for Pope, but we must
live as the Greeks, under our own laws. 10. It is against
scripture that churchmen have possessions. 11. No prelate
should excommunicate any one, unless he know that God
hath first excommunicated him : And he that so excommu-
nicateth, is thereby a heretic or excommunicate. 12. A pre-
late that excommunicateth a clerk who appealed to the king,
or to the council of the kingdome, is thereby a traytor to the
king and kingdome. 13. They that give over preaching, or
hearing God's word, for men's excommunication, are excom-
municate, and in the day of judgment shall be judged traytors
to Christ. 14. It is lawful for a deacon or presbyter to preach
the word of God without the authority of the apostolic seal,
or a Catholic bishop. 15. No one is a civil lord, or a prelate,
or a bishop, while he liveth in mortal sin. 16. Temporal
lords may take away temporal goods from the Church, from
a possessor habitually criminal, and not only in act. 17. The
people may correct their delinquent lords. IS. Tythes are
meer alms, and the parishioners may take them away for
their prelate's sins. 19. The special prayers applied by pre-
lates and religious men to one person, profit him no more
than the general ones. 20. lie that giveth alms to fryars is
thereby excommunicate. 21. lie that enters the private reli-
gion, either of the possessing or the mendicant fryars, becomes
less fit and able to keep the commandment^ of God. 22.
Holy men that made private religions, thereby sinned. 23.
The religious, living in private religion, are not of the
Christian religion. 24. Fryars are bound to get their living
by the labour of their hands, and not by begging. 25. They
are simoniacal that bind themselves to pray for others for a
temporal
460
in reply to the charge which the late Mr. Wes-
ley brought against the Catholics, of not keep-
temporal reward. 26. The prayer of reprobates availeth
not to any. 27. All things come to pass by necessity. 28.
The confirmation of youth, the ordination of clerks, the con-
secration of places, are reserved to the Pope and Bishops for
covetousness of temporal gain and honour. 29. Universities,
studies, colledges, degrees, and masterships in them, are in-
troduced by vain gentility, and profit the church as much as
the devil doth. 30. The excommunication of a Pope, or any
prelate, is not to be feared, because it is the censure of Anti-
christ. 31. They that found cloysters sin, and they are dia-
bolical that enter them. 32. To enrich the clergy is against
Christ's rule. 33. Pope Sylvester, and the Emperor Con-
stantine, erred in enriching the Church. 34. All the order of
begging fryars are heretics ; and those that give to them are
excommunicate. 35. They that enter religious or any order,
are thereby disabled from keeping God's commands, and so
of coming to heaven, unless they forsake them. 36. The
Pope, and all his clergy, that have possessions, are therefore
hereticks, and the secular lords and laicks that consent to them.
37. The Church of Rome is the synagogue of satan ; and the
Pope is not the immediate and nearest vicar of Christ and the
apostles. 38. The Decretal Epistles are apocryphal, and se-
duce from the faith of Christ, and the clerks that study them
are fools. 39. The emperour and secular lords were seduced
by the devil to enrich the Church with temporal goods. 40.
The election of the Pope by Cardinals was introduced by the
devil. 41. It is not necessary to salvation to believe the
Church of Rome to be the supreme among other churches. 42.
It is foolish to trust to the Indigencies of the Pope and the
Bishops. 43. Oaths made to strengthen humane contracts and
civil commerce, are unlawful. 44. Augustine, Benedict, Ber-
nard, are damned, unless they repented of having possessions,
and instituting and entering religious ; and so from the Pope
to the lowest religious, they are all hereticks. 45. All reli-
gious were introduced by the devil." — Baxter's History of
Councils.
461
ing faith with heretics,* states the history of the
case relative to John Huss, in the following man-
ner : quoting Mr. Wesley's charge, he says, —
" The council of Constance has openly avow-
ed violation of faith with heretics. But it has
never been openly disclaimed. Therefore,"
concludes Mr. Wesley, " the Roman Catholics
should not be tolerated amongst the Turks or
Pasrans."
v o'
" A council, so often quoted in anniversary ser-
mons, parliamentary debates, and flying pamph-
lets, challenges peculiar attention. We shall
examine it with as much precision as possible,
and with the more impartiality, as strict justice
shall be done to all parties. Mr. Wesley knows
that we are all Adam's children, who feel the
fatal impressions of our origin, and that ambition
* I am very well persuaded, that had Mr. Wesley been
living at this time, and had heard the repeated disavowals of
this hateful tenet, which our Catholic brethren are every day
making, he would have been the first man to lend his great
talents and influence to the cause of liberty and justice : for
when Mr. Wesley said, that " Catholics should not be tole-
rated amongst the Turks or Pagans," it was under a mistaken
impression that they did hold a tenet injurious to the safety
and happiness of the state. No man was ever more ready to
acknowledge an error, of which he was once convinced, than
was Mr. Wesley. See his Letter concerning the civil Principles
of Roman Catholics.
462
which took its rise in heaven itself, often lurks
in a corner of the sanctuary, where the ministers
of religion offer up their prayers, as well as in
the cabinets of kings, where shrewd courtiers
form their intrigues. At a time, then, when
ambition, that insatiable desire of elevation, that
worm which stings the heart, and never leaves
it at rest, presented the universe with the ex-
traordinary sight of three prelates reviving the
restless spirit of the Roman triumvirate, and dis-
turbing the peace of mankind as much with their
spiritual weapons, as Octavius, Antony, and Le-
pidushad disturbed it with their armed legions. At
a time when the broachers of new doctrines were
kindling up the fire of sedition, and after shaking
the foundations of what was then the established
religion, were shaking the foundations of thrones
and empires. At that critical time, in fourteen
hundred and fourteen, was held the council of
Constance, with a design, as the fathers of that
council express themselves, to reform the Church
in her head and members ; and put an end to
the calamities which the restless pride of three
bishops, assuming the titles of popes, by the
names of Gregory the Twelfth, Benedict the
Thirteenth, and John the Twenty-third, had
brought on Europe, split into three grand fac-
tions by the ambition of the above-mentioned
competitors. Such transactions in the ministers
of a religion that preaches up peace and humi-
lity, as the solid foundations on which the struc-
ture of all Christian virtues is to be raised, may
463
startle the unthinking reader, and give him an
unfavourable idea of religion."
" To the council of Constance was cited
John Huss, a Bohemian, famous for propagat-
ing errors tending to tear the mitre from the
heads of Bishops, and wrest the sceptre from the
hands of kings : in a word, he was obnoxious to
church and state ; and if Mr. Wesley and I
preached up his doctrine in the name of God, we
would be condemned in the name of the king.
The Protestant and Catholic divines would ba-
nish us from their universities, and the judges
of assize would exterminate us from civil society.
Such a doctor had no indulgence to expect from
a council, which, after deposing two rivals for
the popedom, condemned a third for contu-
macy, and elected another in his room.
" But in mentioning John Huss, whose trial
and execution at Constance have given rise to the
foul charge of violation of faith with heretics, let
none imagine that I am an apologist for the fiery
execution of persons, on the score of religious
opinions. Let the legislators who were the first
to invent the cruel method of punishing the er-
rors of the mind with the excruciating tortures of
the body, and anticipating the rigor of eternal
justice, answer for their own laws. I am of opi-
nion, that the true religion, propagated by the
effusion of the blood of its martyrs, would still
triumph without burning the flesh of heretics -,
464
and that the Protestant* and Catholic legisla-
tors who have substituted the blazing pile in the
room of Phalaris's brazen bull, might have
pointed out a more lenient punishment for vic-
tims, who, in their opinion, had no prospect
during the interminable space of a boundless
eternity, but that of passing from one Jire into
another. If, in enacting such laws, they had
consulted the true spirit of religion, I believe
the reformation of their own hearts would have
been a more acceptable sacrifice to the Divinity,
than hecatombs of human victims. " No God
nor man, says Tertullian, " should be pleased
with a forced sacrifice." " We are not to per-
secute those whom God tolerates," says St. Au-
gustine. That faith is fictitious which is inspired
by the edge of the sword.
" But still the nature of society is such, that
when once the common land-marks are set up, it
opposes the hand of the individual that attempts
to remove them. Where one common mode of
worship is established, and fenced by the laws
of the state, whoever attempts to overthrow it,
must expect to meet with opposition and vio-
lence, until custom softens the rigour of early
prejudices, and reconciles us to men whose fea-
tures and lineaments are like our own, but still
* " The imperial laws, which condemned heretics to the
flames, have been put into execution by Calvin, queen Eliza-
beth, James the First," &c.
465
seem strange to us, because their thoughts are
different.
" How far opposition to religious innovations
is justifiable, is not our business to discuss. But
the experience of ages evinces the fact; and in
dissimilar circumstances, Mr. Wesley has made
the trial. In kingdoms, where, as in the Ro-
man Pantheon, every divinity had its altars, spe-
culative deviations from the religion established
by law, the singularity of love-feasts and noc-
turnal meetings, so unusual among the modern
Christians of every denomination, roused the
vigilance of the magistrate, and influenced the
rage of the rabble. Now, that custom has ren-
dered Mr. Wesley's meeting-houses and mode
of worship familiar, and that all denominations
enjoy a share of that religious liberty, whereof
he would fain deprive his Roman Catholic neigh-
bour, his matin hymns give no uneasiness either
to the magistrate or his neighbours. But had
Mr. Wesley raised his notes on the high key of
civil discordance — had he attempted by his ser-
mons, his writings, and exhortations, to deprive
the bishops of the established religion, of their
crosiers ; kings of their thrones ; and magistrates
of the sword of justice; long ere now would his
pious labours have been crowned with martyrdom,
and his name registered in the calendar of Fox's
saints. Such, unfortunately, was the case of
John Huss. Not satisfied with overthrowing
what was then the established religion, and le-
466
veiling the fences of ecclesiastical jurisdiction,
he strikes at the root of all temporal power, and
civil authority. He boldly asserts, that "Princes,
magistrates, &c. in the state of mortal sin, are
deprived ipso facto of all power and jurisdic-
tion."* In this doctrine was enveloped the seeds
of anarchy and sedition, which subsequent
preachers unfolded, to the destruction of peace
and tranquillity, almost all over Europe ; and
which Sir William Blackstone describes as fol-
lows : " The dreadful effects of such a religious
bigotry, when actuated by erroneous principles,
even of the Protestant kind, are sufficiently evi-
dent from the history of the Anabaptistsf in
* See the acts of the council of Constance, in 1/ Abbe's
Collection of Councils.
t This is no imputation on the Baptists of our days,
who are as peaceable and good men as any others. Men's
opinions change with the times, as in different stages of
life we change our thoughts, and settle at the age of forty
the roving imagination of sixteen. Custom, and mutual
intercourse among fellow subjects of every denomination,
would soon quench the remaining sparks of religious feuds,
if distinctive laws were abolished. But, unfortunately for
the society in which we live, the laws, whose aim should be
to unite the inhabitants, are calculated to divide them. My
neighbour distrusts me, because the penal laws held me forth
as a reprobate before I was born, and, during my life, en-
courage him to seize my horse, or drag me before a magis-
trate, for saying my prayers; which reduces me to the sad
necessity of hating him, or considering him as an enemy, if
in the great struggle between nature and grace, religion does
not
467
Germany, the Covenanters in Scotland, and the
deluge of sectaries in England, who murdered
their sovereign, overturned the church and mo-
narchy, shook every pillar of law, justice, and
private property, and most devoutly established
a kingdom of saints in their stead."*
O
" John Huss, then, after broaching the above-
mentioned doctrines, and making Bohemia the
theatre of intestine war, is summoned to appear
before the council. He obtains a safe conduct
from the emperor Sigismund, commanding go-
vernors of provinces, &c. not to molest him on
his journey to, or return from, Constance ; but to
afford him every aid and assistance. In all the
provinces and cities through which he passes, he
gives public notice of his intention to appear
before the council, and stand his trial. But, in-
stead of standing his trial, and retracting his er-
not triumph. Before Lewis the Fourteenth, and George the
First, repealed the laws against witches, every disfigured old
woman was in danger of her life, and considered as a sor-
ceress. Since the witch-inaking laws have been repealed,
there is not a witch in the land, and the dairy maid is not
under the necessity of using counter charms to hinder the
milk from being enchanted from her pail. Thus, if the penal
laws, which by a kind of omnipotence create an original sin,
making rogues of Catholics before they reach their hands to
the tempting fruit, were once repealed, thjey would be as
honest as their neighbours, and the objects of their love and
confidence.
* Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. iv. chap. 8.
2H2
468
rors, he attempts to make his escape, in order
to disseminate, and make them take deeper root.
He is arrested and confined, in order that he
should take his trial, after having violated his
promise, and abused a safe-conduct granted him
for the purpose of exculpating himself, or re-
tracting his errors, if proved against him before
his competent judges. It is here to be remark-
ed, that John Huss was an ecclesiastic; and
that in spiritual cases, the bishops were his only
and competent judges. The boundaries of the
two powers, I mean the church and state, be-
ing kept distinct; the censer left to the pontiff,
and the sword to the magistrate ; the church
confined to her spiritual weapons ; privation of
life and limb, and corporal punishments, being
quite of the province of the state; one should
not interfere with the other. As the body of
the criminal is under the control of the magis-
trate, too jealous of his privilege to permit the
church to interfere with his power; — so, errone-
ous doctrines are under the control of spiritual
judges, too jealous of their prerogatives, to per-
mit the civil magistrate to interfere with their
rights. — Hence, when the partisans of Huss
raised clamours about his confinement, and
pleaded his safe-conduct, the council published
the famous decree which has given rise to so
many cavils, for the space of four hundred years,
though thousands of laws of a more important
nature, and of which we now think but little,
have been published since that time. The coun-
469
t\\ declares, " That every safe-conduct granted
by the emperor, kings, and other temporal prin-
ces, to heretics, or persons accused of heresy,
ought not to be of any prejudice to the Catholic
faith, or to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction; nor
to hinder that such persons may and ought to
be examined, judged, and punished, according
as justice shall require, if those heretics refuse
to revoke their errors : and the person who shall
iiave promised them security, shall not, in this
case, be obliged to keep his promise, by what-
ever tie he may be engaged, because he has done
all that is in his power to do." I appeal to the
impartial public, Whether that declaration of
the council does not regard the peculiar case of
safe-conducts, granted by temporal princes, to
persons who are liable to be tried by competent
and independent tribunals ? And, Whether it be
not an insult to candour and common sense, to
give it such a latitude as to extend it to every
lawful promise, contract, or engagement, be-
tween man and man ? As if the council of Con-
stance meant to authorize me to buy my neigh-
bour's goods, and after a solemn promise to pay
him, still to keep his substance, and break my
word. The church and state are two distinct
and independent powers, each in its peculiar
line. — A man is to be tried by the church for
erroneous doctrines : a temporal prince grants
this man a safe-conduct, to guard his person
from any violence which may be offered him on
his journey ; and to procure him a fair and can-
470
did trial, on his appearance before his lawful
judges. Has not this prince done all that is in his
power to do ? Doth his promise to such a man
authorize him to interfere with a foreign and in-
dependent jurisdiction, or to usurp the rights of
another ? Do not the very words of the council,
" Because he has done all that is in his power
to do," prove that lawful promises are to be ful-
filled ?
"Such j urisconsults, whether Catholics or Pro-
testants, such as Prenus, Speklam, and others, as
I have accidentally read, concerning the nature
of safe-conducts, lay down for a general rule,
that they are never granted to suspend the exe-
cution of the laws. Salmis conductus contra jus
non datur. It were nugatory in the emperor
Sigismund, presumptive heir to a kingdom,
which Huss's doctrine had changed into a the-
atre of intestine wars, to grant a safe-conduct,
the meaning and sense whereof would be equi-
valent to the following pass : " Although you
have set kingdoms in a blaze, by striking at the
vitals of temporal authority, and overthrown the
established religion of the land; yet go to Con-
stance and come back, without appearing be-
fore your lawful judges, or retracting doctrines
which have caused such disturbances in church
and state." Safe-conducts, then, are not grant-
ed to screen delinquents from punishment, when
legally convicted; much less, to countenance
471
disobedience to the laws, and disorder, by im-
punity.
" The council was the most competent judge
of Huss's doctrine, in which he stedfastly per-
severed. Neither king nor emperor could de-
prive the bishops of privileges inseparably an-
nexed to their characters, viz. spiritual jurisdic-
tion, and the right of judging doctrines. Huss
was degraded, and retrenched, according to the
usual formalities, from a communion from which
he had separated himself before. This is all the
bishops could have done : this they acknowledge
after the sentence of Huss's degradation was
pronounced. " This sacred synod of Constance,
considering that the church of Christ has no-
thing further that it can do, decrees to leave
John Huss to the judgment of the state." His
execution was in consequence of the imperial
laws, enforced by the civil magistrate, as the
execution of heretics in England, and other Pro-
testant states, has been in consequence of the
imperial laws adopted by such powers. The
Protestant clergy, as well as the clergy of Con-
stance, decided upon points of doctrine, and
went no farther.
" Thus we see, that this superannuated charge
of violation of faith zvith heretics, resembles those
nightly spectres which vanish upon a nearer
approach. We find nothing in this council,
relative to such a charge, but a dispute about
472
a pass granted to a man who goes to take his
trial before judges whose jurisdiction could not
be superseded. Or if we intend to do justice
to men with the same eagerness that we are dis-
posed to injure them, we must acknowledge that
the fathers of that council condemned lies,
frauds, perjury, and those horrors which Mr.
"Wesley would fain fix upon the Roman Catho-
lics. The foundations then, on which Mr. Wes-
ley has erected his aerial fabric, being once
sapped, the superstructure must fall of course;
and his long train of false and unchristian asser-
tions are swept away as a spider's web, before
the wind of logical rules. From absurd premises
follows an absurd conclusion."
But still it will be asked, that admitting the
fact, that the Catholic religion does not teach
persecution, nor hold the tenet that no faith is to
be kept with heretics, yet is there not a stronger
bias in the spirit and discipline of that Church
to persecution, than is found in any other? De-
tach that Church from the State, and I reply,
there is not. I have mixed and associated with
Catholics, and I can assert, without dread of
contradiction, that I have found as much li-
berality of sentiment, as enlarged and as beral
a freedom, and as great a spirit of toleration and
Christian forbearance, as among other Chris-
tians holding the same general doctrines. It is
true, they tell us, that future salvation is promised
only to believers, by which, I am well aware,
473
they mean believers of their own description.
But I should be glad to know how many de-
nominations of Christians we can find that do
not hold a similar opinion. Does not the
Church of England tell us, that if we would be
saved, we must believe the creed of St. Athana-
sius ? Will any Calvinist, consistent with his
principles, tell us that we may be saved whether
we believe his doctrines or not ? Nay, have not
even the modest and liberal Quakers their
line of distinction ? — their disownments and
their censures, and that on account of heresy,
real or imaginary ? The truth of the whole
matter is this, and thus we all reason : •' Who-
soever would be saved, it is necessary to be of
the true Church : zve are the true Church ;
therefore, whosoever would be saved must be of
our Church." We may wrangle for ever about
the exclusive spirit and the narrow bounds of
popery ; but, after all, it comes to this, even
among most Protestants, that there is no sal-
vation apart from us:" The Temple of the
Lord are WE." We all environ ourselves in a
fortress of fundamentals, essentials, indispensable
articles, and a thousand fancies of our own, and
then call ourselves THE CHURCH! We be-
come so many infallible bodies, and deal out
our sentences of everlasting damnation with as
much grace and ease as if we were distributing
the bounties of a kind Providence. But it does
not therefore follow, that any of us would per-
secute another to death, merely because we
474
think him in a dangerous error. The times
of open persecution, I trust, are for ever past.
Had Luther lived in our day, he would not
have indulged narrow and selfish views : had
Calvin now to deal with even Servetus, he
would not resort to the argument of fire : had
Socinus now to reason with Davidus, he would
not thrust him into prison for not praying to a
being whom he believed to be a mere man ; and
were the Catholics now restored to their former
power, I feel confident they would not resort to
the same violent measures which at one time so
dreadfully disgraced them, and for which they
now so severely suffer. The shameful disabili-
ties under which Catholics and Dissenters still
labour, will soon be removed — the voice of
truth, of justice and humanity must and will be
heard. These disabilities are supported, not by
the genius of Protestantism, for the principles of
our separation from the Church of Rome are at
variance with all those arguments which are
urged by an interested faction for a continuance
of that system of intolerance which is so perti-
naciously pursued against the just claims of the
Irish Catholics. It is not a system wholly of a
religious character — the men who persist in op-
posing the claims of Catholics and Dissenters,
I am persuaded, care little about the religion of
either. The system is a political one ; they
know that those persons, Catholics and others,
who now feel themselves injured and insulted,
on account of their religious opinions, are the
475
friends of civil liberty, — the enemies of in-
terminable war, and courtly corruption ; they
know, that by enfranchising them in religious
matters, they would at the same time be adding
to their political influence, which, more than
their faith, they dread. No men would be more
tolerant in matters of religion than the " No
Popery" men, if they did not fear that the con-
sequences of granting religious liberty would be
injurious to that line of politics which they think
fit to pursue.
The same men who usurp the altars of our
God, also sculk behind the throne of our King.
They give us acts of parliament, which require
twelve judges, and more than twelve times
twelve lawyers to understand ; and acts of faith
and uniformity, which nobody can understand,
and which are, indeed, productive of the great-
est possible dissension.*
* The Dissenters of this country will not soon forget the
Act which in one day ejected from their livings, TWO
THOUSAND honest, pious, and learned Clergymen, because
they would not subscribe to a book which many of them
had never seen, which it was impossible they should have
seen, and which those that did see, objected to on public
and conscientious grounds. — They will never forget the
festival of St. Bartholomew ; and the No-Popery alarmists
only add to their own shame, and awaken recollections which
prudence should teach them rather to stifle, by mention-
ing the name of that unfortunate day, which they often do
in their attacks on Catholics.
476
Yet, after all, it will be asked, have ndt thd
Catholics been the instigators of a thousand plots
and massacres? and have they not made religion
the pretext for the most savage barbarities ? I
will reply in the words of an ingenious Protes-
tant :* " This heavy imputation, whether just
or unjust, has long lain, and still lies, on this
unfortunate people. It is a prejudice deeply
rooted in the minds of Protestants, a matter so
received and credited by all, as not once to be
controverted or examined by any."
The Parisian massacre was a most cruel and
barbarous piece of business, and sadly involved
were even many priests, and other ecclesiastics,
in the horrors of that tremendous night, when
multitudes were butchered to gratify the cruelty
and the diabolical policy ofan infuriate woman, the
artful Catherine de Medicis. ct The prime au-
thoress of the execrable plot of the Parisian mas-
sacre appears," says Mr. Comber, f "to have been
* Henry Brookes, Esq. author of the Fool of Quality, Gus-
tavus Vasa, and many other curious and interesting works.
See his book, entitled " The Tryal of the Catholicks," p. 32.
I wish every Protestant, before he brings his heavy charges
against Catholics, would do himself and others the justice to
read this amusing volume.
f History of the Parisian Massacre, by the Rev. Thomas
Comber, A. B. p. 17. ; a work written expressly to bring
odium on the Catholics, and to retard and prevent the
claims of that oppressed people. I know not whether some
apology should not be offered for my quoting from so exe-
crable
477
Catherine, the queen-mother of Charles IX., king
of France, in whose reign this bloody tragedy was
acted ; and, by herself, and by the ministry of
her infernal creatures, she most artfully excited
and inflamed the resentment and other bad pas-
sions of her son, by slow degrees, to the horrible
execution of it." Now, if this dreadful business
originated in the malignity of a woman, second-
ed by the culpable weakness of her son : or if,
as this writer asserts, the family of the Guises
be to be ranked among the chief instruments
of this execrable design ; nay, even if the sur-
mises of Mr. Comber be correct, which is very
problematical, that the whole Roman consistory
knew and approved of this plot before its execu-
tion, and that, therefore, as he unjustly infers,
" the generality of the popish nobility, magis-
trates, and military officers," were concerned
in it, what, in the name of truth and justice,
had the doctrines and the discipline — the reli-
gion — of Catholics to do with all this ? How far
is that religion concerned in any such wicked
proceedings, otherwise than to condemn and ex-
crable a publication, and which the eloquent and truly inge-
nious Mr. Canning has lately so pointedly and properly re-
probated in the House of Commons, as a work published with
no other views than to keep alive disgraceful prejudices, and
to excite the worst and most malignant passions of the human
breast. If any apology be required, let it be found in my
anxiety to shew, that no prejudice can at all times stifle the
truth, of uniformly distort obvious historical facts.
478
ecrate them ? To that religion I appeal, false,
unscriptural, and erroneous, as I most consci-
entiously believe it to be — I appeal to every
man, whether Protestant or Catholic, who knows
any thing at all of the matter, who has ever
read a single page of the ROMAN MISSAL,*
vulgarly denominated the Mass Book, in which
* Protestants, who are alarmed at the dangers of popery,
always look for the religion of Catholics in stories of plots,
massacres, burnings, and persecutions. Fox's Book of Martyrs,
is to them a better guide than Challoner's Garden of the Soul,
and Limborch's History of the Inquisition, than Thomas a
Kempis's " Imitation of Christ" When we might imagine
they would be reading manuals, litanies, catechisms, prayers,
and sermons, we find them devouring with avidity records
of the Inquisition, papal decretals, old Newgate calendars,
acts of parliment, and histories of England ! When they
would know the faith of Catholics, they sit down immediately
to such books as Smith's Errors of the Church of Rome de-
tected ; Benson's Confutation of Popery; Trapp's Popery truly
Stated and briefly confuted; Baxter's Naked Popery; and,
above all, to Don Antonio Gavin's Master-Key to Popery !
I will here indulge these disinterested inquirers by mention-
ing to them a little book, which they seem nearly to have
overlooked, but in the perusal of which, I promise them
ample gratification, in their way ; it is entitled " The Protes-
tant Almanack, &c, wherein the bloody aspects, fatal op-
positions, diabolical conjunctions, and pernicious revolutions,
of the papacy against the Lord and'his anointed, are describ-
ed. Calculated according to art for the meridian of Baby-
lon, where the Pope is elevated an hundred and fifty degrees
above all reason, right, and religion ; above kings, canons,
councils, conscience, and every thing called God, 2 Thess. 2.
And may, without sensible error, indifferently serve the whole
papacy.
479
is expressed or implied, every essential branch
of the Catholic faith and worship — I appeal to
the good sense and candour of even the enemies
of the Catholic claims, whether there is any
truth, honour, or justice in the cruel and disin-
genuous reflection of the author of the " Pari-
sian Massacre," where he asserts, that this
bloody and Anti-Catholic proceeding was " wor-
thy of the Church of Rome /" Mr. Comber, by
this single expression, has shewn himself worthy
of a much harsher term than the author of these
sheets is willing to apply to him. If all Paris,
if all Rome, nay, if the Pope himself approv-
ed of this plot, I contend that it was planned
and executed in the very teeth of their reli-
gion ; let those who can, disprove this, and
shew, that the Roman Catholic religion numbers
among its articles of faith, or rules of general
discipline, the practice of persecution, and the
principle of not keeping faith with heretics.
The Inquisition is thought to be an indispens-
papacy. By Philoprotest, a well-wisher to the mathema-
tics/' printed for the company of stationers. The impres-
sions for several years, beginning A. D. 1690, are now in my
possession. It is a curious medley of falsehood, just satire,
and blasphemous ribaldry. A re-publication, and continua-
tion, of this work, may consistently be recommended to the
editor and publishers of the new and improved edition of Dr.
Middleton's Letter from Rome. It would be a capital com-
panion to Francis Moore, Physician.
480
able branch of the religion of Catholics. It is,
however, no such thing. That religion had ex-
isted many centuries before that hellish tribunal
was thought of. It was an engine of state per-
secution, and took cognizance of other matters
beside those immediately connected with reli-
gion. The Court of High Commission, — the Star
Chamber of this country, — were just as much
parts of the religion of Protestants, as the Inqui-
sition of Spain is of the religion of Catholics ;
and it would be equally just, in writing against
the faith of Protestants, to refer to the diaboli-
cal proceedings of those courts, as, in opposing
the faith of Catholics, to reproach them with
the deeds of the Inquisition. And, after all the
wickedness and cruelty exercised by that tribu-
nal, " it was not competent to pass sentence of
death, or the loss of limbs, upon any person
whatever."* It is not necessary, therefore, to
add another word on this head ; and if it were,
it would be amply sufficient to say, that the In-
quisition is now, for the most part, abolished j
and, in fact, that many countries never intro-
duced it, but opposed its cruel proceedings, and
protested against its very existence.
I must now conclude this feeble and imper-
fect sketch. It was commenced with a sincere
* Dr. Milner's Letters to a Prebendary, p. 1 16
481
and ardent hope of being able to describe with
faithfulness, and therefore with usefulness, the
history, faith, and worship, of a large portion of
the Christian world ; and in the execution of my
design, I have always laboured to preserve an
even and a steady hand. The subject on which
I have treated in this last section, presented one
of the most formidable obstacles to the under-
taking ; but I must here repeat, what has more
than once been stated, that Catholicism and
persecution ought not to be confounded to-
gether. If the religion of Catholics could, with
justice, be identified with the Court of Rome,
and with the general conduct of Catholic princes,
then, indeed, frightful would be the picture, and
painful the delineation. — Happily, this is not the
case ; nor is any Roman Catholic, in defending
the purity of his faith, compelled to advocate
the cause of persecution, tyranny, or oppression.
From the days of Constantine the Great, to the
age of Louis the XIV., — from Pope Sylvester I.
to Innocent XI., potentates and prelates have
risen in succession, to support, by various means,
the religion of Roman Catholics. Before the
one, or since the other, little of open persecu-
tion was, or has been, resorted to ; and it should
never be forgotten, that numerous intermediate
Catholic princes, priests, prelates, and people,
have been eminent for their temperate, wise, and
pious conduct. These are the persons who
adorn their christian profession j and to them we
should direct our attention for examples of the
2 I
genuine effects of Catholicism. It is strange^
that Protestants do not thus reason. — It is pass-
ing strange, that we should be so exceedingly
anxious to discover their blemishes, failings, and
errors, and yet remain so indifferent to their
virtues and their excellences ! If, in the fore-
going history, I have softened, in many cases,,
the darker shades of the picture, or have endea-
voured to throw the more unsightly objects into
the back-ground, it has not been without, w r hat
at least appeared to me, good and sufficient
reasons, — it has arisen from a conviction that,
in most cases, those objects are no essential
parts of the painting ; and that there are persons
enough to be found, ready to bring them into
full and prominent view. Too many writers of
the Protestant church have already delineated
the carbuncles, and other cachectical deformi-
ties, which time and improper treatment have
produced on the face of the Roman Catholic
Church. It was only just, that an attempt, at
least, should be made to shew, that these defor-
mities are, in fact, no natural appendages of the
constitution ; and that, however ugly the face
may be in reality, it is not right to mistake
the effects of age or of misfortune for the
original complexion and contour of the fea-
tures.
Time, however, which has deformed, is now be-
ginning to amend the whole frame and structure
of the Christian world. Mankind are rapidly
48S
advancing in knowledge and virtue.* The prin-
ciples of civil and religious liberty, at all times
inseparable, are making glorious progress in
every country in Europe. Italy, once the seat
of learning, science, and the arts, has experienced
a long and gloomy night; her superstitions, how-
ever, are vanishing away, though her sons are
trodden under foot by the despoiler of Europe.
The Pope, and all the great dignitaries of the an-
cient papal government, are, it is true, writhing
under the iron grasp of a military despot; but they
will learn humility and obedience by their suf-
ferings, and they will feel more genuine greatness
in patiently enduring this " fight of afflictions,"
than they did, when they lost sight of their God
and their religion, amidst the pomp and glare of
princely honours and regal grandeur. Their pre-
sent distresses, accompanied, as they are, with
the new lights of science and philosophy, will
soften and ameliorate their tempers. They will
learn to practise, should their power revive,
* Roman Catholics have been accused of withholding the
Scriptures from the people. At this time, however, the Sacred
Writings are circulating among them in almost every shape.
Fine, but very cheap, editions of the Douay Bible and the
Rheinish Testament, are now publishing in weekly Numbers,
for the convenience of the poorer classes of Catholics ; and
at the last public dinner (1S12) of the friends and sub-
scribers to the plans of the patriotic Joseph Lancaster, into
whose schools the BIBLE only is admitted, I had the plea-
sure to see the Earl of Fingail, Sir John Throckmorton, and
other Catholics, whose names stand on the list of subscribers '
2 I 2
484
what their religion would always have taught
them : — mercy and justice, humanity and bene-
volence. The poorer and inferior clergy, driven
into exile by oppressors of their own church and
communion, will learn to regard with fewer feel-
ings of dislike and religious abhorrence the here-
tics by whom they were sheltered and maintained.
When the storm is past, and the reign of peace
returns, these priests will go back to their respec-
tive flocks, and teach them to be tolerant and
charitable in their opinions concerning those to
whom they, themselves, are under a load of gra-
titude and obligation. American freedom, and
English hospitality, will have united with the
piety of these emigrants to amend their charac-
ters, and soften their tempers. The men whom
they Avould not injure in their persons they
will learn to look upon as no longer objects of
the Divine displeasure. Gratitude will concur
with knowledge in convincing them, that as God
is no respecter of persons, they should not con-
demn to future misery any man for his faith, his
mistakes, or his worship.
Even Spain, dark and bigoted Spain, will
" learn righteousness" in this general conflict.
The noble and generous souls of the Spaniards
will regard with detestation the Roman Catholic
invaders of their country, while the intercourse
which has been happily opened between them
and us, must convince even the rudest monks
of the Peninsula, that heretics in faith are often
485
much better men in practice, than military plun-
derers, who unite to the faith of saints the works
of demons. The abolition of the feudal system, the
reduction of the monks, and the destruction of the
Inquisition, will ere long shew them, that their
religion has not required for its support these en-
gines of vassalage, slavery, and cruelty. They
will soon abhor what they can do so well with-
out, and which has cost them so much to main-
tain. They will return to the ancient simplicity of
their religion, or else be converted to the more
scriptural faith of their reformed neighbours.*
The exclusive character of the Roman creed will
not long operate on the minds of those who can-
not live without Protestants, who would lose
their country itself, were it not for the assistance
afforded to them by men whom they have hi-
therto regarded as dangerous heretics.
* If the evil policy of our No-popery faction do not pre-
vent it, there is every reason in the world to believe, that our
intercourse with Spain will open the way, not only to a dif-
fusion of the principles of civil liberty in that country, but
also to a general spread of rejigious information, which, in the
end, must have the most beneficial effects. Englishmen are
every where treated with respect and esteem in Spain, and
the form of our Constitution is warmly admired by many
enlightened men there. See Sir John Carr's Descriptive Tra-
vels in the Southern and Eastern Parts of Spain, and the Bale-
aric Isles, in 1S09. There is an amiable and gentlemanly
spirit manifest in all Sir John's publications, which renders
him at once a useful and a pleasing writer. This last work
of his is certainly the best specimen he has given of his ta-
lents as a descriptive tourist.
486
The patriots of Spanish America are doing
wonders. Habits of reading and reflection ;
principles of true science and knowledge, are
succeeding to the laziness and ignorance of
monkish superstitions ; and the spirit of rational
freedom and manly independence is sailing
ground among them.*
In this country alone, if we except some
ephemeral proceedings of the Spanish Cortes,
is a standard raised against the progress of re-
ligious liberty. That standard, however, is sup-
ported only by a feeble and dying faction, the
* These patriots, however, (iike many others when they
first burst the fetters of a degrading superstition) it is
lamentable to observe, do not content themselves, with
casting off' what is obviously erroneous : many of them
are, it is to be feared, in danger of exchanging their old
faith for the cold and cheerless creed of Voltaire and
Paine. The Age of Reason, one of the most contemptible of
all contemptible attacks on the religion of Christ, is, I under-
stand, a great favourite with these American philosophers ;
and the Rights of Man, a book equally inapplicable to their
present state, and as base, I have no hesitation in believing,
in its object as even the Age of Reason itself, is also read and
admired by some of them. But these accidents of a Revo-
lution like this cannot have any very lasting effect on a
whole people. They will soon discover, that Deism is ill-cal-
culated to promote the morals and happiness of a state, and
that sheer democracy is but a miserable substitute for a firm
and useful government. Rational Christianity, and a mixed
constitution like our own, are, pei haps, the only grounds of
security to a great and free people ; and such, I have no
doubt, the natives of Spanish America will one day become.
487
symptoms of whose dissolution increase daily.
With evident reluctance, but from an irresisti-
ble impulse, point after point is conceded.
Every session of our Parliament acquires great
accessions of strength to the cause of truth and
charity. Let but the Catholics of Ireland, and
the Dissenters of England unite as one man
against the mistaken forces of intolerance, and
by a moderate but steady application — by rei-
terated petitions, constitutionally obtained, and
respectfully presented, continue to thunder in
the ears of their oppressors the cry of liberty
and emancipation, and they must at length be
heard. So sure as the bloody trade in human be-
ings fell by these means — so certain as the British
Constitution possesses within itself the power of
accomplishing its own reform, even so must the
demands of Catholics and Dissenters be com-
plied with. Only let us not fall out by the way
— a grand and noble object is to be attained,
and it is to be attained by means honourable
in their nature, and certain in their effects : let
us not thwart them by intemperance, nor retard
them by imprudence.
It requires no supernatural powers of prophecy
to discern, that we are fast approaching a new
and distinguished era. Light breaks in on every
side. The mouldering walls of bigotry and su-
perstition are daily sinking — " Corruption is
exhausting the means of Corruption." Intoler-
ance is, itself, forcing the doors of religious ex-
488
elusions; and the opposition that is made to
the freedom of man tends but to elicit new ar-
guments in his favour— -new reasons for his en-
franchisement.
APPENDIX.
A concise View of the Lazes now in force relating
to the Boman Catholics of England and Ireland,
interspersed with occasional remarks.
THE following summary of laws relating to
Roman Catholics has been collected, principally,
from Mr. Butler's Historical Account of the Laws
against the Roman Catholics of England ; and
from the " Statement of the Laws which ag-
grieve the Catholics of Ireland,"* to which I
have added such variations and occasional re-
marks as obviously presented themselves. It is
unnecessary to make many comments upon
the disgraceful nature and injurious tendency of
these laws : they are standing monuments of the
fatal effects of mistake and prejudice; and a
consideration of them should at least silence the
cry of Protestants against popish intolerance
and persecution.
The following Statement, says Mr. Butler, may be found
to give— I. Some account of the laws, which, since the Re-
formation, have been past against the Roman Catholics.
II. Some account of the effect and operation of the laws,
which have been past, since the accession of His Majesty's
family to the throne of England, for the relief of Roman
Catholics. III. And some account of the penal laws, the ef-
fect of which is felt by Roman Catholics, but the effect of
which is not felt by Protestant Dissenters.
* In making use of these books, I have the consent and approbation
of their respective authors; and I take this opportunity of thanking
them for this and other instances of their kindness.
490
I.
With respect to the laws, which, since the separation of
the Church of England from the Church of Rome, at the
time of the Reformation, have been past against those who
remained iu communion with the See of Rome— the law?
against them may be reduced under five heads : —
I. 1. The first, are those, which subjected them to penalties,
and punishments for exercising their religious worship; — under
which head, may be ranked, the laws respecting their places
of education, and the ministers of their church. By these
laws, if any English priest of the church of Rome, born in
the dominions of the crown of England, came to England
from beyond the seas, or tarried in England three days,
without conforming to the church, he was guilty of high
treason, and those incurred the guilt of high treason, who
were reconciled to the see of Rome, or procured others
to be reconciled to it. By these laws also, papists were to-
tally disabled from giving their children any education in
their own religion ; for, if they educated their children at
home, then, for maintaining the schoolmaster, if he did not
repair to church, or was not allowed by the bishop of the
diocese, they were 1 fable to forfeit 101. a month, and the
schoolmaster was liable to forfeit forty shillings a day ; and
if they sent their children for education to any school of their
persuasion abroad, they were liable to forfeit 1001. and the
children so sent were disabled from inheriting, purchasing
or enjoying any lands, profits, goods, debts, duties, legacies,
or sums of money. — Saying mass was punishable by a for-
feiture of 300 marks : hearing it, by a forfeiture of 1 00. See
1 Eliz. ch. 2. 23. Eliz. ch. 1. 27 Eliz. ch. 2. 29 Eliz. ch. 6.
35 Eliz. ch. 2. 2 Jac. 1. ch. 4. 3 .lac. 1. ch. 4, 5. 7 Jac.
l.ch. 6. 3 Car. 1. eta. 2. 25 Car. 2. ch. 2. 7 and 8 W. 3.
ch. 27. 1 Geo. 1. ch. 13.
I. 2. Under the second head, were those laws, which pu-
nished the English communicants with the church of Rome
for not conforming to the established church. These are gene-
rally called the Statutes of Recusancy. It should be observed,
that absence from church, alone, and unaccompanied by any
other act, constitutes recusancy, in the true sense of that
491
word. Till the statute of the 35 Eliz. chap. 2., all noncon-
formists were considered as recusants, and were ail equally
subject to the penalties of recusancy : that statute was the
first penal statute made against popish recusants, by that
name, and as distinguished from other recusants. From
that statute arose the distinction between protestant and
popish recusants ; the former were subject to such statutes
of recusancy, as preceded that of the 35th of queen Eliza-
beth, and to some statutes against recusancy, made subse-
quently to that time ; but they were relieved from them all,
bv the Act of Toleration in the first year of king William's
reign,* From the 35th Eliz. ch. 2. arose also the distinction,
between papists and persons professing the popish religion,
and popish recusants, and popish recusants convict. Not-
withstanding the frequent mention in the statutes of
papists and persons professing the popish religion, nei-
ther the statutes themselves, nor the cases adjudged upon
them, present a clear notion of the acts or circumstances
that, in the eye of the law, constituted a papist, or a person
* This is true only of such Protestant recusants as subscribe to tho
follewing " Profession of Christian belief:" "I, A. B. profess faith in
God the Father, and in Jesus Christ, his eternal Son, the true God,
and in the Holy Spirit, one God, blessed for evermore; and do acknow-
ledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given
by divine inspiration." See § 13. of the Toleration Act. Sect. 17 of
the same act provides, " That neither this act, nor any clause, article,
or tiling herein contained, shall extend, or be construed to extend, to
give any ease, benefit, or advantage, to any papist, or popish recusant
whatsoever; or any person who shall deny, in his preaching
OR WRITING, THE DOCTItlNE OF THE BLESSED TRINITY, as it is
declared in the aforesaid articles of religion ;" referring to § 15 above
quoted. The reader will find some remarks on this clause in the Pro-
testant Dissenters' Almanack, for the year 1810, at that time published
under my superintendence. I am happy to find, that Mr. W. Smith,
one of the most liberal and patriotic members of the House of Com-
mons, has just given notice of his intention to attempt a repeal of this
most scandalous and disgraceful clause of the act, by a strange
misnomer, called the Toleration Act. On the day (July 15, of the
present year, 1812) fixed for Mr. Smith's notice, there were so few
members present, that they could not make a house, as they phra-e it .
so little interest do many of our worthy representatives (eel in the
subject of religious toleration !
492
professing the popish religion. When a person of that descrip-
tion absented himself from church, he filled the legal descrip-
tion of a. popish recusant : When he was convicted in a court
of law of absenting himself from church, he was termed in
the law a popish recusant convict. To this must be added the
constructive recusancy hereinafter mentioned to be incurred
by a refusal to take the oath of supremacy. — With respect
to the statutes against recusancy, by these statutes, popish
recusants convict were punishable by the censures of the
church, and by a fine of 201. for every month, during which
they absented themselves from church ; they were disabled
from holding offices or employments; from keeping arms in
their houses; from maintaining actions or suits at law or in
equity ; from being executors or guardians ; from presenting
to advowsons ; from practising in the law or physic ; and
from holding offices, civil or military ; they were subject to
the penalties attending excommunication, were not permit-
ted to travel five miles from home, unless by license, upon
pain of forfeiting all their goods ; and might not come to
court under pain of 1001. A married woman, when con-
victed of recusancy, was liable to forfeit two thirds of her
dower or jointure : she could not be executrix or adminis-
tratrix to her husband, nor have any part of his goods ; and,
during her marriage, she might be kept in prison, unless her
husband redeemed her at the rate of 101. a month, or the
third part of his lands. Popish recusants convict were, within
three months after conviction, either to submit and renounce
their religious opinions, or, if required by four justices, to
abjure the realm ; and if they did not depart, or if they re-
turned without license, they were guilty of felony, and were
to suffer death as felons. — (See the statutes referred to under
the former head.)
I. 3. As to the penalties or disabilities attending the refusal
of Roman catholics to take the oath of supremacy, the declaration
against transuhstantiation, and the declaration against popery :
it must be premised, that the Roman catholics make no ob-
jection to take the Oath of Allegiance, 1 G. 2. c. 13. or the
Oath of Abjuration, 6 Geo. 3. c. 53. — With respect to the Oath
of Supremacy, — by the 1st Elizabeth, ch. 1. the persons
therein mentioned were made compellable to take the Oath
493
of Supremacy contained in that act : by the 3d of king
James the 1st, ch. 4. another oath was prescribed to be ta-
ken, commonly called the Oath of Allegiance and Obe-
dience : these oaths were abrogated by the 1st of king Wil-
liam and queen Mary, sess.T. ch. 8., and a new oath of al-
legiance, and anew oath of supremacy were introduced, and
required to be taken in their stead : the statute made in the
2d session of the 1st year of king George the 1st, ch.
13, contains an oath of supremacy, in the same words
as the oath of supremacy required to be taken by the 1st
of king William and queen Mary. By that oath, persons are
made to swear, that " no foreign prince, person, prelate,
" state or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction,
" power, supremacy, pre-eminence or authority, ecclesias-
" tical or spiritual, within the realm." It was required to
be taken by the persons therein named ; it might be tendered
to any person, by any two justices of the peace ; and persons
refusing the oath so tendered were adjudged to be popish
recusants convict, and to forfeit and be proceeded against as
6uch. This was the Constructive Recusancy referred to above.
It was not the offence itself of recusancy, which, as we have
already observed, consisted merely in the party's absenting
himself from church; it was the offence of not taking the
oath of supremacy, and the other oaths prescribed by the act
of 1 Geo. 1., the refusal of which, was, by that statute, placed
on the same footing, as a legal conviction on the statutes of
recusancy, and subjected the party refusing to the penal-
ties of those statutes. This was the most severe of all the
laws against papists. The punishment of recusancy was
penal in the extreme ; and the persons objecting to the oath
in question, might be subjected to all the penalties of recu-
sancy, merely by their refusing the oath, when tendered to
them. It added to the penal nature of these laws, that the
oath in question might be tendered, at the mere will of two
justices of peace, without any previous information or com-
plaint before a magistrate, or any other person. Thus, by
refusing to take the oath of supremacy, when tendered to
them, they became liable to all the penalties of recusancy :
and the same refusal, by 7 and 8 Wm. 3. ch. 4. and 1 Geo.
494
1. st. 2. ch. 13. restrained them from practising the law as
advocates, barristers, solicitors, attorneys, notaries, or proc-
tors, and from voting- at elections.
1. 4. With respect to receiving- the Sacrament of our
.Lord's Supper : By the 13 Cha. 2. (commonly called the Cor-
poration Act), no persons can be legally elected to any office,
relating to the government of any city or corporation, unless
within a twelvemonth before he has received the sacrament
of the Lord's Supper, according to the rites of the church of
England;* and he is also enjoined to take the oaths of alle-
giance and supremacy, at the same time thai he takes the
oath of office, or, in default of either of these requisites, such
election shall be void.
I. 5. As to the Declaration against Transubstantiation: By
* Protestant dissenters who so far conform, (and I am sorry to add,
we have a few who act thus inconsistently) in order that they may
enjoy certain honorary or lucrative offices, may justly be reproached
with making a gain of godliness. Yet a Protestant dissenter may have
a seat in the house of commons, who cannot, honourably, be a petty
justice of the peace ! William Smith, Esq. the member for Norwich,
is a professed dissenter, and an Unitarian, so also is Benjamin Hob-
house, Esq. member for Hindon. Mr. Wilberforce is a zealous Cal-
vinist, and a member of several societies, principally under the di-
rection of dissenters ; and the same may be said of the Thorntons, and
several other persons, who make a point of voting with the pious mem-
ber for Yorkshire. Thomas Thompson, Esq. member for Midhurst, is
a Wesleyan Methodist, an occasional writer in the Methodist Maga-
zine, and a LOCAL PREACHER ! ! Mr. Halhed, lately also a Mem-
ber of the house of commons, was a believer in Richard Brothers, the
mad Prophet ! This most extraordinary gentleman was, iu the early
part of his life, an unbeliever, and had attempted to invalidate the
truths of holy writ by arguments deduced from Indian chronology.
He is described as one of the profoundest oriental scholars then living.
The study of Indian mythology brought him back to Christianity, and
by a strange perversion of intellect, the Trimourtee of the Hindoos
convinced him of the doctrine of the Trinity ; and as he recovered his
faith he lost his wits: for he published a book in defence of Brothers, and
when that unhappy prophet was sent to prison, instead of to Bt dlam,
Mr. Halhed made an excellent speech in the House of Commons on the
injustice and impolicy of that measure. See Letters from England, by
Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella, (Robert So they) Vol. III. Let-
ter 69. Our parliament is, therefore, liberal towards all sorts of
Christians except Roman Catholics ! ! f
495
the 25th Car. 2. ch. 2. (commonly called the Test Act), all
officers, civil and military, are directed to take the oath, and
make the declaration against transubstantiation, in the Court
of King's Bench or Chancery, the next term, or at the next
quarter sessions, or (by subsequent statutes) within six
months after their admission, and also, within the same time,
to receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper, according to
the usage of the church of England, in some public church,
immediately after divine service and sermon ; and to deliver
into court a certificate thereof, signed by the minister and
churchwarden ; and also to prove the same, by two credible
witnesses, upon forfeiture of 5001. and disability to hold the
office.
I. 6. With respect to the declaration against popery : The act
past in the 30th year of Car. 2. st. 2. ch. 1. contains the de-
claration, and prescribes it to be made, by members of either
house of parliament, before they take their seats. By it,
they declare their disbelief of the doctrine of transubstantia-
tion, and their belief, that the invocation of saints, and the sa-
crifice of the mass, are idolatrous.
I. 7. With respect to the laws affecting their landed property :
— How this was affected by the laws against recusancy, has
been already mentioned. By the 11 and 12 W. 3. ch. 4., it
was enacted, that a person educated in the popish religion,
or professing the same, who did not in six months, after the
age of sixteen, take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy,
and subscribe the declaration of the 30th Cha. 2., should, in
respect of himself only, and not of his heirs or posterity, be
disabled to inherit, or take lands by descent, devise, or limi-
tation, in possession, reversion, or remainder : and that, dur-
ing his life, till he took the oath, and subscribed the declara-
tion against popery, his next of kin, who was a protestant,
should enjoy the lands, without accounting for the profits ;
and should be incapable of purchasing; and that all estates,
terms, interests, or profits out of lands made, done, or suf-
fered to his use, or in trust for him, should be void, By
3 Jac. 1. ch. 5. 1 \V. & M. c. 2G. 12 Anne, st. 2. c. 14.
and 11 Geo. 2. c. 17., papists, or persons professing the po-
pish religion, were disabled from presenting to advowsons,
496
and other ecclesiastical benefices, and to hospitals and other
charitable establishments. By annual acts of the legislature,
papists being of the age of 18 years, and not having taken
the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, were subjected to
the burden of the double land-tax. By a statute made in
the second session of the 1st year of Geo. 1. ch. 55. they
were required to register their names and estates in the
manner, and under the penalties therein mentioned ; and
by the 3d Geo. 1. c. 18. continued by several subsequent
statutes, an obligation of enrolling their deeds and wills was
imposed on them. Such were the principal penal laws
against Roman catholics, immensm aliarum super alias acerva-
tarwn legum cwnulus (Liv. 3.34.), at the time of the accession
of the house of Brunswick.
II.
With respect to the Laws which have been past, since the
accession of the Brunswick family, for the relief of Roman
Catholics : —
II. 1. The only act of any importance, which, till the
reign of his present Majesty, was past for their relief, (and
that operated but in an indirect manner for their benefit),
was the act of the 3d Geo. 1. c. 18. On the construction of
the 11 and 12 Wm. 3. ch. 4. it had been held, that, as it ex-
pressly confined the disability of papists to take by descent
to themselves only, and preserved their heirs and posterity
from its operation, it was not to be construed as preventing
the vesting of the freehold and inheritance in them, in case-,
of descent, or transmitting them to their posterity : but that
the disability respected only the permanency of the profits,
or beneficial property of the lands, of which it deprived
them, during their non -conformity. Whether that part ol
the statute, which relates to their taking by purchase, should
receive the same construction, was a frequent subject of dis-
cussion, the statute being, in that branch of it, without any
limitation. To remedy this, the act, we are speaking of,
was past. It enacts, that, no sale for a full and valuable con-
sideration, by the owner or reputed owner of any lands, or of
any interest therein, theretofore made, or thereafter to be
497
made, to a protectant purchaser, shall be impeached, by rea-
son of any disability of such papist, or of any person under
whom he claims, in consequence of the 1 1 & 12 W. S., unless
the person taking advantage of this disability, shall have re-
covered before the sale, or given notice of his claim to the
purchaser, or before the contract for sale, shall have entered
his claim at the quarter sessions, and bona fide pursued hi?
remedy. The act then recites the clauses of the 12 & 13 W. 3.
disabling papists from purchasing ; and afterwards enacts,
that, these clauses shall not be thereby altered or repealed,
but shall remain in full force. Thus the laws against the
Roman Catholics stood, at the time of the accession of his
present Majesty. During his reign, two or three acts, of great
importance, have been past in their favour.
II. 2. By the ISth of his rei^n, ch. 60. it was enacted, that,
so much of the 11 & 12 W. 3. as related to the prosecution
of popish priests, and Jesuits, and imprisoning for life papists,
who keep schools, or to disable papists from taking by descent
or purchase, should be repealed, as to all papists or per-
sons professing the popish religion, claiming under titles not
theretofore litigated, who, within six months after the act
past, or their coming of age, should take the oath thereby
prescribed.
II. 3. With respect to the act of the 31s* of his present
Majesty, cap. 32. That statute may be divided into six parts:
The 1st, contains the declaration and oath afterwards refer-
red to in the body of the act, and prescribes the method of
taking it: The 2d, is a repeal of the statutes of recusancy,
in favour of persons taking the oath thereby prescribed :
The 3d, is a toleration, under certain regulations, of the re-
ligious worship of the Roman Catholics, qualifying in like
manner, and of their schools for education : The 4th, enacts,
that, in future no one shall be summoned to take the oath of
supremacy prescribed by the IstWm.and Mary, sect. I.e. 8.
and 1st Geo. 1. sect. 2. cap. 13. or the declaration against
transubstantiation required by the 25th Ch. 2.; — that the 1st
\Vm. & Mary, sect. 1. ch. 9. for removing papists or reputed
papists from the cities of London and Westminster, shall not
extend to Roman Catholics, taking the appointed oath ; — and
2 K
498
that, no peer of Great Britain or Ireland, taking that oath,
•hall be liable to be prosecuted for coming into his. Majesty'.?
presence, or into the court or house where his Majesty re-
sides, under the 30th Car. 2. stat. 2. ch. 1. : The 5th part
of the act, repeals the laws requiring the deeds and wills of
Roman Catholics to be registered or enrolled: The 6th dis-
penses any person acting as a counsellor at law, barrister, at-
torney, clerk, or notary, from taking the oath of supremacy
or the declaration against transubstantiation. — Then the
double land tax being imposed on them by the annual land
tax act, a repeal of it could not be effected by any prospec-
tive act : but it was repealed by omitting from the annual
land tax act, the clause imposing it.
II. 4. An alteration, which was made in the house of lords
in the act of the 31st of his present Majesty, during its pas-
sage through that house, raised a doubt, whether to entitle a
Roman Catholic, to the benefits of the act of the ISth of his
present Majesty, it was not necessary that he should take the
oath prescribed by that act, as well as the oath prescribed by
the 31st of his present Majesty. To obviate this doubt, the
act of the 43d of his present Majesty was past, which entitles
persons taking the oath prescribed by that act to all the bene-
fits of the act of the 18th of his Majesty.
III.
Some account of the Penal Laws, the effect of which is
felt by Roman Catholics, but the effect of which is not felt
by Protestant Dissenters : —
" III. It has been already shewn, how the law stands on the
corporation and test acts. — The statute of the 1st William and
Mary, (commonly called the toleration act), exempts all dis-
senter-, except papists, and such as deny the Trinity, from
all penal laws relating to religion, provided they take the oaths
of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribe the declaration
against popery, and repair to some congregation registered
in the bishop's court, or at the sessions. But there is nothing
hi this act, which dispenses either with the test act or the
corporation act, so far as they impose the obligation of rc-
ct rvir.g the sacrament of our Lord's supper on persons serv
499
i'ng in offices, or elected to serve in corporations. With re-
spect, therefore, to the test act and corporation act, these are
the only acts which subject the Protestant dissenters to any
penalties or disabilities. To these the Roman Catholics are
subject equally with the Protestant dissenters. There is,
therefore, no penalty or disability that affects the Protestant
dissenters, to which Roman Catholics are not subject equally ;
but there still remain several penal laws, the effect of which
is most severely felt by Roman Catholics, but the effect of
which is not, in any manner, felt by Protestant dissenters.
III. 1. The first of these is the 30th Car. 2. st. 2. c. 1.—
It is remarkable, that, notwithstanding the change of the
national religion, at the Reformation, and the contests and
dissensions which succeeded it, Roman Catholic peers were
admitted, equally with their fellow peers, to sit and vote in
the House of Lords, and Roman Catholic commoners were
eligible, equally with their fellow commoners, to a seat in
the house of commons, till the lapse of a century and an half
from the time of the Reformation. The statute of which we
are now speaking, was then enacted. It was past, while the
ferment of Oates's plot was at its highest ; and provided, that
no person should sit or vote in the house of peers, or be a mem-
ber of, or sit or vote in the house of commons, till he had taken
the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and made and signed
the declaration against popery. To this statute only, the exclu-
sion of Roman Catholic peers from their hereditary seats in
parliament, and the exclusion of Roman Catholic Common-
ers from the natural and laudable ambition of an English
gentleman, a seat in the house of commons are owing.
III. 2. By the 7th and 8th of Wm. 3. ch. 27. those who
refuse to take the oath of supremacy, tendered to them at the
requisition of a candidate, are disabled from voting at elec-
tidns.
III. 3. By several statutes, Roman Catholics are disabled from
presenting to advoiisons. This disability is peculiar to them ;
Quakers, and even Jews, having the full enjoyment of the right
of presentation. It is to be observed, that, no peison can be
presented to a living, who has not been ordained according
to the rites of the Church of England. Previously to his or-
»K2
500
dinatlon, he is examined, on his faith and morals, by the
Bishop ; he takes the oath of allegiance and supremacy, and
subscribes the 39 articles ; and previously to his admission,
he subscribes the three articles respecting the supremacy, the
Gommon Prayer, and the 39 articles: and he makes the de-
claration of conformity. By the act of uniformity, 13 and
14-Car. 2. c. 4. he is bound to use the Common Prayer, and
other rites and ceremonies of the Church of England. These
appear to be sufficient guarantees for the orthodoxy of the
person presented.
III. 4. It has been observed that, in common with Protes-
tant dissenters, the Roman Catholics are subject to the 13
Car. 2. c. 1., commonly called the Corporation Act, and to
the 25 Car. 2. c. 2., commonly called the Test Act, the for-
mer of which excludes from Corporations, persons who have
not taken the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and receiv-
ed the sacrament of our Lord's supper ; and the latter of
which directs all officers, civil and military, to qualify for
their offices, in the same manner. — But Roman Catholics alone
feel the penal operation of 1 Geo. 1. st. 2. c. 13., which re-
quires all persons bearing offices civil or military, or holding
command or place of trust, or receiving pay or wages by
reason of any patent or grant from his Majesty, to take that
oath under a penalty of 5001. and under other penalties.
The very small number of those, who qualify themselves
for election into corporations, or for civil or military offices,
by complying with the requisites of these acts, is known.
For their relief, an act of parliament is annually past, by
which, after mentioning the Corporation and Test Acts, and
some other acts, which do not relate to the point under con-
sideration, it is enacted, that persons, who, before the pass-
ing of the act, have omitted to qualify in the manner pre-
scribed by those acts, and who shall properly qualify for
them, before the 25th of the ensuing December, shall be in-
demnified against all penalties, forfeitures, incapacities, and
disabilities ; and their elections, and the acts done by them,
are declared to be good. — This act expresses nothing, which
excludes Roman Catholics from the benefit of its provisions.
The construction of it came into consideration in 1 798, when
501
Lord Petre,* having, with the express leave and encouragement
of government, raised, equipped, and trained, at his own ex-
pense, a corps of 250 men, for His Majesty's service, requested
that his son might be appointed to the command of them, and
his son's religion was objected to him. It was admitted, that, by
accepting the command of the corps, without complying
with the provisions of the acts in question, Mr. Petre would
subject himself to their penalties; but it was observed, that
the appointment would be good ; that the penalties would
not be incurred till the expiration of the sixth month after
his appointment ; and that the annual act of indemnity would
pass before that time, and remove the penalties. It was also
suggested, that Protestants and Roman Catholics stood, in
this respect, exactly in the same predicament ; — both equally
liable to the operation of the penal acts, and both equally
within the relief of the indemnity act. The late Mr. Serjeant
Hill, and the present Lord Chief Justice of His Majesty's
Court of Common Pleas, were decidedly of this opinion ; but
(under the advice, as it is said, of the crown lawyers), the re-
fusal was persisted in ; another person was appointed to the
command of the corps, and Mr. Petre served under him in
the ranks.
III. 5. In common with the rest of His Majesty's subjects,
the Roman Catholics contribute to the religious establishment
of the country; but their own religious establishments can only
be effected through the medium of trusts, always perplexing,
and always precarious. In hospitals, workhouses, and other
public institutions, the attendance of the ministers of their
religion is sometimes denied them ; and the children of the
* Speaking of this amiable nobleman, Mr. Wakefield observes, that
" for a considerable time be resided in bis neighbourhood, and if
ever a man were exemplary as an indulgent and excellent father ; a
firm and persevering friend, a liberal and enlightened member of
society, this was the man.'' Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political,
vol. II. p. 639. Mr. Good, a writer of distinguished merit and talent,
describes his lordship as dying " lamented by the lower ranks of life,
which he benefited, and the higher which he adorned." See the very
interesting Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Rev. Alexander Ged-
des, LL.D. by John Mason Good, p. 496.
502
poor, sometimes forced into Protestant schools, under the eyes
of their parents.
III. 6. The Marriuge act is also a grievance to Roman
Catholics. — For several reasons, too long' to be enumerated,
it is painfully repugnant to their religious feelings to have
their marriages celebrated in the manner now prescribed by
law. But they do not object to its being rendered necessary,
for the legal validity of their marriages, that there should be
an entry of them in the register of the parish, or to any
other regular authentication of their marriages, which govern-
ment can reasonably require.
III. 7. Though His Majesty's armies and fleets are filltd
with Roman Catholics, not only no provision is made for the
religious duties and comforts of Roman Catholic soldiers and
sailors, but by the Articles of War, they are liable to the very
heaviests pains and punishments for refusing to join in those
acts of religious worship, which a Roman Catholic considers
to amount to an exterior dereliction of his faith, and a com-
pliance with which, they therefore feel a religious torture.
By the Articles of War, sec. 1., if any soldier absent him-
self from Divine Service and Sermon, in the place appointed,
he is liable, for the first offence, to forfeit ]2d. ; and for the
second, and every other offence, to forfeit I2d. and be put
in irons ; and by the same articles, section 2. art. 5., " if he
shall disobey any lawful command of his superior officer," —
(and, of couim j , if he shall disobry any lawful command of
his superior officer to attend Divine Service and Sermon), —
« he shall suffer death, or such other punishment as by a ge-
neral court martial shall be awarded."
III. S. The operation of the Test Act, of the Articles of
War, and of the Mutiny Act, in the instances ive have men-
tioned, so far as they respect Irish Roman Catholic officers,
soldiers, and sailors, deserves particular consideration. The
Irish Act of 1793 admitted Catholics into military employ-
ments with certain executions.
Such are the laws regarding the Catholics of
England. Those of Ireland will be found far
.003
more oppressive and insulting. In order to give
as clear a view of them as the nature of this un-
dertaking will admit of, I shall, with some varia-
tions for the sake of brevity, follow the arrange-
ment adopted in the " Statement of the Penal
Laws which afjorieve the Catholics of Ireland."*
Lazes affecting the Caf/iolic Clergy, anil the Exer-
cise of their religious Functions, Sic.
By a statute enacted in l?0S,f it is declared that if any
popish priest shall celehrate matrimony between any two
persons, knowing that they or either of them is, of the Pro-
testant religion, he shall suffer the punishment of a popish
regular. Z The statute 1?10§ prescribes a rule of evidence on
this subject not very conformable to the dictates of ordinary
justice. It is in these words : " Upon every prosecution of
a popish priest for the above-mentioned offence, it shall be
presumed, allowed, and concluded, to all intents and purposes,
that the priest so accused did celebrate such marriage, know-
ing that one or both of the parties was or were of the Pro-
testant religion — Unless he shall produce a certificate under
the hand and seal of the minister of the parish where the
parties resided, certifying that such person was not a Pro-
testant at the time of the marriage." In 1 750, i) a third sta-
tute was passed, one clause of which declares that any priest
who shall celebrate such marriage, shall on conviction be
deemed guilty of felony, without benefit of clergy, and shall
sutler death accordingly. This cruel and oppressive law was
• The reader will probably find, in what follows, occasionally some
slight repetition of statements and references ; but this, in some re-
spects, is unavoidable.
t 6 Anne, c. 16. § 6.
t According to statute 9 Will. 3. c. 1. a popish regular was punished
with transportation, and condemned as if for high treason, if he returned
to Ireland.
J 8 Anne, c. 3. sec. 26.
Jl 23 Geo. 2. c. 10.
504
continued in full force by the statute enacted in 1792,* which
permits intermarriages between Catholics and Protestants j
and in the statute 1793, professing 1 to give extensive relief to
the Catholics, the celebration of marriage forms one of the
numerous exceptions which have been re-enacted. This act
provides, " That nothing therein contained shall be construed
to extend to authorize any popish priest or reputed popish
priest, to celebrate marriage between Protestant and Protest-
ant, or between any Protestant (or one professed within
twelvemonths to be so) and a papist, unless such protestant and
papist shall have been first married by a clergyman of the pro-
testant religion." And in another clause of the same act it is
declared that every popish priest celebrating such marriage,
shall forfeit the sum of 5001. to His Majesty upon conviction
thereof."
Such are the terms of the last act passed either by the Irish or
British legislature relative to this subject. At first it was
imagined that the former acts, in so far at least as regarded
the punishment of death, were virtually rescinded by the in-
fliction of the penalty. A contrary doctrine, however, has been
adopted in several cases by the highest law authority. In par-
ticular the late unfortunate Lord Kilwarden, Chief Justice of
the Court of King's Bench in Ireland, declared on the bench,
in the prosecution, Boyton against the Rev. Mr. G — and
others, that this offence continues to be punishable with
death under the popery laws.
The subject, which next seems to claim notice in this sec-
tion, relates to the penalties to which catholic priests are li-
able for refusing to divulge the secrets of private confession,
confided to them by their penitents. On this point it is de-
creed by the General Council of the Lateran, held in 1215,
under Pope Innocent — " that an inviolable secrecy attaches to
the sacramental profession, that the confessor is bound to
suffer death rather than reveal (by word or sign, directly or
indirectly) any sin or crime, or any circumstance attending
them, mentioned by the penitent in confession ; and that if
* 32 Geo. 3. c. 21, sec. 13.
505
any confessor break the trust reposed in him, he shall be im-
mediately deprived of his sacerdotal functions, and be con-
demned to perpetual penance. Such being the catholic doc-
trine relative to confession, how dreadful in its consequences
to morality, and abhorrent in its nature to every principle of
sound reason, must that law be which inflicts the punish-
ment of imprisonment on those who will not abjure the most
solemn ties of their religion, and divulge those secrets they
are bound to keep close within their own breast ! The inqui-
sition itself does not certainly present a system more tyran-
nical and oppressive, or more truly deserving the detestation
of every liberal and enlightened mind, than the practice au-
thorized by the law of compelling the catholic clergy to de-
liver, as evidence in courts of judicature, the spiritual ac-
knowledgments of any individual among their flocks. Is it
not then matter of astonishment that such a practice actu-
ally exists at this moment in Ireland, and that several catho-
lic priests have within these few years, suffered the most ri-
gorous treatment, even from judges in the higher courts, for
no other crime but that of refusing to sacrifice to their wishes
the conscientious feelings of morality, honour and religion?*
The catholic clergy are further aggrieved as being liable
to punishment in a civil action for excommunicating un-
worthy members of their own communion. In defence of
this law, it is said that the catholic clergy frequently make
excommunication the punishment of very trivial offences.
This, however, is not the fact, nor is the punishment itself so
grievous as is generally imagined. In truth it amounts to no
more than the " separation of a christian leading a disorder-
ly life, disgracing his profession, from the christian congre-
gation, and the banishment of such person from the
• This conduct towards the catholic clergy must appear particularly
oppressive and insulting, when it is considered that barristers and at-
torneys are exempted from any obligation to answer questions tending
to disclose any confidence reposed in them by their clients. Indeed, they
are not even permitted to reply to such questions, even though they
should be so inclined. — Peake's Evidence, 17? — 3.
506
church." It does not in the smallest degree affect his tem-
poral concerns more than the removal of a member of any
other religious society. An excommunicated catholic retains
his full claim to all the offices of charity, to relief in his ne-
cessities, to employment for his industry, and, in fine, to the
maintenance of all the ordinary relations of life. Is it fair,
then, that the catholic clergy should not have the power,
which every other religious sect enjoys, of expelling unwor-
thy members from their spiritual communion, into which
none ought to be admitted but such as are pure of heart?
Certainly not. Yet it is a fact that many decisions exist, of
recent date, declaring this species of jurisdiction obnoxious to
the laws, and punishable equally with defamation.
While every other denomination of religionists are pro-
tected by an express act of parliament from any disturbance
during the exercise of their public worship, the catholic is
left exposed to insult from any individual, or set of indivi-
duals who may be audacious enough to attempt it. This ob-
servation, it ought to be remarked, is only applicable to Ire-
land, for in England the catholic worship is equally protect-
ed as the worship of dissenters.*
The catholic clergyman, who is bound by his vows to a life
of celibacy, and is usually in narrow circumstances, is neverthe-
less held liable to the payment of the bachelor tax, which was,
doubtless, intended to bear against persons more able to
contribute to the public revenue, and more likely to be com-
pelled by it to enter into matrimony. The extreme hardship of
this tax must be evident to every one. It is a tax upon religious
conscience, and of course a violation of the Toleration Act.
Again, the Catholic priest, in times of public commotion,
is compelled to perform the duties of a peace officer. On
an occurrence of this kind the legal magistrate taking it for
granted that the catholic clergyman is acquainted with all
the secrets of his parishioner?, immediately applies to him,
and informs him, probably in a menacing tone, that he holds
him responsible for their good conduct and loyalty. He re-
quires him to devote his time and attention to the discover-
* 31 Geo. Ill, cap. 32
507
ing stolen property, denouncing: felons, advertising rewards,
&c, matters with which the clerical profession ought to have
no concern. Should he refuse the ungrateful task, his per-
sonal safety is endangered ; and even should he perform it
with the utmost faithfulness, and make useful discoveries, no
compensation, profit or reward await him ; not even barren
thanks or approbation.
Neither does the law permit the permanent endowment of
any catholic clergymen,* house of worship, school house, or
other pious or charitable foundation for catholics. Nay, not
only does it prohibit such endowments, but it compels the
poor depressed catholic to support the clergy of the protest-
ant establishment, and contribute his full share to the main-
tenance of their churches,! as well as of their institutions for
education, and the relief of the poor. Moreover, no person,
whether catholic or not, can give or grant any lands, money,
or other property, for any of the purposes above-mentioned,
as all such gifts or grants are illegal, both by ancient statute
and by the general policy of the law with regard to catholics.
How dreadful the imputation against protestants, that they
take delight in crushing the efforts of benevolence, and de-
basing the human understanding ! How strange that the
supposed persecuting spirit of Catholicism should form the
great argument against catholic emancipation, and yet that
protestants should not be ashamed to persecute with the most
* Till the year 1810, indeed, the catholic priest was not allowed by
law any remuneration for his arduous attention to his religious duties
in hospitals, asylums, traols, workhouses, or such like establishments.
That year, however, a statute was paused allowing a certain limited
compensation tor officiating in county i^aols : but ovviug to the manner
in which the matter is conducted b> the grand jury, who nominate the
chaplain, it has in many instances proved an injury, instead of an ad-
vantage, by exciting discoid between them and the catholic bishop of
the district.
t ftiirari se aiebat, quod non ridertt haruspex, cum haruspkem vidisset.
I wonder how one of our priests can forbear laughing when he sees an-
other priest — said Cato the Censor ; — (Cic. Oper. Ed. (iron, p 3806.)
and I have often been similarly surprised that any of our corpulent
bishops or plump vicars can face a Catholic clergyman, or a dissenting
minister, without blushing !
508
barbarous violence the noblest principles that can animate the
breast of man— ^christian charity and the desire of knowledge!*
Of the Laws which exclude Catholics from any
Share in the Legislature, from Municipal Of-
fices, and Offices connected with the Profession
and Administration of the Laws.
Prior to the year 1692, catholics were admissible, by law,
into both Houses of legislature in Ireland. This year, how-
ever, it was enacted by an English statute, " That no person
who shall be a peer of the realm, or member of the House of
Peers, shall vote or make his proxy in the House of Ireland, or
sit there during any debate in the said House of Peers. And
that no person who shall be a member of the House of Com-
mons of Ireland shall vote in the House of Commons, or sit
there during any debate after the Speaker is chosen, unless
he shall first take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and
make and subscribe the declaration in the said act men-
tioned (namely, 30 Cha. 2. stat. 2. ch. i.) against transubstan-
tiation, the sacrifice of the mass, idolatry of the church of
Rome, invocation of the Virgin Mary, or the saints, &c."
And it is further directed, that " If any peer or commoner
offend against this act, he becomes subject to a penalty of
5001., recoverable by any common informer, and to all the
punishments of a popish recusant convict : " To a disability
of holding any office or place of trust under the Crown,
civil or military; of suing or defending himself in any ac-
tion or suit at law or in equity; of being executor or guar-
dian, or taking any legacy or deed of gift, &c. &c."f
This act was evidently an assumption of jurisdiction over
Ireland, on the part of the English Parliament, to which they
were not in any shape legally entitled. It was nevertheless
* As a proper explanation of the laws on this subject would require
more detail than the limits of this work will admit of, the reader is re-
ferred for a complete view of them to the '< Statement of the Penal
Laws" already mentioned, p. 40 — 58.
t 3 William and Mary, ch, 2. Engl.
509
acquiesced in by the Parliament of the latter country, as may
be presumed from the tenor of a statute enacted by them in
1697, whereby a catholic, marrying a protestant, was disabled
from sitting or voting in either House of Parliament. For it
cannot be supposed they would have placed a protestant so
marrying in a worse situation than that of a catholic peer or
commoner, which would have been the case, if the latter had
not been deemed fully excluded by the English enactment.
Moreover, to prevent all doubt relative to this question, the
Irish Parliament enacted in 1782, (when the English le-
gislature solemnly renounced their jurisdiction in Ire-
land) " That all clauses in English statutes relating to the
taking of oaths or making or subscribing any declaration or
affirmation in Ireland, or to penalties or disabilities in cases
of omission, shall be in force in Ireland, according to their
present tenor. In 1793, they renewed their vigilance by an
enactment of similar import,* so that the doors of Parlia-
ment have now been cautiously shut against catholics for
somewhat more than 120 years. f
But catholics are not merely excluded from seats in either
House of Parliament ; they do not even enjoy the full privi-
lege of voting for protestant representatives, which might,
perhaps, be some slight alleviation of their legislative bond-
age. In 1727, a statute was passed, in which it wasenacted,
" That no catholic shall be entitled to vote at the election of
any member to serve in Parliament as a knight, citizen or
* 33 Geo. III. ch. 21, sec. 9.
+ The oppressive operation of these laws is not confined to the mere
exclusion of catholics from a share in the legislature, though that cir-
cumstance alone, considering the nature of the British constitution, is
an oppression of the harshest kind. They further tend to degrade the
catholic nobility, and powerfully repress the laudable ambition of thou-
sands who might become ornaments to their country, were they per-
mitted to share in all its honours. It is by patronage and parliament-
ary influence that situations and offices are chiefly to be obtained in this
country ; but these aids being denied to catholics, and entirely in the
hands of protestants, it is clear that the former have little chance of
attaining any appointment worthy of the exertion of splendid talents,
or of an elevated mind.
510
burgess, or at the election of any magistrate for any city or
other town corporate ; any law, statute or usage notwith-
standing." For sixty-six years this statute remained in full
force, without any alteration or limitation whatever. At
length in 1793, it was enacted in substance, " That every
Catholic should be qualified to vote at such elections. Upon
his producing to the returning officer a certificate of his
having taken and subscribed certain oaths and declarations
required by that act."*
Under this statute no period of qualifying being men-
tioned, it was justly held that catholics might qualify at any
time. A subsequent statute, however, passed in 1797, and
usually called the Election Act, directs that catholics, who
qualify previous to the test of the writ of election, shall be deem-
ed qualified within the meaning of those statutes of 1793
and 1 797, in order to entitle them to vote at such elections.
From these enactments, a question has arisen, relative to the
time for qualifying, which imposes new difficulties upon the
catholic franchise, and as opposite decisions are frequently
made upon it by the returning officers, a vast number of
catholics have in consequence been disfranchised.
Moreover, besides this general impediment in the way of
the elective franchise, peculiar restraints are imposed upon ca-
tholics in cities and towns corporate. For, though catholics
are entitled to the freedom of corporations by birth or ser-
vice, they are rarely admitted in them. And it may be
added, as an additional circumstance operating to the ex-
clusion of catholics to vote for representatives, that they are
liable to rejection for the smallest inaccuracy or alleged
error in their certificate of qualification, arising either from
the date or wording of the certificate, place or time of quali-
fication, or other ground of technical objection to the pe-
culiar form of their qualification.
The exclusion of catholics from all corporate offices was
first effected in the year 1667, during the reign of Charles II.
In that year certain rules, orders and directions were pro-
• 33 Geo. III. c. 21. sec. 7, 14, 15, 16.
511
Inulgated by the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with thr.
advice of his privy council, purporting to regulate the cor-
porations of Ireland, and the election of corporate oiheers:
these were soon after adopted and confirmed by the Irish
legislature, and of course received the authority of laws.
They direct in substance, " That no person shall be mayor,
sovereign, portreef or burgomaster, bailiff, alderman, re-
corder, treasurer, sheriff, town-clerk, common-councilman,
master or warden of any guild, corporation or fraternity, or
hold any such or the like offices in any city, walled town or
corporation in Ireland. Unless he shall have taken the
oath of supremacy, established by act of Parliament,* and
certain other oaths specified by those rules, (such persons
only excepted, with whose taking the said oaths of su-
premacy, the Lord Lieutenant, or other chief governor of
Ireland for the time being, shall think fit, by writing under
his hand and seal to dispense.)"!
Such are the statutable regulations by which catholics are
excluded from the enjoyment of all corporate offices what-
soever. The dispensing power vested in the Lord Lieutenant
has not mitigated the proscription, as it does not appear
to have been exercised even in one instance. Indeed, it
is a question of extreme doubt whether he now possesses
it, for by a statute enacted in 1704,t the oath prescribed
by the former act, has been replaced by a new oath of su-
premacy, and alsoby a declaration against transubstantiation,
the sacrifice of the mass, and invocation of saints. The same
are required to be taken and subscribed by those persons to
whom the former oath was prescribed, and upon the like
occasion, and the like manner, without any mention of a dis-
pensing power existing in the person of the Lord Lieutenant.
Further it may be observed, that as the Irish statute ol
1782 already mentioned§ has introduced by one sweeping
• 2 Elizabeth.
f 17 and 18 Cli. II. ch. 2. 82.
f 2 Anne, ch. 14. sec. 2. which is the Irish Test Act.
§ 21 and 22 Geo. III. ch. 48. sec. 3.
512
enactment, all clauses in all English statutes relative to taking
oaths and subscribing declarations, &c, the test and cor-
poration acts of England are of course equally binding on
Ireland, and it may be presumed are enforced with no less
zeal and rigour in the later country than in the former.
Nor ought I to omit to mention, that the act of 1793 has care-
fully confirmed and re-enacted all previous restrictions upon
this point, by declaring, " That nothing therein contained
shall enable any person to hold, exercise, or enjoy any office
contrary to the rules, orders, or direction, made and established
by the Lord Lieutenant and council, in pursuance of the act
passed in the 17th and 18th years of the reign of King
Charles II., entitled, " An Act for the explaining of some
doubts arising upon an Act, entitled, ' An Act for the better
execution of His Majesty's gracious declaration for the settle-
ment of the kingdom of Ireland ;' unless he shall have taken
the oaths and performed the several requisites, which by the
law heretofore made, and now of force, are required to enable
any person to hold, exercise, and enjoy the said offices re-
spectively."
From the existence of these laws, relative to municipal
towns in Ireland, arise a thousand miseries and oppressions
against the catholics. The number of municipal offices alone,
from which they are expressly or consequentially excluded,
are stated in the pamphlet already referred to at 4748. But
this forms only a small part of the grievance of which catho-
lics are entitled to complain in relation to this subject. They
are of course continually exposed to the tyranny and ca-
price of municipal rulers, who following the rigorous spirit of
the anti- catholic system, depress them by partial imposts, by
undue preferences, by a local inquisition, by an uncertain
and unequal measure of justice ; by fraud and favouritism
daily and openly practised to their prejudice. The catholic
gentleman, whose misfortune it may be to reside in or near
any of these cities or towns, is hourly exposed to all the
slights and annoyances that a petty sectarian oligarchy may
think proper to inflict. The professional man risks conti-
nual inflation of personal humiliation. The farmer brings
the produce of his lands to market under heavier tolls. In
13
short, every specie9 of catholic industry and skill is checked
and rendered precarious, while on the other hand protestant
indolence is cherished and maintained. Hence arises the
peculiar misery of Irish corporate towns, the low state of the
mechanical arts, the irrational combinations of the trades-
men ; their abject poverty and debased condition.*
Again, in corporate towns, catholics, whatever be their
wealth, talents, or services, are uniformly refused a place
upon grand juries, and even upon petty juries, unless when
the duty is extremely arduous and unconnected with party
interests; and in the latter case they are usually selected.
Having no share in the local government, they are complete-
ly at the mercy of rulers, who imagine it to be their interest
to discourage and oppress them, and who indeed are gene-
rally preferred in proportion to the hostility they evince.
Moreover, though not prevented bylaw from becoming free-
men, they seldom are able to obtain that privilege; and this
circumstance, independently of other bars, forms a strong ob-
stacle to their chance of being permitted to vote at the elec-
tions of members for Parliament. The catholic, even when
really entitled to his privileges as a freeman, and otherwise
qualified to vote, finds his admission generally obstructed.
For when his petition is presented, it is the common prac-
tice to adjourn the consideration of it sine die. This is termed
" cushioning a petition. "f
These laws and regulations must be felt peculiarly insult-
ing by catholics, when they consider that every other deno-
mination of religionists, and even deists and atheists, are ad-
mitted to all the privileges of corporate towns with the ut-
most facility.
Catholics are excluded either by the express letter of the
law, or the consequential operation of the anti-catholic sys-
tem, from almost every office connected with the profession
* In Dublin the number of freemen is about i',400, of whom not above
iOO are catholics; and even these, though tree of their respective
guilds, are incapable of voting at elections, through the uniform prac-
tice of cushioning their petitions to be made free of Hie city at large.
t See, by all means, Mr. Wakefield's Account of Ireland, Vol. ii.
Chap. 27, passim.
9T
5U
and administration of the laws. Those from which they are
so debarred by statutary enactment are the following :*
Lord High Chancellor, or Keeper or Commissioner of
the Great Seal 1
Master or Keeper of the Rolls - 1
Justices of the King's Bench 4
Justices of the Common Pleas ... 4
Barons of the Exchequer - - - 4
Attorney and Solicitor General - 2
King's Sergeants at Law - - 3
King's Council (present number) - 26
Masters in Chancery 4
Chairman of Sessions for the County of Dublin - 1
Counsel to the Commissioners of Revenue - 2
Recorders of Cities and Towns, about - 60
Advocates in Spiritual Courts, about 20
Sheriffs of Counties ... 32
Of Cities and Towns, about - - - 20
Sub-Sheriffs - 40
240
By the consequential operation of the anti-catholic code,
Catholics are likewise excluded in practice, almost without a
single exception, from being commissioners of bankruptcy,
assistant barristers or chairmen of county sessions, f The
public notaries, amounting to 56 in number, are under a like
proscription. In short, every office, either of honour or
emolument, both in the higher and inferior courts may be re-
garded as wholly interdicted to catholics, for though appa-
rently open to them, they are never able to obtain them, and
never will, so long as the present penal code has existence.
* The statutes which enact the exclusion of catholics from these of-
fices are, 2 Eliz. ch. 1, sec. 7, &c. 2 Anne, ch. 6, sec. 15, 16. 10 Will.
3. c. 13, 21. 22 Geo. 3. ch. 48. 31 Geo. S. c. 31. 33 Geo. 3. c. 21,
^c. &c.
t There are 25 commissioners and 31 assistant barristers.
515
Moreover, it may be observed that there are a variety of
situations, which though termed ecclesiastical offices, have
nevertheless extensive temporal jurisdiction attached to them,
from all which catholics are excluded. Of this nature are
those which decide upon questions of wills, of personal pro-
perty, marriage, tithes, and other incidental subjects of mo-
ment. Such are the offices of vicars general of the 26 dio-
ceses of Ireland, the court of delegates, prerogative court,
metropolitan court, consistorial court, ike*
Advocates and proctors in these courts are subject to the
same regulation. Thus are there, on the whole, one hundred
and sixty legal offices of honour and emolument inaccessible
to catholic barristers, while they are wholly open to protest-
ants, and fifteen hundred more reserved solely for the ruling
class to the exclusion of catholic students, solicitors, attor-
neys, clerks, &c.
But mere exclusion from the offices of the law is but a
small part of the evil arising to catholics from the anti-ca-
tholic system on this subject. It affects not only their pre-
ferment, but absolutely endangers their property, their per-
sonal liberty, and even their lives. Thus, for example, a lord
chancellor may discover that the greater part of the landed
property in the country belongs to catholics ; and that it in-
creases annually. He may likewise observe that their te-
nures are mostly derivative interests, held by virtue of leases
or for renewals of leases, under ancient and low rents. Zeal-
ous for the protestant establishment, therefore, he may even
conscientiously assume it to be his duty upon principles of
public policy to favour the protestants, and repress the ca-
tholics ; and accordingly to lean towards the landlord, and
against the tenant. Under these impressions he may intro-
duce for this purpose a novel system of judicial decisions on
the subject of leases, which might induce a general disposi-
tion towards lease-breaking, and thus involve the catholic te-
nantry in ruinous litigations, and eventually effect a partial
subversion of leasehold property throughout the country.
* These offices are about 50 in number,
2 L2
516
A lord chancellor might likewise exercise the great discre-
tionary powers with which he is invested to the great injury
of the catholics. Having the general superintendence of the
commissions of the peace, he may carefully avoid nominating
a single catholic to the commission, however qualified either
by property or high character, lest it might seem like an en-
couragement of his religious tenets. The same principle may
influence him also in the nomination of guardians to ea-
tholic children. He may remove the latter from catholic
schools, and prohibit all intercourse between them and their
kindred.
These observations may be applied with equal, if not with
greater force, to other temporal courts. And particularly to
the Court of King's Bench, in actions between the Crown and
any catholic individual, who may be prosecuted for high
treason, a breach of the peace, a public libel, or such like
offences ; also in disputes between catholics and a cor-
poration.
With respect to ecclesiastical courts, to notice what
might be done there, in the event of an over-zealous
judge being seated on the bench, is unnecessary. The gross
partiality evinced in many of them is notorious, and has fre-
quently been the theme of parliamentary eloquence. Mr.
Grattan, speaking of the Vicar's Court, says, " The constitu-
tion of the Court is such that none but a partial judge has ever
been known to preside there" Objections to the competency
of witnesses are of no avail, even though their bias and
corruption are clearly manifest. Many instances have
been proved by the illustrious patriot above-mentioned, in
which not merely the tenth, but a fourth of the produce of the
industrious husbandman has been extorted from him under
the sanction of this court, through the infamy of the
proctor, and the hostility of the judge to catholic prin-
ciples ; which too frequently leads him to forget the most sa-
cred precept of our religion : " Do Justice, love Mercy,
and walk humbly before God."
Did the limits of his work permit, the author could extend
this Chapter to the size of a volume, so manifold are the
yrievances of which catholics have to complain relative to
517
rhe administration of justice in all its parts. As, however, ht
must necessarily confine himself within narrow bounds, he
shall conclude this particular head with a very few further
remarks on the subject of Juries, so justly regarded by Eng-
lishmen as the bulwark of their liberties.
The offices of sheriff and sub-sheriff, it has been already
mentioned, are interdicted to catholics. It might have been
added, that in fact they are usually filled by persons who
have distinguished themselves as strenuous opposers of ca-
tholic freedom. As then the nomination, or at least the se-
lection both of the grand and petty juries, rests entirely with
these officers, can it be reasonably presumed that they are
chosen indifferently, without favour or secret management ?
The supposition contradicts the clear evidence of experience
and common sense. Ordinary human nature is incapable of
such elevated integrity as such conduct presumes. It is im-
possible to imagine that they will not apply the principle of
religious exclusion (to the support of which they were in-
debted for their own office) to the general selection of jurors,
particularly in cases where the interests or character of their
patrons, or of any of his dependants, happen to be involved.
Nay, even where a question of private property is to be tried
between a catholic and a protestant, they cannot fail to feel
a bias in favour of the latter. In corporate cities and towns,
the truth of these remarks is fully apparent. The sheriff be-
ing always the nominee of the corporation, he is found uni-
formly to return protestant juries ; members of the corpora-
tion, who are generally the most auti-cathohc, though not
the most wealthy or reputable, portion of the protestant inha-
bitants. Thus are the lives, liberties, property and character of
eatholics placed in the hands of a partial and prejudiced jury.
Numerous instances could be adduced, in which verdicts
have been pronounced in direct contradiction to the clearest
and most conclusive evidence. — Nay, catholic prisoners have
been frequently found guilty by the jury, when the crown
lawyers have abandoned the prosecution as untenable, and the
judge has directed an acquittal. On the other hand, pro-
testant offenders, whose crime has been distinctly and une-
quivocally proved, have often been acquitted in opposition
518
to the unfavourable charge of the Judge. Nay, it has some-
times happened, that a convicted protestant robber or mur-
derer has procured his pardon through his protestantism
alone. All the local soi-disant loyalists fall to work. The
grand jury interest themselves in his behalf. Memorials and
petitions are prepared and subscribed. Vouchers of excellent
character are procured: even catholics readily afford their
signatures (lest they should be stigmatized as sanguinary and
merciless). — Thus the testimony appears unanimous; and
the Lord Lieutenant is induced to pardon, or, perhaps, even
to promote, the convict. Such is the condition of a protestant
criminal : but how fares the catholic ? — Condemned, pro-
bably, without sufficient evidence, or in contradiction to evi-
dence of his innocence, he finds no one to interfere in his
favour, except persons of his own condition and family, who,
being catholics, are not regarded as respectable, the epithet
affectedly applied to every thing Protestant. A thousand ru-
mours are immediately propagated by his accusers, to the
prejudice of his general character ; he is proscribed as a dan-
gerous man, a leader of a faction ; and he suffers death, pub-
licly protesting his innocence, fortified by the testimony of
his confessor's belief of his veracity, and exciting the sym-
pathy and regret of the people.*
If such facts as these be really found to happen in crimi-
nal proceedings, what hope of justice can the catholic have
in civil actions ? Many individuals will shrink from murder,
* In this place I had stated the case of poor Barry, a respectable
catholic farmer in Waterford, in good circumstances, who was execu-
ted, as the author of the " Statement" asserts, unjustly, in the year
1810. It is a truly " tragical instance," and I little dreamt of danger
in mentioning it ; but, fortunately, before the sheet containing it was
worked off, I learned that Mr. Fitzpatiick, the Dublin publisher, had
been visited by one of those formidable engines of anti-catholic power,
an ex-officio information, for publishing this very statement. Now, as I
have no sort of taste for these things; nor any ardent desire to be
dragged even into the elegant private apartments of an Attorney Gene-
ral ; and, moreover, as I might not — nay, as it is almost morally impos-
sible such an insignificant person should — succeed in turning the tables
on Mr. Attorney General, as Mr. Fitzpatrick may possibly do, I have
thought it prudent to suppress this matter relative to Mr. Barry.
It is a great comfort to my mind, that 1 live in a land where the
519
whose conscience will allow them, almost without a pang, to
assist in depriving a supposed enemy of his character or pro-
perty. The whole system of protestant education is cal-
culated to fix upon the mind a contemptible notion, not
merely of the religion but of the morals of catholics. In short*
protestants are taught to regard them as beings, whom it is
their duty and interest to crush and depress. Slander and
defamation of character are regarded as their common inhe-
ritance. The most outrageous and unprovoked insults against
them are sanctioned by the verdict of a jury. In questions
of property, where any part of the case depends upon the
character of witnesses, the result is seldom favourable to the
catholic. Indeed, so notorious is the bias and partiality dis-
played by Irish protestant juries, that it is grown into a pro-
verb among the common people of Ireland, " That there is
no law for a catholic."
Such are the consequences of the anti-catholic code on the
administration of justice in Ireland, the proper conduct of
which is so essential to the happiness and prosperity of a
nation.
Of lite Laws relative to Catholics entering the
Army or Navy.
Previous to the union in 1800, the naval and military es-
tablishments of Great Britain and Ireland remained dis-
tinct. Since that period, however, they have been united
into one ; the chief government and superintendence of
them being of course seated in England. Under these cir-
liberty of the press, that grand palladium of onr freedom, is so generally
allowed ; yet in having timely suppressed this LIBEL concerning the
execution of Mr. Barry, I foel like a person who has been suddenly
snatched from the jaws of death and destruction ; to say nothing of
the injury which my reputation as an author must have sustained, had
I joined in the censure against those " shocking circumstances,"
which the author of the " Statement" says, " the Duke of Rich-
mond's administration may yet be invited to explain to Parliament."
What is said of poets in particular, may be predicated of authors in
general, that they
14 would forfeit half the fame they've got,
" If it were known what they discreetly blot."
520
eumstances, it would seem particularly requisite that the
laws of both countries should be consistent, relative to this
subject. So far, however, from being consistent, they are
decidedly at variance.
By the test act of England, "Every one who shall be admit-
ted into any office civil or military, or shall receive any pay,
salary, fee or wages, by reason of any office or place of trust,
or by reason of any patent or grant from His Majesty, shall
publicly take the oaths of supremacy, abjuration, &c, and
take and subscribe the Declaration against transubstantiation,
the mass, &c, and also receive the sacrament publicly, accord-
ing to the usage of the church of England, within six months
after his admission, under the penalty of 5001. and disability
to hold the office."*
A similar law existed also in Ireland till the year 1793, at
which time it was repealedf as to all military offices, except
of those, master or lieutenant-general of the ordnance, com-
mander in chief of the forces, and generals on the staff. In
England, however, the statute above quoted remains "in full
force, stern and unmitigated," Hence arises a palpable in-
congruity in the military system of this empire, and an ef-
fectual repulsion against catholics both in the army and
navy. The plausible shew of relief held out by the Irish sta-
tute proves a mere phantom ; an insidious abuse of catholic
credulity ; a lure, merely calculated to decoy catholics into
the public service, from all the honours and rewards of
which they are completely excluded. % Nay, not only are
they debarred from preferment, but by the operation of the
English statute, a catholic ensign, who has received his com-
mission in Ireland, vacates it ipso facto the instant he is sent
out of his own country. It is not enough to say that in re-
ality he retains it, for such retention being expressly against
law, he has no assurance that the favour by which alone he
holds it will long continue. Prudent men, perceiving this,
will never be willing to commit their sons to the profession
* Engl. stat. 25. cli. 2. c. 2.
t S3 Geo. I. ch. 2. sec. 9.
% The total number of offices of power and emolument from which
they are completely excluded in the army and navy, doet not amount
to fewer than 20,000,
521
«f arms, tor which they may be admirably suited both by
talents and personal prowess. As for catholics of rank and
property entering either the army or navy, so long as the
disabilities exist, the idea is altogether hopeless. An elevated
and noble mind can never brook restrictions by which those
in a similar station to himself are not equally affected. How
galling the thought, how calculated to promote disaffection
and indifference to the service, that no merit nor exertion of
yours can afford you the smallest hope of rising beyond a
certain rank; while the highest commands are open to all
those, however mean their talents or original station, who
arc willing to conform to the creed of the established church!
To what but this intolerant system is it owing, that Irish
catholic officers are to be found in the service of foreign states,
and even fighting against the armies of England? Away,
then, with this miserable offspring of bigotry and persecution,
and lay open to all equally the paths of honour and glory.
The consequences of this system of exclusion from offices
in the army and navy are hurtful in the extreme. It renders
naval and military officers of the Protestant persuasion per-
sonally hostile to catholics in general, and of course destroys
that mutual regard which should subsist between brother
officers, and between officers and the men under their
command. Instances are not unfrequent in which even
generals have evinced a spirit of scorn or contempt to-
wards catholics, especially on foreign service. In ail lucra-
tive appointments within their disposal, either in, or con-
nected with the army or navy, they invariably reject per-
sons of that religion. The commissaries agents, contrac-
tors, prize-masters, pursers, clerks, treasurers, medical assist-
ants, purveyors, store-keepers, barrack masters, garrison of-
ficers, &c. are almost without exception protestants. In fine,
the operation of this system extends to every situation above
that of a common soldier. Hence it happens, that the ca-
tholics, having no relative connexion or near friend of note,
cither in the army or navy, in general display a total indif-
ference about the events of war. The public feeling of all
ranks and classes, the poor as well as the rich, are wholly ab-
sorbed in the sad contemplation of the evils peculiar to their
own condition, and in projecting the means of redress. Nei-
522
ther triumphs nor defeats excite in their minds any lively in-
terest, or awaken any earnest attention. They scarcely con-
sider themselves as a party to any war or to any peace ; neither
elated by victory nor mourning for disaster.
But exclusion from the offices of the army and navy,
grievous as it is, is yet less tyrannical and intolerant than was
the practice of compelling soldiers and sailors, whether offi-
cers or privates, to attend protestant places of worship, and
obstructing them in the exercise of their own religion. Yet
that the law, at least till lately, authorized such compulsion
and obstruction is unquestionable. " The mutiny act of last
year declares, " That it shall and may be lawful to and for
His Majesty to form, make and establish articles of war for
the better government of His Majesty's forces, which articles
shall be judicially taken notice of by all judges and in all
courts whatsoever."*
The articles, so framed in pursuance of this act, and by its
authority, direct inter alia, " That all officers and soldiers not
having just impediment shall diligently frequent divine ser-
vice and sermon, in the places appointed for the assemblage
of the regiment, troop, or company to which they belong."
" And that such as wilfully absent themselves, or being
present behave indecently or irreverently, shall, if commis-
sioned officers, be brought before a court-martial, and
there be publicly and severely reprimanded by the president;
if non-commissioned officers or soldiers, every person so of-
fending shall, for his first offence, forfeit twelve pence, to be
deducted out of his nett pay : for the second offence he shall
not only forfeit twelve pence, but be laid in irons for twelve
hours, and for every like offence shall suffer and pay in like
manner."
By this regulation it is evident that catholics, as well as pro-
testants, are bound to attend such places of worship as may
be appointed for any regiment by the commanding officer.
Now, it is a fact that protestant places of worship alone are
appointed : indeed, no officer has authority to appoint any
other. Hence it follows that catholics are liable to punish-
• Stat. 31 Geo. 3. ch. 8. sec. l.
523
ment and fine, if tbey absent themselves from the protestant
church. Nay, their so absenting themselves may be con-
strued into a disobedience of orders, and they may be pu-
nished even capitally for refusing to comply with a regula-
tion which prevents them from following one of the six prin-
cipal commandments of their religion, by which they are di-
rected " To assist, devoutly and regularly, at the celebration
of mass, upon every sunday and holiday throughout the
year." Surely such conduct towards the defenders of our
country, as this statute authorizes, deserves the severest re-
probation. It is inconsistent both with the spirit and letter of
the toleration act, which allows to most dissenters the free ex-
ercise of their religion. How ungenerous that Britons should
proudly boast of their achievements in the Peninsula, and
yet brutally tyrannize over thousands of those very men by
whose heroic valour their victories have been gained ! One
of the noblest ornaments the chapel of Whitehall can boast,
(the eagle taken at Barossa) was the trophy of an Irish catholic
regiment,* whose exertions equally contributed to the victory
of Maida.
Having said thus much on the subject of the obstructions
to which catholic soldiers and sailors are liable in the exer-
cise of their religion, it is but justice to the Commander in
Chief to observe, that the practice of compelling catholic sol-
diers to attend the protestant church has been strictly pro-
hibited by a late circular letter to the different officers com-
manding corps or regiments in the British service. It is to be
hoped that this is the first step towards the adoption of a
more liberal system, both in the army and navy, though in
the latter nothing but downright protestantism is yet per-
mitted. Military orders, however, upon this subject are not
sufficient. The legislature alone can ensure the catholic
soldier or sailor the liberty of following the religion which he-
approves. A violation of orders may easily be connived at,
and must be endured; for these not being cognizable in civil
courts, and no legal redress being provided by ^tatutary
enactments, the injured and insulted catholic can only appeal
to a military court, with extreme hazard to himself, and little
* 87th, or Irish, Fusilecrs.
524
hope of remedy, even should he establish his case, so long as
the anti-catholic code continues the disgrace of our statutes.
But not only ought catholic soldiers to possess the free
exercise of their religion, they should likewise have it in
their power in every situation to avail themselves of this
right. Now it is well-known, that though catholic places of
worship, and catholic clergymen are sufficiently numerous
in Ireland, the case is somewhat different in England.
In many parts of the latter country, as well as in fo-
reign settlements, catholic clergymen cannot be found to
officiate; so that the right of attending divine service ac-
cording to their own forms, is of little advantage to an Irish
catholic regiment, when sent beyond the limits of Ireland.
Some method of supplying such regiments with catholic
chaplains, therefore, becomes requisite. Even those catholics
who may have entered a regiment chiefly composed of pro-
testants should have every possible facility of public worship
afforded them. Till this takes place, the public service in
this department of the state, and in the navy, must suffer
very material obstruction : catholics will never willingly enter
either so long as they are in the smallest degree restricted
in the exercise of their religion, and liable to punishment for
what is, properly speaking, no part of military or naval duty.
Laws affecting Catholics relative to Parochial
Affairs.
In order that the reader may properly understand the ex-
tent of the grievances of catholics on this subject, it will be
necessary to state a few particulars relative to the peculiar
state and distribution of landed property in Ireland.
Lands in Ireland are almost universally held by tenants,
under leases for certain terms of lives or years, at a consider-
able annual rent. Such tenants alone, if actual occupiers of
the lands, are chargeable with all tithes, parish rates, county
cesses, public taxes, and other outgoings, no part of them in
any case falling upon the proprietor or landlord, or upon any
of the persons deriving immediate interests between
the proprietor and actual occupier. Now, not above a
525
tenth part of the landlords or proprietors in Ireland are ca-
tholic, while on the other hand almost the whole tenantry* are
of tbat persuasion. Hence it follows that all parochial bur-
dens, public taxes, &c. are chiefly supported by catholics.
Such is the present condition of landed property in Ire-
land. I shall now examine the principles of taxation upon
which this property is legally rated, and the proportion of
rate charged.
All parochial taxes are regulated under the name and by
the authority of parish vestries. A parish vestry is properly
an assembly of the whole parish, that is, of all the inhabitants
who pay church rates, or scot and lot, and all occupiers of
land, though non-resident, met together in a convenient
place for the dispatch of the affairs and business of the pa-
rish. In 1725, however, it was deemed expedient to exclude
catholics from voting in vestries held for the repairing and
rebuilding of churches.f This exclusion was afterwards re-
enacted in 1793.| In consequence of these and other enact-
ments relative to other taxes, and the constant practice of all
parishes, parochial vestries, at present, instead of consist-
ing of the inhabitants and land occupiers of the parish, in
fact consist only of those few who are protestants.
Now it is well known that the powers of a vestry are va-
rious and extensive. This meeting is legaHy empowered to
incur heavy expenses on the part of the parish, to levy large
sums of money upon the houses, lands, and persons of the
inhabitants at large ; to apportion those sums upon indivi-
duals, and to apply them at their discretion unexamined and
uncontrolled, &c. to transact generally the local business of
the parish. They are authorized, indeed bound, § to repair
the whole church, and to provide every requisite connected
with church service. Nay, by common law, they may make
rates at their discretion for enlarging or rebuilding an old
church, if too small.
* Not more than one out of iOO are protestants.
f 12 Geo. I. cb. 9. sec. 7.
J 33 Geo. III. ch. 21. sec. 4.
$ 7 Geo. II. ch. 7. 23 Geo. II. ch. It, 35 Geo. II, ch. 58.
526
By statutes,* the lord lieutenant and privy council, arch-
bishops or bishops, may order new churches in better places,
erect new parishes, change a parish church into a cathedral
church, and, vice versa, a cathedral into a parish church —
for all or any of which purposes the consent of the majority
of protestant parishioners in vestry assembled is sufficient to
assess any rate without limit.
Vestries have, further, the power of appointing the parish
clerk, church-wardens, and other parish officers, and may
give them what salary they deem proper. They may like-
wise demise, and dispose of the parish income and estate at
will ; and, being entirely composed of protestants, they have
it in their power to dispose of it among themselves, at an un-
der value, and levy the annual deficiency upon the catholic
land-occupiers, under the general head of church rates.
In imposing the rates, the form is as follows : — The church-
wardens and protestant parishioners assemble together pur-
suant to notice, posted upon the church door only. This
meeting constitutes a vestry, competent to make any rate.
But if no parishioners attend, or if the vestry will not make
the rate, the church-wardens alone may make it, and if they
faih they may be cited and punished by the spiritual court.
The gross rate being determined upon, it is next to be
applotted, that is to say, the vestry proceeds to decide upon
the precise sum or share of it each parishioner is to pay. This
applotment, when made, is examinable by protestant parish-
ionei % s alone, who may alter, add to, or new model it, as they
think fit.
The miserable consequences flowing from this constitution
of parish vestries, aided by the general influence of the Anti-
Catholic code, cannot be too much deplored. The hard
earnings of the poor catholic husbandman are appropriated
at will by his protestant tyrants, for whatever purposes they
may think proper. There exists no check, not even that of
an oath, to prevent them from abusing the powers with which
they are legally, but unjustly, invested. Their will is law, —
* % Geo. I. ch. 14, 10 Geo. 2. ch. 6. 12 Geo. I. ch. 9.
527
and law against which the catholic farmer has not even the
privilege of appeal. They may, therefore, direct such under-
takings, and applot such rules, as to their pleasure may seem
meet. They may estimate the labour, adjust the charge, and
allot the compensation without control. They may thus
compliment each other with liberal allowances, and compel
the catholic parishioners to pay the whole amount.
Here, then, is an enormous power vested in a small mino-
rity of the people, to impose upon the great majority a grie-
vous impost annually increasing in amount, and capable of
being increased infinitely by law; a power vested in the
wealthy protectants to levy unlimited contributions upon the
humble and industrious catholic, and enabling those who re-
ceive, to tax " ad libitum" those who are compelled to pay.
But not only may the vestry levy such taxes as they think
proper, they may likewise appoint catholics to offices against
their inclination. For instance, they may compel them to
become church -wardens, and this is not unfrequently done,
when the office is laborious and chargeable. In Ireland, the
peculiar duties of church-wardens are of an ecclesiastical
nature, being principally to be the guardians of the
church, and representatives of the protestant parishioners;
to sue for the goods of the church ; take charge of the re-
pairs; summon vestries; provide protestant books of prayer ;
and perform a variety of other offices of a similar nature.
Hence catholics may be forced, by their protestant neigh-
bours, to act in situations wholly foreign and repugnant to
their habits, an outrage upon their feelings, an enormous tax
upon their time and attention, and impossible to be effectu-
ally fulfilled without offering public and repeated violence to
their consciences.
Moreover, that catholics might not be enabled to evade this
office, by delaying or declining to take the necessary oaths
of qualification, it has been enacted, " That church -wardens
shall be deemed legal officers, and made accountable after
six weeks' entry of their election in the vestry book,"* which
• 23 aud 24 Geo. 3. ch, 49. § 10.
528
entry, signed by the incumbent, and three parishioners, in
conclusive evidence against the churchwarden, although had
without his assent or knowledge.
A catholic so nominated, becomes accountable to protes-
tant vestries, in which he has no vote, for the entire amount
of any applotments, however unjust, which they may think
proper to make, even though he may never be able to collect
them. If he fail to collect them, and pay them over, he is
sued by his successor, as if he had actually levied them. He is,
moreover, chargeable with all the arrears due by his prede-
cessors, if he shall not make strict proof of his having sued
them for such arrears within six months : and the bishop is
empowered to sue him as if they had fully accounted with
him. This odious duty is cast upon the catholic church-
warden, although his predecessor may (as in some instances)
happen to be a fraudulent and insolvent protestant, perhaps,
the brother or son of the very rector or justice.
Lazvs affecting Catholics, relative to the right
of Self- Defence.
By the law of nature every man is, doubtless, entitled to de-
fend himself against the insults or attacks of another. This
right is fully admitted as a fundamental principle of the con-
stitution, by solemn statutes, which declare that every citizen
is entitled to have arms for his defence, suitable to his condi-
tion and degree.
This privilege, however, is denied to catholics. The first
act on the subject was passed in 1695.* It directs in sub-
stance, that ail Catholics within the kingdom of Ireland,
shall discover and deliver up, by a certain day, to the justice
or civil officers, all their arms, armour, and ammunition, of
every kind ; and that after that day, any two justices, or a
mayor, sheriff, &c. may grant a warrant of search, and com-
pel any catholic suspected of having concealed arms, &c. to
* 7 Will. 3. ch. S.
o29
appear before them, and answer the charge on suspicion up-
on his oath.
It further enacts, that every Catholic refusing or neglect-
ing to discover and deliver up his arms, or refusing to
answer, or obstructing the search, or not appearing to be
examined, upon summons, or not answering upon oath, &c.
shall, for the first offence, suffer a fine of c£30. and one year's
imprisonment, and for the second offence, all the pains and
penalties of persons attainted on a praemunire.
Every maker of fire arms, locks, or barrels, swords, knives,
or other weapons, is forbidden to take any Catholic appren-
tice, under a penalty ofc£20. upon the master, and £20.
upon the servant.
An act passed in 169S, entitled " An act for the preserva-
tion of game,"* directs, that " no Catholic shall be employ-,
ed as fowler to any Protestant, or shall have, keep, use, or
carry any guns or fire arms, under colour or pretence there-
of."
In 1739,f the whole of the above prohibitions were re-
enacted, when the fine for having arms was raised to £a0. f
and it was directed, that in the event of the convicted Ca-
tholic not paying this fine within one month after the expir-
ation of his year's imprisonment, the informer should be
paid the sum of o£10., to be presented by the grand jury, and
levied upon the Catholic inhabitants of the district.
The same act renders it imperative on justices, &c. under
certain penalties, to issue their search warrants once in every
year, authorizing all high and petty constables to make close
and diligent search, according to the directions of the former
statutes. And it further enacts, " That no Catholic should have
or keep for sale or otherwise, or under any pretence what-
soever, any warlike stores, sword blades, barrels, locks, or
stocks of guns or fire arms, under penalty of £20. fine, and
one year's imprisonment."
• 10 Will. 3 c. 8. §4.
f 13 Geo 2. eta. 6. § 1, 2, 10.
a m
360
The next statute was enacted in 1775,* and is much more
vigorous than any of the former. By this act " Any one
justice, &c. is empowered within his county or jurisdiction,
from- time to time, as well by night as by day, to search for,
seize and carry away, or cause to be searched for, seized and
carried away, all arms and ammunition whatever belonging
to or in the custody or possession of any Catholic (not duly
licensed), or in the hands or possession of any person in trust
for any Catholic ; and for that purpose to enter into any
dwelling-house, out-house, field, or other place belonging to
any Catholic or reputed Catholic, or belonging to any other
person whatsoever, where such justice shall have reasonable
cause to suspect that any such arms or ammunition shalL be
concealed."
The same statute further enacts, that " if any such Catholic
or other person, upon such search, shall refuse to deliver up
the same, answer upon oath, &c. he shall be punished by fine
or imprisonment, or by such corporal punishment of pillory
or whipping, as the court (of sessions) before whom he shall
be tried, may in their discretion think proper."
This act was made perpetual in 1800.f
Having thus stated the various laws enacted at different
times, relative to Catholics keeping or using arms in Ireland,
it now becomes necessary to shew how far they have been
mitigated. The statute 1793, already so often mentioned,
has among many others the following clause : " That no-
thing therein contained shall extend to authorize any Catho-
lic to have or keep in his hands, or possession any arms, &c.
&c., or to exempt such person from any forfeiture, or penalty
inflicted by any act respecting arms, armour, or ammunition
in the hands or possession of any Catholic, or respecting
Catholic keeping such warlike stores, (save and except Ca-
tholics seized of a freehold estate of oflOO yearly, or pos-
sessed of a personal estate of ofl,000. or upwards, who are
hereby authorized to keep arms and ammunition as protestants
* 15 and 16 Geo. III. ch. 21. j 15.
t 40 Geo. III. c. 96,
531
how by law may : and also except Catholics possessing a
freehold estate of «£10. yearly value, or .£300. personal es-
tate, who shall take the oath of 13 and 14 Geo. III. at the
sessions, and in open court swear and subscribe an affidavit
of the fact of such property), and Catholics so qualifying may
keep arms and ammunition as protectants may, so lono; as
they continue to possess such property."
From this clause it is evident that there are only two classes
of catholics in Ireland, legally authorized to have and use
arms: 1st, Such as are seized of a freehold property worth
1001. yearly, or personal property to the amount of 1,0001.
and take the oath prescribed by the above act. And, 'Sdlv,
Such as possess 101. yearly of freehold property or 3001. per-
sonal property, and take the oath of 13 and 14 Geo. III. •
and also swear and subscribe an affidavit, in open court, veri-
fying the value of such property ; and beside qualify in
terms of the statute of 1793.
All catholics not possessing the amount of property above
mentioned, or failing in any part of the conditions of quali-
fication (that is to say, the great majority of catholics), still
continue liable to the utmost rigour of the different statutes
of 1695, 169S, 1739, and 1775.
Innumerable are the hardships, injuries and insults to
which a catholic is continually exposed from the operation of
these laws. By them he is placed wholly at the mercy of
protestant justices and constables; his house may be broke
into at any hour either of the day or night. He maybe
summoned to a public scrutiny upon oath so often as they
tliink fit ; his arms may be taken from him ; he may be fined
or imprisoned, or even punished with pillory and whipping,
upon the slightest evidence of his attempting to evade the law.
He is likewise deprived of various legal means of providing
for himself or his family. Thus he cannot hold the situation
of a game-keeper; he cannot be a cutler, or cutler's appren-
tice, a gun-smith, or a gun-smith's apprentice ; neither can
he keep for sale, or otherwise, any warlike store*, ammuni-
tion, sword-blade>, barrels, locks, -tocks of guns, or fire arms
Meireover the protectants being not only permitted to keep
arms, but beins; actually armed by the authority of government
<2 M 2
532
with the view of defending the country and overawing the re'
bellious, it may easily be imagined that abuses are frequent.
The northern counties, in particular, have exhibited scenes
too shocking for description. Deliberate and unprovoked
murders, attended with circumstances of the most horrid bar-
barity, have been often perpetrated, and the perpetrators
escaped unpunished. Besides not having the means of de-
fending themselves, Catholics are exposed more than any
other subjects, to robberies and depredations. They are not
permitted to enter any of the volunteer or yeomanry corps,
but are completely open to the militia ballot. Indeed, they
are the only persons in Ireland such ballot can effect, because
almost every Protestant, being a member of one or other of
these corps, thereby enjoys full protection.
Of some further miscellaneous Laws and Penalties
affecting Catholics.
In the foregoing sections of this Appendix, 1 have con*
fined myself to the notice of such laws as were passed for the
avowed and distinct object of depressing the Catholics. But
besides these, there are various statutes relative to general
purposes; containing clauses which, either directly or indi-
rectly, militate against the rights and privileges of this class of
religionists ; and to them I shall now briefly direct my at-
tention.
By a statute enacted in 1695,* a pecuniary fine of £2.,
and in case of non-payment, the punishment of whipping, is
imposed on every hired labourer or servant who shall refuse
to work on any day of the year, excepting on such days as
named in the statute. The operation of this statute is, that
Catholics are compelled to work on many holidays appointed
by their Church.
The statute 1699/j- inflicts a penalty of o£10. on every
* 7 Will. 3. c. 14.
t 9 Will. 3. c. 1.
533
person who shall be aiding or assisting in burying any dead,
in any other place but in a Protestant churchyard. By this
law the feelings of Catholics are insulted, even in the nicest
point of their religion, and on a subject which never fails to
awaken the keenest sensations.
In 1703,* it was enacted, that a fine of ,£10. or in de-
fault of payment, the punishment of whipping, shall be in-
flicted on every person who shall be present at any pilgri-
mage, or meeting, held at any holy-well, or reputed holy-
well. By the same law, all magistrates are required to de-
molish all crosses, pictures, or inscriptions, any where pub-
licly set up for the veneration or respect of Catholics. It is
shameful to deprive the Catholics of the privilege of follow-
ing the precepts of their religion, but it is ridiculous to curb
them in their pious and innocent amusement.
By the statute 1571, f it is high treason to obtain any
writ or printed instrument from the Pope or Bishop of Rome,
or any person authorized by him. The hardship, injustice,
inconvenience, and impolicy of this law are too apparent to
require illustration.
The public education of Catholics is wholly neglected in Ire-
land, except at the College of Maynooth, which cannot edu-
cate a tenth of the necessary supply of Catholic clergymen ;
there is no public Catholics' seminary for Catholics in Ire-
land. Till 1793, Catholics were not admissible into the Col-
lege of Dublin, even as students, and at this moment they
remain excluded from being " members" of that college. To
these rigid regulations against Catholics, on the score of edu-
cation, may be added those which relate to the charitable
foundations of Ireland. Catholics are indeed admissible into
them, but their children must be educated by Protestant mas-
ters, and in Protestant principles.
It has been already noticed, that Catholic laymen may be
guardians to Catholic children under certain conditions. —
• 2 Anne c. 6. § 7.
t 18 Eliz. c. 2.
534
Whether a Catholic clergyman can act in that capacity,
however, under any circumstances, still remains doubtful.
Catholics following the profession of medicine, are not di-
rectly excluded from holding- situations in the line of their
profession, either in the navy or army, or in hospitals ; but
this is sufficiently effected by the operation of the Anti-Ca-
tholic: system in general. It is a fact, that scarcely a single
Catholic holds even any inferior medical situation of a pub-
lic nature.
Catholics are not allowed the liberty of presenting even to
Protestant benefices, though this right is permitted to per-
sons of every other religion, and also to foreigners : nay, he
cannot even give up his right in trust to a Protestant; for, by
statute 1704, it is enacted, " that whenever any Catholic should
claim, possess or enjoy, any advowson on right of patronage
or presentation, to any ecclesiastical benefice, (or where any
Protestant should claim, possess, or enjoy, any such right in
trust for a Catholic) the same should be thereby ipso facto
vested in the crown, according to such estate as such Catho-
lic might have therein, until such Catholic, or his heir, should
abjure his religion." And this clause is re-enacted in 1793,
omitting so much of it as regards trustees. What the effect
of this omission may be still remains to be tried. The absur-
dity and manifesi injustice of this law is evident. It is de-
priving Catholics of a right, which a Protestant considers as
a part of his property, being a saleable commodity. Even
in Catholic France this privilege has never been denied to
Protestants of any sect. Yet France is a land of tyranny,
and Ireland a land of freedom, — at least, so the " Anti-Ca-
tholics" tell us ! ! !
Jn this way, brief as it is, could I proceed to write many
sheets, on the disabilities which affect Catholics. The limits
within which my work is necessarily restrained, however,
compel me to draw to a conclusion, I shall only, therefore,
further remark, in general, that there is scarcely a relation,
even in the ordinary conduct of human life, in which Catho-
lics do not, more or less, keenly feel the noxious influence of
the intolerant code, which even allowing that it might bepru-
635
dent in our fore-fathers to frame, it would be undoubtedly,
wise and provident in us to abolish. The days of bigotry and
persecution are gone, I trust, for ever. The mind, enlighten-
ed by rational Christianity, and soothed by philosophy, has
learned to appreciate justly the precepts of religion. It per-
ceives, that moderation and forbearance are virtues of the
highest order, absolutely essential to human happiness, and
without which, all the doctrines of theological metaphysics,
which the mind of man has hitherto been able to conceive,
lose every thing of value, dignity, or goodness.
AN
INDEX
OF
NAMES AND SUBJECTS;
AND OF
AUTHORS AND BOOKS,
QUOTED AND REFERRED TO.
ABBOTS described, 148.
Abraham's guests in the plains of Mam-
re, 355.
Abrtgi Chronologique de PHistoire
Ecclesiastique, 22, 49.
Absolution, Catholic opinion of, 287.
Abuses, general prevalence of, 369.
Acesius, Constantine's remark to, 36.
Acts of the Apostles, the only correct
ecclesiastical history, 25.
Acts of parliament, 475. and Appen-
dix, passim.
Adam's Religious World Displayed,
10.
.ddajiw'sMrs.H. View of all Religions,
10.
Address of the Catliolic6 to Protes-
tants, 336.
Africa, Christian churches of, 252.
Alb, the bishop's, 385-
Albert of Brandenburg, 177.
Alfred the Great, indebted to monks,
149.
Allegiance, oath of, taken by Catholics,
340.
Altenburg, Luther's conference at, 189.
Amwifus, Duke of Savoy, his election
to the papal dignity, 86.
Americu, French clergy in, 172.
Amice, the priest's, 387.
Ammit of cardinals, 410.
Ammir. Discorso come la Chiesa Ro-
mana, &c. 62.
Anabaptists, 264, 442, 466.
Anustasius, the Bibliothecarie, 401.
Angels, invocation of, 397.
Angelus, Friar, Rule of Penance of
the Order of St. Francis, 168.
Animadversions oil Fuller, 458.
Annual Review, 440.
Anti-popes, 10.
Apian's Tableau de la Cour de Rome,
389.
Archbold's edition of Blackstone's
Commentaries, 217.
Archdeacons, 40:3.
Architecture, influence of the reform-
ation on, 237.
Arehi priesthoods, 425.
Arian controversy, 67.
Ariosto's Orlando Fin ioso, 52.
Arius, his death, 70.
Ark, honour shewed to the, 353.
Armenian 'lunch, 251.
Articles of faith in which all Christian*
agree, L'91.
Artists encouraged by Leo X., 125.
Asbury, Mr. Francis, 47.
Asia, church* s of, 251.
Asia minor, churches of, 251.
Assembly of the kirk of Scotland, 268.
Athanasius, St Dec. Com. Nic. 67,
et Kp. Africa, 68.
Atlas Geographicus, 254.
Atmore, Rev. Charles, 432.
Auditors of the Ruota, 427.
Augsburg, Luther's conference at,
179.
Augustine Monks, appeal to, respect-
ing Luther, 195.
Avignon, residence of the Popes at,
58.
Axiom, a new one, of civil government
131. B
Babylon, the mystical, 257.
.Bacon's, Lord, Works, 153, 166. Opi-
nion of single men, 166. Opinion of
Jesuits, ib.
Baldwinus Franc. 67.
538
INDEX.
Bale, John, his testimony of Leo X.,
127.
Baltimore, French clergy at, 172.
Baptism, 269, 305.
Baratier's Inquiry about the Ancient
Bishops of Rome, 9.
Barberino, Cardinal Antonio, 420.
Barnabites, order of, 161.
Baronius, on the title Universal
Bishop, 22.
Bartolomeo of Florence, his public dis-
position, 88.
Basnage's History of the Reformed
Churches, 223.
Baxter's Key for Catholics, 274. His-
tory of Councils, 432.
Beads, on the use of, 394.
Beausobre's Histoire de la Reforma-
tion, 100, 181.
Bede's Works, 149.
Bedloe, Captain, 276.
Bellarmin. Oper. 51, 107, 316, 347.
Bembo, 158.
Benedict XIII., schism under, 83.
Benedictine Monks, their learning,
114.
Benedictines, order of, 163.
Benson's, Dr. History of Persecution,
445. Confutation of popery, 478.
Bering-ton's Rev. J. Lives of Abelard
and Eloisa, 430, 433.
Bessarion, Cardinal, his influence, 87.
Beza's Life of Calvin, 449.
Bible, the, worth all the mighty tomes
of the Vatican, 26. (passim.)
Bigotry, spirit of, retained by the re-
formers, 208.
Bingham's Origines Ecclesiastical, 16.
Bishop, universal, the phrase, 16.
Bishops, Roman, succession of,9. Con-
gregation concerning the affairs of, 418.
Examining new, 423.
Bishops Cardinals, 405.
Blackstone's Commentaries, 467.
Blasphemies, commination against,
33S.
Blondelon Bishopsand Presbyters,51.
Boccaccio's Decameron, 92.
Bodenstein, Andrew, his controversy
with Eccius, 193.
Bolsec, Jerome ; 449.
Bonaparte, his plunders of the Pope's
possessions, 61. Expose on the tem-
poralities of the Pope, 122. Zeal for
reform, 130.
Bon\face III., his struggle for a name,
28.
Book of Common Prayer, 117, 319.
Books, congregation for printing of,
421.
Bossuet's Variations of the Protestant
Churches, 78, 91, 97, 209, 223, 441.
Exposition, &c. 136, 292, 309, 318,
320. '
Brandt's Hist. Reform. 191, 270.
Brent, Sir R. 180.
Brethren of the Free Spirit, 82.
Brightwell parish, 452.
Britton's Architectural Antiquities of
Great Britain, 239.
Brookes, Henry, Esq. 476.
Broughton's Historical Library, 8.
Buctr, 450.
Buck's Theological Dictionary, 434.
Bull of excommunication against Lu-
ther, 204.
Burnet's Historv of the Reformation,
225, 228.
Burning for heresy, invented by
princes, 69.
Butler's Dr. Installation Sermon, 15,
349.
Butler's Life of Fenelon, 37, 292.
Life of the Rev. Alban Butler, 108.
Account of the Life and Writings of
J. B. Bossuet, 443. Historical View of
Laws, ice. App. 489. Statement of the
Pope's supremacy, 38, 438.
C
Calixtus, George, de Conjugio Cleri-
corum, 67.
Calmet's Diet. 306.
Calvin. Instit. 264, 450.
Calvin, spread of his opinions in Ger-
many and Scotland, 222. Declaration
for maintaining the true faith, &c. 445.
Mode of persecuting, 448.
Candles, blessed, 370.
Canning, Mr. 477.
Capet, Hugh, styled Hugh l'Abbe, 147.
Capuce of the order of St. Francis,
169.
Cardinal Nephew, 421.
Cardinals, offices, and origin of, 39$.
Their titles, 406. Habit, 409. Crea-
tion, 410. Congregation of, 417.
Carlostadt, see Bodenstein.
Card's Hist. Outlines of the Rise and
Estab. of the Papal Power, 28.
Carr's, Sir John, Travels in Spain, 485.
Castellio, 448.
Catechism of the Council of Trent, 300.
Catechumens' mass, 375.
Catherine de Medicis, 476.
Catholic, use of the term, 7.
Catholic Reformers, 99.
Catholic countries characterized, 142.
Address to Protestants, 336.
Catholic Christian Instructed, 304,
397, 399.
INDEX.
53?
Cathtlicism, effects of, on the arts,
•235.
Catholics, legal appellation of, in Great
Eritain, 13.
Cuusaboni ad Epist. Card. Perron,
Responsio pro Rege, 264.
Celibacy of the monks, 144.
dremonies, august, of Catholic coun-
tries, 112. Of the mass, 375.
Chaldec breviary of St. Thomas, 251.
Challoner's Garden of the Soul, 478.
Chamber Apostolicall, the reverend,
428.
Chandler's History of Persecution,
432.
Charlemagne, beneficence of, 62.
Cliarles V., Luther's address to, 208.
His conduct to Luther, 215.
Cliarlier, see Gerson.
Chastity uncommon among men, 165.
Chasuble, the, 387.
ChauffepU's Dictionaire Critique, 227.
Chillingicorth's Works, 8, 132, 134,
451.
Christ ianisimus Primativus, 8.
Chrislianographie, 11.
Christiem III. of Denmark, 221.
Christmas, high mass at, 391.
Church of Rome, never described dis-
tinct from the court, 3. And State
united, 62. View of the state of the,
78. Acted the part of a suicide, 120.
Of Christ, will never fail, ib. Her un-
natural union with civil government, ib.
Described, 280. Her spiritual aud tem-
poral authority, 283. Definition of the,
299, 473. Of England, 266.
Churehes erected by Constantine, 34.
Magnificence of Catholic, 236. Of En-
rope, 250. 0> Asia, 251. Of Asia
minor, ib. Of Africa, 252. Patriarchal,
406.
Circassian Church, 251.
Cistercian order of monks, 150.
Civilization introduced by the monks,
149.
Clement VII. the anti-pope, 83.
Clergy, immorality of the, 91. Their
profligacy caused the reformation, 106.
Order of regular, 161. The French, at
Baltimore, 173.
Clergymen of the church of England,
266.
Comber'% History of the Parisian mas-
sacre, 477.
Commandment, of the second, 365.
Comminution agaiust errors and blas-
phemies, 333.
Confession, 355.
Confirmation, 305.
Congregation of the holy office, 417.
Congregations of Cardinals, 417.
Consecration of the Pope, 406.
Consistory, publique, 412.
Consistory, congregation of the, 424.
Constantine the Great, conversion of,
29. Became a preacher, 37.
Constantinople styled New Rome, 77.
Controversy at Leipsic, 193.
Convents at Rome, 154.
Conversion of Constantine the Great,
29.
Convocation of England, 268.
Cope, the, 387.
Copts, Christian, 252.
Corinth, division in the church of, 45.
Councell, congregation of the, 418.
Councils, Basil, 85. Chalcedon, 43,
76. Constance, 84, 285, 314, 455, 472.
Constantinople, 43. Ephesus, 43. Flo-
rence, 315. Nice, 66. P;sa, 80, 408.
Trent, 40, 137, 292, 299, 303, 307, 309,
311, 320, 329, r,73. Vienne, 79, 81.
Councils of the reformed in France,
268.
Councils, Catholic's belief of, 361.
Cow t of Rome, its pride, 118, 400,
430.
Creation of Cardinals, 410.
Creed, Nicene, 68. Of Pope Pius
IV. 292, 302, 305, 309, 315, 317, 319,
331-2.
Crimes of Catholics do not spring from
their religion, 5.
Crook, the pastoral, 386.
Cross, miraculous appearance of, to
Constantine, 32. Pieces of the true,
34.
Cudworth's opinion of the effects of
the Reformation, 271.
Culdces of lona, 252.
Cullo, magnificence in celebrating
the act termed, 142.
D
D'Ailly, Peter, his attempts at re-
form, 79.
Dalmatica, 385.
Danes, ravages of the, in the time of
Alfred, 150.
Dante, his description of the clergy,
91.
D'Artigny's, Abbe", Noveaux Me-
moires d'Histoire, 227.
David's repetition in the 126th
Psalm, 353.
Deacon-Cardinals, 404.
Deacons, offices and origin of, 403.
Death, different religious views of, 71.
Death's head, 350.
Decameron of Boccaccio, 92.
540
INDEX.
Declaration of Catholics, 339, 342.
Decretals described, 48.
De Laune's Plea for the Non-con-
formists, 379.
Design of the present work, 3.
Diet of Worms, 212.
Difficulties of the author's under-
taking, 1.
Directory, Presbyterian, 133.
Disabilities of Catholics and Dissen-
ters, 474.
Dispensatory, 345.
Disputes at Leipsic, 194.
Dissertaz. del Conte Giacono Aeami
del' origine ed Antichita della Zeccha
Pontificia, 57.
Diversity in religious opinions, 249.
Dobson's, Mrs. Life of Petrarch, 92.
Doctrines of the Catholic Church un-
altered, 65. Never attacked by early
reformers, 96. Brief summary of the
Catholic, 273, 301.
Dogmata of the church attacked by
Luther, 97.
Donation of Constantine, 48, 52.
Donatists, term Catholic first used to
distinguish from, 7.
Douglass, Dr. 347.
Duigenan, Dr. 265, 453.
Dupin's Bibliotheque Universelle des
Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, &c. 49, 52,
68, 75, 189, 191. Hist, of the Coun-
cil of Trent, 308.
Durham's, Bishop of, Sermons,
Charges, and Tracts, 15, 117.
E
Easter, difference in the time of cele-
brating, 72.
Eccius, Johannes, an opponent of
Luther, 178.
Elias's mantle, 353.
Eliseus's bones, 354.
Elizabeth, Queen, ecclesiastical ar-
chitecture since, 239.
Elphin, Bishop of, his principle of
conversion, 166.
Emancipation, political objectors to,
456, 474.
Emperor, Constantine the first Chris,
tian, 33.
Enarolles, Lewis de, Persecutions in
France, 432.
Encyclopedia Britannica, ed. 1810, 65.
Epiphaniui on the number of he-
retics, 7.
Episcopacy, question of the divine
right of, 11.
Erasmus, bis correspondence with
Leo X. 128. And learning, 159. Opi-
nion of the Reformation, 176.
Erfurt, University, judge of the con-
troversy at Leipsic, 194.
Errors, commination against, 333.
Essay towards a proposal for Catholic
Communion, 323.
Espriella's Letters, &c. 494.
Este, family of, 59.
Ethiopian Christians, 252.
Eucharist, the, 269. Catholic faith of
the, 289, 354.
Eugenius IF. view of the church un-
der, 85.
Euhgius, letter of Gregory the Great
to, 19.
Eusebius's Life of Constantine, 36.
37, 67. Eccles. Hist. 70. Letter of
Gregory the Great to, 20.
Eustathius, 67. President of the
Council of Nice, 74.
Evans's Sketch of Christian Denomi-
nations, 10, 262.
Excommunication of Luther, 204.
Exiguus, Dionysius, Latin code of,
77.
Explanation of the belief of Catholics
in regard to the pope, 348.
Extravagance of Leo X. a cause of"
the reformation, 123.
Expose", French, 1809, 121.
Extreme Unction, 269, 307.
F
Fable, the profitable, 127.
Fabron. Leon. X. 125.
Faith, effects of, on the arts, 232.
Of Catholics always the same, 250.
Of Catholics, 280. Articles in which
all Christians agree, 294. Power of,
354. Of the Scriptures as a rule of,
359. Congregation for propagating
the, 419.
Faithful, mass of the, 375.
Fancy, superstition heightens, 243.
Fasciculus rerum Expendarum et
Fugiendarum, 62.
Fasting, 367.
Fathers, too much stress laid upon, 25.
Feejoo's Teatrico Critico, 82.
Fenton's translation of Guicciardini's
History, 59.
Fingall, Earl of, 438.
Five, an unfortunate number to the-
logians, 88.
Fletcher's Checks to Antinomianism,
133.
Fleury's remarks on St. Gregory, 20.
24. Discours sur l'Histoire Ecclesias-
tique, 50, 55, 72, 74, 75.
Florentines, partiality of Leo X. to,
J 90.
Forbe» DeEuc. 253, 4.
INDEX.
541
Fountain, river and lake exemplify,
the Trinity, 296.
Fountains, congregation of, 421.
Fox's Acts and Monuments, 433.
Frederic, elector of Saxony, 186, 8,9.
French clergy, 172.
Friar, Spanish pun on the word, 174.
Friars, their zeal for the inquisition,
135, 368.
Froissart' s Chron. 87.
Fuller's, Mr. ed. of Mrs. Adams's
View of all Religions, 10.
Funeral pile made by Luther, 207.
G
Gaeta, Cardinal of, his conduct to
Luther, 180.
Gallican reformed Catechism, 264.
Gandolphy's Liturgy, or a Hook of
Common Prayers, and Administration
of Sacraments, 322, 386.
Gavin's, Don Antonio, Master-key
to Popery, 478.
Geddests Modest Apology, 29, 265,
'167. Character of Lord Petre, Preface.
Gelasius of Cyzicus, 75.
Geneva, Calvinistic opinions in, 222.
Georgian church, 251.
Gerdesii Hist. Evang. Renovat. 1 07 .
German scholars portrayed, 158.
Germany, origin of the reformation
in, 175- Religious opinions in, 222.
Gerson, his attempts at Reform, 80.
Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire, 17, 21,33, 39, 108, 223.
Gift of Constantine, 52.
Girdle, the bishop's, 385.
Gloves, the bishop's, 385.
God, Catholic principles in reference
to, 280.
Gordon, Lord George, riots of, 14.
Gother's Papist misrepresented and
represented, 109, 292, 349.
Gothic architecture, 241.
Government, advantages of papal, 63.
Councell for Church, 421.
Grace, doctrines of, 269.
Grafton, Duke of, his note on the
margin of Simpson's Apology, 25.
Grassis, Paris de, his account of Six-
tus della Rovere, 124.
Grattan's, Mr. Speech, 454.
Greek and Latin churches, their ana-
logy, 250. 263.
Greek Church, 250.
Greeks, their character, 152. Ef-
fects of their religious faith on the arts,
231.
Gregory the Great the Apostle of
England, 18.
Gregory's History of the Church, 33.
Grotiu$ de RebOs Belgicis, 229.
Grounds of the Catholic Faith, 306,
312, 317, 332.
Guicciardini Historia d'ltalia, 59.
Guises, family, 477.
Gustarus Ericus, King of Sweden.
221.
H.
Habit of Cardinalls, 409.
Habili»ients of the bishop, symbolical
385.
flail Mary, u»e of the, 394.
Haicarden's, Dr. Charity and Truth,
439.
Hayley's life ofCowper, 438.
Helena's journey to build the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre, 34.
Hell, 316.
Henry the Seventh's Chapel, 239.
Henry VIII. the reformer, 61. Pro-
gress of the reformation under, 233.
Heretics specified, 72. Mode of
treating, 446. Keeping faith with, 455.
Heylin, Doctor, 458.
High Mass, described, 383.
Higinius, Pope, 400.
ifinonar's'account of the decretals, 50.
Hints on Evangelical Preaching, bv
a Barrister, 103, 378.
Historians of Italy, 242.
History, uncertainty of ecclesiastical,
66.
History of Religion, 333.
Holy Ghost, procession of the, 298.
Homoiousion, meaning of the word, 69.
Homousion, meaning of the word, 69
Hooker's Ecclesiast. Pol. lot.
Hora Juridical Subsecivae, by But
ler, 48, 51
Horns of the mitre, 385.
Hume's History of England, 140.
Hunting, the amusement of Luthei
il9.
Hurd's, Bishop, Introduction to the
Prophecies, 401.
Huss, John, 184, 456, 472.
Hypocrisy,thc consequence of a union
of church and .state, 121.
I.
Ignorance, of breeding up people in.
371.
Illustrations of the Ceremonies of the
Mass, 375.
Images destroyed by Carlostadt, 220.
Destroyed by Henry VIII. 233. Ca-
tholic opinion of, 291, 319. Of Pray-
ing to, 349.
Immunitie, Congregation of, 418.
Indulgence, definition of a Catholic,
136. Specimen of Tetzel's, 139.
542
INDEX.
Indulgences, principally attacked by
Luther, 102. Ill use made of the sale
of, 135. Luther's attack on, 176. Ca-
tholic view of, 288, 319. Conditions
of, 321. Described, 323, 331, 356.
Infallibility confounded with the su-
premacy of the pope, 29.
Innocent XI. 366.
Inquiry, consequences of free, iu re-
ligion, 255.
Inquisition, zeal of the friars for the,
155. Congregation of the, 417, 479.
Institutions, nature and decline of
monastic, 142.
Intercession, Catholic view of, 289.
Mediators for, 351.
Interpretation of Scripture, 360.
Intolerance of Luther, 211.
Invocation of Angels and Saints, 397.
Irish cruelties, 286.
Irish Protestant Charter School Ca-
techism, 265.
Isocrates, rule in a moral treatise of,
227.
Italy, claims of the popes to, 57.
Architecture of, 240.
J.
Jamiesoris account of the Culdees of
lona, 252.
Jerome of Prague, 184, 456.
Jesuits, order of, 161.
Jews, their state in France, 446.
Joan, Pope, 432.
John the Fraster, 18.
John Frederic of Saxony, 221.
Johnes, Mr. his translations of ancient
Chronicles, 87.
Judgment, right of private, 134.
Julia, Card, 91.
Jurisdiction of the Pope, 55.
K
Kempis, Thomas a, Imitation of
Christ, 478.
Kirk of Scotland, 263.
King, Catholic principles in reference
to the, 284.
Knox, John, the Scotch reformer,
222. L.
Labarum, description of Constan-
tine's, 32.
Lardner's History of Heretics, 7.
Lateran, Bishop Cardinall of the,
407.
Lavington's, Bishop, Enthusiasm of
Methodists and Papists compared, 377.
Laws now in force relating to the Ro-
man Catholics of England and Ireland,
489. App. passim.
Laws against heresy in England, 217.
Laws, penal, 344, 489.
Learning, the Mendicant orders ireg
lected classical, 1 56.
Leipsic, controversies at, 193.
Leo X. Roscoe's Life of, 56. His
extravagance and religious indifference
a cause of the reformation, 123. His
magnificence, 124. His character, 128.
His conduct towards Luther, 179.
Letter of Luther to Leo X., 196.
Lewis, Count Palatine, 216.
L'Histoire des Popes, by Mills, 35.
Licinius fell before the labarum, 33.
Limborch'a History of the Inquisition,
478.
Literature, consequence of the re-
vival of, 129. Influence of the Re-
formation on, 241.
Lives of the Saints, by the Rev. A.
Butler, 108.
Lockman's Histoiy of Popish Perse-
cution, 432.
Low Mass, 383.
Luther acknowledged the Pope's su-
premacy, 39.
Luther's boldness in reformation, 96.
Torch, 127. Boldness a chief cause
of the reformation, 140. Commence-
ment of the Reformation, 176. Op-
ponents, 178. Conference at Augsburg,
179. Appeal to a General Council, 187.
Conference with Miltitz, 189. Ac-
knowledges the power of the Church,
191. Acted a double part, 192. Could
not resist flattery, 195, Letter to the
Pope, ib. Bull of condemnation against,
204. His violent conduct, 206. At the
Diet of Worms, 212. Preserved by
the Elector of Saxony, 218. Opinion
on persecution, 446.
Luther Oper. 39, 182, 186, 198, 202,
203, 204, 207, 208, 209, 212, 258, 264.
Lutherunism, general spread of, 221.
M.
Maccabees, purgatory denoted in, 363,
Machiavelli, on the Mendicant order,
151.
Maclaine, see Mosheim.
Maconites, churches of the, 251.
Magistrates, their interference in re-
ligion, 400.
Magnificence of religious services in
Catholic countries, 142.
Maturity's prophecy of the mass, 363.
Manners, influence of the Reforma-
tion on, 27 0.
Mannock's Poor Man's Controversy,
374.
Manuple, the bishop's, 387.
Afars/t'slnquiry into the consequences,
&c. 132.
INDEX.
543
Marcus of Ephesus, his revolt. 88.
Mamas, the idol, 371.
Muiriage, 269, 308.
Martin V., his character, 85.
Martyrologies, 432.
Mary, Virgin, on supplicating her,
352, 393.
Mass, an encouragement to art, 235,
311. Of the, 362, 373. Ceremonies
of the, 375. High, 383. Low, ib. Pa-
pal, 389. At Christmas, 391.
Massacre, Parisian, 476.
Mass book, 478.
Matrimonrj, 308.
Maurice's Indian Antiquities, 377.
Maxentius, march of Constantine a-
gainst, 31.
Maximilian, Emperor, his death, 189.
Mediators for intercession, 351.
Medici, Luther's accusation of the
family, 190.
Medicis, Catherine de, 477.
Melancthon'spuhliaxiions, 194. Let-
ter to Bullinger, 449.
Mekhites, See Syrians,
Melchoir, Adam, 198.
Mendicant Friars, 150.
Merit, should be the test for reli-
gious profession, 172. Doctrine of,
309.
Middleton's Letter from Rome, 377.
Milner's Letters to a Prebendary, 13,
22, 441, 480. Certain vulgar opinions
concerning the Catholic inhabitants and
antiquities of Ireland, 35, 64. History
of Winchester, 439.
Miltitz, his opposition to Tetz»l, 138.
His negociations, 189.
Milton's poetry, 244.
MingreUian church, 251.
Mint, congregation concerning the,
423.
Missions from Rome, A. D. 500, 42.
Mistakes of Protestants respecting
Catholics, 347.
Modest and True Account of the
chief Points in controversy, 310.
Monarchs, their divine right, 61.
Monastic Institutions described, 142.
Money coined by popes, 56. Expe-
dients of Leo X. to raise, 137.
Monks, character of, 141,150.
Monophysites, Jacobite, 251.
Monstrelet's Chron., 87.
Monthly Repository, 218, 433.
Morals, how influenced by the re-
formation, 270.
Mordwits, churches of, 251.
Mom's rod, 353.
Moshtim't Ecdesiast. Hist., 27, 67,
71, 81, 85, 189, 192, 193, 202, 219.
259.
Mousul, patriarch of, 253.
Muratori's Anuali d'ltalia, 56.
Munzer, spread of his opinions in
Germany, 222.
Muscovites' religion, 250.
Mysterie of the blessed Trinity, 295.
Mysteries of religion solved by faith,
354. The five joyful, 396. The five
dolorous, ib. The five glorious, ib,
N
Neale's History of the Puritans, 433.
Nestorian church, 251.
Nicene Creed, 68.
Nicholas V. character of, 89.
Nightingale's Portraiture of Metho-
dism, 47, 266, 378. and Pre/.
Nuns, 368.
O
Oates, Dr 276.
Oath, taken by all English Catholics,
338. Takenby Irish Catholics, 340, 342.
O'Connor's, Dr. Columbanus ad Hi-
bernos, 252.
Oil, holy, 370.
O'Leary's Remarks on Wesley's Let-
ter and Defence of the Protestant As-
sociation, 5, 65. Miscellaneous Tracts,
440. Letter to the Conductors of the
Free Press, 460 — 172.
Opinions, Summary of the Catholic,
301.
Oration of Giovanni Francesco Pico,
92. Of Luther at the Diet of Worms,
213:
Ordination, 269, 308.
Original profession of the kirk of
Scotland, 263.
Osius, his opinion on homousion and
Itomiousion, 69. President of the Coun-
cil of Nice, 74.
P
Paganism subverted by Constan-
tino, 36.
Page, Anthony, l'Histoire des Papes,
51.
Paint's Age of Reason and Rights of
Man, 486.
Painters encouraged by Leo X, 125.
Palatine Cardinalls, 40 1.
Palestine, church of, 251.
Palmer's Non-Conformist's Memorial,
433.
Paolo, Fra. Hist. Cone. Trid. 28, 85,
180, 185, 187, 204, 212.
Papist, a term of reproach, 12.
Pappenheim, Count, 212.
Paris, University, judge of the con-
troversy at Leipsic, 194. Massacre, 28£.
544
INDEX.
Pastorini's Hist, of the Christian
Church, 221.
Patmos, Luther's, 219.
Paul III., Luther's speech to, 209.
Pearson on the Creed, 264.
Pelagius II. condemns the title Uni-
versal Bishop, 18.
Penance, doctrine of, 269, 287, 306.
Penitentiaries, 426.
Pepin, beneficence of, 62.
Perkins, on the Rev. 264.
Perron, Cardinal du, his conference
with the Pope, 52.
Persecution, spirit of, retained by re-
formers, 208. By Catholics, 431.
Sketch of English Protestant, 434. De-
fined, 435. Mental, ib. Verbal, ib.
Manual, ib. Not a tenet of the Catho-
lic Church, 439. By Protestants, 451.
Against Sectaries, 452.
Pestelius, Peter, 448.
Petrarch's description of the court of
Rome, 92.
Pfeffinger, the Pope's letter to, 189.
Pico, Giovanni Fra., his oration to
the Pope, 92.
Picture, Catholic opinion of, 291.
Use of, 350.
Pitt, Mr. his measures on the penal
laws, 344.
Platina's Lives of the Popes, 83.
Plot's Nat. Hist, of Oxfordshire, 452.
Pluvial, the bishop's, 386.
Poetry, influence of the reformation
on, 243.
Philastre on the number of heretics, 7.
Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, 221.
Philip the Fair, 79.
Philip de Neri, congregation of, 161.
Philosophy, study of false, 152. In-
iluence of the Reformation on, 244.
Photius, his election, 40,
Piccart's Religious Ceremonies and
Customs of all Nations, 300, 310, 375,
383, 386, 388.
Poets of Italy, 242.
Poland, religious opinions of Socinus
in, 221.
Politics, how influenced by the refor-
mation, 247.
Pontiffs, patrons of Science, 64.
Pope, first use of the word, 16. His
supremacy, 22. His temporal power,
47. Luther's description of the, 209.
Catholics' belief respecting the, 285.
His supremacy, 331. Extent of his
power, 344. Explanation of Catholics'
belief in the, 348. His celebration of
mass, 391.
Popery always the same, 439.
Popes, list of, 9.
Pope's Essay on Man, 2, 256, 258.
Portrait of the Catholic religion from
the original, 3.
Potter's answer to Charity Mistaken,
253.
Powder Plot, 286.
Power, temporal, of the pope, 47.
Emanates from the people, 118.
Pragmatic sanction, 86.
Prejudice, evils of, 6.
Preliminaries de la Reformation of
Beausobre, 100.
Presence in the Eucharist, 311.
Press, a powerful eugine in revolu-
tions, 129.
Pride of the court of Rome a cause
of the reformation, 118.
Prierio, Silvestro, an opponent of Lu-
ther, 178.
Priesthood, qualifications for the, 167.
Priestley's History of the Church, 68,
74. History of the Corruptions of
Christianity, 230.
Priests, order of, 151.
Priests Cardinals, 403.
Princes, their rapacity a cause of the
reformation, 130.
Principles of Catholics, 274.
Printing, a powerful engine of the
reformation, 128.
Profession of Catholic faith, 303, 305,
319.
Profligacy of the clergy a cause of the
reformation, 106.
Propositions of Luther, 177.
Protestant almanack, 479.
Protestant Apology for the Roman
Catholic Faith, 16, 19, 24, 255, 265.
Protestant doctrines, spirit of, 6.
Protestants' Best Guide, 440.
Prqvidence, agency of divine, 105.
Publicola's Additional Proofs and Il-
lustrations, 377.
Punishments sent from heaven, 358.
Purgatory, Catholic opinion of, 288.
316. Existence of, 363. Reasons for,
365. Q
Quakers, 473.
Qualifications for the priesthood, 167.
Questions proposed to the Catholic
universities, 344.
Questions, 327.
R
Rapacity of princes a cause of the re-
formation, 130.
Reason, use of, in religion, 261.
Reeve's Hist, of the Christian church,
75, 89.
Reid's New Sanhedrin, 446.
INDEX.
Reform, attempts at, previous to the
time of Luther, 79.
Regulars, congregation for the affairs
of, 418.
Relics, of paying divine worship to,
353. Use and veneration of, 398.
Religion of Catholics not to be con-
founded with their crimes, 4. Obser-
vations on national, 133. Of Protes-
tants, 134. Influence of the reforma-
tion on, 249. Right of private judg-
ment in, 2.35. Points in which Catho-
lics acree with all Christians, 294. Of
Catholics, 439. Of Protestants, 4.50.
Remarks on the Bishop of Durham's
" Grounds," &c. 118.
Reformation, causes of the. Saxon and
German, 100. Its origin in Germany,
175. Estimate of its value, 223. Its
influence on the arts, 231. Its influ-
ence on literature, 241. Its influence
on religion and morals, 249.
Reformers, conduct of the early, 13,
96. Account of Catholic, 99. Describ-
ed, 238.
Regimine, congregation de bono, 422.
Reproach, consequences of using terms
of, 6.
Reservation, doctrine of mental, 286,
366.
Revolutions of the Germanic empire,
by Butler, 52, 62, 64, 99, 100.
Revolutions of kingdoms, 129.
Rhem. Annot. on Luke xvi. 27,
316.
Riculphus first published the decretals,
30.
Right, divine, 61.
Ring, the pastoral, 385.
Rites, congregation of, 420.
Roache's Abridgment of Brandt's His-
tory of the Reformation, 271.
Robertson's Reign of Charles V. 106,
107, 157, 181. 132, 2<)2.
Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches,
69, 222. History of Persecution, 432.
Rochet of Cardinals, 410.
Roman Catholics, why so called, 12.
Now the legal appellation of Catholics,
13.
Rome, Pagan and Christian compar-
ed, 42.
Romish Catechism, 302.
Rosury, on the use of the, 594.
Roscoe's, Life and Pontificate of Leo
X., 56, 60, 62, 64, 92, 124, 136, 134,
185, 193, 19.5, 206, 214.
Rose, present of the consecrated, 188.
Ross's View of the Religious of Eu-
rope, 254.
2 o
Rorere, Sixtus deila, his annual in-
come, 124.
Ruffinus translated the first decretal.
49.
Rule of Catholic faith, 1.5<5.
Jluota, of the, 427.
S
Sabinius, letter of Gregory the Gieai
to, 20.
Sacraments, of the Romish and re-
formed churches, 269. Catholic doc
trine of, 30.5.
Sacrifice, Catholic view of, 290.
Sadoletti, 158.
-Sq/e-conducts, 469.
Saints, Catholic opinion of, 292, 317.
Invocation of, 397. Ofworshipping,351.
SuUust, on the magnificence of the
Romans, 113.
Salutation to Elizabeth, 355.
Salvation, 472.
Sandals, the bishop's, 585.
Sandy'* Relation of West. Religions,
2.55.
Satisfaction defined, 136. Catholic
doctrine of, 287, 3.57.
Scheelestrate, Emanual de, Antiqui-
tates Ecclesia Iliustra', 51.
Schism of the Greek and Latin
churches, 28.
Scholar's description of the German,
158.
Science cultivated in cloisters, 113.
Scolopians, order of, 161.
ScolLsts, their debates with Thomists.
1.53.
Scriptures, Catholic opinion of, 302.
On reading the holy, 558. As a rule of
faith, 3.39. Interpretation of, 560.
Sculptors encouraged by Leo X., 126.
Sculpture, influeuce of the reforma-
tion on, 254.
Scck<ndorf, Comment. 138, 181,
202-5-4, 209, 216, 416.
Seiretus, cruelty of Calvin to, 227, 449.
Sidon, churches of, 2.51.
Sigismund, emperor, his conduct to
John Huss, 2 1 6. 470.
Simpson's Key to the Prophecies, 37.
Plea foi Religion, 105.
Sleidan, Hist. 187, 202-5-4, 222.
Smith's Errors of the church of Koine
detected, 478.
Socinianism, right of private judg-
ment may lead to, 134.
Socinians, 442.
Socinus his opinions in Poland, 221.
Sumaschi, order of, 161.
Sorbonne, faculty, their influence, 85.
Souff'rance, criticism on. -141.
546
INDEX.
Sozomen on the Arians, 73.
Spulatino, the Pope's letter to, 139.
Spiration described, 298.
Splendour creates envy, 126.
St. Athanasius's creed, 475.
St. Augustine's exertions in science,
149.
St. Augustine, 364, 366, 464.
St. Basil's mode or' lite, 148.
St. Benedict's mode of life, 148.
St, Bernard, his exclamation, 78, 91,
J 65. His works, 149. Censure of the
monks, 165.
St. Clement's letter to the Corinthians,
45. l'irst decretal attributed to, 49.
St. Cyprian on the authority of bi-
shops, 17. P'pist. 44.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 370.
St. Epiphanius, 371.
St. Francis, the order of, 159. His
establishment of the order, 169.
St. Ignatius, schism on his deposition,
40.
St, Ircnmis his declaration, 45.
St. Jerome, on the bishop's authority,
17. On holy water, 366, 371.
St. Lazarus, congregation of, 161.
St. Paul on purgatory, 364. On mar-
riage, 368. Church, 240.
St. Peter, his residence at Rome, 8.
On purgatory, 364.
St. Peter's Church, funds for building,
135.
St. Silvester, 400.
St. Sulpicius, congregation of, 161.
St. Thomas's works, 149. Christiana
of 251.
St. Vincent's rule, 156, 439, 454.
State, union of Church and, 62. In-
fluence on religious doctrines, 131.
Congregation of, 419.
Statement of the Penal Laws, which
aggrieve the Catholics of Ireland, 14,
and Appendix.
Steele's, Sir R. Account of the State
of the Roman Catholic Religion, 267.
Stephenson's Romish Church, 15.
Stole, the bishop's,; 385.
Stone, Kev. F. his case, 218, 267.
Slruda, 158.
Sturges, Dr. Reflections on Popov,
100, 107, 131, 439, 441.
Succession of pontiffs, importance of
ascertaining, 10.
Supremacy of the Pope, 22, 47, 266,
331. Of the King, 267.
Swedenborg, Baron, Works, 133.
Swcdeuborgians, 299.
Switzerland, creed of Zuinglius in, 222.
Sylvester, his sanction of the Council
of Mice, 75.
Symbols, the dress of the clergy, 386
Synod of Dort, 268.
Syrian church, 251.
T.
Tarobana, Isle of Christians, 251.
Templars, Knights, 79, 82.
Temple, Sir W. on the religion of
Holland, 229.
Temples destroyed by Constantine,34.
Test of Catholic faith, 156.
Tetzel's ill use of the sale of indul-
gences, 135, 138.
Thuinnaturgus, Bishop, canons of, 17.
Theatines, order of, 161.
Theodoret on heresies, 8. On Holy
water, 371.
Theodosius, Emperor, his embassy to
Pope Damascus, 43.
Theology, syllogistic mode of teach-
ing, 153. How influenced by the Re-
formation, 245.
Thomists, their debates with Scotists.
153.
Throckmorton, Sir John, Bart., 438. ;
Thuanus, 83.
Tierce^m the Mass, 385.
Tillotson, Archbishop, 264, 451.
Time, picture of, 350.
Titles given to the scholiasts, 157.
Priests Cardinalls, 406.
Toleration Act. 217.
Tradition, Catholic doctrine of, 303,
361.
Translation of Bishops, 405-
Transubslantiution, 310.
Trinity, Of the Mystery of the Bless-
ed, 295. And Unity of God, ib.
Churches denying the, 299.
Troy's, Dr. Pastoral Letter, 453.
Truth advancing to meridian splen
dour, 261.
U.
Unction, Extreme, 269, 307.
Unity of God, 295.
Universal Bishop, title of, 16, 29.
Universities, when seats of learning
first so called, 152. Opinions of Fo-
reign Catholic, 345.
University of Paris, influence in the
Church, 87.
Urban VI., his attempts at Reform,
82.
Urbino, war of, 123.
V.
Vandalism seemingly encouraged by
the Church, 171.
Vicars of the church, sovereigns
styled, 58.
Vida, 158.
Vincent, one of the deputies of th<:
Roman bishops to Mice, 76.
INDEX.
547
) "mccni of the missions, congregation
of, 161.
Vincent of Lerins, 156, 459, 454.
Vindication of the Roman Catholics,
333.
Ho, Tomaso de, Luther's conference
with, 179.
J irgin Mary, on supplicating her,
352, 393.
Vision of Constantine, 30.
T<7u> one of the deputies of the bishop
of Rome to Nice, 76.
W.
Watch's Lives of the Popes, 210.
Wake's, Dr., Authority of Christian
Princes, 75.
Wakefield's Account of Ireland, 438.
Warnings of Scripture, 104.
ll'artzburg, castle, Luther's retreat,
218.
Water, holy, 370. Congregation of,
421.
Well-wisher to his Country, Ins View
of Catholic Principles, 274.
Wesley's Letter and Defence of the
Protestant Association, 5. Sermons,
133. Letter concerning the civil prin-
ciples of Roman Catholics, 461.
West, Empire of the, 41.
Whiston's observation to Halley, 226.
Whitgift's, Archbishop, Tract, 255.
Wickliffe, 183, 456, 460.
Wilson's History and Antiquities of
Dissenting Churches, 433.
Witches, 466.
Wittemberg, Luther's propositions at,
177.
Woodhead's Guide in Controversies.
255.
Worms, Diet of, 212.
Worship, methods of, 263.
Wren, Sir Christopher, 238.
Wright's Apologv for Servetus, 211.
449. Y.
Yonker, George, assumed name of Lu-
ther, 219. Z.
Zeal of Luther, a chief cause of the
reformation, 140.
Zuinglius, Switzerland embraced the
creed of, 222.
K* The reader will observe, that the foregoing Index, which was
compiled by a friend, contains a distinct reference to the various au-
thorities which I have consulted in the composition of this work ;
that my materials being known, at once, the fallacy or the faithful-
ness of my statements might be more readily discovered.
ERRATA.
Page Line
Ji), l t for Constantinoplitan read Constautinopolitau
3i>, 3, — Besancou, read Besancon
fi2, Note * dele the two last lines
67, Note* 3, for Colixtus read C'alixtus
92, 18, — Frencesco read Francesco
124, 9, — Macenas read Miecenas
180, Note* 2, dele been
233, 20, for whatever read whatsoever
2tJ9, 5, from the bottom, lor Iwrrible read horribilc
2g'!, l.for Cathechisms read Catechisms
32(i, Note * 2, from the bottom, for hum read burnt
344, C, from th'j bottom, for Do way read Pouay
380, Notet a, for Gaudolphy read Gandolphy,
390, 8, — kisses read kiss his
393, 2, — him read himself.
400, 1", — annimarum read animarum
405, JO, from the bottom, after tlic read year
407, 18. for commendum read >:ominc>tdam
4'io, 2, — Chember read Chamber
4'lo\ Note * 2, from the bottom, for in length at read at length in
VMJ, 9, after chain read of
414, 5, for prosecute read persecute
449, 7, after free-will, read and
450, 18, for Bullenger read Bullinger
472, 6 from the bottom, for beral read liberal
478. Note* 16, forparliment read parliament
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