mentioned legates of the apostolic see presiding therein, having constantly in view the removal of error and the preservation of the purity of the gospel in the church, which gospel, promised before by the prophets in the sacred Scriptures, was first orally published by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who afterwards commanded it to be preached by his apostles to every creature, as the source of all saving truth and discipline; and perceiving that this truth and discipline are contained both in written books and in unwritten traditions, which have come down to us, either received by the apostles from the lips of Christ himself, or transmitted by the hands of the same apostles, under the dictation of the Holy Spirit; following the example of the orthodox fathers, doth receive and reverence, with equal piety and veneration, all the books as well of the Old as of the New Testament, the same God being the Author of both; and also the aforesaid traditions, pertaining both to faith and manners, whether received from Christ himself, or dictated by the Holy Spirit, and preserved in the Catholic church by continual succession.* Moreover, lest any doubt should arise respecting the sacred books which are received by the council, it has been judged proper to insert a list of them in the present decree. They are these:

"Of the OLD TESTAMENT, the five books of Moses,-viz. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; Joshua; Judges; Ruth; four books of Kings; two books of Chronicles; the first and second of Esdras (the latter is called Nehemiah); Tobit; Judith; Esther; Job; the Psalms of David, in number 150; the Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; the Song of Songs; Wisdom; Ecclesiasticus; Isaiah; Jeremiah, with Baruch; Ezekiel; Daniel; the twelve minor Prophets,―viz. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Ha

*Here are two notorious falsehoods. 1. That the "orthodox fathers" received “with equal piety and veneration" all the books as enumerated in the decree; it being well known, that during the first four centuries the apocryphal books were entirely rejected, and that subsequently they were only read for instruction, not regarded as divine. 2. That the Romish traditions, have been "preserved by continual succession;" whereas the invention of the rites and opinions therein alluded to, and their gradual introduction into the church, are historical facts. See Faber's "Difficulties of Romanism," a masterly and unanswerable work.

bakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi ; and two books of Maccabees, the first and second.

Of the NEW TESTAMENT, the four Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles, written by the Evangelist Luke; fourteen Epistles of the Apostle Paul,-viz., to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, two to Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, and to the Hebrews; two of the Apostle Peter; three of the Apostle John; one of the Apostle James; one of the Apostle Jude; and the Revelation of the Apostle John. Whoever shall not receive, as sacred and canonical, all these books, and every part of them, as they are commonly read in the Catholic church, and are contained in the old Vulgate Latin edition, or shall knowingly and deliberately despise the aforesaid traditions, let him be accursed. The foundation being thus laid in the confession of faith, all may understand the manner in which the council intends to proceed, and what proofs and authorities will be principally used in establishing doctrine and restoring order in the church.

"II. Of the Edition and use of the Sacred Books.

"Moreover, the same most holy council, considering that no small advantage will accrue to the church of God, if, of all the Latin editions of the Sacred Book which are in circulation, some one shall be distinguished as that which ought to be regarded as authentic, doth ordain and declare, that the same old and Vulgate edition, which has been approved by its use in the church for so many ages, shall be held as authentic, in all public lectures, disputations, sermons, and expositions ; and that no one shall dare or presume to reject it, under any pretence whatsoever.

"In order to restrain petulant minds, the council further decrees, that in matters of faith and morals, and whatever relates to the maintenance of Christian doctrine, no one, confiding in his own judgment, shall dare to wrest the Sacred Scriptures to his own sense of them, contrary to that which hath been held and still is held by holy mother church, whose right it is to judge of the true meaning and interpretation of Sacred Writ; or contrary to the unanimous consent of the

*

fathers; even though such interpretations should never be published. If any disobey, let them be denounced by the ordinaries, and punished according to law.

"Being desirous also, as is reasonable, of setting bounds to the printers, who, with unlimited boldness, supposing themselves at liberty to do as they please, print editions of the Holy Scriptures with notes and expositions taken indifferently from any writer, without the permission of their ecclesiastical superiors, and that at a concealed or falsely-designated press, and, which is worse, without the name of the author, and also rashly expose books of this nature to sale in other countries; the holy council decrees and ordains, that for the future the Sacred Scriptures, and especially the old Vulgate edition, shall be printed in the most correct manner possible; and no one shall be permitted to print, or cause to be printed, any books relating to religion without the name of the author; neither shall any one hereafter sell such books, or even retain them in his possession, unless they have been first examined and approved by the ordinary, under penalty of anathema, and the pecuniary fine adjudged by the last council of Lateran.† And if they be regulars, they shall obtain, besides this examination and approval, the licence of their superiors, who shall examine the books according to the forms of their statutes. Those who circulate or publish them in manuscript without being examined and approved shall be liable to the same penalties as the printers; and those who possess or read them,

* The Roman-catholic reader of the Scriptures is in a truly pitiable plight. How shall he know that his interpretation is correct? Instead of using his common sense, and praying for divine guidance, he is to find out "the true meaning and interpretation" by ascertaining "the unanimous consent of the fathers!" An insuperable difficulty is thrown in his way. Would it not be better to abstain from the use of the volume, and be contented with the priest's instructions? This will be the almost universal conclusion; and such was the wish of the majority of the Tridentine fathers.

† A.D. 1515. The decree of that council was to this effect: that no book whatever should be printed without examination and licence by the bishop, his deputy, or an inquisitor; and that those who offended should forfeit the whole impression of the book printed, which should be publicly burnt, pay a fine of 100 ducats, be suspended from the exercise of their trade for one year, and lie under excommunication !—Magnum Bullarium. Ed. Lugdunense, 1692, tom. i. p. 561.

unless they declare the authors of them, shall themselves be considered as the authors. The approbation of books of this description shall be given in writing, and shall be placed in due form on the title-page of the book, whether manuscript or printed; and the whole,-that is, the examination and the approval,-shall be gratuitous, that what is deserving may be approved, and what is unworthy may be rejected.

"Finally, the holy council, wishing to repress the audacity of those who apply and pervert words and sentences of Holy Scripture to profane uses, making them serve for railleries, vain and fabulous applications, flatteries, detractions, superstitions, impious and diabolical incantations, divinations, lots, and infamous libels; commands and ordains, in order to abolish this kind of irreverence and contempt, and to prevent any one from daring for the future to abuse the words of Scripture in this or any similar way, that such persons shall be punished at the discretion of the bishops, as wilful violaters of the word of God, in the manner prescribed by law."*

This decree was received by Protestants with undissembled grief and indignation. They were justly offended at the presumption of an assembly so inconsiderable in numbers, and containing so few men of talent and learning.† To place tradition on an equality with Scripture was, in their opinion, an act of daring impiety. They were surprised to hear that several books which had ever been regarded as of doubtful authority, and had only received the sanction of some provincial councils and of two or three popes, should now, without examination, be ranked among the acknowledged productions of inspired men, and constituted portions of the Sacred Volume.

* Sarpi, lib. ii. s. 56. Pallav. lib. vi. s. 16. Pallavicini says that a committee which had been appointed to inquire into the abuses of the Scriptures, and suggest suitable remedies, presented a long report, containing an immense catalogue of these alleged corruptions. It was like the Augean stable; nothing short of a flood could cleanse away the filth. The fathers shrunk from the burdensome task, and contented themselves with a decree couched in general terms. In these abuses were probably included Scripture "Plays," and the ancient" Mysteries" and "Moralities," of which Dr. Townley has given a curious and interesting account in his "Illustrations of Biblical Literature," i. p. 410-436.

There were present at the fourth session, eight archbishops, forty-one bishops, three abbots, and six generals of orders.

Great astonishment, too, was excited at the decision respecting the Vulgate, in which that version, though confessed to abound with errors, was made the authoritative and sole standard of faith and morals, to the neglect of the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. Nor were the free spirits of the sixteenth century less indignant that so insignificant a company of priests and monks should endeavour, in defiance of the existing struggle for freedom, to crush the germ of inquiry, to strengthen the bonds which had held the nations so long, and to cast the mantle of ignorance over the population of a whole continent. All men saw the futility of those hopes which had been indulged in a general council; for it was evident that the fathers at Trent were determined to alter nothing in the established system of popery, and had only met to confirm, by the sanction of the pretended Universal Church, the unscriptural tenets and anti-christian practices of Rome.*,

The decree is sufficiently plain, and therefore needs no comment. A few facts and observations will, however, serve to place the subject in a still more striking point of view.

1. It must be borne in mind that when the Roman Catholic speaks of the Scriptures, he means thereby the Vulgate Latin edition, or the Douay and Rhemish translations, having the apocryphal books intermingled with the rest. This is his

* The celebrated Bernard Gilpin had been hesitating between Popery and Protestantism, but the publication of this decree decided him for the latter. "While he was distracted with these things, the rule of faith changed by the council of Trent astonished him. For he observed, that not only the ancient divines, but even the modern ones, Lombard, Scotus, and Aquinas, all confessed that the rule of faith was solely to be drawn from Scripture; whereas he found, according to the council of Trent, that it might as well be drawn from human traditions. . . . . The church of Rome kept the rule of faith entire till it was changed by the council of Trent. From that time he thought it a point of duty to forsake her communion; that the true church, thus called out, might follow the word of God.”—Life of Bernard Gilpin, p. 69. Glasgow, 1824.

"The next example I shall adduce is that of Toby, the father of young Toby, whose conduct, as well in his youth as in his more advanced age, the Scripture declares to be worthy our admiration."-Catholic School Book, p. 136.

The following is the order of the books of the Old Testament in the authorized Roman-catholic version :-" Genesis-Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers -Deuteronomy-Josue-Judges-Ruth-1 Kings [1 Samuel]-2 Kings

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