ambassadors they would state the reasons of their conduct; but with the Pope they were determined to have no communication whatever. To this address Commendon replied with much warmth. He indignantly repelled the accusations brought against the holy see, expatiated on the Pope's deep concern for the peace and purity of the church, asserted his absolute supremacy, and inveighed bitterly against the reformers, reproaching them for their want of unity, and the almost innumerable divisions of sentiment found among their jarring sects. Scarcely a house, he said, was free from religious discord. Husbands and wives, parents and children, disputed about the meaning of scripture; and even women and boys presumed to intermeddle with sacred things. Far wiser and better would it have been had they followed the example of the Apostle Paul, who submitted his opinions to the judgment of the apostolic council, lest, as he himself affirmed, he should run, or had run, in vain. But since they refused to accept the invitation now given them, the holy father, having discharged towards them the duties of his paternal relation, and done all in his power to restore his wandering and rebellious sons, could only say, in the words of the Saviour, "How often would I have gathered thy children," &c. This harangue produced no effect the states resolved that they would not acknowledge the council, unless the former decrees were re-examined, and the right of suffrage granted to the Protestant divines-conditions which they had good reason to believe would not be granted at Rome.* The wisdom of this resolution cannot be disputed.

On leaving Naumburg, the nuncios separated; Commendon being appointed to Upper, Delphino to Lower Germany. The former visited the Elector of Brandenburg, the Dukes of Brunswick and Cleves, the Archbishop of Cologne, and many other princes and prelates: his success was various, some receiving, some rejecting the council. Then he traversed Belgium, publishing the council everywhere. From Saxony he would have crossed over to Denmark, but the king of that country, a zealous friend of the reformation, refused admittance to any agent of the Pope. Commendon spent the whole year in attending to the duties of his mission, and did not return to Rome till March, 1562. Delphino met with little encourage

* Pallav. 1. xv. c. 2—4. Sarpi, l. v. s. 64. Le Plat, iv. pp. 679—687.

ment in Lower Germany. The free cities, Strasburg, Nuremburg, Frankfort, Augsburg, and others, refused submission to any council called by the Pope. Even Roman-catholic prelates were very lukewarm and indifferent. They promised unqualified obedience, it is true; but some pleaded their age, others their bad state of health, and few would engage to leave their dioceses to attend the council. About the same time a nuncio was sent to Switzerland, where nine cantons accepted the papal bull; the remaining five refused. "Thus,” observes Pallavicini," there was much seed sown, but a small harvest; nevertheless," he adds, "this was not the fault of the sower, but of the soil."*

While the nuncios were thus engaged, the Pope's attention was fully occupied in making the necessary preparations for the opening of the council. His first care was to select suitable legates. Hercules Gonzaga, Cardinal of Mantua, Stanislaus Osius, Bishop of Varmia, and Cardinals Seripand and Simonetta, all of whom were men of acknowledged talent and skill in the management of public business, were appointed to that office. Full power was given them to preside, direct, and manage, in the name and on the behalf of the Pontiff; and authority also to grant indulgences to all who should attend their entry into Trent, and offer prayers for the success of the council. Massarelli was re-appointed secretary.‡

The legates Gonzaga and Seripand entered Trent, April 16, 1561, but they found only nine prelates there. It would have been manifestly ridiculous to open the council with so small a number, and several circumstances combined to delay that event till nearly twelve months beyond the time first fixed.§

*Lib. xv. c. 9.

+ James Dupuy, Cardinal of Nice, was also appointed, but he was prevented by illness from undertaking the office.

Pallav. ut sup. c. 11. Le Plat, iv. 697.

§ The King of Spain did not accept the bull till June. The French prelates were prevented leaving France by the astonishing progress of the Reformation, requiring personal and unremitting attention to their dioceses. The state of that country perplexed the Pope not a little. He wrote to the king, strongly urging him to exterminate the heretics "by fire and sword;" but the government had resolved to adopt milder measures, severity having been already tried in vain. A long and fruitless conference between the Roman Catholics and Protestants took place, at a meeting held at Poissy, (August

Towards the latter end of the year, the Pope made final arrangements for the commencement of proceedings. Determined to prevent, if possible, any ill consequences to the Roman see, he furnished the legates with a bull, giving them power to transfer the council to any other place, should circumstances render such a measure desirable. He procured resolutions to be passed in the consistory, restricting the election of the Pope to the cardinals, in the event of a vacancy occurring while the council was sitting. Voting by proxy was prohibited. Another legate was appointed, Cardinal Altemps, the Pope's nephew; and a congregation of cardinals was established, as on former occasions, to superintend and manage the affairs of the council. Prayer and fasting were again decreed, and ample indulgences promised to those who should observe the decree: the Pope himself went in procession, bareheaded, and on foot, attended by his court, to celebrate high mass for the success of the undertaking. And having been informed that some of the prelates who had already arrived were disaffected, that is, inclined to oppose his arbitrary measures, he collected together a number of Italian bishops, appointed them salaries of twenty-five crowns a month, and upwards, and sent them immediately to Trent, to support and defend his interests by their votes.†

Simonetta entered Trent, December 8th, and found ninetytwo prelates assembled there. He was the bearer of a letter from the Pope, directing the legates to prepare for the opening of the council as soon as possible. The 18th of January, 1562, was the day appointed. In the interval an admonition

and September, 1561.) At the same meeting some reforming enactments were passed; bishops were enjoined to reside in their dioceses, and to preach; priests were required to explain the gospel to the people, and to repeat the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, Ave Maria, and the Decalogue, in the vulgar tongue; strict discipline was also enforced. The French ambassador at Rome received instructions to apply to the Pope for the use of the cup to the laity, and permission of marriage to the priests; whereat his Holiness was highly indignant.—Le Plat, iv. pp. 713–717, 733. Du Pin. cent. xvI. book 3. c. 13. Pallav. l. xv. c. 14. Smedley's "History of the Reformed Religion in France" is a useful work for general readers.

*"Infectez de mauvaise humeur."

† Le Plat, iv. pp. 721–724, 739–751, 753–755.

Osius had been there since August 20.

to the prelates was written and circulated by the legates, earnestly recommending a pious and discreet deportment, silent reverence in the exercises of public worship, and abstinence and sobriety in their manner of living.*

On Sunday, January 18, the first session under Pope Pius IV., or seventeenth from the commencement, was held. After mass and a sermon, the bull of convocation was read. Four other bulls or briefs were also produced; the first contained the Pope's instructions to the legates; in the second and third he gave them authority to grant licences to the prelates and divines to read heretical books, and to receive privately into communion with the Romish church any persons who might abjure their heresies; by the fourth he regulated the order of precedence among the fathers, some childish disputes having already arisen among them on that account. The decree was then read by the secretary, setting forth that the council was then assembled to discuss such measures as the legates and presidents should propose, and which might be adapted to alleviate the calamities of the times, settle religious controversies, restrain deceitful tongues, correct depraved manners, and promote the true peace of the church. On the suffrages being collected, the Archbishop of Granada, and three other Spanish prelates, recorded their dissent from the clause in which the legates had artfully secured to themselves the sole right of proposing the subjects of debate, and thus made themselves absolute masters of the assembly. They said, and very justly, that the expression in question was unusual, unnecessary, and ill-suited to the times; that a disgraceful restriction was thereby laid on the council, and that the papal bull, by which the decree ought to have been framed, contained nothing to justify it. But they constituted a very small minority, for there were present one hundred and six bishops, chiefly Italians, four abbots, and four generals of orders, besides the Duke of Mantua and the legates.†

* Pallav. 1. xv. c. 15.

+ Pallav. 1. xv. c. 16. Sarpi, l. vi. s. 3. Seripand augured favourably for the council, because January 18, the day of the session, was the festival of St. Peter's chair, and also St. Prisca's day. Pius IV. was Cardinal of St. Prisca when he was elevated to the popedom. These coincidences led Seripand to infer that Peter's successor would derive much advantage from the

A new subject was introduced to the fathers after the session. It was the question of prohibited books. Various efforts had been made at different times to prevent the circulation of the works of presumed heretics, it being sometimes much easier to punish an author and suppress his book than to answer his arguments. Constantine led the way by commanding the books written by heretics to be destroyed; succeeding emperors followed his example, prohibited the publications of the heterodox, and inflicted penalties on those who purchased, possessed, or read them; but no systematic or general measure was adopted till the rise of the reformation. The revival of literature, and the invention of the art of printing, effected a wonderful change in society; books multiplied with unexampled rapidity, and were eagerly read. The appetite for mental food being once excited, the necessity of a constant supply became obvious; nor was it difficult to make adequate provision. A powerful stimulus was operating on the human mind, and with a force so great that no subject, sacred or secular, was left untouched; and in a short time there were as many writers, as formerly there had been readers. This altered state of things was viewed by the Roman pontiffs with deep and melancholy interest. They saw that a mighty engine of attack was brought to bear on the system of iniquity, and that it would work with tremendous effect. Everything connected with themselves and their proceedings would be openly exposed and freely canvassed. The darkness and secrecy in which their nefarious deeds had been perpetrated would conceal them no longer. The tide of knowledge was setting in with irresistible force; no human power could stop it. What was to be done? One method only seemed feasible.

council-" ut prisca redeat fides, et prisca religio." His holiness was as much pleased with the good omen as the legate.-Le Plat, v. p. 17.

Speaking of printing, John Fox says "Hereby tongues are known, knowledge groweth, judgment increaseth, books are dispersed, the scripture is seen, the doctors be read, stories be opened, times compared, truth discerned, falsehood detected, and with finger pointed, and all through the benefit of printing. Wherefore, I suppose, that either the Pope must abolish printing or he must seek a new world to reign over; for else, as this world standeth, printing doubtless will abolish him."-Acts and Monuments, vol. i. 803. Ed. 1684.