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LECT U R E S 
 
 ON 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 an ESSAY on 
 
 CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE AND SELF-DENIAL: 
 
 BY XKfe LATE 
 
 GEORGE CAMPBELL, D.D. 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF MARISCHAL COLLEGE, ABERDEEN. 
 
 WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF 
 
 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THE AUTHOR. 
 By the Rev. GEORGE SKENE KEITH, 
 
 KEITH HALL, ABERDEENSHIRE, 
 
 — — »o»o^eooo<=- 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUl/s CHURCH-YARD, 
 
 AND A. BROWN, ABERDEEN, 
 
 • BYE AND LAW, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, CLSaKENWELU 
 
 1800. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/lecturesoneccles02camp 
 
LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 
 
 «U»4«$3Es£.#< 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 JL HE subject of the present lecture is remarks 
 on the origin, the nature, and the consequences 
 of the controversies, that, in the early ages, arose 
 in the church, and on the methods that were 
 taken to terminate them by diocesan synods, and 
 ecumenical councils. Though this may, at first 
 sight, appear a digression from the examination 
 of the Roman policy, exercised in raising the 
 wonderful fabric of spiritual tyranny, yet, on a 
 nearer view, it will be found to be intimately 
 connected with that policy, insomuch, that the 
 progress of the latter is, without a competent 
 knowledge of the former, scarcely intelligible. 
 
 I observed, in my last prelection, that for 
 several centuries almost all our theological dis- 
 
 vol. ii. B putes 
 
2 LECTURES ON 
 
 putes originated among the Greeks : that to this 
 sort of exereitation their national character, their 
 education, and early habits, conspired to inure 
 them. They spoke a language which was both 
 copious and ductile to an amazing degree. Let 
 me add, that the people in general, especially 
 since they had been brought under a foreign 
 yoke, were become extremely adulatory in their 
 manner of address, abounding in titles and com- 
 plimental appellations. To this their native 
 speech may be said, in some respect, to have 
 contributed, by the facility wherewith it supplied 
 them with compound epithets, suited to almost 
 every possible occasion, and expressive of almost 
 every possible combination of circumstances. 
 This peculiarity, in the genius of their tongue, 
 gratified also their taste both for variety and for 
 novelty ; for they w r ere thereby enabled to form 
 new compositions from words in use, almost 
 without end ; and when they formed them ana- 
 logically, were not liable to the charge of bar- 
 barism. 
 
 Hence sprang up the many nattering titles 
 they gave to their saints and clergy, Itpopetflvp, 
 
 hcoyy%os> rp ktu p.® 3 , r^o-juaxafi©^ T^KTjW.a/.a^irof, 
 TpiVfjAyizoc, u£,to[j(,aiLapir© J j §to<pi'hot; ) SiocpopQf) S'soJV- 
 o«x](^- > > S"£oxp£7T£ra]o?, Stop/.p.xecpis'olxlos, p^p«roipjXoj' > 
 PCPifopop^, xjp iT, '* iy ^ ( &i an d a thousand others. - 
 The same mode of adulation they introduced 
 
 into 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 3 
 
 into their public worship ; for though no terms 
 can exceed, or even equal, the majesty and 
 perfections of the Supreme Being, the practice 
 of loading their addresses with such epithets, be- 
 trayed but too evidently their tendency to think 
 God such a one as themselves, to be gained by 
 fair speeches and pompous titles : for it is a com- 
 mon and just observation, that they are the 
 greatest flatterers who love most to be flattered. 
 An exuberance of inadequate and vain words 
 does but injure the simplicity and the dignity of 
 worship. In their explanations of the mysteries, 
 as they were called, and in their encomiums on 
 the saints, they abounded in such terms, and 
 were ever exercising their invention in coining 
 new ones. 
 
 The genius of the Latin tongue, on the con- 
 trary, did not admit this freedom ; nor had the 
 people, who spoke it, to do them justice, so much 
 levity and vanity as to give them the like pro- 
 pension. What they afterwards contracted of 
 this disposition, they derived solely from their 
 intercourse with the Greeks, and the translation 
 of their writings. Indeed, in their versions from 
 the Greek, as the translator was often obliged, 
 in order to express in Latin such compound epi- 
 thets, to recur either to circumlocution, or to 
 some composition, which the analogy of the lan- 
 guage could hardly bear, those things appeared 
 • B 2 awkward 
 
4 ifxfuRr.s osr 
 
 awkward and stiff in a Latin dress, which in 2 
 Grecian habit moved easily and agreeably. 
 
 Now several of the early disputes, it may be 
 remarked, took their rise from the affectation of 
 employing these high-sounding titles. Hence,, 
 in a great measure, the noise that was raised 
 
 about the terms o/y.og<n©-> ) c/y.oiacn©^ \>Trod]oi(ric y 
 
 v7rorct\ix<§r y Stojoxos, ^«ro]«xof, when first intro- 
 duced into their theology. To these terms the 
 Latins had no single words properly correspond? 
 ing. Augustin, erne of the most eminent of the 
 Latin fathers, seems to have been so sensible of 
 this defect in discoursing on the trinity, (L. v. 
 c. 9,) that he apologizes for his language, and 
 considers the expressions he employs, as only 
 preferable to a total silence on the subject, but 
 not as equally adapted with the Greek. " Dic- 
 V turn est," says he, " tres persona?, non ut illud 
 " diceretur, sed ne taceretur. " The truth is, so 
 little do the Greek terms, and the Latin, on this 
 subject, correspond, that if you regard the ordi- 
 nary significations of the words, (and I know not 
 whence else we should get a meaning to them) 
 the doctrine of the east was one, and that of the 
 west was another, on this article. In the east it 
 was one essence and three substances, ptx no-ix, 
 rj9E»f uVor««i? ; in the west it was one substance 
 and three persons, " una substantia, tres personam ,? 
 The phrases t/u« tt^ccttcc, in Greek, trts substan- 
 tia', 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 5 
 
 titf, in Latin, would both, I imagine, have been 
 exposed to the charge of tritheism. But which 
 of the two, the Greek or the Latin phraseology, 
 was most suited to the truth of the case, is a 
 question I will not take upon me to determine. 
 I shall only say of August in 's apology, that it is 
 a very odd one, and seems to imply, that on sub- 
 jects above our comprehension, and to which all 
 human elocution is inadequate, it is better to 
 speak nonsense than be silent. It were to be 
 wished, that on topics so sublime, men had 
 thought proper to confine themselves to the 
 simple but majestic diction of the sacred scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 It was then the extravagant humour of these 
 fanciful and prating orientals, assisted by their 
 native idiom, which produced many of the new 
 fangled and questionable terms I have been 
 speaking of; the terms produced the controver- 
 sies ; and these, in return, gave such consequence 
 to the terms that gave them birth, and created so 
 Tiolent an attachment in the party that favoured 
 them, that people could not persuade themselves 
 that it was possible, that the doctrine of the gos- 
 pel should subsist, and be understood or con- 
 veyed by any body without them. Men never 
 seemed to reflect, that the gospel had been both 
 better taught and better understood, as well as 
 better practised, long before this fantastic dress, 
 B 3 borrowed 
 
O LECTURES ON 
 
 borrowed from the schools of the sophists, was 
 devised and adapted to it. However, the conse- 
 quence which these disputes- gave to the Greek 
 terms, occasioned an imitation of them in the 
 less pliant language of the occidentals. Hence 
 these barbarisms, or at least un classic words, in 
 Latin, essentialis, substantialis, consubstantialis, 
 Chrisupara, Deipara, and several others of the 
 same stamp, to be found in the writings of the 
 ecclesiastic authors of the fifth and following 
 centuries. All those subtle questions, which so 
 long distracted and disgraced the church, would 
 then, we may well believe, both from the cha- 
 racter of the people, and from the genius of the 
 tongue, much more readily originate, as history 
 informs us that they did, among the Greeks than 
 anions; the Latins. Indeed the latter were often, 
 slower than we should have expected in coming 
 into the dispute. For this we may justly assign, 
 as one principal reason, the general ignorance of 
 the Latins at that time. Letters had, long be "ore 
 Constantine, been in their decline at Rome ; in- 
 somuch, that at the period I allude to, when those 
 controversies were most hotly agitated, the greater 
 part, even of men in respectable stations, under- 
 stood no tongue but their own. If they had stu- 
 died any other, doubtless it would have been 
 Greek, which was become the language of the 
 imperial court now at Constantinople ; and not 
 
 only 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ' 7 
 
 only of Greece itself, but of almost all the east, 
 particularly of all the men of rank and letters in 
 Asia, Syria, and Egypt. And if even Greek was 
 little understood in Rome, we may safely con- 
 clude, that other languages were hardly known 
 at all. 
 
 Yet that it was very little known in the fifth 
 century, in the time of pope Celestine, when thp 
 controversy betwixt Cyril and Nestorius broke 
 out, is evident from this single circumstance : 
 When Nestorius wrote to the pope, sending him 
 an account of the contest, together with a copy 
 of his homilies, containing his doctrine on the 
 point in question, all -in Greek, his mother 
 tongue ; not only was the pontiff himself igno- 
 rant of that language, but, it would seem, all 
 the Roman clergy, consisting of many hundreds, 
 knew no more of it than he. And, though we 
 cannot suppose, that there were not then many 
 in Rome who understood Greek, yet there seem 
 to have been none of that consideration, that the 
 pope could decently employ them in a business 
 of so great consequence. Accordingly, he was 
 obliged to send the whole writings to Cassian, a 
 man of learning, a native of Thrace, who then 
 resided at Marseilles in Gaul, to be translated by 
 him into Latin. This delay gave Cyril no small 
 advantage ; for though he wrote to the pope 
 after Nestorius, yet knowing better, it would 
 B 4 seem, 
 
$ LECTURES OX 
 
 seem, the low state of literature at that time in 
 Rome, he prudently employed the Latin tongue, 
 in giving his representation of the affair ; and, 
 in this way, produced a prepossession in the mind 
 of the pontiff* which it was impossible for Nesto- 
 rius afterwards to remove. 
 
 Perhaps, too, it may have contributed to make 
 the Latins less disposed, at first, to enter with 
 warmth into the controversies which sprang up, 
 that the terms whereby the Greek words, on both 
 sides of the question, were latinized, rather than 
 translated, appeared so uncouth and barbarous, 
 that they, had little inclination to adopt them. 
 But when time had familiarized their ears to them, 
 we find they could enter into the subject as pas- 
 sionately as the Greeks. 
 
 When controversies once were started, the 
 natural vanity of the disputants, together with 
 the conceived importance of the subject, as re- 
 lating to religion, (an importance which every 
 one, in proportion to the resentment contracted 
 from the contradiction lie had met with, was 
 disposed to magnify) inilamed their zeal, and 
 raised a violence in the parties which the world 
 had never witnessed before. In whatever corner 
 of Christendom the controversy originated, the 
 flame came by degrees to spread throughout the 
 whole, so that the Latin as well as the Greek 
 churches never failed, sooner or later, to be m- 
 
 yolveil 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. <? 
 
 volved in the dispute. As the former, however, 
 for the reasons above-mentioned, came almost 
 always last into the contest, they had previous 
 opportunity of knowing both on what side those 
 who, for learning*, parts, and piety, had attained 
 the highest reputation, declared themselves, and 
 to what side the people generally swayed. With 
 these advantages, the Latins, though less intelli- 
 gent in philological and metaphysical disputes, 
 yet being more united among themselves, a con- 
 sequence, in a great measure, of their ignorance, 
 which made them more implicit followers, (these 
 I say) when they did declare in favour of a side, 
 commonly, by their number, decided the ques- 
 tion, thereby ascertaining what was orthodox, and 
 what was not. 
 
 It may also account in part for their greater 
 unanimity, that they had fewer leaders. There 
 were several eminent sees in the east, which were 
 a sort of rivals to one another, for not to mention 
 the exarchal sees of Ephesus and Cesarea, there- 
 were the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, 
 and Constantinople, each considerable enough to 
 be a check upon the rest. In the west, there 
 was no see whatever that could cope with Rome. 
 But it must be owned, that there was not only a 
 closer union, but in general more steadiness, 
 among the Latins, than among their rivals, the 
 Greeks. This may be accounted for partly from 
 
 the 
 
10 LECTURES ON 
 
 the same causes, partly from the difference of 
 national character. The Romans were as remark- 
 able for their gravity, as the Greeks for their 
 levity. Indeed, the Roman pontiffs, who were 
 the chief leaders in the west, did not often re- 
 nounce a cause, in favour of which they had 
 once declared themselves. I say they did not 
 often ; for that they acted this part sometimes, 
 is unquestionable. However far, therefore, this 
 argument may go, in support of the policy of 
 Rome, it cannot be urged in support of her in- 
 fallibility, as it admits several glaring exceptions. 
 Nothing is more notorious. than Rome's desertion 
 of the side which she had long maintained, on 
 the ridiculous question about the three chapters : 
 in regard to which, pope Vigilius, as is observed 
 by Maimburg *, shifted sides no fewer than four 
 times. It is well known, that pope Honorius 
 was, after his death, by a council holden at Con- 
 stantinople, towards the end of the seventh cen- 
 tury, commonly called the sixth general council, 
 condemned as a heretic, and an organ of the 
 devil, for holding the doctrine of the Monothe- 
 lites. To this judgment the then reigning pope 
 Agatho consented, not only by his legates, but 
 by the- reception and approbation he gave to the 
 decrees of that assembly. Also Leo the second, 
 
 * Traite Kibtoritpe de 1'Eelise de Rome, chap, vli. 
 
 Agatho's 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. II 
 
 Agatho's successor, declared his concurrence in 
 the anathema pronounced by the council against 
 pope Honorius. 
 
 Were it necessary to produce an instance of 
 change in the same pontiff, beside Virgilius above 
 mentioned, Liberius furnishes a most apposite 
 example. This pope, about the middle of the 
 fourth century, when the Arian controversy was 
 at its heigh th, intimidated by the power of the 
 reigning emperor Constantius, whom he knew to 
 be a zealous disciple of Alius, declared publicly 
 in favour of that party, and excommunicated 
 Athanasius, whom all the orthodox regarded as 
 the patron and defender of the catholic cause. 
 This sentence he soon after revoked , and after 
 revoking it, his legates, at the council of Aries, 
 overawed by the emperor, concurred with the 
 rest in signing the condemnation of Athanasius, 
 yielding, as they expressed it, to the troublesome 
 times. Afterwards, indeed, Liberius was so far 
 a confessor in the cause of orthodoxy, that he 
 underwent a long and severe banishment, rather 
 than lend his aid and countenance to the. mea- 
 sures which the emperor pursued for establishing 
 arianism throughout the empire. But however 
 firm and undaunted the pope appeared for a time, 
 he had not the magnanimity to persevere, but 
 was at length, in order to recover his freedom, 
 |his country, and his bishopric, induced to retract 
 
 his 
 
!$ LECTURES ON" 
 
 his retractation, to sign a second time the con- 
 demnation of Athanasius, and to embrace the 
 Arian symbol of Sinnium. Not satisfied with 
 this, he even wrote to the Arian bishops of the 
 east, excusing his former defence of Athanasius, 
 imputing it to an excessive regard for the senti- 
 ments of his predecessor Julius ; and declaring, 
 that now, since it had pleased God to open Iris . 
 eyes, and show him how justly the heretic Atha- 
 nasius had been condemned, he separated him- 
 self from his communion, and cordially joined 
 their holinesses, (so he styled the Arian bishops) 
 in supporting the true faith. Before he returned 
 from exile, meeting with the emperor, who was 
 by- this time turned semiarian, the pliant pontiff, 
 impatient to be again in possession of his see, 
 was induced to change anew, and subscribe the 
 sem iarian confession. 
 
 This apostacy of Liberals, 'which has given 
 infinite plague to the prostitute pens employed 
 in support of papal usurpations, whose venal ta- 
 lents are ever ready for the dirty work of defend- 
 ing every absurdity, that can gratify the views of 
 their superiours, this, which in their hands has 
 proved a . copious source of sophistry, chicane, 
 and nonsense, whilst, as Bower well expresses it, 
 like men struggling for life in deep water, and 
 catching at every twig, they flounce in vain from 
 quibble to q nibble, and from one subterfuge to 
 
 another ; 
 Q 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL BISTORT". U 
 
 another ; this apostacy, I say, was acknowledged 
 and lamented by all the contemporary fathers, 
 who take occasion to mention these transactions, 
 even by those who have since been canonized, 
 and are, at this day, worshipped in the Romish 
 church, as saints of the first magnitude. A 
 nlain proof, that the plea of infallibility had not 
 then been heard of. Jerom, Athanasius, Ilila- 
 riusj all in one voice, accuse this pope of giving 
 the sanction of his name to heresy. The last 
 of these, St. liilarius, cannot refrain, when lie 
 mentions him, from anathematizing him, and all 
 his perfidious adherents. All the ancient histo- 
 rians concur, in like manner, in attesting, that 
 he apostatized from the faith. 
 
 Moreover, the same Liberius afterwards ad- 
 mitted to his communion, being, probably, igno- 
 rant of their sentiments, the Macedcftiians, who 
 denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit Last of 
 all, after the dVith of the Arian emperor, and 
 the accession of Julian, commonly called the 
 apostate, who, though not a christian, professed 
 to be a friend to toleration, the venerable, the 
 infallible head of the church universal, as the 
 partizans of Rome now denominate their pontiff* 
 mad« one change more, and returned to or- 
 thodoxy. 
 
 To give but one instance more, pope John thc 
 twenty-second. in two sermons, (for even so low 
 
 as 
 
14 LECTURES OS" 
 
 as the fourteenth century, popes sometimes 
 preached) maintained, that the saints departed 
 are not admitted to the beatific vision till after 
 the resurrection. This doctrine gave great and 
 general offence. One Wallis, an Englishman, 
 was the first who ventured to preach publicly 
 against it. This he did in Avignon itself, where 
 the pope then resided. Wallis, for his uncom- 
 mon audacity, was thrown into prison, and con- 
 demned to live on bread and water. Afterwards 
 the question was canvassed by several theolo- 
 gians of character, particularly ■ by those of the 
 university of Paris, with all the bishops and 
 abbots then in that metropolis, and also by a 
 synod assembled at Vinecnnes, who unanimously 
 condemned the pope's opinion as repugnant to 
 scripture, and heretical. Philip, the sixth king 
 ' of France, sent the pontiff an authentic copy 
 of this decision, signed by twenty-six eminent 
 divines, requiring his holiness to acquiesce in 
 their judgment, and (if cardinal d'Ailly maybe 
 credited) threatning, that in case he did not, he 
 would cause him to be burned for heresy. The 
 pope at first attempted to vindicate his doctrine, 
 but finding, soon after, that the dissatisfaction, 
 and even scandal, which it had given, "Were 
 almost universal, he was induced to declare, in 
 a public consistory, that he never intended to 
 support any tenet contrary to tlis scriptures and 
 
 the 
 9 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HTSTORY. lo 
 
 the catholic faith ; but that if he had inadver- 
 tently dropt any such thing in his sermons, he 
 retracted it. This, though not an acknowledg- 
 ment of his errour, was a plain acknowledgment 
 of his fallibility. In his last illness, however, a 
 few hours before his death, he made a public 
 and solemn retractation of his erroneous doc- 
 trine, in presence of all the cardinals and bishops 
 then at Avignon, called together on purpose, 
 declaring, that the saints departed were admitted 
 to the sight of God's essence, (such was the 
 jargon of the time) as soon as they were purged 
 from their sins ; and retracting whatever he had 
 said, preached, or written, to the contrary. His 
 successor, Benedict the twelfth, that his own 
 orthodoxy might not be suspected, took an early 
 opportunity of preaching on the beatific vision^. 
 and, in his sermon, showed his sentiments to be* 
 the reverse of those which had given so much 
 scandal in his predecessor. Not satisfied with 
 this, he caused the point to be discussed in a 
 consistory, to which he invited all who had 
 adopted pope John's opinion, that they might 
 produce what they had to offer in its defence 
 Afterwards he published a constitution, wherein, 
 without naming his predecessor, he expressly 
 condemned his doctrine, commanding all to be 
 prosecuted as heretics, who should thenceforth 
 obstinately maintain or teach it. I might pro- 
 duce 
 
16 LECTURES 0& 
 
 duce another instance from the same pope John, 
 who maintained, in a decretal, that the Fran* 
 ciscan friars had property, in direct contradiction 
 to a decretal of his predecessor Nicolas the 
 fourth, affirming, with other popes, that they 
 had none, and was not less zealous for the side 
 he took in this profound controversy than if the 
 whole of Christianity had depended on it ; com- 
 manding' the inquisitors to extirpate, by all pos- 
 sible means, the contrary, pestilential, erroneous, 
 heretical, and blasphemous doctrine. 
 
 But to return to our subject, it is certain that 
 the bishops of Rome cannot be accused of having 
 often acted so weak a part as pope Liberius, 
 pope Vigilius, or pope John. Besides the case 
 of the first, and that of the church, in his time, 
 were particular. Heterodoxy had then a power- 
 ful and bigotted prince for its protector, who 
 stuck at no means by which he could accomplish 
 the extirpation of the faith of Nice, and the 
 establishment of Arianism in every part of his 
 dominions ; and, in fact, what with persuasion, 
 what with compulsion, the defection was become 
 universal, insomuch, that before the death of 
 that violent antitrinitarian persecutor, there was, 
 in the whole church, but one orthodox bishop 
 who kept possession of his see, Gregory of El* 
 vira, in Andalusia. However justly, therefore, 
 the versatility of Liberius may be considered as 
 
 totally 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 17 
 
 totally subversive of the plea of infallibility, it 
 does not invalidate what has been said in regard 
 to the profound policy and address generally 
 maintained by that watchful power. The case 
 of Vigilins Avas, in some respects, similar. 
 
 We have seen with what steadiness, and at 
 how great a risk, the re-union of the eastern 
 church and the western was so effected as to 
 give a very considerable ascendancy to the latter, 
 which she had never enjoyed before. The man- 
 ner of conducting the measure did but too 
 manifestly show, that it was a matter of no con- 
 sequence to her, whether the Greeks were or- 
 thodox or heterodox, whilst they continued in- 
 dependent of her authority, and did not dread 
 her displeasure. These, at least the greater part 
 of their doctors, were a race of quibbling so- 
 phists, engrossed with the imaginary importance 
 of their unintelligible speculations, and futile 
 disquisitions, who did not conceive a nobler ob- 
 ject of their pursuit, than that their particular 
 explanations and phraseology should be adopted 
 into the svstem and language of the church. 
 
 Though the Greeks taken together were, in 
 all literary matters, an overmatch for the Latins, 
 yet, as the latter kept pretty close united, whilst 
 the former were split into parties, eternally dis- 
 puting and squabbling, the Latins derived hence 
 an inconceivable advantage. For however much 
 
 vol* vii. C the 
 
18 lectures era 
 
 the Greeks in general affected to despise tliett* 
 as rude and illiterate, compared with themselves, 
 no sooner did they take a side in any controversy, 
 than they were sure to gain over that party of 
 the Greeks whose side they took ; the general 
 i-ivaiship between Greeks and Latins was swal- 
 lowed up in the love of victory, so- natural to 
 professed combatants, and in the particular 
 emulation that each entertained against a hated 
 antagonist in the controversy. Thoogh both 
 nations were greatly degenerated froth what they 
 had been in the Augustan age, the vestiges of 
 their original and respective national characters,. 
 as described by the prince of Latin poets, were- 
 stiil discernible : 
 
 Excudent alii spirantia moHiuS a?ra : 
 
 Credo equiuem : vivos ducent tie marmore vultus .*: 
 
 Grabunt causas melius : coeliuue meatus 
 
 Describent radio, et surgeatia sidera diccat. 
 
 Tu regere imperio populos, Romanc, memento, 
 
 (I la? tibi erunt artes) paciuue imponere morem • 
 
 JParcere subjectis, et debellare superbos. 
 
 JEx.. L G.. 
 
 That the Romans, by their valour, their public 
 virtue, and their immense superiority in the mt' 
 of war, should have raised an empire over the; 
 undisciplined su rounding nations, who were all,. : 
 except the Greeks, so much their inferiours in 
 every thing but animaL courage and brute force, 
 
liCCLESIxYSTtCAL HISTORY. 1& 
 
 is not so very astonishing, as to a careless eye it 
 may at first appear. But that after their extraor- 
 dinary success had enriched them with the spoils 
 of all nations ; after their riches had introduced 
 luxury, effeminacy, and indolence ; after they 
 had, by their vices, become, in their turn, a pre)^ 
 to the barbarians they had formerly subdued ; 
 after the empire came to be torn to pieces by 
 Goths, Vandals, Huns, and Lombards; when 
 the sun of science was now set, and the night of 
 ignorance, superstition, and barbarism, was fast 
 advancing ; that out of the ruins of every thing 
 great and venerable, there should spring a new 
 species of despotism never heard of, or imagined 
 before, whose means of conquest and defence 
 were neither swords nor spears, fortifications, nor 
 warlike engines, but definitions and canons, so- 
 phisms and imprecations, and that by such 
 weapons, as by a kind of magic, there should 
 actually be reared a second universal monarchy, 
 the most formidable the world ever knew, will., 
 to latest ages, afford matter of astonishment to 
 every judicious inquirer; 
 
 Of the numerous controversies wherewith the 
 church was, for several ages, pestered, some re- 
 lated only to things ceremonial. Of this sort 
 was the contention about the time of the ob- 
 servance of Easter, which, so early as the second 
 century, raised a flame in the church. Others, 
 C 2 doubtless, 
 
20 LECTURES ON 
 
 doubtless, concerned essential articles in the 
 christian theology. Such were the Arian con- 
 troversy and the Pelagian. Whether Jesus Christ 
 was a divine person, arid existed from eternity, 
 or a mere creature, and had a beginning ; whe- 
 ther by grace in scripture we are to understand 
 advantages with regard to us properly external, 
 such as the remission of sins, the revelation of 
 God's will by his Son, the benefit of the exam- 
 ples of Christ and his apostles, the promises of 
 the gospel, and the gifts of Providence, or 
 whether we ought also to comprehend, under 
 that name, as tilings equally real, certain in- 
 ternal benefits conferred on the mind by the in- 
 visible operation of the Holy Spirit; are momen- 
 tous questions, which nearly affect the substance 
 of christian doctrine. 
 
 But from this fund many other questions may, 
 by men more curious than wise, be easily started, 
 which no modest man will think himself capable 
 of answering, and no pious man will think it his 
 duty to pry into. Such are some of those that 
 have been moved in regard to the manner of the 
 spirit's operation, in regard to the generation of 
 the second person of the trinity, and the pro- 
 cession of the third. To this class may be 
 added, those impertinent inquiries which have 
 sometimes produced as great a ferment as the 
 most momentous would have done. Of this sort 
 
 is 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HLSTORY. 21 
 
 is the question concerning the natural corrupti- 
 bility of the body of Christ, and that about the 
 palpability of the bodies of the saints after the 
 resurrection. 
 
 There is a fourth set of questions, which are 
 mere logomachies, in regard to which the dif- 
 ferent combatants have either no fixed meaning 
 to the words they employ, or mean precisely the 
 same thing under different expressions. In this 
 last case, the controversy is either absolutely 
 nonsensical, or purely verbal. Nor has this 
 been the least fruitful source of contention in 
 the church. What could be a more flagrant 
 example of this than the question which created, 
 in the time of pope Hormisdas and some of his 
 successors, so much animosity and strife ? The 
 point was, whether we ought to say, " One of 
 " the trinity suffered in the flesh," or, " One 
 " person of the trinity suffered in the flesh." 
 On this pretty puzzle there were four different 
 opinions. One set approved both expressions, a 
 second condemned both, a third maintained the 
 former expression to be orthodox, the latter 
 heterodox, and a fourth affirmed the reverse. 
 In this squabble, emperors, popes, and patri- 
 archs, engaged with great fury. The then 
 reigning emperor Justinian was as mere a dotard 
 on all the sophistical trash then in vogue among 
 the theologians, as any scholastic recluse, who . 
 C 3 had 
 
22 LECTURXS ON 
 
 had been inured to wrangling from his cradle, 
 and had nothing else to mind. Luckily, how* 
 ever, no council was convened to discuss the 
 point, and give it sufficient importance. In 
 Consequence of this cruel neglect it died away. 
 
 The dispute with Nestorius, though equally 
 frivolous, being treated differently, took deeper 
 root. The point in debate at first was, Whether 
 the Virgin Mary might be denominated more pro- 
 perly the mother of God, or the mother of him 
 that is God? It is plain, that there could not 
 arise a question which might be more justly said 
 to turn merely on grammatical propriety. Both 
 sides admitted, that Jesus Christ is God as well 
 as man ; both sides admitted, that his human 
 nature was born of the Virgin, and that his 
 divine nature existed from eternity; both sides 
 admitted the distinction between the two na- 
 tures, and their union in the person of Christ. 
 Where then lay the difference ? It could be no. 
 where but in phraseology. Yet this notable 
 question raised a conflagration in the church, 
 and proved, in the east, the source of infinite 
 mischief, hatred, violence, and persecution. It 
 is reported of Constantine Copronymus, in the 
 eighth century, that he one day asked the patri- 
 arch, " What harm would there be in calling 
 " the Virgin Mary the mother of Christ r n 
 God preserve your majesty, answered the patri- 
 arch, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. g$ 
 
 'arch, with great emotion, from entertaining such 
 a thought. Do you not sM how Nestojyus k 
 anathematized for this by the zohoic church? 
 M I only asked for my own information, " re- 
 plied the evnperor, " but let it go no farther." 
 A few eiflphsttcal strokes like this are enough to 
 make the people of that age appear to those of 
 the present as not many removes from idiocy. 
 Had Nestorius, whose correctness of taste (for 
 opinion is out of the question) made him sensible 
 •of the irreverence of an expression, whieh seemed 
 greatly to derogate from the divine majesty, and 
 tended manifestly to corrupt the religious senti- 
 ments of the vulgar, who are incapable of en- 
 tering into metaphysical distinctions; been but 
 a better politician, (for to do him justice, Rome 
 herself cannot accuse him of the most unclerical 
 bin of moderation) and, consequently, had he 
 been a more equal match for his adversary St. 
 Cyril, the decision of the church had infallibly 
 been the reverse of what it was, and we should 
 at this day find Cvriiianisni in the list of heresies, 
 and a St. Nestorius in the calendar of the beati- 
 1-icd. On such accidental circumstances it often 
 depended, whether a man should be deemed an 
 heresiarch or a saint, a devil or an angel. " I shall 
 " only remark/' says a modern Roman Catholic 
 author, (Richard Simon, not Father Simon of 
 the Oratory, Des ceremonies et coutumes des 
 C 4- chretieiis 
 
24 LECTURES ON 
 
 Chretiens orientaux, Ch. 7,) "that some might 
 " infer, that nestorianism is but a nominal 
 " heresy, and that if Nestorius and St. Cyril 
 " had understood one another, they might have 
 " reconciled their opinions, and prevented a 
 ■" great scandal in the church. But the Greeks 
 " were always keen disputants, and it was by 
 " them that most of the first heresies were 
 ." broached. Commonly their disputes consisted 
 " in a sort of metaphysical chicanery on ambi- 
 " guous phrases. Hence they drew inferences 
 " after their manner, and, from inferences, pro- 
 " ceeded to personal abuse, till the parties at 
 " last became irreconcileable enemies. Had 
 t ' they but coolly explained their thoughts, they 
 ." would have found that, in most cases, there 
 (i was no scope for the imputation of heresy on 
 " either side. This is what some allege to 
 V have happened in the affair of Nestorius and 
 " St. Cyril." True, indeed, Mr. Simon, and 
 for a specimen of their spirit and coolness, let. 
 us but hear the final judgment of the council of 
 Ephesus in this famous cause. " Our Lord 
 " Jesus Christ, against whom the most wicked . 
 " Nestorius lias levelled his blasphemies, de- 
 ff clares him, by the mouth of this council, de- 
 " prived of the episcopal dignity, and cut off 
 *'' from the communion of the episcopal order." 
 The note bearing this sentence was thus directed : 
 
 " To 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 25 
 
 " To Nestorius, a second Judas." In every 
 thing they were guided by Cyril, whom, in re- 
 spect of meekness, they might, with equal truth, 
 have denominated a second Moses. 
 
 Nobody is at a loss to perceive the opinion of 
 the French author above quoted in regard to 
 this affair. Yet we may observe in passing, in 
 what an indirect manner he is obliged to express 
 jt. Some might infer and some allege. And 
 no wonder that he should take this method of 
 suggesting a principle totally subversive of the 
 doctrine of the infallibility, wheresoever placed; 
 a -doctrine which now, among the learned of that 
 communion, seems to be regarded as purely of 
 the exoteric kind, that is, as proper, whether true 
 or false, to be inculcated on the people, as an 
 useful expedient in governing them. This 
 Frenchman's principle plainly subverts the pope's 
 pretensions ; for Celestine freely acceded to the 
 sentence, condemning Nestorius as a most pesti- 
 lent heretic. It subverts the pretensions of an 
 ecumenical council, which that of Ephesus, 
 however disorderly and tumultuous, has always 
 been acknowledged by the Romanists to be. It 
 subverts the pretensions of the church collec- 
 tively, which did, for many ages, universally 
 (the not very numerous sect of Nestorius only 
 excepted) receive the decrees of that synod. 
 This Ephesian council was one of the four, con- 
 cerning 
 
£6 LECTURES. 03J 
 
 reining which pope Gregory, who is also called 
 St. Gregory, and Gregory the Great, declared, 
 that he received them with as much veneration 
 as he did the four gospels. 
 
 Yet so little of consistency in speculations of 
 this sort is to be expected from either popes or 
 councils, that when so late as the pontificate of 
 Clement the eleventh, in the beginning of the 
 present century, some affected to style St. Ann 
 the grandmother of God, (no doubt, with the 
 pious view of conferring an infinite obligation 
 on hei) his holiness thought lit to suppress the, 
 title, as being, in his judgment, offensive to 
 pious ears. Yet it is impossible for one, without 
 naming Nestorius, to give a clearer decision in 
 his favour. For what is the meaning of grand- 
 mother ? Is it any more than saying, in one 
 word, what, motJiers mother, or fillicr'x mothn\ 
 <x presses in two? To say then of Ann, that 
 she was the mother of the mother of God, which 
 ?hey admit, and to say that she was God'* grand- 
 mother, whieh they reject, are absolutely the 
 same. The sole spring of offence is in the first 
 step ; if that be admitted, the propriety of such 
 expressions, as God's grandmother or grand- 
 father, uncle, aunt, or cousin, follows of course. 
 The second council of Nice, with greater con- 
 sistency, in quoting the epistle of .lames, do not 
 hesitate to style the writer (Jod',s brother, Kfi&s 
 
 T0\ 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 27 
 
 *r$t> cc&MpoStov lxaxfiov, are their very words. 
 Only from this more recent circumstance, we 
 may warrantably conclude, that if the phrase, 
 mother of God, had never been heard till the 
 time of Clement the eleventh, it had fared well 
 with the author, if he had not been pronounced 
 both a blasphemer and a heretic. What made 
 the case of Nestorius the harder was, that he 
 was, in no respect, the innovator. He was only 
 shocked at the innovations in language, if not 
 in sentiments, of the new-fangled phrases intro- 
 duced by others, such as this, of the mothtr of 
 God, and the eternal God was bom ; the impassible 
 suffered ; the immortal and only true God expired 
 in agonies. I have seen a small piece, called, if 
 I remember right, " Godly riddles," by the late 
 Mr. Ralph Erskine, one of the apostles and 
 founders of the Scotch secession, written pre- 
 cisely in the same taste. " There is nothing 
 " new," says Solomon, " under the sun." In 
 the most distant ages and remote countries, 
 kindred geniuses may be discovered, wherein 
 the same follies and absurdities, as well as vices, 
 spring up and flourish. To men of shallow un- 
 understandings, such theologic paradoxes afford 
 a pleasure not unlike that which is derived from 
 being present at the wonderful feats of jugglers. 
 In these, by mere slight of hand, one appears 
 to do what is impossible to be done; and in 
 
 those, 
 
28 LECTURES ON 
 
 those, by mere slight of tongue, (in which the 
 judgment has no part) an appearance of mean- 
 ing and consistency is given to terms the most 
 self contradictory, and the incredible seems to 
 be rendered worthy of belief. To set fools a 
 staring, is alike the aim of both. I shall only 
 observe, that of the two kinds of artifice, the 
 juggler's and the sophister's, the former is much 
 the more harmless. 
 
 To proceed; the contention that arose soon 
 after, on occasion of the doctrine of Eutyches, 
 appears to have been of the same stamp. The 
 whole difference terminated in this, that the one 
 side maintained, that Christ is of two natures, the 
 other, that he is o/'and in two natures, both agree- 
 ing, that in one person he is perfect God and per- 
 fect man. Yet this dispute was, if possible, con- 
 ducted with more fury and rancour than the for- 
 mer. Much need, in those days, had the rulers of 
 the church, who called themselves the followers 
 and ministers of the meek and humble Jesus, to 
 go and learn what this meaneth, (2 Tim. ii, 14,) 
 Charge them before the Lord, that they strive not 
 about words to no profit, hut to the subverting of 
 the hearers. They acted, on the contrary,, as if 
 they could not conceive another purpose for 
 which a revelation had been given them, but to 
 afford matter of endless wrangling, and to foster 
 all the most malignant passions of human na- 
 ture. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 2^ 
 
 ture. Had they so soon forgotten the many 
 warnings they had received from inspiration, of 
 the mischievous tendency of such a conduct, 
 that profane and vain babblings would increase 
 to more ungodliness, that their pitiful logoma- 
 chies, their oppositions of science, falsely so 
 called, their foolish and unedifying questions 
 and vain janglings, could only gender strife ? Is 
 it possible they could be so blind as not to see 
 their own character, as well as the consequences 
 of their conduct, so distinctly delineated in these 
 words of the apostle : If any man consent not to 
 wholesome words, practical and useful instruc- 
 tions, not idle speculations, even the words of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine that is 
 according to godliness ; he is proud, knowing no- 
 thing, but doating about questions and strifes of 
 words, whereof comet h envy, strife, railings, evil 
 surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt 
 minds, and destitute of the truth, who think that 
 gain is godliness ? Could they read these things 
 and not be struck with so bright a reflection as 
 they exhibited of their own image ? We must 
 think, that at that period, these things were but 
 little read, and less minded. i 
 
 From the fifth century downwards, it became 
 the mode, in ail their controversies, to refer to 
 the councils and fathers, in support of their 
 dogmas, and to take as little notice of sacred 
 
 writ, 
 4 
 
30 LECTURES 0!T 
 
 writ, as if it no way concerned the faith and 
 practice of a christian. But their despicable 
 and unmeaning quibbles (to say the truth) were 
 not more remote from the doctrine of the gospel, 
 than the methods whereby they supported their 
 dogmas were repugnant to the morals which it 
 inculcates. Let us hear the character given of 
 their councils, their procedure, and the erfects 
 produced by them, by a contemporary author, a 
 bishop too, who spoke from knowledge and expe- 
 rience. St. Gregory Nazianzen, writing to Pro- 
 copius, thus excuses his refusal to attend a synod, 
 at which his presence was expected : "To tell 
 <k you plainly, I am determined to fly all con- 
 " ventions of bishops ; for I never yet saw a 
 " council that ended happily. Instead of les- 
 *' sening, they invariably augment the mischief. 
 " The passion for victory, and the lust of 
 " power, (you'll perhaps think my freedom in* 
 " tolerable) are not to be described in words. 
 " One present as a judge, will much more 
 " readily catch the infection from others than 
 " be able to restrain it in them. For this reason 
 u I must conclude, that the only security of 
 " one's peace and virtue is in retirement." 
 Thus far Nazianzen. How a man, who, in the 
 fifth century, could talk so reasonably, and so 
 much like a christian, came to be sainted, is 
 not, indeed, so easily to be accounted for. 
 
 Oh 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 01 
 
 On the whole, when one seriously considers 
 the rage of dogmatizing, which, for some ages, 
 like a pestilential contagion, overspread the 
 church ; when one impartially examines the 
 greater part of the subjects, about which they 
 contended with so much vehemence, and their 
 manner of conducting the contest, especially in 
 those holy convocations, called synods, it is im- 
 possible not to entertain a low opinion of then- 
 judgment and abhorrence of their disposition. 
 At the same time, it is but doing them justice 
 to remark, that in cases wherein their imagina- 
 tions were not heated by controversy and party- 
 spirit, when they kept within their proper sphere, 
 the. making of regulations or canons for main- 
 taining order and discipline in the church, thev 
 did not often betray a want of judgment and 
 political capacity. On the contrary, they fre- 
 quently give ground of admiration to the con- 
 siderate, that the same persons should, in the 
 one character, appear no better than, sophisters 
 and qnibblers, fanatics and furies, and, in the 
 other, no less than prudent statesmen and wise 
 legislators.. 
 
 But it is time to return from this digression, 
 if it can be called a digression, about councils, 
 to the policy of Rome, and the means by which 
 she rose to the very pinnacle of worldly prospe- 
 rity and grandeur. I thought it of consequence 
 
 to 
 
 6 
 
32 LECTURES ON 
 
 to give in passing a slight sketch of the general 
 nature, and rise, and consequences of those dis- 
 putes, which constitute so essential a part of 
 ecclesiastical history. I shall,* in my next, pro- 
 ceed in tracing the causes and maxims which 
 contributed to the establishment of the Roman 
 hierarchy. 
 
 LEC- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 33 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 
 N my last discourse, I gave you a general 
 account of the nature, rise, and progress, of* 
 those controversies, which continued for many 
 ages to disturb the peace of the church, and 
 which were, in a great measure, the consequence 
 of a defection from the genuine spirit of the 
 gospel, from the primitive simplicity of its doc- 
 trine, and purity of its morals, and no less evi- 
 dently the cause of still greater corruptions, and 
 a more flagrant apostacy, though men still re- 
 tained the abused name of christian. I took 
 notice also, of the methods taken to terminate 
 those disputes by synods and councils, a remedy 
 which commonly proves worse than the disease; 
 rather, 1 should say, a prescription of that kind, 
 which, instead of curing, inflames the distemper, 
 and renders it epidemical ; nay, is often pro- 
 ductive of several others. The very convoking 
 of such numerous assemblies, from all the cor- 
 ners of the empire, for the discussion of such 
 senseless debates, as the greater part of them 
 manifestly were, gave, in the eye of the world, 
 a consequence to their logomachies, and drew 
 
 vol. ii. D an 
 
34 LECTURES ON 
 
 an attention to them, which it was impossible 
 they should ever otherwise have acquired. Be- 
 sides, the sophistry and alteicatione mployed by 
 both parties in the controversy naturally gave 
 birth to new questions, insomuch, that they 
 sprang up faster on every side, than it was in 
 their power to terminate them. What the poets 
 feigned of the hydra was here verified. By 
 lopping off one of the heads of the monster, 
 they gave rise at least to two others. " lieges 
 " ignari (says Le Clerc, Ars Crit. p. 2, s. % 
 c. 5,) " nee inter bonos principes numerandi, 
 " convocarunt Gra:culos, qui lingua? acuend« 
 " per totam vitam operam dederant, rerum ip- 
 -" sarum zgnaros, contendendi studiosos, perpe- 
 " tuis rixis inter se divisos; et bardos aliquot 
 (i homines ex occidente, rudiores quidem illis, 
 " sed non meliores ; iique post pudendas con- 
 Ci tentiones, obscurissima quaxlam dogmata, ver- 
 *f bis saepe parum aptis, auctoritate sua firmant; 
 •" quae stupidi populi sine examine adorent, 
 " quasi divinitus accepta. Non ficta me loqiu 
 " norunt qui synodorum historias legerunt ; nee 
 " certe vanus erat qui dixit : 
 
 Ov£i t» 178 <rvvoc?Qi<riii ofj.od'pouog s<r<roy* tyuiyt 
 
 Xrji/wj/ r\ ytpxi/uv axpflx {A.C6gva.[j.Z!/oov 
 Ef3"' sfug, ivStx y.oB'og ri >tj ou<ryj.ec xp\>7rloc ZFtxpoiB'iV 
 
 E»j hot, £u<ry,snwu ^oo^ov tx.yeipof4.in>:. 
 
 '"■ ftun- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 35 
 
 " Nunquam ego sedebo in synodis anserum aut 
 " gruum temere pugnantium. IlUc contentio, 
 " illic rixa, et probra antea latentia sasvorum 
 %t hominum in uimm locum collecta." I shall 
 make a supposition, which may at first appear 
 extravagant, but which will, I hope, on exami- 
 nation, be found intirely apposite to the case in 
 hand. Suppose that a single province in the 
 empire had been visited with the pestilence, and 
 that the distemper raged with so much violence, 
 that few in that neighbourhood escaped ; suppose 
 further, that the ruling powers had, in their 
 great wisdom, determined to summon, from all 
 the provinces infected and uninfected, the whole 
 medical tribe, physicians, surgeons, and apothe- 
 caries, sound and diseased indiscriminately, in 
 order to consult together, and fix upon the most 
 effectual method of extirpating the latent poison; 
 would it have been difficult to foresee the con- 
 sequences of a measure so extraordinary? The 
 diseased in that assembly would quickly com- 
 municate the infection to the sound, till the 
 whole convention, without exception, were in 
 the same wretched plight ; and when all should 
 be dispersed and sent home again, they would 
 return to their respective countries, breathing- 
 disease and death wherever they went ; so that 
 the malignant contagion which had, at first, 
 afflicted only a small part, would, by such 
 D 2 means. 
 
&>" t EC ? LUES Otf 
 
 means, be rendered universal, and those whtf 
 ought to have assisted in the cure of the people, 
 would have proved the principal instruments of 
 poisoning them. Exactly such a remedy were' 
 the decisions of councils, to the plague of 
 'Wrangling, at that time not less terrible, if its 
 consequences were duly weighed. 
 
 What an ecumenical council is, has never yet 
 been properly ascertained. If we are to under- 
 stand by it an assembly, wherein every indivi- 
 dual church is represented, there never yet was 
 such a council, and we may safely predict, never 
 will be. There Avas so much of independency, 
 in the primitive churches, before the time of 
 Constantine, that at first their provincial and 
 diocesan synods (for they had not then any 
 general councils) claimed no authority over their 
 absent members, or even over those present, 
 who had net consented to the acts of the majo- 
 rity. Thus they were, at first, more properly, 
 meetings for mutual consultation and advice, in 
 what concerned the spiritual conduct of their 
 flocks, than societies vested with legislative 
 powers, even over the members of their own 
 community. In proportion as the metropoli- 
 tans rose above the suffragans, and the patriarchs 
 above the metropolitans, the provincial synod, 
 in concurrence with the metropolitan, and the 
 6 . diocesan 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 37 
 
 diocesan- synod, in concurrence with the patri- 
 arch, acquired more authority and weight. 
 
 But when, after the establishment of Christi- 
 anity, ecumenical councils, or what, in a looser 
 way of speaking, were called so, were convoked 
 by the emperor, (which continued for ages to be 
 the practice in the church) if the patriarchs, or 
 exarchs themselves, were divided, as each was 
 commonly followed by the bishops of his diocese, 
 there was no one person of weight enough to 
 unite them. Sometimes, indeed, the' emperor, 
 when bigotted to a side, interfered in their de- 
 bates; and when he did, he rarely failed, by 
 some means or other, to procure a determina- 
 tion of the dispute in favour of his opinion. 
 But this, though commonly vindicated by those 
 who were, or who chose to be of the emperor's 
 opinion, was always considered by the losing 
 side as violent and uncanonical, notwithstand- 
 ing that his right to convene them was allowed 
 on all hands? However, as it never happened, 
 even in their most numerous councils, that every 
 province, nay, that every civil diocese, or exar- 
 chate, I might say, that every christian nation 
 had a representation in the assembly, so there 
 was not one of those conventions which could, 
 with strict propriety, be called ecumenical. With 
 those who were not satisfied with their decisions, 
 there were never wanting arguments, not only 
 D 3 specioiiSj 
 
38 LECTURES. Otf 
 
 specious, but solid, against their universality, 
 and, consequently, against their title to an uni- 
 versal submission. 
 
 Certain it is, that no party was ever convinced 
 of its errors by the decision of a council. If 
 the church came to an acquiescence, the acqui- 
 escence will be found to have been imputable 
 more to the introduction of the secular arm, 
 that is, of the emperor's authority, who some-! 
 times from principle, sometimes from policy, in- 
 terposed in church affairs, than to any deference 
 shown to the synodical decree. Accordingly, 
 when the imperial power was exerted in opposi- 
 tion to the council's determination, as was fk&* 
 quently the case, it was, to the full, as effectual 
 in making the council be universally rejected, 
 as, on other occasions, in making it be univer- 
 sally received. I may say further, that this 
 power was equally effectual in convoking coun- 
 cils to establish the reverse of what had been 
 established by former councils. In what passed 
 in relation both to the Arian and to the Euty- 
 chian controversies, and afterwards in those re- 
 garding the worship of images, these points are, 
 to every intelligent reader, as clear as day. 
 
 Indeed, the doctrine of the infallibility of 
 councils is, comparatively, but a novel conceit. 
 Those of the ancients, who paid the greatest 
 deference to their judgment, did not run into 
 
 this 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 39 
 
 this extravagance. What was St. Gregory Na- 
 zianzen's opinion of the matter, may be learnt 
 from the quotation I gave you from that author 
 in the preceding prelection. But the futility of 
 recurring to this method for terminating dis- 
 putes is what the whole christian world, Greek 
 and Latin, Protestant and Papist, seems now to 
 be sufficiently convinced of* insomuch, that 
 without the spirit of prophecy, one may venture 
 to foretel, that, unless there Ts a second dotage 
 which the church has yet to undergo, the coun- 
 cil of Trent, will remain the last under the name 
 of ecumenical, assembled for the purpose of 
 ascertaining articles of faith. 
 
 But to return to the steps and maxims by 
 which the papal power arose. I have already 
 mentioned two things very remarkable in the 
 Roman policy ; one is, the steadiness with which 
 they pursued a measure once adopted , the other, 
 the sacrifice they always made of every other 
 consideration to the advancement of their autho- 
 rity and grandeur. In the controversies that 
 sprang up, I have observed the advantages the 
 Latin church derived from the following circum- 
 stances, to wit, that they were commonly later 
 than the Greeks, in becoming acquainted with 
 the subject in debate, had much less of a con- 
 troversial genius, and were more united among 
 themselves. 
 
 D4 I* 
 
40 LECTURES ON 
 
 In many of the disputes, especially the earlier 
 disputes, we cannot say of one of the two oppo- 
 site tenets more than of the other, that it tended 
 to advance the hierarchy. Several of them, as 
 we have seen, were either mere verhai cavils, or 
 such jumbles of ill-adapted ideas, into the form 
 of propositions, as were quite incomprehensible, 
 and no otherwise connected with practice than 
 in the general, but very strong tendency they 
 had, to divert men's attention and zeal from 
 what was essential and useful, to what was in- 
 tirely imaginary and frivolous, Nevertheless in 
 these, however unimportant in themselves, it • 
 was of great importance to Rome, for the ad- 
 vancement of her authority, that her explicit 
 declaration on either side should prove decisive 
 of the question. In the latter controversies, in- 
 deed, such as those concerning purgatory, image 
 worship, transubstantiation, indulgences, the in- 
 delible character, the efficacy of the opus operch 
 turn, that is, the exteriour of the sacramental 
 action, and some others, we may say with truth, 
 that ecclesiastical authority was clearly interested 
 on one side of the question. It would even 
 imply an uncommon degree of stupidity not to 
 discern how much in those questions the. victo- 
 rious side, or that which obtained the sanction 
 of Catholicism, tended to exalt the priesthood, 
 But before these controversies came upon the 
 
 carpet 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 4l 
 
 Carpet, the power of Rome was so far advanced, 
 that she had not the same occasion as formerly 
 for reserve and caution in making her eleo* 
 tion. Accordingly her election was invariably 
 on the side which most advanced her power. It 
 is for this reason that the .very origin of such 
 doctrines, as well as the methods she employed 
 in supporting them, are not improperly imputed 
 to priestcraft. - 
 
 In regard to the maxim abovementioned, 
 (which is, indeed, of the essence of priestcraft, 
 namely) to make every consideration give way 
 to the aggrandizement of her priestly authority, 
 we have already produced one strong evidence 
 of it, in the manner wherein the peace was 
 affected, after what is called the great schism of 
 Acacius, or the .first schism of the east. J3ut in 
 nothing does this Roman maxim appear more 
 glaring, than in the encouragement invariably 
 given to those who, from any part of the world, 
 could be induced to appeal to the Roman pon- 
 tiff. For many centuries, always indeed till the 
 right of receiving such appeals came by custom 
 to be firmly established, it was the invariable 
 maxim of the Roman court, without paying the 
 smallest regard to the merits of the cause, often 
 without examining it, to decide in favour of the 
 appellant. JKo maxim could be more unjust. 
 At the same time for a power which had, by her 
 
 opulence 
 
42 LECTURE'S ON 
 
 opulence and arts, and some peculiar advan- 
 tages, become so formidable, no maxim, ere the 
 practice of appealing to her judgment had taken 
 root^^couid be more politic, or more effectuallyi 
 tend to encourage and establish that practice. 
 
 That ye may be satisfied I do not wrong the 
 Romish hierarch, do but examine a little how 
 the case stood in some of the first causes that 
 were in this manner brought before his tribunal. 
 Indeed, in the very first of any note, his holiness 
 was rather unfortunate in following the maxim 
 I have mentioned. The appeal I allude to was 
 that of the heresiarch Pelagius, and his disciple 
 Celestius, from the sentence of an African synod, 
 by which their doctrine had been condemned, 
 and they themselves, and all the teachers and 
 holders of their tenets, had been excommuni- 
 cated. From this sentence they appealed to 
 Rome. Zozimus, then pope, agreeably to the 
 maxims of his court, immediately, but very un- 
 fortunately for himself, declared in their favour, 
 vindicated their doctrine, and, in a letter di- 
 rected to the African bishops, upbraided these 
 prelates in the strongest terms for the temerity 
 of their procedure, ordered the. accusers of Pela- 
 gius and Celestius, within two months, to repair 
 to Rome, to make good their charge before him, 
 declaring, that if they did not, he would reverse 
 the sentence which had been pronounced. And 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL BISTORT, 43 
 
 as to Ileros and Lazarus, who had taken a prin- 
 cipal part in the prosecution ; men who, if we 
 may credit the testimony of St. Prosper and St: 
 Jerom, (for Rome is in this confronted by her 
 own saints) were eminent for the purity of their 
 lives, as well as for their faith and zeal ; the 
 pope, in a summary manner, without so much 
 as giving them a hearing, or assigning them a, 
 day for offering what they had to plead in their 
 own defence, deposed and excommunicated 
 them. The steadiness of the Africans, however, 
 co-operating with other causes, at last compelled 
 the pontiff not only to relax, but totally to change 
 his style and conduct Though neither the 
 bishops, nor Paulmus the accuser, whom the 
 pope had summoned by name, paid the least re- 
 gard to his summons, or to his declared intention 
 of having the cause tried anew at Rome, they 
 gave it a rehearing in another, and a veiy nume- 
 rous African synod, convened at Carthage, 
 wherein, without showing any deference to the 
 sentiments of the Roman bishop, they unani- 
 mously adhered to their former judgment. 
 
 The ardour of the pontiff to favour an appel- 
 lant did manifestly, in this instance, carry him 
 beyond the bounds of prudence. The condem- 
 nation of the Pelagian doctrine had been, iix 
 some respect, ratified by his predecessor Inno- 
 cent Two African synods, and one Numidian. 
 
 synod. 
 
44 IXC T URLS OX 
 
 >ynod, assembled at Milevis, had with one 
 voice condemned it. Celestius, after his con- 
 demnation in Africa, having taken refuge in 
 Ephesus, was soon driven thence in consequence 
 of the general odium which his opinions raised, 
 and had afterwards no better treatment in Con- 
 stantinople,, when he thought proper to betake 
 himself thither. Besides, the emperor Honorius, 
 without waiting the judgment of Rome, was in- 
 duced by a deputation from the African synod, 
 not only to approve their decrees, but to enact 
 a very severe law against the Pelagians, ordering 
 all that should be convicted of this heresy, to be 
 sent into exile, Add to all this, that the two 
 greatest lights of the Latin church? Jcrom and 
 August in, whose judgment was of very great 
 weight all over the west, had openly declared 
 against them. 
 
 The pontiff therefore discovered, though Iate> 
 that he had been ■precipitate, and had (through 
 an excessive attachment to what in the main 
 would be admitted by politicians to be a wise 
 maxim) engaged in a desperate cause, and had 
 so many and powerful enemies to encounter^ as 
 . the papacy, in so early a period, was not a match 
 for. It was become, therefore, absolutely neces- 
 sary for him to retreat, lest, by grasping unsea- 
 s .autbly at too much, he should lose every thing, 
 ;md even be descited by those whp, on other 
 
 occasions, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 45 
 
 dfceasipns, firmly supported him. Thip"]ke endea- 
 voured to do with the best grace he could ; but 
 to do it with a good grace was impossible. Ac- 
 cordingly, he was at length under a necessity to 
 anathematize as impious, what he had formerly, 
 in the most explicit terms, pronounced innocent. 
 In the whole affair, Home evidently showed the 
 truth of an observation I formerly made, that 
 with her, doctrine was ever but a matter of 
 secondary consideration, the primary object was 
 invariably power. ' 
 
 The conduct of Zozimus, on the appeal of Api- 
 arius, a presbyter of Sica, in Africa, who had 
 been deposed and excommunicated for several 
 heinous crimes, was very remarkable. The pope, 
 without so much as hearing his adversaries, re- 
 stored him not only to the communion of the 
 church, but to the rank from which he had been 
 degraded. The vile arts of lying and forgery, 
 which, on this occasion, were employed by the 
 holy see, never weakly scrupulous about means, 
 and the compromise which the African bishops, 
 though not deceived by papal artifices, were, for 
 peace sake, compelled to make ; the second depo- 
 sition- of that irreclaimable profligate, his second 
 appeal to Rome, and his second hasty restoration 
 by pope Cclestine, without hearing his accusers, 
 the methods taken by Ptome to patronize and re- 
 instate him, and the defeat of those methods, by 
 
 the 
 
46 LECTURES ON 
 
 the explicit confession, which, in an African sy- 
 nod, the culprit made, of the most atrocious 
 crimes, to the unspeakable confusion of the 
 fi pe£s legate, sent to defend his innocence ; all 
 tese, I ay, furnish a scene, wherein the very 
 arcana of Roman policy may be thoroughly pe- 
 netrated by the discerning mind. Nothing could 
 more clearly demonstrate, than did the conduct 
 of Rome in the whole transaction, that she paid 
 no more regard to guilt or innocence, in the 
 judgments she pronounced, than she did to truth 
 or falsehood, in the means she employed. With 
 no person or state did the maxim, ascribed by 
 Suetonius to Julius Caesar, more exactly quadrate 
 than with the see of Rome. " Siviolandum est 
 " jus, regnandi gratia violandum est, aliis rebus 
 f* pietatem colas." With her all was just, and 
 all was true, that promoted the great object, 
 power ; all was false, and all was criminal, that 
 opposed it. Indeed, the black confession which 
 Apiarius publicly made, of crimes judged too 
 shocking to be recorded, tended to give but a 
 very unfavourable impression of the decisionrof 
 a tribunal, since called infallible. For let it be 
 observed, that this man at Rome was twice ab- 
 solved as guiltless, (both times indeed without a 
 trial) iirst by pope Zozimus, then by pope Celes-- 
 tine, both now worshipped as saints by the Ro- 
 manists. 
 
 It 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 47 
 
 It were easy to show, were it proper to descend 
 into more particulars, that the conduct of Leo, 
 on occasion of the appeal of Celedonius, of Be 
 sancon, from the diocesan synod of Aries, in 
 reversing their sentence, restoring the deposed 
 bishop, and the procedure of the pontiff soon 
 after against Iiiiarius, bishop of Aries, and ex- 
 arch of the seven Narbonnese provinces, who 
 had presided at the synod above mentioned; 
 whom he not only cut off from his communion, 
 and, as far as in him lay, degraded, but every 
 where defamed by his letters, were equally pre- 
 cipitate, unjust, and scandalous. In this at- 
 tempt, however, on the rights of the Galilean 
 church, Rome seems to have been more success- 
 ful, through a peculiar felicity in the juncture, 
 than in those formerly made on the churches of 
 Africa. The prince then upon the throne, Va- 
 lentinian the third, was both weak and credu- 
 lous, and one over whom the pontiff appears to 
 have had an unlimited influence. The pope, 
 therefore, on this occasion, glad to recur to the 
 secular arm, easily obtained from the emperor a 
 rescript, exactly in the terms he desired, con- 
 firming all that he had done, commanding alL 
 the Galiican bishops to yield implicit obedience 
 to the decrees and awards of the pontiff, and 
 enjoining the magistrates of the several provinces 
 to interpose their authority, in compelling those i 
 
 who 
 9 
 
4$ LECTURES OK 
 
 who should be summoned to Rome to obey thd 
 summons. Many attempts were used by Hila- 
 rius to effect a reconciliation ; but he found it 
 was utterly impracticable, except on such condi- 
 tions as an honest man will ever account totally 
 unworthy of regard, the sacrifice of truth, and 
 the surrender of those rights 1 and liberties of his 
 church and people, with which, as a most sacred 
 dcpositum, he had been entrusted. In this state, 
 therefore, which surely a modern papist would 
 think desperate, unreconciled to Christ's vicar, 
 and as a rotten member cut off from the body of 
 the faithful, being- cut off from all connection 
 with the church's visible head, died the famous 
 Hilarius, bishop of Aries. And what shall we 
 say of Roman consistency, when we reflect, that 
 this very excommunicated, cursed, anathema- 
 tized Hilarius, (I cannot say by what strange 
 oversight) as well as pope Leo, who, to the last, 
 treated him in the manner we have seen, are both 
 at present first rate saints in the Roman calendar ? 
 What account can the Romish church give of 
 this? If ye be curious to know, ye may consult 
 Baronius, or any other of the hireling writers of 
 that communion, whose business in brief it was 
 to explain nonsense, darken facts, confound the 
 judgment, and reconcile contradictions. 
 
 In what further concerns the matter of appeals, 
 I shall only, without multiplying instances, refer 
 
 you 
 
Ecclesiastical history. 4$ 
 
 yoii to what happened in the cases of Talia, 
 bishop of Alexandria; charged with simony and 
 perjury ; the two Gallican bishops, Salonius and 
 Sagittarius, who had been convicted, before a 
 synod at Lyons, of the crimes only of murder, 
 adultery, robbery, and house-breaking, but whose 
 merit in appealing to the apostolic see cancelled 
 all in an instant, ' and procured, without further 
 inquiry, a declaration of their innocence, and 
 restoration to their bishoprics • and who, (I speak 
 of the two last) in confidence of their security 
 tinder the pope's protection, soon relapsed into 
 the same enormities, were deposed a second time, 
 and shut up in a monastery to prevent a second 
 recurrence to Rome. Ye may observe, also, the 
 case of Hadrian, bishop of Thebes, in Thessaly ; 
 of Honoratus, archdeacon of Saloni, in Dalma- 
 tia ; that' of John, bishop of Lappa, in Crete ; 
 and that of Wilfrid, of York, in England For 
 many centuries ye will find, that the judgment 
 of the apostolic see, as it affected to be styled, in 
 contradistinction to others, was uniformly in 
 favour of the appellant. 
 
 If history had given us no information about 
 the persons, or cases, there would still be a strong 
 presumption that, in so considerable a number, 
 Some had deserved the treatment they had re- 
 ceived from the provincial, diocesan, or national 
 synod, to which they had belonged. As the 
 
 vol. il E matter 
 
SO LECTURES ON 
 
 matter stands, there is the clearest historical evi- 
 dence, that the far greater part of them had been 
 justly degraded, and could never have obtained 
 the patronage or countenance of any power, 
 which did not make every consideration of reli- 
 gion and equity give way to her ambition. 
 
 What but this favourite maxim can account 
 for the many falsehoods and forgeries, to which 
 she so often recurred, in support of her exor- 
 bitant claims. The ignorance and superstition 
 of the dark ages that ensued, (for those I have 
 had occasion to refer to in this, and my two pic- 
 ceding lectures, are but as the evening twilight, 
 compared with those which followed) soon gave 
 scope for attempting the very grossest kinds of 
 imposition. And the friends and patrons of the 
 hierarchy were not remiss in using the opportu- 
 nity while it lasted. The fruits of their diligence,, 
 in this w r ay, were fictitious councils as well as 
 canons, and fictitious decrees of real councils, 
 false deeds of gift, such as the instrument of 
 donation of Rome and all Italy, made, as was 
 pretended, by the emperor Constantine to pope 
 Sylvester, and his successors in the popedom, the 
 decretal epistles of the popes, not to mention the 
 little legerdemain tricks of false miracles, and 
 other such like artifices. For the lying spirit, 
 which had gotten possession of the head, quickly 
 9 diffused 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 51 
 
 diffused itself throughout the members ; and 
 
 'c 
 
 every petty priest supported his particular credit 
 among the people by the same arts, exhibited, 
 as it were, in miniature, which were on a larger 
 scale displayed by the pontiff, for the support of 
 the great hierarchal empire. It must be owned, 
 the greater part of their forgeries, especially 
 Constantine's donation, and the decretal epistles, 
 are such barefaced impostures, and so bunglingly 
 executed, that nothing less than the most pro- 
 found darkness of those ages could account for 
 their success. They are manifestly written in 
 the barbarous dialect, which obtained in the 
 eighth and ninth centuries, and exhibit those 
 poor, meek, and humble teachers, who came 
 immediately after the apostles, as blustering*, 
 swaggering, and dictating to the world in the 
 authoritative tone of a Zachary, or a Stephen. 
 
 But however gross the artifices were, they 
 were well suited to the grossness of the people, 
 in times wherein almost all vestiges of literature 
 and arts were buried in the ruins of the fallen 
 empire. These acts and decretals had accord- 
 ingly, for several centuries, a powerful effect in 
 imposing on mankind ; an effect which conti- 
 nued, whilst its continuance was of principal 
 moment, when all the little remains of know- 
 ledge in the world were in the hands of those, 
 L c l who 
 
52 LECTURES ON 
 
 who considered it as their interest to deceive the 
 people, and keep them in ignorance. Thus the 
 progress, as Avell as the coming, of this power, 
 has been indeed after the working of Satan, in 
 signs and lying wonders, and all deceiveableness 
 of unrighteousness. 
 
 Indeed, such sacrifices of truth to what was 
 called the cause of the church have always been 
 regarded as among the most harmless of their 
 innumerable expedients. The term pious fraud 
 was, in most places, and for several ages, not 
 introduced sarcastically, as it is used with us at 
 present ; nor was it imagined to connect ideas 
 incompatible with each other ; but employed to 
 denote an artifice not only innocent but com- 
 mendable. The patrons of sacerdotal power had 
 every advantage therefore : their tricks, when 
 undiscovered, wrought powerfully in their fa- 
 vour ; and when discovered, (such was the woful 
 superstition of the times) were, on account of 
 ihe supposed holy purpose to be effected by them, 
 easily excused by all, and highly approved by 
 many. 
 
 It is trite, that now, since the restoration of 
 letters, men's sentiments, on these subjects, are 
 very much altered. Those graceless devices have 
 been, for the most part, fully detected and ex- 
 posed; insomuch,, that all the learned and inge- 
 nuous- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 53 
 
 nuous part, even of Roman catholics, quite 
 ashamed of them, have long since abandoned 
 their defence. But Rome may now laugh at a 
 detection, which can never restore things to the 
 state they were in before those frauds were em- 
 ployee!. What has been at first produced solely 
 by imposture, comes, through the slow but sure 
 operation of time and immemorial custom, to 
 acquire a stability totally independent of its ori- 
 gin. When that is the case, the discovery is not 
 able to shake the fabric, to which the imposture 
 originally gave a being. Antiquity supplies the 
 place of truth. Custom rules the world, and is 
 the principal foundation of obedience in all the 
 governments that are, and ever were, upon the 
 earth. It is but one of a thousand that is capa- 
 ble of examining into the origin of things : the 
 remaining nine hundred and ninety-nine have 
 no reason to assign for their obedience but cus- 
 tom, or what they are wont, to see exacted on 
 the one hand, and complied with on the other. 
 A set of customs, gradually established, may, in 
 like manner, be gradually abolished ; but the 
 discoveries of the learned (though not totally 
 ineffective) have not a very sudden, and a very 
 sensible effect upon them. 
 
 I shall, in my next lecture, proceed to illus- 
 trate, in other instances, the particular attention 
 E 3 which 
 
54 LECTURES ON 
 
 which Rome invariably gave to the great object, 
 power ; and consider how far the very best of 
 her pontiffs sacrificed every other consideration 
 to its advancement. 
 
 LEG- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL" HISTORY. 55 
 
 - 
 
 LECTURE XVL 
 
 1 PROCEED, in this lecture, to illustrate, in 
 other instances, the particular attention which 
 Rome invariably gave to the great object power. 
 The proof that I am now to produce is different 
 in kind from the former, but still corroborative 
 of the same capital point in her policy, which 
 was to make every consideration of truth and 
 right give place to her ambition. 
 
 For this purpose, I shall not recur to those 
 pontiffs, who were far from reaching even the 
 low standard of virtue, recommended in the lat- 
 ter part of the Julian maxim, alits rebus pietatem 
 colas. And that there were popes, who, in no 
 part of their conduct, showed that they either 
 feared God, or regarded men, all persons, popish 
 and protestant, who have the least acquaintance 
 with church history, will readily admit. But I 
 shall recur to one, who was thought, as much as 
 any that ever sat in the papal chair, to mind the 
 better part of the apophthegm, and was observ- 
 ant of pietv, equity, and charity, in cases which 
 
 E 4 did 
 
56 LECTURES Q3$ 
 
 did not interfere with the favourite pursuit , and 
 shall clearly evince, that he was not a less rigid 
 observer of the former part of it, regnandi graiia 
 jus violandum est ; that he did not hesitate at 
 any means, falsehood, and injustice, the prosti- 
 tution of religion, and of the most sacred rites of 
 humanity, when these could be rendered instru- 
 mental in promoting the primary papal object, 
 
 POWER. 
 
 The pope I intend to produce as an example, 
 is no other than Gregory the rirst, a man at pre- 
 sent adored in the church of Rome, as one of 
 her most eminent saints, and respected as one of 
 her most learned doctors. The Greeks, I know, 
 were wont to style him, (as it would seem) con- 
 temptuously, Gregory Dialogue, on account of 
 some silly dialogues which he wrote. Yet even 
 those are not inferiour to some of the productions 
 pf their own approved authors in the same pe- 
 riod. His pontificate commenced towards the 
 end of the sixth century, and extended to the 
 beginning of the seventh. 
 
 Who knows not the extraordinary zeal which 
 this pope manifested against the Constantinopo- 
 litan patriarch, who in those days began to 
 assume the title of universal bishop? For who is 
 so great an enemy to the pride and ambition of 
 others as the proud and ambitious ! That a re- 
 lentless jealousy was at the bottom of the violence 
 
 which 
 4 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 57 
 
 which he showed on that occasion, there was no 
 considerate and impartial person who did not 
 discern then, and there is none of this character 
 who does not discern still. It were unnecessary 
 here to mention all the odious epithets, by which 
 he stigmatized that obnoxious appellation. Suf- 
 fice it to observe, in general, that he maintained 
 strenuously, that whoever assumed that heret- 
 ical, blasphemous, and infernal title, (so he ex- 
 pressly terms it) was the follower of Lucifer, the 
 forerunner and herald of Antichrist, and that it 
 neither did nor could belong to any bishop what- 
 ever. He had nothing, it appears, of the pro- 
 phetic spirit, else he would have spoken more 
 cautiously of a title so soon afterwards assumed 
 by some of his own successors. It must be 
 owned, indeed, that in this conduct the Grecian 
 patriarch was the precursor of the Romish. If, 
 thereby, the pope is rendered antichrist, it is a 
 Reduction from pope Gregory's leasoning, and 
 not from mine. 
 
 Gregory, when that title was first assumed at 
 Constantinople, was quite indefatigable in his 
 applications by letter, and by the intervention of 
 his nuncios, with the patriarch himself, and with 
 the emperor, to effect the suppression of it. But 
 all was to no purpose. The matter could never 
 be made appear' to them as of that moment, 
 which Gregory was so immoderately solicitous 
 
 to 
 
-5S LECTURES ON 
 
 to give it They considered it only (like most of 
 the titles then conferred on the potentates of the 
 church) as a complimental and respectful man- 
 ner of address, well befitting the bishop of the 
 imperial city. Rome's remonstrances were ac- 
 cordingly made light of. The other patriarchs, 
 particularly the Antioehian and the Alexandrian, 
 Gregory endeavoured, by ah possible means, but 
 to no purpose, to engage in the quarrel. The 
 bishop of Alexandria, probably with a view to 
 mollify his incensed brother at Rome, gave him 
 a title, which he thought would be deemed equi- 
 valent, calling him universal pope. But his holi- 
 ness had proceeded too far to be taken in by so 
 simple a device, and therefore he did not hesitate 
 to reject it with disdain, as being in the same 
 way derogatory, with the other title, to the whoie 
 episcopal order. He did more : for, in order to 
 show how different a spirit he was of, he assumed, 
 for the first time, (and herein he has been fol- 
 lowed by his successors) this humble addition, 
 the servant of the servants of God : servus servo- 
 rum Dei, We have heard of people's making 
 humility the subject of their vanity, and mortifi- 
 cation the ground of their pride. The pharisees 
 were ostentatious of their dirty and disfigured 
 faces when they fasted, and there are even some 
 christian sects who seem to make the pharisees, 
 in this respect, their pattern. The pope always 
 
 since. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 59 
 
 aince, to this day, introduces his bulls with the 
 modest title assumed by Gregory. One would 
 expect from it, that they should consist only of 
 entreaties, and lowly petitions, to those whom 
 he acknowledges to be his superiours, and his 
 masters. Instead of this, ye find him command- 
 ing imperiously, even with menaces, denuncia- 
 tions, and curses. Is this like a servant to his 
 masters ? If we could consider the title, therefore, 
 as any thing but words, we should pronounce the 
 using it as a sort of refinement in the display of 
 power ; adding insult to tyranny, like those de- 
 spots, who, when they are inflicting tortures on 
 their slave, mock him with the title of sovereign 
 and lord. 
 
 About this time the emperor Mauricius, whom 
 the pope could by no arts prevail on to enter into 
 his views, nay, whom he found rather favourable 
 to the use of a title, by which an honourable dis- 
 tinction was conferred on the bishop of the impe- 
 rial residence, was first dethroned, and then mur* 
 thered, by a centurion, one of his subjects and 
 soldiers, who usurped his throne. The usurper 
 Phocas (for that was his name) was a man stained 
 with those vices, which serve most to blacken 
 human nature. Other tyrants have been cruel 
 from policy, and through want of regard to 
 justice and humanity; the cruelties of Phocas 
 are not to be accounted for, but on the hypo- 
 thesis 
 
60 LECTURES ON 
 
 thesis of the most diabolical and disinterested 
 malice. Witness the inhuman manner wherein 
 he massacred five of his predecessor's children, 
 all that were then in his power, before the eyes 
 of the unhappy father, whom he reserved to the 
 last, that he might be a spectator of the destruc- 
 tion of his family before his death. The slaugh- 
 ter of the brother, and of the only remaining son 
 of the emperor Mauricius, with all the patricians 
 of any name who adhered to his interest, the 
 methods by which Phocas got the empress Con- 
 stantina, and her three daughters, into his power, 
 with the murder of whom he closed the bloody 
 scene, manifest a mind' totally corrupted, inca^ 
 pable of being wrought upon by any principle of 
 religion, sense of justice, or sentiment of huma- 
 nity. 
 
 Unluckily for the Constantinopolitan patriarch, 
 the innocent consort of his late sovereign, with 
 the three princesses, her daughters, had taken 
 refuge in one of the churches of the city. The 
 prelate, moved partly by compassion to the royal 
 sufferers, partly by the reverence of the place, 
 would not permit them to be dragged by force 
 from their asylum ; but defended them, whilst 
 there, with great spirit and resolution. The 
 tyrant, one of the most vindictive and inexorable 
 j&f mankind, and who could therefore ill brook 
 this spirited opposition from the priest, thought 
 
 it 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 6[ 
 
 it prudent then to dissemble his resentment, as 
 it would have been exceedingly dangerous, in 
 the beginning of his reign, to alarm the church. 
 And he well knew how important and even ve- 
 nerable a point it was accounted, to preserve in- 
 violate the sacredness of such sanctuaries. He 
 desisted, therefore, from using force ; and, by 
 means of the most solemn oaths, and promises of 
 safety, prevailed at length upon the ladies to quit 
 their asylum. In consequence of which, they 
 soon after became the helpless victims of his 
 fury, and suffered on the same spot whereon the 
 late emperor, and five of his sons, had been mur- 
 dered a short while before. 
 
 Now what should we expect would be the re- 
 ception, which the accounts of this unnatural 
 rebellion, the dethronement of Mauricius, the 
 horrid butchery of the whole imperial family, 
 the usurpation and coronation of such a san- 
 guinary fiend as Phocas, would meet with at 
 Rome, from a man so celebrated for piety, 
 equity, and mildness of disposition, as pope Gre- 
 gory ? Look into his letters of congratulation on. 
 the occasion, and ye will find them stuffed with 
 the most nauseous adulation. Were we to learn 
 the character of Phocas only from St. Gregory, 
 we should conclude him to have been rather an 
 angel than a man. But if we recur to facts, if 
 we take our Saviour's rule, and judge of the tree 
 
 by 
 
6*2 tECTURES ON" 
 
 by the fruits, (and I know no rule we can so 
 safely follow) we shall rather conclude him to 
 have heen a devil incarnate. The actions, on 
 which tills judgment is founded, are not only 
 incontrovertible, but uncontroverted. Ye may 
 read the account that is given of the earliest and 
 the principal of these murders, by Gregory him- 
 self, in the preamble to the eleventh book of his 
 epistles ; where, to say the truth, they are recited 
 with as much coolness, as though they were mat- 
 ters of the utmost indifference, and as though 
 religion and morality could be nowise affected 
 by such enormities. 
 
 Observe, then, in what manner the sanctity of 
 a Gregory congratulates the blood-thirsty, but 
 successful, rebel, regicide, and usurper. I shall 
 give you a specimen of his manner in his own 
 words. (L. 11, Ep. 36.) The classical scholar 
 will make the proper allowances for the low la- 
 t'mity of the seventh century. " Gregorius 
 " Phocie Augusto." His exordium is, " Gloria 
 " in excelsis Deo, qui juxta quod scriptum est, 
 " mutat tempora et transfert regna : et quia hoc 
 " cunctis innotuit, quod per prophetam suuin 
 " loqui dignatus est, dicens. Quia dominatur 
 " excelsus in regno hominum, et cui voluerit, 
 " ipse dat illud. " After this preamble, he ob- 
 serves, that God, in his incomprehensible provi- 
 dence, sometimes sends kings to afflict his people. 
 
 and 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 6S 
 
 and- punish them for their sins. This, says he, 
 we have known of late to our woful experience. 
 Sometimes, on the other hand, God, in his mercy, 
 raises good men to the throne for the relief and 
 exultation of his servants. Then applying his 
 remark to the present juncture, he adds, " De 
 * ' qua exultationis abundantia, roborari nos citius 
 V crediinus, qui benignitatem pietatis vestrae ad 
 " imperiale fastigium pervenisse gaudemus." — 
 Then breaking out in a rapture, no longer to be 
 restrained, he exclaims, " Lsetentur coeli et ex- 
 *' ultet terra, et de vestris ben ignis actibus, uni- 
 " versa? reipublicae populus nunc usque vehe- 
 % menter afflictus hilarescat. Comprimantur 
 'f jugo dominationis vestrae siiperbee mentes hos- 
 X tium. lleleventur vestra misericordia contriti 
 1 ( et depressi animi subjectorum. " Proceeding 
 to paint their former miseries, he concludes with 
 wishing, that the commonwealth may long enjoy 
 the present happiness. A few instances, and but 
 a few, of the benignity, and piety, and mercy, 
 of this emperor, here so highly extolled by Gre- 
 gory, may be learnt from the treatment above 
 related, given to his predecessors family. Ano- 
 ther letter to Phocas, written soon after, the pope 
 begins in this manner. (Ep. 43. ) " Considerare 
 " cum gaudiis et magnis actionibus gratiarum 
 " libet, quantas . omnipotenti Domino laudes 
 'J debemus, quod remoto jugo tristitiae ad liber- 
 
 " tat is 
 
64 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 \* tatis tempora sub imperiali benignitatis vestr£ 
 " pietatc pervenimus." His not having a nun- 
 cio at Constantinople, at the time of the empe- 
 ror's accession, he excuses from the insupport- 
 able tyranny of the former reign,' and concludes 
 in this manner : " Sancta itaque Trinitas vitam 
 ' vest ram per tempora longa custodiat, ut de" 
 ' bono vestrss pietatis quod tarde suscipimus, 
 
 diutius gaudeamus." 
 
 "As a subject, and a christian," says Mr. 
 Gibbon*, " it was the duty of Gregory to ac- 
 quiesce in the established government ; but 
 the joyful applause with which he salutes the 
 fortune of the assassin, has sullied, with inde- 
 lible disgrace, the character of the saint. The 
 successor of the apostles might have incut-* 
 cated, with decent firmness, the guilt of blood, 
 and the necessity of repentance : he is content 
 to celebrate the deliverance of the people, and 
 the fall of the oppressor ; to rejoice that the' 
 piety and benignity of Phocas have been 
 raised by Providence to the imperial throne : 
 to pray that his hands may be strengthened 
 against all his enemies ; and to express a wish, 
 that, after a long triumphant reign, he may 
 be transferred from a temporal to an everlast- 
 He proceeds : — " I have 
 
 ing kingdom." 
 
 * History, chap, xlvi. 
 
 " traced 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. OJ 
 
 " traced the steps of a revolution, so pleasing, 
 " in Gregory's opinion, both to heaven and 
 " earth ; and Phocas does not appear less hate- 
 " fid in the exercise than in the acquisition of 
 " power. The pencil of an impartial historian 
 " has delineated the portrait of a monster, his 
 " diminutive and deformed person, &c. Igno- 
 " rant of letters, of laws, and even of arms, he 
 " indulged, in the supreme rank, a more ample 
 " privilege of lust and drunkenness; and his. 
 *' brutal pleasures were either injurious to his 
 " subjects, or disgraceful to himself. Without 
 ' ; assuming the office of a prince, he renounced 
 " the profession of a soldier; and the reign of 
 " Phocas afflicted Europe with ignominious 
 " peace, and Asia with desolating war. His 
 " savage temper was inflamed by passion, har- 
 " dened by fear, exasperated by resistance or 
 " reproach. The flight of Theodosius, the only 
 '■ surviving son of Mauritius, to the Persian 
 " court, had been intercepted by a rapid pursuit, 
 " or a deceitful message: he was beheaded at 
 " Nice; and the last hours of the young prince 
 " were soothed by the comforts of religion, and 
 " the consciousness of innocence." • 
 
 Now that we may be satisfied, that all Gre- 
 gory's fulsome and detestable flattery was not 
 without a view, we need only peruse the congra- 
 tulatory letter to the empress Leontia, immedi- 
 
 vol. ii. F ately 
 
66 LECTURES ON 
 
 ately following ; for, by this channel, he thought 
 it most prudent to suggest, for the first time, the 
 distinguishing favour he expected they would 
 show, in return, to the see of St. Peter, as the 
 popes had now, for some centuries, affected to 
 denominate the church planted at Rome. He 
 begins this, as the other letters above-mentioned, 
 with such high strains of praise and thanksgiv- 
 ing, as suited only the birth of the Messiah : his 
 expressions are generally borrowed from those 
 used in scripture, in relation to that memorable 
 event ; and he never forgets to contrast the pre- 
 sent happiness with the evil times which had 
 preceded. " Rcddatur ergo creatori omnium 
 " ab hymnidicis angelorum choris, gloria in, 
 " coclo, persolvatur ab omnibus gratiarum actio 
 " in terra, &c." 
 
 His manner of applying to this lady is indeed 
 very artful. After recommending to her, and 
 her most pious lord, the see of the blessed apostle 
 Peter, he signifies his persuasion, that what he 
 had said was quite unnecessary, that their own 
 piety must have suggested the same thing to 
 them before. He takes notice of the great pre- 
 rogatives of Peter in such a manner, (which was 
 now become common at Rome, though no where 
 else in the church) as though they had been his 
 peculiarly ; namely, the founding of the univer- 
 sal church, the power of the keys, the power of 
 
 retaining 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 67 
 
 retaining sins, and of remitting them, or of bind- 
 ing and loosing ; whence he takes occasion indi- 
 rectly; but with great address, to insinuate, that 
 their hopes of those favours, which none but Pe- 
 ter could bestow, must be in proportion to their 
 zeal for his honour. " Unde nobis dubium non 
 " est, quam forti amore ad eum vos stringitis, 
 " per quern solvi ab omnibus peccatorum nexi- 
 " bus desideratis. Ipse ergo sit vestri custos 
 " imperii; sit vobis protector in terra, sit pro 
 " vobis intercessor in ccelo." It was then from 
 Peter only they were to expect remission. To 
 his guardianship their government was recom- 
 mended, and their persons to his protection on 
 the earth, and intercession in heaven. There is 
 (}^e must know) much less word of the providence 
 and protection of God, and of the intercession 
 of Jesus Christ, now that people had got them- 
 selves so liberally provided in guardians, protec- 
 tors, and intercessors, among the saints. The 
 abuse thrown with such an unsparing hand on 
 the unfortunate emperor, who had preceded, as 
 though he had been one of the worst of tyrants, 
 naturally leads one to enquire into his character. 
 The fault, of which he is principally accused by 
 contemporary historians, and which, doubtless, 
 proved the cause of his untimely fate, was too 
 much parsimony : than which, no vice could 
 render him more odious to the soldierv, who 
 F 2 Were, 
 
6$ LECTURES ON 
 
 were, in those degenerate times of the empire,, 
 lazy, undisciplined, debauched, rapacious, and 
 seditious. As the govern ment was become mili- 
 tary, the affection of the army was the principal 
 bulwark of the throne. It was ever consequently 
 the interest of the reigning family, to secure the 
 fidelity of the legions as much as possible. This, 
 in times so corrupt, when military discipline was 
 extinct, was to be effected only by an unbounded 
 indulgence, and by frequent largesses. These 
 the prince was not in a condition to bestow, 
 without laying exorbitant exactions on the peo- 
 ple. For levying these, the army were, as long 
 as they shared in the spoil, always ready to lend 
 their assistance. Hence it happened, that among 
 the emperors, the greatest oppressors of the peo- 
 ple were commonly the greatest favourites of the 
 army. The revolt of the legions, therefore, could 
 be but a slender proof of maladministration. It 
 was even, in many cases, an evidence of the con- 
 trary. 
 
 But it is more to our present purpose, to con- 
 sider the character, which this very pope Gregory 
 gave of Mauneius, when in possession of the im- 
 perial diadem. For if the former and the latter 
 accounts, given by the pontiff, cannot be ren- 
 dered consistent, we must admit, that, first or 
 last, his holiness made a sacrifice of truth to po- 
 litics. Now it is certain, that nothing can be 
 
 9 more 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 69 
 
 more contradictory than those accounts. In 
 •some of his letters to that emperor, ye will find 
 .the man, whom he now treats as a perfect mob- 
 ster, extolled to the skies, as one of the most 
 pious, most religious, most christian princes, that 
 ever lived ; and withal, (which deserves parti- 
 cular notice) as the most gracious and boun- 
 tiful. In proof of this, I could adduce a variety 
 ■of passages from several letters of the pontiff, 
 written at different times, some earlier, and some 
 later. Take a few for a specimen. Let the first 
 be (L. 5, Ep. 63,) to Mauricius. " Inter ar- 
 " morura curas et innumeras sollicitudines, quas 
 11 indefesso studio, pro Christianas reipublicse 
 <£ regimine sustinetis, magna mihi cum universo 
 *' mundo ketitise causa est, quod pietas vestra 
 *' custodke fidei, qua dominorum fulget impe- 
 " Hum, prcecipua sollicitudine semper invigilat 
 (t Unde. oinnino confido, quia sicut vos Dei cau- 
 " sas religiose mentis amore tuemini, ita Deus 
 " vestras majestatis suae gratia tuetur et adju- 
 " vat." Here the emperor's pious zeal, solici- 
 tude, and vigilance, for the preservation of the 
 christian faith, being sucrras no public cares, no 
 tumults of war, could ever divert his attention 
 from, are represented as the glory of his reign, 
 as a subject of joy, not to the pontiff only, but 
 to all the world. Again, (L. 6, Ep. 30,) to the 
 same, he concludes in these words: — " Omni- 
 F3 " potens 
 
70 LECTURES ON 
 
 tc potens autem Deus serenissimi domini nostri 
 " vitam, et ad paeem ecclesice, et ad utilitatem 
 11 reipublicas Romans-, per tempora longa custo- 
 " diat. Certi enim su-.r.us, quia si vos vivitis, 
 M qui cceli dominum timetis, nulla contra veri- 
 ci tatem superba praevalere permittitis. " Could 
 any man suspect, that one who writes in so earnest 
 a manner, did not entertain the highest opinion 
 of the emperor's piety and zeal, as well as the 
 most fervent wishes for his welfare. I shall pro- 
 duce but one other example (L. 8, Ep. 2,) to the 
 same. The subject of the letter is thus expressed 
 in the title : " De denariis sancto Petro trans- 
 " missis." After the warmest expressions of 
 gratitude, on account of the pious liberality and 
 munificence of his imperial majesty, and after 
 telling how much the priests, the poor, the stran- 
 gers, and all the faithful, were indebted to his 
 paternal care, he adds, " Unde actum est, ut 
 " simul omnes pro vita dominorum concorditer 
 " orarent, quatenus omnipotens Deus longa 
 " vobis et quieta tempora tribuat, et pietatis 
 " vestrye fielicissimam sobolem diu in Romana 
 ft repubiica florere concedat." Yet he no sooner 
 hears, which was not long after, of the successful 
 treason of Phocas, in the barbarous murder of 
 his sovereign, and his family, an event, the men- 
 tion of which, even at this distance, makes a hu- 
 mane person shudder with horror, than he ex- 
 claims, 
 4 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY". 71 
 
 claims, north rapture, " Glory to God in phe 
 "■highest." He invites heaven and earth, men 
 and angels, to join in the general triumph. How 
 happy is he, that the royal race is totally exter- 
 minated ; for whom, but a little before, he told 
 us, that he poured out incessant and tearful 
 prayers, {lachrymabili prece is one of his ex- 
 pressions) that they might, to latest ages, flou- 
 rish on the throne, for the felicity of the Roman 
 commonwealth. Surely truth and sincerity had 
 no part in this man's system of morality. 
 
 An honest heathen would at least, for some 
 time, have avoided any intercourse or correspond- 
 ence with such a ruffian as Phocas ; but this chris- 
 tian bishop, before he had the regular and custo- 
 mary notice of his accession to the purple, is for- 
 ward to congratulate him on the success of his 
 crimes. His very crimes he canonizes (an easy 
 matter for false religion to effect) and transforms 
 into shining virtues, and the criminal himself 
 into what I may call a second Messiah, he that 
 should come for the salvation and comfort of 
 God's people. And all this was purely that he 
 might pre-engage the favour of the new emperor, 
 who (he well knew) entertained a secret grudge 
 against the Constantinopolitan bishop, for his 
 attachment to the preceding emperor AJauricius ; 
 a grudge which, when he saw with what spirit 
 the patriarch protected the empress dowager, 
 F 4 and 
 
72 LECTURES ON 
 
 and her daughter, soon settled into implacable 
 hatred. 
 
 But Gregory, who died soon after the afore-* 
 said revolution, did not live to reap the fruits of 
 his accursed policy. Indeed, Boniface the third, 
 the next but one who succeeded him, for the 
 pontificate of his immediate successour was very 
 short, did very soon obtain of the emperor not 
 only the revocation of the edict, by which the 
 title of universal bishop had been conferred on 
 the patriarch of Constantinople, but the issuing 
 of a new decree, whereby that title was entailed 
 in perpetuity on the Roman pontiff, who was 
 vested with the primacy of all the bishops of 
 the empire. And the church of Rome, by ac- 
 cepting "these, not only declared that she derived 
 her honours from the secular powers, but pro- 
 claimed herself) in the opinion of Gregory, who 
 is acknowledged to have been as great a pontiff 
 as ever filled the chair of St. Peter, to be vain- 
 glorious, proud, profane, impious, execrable, 
 blasphemous, antichristian, heretical, diabolical; 
 for these are some of the epithets he bestows on 
 whosoever shall accept the title of universal 
 bishop. 
 
 Now if such was the conduct of a Gregory, 
 who, it must be owned, in cases wherein their 
 politics did not interfere, appears to have been 
 endowed with several virtues and good qualities, 
 
 what 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 73 
 
 what are we to expect from other popes ?. We 
 need not be surprized, that a Zachary, in the 
 middle of the eighth century, should, for the 
 interest of the holy see, assist with his counsel, 
 and countenance the usurper Pepin, to depose 
 his master and benefactor Childerick, king of 
 France, with all his family, and to possess him- 
 self of his crown and kingdom ; a favour which 
 Pepin, in the very next pontihcate, returned in 
 kind, assisting the pope to usurp the imperial 
 dominions in Italy ; or that pope Stephen and 
 king Pepin became reciprocally guarantees of 
 each other's usurpations, the former by the sanc- 
 tion of religion, the latter by an armed force. 
 As little need we wonder at the many flagrant 
 injustices of other pontiffs, when they happened 
 to be influenced by the like motives. 
 
 After so much has been said of Gregory, it 
 may not be amiss to make some remarks on his 
 character, that we may not be thought to attri- 
 bute to him things absolutely incompatible ; 
 To me he appears to have been a man, whose 
 understanding, though rather above the middle 
 rate, was much warped by the errours and pre- 
 judices of the times wherein he lived. His piety 
 was deeply tinctured with superstition, and his 
 morals with monkery. His zeal was not pure, 
 in respect either of its nature or of its object. 
 In respect of its. mature, it was often intolerant ; 
 
 witness 
 
74 LECTURES ON 
 
 witness the sanguinary measures he warmly re- 
 commended against the Donatists ; and in re- 
 spect to its object, it is manifest, that his attach- 
 ment was more to the form than to the power of 
 religion, to the name than to the thing. His 
 aim was not so much to turn men from sin to 
 God, and from vice to virtue, as to bring them 
 by any means within what is called the pale of 
 the church, and, consequently, under the domi- 
 nion of its rulers ; to draw them from the pro- 
 fession of paganism to the profession of Christi- 
 anity. If this was effected, he cared not, though 
 they remained more than half heathen still. 
 His zeal was exactly that of those pharisees, who 
 compassed sea and land to make a proselyte, 
 which, when they had accomplished, they ren- 
 dered him twofold more a child of hell than 
 themselves. Witness the advice he gave to the 
 monk Augustine, who had been sent into Britain 
 for the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, not to 
 abolish their paganish ceremonies, but rather to 
 adopt them, and give them a new direction, that 
 so the conversion of the people might be facili- 
 tated, and their relapse to the superstition of 
 their fathers prevented. The plain language of 
 this conduct is, if they are but called christians, 
 and are subjects of the church, to which they 
 yield an external conformity, it matters not 
 what sort of christians they are at bottom, or 
 
 Jiow 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 75 
 
 how much of the pagan they may still retain in 
 their heart, principles, and conduct. 
 
 I must own, that this turn of thought has a 
 very natural connection with that kind of zeal, 
 which has for its object the erection, or preser- 
 vation, of a hierarchy, or what is called an 
 ecclesiastical polity. With zealots of this stamp, 
 a bare exteriour will serve the purpose. Obedi- 
 ence, whether voluntary or extorted ; attach- 
 ment, whether sincere or dissembled ; submis- 
 sion, whether it proceed from love or from fear, 
 equally, as in other worldly politics, tend to sup- 
 port the secular honours and emoluments of the 
 different orders, which are the great pillars of 
 the fabric. 
 
 This kind of zeal is, in like manner, the true 
 source of persecution for conscience sake, and 
 of a maxim inseparably connected with the prin- 
 ciple of intolerance, that the end will sanctify 
 the means. That Gregory had, through the 
 misfortune and errour of the times, thoroughly 
 imbibed both these principles, will never be 
 doubted by any person, who, with judgment and 
 impartiality, reads his history. Indeed, in the 
 sacrifices which he made, as appears from the 
 above observations, of truth, humanity, and in- 
 tegrity, we can hardly, at present, though the 
 maxim were admitted, consider the end as having 
 
 goodness 
 
76 LECTURES Otf 
 
 goodness enough to justify the means. His ob- 
 ject in the contest with the Constanthiopolitan 
 patriarch, about the title of universal bishop, 
 was not the advancement of Christianity, or so 
 much as the profession of it, it was not the en- 
 largement of the pale of the church, or the in- 
 crease of the number of her nominal children. 
 It was purely the honours and pre-eminence of 
 his see. But such was the infatuation of the 
 times, that even this was become, in their ima- 
 ginations, an important and a religious object. 
 
 Nor was this the case only with the see of. 
 Rome, though it was evident that she had drank 
 most deeply of this spirit, but, in some measure, 
 of every particular church. It was become a 
 popular and plausible cloak, for the pride and 
 ambition of churchmen, that they acted out of 
 /a. principle of zeal for the dignity of the see 
 with which they were entrusted, that is, said 
 they, for the honour of the founder. This was 
 thought to be of great weight, if the founder 
 happened to be a saint in the calendar; of 
 greater still, if he was, or (which is all one) if 
 he was believed to have been, a scripture saint, 
 or an evangelist; and greatest of all, if an 
 apostle. They acted on the supposition, that 
 they could not more effectually ingratiate them- 
 selves with their patron, though in heaven, than 
 
 fry 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 77 
 
 by exalting the church he had erected or en- 
 dowed upon the earth, above the churches 
 erected or endowed by others, and, consequ-'.nly, 
 in exalting him above his fellow saints. They, 
 in this way, were disposed to excuse their inter- 
 ferences with one another, thinking it reason- 
 able, that each should do his best for the saint to 
 whom he was most indebted, and who, from 
 being the founder, commonly became the tutelar 
 saint of his diocese, or parish. And then, as to 
 - the idea they supposed those saints to entertain; 
 of the dignity of their respective churches, it 
 was altogether secular, or suited to the appre- 
 hensions of mere men of the world. This dig- 
 nity Consisted not at all in the virtue and piety 
 of ' -■ parishioners, but in the opulence and 
 pre-eminencies of the clergy, in the extent and 
 populousness of the parish or diocese, the mag- 
 nificence of the churches, sacred utensils, and 
 vestments, -particularly the rank, the titles, the- 
 privileges, the prerogatives, and the riches of the 
 pastor. 
 
 It is true, the apostles, when on this earth, 
 before they were fully instructed concerning the 
 kingdom of heaven, and the spiritual nature of 
 the Messiah's government, were found contend- 
 ing with one another who should be greatest. 
 And it is equally true, that their Lord and Master 
 severely reprehended this conduct, and taught 
 
 them. 
 
78 LECTURES ON 
 
 them, that unless they were converted, and ac- 
 quired a very different disposition, as well as dif- 
 ferent sentiments concerning true greatness, far 
 from being great in that kingdom, they should 
 never enter it. And it is to be believed, nay, 
 their conduct demonstrates, that they were soon 
 after far superiour to thoughts so groveling, to 
 an ambition so ill adapted to their profession. 
 But from the sentiments which gradually sprang 
 up in the church, on the decline of true know- 
 ledge and genuine piety, men seemed universally 
 to be convinced, that in these squabbles for 
 greatness, eminence, and precedency, the apos- 
 tles and saints were still as keenly engaged in 
 heaven as ever they had been on the earth ; and 
 that they could not be more highly gratified, than 
 by the successful struggles of their clients here 
 in maintaining their respective honours and pre- 
 eminencies. 
 
 Nor does any person seem ever to have entered 
 more into these views than the celebrated pope 
 Gregory. He was ever holding forth the prero- 
 gatives of St. Peter, (who was, in his time, ac- 
 knowledged as the founder of his church) nor 
 did he make any ceremony of signifying, that 
 this prime minister of Jesus Christ, like other 
 prime ministers, would be most liberal of his 
 favours to those who were most assiduous in 
 making court to him, especially to them who 
 
 were 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 79 
 
 were most liberal to his foundation at Rome, and 
 most advanced its dignity and power. So much 
 for St. Gregory, and for the nature and extent 
 of Roman papal virtue. 
 
 LEO 
 
$0 • LECTURES ON 
 
 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 IN the preceding lecture, I illustrated, at some 
 length, in the instance of Gregory, one of the 
 best of the Roman pontiffs, how far the maxim 
 could go, of reckoning every thing just and 
 lawful, by which the papal power could be ad- 
 vanced, and the supremacy of Rome secured. 
 But it was not in one or two ways only, that they 
 showed their attention to the aforesaid maxim, 
 but in every way wherein they could apply it to 
 advantage. I have also observed to you some 
 of their other practices of the like -nature and 
 tendency. The only artifice I shall consider at 
 present, is the claims which Rome so long and 
 so assiduously affected to derive from the prero- 
 gatives of the apostle Peter, the pretended founder 
 of that see. I have hinted at this, by the way, 
 once and a°;ain ; but as it was one of her most 
 potent engines, it will deserve our special atten- 
 tion. 
 
 In my first discourse, on the rise of the pon- 
 tificate, I showed sufficiently how destitute this 
 
 plea 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORV: 81 
 
 J/lea is of every thing that can deserve the name 
 of evidence, and observed, that the first pontiff 
 "who seemed directly to found the honours of his 
 see oii the privileges of Peter, was pope Inno- 
 cent, about the beginning of the fifth century, 
 As to the apostolic age, and that immediately 
 succeeding, there is not a vestige of either 
 authority or precedency in the Roman pastor, 
 more than in any other bishop or pastor of the 
 church. Nor is this to be imputed to a defect 
 of evidence through the injury of time, In rela- 
 tion to the point in question. So far from it, 
 that next to the sacred canon, the most ancient 
 and most valuable monument we have of chris- 
 tian antiquity, is a very long letter to the Corin- 
 thians from a bishop of Rome, Clement, who 
 had been contemporary with the apostles, and is 
 mentioned by Paul, in one of his epistles: So 
 much the reverse do we rind here of every thing 
 that, looks like authority and state, that this 
 worthy pastor, in the true spirit of primitive and 
 christian humility, sinks his own name intirely 
 in that of the congregation to which he belonged, 
 and does not desire that he should be considered 
 otherwise than as any other individual of the 
 society ; a manner very unlike that of his suc- 
 cessors, and quite incompatible with their claims. 
 The letter is titled and directed thus : " The 
 w church of God, which sojourns at Rome, to 
 ^ol. n. Or " the 
 
S'2 LECTURES 01-? 
 
 tl the church of God, which sojourns at Cfr 
 " rinth." The words of the congregation were 
 then considered as of more weight than those of 
 any bishop, even the bishop of Rome. Nor i$ 
 there, in the whole performance, any trace of 
 authority lodged either in him, or in his church, 
 over the church of Corinth, or, indeed, over any 
 person or community. In every part, he speaks 
 the language not of a superiour to his inferiours, 
 a master to his servants, or even a father to his 
 children, but of equal to equal, friend to friend, 
 and brother to brother. He uses no dictating 
 and commanding ; he only exhorts and entreats; 
 To the contraveners there are no menacing de- 
 nunciations, such as have, for many centuries, 
 accompanied the papal bull of the vengeance of 
 Almighty God, and the malediction of the 
 blessed apostles Peter and Paul. The modesty 
 of the style of this truly primitive pastor, is an 
 infallible index of the modesty of his preten- 
 sions ; and, let me add, a very strong evidence 
 of the great antiquity and perfect authenticity 
 of the epistle. 
 
 The first who appeared to claim any thing 
 like authority was Victor, bishop of Rome, (or 
 pope, if ye please to call him so, though that 
 name was not then peculiar) who lived near the 
 end of the second century. This man, the first 
 noted stickler tor uniformity, quarrelled with the 
 
 Asiatic 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 83 
 
 Asiatic bishops for following a different rule ill 
 the observance of Easter, or the feast of the 
 passover, from that followea in the west. This 
 Festival appears from the beginning to have beeii 
 distinguished by christians, not on its own ac- 
 count as a Jewish solemnity, in commemoration 
 of their deliverance from Egypt, but on account 
 of its coincidence in respect of time, with those 
 most memorable of all events, the death and 
 resurrection of Christ.' In the east, they were 
 accustomed to observe the 14th day of the first 
 month, on whatever day of the week it hap- 
 pened. In the west, when the 14th did not fall 
 on Sunday, they kept it the first Sunday after. 
 When Victor found that the orientals were no 
 more impelled by his menaces than persuaded 
 by his arguments, to relinquish the custonrthey 
 had been taught by their founders, and to adopt 
 implicitly the Roman practice, he, in a rage, cut 
 them off from his communion. It is of im- 
 portance here to observe, that this phrase, as 
 used then, was not (as it is often misunderstood 
 by modern readers) of the same import with 
 excommunicating, in the strictest sense. It 
 only denotes refusing, in respect of one's self, 
 to join with such a person in religious exercises. 
 'And this every bishop whatever considered him- 
 self as entitled to do, in regard to those whom 
 he thought to err in essential matters. That 
 G £ the 
 
hi LECTURES ON 
 
 the pope himself considered it hi this manner, 
 is manifest from the pains he took (though to 
 no purpose) to induce other bishops to follow 
 his example ; sensible, that his refusal of com- 
 municating with the Quartodecimans, as they 
 were called, did neither exclude them from the 
 communion of the church, unless the resolution 
 nad become universal, nor oblige any other 
 bishop to exclude them, till satisfied of the pro- 
 priety of the measure. Accordingly, he is not 
 considered by his contemporaries as assuming an 
 extraordinary power, but as using very absurdly 
 and uncharitably a power which every one of 
 them had as well as he. Even those of the 
 same opinion with him, in regard to Easter,, 
 would not concur in this measure. They looked 
 on the time of observing that festival as merely 
 circumstantial, and therefore not a sufficient 
 reason for a breach. Such had been the opinion 
 of his own predecessors, and such also was the 
 opinion of all his successors, till the time of 
 Constantine, when, by the emperor's influence 
 with the Niccne council, the practice of the 
 west was established throughout the church. So 
 far, therefore, is this passage of history, as some 
 have represented it, from being an evidence of 
 power in the Roman pastor at that early period, 
 that it is a very strong evidence of the contrary. 
 In Vietor, we have a pope that was wrong- 
 headed 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY". &5 
 
 headed and violent enough to attempt an extra- 
 ordinary exertion, if he had had but as much 
 influence as would have secured to his endea- 
 vours some probability of success. But in any 
 other way than that of example and persuasion, 
 he knew that his endeavours could only serve to 
 render himself ridiculous. Of so little account, 
 however, were his judgment and example made, 
 that, in this step, to his no small mortification, 
 he remained singular. All were ashamed of it, 
 and his immediate successor did not judge it 
 proper to adopt it. I need not add, that on this 
 occasion we hear not a syllable of the authority 
 of St. Peter, or of any right in the Roman see, 
 to direct and command all other churches. 
 
 Of no greater consequence was the excom- 
 munication of St, Cyprian, and most of the 
 African bishops, about half a century afterwards, 
 by pope Stephen, on occasion of the question 
 about the validity of heretical baptism. These 
 sentences were mere bruta julmina, had no con- 
 sequences, and, as Augustin observes, produced 
 no schism. The popes excommunication, when 
 unsupported by other bishops, did, in effect, re- 
 bound upon himself, and he himself was pro- 
 perly the only person cut off by such a sentence 
 from the full communion of the church. No- 
 thing can be juster than the sentiment of Firmi* 
 lian on this subject. " O Stephen," says he, 
 G 3 M by 
 
8o LECTURES ON 
 
 (i by attempting to separate others from thee, 
 £f thou hast separated thyself from all other 
 " churches. He is the true schismatic who de- 
 " parts, as thou hast done, from the unity of 
 ff the church." When the bishop of Rome 
 acted unreasonably, no person considered him- 
 self as under an obligation to follow his example 
 more than that of any other pastor in the church. 
 Nor was Stephen's conduct, any more than Vic- 
 tor's, imitated by his successor; for though the 
 African bishops rebaptized, and most others did 
 not, they lived peaceably in communion with 
 each other till rebaptization was condemned in 
 the following century, first by the synod of 
 Aries, and then by the council of Nice. 
 
 Even as far down as the pontificate of Dama- 
 sus, towards the end of the fourth century, 
 when the see of Rome was, through the muni- 
 ficence of the emperors and persons of opulence, 
 greatly increased in riches and splendour, and, 
 consequently, in dignity and power, a synod of 
 Italian bishops, with the pope at their head, in 
 a letter to the emperor Gratian, thus express 
 themselves in regard to the superiority of the 
 see of Rome : iC The bishop of Rome is above 
 (l other bishops, in respect of the prerogatives 
 fi' of his apostolic see, but on a level with them 
 M in respect of his ministry." Let it be ob- 
 served, that the term apostolic was not yet pecu- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 8/ 
 
 llarly appropriated to the Roman see, but was 
 conceived to belong to it, as has before been 
 observed, in common not only with all the 
 churches that had been founded by apostles, but 
 even with all patriarchal and metropolitical 
 churches. By his superiority, therefore, no more 
 is meant than sueh a precedency as they sup- 
 posed Peter to have enjoyed amongst his fellow- 
 apostles. As to the latter part of the declara- 
 tion, the equality of the ministry in the bishops, 
 though it be the doctrine of all antiquity, no* 
 thing can be more repugnant, to what has been 
 the doctrine of Rome, for many centuries, 
 namely, that all power, both spiritual and tem- 
 poral, is lodged in the pope ; that ail the bishops 
 are no more than his deputies ; that all the 
 authority and jurisdiction they are vested with, 
 are but emanations from the plenitude of power 
 lodged in him. But Damasus, who, though far 
 from being unambitious, had not formed a con- 
 ception of so exorbitant a claim, appears to have 
 been well satisfied with the respect shown to his 
 see in the above declaration. 
 
 From this event, to the time of Innocent, in 
 the beginning of the fifth century, though the 
 popes piqued themselves not a little on the tra- 
 dition they had, however implausible, that their 
 see was founded by the apostle Peter, they did 
 not pretend to derive any peculiar authority 
 G 4 from 
 
gg jLEC TUBES OK 
 
 from him ; but in maintaining' their power, al- 
 ways recurred to the dignity of Rome, the queen 
 of cities, the capital of the world, to the imperial 
 rescripts, the decrees of Sardica, which, on some 
 occasions, they wanted to impose on mankind 
 for the decrees of Nice, and to canons, real or 
 supposititious, of ecumenical councils. That 
 there were real canons, which gave the bishop 
 of Rome a precedency before other bishops, is 
 not denied ; but in these it is never assigned as 
 a reason, that this church had Peter for its 
 founder, but solely, that the city was the world's 
 metropolis. 
 
 But no sooner was this other foundation sug- 
 gested, than its utility for the advancement of 
 the papal interest was perceived by every body. 
 First, this was a more popular plea. It made 
 the papal authority much more sacred, as being- 
 held directly jure clivino, whereas, on the other 
 plea, it was held merely jure humano. Secondly, 
 this rendered that authority immoveable. What 
 one emperor gave by his rescript, another might 
 resume in the same manner; the canons of one 
 council might be repealed by a postedour coun- 
 cil. Such alterations, in matters of discipline, 
 arrangement, and subordination, had been often 
 made. But who durst abrogate the prerogatives 
 granted by his Lord and Master to the prince of 
 the -anostles, and bv him transmitted to his 
 
 church ? 
 4 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 68 
 
 church ? Thirdly, the power claimed in this 
 way was more indefinite, and might be extended, 
 nobody knows how far, as long a» there was 
 tbund enough of ignorance and superstition in 
 the people to favour the attempts of the priest- 
 hood. Besides, when the claim was of divine 
 right, the pontiff had this advantage, that he 
 alone was considered as the proper interpreter of 
 his own privileges. The case was totally dif- 
 ferent with all human decrees, authority, and 
 claims whatever. Add to this, that whilst they 
 derived from any terrestrial power, they could 
 never raise their claims above the authority 
 which was acknowledged to be the source. But 
 when the source was believed to be in heaven, 
 no claim over earthly powers, however arrogant, 
 could endanger their exceeding in this respect. 
 And though I believe, that all these considera- 
 tions were not fully in view at the beginning, 
 yet it is certain, that for these purposes they 
 employed this topic, in the course of a few cen- 
 turies, when they would have all power, secular 
 as well as spiritual, to have been conferred by 
 Peter, a poor fisherman of Galilee, upon t'ie 
 pope. 
 
 It was some time, however, before the old 
 ground of canons, imperial edicts, and ancient 
 custom, was intirely deserted. Zosimus, the' 
 successor of Innocent, and a most aspiring pon- 
 tiff, 
 
§0 LECTURES ON 
 
 tiff, recurred to these as the sole foundation of 
 his pretended right of judging in the last resort. 
 It was, perhaps, prudent, not to desert a plea at 
 once which had great weight with many, and to 
 risk all upon a novelty, which, till men's ears 
 were familiarized with it, might, for aught he 
 knew, be but little regarded. In process of 
 time, however, the credulity of the people keep- 
 ing pace with their degeneracy in knowledge, 
 and virtue, and rational religion, dispelled all 
 apprehensions on this head, and the repeal of 
 the canons of Sardica by other councils, com- 
 pelled his holiness to recur to the new ground 
 pointed out by Innocent, which was found, upon 
 trial, to afford a much firmer bottom, whereon 
 to erect the wonderful fabric of the hierarchy. 
 
 Accordingly, in less than fifty years after this 
 plea had been ushered in by Innocent, it began 
 to be a common topic with the pontiffs, and all 
 the advocates of pontifical jurisdiction. Hila* 
 rius, in the first letter he wrote after his accession 
 to the papal chair, mentions, with much exulta- 
 tion, the primacy of St. Peter, and the dignity 
 of his see. There was the greater need of this 
 alteration, as Rome was, both in riches and 
 splendour, daily declining, and, from being the 
 imperial city, was become only the capital of 
 Italy, a Gothic kingdom, as Constantinople was, 
 in strictness, the only imperial city, . and was 
 3 now 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. <)1 
 
 now become much superiour to the other in 
 populousness and wealth* Accordingly, in the 
 time of pope Gelasius, about the close of tiie 
 fifth century, in a synod, consisting- mostly of 
 Italian bishops, and dependents on the pontiff, a 
 decree was obtained, declaring boldly, (as if* 
 says Bower, all records had been destroyed, and 
 men knew nothing of what had happened but a 
 few years before) " that it was not to any coun- 
 *' cils, or the decrees of any, that the holy 
 " roman catholic and apostolic church owed her 
 " primacy, but to the words of our Saviour, say- 
 " ing, in the gospel, * Thou art Peter, &c.' and 
 " thereby building the church upon him, as on 
 " a rock which nothing could shake; that the 
 " Roman church not having spot or wrinkle, 
 *' was consecrated and exalted above all other 
 f( churches, by the presence as well as by the 
 " death, martyrdom, and glorious triumph of 
 (e the two chief apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, 
 ¥' who suffered at Rome under Nero, not at 
 " different times, as the heretics say, but at the 
 " same time, and on the- same day; and that 
 " the Roman church is the first church, being 
 " founded by the first apostle, the church of 
 " Alexandria the second, being founded by his 
 " disciple, St. Mark, in his name, and that of 
 ■' Antioch the third, because St. Peter dwelt 
 t l there before he came to Rome, and in that 
 
 " city 
 
&2 LECTURES ON 
 
 '■' city the faithful were first distinguished by 
 <e the name of christians." 
 
 Why was there no mention here, I must beg 
 leave to ask, of the" church of Jerusalem, which 
 had heen infinitely more highly honoured, even 
 in their own way of estimating honours, than 
 any or all of those churches put together ? It 
 had been honoured by the presence, the ministry, 
 the martyrdom, the resurrection, and glorious 
 triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sole 
 founder and king of the church universal, ho- 
 noured by the descent of the Holy Ghost, on 
 the whole college of apostles, whereby they were 
 both authorized and qualified to commence their 
 ministry, honoured further by the express com- 
 mand of Jesus Christ to all his apostles, to begin 
 the discharge of their office at Jerusalem. 
 
 But, says the Romanist, it was for this very 
 reason, the murder of the Lord of glory, that 
 the Jews were rejected from being God's people, 
 and Jerusalem in particular humbled, in being 
 denied the honours she had otherwise enjoyed, 
 as the capital of the church of Christ. Is it then 
 reasonable, that Jerusalem should be punished 
 for the death of the master, and Rome rewarded 
 and honoured for the slaughter of his servants ? 
 Shall that be pleaded as a merit to the one, 
 which is accounted a dishonour to the other? 
 And if not the guilt of the murderers, but the 
 
 testimony 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. $3 
 
 -testimony given to the truth by the sufferers, 
 and the importance of the oblation, are the 
 things to be considered, the martyrdom of Jesus 
 Christ was infinitely more important, in respect 
 both of the victim, and of the consequences, 
 than that of all his apostles and followers put 
 together. It is true, the infidel Jews were re- 
 jected as a nation, because they had previously 
 rejected the Lord's Messiah, and, in this fate, 
 the unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem justly 
 shared, when their temple and polity were de- 
 stroyed ; but this was no reason why the church 
 of Jerusalem, that is, the believing inhabitants 
 and believing Jews, a church which Christ him- 
 self had planted, and which was, for some time, 
 watered by the joint labours of all his apostles, 
 should be involved in that punishment. On the 
 contrary, their faith, their fortitude, their glory, 
 are enhanced by the unbelief, apostacy, and un- 
 relenting cruelty of their countrymen and fellow- 
 citizens. And that our Lord himself meant to 
 show a particular respect to his faithful servants 
 or church in that city, is manifest from what 
 has been observed, the order he gave to his dis- 
 ciples, to wait there the fulfilment of the Father's 
 promise, the effusion of the spirit in a variety of 
 miraculous gifts, after which they were there to 
 begin their ministry. For out of Zion this new 
 
 law 
 
5-fc LECTURES ON" 
 
 law 'was to issue, and the word of the' Lord fronS 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 I adduce all this more as an argumentiim ad 
 hominem to the papist, than as implying, that it 
 was intended that one church ought to' have' 
 jurisdiction over another, by whomsoever found- 
 ed. The disciples were commanded to calL no' 
 man father upon the earth, because they had 
 only one Father, who is in heaven, and they 
 themselves were all brethren ; and to call no one 
 master, teacher, or guide ; because Christ alone 
 was their master, their teacher, their guide. It 
 is scarcely worth while to criticize minutely this 
 decree of GefksmS. It founds their whole claim 
 on a tradition, which has been shown to be not 
 only uncertain, but exceedingly improbable. It 
 is somewhat remarkable, that he takes just as 
 much of tradition as will suit his purpose, arid 
 no more. The tradition was as universal, and 
 much more probable, that Peter was likewise the 
 founder of Antioeh ; but this he did not judge 
 convenient to admit. Besides, that Mark founded 
 Alexandria in Peter's name, had never been 
 heard of in the Church before. In. this pitiful 
 manner he was obliged to mutilate and misrepre- 
 sent tradition, that by all means he might avoid 
 letting it appear, that the dignity of those several 
 cities in the empire, and that alone, had deter ; 
 
 mined 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 9-5 
 
 mined the -rank of their respective bishops. 
 "With a gross and ignorant people, such as the 
 Romans were now become, bold assertions would 
 supply the place both of arguments and of testi- 
 monies. The pope had also this further motive 
 in this new conceit, to mortify, as much as pos- 
 sible, the patriarch of Constantinople, (the only 
 prelate powerful enough to be a rival) by exalt- 
 ing the bishops of Alexandria and Antioch above 
 him ; and, doubtless, by this expedient, he hoped 
 the more easily to gain the two last mentioned 
 bishops to his side. 
 
 Nothing from this time forwards was heard 
 from the patronizers of Romish usurpation but 
 Thou art Peter, and I gke to thee the keys of the 
 kingdom of keaoen, and so forth. These things 
 began now to be echoed from every quarter. 
 What is often repeated, how weak soever, never 
 fails to make some impression, especially on the 
 illiterate. The hard stone is at length hollowed 
 by the eave's drop, however feeble and un per- 
 ceivable the effect of a single drop must be 
 accounted. 
 
 Matters were advanced so far at the beginning 
 of the sixth centuiy, that when pope Symmachus 
 was summoned to appear before an assembly of 
 bishops, and undergo a trial for several crimes 
 of which he was accused, it 'was pleaded by 
 some, (for the first time, indeed) that no synod, 
 
 or 
 
£)0 LECTURES ON 
 
 or council had a right to judge the pope, that he 
 was accountable for his actions to God alone. 
 It must be owned, that this notion, though at 
 present like an article of faith with every genu- 
 ine son of Home, (I mean not every Roman ca- 
 tholic) appeared to the generality of christians, 
 at the time it was broached, exceedingly extra- 
 vagant and absurd. But the synod (for it was 
 not a general council) which Theodoric, king of 
 the Goths, had convened, consisting entirely of 
 Italian bishops, who were, in several respects, de- 
 pendent, and had now, of a long time, considered 
 the exaltation of the Roman see as the exalta- 
 tion of their country, and the only means left of 
 raising" themselves above the eastern part of the 
 empire ; though they were not inclinable to give 
 a positive decision in this extraordinary question, 
 were satisfied to supersede the necessity of de- 
 ciding it, by absolving the pontiff from all the 
 charges brought against him, and restoring him 
 to all his authority, both within and without the 
 city. 
 
 It was impossible to foresee how far the advo- 
 cates for the hierarchy would carry the privileges 
 they derived from the prince of the apostles, as 
 they commonly affected to style St. Peter. What 
 shall we think of this high prerogative, the title, 
 the absolute jus divinum, to commit all crimes 
 with impunity, at least in this world, being amen- 
 able 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 97 
 
 able to no jurisdiction, temporal or spiritual? 
 Yet nothing less than this was the pope's benefit 
 of clergy ! Some, to avoid one absurdity in giving 
 an unbounded licence, have run into another, 
 maintaining the impeccability of popes inaction, 
 as well as their infallibility in judgment. But 
 let any man who has read their history, even as 
 written by their own friends and favourers, be- 
 lieve them to be either impeccable, or infallible, 
 if he can. I shall only remark, by the way, that, 
 in an Italian synod, assembled little more than a 
 century before the pontificate of Symmachus, the 
 bishops, however partial to the pope, were so far 
 from exempting him from the jurisdiction of a 
 council, that they presented a petition to the 
 emperour Gratian, begging it, as a special fa- 
 vour, that the bishop of Rome might not be 
 judged by a subordinate magistrate, but either 
 by the emperour himself, or by a council. And 
 to obtain so much as this was then thought a 
 very great acquisition, though now it would be 
 accounted extremely derogatory to the holy 
 see. 
 
 The progress of the pontiffs was indeed rapid. 
 One attainment, though, at the time it was made, 
 it appeared the utmost extent of their ambition, 
 always serve4 but as a step to facilitate the ac- 
 quisition of something still higher. " A person 
 " never mounts so high, " said Cromwell, " as 
 
 vol. ir. H " when 
 
98 LECTURES ON 
 
 " when he does not know himself how far hede- 
 " sires to go." Nothing is more certain than 
 that, in later centuries, there were many preroga- 
 tives strenuously contended for by the papal see, 
 Which the popes of earlier ages explicitly dis- 
 claimed. 
 
 But to return to the new plea, in support of 
 the hierarchy, first suggested by Innocent, and 
 afterwards solemnly ratified in a synod by Gela- 
 sius, there was even a gradation in the use they 
 made of this, and in the consequences they de- 
 duced from it. At first, it was little more than 
 a sort of divine title, in the see of Rome, to that 
 honour and precedency, which she had for several 
 ages enjoyed by such a human title as I have 
 formerly explained. The altering of their ground, 
 therefore, seems not at first to have been so much 
 intended for extending their prerogatives, as for 
 rendering them more venerable, and more unas- 
 sailable, by every human power. But matters 
 did not long rest here. 
 
 For some ages the primacy of Peter was un- 
 derstood by nobody to imply more than that he 
 was a president, chairman, or first in rank, in 
 the apostolic college. But now that his prero- 
 gatives were considered as the ground-work of 
 the Roman claims, every true Romanist was dis- 
 posed to stretch them as much as possible. The 
 primacy they first raised into a superintend en cy, 
 
 then 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 99 
 
 then the superintendency into a supremacy ; and 
 the supremacy they at length exalted into despo- 
 tism, or an absolute and uncontrollable jurisdic- 
 tion. Again, what was granted to Peter, by his 
 master, was no longer considered in the way it 
 had been formerly, as a personal reward for the 
 important confession he was the first to make. 
 Every prerogative, which they fancied to have 
 belonged to him, they now ascribed to the pope, 
 as the representative of his person, and the inhe- 
 ritor of all that was his. What a wonderful de- 
 duction from a number of premises, every one of 
 them assumed without proof, and some of them 
 in direct opposition to the clearest evidence. 
 
 As their claims advanced, their style varied. 
 In the primitive ages, the utmost that was pre- 
 tended, was, that the church, or christian society 
 in Rome, was founded by the apostle Peter; 
 that is, in other words, that the first converts to 
 Christianity, in Rome, were made by his preach- 
 ing and ministry. But not satisfied with what 
 is implied in this account, that he was the first 
 who preached the gospel to them, they afterwards 
 would have that capital to be the peculiar see of 
 St. Peter, where he was settled as the bishop, or 
 fixed pastor, of the congregation. The Romans 
 were denominated the peculiar people of St. Pe- 
 ter. The pontiff was become his successor in 
 office. Nay, as if this were no t enough, they 
 
 H 2 quickly 
 
100 ttCTtTRtS Otf 
 
 quickly affected to talk of Peter as still person- 
 ally present there, and of the pope as the organ 
 through which he spoke. Their episcopal throne 
 is accordingly the chair of St. Peter. What is 
 given to that church is given to St. Peter. To 
 disohey the pope is to affront St. Peter ; nay, it 
 is to rebel against God, and to renounce his son 
 Jesus Christ, and -is therefore no better than 
 total apostacy. This was now become their 
 manner universally. 
 
 Nay, so far did pope Stephen the second, 
 
 about the middle of the eighth century, cany 
 
 this matter, that in writing to Pepin, king of 
 
 France, on a very urgent occasion, he thought 
 
 proper to use the apostle's name instead of his 
 
 own, and thus begins his letter : " Simon Peter, 
 
 " the servant and apostle of Jesus, Christ, to three 
 
 " most excellent kings, Pepin, Charles, and Car- 
 
 " Ionian, to all the holy bishops, abbots, &c. to 
 
 " all the dukes, counts, and captains of the 
 
 " army, and to the whole people of France, 
 
 " grace to you and peace be multiplied. I am 
 
 " the apostle Peter, to whom it was said, Thou 
 
 " art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my 
 
 " church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 
 li against it. And to thee will I give the keys of 
 
 " the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou 
 
 * ' shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, 
 
 (i and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall 
 
 " be 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 101 
 
 ' ; be loosed in heaven. Feed my sheep. As all 
 '.' this was said to in e peculiarly, all avIio hearken 
 u to me, and obey my exhortations, may be 
 14 certain that their sins are forgiven, and that 
 " they will be admitted into everlasting lite, 
 '< cleansed from all guilt, &c." He proceeds to 
 enjoin them to assist the pope, his vicar, and the 
 Romans, 4 his favourite people, his chosen flock, 
 by making war upon the Lombards, those raven- 
 ing wolves, as they would hope for remission 
 here, or admission into heaven hereafter ; and 
 assures them, that in this entreaty and command, 
 he is joined by our lady, the virgin Alary, the 
 mother of God, the thrones and dominions, the 
 principalities and powers, and the whole multi- 
 tude of the heavenly host. Now this, on pope 
 Stephen's authority, ye may call the third epistle 
 of Peter, But on comparing it with the former 
 two, we cannot help remarking the wonderful 
 change in the apostle's style. In this he is a 
 perfect braggart ; whereas in those we find not 
 a syllable of his high prerogatives and claims. 
 So far was he then from assuming any superiority, 
 that he put himself on a level not only with 
 apostles, bat with every minister of the .word. 
 The elders (says he, Pet. v, 1,) that are amongst 
 you, I exhort, who am also an elder.- The Greek 
 ■ words are more emphatically expressive of equal- 
 ity than the English, ir^ic^i^ t«? i» vpw tra.^ 
 
 H 3 ««Acij 
 
102 LECTURES Oltf 
 
 xuXoo o o-ujMirf eo-|3uIf^® j . The " presbyters amongst 
 " you," he says not I their archpresbyter com- 
 mand, but " I their fellow-presbyter exhort" 
 And to what does he exhort them? " To feed 
 il the flock of God, which was among them, 
 " acting the parts of bishops or overseers, not 
 " of lords over God's heritage, but serving as 
 " patterns to the flock, teaching them not so 
 " much by precept as by example." Was it 
 not, however, as under shepherds, that they were 
 to feed and guide the christian community ? 
 Undoubtedly. Who then was the chief shep- 
 herd ? i This also we learn from his words. It 
 was not Peter himself. He is very far from 
 giving such a suggestion. But it was Jesus 
 Christ, his and their common master. " When 
 " the chief shepherd, o u^vo^nvy shall appear, 
 " ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth 
 il not away." Nothing here of that arrogant 
 and imperious style, which his pretended succes- 
 sors so soon assumed, and so injuriously fathered 
 upon him. In regard to the spirit of the epistles, 
 I say not how different, but how opposite, are 
 they ! This, transmitted by pope Stephen, is an 
 incentive, by every means, the grossest flattery 
 not excepted, to war, bloodshed, and vengeance. 
 Those we have in the sacred canon, breathe no- 
 thing but humility, peace, and love, a meek and 
 patient submission to the worst evils that men 
 
 could 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 103 
 
 could inflict. In regard to the new fangled 
 titles conferred on Mary, of our lady, and the 
 mother of God, so foreign from the simple man- 
 ner of the inspired penmen, I suppose a Ro- 
 manist would account for them by saying, that 
 the apostle must have learnt these improvements 
 on his language from St, Cyril, who had, long 
 ere now, carried to heaven the news of the Nes- 
 torian controversy, and his own triumph at the 
 council of Ephesus. 
 
 To give you a specimen of the mode of proving 
 which now came in vogue. The pope is the sole 
 foundation of the christian edifice ; for Christ 
 said to Peter, On this rock I will build my church. 
 In other places, however, all the apostles are re- 
 presented equally as foundations. Again, the 
 pope alone has the whole jurisdiction ; for Christ 
 said to Peter, To thee will I give the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou slialt 
 bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven. Yet the 
 same power is, almost in the same words, in ano- 
 ther passage given to all the apostles, nay, and 
 to the whole church. The pope is the chief 
 shepherd, the only apostle and pastor, that de? 
 rives his power from Christ : all other bishops are 
 under shepherds that derive their power from the 
 pope. And how is this evinced? After the 
 shameful fall of Peter in, thrice denying his: 
 master, Jesus Christ judged it meet to bring 
 li 4 him 
 
104 LECTURES ON 
 
 him thrice solemnly to profess his love, and 
 subjoined this precept, as affording the apostle 
 the means of giving the only satisfactory evidence 
 of the truth of his profession : Feed my sheep, 
 and feed my lambs. Hence the Romanist sagely 
 concludes, that this charge belonged only to 
 Peter. He might with equal reason have main- 
 tained, that as the question, Zovest thou me 9 
 was put only to Peter, and the threefold profes- 
 sion required of none, and given by none but 
 him, it was not a duty incumbent on the other 
 apostles, to love their master, or to confess him. 
 It is on this ground, also, that some have dared 
 to advance, in contradiction equally to the sense 
 and to the words of scripture, that Peter was 
 properly the only apostle of Jesus Christ, and 
 that all the rest were the apostles of Peter. Seri- 
 ously to refute such a principle would be almost 
 as absurd as to maintain it. 
 
 Nay, to show a little more of their wonderful 
 dexterity in reasoning, and~ the surprising ad- 
 vantages they derive from this fund of St. Peter, 
 the pope's infallibility is thus demonstrated by 
 them. Our Lord said to Peter, before the de^ 
 nial, as being the only disciple who was in immi- 
 nent danger, (for the traitor is out of the ques- 
 tion) Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have 
 you, that he may sift you as wheat ; but I have 
 prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not ; and when 
 
 thou 
 
FXCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. .105 
 
 thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 
 Those who think it necessary to mind the scope 
 of the place, and the principles of reason, allege, 
 that the prayer that his faith might not fail, 
 means evidently that he might not proceed so 
 far as to make a total defection from Christianity, 
 which he would soon, by repeatedly abjuring his 
 master, appear on the brink of doing. But who 
 thinks it necessary to mind these in disputing ? 
 The import of this passage, says the Romanist, 
 is, Christ prayed that Peter might have the gift 
 of infallibility, or, as they also term it, incrrabi- 
 lity, in his judgment concerning all articles of 
 christian doctrine. Peter then alone was, and 
 consequently the pope, his sole heir and repre- 
 sentative, alone is, infallible. 
 
 I shall give but one other specimen of this 
 Romish logic. When in the ages of the church, 
 posteriour to those I have yet remarked on, the 
 popes claimed to be the true depositaries of all 
 secular as well as spiritual jurisdiction, how 
 satisfactory was the proof they produced in sup- 
 port of their claim, from this passage. They 
 said, Lord, behold here are two swords. And he 
 said, It is enough. Here they shrewdly ask, 
 Why were there neither more nor fewer than two 
 swords ? The answer is plain : It was to denote 
 that there were two sorts of power, neither more 
 por fewer, deposited with the church, the teln- 
 et poral 
 
106 LECTURES ON 
 
 poral and the spiritual ; and that these two were 
 sufficient for all her occasions. But why are 
 these supposed to he entrusted solely to the pope ? 
 If they were entrusted to Peter, they are certainly 
 entrusted to the pope. And that they were en- 
 trusted to Peter is manifest from this, that Peter 
 afterwards used one of them, as we learn from the 
 evangelist John, in cutting oif the right ear of 
 Malchus, a servant of the high priest. And if 
 he had one of these swords, what good reason 
 can be given why he should not have both ? 
 Thus, by a regular deduction, as convincing to 
 a Romanist as demonstration, it is proved, that 
 the pope is the only fountain of all authority, 
 both temporal and spiritual. 
 
 LEG- 
 i 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 107 
 
 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 J.N my preceding lectures, on the rise and pro- 
 gress of the papacy, I have been more particular, 
 and treated things more in detail, than I had at 
 first intended. But on so complex a subject, to 
 which so great a variety of different and evert 
 dissimilar circumstances contributed, it is not easy 
 to consult at once brevity and perspicuity. Be- 
 sides, in this deduction, I have found it iiii pos- 
 sible to elucidate the latent causes, which co-ope- 
 rated in rearing this wonderful fabric, in a nar- 
 rative of its advancement, according to the order 
 of time. To have attempted this won]*! have 
 Jed me to make an abridgment of ecclesiastic 
 history, and to interweave with it such critical 
 inquiries, as would serve to expose the secret 
 springs and progress of that enormous power. 
 But this would have occasioned a still more mi- 
 nute detail, and would, after all, have scarcely 
 been so satisfactory as the manner I have adopted. 
 A number of different springs, in the great, ma- 
 chine, which operated separately, though simul- 
 taneously, 
 
I OS LECTURES Otf 
 
 taneously, I have been obliged, for the sake of 
 distinctness, to consider separately. In the de- 
 ductions I have given pf each, I have conformed 
 myself, as much as possible, to the order of time, 
 that the different phases, if I may so express my- 
 self, of the same plea, at different periods, might 
 * be considered and compared. Something of this 
 kind ye may have observed from what has been 
 said on the subject of appeals, and on the dift 
 ferent foundations on which Rome, at different 
 periods, raised her title to jurisdiction. But 
 when leaving one topic I recurred to another, 
 I have been obliged to turn back, as it were, in 
 order to resume the history of that particular, 
 also, from the beginning. My object, in these 
 discourses, is not to give a narrative of facts* 
 but from known facts, with their attendant cir- 
 cumstances, by comparing one with another, to. 
 deduce principles and causes. I have already 
 gone so far this way, not with a view to supers 
 sede the accounts given by the historian, but 
 rather to enable you to read those accounts with 
 greater attention and advantage. Many circum- 
 stances, apparently trivial, in a detail of facts, 
 are apt to be overlooked by a hasty reader, which 
 yet may be of very considerable consequence for 
 bringing to light the springs of action, and ac- 
 counting for other things with which, at first, to 
 a superficial observer, they may appear to have 
 
 little 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 10$ 
 
 little ot no connection. In what remains of this 
 enquiry into the Roman hierarchy, I do not in- 
 tend to he so particular, but shall briefly take 
 notice of some of the principal causes (for to 
 name all would be impossible) which co-operated 
 in rearing this strange medley of divine (as it 
 was called) and human, spiritual and secular, 
 dominion. 
 
 There is none who has read church history 
 with the least attention, but must be sensible, 
 that, from the very beginning of papal power, it 
 has been much more considerable and conspi- 
 cuous in the west, than in the east Indeed, for 
 some centuries, the Roman pontiff hardly made 
 any pretensions in the east, except in regard to 
 his precedency, which, as it had been settled by 
 early but tacit consent, and preserved by custom, 
 the eastern prelates were not disposed to contro- 
 vert. But when from a bare precedency, in 
 point of rank, he came to extend his claim to 
 jurisdiction, he always met from them a vigorous 
 and often successful opposition. The case was 
 not entirely similar with the western bishops, 
 over whom the pope obtained a considerable 
 ascendant, much earlier than it was in his power 
 to. do, in regard to his oriental brethren. Several 
 causes may be assigned for this difference. 
 
 In the first place, in some of the earliest ages, 
 if we except the inhabitants of Rome, Carthage, 
 
 and 
 
110 LECTURES ON 
 
 and some principal cities, those in the west were 
 in general, beyond all comparison, interiour 
 both in knowledge and acuteness to the orien- 
 tals, and were therefore much "better adapted to 
 be implicit followers, first, during the church's 
 worldly obscurity, of the most respectable cha- 
 racters, afterwards, during her worldly splendour, 
 of the most eminent sees. Victor, bishop of 
 Rome, in the violent measures he adopted 
 against the Quarto-decimans, in Asia, in the 
 second century, seems to have had no adherents, 
 even among those, who, in the observance of 
 Easter, the only point in dispute, followed the 
 same custom with himself. As little had Ste- 
 phen the first, in the third century, in his mea- 
 sures against the African rebaptizers of those 
 who had been baptized by heretics or schismatics. 
 Ireneus, bishop of Lyons, on account of his per- 
 sonal character, was of ten times more authority 
 even in the west than pope Victor ; and Cyprian, 
 bishop of Carthage, than pope Stephen. But 
 matters underwent a very great change after 
 Christianity had received the sanction of a legal 
 establishment. Then indeed the difference be- 
 tween one see and another, both in riches and in 
 power, soon became enormous. And this could 
 not fail to produce, in the sentiments of man- 
 kind, the usual consequences. Such is the con- 
 stant progress in all human polities whatever. 
 1 In 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Ill 
 
 In the most simple state of society, personal 
 merit, of some kind or other, makes the only 
 noticeable distinction between man and man. 
 In polities, purely republican, it is still the chief 
 distinction. But the farther ye recede, from these, 
 and the nearer ye approach the monarchical mo- 
 del, the more does this natural distinction give 
 place to those artificial distinctions created by 
 riches, office, and rank. 
 
 When Rome was become immensely superiour 
 both in splendour, and in opulence, to every 
 western see, she would, with great facility, and, 
 as it were naturally, (if nothing very unusual or 
 alarming was attempted) dictate to the other 
 sees in the west ; the people there having had, 
 for several ages, very little of the disputatious, 
 dogmatizing, humour of their brethren in the 
 east. It no doubt contributed to the same effect, 
 that Rome was the only see of very great note, 
 which concurred with several of them in lan- 
 guage, latin being the predominant tongue 
 among the western churches, as Greek was 
 among the eastern. It was natural for the for- 
 mer, therefore, to consider themselves as more 
 closely connected with the Roman patriarch than 
 with the Constantinopolitan, or any of the other 
 oriental patriarchs. A similar reason, when not 
 counteracted by other causes, operated among 
 
 the 
 
Il2 LECTURES OX 
 
 the Greeks, to make them prefer a Grecian pa- 
 triarch before a Latin one. 
 
 I acknowledge, as I hinted before, that this 
 natural bias was frequently surmounted by other 
 causes. When the orientals were divided into 
 parties by their disputes, as was often the case, 
 the Romans could then obtain almost any thing 
 from the side they favoured, such was the vio- 
 lence of the parties against each other. But this 
 humour, though it was not entirely without 
 effect, was but temporary with them, and com- 
 monly lasted no longer than the controversy 
 which gave rise to it. Like an elastic body, 
 though it may be very much bent by the proper 
 application of external force, no sooner is the 
 force removed, than of itself it resumes its former 
 state. Nevertheless, on bodies of this sort, such 
 violence, frequently repeated, will produce some 
 change. 
 
 One thing, which rendered it very difficult to 
 effect a hearty coalition between Greeks and La- 
 tins, was the contempt which the former were, 
 from early childhood, inured to entertain of the 
 genius and understanding of the latter. Not- 
 withstanding the superiority the Romans had 
 obtained over them by subduing their country, 
 and all the eastern monarchies which had sprung 
 cut of the Macedonian conquests, the Grecians 
 
 could 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 115 
 
 could not help considering ihem as no better 
 than a sort of barbarians, a little more civilized 
 than the Scythians, or the Tartars. u These 
 u men,*' said Photius, the Greek patriarch, 
 who; in the ninth century, proved the .occasion 
 of the schism between the oriental churches and 
 the occidental ; these men, speaking of the La- 
 tins, " sprung from the darkness of the west, 
 " have corrupted every thing by their ignorance* 
 * c and have even proceeded to that pitch of im~ 
 " piety and madness, as to foist words into the' 
 " sacred symbol confirmed by all the councils."' 
 The Greeks often bragged that the Latins were 
 their scholars. " They have nothing," said 
 they, " which they have not gotten from us, 
 " not even the names of their ceremonies, mys- 
 " teries, and dignities, such as baptism, eucha- 
 " rist, liturgy, parish, diocese, bishop, presbyter, 
 '•' deacon, monk, church, which they often stu- 
 " pidly misunderstand, and wretchedly misap- 
 <c ply." But though the Greeks never showed 
 much inclination to a cordial union with the La- 
 tins, they were far from being so closely united 
 among themselves as the Latins generally were. 
 I have already hinted at some of the causes of 
 this difference in the Greeks, such as their inge- 
 nuity itself, which could ill brook the dictatorial 
 manner, and their disputative and iuquisitive turn . 
 of mind. 
 
 vol. if. I But 
 
114 LECTURES ON 
 
 But there was another remarkable cause arising 
 from the different constitutions of these two great 
 parts of the empire, the oriental and the occi- 
 dental. The former, as being beyond all com- 
 parison the richest, the most populous, and the 
 most civilized, was sooner brought to a regular 
 form of government, ecclesiastical as well as 
 civil. I had before occasion to observe, that 
 the ecclesiastic polity was, in a great measure, 
 modelled upon the civil. All the cities of greatest 
 eminence, as well as the most ancient churches, 
 were situated in the east : Alexandria, Antioch, 
 Jerusalem, Constantinople, Cesarea, Ephesus, 
 were cities of that note, with which nothing 
 in the west, if we abstract Rome itself, was 
 worthy to be compared. Accordingly, except 
 Milan in Italy, and Carthage in west Africa, 
 there does not appear to have been any bishop 
 in the occidental churches above the rank of a 
 metropolitan. 
 
 And even those I have named, Milan and Car- 
 thage, were considerably inferiour, both in juris- 
 diction and in wealth, not only to the three great 
 patriarchal sees in the east, Constantinople, Alex- 
 andria, and Antioch, but even to the principal 
 of those called exarchal, such as Ephesus and 
 Cesarea. Consequently, the pope had not in the 
 west a single bishop, of consideration and rank, 
 sufficient to be, in any degree, qualified for either 
 
 a rival. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 115 
 
 a rival, or a check. It is manifest, that in Gaul, 
 Spain, and Britain, there were not, at least for 
 some ages, any who had the inspection of more 
 than a single province. The disparity, there- 
 fore, was so exceedingly great in the west, as to 
 give the utmost scope for the ambition of a see, 
 which, in respect of worldly circumstances, had 
 been so remarkably distinguished. 
 
 When there is an equality, or even nearness, 
 in riches and power among those who share it, 
 we may be assured, there will always be emula- 
 tion ; but if you raise one of the possessors dis- 
 tinguishably above the rest, you not only destroy 
 their emulation, but °,ive a contrarv direction to 
 their ambition, and make them fain to court the 
 man whom they cannot hope successfully to emu- 
 late. Nay, the very rivalship which the rest en- 
 tertain of one another, leads them to act this part 
 with regard to him whom more fortunate circum- 
 stances has raised into their superiour ; that, by 
 his means, they may the more easily surmount 
 their equals. Rome, it must be owned, was not— 
 at first considered as a patriarchate. The whole 
 of Italy made but one civil diocese, which, as I 
 observed once before, was on account of its ex- 
 treme populousnesS; as well as opulence, divided 
 into two lieutenancies, or vicariates. The one 
 was called the vicariate of Rome, the other that 
 of Italy : the capital of this last was; Milan. 
 
 I a The 
 
116 LECTURES ON 
 
 The first title, therefore, the pope enjoyed, after 
 the church, in Constantine's time, had been mo- 
 delled in this manner, was the vicar of Rome, as 
 the bishop of Milan was called the vicar of Italy; 
 nor was the pope, if I remember right, honoured 
 with the name of patriarch, though he was always 
 allowed the precedency till the synod of Chalce- 
 don in the fifth century. But as he had been 
 time immemorial denominated the vicar, and as 
 it is not easy to suppress a title firmly established 
 by custom, it is not improbable that the bishops 
 of Rome, near that period, have judged it more 
 political not to attempt the suppression ; but to 
 add to vicar, by way of explanation, in order to 
 disguise its inferiority, the words, of Jesus Christ, 
 and with this addition to arrogate it as pecu- 
 liar. 
 
 The bishop of Milan, who, by that first divi- 
 sion, was vicar of Italy, was on a foot of equality, 
 in respect of his title, and even of the nature, 
 though not of the extent of his jurisdiction, with 
 the bishop of Rome ; insomuch, that nothing 
 but the immense disparity there was in riches 
 and splendour, and almost all external circum- 
 stances, could have prevented him from being a 
 rival. This disparity, however, did effectually 
 prevent all rivalry, and make it conducive both 
 to the interest and to the ambition of the former, 
 to forward, instead of opposing, the designs of 
 
 the 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 117 
 
 the latter. It is evident, therefore, that the 
 popes, even from the beginning, had in the west 
 incomparably a more advantageous situation for 
 the acquisition of power, than any patriarch in 
 the east was possessed of. It is, in like manner, 
 evident, and misdit almost have been concluded 
 beforehand, that lie could not, without a concur- 
 rence of events quite extraordinary, have brought 
 the oriental to the same implicit submission and 
 obedience to which he actually brought the occi- 
 dental churches. 
 
 It is proper also here to observe another fortu- 
 nate circumstance, which operated very early for 
 the advancement of his authority. To the vicar- 
 age of Rome belonged ten provinces, including 
 the islands Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia, As in 
 these there were no metropolitans, as all were 
 under the immediate jurisdiction of the capital 
 itself, and thence were denominated suburbicary 
 provinces, the vicar of Rome, or pope, as he was 
 called, had not only all the power of an exarch 
 over the whole ten provinces, but that also of the 
 primate in every province. There was in him a 
 coalition of both jurisdictions, the metropolitical 
 and the patriarchal. As the metropolitan had 
 the charge of ordaining the bishops of his pro- 
 vince, and the patriarch that of ordaining the 
 metropolitans, the bishop of Rome had the charge, 
 either by himself* or by his delegates, of ordaining 
 1 3 J every 
 
118 LECTURES ON 
 
 every bishop within the provinces of his vica- 
 riate. These rights he gradually extended, as 
 circumstances favoured his views, first to the 
 whole prefecture of Italy, which included wesjt 
 Illyricum, and west Africa, afterwards to all the 
 occidental churches, Gaul, Spain, and Britain ; 
 and lastly, as of divine right, and therefore una- 
 lienable, over the whole catholic church. This 
 last claim, however, hath subsisted only in 
 theory. 
 
 That these pretensions were introduced gra- 
 dually is a fact indisputable. Pope Leo, in one 
 of his letters still extant, to the bishops of Gaul, 
 explicitly disclaims the right of ordaining them. 
 That pontiff was not deficient either in ambition 
 or in abilities. And one would have thought he 
 might have been better instructed in the divine 
 and unalienable rights of his see, if any concep- 
 tion of such lights had been entertained in his 
 time. But the zenith of the hierarchy was too 
 sublime a pinnacle to be attained by a few bold 
 leaps. It was by innumerable steps, not consi- 
 derable, taken severally, that that amazing and 
 dizzy height at length was reached. It was not 
 till after repeated '-accesses »a the attainments of 
 objects far below the summit, that this great anti- 
 type of Lucifer said in his heart, I will 'ascend into 
 heaven, I will exalt pty throne above the stais of 
 God; I will sit upon the mount of the congrega- 
 tion, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 119 
 
 tton, (or church, as the word imports) I will 
 ascend above the heights oj the clouds^ I will be 
 like the Moat High. But to return, there can 
 be no doubt that the want of patriarchs in the 
 west did greatly facilitate the attempts of the 
 Roman pontiff to supply their place, first in 
 consecrating their metropolitans, and afterward* 
 even in ordaining the suffragans. 
 
 Again, one great advantage which Rome der 
 rived from her vast opulence and rich domains, 
 both in Italy and m the neighbouring islands, 
 was the power she acquired of employing and 
 supporting missions, in distant parts of Europe, 
 for the propagation of the gospel. When by 
 means of missions and expence churches were 
 planted in any country, they were always ac- 
 counted dependent on that as the mother church 
 by whom the missionaries were employed. In 
 this manner, by the monk Augustine, a mis- 
 sionary of Gregory the first, the Anglo-Saxons 
 in Britain were converted from idolatry near the 
 end of the sixth century. The Britons, or an- 
 cient inhabitants, had indeed been christians for 
 some ages before. But they were ere now dis- 
 possessed of their ancient habitations, and con- 
 fined by those new comers to a small part of the 
 island, the principality of Wales. In the begin- 
 ning of the eighth century, the Germans were? 
 in like manner, converted by Winfrid, or Boni- 
 
 1 4 face, 
 
ICO L'E€ TURKS ON 
 
 face, a missionary of Gregory the second, which 
 Boniface, I may remark in passing, is the first 
 ecclesiastic on record, who took a solemn oath 
 of fealty to St. Peter, that is, to the Roman see, 
 a security which was afterwards exacted by the 
 pope, not only of all legates and servants of his 
 court, but of all bishops whatever ; and the more 
 effect aally to prevent its being omitted, it was 
 engrossed in the pontifical, among the rites to be 
 observed in consecration. Nor did a question 
 of this kind of pre-occupancy prove, about a 
 century afterwards, the least considerable cause 
 of the great schism still subsisting between the 
 oriental and the occidental churches. The dis- 
 puted titles of Ignatius and Photius to the patri- 
 archate of Constantinople, and even the differ? 
 ences in doctrine and ceremonies between the 
 Latins and the Greeks, would have been much 
 more easily adjusted than the lucrative preten- 
 tions that both Rome and Constantinople made 
 to the superiority and patronage of the new con- 
 verted churches of Bulgaria. That of right from 
 all the principles which then prevailed, they 
 should have been dependent on the Constantino? 
 politan patriarch, can scarcely be made a doubt. 
 But Rome was ever interfering ; and this was too 
 great an acquisition to lose sight of. Paul, in- 
 deed, avoided to promulge the gospel in places 
 where Christ had already been made known, lest 
 
 he 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 121 
 
 he should build on another man's foundation, and 
 thereby bestow his time and labour less profitably 
 for the common cause. That maxim answered 
 admirably, when the end was the advancement 
 of a spiritual kingdom, peace, and truth, and 
 righteousness, the honour of God, and happiness 
 of mankind. He might then well say, that 
 Christ is preached, wheresoever and by whomso- 
 ever, I do, and will, rejoice. But the case was 
 quite altered when conversions to a nominal more 
 than real Christianity, were made the instruments 
 of a new sort of conquest, mere engines for ex- 
 tending ecclesiastical dominion. Constantinople 
 could do a good deal in this way, but Rome still 
 more. 
 
 I shall mention another excellent piece of pa- 
 pal policy, first introduced by Damasus, near 
 the end of the fourth century, and commonly 
 called the legatine power. The introduction of 
 this practice, and what gave rise to it, I shall 
 give you from our English biographer's history 
 of that pope. — " Acholius, bishop of Thessalo- 
 " nica, was the first who enjoyed, under Dama- 
 " sus, the title of the pope's vicar. He was 
 " nominated to this office, in east Illyricum, on 
 " the following occasion : Illyricum, comprising 
 " all ancient Greece, and many provinces on 
 " the Danube, whereof Sirmium was the capital, 
 H had, ever since the time of Constantine, be- 
 
 " longed 
 
IC2 LECTURES ON 
 
 *' longed to the western empire. But in the 
 " year 379, Dacia and Greece were, by Gracian, 
 ¥ disjoined from the more westerly provinces, 
 (: arid added, in favour of Theodosius, to the 
 " eastern empire, being known by the name of 
 " east Illy ric um, whereof Thessalonica, the me- 
 " tropolis of Macedon, was the chief city. The 
 " bishops of Rome, as presiding in the metro* 
 " polis of the empire, had begun to claim a kind 
 " of jurisdiction, or rather inspection, in eccler 
 " siastical matters, over all the provinces of the 
 " western empire ; which was the first great step 
 " whereby they ascended to the supremacy, they 
 " afterwards claimed and established. This Da- 
 " masus was unwilling to resign, with respect to 
 " Illyrieum, even after that country was dismem-> 
 I ' bered from the western, and added to the eastern. 
 " empire. In order, therefore, to maintain his 
 l - claim, he appointed Acholius, bishop of Thes- 
 
 # salonica, to act in his stead; vesting in him 
 
 * ■ the power which he pretended to have ovejr 
 ." those provinces. Upon the death of Acholius, 
 ."- he conferred the same dignity on his successor 
 " Anysius, as did the following popes on the 
 11 succeeding bishops of Thessalonica ; who, by 
 ." thus supporting the pretensions of Rome, be- 
 t ' came the first bishops, and, in a manner, the 
 if patriarchs of east Illyrieum, for they are some- 
 " times distinguished witli that title. This, how- 
 
 " ever, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 123' 
 
 9 ever, was not done without opposition, the 
 other metropolitans not readily acknowledging 
 for their superiour one who, till that time, had 
 been their equal. Syricius, who succeeded 
 Damasus, enlarging the power claimed by his 
 predecessor, decreed, that no bishop should be 
 ordained in east Illyricum without the consent 
 and approbation of the bishop of Thessalonica. 
 But it was some time before this decree took 
 place. Thus were the bishops of Thessalonica 
 first appointed vicegerents of the bishops of 
 Rome, probably in the year 382. The con- 
 trivance of Damasus was notably improved by 
 his successors, who, in order to extend their 
 authority, conferred the title of their vicars, 
 and the pretended power annexed to it, on 
 the most eminent prelates of other provinces 
 and kingdoms, engaging them thereby to de- 
 pend upon them, and to promote the autho- 
 rity of their see, to the utter suppression of 
 the ancient rights and liberties both of bishops 
 and synods. This dignity was, for the most 
 part, annexed to certain sees, but sometimes 
 conferred on particular persons. The institu- 
 tion of vicars was, by succeeding popes, im- 
 proved into that of legates ; or, to use De 
 M areas expression, the latter institution was 
 grafted on the former. The legates were 
 vested with a far greater power than the 
 
 " vicars: 
 
124 LECTURES ON 
 
 " vicars ; or, as pope Leo expresses it, were ad- 
 " mitted to a far greater share of his care, though 
 " not to the plenitude of his power. They were 
 " sent, on proper occasions, into all countries, 
 1 ■ and never failed exerting, to the utmost stretch, 
 " their boasted power, oppressing, in virtue of 
 " their paramount authority, the clergy as well 
 " as the people, and extorting from both large 
 " sums, to support the pomp and luxury in which 
 " they lived." 
 
 Thus far our historian. Nothing, indeed, 
 could be better calculated, for both extending 
 and securing their authority, than thus engaging 
 all the most eminent prelates iu the different 
 countries of Christendom, from a principle of 
 ambition, as well as interest, to favour their 
 claims. Rome was already gotten too far, as we 
 have seen, above the episcopal sees of the west, 
 for any of them to think of coping with her, and 
 was, besides, too distant to excite their envy. 
 But it would greatly gratify the covetousness, as 
 ■well as the pride and vanity, of those bishops 
 whom she was thus pleased to distinguish, to be, 
 by her means, raised considerably above their 
 peers and neighbours. 
 
 Add to this, that not only the ambitious views 
 
 T)f individuals served to promote the schemes of 
 
 Rome, but the general ambition of the clerical 
 
 order greatly forwarded her views. The western 
 
 empire 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOKY. 125 
 
 empire soon came to be divided into a number of 
 independent states and kingdoms. Now in the 
 form into which the church had been moulded 
 before the division, a foundation had been laid 
 for incessant interferings and bickerings, in every 
 country, between the secular powers and the 
 ecclesiastical. In these interferings, the prin- 
 cipal advantage of the latter arose from the union 
 that subsisted among the churches of different 
 countries, as members of one great polity. And 
 even this connection, (however possible it might 
 have been to- preserve it for the single purpose of* 
 promoting piety and virtue) it Was absolutely 
 impossible to preserve, for the purpose of spiri- 
 tual dominion, unless they were united under a 
 common head. The republican form of any 
 kind, demoeratical , or aristocratical, could never 
 answer in such a situation of affairs. Not only 
 are commonwealths slower in their operations 
 than the exigencies of such a state would admit, 
 but they can do nothing without the authority 
 of a legislative council ; and this it would be in 
 the power of a few temporal princes totally to 
 obstruct, either by preventing them from assem- 
 bling, or by dispersing them when assembled. 
 And from any state, or kingdom, it would be in 
 the power of the chief magistrate to prevent a 
 deputation being sent. The monarchical form; 
 therefore, supported by the prejudices and super- 
 stition 
 
12(5 LECTURES Otf 
 
 stition of the people, was the only adequate 
 means both of preserving and of extending the 
 high privileges, honours, titles, and immunities, 
 claimed universally by the sacred order, and 
 which they most strenuously contended for, a* 
 the' quintessence of Christianity, the sum of all 
 that the Son of God had purchased for mankind. 
 This could not fail to induce them to put them- 
 selves under the protection of the only bishop in 
 the west, who was both able and willing to sup- 
 port their bold pretensions. 
 
 I must likewise add, however unlikely, that 
 the ambition of secular princes concurred in the 
 establishment and exaltation of the hierarchy. 
 Nothing can be more evident, than that it was 
 the interest of the princes of Christendom, and 
 their people, to combine against it. But though 
 this was the general and most lasting interest of 
 all the states of Europe, what was, or at least 
 was conceived to be, the immediate interest of a 
 particular prince, or state, might be to favour 
 the hierarchy. Let it be observed, that the Eu- 
 ropean monarchs were almost incessantly at war 
 with one another. Neighbour and enemy, when 
 spoken of states and kingdoms, were, and to this 
 day too much are, terms almost synonymous. 
 The pope, therefore, could not make even the 
 most daring attempt against any prince, or king- 
 dom, which would not be powerfully backed by 
 1 the 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL fclSTORY. 12? 
 
 the most strenuous endeavours of some other 
 prince, or kingdom, whose present designs the 
 pope's attempts would tend to forward. 
 
 If England was the object of papal resentment, 
 if the enraged ecclesiarch had fulminated an ex- 
 communication, or interdict, against the king* 
 dom, or issued a bull deposing the king, and 
 loosing his subjects from their oaths and alle- 
 giance, (for all these spiritual machines were 
 brought into use one after another) France was 
 ready to take advantage of the general 'confusion 
 thereby raised in England, and to invade the 
 kingdom with an armed force. The more to 
 encourage the French monarch to act this part, 
 the pontitT might be prevailed on (and this hath 
 actually happened) to assign to him the kingdom 
 of which he had pretended to direst the owner: 
 A man may afford to give what never belonged 
 to him. But if the owner found it necessary to 
 make submissions to the priest, the latter was 
 never at a loss to find a pretext for recalling the 
 grant he had made, and re-establishing the de- 
 graded monarch. In like manner, when France 
 w r as the object of the pontiff 's vengeance, Eng- 
 land was equally disposed to be subservient to 
 his views. Nay, he had the address, oftener 
 than once, to arm an unnatural son against his 
 father. Such was the situation of affairs all Eu- 
 rope over. Those transactions, which always 
 
 terminated 
 
128 LECTuafcs otf 
 
 terminated in the advancement of papal powers 
 could not fail, at last, to raise the mitre above 
 the crown. Every one of the princes, I may 
 say, did, in his turn, for the gratifying of a pre- 
 sent passion, and the attaining of an immediate 
 object, blindly lend his assistance, in exalting a 
 potentate, who came, in process of time, to tread 
 on all their necks, and treat both kings and em- 
 perours, who had foolishly given then* strength 
 and power to him, as his vassals and slaves. 
 
 It were endless to take notice of all the expe- 
 dients, which Rome, after she had advanced so 
 far, as to be esteemed in the west the visible head 
 of the church universal, and vested with a cer- 
 tain paramount, though indefinite authority, over 
 the whole : devised, and easily executed, both for 
 confirming and extending her enormous power. 
 It is true, she never was absolute in the east ; 
 and, from about the middle of the ninth cen- 
 tury, these two parts of Christendom were in a 
 state of total separation. But that became a 
 matter of less consequence to her every day. 
 The eastern, which may be said to have been the 
 only enlightened, and far the most valuable part 
 of the empire, in the days of Constantine, was 
 daily declining, whilst the western part was 
 growing daily more considerable. In the eastern 
 empire, one part after another became a prey to 
 Turks and Saracens, — Egypt, Barbary, Syria, 
 
 Asia, 
 
ECCLESIASTICALHiSTORY. 129 
 
 Asia, and at length Greece, Macedonia, and 
 Thrace. The only part of the western empire 
 that n6t only was, but still continues to be, sub- 
 jected to the depredations of these barbarians, is 
 proconsular and west Africa. Whereas, in . the 
 western, and northern parts of Europe, there 
 were, at the same time, springing up some of 
 the most powerful and polished, and, I may now 
 add, the most enlightened monarchies and states, 
 with which the world has ever been acquainted. 
 The very calamities of the east, particularly the 
 destruction of the eastern empire, the last poor 
 remains of Roman greatness, and the taking of 
 Constantinople by the Turks, left the western 
 patriarch totally without a rival, and Christen- 
 dom without a vestige of the primitive equality 
 and independence of its pastors. 
 
 When Rome had every thing, in a manner, at 
 her disposal, it was easy to see that all canons, 
 in regard to discipline, and decreeSj in relation 
 to doctrine, would point invariably to the sup- 
 port of this power. Hence the convenient doc- 
 trines of transubstantiation, purgatory, prayers 
 and masses for the dead, auricular confession, 
 the virtue of sacerdotal absolution. Hence the 
 canons extending so immensely the forbidden 
 degrees of marriage, the peculiar power in the 
 popes of dispensing with these, and other canons, 
 the power of canonization, the celibacy of the 
 » vol. ii. K clergy, 
 
130 LECTURES ON" 
 
 clergy, the supererogatory merits of the saints, 
 indulgences, and many others. 
 
 There is indeed one right that has been claimed, 
 and successfully exerted, by Rome, which, as 
 being a most important spring in this great and 
 complex machine of the hierarchy, will deserve 
 a more particular notice. I mean, the pope's pre- 
 tended title to grant exemptions to whomsoever 
 he pleases, from subjection to their ordinary 
 ecclesiastical superiours. But this I shall reserve 
 for the subject of another lecture. 
 
 
 LEO. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 131 
 
 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 r ROM what has been discovered, in the course 
 of our enquiries into the rise, the progress, and 
 the full establishment of the papacy, we may 
 justly say, that if happiness consist in dominion, 
 (which it certainly does not, though all man- 
 kind, by their conduct, seem to think it) what 
 a wonderful good fortune has ever attended 
 Rome ! From the first foundation of the citv, bv 
 a parcel of banditti, she rose but to command, 
 and gradually advanced into an empire of such 
 extent, renown, and duration, as has been unex- 
 ampled in the world, either before or since. And 
 from the first declension of that enormous power, 
 for it could not subsist always, she is insensibly 
 become the seat of a new species of empire, which, 
 though not of equal celebrity with the former, 
 is much more extraordinary, and perhaps more 
 difficult to be surmounted, being deeply rooted- 
 in the passions and sentiments of meq. 
 
 K 2 Jtfay, 
 
13- XECTURES ON 
 
 Nay, how fortunate has been this queen of 
 cities in what concerned both the formation and 
 the advancement of this second monarchy. 
 She continued the imperial city during the non- 
 age of the hierarchy, that is, as long as was 
 necessary to give her priest, though under the 
 humble title of pastor, the primacy, or prece- 
 dency among his brethren, for these two terms 
 were at first synonymous, and by the wealth and 
 splendour to which she raised him, to lay the 
 foundation of those higher claims he hath since 
 made, of supremacy and jurisdiction over them. 
 And she. ceased to be the seat of empire at the 
 critical period, "when the residence of a court 
 must have eclipsed his lustre, confined him to a 
 subordinate part on the great theatre of the 
 world, and stifled, in the birth, all attempts to 
 raise himself above the secular powers. Had 
 the eastern empire remained to this day, and 
 Constantinople been the imperial residence, it 
 would have been impossible that her patriarchs 
 should ever have advanced the claims which the 
 Roman patriarch not only advanced, but com- 
 pelled the christian world to admit. When 
 Rome was deserted by the emperors, her pontiff 
 quickly became the first man there ; and in the 
 bourse of a lew reigns, the inhabitants came 
 naturally to consider themselves as more con- 
 nected 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 138 
 
 nected with him, and interested in hii.n, than in 
 an emperor who, under the name of their sove^ 
 reign, had his residence and court in a distant 
 country, who spoke a different language, and 
 whose face the greater part of the Romans did 
 not so much as know. Nor was the matter 
 much mended in regard to them after the divi- 
 sion of the empire, as the royal residence, neither 
 of the emperor of the West, nor afterwards of 
 the king of the Goths, was lloi^e, but either 
 Milan or Ravenna. 
 
 And when in succeeding ages the pope grew 
 to be, in some respect, a rival to the German 
 emperor, the Romans, and even many of the 
 Italians, came to think, as it might have been 
 foreseen that they would, that their own aggran- 
 dizement, the aggrandizement of their city, and 
 of their country, were more concerned in the 
 exaltation of the pontirrj who, by the way, was 
 then, in a great measure, a creature of their 
 own making, (for the office was not then, as 
 now, in the election of the conclave) than in 
 that of a monarch, who, from whatever origin 
 he derived his power, was, in fact, an alien, and 
 not of their creation, and who was as ill situated 
 for defending them against their enemies, as the 
 successours of Constant ine had been before. Of 
 the inability of both to answer this purpose, the 
 invasions and conquests made at different times 
 K 3 by 
 
134- LECTURES ON 
 
 by Goths ; and Lombards, Franks and Normans, 
 but too plainly showed. In short, had Rome 
 never been the imperial city, its pastor could 
 never have raised himself above his fellows. 
 Had ft continued the imperial city, he might, 
 and probably would have had, such a primacy, 
 as to be accounted the first among the patri- 
 archs, but without any thing like papal juris- 
 diction over church and state. Had Rome re- 
 mained the scat of empire, the pope's superiority 
 to councils had never been heard of The con- 
 vocation of 'these, whilst the empire subsisted, 
 would, in all probability, have continued, as it 
 was for several ages, in the hands of the emperor. 
 The dismemberment of the empire tended but 
 too visibly to subvert the emperor's claim, and 
 occasion the setting up of another in its stead. 
 A sovereign has no title to convoke the subjects 
 of another sovereign, of whatever class they be, 
 and call them out of his dominions^ whatever 
 title he may have to assemble any part of his 
 own subjects within his own territories. Now 
 whatever weakened the emperor's claim, strength- 
 ened the pope's. Immemorial custom had taught 
 men to consider councils as essential to the 
 church. And if the right to call them could 
 no longer be regarded as inherent in any secular 
 prince, , where would they so readily suppose it 
 to inhere as in him, to whose primacy in, the. 
 
 church 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 135 
 
 church they had been already habituated ? And 
 even after the dismemberment of the empire, 
 and the succession of a new power over part, 
 under the same title, had it been possible for the 
 emperors of Germany, who, in the former part 
 of the eleventh century, made and unmade popes 
 at their pleasure, to have made Rome their resi- 
 dence, and the capital of their empire, the pope, 
 as Voltaire justly observes, had been no other 
 than the emperors chaplain. Nay, much of 
 the power which the former, in that case, would 
 have been permitted to exercise, would have 
 been more nominal than real, as it would have 
 been exercised under the influence of a supe- 
 riour. But luckily for the pope and for Italy, 
 to reside at Rome, was what the emperor could 
 not do, and at the same time retain possession of 
 his German dominions, of which he was only 
 the elective sovereign. 
 
 The obscurity of the western, in the begin- 
 ning, compared with the oriental churches, oc- 
 casioned that their ecclesiastic polity was left im- 
 perfect, so as to give Rome too great an ascen- 
 dancy in that part of the world ; the gradual 
 but incessant decline of those eastern nations, 
 whose opulent sees were alone capable of proving* 
 a counterpoise to the power of Rome ; and, on 
 the other hand, the slow, but real advancement 
 of the occidental countries, after the power of 
 K 4 the 
 
136 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 the pontiff had been firmly established- their 
 real, but late advancement, in arts, populous- 
 ness, wealth, and civilization, all alike conspired 
 to raise him. His rivals sank, his subjects rose. 
 
 for many ages he seemed to have conceived 
 no higher aim than to be at the head of the 
 executive and the judicial power in the church. 
 No sooner was that attained than his great ob- 
 ject came to be the legislative power. Ye dp 
 not find, for several centuries, the least pretext 
 made by the pope, of a title to establish canons, 
 or ecclesiastical laws ; his pretence was merely, 
 that he was entrusted with the care, that the 
 Jaws enacted by councils should be duly exe- 
 cuted. He was then only, as it were, the chief 
 magistrate of the community ; nothing now will 
 satisfy him but to be their legislator also. A 
 doctrine came accordingly much in vogue with 
 the partizans of Rome, that the pope was not 
 subject to councils, nay, that he was not only 
 independent of them, but above them ; that he 
 was himself entitled to make canons, to declare 
 articles of faith, to pronounce what was ortho- 
 dox, what heterodox, and that he heeded not 
 the aid of any council. 
 
 If such were really the case, all the world, 
 popes as well as others, had been greatly de- 
 ceived for many ages. When an effectual re- 
 medy was at hand, they had thought it necessary 
 
 to 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. \o7 
 
 %0 take a very difficult and circuitous method to 
 attain a cure, at most not more certain. To 
 what purpose bring such a multitude together 
 from all the quarters of the globej with great 
 expence and infinite trouble, to tell us, after 
 whole days spent in chicane, sophistry, and 
 wrangling, what one single person could have 
 told us at the first, as soon as he was consulted ? 
 In all these different claims, made at different 
 periods by the pontiff though he generally suc- 
 ceeded at last, he never failed to encounter some 
 opposition. It has, however, on this article of 
 the pope's authority, been justly observed, that 
 the advocates for it have been much more 
 numerous than those for the authority of coun- 
 cils. The manner in which iEneas Sylvius, who 
 was himself afterwards raised to the popedom, 
 under the name of Pius n, accounted for this 
 difference, is strictly just : " Because," said he, 
 " the popes have benefices to give, and the 
 " councils have none." Whether he would 
 have returned the same answer, after he had 
 reached the summit of ecclesiastical preferment, 
 may be justly made a question. Certain it is, 
 that the pontiffs cannot be charged with want 
 of attention to those who have stood forth as 
 champions for their authority. Whereas there is 
 hardly a motive, except a regard to truth, which 
 ,can induce any one, in roman catholic coun- 
 tries, 
 
138 LECTURES ON 
 
 tries, to defend the other side of the question. 
 For on this article there are different opinions 
 even among roman catholics. This, however, 
 is a point of which there has never been any 
 decision that has been universally acquiesced in; 
 and, indeed, on the footing whereon matters 
 now stand in that church, we may affirm, with 
 great probability, that it will always remain un- 
 decided. 
 
 In the conclusion of my last lecture, I men- 
 tioned one great engine of papal policy, the 
 exemptions granted by the pontiffs to particular 
 ecclesiastics or communities, by which their sub- 
 jection to the ordinary was dispensed with, and 
 their dependance rendered immediate upon 
 Rome. The legatine power, of which I have 
 already spoken, was somewhat of the same na- 
 ture, though it had a more plausible excuse. But 
 exemptions were not limited to those who might 
 be considered as a sort of agents for the pontiff 
 and employed to represent his person. He pre- 
 tended a title to make such alterations in the eccle- 
 siastical jurisdiction of any country as he should 
 judge proper, and particularly to exempt bishops, 
 when he found it convenient, from the jurisdic- 
 tion of the archbishop, priors and abbots, from 
 that of the bishop. This privilege came at 
 length to be so far extended, that almost all the 
 orders of regulars, and the universities, were 
 
 taken, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 139 
 
 taken, as it was termed, under the pope's imme- 
 diate care and protection, that is, released from 
 all subordination to the secular clergy, in whose 
 dioceses they were situated, or might happen to 
 reside. 
 
 For several ages after the church had been 
 modelled on the plan of the civil government 
 under Constantine, it was considered as a thing 
 totally inadmissible, that a presbyter should 
 withdraw his obedience from his bishop, a bishop 
 from his metropolitan, or a metropolitan from 
 his exarch or patriarch, where there was an 
 ecclesiastic vested with that dignity. Accord- 
 ingly, in the oriental churches, nothing of this 
 sort was ever attempted. And, indeed, if the 
 aristocratical form then given to the church 
 had continued unviolated also in the west, such 
 an attempt never had been made. But to say 
 the truth, there was no possibility of supporting 
 the monarchical form now given to the occi- 
 dental churches, without some measure of this 
 kind. 
 
 It is true, there had been established a subor- 
 dination in all the clerical orders, from the pope 
 downwards to the most menial officer in the 
 church. The pope was the judge in the last re- 
 sort, and claimed the exclusive title to give con- 
 firmation and investiture to all the dignitaries. 
 Rome, by her exactions, as well as by the frequent 
 
 recourse 
 
140 LECTURES OS 
 
 recourse to her from all parts, for dispensations, 
 and the like trumpery, as we should call thern> 
 which had gradually obtained, and were then of 
 the most serious consequence, had taken all 
 imaginable care, that the several churches might 
 not foi get their subjection and dependance, Yet 
 however sunicienc this might have proved in a 
 single kingdom or countr} 7 , such as Italy, where 
 the whole is more immediately under the eye of 
 the governours, who can quickly get notice of, 
 and provide against a rising faction, before it 
 -fering any purpose to maturity, it is far from 
 being surhcient in a wide-established empire. 
 The primates, or archbishops, and even some of 
 the wealthiest bishops, were like great feudatory 
 lords. They owed a certain acknowledgment 
 and duty to their liege-lord the pope ; but the 
 dependance of the inferiour clergy, the suffra- 
 gans and priests, like that of the vassals upon 
 the barons, was immediately or directly on the 
 prelates, and but indirectly and remotely upon 
 the pope. As whilst the feudal government 
 subsisted, the greater barons, in most kingdoms, 
 Avith their train of vassals and dependants, by 
 whom they were sure to be attended, found it 
 an easy matter to rebel against their sovereign, 
 and often to compel him to accept terms very 
 humiliating to royalty, we may conclude, that a 
 subordination pretty similar in a sovereignty so 
 
 much 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 141* 
 
 much wider, could not have subsisted so long- 
 without some additional and powerful check. 
 This was the more necessary in the present case, 
 because, if there had arisen any tactions or dis- 
 contents among the more potent ecclesiastics 
 against their spiritual lord, they would, in most 
 cases, have had the assistance of the secular 
 powers of the country, who, in spite of their 
 superstition and ignorance, could not brook the 
 reflection, that they were tributary to a foreign 
 power, and a power which even claimed a sort 
 of superintendency, or what was equivalent to 
 superintendency, over their judicatures and 
 senates. The different claims set up by Rome, 
 under the name of annate, tithes, peterspence, 
 reservations, resignations, expectative graces, 
 beside the casualties arising from pilgrimages, 
 jubilees, indulgences, the dues of appeals, con~ 
 Urinations, dispensations, investitures, and the 
 like, were so many sorts of tribute ; nor could 
 any nation which paid them to another, be said 
 to be independent of the nation to which they 
 were paid, or to possess sovereignty within itself. 
 The right of appeals, not only in all cases eccle- 
 siastical, but in most cases wherein ecclesiastics 
 were concerned, the many clerical privileges, of 
 which Rome pretended to be both the guardian 
 and the judge, laid a restraint both on the judi- 
 ciary powers, and on the legislative. No wonder, 
 
 then, 
 5 
 
142 LECTURES ON 
 
 then, that in the different states of christen dorn, 
 there should subsist, in the civil powers, an in- 
 extinguishable jealousy of Rome. As the pre* 
 tensions of the latter were exorbitant, it was 
 necessary that her resources for supporting her 
 pretensions should be powerful. 
 
 Now the right of exemption I have been 
 speaking of, proved exactly such a resource, 
 being an effectual check on the secular, or esta- 
 blished clergy. Accordingly, when in the coun- 
 cil of Trent, an attempt was made by some 
 bishops to have this abuse, as they accounted it, 
 totally removed, the pope's legates, and all those 
 who supported papal authority, saw but too 
 clearly, that the scheme of those bishops, if 
 they were gratified in it, would undermine the 
 hierarchy, and make, as they expressed it, every 
 bishop a pope in his own diocese ; for when 
 papal exemptions should be abrogated, every 
 person would depend on his bishop, and none 
 immediately on the pope, the consequence 
 whereof would be, that people would soon cease 
 altogether to recur to Rome. And this conse- 
 quence had, doubtless, long ago taken place, 
 had not the monastic orders come very oppor- 
 tunely, though, in some respect, accidentally, to 
 support a fabric, become at length so unwieldy, 
 as to appear in the most imminent danger of 
 falling with its own weight. They proved as so 
 4- many 
 
ECCLESIASTICAt HISTORY. 143 
 
 many buttresses to it, which, though originally 
 no part of the building, added amazingly to its 
 strength. 
 
 As some of the largest and loftiest trees spring 
 from very small seeds, so the most extensive and 
 wonderful effects sometimes arise from very in- 
 considerable causes. Of the truth of this re- 
 mark, we have a striking example in the mo- 
 nastic order, of the rise and progress of which I 
 am now to speak. In times of persecution in 
 the church's infancy, whilst the heathen yet 
 raged, and the rulers took council together 
 against the Lord, and against his anointed, 
 many pious christians, male and female, married 
 and unmarried, justly accounting, that no human 
 felicity ought to come in competition with their 
 fidelity to Christ, and modestly distrustful of 
 their ability to persevere in resisting the tempta- 
 tions wherewith they were incessantly harassed 
 by their persecutors, took the resolution to 
 abandon their possessions and worldly prospects, 
 and, whilst the storm lasted, to retire to unfre- 
 quented places, far from the haunts of men, the 
 married with, or without their wives, as they 
 agreed between them, that they might enjoy in 
 quietness their faith and hope, and without 
 temptations to apostacy, employ themselves prin- 
 cipally in the worship and service of their 
 Maker. The cause was reasonable, and the 
 
 motive 
 
144 LECTURES ON 
 
 motive praise-worthy. But the reasonableness 
 arose solely from the circumstances. When the 
 latter were changed, the former vanished, and 
 the motive could no longer be the same. When 
 there was not the same danger in societv, there 
 was not the same occasion to seek security in 
 solitude. Accordingly, when the affairs of the 
 church were put upon a different footing, and 
 the profession of Christianity rendered perfectly 
 safe, many returned without blame from their 
 retirement, and lived like other men. Some, 
 indeed, familiarized by time to a solitary and 
 ascetic life, as it was called, at length preferred, 
 through habit, what they had originally adopted 
 through necessity. They did not waste their 
 time in idleness ; they supported themselves by 
 their labour, and gave the surplus in charity. 
 These likewise, without blame, remained in their 
 retreat. But as it was purely to avoid tempta- 
 tion and danger that men first took refuge in 
 euch recesses, they never thought of fettering 
 -themselves by vdws and engagements, because, 
 by so doing, they must have exposed their souls 
 to new temptations, and involved them in more, 
 and perhaps greater dangers, a conduct very un- 
 like that self-diffidence which certainly gave rise 
 to so extraordinary a measure. This, therefore, 
 was not inonachism in the acceptation, which 
 the word came soon afterwards to receive, 
 
 though, 
 
Ecclesiastical history. 1.4.3 
 
 though, most probably, it suggested the idea of 
 it, and- may justly be considered as the first? step 
 towards it. 
 
 Such signal sacrifices have a lustre, which 
 dazzles the eyes of the weak, and powerfully 
 engages their imitation. ' The imitators, regard- 
 less of the circumstances which alone can rem 
 the conduct laudable, are often, by a strange 
 depravity of understanding, led to consider it as 
 the more meritorious, the less it is reasonable, 
 and the more eligible, the less it is useful. . Nay, 
 the spirit of the thing comes to be reversed. 
 What at first, through humble diffidence; ap- 
 peared necessary for avoiding the most immi- 
 nent perils, is, through presumption, voluntarily 
 adopted, though itself a source of perpetual 
 peril. This I call monachlsm, according to the 
 common acceptation of the term, of the pro- 
 gress of which I propose to give some account 
 in the sequel. 
 
 Monachism, one of the most natural shoots 
 of superstition, which, viewing the Deity as an 
 object of terrour rather than of love, regards it 
 as the surest recommendation to his favour, tliat 
 men become both burdens to society, and tor- 
 ments to themselves, and which, in some shape 
 or other, may be found in all religions, was not, 
 in its original state, even in the christian church, 
 considered as clerical ; nor were the monks, as 
 
 vol. ii. L monks, 
 
140 LECTURES ON 
 
 monks, accounted ecclesiastics of any order or 
 denomination. They were no other than people 
 who had bound themselves by avow to renounce 
 the world, to live in poverty and chastity, to 
 confine themselves in respect of meat, and 
 drink, and apparel, to what appeared merely 
 necessary,, and to devote their time to prayer 
 and penance, reserving a small portion for works 
 &£ industry. This way of life was, in its com- 
 mencement, open to the laity of all conditions, 
 and even of both sexes. But it was not open 
 to the clergy, whose parochial duties were in- 
 compatible with such a seclusion from society. 
 For it must be observed, that they had not then, 
 as afterwards, any clergy merely nominal, or, to 
 speak more properly, clergymen, who were no 
 ministers of religion, having no charge or office 
 in the church of Christ. 
 
 This engagement, at first, led many unhappy 
 fanatics to fly the world without necessity, to 
 pass their lives in solitude, in remote and desert 
 places, whence they were called hermits, from 
 the Greek word s^^og, signifying desert, and 
 monks, from /*ov«j£o?,. denoting a solitary, from 
 y.ow; } alone. They were also' named anchorets, 
 from a.vx^copn\n<;, a recluse.- Every one of their 
 ancient names, or titles, bears some yestige of 
 this most distinguishing trait in their character, 
 their secession from the world and society, 
 3 They 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 147 
 
 They sheltered themselves accordingly in some 
 rude cell or cavern, and subsisted on herbs and 
 roots, the spontaneous productions of the soil, 
 covering themselves with the skins of beasts, for 
 defending their bodies from the inclemencies of 
 the weather. 
 
 But things did not remain long in this state,. 
 Give but time to fanaticism, and its fervours 
 will subside. It was soon found convenient to 
 relax this severity, to fall on a method of uniting 
 society with retirement, property with indigence, 
 and abstinence with indulgence. They then 
 formed communities of men, who lived together 
 in houses, called monasteries ■ where, though 
 the individuals could acquire no property for 
 themselves individually, there was no bounds to 
 the acquisitions which might be made by the 
 community. The female recluses also had their 
 nunneries, and were named nuns. The word 
 we have borrowed from the French nonne ; its 
 etymology I know not. Thus people fell, at 
 length, on the happy expedient of reconciling 
 loud pretences to sanctity and devotion, not 
 only with laziness and spiritual pride, but with 
 the most unbounded and shameless avarice; un- 
 bounded, because apparently in behalf of a 
 public interest ; and shameless, because under 
 the mask of religion. And if they excluded 
 some natural and innocent gratifications, the 
 L 2 exclusion, 
 
!4S LECTURES 0?f 
 
 exclusion^ as might be expected, often served to 
 give birth to unnatural lusts. Hardly, one 
 would think, can an imposition be too gross for 
 deceiving a gross and superstitious people. So 
 much was the world infatuated by the sanctimo- 
 nious appearance of the recluses, (which con- 
 sisted chiefly in some ridiculous singularity of 
 garb) that men thought they could not more 
 effectually purchase heaven to themselves, than 
 1?y beggaring their offspring, and giving all they 
 had to erect or endow monasteries ; that is, to 
 supply, with all the luxuries of life, those who 
 were bound to live in abstinence, and to enrich 
 those who had solemnly sworn, that they would 
 be for ever poor, and who professed to consider 
 riches as the greatest impediment in the road to 
 heaven. 
 
 Large monasteries, both commodious and 
 magnificent, more resembling the palaces of 
 princes than the rude cells which the primitive 
 monks chose for their abode, were erected and 
 endowed. Legacies and bequests, from time to 
 time, flowed in upon them. Mistaken piety 
 often contributed to the evil ; but oftener super- 
 stitious profligacy. Oppression herself com- 
 monly judged, that to devote her wealth at last, 
 when it could be kept no longer, to a religious 
 house, was a full atonement for all the injustice 
 and extortiou by which it had been amassed. 
 
 But 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 14,9 
 
 But what can set in a stronger light tlie piti- 
 able brutishness, to which the people were re- 
 duced by the reigning superstition, when men: 
 of rank and eminence, who had shown no par- 
 tiality to any thing monastical, during their 
 lives, gave express orders, when in the imme- 
 diate views of death, that their friends should 
 dress them out in monkish vestments, that in 
 these they might die, and be buried, thinking, 
 that the sanctity of their garb would prove a 
 protection against a condemnatory sentence of 
 the omniscient Judge. It is lamentable, it is 
 humiliating to think, that we have unquestion- 
 able evidence, that human nature- can be sunk 
 so low. The ignorance and superstition of the 
 times, by degrees, appropriated the term religious 
 to those houses and their inhabitants. 
 
 I have often observed to you, how great an 
 influence names and phrases have on the opinions 
 of the generality of mankind. I should have 
 remarked, that soon after things were put upon 
 this footing, . it was, on many accounts, judged 
 expedient, that the religious, should be in orders. 
 For the absurdity of shepherds without a flock, 
 pastors without a charge, was an absurdity no 
 longer; so much can men be familiarized by 
 custom to use words with any latitude, and even 
 to assign a meaning to them incompatible with 
 their primitive use. Accordingly the compa- 
 L 3 nions 
 
ISO LECTURES ON" 
 
 nions in the monastery had commonly what was 
 called priest's orders, and were termed friars, 
 fratres, brethren ; the head, or govemour of the 
 house, was denominated abbot, from a Syriac 
 word, signifying father. Sometimes he was only 
 a priest, and sometimes had episcopal ordina- 
 tion. Hence the distinction between mitred 
 abbots and immitred. All these, on account of 
 the rules to which they were bound by oath, 
 were styled regular clergy, whereas those esta- 
 blished as bishops and priests over the dioceses 
 and parishes, were called secular. I know that 
 some distinction is made also between monks and 
 friars. Suffice it to observe at present, that the 
 rules of the former are stricter than those of the 
 latter. 
 
 When spacious monasteries were built, and 
 supplied with a numerous fraternity, governed 
 by an abbot of eminence and character, there 
 often arose a jealousy between the abbot and the 
 bishop, in whose diocese the abbey was situated, 
 arid to whom, as things stood at first, the abbot 
 and the friars owed spiritual subjection. Out of 
 their mutual jealousies sprang umbrages, and 
 these sometimes terminated in quarrels and in- 
 juries. In such cases, the abbots had the humi- 
 liating disadvantage, to be under the obligation 
 of canonical obedience to him, as the ordinary of 
 the place, with whom they were at variance. 
 
 That 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 15 j. 
 
 That they might deliver themselves from these 
 inconveniencies, real or pretended, and might 
 be independent of their rivals, they applied to 
 Rome one after another, for a release from this 
 slavery, as they called it, by being taken under 
 the protection of St. Peter ; that is, under im- 
 mediate subjection to the pope. The proposal 
 was, with avidity, aceepted at Rome. That 
 politic court saw immediately, that nothing could 
 be better calculated for supporting papal power. 
 Whoever obtains privileges is obliged, in order 
 to secure his privileges, to maintain the authority 
 of the granter. 
 
 Very quickly all the monasteries, great and 
 small, abbeys, priories, and nunneries, were 
 exempted. The two last were inferiour sorts of 
 monasteries, and often subordinate to some 
 abbey. Even the chapters of cathedrals, con- 
 sisting mostly of regulars,., on the like pretexts, 
 obtained exemption. Finally, whole orders, 
 those called the congregations of Cluni arid 
 Cistertio, Benedictines and others, were exempt- 
 ed. This effectually procured a prodigious aug- 
 mentation to the pontifical authority, which 
 now came to have a sort of disciplined troops in 
 every place, defended and protected by the 
 papacy, who, in return, • were its defenders and 
 protectors, serving as spies on the bishops as 
 
 M WW 
 
j^f; LECTURES ON 
 
 well as on the secular powers. Afterwards the 
 mendicant orders, or begging friars, though the 
 infuse of the whole, the tail of the beast, as 
 U'ieklilF termed them, whereof the lioman pon- 
 tiff is the head, obtained still higher privileges, 
 for they were not only exempted every where 
 from episcopal authority, but had also a title to 
 build churches wherever they pleased, and to 
 administer the sacraments in these independently 
 of the ordinary of the place. Na}*, afterwards, 
 in the times immediately preceding the conven- 
 tion of the aforesaid council, things had pro- 
 ceeded so far, that any private clerk could, at a 
 small expence, obtain an exemption from the 
 supermtendeiicy of his bishop, not only in rc- 
 to correction, but in relation to, orders, 
 which he might receive from whomsoever lie 
 pleased, so as to have no connection with the 
 bishop of any kind. 
 
 What had made matters still worse was, that 
 the whole business of teaching the christian 
 people had, by this time, fallen into the hands 
 of tht regulars. The secular clergy had long- 
 since eased themselves of the burden. Preaching 
 arid reading the sacred scriptures properly, made 
 no part of the public offices of religion. It is 
 true, it was still the practice to read, or rather 
 chant, some passages from the gospels and 
 
 epistles. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 153 
 
 £pistles, in an unknown tongue ; for all in the 
 western churches must now, for the sake of 
 uniformity, to which every thing was sacrificed, 
 be in- Latin. Now, for some centuries before 
 the council of Trent, Latin had not been the 
 native language of any country or city in the 
 world, not even of Italy or of Rome. That 
 such lessons were not understood by the people, 
 was thought an objection of no consequence at 
 all. They were not the less fitted for making 
 a part of the solemn, unmeaning mummery, of 
 the liturgic service. The bishops and priests 
 having long disused preaching, probably at first 
 through laziness, seem to have been considered 
 at last as not entitled to preach ; for, on the oc- 
 casion abovementioned, they very generally coin- 
 plained, that the charge of teaching was taken 
 out of their hands, and devolved upon the friars, 
 especially the mendicants, who were a sort of 
 itinerant preachers, licensed by the court of 
 Home. 
 
 How the friars discharged this trust, we may 
 learn from the most authentic histories, which 
 sufficiently show, that the representations of the 
 scope of their preaching, made by the bishops in 
 that council, were not exaggerated, when they 
 said, that the end of their teaching was not to 
 edify the people, but to collect alms from them, 
 either for themselves or for their convents ; that, 
 
 in 
 
154 LECTURES ON 
 
 in order to attain this purpose, they solely con- 
 sidered not what was for the soul's health, but 
 what would please, and flatter, and soothe the 
 appetites of the hearers, and thereby bring most 
 profit to themselves ; so that the people, instead 
 of learning the doctrine of Christ, are but 
 amused, said they, with mere novelties and 
 vanities. But whatever be in this account, the 
 pope could not fail to draw an immense advan- 
 tage from this circumstance, that the instruction 
 of the people was now almas t intirely in the 
 hands of his own creatures. How great, then, 
 must be the advantage, of a similar but still 
 more important kind, resulting from the exemp- 
 tions granted to universities, who being taken, 
 as it were, under his immediate patronage, were 
 engaged from interest to instil principles of obe- 
 dience to the pope into the minds of the youth, 
 of whose education they had the care. 
 
 Now if the chain of dependance of the secu- 
 lar clergy on the head, be similar to that which 
 subsists in a civil, particularly a feudatory con- 
 stitution, where the obligation of every inferiour 
 through the whole subordination of vassalage is 
 considered as being much stronger to the imme- 
 diate superiour than to the sovereign, the de- 
 rpendance of the regulars may justly be repre- 
 sented by the military connection which subsists 
 with the sovereign in a standing army. There 
 
 ft* 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 155 
 
 the tie of every soldier and subaltern is much 
 stronger to the king than to his captain or his 
 colonel. If, then, the secular clergy, in Romish, 
 countries, may be called the pope's civil officers, 
 the regulars are his guards. This matter was 
 too well understood by the friends of Rome, 
 who were the predominant party in the council 
 of Trent, ever to yield to any alteration here 
 that could be called material. Some trifling 
 changes, however, were made, in order to con- 
 ciliate those who were the keenest advocates for 
 reforming the discipline of the church, or at 
 least to silence their clamours. The exemptions 
 given to chapters were limited a little. The 
 bishops were made governors of the nunneries 
 within their bishoprics, not as bishops of the 
 diocese, but as the pope's delegates ; and friars, 
 who resided in cloisters, and were guilty of any 
 scandalous excess without the precincts of the 
 cloister, if the superiour of the convent, whether 
 abbot or prior, refused, when required, to chas- 
 tise them within a limited time, might be 
 punished by the bishop. 
 
 I have now traced the principal causes, which 
 co-operated to the erection of the hierarchy, and 
 shall, in what remains to be observed on the 
 subject, in a few more lectures, consider both 
 the actual state of church power, and the dif- 
 ferent 
 
156 LECTURES ON 
 
 fcrent opinions concerning it at the time of the 
 council of Trent, which shall terminate our in- 
 quiries into the rise and establishment of the 
 hierarchy. 
 
 LEC- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 157 
 
 LECTURE XX. 
 
 1 Have now, in a course of lectures, endea, 
 voured, with all possible brevity, to lay before 
 you the principal arts, by which the Roman 
 hierarchy was raised, and have also pointed out 
 some of the most remarkable events and occur- 
 rences, which facilitated the erection. It is 
 chiefly the progress of ecclesiastical dominion, 
 that I have traced. The papal usurpation on 
 the secular powers, though I have explained its 
 source in the erection of episcopal tribunals, and 
 glanced occasionally at its progress, I have, for 
 several reasons, not so expressly examined. One 
 is, it does not so immediately affect the subject 
 of the hierarchy, with which I considered myself 
 as principally- concerned. Another is, that the 
 usurpation here is, if possible, still more glaring 
 to every attentive reader of church history, and 
 therefore stands less in need of being pointed 
 out. A third reason is, that though the claims 
 of superiority over the civil powers, formerly 
 advanced by Rome with wonderful success, have 
 
 never 
 
35S LECTURES ON 
 
 never been abandoned, but are, as it were, re- 
 served in petto for a proper occasion, yet, at 
 present, the most sublime of their pretensions 
 are little minded, and are hardly, as affairs now 
 stand in Europe, capable of doing hurt. No- 
 thing ran be better founded than the remark, 
 that the thunders of the Vatican will kindle no 
 conflagration, except where there are combustible 
 materials. At present there is hardly a country 
 in Christendom so barbarously superstitious (I do 
 not except even Spain and Portugal) as to afford 
 a sufficient quantity of those materials for raising 
 a combustion. We never hear now of the ex- 
 communication and deposition of princes, of 
 kingdoms laid under an interdict, and of the 
 erection and the disposal of kingdoms by the 
 pope. Such is the difference of times, that 
 these things, which were once the great engines 
 of raising papal dominion, would now serve only 
 to render it contemptible. The foundation of 
 all is opinion, which is of great consequence in 
 every polity, but is every thing in an ecclesiastic 
 polity. To the above reasons, I shall add a 
 fourth. It is only a part, and not the greater 
 part neither, of the Roman Catholics, who ac- 
 knowledge that the pope, as pope, or bishop, has 
 any kind of authority in secular matters over 
 the ci vil powers. They make but a party com- 
 paratively small, who carry the lights of the 
 
 papacy 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 159 
 
 papacy so- far as to include therein a paramount 
 authority over all the powers of this earth, spi- 
 ritual and temporal. A gentleman of the house 
 of commons, in a celebrated speech on the 
 affairs of America, in the beginning of the 
 American revolt, speaking of the religious pro* 
 fession of those colonies, denominated it the 
 protestantism of the protestant religion. In 
 imitation of the manner of this orator, I shall 
 style the system of that high-flying party in the 
 church of Rome, the popery of the popish reli- 
 gion. It is the very quintessence of papistry. 
 Nay, we have some foundation even from them- 
 selves for naming it so ; for those who hold 
 it are, even among Roman Catholics, distin- 
 guished by the name pontificii, or papists, and 
 mostly consist of the people and clergy of Italy, 
 the immediate dependencies on the papal sec, 
 and the different ofders of regulars. It was in 
 a particular manner the system strenuously sup- 
 ported by the order of Jesuits now abolished. 
 The doctrine of the more moderate Roman Ca- 
 tholics, which is that of almost all the laity, and 
 the bulk of the secular clergy in all European 
 countries, except Italy and its islands, is unfa- 
 vourable to those high pretensions of the Roman 
 pontiff. But even these are far from being in- 
 tirely unanimous in regard to the spiritual power 
 and jurisdiction,, which they ascribe to biin. 
 
 The 
 
16*0 LECTURES OK"' 
 
 The bounding line, which distinguishes the civ ii 
 from the ecclesiastic, is one of the arcana of 
 that church's policy, and therefore never to he 
 precisely ascertained. I shall then, in order to 
 give you some idea ere I conclude, of the subli- 
 mity and plenitude of the ecclesiastic power, 
 claimed in behalf of his holiness over the minis- 
 ters of the church, ' by the advocates of that see., 
 and to give you some notion of their manner of 
 supporting those claims, exhibit to you the sub-* 
 stance of a speech on episcopal jurisdiction, de j 
 livered in the council of Trent, by father Lainez, 
 general of the Jesuits, translated from the Italian 
 of Fra Paolo Sarpi. Afterwards I shall take a 
 little notice of the encroachments made on the 
 civil powers. 
 
 " Lainez," says that historian, " spoke more 
 " than two hours with great vehemence, in a 
 " distinct but 'magisterial tone. The argument 
 " of his discourse consisted of two parts. The 
 if first was employed in proving, that the right 
 " of jurisdiction over Christ's kingdom here 
 " had been given intirely to the Roman pontiff, 
 ." and not a single particle of it to any other in 
 H the church. The second contained his an- 
 " swers to all the arguments on the opposite 
 " side, adduced in former meetings. 
 
 f? The substance was, that there is a great 
 
 u difference, nay, a contrariety between the 
 
 1 r V church 
 
ECCLESIASflCAL HISTORY. \6t 
 
 t( church of Christ and civil communities, in* 
 " asmuCh as these have an existence previous 
 " to the formation of their government, and 
 " are thereby free, having in them originally, 
 " as in its fountain, all the jurisdiction, which, 
 " without divesting themselves of it, they com- 
 " municate to magistrates. But the church did 
 " neither make herself, nor form her own go- 
 " vernment. It wits Christ the prince and 
 " monarch who first established the laws where- 
 " by she should be governed; then assembled 
 " his people, and, as scripture expresses it, built 
 M the church. Thus she is born a slave, with- 
 " out any sort of liberty, power, or jurisdiction, 
 " but every where, and in every thing, sub- 
 " jected. In proof of this he quoted passages 
 " of scripture, wherein the gathering of the 
 " church is compared to the sowing of a field, 
 " the drawing of a net to land, and the rearing 
 M of an edifice; adding, that Christ is said to 
 " have come into the world to assemble his 
 " faithful people, to gather his sheep, to instruct 
 " them both by doctrine and by example. Then 
 " he subjoined : the first and principal founda- 
 " tion whereon Christ built the church, was 
 " Peter and his succession, according to the 
 " word which he said to him, Thou art Peter, 
 " and upon this rock I will build my church; 
 " which rock, though some of the fathers have 
 vol, ii. M " under- 
 
16% LECTURES ON 
 
 " understood to be Christ himself, and other* 
 (i the faith in him, or the confession of the 
 " faith, it is nevertheless a more catholic expo- 
 " sition to understand it of Peter himself, who, 
 iC in Hebrew or Syriae, is called Cephas, that is, 
 " Rock. lie affirmed, in like manner, that 
 " while Christ lived in mortal flesh, he governed 
 tl the church with despotic and monarchical 
 " government, and leaving this earth, he left 
 " the same form, constituting St. Peter, and the 
 " successours of St. Peter, his vicars succes- 
 " sively, to administer it, as it had been exer- 
 " cised by him, giving them plenary power and 
 " jurisdiction, and subjecting to them the church 
 il in the way wherein it is subjected to him. 
 " This be proved from what we are told of 
 " Peter, because to him alone were given the 
 f* keys of the kingdom of heaven, and by coiir 
 '* sequence, power to admit and exclude, which 
 *.' is jurisdiction ; and to him alone it was said, 
 " Feed, that is, rule my sheep, silly animals, 
 i 6 which have no part, ...no choice whatever in 
 " conducting themselves. These two things, 
 il namely, to be porter and pastor, being perpe- 
 ** tual offices, it was necessary that they should 
 '• be conferred on a peipetual person, that is, 
 :: not on the first only, but on the whole suc- 
 '■' cession. Hence the Roman pontiif, begin- 
 ■' ning from St. Peter to the end of the world, 
 
 . is 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY; 163 
 
 is true and absolute despot with plenary power 
 and jurisdiction ; and the church is subject 
 to him as it was to Christ. And as when his 
 divine majesty governed it, it could not be 
 said, that any of the faithful had the smallest 
 power or jurisdiction, all being in total sub- 
 jection, the same may be said in all perpetuity. 
 Thus we ought to understand these declara- 
 tions, that the church is a sheepfold, that it 
 is a kingdom, and what St. Cyprian says, that 
 the episcopate is one, and that a part thereof 
 is held by every bishop ; that is, that the 
 whole undivided power is placed in one single 
 pastor, who apportions and communicates it 
 to associates in the ministry as exigencies re- 
 quire ; and that, in allusion to this, St. Cy- 
 prian compares the apostolic see to the root, 
 the head, the fountain, the sun ; showing, by 
 these comparisons, that the jurisdiction is 
 essentially in her alone; in others, only by 
 derivation or participation. And this is the 
 meaning of that most usual expression of an- 
 tiquity, that Peter and the pontiff possess the 
 plenitude of power, others do but participate 
 in the cure. And that he is the sole shep- 
 herd, is demonstrated by the words of Christ, 
 who said, that he had other sheep, which he 
 Would gather, that -there might be but one 
 sheepfold, and one shepherd. The shepherd 
 MS " spoken 
 
id4 LECTURES ON 
 
 " spoken of here cannot be Christ himself, be- 
 
 ' ' cause it could not be said, in the future tense, 
 
 " that there shall be one shepherd, he being 
 
 " already the shepherd. It must, therefore, be 
 
 " understood of another sole shepherd, to be 
 
 " constituted after him, who can be no other 
 
 " than Peter with his succession. He remarked 
 
 ' ' here, that the precept to feed the flock, occurs 
 
 '" but twice in scripture, once in the singular 
 
 " number, when Christ said to Peter, Feed my 
 
 " sheep; once in the plural, when Peter said to 
 
 <{ others, Feed the fades assigned to you. Now 
 
 " if the bishops had received any jurisdiction 
 
 " from Christ, it would be equal in them all, 
 
 " which would destroy the difference between 
 
 * f patriarch, archbishop, and bishop ; besides, 
 
 '( the pope could not intermeddle with that 
 
 ' ' authority, either by diminishing it, or by re- 
 
 *' moving it intirely, as he cannot intermeddle 
 
 " with the power of orders which is from God. 
 
 * ; Wherefore the greatest caution is necessary 
 
 " here, lest by making the institution of bishops 
 
 " de jure dhino, they should subvert the hierar- 
 
 *' chy, and introduce into the church an oligar- 
 
 c ' & chy, or rather, an anarchy. He added, To 
 
 the end that Peter might govern the church 
 
 1 c well, so that the gates of hell should not pre- 
 
 1 ' vail against her, Christ, a litjtp before his 
 
 " death, prayed eificaciously, that his faith 
 
 " might 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. lt)5 
 
 " might not fail, and ordained him to confirm 
 " the brethren ; in other words, he gave him 
 1 ' the privilege of infallibility, in judging of faith, 
 " manners, and the whole of religion, obliging 
 " all the church to obey him, and stand firm in 
 " whatsoever should be decreed by him. He 
 " concluded, that this is the true foundation of 
 " the christian doctrine, and the rock whereon 
 " the church is built. He proceeded to censure 
 " those who hold that bishops have received any 
 " power from Christ, an opinion subversive of 
 ° the privilege of the Roman church, whose 
 u pontiff is head of the church universal, and 
 " the only vicar of Christ upon earth. It is very 
 " well known, that by the ancient canon, omnes 
 u sive patriarchal &c. it is enacted, that who- 
 " ever takes away the rights of other churches, 
 " commits injustice, but whoever takes away the 
 " privileges of the Roman church, is a heretic. 
 " He added, that it is an absolute contradiction 
 u to maintain, that the pontiff is head of the 
 91 church, and its government is monarchical, 
 " and to affirm, that there is either power or au- 
 " thority in it, which is received from others, 
 " and not derived from him. 
 
 " In refuting the arguments, on the opposite 
 
 w side, he advanced, that, according to the or- 
 
 " der instituted by Christ, the apostles must 
 
 <( have been ordained bishops, not by Christ, 
 
 M 3 " but 
 
.66 ' LECTURES Off 
 
 but by Peter, receiving jurisdiction from him 
 alone ; an opinion, he said, extremely proba- 
 ble, and held by many catholic doctors. 
 Others, however, who maintain that the apos- 
 tles were ordained bishops by Christ, add that 
 his divine majesty, in so doing, exercised, by 
 prevention, Peter's orlice, doing for once what 
 belonged to Peter to do, giving to the apostles 
 himself that power which they ought to have 
 received from Peter, just as God took of the 
 spirit of Moses, and imparted it to the seventy 
 judges, so that it was as much as if they had 
 been ordained by Peter, and had received all 
 authority from him ; and therefore they con- 
 tinued subject to Peter, in regard to the places 
 and modes of exercising their authority. And 
 though we do not read that Peter corrected 
 them, it was not through defect of power, but 
 because they exercised their office properly, 
 and so did not need correction. Whoever 
 reads the celebrated canon, Ita Dom'mus, will 
 be assured, that every catholic ought to be^ 
 lieve this ; and thus the bishops, who are suc- 
 cessors of the apostles, receive the whole from 
 the successor of Peter. He observed, also, 
 that the bishops are not called successors of 
 the apostles, unless, as being in their places, 
 in the way that a bishop succeeds his prede- 
 cessors, and not as being ordained by them. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1 6*7 
 
 lie replied to what some had inferred, that the 
 pope might then leave off making bishops, 
 choosing to be the only bishop' himself. He 
 admitted that ordination is divine, that in the 
 church there is a multitude of bishops, coad- 
 jutors of the pontiff, and therefore that the 
 pontiff is obliged to preserve the order, but 
 that there is a great difference between saying 
 that a thing is de jure divino, and that it is 
 appointed of God. Things instituted de jure 
 divino, are perpetual, and depend on God 
 alone, at every time, both universally and 
 particularly. Thus baptism, and all the other 
 sacraments, wherein God operates singularly 
 in each particular, are de jure divino. Thus 
 the Roman pontiff is of God. For when one 
 dies, the keys do not remain with the church) 
 for they were not given to her. But when the 
 new pope is created, God immediately gives 
 them to him. But it happens otherwise iii 
 things barely of divine appointment ; inas- 
 much as from God comes only the universal, 
 whereas the particulars are executed by men'. 
 Tims St. Paul says, that princes and temporal 
 powers are ordained of God ; that is, from hiirl 
 alone comes the universal precept, that there 
 should be princes ; nevertheless, the particu- 
 lars are made by civil laws. In the sam6 
 manner bishops are ordained of God ; and St. 
 M 4 " Paul 
 
168 
 
 LECTURES OX 
 
 Paul says they are placed by the Holy Ghost 
 for the government of the church, but not 
 de jure dvcino. The pope, however, cannot 
 abolish the universal precept for making bi- 
 shops in the church, because it is from God : 
 but each particular bishop, being only dejure 
 catwnico, may, by pontifical authority, be re- 
 moved. And to the objection made, that the 
 bishops would be delegates, and not ordina- 
 ries, he answered : It behoveth us to distin- 
 guish jurisdiction into fundamental and de- 
 rived, and the derived into delegated and or- 
 dinary. In civil polities, the fundamental is 
 in the prince, the derived is in all the magis- 
 trates. And in these, ordinaries are different 
 from delegates, because they receive the au- 
 thority diversely, though they all derive 
 equally from the same sovereignty ; but the 
 difference consists in this, that the ordinaries 
 are by perpetual laws, and with succession : 
 the others have singular authority either per- 
 sonal or casual. The bishops, therefore, are 
 ordinaries, being instituted, by pontifical laws, 
 dignities of perpetual succession in the church. 
 He added, that those passages, wherein Christ 
 seems to give authority to the church, as that 
 wherein he says, that it is the pillar and basis 
 of the truth, and that other, Let him who kUI 
 not hear tlie church be to thee as a heathen and 
 
 u a pub* 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. - 16*9 
 
 " a publican, are all to be understood solely in 
 " respect of its head, which is the pope. For 
 " this reason the church is infallible, because it 
 " has an infallible head. And thus he is sepa- 
 S\ rated from the church who is separated from 
 \\ the pope, its head. As to whit had been 
 V urged, that the couucil could have no autho- 
 " rity from Christ, if none of the bishops had 
 " any. he answered, that this was not to be re- 
 " garded as an objection, but as a certain truth, 
 " being a very clear and necessary consequence 
 " of the truly catholic doctrine he had demon- 
 " strated ; nay, added he, if each of the bishops 
 ?! in council be fallible, it cannot be denied, 
 ' ' that all of them together are fallible ; and if 
 " the authority of the council arose from the au- 
 " thority of the bishops, no council could ever 
 " be called general, wherein the number of those 
 " present is incomparably less than the number 
 " of those that are absent. He mentioned, that 
 ' ' in that very council, under Paul the third, the 
 " most momentous articles concerning the ca- 
 " nonical books, the authority of translations, 
 " the equality of tradition to scripture, had been 
 " decided by a number less than fifty : that-'if 
 *f multitude gave authority, these decisions^, had 
 11 none at all. But as a number of prelates, 
 " convened by the pontiff, for the purpose of 
 " constituting a general council,, howevec.few, 
 
 " derives 
 
170 LECTURES ON 
 
 derives not the name and efficacy of being 
 general from any other cause than the pope's 
 designation, so likewise he is the sole source of 
 its authority. Therefore, if it issue precepts, 
 or anathema::, these have no effect, unless in 
 virtue of the pontiff's future confirmation. 
 Nor can the council bind an}' by its anathe- 
 mas, further than they shall be enforced by 
 the confirmation. And when the synod says, 
 that it is assembled in the Holy Ghost, it 
 means no more than that the fathers are 
 assembled, by the pope's summons, to discuss 
 matters, which, when approved by him, will 
 be decreed by the Holy Ghost. Otherwise, 
 how could it be said, that a decree is made 
 by the Holy Ghost, which may, by pontifical 
 authority, be invalidated, or has need of far- 
 ther confirmation ; and therefore, in councils, 
 however numerous, when the pope is present, 
 he alone decrees, nor does the council add any 
 thing but its approbation ; that is, it receives. 
 Accordingly, the authentic phrase has always 
 been, Sacro approbante concilio ; nay, in de- 
 terminations of the greatest weight, as w:is 
 the deposition of the emperour Frederic the 
 second, in the general council of Lions, Inno- 
 cent the fourth, a most wise pontiff, refused 
 the approbation of the synod, lest, any should 
 imagine it necessary : lie thought it enoug-h 
 
 "-to 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1/1 
 
 ' to say, sacro-presente concilio. Nor ought we 
 ' hence to conclude, that a council is super- 
 ' fluous. It is convened for the sake of stricter 
 ' inquisition, easier persuasion, and for giving 
 ' the members some notion of the question. 
 c And when it judges, ' it acts by virtue of the 
 • pontifical authority, - derived from the divine, 
 ' given it by the pope. For these reasons, the 
 ' good doctors have subjected the authority of 
 j the council to the authority of the pontiff, as 
 ( totally dependent thereon. Without this, it 
 ' has neither the assistance of the Holy Spirit, 
 ' nor infallibility, nor the power of binding the 
 ' church. It has nothing but what is conceded 
 ' to it by him alone, to whoni Christ said, Feed 
 ' my sheep." 
 
 Such was the famous discourse of Lainez, in 
 which, I must own, we have much greater rea- 
 son to admire Jesuitical impudence than even 
 Jesuitical sophistry. So many bold assertions, 
 some of which are flatly contradicted by sacred 
 writ, and others by the most unquestionable re- 
 cords of history, required a man of no common 
 spirit, or, as scripture strongly expresses it, who 
 had a brow of brass, to advance them. Is it pos- 
 sible, that lie himself was so ignorant as to believe 
 what he advanced ? Or could he presume so far 
 upon the. ignorance of his audience, as to think of 
 making them believe it? Or did he imagine that 
 liis hearers would be so overborn by his eloquence, 
 
 his 
 
17% LECTURES ON 
 
 his assuming tone and dictatorial manner, as to 
 be thrown into a kind of stupor, and rendered 
 incapable of discovering the notorious falsehoods 
 with which his oration was stufTed ? Passing the 
 contradictions to holy writ, a book with which the 
 divines of his day were but beginning to be ac- 
 quainted, was it prudent to ascribe a power to 
 the papacy not only unheard of in former ages, 
 but which popes themselves had explicitly dis- 
 claimed ? Nothing can be more express than the 
 words of Gregory, surnamed the great, who, 
 though remarkably tenacious of the honours of 
 his see, says, in arguing against the Constanti- 
 nopolitan patriarch, for assuming the title of uni- 
 versal bishop, " Si unus episcopus vocatur uni- 
 <c versalis, universa ecclesia corruit, si unus uni- 
 ' ' versus cadet. " If one should fall, the univer- 
 sal church falls with him. Here, taking it for 
 self-evident, that all bishops, without exception, 
 are fallible, he infers the absurdity there is in any 
 one calling himself universal. Again, " Absit 
 " a cordibus christianorum nomen istud blas- 
 " phemias, in quo omnium sacerdotum honor 
 " adimitur, dum ab uno sibi dementer arroga- 
 " tur;" where he no less plainly arraigns the 
 impious usurpation of any one, who, by claiming 
 such a superiority, would strip all other priests 
 of their dignity, and madly arrogate the whole 
 to himself. Was it well-judged to misrepresent 
 so common an author as Cyprian in so flagrant 
 
 a man- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 173 
 
 a manner, and make him compare the apostolic 
 (that is, in the Jesuit's dialect, the Roman) see 
 to the root, the head, the fountain, the sun, in a 
 passage where Cyprian mentions no see whatever, 
 but speaks solely of the necessity of union with 
 the universal church? Cyprian, in writing to 
 popes, and of them, uniformly shows, that he con- 
 sidered them as, in respect of their ministry, en- 
 tirely on a foot of equality with himself, deno- 
 minating them brethren, colleagues, and fellow- 
 bishops. Whether he paid an implicit deference 
 to their judgment, let the dispute he had with 
 pope Stephen, about the rcbaptization of those 
 who had been baptized by heretics, testify. By 
 this firmness, he incurred excommunication from 
 the pope ; and, in this state, he died, though 
 now worshipped as a saint and a martyr by the 
 very church which exeommunicated him. 
 
 But not to enter farther into particulars, was it 
 judicious in Lainez, to trust so much to the igno- 
 rance of the whole assembly, as not only to quote 
 such men as Cyprian, an eminent and inflexible 
 opposer of papal arrogance, but to talk of the 
 pope's power in convoking councils, and con- 
 firming their decrees, as what had always ob- 
 tained in the church, and was essential to the 
 very being of a council, when every smatterer in 
 ecclesiastic history, and in ancient ecclesiastic 
 writers, must have known, that this practice was 
 3 com- 
 
174* LECTURES Otf 
 
 comparatively recent ? Passing the custom of the 
 earlier ages, when the imperial authority was 
 used, was it already quite forgotten, that, in the 
 very preceding century, the council of Pisa was 
 not convened by any pontiff, and yet proceeded 
 so far as to try and depose two pretenders to the 
 popedom, and elect a third in their stead ? Or, 
 had they now no knowledge of the council of Con- 
 stance, which was still later, and, in like manner, 
 deposed two claimants, one of them the pope, 
 who had convoked it, and, after accepting the 
 resignation of a third, proceeded to the election 
 of a fourth ? Or could it be imagined, that the 
 whole audience was so stupid, as not to be sensi- 
 ble, that, if those proceedings at Constance were 
 null, there was no vacancy made by the deposi- 
 tion of John and Benedict, consequently that 
 the council's election of Martin, following thereon, 
 was null, consequently that Pius the fourth, the 
 pope then reigning, had no right, as he derived 
 his title lineally from an usurper, who, by creat- 
 ine cardinals whilst he himself was destitute of 
 authority, had perpetuated, in his successors, the 
 failure of his own title, and consequently, that 
 there was an irreparable breach made in the suc- 
 cession to the popedom ? Was it possible, that 
 they should not perceive, that the subversion of 
 the authority of that council, an authority claimed 
 over popes, was the subversion of the title of 
 
 Martin 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1/5 
 
 Martin the fifth, and that the subversion of the 
 title of Martin the fifth, was the subversion of 
 the title of all succeeding popes to the end of 
 the world ? 
 
 How curiously does Lainez argue from tho 
 metaphor of .sheep, that the christian people, 
 indeed the whole church, clergy as well as laity, 
 (the pope, the one shepherd of the one sheepfold, 
 alone excepted) have no more judgment in di- 
 recting themselves than brute beasts. He does 
 not, indeed, so. cleverly account how that supe- 
 i lour sort of being, the pope, can think of choos- 
 ing any of these irrational animals, as partners 
 in the ministry with him, to assist in guiding and 
 directing their fellow-brutes. I admire the won- 
 derful fetch by which he makes Jesus Christ, 
 when he commissioned the twelve apostles, act 
 in ordaining eleven of them, (though no distinc- 
 tion is pointed out in the history) merely in the 
 name of Peter, and as Peter's substitute ; bor- 
 rowing back, for this purpose, part of the autho- 
 rity exclusively conferred on him. He is, indeed, 
 greatly at a loss (these deputy-apostles, or apos- 
 tles of the apostle Peter, unluckily behaved so 
 properly) to find an instance of Peter's so much 
 boasted authority in judging and correcting 
 them. But we are at no loss to find an instance 
 wherein, on Peter's behaving improperly, Paul 
 not only opposed, but publicly and sharply re- 
 buked 
 
176 LECTURES ON 
 
 baked him. The passage well deserves yotif no- 
 tice. Ye will find it in the epistle to the Gala- 
 tians, ii, 1 1, &c. When Peter was come to An* 
 tioch, says Paul, / xvithstood him to the face, be- 
 cause he was to be blamed : for before that certain 
 came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles, 
 but when they were come, he withdrew, and sepa- 
 rated himself] fearing them which were of the cir- 
 cumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise 
 with him, insomuch, that Barnabas also was car- 
 ried away with their dissimulation. But when I 
 sttxv that' they walked not uprightly, according to 
 the tritth of th*t gospel, I said to Peter, before 
 them alf, If thou, being a Jew, I'voest after the 
 manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jezvs, 
 why compel! est tlioii the Gentiles to live as do the 
 J exes ? Was this a treatment from a mere dele- 
 gate to his principal, nay more, from one of the 
 sheep, those stupid irrational animals, to his shep- 
 herd, (for mark, that according to Lainez, Peter 
 was the sole shepherd, they all, in respect of him, 
 were sheep) from a fallible member of the church 
 to Christ's only vicar, to the infallible head and 
 pastor ? What matter of triumph would there 
 have been here to the Romanist, if the case had 
 been reversed, and Peter had, in a manner, to 
 appearance, so authoritative judged and rebuked 
 Paul ? Our ears would have been stunned with 
 the repetition of a demonstration, so irrefragable, 
 
 of 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1j? 
 
 of the supremacy of Peter, and consequently of 
 Home* Yet there would have been no real 
 ground of triumph had it been so. If any regard 
 is to be had to the accounts of inspiration, it is 
 manifest, that none of them, though apostles, 
 Vere infallible ; and that as they were all, by 
 their vocation, brethren and equals, and expressly 
 called so by their master, In a passage wherein 
 he prohibits their either giving or assuming a su- 
 periority one over another, it was their duty to 
 correct one another in love, and not permit a 
 brother unadmonished to persist in any practice 
 truly blame- worthy. Passing, however, the ar- 
 ticle of correction, of which it appears, that Pe- 
 ter, the only infallible apostle, was the only per- 
 son of the society that ever stood in need ; what 
 evidence have we, of any authority, in other re- 
 spects, exercised by Peter over the sabred col- 
 lege r Does he ever call them together, to assign 
 them their several charges, and give tfcem in- 
 structions in relation to the duties of their 
 •office ? or, Do they ever have recourse to him 
 for the proper information in regard to these ? 
 Not a vestige, to this purpose, do we find in the 
 acts of the apostles, where, if there had been such 
 a thing, it could hardly have been omitted ; nor 
 -is there the least suggestion, that points this way, 
 in any of the epistles. Nay, not one of the apos* 
 -ties do we find sent on any mission whatsoever 
 vol. ii. N by 
 
A 7$ iEcruRts os 
 
 by him. We have, indeed, as I had occasion t& 
 remark in a former discourse, a notable instance,- 
 in which Peter and John were sent on a mission 
 by the other apostles, who were at Jerusalem at 
 the time, but not a single example of an apostle, 
 who received either direction or orders of any 
 kind from Peter. 
 
 But it would be trifling to enter more into par- 
 ticulars. Who sees not that, by this Jesuit's way 
 of commenting, not only there is no evidence, 
 that any powers were conferred on the other 
 apostles, or on the church, but it would have 
 been impossible for the inspired writers them- 
 selves to give us evidenee that there were ? For, 
 however clear and decisive their expressions 
 might have been, this brief reply would have cut 
 them down at once : (i All such passages are to 
 ■" be understood solely in respect of the church's 
 " head, which is the pope." Suffice it then to 
 say of the whole piece, as we may say with the 
 greatest, justice, that it is a mass of falsehoods 
 and chicanery. Some things are affirmed in op- 
 position to the fullest evidence, many things are., 
 assumed without any evidenee, and nothing is- 
 proved. 
 
 But it is of some consequence to consider the 
 reception it met with in the council, as this consi- 
 deration will serve to show the different sentir 
 ments which prevailed at that time. among Ro- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL fclSTORY. * 7$ 
 
 man catholics, in relation to the hierarchy, and 
 ecclesiastical dominion. This, together with 
 some remarks on the present state pf the papacy, 
 shall be reserved for the subject of another lee- 
 tttfe; 
 
 N2 LEG* 
 
*£Q- LECTURES Op 
 
 ^LECTURE XXL 
 
 IN my last lecture, in order to give you some 
 idea of the sublimity and plenitude of the spiri- 
 tual power and prerogatives,, claimed in behalf of 
 his holiness, by the partizans of the see of Rome, 
 and, at the same time, to give you some taste of 
 their manner of supporting their claims from 
 scripture and antiquity, I exhibited to you the 
 substance of a speech on episcopal jurisdiction, 
 delivered by the Jesuit Lainez in the council of 
 Trent. I made also a few strictures on his mode 
 of probation. But as it is of more consequence, 
 for understanding the present state of parties and 
 opinions in the Romish church, to know the -re- 
 ception which the Jesuit's sentiment^ met with in 
 the council, I reserved this for a principal part of 
 the subject of my present lecture. , I.shall, there- 
 fore begin with it. soteodj >fj 
 
 ". Of all the orations that hau* ^et^een deli- 
 u vered in the council, there was not^ne, sayj 
 " our historian j more commended, i^U,^ more 
 tf blamed, according to the different dispositions 
 
 " of 
 
ECCLESJASTI-CA'-L &ISTORY. IS 1 
 
 <•'• of the hearers, than was this of Lainez. By 
 - " the pontificii, or papists, (so do even Roman 
 •" catholics term the minions pfRo,me, and stick-* 
 " lers for every claim made 1by the papacy) it 
 ■ ' was cried up as most learned, bold, and well- 
 V founded ; by others it was condemned as adu- 
 " latory, and by some even as heretical. Many 
 fi showed that they were offended by the aspe- 
 u rityof his censures, and were determined, in 
 ■" the following congregations," (so. the meet- 
 ings holden for * deliberation and debate were 
 named) " to attack his speech on every occa- 
 " sioh, and point out the ignorance <and teme- 
 ■" rity which it betrayed.. 
 
 " The bishop of Paris having, when he should 
 " have given his sentiments, been confined by 
 " sickness, said to every body who .came to see 
 " him, that when there should be a congregation 
 " that he could' attend, he would deliver his opi- 
 •" nion against that doctrine without reserve, a 
 " doctrine which, unheard at' in former ages, 
 *\ had been invented about fifty years before by 
 " Gaetan, jn hope of being made a cardinal, and 
 " had been censured, on its first publication, by 
 41 the theological college in Paris, called the 
 *" Sorbon, a doctrine wliich, instead of repre- 
 " senting the church as the heavenly kingdom, 
 ■ -"agreeably to the denomination given her in 
 u %* scripture, exhibits her a£ not a spiritual king- 
 ' • N3 Si doin, 
 
132 LECTURES ON 
 
 6{ dorri, but a temporal tyranny, taking from* 
 " her the title of the chaste spouse of Christ, 
 " arid making her the slave and • profetitute of 
 " one man," 
 
 It was not difficult to discover what man he 
 alluded to. Indeed, methinks, this Parisian the- 
 ologist was not far from the opinion of those pro- 
 testants, Avho interpret the whore of Babylon, in 
 the Apocalypse, to be the church of Rome. He 
 plainly acknowledges, that the accounts given of 
 this church by the pope's partizans, are exactly 
 descriptive of such a character. And may wq 
 not justly say, that a church, which could tamely 
 bear such treatment from Lainez, or any of the 
 Creatures of papal despotism, deserved to be branded 
 with the disgraceful appellation ? Or may we not 
 rather say, that her bearing it in the manner she 
 did, was a demonstrative proof, that the repre- 
 sentation, given of her state at that time, wag 
 just ? It may, indeed, excite some wonder, that 
 the above-named Jesuit should have chosen to 
 adopt a style on this subject, so directly contra- 
 dictory to the style of holy writ. Our Lord pro- 
 mises freedom to his disciples, " Ye shall know 
 41 the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 
 By convincing your judgment, it shall powerfully 
 Operate upon your will, and make your duty to, 
 become your choice. Herein lies the most per- 
 fect freedom, Again, " If' the Son make you 
 
 u free, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 183 
 
 • free, ye shall be free indeed " The service of 
 his disciples is not like that of a slave by con- 
 straint, arising solely from fear, it is entirely vo- 
 luntary, proceeding from the noblest of motives,. 
 love. He therefore calls them not servants, so 
 much as friends, and treats them as such, com- 
 municating his purposes to them, and engaging 
 them, not by coercive methods, but by persua- 
 sion. His law is, for this reason, styled a law of 
 liberty ; and those who receive it are required to 
 act as free, yet not using their liberty for a cloke 
 of maliciousness, but as the willing servants of God. 
 Not the most distant hint has he any where given- 
 of his people's slavery. But Lainez tells you, 
 judging of the conduct of Christ from that of 
 Rome, the very worst model he could have 
 taken, that Jesus Christ has made his church 
 (that is, the whole community of his disciples) 
 a mere slave, that has not any sort of liberty, 
 but is every where, and in every thing, subjected 
 to the dominion of an absolute despot. So dif- 
 ferent is the language of this son of Loyola from 
 that of t.he Sou of God. Yet not more diiferent 
 than is the spirit of the different religious insti* 
 tutions which they teach. 
 
 But to. return to the bishop's remarks, " Lai- 
 
 v* nez,/' said he, " maintains, that there is only 
 
 i'-one bishop instituted by Christ, and that the 
 
 *-■ other bishops have no power unless depend- 
 
 N 4 " cntly 
 
18-4 LECTURES ON 
 
 ently on him. This is as much as to say, that 
 one only is bishop, the rest are but his vicars, 
 removeable at his pleasure. For his own part, 
 he acknowledged, he wished to rouse the whole 
 council, to consider how the episcopal autho- 
 rity, so much depressed, could be preserved 
 from annihilation, since every new congrega- 
 tion of regulars, which springs up, gives it a 
 violent shock. The bishops had maintained 
 their authority entire till the year 1050." 
 With this good prelates leave, their authority 
 was, by the gradual encroachments of Rome, 
 long before that period greatly reduced. Her 
 supreme jurisdiction, both as lawgiver, and as 
 judge, were, ere then, pretty firmly established. 
 Her orders and canons were generally, through- 
 out the western churches, promulged and obeyed : 
 recourse was had to her for dispensations, for 
 confirmation, and collation, in ecclesiastic offices, 
 and for judgment by appeals. But these usurp- 
 ations were, long before the time of this council, 
 acquiesced in as rights. An acquiescence, thus 
 far, may be considered as at least virtually com- 
 prehended in the solemn oath of fidelity, subjec- 
 tion, and obedience, to the pope, exacted of, and 
 given by, prelates immediately before their con- 
 secration. In regard to these, therefore, however 
 objectionable, they had precluded themselves, and 
 could not decently object to them. Whereas, 
 
 those 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1$5 
 
 those claims, to which the Parisian 'alluded,- be- 
 ing more recent, though they had surmounted 
 the force of opposition, had not yet survived the 
 murmurs and discontents which the-'iritroduetion 
 of them had created. • 
 
 i I resume the prelate's account- of the matter : 
 " It was then in 1050, that the Cltmiac and 
 " Cistertian congregations, and others, which 
 " arose in that century, gave a signal blow to 
 " the episcopal order : many functions, nroper 
 " and essential to bishops, being, by their means, 
 u devolved upon Rome. But after the year 
 " 1200, when the mendicants arose, almost the 
 " whole exercise of episcopal authority has been 
 ' ' taken away, and given to them by privilege. 
 " At length, this new congregation, (the Je- 
 " suits) a society of yesterday, which is scarcely 
 " either secular or regular, as the university of 
 <l Paris, eight years ago, knowing it to be dan- 
 <l gerous in matters of faith, pernicious : to the 
 iC peace of the church, and destructive of "mo- 
 " nachism, has well observed, (this congrega- 
 *i tion, I say) that it might outdo its predeces- 
 *' sors, has" attempted to subvert entirely eprsco- 
 " pal jurisdiction, denying it to be from God, 
 ik and wanting it to be acknowledged as from 
 " men; 'and therefore precarious and -mutable. 
 
 iX These things/' says the historian? " repeated 
 i( by the bishop to different persons, as occasion 
 
 " offered, 
 
186 I.ECTUKES 0^ 
 
 ** offered, moved many others to reflect, who 
 " had at first given little attention to the suLh 
 41 t ject. But among those who had any know- 
 " ledge of history, not a little was spoken con-' 
 " cerning that observation, mcro prasentc con- 
 *' c'diOy which appeared hi all the canonical codes, 
 " but not having been attended to, seemed n£W 
 " to every body. Some approved the Jesuit's 
 " interpretation, some interpreted it in a sense 
 " quite .contrary, that the council had refused 
 y to approve that sentence : others, taking an- 
 * ; other rout, argued, that as the matter treated 
 " on that occasion was temporal, and the com? 
 " tent ions were worldly, one could not infer 
 H. from its procedure, in that instance, that the 
 M same thing ought to be done in treating mat" 
 " ters of faith, and ecclesiastic rites; especially, 
 " when it is considered, that in the lirst council 
 " of the apostles at Jeiusalem, which ought tQ 
 " be our rule and exemplar, the decree was not 
 H made by Peter, either in presence of the coun- 
 " cil, or with its approbation, but was entitled 
 *' the epistle, with the addition of the names of 
 <; three degrees assembled in that congregation, 
 *' apostles, elders, and brethren ; and Peter un- 
 H named was, without prerogative or distinc- 
 '■" tion, included in the first degree, apostles ; 
 ♦' an example which, in respect of antiquity and 
 ' divine authority, ought to discredit all' the 
 
 *' examples^ 
 6 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. J S7 
 
 41 examples, on the opposite side, that can be 
 <( deduced from subsequent times." 
 
 I have observed how degrading and dishonour-* 
 able, according to the bishop, the picture was 
 which Lainez had drawn of the church of Christ, 
 and taken notice of the strong resemblance, 
 though perfectly unintended, which, from the 
 Parisian's comment, appears, in the Jesuit's sen- 
 timents, to what was then affirmed by their ad* 
 versaries, the protestants, in regard to the chureh 
 of Rome. It may not be improper to observe 
 here, that even an avowed coincidence with 
 these, if we may judge from the language they 
 used, w T as at that time not unfreqiient in some 
 of those who, though greatly dissatisfied, never 
 chose to separate from the Romish communion. 
 It may not be improper to give one specimen of 
 the complaints then so common, in order to show 
 how great the dissatisfaction was at the torrent 
 of corruption which universally prevailed, and 
 to suggest what was the general opinion in re- 
 gard to the fountain whence the prevalent cor- 
 ruption flowed, Among many instances, that 
 might be given, I shall select one of a very pub- 
 lic nature, the speech pronounced by the French 
 ambassador Ferrier, when he produced his cre- 
 dentials in the above-named council. Let it be 
 remarked, that France was then involved in a 
 civil war between the Roman catholics and the 
 
 Hugonots, 
 
I 88 LECTURES ON* 
 
 Hugonots, the name then given to the- reformed 
 in that country by their enemies. . After a pre- 
 amble, in which he expatiates on the pious in- 
 tentions of the king, his master, his great merits 
 in respect of the zeal he had shown for the ca- 
 tholic church, and even for the dignity and au- 
 thority of the sovereign pontiff ; he, on the mat- 
 ter, acknowledges, that it is this zeal alone which 
 occasioned all the intestine broils wherewith his 
 reign was at that time disturbed ; for that if he 
 had no further aim, than securing due obedience 
 to his own civil authority, and maintaining the 
 peace of the kingdom, every thing might be set- 
 tled to his satisfaction in three days. In this 
 
 > V 
 
 his excellency gave a more honourable testimony 
 to the dispositions of the protestants, in his 
 country, than probably he had intended. At 
 least, he showed that the aggression and persecu- 
 tion were entirely on the other side, and that the 
 protestants, whether right or wrong in resisting, 
 acted merely on the defensive. When coming 
 towards a conclusion, after many free and spi^ 
 rited things, he adds, " The most christian king 
 " deuumds of this council nothing but what all 
 il the christian world demands, what the great 
 " Coustantine demanded of the fathers of the 
 
 ' '^"Nicene council. His Majesty's requests are 
 * all comprehended in the sacred scriptures, the 
 
 • " ancient councils of the catholic •church, the 
 
 " old 
 
ECG LES 1 ASTI C A L II I STO RT. 
 
 "■ old constitutions, decrees, and canons,, of* the . 
 \* pontiffs and father^ He demands of those 
 '.; whom Christ hath constituted judges, the en- 
 " tire restoration o£ the. catholic church. . not 'bv 
 •'a decree in loose aiui general terms, hut ac- 
 " cording: to the form of the express words of 
 " that perpetual and divine ed.ict, against which 
 " usurpation or preseription can have no place; 
 " so that those good ordinances, which the devil 
 •' has violently robbed us of, and long concealed., 
 " may at length leturn, as from captivit) r , into 
 'f the holy city of God, and the light of men." 
 
 lie adduced the example of Darius, who quieted 
 the. tumults of J udea, not by arms, but by exe- 
 cuting the ancient edict; of Cyrus. That of Jo- 
 siah also, who reformed religion by causing the 
 book of the law, which had been hidden through 
 the malice of men, to be read to the people, and 
 observed by them. Then, continues the histo- 
 rian, he made use of a very cutting expression : 
 " If the fathers, 1 ' said he, " should ask, why 
 | c France is not in peace, no other answer can 
 If be given, than that which Jehu gave to Joram, 
 
 " What peace can there be so long as " 
 
 .Here he stopped, and after pausing a little, added, 
 " Ye know the -rest." The story referred to we 
 have in the ninth Gjj&fifff of the second book of 
 Kings. The words to.wjiich he pointed so dis- 
 tinctly that they could not be mistaken, but 
 
 which 
 
tj$ LECTURES Otf 
 
 "which he judged it convenient to suppress, We 
 have in the twenty-second verse, where we are 
 told, that when Jehu was asked by Joram, whe- 
 ther there was peace, he answered, TV hat peace,, 
 so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel, 
 end her witchcrafts, are so many 9 It was impose 
 sible, considering when, where, and to whom, 
 the ambassador was directing his discourse> to 
 entertain a doubt concerning his meaning. The 
 respectable appellation of mother had been given 
 to the church time immemorial, individual chris- 
 tians were denominated her children. In regard 
 to particular churches, they had been for ages, 
 in the west, considered as the daughters of Rome. 
 The Roman church was their common mother, 
 so that this gentleman, addressing himself to the 
 Tridentine fathers, who represented their respeo 
 tive churches in the council, and in the midst of 
 whom the pope's legates sat as presidents, had 
 the boldness to call the church of the haughty 
 and imperious Rome, not in so many w T ords, but 
 as intelligibly and manifestly a harlot, a sorceress, 
 a Jezebel, the source of all their calamities* In- 
 deed, the happy aposiopesis he employed, ren- 
 dered the invective more energetical, and tlie 
 intended application more unquestionable, than 
 if he had -spoken- out. If he had spoken out; 
 there Would have been - still room for suspicion, 
 that (however unlikely) he must have had some 
 
 other 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ($$1 
 
 •Other meaning to the words, else he could not, to 
 their faces, have employed terms so opprobrious. 
 The method he took, at the same time that it left 
 no doubt as to the expression to be supplied, be- 
 trayed a consciousness, that he considered it both 
 as incapable of any other application, and as too 
 gross for utteranee. Would not one be tempted 
 to think, that either the French monarch had mis- 
 taken the principles of the servant he employed 
 on this occasion, or that the latter had mistaken 
 totally the intent of his embassy, and was actually 
 pleading the cause of the protestants before the 
 council, unci not that of his master, who was en- 
 deavouring, by all possible means, to exterminate 
 them ? He concluded with declaring, that if the 
 reformation he proposed was not quickly and seri- 
 ously applied to, all the assistance of the king of 
 Spain, (by arms doubtless he meant) of the pope, 
 and of the other princes, would be to no .purpose, 
 and that the- blood of those who should perish, 
 though deservedly, on account of their own sins, 
 would be required at the hands of the fathers then 
 assembled. This discourse, as may well be ima- 
 gined, excited very great indignation ; but mat- 
 ters were then so critically circumstanced, and 
 the fear of offending the king of France., and 
 perhaps provoking him to adopt less sanguinary 
 measures with his revolted subjects, made even 
 the keenest advocates for the papacy to stitie 
 
 their 
 
192 LECTURES OS 
 
 their resentments, and take no notice of the 
 offensive expressions. 
 
 Having exhibited to you the state of the papal 
 claims of jurisdiction over the clergy, at that 
 most memorable era, the reformation in the six- 
 teenth century, I shall now attempt to convey 
 some idea of the claims then advanced in behalf 
 of the clergy, in the first instance, and ultimately 
 of the pope, in whom they all terminated, over 
 the laity, especially over the secular powers. For 
 this purpose, I shall here lay before you the 
 scheme prepared in the same convention, for the 
 reformation of princes and civil magistrates, 
 which, though in the situation of things at that 
 time, and on account of the strenuous opposition 
 from the temporal powers, it was not found con- 
 venient to push, yet has never been departed 
 from, nor abandoned, by those of that establish- 
 ment ; on the contrary, the several articles have, 
 for ages, afforded matter of contention and strug- 
 gles in all nations of Christendom. Much has 
 been attained, and hardly has a proper opportu- 
 nity been omitted of asserting even the most ex- 
 travagant of them. The bill prepared for this 
 purpose, contained a preamble, thirteen decrees, 
 and a conclusion. It was in substance as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 The council, beside the statutes enacted for 
 reforming persons ecclesiastical, have judged it 
 
 their 
 
ecclesiastical iiistorv. 193 
 
 their duty to reform also secular persons of those 
 abuses, which have been introduced against the 
 immunities of the church, confident that princes 
 will acquiesce, and cause due obedience to be 
 rendered to the clergy. To this end they are 
 admonished, before other things, to oblige their 
 magistrates, delegates, and other temporal lords, 
 to render their pastors that obedience, which 
 those princes themselves are bound to perform to 
 the sovereign pontiff^ and for this purpose a- 
 new enforces whatever has been decreed by 
 the sacred "t*anons, - and the imperial laws in 
 favour of ecclesiastical immunities, which ought 
 to be observed "by all under pain of anathema. 
 The principal decrees are the following : that 
 persons ecclesiastical, even though their clerical 
 title should be doubtful, and though they them- 
 selves should consent, cannot, under any pre- 
 text, even that of public utility, be judged in a 
 secular judicatory. Even in cases of notorious 
 assassination, or other excepted cases, their pro- 
 secution must be preceded by a declaration of 
 the bishop of the diocese. That in causes spiri- 
 tual, matrimonial, those' of heresy, tithes, &c. 
 civil, criminal, mixed, belonging to the ecclesi- 
 astical court, as well over persons as over goods, 
 tenths, &c. pertaining to the church, the tem- 
 poral judge cannot intermeddle, notwithstanding 
 any appeal, &c. ; and those who, in such causes, 
 voi. ii. O shall 
 
: l9b LKClXUES OX' 
 
 sliall recur to the secular power, shall be excom- 
 municated, and deprived of the rights contended 
 for. Secular men cannot constitute judges in 
 Causes ecclesiastical, and clergymen, who shall 
 accept such offices from laymen, shall be sus- 
 pended from orders, deprived of benefices, and 
 incapacitated. The secular cannot command 
 the ecclesiastical judge not to excommunicate 
 without licence, or to revoke, or suspend, an ex- 
 communication fulminated. No king or em- 
 perour can make edicts, relating to causes or 
 persons ecclesiastical, or intermeddle with their 
 jurisdiction, or even with the inquisition, but 
 are obliged to lend their arm to the ecclesiastical 
 judges when called on. Rulers may not put 
 their hand to the fruits of vacant benefices, 
 under pretence of custody, protection, See. ; se- 
 cular persons, who shall accept such offices, 
 shall be excommunicated, and clergymen sus- 
 pended and deprived. Ecclesiastics shall not be 
 constrained to pay taxes, excise, &c.. not even 
 tinder the name of free gifts, or loans, either for 
 patrimonial goods, or the goods of the church. 
 The letters, sentences, and citations, of the eccle- 
 siastic judges, especially of the' court of Home, 
 shall, immediately on being exhibited, be, with- 
 out exception, intimated and executed, &c. If 
 there be any doubt that the letters are forged;, or 
 that tumults will arise, the bishop, as apostolic 
 
 delegate, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 19-5 
 
 delegate* may order the needful precautions. 
 Princes and magistrates shall not quarter their 
 officers, &c. on the houses, or monasteries or" 
 ecclesiastics, nor draw thence ought for victuals, 
 or passage money. There were several other 
 articles of the same stamp, which it is not neces- 
 sary to enumerate; The above will sufficiently 
 serve for a specimen. 
 
 By way of conclusion, there was an admoni- 
 tion to all princes, to have in veneration the 
 tilings which are of ecclesiastical right, as per- 
 taining to God, and not to allow others herein 
 to offend, renewing all the constitutions of sove- 
 reign pontiffs and sacred canons in favour of 
 ecclesiastical immunities ; commanding, under 
 pain of anathema, that, neither directly nor in- 
 directly, under any pretence, aught be enacted 
 or executed against ecclesiastical persons, or 
 goods, or against their liberty ; any privilege or 
 immemorial exemption to the contrary notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 Such was the famous bill of rights, (if I may 
 so express myself) of the clergy of Christendom 
 in the sixteenth century, on which I shall beg 
 leave to make a few remarks. In the first place, 
 it is evident, that these articles imply a total in- 
 dependence of the ecclesiastic on the secular 
 powers, inasmuch as the latter could, on this 
 O 2 plan, 
 
l$6 LECTUIU..S ON 
 
 plan, use no coercive measures, either for pre- 
 venting the commission of crimes by the former, 
 or for punishing them when committed, could 
 not, even for the eviction of civil debts, or dis- 
 charge of lawful obligations, affect the clergy 
 either in person, or in property, moveable or im- 
 moveable, could exact from them no aid for the 
 exigencies of the state, however urgent. Now 
 allowing that the independence were equal on 
 both sides, it might admit a question, whether 
 it be possible that two such independent states. 
 whereof the subjects of eacli live together a- 
 members of the same community, and are blended 
 in all the ordinary duties and concerns of life, 
 could subsist any time orr that footing. 1 ob- 
 serve, secondly, that the independance was solely 
 on the side of the clergy. The laity could not, 
 by their civil sanctions, affect the clergy without 
 their own concurrence ; but the clergy, both by 
 their civil and by their religious sanctions, could 
 affect the laity, and, in spite of their opposition, 
 whilst the people had any religion, bring the 
 most obstinate to their terms. The civil judge 
 could not compel a clergyman to appear before 
 his tribunal, the ecclesiastic judge could compel 
 a layman, and did, daily, compel such to appear 
 before him. And in all the intcrferings and dis- 
 putes between individuals of the different orders, 
 6 — ' tile 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 197 
 
 the clerical only could decide. The ecclesiastic 
 powers could command the aid of the secular, 
 the secular could not that of the ecclesiastical. 
 I observe, thirdly, that though the kinds of 
 power, in the different orders, were commonly 
 distinguished into spiritual and temporal, the 
 much greater part of the power of ecclesiastics 
 was strictly temporal. Matters spiritual arc 
 those only of faith and manners, and the latter 
 only as manners, that is, as influencing opinion, 
 wounding charity, or raising scandal. Whereas, 
 under the general term spiritual, they had got 
 included the more important part of civil mat- 
 ters also, affairs matrimonial and testamentary, 
 questions of legitimacy and succession, cove- 
 nants and conventions, and wherever the inter- 
 position of an oath was customary. Add to 
 these, that they were the sole arbiters of the 
 lights avowedly civil of the church and church- 
 men, and in every thing wherein these had, in 
 common with laymen, any share .or concern. 
 Though these privileges (weakly called immuni- 
 ties, since they imply dominion) had, for centu- 
 ries, been claimed by the clerical order, many of 
 them in most countries actually obtained, and 
 the .rest made matter of incessant broils and 
 Contentions ; yet all of .them were never any 
 where acquiesced in by the secular powers. Had 
 they, indeed, admitted them in their full extent, 
 O 3 the 
 
19S LECTURES ON 
 
 the abolition of the secular authority would have 
 quickly ensued ; the priesthood would have en- 
 grossed every thing. Christendom would have 
 then become in a sense very different from that 
 of the apostle, a royal priesthood, or, as some 
 like to render his words, a kingdom of priests. 
 In scripture the church is so denominated in the 
 same sense, wherein it is said of all christians 
 without exception ; that they are made kings 
 and priests to God ; because all have free access 
 to him through the blooci of his Son ; not be- 
 cause our instructors in holy things, men speei- 
 ally called to be ensamples to the flock, in faith 
 and patience, in resignation and humility, were 
 constituted lords with plenary power, both tem- 
 poral and spiritual, over God's heritage. I ob- 
 serve, in the last place, that an ordinary reader, 
 who has not entered thoroughly into the spirit 
 pf those times, cannot fail to be exceedingly 
 surprized, (as I acknowledge I was myself) on 
 the first perusal of the aforesaid overtures. They 
 are ushered in as pious resolutions to be adopted 
 by the council, for the reformation of princes 
 and secular persons. One is naturally led to 
 expect, that in such a writing, calculated purely 
 to reform the great, their faults will, with christian 
 freedom, Imt in the spirit of meekness, be ani- 
 madverted on ■ that one shall find a just censure 
 on the pride, the luxury, the impiety, the extort 
 
 tio;:, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1®9 
 
 tion, the envy, the revenge, and the other vices 
 which so often abound among those in high 
 rank and authority ; or that one shall see branded 
 with proper severity, that unchristian ambition, 
 "which leads sovereigns so often, though fellosv- 
 christians in profession, to make war on one 
 another, on the most trivial pretences, to the. 
 destruction of one moiety of their subjects, the 
 oppression of the other, and dishonour of the 
 christian name. But not a syllable of these. 
 Was there nothing of this kind, then, among 
 the powers of Europe ? Never, perhaps, was. 
 there more. Yet this venerable bod)" seemed to 
 think, that there was nothing in their earthly 
 potentates which would need correction, Mere 
 they sufficiently submissive to their ghostly 
 fathers, the bishops and the priests, that is, in 
 effect, would they but resign to them their whole 
 authority, and consent to become their humble 
 slaves, a virtue, it seems, more successful, in the 
 eyes of their reverences, than charity itself in 
 covering sins. 
 
 In the same spirit, the seventeenth canon of 
 general reformation, passed in the last session of 
 that council, has these words ; " Against those 
 " bishops, who in church, or out of it, behave 
 " themselves meanly towards the ministers of 
 " kings, persons of quality, and barons, and 
 \- with too much indignity, not only give place 
 4 >' to 
 
200 ■ LEC TITHES .ON 
 
 ft. to them, but do them personal service, the 
 " synod, detesting this conduct, and renewing 
 " the canons concerning the decorum of epis- 
 ({ copal dignity, commands bishops to bewar^ 
 " of such practices, and every -where to chaU 
 " lenge due respect to their degree, remembering 
 " they are pastors; and also commands princes 
 *' and all others to bear them the honour and reve- 
 " rence due to fathers." How high their claims 
 went, we learn from a canon of the council of 
 Troyes, in the ninth century, which orders, that 
 no man shall presume to sit in the presence of a 
 bishop, unless he command it, We. know who 
 they were in ancient times that sought honour 
 one of another, who affected the principal seats. 
 jn the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at 
 feasts, who loved greetings in the markets, and 
 to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. We know 
 also who it was that expressly prohibited, amongst 
 his disciples, such unbecoming emulation and 
 worldly vanity, who enjoined them not to seek 
 honour from mem, or to contend who, in the 
 judgment of men, should be greatest, but to 
 seek that honour only which cometh. from God ; 
 we know also who it was that made usefulness 
 the standard of greatness, and pronounced him 
 *to be possessed of the highest dignity, who is. 
 most humble and most serviceable ; who, instead 
 .-of courtingv is solicitous.: to avoid such; en viaijk 
 \f: •.. * distinc-. 
 
F.CCLESTASTIGAL- HISTORY. £01 
 
 •distinctions. .On which, of these models the 
 convention at Trent, and other preceding, coun- 
 cils, were formed, I shall leave to the candid 
 and impartial to determine. I shall conclude 
 this lecture with a story, . homely indeed, but ap- 
 posite : An English country parson was bragging, 
 in a large company, of the success lie had had 
 in reforming his parishioners, on whom his la- 
 bours, he said, had produced a wonderful change 
 to tke better,.. Being asked hv what respect, he 
 replied, that when he came first among them, 
 they were a set of unmannerly clowns, who paid 
 him no more deference than they did to one 
 another, did not so much as pull off their hat 
 when they, spoke to him, bat bawicd out as 
 roughly and familiarly as though he were their 
 equal ; whereas now, they never presumed to 
 address him but cap in hand, and, in a sub- 
 missive voice, made him their bc>,t bow, when 
 they were at ten yards distance, and styled him 
 your reverence, at every word. A Quaker, who 
 had heard the whole patiently, made answer j 
 " And so, friend, the upshot of this reforma- 
 " tion, of which thou hast so much carnal 
 ■ *' glory ingv is, that thou hast taught thy people 
 "to worship thyself." So much for clerical and 
 papal claims. But, in order to know more 
 exactly the state of those times, we must be ac- 
 quainted with the sentiments of both sides on 
 
 every 
 
$02 LECTURES OK 
 
 every principal question. I shall, therefore, in 
 my next lecture, take notice of the reception," 
 which those articles of reformation I have read 
 to you, met with from the secular powers. 
 
 
 : ■ 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HiaiORY. 203 
 
 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 1 N my two last prelections, I laid before you, 
 in their utmost extent, the papal claims of juris- 
 diction over the clergy, and the clerical claims 
 not only of independance, but of authority over 
 the secular powers. I promised to take notice, 
 in the present lecture, of the reception which 
 the last mentioned claims over the secular pow- 
 ers met with from those against whom they were 
 aimed. 
 
 Copies of those articles, for the reformation 
 of princes and magistrates, having been sent by 
 tlje ambassadors to their respective courts, they 
 were instructed to give them all the opposition 
 in their power. In this resolution, none were 
 more determined than the emperor, and the king 
 of France. The former wrote to cardinal Moron, 
 that neither as emperor, nor as archduke, would 
 he ever consent, that they should speak in coun- 
 cil of reforming the jurisdiction of princes, or 
 of divesting them of their right to draw contri- 
 butions from the clergy ; that he considered all 
 
 their 
 
204 LECTURES ON 
 
 their, past. evils as having' sprung from .the op- 
 pressions attempted by ecclesiastics, both on the 
 people and on the princes. The French ambas- 
 sadors prepared a protestation, which they were 
 commanded to make, if there should be occa- 
 sion for it. 
 
 In one of their meetings called congregations, 
 one of the fathers, in a long speech, advanced, 
 that the cause of all their corruptions proceeded 
 from the princes, who, of all men, had the 
 greatest need of reformation ; adding, that the 
 heads of a scheme for this purpose were already 
 digested, meaning that which I gave you in a 
 preceding lecture, and that it was now time to 
 propose them, and not surfer so important a de- 
 sign to come to nothing through their dilatori- 
 ness. As here the rights of sovereigns were 
 touched, the ambassador Terrier, of whose vehe- 
 mence, as well as freedom in speaking, I have 
 already given you a specimen, interposed, and, 
 in a very resolute tone, supported the rights of 
 the secular powers in genera}, and of his master 
 the king of France in particular. Though he 
 was by no means destitute of eloquence, his 
 eloquence was not always adapted to time and 
 place. 
 
 The liberty of expression, in which he in- 
 dulged himself, was too great for the prejudices 
 of the age in which he lived ; and the reflections 
 
 which 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HrSTORY. 20j 
 
 which he threw out were too galling-, tobe borne 
 by men of so much importance as those reverend 
 fathers, who looked on themselves as the only 
 rijrhtful legislators of the universe, and whose. 
 authority they deemed it treason, or what was 
 still worse, sacrilege, even in sovereigns to dis- 
 pute. 
 
 ■ Ferrier; in his oration, lamented, that christian 
 kings had now, for more than a hundred and 
 fifty years, at the councils of Constance, Basil; 
 Lateran, and Trent, been earnestly requiring* of 
 popes the reform of ecclesiastic discipline; and 
 that all their endeavours had proved abortive. 
 They had, indeed, got a large return of decrees 
 and anathemas. They demanded one things 
 and they are put off with another ; insomuch; 
 that in all probability, for three hundred years 
 to come, the same grievances will be lamented, 
 and the same requests of redress will be made to 
 no better purpose. In regard to the huge mass 
 of reforms which had occupied the- council for 
 some months past, they had sent their opinion 
 of it to the king, who, in return, wrote them, 
 that he found therein itw things conformable, 
 but many contrary to ancient discipline. 
 
 Ferrier maintained further, that the plaster 
 which they had been preparing, far from being 
 adapted to heal the wounds of the church, could 
 serve only to make them fester, and to cause even 
 
 sores 
 
t20t> LECTURES 0# 
 
 gores that had been healed, to break out afresh i 
 particularly that those expedients of excommu- 4 - 
 nicating and anathematizing princes were un- 
 exampled in the primitive church, and solely 
 calculated for opening a wide gate to rebellion 
 in every state ; that the whole chapter of the re- 
 formation of kings and princes had no other 
 aim, than to divest their temporal rulers of all 
 authority. Yet by such rulers some excellent 
 ecclesiastic laws had been made, which even 
 popes had not disdained to adopt, honouring 
 their authors with the name of saints ; that by 
 those laws the church had been governed, not 
 only since the times of the pragmatic and the 
 concordate, but before, nay, for more than four 
 bund red years before the book of decretals, 
 which later popes had got substituted into their 
 place, had been so much as heard of* He then 
 attempted a comparison between the ancient 
 canons and the modern, particularly the regula- 
 tions made for the reform of discipline in the 
 preceding sessions of the present council, ex- 
 posing the futility of their new canons in a 
 strain of contemptuous irony, the most pro- 
 voking imaginable. He maintained, that the 
 king his master, the founder and patron of al- 
 most all the churches of France, may, for the 
 instant and urgent necessities of the state, in 
 consequence of the power given him of God, 
 
 and 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL- HISTORY. £0? 
 
 and by the most ancient law3 of the kingdom, 
 freely avail himself of even the ecclesiastical 
 goods and rents of his subjects. lie said, that 
 the king was particularly surprized at two things; 
 that those fathers adorned with great ecclesias- 
 tical power in the divine ministry, and assembled 
 solely for restoring ecclesiastical discipline, not 
 attending to that, had turned aside to reform 
 those whom, though wicked, it behoved them 
 to obey and pray for ; and he was surprized still 
 more, that they should imagine themselves en- 
 titled, without admonition, to excommunicate 
 and anathematize princes, who are given them 
 of God, a thing not to be done even to a ple- 
 beian, who perseveres in a heinous transgression ; 
 that Michael the archangel did not dare to curse 
 the devil, neither did Michaiah or Daniel curse 
 the most impious kings, yet those fathers vented 
 all their curses against kings and princes ; nay, 
 their maledictions were levelled even against his 
 most christian majesty, for defending the laws 
 of his ancestors, and the liberties of the Galil- 
 ean church. He concluded, that the king re- 
 quired them not to decree any thing against 
 those laws and liberties, and, if they should, 
 commanded his ambassadors to oppose their de- 
 crees, as they then did, adding, that if, not 
 meddling with sovereigns, they would attend to 
 that which all the world expected .of them, their 
 
 conduct 
 
20S » LECTXJIttS ON 
 
 conduct would be most agreeable to his majesty, 
 and should have the utmost aid of his ministers. 
 Hitherto he spoke in the name of the king. Then, 
 in a bold epiphonema, he invoked heaven and 
 earth, and the fathers themselves, to consider 
 whether it suited the time, to show no sympathy 
 with the church, in the present distractions, or 
 with France, involved in a civil war on account 
 of religion, but to have all their sensibility en- 
 grossed by their own dignities, and honours, and 
 revenues, which cannot be preserved by other 
 arts than those whereby they were acquired ; 
 that in such confusions, it was their duty to re- 
 pent and when Christ cometh, not to bawl out. 
 Send us into the herd of szc'uie; that if they 
 woidd restore the church to its ancient reputa- 
 tion, bring adversaries to repentance, and reform 
 princes, they should follow the example of good 
 king Hezekiah, who did not imitate his impious 
 father, nor the first, counting backwards, second, 
 third and fourth of his very deficient progeni- 
 tors, but went further back to the imitation of 
 his remote, but more perfect ancestors : in like 
 manner it behoved those fathers not to attend to 
 their immediate predecessors, however learned, 
 but to ascend to an Ambrose, an Augustin, a 
 Chrysostome, who conquered heretics, not by the 
 modern method of instigating princes to slaughter 
 them, but by methods more primitive, by their 
 
 prayers, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 
 
 prayers, by v the example of a godly life, by 
 preaching pure doctrine ; for if the fathers whom 
 he addressed would first form themselves into 
 Ambroses, Augustines, and Chrysostomes, and 
 thus purify the church of Christ, they would 
 soon transform princes into Theodosiuses, Hono- 
 riuses, Arcadiuses, Valentinians, and • Gratian's; 
 This he prayed that with the help of God they 
 might effectuate, and so concluded. 
 
 We cannot wonder, that this bold, and even 
 dictatorial language, should irritate, as iii fact it 
 did, in a very high degree, not the pontificii 
 only, but the other prelates, even the French 
 clergy themselves. The historian tells us, that 
 he had no sooner ended, than there arose such 
 a general murmur, that it was found necessary 
 to dismiss the congregation. Some taxed the 
 discourse with heresy ; others said it looked very 
 suspicious ; almost all agreed that it was offen- 
 sive to pious ears, (meaning, no doubt, their 
 own) and could be calculated only to break up 
 the council ; that he attributed to kings more 
 than belonged to them ; that he inferred the 
 pope's authority not to be necessary to entitle 
 them to ecclesiastical goods ; that he made the 
 king of France like the king of Engknd, Harry 
 the eighth, head of the church within his own 
 dominions. Above all, nothing offended more 
 grievously than his suggesting, that the autho- 
 
 vol. ii. P rity 
 
210 LECTURES ON 
 
 rity of the king of France over persons and 
 goods, was not founded on the pragmatic, con- 
 cordate, and papal privileges, but on the law of 
 nature, the sacred scriptures, the ancient coun- 
 cils, and laws of christian emperors. As his 
 speech was every where attacked,, and often mis- 
 represented, he was obliged to disperse some 
 copies of it for his own vindication. This occa- 
 sioned a formal answer in writing, to which he 
 made a spirited reply. 
 
 The principal instruction to be drawn from 
 such altercations, is the knowledge they afford of 
 the opinions and the spirit of the times, and of 
 the mode of reasoning employed in their con- 
 troversies. We are sometimes surprized to ob- 
 serve, that the things which proved matter of 
 reprehension, were such as we should have least 
 suspected. Thus what he affirmed of princes 
 that they, were given of God, was combated 
 with great keenness as heretical, and condemned 
 by imam sanct'r.n, one of the decrees very hap- 
 pily named extravagantes of pope Boniface the 
 eighth. He ought, said they, to have distin- 
 guished, by affirming, they are of God, medianie 
 sao ficariu. An easy device for making all 
 power, temporal and spiritual, to be immediately 
 from the pope, and but mediately from God. 
 To their exceptions on this head, his excellency's 
 answer was very brief. He had not said more 
 
 simply 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Qlt 
 
 simply and absolutely, that princes are- from 
 God, than the prophet Daniel and the apostle 
 Paul had said before him, and that if there be 
 no heresy in their expressions, there can be none 
 in his ; that for his own part, the distinction of 
 mediate and immediate, and the extravagant 
 constitutions of Boniface, never entered into his 
 mind. His apology, instead of diminishing, 
 only increased the odium and clamour against 
 him. He obstinately defends, said they, those 
 errours which he ought penitently to recant. 
 His opposition, however, and the alarm taken 
 by sovereigns, were sufficient to prevent those 
 attempts on the secular power being carried fur- 
 ther. In the other questions agitated, as those 
 about residence, and the jurisdiction of bishops, 
 there was a division of the clergy into two pai> 
 ties, the pontificii, or patrons of papal despo- 
 tism, on one side, and those on the other, who 
 maintained, that the bishops had a divine right 
 to a share in the jurisdiction. But in the 
 struggle between the spiritual power and the 
 temporal, the ambassadors had the whole council 
 for antagonists. Both the contending factions 
 were united on this head. It had been, indeed, 
 uniformly the policy of Rome to exert herself in 
 supporting the attempts, made in every country, 
 to draw both power and property out of the 
 hands of the laity into those of the clergy. 
 P 2 When 
 
212 LECTURES ON" 
 
 When this was once effected, she was never at a 
 loss for expedients; whereby she might again 
 draw the whole, or the greater part, out of their 
 hands into her own. By the first, she secured 
 in her interest the clergy of every nation, and laid 
 the foundation of such a close dependance on 
 herself, as rendered the exertion necessary for 
 obtaining the second object much easier, than 
 what had been employed for obtaining the first. 
 
 To adduce some instances :■ with what infinite 
 labour and contention did the pope, aided by 
 the bishops, (always ready, at his instigation, to 
 rebel against the civil powers) wrest the investi- 
 tures in church livings out of the hands of 
 princes, in order, as appeared at the time, to restore 
 them to the chapters of the several dioceses ; and 
 with what ease, comparatively, were the chapters 
 afterwards wormed out of that right by the 
 pope ! First, he employed the gentler method 
 of recommendation. When this was ineffectual, 
 he commanded. As even commands were some- 
 times disregarded, he proceeded to cause hi$ 
 commands to be conveyed by nuncios, empow- 
 ered to give collation, if necessary ; and armed 
 with the highest censures against the disobe- 
 dient. Tints the clergy found, to their cost, 
 tli at the last errour was worse than the first, and 
 that, under the appearance of recovering their 
 liberty, they had brought themselves (as is often 
 
 desei> 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. £13 
 
 deservedly the case with rebels) into greater 
 bondage. The monarch had commonly some 
 regard to the merits of the candidate. The 
 pope acknowledged no merit but that of a 
 weighty purse. Natives were formerly preferred, 
 now often aliens and strangers, who could not 
 speak the language. Thus Roman courtiers, 
 minions of the pontiff, men who resided con- 
 stantly in Italy, frequently drew the richest 
 benefices of distant countries, whilst the duties 
 of the charge lay neglected. Wc have another 
 example in the monks, who, at first, under pre- 
 tence of vowed poverty, acquired great credit 
 with the public, as aiming at no temporal ad- 
 vantage, but doing all through charity, for the 
 service of the people. Afterwards, when their 
 credit was fully established, Rome quickly de- 
 visec\ reasons for dispensing with their vow. 
 From that time they enriched themselves. When 
 they were become opulent, the pope treated 
 them as he treated bishoprics ; bestowed them 
 on his favourites, sold them to the highest bidder, 
 or gave them in commendam. Rome always 
 asserted resolutely, and, in most cases, success- 
 fully, the clergy's right of exemption from being 
 taxed by the secular powers ; but it was in order 
 to slip into the place of those powers, and 
 assume the prerogative of taxing them herself. 
 Ttiis, though always controverted by temporal 
 
 P 3 rulers, 
 
£14 ' LECTURES ON 
 
 rulers, she so effectually secured, that sovereigns, 
 in any remarkable exigency, especially when 
 they could plead some holy enterprize, such as 
 a crusade for the massacre of infidels or heretics, 
 were fain to recur to the pope, as the easiest and 
 surest way of obtaining the assistance of their 
 own clergy. This also gave the pope an easy 
 method of bribing princes to his side, when he 
 wanted to destroy or mortify any adverse power. 
 It was his usual game, to ply the bishop against 
 the king. But this, when his subalterns proved 
 mutinous, he could successfully reverse, and ply 
 the king against the bishop. At the time of 
 this very council, he was forced to recur to 
 these artifices. Both the Spanish clergy and the 
 French, having proved refractory, on the article 
 of episcopal jurisdiction, his holiness did not 
 find it a fruitless expedient, for preventing their 
 obtaining the countenance and support of their 
 respective sovereigns, to give hopes to the latter, 
 of the aids solicited from him, for extirpating 
 heresy, and securing the catholic faith, namely, 
 the tenths of the ecclesiastic revenues, in their 
 own dominions. 
 
 Thus I have, in this and the two preceding 
 lectures, given you a sketch of the state at 
 which the papal authority was arrived in the six- 
 teenth century, at the time of the sitting of the 
 council of Trent, the last which, under the 
 
 name 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 215 
 
 name of ecumenical, (though not universally 
 received even by the Roman Catholics) has been 
 holden in the church. I have also given you 
 some idea of the different sentiments on this 
 article, entertained by different parties of Ro- 
 manists ; for, on this subject, and on some 
 others, they are far from being unanimous. I 
 shall now add a few things on the present state 
 of the hierarchy, in regard to the form, particu- 
 larly on the dignity and oifice of cardinal, which 
 has naturally sprung up out of the changes 
 gradually effected in the constitution of the 
 Roman church, in respect both of the extent of 
 her dominion, and of the exaltation of her 
 power, concluding with some account of the 
 manner in which the hierarch was wont to be 
 installed in his sublime station. 
 
 As to the office of cardinal, there can be no 
 doubt, that for several hundred years, there was 
 no appearance in the church either of the name 
 or of the thing. Though some other accounts 
 have been given of its origin less honourable for 
 the oifice, what appears to me the most plausible 
 is the following. 
 
 When the distinction of patriarchs and metro- 
 politans, and their suffragans, came to be esta- 
 blished, it naturally gave rise to some distinction 
 in the presbyters and deacons of the archiepis- 
 copal churches, whether patriarchal or metro? 
 P 4 political, 
 
ffcl6 LECTURES ON 
 
 political, from the presbyters and deacons of the 
 ordinary, that is, of the suffragan bishops. The 
 dignity of an archiepiscopal see, as it raised its 
 bishop above the other bishops of the province, 
 would readily be conceived to confer some share 
 c ? siipei i i ity, at le \ ■ : n honour and precedency, 
 on the pie by— i'- ajad deacons belonging to if, 
 above the presbyt rs and deacons of the subordi- 
 nate bishopries of the province. The former were 
 counsellors and assessors to a man, who had a 
 c?rtain jurisdiction over those to whom the latter 
 were counsellors and assessors. In consequence 
 oi this, the presbyters and deacons, which con- 
 stitute what, in the primitive church, was called 
 the presbyrery, or bishop's senate, came to be 
 denominated in some capital cities, where the 
 primates resided, (for the custom was neither 
 universal nor confined to Rome) cardinal pres- 
 byters and cardinal deacons, that is, according 
 to the original import of the name, chief* or 
 principal presbyters and deacons; being ac- 
 counted such when compared with their com- 
 provincials of the same order. But still the 
 more essential difference of the orders deacon, 
 presbyter and bishop, was sacredly preserved. 
 Thus a cardinal deacon, though superiour to the 
 other provincial deacons, was held inferiour to 
 an ordinary provincial presbyter, and a cardinal 
 presbyter, though superiour to the other provin- 
 cial presbyters, was inferiour to a suffragan 
 
 * bishop. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 21-7 
 
 bishop. Accordingly, in the most noted coun- 
 cils held at Rome, we find, that the cardinal 
 Roman priests always signed under the Italian 
 bishops. Nor did any bishop then accept at 
 Rome the office of cardinal priest, though it be 
 not uncommon now for those who are bishops 
 in other cities, to be priests or deacons in the 
 Roman conclave. 
 
 As gradually a number of titles, that had be- 
 fore been enjoyed by many, were engrossed by 
 Rome, whose supereminence came in process of 
 time, to swallow up all other distinctions ; as 
 the term pope, and the epithets most blessed, most 
 holy, which had, for several centuries, been at- 
 tributed to all bishops, at least to all patriarchs 
 and metropolitans, were arrogated by Rome, as 
 belonging peculiarly to her pontiff; so the title 
 cardinal was, fronuthe like principle, assumed as 
 belonging peculiarly to her clergy. Yet it re- 
 mained at Ravenna till the year 154:3, when it 
 was abrogated by Paul in. Indeed, as the 
 Roman see rose in power and riches, the revenues 
 of all belonging to it rose in proportion, and the 
 patrimony annexed to a deaconship in Rome 
 was far more considerable, than the revenue of 
 an ordinary bishopric in the provinces. And if 
 such was the case with the deacons, we may be 
 assured, that not only no provincial bishop, but 
 
 very 
 
£18 LECTURES ON 
 
 very few metropolitans, were able to vie in splen- 
 dour" and magnificence with a Roman presbyter. 
 
 Exorbitant wealth annexed to offices may be 
 said universally to produce two effects. There 
 are singular exceptions ; but these cannot affect 
 the general truth. The two effects are, arro- 
 gance and laziness. When the priests of Rome 
 were made petty princes, one might be assured, 
 they would be no longer officiating priests. 
 Opulence is never at a loss to find expedients for 
 devolving the burden of the incumbent service 
 on other shoulders. Another effect is arrogance. 
 When Roman presbyters and deacons could 
 live in greater pomp and magnificence than 
 most bishops, or even archbishops could afford to 
 do, they would soon learn to assume a state and 
 superiority in other respects unsuited to the dif- 
 ferent functions. Accordingly we find, that in 
 the three last councils of note, to wit, Pisa, 
 Constance, and Trent, there were many and 
 warm complaints on the haughtiness, and even 
 insolence of these new dignitaries, who affected 
 to be styled the princes of the church, and who 
 thought themselves well entitled to this distinc- 
 tion. For they were both the electors and the 
 counsellors of the sovereign pontiff, and had got 
 it pretty well established, that in every vacancy 
 one of their college should be chosen pontiff. 
 
 It 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 21*9 
 
 It could not easily, for some time, be relished, 
 that those who, by canonical rules, belonged to 
 a lower order, as priests and deacons, should 
 treat the greatest prelates in the church as their 
 inferiours and vassals. The honourable distinc- 
 tions conferred on them by popes still widened 
 the distance. They got the red hat from Inno- 
 cent iv, in 1244. Paul n added the red cap 
 and scarlet housings ; and Urban viii, in the 
 last century, dignified them with the title of 
 eminence. 
 
 At the same time it must be observed, on the 
 other hand, in excuse of their uncommon exal- 
 tation, that when the bishop of Rome, that is, 
 the pastor of a single diocese, or, as it was still 
 more properly called at first, a single parish, a 
 single church, or congregation, was risen insen- 
 sibly into the head of the church universal, or, 
 at least, the greater part of it; and when his 
 presbytery, that is, his small consistory of col- 
 leagues and ministers, who assisted him in con- 
 ducting the affairs of the parish, was, by the 
 same insensible degrees, advanced into the senate, 
 by whose assistance and consultations the affairs 
 of the whole church were to be conducted, the 
 members must, of necessity, become men of 
 another sort of importance. This gave rise to 
 the consequences I have mentioned, and these 
 again gave rise to regulations in which (unless 
 
 men's 
 
2C0 LECTURES ON 
 
 men's , view had been to overturn the fabric of 
 the hierarchy altogether, and bring things back 
 to their primitive model) it was proper, and even 
 necessary, to consider more whaf the office of 
 cardinal then was, than what it originally had 
 been when the church of Rome was no more 
 than the church of Corinth, or any other chris- 
 tian congregation. 
 
 At different periods there have been made 
 changes, both in the number of the members of 
 this college, and in their functions. The foot- 
 ing whereon it now stands is this : the conclave, 
 which is the name of the court constituted by 
 the cardinals, consists of seventy members, ex- 
 clusively of the pope their head. Of these there 
 are six bishops ; for though this could not have 
 been from the beginning, or rather from the 
 time that the distinction between bishop and 
 presbyter was first settled ; for then no more 
 than one bishop was allowed to one church, it 
 was not unreasonable, to have also some of this 
 order in the number, when it was no longer the 
 presbytery of a single church, but the privy 
 council of the monarch for the management of 
 the whole. There axe fifty priests, and fourteen 
 deacons. They are, on occasion of vacancy by 
 death, nominated by the pope, and may be of 
 any country whatever. That they should be, 
 as much as possible, taken from the different 
 
 countries 
 2 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 221 
 
 countries of Christendom, or rather, the different 
 Roman catholic countries, since they have a 
 share in the government of the whole Roman 
 catholic church, is intirely suitable, and is now 
 in a manner established by custom. 
 
 But the very great alterations made in this 
 college, or society, are a demonstration of the 
 prodigious change that arose in the nature and 
 destination of the office. The bishop of Rome, 
 for several ages after the time of Constantine, 
 was elected, as most others were, by the presby- 
 tery, that is, the officiating clergy within the 
 bishop's cure, and by the people of Rome, 
 which, with the concurrence of the corn-provin- 
 cial bishops, and the emperor's ratification, were 
 always sufficient for settling their prcesul, or pre- 
 sident, as he was frequently denominated. In- 
 deed, for an office of such immense wealth and 
 eminence, as it quickly rose to, after the esta- 
 blishment of Christianity, the election continued 
 too long in such improper hands. The conse- 
 quence was, that for some centuries the choice 
 of a bishop was almost as necessarily attended 
 with a civil war in Rome, as that of a king was 
 in Poland. The election is now in none of the 
 societies it was in formerly. The officiating' 
 priests, who serve the several cures in Rome, 
 with their subordinate ministers or deacons, have 
 no concern in it. As little has any temporal 
 
 monarch, 
 
222 LECTURES ON 
 
 monarch, the bishops of the provinces, or the 
 Roman people. And though the conclave may- 
 be said to have sprung out of the presbytery, yet, 
 by a thousand successive alterations, they are at 
 length so completely changed, that, except the 
 election of the pope, there is not one office they 
 have in common ; and even this, when examined 
 critically, is no otherwise the same but in name. 
 The ancient presbytery's concern was only in 
 giving a pastor to the Romans, the modern con- 
 clave's concern is in giving a sovereign to the 
 church. 
 
 I need not mention the expedients that have 
 been devised, by pluralities, bishopricks in com- 
 mendam, and the like, for increasing the splen- 
 dour and luxury of those princes of the church, 
 and electors of its monarch. In the time of a 
 vacancy in the papal chair, the practice is now, 
 that all the cardinals in Rome are shut up toge- 
 ther in a place called, from this usage, the con- 
 clave, where they are to remain (there being all 
 necessary accommodation for them) till they 
 elect a pontiff. Cardinals, who arrive before the 
 election is over, are enclosed with the rest. They 
 give their votes by ballot. And if, upon scrutiny, 
 none of the candidates has two thirds of the 
 votes, the balloting must, after a stated interval, 
 be repeated. And this continues to be reiterated, 
 if they should remain shut up for years, always 
 
 till 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 223 
 
 till one of them attains the superiority I men- 
 tioned. 
 
 It may not be amiss to subjoin here, the cIg 
 scription of the pope's consecration, given by 
 cardinal Rasponi, in his book concerning the 
 church of the Lateran, which is also related by 
 father Bonanni, in his medallic history of the 
 popes, and by Lenfant, in his history of the 
 council of Constance. " Before the usage of 
 " the conclave was introduced by Gregory the 
 " tenth," says cardinal Rasponi, " the cardinals, 
 " three days after the obsequies of the former 
 * f pope, convened in the Lateran church, where, 
 " after the invocation of the Holy Spirit, and the 
 " celebration of mass, they proceed to the elec- 
 '{ tion of a pope. The election being made, the 
 " first cardinal deacon invested the pope elect in 
 ' ' his pontifical habits, and announced the name 
 " which he chose to take:" for it has been the 
 custom now, for several centuries, that the pope 
 should assume a new name on beino- elected. 
 " Afterwards, two cardinals, the most eminent 
 " in dignity, one on his right hand, the othex 
 " on his left, conducted him to the altar, where 
 " he prostrated himself in adoration of God, 
 " whilst they sang the Te Deum. After the Te 
 " Deum, the cardinals seated the pope in a mar- 
 " ble chair, which was behind the altar, under 
 " a sort of dome, or vault, where the pope, being 
 
 <c set. 
 
524 LECTURES ON 
 
 set, admitted the cardinals, the bishops, and 
 some others, to kiss his feet, and to receive 
 the kiss of peace. Then the pope rising, the 
 cardinals conducted him through the portico 
 to another chair, bored like what is called in 
 French, selle percee. This chair was thence 
 very properly named stercoraria, the sterco- 
 rary. It was formerly placed before the por- 
 tico of the patriarchal basilic, and Ls now to 
 be seen in the cloister of that basilic. The 
 use of these chairs, however, was afterwards 
 abolished by Leo the tenth, probably for this, 
 amongst other reasons, because the perforated 
 chair was become connected with the fabulous 
 story of the female pope. That, however, is 
 not a protestant fable, as some persons igno- 
 rantly pretend, for it was current long before 
 the days of Luther. But the continuance of 
 the use of that chair preserved the memory 
 of the story, and might appear to the credu- 
 lous an evidence of its truth. Whilst the pope 
 sat on the stercorarv, the choir saris: these 
 words of scripture : Suscitat de 'pulvere egc- 
 num, et de stercore erigit pauperem, ut sedeat 
 cum principibus, et solium gloria? ten eat. 
 Psalm cxiii, 7. The last clause is not in the 
 Psalm, lie raiseth the poor out of i tie dust, 
 and Ufteth the needy off the dungliiU, that he 
 may set him with the princes of his people, and 
 
 " that 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 225 
 
 " that he may possess the throne of glory. The 
 " intention of this ceremony, it was said, was to 
 " insinuate to the pope the need there is of the 
 u virtue of humility, which ought to be the first 
 " step of his greatness. After remaining some 
 " time in this chair, the pope received from the 
 * ' hands of the chamberlain three deniers, which 
 " he threw to the people, pronouncing these 
 " words : Silver and gold I have none for my 
 " pleasure, but tvhat I have I give you. After- 
 u wards, the prior of the Lateran basilic, and 
 " one of the cardinals, or one of the canons of 
 " that basilic, took the pope between them, and 
 " whilst they walked in the portico, shouts of 
 " acclamation were raised near the basilic, and 
 " the election was declared, with the name which 
 " the pope had taken. In this manner they 
 " conducted the pope to the basilic of St. Syl- 
 " vester, where, being placed before this basilic 
 " in a chair of porphyry, the prior of the basilic 
 " put into his hands a, ferula, in sign of correo 
 " tion and government, and the keys, to denote 
 " the power which God gave to St. Peter, 
 " Prince of the apostles, of opening and shut* 
 " ting, of binding and loosing, and which passes 
 " (according to our historian) successively to 
 " all the Roman pontiffs. Thence the pope, 
 " carrying the ferula, and the keys, went to 
 <w .,place himself in another chair, resembling the 
 vol-, ii. Q " former ; 
 
226* LECTURES ON 
 
 " former ; and after remaining there some time, 
 " restored the ferula and, the keys- to the prior, 
 " who girt him with a girdle of red silk, giving 
 11 him a purs& of the same colour and stuff, 
 " wherein there were twelve precious stones, 
 " and a small bit of musk. Onuphrius, in his- 
 " treatise on the basilic of the Lateran, says, 
 iC that it was the prior of this basilic who gave 
 
 V these things to the pope. His sitting in the 
 " two chairs, denoted the primacy which St. 
 '■\ Peter conferred on him, and the power of 
 
 V preaching the gospel conferred by St. Paul. 
 4 ' The girdle signified continence and chastity, 
 " the purse denoted the treasure, out of which 
 ' ' the poor were to be nourished, the twelve pre- 
 " cious stones represented the power of the 
 " twelve apostles, which resides totally in the 
 " pontiff; in fine, the musk denoted the fra- 
 ** grancy of good works, according to that say- 
 "' ing, fie are to God a sioeet savour of Christ. 
 
 ' In this chair the pope elect admitted the mi- 
 '« nisters of the palace to kiss his feet, and tore- 
 " ceive the kiss of peace. There, too, several 
 14 pieces of silver were delivered to him by the 
 " chamberlain, to the value of ten pence. These 
 " he .threw to the people at three different times, 
 [( pronouncing these words, He hath scattered I) 
 *'-he hat k given to the poor; 'his righteousness 
 u remabieth for ever. All this being done; the 
 
 " pope 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 227 
 
 pope elect went next Sunday, attended by all 
 the orders of the sacred palace, and the prin- 
 cipal people of the city, to the basilic of the 
 Vatican, and there, before the confession of 
 St. Peter, he was solemnly consecrated by the 
 bishop of Ostia, to whom this office specially 
 belongs, After this function, the archdeacon 
 and the second deacon gave the pall to the 
 pope, the archdeacon pronouncing these words, 
 Receive the pall, zvhick is the plenitude of the 
 pontifical office, to the honour of Almighty God, 
 of the most happy virgin his mot her y of the 
 blessed apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and of 
 the holy Roman church." 
 After this description, cardinal Rasponi adds 
 these words : — " This is what was done when 
 the pontiff was announced or proclaimed in 
 the church of the Lateran ; but when the elec- 
 tion was made in the Vatican, the pope, im- 
 mediately after being conducted to the altar 
 by two cardinals, or after having performed 
 • his adoration, and offered a secret prayer, 
 kneeling, Avas placed in a chair behind the 
 altar, where he admitted the cardinal bishops, 
 aud the others, during the singing of the Te 
 Deum, to kiss his feet, and to receive the kiss 
 of peace. The following Sunday they assem- 
 bled in the same church, and the pope, crowned 
 according to the custom of his ancestors, went 
 Q 2 M to, 
 
£2S LECTURES Gtf 
 
 to the Lateran palace ; but before entering it, 
 he seated himself in the stereo rary, where, sit- 
 ting clown thrice, according to custom, he was 
 introduced by the cardinals into the basilic, 
 distributing money to the populace. There 
 he ascended a throne behind the altar, where 
 he admitted the canons of the basilic to kiss 
 his feet, and to receive the kiss of peace : 
 which being done, he went to place himself 
 in the chairs that were before the oratory of 
 St. Sylvester, where all was performed that 
 has been recited above. But if it happened 
 that the pope was created out of Rome, all the 
 clergy, when he made his entry into that city, 
 and before entering the gate of the Lateran, 
 went to meet him without the gate, in ponti- 
 fical habits, with the standard of the cross and 
 censers ; and, entering thus into the Lateran 
 el lurch, they observed, though in an order 
 somewhat different, all the ceremonies men- 
 tioned above. And if the pope, coming to- 
 Rome after his consecration, went to the 
 church of St. Peter, the same rites were used 
 there as in the Lateran church, except only 
 that he did not receive the canons of St. Pe- 
 ter to kiss his feet in the portico, and that he 
 did not sit down on the stti'corary, which is- 
 not in that church. For this reason, the next 
 day after mass, he went without the tiara to 
 
 " the 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. "229 
 
 " the Lateran palace, and before entering the 
 " basilic, he placed himself on the stercorary, 
 " with the accustomed ceremonies/' 
 
 These ceremonies, it must be owned, appeal' to 
 us very silly, and some of them absolutely rid i 
 culous. But ye may depend on it, that there i 
 neither exaggeration nor misrepresentation in 
 the account above given. It is not given by an 
 enemy to that profession, or by a stranger to the 
 customs used on such occasions, who could relate 
 them only from hearsay. It is a relation given 
 by a friend, a cardinal too, one who had proba- 
 bly witnessed them oftener than once, and who 
 had himself a principal part to act on those occa- 
 sions. The ceremonies of consecration as bishop, 
 in case the pope elect had, previously to his elec- 
 tion, been only in priest's or deacon's orders, 
 have not been related by the cardinal, as not 
 differing materially from those used in the ordi- 
 nation of bishops, which are to be found in the 
 Jioman pontifical. There was, besides, a cere- 
 mony of coronation used in the instalment of 
 the popes, which seems not to have been intro- 
 duced earlier than the thirteenth century ; and 
 it was in the following century, the fourteenth, 
 that the triple crown was devised. Benedict the 
 twelfth seems to have been the first pope that 
 wore it. The reasons which the canonists give 
 for the use of the triple crown are so diverse, and 
 Q" 3 *o 
 
£30 LECTURES ON 
 
 so fantastic, that it is not worth while to report 
 them. 
 
 The rites employed in coronation I shall give 
 you some notion of, from the account given by 
 Lenfant, in his history of the council of Con- 
 stance, of the coronation of Martin the fifth, 
 created pope in a peculiar manner, agreed on by 
 that council, in the room of John the twenty- 
 third, whom they had deposed. " There was 
 ~ (t erected in the court of the palace," says our 
 historian, ■- a grand theatre, which could contain 
 " about a hundred persons. Close to the wall 
 c * was a very high throne, above which there 
 " was a canopy of cloth of gold, the seat 
 " destined for his holiness. On the right hand, 
 '" and on the left, were ranged several other seats, 
 *• a little lower, but magnificent, for the princes 
 H and the prelates to sit on. At eight o'clock 
 " in the morning, the two patriarchs, (for since 
 " the time of the crusades, they had got titular 
 " JLatiri patriarchs in the eastern patriarchal sees 
 " subdued by the Mahometans) the twenty-two 
 " cardinals, (for there were no more then pre- 
 " sent) the archbishops, the bishops, the mitred 
 # abbots, entered the court of the palace, on 
 " horseback, in pontifical habits. The emperor, 
 *' and the other princes, followed on foot. When 
 ' ■ all the people were assembled, the pope mounted 
 " the theatre, preceded by the clergy, carrying 
 
 " the 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. -231 
 
 " the cross and waxen tapers. On the fore- 
 **part of the theatre there was an excellent 
 " choir of music, which sang and played on all 
 ' ' sorts of instruments. The pope had on his 
 '{ head a superb tiara, seeded with gold crowns, 
 1 ' with a golden cross on the top. At his right 
 " hand, a little behind, were cardinal Viviers, 
 ! ' and a patriarch ; at his left, cardinal Brancas, 
 ." with another patriarch. Then marched the 
 <k other cardinals, and the grand master of 
 * ' Rhodes, who were all received by the emperor, 
 ff the electors, and the princes. The pope being 
 <c placed on the throne, the patriarch of Antioch 
 -" took his tiara, or crown, off his head, and 
 {' kneeled before him, holding this crown in his 
 <c hand. Near him other cardinals kneeled also; 
 ' ' one of whom carried some tow at the end of 
 " a stick, another a cross, and the rest wax ta- 
 " pers. At the pope's right hand sat cardinal 
 M de Brancas, with eight other cardinals; at his 
 i ' left, the grand master of Rhodes, with eight 
 4 ' cardinals. Next them, on the right, the em- 
 " peror, on the left, the elector of Brandenburg, 
 k( both attended by archbishops. Next them, 
 il electors, princes, bishops, and other prelates, 
 " as many as the place could contain. The rest 
 " sat on the stairs, which had been made very 
 " wide for the purpose. There was, beside these, 
 " in the court, a great number of archbishops, 
 Q4 " bishops, 
 
232 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 bishops, and other great lords, both ecclesiastic 
 and secular, who surrounded the theatre on 
 horseback. There was, likewise, an immense 
 crowd of people, who could not get into the 
 court. When the music had ceased, one of 
 the cardinals, who was kneeling before the 
 pope, and who carried the tow, lighted it, and 
 twice said aloud, addressing himself to the 
 pope, Sancte pater, sic transit gloria mundi. 
 After which, three cardinals, who had been 
 selected for putting the crown on the pope's 
 head, standing up with the grand master of 
 Rhodes, and taking the crown from the hands 
 of the pope, they all four kneeled on the highest 
 step of the throne, whence, after saying a 
 pra} r er, they arose, and put the crown on the 
 pope's head ; after which, resuming their for- 
 mer places, they heard the Te Deum, and the 
 music. When they left the place, the pope 
 mounted his white horse, which was preceded 
 by three led horses, that were also white, and 
 had red caparisons. The inferiour clergy walked 
 before, followed by the abbots, bishops, arch- 
 bishops, and cardinals, on horseback. The 
 emperor, on foot, held the reins of the pope's 
 bridle on the right, walking in the dirt, (which 
 is particularly observed by the historian) whilst 
 the elector of Brandenburg did the same on 
 the left. Thus the pope was carried in pro- 
 
 ■ ' cession 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL- HISTORY. &$$ 
 
 " cession from the cathedral to the Augustin 
 " monasteiy, and thence reconducted to the 
 " episcopal palace. Here ended the ceremony." 
 And here shall end our account of the rise and 
 establishment of papal dominion. 
 
 LEC- 
 
234 LECTURES ON 
 
 LECTURE XXIII, 
 
 ■HiT -TTV 
 
 H, 
 
 .AVING now given you some account of the 
 rise and establishment of the Romish hierarchy, 
 it is but reasonable, that before I dismiss the 
 subject of ecclesiastic history, I should consider 
 the causes which have contributed to the declen- 
 sion of that wonderful empire. This Mall lead me 
 to remark a little on the latent springs, the pro- 
 gress, and the effects of the reformation. 
 
 In all governments, of what kind soever, it 
 may be justly said, that the dominion of the few 
 over the many is primarily founded in opinion. 
 The natural strength among beings of the same 
 order, which is equal in the individuals, or nearly 
 so, lies always in the multitude. But the opi- 
 nion both of right and of occupancy, or secure 
 possession, can and does universally invest the 
 smaller with the direction or government of the 
 greater number. By the opinion of right, we 
 are restrained, J:h rough justice, or a sense of duty, 
 from divesting a man of what we think him en- 
 titled to enjoy. By the opinion of occupancy, 
 
 we 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ^35 
 
 we are restrained, through prudence, or a sense 
 of danger, from disturbing a man in the posses- 
 sion of what we think he has a firm hold of. 
 Either opinion, when strong, is generally suffi- 
 cient to ensure peace; but they operate most 
 powerfully in conjunction. When the two opi- 
 nions are disjoined, that is, when unfortunately, 
 under any government, it is the general opinion, 
 that the right is in one, and the occupancy in 
 another, there frequently ensue insurrections and 
 intestine broils. 
 
 The above remarks hold equally with regard 
 to property, which is in effect a species of power. 
 Now these opinions, which, from the influence 
 of custom, and insensible imitation, men have a 
 natural tendency to form, prove, in all ordinary 
 cases, a sufficient security to the few rich and 
 great, in the enjoyment of all their envied ad- 
 vantages, against the far superiour force, if it 
 were combined, of the many poor and small. 
 Indeed, it is opinion that prevents the combina- 
 tion, and makes that a master may sleep securely 
 amid fifty servants and dependents, each of whom, 
 perhaps, taken singly, is, both in bodily strength, 
 and in mental abilities, an overmatch for him. 
 It is this which vests a single person with the 
 command of an army, who, in contradiction to 
 their own will, give implicit obedience to his ; 
 notwithstanding that they carry in their hands 
 
 what 
 2 
 
£36 LECTURES OW 
 
 what would prove the instruments of working 
 their own pleasure, and his destruction. It will 
 not be doubted, that it is in the same way, by 
 means of opinion, that ecclesiastical power has a 
 hold of the minds of men. 
 
 There is, however, this remarkable difference 
 in the two sorts of power, that knowledge and 
 civilization, unless accompanied with profligacy 
 of manners, add strength to those opinions on 
 which civil authority rests, at the same time that 
 they weaken those opinions which serve as a ba- 
 sis to a spiritual despotism, or a hierarchy like 
 the Romish. The more a people becomes civi- 
 lized, the more their notions of justice and pro- 
 perty, prescription and peaceable possession, be- 
 come steady', the more they see the necessity of 
 maintaining these inviolate, and the ruinous con- 
 sequences of infringing them. The love of peace 
 and science, the encouragement of industry and 
 arts, the desire of public good and order, the ab- 
 horrence of crimes, confusion, and blood, all co- 
 operate to make those opinions take deep root. 
 Nothing seems to endanger them so much as 
 tyranny and oppression in the rulers. These 
 tending directly to undermine the opinion of 
 right, (for no man is conceived to have a right 
 to tyrannize over his fellows) leave only in the 
 minds of the people, in favour of their superiours, 
 the opinion of occupancy. Thus one of the great 
 
 pillars 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. $&J 
 
 pillars by which magistracy is supported, the 
 sense of duty, is removed, and the whole weight 
 is left upon the other, the sense of danger. Vir- 
 tue, in that case, we consider either as out of the 
 question, or as in opposition to the powers that 
 be, and consult only prudence. Now wherever 
 the present evils of oppression, wherein a people 
 is involved, appear intolerable, and greater than 
 any, or even as great as any which they dread 
 from opposition, the other support, prudence, is 
 removed also ; and men will both think them- 
 selves entitled to revolt, and, after balancing the 
 chances on both sides, be disposed to hazard 
 every thing. 
 
 On the other hand, the opinions, which are the 
 great bulwarks of spiritual tyranny, are founded 
 in ignorance and superstition, which are always 
 accompanied with great credulity. Of these, 
 nothing can be so subversive as knowledge and 
 improvement. Virtue, and even piety itself, 
 when its exalted and liberal spirit begins to be 
 understood, become hostile to opinions which, 
 under the sacred name and garb of religion, 
 prove the bane of every virtue, and indeed of 
 every valuable quality in human nature, as well 
 as the nurse of folly and malevolence. Luxury 
 and vice are often pernicious to the best consti- 
 tuted civil governments, because whilst, on one 
 hand, they strengthen and inflame the passions, 
 
 the 
 
238 LECTURES ON 
 
 the great incentives to criminal attempts, they* 
 on the other hand, loosen and undermine our 
 regards to equity and right. But no kind of 
 vice in the people, if accompaned with ignorance, 
 is an enemy , every kind is, on the contrary, a 
 friend to the reign of superstition. Consciousness 
 of profligacy will at times excite terror even in 
 the most obdurate. Superstition, especially when 
 formed into a politic system, lik° the Romish, 
 is never deficient in expedients for conjuring down 
 that terrour, and rendering it. subservient to the 
 invariable aim, priestly dominion. It requires 
 but little knowledge, in the history of Christen- 
 dom, to enable us to discover, that many of those 
 persons, both princes and others, most highly ce- 
 lebrated by ecclesiastics as the great benefactors 
 of the church, were the most worthless of the 
 age wherein they lived, the most tyrannical, the 
 most rapacious, the most profligate, men who 
 have concluded a life stained with the blackest 
 crimes, by beggaring their offspring, and devot- 
 ing all that they had, by way of atoning for their 
 sins, to one of those seminaries of sloth, hypo- 
 crisy, and unnatural lusts, commonly called con- 
 vents ; or by enhancing, in some other way, the 
 power and wealth of churchmen. Few contri- 
 buted more to the erection and establishment of 
 the hierarchy than the emperor Phoeas ; and a 
 
 greater 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. £39 
 
 greater monster of cruelty and injustice never 
 disgraced the human form. 
 
 That the great enemy which superstition has 
 to overcome is k?iozvledge, was early perceived by 
 those, who found their account in supporting 
 her throne. Nor were they slack in taking mea- 
 sures for stifling this dangerous foe. Among the 
 chief of these measures were the following: — 
 1st, They judged it proper to confine to a few 
 those divine illuminations, which they could not 
 totally suppress, and which they could not deny 
 had originally been given for the benefit of all. 
 2dly, When that formidable thing, knozcledge, iu 
 spite of all their efforts, was making progress, 
 they, in order to give it a timely check, affixed 
 a stigma on all the books which tended to expose 
 their artifices, and open the eyes of mankind. 
 3dly, For the more effectual prevention of thi< 
 danger, through the terrour of example, persecu- 
 tion was employed, which has, in their hands,. 
 %en digested into an art, and conducted with a 
 cool, determinate, systematic cruelty, that defies 
 alike all the principles of justice and humanity ; 
 and of which, among Jews, Mahometans, or Pa- 
 gans, the world has hitherto furnished us with 
 frothing that deserves to be compared. 
 
 In what regards the first method, we compre- 
 hend under it the means that have been used to 
 render the scriptures inaccessible to the common 
 
 people. 
 
240 LECTURES Oft 
 
 people, by discouraging, as much as possible, 
 translations into the vulgar tongue ; and, by con- 
 fining the whole public service to a dead language, 
 thereby rendering it to the congregation no bet- 
 ter than insignificant mummery. Nothing is 
 more evident from the scriptures themselves, than 
 that they were written for the benefit of all. Ac- 
 cordingly, all are commanded to read and study 
 them. And indeed, soon after the different books 
 came abroad, one of the first effects of the pious 
 zeal, with which the primitive christians were in- 
 spired, was, in every country, to get those ines- 
 timable instructions, as soon as possible, accu- 
 rately translated into the language of the country. 
 It is astonishing to observe how early this was 
 effected in most of the languages then spoken. 
 Indeed, there was nothing in those purer times 
 which could induce any one, who bore the chris- 
 tian name, to desire either to conceal, or to dis- 
 guise, the truth. To propagate it in its native 
 purity, and thus diffuse to others the benefit of 
 that light which they themselves enjoyed, was 
 the great ambition, and constant aim, of ail the 
 genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 As no tongue (the Greek excepted, which is 
 the original of the New Testament) was of so 
 great extent as Latin, — into this a translation 
 seems very early to have been made. It wafc 
 commonly distinguished by the name Italic, 
 1 probably 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 9A i 
 
 probably because undertaken for the use of the 
 christians in Italy. It is not known who was 
 the author. This is also the case of most of the 
 old translations. About three centuries after, a 
 new version into Latin was undertaken by Jerom. 
 Our present vulgate consists partly of each, but 
 mostly ot the latter. No version whatever could, 
 in early times, be more necessary than one into 
 Latin. This was not the language of Italy only ; 
 it had obtained very generally in all the neigh- 
 bouring countries, which had long remained ill 
 subjection to Rome, and in which Roman colo- 
 nies bad been planted. But in the other western 
 churches, where Latin was not spoken by the 
 people, the scriptures were translated into the 
 vernacular idiom of the different nations, soon 
 after their embracing the christian doctrine. 
 There were, accordingly, Gothic, Frank ish, or 
 old German, Anglo-Saxon, and Sclavonic ver-> 
 sions. In like manner, in the east, they had very 
 early Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, Persic, Ethiopic, 
 and Coptic. The same may be said of the riiv r ine 
 offices, or prayers and hymns, used in public, in 
 their churches. It is pretty evident, that for 
 some centuries these were, in all the early con- 
 verted countries, performed in the language or* 
 the people. But in the first ages there were no 
 written liturgies. 
 
 vol. ii. R Indeed, 
 
£42 LECTURES Otf 
 
 Indeed, nothing can be more repugnant to 
 common sense than the contrary practice. For 
 if the people have any concern in those offices, 
 if their joining in the service be of any conse- 
 quence, it is necessary they should understand 
 what is done : in an unknown tongue, the praises 
 of God, and the praises of Baal, are the' same to 
 them. In like manner, in regard to the reading 
 of the scriptures, if the edification of the people 
 be at all concerned, still more if it be the ultimate 
 end, how can it be promoted by the barbarous 
 sounds of a foreign or dead language ? How can 
 instructions, covered by such an impenetrable 
 veil, convey knowledge or comfort, produce 
 faith, or secure obedience? The apostle Paul, 
 (1 Cor. xiv,) has been so full and explicit on 
 this head, that it is impossible for all the sophis- 
 try, that has been wasted on that passage, to 
 disguise his meaning from any intelligent and 
 ingenuous mind. 
 
 " The church," says the Romanist, " by this 
 " averseness to change so much as the external 
 *' garb, the language of the usages introduced 
 ■" soon after the forming of a christian society at 
 " Rome, demonstrates her constancy, and invio- 
 '.' lable regard, to antiquity, and consequently 
 " ought to inspire us with a greater confidence 
 " in the genuineness and identity of her doc- 
 
 " trine/' 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 243 
 
 " trine." But so far in fact is this from being 
 an evidence of the constancy of that church, in 
 point of doctrine, that it is no evidence of her 
 constancy even in point of ceremonies. It is the 
 dress, the language only, in which she has been 
 constant, the ceremonies themselves have under- 
 gone great alterations, and received immense ad- 
 ditions, (as those versed in church history well 
 know) in order to accommodate them to the 
 corruptions in doctrine, which, from time to time, 
 have been adopted. Nor has it been the most 
 inconsiderable motive for preserving the use of a 
 dead language, that the whole service might be 
 more completely in the power of the priesthood, 
 who could thereby, with the greater facility, and 
 without alarming the people, make such altera- 
 tions in their liturgy, as should, in their ghostly 
 wisdom, be judged proper. 
 
 It may at first appear a paradox, but on reflec- 
 tion is manifest, that this mark of their constancy, 
 in what regards the dead letter of the sacred ce- 
 remonies, is the strongest evidence of their mu- 
 tability, nay, actual change, in what concerns 
 the vitals of religion. Consider the reason why 
 Latin was iirst employed in the Italian churches. 
 It was not the original language of any part of 
 sacred writ. They had the New Testament in 
 the original Greek. There were also forms of 
 public prayer, or liturgies, in that language, be 
 R % fore 
 
34^ LECTURES ON 
 
 fore any appeared in Latin. What then couM 
 induce them to usher into their churches a fallible 
 translation of the scriptures, in preference to the 
 original, acknowledged to have been written by 
 men divinely inspired, and consequently infalli- 
 ble ? I ask this the rather, because the Romanist 
 admits, that the original was written by inspira- 
 tion. He agrees with us, also, in not affirming 
 the same thing of any version whatever. For, 
 though the council of Trent has pronounced the 
 Latin vulgate to be authentic, it has not declared 
 it perfect, or affirmed that the translator was in- 
 spired. By the authenticity, therefore, no more 
 is 'meant, in the opinion of their most learned 
 doctors, than that it is a good translation, and 
 may be used, by those who understand Latin, 
 safely and profitably. But that this is not con- 
 sidered by themselves as signifying thai it is to- 
 tally exempt from errour, is manifest from this, 
 that the critics of that communion use as much 
 freedom in pointing out and correcting its er- 
 rours, as the learned of this island do, in regard 
 to the common English version. I return to my 
 question, therefore, and ask the Italians, of the 
 present age, Why did their forefathers, in the 
 early ages, prefer a latin version ; a performance 
 executed indeed by pious, but fallible, men, with, 
 the aid of human learning, tothe Greek original,, 
 which they believed to contain the unerring dic- 
 tates 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 245 
 
 tates of the Holy Ghost ? Why was not the latter 
 read in their churches in preference to the for- 
 mer ? The answer which they would return, or. 
 which at least their progenitors would have re- 
 turned, is plain and satisfactory. " We do not 
 " dispute that the Greek was in itself preferable ; 
 "■ but to our people it was useless, because not 
 " understood. Latin was their mother tongue. 
 "■ Much, therefore, of the mind of the spirit they 
 ", might learu from a good Latin version, not- 
 " withstanding its imperfections. Nothing at 
 " all could they acquire from hearing the sounds 
 " of a language With which they were unac- 
 " quainted. And better, as the apostle says, 
 " speak but five words with understanding, that 
 '* is, intelligibly, or so as to teach others, than 
 " ten thousand, in an unknown tongue, by which 
 " nobody can be edified." Nothing can be 
 more pertinent than this answer, with which 
 Paul has furnished us, only make the application 
 to the case in hand. Latin is not now your na- 
 tive tongue. It is not at present the language of 
 any nation or city in the world. Your people 
 understand it no more now than they do Greek. 
 If the Romans, sixteen hundred years ago, 
 thought it necessary to reject the public use of 
 an infallible original, because unintelligible to 
 the hearers, and to admit in its place a fallible 
 version, because intelligible ; and the Romans 
 
 11 3 now 
 
246 LECTURES ON 
 
 now refuse to reject one fallible version, that is 
 hecome unintelligible, for another not more fal- 
 lible, which may be understood by every body ; 
 can s there be a stronger demonstration of the 
 total difference of sentiments, in regard to reli- 
 gious worship in the present Romans, from the 
 sentiments of their ancestors in those early ages ? 
 Can there, consequently, be a stronger demon- 
 stration of the truth of the paradox I mentioned, 
 namely, that this mark of Roman constancy, in 
 what regards the dead letter, is the strongest 
 evidence of their mutability, nay, actual change, 
 in what concerns the vitals of religion ? Their 
 ancestors considered religion as a rational service, 
 the present Romans regard it merely as a me- 
 chanical operation. The former thought that 
 the understanding had a principal concern in all 
 religious offices : the latter seek only to attach 
 the senses. With them, accordingly, the exer- 
 cises of public worship are degenerated into a 
 motley kind of pantomime, wherein much passes 
 in dumb sliqw, part is muttered so as not to be 
 audible, part is spoken or chanted in a strange 
 tongue, so as not to be intelligible ; and the whole 
 is made strongly to resemble the performance of 
 magical spells and incantations, to which idea* 
 their doctrine of the opus operatum is wonderfully 
 harmonized. But the smallest affinity to the 
 devotions of a reasonable being to his all-wise 
 
 and 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 247 
 
 and almighty creator, it is impossible to discover 
 in any part of it. Well may we address them, 
 therefore, in the wordsiof Paul to the Galatians, 
 " Oh ! infatuated people, who hath bewitched 
 " you ; having begun in the spirit, are ye made 
 H perfect by the flesh ?" 
 
 If any thing could be more absurd than wor- 
 ship in an unknown tongue, it would be the in- 
 sult offered to the people's understanding, in 
 pretending to instruct them by reading the scrip- 
 tures to them in such a tongue. The people are 
 thus mocked with the name of instruction with- 
 out the thing. They are tantalized by their pas- 
 tors, who give and withhold at the same time. 
 They appear to impart by pronouncing aloud 
 what they effectually conceal by the language. 
 Like the ancient doctors of the Jewish law, they 
 have taken away the key of knowledge : they 
 entered not in themselves, and those that were 
 entering they hindered. Ah blind guides ! Un-* 
 natural fathers ! for ye affect to be styled fathers, 
 how do ye supply your children with the food of 
 their souls r When they ask bread of you, ye give 
 them a stone. They implore of you spiritual 
 nourishment from the divine oracles, that they 
 may advance in the knowledge of God, in faith 
 and purity ; > and ye say, or sing to them, a jar- 
 gon, (for the best things are jargon to him to 
 whom they are unintelligible) which may make 
 It 4 them 
 
24-8 LECTURES ON 
 
 them stare, or nod, but must totally frustrate 
 their expectation. They starve, as it were, in 
 the midst of plenty ; antl^ are shown their food, 
 but not permitted to taste it. They seek to have 
 their souls edified, and ye tickle their ears with a 
 song. 
 
 If witnesses were necessary to evince the con- 
 trariety of this their present practice to the inten- 
 tion of their forefathers, as well as the natural 
 purpose of reading the scriptures in the congre- 
 gation, I would ask no witness but themselves. 
 They still retain a memorable testimony against 
 themselves, in the form of ordaining readers en- 
 joined in the pontifical, for with them this office 
 is one of the minor orders. In the charge given 
 to the readers by the bishop at their ordination, 
 we have these words: " Studete igitur verba 
 Y Dei, videlicet lectiones sacras distincte, et 
 " aperte, ad intelligcntiam et a?dihcationem fide* 
 ' ; lium, absque omnimendaciofalsitatisproferre; 
 \l ne Veritas divinarum lectionum, incuria vestra, 
 tw ad instructionein audientium corrumpatur. 
 i* Quod autem ore legitis, corde credatis, atque 
 M opere compleatis ; quatenus auditores vestros, 
 " verba pariter et exemplo vestro, docere possi-* 
 M tis. : Ideoque, dum lcgitis, in alto loco eecle- 
 " sirc stetis, ut ab omnibus audiamini et videa- 
 ■ mini." Instruc lions entirely apposite when 
 they were first devised, for then Latin was then- 
 mother 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 249 
 
 mother tongue ; but which now can serve only 
 as a standing reproach upon their practice, by 
 setting its absurdity in the most glaring point of 
 view. For what can it avail for the edification 
 of the people, that the reader pronounces dis- 
 tinctly and openly, and stands in a conspicuous 
 place, when he pronounces nothing but unn; can- 
 ing words ? Is this teaching them by word, 
 verbo ? Can this be called addressing the under- 
 standings of the faithful ? Out of thy own mouth 
 will I judge thee, thou pageant of a teacher. 
 
 What shall we say of the power of preposses- 
 sions, when an abuse, so palpable, is palliated by 
 such a writer as father Simon ? I can bear to hear 
 the most absurd tilings advanced by weak and 
 illiberal minds. I can make great allowance for 
 the power of education over such, and am led 
 more to pity than to condemn. But it must 
 awake real indignation, to see parts and litera- 
 ture prostituted to the vile purpose of defending 
 what the smallest portion of common sense shows 
 at once to be indefensible, and giving a favour- 
 able gloss to the most flagrant abuses and corrup- 
 tions. Simon acknowledges, (Hist. Crit. des 
 Versions du N. T. chap. 1,) that when Chris- 
 tianity was first plaited, it W&s found necessary, 
 for the instruction of the people, to translate the 
 scriptures, especially the New Testament into 
 the language of each country that received this 
 
 doctrine ; 
 
250 LECTURES ON" 
 
 doctrine; and adds, that this remark must be 
 understood as extending to the service performed 
 in the churches, which, in those early days, was 
 every where in the language of the people. The 
 same thing, he affirms, cardinal Bona * ha I ob- 
 served in his work upon liturgies. Now it the 
 ease was so, it will not be easy to account, with- 
 out recurring to papal usurpations, for the uni- 
 formity in using Latin in all the public offices of 
 religion, that had been introduced, and actually 
 obtained, through all the occidental churches, 
 for ages before the reformation. Will Simon say, 
 that Latin was the language of Britain for exam- 
 ple, when Christianity was first planted among 
 
 * Bona, however, does not say so much as seems here to be 
 attributed to him by Simon. All that his words neceos.irily 
 denote, is, that the apostles, and their successors, in converting 
 the nations, taught the people, and officiated every where, in 
 the idiom of the country. But this does not imply, that they 
 used, for this purpose, either a written translation of the scrip- 
 tures, or any written liturgy. What he says afterwards, that 
 in all the western churches they had no liturgy but in Latin, 
 evidently implies the contrary. He knew well, that Latin 
 was never the language of the people, in most countries 
 of the western empire. Even in Africa, where, for manifest 
 reasons, that tongue must have been much more generally 
 spoken than in the northern parts of Europe, he acknowledges, 
 on Augustine's authority, that it was not understood by the 
 common people. " In Africa etiam Latina: lingua; usus in 
 " sacris semper viguit, licet earn populus non intelligeret, ut 
 " Augustinus testis est." L. i, C. v, § 4. 
 
 the 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. £5i 
 
 the Britons ; or, indeed, of any of the northern 
 countries of Europe ? So far from it, that, for 
 the service of those countries, there were, by his 
 own confession, translations made into Gothic, 
 Anglo-Saxon, Frankish, Sclavonic, &c. Yet 
 these versions (whatever they were formerly) arc 
 no where used at present, nor have they been 
 used for many centuries, though fragments of 
 some of them are still to be found in the libraries 
 of the curious. 
 
 " Nothing," says Mr. Simon, " is more ex- 
 " travagant, than what Pierre du Moulin has 
 " written on this subject against cardinal du 
 " Perron. 'The end,' says this minister, 'which 
 cl the pope has proposed to himself, in establishing 
 " the Latin tongue in the public service, has bee?i, 
 " to plant amongst his conquered nations the 
 " badges of his empire;'' as if," subjoins Simon, 
 " it had been the popes by whom the Latin 
 " language had been extended throughout all 
 " the west." Now to me there appears great 
 extravagance in this censure of Simon's, none 
 in Pierre du Moulin's remark. For if the priest 
 of the Oratory mean, by the Latin being ex- 
 tended throughout the west; that it was become 
 the language of the people in all the western na- 
 tions, nothing can be more evidently false. It 
 was never the language of Scandinavia, of the 
 greater part of Germany and Gaul ; nor was it 
 
 ever 
 
£52 ' LECTURES ON 
 
 ever the language of this island in particular. 
 The common language here, at least of the 
 southern part of the island, when the nation 
 was subject to the Romans, was not Latin, but 
 the ancient British! a I of the Celtic, 
 
 which the people, when driven out of the greater 
 and better part of their own country by their 
 conquerors the Saxons,- carried with them into 
 Wales ; which, in confirmation of what I say, is 
 still spoken there, though, doubtless, in so many 
 ages, considerably altered, and is now called 
 Welsh. The Anglo-Saxon, the language of the 
 invaders, succeeded it, which, after the con- 
 quest, being blended with the Norman French, 
 hath settled at last into the present English. 
 The like changes might be shown to have hap- 
 pened in most other European countries. Nor 
 is this hypothesis of Simon's more contrary to 
 lact, than it is inconsistent with his own conces- 
 sions. For if the Latin had been so widely 
 extended in the west, as his reflection on Pierre 
 du Moulin manifestly implies, where had been 
 the occasion for the versions into Gothic; Anglo- 
 Saxon, Frankish, Sclavonic, &c, of which he 
 himself has made mention ? 
 
 Further ; Mr. Simon's account, that men, 
 after their language had been totally vitiated by 
 the irruptions of bai barians, and the mixture of 
 people that succeeded, still retained the practice 
 
 of 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL III3T0RYV £o"3 
 
 of reading the scriptures and liturgies in the 
 language which their forefathers spoke, when 
 Christianity was first introduced among them, is 
 absolutely incompatible with the universal use of 
 Latin for so many ages in the west; and is, 
 consequently, the amplest vindication of the re- 
 mark of Du Moulin, which he had so severely 
 and unjustly censured. For, on this hypothesis, 
 it would not be Latin in any of the northern 
 countries that would be used in their churches ; 
 for Latin never was, in those countries, the lan- 
 guage of the people. In Wales it would be an- 
 cient Br in England the Anglo-Saxon, in 
 Sweden the Gothic, in France and Germany the 
 Frankish. Nor can any thing be more foreign 
 to the cause in hand, than the examples brought 
 from the different churches and sects in Asia, 
 who still retain the scriptures in their ancient 
 native tongues. Had all these churches and. 
 sects been, by any address or management, in- 
 duced to employ Greek, some resemblance might 
 have been fairly pleaded ; for that language, to 
 say the least, had as great a currency in the east 
 as Latin ever had in the west Nor do I con- 
 ceive any thing a stronger evidence of an undue 
 ascendant that one church had obtained over 
 other churches, than that she had influence 
 enough to make them either adopt at once a 
 jargon they did not understand, or, which is 
 1 worse. 
 
254 LECTURES ON 
 
 worse, abandon their ancient versions, not for 
 the sake of others more intelligible into the mo- 
 dern language of the people, but to make way 
 for what was to them foreign, as well as unintel- 
 ligible, being in the language of the Romans. 
 
 I can make allowance for the prepossession, 
 though unreasonable, that the present Armeni- 
 ans, Syrians, Copts, and Ethiopians, may retain, 
 for books held venerable by their forefathers, 
 though now no longer understood. For the 
 same reason I can make allowance for the at- 
 tachment of the people of Italy and its depen- 
 dencies to the Latin vulgate and ritual, as Latin 
 was once the language of their country. And 
 though it arise in them all from a silly prejudice, 
 which manifestly shows, that the form of religion 
 has supplanted the power; yet I can easily, 
 without recurring to authority or foreign influ- 
 ence, especially in the decline of all literature 
 and science, account for it from the weakness 
 incident to human nature. But totally different 
 is the case of the northern regions, whose lan- 
 guage Latin never was, and who, by the confes- 
 sion of Romish critics, once had the scriptures 
 and sacred offices in their native tongues. Their 
 admitting this foreign dress in their religious 
 service, and submitting to wear the livery, and 
 babble the dialect of Rome, is the surest badge 
 of their slavery, and of the triumph of Roman 
 
 policy 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 955 
 
 policy over the combined forces of reason and 
 religion both. That the natural consequence of 
 this practice would be to promote ignorance and 
 superstition among the people, it would be a 
 misspending of time to attempt to prove. 
 
 But would there not be some hazard, that 
 those sage politicians should overshoot the mark? 
 Religion, the christian religion in particular, has 
 always been understood to require faith in its 
 principles; and faith in principles requires some 
 degree of knowledge or apprehension of those 
 principles. If total ignorance should prevail, 
 how could men be said to believe that of which 
 they knew nothing ? The schoolmen have de- 
 vised an excellent succedaneum to supply the 
 place of real belief, which necessarily implies, 
 that the thing believed is, in some sort, appre- 
 hended by the understanding. This succeda- 
 neum they have denominated implicit faith, an 
 ingenious method of reconciling things incom- 
 patible, to believe every thing, and to know no- 
 thing, not so much as the terms of the proposi- 
 tions which we believe. When the sacred lessons 
 of the gospel were no longer addressed to the 
 understandings of the people ; when, in all the 
 public service, they were put off with sound in- 
 stead of sense, when their eyes and ears were 
 amused, but their minds left uninstructed ; it 
 was necessary that something should be substi- 
 4 v tuted 
 
256 Iectures on" 
 
 tuted for faith, which always presupposes know- 
 ledge ; nay, that it should be something" which - 
 might still be called faith ; for this name had 
 been of so great renown, so long standing, and 
 so universal use, that it was not judged safe en- 
 tirety to dispossess it. Exactly snch a some- 
 thing is implicit faith. The name is retained, 
 whilst nobody is incommoded with the thing. 
 
 The terms implicit faith are used in two dif- 
 ferent senses. With us protestants, at least in 
 this country, no more is commonly meant by 
 them than the belief of a doctrine, into the 
 truth of which we have made no inquiry, on the 
 bare authority of some person or society de- 
 claring it to be true. But this always supposes, 
 that one knows, or has some conception of the 
 doctrine itself. All that is denoted by the term 
 implicit in this acceptation is, that in lieu of 
 evidence, one rests on the judgment of him or 
 them by whom the tenet is affirmed. No igno- 
 rance is implied but of the proofs. But the 
 implicit faith recommended by the schoolmen is 
 quite another thing, and is constituted thus ; if 
 you believe that all the religious principles, what- 
 ever they be, which are believed by such parti- 
 cular persons, are true ; those persons who hold 
 the principles are explicit believers, you are an 
 implicit believer of all their principles. Nor is 
 your belief the less efficacious, because you are 
 
 ignorant 
 
ecclesiastical history. 257 
 
 ignorant of the principles themselves. Perhaps 
 you have never heard them mentioned, or. have 
 never enquired about them. For it does not 
 hold here as in the faith whereof the apostle 
 speaks, How shall they believe in him of whom 
 they have not heard ? In the presence of those 
 profound doctors the schoolmen, the apostle 
 would be found to be no other than an arrant 
 novice. The transcendent excellency of implicit 
 faith consists in this, that you have it then ifi 
 the highest perfection, when, in regard to its 
 object, you know nothing, and have even heard 
 nothing at all. In brief, it is neither more nor 
 less than being a believer by proxy. Scripture 
 sairh, '■* Ye are saved through faith," and 
 " without faith it is impossible to please God." 
 Nov/ implicit faith is a curious device for pleasing 
 God, and being saved by the faith of others. 
 It is, in fact, imputative faith, at least as extra- 
 ordinary as the imputative justice, which brought 
 so much obloquy on some of the reformers. It 
 is as if I should call one an implicit mathemati- 
 cian, who knows not a tittle of mathematics, 
 not even the definitions and axioms, but is con- 
 vinced of the knowledge of some other person 
 who is really, or whom he supposes to be art 
 adept in that science. 
 
 • " To believe implicitly," 1 says Bona, " is to 
 
 •' believe in general universally all that holy 
 
 vol. ii.. S " mother 
 
258' IECTURES ON 
 
 mother 4 church believes ; so as to dissent frorr* 
 her in nothing, nor disbelieve any of her 
 articles. And though it be convenient {licet 
 opportunum sit) for all, not only to 'believe all 
 the articles implicitly, but even some of them, 
 since the coming of Christ,, explicitly; yet it 
 is not necessary {non tamen est necessariuni) 
 for all, especially the common people, to be- 
 lieve them all explicitly. It is proper rather 
 for those, who assume the office of teaching 
 and preaching, as they have the cure of 
 soids. " Further, to show the wonderful vir- 
 tues and efficacy of such a faith, another of the 
 )Ctors, Gabriel Byel, maintains, that,. " if he 
 who implicitly believes the church, should 
 think, misled by natural reason, that the 
 Father is greater than the Son, and existed 
 before him, or that the three persons are 
 things locally distant from one another, or 
 the like, he is not aheretic, nor sins, provided 
 he do not defend this crrour pertinaciously. 
 For he believes what he does believe, because 
 he thinks that the church believes so," subject- 
 ing his opinion to the faith of the church.. 
 For though his opinion be erroneous," his opi- 
 nion is not his faith, nay, his faith, in con- 
 tradiction to his opinions, is the faith of the 
 church. What is still more, this implicit faith. 
 not only defends from heresy arid sin, but 
 -3 ir «ven 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. £59 
 
 " even constitutes merit in heterodoxy itself, 
 " and preserves in that merit one who forms a 
 " most heterodox opinion, because he thinks 
 " the church believes so." Thus far By el. It 
 is then of no consequence what a man's explicit 
 faith be ; he may be an Arian, a Socinian, an 
 Anthropomorphite, a Polytheist, in short, any 
 thing, he cannot err, whilst he has an implicit 
 faith in the church. This they give as their 
 explanation of that article of the creed, " I 
 " believe in the holy catholic church ;" though, 
 agreeably to this interpretation, there should 
 have been no other article in the creed. This 
 point alone supersedes every other, and is the 
 quintessence of all. Implicit faith has been 
 sometimes ludicrously styled Jidcs carbotiaria, 
 from the noted story of one who, examining au 
 ignorant collier on his religious principles, asked 
 him what it was that he believed. He answered, 
 " 2 believe what the church believes." The 
 other rejoined, " What then does the church 
 " believe?" He replied readily, " The church 
 * £ believes what I believe." The other desirous, 
 if possible, to bring him to particulars, once 
 more resumes his inquiry; " Tell mc then, I 
 " pray you, what it is which you and the church 
 " both believe." The only answer the collier 
 could give was, " Why truly, Sir, the church 
 M pmU I both — believe the same thing." This 
 
 S 2 » 
 
%60 LECTURES ON' 
 
 is implicit faith in perfection, and in the estima- 
 tion of some celebrated doctors, the sum of 
 necessary and saving knowledge in a christian. 
 
 It is curious to consider the inferences, which 
 they themselves deduce from • this wonderful 
 doctrine. A person, on first hearing them, 
 would take them for the absurd consequences 
 objected by an adversary, with a view to expose 
 the notion of implicit faith as absolutely non- 
 sensical. But it is quite otherwise, they are de- 
 ductions made by friends, who are very serious 
 in supporting them. One of these is, that a 
 man may believe two propositions perfectly con- 
 tradictory at the same time, one explicitly, the 
 other implicitly. Another is, that in such a 
 case, the implicit (which, to a common under- 
 standing, appears to include no belief at all) 
 not the explicit, is to be accounted his religious 
 faith. " It may be," says Gabriel, " that one 
 f may believe implicitly a certain truth, and 
 " explicitly believe the contrary." Put the case 
 that a man believes, that whatever the church 
 believes is true ; at the same time disbelieving 
 this proposition, Abraham had more wives than 
 one, and believing the contrary, as thinking 
 it the belief of the church ; such a man im- 
 plicitly believes this proposition, Abraham had 
 two rvhts, because the church believes so,, and 
 explicitly he disbelieves it. .. Now the gfeat 
 
 virtue 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 2Gi 
 
 virtue of implicit faith in the church lies here, 
 that it saves a man from all possible danger, in 
 consequence of any explicit erroneous opinions, 
 and renders it, indeed, unnecessary in him to be 
 solicitous to know whether his opinions be right 
 or wrong, orthodox or heterodox. No wonder, 
 then, that the utility of this simple principle is 
 so highly celebrated by the schoolmen. " Ha 5 c 
 U fides implicita, qua fidelis credit quicquid ec- 
 " clesia credit, utilissima est fideli. Nam si 
 " fuerit in corde, defendit ab omni haeretica 
 " pravitate, ut dicit Occam in tractata de sacra- 
 " mentis, et post eum Gerson. Non enim ali- 
 *: quatenus hssreticari valet, qui cordc credit 
 *' quicquid ecclesia catholica credit, id est, qui 
 " credit illam veritatem, quicquid ecclesia credit 
 il est vermu." And, indeed, its efficacy must 
 be the same, as the reason is the same, in pro- 
 tecting from the consequences of every errour, 
 even in the most fundamental points, as in pro- 
 tecting from what might ensue on that trifling 
 errour, that Abraham had but one wife. 
 
 We must at least confess not only the con- 
 sistency, but even the humanity -of the Romish 
 system, in this amazing method of simplifying 
 all the necessary knowledge and faith of a 
 christian. For surely, when the means of know- 
 ledge were, in effect, put out of the reach of 
 * S3 the 
 
26*2 LECTURES ON 
 
 the people ; when in public they were tantalized 
 with the mere parade of teaching, by having 
 instructions chanted to them in an unknown 
 tongue ; when it was not the understanding, but 
 the senses solely, which were employed in reli- 
 gious offices ; when every thing rational and 
 edifying was excluded from the service ; it Avould 
 have been unconscionable, worse than even the 
 tyranny of Egyptian taskmasters, to require of 
 the people any thing like real faith, which always 
 pre-supposes some information given, and some 
 knowledge acquired, of the subject. A merely 
 nominal faith (and such intirely is this scholastic 
 .fiction of implicit faith) suited much better a 
 merely mechanical service. In this manner the 
 knowledge of God, which is declared in scrip- 
 ture to be more valuable than burnt offerings, 
 and faith in him, and in the doctrine of revela- 
 tion, are superseded to make room for an un- 
 bounded submission to, and confidence in men, 
 to wit, those ghostly instructors, whom the popu- 
 lace must invariably regard as the mouth of the 
 unerring church. 
 
 I would not, however, be understood as signi- 
 fying by what has been now advanced on the 
 subject of implicit faith, that in this point all 
 Romanists are perfectly agreed. What I have 
 adduced is supported by great names among 
 their doctors, and mostly quoted in their woids. 
 
 Nor 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 263 
 
 Nor was the doctrine, though every where pub- 
 licly taught in their schools and in their, writings, 
 ever censured by cither pope or council, ecume- 
 nical or provincial. But though all the Romish 
 doctors pay great deference, they do not all, I , 
 acknowledge, pay equal deference to implicit 
 faith. Some seem to think it sufficient for every 
 thing ; others are curious in distinguishing what 
 those articles are, whereof an explicit faith is 
 requisite, and what those are, on the other hand, 
 whereof an implicit faith will answer. But it is 
 not necessary here to enter into their scholastic 
 cavils. 
 
 So much shall suffice for the first expedient 
 employed by superstition for the suppression of 
 her deadly foe knowledge, which is, by perverting 
 the rational service of religion into a mere 
 amusement of the senses . 
 
 S4 LFC- 
 
S$4 LECTURES ON 
 
 LECTURE XXIV. 
 
 JbUT though by such means as those now 
 illustrated, religious knowledge might long be 
 kept low, it was not so easy a matter to suppress 
 it altogether. Such a variety of circumstances 
 have an influence on its progress, that when the 
 things which have been long in confusion besrin. 
 to settle, it is impossible to guard every avenue 
 against its entrance. One particular art, and 
 one particular branch of science, has a nearer 
 connection with other arts and other branches 
 of science than is commonly imagined. If you 
 would exclude one species of knowledge totally, 
 it is not sale to admit any. This, however, is a 
 point of political wisdom, which, luckily, has 
 not been sufficiently understood even by politi- 
 cians. When the western part of the Roman 
 empire was overrun, and rather desolated than 
 conquered by barbarians ; matters, after many 
 lpng and terrible conflicts, came by degrees to 
 settle; and several new states and new king- 
 doms arose out of the stupendous ruin. As 
 
 these 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. S6"J 
 
 these came to assume a regular form, the arts of 
 ^jeace revived and were cultivated, knowledge of 
 .course revived with them. Of all kinds of 
 knowledge, I own that religious knowledge was 
 the latest. And that it should be so, we cannot 
 he surprized, when we consider the many terrible 
 clogs by which it was borne down. But not- 
 withstanding these, the progress of letters could 
 not fail to have an influence even here. History, 
 languages, criticism, all tended to open the eyes 
 of mankind, and diselose the origin of many 
 .corruptions and abuses in respect of sacred as 
 well as profane literature. How much this was 
 accelerated by the invention of printing, which 
 renders the communication of knowledge so 
 •easy, bringing it within the reach of those to 
 whom it was inaccessible before, it would be 
 superfluous to attempt to prove. Suffice it to 
 remark, that towards the end of the fifteenth 
 and beginning of the sixteenth century, the 
 visible face of things in Europe was, in respect 
 of cultivation, and the liberal as well as useful 
 arts, very much altered. 
 
 The change had been insensibly advancing for 
 some centuries before. As this was an indica- 
 tion of a second dawn of reason, and the return 
 cf thought, after a long night of barbarity and 
 ignorance, it proved the means of preparing the 
 minds of men for a corresponding change in 
 
 greater 
 
265 LECTURES ON 
 
 greater matters. Indeed, there began to be dis- 
 seminated such a dissatisfaction with the cor- 
 ruptions that had invaded all the provinces of 
 religion, that murmurs and complaints were al- 
 most universal. In every part of Christendom, 
 the absolute necessity of a reformation in the 
 church was become a common topic. It is true, 
 the clamour regarded chiefly discipline and man* 
 ners, but by no means solely. It had, indeed, 
 long before that time, been rendered very unsafe 
 to glance at received doctrines, though in the 
 most cursory, or even guarded manner. Yet it 
 was impossible, that the abuses in practice should 
 not lead to those errours in principle, which had 
 proved the parents of those abuses. The in- 
 crease of knowledge brought an increase of 
 curiosity. The little that men had discovered, 
 raised an insatiable appetite for discovering more. 
 The increase of knowledge, by undeceiving men 
 in regard to some inveterate prejudices, occa- 
 sioned, not less infallibly, the decrease of cre- 
 dulity ; and the decrease of credulity sapped the 
 very foundations of sacerdotal power, Now as 
 the principal means of conveying knowledge 
 was by books, the spiritual powers were quickly 
 led to devise proper methods for stopping the 
 progress of those books, which might prove of 
 dangerous consequence to their pretensions 
 
 '. - This 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 26Y 
 
 This was the second expedient abovemention- 
 ed, adopted by superstition, or rather by spiritual 
 tyranny, of whose throne superstition is the 
 chief support, for checking the progress of 
 knowledge. The origin and growth of this 
 expedient, till it arrived at full maturity, I shall 
 relate to you nearly in the terms of a celebrated 
 writer, to whom I have oftener than once had 
 recourse before. In the earliest ages of the 
 church, though there was no ecclesiastical pro- 
 hibition in regard to books, pious persons, from 
 a principle of conscience, always thought it 
 right to avoid reading bad books, that they 
 might not transgress the sense of the divine law, 
 which prohibits us from spending the time un- 
 profitably, and which commands us to abstain 
 from all appearance of evil, to avoid every thing 
 by which we may be led, without necessity, to 
 expose ourselves to temptation, and be drawn 
 into sin. These are obligations arising from the 
 principles of the law of nature, and therefore 
 perpetually in force. We are all, doubtless, 
 obliged, though there were no ecclesiastical law 
 to that purpose, to beware of mispending the 
 precious hours in the perusal of worthless writ* 
 ings. But, in process of time, when these con- 
 siderations were less minded than at the be- 
 ginning, Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, a 
 celebrated doctor, about the year 240, being re- 
 
 prove4 
 
£68 LECTURES ON 
 
 proved by his own presbyters, for reading books 
 which they accounted dangerous, found it con- 
 venient to plead in his excuse, that his doubts 
 on this head had been removed by a vision, 
 wherewith lie had been favoured from heaven, 
 which permitted him to read any book, because 
 he had discernment sufficient to enable him to 
 do it with safety. It was, however, the general 
 opinion in those days, that there was greater 
 clanger in the books of pagans, than in those of 
 heretics, which were much more abhorred. 
 
 The reading of the former, the Greek and the 
 Latin books which we - now call classics, was 
 more severely censured, not as being intrinsically 
 worse than the other, but because those books 
 were more engaging, and the reading of them 
 was more frequently practised by many christian 
 doctors, through a desire of learning eloquence, 
 and the ' rules of composition. And, for in- 
 dulging himself in this practice, Jerom was said 
 to have been either in vision, or in dream, buf- 
 feted by the devil. Much about that time, to 
 wit, in the year 400, a council in Carthage pro- 
 hibited the bishops from reading the books of 
 gentiles, but permitted them to read those of 
 heretics. This is the first prohibition in form of 
 a canon. Nor is there any thing else, on this 
 subject, to be found in the fathers, except in the 
 
 way 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. £6*9 
 
 way of advice, on the general principles of the 
 divine law, as represented above. 
 
 The books of the heretics, whose doctrine had 
 been condemned by councils, were indeed often, 
 for political reasons, prohibited by the emperours. 
 Thus Constantine prohibited the books of Arius. 
 Arcadius those of the Eunoinians and Manichees. 
 Theodosius those of Nestorius, and Martian the 
 writings of the Eutychians. In Spain, king Ri- 
 caredo prohibited those of the Arians. Councils 
 and bishops thought it sufficient to declare what 
 books contained doctrine condemned or apocry- 
 phal. They proceeded no further, leaving it to 
 the conscience of every one either to avoid them 
 entirely, or to read them with a good intention- 
 After the year 800, the Roman pontiffs, who had 
 usurped the greater part of ecclesiastical govern- 
 ment, expressly forbade men to read, nay, gave 
 orders to burn the books whose authors they had 
 condemned as guilty of heresy. Nevertheless, 
 till the age of the reformation, the number of 
 books actually prohibited was but small. 
 
 The general papal prohibition, on pain of ex- 
 communication, and without any other sentence, 
 to all those who read books containing the doer 
 trine of heretics, or of persons suspected of he- 
 resy, was grown into disuse. Martin the fifth, 
 in his bull, excommunicated all heretical sects, 
 specially Wicklirfites and Hussites ; but made 
 
 9 no 
 
270 LECTURES ON 
 
 no mention of those who read their books, though 
 many of them were then every where circulated. 
 Leo the tenth, when he condemned Luther, pro- 
 hibited, at the same time, on pain of excommu- 
 nication, the keeping and the reading of his books. 
 The succeeding pontiffs, in the bull called in 
 ccena, having condemned and excommunicated 
 all heretics, did, together with them, excommu- 
 nicate also those who read their books. This 
 produced greater confusion, because the heretics 
 not being condemned by name, the books would 
 be discovered rather by the quality of the doctrine 
 contained in them, than by the names of their 
 authors. Now the quality of the doctrine con- 
 tained could not be known till the book was 
 read, and consequently, till the excommunica- 
 tion was incurred, if the doctrine was heretical 
 Besides, the doctrine might appear very different 
 to different readers. Hence arose innumerable 
 scruples in the minds of those weak but conscien- 
 tious persons, who paid an implicit deference to 
 the authority of the churqjfi. The inquisitors, 
 who were more diligent than others, made cata- 
 logues of such as came to their knowledge, which, 
 however, as the copies taken of those catalogues 
 were not collated, did not entirely remove the 
 difficulty. King Philip of Spain was the first 
 $no gave them a more convenient form, having 
 enacted a law in 155% that the catalogue of 
 
 books, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 271 
 
 books, prohibited by the Spanish inquisition, 
 should be printed. After this example, Paul the 
 fourth ordered the inquisition in Rome to pre- 
 pare, and cause to be printed, an index of books 
 proper to be forbidden, which Mas executed in 
 the following year 1559- In this they proceeded 
 much further than had ever been done before, and 
 laid the foundations of a very curious system of 
 polic} r , for maintaining and exalting, to the ut- 
 most, the authority of the court of Rome, by de- 
 priving men of the knowledge necessary for de- 
 fending themselves against her usurpations. 
 
 Hitherto the prohibition had been confined to 
 the books of heretics, nor had any book been 
 prohibited whose author had not been con- 
 demned. They now judged it expedient to go 
 more boldly to work. Accordingly, the new 
 kidex, which, from its known purpose, came to- 
 be called index expargatorius y . was divided into 
 three parts. The first contained the names of 
 those authors, whose whole works, whether the 
 subject were sacred or profane, were forbidden ; 
 and in this number are included not only those 
 who have professed a doctrine contrary to that of 
 Rome, but even many who continued all their 
 life, and died in her communion. In the second 
 part were contained the names of particular books. 
 which are condemned, though other books of the 
 same authors be not. , In the third, beside some 
 
 anony- 
 
£72 LECTURES ON 
 
 anonymous writings specified, there is one gene- 
 ral rule, whereby all those books are forbidden, 
 which do not bear the author's name, published 
 since the year 1519. Nay, many authors and 
 books are condemned, which for three hundred, 
 two hundred, or one hundred years, had passed 
 through the hands of all the men of letters in 
 the church, and of which the Roman pontiffs had 
 hcen in the knowledge for so long a time with- 
 out finding fault. Nay, what is still more extra- 
 ordinary, some modern books were included in 
 the prohibition, which had been printed in Italy, 
 even in Rome, with the approbation of the inqui- 
 sitors, nay, of the pope himself, signified by his 
 brief accompanying the publication. Of this 
 kind are the annotations of Erasmus on the New 
 Testament, to which Leo the tenth, after having 
 read them, gave his approbation in a brief, dated 
 at Rome 1518. Above all, it is worthy of notice, 
 that under colour of faith and religion, those 
 books are prohibited, and their authors con- 
 demned, wherein the authority of princes and 
 civil magistrates is defended against ecclesiastical 
 usurpations ; those wherein the authority of 
 bishops and councils is defended against tlie 
 usurpations of the court of Rome ; and those 
 wherein are disclosed the tyranny and hypocrisy 
 with which, under pretence of religion, the pco* 
 pie is abused either by decrit, or by violence. lit 
 
 brief. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 273 
 
 "brief, a better expedient was never devised, (had 
 it been a little more capable of being carried into 
 effect) for employing religion, so as to divest 
 men not only of ail knowledge, but of every ves- 
 tige of rationality. So far did the Roman inqui- 
 tition, at that time, proceed, that they made a 
 list of sixty-two printers, prohibiting all the books 
 printed by them, of whatever author, subject, 
 or language, with, an additional clause still more 
 comprehensive, to wit, and all the books printed 
 by other such like printers, who have printed the 
 books of heretics. In consequence of which, 
 there hardly remained any books to read. 
 Nay, to show the incredible excess of their ri- 
 gour, the prohibition of every book, contained 
 in the catalogue, was on pain of excommunica- 
 tion to the reader ipso facto, reserving to the 
 pope the power of inflicting the deprivation of 
 offices, and benefices, incapacitation perpetual 
 infamy, and other arbitrary pains. Thus was 
 the court, of Rome, in defence, as was falsely 
 pretended, of the doctrine of Christ, but in 
 reality of her own despotism, as the Turks and 
 Saracens, in defence of the superstition of the 
 impostor Mahomet, engaged in a w r ar against 
 literature and knowledge, tending evidently to 
 the extermination of arts and sciences, and to 
 the transformation of men, in every thing but 
 external form, into brutes. And with equal rea- 
 vbr.ii. T son 
 
£7-i LECTURES ON 
 
 son was this the aim of both mahometism and 
 popery. False religion', of every kind, must be 
 a mortal enemy to knowledge : for nothing is 
 more certain, than that knowledge is a mortal 
 enemy to all false religion. 
 
 How similar have been the aims and the pre- 
 tensions of pagan and of papal Rome ! Both 
 aspired, and with amazing success, at universal 
 empire. But how dissimilar have been the means 
 employed for the attainment of the end. The 
 former, pagan Rome, secured the superiority which 
 her arms had gained, by diffusing knowledge, 
 and civilizing the conquered nations : thus mak- 
 ing, as it were, compensation to them by her arts 
 for the injustice she had done them by her arms. 
 The latter, papal Rome, who, for a long time 
 indeed, employed more fraud than violence, 
 (though far from rejecting the aid of either) se- 
 cured her conquests by lulling the people in ig- 
 norance, diverting their curiosity with monstrous 
 legends, and monkish tales, and by doing what 
 she could to render and keep them barbarians. 
 
 In regard to the expedient, of which I have 
 Jiere been treating, the prohibition of books by 
 an index expurgatorius, there seem to have been 
 two capital errours in Rome's method of manag- 
 ing this affair, notwithstanding her political wis- 
 dom. But nothing human is on all sides perfect. 
 One was, that she was some centuries too late in 
 
 
 adopt in j 
 
i-XCLESiAsTK'AI, HTSTORY. 27' 
 
 oting this measure. It would be difficult td 
 >\\y what might have been effected, had Uk 
 attempt been earlier' made, and supported with 
 fcer usual firmness. The other errour was, that 
 things had proceeded too far for so violent a re- 
 medy. Had less been attempted, more would 
 have been attained. The inquisitors, in the true 
 spirit of their calling, and in compliance with 
 the impetuous temper of the reigning pontiff* 
 breathed nothing but extirpation and perdition.. 
 They had not so much knowledge of legislation 
 as to perceive, that when a certain point is ex- 
 ceeded in the severity of laws, they are actually 
 enfeebled by what was intended to invigorate 
 them. Hardly was there a man that could read, 
 who was not involved in the excommunication 
 denounced by an act so extravagant. Nor 
 could any thing render the sentence more con- 
 temptible, or prove a greater bar to its execution, 
 than its being made thus to comprehend almost 
 every body. 
 
 This errour was quickly perceived. Recourse 
 was had, not without effect, to Paul's successor, 
 Pius the fourth, who, being a man of more tem- 
 per than his predecessor, remitted to the council 
 of Trent, then sitting, the consideration of the 
 affair. They, accordingly, committed to some 
 of the fathers and doctors the examination of 
 suspected books, and the revisal and correction 
 T 2 of 
 
if$ LECTURES OX 
 
 of that: absurd act of pope Paul, acknowledging; 
 that it had produced scruples, -and given cause 
 for complaints. Since that time, the prohibitory 
 laws, though, in other respects, far from beings 
 more moderate, have avoided the most exception- 
 able of those indefinite and comprehensive clauses 
 complained of in the former ; and I suspect, have 
 by consequence proved more effectual, at least 
 in Italy and Spain, in retarding the progress of 
 knowledge. 
 
 Indeed, for some ages past no heresy has ap- 
 peared so damnable in Italy to the ghostly fathers, 
 to whom the revisal of books is intrusted, as that 
 which ascribes any kind of authority to magis- 
 trates, independent of the pope : no doctrine so 
 divine, as that which exalts the ecclesiastical au- 
 thority above the civil, not only in spiritual mat- 
 ters, but in secular. Nay, the tenet on this sub- 
 ject, in highest vogue, with the canonists, is 
 that which stands in direct opposition to the 
 apostle Paul's. The very pinnacle of orthodoxy 
 with those gentlemen is, that the lawful com- 
 mands of the civil magistrate do not bind the 
 conscience ; that our only motive to obedience 
 here is prudence, from fear of the temporal pu- 
 nishment denounced by him ; and that, if we 
 have the address to elude his vigilance, and es- 
 cape the punishment, our disobedience is no sin 
 Lvtlie 'sight of God. It is impossible for any 
 
 thing 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL ilfSTORY. £?7 
 
 thing to be more flatly contradictory to the doc* 
 trine of all antiquity, particularly that of the 
 great apostle, who commands us to be subject to 
 those powers, not only for fear of their wrath, 
 but for conscience sake. It was lucky for Paul, 
 the apostle I mean, not the pope, that he had 
 published his sentiments, on this subject, about 
 1500 years before that terrible expedient of the, 
 index was devised. He had, by this means, ob- 
 tained an authority in the christian world, which 
 Rome herself though she may, where her influ- 
 ence is greatest, for a time, elude it, cannot 
 totally destroy. Otlverwise that missionary of 
 Christ must have long" ago had a place in the 
 Index expurgatorius. 
 
 But to return ; Rome has obstructed the pro- 
 gress of knowledge, not only by suppressing alto- 
 gether books not calculated to favour her views, 
 but by reprinting works, which had too great a 
 currency for them to suppress, mutilated and 
 grossly adulterated. Those editions, when they 
 came abroad, being for the most part neatly, 
 many of them elegantly, printed, and well exe- 
 cuted, were ignorantly copied by the printers of 
 other countries, who knew not their defects. In 
 this way those corruptions have been propagated! 
 Besides, Rome wants not her instruments in most 
 countries, protestant as well as popish, such as 
 priests and confessors, who are always ready to 
 
 T 3 knd 
 
278 LECTURES ON 
 
 lend their assistance in forwarding her views. 
 Hence it is often rendered extremely difficult to 
 distinguish the genuine editions from the spu-r 
 rious. For let it.be observed, that their visitors 
 of books do not think it enough to cancel what- 
 ever displeases them in the authors they exa- 
 mine: they even venture to foist in what, they 
 judge proper, in the room of what they have ex- 
 punged. .In the year 1607, the index e.cpurgctr 
 toriiis, published at Rome, specified and con- 
 demned all the obnoxious places in certain au? 
 thors, which were judged worth)' to be blotted 
 out. This, to those who possess that indcd\ shows 
 plainly what were the things which, in several 
 authors of reputation, were either altered or 
 rased. But such indexes, which, in the hands of 
 a critic, would prove extremely useful for restor- 
 ing old books to their primitive purity and inte- 
 grity, are now to be found only in the libraries of 
 a very few, in the southern parts of Europe. 
 Whether there be any of them in this island I 
 cannot say. But the consequence of the freedom, 
 above related, which has been taken by the court 
 tf dc me with christian writers of the early ages, 
 (f 11 luckily did not answer their purpose to 
 in. Idle with the works of pagans) has rendered 
 it, | at this day, almost impossible to know the 
 real sentiments of many old authors of great 
 name, both ecclesiastics and historians : there 
 
 being' 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL IITSTORX. 279 
 
 bcimr of several of them scarcelv anv edition 
 extant at present, except those which have been 
 so miserably garbled by the court of Rome, or, 
 which amounts to the same thing', editions copied 
 from those which they had vitiated by their in- 
 terpolations and corrections. 
 
 But What would appear the most incredible of 
 all, if the act. were not still in being', pope Cle- 
 ment the eighth, in the year 1595, in his cata- 
 logue of forbidden books, published a decree, 
 that all the books of catholic authors, written 
 since the year 1515, should be corrected, not 
 only by retrenching what is not conformable to 
 the doctrine of Rome, but also by adding what 
 may be judged proper by the correctors. That 
 yc may see I do not wrong him, (for that, in cor- 
 ruptions of this kind, they should be so barefaced 
 is indeed beyond belief) it is necessary to subjoin 
 his own words : In libris cathoUcorum reccntio- 
 rum, qui post annum Christiana 7 . ■ salutis 1515 
 conscripti sint, si id quod corrigendum occur 'rit, 
 pa ueis demptis aut additis emendari posse ridcatur, 
 id correclores faciendum curent ; sin minus, om- 
 nino dclealur. The reason why the year 1515 is 
 particularly specified, as that after which the 
 writings, even of Roman catholics, were to un- 
 dergo a more strict examination and scrutiny 
 than any published by such before, is plainly 
 this : It was in the year immediately following, 
 
 T 4 that 
 
380 jLKCTUKES ON 
 
 that Luther began to declaim against indul? 
 gences, which proved the first dawn of the- re- 
 formation. His preaching and publications pro- 
 duced a very hot controversy. Now man} 7 of 
 those who defended what was called the catholic 
 cause, and strenuously maintained the perfect 
 purity of the church's doctrine, did not hesitate 
 to acknowledge corruptions in her discipline, 
 and particularly in the conduct of Rome, which 
 needed to be reformed. They affected to distin- 
 guish between the court and the church of Rome* 
 a distinction no way palatable to the former. 
 Now it would have been exceedingly imprudent 
 to suppress those controversial pieces altogether^ 
 especially at that time, when they were univer- 
 sally considered as being, and in fact werc^ the 
 best defence of the Romish cause against the en-? 
 croachments of protestantism, and the reforma- 
 tion. On the other hand, the concessions made 
 in them, in regard to discipline, and the court of 
 Rome, and the distinctions they contained, bore 
 an aspect very unfavourable to Roman despotism. 
 Hence the determination of correcting them, not 
 only by expunging what was not relished at 
 court, but by altering and inserting whatever 
 was judged proper to alter, or insert, by the rul- 
 ing powers in the church. Authors had been 
 often falsified before, and made to say what they 
 never meant, nay, the reverse of what they actu- 
 ally 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY- £6i 
 
 Silly saUI : but of a falsification so hnprudeii tly 
 .conducted, this of pope Clement was the fust 
 .example. Their interpolations, however, of the 
 works even of Roman catholics, though not so 
 avowedly made, have by no means been confined 
 to those who have written since the year 1515, 
 Platina, a writer of the hfteenth, and therefore 
 of the former century, who gave the world a his- 
 tory of the popes, though far from being unfa- 
 vourable to the pretensions of Rome, has not es- 
 caped unhurt their jealous vigilance, For though 
 he had said very little, as Bower well observes, 
 that could be suspected of being any way offen- 
 sive, that very little has been thought too much. 
 Accordingly, he has been taught, in all the edi- 
 tions of his work, since the middle of the sixteenth 
 .century, to speak with more reserve, and to sup- 
 press, or disguise, some truths which he had for- 
 merly told. 
 
 Hence it happens, that in regard to all the 
 books which have passed through the hands of 
 Roman licensers, or inquisitors, we can conclude 
 nothing from what we find in them, in regard to 
 the sentiments of their authors, but solely in 
 regard to the sentiments of Rome, to an exact 
 conformity to which, it was judged necessary, 
 that by all possible methods of squeezing and 
 wrenching, maiming and interpolating, they 
 should be brought Nor has the revisal been 
 
 confined 
 
o*c 
 
 LECTUilES OS 
 
 confined to books written on religious subject?; 
 but extended to all subjects, politics, history, 
 works of science, and of amusement. Nay, what 
 Is more, the pope came at last to claim it as an 
 exclusive privilege, to prohibit, and to license, 
 not for Rome onty, and the ecclesiastical state, 
 but for all Christendom, at least for all the coun- 
 tries wherein his authority is acknowledged, in- 
 sisting, that what he prohibits, no prince what- 
 ever, even in his own dominions, dares license, 
 and what he licenses, none dares prohibit. The 
 first of these has been generally conceded to him, 
 though not perhaps punctually obeyed. 
 
 The second occasioned a violent struggle in 
 the bejrinnino: of the last centurv, between the 
 pope and the king of Spain, on occasion of a 
 book written by cardinal Baronius, containing 
 many things in derogation of that monarch's go- 
 vernment and title, and traducing, with much 
 asperity, many of his ancestors, the kings of 
 Arragon. The book was licenced at Rome, but 
 prohibited in the Spanish dominions. The mo- 
 narch stood firm in his purpose, and the pope 
 thought lit to drop the controversy, but not to 
 renounce the claim. This Rome never does, 
 actuated by a political maxim formerly suggested, 
 of which she has often availed herself when a 
 proper opportunity appeared. A more particular 
 account of this contest ye have in father Paul's 
 
 discourse 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. £33 
 
 discourse on the constitution and rules of the 
 inquisition at Venice. How great, would be the 
 consequence of this papal privilege, if universally 
 acquiesced in, any person of reflection will easily 
 conceive. Who knows not the power of first 
 impressions on any question, the influence of 
 education, and the force of habit, m riveting 
 opinions formed in consequence of being uni- 
 formly accustomed to attend to one side only of 
 the question. All these advantages the pontiff 
 would have clearly in his favour, could he but 
 secure to himself that high prerogative, and be- 
 come, in effect, our supreme or only teacher. 
 
 LEC- 
 
$8* ilctures ov 
 
 LECTURE XXV. 
 
 jHlAVING discussed, in the two preceding 
 lectures, what relates to the concealment of 
 scripture, and of all the public offices of religion, 
 by the use of an unknown tongue, and to the 
 check given to the advancement of knowledge 
 by the index expurgaiorius, I intend, in this dis- 
 course, to consider the third grand expedient 
 adopted by Rome for securing the implicit obe- 
 dience of her votaries, namely, persecution. 
 
 Nothing is clearer, from the New Testament, 
 than that this method of promoting the faith ia( 
 totally unwarranted, as well by the great author, 
 as by the first propagators of our religion. His 
 disciples were sent out as sheep amidst wolves, 
 exposed to the most dreadful persecutions, but 
 incapable of ever giving to their enemies a return 
 in kind, in a consistency with this signature of 
 Christ's servants ; for in no change of circum- 
 stances will it suit the nature of the sheep to per- 
 secute the wolf. As it was not an earthly king- 
 dom which our Lord came to establish, so it was 
 
 not 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 285 
 
 not by carnal weapons that his spiritual warfare 
 was to be conducted. The means must be adapted 
 to the end. My kingdom, said he, is not of this 
 world ; if my kingdom were of this world, then 
 would my servants Jight. Worldly weapons are 
 suited to the conquest of worldly kingdoms. 
 But nothing can be worse adapted to inform the 
 understanding, and conquer the heart, than such 
 coarse implements. Lactantius says with reason, 
 Defendenda est religio non occidendo, sed moritndo, 
 non scevitia sed patientia. To convince, and to 
 persuade, both by teaching and by example, was 
 the express commission given to the apostles. 
 The only weapons which they were to employ, 
 or which could be employed, for this purpose, 
 were arguments and motives from reason and 
 scripture. Their only armour, faith and patience, 
 prudence and innocence, the comforts arising 
 from the consciousness of doing their duty, and 
 the unshaken hope of the promised reward. By 
 means of this panoply, however lightly it may 
 be accounted of by those who cannot look be- 
 yond the present scene, they were, in the spiri- 
 tual, that is, the most important sense, invulne- 
 rable ; and by means of their faith, as the spring 
 which set all their other virtues in motion, they 
 obtained a victory over the world, 
 
 Beside the declared enemies from without, pa- 
 gans and inndelJews, whom christians had, &orfi 
 
 the 
 
the beginning, to contend with, there arose v^r" 
 mvlj, in the bosom of the church, as had beer? 
 foretold by. the apostles, certain internal foe.-y 
 first: to the primitive simplicity of christian doc- 
 trine, and afterwards by a natural progress, to 
 the unity, sympathy, and love, which, as mem- 
 bers of the same society, having one common 
 head, they were under the strongest obligations 
 to observe inviolate. From the very commencement 
 of the church, the tares of errour had, by divine 
 permission, for the exercise and probation of the 
 faithful, been sown among the good seed of the 
 word. The only remedies which had been pre- 
 scribed by the apostles against those who made 
 divisions in the christian community, founding 
 new sects, which commonly distinguished them- 
 selves by the profession of some erroneous doc- 
 trine, or at least some idle and unedifying specu* 
 kit ion, were first, repeatedly to admonish them, 
 and afterwards, when admonitions should prove 
 ineffectual, to renounce' their company, that is,, 
 to exclude them from their brotherhood, or ex~ 
 eommunicate them : for the original import of 
 these expressions is nearly the same. On this> 
 footing matters remained till Constantine, in the 
 beginning of the fourth century, embraced the 
 faith, and gave the church a sort of political 
 establishment in the empire. • I 
 
 From 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 
 
 From the apologies of the fathers before that 
 period, (so the defences of our religion written 
 by them are named) it is evident, that they uni- 
 versally considered persecution for any opinions, 
 whether true or false, as the heighth of injustice 
 and oppression. Nothing can be juster than 
 the sentiment of Tertullian, which was, indeed, 
 as far as appears, the sentiment of all the fathers 
 of the first three centuries. " Non religionis 
 1 est cogere religionem, quae sponte suscipi de- 
 
 • beat, non vL" And to the same purpose 
 Lactantius, " Quis imponat mihi necessitatem 
 
 1 vel colendi quod nolim, vel quod velim non 
 
 * colendi r Quid jam nobis ulterius relinquitur, 
 •' si etiam hoe, quod voluntate fieri oportet, li- 
 j bido extorqueat aliena ?" Again, " Non est 
 f opus vi et injuria ; quia religio cogi non po- 
 1 test, verbis potius quam verberibus res agenda 
 \ est, ut sit voluntas." Once more, " Longe 
 j diversa sunt carnificina et pietas, nee potest 
 [ aut Veritas cum vi, aut justitia cum crudclitatc, 
 ' conjungi." Their notions in those days, in 
 
 regard to civil government, seem also to have 
 been much more correct than they became soon 
 after. For all christians, in the ages of the mar- 
 tyrs, appear to have agreed in this, that the ma- 
 gistrate's only object ought to be the peace and 
 temporal prosperity of the commonwealth. 
 
 •Rut 
 
28S LECTUftLS ON 
 
 But (such alas ! is the depravity of human na- 
 ture) when the church Avas put on a different 
 footing, men began, not all at once, but gradu- 
 ally, to change their svstem in regard to those 
 articles, and seemed strongly inclined to think, 
 that there was no injustice in retaliating upon 
 their enemies, by employing those unhallowed 
 weapons in defence of the true religion, which 
 had been so cruelly employed in support of a 
 false : not considering, that by this dangerous 
 position, that one may justly persecute in sup- 
 port of the truth, the right of persecuting for 
 finy opinions will be effectually secured to him 
 who holds them, provided he have the power. 
 For what is every man's immediate standard of 
 orthodoxy but iiis own opinions ? And if he have 
 a right to persecute in support of them, because 
 of tiie ineffable importance of sound opinions to 
 our eternal happiness, it must be even his duty to 
 do it when he can. For if that interest, the in- 
 terest of the soul and eternity, come at all within 
 the magistrate's province, it is unquestionably the 
 most important part of it. Now as it is impos- 
 sible he can have any other immediate directory, 
 in regard to what is orthodox, but his own opfa 
 nions, and ns the opinions of different' men are 
 totally different, it will be incumbent, by the 
 strongest of all obligations, oir one magistrate 
 
 to 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 28<? 
 
 to persecute in support of a faith, which it is 
 equally incumbent on another by persecution to 
 destroy. Should ye object, that the standard is 
 not any thing* so fleeting as opinion : it is the 
 word of God, and right reason. This, if ye at- 
 tend to it, will bring you back to the very same 
 point which ye seek to avoid. The dictates both 
 of scripture and of reason, we see but too plainly, 
 are differently interpreted by different persons, 
 of whose sincerity we have no ground to doubt. 
 Now to every individual, that only amongst all 
 the varieties of sentiments can be his rule, which 
 to the best of his judgment, that is, in his opi- 
 nion, is the import of either. Nor is there a pos- 
 sibility of avoiding this recurrence at last. But 
 such is the intoxication of power, that men, 
 blinded by it, will not allow themselves to look 
 forward to those dreadful consequences. And 
 such is the presumption of vain man, (of which 
 bad quality the weakest judgments have com- 
 monly the greatest share) that it is with difficulty 
 any one person can be brought to think, that any 
 other person has, or can have, as strong convic- 
 tion of a different set of opinions, as he has of 
 his. 
 
 But to return to our narrative. When the secular 
 powers had changed sides, and were now come 
 to be on the side of Christianity, this was the 
 manner, on the subject of religion, in which some 
 
 vol. ii. U men 
 
B$0 LECTURES 037 
 
 men among the clergy began to argue. Prince* 
 ought to be considered in a twofold capacity ; 
 one is, that of christians, the other, that of 
 princes, in both which characters they are bound 
 to serve God : as christians, by observing the 
 divine commandments, like every other disciple 
 of Christ : as princes, by purging the church of 
 all schisms, heresies, and blasphemies, punishing 
 all transgressors of the divine precepts, but more 
 especially those who, by the transgressions above 
 mentioned, violate the first table of the decalogue: 
 for as those sins are committed more immediately 
 against God, they are much more heinous than 
 theft, adultery, murder, or any sins committed 
 against our neighbour. Now under the general 
 denomination of sins of the first table, every sect 
 (were their verdicts to be severally taken) would 
 comprehend almost all the distinguishing tenets 
 of every other sect. And though, in support of 
 their plea, they might have many specious things 
 to advance, they would all be found to lean on a 
 false hypothesis. 
 
 First, it is false, that the concerns of the soul 
 and eternity fall under the cognizance and juris- 
 diction of the magistrate. To say that they do, 
 is to blend the very different and hardly compa- 
 tible characters of magistrate and pastor in the 
 isaine person ; or, which is worse, to graft the lat- 
 ter upon the former, the sure method of produc- 
 ing 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 2$ 3 
 
 \f\g a most absurd and cruel despotism, such as 
 obtains in all Mahometan countries : nor is that 
 much better which prevails more or less in popish 
 countries, especially in the ecclesiastical state, 
 and in Spain and Portugal, where the magistrate 
 is grafted on the pastor, or rather on the priest. 
 
 Secondly, it is false, that spiritual concerns, 
 if they did fall under the cognizance of the ma- 
 gistrate, are capable of being regulated by such 
 expedients as are proper for restraining the inju- 
 ries of violence and fraud, and preserving tran- 
 quillity and good order in society. Though, by 
 coercion, crimes, which are outward and overt 
 acts, may effectually be restrained, it is not by 
 coercion that those inward effects can be pro- 
 duced, conviction in the understanding, or con- 
 version in the heart. Now these in religion are 
 all in all. By racks and gibbets, fire and faggot, 
 we may as rationally propose to mend the sight 
 of a man who squints, or is purblind, as by these 
 meails to enlighten the infidel's or the heretic's 
 understanding, confute his errOurs, and bring 
 him to the belief of what he disbelieved before.- 
 That by such methods he may be constrained to 
 profess what he disbelieves still, nobody can deny, 
 or even doubt. But to extort a hypocritical pro- 
 fession, is so far from being to promote the cause- 
 of God and religion, that nothing, by the ac- 
 V g know- 
 
202 LECTURES ON 
 
 knowledgment of men of all parties, can stand 
 more directly in opposition to it. Nihil est tarn 
 voluntarium quam religio, sa} r s Lactantius, in qua, 
 si animus sacri/icantis aversus est, jam sublata, 
 jam nulla est. 
 
 Thirdly, it is a false, though a very common no- 
 tion, that errours concerning the divine nature 
 and perfections ought to be denominated blas- 
 phemies, or considered as civil crimes. Blas- 
 phemy, in regard to God, corresponds to calumny 
 in regard to man. The original name for both 
 is the same. As the latter ahvavs implies what, 
 in the language of the law, is called nuilus ani- 
 mus, a disposition to calumniate, so does the for- 
 mer. Merc mistake, in regard to character, espe- 
 cially when the mistake is not conceived by him 
 who entertains it to derogate from the character, 
 constitutes neither of those crimes. That no im- 
 putation, however, is commoner, can be ascribed 
 solely to that malevolence, which bigotry and con- 
 tention never fail to produce. Thus the armi- 
 nianandthe calvinist, the protestant and the pa- 
 pist, the Jesuit and thejansenist, throw and retort 
 on each other the unchristian reproach of blas- 
 phemy. Yet each is so far from intending to 
 lessen, in the opinion of others, the honour of 
 the divine majesty, that he is fully convinced 
 that his own pinciples are better adapted to raise 
 
 it 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 293 
 
 it than those of his antagonist, and for that very 
 reason lie is so strenuous in maintaining them. 
 But to blacken, as much as possible, the designs 
 of an antagonist, in order the more easily to bring 
 odium on his opinions, is the too common, 
 though detestable, resource of theological con- 
 trovertists *. 
 
 I proceed to show the advances which, from 
 time to time, were made, till that system of per- 
 secution which, in a great part of the world, still 
 obtains, was brought to maturity and established. 
 For ages after the opinion iirst took place among 
 christians, that it was the magistrate's duty to 
 restrain heretics by the infliction of civil penal- 
 ties, they retained so much moderation, as not to 
 think that the punishment could justly extend to 
 death, or mutilation, or even to the effusion of 
 blood. But now that the empire was become 
 christian, there gradually arose in it diverse laws 
 against this new crime heresy, which are still ex- 
 tant in the codes of Theodosian and Justinian, 
 imposing on the delinquents fines, banishments, 
 or confiscations, according to the circumstances, 
 and supposed degree, of the delinquency. All 
 that regarded the execution of those laws, the 
 
 * For the scripture import of blasphemy, and the nature of 
 that crime, see " Preliminary Dissertations to a Version of the 
 four Gospels," by the Author, vol. i, p. 395, &c. 
 
 U 3 trial 
 
£iH I. EC 1U RES ON" 
 
 trial as well as the sentence, devolved on the ma* 
 gistrate. Only the nature of the crime, what 
 was heresy or schism, was determined by the ec- 
 clesiastical judge, One step in an evil course 
 naturally leads to another. The first step was 
 made when civil penalties were denounced against 
 particular opinions and modes of* thinking. This 
 may be considered as the first stage of the doc- 
 trine and practice of intolerance, in the christian 
 church. Nor could any thing be more expli- 
 citly, or more universally, condemned than this 
 had been, by the fathers of the first three centu- 
 ries, and several of the fourth. Ilumiuii juris 
 et naturalis polestatis est, said Tertullian, in the 
 beginning of the third century, unicuique quod 
 putacerit coicre, and Hilary of Poitiers, in the 
 fourth, in opposition to those who favoured the 
 interposition of the magistrate. Deus cognitionem 
 sui docuit, potius quam elegit, et operationum 
 ccdestium admiratione, praeceptis suls eone'dians 
 auctoritatem coactam confitendi se aspcrnatus est 
 voluntatem. Again, Deus unkersitatis est, obse- 
 quio non eget necessario, non requirit eoactam con-> 
 fessionem ; non fallendus est sed promerendus, 
 simpUciiate qimrendus est, confessione discendus 
 est, charitate amandus est, timore venerandusest, 
 voluntatis probitate retinendus est. At vero quid 
 istud, quod sacerdotes timere DeumvincuUs cogun- 
 iur, pcenisjubentur f Sacerdotes carceribus conti- 
 
 nehtur ? 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HJSTORY. 295 
 
 ncntur ? M en's system of conduct may come, we 
 see, 10 be totally reversed. But this is always 
 the work ©f time. Iwery advance has its diffi- 
 cult c\, and is made with hesitation. But one 
 difficulty surmounted emboldens a man, and ren- 
 ders it easier for him to surmount another. That 
 again makes way for the next, and so on till the 
 change be total. 
 
 Several bishops and pastors, who had not yet 
 been able to divest themselves of the more pure 
 and harmless maxims of primitive times, or ra- 
 ther of their divine master, who totally reprobated 
 all secular weapons in this warfare, thought, that 
 after they had declared opinions heretical, and 
 denied their communion to those who held them, 
 they could not innocently intermeddle further, 
 or give information to the magistrate, dreading 
 that such a conduct would be irreconcileable to 
 the great law of charity. Others more hardy, 
 (for there will always be such differences among 
 men) resolved, by any means, to silence such as 
 they could not confute, and to compel those to 
 dissemble, whom they despaired of convincing : 
 the plain language of which conduct wa9, If we 
 cannot make them better, we will make them 
 worse, — If they will not be believers, they shall 
 be hypocrites. And whoever will not be induced 
 >to be of what we account the family of God, we 
 U 4 shall 
 
2£6 LECTURES ON 
 
 shall be sure to render twofold more the children 
 of the devil than they were before. 
 
 People of this stamp, possessed of a pride, 
 (misnamed zeal) which cannot brook contradic- 
 tion, were forward in giving information to the 
 magistrate on those whom they called heretics, 
 and in prompting him, where there appeared a 
 remissness, to inflict the punishments which the 
 imperial edicts had denounced, To such are 
 these words of Hilary very pertinently addressed : 
 Misereri licet nostrce cetatis ktborem, et pr&sen- 
 tium temporum stidtas opiniones congemiscere, 
 miibus patrocinari Deo humana creduntur, et ad 
 iuendam Christi ecclesiam ambitione seculari labo- 
 ratur. Oro vos, episcopi, quibusnam suffiragiis ad 
 prcedicandum evangel'mm apostoli usi sunt ? Quibus 
 adjuti potestatibus Christum prwdicamrunt, gen- 
 tascjue fere omnes ex idolis ad Deum transtule- 
 runt ? Anne aliquam sibi assumebant e palatio dig- 
 nitatem, hymnum Deo in carcere inter catenas et 
 fiagella cantantes ? Edictisque regis Paulus 
 Christo ecclesiam congregabat ? Nerone se, credo, 
 a lit Vespasiano patrocinantibus, tuebatur, quorum 
 in nos odiis confessio divbue prcedkationis effloruit ? 
 Jit nunc, proh dolor ! dhinam fidem siiffragia 
 tcrrena commendant inopsque virtutis suoz ChrTs- 
 tus^ dum ambiiio nomini suo conciliatur, arguitur. 
 Terret exiliis et carceribus ecclesia, credique sibi 
 
 cogit, 
 - 
 
pot 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 2.97 
 
 cogit, quie exillis et career ibus credita est ;' pen- 
 det a dignatione communicantiinn, quie persequen- 
 tium est consecrata terrorS ; fugat sacerdotes, quad 
 fugatis est sacerdotibus propagata, diligi sese glo- 
 riatur a mundo, quit Christi esse non potuit, nisi 
 mundus earn odisset. Such were the sentiments 
 of St. Hilary, for he has obtained a place in the 
 calendar, which I take notice of the rather, that 
 we may perceive, in the stronger light, the dif- 
 ferent temperaments which prevailed in the saints 
 acknowledged by Rome, who belong to different 
 ages. Light and darkness are not more opposite 
 than the spirit of a St. Hilary, in the fourth cen- 
 tury, and the spirit of a St. Dominic, the inventor 
 of the inquisition, and the butcher of the Albi- 
 genses, in the thirteenth. But this by the way. 1 
 I return to the early times. 
 
 It happened, not often at first, that on account 
 of sedition, real or pretended, the peison accused 
 of heresy was punished capitally. This, if people 
 were not satisfied of the reality of the sedition, 
 rarely failed, for some ages, to raise against the 
 informers, especially if pastors, much clamour 
 and scandal. Our Lord's words, / came not to 
 destroy mens Ikes, but to save them, had not yet 
 totally lost their force among christians. The 
 spirit of the master, and that of the servant, made 
 too glaring a contrast to escape the notice of 
 those who had anv knowledge and reflection. 
 
 Indeed, 
 
££S LECTURES ON 
 
 Indeed, for several ages, those ministers who 
 thought themselves warranted to call in the se- 
 cular arm, did not think themselves authorized 
 to proceed so far, as to be aiding in what might 
 affect either life or members. They therefore 
 abstained not only from giving information where 
 there was any danger of this kind, but from ap- 
 pearing at the secular tribunal in any capacity, 
 unless that of intercessor in behalf of the accused. 
 And this office was not in them, as it is in the 
 clergy of some Romish countries at present, un- 
 der a disguise of mercy, quite transparent, a down- 
 right insult upon misery. But a long tract of 
 time was necessary before matters could be 
 brought to this pass. St. Martin, in France, 
 (another instance of humanity and moderation, 
 even in those whom Rome now adores as saints) 
 excommunicated a bishop in the fifth century, 
 for accusing certain heretics to the usurper Max- 
 im-us, by whose means he procured their death. 
 That worthy minister declared, that he consi- 
 dered any man as a murderer, who was accessary 
 to the death of another, for being unfortunate 
 enough to be mistaken in his opinions. On this 
 foot, however, things remained till the year 800. 
 It belonged to councils and synods to determine 
 what is heresy, but (except in what relates to 
 church censures) the trial, as well as the punish- 
 ment, of the heretic, was in the magistrate. Nei- 
 ther 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. £.99 
 
 ther was the punishment legally capital, , unless 
 when the heresy wjas accompanied with crimes 
 against the state. That this pretence was often 
 made without foundation, by men of an into- 
 lerant temper, there is little ground to doubt. 
 
 About this time happened what is called the 
 great schism of the east, the breach betwixt the 
 Greek and the Latin churches, since which 
 time, till the destruction of the eastern empire 
 by the Turks, the cause of heresy and schism 
 remained in the Greek churches on the same 
 footing as before. In the west, however, it has 
 undergone immense alterations ; insomuch, that 
 the popular sentiments concerning zeal and 
 charity have long. stood in direct opposition to 
 those which obtained, and rendered the christian 
 character so completely amiable, as well as 
 venerable, in the days of the martyrs. ' Indeed, 
 for some centuries, particularly the eighth, ninth, 
 and tenth, remarkable for nothing so much as 
 the vilest superstition and grossest ignorance, 
 and for insurrections, revolutions, and confu- 
 sions, every where, heretics and sectaries made 
 but little noise, and were as little minded. With 
 the revival of knowledge, even in its dawn, 
 these also revived. There is no human blessing 
 without some foil. But considering the gross- 
 ness of the reigning superstition, one might be 
 
 at 
 
SOO 1ECTURES ON 
 
 at a loss to say, whether any new absurdity 
 could be, comparatively, pronounced an evil. 
 Whatever served to rouse men out of their 
 lethargy, seemed to promise good in its conse- 
 quences. 
 
 LEG- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 301 
 
 LECTURE XXVI. 
 
 AFTER the year 1100, in consequence of the 
 perpetual jars which had been betwixt the popes 
 and emperors for more than fifty years back, 
 and which still subsisted, and in consequence of 
 the frequent wars and scandals in the christian 
 world, and the irreligious lives of the clergy, 
 innumerable heretics sprang up, whose heresies 
 (as they are called) were commonly levelled 
 against ecclesiastical authority, the abuse of 
 which was, indeed, so excessive, and so flagrant, 
 as to give but too much weight with every body, 
 to the severest reproaches that could be uttered. 
 All attacks upon received doctrines must ulti- 
 mately affect the power by which they are esta- 
 blished. But when the assault is made directly 
 on that power, the fabric of church authority 
 is in the most imminent danger. The aim 
 of the former is only to make a breach in the 
 wall of the edifice, but that of the latter is an 
 attempt to sap the foundation. As we have 
 seen all along that the darling object of Rome 
 
 is 
 
30£ LECTURES ON" 
 
 Is power, to which every other consideration m 
 made to yield, we may believe that attempts of 
 this kind would excite a more than ordinary re- 
 sentment. This, in fact, was the consequence : 
 an unusual degree of rancour in the ecclesias- 
 tics, more especially in the pontiff and his mi- 
 nions, mingled itself with their bigotry or mis- 
 taken zeal, (for it would be unjust to impute the 
 effect to either cause separately) and produced 
 the many bloody, and, till then, unexampled 
 scenes of cruelty, which ensued. 'The popes, 
 by letter, frequently excited the bishops as well 
 as princes, the bishops instigated the magistrates, 
 by all possible means, to subdue or exterminate 
 the enemies of the church. When the number 
 of these enemies was so great, that it was im- 
 possible to attain this end by means of judica- 
 tories, civil or .ecclesiastical, princes were en- 
 joined, on pain of excommunication, interdict, 
 deprivation, &c, to make war upon them, and 
 extirpate them by fire and sword. And in order 
 to allure, by rewards, as well as terrify by punish- 
 ments, the same indulgences and privileges were 
 bestowed on them who engaged in those holy 
 battles, and with equal reason, as had been be- 
 stowed on the crusaders, who fought for the re- 
 covery of the holy sepulchre against the. Sara- 
 cens hi the cast. 
 
 It 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 503 
 
 It was not till the year 1200 that the names 
 inquisition into heresy, and inquisitor, were 
 heard of. The bishops and their vicars beiriir, 
 in the pope's apprehension, neither so fit nor so 
 diligent as he desired and thought necessarv in 
 such a cause, there were, at that time, oppor- 
 tunely for his purpose, two new orders of regu- 
 lars instituted, those of St Dominic, and those 
 of St Francis, both zealously devoted to the 
 church, and men with whom the advancement 
 of Christianity, and the exaltation of the ponti- 
 fical power, were terms perfectly synonymous. 
 To St. Dominic, indeed, the honour of first 
 suggesting the erection of this extraordinary 
 court, the inquisition, is commonly ascribed- It 
 was not, however, in the beginning, on the 
 same footing on which it has been settled since, 
 and still continues. The first inquisitors were 
 vested with a double capacity, not very happily 
 conjoined in the same persons ; one was, that of 
 preachers, to convince the heretics by argument; 
 the other, that of persecutors, to instigate ma- 
 gistrates, without intermission, to employ every 
 possible method of extirpating the contumacious, 
 that is, all such as were unreasonable enough not 
 to be convinced by the profound reasonings of 
 those merciless fanatics and wretched sophisters. 
 I may add a third, that of being spies for Rome, 
 on the bishops, on the secular powers, and on 
 
 the 
 9 
 
304 LECTURES ON 
 
 the people, both Romish and heretical. They 
 had it in charge to make strict inquiry, and re- 
 port to his holiness the number and quality of 
 the heretics, the zeal discovered in those called 
 catholics, the diligence of the bishops, and the 
 forwardness or backwardness which they found 
 in the secular powers, to comply with the desires 
 of the pope. It was from this part of their 
 charge in particular, that they were denominated 
 inquisitors. They had, however, no tribunals. 
 Only they stirred up judges to banish, or other- 
 wise chastise those heretics, whom they brought 
 before them. Sometimes they excited potentates 
 to arm their subjects against them; at other 
 times they addressed themselves to the mob, and 
 inflamed the populace whom they headed, to 
 arm themselves, and join together in extirpating 
 them. For this purpose they put a cross of 
 cloth upon the garments of those, who were 
 willing to devote themselves to this service, and 
 titled them crusaders. This badge (for a badge 
 in such cases is of great consequence, it matters 
 little what it be, whether a red cross, or a blue 
 cockade) operated like a charm on those holy 
 idiots, (pardon the misapplication of the epithet 
 holy in conformity to the style of the barbarians 
 spoken of) and gave the finishing stroke to 
 their delusion. If they were inflamed before, 
 they now became infuriate, and raised to a super- 
 celestial 
 2 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 305 
 
 celestial sort of virtue, which defies all the 
 humbler restraints of reason and humanity. In 
 this way things continued till the year 1250. 
 that is, for half a century. 
 
 The attempts of the fathers inquisitors during 
 that period, were greatly aided by the emperor 
 Frederic the second, who, in the year 1224, being 
 in Padua, had promulged four edicts in rela- 
 tion to this matter, taking the inquisitors under 
 his protection, imposing on obstinate heretics 
 the punishment of fire, and perpetual imprison- 
 ment on the penitent, committing the cogni- 
 zance of the crime to the ecclesiastical, and the 
 condemnation of the criminal to the secular 
 judges, This was the first law which made 
 heresy capital. This, however, at first, by reason 
 of the circumstances of the times, and the dif- 
 ferences which soon arose betwixt the pope and 
 the emperor, had not all the effect that might 
 have been expected from it, However, it proved 
 very pernicious in example, in denouncing against 
 heresy the punishment of death, to which, be- 
 fore that time, it had never been by law sub- 
 jected. The example was, besides, of a most 
 cruel death ; which, nevertheless, came gradu- 
 ally to be adopted, almost universally, into the 
 laws of other countries. 
 
 After the death of Frederic, which happened 
 about the middle of the century, pope Innocent 
 
 vol, ii- X the 
 
£06 lectures on 
 
 V 
 
 the fourth remaining, as it were, sole arbiter of 
 affairs in Lombarcly, and some other parts of 
 Italy, applied his mind to the extirpation of 
 
 r heresies, which, during the late troubles in the 
 state, had increased exceedingly. And, con- 
 sidering the labour which had hitherto been em- 
 ployed in this service, by the Franciscan friars, 
 as well as the Dominican, whose zeal and dili- 
 gence, unrestrained by either the respect of per- 
 sons, or the fear of dangers, by any regards to 
 justice, or feelings of humanity, recommended 
 them highly to the pontiff; he judged it the 
 
 . surest remedy, to avail himself of their ardour 
 and abilities, not as formerly, in preaching, or 
 even enlisting crusaders, and inflicting military 
 execution, but by erecting them into a standing 
 tribunal, with very extensive authority, and no 
 other charge than that of the expurgation of 
 heretical pravity. 
 
 There were two objections against this expe? 
 dient One was, that this judicatory appeared 
 an incroachment on the jurisdiction of the or- 
 dinary, or bishop of the place ; the other was, 
 that it was unprecedented, that the secular 
 magistrate, to whom the punishment of heretics 
 was committed, should be excluded from the 
 trial and judgment. All the imperial laws 
 hitherto, even the last severe law of Frederic, 
 and the municipal statutes of every country, 
 
 liad 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 307 
 
 had put the cognizance of the fact, and the trial 
 of the accused, though not the description of 
 the crime, , into the hands of the magistrate. 
 For removing the first difficulty, the pope de- 
 vised this temperament : he made the tribunal 
 consist of the inquisitor, and the bishop of the 
 place ; wherein, however, the inquisitor was not 
 only to be principal, but, in effect, every thing, 
 the bishop having little more than the name of 
 a judge. For removing the second, and in order 
 to give some appearance of authority to the 
 secular powers, they were allowed to appoint the 
 officers to the inquisition, but still with the 
 approbation of the inquisitors, and to send with 
 the inquisitor, when he should go into the coun- 
 try, one of their assessors, whom the inquisitors 
 should chuse. A third part of the confiscations 
 was to go to the community, in return for which 
 the community was to be at all the expence of 
 keeping the prisons, supporting the prisoners, 
 Sec. These things made the magistrate, in ap- 
 pearance, co-ordinate with the inquisitor, but, 
 in reality, his servant. The infliction of the 
 legal punishment was also in the magistrate, 
 after the heretic had been tried and condemned 
 by the inquisitors. But this was so much a 
 thing of course, and which he well knew he 
 could not avoid executing, without incurring 
 the vengeance of the church, that in this he 
 X 2 was, 
 
508 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 was, in fact, no better than the spiritual judge's 
 executioner. His office was, in no respect, ma- 
 gisterial, it was merely servile. 
 
 On tills footing the inquisition was erected in 
 the year 1251, in those provinces in Italy most 
 under the pope's eye, Romania, Lombardy, 
 Marca Trevigiana, and entrusted to Dominican 
 friars. Afterwards it was extended to more dis- 
 tant provinces. Thirty-one rules, or articles, 
 denning the powers and jurisdiction, and regu- 
 lating the procedure of this new judicatory, were 
 devised; and all rulers and magistrates were 
 commanded, by a bull issued for the purpose, to 
 give, under pain of excommunication and inter- 
 dicts, punctual obedience, and every possible 
 assistance to this holy court. The inquisitors 
 were empowered to fulminate against the re- 
 fractory. 
 
 Afterwards, in the year 1484, king Ferdinand 
 the catholic, having put a period to the reign of 
 the Mahometans in Granada, did, to purge his 
 own, and his consort Elizabeth's dominions, 
 from both Moors and Jews, erect, with consent 
 of pope Sextus the fourth, a tribunal of inquisi- 
 tion in all the kingdoms possessed by him, which 
 took cognizance not only of Judaism and maho- 
 inetism, but also of heresy and witchcraft. 
 The form of the judicatory then introduced, 
 and' stilr remaining there is, that the king nomi- 
 
 9 nates 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 30$ 
 
 nates an ecclesiastic to be general inquisitor for 
 all his dominions, and his holiness confirms him, 
 if he approve the choice; for he may reject 
 him if he please. The inquisitor named by the 
 king, and confirmed by the pontiff, names the 
 particular inquisitors destined for every place, 
 who, before entering on their office, must obtain 
 the royal approbation. The king, besides, de- 
 putes a council, or senate, over this business, 
 who sit where the court resides, and of which 
 the inquisitor general is president. This council 
 has supreme jurisdiction, makes new regulations 
 when it sees occasion, determines differences 
 between particular inquisitors, punishes the fault* 
 of their officers, and receives appeals. From, 
 Spain it extended to its dependencies, and was 
 introduced into Sicily, Sardinia, and the Indies. 
 
 Attempts, however, of this kind, have, not 
 proved equally successful in all Roman Catholic 
 states, or even the greater part of them. It was 
 never in the power of the pope to obtain the 
 establishment of this tribunal in many of the 
 most populous countries in subjection to the see 
 of Rome. In some it was introduced, and soon 
 after expelled, in such a manner as effectually 
 to preclude a renewal of the attempt. The dif- 
 ficulties arose from two causes : one was, the 
 conduct of the inquisitors, and their immoderate 
 severity, as well as their unbounded extortion 
 X 3 and 
 
310 LECTURES ON 
 
 and avarice, to which I may add, the propensity 
 they showed, on every occasion, to extend, be- 
 yond measure, their own authority ; insomuch, 
 that they were proceeding to engross, on one 
 pretext or other, all the criminal jurisdiction of 
 the magistrate. Under heresy, they insisted 
 that infidelity, blasphemy, perjury, sorcery, poi- 
 soning, bigamy, usury, were comprehended. The 
 other cause was, that the tribunal was found to 
 be so burdensome, that the community refused 
 to be at the expence. In several places it was 
 found necessary to ease the public of this charge, 
 and in order to abate somewhat of the excessive 
 rigour, which had raised so much clamour against 
 it, a greater share of the power was given to the 
 bishop. These things served to facilitate its in- 
 troduction into Tuscany and Arragon, and even 
 into some cities of France ; but in this last 
 country it was not long permitted to remain. 
 
 It. is not intirely on the same footing in the 
 different places where it has been received. In 
 Spain and Portugal this scourge and disgrace of 
 humanity glares, monster like, with its most 
 frightful aspect. In Rome it is much more 
 tolerable. Papal avarice has served to counter- 
 balance papal tyranny, and, in defect of a better 
 principle, produced what, if it do not deserve 
 the name, has some (ft the good consequences 
 of moderation. The wealth of modern Rome 
 
 arises 
 5 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 311- 
 
 arises very much from the constant resort of 
 strangers of all countries and denominations, 
 and, for the most part, of the higher ranks.. 
 Nothing would prove a more effectual check to 
 that resort, and, consequently, to the unceasing 
 influx of riches into that capital, than such a 
 horrid tribunal as those which, from Lisbon and 
 Madrid, diffuse a terrour which is felt in the ut- 
 most confines of those miserable kingdoms. In 
 Venice it is, indeed, as moderate as it is possible 
 for a judicatory to be, which is founded on a 
 principle not more false than tyrannical, that 
 men are responsible for their opinions to any 
 human tribunal. But the particular constitu- 
 tion of that court was settled by an express 
 stipulation between the pontiff and the state. 
 The Venetian senate would not admit an inqui- 
 sition into their dominions on any other terms, 
 than such as secured at least some regard to 
 justice and humanity in their proceedings, and 
 prevented them from extending their jurisdiction 
 beyond the original limits, or arriving at an in- 
 dependency on the secular powers. With so 
 much caution and jealousy did that wise aristo- 
 cracy guard against the incroachment of the 
 church. 
 
 It is no more than doing justice to many 
 
 Roman Catholic states to acknowledge, that 
 
 they are almost as much enemies to that infernal 
 
 X 4 tribunal, 
 
$1$ LECTURES ON 
 
 tribunal, as even protestants themselves. Nor 
 can I in this be justly accused of advancing 
 any thing rashly, the tumults which the attempts 
 to introduce it into some parts of Italy, Milan 
 and Naples in particular, and afterwards into 
 France, and other countries called catholic, and 
 its actual expulsion from some places, when, to 
 appearance, settled, are the strongest evidences 
 of the general sentiments of the people con- 
 cerning it. It is only to be regretted, that 
 those who, in this matter, think as we do, should 
 be inconsistent enough to imagine, that a des- 
 potism, which required for its support such dia- 
 bolical engines, could, with any propriety, be 
 said to come from God. But so far have those 
 called christians departed from the simplicity 
 that is in Christ, that they will admit any rule 
 forjudging of the title of prophets, or teachers, 
 in divine things, rather than the rule given by 
 him whom they call Master. By their fruits 
 shall ye knozv them. Do men gather grapes of 
 thorns, or jigs of thistles ? No test of a divine 
 mission, if Jesus Christ may be credited, is of 
 any- significance without this. 
 
 It may not be improper to conclude our ac- 
 count of the origin of the inquisition, with a 
 few things in illustration of the spirit in which , 
 it proceeds, that every one may have it in his 
 power to judge, whether the relation it bears to 
 
 the 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 313 
 
 the spirit of Christ foe denominated more pro- 
 perly resemblance, or contrariety. It is so tar 
 from following the rules of almost all other tri- 
 bunals, where any regard is shown to equity, or 
 the rights of human nature, that, in every re- 
 J spect, where the ecclesiastic power has not been 
 ehecked by the secular, those rules have been 
 reversed. The account is intirely just, as far as 
 it goes, which is given by Voltaire of the Spanish 
 inquisition, and he might have added, of the 
 Portuguese, for both are on the same model. 
 " Their form of proceeding is an infallible way 
 " to destroy whomsoever the inquisitors please." 
 And let it be observed, that they have strong 
 motives for destroying a rich culprit, as their 
 sentence of condemnation is followed by the 
 confiscation of all his estate, real and personal, 
 of which two-thirds go to the church, and one- 
 third to the state ; so that it may be said, with 
 the strictest propriety, that the judges themselves 
 are parties, having a personal interest in the 
 issue against the prisoner. • • The prisoners are 
 tf not confronted with the accuser or informer." 
 Nay, they are not so much as told who it is that 
 informs. His name is kept secret to encourage 
 the trade of informing. And, surely, a better- 
 expedient could not have been devised for pro- 
 moting this dark business, than by thus securing 
 jtt once concealment and gratification, with im- 
 punity, 
 
314 LECTURES ON 
 
 punity, to private malice, envy, and revenge. 
 Further, " there is no informer, or witness, who 
 <c is not listened to. A public convict, a noto- 
 tc rious malefactor, an infamous person, a com-. 
 '- mon prostitute, a child, are in the holy office, 
 " though no where else, creditable accusers and; 
 " witnesses. Even the son may depose, against 
 " his father, the wife against her husband/' 
 The detection of the grossest prevarication in 
 the delator and witnesses is hardly ever punished, 
 unless with a very gentle rebuke ; let it be ob- 
 served, by the way, that to the profligate and 
 abandoned they can be very gentle, for they 
 dread, above all things, to do aught that might 
 discourage informers, spies, and witnesses. And. 
 that there may be no risk of a want of informa- 
 tion, they have, in all parts of the kingdom, 
 spies of all different qualities, who are denomi- 
 nated the familiars of the holy office, a place of 
 which even men of high rank are sometimes 
 ambitious, from different motives, some for the 
 greater personal security, others because it em- 
 powers them to take a severe revenge on their 
 enemies, and others, no doubt, because they 
 think they do God good service. The wretched 
 prisoner is no more made acquainted with his 
 crime than with his accuser. His being told the 
 one, might possibly lead him to guess the other. 
 To avoid this, he is compelled, by tedious con- 
 finement, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 515 
 
 finement, in a noisome dungeon, where lie never 
 sees a face but the jailor's, and is not permitted 
 the use either of books, or of pen and ink, or, 
 when confinement does not succeed, he is com- 
 pelled, by a train of the most excruciating tor- 
 tures, " to inform against himself; to divine 
 " and to confess the crime laid to his charge, of 
 " which often he is ignorant." An effeetual 
 method to bring nine- tenths of mankind to con- 
 fess any thing, true or false, which may gratify 
 their tormentors, and put an, end to their misery. 
 " This procedure," adds our historian, " un- 
 " heard of till the institution of this court, 
 " makes the. whole kingdom tremble. Suspicion 
 " reigns in every breast. Friendship and open- 
 " ness are at an end. The brother dreads his 
 " brother, the father his son. Hence taciturnity 
 *' is become the characteristic of a nation en- 
 " dued with all the vivacity natural to the in- 
 " habitants of a warm and fruitful climate. To 
 " this tribunal we must likewise impute that 
 " profound ignorance of sound philosophy, in 
 u which Spam lies buried, whilst Germany, 
 " England, France, and even Italy, have disco- 
 " vered so many truths, and enlarged the sphere 
 " of our knowledge. Never is human nature 
 1 ' so debased, as where ignorance is armed with 
 
 M power. 
 
 In 
 
JlO LECTURES ON 
 
 In regard to the extent of power given to In* 
 rpiisitors by papal bulls, and generally admitted 
 by the secular authority in those countries where 
 the inquisition is established, I shall give the 
 few following instances out of many that might 
 be produced. First, it is ordered, that the con- 
 victs be burnt alive, and in public ; and that all 
 they have be confiscated : all princes and rulers 
 who refuse their concurrence in executing these 
 and the other sentences authorized by the church, 
 bhall be brought under censure, that is, anathe- 
 matized and excommunicated, their states or 
 Kingdoms laid under an interdict, &c. The 
 house also, in which the heretic is apprehended, 
 must be razed to the ground, even though it be 
 not his, but the property of a person totally un- 
 suspected. This ferocious kind of barbarity, so 
 utter iy irreconcilable to all the principles of 
 equity, is, nevertheless, extremely politic, as it 
 is a powerful means of raising horrour in the 
 ignorant populace, and of increasing the awe of 
 this tribunal in men of all denominations, who 
 must consider it as extremely dangerous to have 
 the smallest connection with any person suspected 
 of heresy, or so much as to admit him into their 
 houses. The inquisitors are also empowered to 
 demand of. any person whom they suspect, (and, 
 for their suspicions, they are not obliged to give 
 a reason) that he solemnly adjure heretical opi- 
 nions. 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL KLSTORV. 3 3 7 
 
 nions, and even give pecuniary security that he 
 shall continue a good catholic. The court of 
 inquisition are also privileged to have their own 
 guards, and are authorized to give licences to 
 others to cany arms, and to enlist crusaders. * 
 One of Paul the ivth's bulls does not allow a. 
 reprieve from the sentence to one who, on the 
 first conviction, recants his opinion, if the heresy 
 be in any of the five articles mentioned in that 
 bull. But what is, if possible, still more into- 
 lerable, is that, by a bull of Pius the vth, no sen- 
 tence in favour of the accused shall be held a 
 final acquittal, though pronounced after cano- 
 nical purgation ; but the holy office shall have 
 it in their power, though no ntw evidence or 
 presumption has appeared, to recommence the 
 trial, on the very same grounds they had exn- 
 mined formerly. This ordinance ensures to 
 the wretch, who has been once accused, a course 
 of terrour and torment for life, from which no 
 discovery of innocence, though clear as day, no 
 judgment of the court can release him. Ano- 
 ther bull of the same pontiff ordains, that who- 
 ever shall behave injuriously, or so much as 
 threaten a notary, or other servant of the inqui- 
 sition, or a witness examined in the court, shall, 
 beside excommunication, be held guilty of high 
 treason, be punished capitally, his goods con- 
 fiscated, his children rendered infamous, and in- 
 capable 
 
318 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 capable of succeeding to any body by testament. 
 Every one is subjected to the same punishment, 
 who makes an escape out of the prison of the 
 office, or who attempts, though unsuccessfully, to 
 make it ; and whoever favours or intercedes for 
 any such. In these clauses, persons of the 
 highest rank, even princes, are comprehended. 
 
 Every one must be sensible, that there is 
 something in the constitution of this tribunal 
 so monstrously unjust, so exorbitantly cruel, 
 that it is matter of astonishment, that in any 
 country, the people, as well as the secular pow- 
 ers, would not rather have encountered any 
 danger, than have submitted to receive it. Nor 
 can there be a stronger evidence of the brutish 
 ignorance, as well as gross depravity of any na- 
 tion, than that such a judicatory has an esta- 
 blishment among them. The exorbitance of 
 their power, as well as the pernicious tendency 
 of their rules, are, in effect, acknowledged by 
 their superiours at Rome. In a directory printed 
 there, by authority, in 1584, it is said expressly, 
 that if the inquisitors were resolved to exercise 
 their power in its utmost extent, they could, 
 with facility, drive the whole people into rebel- 
 lion. Now if the power be so excessive and so 
 hazardous, what shall we say to this additional 
 cireumstance that attends it, that it is, in several 
 instances, SO ill defined, as to furnish a pretext 
 
 to 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 31$ 
 
 to liim who is possessed of it, whenever his am- 
 bition or inclination leads him, of stretching it 
 to any extent. This, indeed, may be said to be 
 consequent on all exorbitant power. Though 
 all the power of a state or nation be not for- 
 mally giren to one particular branch or member, 
 if so much is given to it, that what remains is 
 too weak to serve as a control upon it, the 
 whole is virtually given to it. And if, in Spain 
 and Portugal, the ecclesiastical power has not 
 swallowed up the secular, and thereby engrossed 
 the whole authority, they are more indebted to 
 the light which has been diffused through the 
 test of Europe, in these latter centuries, and the 
 jealousy oT the other European states, than to 
 any remains of either sense or virtue in those 
 nations themselves. It must be attended to, 
 that the ecclesiastic power, in every country, 
 which acknowledges the pope, is but a branch 
 of a foreign jurisdiction, namely, that of Rome. 
 Now it is the interest of the secular powers, in 
 every kingdom and state, to take care that the 
 foreign power, the papal, (absurdly called the 
 spiritual) do not quite overwhelm the temporal, 
 either among themselves, or in any other king- 
 dom or state. For if it should in any country, 
 there would be ground to dread, that with such 
 acquisitions it might gradually prove an over- 
 match for the civil powers in every other, Now 
 
 thi3 
 
325 LECTURES ON 
 
 this is a danger to which popish countries are 
 much more exposed than protestant. In the 
 former, Rome is already possessed of a consider- 
 able share of jurisdiction, and has great influ- 
 ence on the minds of the people ; whereas, in 
 the latter, she has neither jurisdiction nor influ- 
 ence ; and, consequently, could have no hold 
 for effecting a revolution in her favour. With 
 these she could do nothing but by invasion and 
 conquest, for which, with all her advantages, 
 she is very ill furnished. That Spain and Por- 
 tugal, therefore, as civil powers, are of any 
 weight in the balance of Europe, they owe more 
 to the discernment, the vigilance, and the virtue 
 of others, than to their own. 
 
 From what has been said, we may remark by 
 the way, the injustice there is in so connecting, 
 or associating the Romish religion with the in- 
 quisition, as to conclude, that to be a Romanist* 
 and to be a friend to v that tribunal, denote one 
 and the same thing. The case is so far otherwise, 
 that we are, on the best grounds, warranted to 
 affirm, that nine-tenths of that- communion de- 
 test the inquisition as much as we do. And of 
 this the most irrefragable evidences have been 
 given in France, in Germany, and even in Italy 
 itself. How they should have the inconsistency, 
 notwithstanding this, to acknowledge a power 
 as from God 2 which has found it necessary to 
 
 recur 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 3&1 
 
 recur to expedients so manifestly from hell, so 
 subversive of every principle of sound morality 
 and religion, can be regarded only as one of 
 those contradictions, for which human charac- 
 ters, both in individuals and in nations, are often 
 so remarkable. That the policy of Rome bears 
 the marks not of the wisdom which is from 
 above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, 
 and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and 
 good fruits, without partiality, and without 
 hypocrisy ; but of that which flows from a very 
 different source, and is earthly, sensual, devilish, 
 is so manifest, that the person who needs to be 
 convinced of it, seems to be beyond the power 
 of argument and reason. 
 
 Upon the whole, how amazingly different, 
 nay, how perfectly opposite in disposition, in 
 maxims, and in effects, are the spirit of primi- 
 tive Christianity, and the spirit of modern Rome? 
 Let any considerate and ingenuous mind impar- 
 tially examine. and say, Are heaven and hell, 
 Christ and Belial, more adverse than the pictures 
 I have, in this discourse, arid the preceding 1 , 
 exhibited to your view ? Let it be observed also, 
 that these are not caricatures drawn by enemies, 
 but the genuine features, as exhibited in the 
 works of their own authors. 
 
 vol. ii. Y LEO 
 
322 , lectures o: 
 
 LECTURE XXVIL 
 
 I HAVE now given you some account of tlier 
 lise and progress of the spirit of persecution in 
 the church, and have particularly traced the 
 origin, and unfolded the constitution of that 
 dreadful tribunal, the inquisition. Ye must have 
 perceived, that in every thing which relates to 
 the procedure of that court, there is an unre- 
 lenting barbarity, which bids defiance to all the 
 principles of justice ; and as, in all respects, it 
 is without example in past ages* so I hope it will 
 remain without a parallel in future. The favour- 
 ers of ecclesiastic tyranny, sensible of the horrid 
 appearance which the rapacity, as well as the 
 ferocity of this tribunal exhibits, and the very 
 unfavourable conclusion it suggests to the dis- 
 cerning, have put their ingenuity to the rack to. 
 devise reasons, or what may pass with their vota- 
 ries for reasons, in support of it. 
 
 According to Fra Paolo, in his account of the 
 inquisition of Venice, amongst other peculiarities 
 of the holy office in that state, which were, I may 
 
 say, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY". 323 
 
 say, extorted by the secular from the ecclesiastic 
 power, one is, that they do not admit the con- 
 iiscation of the property of the accused, whether 
 he be present and convicted, or declared contu- 
 macious, and condemned in absence ; but ap- 
 point that his estate, both real and personal, 
 sliall go to his lawful heirs, as though he had 
 died a natural death. lie says, very justly, in 
 vindication of this article, that it is always per- 
 nicious, to mingle pecuniary matters with what 
 concerns religion, which ought to proceed solely , 
 from a view to the glory of God. For when 
 men see, that the zeal of the judges, in consign- 
 ing heretics to the flames, is the sure means of. 
 procuring great acquisitions of worldly pelf, it 
 will be impossible to prevent their being scanda- . 
 lized, or to persuade them, however true, that 
 the service of God was the sole, or even the 
 primary motive. He adds, the court of Rome 
 never ceases, on every occurrence, to blame this 
 Venetian ordinance, reckoning, that the mode- . 
 ration enjoined by the most serene republic re- 
 proaches the Roman ordinance- with excessive 
 severity. That, says he, which their partizans 
 maintain in public in defence of their own prac- 
 tice is, that heresy is treason against the divine 
 Majesty, which it is proper to avenge more 
 severely than treason committed against a human 
 creature ; and that therefore it is a perversion of 
 Y 2 order 
 
324 LECTURES ON 
 
 order, when he who offends man receives a greater 
 punishment, than lie who offends God. Now 
 treason against man is punished with the confis- 
 cation of goods, much more then ought treason 
 against God, a crime always incurred by heresy, 
 to be so punished. 
 
 I shall give you this author's answer, rendered 
 literally from his own words, in a work written 
 in Italian, published at Venice, a Roman Catho- 
 lic state, and composed by order of the Doge, 
 the chief magistrate of the republic, to whom 
 it is dedicated. And I desire you further to 
 take notice, that the author is not only a Roman 
 Catholic, but a priest, nay, a friar. When this 
 is considered, you will be surprized much more 
 at what he controverts with the advocates of 
 papal despotism, than at what he yields to them. 
 il This argument," says he, " more specious 
 : ' than solid, is as a shadow without a body. 
 " For it would condemn their own constitutions, 
 " which pardon heresy the first time, upon 
 '■' being recanted ; whereas treason against the 
 " sovereign is not,' on any terms, pardoned even 
 " the fust time ; whence it would follow, that 
 " by their own reasoning, they make less ac^ 
 '• count of offending God than of offending 
 " man. But the truth is, that in imposing 
 • punishments, respect is had not solely to the 
 '• hcinousness of the transgression, but to the 
 
 " attendant 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 325 
 
 u attendant circumstances of the injury done 
 • to others, of the baseness wherewith the 
 " action was accompanied, or of the malignity 
 " of disposition shown by it. Royal majesty is 
 fi not injured, unless through the evident malice 
 " and intention of the offender, whereas heresy 
 " is commonly the effect of ignorance. Hence 
 " this almost always merits compassion, that 
 " never. Penalties are intended more for an 
 " example to others, than for the chastisement 
 " of the delinquent. Tlie confiscation of goods 
 " for treason terrifies others, who are restrained, 
 " through love to their offspring, preferring 
 " their interest to the gratification of those pas- 
 " sions, which instigate them against the prince. 
 " But in the case of heresy, every one conceives 
 " himself incited by spiritual motives, to which 
 " all regards to family ought to be postponed. 
 " The event demonstrates, that through divine 
 ■' grace, this most happy state of Venice, whose 
 " clemency gives great and universal satisfac- 
 " tion. remains as free from the tares of heresy, 
 " without pillaging any man, as other states 
 " where this pillage is made with the utmost 
 " rigour. Wherefore, without regard to the 
 " rules, examples, or reflections of others, it is 
 ■" proper for us to preserve those usages, of 
 " whose utility we are ascertained by experi- 
 (i ence." 
 
 Y 3 Thus 
 
326 LECTURES ON 
 
 Thus far our author. He admits the argu- 
 ment used by Ptome to be specious. And so it 
 is, doubtless, to a Roman Catholic, It falls in 
 with his earliest and most rooted prejudices, and 
 suits the mode of reasoning, to which he has 
 been habituated from his infancy. To a judi- 
 cious and consistent protestanr, it is a palpable 
 sophism, and has as little speciousness as soli- 
 dity. It is, in effect, the same argument, of 
 which I showed the futility in a former discourse, 
 with only the change of the term. There the 
 misapplication was of the word blasphemy ; here 
 it is of the word treason. The abuse of the 
 term is, in this instance, if possible, still more 
 flagrant than in the other. In treason there is 
 always a malicious design against the life or 
 crown of the sovereign ; there is nothing analo- 
 gous to tfeis in what they call heresy. On the 
 contrary, the principal inducement with the 
 alleged heretic, to bear his suffering patiently, 
 is an opinion (which, whether true or false, is 
 genuinely his opinion) that he thereby honours 
 God, does his duty, and discharges his consci- 
 ence, What they call obstinacy, he cannot 
 avoid considering as perseverance and christian 
 fortitude, both of which are incumbent, and 
 very important duties. A retractation not pro- 
 duced by conviction, but extorted by terrour, 
 for himself and his children, , he docs, and must 
 
 consider, 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 327 
 
 €r5nsidcr, as a real defection from God, a betray- 
 ing of the rights of conscience and of the in> 
 terests of truth, as the vilest hypocrisy and im- 
 piety. Nay, it cannot be considered otherwise 
 even by his tormentors themselves, who are 
 always ready to acknowledge the guilt of a false 
 confession, (to which they are doing their utmost 
 to bring the prisoner). At the same time, I ac- 
 knowledge, that there is a sort of treason in 
 heresy,; but it is not treason against God, nor 
 is it treason against the state, but it is treason 
 against the priesthood ; for whatever calls its in'- 
 fallibity in question, as an avowed difference in 
 religious opinions undoubtedly does, is an attack 
 upon the hierarchy, and, consequently, subver- 
 sive of the more than royal pretensions of church 
 authority. This is the true source of that ran- 
 cour and virulence, with which this imaginary 
 crime has been persecuted by popes and' ecclesi- 
 astics, and by none more than by those, whose 
 whole lives bore witness, that they regarded no 
 more the principles than the precepts of that re- 
 ligion, for which they seemed to be inflamed 
 with a zeal so violent. 
 
 I shall only add on this subject, that if there 
 were no other article, (as there are more than 
 fifty) we should have here sufficient ground for 
 confuting those bold pretensions to constancy 
 and uniformity in religious sentiments, in what 
 Y4 is 
 
LECTURES ON 
 
 i$ called the catholic church, with which the 
 bishop of Meaux introduces his history of the 
 variations of protestants*. Opinions, on the 
 subject I have been treating, more opposite to 
 those held universally by christians of the first 
 three centuries, than those openly avowed by 
 the Romish church in latter ages, and strenu> 
 ously supported by her rulers, it would be imr 
 possible to conceive. But of this I have given 
 sufficient evidence in the two preceding dis* 
 courses. The difference is, indeed, great in this 
 respect, between romanists of the two last ages 
 and christians of the fourth and fifth; but in 
 these there cannot be said to be a direct contra- 
 riety. Changes of this kind are always gradual 
 In regard to the present century, there are some 
 evident symptoms, that even in Roman Catholic 
 countries, the tide of opinion on these articles 
 begins; to turn, and that their notions are be-? 
 Coming daily more favourable to right reason, 
 justice, and humanity. Every sincere protestant 
 will rejoice, in the change. But how much, on 
 the other hand, will it prove to such a subject 
 of heart-felt sorrow,, when he sees, in any pro- 
 testant nation, (.as sometimes undeniably hap- 
 pens, and of which we had some terrible exam- 
 ples in this very island, no farther back than the 
 
 * See the preface to that workl 
 
 years 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. S£<? 
 
 years ' seventeen, hundred and seventy-nffie,and 
 eighty) a strong propensity to those very princi« 
 pies, which are the surest badge of spiritual tyran- 
 ny, and have long remained the distinguishing 
 disgrace of Roman usurpation. 
 
 I have now illustrated, with as much brevity 
 as the subject would admit, Rome's three great 
 engines for promoting catholic ignorance, and 
 preventing every acquisition in knowledge which 
 might prove subversive of her high pretensions ; 
 first, the concealment of scripture from the peo- 
 ple, and even of the import of the forms of pub- 
 lic worship, by the daily use of a dead language ; 
 secondly, the prohibition, under the severest pe- 
 nalties, of every thing which might serve to en- 
 lighten and undeceive the world ,* and thirdly, 
 their system of persecution. The first two were 
 chiefly calculated for preventing all intercourse 
 with that most formidable enemy of superstition, 
 knowledge; the third intended principally for 
 checking its progress wherever it appears to have 
 made any advances ; and that both by silencing 
 all who had ventured to listen to her dictates ; 
 and, by deterring others from the imitation of 
 those over-curious enquirers, who are not satis- 
 fied to see with other men's eyes, md hear with 
 other men's ears, but would have more light and 
 information on the most interesting of all sub- 
 jects, 
 
330 lectures ob- 
 
 jects, than their ghostly fathers think their or* 
 gans capable of beai ing. 
 
 The second expedient, however, is of a later 
 date than the other two ; for, though there were 
 prohibitions of books some centuries before the 
 reformation, they were very general, and related 
 only to the books of those, who had been by the 
 church declared heretics. It was not till after 
 the invention of printing, nay, and after the re- 
 formation, that the indices expurgatorii were de- 
 vised.. These have improved this engine, by giv- 
 ing it all the perfection whereof it is susceptible. 
 If they had timely thought of smothering the art 
 of printing in its infancy, which was about the 
 middle of the fifteen tli century, I believe this 
 preventive device, as it was simpler, would have 
 been more easily executed, and more effectual, 
 than that corrective expedient of the index, which 
 was adopted afterwards. Simpler, because pre- 
 ventive, doing the business at once ; whereas, the 
 corrective method stands incessantly in need of 
 additions made to it, on account of the many 
 volumes which are annually, in all parts of Eu- 
 rope, issuing from the press; and which, from 
 the easy intercourse that now obtains between 
 different, and even distant, nations, are quickly 
 circulated through the whole. It might also 
 have been more easily executed; for, though 
 
 there 
 
FXCLESIASTICAfe -HfSTORY. 331 
 
 there were' many of those called heretics then 
 scattered through the world, they were not per- 
 sons of any rank or influence, nor was there, at 
 that time, any nation in the west, which had se- 
 parated from Rome. And though, as was before 
 observed to you, every state had not admitted 
 the inquisition, the paramount authority of Rome, 
 in spirituals, was acknowledged, and in matters 
 that seemed to regard solely the purity of the 
 faith, very implicitly submitted to by all. 
 
 Nay, the ignorance and most absurd preju- 
 dices of the age might have been of great service 
 to the ecclesiastics in securing success to the pre- 
 ventive remedy, if it had but occurred to their 
 reverences, and been attempted in time. There 
 was then not only a strong, and, I may say, an 
 universal belief in sorcery, and judicial astrology, 
 but the first specimens that were exhibited of 
 the typographical' art were, in fact, strongly sus- 
 pected to be derived from the suggestion of evil 
 spirits. And this itself proved the foundation of 
 a great deal of trouble and persecution to John 
 Faust, the inventor, (whom some of you perhaps 
 will know better by the name of Doctor Faustus. ) 
 Nor did his acquittal by the parliament of Paris, 
 when prosecuted before them for magic, remove 
 the suspicions, which the people had entertained 
 concerning him ; insomuch, that there was no 
 defect of combustible materials for the ecclesiastic 
 
 thunders 
 
S32 LECTURES ©N 
 
 thunders to set on fire, if the matter had been 
 timely attended to. But Mentz, the city where 
 printing was first attempted, lay luckily at a great 
 distance from Rome ; in consequence of which, 
 this admirable invention had advanced too far, 
 was grown too considerable, and had gotten too 
 many rich, and great, and learned patrons, to 
 support it, before an alarm of sufficient force 
 to destroy it could be given ; whereas, had the 
 attempt at printing been first made in the heart 
 of Itaty, where that terrible Argus, the pope and 
 conclave, is ever on the watch, or in Spain, or 
 Portugal, under the eye of a vigilant and able 
 inquisitor, capable of foreseeing the consequences 
 to the empire of ignorance and superstition, there 
 is reason to believe, that the inventor, though in' 
 effect a greater benefactor to the human race, 
 than all the conquerors and heroes that ever ex- 
 isted, one who has done more to enlighten and 
 civilize mankind than even the wisest legislators, 
 had, in reward of his ingenuity, been put to an 
 ignominious and tormenting death, his name 
 branded with indelible infamy, and this most 
 useful and beautiful invention had been stifled m 
 the cradle, and never more heard of. If this had 
 been accomplished, no body can doubt, that it 
 would have been a much more, effectual method 
 than the index for answering their purpose; for 
 that would have struck at the root of the 
 
 evil, 
 
• -■ - ■ < 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. gSS 
 
 evil, whereof this serves only to lop off the 
 branches. 
 
 13ut it pleased providence to bless with success 
 the noble discovery, which has brought learning, 
 formerly inaccessible to all bat men of princely 
 fortunes, withjn the reach of persons in moderate 
 circumstances, and has diffused, almost every 
 where, a knowledge which has proved more bane- 
 ful to the cause of superstition and tyranny, than 
 any event that has happened since the first pro- 
 mulgation of the gospel. Knowledge had, in- 
 deed, been gaining ground for some centuries 
 before, but its progress was slow. This served 
 to accelerate its progress to an inconeeivable de- 
 gree. Light, acquired by one, was quickly dif- 
 fused every where, and communicated to multi- 
 tudes. Nor was it only by a wider diffusion, but 
 by occasioning also an immense increase o'L 
 knowledge, that the discovery of the typographic 
 art proved the source of the changes, which were 
 soon after effected. When, by the remarkable 
 facility of communication, learning w 7 as brought 
 within the reach of the middle ranks, the dead 
 languages became a very general study. The 
 scriptures were read by most students in the La- 
 tin vulgate, and, by a few deeper scholars, in the 
 Greek. The early writers of the church were 
 also read. Reading naturally brought reflection, 
 and occasioned comparison. They could hardly 
 
 avoid 
 2 
 
534 LECTURES ON 
 
 avoid comparing the simplicity, and poverty, and* 
 meanness, in respect of worldly circumstances, 
 of our Lord, and his apostles, and most of the 
 primitive saints and martyrs, with the pomp, and 
 splendour, and opulence, of the rulers of the 
 church in their own days. It is said, that a pic- 
 ture which Huss had procured, and exhibited to 
 the people, wherein the entry of our Lord into 
 Jerusalem, riding on an ass, attended by his dis- 
 ciples on foot, in a very homely garb, was con- 
 trasted by a procession of the pope and Cardinals, 
 in their pontifical habits, and magnificently 
 mounted on the finest horses, richly caparisoned, 
 and adorned with gold and silver and jewels, did 
 not a little contribute to excite the indignation 
 of spectators against their spiritual lords, as bear- 
 ing no resemblance to those meek, humble, and 
 unassuming men, from whom they pretended 
 to derive all their high powers and preroga- 
 tives. 
 
 But the difference, in respect of wealth and 
 worldly grandeur between the predecessors and 
 their pretended successors, would not have had 
 a great effect, had this been the only difference. 
 It was but too evident, that the disparity was not 
 less in disposition and character than in external 
 circumstances. When once the clergy of any 
 note had gotten considerably above the middling 
 ranks of life, and lived not only in ease, but in 
 
 opulence, 
 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 335 
 
 opulence, and even in splendour, it was but too 
 visible, that, in proportion as they became more 
 rich and powerful, they grew less active and use- 
 ful. They lived in luxury and idleness, often in 
 the most gross and scandalous vices. As to what 
 were properly the duties of their charge, the in- 
 struction of the people, and presiding in the pub- 
 lic worship, and sacred offices among them, these 
 were but too commonly considered as a sort of 
 drudgery, very unsuitable to men of their dig- 
 nity and figure, and were therefore either totally 
 neglected, or devolved on those whose poverty, 
 however ill qualified they were, might induce 
 them, for a living, to undertake the task. At 
 the same time, whatever could be considered as 
 a prerogative, or privilege of the office, whatever 
 could contribute to the augmentation of their 
 riches, or of their power, was contended for with 
 such an earnestness and zeal, as the M apostles and 
 primitive martyrs never displayed, unless in sup- 
 port of the faith and religious institution once 
 delivered by their master unto the saints. 
 
 Thus every thing had run into extremes among 
 them. The dignified clergy, as they were both 
 wealthy and powerful, were generally lazy, proud, 
 ambitious, envious, vindictive, and sometimes 
 profligate. Those again, on whom the burden 
 of the service was devolved, as they were both 
 needy and dependent, and often ignorant, had a 
 1 share 
 
336 LECTURES ON 
 
 share of the vices, which commonly accompany 
 those circumstances. They were false, merce- 
 nary, and servile. How much men were con- 
 firmed in the very worst opinions, which had been 
 formed of the order, by the great schism in the 
 papacy, which lasted about half a century, when 
 the christian world was divided between two, at 
 first, and afterwards three, rival popes, some na- 
 tions adhering to one, and others to another, 
 each claiming to be the only true head of the 
 church, and calling every other an usurper, it 
 would be superfluous to remark. It was this 
 division in the popedom, both in the head, and 
 in the members, which, as much as any thing, 
 exposed, in the strongest light, the irreligion, 
 the worldly ends, the vile intrigues, and even 
 the infamy, of ecclesiastic leaders. I would not, 
 however, be understood, in the character now 
 given, as meaning to include all without excep- 
 tion. I know that, even in the worst times, 
 there were both in the higher and in the lower 
 ranks of clergymen, exceptions of persons, whose 
 characters were irreproachable, and lives exem- 
 plary. But what I say regards the generality, 
 or the much greater number, of the clerical body. 
 And for the truth of it, I desire no other vouchers. 
 than their own most celebrated historians and 
 writers, men who not only lived and died in the 
 communion of Rome, but also were zealous for 
 
 preserving 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 337 
 
 preserving her unity, and advancing her honour. 
 It will readily be admitted, as a circumstance of 
 additional weight, that the different kingdoms 
 and states of Europe had, at length, attained a 
 better defined and more settled constitution than 
 formerly ; that statesmen had begun to entertain 
 more extensive views of policy, and princes to 
 understand better their own rights and interests. 
 As men's eyes were opened, they saw more clearly 
 the encroachments and usurpations of the priest- 
 hood. This discovery, co-operating with the 
 Abhorrence and contempt they entertained of 
 many of the priests themselves on personal ac- 
 counts, namely, the neglect or prostitution of 
 the sacred functions, and the dissoluteness of 
 their lives, led them to enquire a little into the 
 foundations of the high powers and privileges 
 which they claimed. This was a subject, that 
 would not bear examination. As the great foun- 
 dations of the hierarchy were in the people's ig- 
 norance, superstition, and credulity, when these 
 are removed, the whole fabric falls to pieces. 
 
 Now it is remarkable, that in all the heresies 
 which sprang up in the different parts of Europe, 
 since the revival of letters, church power seems 
 to have been the principal object struck at. 
 Whereas, in ancient times, it was only incident- 
 ally affected. This will appear manifest to one 
 who considers the accusations brought against 
 - vol. ii. Z Waldo, 
 
&S8 LECTURES 0*1? 
 
 Waldo, of Lions, or at least his followers, Wic- 
 lifT of England, Huss of Bohemia, Luther of 
 Germany, and Zuinglius of Switzerland ; and 
 compares them with those brought against the 
 heresiarchs of the primitive ages, such as Arius. 
 Pelagius, Nestorius, Eutychius, in none of whom 
 was there any. direct or pointed aim against eccle* 
 iiastics. In those early times, indeed, church 
 power, far from being grown up to such an enor- 
 mous pitch as it arrived at afterwards, was but in 
 its nonage ; nor were churchmen themselves be- 
 come obnoxious to universal odium, by their lazi- 
 ness and arrogance, as well as by the immorality 
 of their lives. This difference of circumstances 
 gave a taint to the modern sects, which plainly 
 distinguished them from the ancient, and con- 
 tributed not a little to the virulence, which their 
 disputes excited in their a'dversaries. The wounds 1 
 given to these were the deeper, and the more 
 apt to fester, inasmuch as they awaked in their 
 breasts a consciousness, that they were not unme- 
 rited. Those antagonists saw but too clearly, that 
 the majority, even of their friends, who would 
 iiot admit the conclusions drawn by the reformers, 
 [as they called themselves, or heretics, as their 
 enemies called them) agreed but too much with 
 them, in their premises : a reflection which could 
 not fail to gall them exceedingly. 
 
 T6§ 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 839 
 
 The usurpation and tyranny of ecclesiastical 
 stiperiours, the ignorance in which they kept the 
 people, were at first almost the only topics. From 
 this they proceeded to censure practical abuses in 
 ceremonies and discipline. The third and last 
 step of their progress was to expose errours in 
 doctrine. In these, indeed, when once they were 
 propounded for discussion to the public, they 
 laid the principal stress of their cause. These 
 they considered as the source of every thing else 
 that was amiss. But it was not with them that 
 they began. The shameful incontinence and 
 debauchery of the clergy were the occasion, that 
 very early and very generally the canons, which 
 enjoin celibacy, became the subject of offence 
 and clamour. The absurdity of reading the scrip- 
 tures to the people, and performing the public 
 offices of religion in a language which they do 
 not understand, it required but a small share of 
 knowledge, or rather of reflection and common 
 fcense, to enable them to discover. The manifest 
 inconsistency of the practice, which had been 
 introduced, had gradually spread, and Was at last 
 become universal, of administrating the eucha- 
 iist to the people in one kind only, the bread, 
 (the inconsistency of this I say) with the express 
 vords of the institution, recorded in no fewer 
 than four books of scripture ; the exorbitant 
 power nnd immunities, which, through the c:# 
 Z 2 miaal. 
 
LECTURES ON 
 
 minm, as well as weak, indulgence of the secular 
 powers, clergymen had obtained, and of which 
 they made so bad a use, afforded matter c/ loud 
 and universal outcry. 
 
 For some centuries before Luther's days, these, 
 and the like corruptions, had been the subject 
 of complaint and murmur in various places. But 
 from the time of Wi cliff 's preaching in England, 
 snd sending abroad his sentiments to the world 
 Latin tracts, which was near a century and a 
 half before the reformation, men's attention was 
 roused to such topics, and people grew bolder 
 every day in speaking out their opinions. What 
 they had ventured only to mutter, as it were, in 
 a whisper before, they did not hesitate to pro- 
 claim in the most public manner. Ye know the 
 influence which WiclifY's doctrine had, even in 
 the remote kingdom of Bohemia, and the un- 
 happy fate (I mean to outward appearance) of 
 his two famous disciples, John Huss and Jerom 
 of Prague. I do not say that in all things they 
 adhered to the opinions of the celebrated English 
 doctor. But as in what relates to the corruptions 
 of the church, and of the clergy, the exorbitance 
 
 ".and abuse of ecclesiastic power, they were evi- 
 dently his followers; so by his writings and ex- 
 amnle they were emboldened to give an open tes- 
 timony to the truth in their native country, and 
 
 *c then- blood in Constance. This, 
 
 though 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 341 
 
 though it be not considered as the era of the re- 
 formation, for it happened about a ccnturybefore 
 the public remonstrances of Luther, is justly re- 
 garded as having paved the way for it. WiclifY 
 had left a seed of reformation in England, which 
 it was not in the power of the combined rulers, 
 both spiritual and temporal, to destroy. The 
 martyrdom of Huss and Jerom by the Romish 
 sanhedrim, at Constance, confederated with the 
 imperial authority basely prostituted in violation 
 of plighted faith, through the accursed casuistry 
 of those bloody and deceitful men, proved, as 
 in primitive times, the means of promoting, and 
 not of obstructing, the cause. In short, men 
 were now arrived at such a measure of know- 
 ledge, as rendered the methods employed to keep 
 their minds in subjection, formerly so successful, 
 perfectly ridiculous. The clergy had lost that 
 veneration and respect from the people, which 
 mere external trappings, and arrogant preten- 
 sions, had once been found sufficient to secure 
 to them. Nay, so much were the sentiments of 
 many of the laity changed in regard to those 
 articles, that the spiritual denunciations and 
 curses, (when unaided by the secular arm) which 
 would have made their forefathers tremble, served 
 only to make them smile. 
 
 Thus stood matters, in regard to religion, 
 throughout Europe, about the, end of the fifteenth^ 
 Z 3 and 
 
342 tfcCTtfftES ON 
 
 and beginning of the sixteenth, centufy. No? 
 thing could he mofe evident to men of discern- 
 ment, than that Christendom was ripe for a revo- 
 lution in its ecclesiastical polity, arid seemed only 
 to wait for a favourable occasion. Such an occa* 
 sion, the avarice of pope Leo the tenth, and the 
 impiety, as. well as indiscretion, 6f his ministers 
 and agents, soon furnished. The use that was 
 made of that occasion, and the effects produced 
 by it, I shall briefly consider in my next 
 kcture, 
 
 LEC- 
 
2CCLESIA.STI.GAL -HISTORY. 
 
 LECTURE XXVIII. 
 
 1-N *pife- of all the endeavours, so assiduously 
 used by Rome, to shut out the light of the un- 
 derstanding, and to keep men's minds in bond- 
 age, in spite of all her affected mysteriousness in 
 religious offices, and even in the lessons she gives 
 publicly from the word of God, by employing a 
 language unknown to the vulgar, in spite of her 
 prohibitions with regard to books, and her inqui- 
 sitions into heresy, it was impossible for her so 
 to exclude the dawn of truth, now rising on the 
 world, after a long and dreary night of supersti- 
 tion and ignorance, as to prevent the discovery 
 both of the weakness of her empire, and of the 
 badness of the foundation on which it stands. 
 Men were become at length pretty generally dis- 
 posed to listen to those; who declaimed against 
 their spiritual guides, whose faults they could not 
 now avoid perceiving. They no longer enter- 
 tained for them the blind veneration, wherewith 
 they had formerly been affected. Nay, they 
 seemed to be running fast into the opposite ex- 
 
 Z 4 treme, 
 
344 LECTURE* ON* 
 
 treme, that of entertaining for their ecclesiastical 
 superiours an immoderate aversion and contempt 
 The pride, the avarice, the ambition, the laziness, 
 and the sensuality of the clergy were never-fail- 
 ing topics of satire every where. 
 
 If things had not been in this train, when Lu- 
 ther began his public declamations against the 
 validity of indulgences, and other powers, which 
 Rome had usurped over the christian people, 
 converting their ignorance and brutishness into 
 useful engines for filling her coffers ; that great 
 reformer had never been so successful amongst 
 all ranks and degrees of people, as he evidently 
 proved. But as the knowledge and personal ex- 
 perience of the much greater part of his hearers 
 perfectly confirmed the severest of his censures, 
 he found no difficulty in fixing their attention, 
 and in exposing, to the conviction of many, the 
 total want of support from scripture, reason, and 
 antiquity, of the arrogant claims to dominion, 
 which had been raised by their spiritual guides. 
 It is indeed manifest, that when Luther first 
 assumed the character of reformer, he had no 
 intention, nor even idea, of proceeding so far as 
 he afterwards found himself under a necessity of 
 going. He first struck only at the abuse, which 
 had proved the immediate handle of examining 
 the papal prerogatives. And though from the 
 beginning he did not ascribe to the pope that 
 
 omni- 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 3*5 
 
 omnipotence, which has not very decently &i a 
 attributed to him by the canonists, he was, - on 
 the other hand, tar from disputing his primacy, 
 or even his supremacy, in any sense short of ab- 
 solute despotism. 
 
 It has often been objected to him, and his fol- 
 lowers, under which denomination the Romanists 
 are wont to include all protectants, that he him- 
 self appealed to the pope from the judgment of 
 his antagonists, that he declared repeatedly, that 
 lie would be determined by his judgment ; and 
 yet, when his holiness interposed, and gave judg- 
 ment on the question in debate, he did not de- 
 part, in the smallest circumstance, from the doc- 
 trine he had' maintained in direct contradiction 
 to that judgment. The truth, I believe, is : 
 when Luther declared, his submission to Rome, 
 he spoke sincerely, though unadvisedly :.he flat- 
 tered himself, that the reasons which had influ- 
 enced his opinion were exceedingly plain, and 
 could not fail to influence the pontiff's, when 
 examined seriously. I do not question, that he 
 was then willing to impute the scandals and 
 abuses committed in preaching the indulgences, 
 more to the instruments employed than to the 
 employer; and persuaded himself, that when the 
 pope should be informed of the whole, he could 
 not avoid being ashamed of the conduct of his 
 agents, and would justify Luther, so far, at least, 
 
 as 
 
34$ LECTURES ON 
 
 as either to recal, or to qualify, the powers which 
 had been given in relation to indulgences, and 
 to pronounce no censure on the principles, which, 
 on this subject, had been maintained by that ap- 
 pellant. Perhaps he even thought that, through 
 the superintendency of providence, (for at that 
 time he seems to have entertained no sentiments 
 hostile to the monarchical form of church go- 
 vernment) such a scandal would be prevented, 
 as the public justification of a doctrine of the 
 most pernicious tendency, disseminated by many 
 of the monks on this occasion. 
 
 j[5ut whatever was his opinion in regard to the 
 conduct which would be held by Rome, certain 
 it is, that he was egregiously disappointed. His 
 doctrine was solemnly anathematized and con- 
 demned by the pope as heretical ; he himself was 
 commanded^ within a limited time, to recant, on 
 pain of incurring all the censures and punish- 
 ments denounced against obstinate heretics. Lu- 
 ther then but too plainly perceived/ that he had 
 not sufficiently known himself, when he pro- 
 fessed such implicit submission to the pope. By 
 his preaching and publications he had involved 
 Jiimsclf in controversy, and brought a number of 
 adversaries upon him. This set him upon en- 
 quiring into the foundations of the received doc-* 
 trine, and examining the fabric of ecclesiastic 
 dominion which had been erected. Both these 
 
 he 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 347 
 
 he had, before that time, received as submissively 
 as any the most implicit son of the church. Nei- 
 ther of them could bear a critical examination. 
 Of this, the further lie went, he had the fuller 
 evidence. 
 
 It was not easy for any man, especially a man 
 of so sanguine a temper, and of so great acute- 
 ness, to confine himself entirely to those topics, 
 which gave rise to the debate. We must be sen- 
 sible, it would have been the more difficult, when 
 the humour of his antagonists is duly considered. 
 They argued from principles generally received 
 at the time, and which he thought himself under 
 a necessity <either to admit or to deny. This led 
 him to enquire into those principles, and the en- 
 quiry often terminated in a detection, as he 
 thought, of their falsehood. He was too honest, 
 and too intrepid, not to avow the discovery, and 
 this always engaged him in a new controversy. 
 The scholastic art oi disputation then in vogue, 
 which abounded with subtle, but unmeaning, 
 distinctions, mi^'ht have given him considerable 
 assistance in eluding the address and malice of 
 his enemies, without explicitly declaring himself 
 on several points, which they had very artfully 
 dragged into the dispute. That this should be 
 their method we cannot be surprized. The more 
 articles of the received doctrine they could, by 
 plausible inference, show his principles to be 
 
 subversive^ 
 
345 LECTURES ON 
 
 subversive of, the more they exposed him to po- 
 pular odium, and embarrassed him for a reply. 
 The success, however, of his preaching, and of 
 his writings, was so far beyond expectation, that 
 he was not discouraged from going as far into 
 every question as bis adversaries could desire. 
 
 Nay, now that he was led into the discussion, 
 now that Rome had gone all the lengths which 
 his enemies could desire, now that the rupture 
 was complete, he seemed forward to examine 
 every thing to the bottom. He was no longer 
 desirous of keeping any measures with the eccle- 
 siastical establishment. The whole fabric ap- 
 peared ruinous. No soundness in the materials 
 of which it had been raised. Rottenness was 
 discernible in every part.; In spite of all the arts 
 of his enemies, who to argument were not slow 
 in employing more formidable weapons, in spite 
 of the power, as well as number, of those he had 
 to contend with, his doctrine spread and gained 
 proselytes every day. Among these were some 
 of high rank and consideration, who were able to 
 protect him, and did protect him, against all the 
 dangers with which he was environed. The in- 
 fluence of his doctrine is not to be judged of 
 barely by the converts which he made. The con- 
 version of so many kingdoms and principalities 
 to his system, though the greatest, was not the 
 on iy effect of his teaching. It waked men tho- 
 roughly 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 34$ 
 
 roughly out of that profound sleep, in which the 
 understandings of the far greater part lay buried, 
 and roused a spirit of enquiry, that has not been 
 without effect in countries which still continue 
 Roman catholic, in humanizing the spirits and 
 bringing even their theologians to extenuate, by 
 refined explanations, not dreamt of in former 
 ages, the absurdities of popery itself. 
 
 It has been objected to protestants, that Luther 
 preserved no uniformity, or even consistency, of 
 conduct, with regard to Rome : that he professed 
 the utmost submission to whatever sentence she 
 should pronounce, before it was pronounced, and 
 paid no regard to common decency afterwards ; 
 allowed himself to be so much transported by 
 passion and resentment, as to give vent to the 
 grossest scurrilities and abuse ; nay, that adopt- 
 ing the very spirit of that power against, which 
 he declaimed, he, as it were, erected himself into 
 a counter-pope, retaliated upon the Roman, pon- 
 tiff, by returning excommunication for excom- 
 munication, and burning the pope's bulls and 
 decretals, in return for the burning of his' 
 books. 
 
 ' Rational protestants do not hesitate to acknow- 
 ledge both the inconsistency of his conduct, and 
 the violence of his passion. Their faith standeth 
 not in the wisdom of man, but in the power of 
 God. It pleased God to make men the instru- 
 ments, 
 
350 LECTURES 6x 
 
 ments of effecting the wonderful revolution, 
 which, in the course of his providence, was to be 
 produced. And doubtless, those men are entitled 
 to some honour, on account of the character 
 which they bore, and the virtues which they dis- 
 played, as instruments of providence for promot- 
 ing our good. They served as monitors from 
 God, for rousing our attention to the dangers 
 wherewith we were surrounded, for bringing us 
 to assert the rights pf men, and of christians, of 
 using the reason which God hath given us, in 
 judging for ourselves, in what concerns our high* 
 est interest, for time and for eternity. But then, 
 we say, they were sent, not to command us to 
 receive the doctrine of eternal life implicitly froni 
 them, but to excite us to search the scriptures, 
 to enquire and decide for Ourselves. Their inter- 
 position, in offering their sentiments in contra- 
 diction to their superiours, could be defended 
 only on the right of private judgment, and on' 
 tiiis fundamental tenet, that God, having given 
 us his written word for our rule, had seen no ne- 
 cessity for empowering any man, or number of 
 men, to serve as an infallible interpreter of his 
 will. A character, therefore, which they had 
 declared unnecessary, and which they found no' 
 man or society entitled to assume, they could 
 not consistently arrogate to themselves. And if 
 2fly of them presumed to do so, or acted in suelt 
 
 a «aan 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 35 i 
 
 a manner as implied this presumption, they were 
 entitled to no regard from their hearers. Pro- 
 testants, so far from asserting the infallibility of 
 the reformers, do not affirm that they were in- 
 spired. They were admonishers, not dictators. 
 If even of the apostles, who were endowed with 
 the miraculous gifts of the spirit, and often both 
 spoke and wrote by inspiration, much more of 
 the reformers, concerning whom the same things 
 cannot be affirmed, we ought to be followers no 
 further than they were of Christ. They spoke 
 as to wise men — it belonged to the hearers to 
 judge what they said. 
 
 It is admitted also as undeniable, that the re- 
 formers, who arose about the same time in differ- 
 ent places, differed on several articles in the doc- 
 trine which they taught. This was particularly 
 the case of Luther and Zuinglius, the two earliest 
 As long as they confined themselves to the abuse- 
 which had, from worldly motives, been intro- 
 duced into the church, there was a wonderful 
 harmony among them all. The sale of indul- 
 gences, the celibacy of the clergy enforced by 
 canon, the with-holding of the eucharistical cup 
 from the people, the religious service in an un- 
 known tongue, the worship paid to images and 
 relics, the invocation of saints and angels, the 
 clerical usurpations of secular power, the rcndei 
 ing of church censures Hibaervient to the avarice 
 
 and 
 
352 LECtUfcES Oft 
 
 and ambition of ecclesiastics, were practical cor* 
 ruptions in worship and discipline, wherein all 
 the reformers were agreed. In these points, and 
 several others such as these, a majority of tire 
 people would, I am persuaded, in most christian 
 countries, have been found to concur. 
 
 We ought to consider it as a very strong proof 
 of this, that some of those articles had afforded 
 matter of general complaint for a long time be- 
 fore. Thus the permitting of the clergy to marry, 
 the allowing of the cup to the people, the perform- 
 ing of the religious Offices in the language of the 
 country, had afforded matter of application to 
 popes and councils for more than a century back. 
 In regard to the corrupt use so flagrantly made 
 of excommunications and indulgences, the scan- 
 dal was in a manner universal ; nor was there a 
 country, province, or city of note, where there 
 were not frequent murmurs against the exorbi- 
 tant power and wealth, and the consequent lazi- 
 ness and arrogance, of churchmen. And if their 
 idolatries and superstitious usages did not excite 
 the like general offence, it is more to be ascribed 
 to this consideration, that the knowledge of the 
 scriptures had hardly yet descended to the lower 
 ranks. But we may rest assured of it, that the 
 increase of this knowledge, and the decrease of 
 superstition and idolatry, must have accompanied 
 each other, 
 
 Wlieri 
 
ecclesiastical history. , 353 
 
 When a man enters keenly into controversy 
 bii any subject, it is impossible to say (unless he 
 is uncommonly circumspect) how far it may 
 canv him. It generally leads to the discussion 
 of questions little connected with that which be- 
 gan the dispute. In this warfare, a man is so 
 much at the mercy of his antagonist, that if he 
 enter into it with more warmth than circumspec- 
 tion, he will follow his enemy that he may fight 
 him, wheresoever he shall shelter himself; and 
 in this way, both combatants come to be soon off 
 the ground on which the combat began. Exactly 
 such a disputant was Luther. And this may be 
 said, in a great measure, of all who had a leading 
 hand in the reformation. To conquer the foe, 
 wherever he was, came, ere they were aware, to 
 be more an object to them, than to drive him off 
 the field, and keep possession of it. In conse- 
 quence of this tendency, they were often diverted 
 from the subject. From plain and practical 
 questions, both parties soon turned aside into the 
 dark recesses of metaphysics, where they quickly 
 bewildered themselves in a labyrinth of words. 
 Such was the unhappy consequence of their dog- 
 matizing on abstruse, not to say unintelligible, 
 points of scholastic theology, wherein it might 
 often admit a doubt, whether the same thing was 
 meant by them under different expressions, or 
 different things under the same expression ; nay, 
 
 vol. ii. A a some- 
 
354f LECTURES ON 
 
 sometimes whether either party had any meaning 
 at all to what he said. Though the reformers, 
 mid Luther in particular, were far from being de- 
 ficient in the powers of reasoning, they were men 
 of strong passions, and great ardour of spirit. 
 This rendered them liable to be drawn off from 
 the subject ; and, when heated with contradic- 
 tion, to -go such lengths as cool reflection could 
 not justify. We ought to remember too, that, 
 being ecclesiastics, some of them regulars, they 
 had been inured to all the scholastic quibbles and 
 chicanery in vogue at the time, and from which 
 it was impossible,, that, without a miracle, they 
 should entirely emancipate themselves. We 
 ought,- also, to make allowances for some theo- 
 logical opinions, with which their minds had been 
 strongly prepossessed, long before they thought 
 of a breach with Rome. 
 
 Of* this sort of rooted prejudices was the doc- 
 trine of the real presence, as it was called with 
 the reformer Luther. This, on the one hand, 
 seems with him to have been a favourite princi- 
 ple, at the same time that, on the. other, the ha- 
 tred he had contracted to Rome, made him that 
 he could not bear to think of agreeing with her 
 almost in any thing. Therefore, though he 
 would have a real presence of Christ in the eucha- 
 rist, it must not be the popish real presence. Hi.4 
 :.? -rrnuity soon devised another. Accordingly, 
 
 trail- 
 9 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 355 
 
 transub st antiation was rejected, and consubstantia- 
 tion adopted in its stead. That is, the bread and 
 wine were not transubstantiated, or changed intg 
 the substance of the body and blood of Christ, 
 but the body and blood of Christ were eonsub- 
 stantiated, that is, actually present in, with, and 
 under, the elements of bread and wine, and were 
 therefore literally eaten and drunk by the com- 
 municants. In no part of Luther's conduct does 
 he appear so extravagant as in this absurd con- 
 ceit, as to which I agree with the bishop of 
 Meaux, that it has all the disadvantages which 
 the Romanists, and the Sacramentarians, charge 
 on one another, without having a single advan- 
 tage that can be claimed by either. It has all 
 the absurdity which the latter charge upon the 
 former, inasmuch as it represents the same body 
 existing in different places at the same time, and 
 inasmuch as it represents a substance existing 
 without its accidents, or under the accidents of 
 another substance , but has not the advantage 
 of simplicity which the Romish doctrine has, in 
 interpreting literally the words, This is my body. 
 The expression, on the Lutheran hypothesis, 
 ought to have been, not This is my body,. but In, 
 icith, and under, this is my body. For they main- 
 tain, that the bread remains unchanged, and is 
 that vyhich is seen, touched, and tasted ; but 
 that the body of Christ, the same which he had 
 A a 2 upon 
 
35 h £ EC? TURKS 0?? 
 
 upon the earth, and h;is now in heaven, accom- 
 panies the bread. It has all the obscurity which 
 the Romanists charge upon the Sacramentarians, 
 tiay, a great deal more, inasmuch as the words 
 are to he understood neither according to the 
 letter, nor according to any figure of speech ever 
 heard of -before. For, by their account^ it is nei- 
 ther literally Christ's body, nor figuratively the 
 sign or symbol of his body ; but it is something' 
 with which his body is accompanied. Indeed, 
 this novel hypothesis is, in every view, so extra- 
 vagant, that it is impossible to conceive whence 
 it could have originated, but from the collision 
 (if I may so express myself) of a strong preju- 
 dice in favour of the real presence, and a violent 
 inclination to dissent from Rome, as much as 
 possible, on every subject. 
 
 Tlie controversies in which this novelty of con- 
 substantiation involved him, not only with the 
 papists, but witli the Zuinglians, and othei re* 
 formers, drew him at last to take refuge in a 
 doctrine, if possible, still more extraordinary, the 
 ubiquity, that is, the omnipresence, and conse- 
 quently, the immensity, of the body and human 
 nature of Christ : hence they were called ubiqui- 
 tarians. This monstrous hypothesis was ima- 
 gined to remove all difficulties ; as though a less 
 absurdity (if there be degrees in absurdities) could 
 be removed by substituting a greater in its place. 
 
 But 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 357 
 
 But if this did in fact solve the difficulty, in re- 
 gard to the presence of Christ in the eucharist, 
 it sohed it by annihilating »the sacrament. For 
 what, I pray, on that hypothesis, were the sacra- 
 mental elements r They will not call them signs, 
 or figures, for that suits only the language of 
 those whom they denominated sacramentarians. 
 They could not, with the church of Koine, call 
 them the identical body and blood of Christ ; 
 for they do not think the elements changed or 
 transubstantiated. They remain as they were. 
 And if they should call them barely accompani- 
 ments of the body and blood of Christ, wherein 
 do they raise them above any other kind of food ; 
 for according to the ubiquitarian doctrine, the 
 body and blood of Christ being every whe/e, may 
 be justly said to be in, with, and uncle?-, every 
 morsel we eat, and every drop of liquor we drink, 
 and every breath we draw. Instead of raising 
 the sacrament, therefore, by this extravagant 
 conception, they destroy the distinction between 
 it and every ordinary meaL Nothing more com- 
 mon, when one attempts to explain what is inex- 
 plicable, and to defend what is absurd, than to 
 multiply absurdities, as one advances, and to 
 give one's self every moment more nonsense to 
 explain, and more to defend. 
 
 Let it not be imagined, that by these free re- 
 
 maiks on that first and most eminent reformer, I 
 
 A a 3 mean 
 
35$ LECTURES ON" 
 
 mean either to lessen his character, or to depre* 
 ciate his work. Few, on the contrary, have a 
 greater veneration for the one, or set a higher 
 value on the other, Luther had certainly great 
 qualities and virtues : he had also great faults; 
 but the former much preponderated. His pene- 
 tration and abilities were considerable. , I mean 
 his knowledge, his eloquence, his skill in dispu- 
 tation, and his readiness in rinding resources, 
 even in the greatest difficulties. But these are 
 only intellectual talents : he was largely supplied 
 with those active virtues, which are necessary 
 for putting the afore-named qualities to the best 
 account. A'n unconquerable zeal for what he 
 believed to be truth, constancy in maintaining 
 it, intrepidity in facing danger, an indefatigable 
 industry, in employing every opportunity that 
 offered for exposing errour and superstition, and 
 defending what he thought the unadulterated rer 
 ligion of Jesus Christ. But his virtues were not 
 without defects. Nay, his great qualities them- 
 selves were not untainted with those vices, to 
 which they are thought to bear an affinity. His 
 logical acuteness sometimes degenerated into 
 chicane. But this was the fault of the age he 
 lived in, and of his education. His zeal, and the 
 warmth of his temper, often betrayed him into 
 an unjustifiable violence. His magnanimity was 
 not untmctured with pride and resentment. . His 
 
 transports 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 359 
 
 transports "of rage, and even his buffooneries, 
 against the pope, did unspeakable injury to his 
 cause with the wiser and more intelligent part of 
 mankind; even with those who desired nothing 
 more ardently than a reformation from the cor- 
 ruptions which prevailed, and a defence of. chris- 
 tian liberty against the too well established ty- 
 ranny of ecclesiastical superiours. His persever- 
 ance would, perhaps, on some occasions, be more 
 properly termed obstinacy. When he had once 
 publicly supported a tenet, he seemed incapable 
 of lending an im»partial,ear to any thing advanced 
 in opposition to it. In short, what he did, and 
 what he was, notwithstanding his errours, justly 
 merit our admiration, especially when we consider 
 the times in which, and the people amongst, 
 whom he lived ; I may add, the kind of educa- 
 tion he had obtained. 
 
 No true protestant considers him, or any of 
 the reformers, as either apostle or evangelist. It 
 is a fundamental principle with such, to call no 
 man upon the earth master, knowing that we 
 have one master, one only infallible teacher, in 
 heaven, who is Christ. All human teachers are 
 no further to be regarded, than they appear, to 
 the best of our judgment, on impartial examina- 
 tion, to be his interpreters, and to speak his 
 words. The right of private judgment, in oppo- 
 sition to all human claims to a dictatorial autho* 
 A a 4 rity, 
 
^60 LECTUUE8 0¥ 
 
 rity, in matters of faith, is a point so essential to 
 protestantism, that were it to be given up, there 
 would be no possibility of eluding the worst re- 
 proaches, with which the Romanist charges the 
 reformation; namely, schism, sedition, heresy, 
 rebellion, and I know not what But if our 
 Lord, the great author and finisher of the faith, 
 had ever meant that we should receive implicitly 
 its articles from any human authority, he would 
 never have so expressly prohibited our calling any 
 man»upon the earth master, aaS^V, leader, or 
 guide. 
 
 A general dissatisfaction prevailed at the time. 
 By universal acknowledgment, things were not 
 as they ought to be. Abuses and corruptions 
 were on every hand complained of, and a cry for 
 reformation was every where raised. Such men 
 as Luther, at such a time, were well entitled to a 
 fair and patient hearing. But, on the other hand, 
 the hearers were also entitled to put this honour 
 upon themselves ; namely, to receive what was 
 spoken both by them, and by their antagonists, 
 as spoken to wise men, to weigh and judge what 
 was said. We are doubtless now, when the fer- 
 ment of disputation is over, in a better situation 
 for judging coolly and equitably of the merits of 
 those extraordinary preachers, than the people 
 who lived m that age. And upon the most deli- 
 berate examination, I believe the unprejudiced 
 
 will 
 6 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. S6\ 
 
 will admit, that, with all their imperfections, they 
 did unspeakable service to the interests of know- 
 ledge, of Christianity, and of human liberty. 
 
 Having said so muclj of their talents and vir- 
 tues, I shall, with all the deference due to the 
 judgment of my hearers, offer a few things in 
 regard to their defects and blemishes, particularly 
 considered as teachers. The first I shall observe 
 is an unavoidable consequence of the education 
 they had received, and the habits to which they 
 were inured ; a sort of metaphysical reasoning, or 
 rather sophistry, the genuine spawn of the scho- 
 lastic logic, which had for ages been in vogue, 
 and whieh, in some measure, tainted all their 
 disputes. This led them to dogmatize on every 
 point, and was that which first produced dissen- 
 tion among themselves. As long as they con- 
 fined their declamation to church tyranny, to the 
 correction of superstitious and idolatrous prac- 
 tices, to those clerical artifices for enhancing 
 power and wealth, which were subversive of 
 sound morality, they concurred harmoniously in 
 every thing ; but no sooner did they enter on 
 the endless and unprofitable discussion of abstruse 
 and unedifying questions, of which holy writ has 
 either said nothing, or given no decision, than 
 their harmony was at an end. They subdivided 
 immediately. They alarmed those who were in- 
 clined to think favourably of their cause. They 
 
 made 
 
362 LECTURES OK 
 
 made many retreat who had made advances, 
 They supplied their enemies with arms against 
 them, and made enemies of friends ; inasmuch 
 as many became enemies one to another. Then 
 arose the distinctions of Lutheran, and Zuingiian, 
 and Calvinist, and Sacramentarian, and Ubiqui- 
 tarian : the first three as implying not barely the 
 disciples of such particular teachers, but as the 
 partizans of different systems. By this conduct, 
 also, they furnished an argument to the common 
 enemy, to which I do not find that any sect has 
 yet given a satisfactory reply. " If these nice 
 4 and abstract questions, 1 ' said the Romanist, 
 '' about which ye make so great a bustle, are 
 ; really so essential to salvation, as ye pretend, 
 
 ■ it is impossible that the scriptures can be so 
 1 perspicuous as ye account them, else ye would 
 
 ■ never, after a careful examination, entertain 
 ' sentiments so .opposite in regard to those ques- 
 ' tions." What made the impropriety of their 
 
 conduct more flagrant, was, that they did not 
 treat those differences in opinion as matters of 
 small moment, as curious speculations with which 
 the pious and contemplative might amuse them- 
 selves, but on which, without afrepting their 
 christian character, persons might think differ- 
 ently. Far otherwise ; they treated them as 
 equally fundamental with those which they made 
 the subje-ct of their declamations against the con> 
 
 mon 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 36*3 
 
 jnon foe ; and were often transported "with equal 
 fury against one another, on account of those 
 differences, as they were against him. " Ye all 
 M appeal' 1 (said Frasmus, whom they wanted to 
 gain, and who at first appeared favourable, being 
 as much an enemy to superstition and ecclesiastic 
 tyranny as any of them, ye all appeal, said he) 
 " to the pure word of God, whereof ye think 
 1 ' yourselves true interpreters. Agree then amongst 
 " yourselves about its meaning, before ye pre- 
 li tend to give law to the world." " It is of 
 *' importance," said Calvin, in a letter to his 
 friend Melancthon, " that no suspicion of the 
 f ' divisions which are amongst us descend to fu- 
 *i ture ages ; for it is ridiculous beyond imagi- 
 " nation, that, after having broken with all the 
 " world, we should, from the beginning of our 
 ei reformation, agree so ill amongst ourselves. ; * 
 Indeed, this bad agreement, as it was a great 
 stumbling-block in the way of those, who inclined 
 to examine the matter to the bottom, so it proved 
 a greater check to the cause of the reformers, 
 than any which the opsn or the secret assaults 
 of their enemies had yet, either by spiritual wea- 
 pons, or by carnal, been able to give it 
 
 But unfortunately, (for the" truth ought, with- 
 out respect of persons, to be spoken) they had 
 not sufficiently purged their own minds from the 
 old leaven ; they still retained too much of the 
 
 spirit 
 
LECTURES 0¥ 
 
 spirit Qt that corrupt church which they had left. 
 As they were men, we ought to form a judgment 
 of them not. only with candour, but with all the? 
 Imity to which their education, the circumstances 
 of the times, the difficulties they had to surmount, 
 and the adversaries they had to encounter, so 
 justly entitle them, J3ut as they were teachers 
 of religion, we ought to be at least as careful not 
 to allow an excessive veneration for their great 
 and good qualities, to mislead us into a respect 
 for their errours, or to adopt implicitly the sys- 
 tem of any one of them ; that we must learn not 
 to think of men above that which is written, that 
 no one of us be puffed up for one against ano-^ 
 ther. The spirit of the church, especially that 
 nourished in the cloisters, was a spirit of wrang-: 
 ling and altercation, l^ever could any thing 
 better suit the unimportant and undeterminable 
 questions there canvassetl by the recluses, than 
 the words of the apostle, vain jangling* and oppo-? 
 melons of saaicc Jalseht so called. As therefore 
 they had not avoided these, nor taken the apos- 
 tolical warning not to dote about questions and 
 strifes of words, they soon experienced in them» 
 selves, and in their followers, the truth of the 
 aiiostohcai prediction, that, envy, contention, rail* 
 mgs. evil surmisings, and perverse disputing*; 
 inosikl come of them ; but that they would never 
 aainister to the edifying of themselves in love -; 
 
 that 
 
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. $&$ 
 
 *hat so far would their disputations be from aiv 
 iWeriug the end, and terminating- their differ- 
 ences, that they would incessantly give birth to 
 new questions, and would increase unto inortr 
 ungodliness. This contentious spirit, derived 
 trom the schoolmen, and commonly accompanied 
 with spiritual pride, and a vitiated understand- 
 ing-, did not tail of producing its usual conse- 
 quences, uncharitableness in judging- of others, 
 on account of difference of opinion, and intole- 
 rance in the manner of treating them. Of the 
 first of these, the evidences are coeval with the 
 questions, and perfectly unequivocal; and of the 
 last, that is, of the intolerant spirit they had re- 
 tained of the church they had deserted, it must 
 not be dissembled, that they gave but too mani- 
 fest proofs as soon as they had power. 
 
 Ye will do me the justice to believe me, when I 
 add, that it proceeds not from any pleasure In 
 depreciating, that I have taken so much of the 
 invidious task of exposing the blemishes in those 
 truly meritorious characters. But of men so 
 much exposed to public view, and so highly dis- 
 tinguishable, as were our reformers from popery, 
 there is a considerable danger on either side in 
 forming a wrong judgment. One is, indeed, 
 that a prejudice against the instruments may en- 
 danger our contracting a prejudice against the 
 Cause. Of this extreme, in this protectant taMMW 
 
366 LECTURES, &c. 
 
 try, I Imagine, we are in little clanger. To pre- 
 vent it, however, their faults ought not to be 
 mentioned without doing justice to their virtues. 
 The other is, lest a prepossession in favour of the 
 cause prove the source of a blind devotion to the 
 instruments/. Of this extreme, the danger here 
 is, I think, very great. Nay, though different 
 men's attention, according to their various cir- 
 cumstances, lias been fixed on different instru- 
 ments in the hand of providence, in effecting the 
 wonderful. revolution then brought about, yet an 
 immoderate attachment to one, or other, has 
 been, since the beginning, the rock on whiclfc 
 the far greater part of protestants have split. 
 
 ESSAY 
 
ESSAY 
 
 OH 
 
 CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 Ne crovez jamais rien de bon de ceux qui outrent la vertu. 
 
 BoSStfET. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 There were found among Dr. Campbell's 
 papers a few Essays, that appear to have 
 been intended for the press. It is to be re- 
 gretted, that they are left unfinished. The 
 following Essay is selected, as well on ac- 
 count of the importance of the subject, as 
 of the superiour merit of the execution. 
 And as it is connected with the Ecclesiastical 
 History, it was thought, that it might not 
 improperly have a place in this work. 
 
 vol, ir u B b 
 
ESSAY, &c. 
 
 JL EMPERANCE, which has been considered- 
 in the schools as denoting a superiority over the 
 concupiscible affections, like what is implied in 
 meekness over those called irascible, pride, anger, 
 and impatience, is as necessary for the govern- 
 ment of the appetites, as the other is for the 
 regulation of the passions. There is no human 
 virtue, which has been deemed more essential to 
 the christian character ; there is none which has 
 been more generally misunderstood, or which 
 false religion has dressed out in more fantastic 
 colours. It is acknowledged on all sides, that 
 it would ill befit the students of a doctrine so 
 divine as the christian, to be the slaves of appe- 
 tite. To be voluptuous, and to be heavenly- 
 minded, can scarcely, to any understandings 
 appear compatible. 
 
 But what must we do to subdue appetite' 
 Must we extirpate it altogether ? No ; it is im- 
 possible ; and even if it were possible, it would 
 not be virtuous. In taming a wild beast, and 
 Bb2 render: 
 
372 OF CHRISTIAN' TEMPERANCE 
 
 rendering him not only harmless, but useful, 
 greater ability is displayed, and, consequently, 
 more glory is attained, than would be attained 
 by killing him. The bodily appetites were given 
 for necessary and important purposes ; for the 
 preservation, comfort, and continuation of the 
 human race. How absurd then is it to suppose, 
 that we either requite our benefactor with grati- 
 tude, by spurning his benefits, or recommend 
 ourselves to the all-wise Creatour, by counter- 
 acting his intention, so clearly manifested in our 
 frame ? Still, however, ' it was intended, that 
 the appetites should be in subordination to the 
 mind. So much care has not been taken by 
 Providence, both of the individuals, and of the 
 ' species, merely that they may exist. Existence 
 itself is given to man for a further and a nobler 
 end. The light of nature, as well as revelation, 
 points to this great end, the perfecting of his na- 
 ture by effecting a conformity to the will of 
 God, the highest felicity of which man is sus- 
 ceptible. Wherever, therefore, the indulgence 
 of appetite contravenes this ultimate design of 
 our being, it must be unlawful, and ought to be 
 restrained. The well-instructed christian distin- 
 guishes not only between the means and the 
 end, but even of ends, when they interfere, he 
 distinguishes those of a higher from those of a 
 lower order.- The sensualist^ on the .contrary, 
 - i- 9 converts 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. '373 
 
 converts the means into the end, and the end 
 into the means. What is the lowest in the order 
 of nature, is, in his account, the highest. The 
 former eats that he may live; the latter lives 
 that he may eat. As to the particular restraints 
 which the christian religion lays on the appetites 
 of its votaries ; 
 
 The first, in my judgment, is when the grati- 
 fication of our own appetite proves, in any re- 
 spect, detrimental to another. It is a consci- 
 entious and habitual regard to this cheek, that 
 constitutes the virtue of chastity ; a trespass 
 against which always implies injury to our neigh- 
 bour, and a violation of laws essential to the 
 good order, and therefore to the welfare of 
 society. From the transgression of these laws 
 result the crimes of fornication, adultery', rape, 
 incest, and the like. The same consideration 
 of hurt to others may also, occasionally, restrain 
 from indulgences, which have no immediate con- 
 nection with the virtue of chastity, as when a 
 person, in respect of food, dress, and things in- 
 different, abstains from what is not otherwise 
 unlawful, and is to him not necessary, that he 
 may avoid giving scandal to the weak. 
 
 The second restraint, which Christianity lays 
 
 us under, is moderation in the indulgence, even 
 
 though the rights of others should be no wise 
 
 affected. This implies not only that we guard 
 
 B b 3 against 
 
374> OF CHRISTIAN' TEMPERANCE 
 
 against excess, but that we be free from every 
 thing that savours of epicurism in. those inferiour 
 gratifications. This appears not only from the 
 injunctions of our Lord, against all anxiety 
 about food or raiment, but also from the charge 
 lie gave his disciples, to eat such things as were 
 set before them. It would as ill befit the chrisr 
 tian temperance to ask questions, like the volup- 
 tuary, for the sake of palate, as it would the 
 liberal spirit of the gospel to ask questions, like 
 the judaizing christian of the apostolic age, for 
 the sake of conscience. From a due regard to 
 this restraint arise the virtues of continence and 
 sobriety ; and from the want of such regard, the 
 opposite vices, lasciviousness, effeminacy, inor- 
 dinate affection, drunkenness, gluttony, sloth ; 
 for the desire of rest, till our exhausted powers 
 -shall be recruited, is a corporal appetite as 
 necessary for our preservation, as either hunger 
 or thirst ; but, like all other appetites, it is liable 
 to abuse, and when indulged to excess, degene- 
 rates into vice. There is a certain degree, be- 
 yond which, if we proceed, the end of nature is 
 not only unanswered, .but the reverse is pro- 
 moted. Food is necessary for preserving health, 
 "and prolonging life ; but debauchery of every 
 kind -tends directly to ruin health, and shorten 
 life. \ Rest, at proper intervals, is necessary, but 
 laziness and inactivity are pernicious, a.s they 
 
 debilitate 
 
AND self-denial. 375 
 
 debilitate the powers both of body and of mind. 
 Excessive indulgence in this way produces habi- 
 tual indolence and lassitude, in consequence of 
 which, men are, in a great measure, indisposed 
 for the discharge of the most momentous duties 
 in life. 
 
 It is necessary, on this head, to remark, that, 
 as the immediate end of Providence, which is 
 the health and preservation of the individual, 
 may be equally frustrated by either extreme, an 
 excess of indulgence, or an excess of abstinence, 
 the latter, when not the consequence of dire 
 necessity, but the result of choice, must be ac- 
 counted vicious as well as the former. Every 
 voluntary action in reasonable agents, which 
 evidently tends to defeat the intention of the 
 Creatour, manifested in their constitution, is an 
 opposition to the law of nature, (which is the 
 will of God) and consequently immoral. 
 
 As, however, the motives which lead to this 
 extreme are very different from those which lead 
 to immoderate indulgence, it is neither the same 
 in kind with the other, nor equal in depravity. 
 Abstemiousness, though it were to a degree per- 
 niciously excessive, cannot be considered as a 
 species of intemperance, or ascribed to sensu- 
 ality. We do not, therefore, view it with the 
 indignation, which is excited by the opposite 
 extreme ; but still, with disapprobation mingled 
 ; i B b 4 with 
 
37$ OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 with pity, such as are incurred by a culpable 
 ignorance of right, when the knowledge of duty 
 is within the reach of an ordinary capacity. If 
 ever we be disposed to excuse it altogether, our 
 indulgence will be found to arise from such a 
 supposed imbecility in the intellectual powers, 
 as degrades the person below the rank of a rea- 
 sonable being. 
 
 But to return ; we have noted the two prin- 
 cipal restrictions in all gratifications of this na- 
 ture, which require, that we avoid an indulgence 
 to ourselves that may prove injurious to another, 
 and that we avoid excessive indulgences, which 
 never fail, one way or other, to prove injurious 
 to ourselves, either in body, or in mind, if not 
 in both. It must, at the same time, be owned, 
 that the utmost we can be said to attain, even 
 by an uninterrupted submission to these re- 
 straints, is barely not to be vicious. The man 
 who is only thus far temperate, is intitled to no 
 more than the negative praise of being, in this 
 article, blameless. 
 
 Would we attain that command over the body, 
 which the spirit of our religion implies, and 
 which is truly praiseworthy, we must aim still 
 higher. It deserves our notice, that our blessed 
 Lord, who, in all things, ought to be regarded 
 as our standard, could not, though he twice fed 
 the multitude miraculously) be induced to work 
 
 a miracle 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. Oil 
 
 a miracle to allay his own hunger. Why tins 
 difference in cases so similar? The difference 
 arose from the nature of the cases; The first 
 mentioned, the feeding of the multitude, who 
 were exhausted with want, and long attendance 
 on his teaching in the desert, was an act of 
 humanity. The second, the miraculous conver- 
 sion of stones in the wilderness into bread, to 
 supply the cravings of hunger, to which he was 
 advised by the tempter, might have been con- 
 strued, had he complied, into a want of supe- 
 riority over appetite. The one was intended to 
 serve, to a cloud of witnesses, as an evidence of 
 his mission; for this way all his miracles pointed: 
 the other, which could not answer that purpose, 
 where there were no human spectators, would 
 have appeared, to every reader, to betray a dis- 
 trust in Providence. It became him, therefore, 
 our great pattern in faith, as well as in patience 
 and self-command, to avoid even the appearance 
 of distrusting the care of heaven, or of impati- 
 ence under suffering, by recurring to means of 
 relief, to which he knew that his followers, in 
 the latter ages, expressly called to the imitation 
 of his example, could not recur. 
 
 It ought, therefore, to be accounted a third 
 limitation on the indulgence of appetite, which 
 the law of christian temperance enjoins, that 
 when the indulgence, in itself lawful, but not 
 
 necessary, 
 
378 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 necessary, is foreseen to prove the occasion of 
 evil to any, or to cause the prevention of good, 
 the law of charity requires our forbearance. In 
 the variety of incidents to which human life is, 
 in every station, exposed, it often happens, that 
 even the most innocent gratifications may inter- 
 fere with those favourable opportunities of doing 
 good, which, if lost, are never afterwards to be 
 recovered. When these, therefore, occur, they 
 ought not to be let pass unimproved. What 
 admirable lessons, in this way, does the example 
 of our Lord present us with ! His actions bore 
 witness more strikingly than his words, that it 
 was as his meat, and more than his meat, to do 
 the will of him who sent him, and to finish his 
 work. He never, for the sake of ease, refresh- 
 ment, or convenience to himself, let slip a 
 favourable occasion of conferring benefits on 
 others. Never did hunger, or thirst, or cold, 
 or fatigue, set bounds to the exercise of his 
 piety, his humanity, and beneficence, He went 
 about doing good, instructing the ignorant, re- 
 claiming the profligate, exposing the absurd pre- 
 tensions of superstition, vindicating the charac- 
 ter of genuine religion, pulling off the mask 
 from hypocrisy, and relieving distress. His 
 uncommon assiduity in these exercises appeal's 
 not only from the whole tenour of his history, 
 but particularly from the unfavourable construc- 
 tions 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 379 
 
 tions which even some of his relatives put em 
 his extraordinary ardour, application, and ex 
 tions. Such, I conceive, is the true law of' 
 christian temperance ; a law, in every respect, 
 rational and manly. Whilst it exacts no suffer- 
 ing, for the sake of suffering-, it gives no per- 
 mission to an indulgence, which is prejudicial to 
 others, hurtful to ourselves, may prove, though 
 indirectly, the source of bad consequences to 
 any, or deprive us of an opportunity, not after- 
 wards to be recalled, of doing good. Other 
 limits it knows none. 
 
 But I am aware that, whilst some will think, 
 that the restraints I have mentioned are both 
 too numerous and too rigid, others, on the con- 
 trary, will imagine, they are far from being 
 either numerous, or rigid enough. Truth lies 
 commonly in the middle, between both extremes. 
 The limitations enjoined by the gospel, and 
 above deduced, are, I acknowledge, no other 
 than such as good sense, with a little reflection, 
 will show to be reasonable. It must be owned, 
 that the christian temperance, or moderation, in 
 regard to appetite, as I have described it, is not 
 the temperance of the anchoret. To the sanc- 
 timonious pharisees of old, our Lord's doctrine, 
 on this article, was offensive ; they charged it 
 even with licentiousness. Hence the calumnies 
 they vented against him, founded on this single 
 
 circum- 
 
580 or christian TEMPERANCE 
 
 circumstance, his neither affecting- a monastic 
 severity in his own manner of livihg, nor re- 
 commend ing it to his followers. The son of 
 man, he says him c elf, * came eating and drinking : 
 he did not distinguish himself by any austerities, 
 or peculiar abstinences from things indifferent : 
 jind they, agreeably to the common exaggera- 
 tions of malice, exchum, Behold a wan °1utfo- 
 nous, and a xc me- bibber, a friend of publicans and 
 sinners. 
 
 That our Saviour did not consider what con- 
 duced to social festivity, within the bounds of 
 sobriety, as incompatible with innocence, is evi- 
 dent from various passages of his life, particu- 
 larly from the assistance which he gave, in sup- 
 plying the company with wine, at the marriage 
 in Cana. And that he did not place any merit 
 in distinctions merely ceremonial, or rank them 
 with genuine morality, (though these distinc- 
 tions ever were, and ever will be, of capital im- 
 portance with the superstitious) is perfectly 
 manifest from the maxims on the head of moral 
 pollution, so repeatedly inculcated by him, and 
 so loudly reprobated by the chief priests and 
 scribes. 
 
 But wherein, then, it will be asked, consists 
 the virtue of self-denial, so positively required 
 
 * Mat:, x.',- 19. 
 
 Of 
 
- AND SELF-DF-NIAI.. - 381 
 
 of christians? A little reflection on what has 
 been said will furnish the intelligent reader with 
 a satisfactory answer. Whoever habitually pays 
 due regard to the restraints on self-indulgence 
 above enumerated, has obtained that mastery 
 over himself, in which the essence of self-denial 
 consists. Let us attend to what our Lord him- 
 self has delivered on this head, in these nervous 
 expressions, If any man conic to me, and hate 
 not his father and mother, and wife and children^ 
 and brethren and sisters, yea, and his oxai lijit 
 also, he cannot he my discip/e*. I purposely 
 select this passage, because it has an appearance 
 the most favourable for an opponent. On hear- 
 ing this, the question naturally arises, What are 
 we to understand by hating father and mother, 
 wife and children, brothers and sisters, here so 
 expressly required ? All denominations of chris- 
 tians are agreed, (for I know not a single excep- 
 tion) that it does not imply, that \vc should, wish 
 evil, or bear ill will to our parents and nearest 
 relatives ; for this is what we are not permitted 
 to bear to any man, even an enemy : all sides 
 are agreed, that it does not imply, that we should 
 be indifferent about their interests; nay, more, 
 it does not imply, that we should refuse gratify- 
 ing their lawful desires, or contributing to their 
 
 * Luke xiv, 26. 
 
 happiness,. 
 
Sol or christian tempekan'ce, 
 
 happiness, as far as we can. What, then, does" 
 it imply ? It implies only, in the unanimous 
 judgment of interpreters, that, if there should 
 be an opposition between the will of our dearest 
 relations, and the commandments of Christ, 
 between the enjovrnent of their company, and 
 the enjoyment of the -divine favour, we should 
 not hesitate a moment in our choice. The for- 
 mer as, by infinite degrees, inferiour in obliga- 
 tion, must, on such a competition, give place to 
 the latter. Now, by all laws of interpretation, 
 this must ascertain the meaning of the last 
 clause, yea, and Ms own life a/so, and show, that 
 it serves only to express, in the same emphatic 
 idiom, the preference which the love of Christ 
 ought to have with the disciple, before the love 
 of life. The import of the whole is briefly this : 
 1 He is not a genuine disciple of Jesus, who will 
 1 not resign wife, children, and friends, posses- 
 
 * sions and pleasures, yea, and life itself, rather 
 ' than make shipwreck of the^faith, and of a 
 ' 2,'ood conscience. He is not worthy the name 
 
 * of christian, who does not abhor a detection 
 ' from his Master more than death, or any tor* 
 
 * tures, which it is in the power of man to in- 
 ' flict.'. Common sense leads to this interpreta- 
 tion, and, though there were no other, is here 
 sufficient evidence. But, to stop the mouth of 
 contradiction, if possible, the expression used as 
 
 equivalent. 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 383 
 
 equivalent in a parallel place, is, He that lonetk 
 father or mother more than me, is not worthy of 
 nW; and he that loveth son or daughter more than 
 me, is not worthy of me ; and he tho:t taketh not 
 his cross, and follow eth me, is not worthy of me*. 
 As, therefore, the hatred of parents required by 
 the evangelical law does not warrant our doing 
 them the smallest injury; so neither does the 
 hatred of life also required, in the very same 
 terms, warrant the unnecessary and self-inflicted 
 torments, and other penances of ascetics, upon 
 their own bodies. 
 
 This may serve also to explain other oriental 
 figures used by the apostles, such as crucifying 
 the flesh with the affections and lusts. Mortify, 
 S2ijs Paulf, j/£X£w<raTf, kill, put to death, your 
 members which are upon the earth. No warrant, 
 one would think, could be clearer for all the ri- 
 gours of the ascetic : yet, we no sooner read the 
 whole sentence, than we perceive, that no more 
 is meant, than that we must lop off from our 
 manner of living every vicious and intemperate 
 excess. For, what are those members which we 
 are so expressly commanded to kill ? Not flesh 
 and blood. Not the members of the natural 
 body, but fornication, uncleanness, inordinate 
 affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousnesSy 
 
 * Matt, x, 37, 38. f Col. iii, 5. 
 
 Which 
 
S84 or CHRISTIAN- TEMPERANCE 
 
 
 winch is idolatry; all flagrai)t immoralities, to 
 which the law of our religion gives no quarter. 
 The diction employed by our apostle is often 
 very bold, and his figures poetical. He con- 
 siders all the propensities, inclinations, and appe- 
 tites of our frame, which lead in any way to the 
 transgression of God's law, as constituting an 
 organic body, which he denominates the body of 
 sin, from its occupation, and the body of death, 
 from its effect. The maxims and principles, 
 which predominate in such a. constitution, he 
 rails the law of sin, which, in his flesh, warred 
 against the law of his mind. Nothing, there- 
 fore, can be more evident, than that they are 
 not literally our flesh and bones, the members, 
 of the natural body, which the apostle enjoins 
 us to crucify or kill. 
 
 It is not denied, that there may be occasions 
 on which abstraction from the world, and its 
 enjoyments, may be more necessary than at 
 other times. It is not denied, that certain ab- 
 stinences, or even mortifications, may be requi- 
 site to some, on several accounts, which are not 
 requisite to others, or may be expedient at one 
 time, and improper at another. The propriety 
 of occasional fasting, when found, from experi- 
 ence, to be conducive to devout reflections, to 
 self-knowledge and self-command, is not, by 
 any thjng advanced above, meant to be contro- 
 verted, 
 
AXD SELF-DENIAL. 385 
 
 verted. It is of the nature of sorrow, when the 
 mind is engrossed by it, to make a man reject, 
 nay, nauseate those pleasures, which, without 
 the censure of the most scrupulous, he allowed 
 himself before. This is so universally under- 
 stood, that we readily infer, that grief, for any 
 calamitous event, is but superficial, when we ob- 
 serve, in the person affected with it, the same 
 disposition as formerly to customary amuse- 
 ments. Calamities, both public and private, 
 have ever been justly considered, by the pious, 
 as providential calls to reflection and repentance. 
 Repentance necessarily implies sorrow and humi- 
 liation, resulting from the most important cause, 
 the consciousness of guilt. Whilst the mind is 
 under the influence of this impression, mirth, 
 levity, and gratifications, in themselves innocent, 
 are effectually precluded. Nay, more, the mind 
 seems to take a pleasure, which, at another time, 
 would be accounted unnatural, in cherishing its 
 grief, and augmenting its own anguish. It is 
 this which, in the prophet Daniel, is emphati- 
 cally styled chastening himself*. But such a 
 state is, to the mind, what sickness is to the 
 body. For this bodily state also requires its 
 abstinences, nay, often, most unpalatable medi- 
 cines, which no physician ever thought of pre- 
 
 * Dan. x, 12. - 
 
 vol. ii. C c scribing 
 
386 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 scribing for the ordinary diet of people in 
 
 health. Our Lord, in that very passage, which 
 
 has. been pleaded as authorizing in christians 
 
 the observance of fasts, approves them only as 
 
 suited to certain occasions ; and is no less explicit 
 
 .in declaring, that there are other occasions, on 
 
 which fasting would be unseasonable.. If so, 
 
 his doctrine, far from giving countenance to 
 
 perpetual abstinence, does, by representing fasts 
 
 as adapted solely to particular occasions, totally 
 
 subvert the foundation of monastic vows. 
 
 An expression in the Apocalypse * has been 
 
 adduced, to show the high value, which the 
 
 christian religion puts upon virginity. Of the 
 
 144,000, who were with the Lamb on mount 
 
 Sion, it is said, These are they which were not 
 
 defiled with women, for they are virgins. Let it 
 
 be observed, that this book is intirely in the 
 
 idiom of the prophets, to whom it is familiar to 
 
 call idolatry whoredom, which, in the heathens, 
 
 who know not God, is fornication \ and in Jews 
 
 or Christians, whom he had espoused to himself, 
 
 adultery. This is the exposition given by all 
 
 commentators of any name, popish or protestant 
 
 Richard Simon (than whom the last century did 
 
 rot produce a greater stickler for tradition^ and 
 
 the traditionary expositions of the church) says, 
 
 j » 
 
 * Rev. xrv, 4, 
 
 in 
 
AND SELF-BlvNIAT,. S37 
 
 fax a note on this passage, in his own translation, 
 " that is, they- have not fallen into idolatry, hut 
 i( have always preserved themselves pure in the 
 i* holy religion*." He does not mention this 
 as a probable interpretation, but as one, of which 
 there could be no reasonable doubt. Ity the 
 literal mode of interpreting, what will one make 
 of the royal harlot, described in chap, xvii, with 
 whom the kmsrs of the earth have committed 
 
 ■ fornication ? 
 
 JVe cannot wonder that, after the times of the 
 apostles, in the church's infancy, whilst the 
 heathen raged, and the ?*u/ers took counsel toge- 
 ther against the Lord, and against his J\lessiah, 
 many pious christians, male and female, married 
 and unmarried, justly accounting, that no human 
 
 - felicity ought to come in competition with their 
 fidelity to Christ, and modestly distrustful of 
 their ability to persevere in resisting the tempta- 
 tions, wherewith they were harassed by their per- 
 secutors, formed the resolution to abandon their 
 possessions and worldly prospects, and, whilst 
 the storm lasted, to retire to unfrequented places, 
 far from the haunts of men, that they might 
 
 . enjoy, in quietness, their faith and hope, and, 
 without temptations to apostacy, employ them- 
 
 * C. D. ils ne sont point tombes dans l'idolatrie, mais ils 
 se sont toujours conserves purs, dans la sainte religion. 
 
 C c 2 selves 
 
38S OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 selves principally in the worship and service of 
 their Maker. The cause was reasonable, and 
 the motive praiseworthy. But the reasonable- 
 ness arose solely from the circumstances, and 
 vanished with them. 
 
 When there was no peculiar danger in society, 
 there was no reason for seeking security in soli* 
 tude. Accordingly, when the affairs of the 
 church were put on a different footing, and the 
 profession of Christianity rendered safe, many 
 returned, without blame, from their retirement, 
 and lived like other men. $ome, indeed, famir 
 liarized by time, to a solitary life, preferred, 
 through habit, what they had originally adopted 
 through prudence. They did not waste their 
 time in idleness, they supported themselves by 
 their labour, and bestowed the overplus, if there 
 was an overplus, in acts of beneficence and 
 charity. These, likewise, without blame, re- 
 mained in their retreat But, as it was to avoid 
 temptation and danger, that men first took refuge 
 in such recesses, they never thought of fetter- 
 ing themselves by vows and engagements. They 
 knew that, by so doing, they would expose their 
 souls to new temptations, and involve them in 
 more, and perhaps greater dangers, than at first. 
 This would have shown a disposition very unlike 
 to that self-diffidence, which had originally sug- 
 gested so extraordinary a measure. This, there- 
 • ■ fore, 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 36$ 
 
 fore, was not monachism, though, most pro- 
 bably, it gave rise to the idea of it, and may 
 therefore be considered as the first step Mb 
 wards it. 
 
 Such signal sacrifices, not .only of property, 
 but of all secular pursuits, have a lustre in them, 
 which dazzles the eyes of the weak, and power- 
 fully engages imitation. Blind imitators, re- 
 gardless of the circumstances which alone can 
 render the conduct laudable, are often, by a 
 strong perversion of intellect, led to consider it 
 as the more meritorious, the less it is rational, 
 and the more eligible, the less it is useful. Nay, 
 the spirit of the measure comes in time to be re- 
 versed. What at first, through humble diffi- 
 dence, appeared necessary, for avoiding the most 
 imminent peril, is, through presumption, volun- 
 tarily adopted, though in itself a source of per- 
 petual peril. And as irrefragable evidence of 
 the intrinsic merit, independent of utility, which 
 they then ascribed (for, from the beginning,, it- 
 was not so) to abstinence, poverty, celibacy and 
 virginity ;. they imposed vows upon themselves, 
 solemnly engaging in an uninterrupted observance 
 of these viriues (as they accounted- them) to the 
 end of their lives. So little did the additional 
 peril of perjury deter them, that they seemed to 
 think this danger also necessary, to give conse- 
 quence tp ; what they did ; a:*!, by a very subtle, 
 C c ;, truiii 
 
3.90 OF CU'B :I5TTAN" TEMPERANCE 
 
 strain of reasoning, converted the danger into 
 an argument for the solemnity of an oath, 
 " because/' said they, " nothing can more en- 
 " hance the merit of the action than the cir- 
 " cumstance of danger." 
 
 That the view which the apostles had of this 
 matter was totally different; is manifest from 
 their manner of treating fhe subject. When it 
 occurs in their writings, one is at no loss to per- 
 ceive, that the argument turns on this funda- 
 mental maxim of prudence, that we ought to 
 submit to a fess evii, in order to avoid a greater. 
 It was solely from this consideration, that Paul 
 advised those Corinthians against marn ins; who 
 had n« reason, from constitution, or former 
 experience, to dread their being tempted to vio- 
 late the laws of chastity. His arguments are 
 intirely of a prudential nature, founded on the 
 distressful circumstances of the chursh at that 
 time, arid the additional temptations to apostaey 
 to which married people, from their natural soli- 
 citude about their families, would be exposed. 
 For this reason he balances matters, and expressly 
 enjoins them, if they should find a difficulty in 
 preserving their chastity, or even purity of 
 mind, (Jbr it is better to marry than to burn) 
 to avoid what should appear the greater danger. 
 Nothing can be more evident, tha that the 
 apostle does not proceed on the supposition, that, 
 
 i* 
 
AND SELF-DUN I A U ... 39 1 
 
 in a state of virginity or celibacy, considered in 
 itself, there is either merit or demerit : he would 
 only have them retlect that, from the unhappy 
 circumstances of the times, there was in marriage 
 a greater peril, in one particular of the last im- 
 portance. It gave their enemies a much stronger 
 hold of them, and more ways whereby they 
 could persecute them. Consequently that state 
 involved them in cares, which, at that critical 
 period, greatly endangered their perseverance, 
 and, consequently, their salvation. 
 
 It is from the same consideration of the times, 
 that we account for the injunction given by our 
 Lord to the young ruler, who came to consult 
 him about the way to obtain eternal life. Sell 
 ail that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, 
 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; then 
 come, and follow me. This was intimating to 
 him, in plain terms, that the time was approach- 
 ing, when, to retain his earthly possessions, and 
 to be, at the same time, a follower of Christ, 
 would be found impossible ; and that, therefore, 
 if lie really preferred the latter, he ought be- 
 times, before his wealth should prove a snare to 
 him, to dispose of it to the best advantage, by 
 giving it to relieve the distressed. But this is 
 totally different from an abjuration of property 
 
 * Luke xv'i'u, ZZ-. 
 (.' C 4 
 
SQQ OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 in all time to come. The practice of christians, 
 in the apostolic age, best explains the import of 
 the precept. They made no account of any 
 worldly possession, of which their master's cause 
 demanded the sacrifice. But in no other respect 
 did they abjure the gifts of Providence, though 
 fully sensible, that they were accountable to their 
 Lord for the use they made of them. 
 
 Both the example and the reasoning of Paul 
 the disciple, on the subject of marriage, are the 
 best comment on the words of his master, when 
 he spoke of those, who made themselves eunuchs 
 for the kingdom of heaven's sake. Such was 
 this apostle, and such were those primitive chris- 
 
 .,.>, who, from the iike motives, were induced 
 to forego all the advantages and comforts of a 
 state, declared in scripture to be, in all classes, 
 not only lawful, but honourable. This state 
 they, nevertheless, though without abjuring it, 
 were induced to deny themselves, purely from 
 the eonsideration of the advantages against the 
 christian cause, which their marrying might 
 give the common enemy, and the much greater 
 hazard of apostacy, in which it might involve 
 themselves. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that, in the very earnest 
 dissuasive from marriage, which the apostle, irf 
 those lowering days, wrote to the Corinthians, 
 lu< sole argument is the temporary inexpediency, 
 
 from 
 
AXD SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 from the calamities of the church at that period ; 
 but the remotest hint is not given, that -there is, 
 in the matrimonial state abstractly considered, 
 greater impurity than in the state of celibacy, 
 or that the latter is in its own nature, or in God's 
 aeeount, any way preferable to the former. A 
 supposed purity is what I call the intrinsic merit 
 ascribed by superstition to some species of absti- 
 nence, independent of utility. Now, if celibacy 
 had really so eminent an ascendant, it is strange, 
 that it should have escaped so acute a reasoner, 
 in supporting a measure which he had so much 
 at heart. For, if there was truth in this plea, it 
 was doubtless the most cogent argument he 
 could have urged. But it is manifest, thai if 
 celibacy had, in his days, this high prerogative 
 over marriage, the apostle knew nothing of the 
 matter. This, it seems, with many other arti- 
 cles, was left for the discovery of after ages. If 
 we have it not in the Acts of the Apostles, or in. 
 any part of sacred writ, we have it, at least, in 
 the acts of the council of Trent, published near 
 the end of the sixteenth century, and sanctioned, 
 in their usual laconic manner of refuting gain- 
 sayers, by a curse. " If any man say, that the 
 5' matrimonial state ought to be preferred to the 
 "state of virginity, or celibacy, and that it is 
 '.} not better and more blessed to remain in vir- 
 
 " ginity, 
 
39$ OF CHRISTIAN- TEMPERANCE 
 
 " ginity, or celibacy, than to be joined in wed- 
 v lock, let him be accursed*." 
 
 In the eye of true religion, self-denial, as was 
 signified above, is valuable only as means to an 
 end, that is, when it appears necessary for the 
 avoiding of evil, or when it may prove subser- 
 vient to our doing good. That this is in the 
 spirit, and agreeable to the doctrine, of the gos- 
 pel, Christ and his apostles have taught us in the 
 most explicit terms. It is not that which goeth 
 in at the mouth y that dejikth the man, appears to 
 have been a maxim of our Lord's j", which, on 
 different occasions, he introduced : a maxim 
 which greatly scandalized the pharisees of his 
 day, and which still no less scandalizes the pha- 
 risees of ours. In the same spirit writes his 
 apostle {. Meat commendeth us not to God ; for 
 neither if tee eat, are zw the better ; or, if we eat 
 not, are we the worse. Again : Marriage is ho- 
 nourable in all §. No room is left for the excep- 
 tion of any rank or station. Yea, not satislicd 
 with these plain declarations, our apostle stigiua- 
 
 * Si quis dixerit, statum eonjugalem anteponendum esse- 
 statui virginitatis, vel ccelibatus, et non esse melius ac beatius 
 manere in virginitate, aut coelibatu, quam jungi matrimonio, 
 anathema sit. Con. Trid. Se.ss. xxiv, Can. 10. 
 
 f Mat. xv, ii,' 12, 1 6, i j. Mar. vii, 15. t I Cor. 
 
 viii, 8. § Heb. xiii, 4. 
 
 tjzes 
 
■"" " AND SELF-DENIAL. - 30.5 
 
 tizes the contrary tenets in the severest manner, 
 mentioning the forbidding to marry, and the com- 
 manding to abstain from meats, ivhkh God hath 
 created to be received with thanksgiving, as the 
 doctrines, not of Christ, but of demons ft To 
 the spirit of the former, the words, which imme- 
 diately follow, are every Way suitable. Every 
 creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, 
 if it be received zcith thanksgiving. The same 
 apostle also tells us, in another place, I know 
 and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is 
 nothing unclean of itself f. This persuasion, he 
 acknowledges, he had not from Moses : for under 
 that more servile dispensation, there was a cere- 
 monial uncleanness attached to manv things, to 
 which it was necessary for those who lived under 
 it, to give attention. But the church of God 
 was then comparatively in its nonage, under the 
 weak and beggarly elements, necessary to be used 
 with children, before they arrive at the perfect 
 use of reason, whose state differs not from that 
 of servants, who must obey orders of which they 
 discern not the reason ; but not at all necessary, 
 when the intellectual powers have attained their 
 full vigour. In education, till children arrive at 
 what may be called the age of rationality, stem 
 authority must supply its place. But when that 
 
 . * i Tim. iv, 3, 4. f Rom. xiv, 14. 
 
 period 
 
3Q6 OF CIIR-ISTIAtt TEMPERANCE 
 
 period; is once reached, the same regulations are 
 not necessary, or even useful ; and the influenee 
 of fear gives place to more generous and also 
 more. effectual motives. 
 
 " But," rejoins the religionist, " even taking 
 " up this matter upon your own principle, that, 
 i( in usefulness alone, as the means of promoting 
 ** a valuable end, consists all the value of selt- 
 \S denial, has not the ascetic a very strong plea 
 c * for his confraternity ? Wherever there is dan- 
 " ger, it is the, part of a wise man to guard 
 " against it. But is -any thing more dangerous 
 " for a christian, than to be enslaved to appetite ? 
 " Has not this slavery proved the ruin of thou- 
 H sands? Or, can we think ourselves secure 
 " against every hazard from this quarter, whilst 
 " we admit gratifications not absolutely neces- 
 •'' >:try for preserving life ? Do not the greatest 
 " evils, often proceed from small beginnings? 
 " If, then, we would be secure against, the intox- 
 " ication of pleasure, whose advances are always 
 " gradual, let us, as much as possible, exclude 
 " it in every $e$jj%0& This is the only sure way- 
 " of preserving our independency, and showing 
 " on reives proof against all the snares of that 
 " bewitching syren." Is it then, I ask in re- 
 turn, to be understood as an axiom of christian 
 ethics, that we Ought to forego every advantage, 
 which may be considered as a gift either of na- 
 ture, 
 
ture, or of providence, of which it is possible for 
 us to make a bad use ; because, in that case/ the 
 abuse of the benefit would aggravate our guilt? 
 But what benefit, what talent, mental or corpo- 
 real, have we, that may not be abused one way 
 or other, either by intemperate indulgence, by 
 carelessness, or by being rendered instrumental 
 in doing mischief? " To go into a convent," 
 said the late Dr. Johnson*, " for fear of being 
 " immoral, is, as if a man should cut off his 
 " hands for fear he should steal." Suppose one 
 were to address us in this manner : "Of all the 
 " things you are acquainted with, fire is the 
 " most dangerous, the most terrible. It may 
 " burn your house, and before you are aware of 
 " your danger, consume you and your family in 
 " the midst of it. This has happened to thou- 
 " sands. If, then, you would enjoy peace, and 
 " live in safety, have nothing to do with that 
 " destructive element. Beware of ever allowing' 
 " it to be brought over your threshold." Could 
 we be at a loss for an answer ? Should we not 
 reply, To what purpose has God endowed iiuen 
 with reason and understanding, but that they 
 may learn to enjoy the use of his creatures, and 
 avoid the evil resulting from either negligence or 
 abuse? And through the whole of nature, are 
 
 * BoswelTs Life of Johnson, vol. ii. 
 
 not 
 
398 OF CHRISTIAN* TEMPERANCE 
 
 not those things, which are the most profitable, 
 if rightly used, the most pernicious, if abused? 
 It was on the same absurd principle, that Maho- 
 met prohibited his followers the use of wine, and 
 all fermented liquors. 
 
 In the way wherein some people seem to con* 
 sider the duty of a christian, we should think 
 they make the whole, or the most essential part 
 of it, to consist in bearing, rather than In doing, 
 in avoiding evil, but not in producing good. 
 That to bear evil patiently when necessary, and 
 always, to avoid doing it, are important branches, 
 cannot be questioned ; but they are neither the 
 whole, nor even the principal part, of the chris- 
 tian morality. Man was made for action : pow- 
 ers were given him for exertion ; and various ta- 
 I its have been conferred upon him by provi- 
 dence, as instruments not of doing nothing, (foT 
 this requires no instruments) but of doing good, 
 by promoting the happiness both of the indivi- 
 dual, and of society. It is true, that the instru- 
 ments of doing good may be, and often ar6, per- 
 verted by bad men into instruments of doing ill. 
 But, though such a misapplication of talents im- 
 plies heinous depravity, the dread of it can never 
 justify the nonapplication of them ; unless we can 
 be absurd enough to think, that man was created, 
 and so liberally endowed, by his maker, to no 
 purpose whatsoever* i Our faculties, both of body 
 
 and 
 
' ' AND' SELF-DENIAL. ^99 
 
 and mind, and what arc called vulgarly the gifts 
 of fortune, or our own acquisitions, arc all, in 
 the eye of religion, talents entrusted to Us iy 
 our creator, not to oe allowed, through neoii- 
 gence, to rust in our possession, and thus become 
 useless, but to be employed in his service, bv 
 promoting the good of ourselves and others. It 
 was not for the misapplication, but for the non- 
 application, of his talent, which the slothful ser- 
 vant, in the parable, had hidden under ground, 
 that he received so severe a sentence from his 
 master, when he called him to account *. Yet 
 the servant's conduct is perfectly vindicabie, on 
 the passive principles on which the patrons of 
 monastic vows build their most unnatural system 
 of insignificance. " When I consider," might 
 the sluggard have said, apologizing for himself 
 on that hypothesis, " how great a temptation, 
 M or rather curse, wealth commonly proves to 
 M the man who is so unhappy as to possess it, 
 m could I do better than bind myself by oath, 
 ** never more to handle that perilous deposit, or 
 *' so much as look upon it ? One man I have 
 *' seen ensnared by opulence, plunge into all 
 "the guilt of riot and debauchery : another be- 
 '* trayed by it into the grossest injustice and 
 **■ oppression : to a third it proves the instrument 
 
 * Mat. xkv, 14, &c. 
 
 of 
 
 
400 OF CHRISTIAN YEMPLSAyCE 
 
 ''■ of gratifying, and thereby fostering, his most 
 " malignant passions, pride, envy, and revenge, 
 '- What could I do better, than secure my escape 
 ii from all these dangers, by repositing it where 
 " it could do no harm, to be at last restored to 
 e< the owner, unimproved indeed, but, at the 
 **■ same time, unimpaired ?"■ 
 
 There is no lesson which our Lord, in the gos- 
 pel, seems more earnestly to enforce upon his 
 hearers, than that, in the awful day of retribu- 
 tion, the omission of duties will, with the righte- 
 ous judge, prove as certain aground of condem- 
 nation, as the commission of crimes. To suffer 
 with patience and fortitude, when suffering can- 
 not be avoided otherwise than by betraying the 
 cause of truth and virtue, in like manner to suf- 
 fer, when suffering may conduce to prevent a 
 let 1 evil, or to the production of some signal 
 good, is not only virtuous but heroical. Whereas, 
 the self-inflicted penances of the miserable her- 
 mit are the means neither of preventing evil to 
 any, nor of producing good. These spontaneous 
 sufferings serve as a testimony of nothing so 
 much as of the idiocy, or the insanity, of the 
 sufferer ; for, with regard to God, they are dero- 
 gatory from his perfections, and, in their ten- 
 dency at least, bear false witness of his character. 
 They exhibit him as an object more of terrour 
 tlian of love, as the tyrant, rather than the pa- 
 rent, 
 
- • . AND SELF-DENIAL. 401 
 
 rent ut' the. universe. And, by consequence, 
 rational devotion, which- elevates the mind, and 
 ennobles it, is degraded by them into the most 
 abject, the moat slavish, superstition, which de- 
 presses ail its powers. 
 
 The ethics of monks is a mere caricature of 
 virtue, wherein every feature is exaggerated, dis- 
 torted, or out of place. M Believe no good of 
 " those, " said the bishop of Meaux, " who over- 
 "■ strain virtue." If this overstraining be not a 
 capital criterion of monachism, I have no appre- 
 hension of the meaning of the phrase. Yet I 
 cannot allow myself to think, that, if this re- 
 doubted champion of Rome had affixed the same 
 ideas to those words which I do, he would have 
 uttered so cutting a reproach (not against the 
 protestants,- for these are comparatively little 
 affected by it, but) against a whole class of men, 
 who have always enjoyed the countenance and 
 protection of the church of Rome. It will not 
 be suspected of me, that it proceeds from any 
 partiality tor monaehism, when I declare, (as I 
 do most sincerely) that I cannot join the bishop 
 in so severe (and, in my apprehension, so uncha* 
 ritablc) a judgment against all the order; But 
 if, without ever thinking of monks, he meant to 
 suggest it as a rule, founded on experience, that 
 no good is to be expected from any system of mo- 
 
 vol. ii. " D d rab 
 
402 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 rals which overstrains virtue, I join him cordially 
 in this sentiment I have ever seen, that such 
 systems (from whatever source they spring, su- 
 perstition, fanaticism, priestcraft, or a mixture of 
 all the three) are of infinitely more disservice to 
 religion, in every way, than of advantage to it in 
 any. 
 
 But from reasoning to come to fact : when 
 what was originally a prudential, voluntary, and 
 temporary measure, degenerated into a profes- 
 sion, which the most sacred engagements ren- 
 dered unalterable for life ; when mechanical rules 
 and lifeless forms were substituted for the free 
 spirit and power of godliness ; then, and not till 
 then, arose monachism, which, though at best 
 but an uncouth, artificial figure, may, neverthe- 
 less, in Shakespeare's phrase, be denominated, 
 not improperly, the si malar of virtue. We trace, 
 at first, the outline of the meekness, the mode- 
 ration, the humility, the patience, and the resig- 
 nation, of the christian; but, on farther exami- 
 nation, we find the resemblance merely superfi- 
 cial. There is some obliquity in the application 
 made of the best qualities, which ruins their 
 effect. Yet those of this profession have, time 
 immemorial, arrogated to themselves as their pe- 
 culiar, the epithet religious ; (no evidence this of 
 their modesty:) and the world yields it to them 
 
 as 
 
- AND SELF-DENTAL. 403 
 
 as their clue ; (no evidence this of its discern- 
 ment. ) 
 
 " Much of the soul they talk, but all awry." 
 
 I said that monachism is a caricature of virtue, 
 and I may justly add, that what commonly at- 
 tends other caricatures, obtains also here. Though 
 likeness is preserved, what is beautiful in the ori- 
 ginal is hideous in the copy. 
 
 To verify this remark, we need only listen to 
 the report made on this subject by ecclesiastical 
 history. And that I may not be suspected of 
 partiality in my choice of an historian, I shall 
 recur to Mr. Fleury, a man of learning and can- 
 dour. He was no protestant; but, though a 
 Roman catholic priest, and not without partiality 
 to monks, he appears to havT possessed as much 
 probity, in his account of those things which 
 come under his notice, as is perhaps to be found 
 in any of his order and profession. What Fleury 
 has related, in the passage to which I refer*, is 
 from St. Gregory Nazianzene, who sent to his 
 friend Hellenius an elegy of 3(58 verses he had 
 composed in praise of the monastic life ; parti- 
 cularly of those who practised it at Nazianzum, 
 of which place, about the middle of the fourth 
 century, he was bishop. " He says," adds the 
 
 * Hist. Eccl. L, xvi, c. 51. 
 
 D d 2 historian, 
 
404 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 historian, " that there were some there who 
 " loaded themselves with iron chains, in order 
 "to bear down their bodies, who shut themselves 
 " up in cabins, and appeared to nobody, who 
 " continued twenty days and twenty nights 
 " without eating, practising often the half of 
 " Jesus Christ's fast : another abstained entirely 
 " from speaking, not praising God except in 
 " thought: another passed whole years in a 
 " church, his hands extended, without sleeping, 
 ■ iC like an animated statue. These prodigies," 
 says our historian, " would be incredible, on a 
 " testimony of less authority." I, for my part, 
 do not hesitate to say, that such prodigies are 
 incredible, notwithstanding the testimony. 
 
 I do not speak thus from any disposition to 
 tlerogate from Gregory, for whose talents and 
 virtues (for he had both) I have all due respect, 
 but whose judgment of christian morality, and 
 whose testimony in matters which affected his 
 prejudices, nothing has done so much to discre- 
 dit, as that most absurd encomium just now men- 
 tioned on his religious maniacs at Nazianzum. 
 Admitting the -possibility of all the particulars 
 above specified, which may be fairly questioned 
 of some of them, how grossly must that man's 
 notions of truth and rectitude be perverted, who 
 can think that God gave hands to any man to 
 be' kept constantly in a posture, which unfitted 
 
 them 
 9 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 405 
 
 « 
 
 them for being of any service to himself, or 
 others ; that he gave the power of speech, but 
 not to be employed in communicating know- 
 ledge, or in any way that can conduce to the 
 benefit of the individual, the honour of the giver, 
 or the interest of the community ; and in brief, 
 who can think, that many faculties of the sou], 
 and members of the body, all in themselves well 
 calculated for public, as well as private, accom- 
 modation, God has bestowed on us with the in- 
 tention, that they might be occupied in such a 
 manner as would most effectually render them 
 incumbrances to the possessor, and useless to 
 every body else ; or, if he cannot controvert so 
 manifest a truth, as that the hands were made 
 for working, the feet for walking, the tongue 
 for speaking, can, nevertheless, bring himself to 
 believe, that the Deity is most highly pleased 
 with those of his creatures, who do their utmost 
 to counteract his design, and make all that he 
 has done for the comfort, operate to the torment 
 of their lives, who proudly reject what he has 
 conferred, to qualify them for being helpful one 
 to another, or who at least disqualify themselves 
 for using it. Is this to receive God s gifts with 
 thanksgiving ? or, is it to spurn them with dis- 
 dain ? What would be understood to be the lan- 
 guage of such a conduct towards a human b^ne- > 
 D d 3 factor, 
 
406 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 factor, whose benefits were either in this manner 
 rejected, or knowingly perverted to a purpose the 
 reverse of that for which they were given ? Would 
 it not be interpreted as importing, " I value not 
 " your favours. I think myself better without 
 " them, and will show the world how indepcnd- 
 " ent I am of such baubles?" And do ye thus 
 requite the Lord ? Are ye wiser than he ? 
 
 The true wisdom of men is to listen to God 
 when he addresses them either by his works, or 
 in his word, and to obey his voice. But such is 
 the conceited vanity of foolish men, that, not 
 satisfied with the plain sense of the command- 
 ment, they must improve upon the latter, and 
 produce something of their own, more refined, 
 more spiritual, more sublime. Hence those mon- 
 strous extravagancies of thinking to please God, 
 in the highest degree, by counter-working his 
 providence, and opposing, to the utmost of their 
 power, the clearest intimations of his will, derived 
 either from the light of nature, or from revela- 
 tion. It was, at bottom, the same errour, but 
 probably in a much inferiour degree, which the 
 apostle so severely stigmatized in the Pharisees 
 of old, who beinjr ignorant, through culpable in- 
 attention, of Gods righteousness, the righteous- 
 ness required by him, and going about to establish 
 their oxvn righteousness, a righteousness merely 
 
 of 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 407 
 
 of their own devising, have not submitted to the 
 righteousness of God *. 
 
 I should have been happy to know what the 
 celebrated controvertist, who is so great an enemy 
 to overstraining, would have said of those won- 
 drous acquisitions in virtue made by the Nazian- 
 zene monks. Would he have thought, that there 
 was no overstraining, in transforming a creature, 
 such as man, into a mere animated (and scarcely 
 animated) statue, in annihilating as to use all 
 the powers mental and corporeal, with which he 
 is so richly endowed by his creator, and by which 
 he is qualified for attaining a degree of know- 
 ledge and art beyond any known or assignable 
 limits, and in degrading him to a speechless, 
 viewless, handless, helpless, useless animal, not 
 to be matched in the whole creation ? If there be 
 no overstraining here, it will not be easy to con- 
 ceive, till some example shall be produced, what 
 meaning this learned prelate, and most subtile 
 disputant, has affixed to his words ; for it would 
 fatigue imagination to figure out greater extra* 
 vagancies than those above related. But if, on 
 the contrary, it cannot be dissembled, that many 
 things, in the scheme of those recluses, were over? 
 strained, I think we are entitled to plead his 
 lordship's verdict, a plea of no little weight, if 
 
 * Rom, x, 3. 
 
 P d 4. authority 
 
408 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPEKANCt 
 
 authority have any, considering his great renown 
 in polemics, that no good whatever is to be ex- 
 • pected from the ethics of the monastery. 
 
 If this should appear too much to be founded 
 on so slight an example as the monks of one 
 city, though very famous, and at one particular 
 period, I shall recur to another example also, 
 much famed in ecclesiastical records. The in- 
 stance, I mean, is no other than St. Symeon, a 
 Syrian monk, who lived about the middle of the 
 fifth century, and is thought to have outstript all 
 those who had preceded him ; for history Iras 
 sometimes exhibited for fact, what is too exor- 
 bitant for a correct fancy to paint, and even in 
 fiction too incredible for criticism to pass uncen- 
 sured. He is said to have lived six and thirty 
 years on a pillar, erected on the summit of a 
 high mountain in Syria, whence he got the name 
 Stylites. From his pillar, we are told, he never 
 descended, unless to take possession of another. 
 This he did four times, having occupied, in all, 
 five. On the top of his last pillar, which was 
 loftier than any of the former, being sixty feet 
 high, and only three broad, he remained, as is 
 said, without intermission, for fifteen years, sum- 
 mer and winter, day and night, exposed to all 
 the inclemencies of the seasons, in a climate lia- 
 ble to great and sudden changes, from the most 
 sultry heat, to the most piercing cold. ii We are 
 
 told, 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL, 409 
 
 told, he always stood, the breadth of his pillar 
 not permitting him to lie down. He spent the 
 day till- three in the afternoon in meditation and 
 prayer. Thenceforward, till sun-set, he ha- 
 rangued the people, who flocked to him from all 
 countries ; the male part of whom were admitted 
 into an enclosure, built round his pillar, for con- 
 taining his audience. At sun-set they were all 
 dismissed with his benediction. Females he 
 would on no account permit to come within his 
 precincts ; not even his own mother, who is said, 
 through grief and mortifieation in being refused 
 admittance, to have died the third day after her 
 arrival. It is added, that her son, by his prayers, 
 raised her from the dead, till she should open her 
 eyes, and see him ; after which, she again imme- 
 diately shut them, to be opened no more till the 
 resurrection. He is said to have performed many 
 miraculous cures, and to have solved many 
 knotty questions to those who eonsulted him. 
 Nor was this all. — In order to show how indefa- 
 tigable he was in every thing which conduced to 
 the glory of God, and the good of mankind, he 
 spent much time daily in the exemplary exercise 
 of bowing so low, as to make his forehead strike 
 his toe3 ; and so frequently, that one who went 
 with Theodoret to see him, counted no fewer than 
 twelve hundred and forty-four times, when being 
 more tired in numbering than the saint was with 
 
 performing 
 
410 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 performing these godly reverences, he gave over 
 counting. Symeon is said also to have taken 
 no food except on Sundays, and to have observed 
 annually at least one Lent of forty d<:ys and 
 forty nights, without tasting any thing. It is 
 added by some, though Fleury does not men- 
 tion this circumstance, that all the last year of 
 his life he stood upon one leg only, the other 
 having been rendered useless by an ulcer. 
 
 The principal evidence on which this wonder-, 
 ful story rests, is the testimony of Theodoret, 
 bishop of Cyrus, in Syria, a contemporary wri- 
 ter, and an ocular witness ; for he himself once 
 and again visited- the saint standing on his pillar. 
 He wrote his account twenty years before Syme- 
 on's death. After his death, his histoiy was 
 written by Antony, a disciple and neighbouring 
 monk, who often attended him. Theodoret, 
 though not superiour to prejudices, then almost 
 universal, was a man of character and abilities, 
 and his veracity, in what can be called properly 
 his testimony, I am far from questioning. But 
 he cannot be the witness of what passed either 
 in his absence, or after his death, though he may 
 give his opinion concerning the former on the 
 report of others. Symeon 's never leaving the 
 pillar, his perpetual abstinence from food, except 
 on Sundays, his rigorous fasts of forty complete 
 days, are all points of which Theodoret could not 
 
 bear 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 411 
 
 bear witness. He saw him but a few hours at a 
 time, after which he was dismissed with the mul- 
 titude. As to what he did, or did not, at other 
 times, he could only relate the testimony of those 
 monks, and others, who were oftenest about his 
 person. For this we must recur to Antony, whose 
 performance is of that sort of writing, which has 
 been since denominated legend, and was then in 
 its infancy: a species of composition, which it is 
 difficult to describe otherwise than by negatives. 
 The legendary writing is not like the historical, 
 whose subject being truth, requires the support 
 of evidence ; nor is it like the epic, whose object 
 being to instruct by an ingenious fable, requires 
 plausibility. As its aim is not like that of logic 
 by enlightening to convince the mind, but rather 
 by clouding the understanding to confound and 
 silence reason, it requires not argument, nor per- 
 spicuity, nor method. Simplicity is here supplied 
 by puerility of conception, and the marvellous 
 by the impossible. Monachism is the natural 
 parent of the legend, in like manner as chivalry 
 is of the old romance ; a species of composition 
 which, if not unexceptionable, is greatly superiour 
 to the other, in respect both of its end, and of 
 the means which it employs. 
 
 I shall add but one other example. St. Bara- 
 datus, who, in the same century, and doubtless 
 with the like pious and benevolent intention, be- 
 took 
 
I 
 
 412 O* CHttlSTIAy. TEMPERANCE 
 
 took himself to a wooden coffer, or rather ca«?e, 
 in which he was so confined by its dimensions 
 and form, that he [was always bowed down in it, 
 and] could not stand upright. This mansion 
 was placed on the top of a rock, where he was 
 exposed to the sun, the rain, and all kinds of 
 weather. At last, the bishop of Antioch, Theo- 
 dotus, in whose diocese the anchoret resided, be- 
 ing- a man of vulgar understanding, unable to 
 comprehend either the dignity, or the utility, of 
 such sublimated virtue, cruelly obliged him to 
 quit his cage, that so he might the more easily 
 be induced to live like other men. He did ac- 
 cordingly quit his cage ; but, to make compen- 
 sation for one restraint that was thus taken off, 
 he made choice of another, and devoutly abjured 
 the use of his hands, in any way in which they 
 could be serviceable to himself, or others. This 
 he did, bv devoting them to remain always in 
 one posture, extended towards heaven, probably 
 in commemoration of our Lord upon the cross. 
 In this situation, we are told, he lived in the open, 
 air, that is, as I understand it, that lie took no 
 shelter in any house, or building, from the incle- 
 mencies of the sky. 
 
 That such things were all (I do not say accom- 
 plished, for as to some of them it is absolutely 
 impossible that they should, but which is suffi- 
 cient tor my purpose, that they were all) pre- 
 tended, 
 
» - ' • 
 
 AND SELF-DENIAL. 413 
 
 tended, believed, admired, and celebrated, by 
 antients of no mean name, and by credible histo- 
 rians, is past dispute. Extravagancies the most 
 marvellous, and the most frantic, such as disho- 
 noured the name of religion, and rendered men 
 worse than useless, were considered as the most 
 sublime attainments in the christian life. I said 
 worse than useless, because a man is useless, who 
 is not in a capacity of being helpful to others, 
 however urgent the occasion be ; whereas, those 
 of whom I have been speaking, not only effected 
 this, but, by abjuring the ordinary use of some of 
 their limbs and faculties, rendered themselves to- 
 tally dependant, and consequently a burden, on 
 others, for their assistance in all the most neces- 
 sary functions of life. How should liaradatus, 
 for instance, with his arms continually extended, 
 have, without the aid of others, either earned his 
 daily food, or used it when brought to him ? 
 "Whether those hermits had any right to expect 
 from others that help, Which they had incapaci- 
 tated themselves from giving to any, is a differ- 
 ent question. Paul has declared explicitly, that 
 if any man icill not work] ntitl:cr should he cat. 
 By his verdict it is evident, that there is no obli- 
 gation on any to do for others, what God both 
 enables and requires them to do for themselves. 
 It may be said, " they have incapacitated them- 
 i( selves by an oath, which it would be both 
 
 " sacrilege 
 
414 OF CHRISTIAN TEJMPERANCE 
 
 " sacrilege and perjury to violate." Wretched 
 ■casuistry ! which puts it in a man's power when- 
 ever he will, to release himself from an obliga- 
 tion, by swearing that he will not perform it : 
 for such is the import of the vow, that deprives 
 him of the use of those faculties, by which alone 
 he knows it must be performed, if it be performed 
 by him. " From the moment he has sworn," say 
 they, " the former obligation ceases, and the 
 *•' contrary becomes his duty." This is an exact 
 counterpart to the ingenious expedient, which 
 the scribes had of old devised, for releasing 
 children from the duty they owed their parents. 
 Now, x if the helplessness of a devotee of this cha- 
 racter excite the compassion of christians, who 
 are not themselves so weak as to approve such 
 preposterous and immoral engagements, they 
 must charitably consider him, as a diseased per- 
 son labouring under a sort of phrenzy, or aliena- 
 tion of mind, which if curable can be cured only 
 by gentle means, and slow degrees. It is solely 
 in this view, that he can be regarded as an object 
 of pity entitled to relief; and not as an object of 
 indignation, deserving the punishment of being 
 abandoned by his fellows to reap the fruits of his 
 own resolution. This would have proved a pu- 
 nimment entirely adequate, and would, in my 
 opinion, have been, if timely applied, fully suffi- 
 cient for checking the progress of an evil, so 
 4 contagious 
 
AND SELF-DENrAL. 415 
 
 contagious and epidemical as the plague of 
 monkery proved for many ages. 
 
 Will it be thought too severe a censure of 
 practices, which manifestly counterwork provi- 
 dence in the application of man's natural powers, 
 which disqualify their possessor for using them, 
 agreeably to the dictates of religion, both natural 
 and revealed, in promoting the benefit of the 
 individual, and of society, Will it be thought 
 too severe to say, of the monkish pranks above 
 specified, (which, if the consequences were not 
 so serious, we should justly call ridiculous) that 
 they dishonour the name of religion? It will 
 not, surely, by the judicious, when it is consi- 
 dered, that that sacred name has been arrogated, 
 nay, in a manner appropriated, to such a gross 
 misapplication, or nonapplication of talents, as 
 has been above described. Can true religion, 
 the christian religion, fail to be disgraced by 
 fooleries, which so strongly assimilate it to the 
 very worst of heathen superstitions ? I say, the 
 very 'worst ; for, though extravagancies almost 
 equally monstrous with those of Symeon, Bara- 
 datus, and the Nazianzene monks, are to be 
 found amongst idolators, they are only amongst 
 idolaters who are utterly uncivilized, and in the 
 very utmost stages of ignorance and barbarity. 
 As far back in pagan antiquity as our acquaint- 
 ance with Greece and Italy reaches, there seem 
 
 to 
 
4!6 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 to have been none, in either country, who were 
 chargeable with such a wretched depravation of 
 intellect. And shall absurdities in practice, 
 which intelligent persons, in antient Greece or 
 Rome, would have thought, not unjustty, a 
 stain upon their idolatry, be accounted no way 
 dishonourable to the profession of the truth, as 
 it is in Jesus, the only religion in the world 
 which can justly be denominated a reasonable 
 service ? 
 
 There have been, I own, some who come 
 under the general denomination of monks, that 
 have been useful members of society. Some of 
 the monastic orders have been famous, in these 
 latter ages, for men of eminence, both in science 
 and literature ; and some of the learnedest works 
 of the moderns have been productions of the 
 cloister, and that, not in one branch of erudi- 
 tion only, but in several. We have had thence, 
 grammarians, critics, antiquaries, historians, ma- 
 thematicians, naturalists, civilians ; and though 
 I cannot say much for the figure they have made 
 in theology and ethics, there are some valuable 
 works in these also, for which the world is in- 
 debted to them. But I disapprove of monastic 
 vows in the lump, even where there is nothing 
 so extraordinary, not to say impious, in them, 
 a^ in those of the pillared preacher, the caged 
 saint, and others abovementioned. And I dis- 
 approve 
 
.; AND SELF-DENIAL. 4- 17 
 
 approve them, because I think men's entering 
 into such unnecessary engagements, even in 
 things lawful, is often, in effect, laying a snare 
 for their own souls, whose danger such measures 
 tend more to increase, than to secure their pei> 
 severance. We are commanded to pray, in an 
 humble sense of our frailty, that we may not be 
 led into temptation. But to bring upon our- 
 selves such additional engagements, what is it 
 but to multiply our temptations, and to boast to 
 God of our strength ? To him we thereby in 
 effect signify, " I will do more for thee than* 
 " thy law itself requireth of me, and bind my- 
 " self on thy account, to submit to restraints 
 1 ' which thou hast not commanded. " Can both 
 be incumbent as duty at once ? Knowingly and 
 willingly to rush into temptation, and to pray 
 God that we may avoid it ? To me there appears 
 more of presumption and self-confidence in this 
 conduct, than either of piety or of christian 
 humility. Yet I have no doubt, that men who 
 think differently may enter into monastic en- 
 gagements with a good intention, and conscien- 
 tiously observe them. For whatever I think of 
 the profession, I would not dare to say, that 
 there are no good men in the order. 
 
 Let it be observed, that when I stigmatize the 
 extravagancies of particular monks so early as 
 the fourth and fifth centuries, and mark the 
 
 VOL. ii. Ee (spirit 
 
.418 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 Spirit from which those errours flowed, this can- 
 not be called a direct attack upon popery; for 
 . popery, as we understand it, had not then an 
 existence ; and to call the christians then living 
 papists, would be as absurd as to call them pro- 
 test aras. Nor would it mend the matter to 
 change the name for roman catholics. Christians 
 of those days, who were neither natives nor citi- 
 zens of home, would have had no more title to 
 the name Roman than to Corinthian, Carthagi- 
 nian, or Alexandrian. Nor was the d inference 
 only in name, as might be easily shown, were 
 this the proper place. At the same time, it 
 must be acknowledged, that as not only mona- 
 chism, but the individual monks above specified, 
 have all along had the countenance and patron- 
 age of what is called the Romish church, she 
 may, by implication, be said to be affected, by 
 whatever attacks the abuses which she is known 
 to patronize. And in this application of the 
 term, the Greek church is attacked no less than 
 the Roman Catholic. The same thing may also 
 be affirmed of the x\siatic and African sectaries. 
 But in consequence of the gradual changes, 
 which, in a course of ages, silently introduce 
 themselves into all human establishments, the 
 mcnachism practised at present in the church of 
 Rome is become, in many respects, exceedingly 
 diflerent from that of the early ages. We never 
 
 hear 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 41$ 
 
 hear now of hermits, they are called cenob'ties. 
 The virtues of the primitive monks are not those, 
 which most signally characterize their sucees- 
 sours. We may say as much, likewise, of their 
 vices. The absurd and pitiable extravagancies 
 of the former have given place to the more spe- 
 cious, but, perhaps, more dangerous policy of 
 the latter. Since monks have been collected 
 mto communities, those, who began with display- 
 ing merely the idiocy of fanatics, ended with an 
 exhibition of the fury and malignity of ruffians. 
 They are not all sinners, even in Home's ac- 
 count, who have borne testimony of this from 
 dear-bought experience. Witness the barbarous 
 usage which St. Chrysostome met with from 
 fellow-saints of this stamp at Cesarea. But this 
 by the way ; for it is with their temperance only, 
 and not with their brutality, that I am here 
 concerned. 
 
 But though the singularities, which distin- 
 guished the aforesaid monks, make no part of 
 the monastic vows used a.t present in the church, 
 and though there is no risk, that any son of 
 Rome shall presume to emulate the matchless 
 glory of the pillared Symeon, or dive into the 
 mysterious devotion of the Nazianzene hermit, 
 who locked up his tongue in his mouth, and, 
 with a noble superiority to vulgar conceptions, 
 consigned it in perpetuity to an inviolable tacii 
 
 E e 2 turnitv 
 
 » »> 
 
420 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 turnity in praise of God * ; and though Bara- 
 datus will, probably, still remain, as hitherto, 
 unrivalled in the resolution more than heroical, 
 of living constantly, with out-stretched arms, in 
 the open air, yet Rome cannot be intirely un- 
 concerned in the judgment, which may be formed 
 of these men, and of their great achievements 
 for the service of God and man. For as it is a 
 thing notorious, that Symeon and Baradatus 
 have been admitted into the calendar, and cano- 
 nized, and are, by consequence, acknowledged 
 and worshipped, by Rome's genuine offspring, as 
 eminent saints, she has connected their fortunes 
 with her own, and rendered it impossible for her 
 now to disown them. Though she should think 
 as -meanly of their saintships as any protestant, 
 she cannot now cast them oif without turning 
 felo de se, owning herself to have been in the 
 wrong, and so renouncing her infallibility for 
 ever. Now if infallibility be renounced, we 
 may say, without hesitation, that the whole 
 fabric of the hierarchy is undermined. 
 
 There are some points, on which the wise men 
 of the Romish communion prudently choose to 
 be silent: there are some of their saints, 
 whom, they are sensible, they gain no honour by 
 bringing into view. They cannot intirely ex- 
 
 * The monks of la Trappe still d© the same. 
 
 punge 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 421 
 
 pungethem from the historic page, though, for ob- 
 vious reasons, the later historians pass them over 
 much more slightly and hastily than the antient 
 Intelligent catholics would gladly leave them 
 in quiet possession of their places in the legends, 
 for the entertainment of those, now compara- 
 tively few, who can be charmed with such read- 
 ing, but they do not like to meet with them any 
 where else. The judicious Hooker has observed, 
 that in his day, near two centuries ago, though 
 saints of the monkish order had even then almost 
 intirely lost credit with people of discernment, 
 they were, nevertheless, sometimes obtruded on 
 the public. " Some brainless men," says he*, 
 " have, by great labour and travail, brought to 
 ** pass, that the church is now ashamed of no- 
 " thing more than of saints. If, therefore, 
 " pope Gelasius did so long sithence see those 
 " defects of judgment even then, for which the 
 " reading of the acts of martyrs mould be, and 
 " was at that time, forborn in the church of 
 " Rome, we are not to marvel that afterwards 
 " legends being grown in a manner, to be no- 
 " thing else but heaps of frivolous and scanda- 
 " lous vanities, they have been, even with dis- 
 " dam, thrown out, the very nests which bred 
 " them abhorring them." Horace has observed, 
 
 * Eccl. Pol. B. v, C. 20. 
 
 E e 3 in 
 
432 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 in regard to dramatic performances, that there 
 arc some things which do very well to be : told, 
 but very ill to be acted ; they pass amazingly in 
 simple narration, but mock us exceedingly in a- 
 scenic representation. Put the case that the 
 figures presented, and the feats performed or • 
 boasted by those prodigies of sanctity the antient 
 monks, were again, in the present age, to appear 
 on the theatre of the world, what sort of recep- 
 tion would such preachers, at this day, meet with 
 in any part of the country, particularly in the 
 ecclesiastical state ? Would any person of sound 
 intellects be found, who would think it necessary 
 to give them audience ? 
 
 " Quodcunque oftendis mihi sic, incredulus odi/' 
 
 There is no roman catholic, who would not then 
 perceive the dishonour done to religion by such 
 fantastic exhibitions. And it would be lucky 
 for the poor ascetic, if the matter were allowed 
 to terminate in a contemptuous and general 
 neglect. But that is more than could be ex- 
 pected in the country supposed. The most mo- 
 derate fate he could reasonably look for, would 
 be commitment to a madhouse, for it would be 
 only the most charitable people who would as- 
 cribe the cause to frenzy ; whilst those who were 
 less charitably disposed, would exclaim with ve- 
 hemence 
 4 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 423 
 
 hemencc, heresy and the inquisition. Yet surely 
 it' these things were once in their nature right 
 and approvable, they are always right, and al- 
 ways approvable. If Symeon, Baradatus, and the 
 rest of the fraternity, took the .direct road to 
 .heaven themselves, and pointed it out to others, 
 they must take the direct road who follow them, 
 imitating the example they have given. It is 
 extremely vain to talk of such an imitation as 
 presumptuous, since there is no presumption, 
 hut, on the contrary, an incumbent duty in 
 imitating God and Christ, wherein they are 
 really imitable. And with regard to the saints 
 we are specially commanded * Be ye followers 
 (pipmoh imitators) of them who, through faith 
 and patience, inherit the promises. The same 
 practices could not exhibit the beauty of holiness 
 in the fourth and fifth centuries, which can ex- 
 hibit nothing but madness or heresy in the 
 eighteenth. 
 
 To the observations already made I shall add 
 only two, which particularly merit attention. 
 One is, that the sentiments of a people concern- 
 ing the object of their worship are best learnt 
 from the rites and practices, by which they -hope 
 to recommend themselves to his favour. Tins is 
 a much surer test, than the style they employ in 
 
 * Heb. vi. \z. 
 
 ile 4 worship. 
 
424 OF CHRISTIAN? TEMPERANCE 
 
 worship. Jupiter, in the hymns of his worship- 
 pers, was the father of gods a fid men, the greatest 
 and the best of beings, yet they did not hesitate 
 to impute to him the capricious despotism, and 
 the flagitious actions of a tyrant. The language 
 of their religious addresses was often the mere* 
 dictate of adulation and selfishness. Even the 
 chosen people, whose thoughts were often gro- 
 velling (notwithstanding the sublime instruc- 
 tions they had received from heaven) were, in 
 the worship of the true God, not intirely clear 
 from this reproach. For of them the psalmist 
 tells us, that, on certain occasions, they flattered 
 God with their mouth, and lied unto kirn with their 
 tongue*. But when, with the view of pleasing 
 the divinity, cruelty is exercised by the worship- 
 per, either on himself or on some devoted victim,, 
 we. have the strongest evidence,, that the deity 
 adored is conceived, not as a gracious, merciful, 
 and benevolent being, but as a rigorous unfeeling 
 exactor, and oppressive despot. When the sa- 
 cred historian acquaints us, that the prophets of 
 Eaal, in addressing this idol, cut themselves after 
 their manner, with knives and lancets till the blood 
 gushed out upon them'], every person of reflection 
 discovers, in these words, their opinion of the- 
 God whom they served, as a blood thirsty sa- 
 
 * Pial. lxxviii, 36. f 1 Jiangs xviii. 2$v 
 
 vage. 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. «KR 
 
 rage. And of the opinion of Moloch's merciless 
 barbarity, believed by his worshippers, the many 
 horrid sacrifices of infants consumed on his 
 altar are a proof most terribly convincing. 
 
 Now, though the institution of Moses, which 
 was suited to a state of pupillage, is expressly re- 
 presented as a more servile dispensation than 
 that of Christ ; yet in the mosaic institution no 
 ceremony or custom was admitted, which could 
 convey the most remote suggestion, that God 
 takes pleasure in the sufferings of his votaries. 
 Punishment is indeed necessary in governing, 
 and the Lord is a God of judgment. But thers 
 is still a difference. God delighteth in mercy, 
 whereas judgment is his strange work. And, in 
 all the sacred service of the Jews, nothing was 
 commanded, or even permitted, which savoured 
 of those inhuman austerities and castigations, 
 not uncommon with some of the more barbarous 
 of their pagan neighbours. For nobody will rank 
 with these the regulations for guarding against 
 indecorum in the sacred service, arising from the 
 intemperance or indiscretion of the ministring 
 priests. And let it also be observed, that though 
 there were many festivals, some of which lasted a 
 week, there was but one anniversary fast in the 
 whole calendar, and that it lasted only a dav, the 
 day of expiation. Now their feasts were always 
 celebrated with much hilarity and joy. The 
 1 voice 
 
426 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 voice of their religions offices, therefore, was 
 incomparably oftener a call to rejoice together, 
 than to mourn. 
 
 My second observation is, that there is no 
 example recommended to us, either in the Old 
 Testament, or in the New, which bears a simili- 
 tude to any of the monkish austerities above- 
 mentioned. We are told, indeed, of fasts which 
 were solemnly observed on particular occasions. 
 These are, doubtless, to be considered as ex- 
 amples deserving our imitation, when the like 
 occasions occur. But it merits particular notice, 
 that in the only passage*, wherein the nature of 
 an acceptable fast is expressly treated, the com- 
 parative insignificance of corporal penances and 1 
 external signs of mortification and abasement, 
 often hypocritical, in which the people abounded, 
 are contrasted to the beneficent virtues of com- 
 miseration to the distressed, humanity, charity 
 and moral improvement, without which we are 
 certified, that their fasts secured to them neither 
 the approbation of God, nor the reward promised 
 to the devout and penitent. The only Jewish 
 custom, which had any resemblance to monas tic- 
 vows, and that but a remote one, was the vow 
 of the nazarites, which, except in the instances 
 of Samson and John the baptist, was an engage- 
 
 * Isa. lviii. 5, 6, 7. 
 
 ment 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 427 
 
 merit not for life, but for a short time, commonly 
 a week, and had nothing either of the inhuma- 
 nity or of the absurdity of those above related. 
 
 But have we not in Moses, Elijah, and above 
 all, in Christ, examples of the fast of forty days 
 which, it might be expected, would, in the pious 
 christian, awake a holy emulation. To me, I 
 own, that emulation, in this case, appears to 
 merit a very different epithet. For first, in the 
 three examples mentioned, the effect was mira- 
 culous, and is recorded as an evidence, that the 
 whole transaction was under the immediate di- 
 rection of God, who in a supernatural manner 
 supported his ministers. Now whatever cannot 
 be otherwise effected than by miracle, the hum- 
 ble-minded christian will think there is more of 
 presumption than of piety in his daring to ex- 
 pect. It would be precisely what is called in 
 scripture tempting God, or putting his favour to 
 the test. There is ground to think, that those 
 extraordinary ministers suffered nothing; during- 
 the forty days, not so much as the pain, which 
 accompanies the craving of appetite. It is : par- 
 ticularly said of our Lord by both the evangelists, 
 who relate his temptation, that it was not till after 
 the forty days that he became hungry ; a plain 
 indication, that, during that period, the 'laws or- '■- 
 nature regarding his preservation were suspended, 
 or perhaps more properly gave place to a law 
 
 of 
 
4^8 OF CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE 
 
 of a superiour order, by which the end -was 
 answered. But secondly, in none of those in- 
 stancevS is the fast of forty days exhibited as 
 what was intended, but as what, having happened 
 not through choice but necessity, was endured 
 by those select ministers of Jehovah. It was not 
 undertaken but undergone by them. What pro- 
 perly they did, what was immediately consequent 
 on their own volition, is quite a different thing. 
 Moses went up mount Sinai, and remained there 
 at the command of God. Elijah set out when 
 commanded, and followed the angel whom God 
 sent to direct him. Jesus, led by the spirit into 
 the desert, continued there, as long as he knew 
 it to suit the intention of providence. The fast 
 was to them all merely the consequence, and 
 probably to the two first the unforeseen conse- 
 quence, of the action, but by none of them pre- 
 viously purposed. The only practical lessons, 
 therefore, which those passages of the sacred* 
 story seem calculated to enforce, are implicit 
 obedience to the command of God, whatever be 
 the trials it may expose us to, also patience and 
 fortitude in bearing the worst that can befal us, 
 when employed in doing our duty. I might add 
 a third reason against those preposterous attempts 
 at imitation, which the patrons of the ascetic life 
 seem so highly to admire. All the three person- 
 ages above-mentioned, but- especially the last, 
 
 were 
 
AND SELF-DENIAL. 429 
 
 were extraordinary ministers of religion, whose 
 functions were, in many respects, peculiar. For 
 us to attempt to mimic (I do not say imitate, 
 such things heing properly inimitable) what be- 
 longed peculiarly to the high characters with 
 which God had invested them, to usurp their 
 prerogative, so far from being an evidence of 
 lowly respect and wisdom, would be the strongest 
 proof we could give of extreme arrogance and 
 folly. 
 
 INDEX 
 
ERRATA, 
 
 Page 2, /• 5 > for r^i expos r. T^cayios. 
 *• if, I. %, — ^iroTaxoj r. ^vj-oto)«oj, 
 
 1 8, /. 21, — pacique r. pacisque. 
 
 8g is by mistake numbered 68. 
 
 i i2i,/. 8, — Christ r. if Christ. 
 
 122, /. 2, — Gracian r. Gratian. 
 
 •— — 1 8 1 , /. 26, — Sorbon r. Sorbonne. 
 
 — — 185,/. 11, — cloke r. cloak. 
 
 — " - 214, 10 and 12, for $>]y read play. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ■ * ■ << « t>j >» *' ' 
 
 A. 
 
 ABBOTS - - H 150 
 
 Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, cited, judged, 
 and deposed by the pope - - I 413 
 
 Acholius, the first who had the title of the pope's vicar II izi 
 Alexandria, the first place where every church had one pres- 
 byter - - - I 260 
 Altensfaig, quoted I 303 
 Ambrosioster - - - I 226 
 Ammianus IVjarcellinus, quoted - - I 39+ 
 Anchorets - II 146 
 Angels, meaning of the term - I 156, 219 
 Apiarius, declared innocent by two popes, though convicted 
 of the most heinous crimes - - II 4.5 
 Apocalypse, epistles to the Asian churches in the I 156, 167 
 Apostles, what - - - 1 143 
 Apostolical constitutions, the - - I 380 
 Appetite, to be subdued, but not extirpated - II 371 
 Appropriation, what - - - I 261 
 Archbishop, use of the term - - I 286 
 Archdeacons - - - - I 271 
 Arian controversy - - - II 11,20 
 Ascetics - - - II 143, 387 
 Athanasius condemned as a heretic - II 1 1, 12 
 Augustine, his sentiments respecting episcopal jurisdiction 
 
 I 65 
 ■ ' ■ anecdote of him - I 257 
 
 — — -i his expressions concerning the trinity - II 4 
 
 — • the monk, converts the anglo-saxons in Britain 
 
 II 119 
 
 Austerities, religious, impropriety of * II 403,425. 
 
 Authority, just, supported by knowledge - II 236 
 
 ▼ ol. 11. Ff Babylon, 
 
r n d e x: 
 
 B. 
 
 1 375 
 
 Babylon, mentioned by Peter, what city 
 
 Baradatus, St. - - II 411 
 
 Barnabas, his admission to die aposdeship - I 148- 
 
 Baronius ' - - I 293; II 282 
 
 Basnage quoted - I 29a 
 
 Beatific vision, the - - - II 14 
 
 Becket, Thomas - - - I 330 
 
 Bible, its frequent and attentive perusal recommended I 14. 
 
 1 how it should be studied - - I 15 
 
 ■ account of it I 23 
 
 remarks on the English tranlation of it - I 321 
 
 Biblical studies necessary to the theologian - 1 2 
 
 ■ both for illustrating and confirming 
 
 Christianity - - - I 3 
 
 Bingham, criticism on - I *6g, 217 
 
 Bishop, universal, opinion of Gregory 1, on the tide II 56, 172 
 
 h 1 title of, given to Boniface m - II 72 
 
 Bishops, their juridical authority, established by Constantine 
 
 I 6a 
 
 — — ... Augustine's sentiments con- 
 
 - J 65 
 
 • checked by Arcadius and; 
 
 - ' - ih 
 
 and still more by Valen- 
 
 I 66 
 
 - re-established by Justi- 
 nian - - - - - ib. 
 
 — J primitive signification of the name - I 125 
 
 •„ , — not successoic of the apostles - I 143. 
 
 «*- ■ - - nature of their office in the second and third centu- 
 ries - _ - - I 172- 
 Blasphemy, what II 292 
 Bona, cardinal, quoted - 1 289, 304 ; II 250, 257 
 Boniface 111 obtains the-title of universal bishop - II 72 
 
 viii, his decrees - - II 210- 
 
 • -— - ■ set Winfrkl. 
 
 Books, too many, detrimental to a student - In 
 
 « — -first formal prohibition of . - II 26& 
 
 — ~ mutilated and adulterated by the Romish hierarchy 
 
 II 277 
 
 cernm'j it 
 
 Honorius 
 
 tianus 
 
 Bosket, stricture on 
 
 a r — p q^toted 
 
 Bovver quoted 
 ■Britain, conversion ef 
 
 II 328 
 H 40 r 
 II 12, 91, 281 
 II 119 
 Burn'* 
 
INDEX. 
 
 turn's ecclesiastical law I 260 
 
 Bycl, Gabriel, quoted - - - II 258 
 
 C. 
 
 ■Calvin quoted - - - II 363 
 
 Canon, sacred, history of the - - I 25 
 
 Canons of a cathedral - - - 1 270 
 
 • ecclesiastical, what - - I 287 
 
 Cardinals, their origin - - - II 2 14 
 
 Cathedral, what - - - . I 260 
 
 Celedonius, consequence of his appeal from a synod to the 
 
 pope - "" . . " " J1 47 
 
 Celestine, pope, restores Apiarius - II 4.^ 
 
 Celibacy, text misinterpreted to favour - II 386 
 
 - ' ■ not recommended in the scripture - II 390 
 
 Chalcedon, council of - - I 38c) 
 
 Changes, whence they arise - - I 248 
 
 Chapters I 270, 271 
 
 Chorepiscopi - - - - I 254,276 
 
 Christian temperance and self-denial, essay on - II 367 
 Christianity, study of the biblical records necessary for its 
 
 confirmation and illustration - - I 3 
 
 •*— its promulgation - - ib. 
 
 - evidence - - I 5 
 
 — — — — moral precepts - I 40 
 
 - essence - - .1 86 
 
 Chrysostom ----- I 222 
 
 Church and state - - - I 34. 
 
 history of the, what - - I 35 
 
 « — its origin and primitive nature - I 40 
 
 -. rise of its distinction from the state - I 40, 46 
 
 — signification of the word - - I 43 
 
 it's form of government - - I 84 
 
 ■ — may subsist in different forms - \ g? 
 
 — undergo alterations with propriety I 93, 248 
 
 form of, first instituted by Christ and his apostles 
 
 I 1 14 
 
 apostolic, constitution of - - I 172 
 
 ■ ■■ — use of the word in the early ages - 1 193, 203 
 
 ■ alteration in it's use - I 268, 3 19 
 
 schisnf between the eastern and western 1 415 
 
 • controversies in the early ages in - II 1 
 
 Clemens Algxandrinus - -I 200 
 
 Romanus - I 133, 300, 383 
 
 Clement vii i ? his act for altering book° . - II 279 
 
 Cleic, le, quoted - r f ™7 '* II £4 
 
 . Ff2 Clcxgy, 
 
I N D E X. 
 
 Clergy, origin of the term - -. . I 297 
 
 Collier's faith - - - - .II 259 
 
 Comings's sermons - I 109 
 
 Conclave, why so called - - II 222 
 
 Conge d'elire - - - 1 271 
 
 Consistory, what - . - ib. 
 Constantine, the founder of ecclesiastical jurisdiction I 60 
 
 -'s donation - - II 50 
 
 11 — Copronimus, anecdote of - II 22 
 
 Constantinople, council of I 389 
 
 Constitutions, apostolical, the • I 380 
 
 Consubstantiation, doctrine of - - II 354 
 
 Controversy, observations on - I 166 ; II 353 
 
 Councils, ecumenical - I 288, 291; III 
 
 — what - - II 36 
 
 Courts, ecclesiastical - - I 278 
 
 Cromwell, maxim of his - - II 97 
 
 Crucifying the flesh, what - - II 383 
 Cyprian - - I 177, 224 ; II 11.0, 172 
 
 excommunicated by pope Stephen - II 85 
 
 Cyril, his controversy with Nestorius - II 7., 22 
 
 D. 
 
 Damasus, legatine power introduced by - II 121 
 
 Deacons, what _ . - I 125, 173, 244 
 
 ——— how chosen - - I 175 
 
 Deaconesses - - - - I 247 
 
 Deans and deaneries - - - . I 270 
 
 Decr,etai epistles - - - II 5 1 
 
 Auxkovoi, "hat - - - - I 125 
 
 Didascalies - - - I 380 
 
 Diocese, what I 2051 
 Dodweil, strictures on - I 88, 96, 140, 186, 224, 241 
 
 ■ ■ ■ his interpretation of Tertullian - I 122 
 
 quoted - I 324 
 
 Dominic, St. , the inventor of the inquisition II 297, 303 
 
 order of - - II 363 
 
 Donatists - - - - I 419 
 
 Duties, caution against the omission of - II 400 
 
 Easter, observance of - 13^1; II 19,83 
 
 Ecclesiastical judicature - - I 60 
 
 „ , polity - - - I 84 
 
 . courts 1 278 
 
 ., degree? .t first offices, not dignities I 338 
 
 Eccle- 
 
II 3^ 
 I 7 i 
 
 II 24 
 
 I I2<J 
 II 272 
 
 II 36l 
 
 II 354 
 I 281 
 
 II z8 
 
 I 148, 149 
 I 287 
 
 I • N ■ D - E X. 
 
 Ecclesiastics, rise of their authority - I 5 1 
 
 ' ■■ " superiour orders of - - I 288 
 
 — inferiour orders of - - I 289 
 
 — — , decrees of the council of Trent respecting their 
 
 privileges - II 1 93 
 
 ■. . reception given to their claims by the secular 
 
 powers -m II 203 
 
 Ecumenical councils - - I 288, 291 ;_II 1 
 
 - what 
 
 England, ecclesiastical judicature in 
 Ephesus, council of - 
 
 Episcopacy, see bishops 
 EvriffHOTrot;, what - — 
 
 Erasmus, his annotations on the New Testament 
 
 ■ - — answer to the protestants 
 
 Eucharist, doctrine of the real presence in the 
 
 Eusebius - 
 
 Eutychian controversy - « 
 
 Evangelist, office of an 
 
 Exarchs, what - 
 
 F. 
 
 Faith, implicit - - - II 255 
 
 explicit - - - II 256 
 
 . Collier's - II 259 
 
 Fasting, occasional, may be proper on some accounts II 384 
 -Ferdinand, the catholic, introduced the inquisition into Spain 
 
 II 308 
 Ferrier, the French ambassador, his speeches at the council of 
 
 Trent - - - - II 187, 205 
 
 Festivity, within the bounds of sobriety, innocent II 380 
 
 Firmilian - - - I 222; II 85 
 
 Fleury, Claude, quoted - - I 33 1 ; II 403 
 
 France, inquisition soon driven out of - II 3 1 o 
 
 Francis, St., order of - II 303 
 
 Fraud, pious - - - II 52 
 
 Frederic 11, emperor of Germany, takes the inquisitors under 
 
 his protection - - - II 305 
 
 Friars - - - - II 150 
 
 G. 
 
 Gelasius, pope, decree obtained by him - II 91 
 
 Germans converted by Boniface or Winfrid - II 1 19 
 
 Gerson, quoted II 261 
 
 Gibbon, que ed - - - ■ II 64 
 
 Gospel, it's promulgation accompanied by miracles I 4 
 
 Gospels, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Gospels, many have been written - «. I 27 
 
 Grabe, Dr. - - - I 381 
 
 Greeks, given to disputation - * I 418 
 
 — almost all the early controversies originated among 
 
 them I 419; II z 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen, his opinion of synods - II 30 
 
 • — . . account of monastic austerities II 40 J 
 
 '- ••• 1, pope, lis character and conduct - II 5 5 
 
 opinion respecting the title of universal 
 
 bkhop - Hs6, 172 
 
 H. 
 
 Hadrian, bishop of Thebes - - II 49 
 
 Hammond, Dr. - I 129, 237 
 
 Heresy - - - - II 293 
 
 Hermits -' •■' - 11146,387 
 
 Hickes, Dr. - - 1312,366 
 
 Hierarchy, it's rise and progress - - 1 84 
 
 Hilary -' - I 119, 225; II 13 
 
 blunder respecting him - - 1 225 
 
 — — bishop of Aries, excommunicated by one pope, sainted 
 
 by another - - * ;a II 47 
 
 m •• •• — i — Poictiers, quoted - . II 294, 296 
 
 Honoratus, archdeacon of Saloni - - . II 49 
 Hooker, quoted r - - 11421 
 Hoornbeck de Episcopatu - - • I 96 
 Houbigant's Prolegomena - - 129,33 
 Huss, John - - -' II 340 
 satirical picture exhibited by - - II 334 
 
 I. 
 
 Ignatius - - 1139,184,190,192 
 
 Implicit faith - - II 25 5 
 
 Index expurgatorius - - - II 271 
 
 Innocent, pope, advances the claim of prerogatives derived 
 from St. Peter - II 87 
 
 .. . 1 v , tribunal of the inquisition established by II 306 
 
 Inquisition, invent ■:! by Dominic - II 297, 303 
 
 . — — — it's rise and progress - - II 30 1 
 
 proceedings - II 3.12 
 
 Ireneus - - - I 190, 379; II 1 10 
 
 J. 
 James, bishop of Jerusalem, not the apostle - I 382 
 
 Jerom - - - I ^27; II 268 
 
 Jerorr* 
 
I N- J> E X. 
 
 jerom of Prague - - - If ji& 
 
 Jesuits, speech of their general, at the council of Trent, on the 
 
 papal authority - - - II 160 
 
 ——— remarks on them - - II 18$ 
 
 Jewish history - - - Is 
 
 , — > its necessity to theological students I 2 
 
 ( *■ priesthood - - - I 307 
 
 Jews, no sects among them, before they became acquainted 
 
 with the Greeks - - - I 419^ 
 
 John, pope, his fallibility - - II 14. 
 
 — ■■ — threatened to be burned for a heretic - ib, 
 
 bishop of Lappa - - - II 49 
 
 Johnson, Dr., quoted - - II 397 
 
 Josephus recommended, and how he should be read I 1 7 
 
 — , his character -• _ Iig 
 
 Julian, the emperor - - - II 15 
 
 Justinian re-established episcopal authority - 166 
 
 his character - - II 21 
 
 K. 
 
 Knowledge, tends to the support of civil authority II 236 
 
 ■ ■ — an enemy to superstition - II 23a 
 
 1 r- measures taken for its suppression by the Romish 
 
 hierarchy - - - - II 239, 264 
 
 L. . 
 
 Lactantius, quoted - - 11285,287,292 
 
 Lainez, general of the Jesuits, his speech in the council of 
 
 Trent - - - - - II 160 
 
 Laity, used as a distinctive term for the people - I 297 
 
 its etymology - I 303 
 
 Latins, differed in character as well as language from the 
 
 Greeks - ♦ - II 3 
 
 Legatine power introduced by Damasus - - II 121 
 
 Legends, what - - - II 41 1 
 
 Len rant quoted - - IIziq 
 
 Leo, pope, his conduct towards Hilarius _ II r j 
 
 ■ x, gave occasion to the reformation - II 342 
 
 Liberius, pope, his versatility - - ifii 
 
 Littleton, lord, quoted - - - I 350 
 
 Logic, romish . - - - II 103 
 
 Luther, his first step against papacy - II 280, 344 
 
 the reformation effected by him - II 344 
 
 — ' • — his character - - - II 358 
 
 Maccabees, 
 
I N D t X 
 
 M. 
 
 Maccabees, books of - - las 
 
 Mahometism - - 1 39- 
 
 Martin, St., his humanity II 298 
 
 Martin v, pope, account of his coronation - II 230 
 
 Mauricius, the emperor, dethroned and murdered II 59 
 
 ■ ■ ■ his character - H 67 
 
 Memory, mode of exercising and strengthening I 16 
 Mendicant friars - - _ - II 152, 153 
 
 Metropolitan, rise of the term I 284 
 
 Michaelis's Introduction to the New Testament I 1$ 
 
 Mill's Prolegomena - - I 29 
 
 Ministers, study their duty, and what - I 2, 7 
 
 their office - - 1 7 
 
 . : how chosen in the early ages - I 1 75 
 
 Miracles did accompany the publication of the gospel I 4 
 
 Monastic orders, of great help to the papacy _ II 1 42 
 
 — — their rise and progress - II 143 
 
 Monks - - - II 150, 401 
 
 Mosaic institution - - I 35 ; II 425 
 
 Moulin, Pierre du, quoted - - 11251 
 
 N. 
 
 Names have great Influence - 1180,255,306 
 
 Nestorius, his controversy with Cyril - II 7, 22, 27 
 
 Nunneries - - - II 15 1 
 
 Nuns - - - - II 147 
 
 O. 
 
 Occam, quoted - II 261 
 
 Officials, what - - I 272 
 
 Omission of duties, caution against - . II 400 
 
 Orders holy, curious questions respecting - I 363 
 
 Ordination, false notions entertained respecting I 336 
 
 without a charge, declared null by the council of 
 
 Chaleedon - - I 349 
 
 Osius, bishop of Ccrdoua, his conduct at the council of Sardica 
 
 I 408 
 P. 
 
 Papacy, its ri<e and progress - I 368; Hi 
 
 ■ conflict for the - I 395 
 
 i — ■ its- early splendour - - I 395, 396 
 
 falsehoods and forgeries recurred to in its support 
 
 II 50 
 ————— its decline - - II 234 
 
 Parish* 
 
INDEX, 
 
 Parish, what - - 1206,207.263 
 
 Patriarchs, their rise - - I 286 
 
 Paul, his judgment en the incestuous person - I 55 
 
 . qualifications for an apostle - - I 145 
 
 • appointment to the apostieship - I 148 
 
 iv, pope, his attempt at suppressing knowledge II 271 
 
 Paulus Samosatenus, his expulsion - - 1 281 
 
 Pearson, his V indicia Ignatianae - 1135,191,381 
 
 r — ; stricture on - - I 231, note 
 
 Pelagians ... T419; 1120,42 
 
 Pepin, countenanced in his usurpations by two popes II 73 
 Persecution, employed as an engine by Rome - II 284 
 Petavius's remarks on Tertnllian - ? I 12? 
 
 Peter, president of the apostolical college - 1 161 
 
 pretences of the papists respecting - I 368 
 
 his ever having been at Rome doubtful - I 370 
 
 probably martyred at Rome - - I 375 
 
 <t claims that Rome affected to derive from - II 80 
 
 ■■ ■ ■ de Blois, his abuse of the word church - I 332 
 
 Philip, an evangelist - - - I 148 
 
 3 kmg of France, his answer to pope Boniface I 332 
 
 • — threatens a pope to have him burned 
 
 for a heretic ' - - II 14. 
 
 Phocas, the usurper, his character and conduct - II 59 
 
 Photius, the Greek patriarch - - II 113 
 
 Picture, satirical, exhibited by Huss - - II 334 
 
 Pious fraud _ _ - II 5 2 
 
 Pius, bishop of Rome - - I 109 
 
 Platina, his history mutilated - - II 281 
 
 Polycarp, his epistle to the Philippians - I 138, 185 
 
 Popes, notinfallible - - - II 10 
 
 their versatility - ib. 
 
 • one threatened to be burned for a heretic - II 14 
 
 defence of their claims by the general of the Jesuits 
 
 II 160 
 
 « how elected - _ II 221 
 
 '. consecrated - - - II 223 
 
 Power, its tendency to increase - - I 180 
 
 Praetextatus, anecdote of - - 1 396 
 
 Prebendaries and prebends I 270 
 
 Prelacy, its origin and progress - - I 243, 274 
 
 llqeaGvligcx;, what -' - » _ I I 2 C 
 
 Presbytery, what - - - I 177 
 
 Prideaux's Connection - - I 2 1 
 
 Primate, what - - I 2 8c 
 
 vol. ii„ Gg Printing, 
 
I N D E X. 
 
 Printing, might have been suppressed at its .commencement 
 
 II 330 
 
 benefits of it - - II 333 
 
 Priories - - - - II 15T 
 
 Protestants, divisions among - II 362 
 
 Pseudambrose - - - I 226 
 
 Quaker, anecdote of one - » II 201 
 
 Quartodecimans - - II 84 
 
 R. 
 
 Rasponi, cardinal, quoted - - II 223 
 
 Reading and learning not synonimous e I 1 2 
 
 Real presence, doctrine of the II 354 
 
 Reformation, its commencement and progress II 280, 333 
 
 Religious, abuse of the teum - II 149, 402 
 
 "establishments 
 
 persecution - - II 284 
 
 -austerities, impropriety of II 403, 423 
 
 Romans, their character - - II 18 
 
 Rome, her good fortune with respect to dominion II 131 
 
 Ruffinus - - I 380 
 
 S." 
 
 Sacraments of the Romish church - I 358, 363 
 
 * unreiterable - I 363 
 
 Sacred canon, history of the •- » I 23 
 
 history - - - It 
 
 Sagittarius, a gallican bishop, his enormities - II 49 
 Salonius, a gallican bishop, his enormities - ib. 
 Salvation depends on a man's belief and obedience to the gos- 
 pel, not on the church to which he belongs - I 86 
 Sardica, council of - - • I 408 
 Sarpi, Paolo, his character - . I 82 
 
 , ■ works - - I 83 
 
 . quoted - 1251511160,322,324 
 
 Scotland, civil powers of ecclesiastics in I 68, 74 
 
 church judicatories in - _ I 283 
 
 . episcopalians in - _ I 354 
 
 Scriptures, very soon translated - II 240 
 
 Sectaries - - - I 91, 105, 108 
 
 . who - - - I 109 
 
 .Self-denial, christian - - II 380 
 
 4 Simon , 
 
I N D E X. 
 
 Simon, father - - - I 30 ; II 24Q 
 
 Richard, quoted - - 1123,386 
 
 Sinecures - - 1 344 
 
 Solitaries - II 143, 387 
 
 Stephen 1, pope, excommunicates St. Cyprian - II 85 
 
 ■ 11, his friendship to the usurper Pepin II 73 
 
 ■ uses the name of Peter the apostle II ioo 
 Studies, theological, how to be prosecuted - • 1 9 
 Superstition, the support of tyranny - II237 
 Syrceon Stylites - II 408 
 Symmachus, pope, disowns the authority of a synod II 95 
 Synagogues - 1 308 
 Synods - - - - 1 .284; Hi 
 - ■ ■ Gregory Nazianzen's opinion of - II 30 
 
 Talia, bishop of Alexandria «■■ - II 4.9 
 
 Temperance, christian - - II 37 1 
 
 Tertullian - I 121, 123, 169, 235 ; II 287, 294 
 
 Test-act - - - - 1 72 
 
 Theodoret - - - I 127 
 
 Theologian, study of the biblical records necessary to the 1,2 
 — — — — — how his studies should be prosecuted - I 10 
 
 profane history useful to - I 22 
 
 Timothy, an evangelist - - I 148 
 
 Title, use and signification of the word - I 259, 350 
 
 Tituli, what - - • I 259 
 
 Titus, an evangelist - - - I 148 
 
 Treason, what - • - - II 326 
 
 Trent, council of, speech in the, respecting the pope's autho- 
 rity - - - - II 160 
 
 reception this speech met with II 1 8© 
 
 decrees of it, respecting the privileges of the 
 
 clergy - - - II 192 
 
 its recommendation of celibacy II 395 
 
 Trinity, expressions significant of - - II 4 
 
 Troyes, canon of the council of - - II 200 
 
 Tyranny requires ignorance and superstition for its support 
 
 II 237 
 U. 
 Ubiquitarians - - - - H 35^ 
 
 V. 
 
 Valens enlarged the jurisdiction of the bishops - I 65 
 
 "Valentianus checked the authority of bishops - I 66 
 
 Valen- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Valentinian, his law in favour of the pope's authority I 419 
 Venice, caution of its government in admitting the inquisition 
 
 II 311 
 
 wise regulation respecting the inquisition in II 322 
 
 Victor, his dispute about the observance of Easter II 82 
 
 Vigilius, pope, his versatility - - II iq 
 
 Vision, beatific - - - - II 14. 
 
 Voltaire, quoted - - - - II 313 
 
 W. 
 
 Wallis, preached at Avignon against a doctrine held by the 
 
 pope - - - II 14 
 
 Wetstein's Prolegomena - - 1 29 
 
 Whitby, Dr. -" - -' - I 153 
 
 Wkliff ... . II 340 
 
 Wilfrid, archbishop of York - - II 49 
 
 Winfrid converts the Germans - - II 119 
 
 the first ecclesiastic on record., who tcok an oath of 
 
 fealty to the .jioman see - - II 1 20 
 
 Z. 
 
 Z.ichary, pope, assists the usurper Pepin - II 73 
 
 Zozimue, pope, his conduct with respect to Pelagius II 42. 
 
 ■ ■ on the appeal of Apiarius II 45 
 
 ■ recurs to St. Peter as the sole founder of the 
 
 papal authority - - - II 8g 
 
 Zuinglius, his controversy with Luther - II 35 1, 356 
 
 printed by Bye and Law, St. John's Square, ClerkenweU, — •'- 
 

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