lishment, and are called Ordinary;' but others are Extraordinary,' -being appointed by the Pope on special occasions only, and ceasing when the business is ended. Among the ordinary and established Congregations there are some which do what does not concern the Pope as head of the universal Church, nor relate to the government of the universal Church; but what belongs to him as Bishop of that city and its district,such as the Congregation of Apostolic Visitation. Others concern the temporal government of the State of the Church; such as the Congregation for Consultation concerning the affairs of the State of the Church, called in Italy the Consulta, the Congregation of Good Government, and others. There are also other Congregations; but these are the principal, which take charge of the government of the universal Church, or dispatch the business which comes before the Pontiff and the Court of Rome, from all parts of the world."

These last we are chiefly concerned to understand, and to these our attention must now be directed. They are the Congregations of the Inquisition, of the Index, of the Council, Rites, Immunities, Bishops and Regulars, Indulgences and Relics, and Propaganda.

CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY OFFICE.

In the eye of canon-law, and by the common sentence of their theologians, the Bishops of the Church of Rome are all Inquisitors by virtue of office. And there is not another order of men who have more fully justified their title than have these Bishops, by almost always leading the hosts of their military Church to make war on the saints of the Most High. But, during the awakenings from the lethargy of many ages which took place in the South of France so early as the twelfth century, the Bishops were unable to stem the tide of truth which began to break in upon whole dioceses; and at length, in the beginning of the thirteenth, Innocent III. sent three Cistercian Monks into the province of Toulouse with plenary authority to exercise there, and wherever they could trace the vestiges of heresy, power to destroy, disperse, and root it up, and to punish canonically all who should oppose them. Princes and people were armed against the Albigenses, and the Pope and his Monkish representatives offered remission of sins to all who would help to spread slaughter through the land. But the Bishops then, instead of supporting the Inquisitors, shrank with horror from the scene of blood which opened into view; and although the Pope exhorted them to fulfil the ministry committed to them, and thus do the work of Evangelists, the Legates failed. Others were sent, and "Saint" Dominic among them, who, by unprecedented skill and perseverance, revived the spirit, and organized the agencies, of persecution. Thus rose the Inquisition of Toulouse,-French as to its position, but Roman in its origin. Its first labours were irregular, the Inquisitors merely leading the rabble of crusaders, and stirring up the spirit of hatred by their preaching emissaries, Monks of the new order of St. Dominic, still known as the preaching Friars," and still the special keepers of the Holy Office. Then came the Legate of Gregory IX., and held the famous Council of Toulouse, which forbade absolutely the reading of the holy Scriptures in the vulgar tongue (A.D. 1229), and published sixteen decrees to prescribe the manner of proceeding against heretics. Barons and Knights sat together with Archbishops, Bishops, and other Prelates; but the "lay element" in that ecclesiastical assembly did not serve for the protection of the laity. They

drew their swords, already tarnished with Christian blood, and commanded the Bishops, as "natural Inquisitors," to hunt out heretics, and give them over to the secular arm to be destroyed. Still the Bishops were slack in doing the dreadful work; and at length (A.D. 1231) the same Pope took the matter out of their hands by constituting the Dominicans sole Inquisitors. To these the Friars Minors were shortly added as auxiliaries ; and, while the Inquisition prosecuted its sanguinary victories there, it was also established in part of Italy, and other thirty-eight chapters swelled the code inquisitorial.

In the city and court of Rome it was not thought necessary to erect that tribunal until the year 1542, when the Gospel was spreading rapidly in all parts of Italy, and many martyrs had yielded up their lives. And the establishment of the Roman Inquisition is the more remarkable, as it was invested, at the very first, with a universal jurisdiction. Then began the Congregation. Paul III. appointed six Cardinals to be" Inquisitors General and Most General (Generalissimos) in all cities, towns, lands, and places of the Christian republic, as well beyond the mountains as within them, in Italy and the Roman court." Pius IV. increased the number of Cardinals to eight, with most ample powers; and Sixtus V., in the Constitution above cited, appointed twelve, and, after confirming their existing authority, added these remarkable words:-"Not only in the city and temporal state subject to us and to this Holy See, but also in the whole world, wherever the Christian religion exists, over all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and others inferior." Zaccaria, writing under the sanction of the chief authorities in Rome in 1824, referred to this Constitution, but without quoting it, and described the Holy Office as having "supreme authority over the universal Church; "* and in 1849 the English agent at Rome, Mr. Petre, spoke of the Inquisition there as carefully sustaining its right to imprison and punish "Priests from other nations."+ And if Priests, laymen also, if the governments which ought to protect them be either subservient or temporising. There is no change, then, in this fundamental principle of Roman law: it is the same now as in the pontificate of Sixtus V.,-universal.

Besides the Cardinals who compose this Congregation, there are others who take part in the business of the tribunal, exercising actual jurisdiction, forming and examining the accusations of "criminals." The Chief Inquisitor is a Dominican from Lombardy, with the title of "Commissary of the Holy Office." The Assessor is an eminent Prelate of the court, and on him, as substitute of the Commissary, much of the routine devolves. Him it behoved to watch over the privileges of the Inquisition whenever infringed on by civil authorities; but the fall of that institution, everywhere except in Rome, leaves him but little care of that kind. It is he who presents the resolutions of the Congregation to the Pope. A company of Theologians, Canonists, and secular Clergy, chosen by the Pope, are honoured with the title of Consultors of the Holy Office. The General of the Dominicans, the Master of the Sacred Palace, who is always a Dominican, and a Minorite Franciscan Friar, occupy a fixed place among the Consultors, meet with the Congregation, and give their votes. The Depositary, or Treasurer, collects the revenue of the tribunal; the

* Tom. ii., p. 50.

+ This is stated by Sir Culling E. Eardley in his pamphlet on the case of Dr. Achilli.

Advocate defends the criminals after such a fashion that no one may suspect him of intending their defence; the Proctor-Fiscal is Accuser-General; and the Notary is Secretary. Another subaltern enjoys the appropriate name of Captain. And as books, as well as persons, are subject to the Inquisition, one or more Qualificators, or Censors, not being members of either the Congregation or Council, are appointed, as occasion may require, to examine the obnoxious publications, and bring their report into the Congregation.

It is not necessary to recite the various kinds of delinquency which come under the cognisance of the Inquisition, since it is notorious that nothing sets bounds to their jurisdiction but the resistance of the civil power.

This first of Congregations never slumbers. Twice in the week they meet, in order to oversee the state of Popedom proper, and of every country where a mass-house rears its top. But, first, on every Monday morning, the Consultors, with the Assessor and the Commissary at their head, meet in the palace of the Holy Office,-a magnificent building erected in 1569 by Pope Pius V. near the Vatican. They then read accusations; examine letters from Bishops bearing intelligence from all parts of the world; look at everything, written or printed, which has reached Rome during the week preceding, with any notice of affairs belonging to their department of administration; and receive or take whatever they think proper to be brought before the Cardinals. Business being thus made ready, on the Wednesday morning the Congregation itself assembles in the Dominican convent by the church of St. Mary super Minervam. None but the Cardinals are present, with the Assessor and the Commissary, who lay before them the cases selected by the Consultors on the preceding Monday. After a secret deliberation, the Consultors are called in, to give their opinion, advice, and vote. On the same afternoon the Assessor goes to the Pope, and, in a private audience, gives him the first report of what has been done. If His Holiness approves, that Congregation is at liberty to issue its own decree, beginning with this form: "On Wednesday, (Feria IV.,) the sacred Congregation of Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, General Inquisitors of heretical pravity in ALL the Christian republic, assembled in the convent of St. Mary on Minerva, after the examination of theologians, specially to this deputed, a relation having been made to His Holiness, declares," &c. On Thursday the Congregation meets again, the Pope himself presiding, according to the original Constitution of Sixtus V., either in the Vatican or the Quirinal. Here, again, profound secrecy is observed, not even the Commissary and Assessor being present, until the Cardinals, with their chief apart, have deliberated on the more grave affairs of the week which yet remain unsettled. Not until their vote has been taken, and farther debate thereby precluded, are the two Inquisitors permitted to enter; and then they merely come to have the decision formally communicated. The Consultors, having rendered their services on the day preceding, do not appear at all with the Thursday Congregation. Decrees of this proper Congregation of the Inquisition, the Pope being at its head, begin thus: "On Thursday, (Feria V.,) the day of -, in the year —, in the General Congregation of the holy Roman and universal Inquisition, holden in the apostolic palace of Mount Quirinal, (or of St. Peter,) before our Most Holy Lord N., and the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lords Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, General Inquisitors by the holy Apostolic See specially

deputed against heretical pravity in all the Christian republic: THE Most HOLY FATHER, aforesaid, having heard the votes of the said Lords Cardinals and of the theologians, (if the case had been submitted to them,) determined and decreed," &c.

While the General Congregation exercises jurisdiction, as far as practicable, over the laity of Popedom, and over all the Clergy, directly or indirectly, the Father Commissary and his assistants constitute the local Inquisition of Rome for the ruder work of prosecuting, imprisoning, and tormenting such as they can lay their hands upon. Thus we find, at Rome, a twofold provision, for a general and for a local Inquisition. The operations of the former, shrouded in impenetrable secrecy, can only be felt by those who fall under their power, and who, unconsciously, may be drawn nearer and nearer to the vortex, and, once within the boundaries of the Roman State, are conveyed into the dungeons of the palace of Pope Sixtus. The latter body of Inquisitors keeps those dungeons full. In the year 1825, they were partially, if not entirely, rebuilt; and since the return of the present Pope and his court from Naples, the Inquisition of Rome itself has been in great activity, to the disgust and terror of the people. After the Pope's flight, on the 27th of February, 1849, Sterbini proposed a law to the Constituent Assembly to "abolish the Holy Office in the Roman States utterly and for ever, and to decree that a column should be erected before the building which had hitherto served as nestling-place of so great iniquities, to perpetuate the remembrance that the Republic had destroyed so great an infamy." The law was passed, the cells were emptied of the few remaining victims, instruments of torture and human remains were found in abundance; but the archives had been partly destroyed or conveyed away. Pius IX. reigns again, and the column is not yet raised. One who was present on the day when that building was opened, and walked through those murky chambers, has since been himself a prisoner there, and, liberated by the blessing of God on the efforts of some leading members of the Evangelical Alliance, is in England, able, with many of his countrymen, to testify that the general Inquisitors of heretical pravity in all the Christian world have remitted nothing of their diligence. Each Monday is a day of inquisition, each Wednesday of deliberation, each Thursday of sentence, even in this present year 1851.

CONGREGATION OF THE INDEX.

The Congregation of the Inquisition having found itself unequal to the vast amount of duty and diversity of cares which flowed in upon it, Sixtus V. appointed a supplementary Congregation to watch over the productions of the press. More than thirty years earlier, Paul IV. had commanded the former Congregation to prepare a catalogue of such books as ought to be prohibited. The catalogue was formed; and not only were books prohibited, and their authors condemned, but sixty printers were condemned also, by a prohibition of all books which they had printed, or might print. Sixtus also appointed a new Congregation to guard the literature of Christendom; a few Cardinals and Monks to shovel up embankments of sand before the advancing tide, foolishly attempting to stay the progress of all knowledge. At the same time, he founded the great library of the Vatican, with a printing-office, to be a central standard for the published theology and history of Christendom. The language of his Constitution is a curious exemplification of self-confidence:-"Therefore we command that ancient manuscripts and

corrected volumes be employed, especially from the noble pontifical library of the Vatican, and by the help, study, and labour of the most learned men, selected by us and our successors out of all nations of the Christian world, who shall be learned in languages, and accurately and diligently compare, and see that, as far as possible, each edition of the books that are to be printed go forth as perfect and incorrupt as possible. And if any graver doubts and difficulties occur in respect to the authority of ancient copies, in the correction and emendation of books, the matter being first examined in the Congregation, let them relate it to us, that, amidst a variety of readings, we may decide, by the special privilege of God conceded to this Holy See, on that which is most consistent with orthodox truth. The same Congregation shall also admonish printers, and those who are appointed to have oversight and examination of books in all kingdoms and provinces of the Christian world, that they faithfully and fully perform their duty with diligence and promptitude, and, in labouring to prepare with accuracy editions of this kind of books, conform entirely to the pattern and standard of the Vatican impression."

The chimera of a universal standard for expurgated editions of the Fathers and other ecclesiastical works could not be realised. Nothing more could be done than to corrupt editions of them, entailing an interminable toil on subsequent editors; but the Congregation has continued to exert an authoritative influence over clerical authors in every country, England not excepted, and, to the present hour, in conjunction with the Holy Office, governs the press wherever Popery is dominant, not by a direct application of the rules of the Roman Index, but by an incessant vigilance and interference with episcopal discipline and with the Acts of Parliaments and decrees of Princes. The Rules of the Index are the fundamental code to which judgment in all cases must be referred. They were originally ten in number; but this set has undergone some alteration, especially in one important rule, relating to vernacular versions of the holy Scriptures, which is frequently quoted as if it were still in force,† and others have been added. Prefixed to the present Index, there are sixteen rules of the Inquisitors-General Apostolic, instead of ten, the number increasing as new circumstances have called forth additional restrictions or suggested new mandates.

This Congregation consists of the Cardinal-Prefect, with other Cardinals appointed by the Pope in such number as he thinks fit, with a Secretary of the order of St. Dominic. The Master of the Sacred Palace, also of that order, as we have already said, is perpetual Consultor. This Cardinal retains the right which his predecessors enjoyed alone, before the establishment of the Congregations of the Inquisition, and of the Index, of revising any books printed in the city and its district. An indefinite but large number of Consultors are constantly engaged in examining new books. Learned, according to the Roman standard, in theology, and having some tincture of general learning, they are deemed competent to preside over the fountains of universal information, and bear a commission to read, make

* Which may be found in Dr. Townley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature, vol. ii.

+ The 4th (or 5th) Rule absolutely forbade the reading of the Bible in vernacular languages; but necessity has compelled the Congregation to allow versions made by "Catholic doctors," and accompanied with approved notes, to prevent the admission of a more obvious, but non-Romish, sense into the mind of the reader.