Such was the state of affairs in 1559. It was contemplated by Paul with much apprehension and concern. He saw enemies on every side-he had no friends. Worn out with grief and vexation, he found death fast approaching, and summoned the cardinals to his bedside. But it was not to give utterance to pious emotions, nor to discourse on the solemn truths and realities of religion. His last breath was spent in commending to their attention the office of the holy inquisition, as their best defence against prevailing heresies. Thus he died, Aug. 18, 1559. No sooner was his death announced than the populace rose in tumultuous fury, forced open the prison of the inquisition, liberated all the prisoners, burned the building to the ground, pulled down the Pope's statue, which he had set up only three months before, broke off its head and right hand, and after having dragged the head through the city with every mark of ignominy, threw it into the Tiber. They carried their indignation so far that the very name of Caraffa was proscribed, and the venders of earthenware, who were accustomed to cry in the streets bichieri, caraffe (cups, pots) were compelled to change the latter word for another (ampolle), though less proper. The cardinals saw that it was impossible to quell the storm, and judged it best to let it spend its fury. They waited eight days beyond the usual time for this purpose, and then went into conclave to elect a new Pope.* The intrigues of opposing parties protracted the election till Christmas-day, when the Cardinal de Medici was chosen, and assumed the name of Pius IV. Agreeably to resolutions which had been passed by the cardinals before proceeding to the election, he immediately declared his intention to acknowledge Ferdinand as Emperor of Germany, and to convene a general council as quickly as possible.† He also professed great concern for reform, and directed the cardinals to inquire into all alleged abuses, and point out suitable remedies. But these professions speedily evaporated and vanished. Like his predecessors in the papal chair, Pius IV. cherished mortal hatred against all dissidents from the Romish faith, and was by no means scrupulous in the choice of preventing or • Pallav. ut sup. Sarpi, ut sup. s. 46. † Le Plat, iv. p. 612. exterminating measures. Like them also, he dreaded a council, unless controlled and directed by himself, and consequently divested of all freedom. For this reason, hoping to divert the minds of men from that hated subject by lighting up the flame of general war, he proposed to the French king a crusade against Geneva, the residence of Calvin and nursery of the reformed faith. When this proposition was rejected, he began to consult in earnest with the cardinals respecting the convocation of a council, or rather the resumption of that which had already met twice at Trent. But he was resolved not to suffer the former decrees of that assembly to be reexamined, or called into question; in order to which, it was decided that it should be considered as a "continuation" of the proceedings at Trent, and that those subjects only should be discussed which were then left unsettled. The Pope's intention was communicated to the foreign ambassadors at an extraordinary meeting called for the purpose, at which his holiness addressed them at great length, and concluded by expressing his conviction that no benefit would result from the council, unless the Catholic princes would form a general league to execute its decrees by force of arms.t The sovereigns most interested were the Kings of Spain and France, and the Emperor of Germany. When the intelligence reached them, they severally communicated to the Pope their opinions and wishes. The King of Spain readily acquiesced in the views of his holiness. The King of France received the intimation with much pleasure, but strongly objected to Trent, and suggested Constance, Treves, Spire, Worms, or Haguenau, as much more convenient, both for his subjects and the Germans; neither would he consent that it should be considered as a continuation of the former meeting, but required hat it should be entirely a new council: on no other terms could he anticipate the submission of the Protestants in this kingdom. A long memorial was sent by the Emperor, in which, besides alleging the same objections as had been advanced by the King of France, he stated that he could not answer for the German princes and states, whose views and intentions could only be Sarpi, ut sup. s. 53, 54. Thuan. Hist. 1. xxvi s. 16. Pallav 1, xiv. c. 14. known by summoning a diet; and that even with regard to his hereditary dominions, he had no hope of procuring subjection to the council, unless the use of the cup and the marriage of the priests were conceded, and a thorough reform accomplished.* Intelligence received from France quickened the tardy steps of the Pontiff. He was assured that the state of religion in that country required prompt and decisive measures, and that it would be impossible to prevent the meeting of a national council, unless the projected assembly of the prelates of Christendom shortly took place. Having succeeded in removing the objections that had been raised against Trent, he resolved to make immediate arrangements for the opening of the council. On the 24th of November, 1560, he went in solemn procession, attended by the cardinals and all his court, from St. Peter's to the church of Minerva, and celebrated the mass of the Holy Ghost for the success of the undertaking. Five days after, the bull of convocation was issued. That document had been composed with great care, in order to avoid expressions that might be offensive to any of the sovereigns and states whom it concerned; but it was sufficiently clear that though the word "continuation" was not used, the Pope meant it to be understood, and thus, in the very onset, all intention of conciliating the Protestants was publicly disavowed, in opposition to the known wishes of the Emperor and the King of France.† The latter died before the bull could reach him, and was succeeded by his brother, Charles IX., then only eleven years old. When it was perceived that the repeated demands for a new council had not been complied with, but that, on the contrary, the former decisions at Trent were evidently sanctioned and confirmed, negotiations with the Pope and the Emperor were immediately commenced, in order to the removal of this difficulty, which, as far as the Protestants were concerned, was * Pallav. 1. xiv. c. 13. Sarpi, l. v. s. 56. Le Plat, iv. pp. 626—637. + Pallav. ut sup. c. 17. Sarpi, I. vi. s. 4. At this very time, when the final decisions of the church of Rome on several articles of faith were yet to be promulgated, the Pope required of all prelates, before they entered into office, subscription to a creed in which all the peculiarities of popery were contained, expressed even more strongly than in that celebrated confession which bears his name.-Le Plat, iv. p. 647. known to be insuperable. On the other hand, there was sufficient ambiguity in the language of the bull to awaken the suspicions of the King of Spain. He saw that the continuation of the council was not actually expressed, and feared that there was some concealed intrigue to prevent it: in consequence, he declined doing anything till his doubts were removed. Ultimately, all parties were satisfied or silenced; but the Pontiff, as usual, gained his end, and made no concessions.* The Pope spared neither pains nor expense in announcing the convocation of the council, and inviting the several states of Europe to assist at its deliberations. He determined, if possible, to have an assembly on a scale suited to the grandeur of the Roman see, and he was equally resolved to procure an obsequious subjection to his own will, and to make use of the council as the instrument of accomplishing his purposes and forwarding the plans of his ambition. In accordance with these views, he exerted himself to the utmost to obtain the countenance of the ruling powers of Christendom, and secure a numerous attendance of prelates and divines well affected to the interests of the papacy. In addition to his communications with the sovereigns before-mentioned, whose co-operation was first and chiefly desirable, he wrote to the Kings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Poland, to all the German states, and even to the Czar of Muscovy and the Emperor of Abyssinia. He sent the Abbot Martinenghi to the Queen of England, in the vain hope of persuading her to acknowledge the council. But Elizabeth would not permit the papal envoy to touch the shores of this country, although the Spanish ambassador employed all his influence to obtain her consent. If a free council were convened, her majesty said that she would send thither fit representatives of the English church as for the expected assembly at Trent, she well knew that there would be no freedom in its proceedings; and she did not scruple to avow her fears, that the real object of the abbot's mission was very different from his pretended one, and that his chief pur * Pallav. l. xv. c. 2. Sarpi, l. v. s. 65, 66. Le Plat, iv. pp. 668-674. † Raynald, ad An. 1560. s. 70, 78; An. 1561. s. 1-6, 63, 64. Le Plat, iv. pp. 617, 625, 666-668, 678. pose was to excite her Roman-catholic subjects to rebellion. Experience had furnished just grounds for this suspicion.* Two nuncios were appointed to visit the numerous princes and states of Germany; Zechariah Delphino, Bishop of Lesina, and James Commendon, Bishop of Zante. Having waited on the Emperor, (January 1561,) they proceeded to Naumburg, where a meeting of the Protestant states was to be held. There were assembled on that occasion the Elector of Saxony, the Elector Palatine, the Dukes of Naumburg and Wittemburg, the Marquis of Baden, and other princes, together with several ambassadors. The nuncios were admitted to a public audience, delivered the Pope's letters, and addressed the assembly, strongly urging the reception of the council. Three days after, a deputation was sent to them, with the following answer :-That the princes of Germany greatly wondered at the boldness of the Pope in sending an embassy to them, since he could not possibly be ignorant of their separation from the church of Rome thirty years before-a separation which was not grounded on slight reasons; that they should not obey the papal requisition to attend the council, not acknowledging the authority by which it was convened; and that it was not to be borne that he should be appointed arbiter of the controversies and discord then existing who was himself the fountain and origin of them all, and that the criminal should usurp the judge's office. For who had not heard of the violent and wicked dealings of the Roman Pontiffs-their attempts to sow divisions among nations for their own emolument—their cruel treatment of such as opposed the errors and superstitions of popery-their open resistance of the pure truth of the gospel-their constant refusal to sanction any effectual reform-and the specious pretences by which they sought to conceal or justify the most notorious corruptions and crimes? As for themselves, they acknowledged no other earthly sovereign than the Emperor, and judged that to him belonged the power and right of convening a general council: to his Pallav. 1. xv. c. 7. Le Plat, iv. p. 623. †The nuncios had scarcely left the meeting a quarter of an hour, when the Pope's letters were returned to them. The princes had not observed when the letters were presented, that the Pontiff had addressed them as his " beloved sons:" they owned him not as their spiritual father, and therefore could not receive any communication from him with such a superscription, |