observed in bestowing orders, are not only unnecessary, but ridiculous and hurtful: let him be accursed.

"6. Whoever shall affirm, that there is not in the Catholic church a hierarchy instituted by divine appointment, and consisting of bishops, presbyters, and ministers: let him be accursed.

"7. Whoever shall affirm, that bishops are not superior to presbyters; or that they have not the power of confirming and ordaining; or that the power which they have is common to them and presbyters; or that orders conferred by them without the consent or calling of the people, or the secular power, are invalid; or that those who are not properly ordained or instituted according to ecclesiastical or canonical power, but derive their ordination from some other source, are lawful ministers of the word and the sacraments: let him be accursed.

"8. Whoever shall affirm, that those bishops who are peculiarly appointed by the authority of the Roman Pontiff are not lawful and true bishops, but a human invention : let him be accursed."

There is a remarkable omission in this decree. The fathers at Trent could agree in anathematizing heretics, but differed materially from one another on many points of acknowledged importance. There had been long and fierce debates on the papal power and jurisdiction, but there was so little accordance

*Courayer justly says of this caron, "Le sens de ce canon n'est pas extremement clair. Car s'ils est question des Evêques ordonez par le Pape, persone ne doutoit qu'ils ne fussent de veritable Evêques, et ainsi quelle necessité de faire une telle decision? S'il s'agit au contraire de quelque autre pouvoir que de celui de l'ordination, il n'est pas egalement clair que tous les Evêques que crée le Pape soient de veritables, c'est à dire, de legitimes Evêques, puisqu'ils ne peuvent être tels, qu'autant qu'ils sont appelez conformement aux loix de chaque Eglise ; ce qui pouroit ne pas être, quoiqu'ils fussent appelez par le Pape. Il semble qu'on n'ait usé ici d'obscurité que pour favoriser les pretensions des Papes, qui ne pouvant se faire accorder le titre de Pasteurs de l'Eglise Universelle ont voulu du moins jeter par ce canon quelques fondemens pour servir à l'appui de leurs pretensions. Car d'ailleurs s'il ne s'agissoit ici que des Evêques ordonez par le Pape, pourquoi ne s'est on pas servi netement du terme d'ordination ?"Sarpi, 1. viii. s. 25, note. Perhaps, after all, the canon refers to bishops in partibus infidelium.

among the divines of the infallible church, that it was found necessary to drop the subject altogether. Not a word is uttered respecting the power and authority of the Pope, which, it might be supposed, ought to be very exactly defined. For surely it must be of great importance to know the nature, extent, and limits, of the supreme jurisdiction in the church; and more especially, as the most extravagant pretensions have been put forth by some Roman-catholic writers, and as sturdily resisted by others. Whose opinions are to be received?

The authorized enactments of the church of Rome on this subject are expressed in very ambiguous and wary language. By the decree of the Council of Florence, A. D. 1439, (already noticed, p. 37,) it was ordained as follows:-" We define that the holy apostolic see and the Roman Pontiff have a primacy over the whole world; and that the Roman Pontiff himself is the successor of St. Peter, the chief of the apostles, and true vicar of Christ; and that he is head of the whole church, and the father and teacher of all Christians; and that to him, in St. Peter, was delegated by our Lord Jesus Christ, full power to feed, rule, and govern, the universal church; as also is contained in the acts of general councils, and in the holy canons.' The compilers of the Catechism of the Council of Trent, speaking of the Roman Pontiff, say-"Sitting in that chair in which Peter, the prince of the apostles, sat to the close of life, the Catholic church recognises in his person the most exalted degree of dignity, and the full amplitude of jurisdiction; a dignity and a jurisdiction not based on synodal, or other human constitutions, but emanating from no less an authority than God himself. As the successor of St. Peter, and the true and legitimate vicar of Jesus Christ, he therefore presides over the universal church, the father and governor of all the faithful, of bishops also, and of all other prelates, be their station, rank, or power, what they may."*

Although these statements are very strong, they are nevertheless vague and indefinite. Mr. Butler says of the decree of the Council of Florence, "This is the doctrine of the Roman-catholic church on the authority of the Pope, and beyond it no Roman Catholic is required to believe." But

* pp. 319, 320.

† Book of the Roman-catholic Church, p. 119.

after all, the question returns, "What is that doctrine?" The same individual confesses that there is a division of opinion in the church on this subject, and adverts to the well-known distinction between the transalpine and the cisalpine tenets. The fact is, that it has been found convenient to leave this momentous question unsettled. Both the above-mentioned tenets, it seems, are tolerated, and either may be declared true, at different periods, as circumstances or events may require.*

*The transalpine divines ascribe to the Pope a supreme and controlling power over the whole church, and even over general councils; the right of judging all spiritual causes, of constituting, suspending, and deposing bishops, of conferring all ecclesiastical dignities or benefices, of receiving appeals from all sentences of ecclesiastical courts; and the extraordinary prerogative of personal infallibility, when he undertakes to issue a solemn decision on any point. The cisalpines, on the other hand, regard the Pope as subject to the church, and to a general council, her representative; maintain that the jurisdiction of bishops is derived immediately from God; deny the Pope's right to confer benefices, by his paramount authority, in opposition to the laws or customs of patronage; refuse to admit his prerogative and infallibility; and hold that he may be deposed by the church, or a general council, for heresy or schism. Mr. Butler states that the Pope's temporal power,—that is, the presumed right to depose heretical or contumacious sovereigns, and absolve their subjects from their allegiance,—was once the main point of difference between the transalpine and cisalpine divines, being maintained by the former, denied by the latter; but that now the transalpines have, at length, adopted the cisalpine opinions on this subject. His own views are thus expressed :

"It is an article of the Roman-catholic faith, that the Pope has, by divine right-1. A supremacy of rank; 2. A supremacy of jurisdiction in the spiritual concerns of the Roman-catholic church; and 3. The principal authority in defining articles of faith. In consequence of these prerogatives, the Pope holds a rank splendidly preeminent over the highest dignitaries of the church; has a right to convene councils, and preside over them by himself or his legates, and to confirm the election of bishops. Every ecclesiastical cause may be brought to him, as the last resort, by appeal; he may promulgate definition and formularies of faith to the universal church; and when the general body, or a great majority of her prelates, have assented to them either by formal consent or tacit assent, all are bound to acquiesce in them. 'Rome,' they say in such a case, has spoken, and the cause is determined. To the Pope, in the opinion of all Roman Catholics, belongs also a general superintendence of the concerns of the church; a right, when the canons provide no line of action, to direct the proceedings; and, in extraordinary cases, to act in opposition to the canons. In those spiritual concerns in which, by strict right, his authority is not definitive, he is entitled to the highest respect and deference." -Book of the Roman-catholic Church, pp. 119-124.

Still it is important to ascertain which view of the subject has been current at Rome, or has received pontifical sanction. This may be easily done. Fourteen years after the termination of the Council of Trent, Bellarmine delivered his lectures "De Romano Pontifice," in the college at Rome, by appointment of Pope Gregory XIII. An abstract of these lectures will exhibit the sentiments which have prevailed in the Romish court from the days of Hildebrand till the present time.

After endeavouring to prove that simple monarchy is the best form of government, and that therefore it has been adopted in the church, in which the Pope, as the successor of St. Peter, rules in the place of Christ, who has constituted him his sole vicar or representative, the author describes at large the spiritual and temporal power of the Pope. His spiritual power is comprised in the following particulars:-That he is supreme judge in controversies of faith and manners; that when he instructs the whole church in things relating to faith, or promulgates moral precepts relating to things necessary to salvation, or which are in themselves good or evil, he cannot possibly err; that it is probable, and may be piously believed, that he cannot, as a private individual, be a heretic; that, as prince of the whole church, he may, by his own authority, enact laws, binding on the conscience, and judge and punish in ecclesiastical causes; that though episcopal jurisdiction, generally considered, is of divine right, as God's appointment, yet that bishops, canonically elected, receive their actual jurisdiction and authority, not from Christ, but from the Pope; that he has the power to call general councils, and preside over them as supreme judge; that such assemblies, confirmed by the supreme Pontiff, cannot err-but that they may err before such confirmation, unless the fathers, in framing their decrees, follow his instructions; and finally, that the Pope is absolutely above councils, and acknowledges no authority whatever over himself.

It is asserted that the Pope has not, directly and immediately, any temporal power; but that, by reason of his spiritual power, he may possess, at least indirectly, supreme power in directing the temporal affairs of all Christians, in order to the bestowment of spiritual good. This assertion is illustrated by

in

the following analogy:-as man is compounded of flesh and spirit, which, though separate, are closely connected; and the latter rules the former, so that if the end proposed by the spirit is hindered by the flesh, the flesh must be punished by fasts and other methods, and, if necessary, the tongue be prevented from speaking, the eyes from seeing, &c.; in like manner, society is subject to political and to spiritual power, the end of the one being temporal peace, of the other, eternal salvation. They constitute one body, and the inferior must be subject and subordinate to the superior. The spiritual power does not intermeddle with temporal matters, so that the spiritual design is not hindered. But if anything of that kind take place, the spiritual power may and ought to coerce the temporal power, every suitable and necessary manner. "The Pope cannot," says Bellarmine, "as Pope, ordinarily depose temporal princes, although just reason exists, in the same manner in which he deposes bishops,-that is, as an ordinary judge; yet he may change kingdoms, and take away from one, and bestow upon another, as supreme spiritual prince, if the same should be necessary to the salvation of souls." Again-" the Pope cannot, as Pope, ordinarily enact or confirm civil laws, or annul the laws of princes, because he is not political head of the church; yet he may do all this, if any civil law is necessary to the salvation of souls, and kings will not enact it ; or, if any civil law is injurious to the salvation of souls, and kings will not abrogate it." Further-" The Pope cannot, as Pope, ordinarily judge in temporal matters; nevertheless, in any case in which the safety of souls is concerned, the Pope may assume even temporal judgment; when, for instance, there is no judge, as when two independent monarchs are at variance-or when those who may and ought to judge, refuse to give sentence." Once more" the Pope may and ought to compel all Christians to serve God in that manner which their station requires of them. But kings are bound to serve God by defending the church and punishing heretics and schismatics. Therefore the Pope may and ought to enjoin kings to do this, and if they neglect, to compel them, by excommunication and other suitable measures."*

* Bellarmin. de Roman Pontif. 1. i. c. 1-16; l. iv. c. 1-6, 15, 16, 22-24; 1. v. c. 4, 6. De Conciliis, 1. i. c. 12, 19; l. ii. c. 2, 5, 10, 11, 13-19.