the luxurious* Canonists at the present hour do of the Pope; who, as Lord of all Benefices, although he make no gratuitous Presentations, nor suffer any Bishoprick, Monastery, or Rectory to be disposed of without an adequate premium, as they are his own property, is represented to be incapable, if he wished it ever so much, of committing Simony.† * Summa Angelica, in dictione Papæ, and Theodoricus de Schismate. *" For a full and able exposèe of the Simoniacal practices of the Pope, consult the Defence of the Apology, p. 561-4. Ludovicus Vives informs us that at Rome all things were bought and sold: Durandus declares that Simony prevails in the Church of Rome as if it were no sin." We ought not however to be astonished that those men who hesitate not to dispose of the Sacrament for money, should sell the temporalities of the Church. Pope Alexander, whose name has before been honourably introduced, was so notorious for his nefarious practices, that distiches and lampoons were continually circulated respecting him: "Vendit Alexander Claves, Altaria, Christum. Musculus in Johannem, cap. vi. The truth of these assertions indeed has never been called in question; for the practice is approved and defended." Simonia non cadit in Papam recipientem. † Though the Pope receive money, he is not guilty of Simony."-Papa non di Durandus de modo Celebrandi Concilii. Tit. xx. + Summa Angelica de Simonía. Baldus de officio Prætoris. The strength of this position, and its harmony with Reason we cannot yet discover; unless indeed they have clipped the pinions of Truth as soon as she visited them; as the ancient Romans did those of Victory, that she might not afterwards fly away. But what if Jeremiah should tell them, as was before observed, that these are lying words? What if he tell them, that they who should have been the vinedressers, have consumed and "eaten up" the Lord's vine? What if Christ says, that they, whose duty it was to have watched over the Church with the most careful solicitude, § have made that Church a den of thieves ?"|| citur facere Simoniam conferendo beneficia, et dignitates aocepta premia" * The Pope is not said to commit Simony though he disposes of the Benefices and Dignities of the Church for money.-Papa non potest committere Simoniam, sic tenent Juristæ; quia Simonia excusatur per authoritatem ejus; according to the Canonists, the Pope cannot commit Simony; for Simony by his authority is excused.-The same opinions are held by Panormitan, Felinus, Archidiaconus Florentinus, Hostiensis and others, whom it is here unnecessary to enumerate. * Bartolus de eodem + Theodoricus de Schismate inter Urban, et Clement. Lib. ii. Cap. 32. * Plutarch. + Jeremiah vii. 4. § Matt. xx. 13. "Per nummularios significantur Beneficii Ecclesiastici But suppose for a moment that the Popish Church cannot err; even then must her good fortune be much greater than their prudence. For such is the tenor of their lives, the nature of their doctrines, and their diligence in displaying them, that not only is their Church buried in error, but in danger of total extinction. For if to have wandered from the Word of God, the Commands of Christ, the Institutions of the Apostles, the Examples of the Primitive Church, the Canons and Decrees of the Ancient Fathers and Councils; nay even from its own positive Enactments;-if to be bound by no laws, ancient Venditores; qui domum Dei faciunt speluncam latronum:" By the money changers are signified the venders of Ecclesias tical Benefices, who make the House of God a Den of Thieves. Again, Prophetæ Hierusalem non habent in ore prophetiam: et in Domino requiescunt et dicunt; "Non venient super nos mala." Quorum causa speculatorium Dei hostili aratro dividitur; et locus quondam pacis, ruinis plenus fit: et Templum Domini in vepres, spinasque convertitur, et est Habitaculum bestiarium. The prophets of Jerusalem have no word of Prophecy in their mouths; yet they rest upon the Lord, and say "There shall no evil come upon us;" For whose sakes the, watch tower of the Lord is turned up with the enemies plough: the place of peace is full of ruin; the Temple of the Lord is overgrown with thorns and briars, and is become an habitation for wild beasts. Hieronymus. in Mic. cap.iv. or modern, domestic or foreign, human or divine-if in this consists Error, then is the Church of Rome not infallible;-then has she been guilty of the most flagrant crimes; the most shameful conduct!! They will perhaps say that we were once of their Communion, but are now Apostates and have forsaken them. True indeed we have done so; and for this very cause we offer our most sincere and grateful thanks to the Lord God Omnipotent, and also rejoice on our own behalf.* * At a period when even the most strenuous advocates and warmest admirers of Popery, were compelled to acknowledge that "Rome was a School of Error and Temple of Heresy," when in the Council of Rheims a Popish Prelate apostrophized the Eternal City in these words: O lugenda Roma, quæ nostris majoribus clara Patrum Lumina protulisti; nostris temporibus monstrosas tenebras, futuro sæculo famosas, offudisti. Oh! miserable Rome, who in the time of our ancestors produced the shining Lights of the Holy Fathers, in our days nothing has proceeded from thee but darkness, desolation, and Eternal Infamy. At such a period to have calmly submitted to the usurped authority of "the King of Pride," would have argued a total indifference to the pure precepts and sublime morality of the Gospel. If any doubts of the corruptions of the Church of Rome still remain, we would refer our readers to the History *Petrarch in Rithmis Italicis. "Schola di Errori, è Templo di Eresia." + Arnulphus in Concil, Rheim. At the same time however we assert that we have neither forsaken the Primitive Church, Christ, nor the Apostles. We were indeed educated with them in darkness and ignorance of God, as Moses was in the learning and discipline of the Egyptians. We were of your number, saith Tertullian,* I confess, nor is that wonderful; for men are not Christians by birth, but by Education. But wherefore, allow me to ask, have they themselves descended from those seven hills on which their Rome formerly stood, and fixed their habitations in the plains of the Field of Mars? They will probably answer that the Aqueducts, without which they could not conveniently reside in so exalted a situation, are now in ruins. Let them then grant us the same Liberty with respect to the Water of Eternal of the proceedings of the Council of Trent, wherein Antonius Marinarius declares that the Papists are mere nominal Christians; and the Bishop of Bitonto openly accuses them of every description of crime and error: and even their own Popes have admitted that * Charity is grown cold amongst them, and Faith totally destroyed, whilst Pride, Avarice, and Luxury, bear un-, disputed sway. * Æneas Sylvius (Pius II.) in Epistola ad Casparem Schlickium, and Paralipom. Urspergen in Clemen. V. * Tertullian in Apologetico. |