ROM 



ROM 



thickness, than the hammer can be made 

 to do ; the iron hoops for barrels are also 

 made in this machine ; its operation is 

 exceeding simple ; a furnace is placed 

 close to the machine where the iron bars 

 are to be rolled ; are heated to a white 

 heat ; a workman stands between the 

 furnace and the mill, and takes a bar 

 from the furnace with a pair of pincers, 

 and puts its end between the bars, w and 

 x, advancing it forwards until the rollers 

 take it between them and draw it for- 

 wards, spreading it as it goes both in 

 length and breadth ; another workman, 

 behind the machine, receives the bar as 

 it comes through, and conveys it away, to 

 make room for the next. The small 

 stream of water brought by the pipe, r, 

 cools and hardens the iron as it is rolled 

 without plunging in water. The rollers 

 can be set nearer or further apart by 

 turning the screws, dd, to make thicker 

 or thinner work. The iron will pass 

 through the rollers at the rate of three 

 and a half or four inches per second, and 

 thus will do a great quantity of work ; 

 but the power required to turn them, 

 when they have large and heavy work in 

 them, is immense ; for the same reason 

 the frame of the machine must be ex- 

 ceedingly strong and well put together. 



ROLLS, are parchment, on which all 

 the pleadings, memorials, and acts of 

 courts, ate entered and filed with the 

 proper officer, and then they become re- 

 cords of the court. 



ROMAN Catholics, in church history, 

 a name given to those Christians who be- 

 lieve the doctrines and submit to the dis- 

 cipline of the church of Rome. They are 

 also called Papists, from papa, father, be- 

 cause the Bishop of Rome is not only styled 

 supreme, but oecumenical, or universal bi- 

 shop; and they think they are entitled to the 

 appellation of Catholics, because, as they 

 assert, the Romish Church is not only a 

 true church, but the only true church ; 

 having ail the marks of the true church : 

 viz. unity, holiness, universality, and apos- 

 tolicity. Whether the Church of Rome 

 has any exclusive right to these tour as- 

 sumed marks it is not our business to in- 

 quire. 



The Roman or Latin Church is a sys- 

 tem of goverment, whose jurisdiction ex- 

 tends to a great part of the known world ; 

 though its authority has been circum- 

 scribed within narrower limits since the 

 era of the reformation; and has been, parti- 

 cularly of late years, gradually decaying 

 in every country in Europe. 



Of the origin of this most extraordi- 



nary power there art- various accounts 

 extant It appears, however, that after 

 the Roman Empire became Christian, it 

 was greatlv corrupted, till the empire tell, 

 and made way for the dominion and gran- 

 deur of the Bishop of Rome, under whom 

 the corruption rose to an amazing height. 

 Early in the fourth century, in which the 

 fathers, Cyril, Basil, Gregory, and Am- 

 brose, flourished, was instituted the mo- 

 nastic life Notwithstanding the piety and 

 sanctity to which this institution made 

 pretensions, a manifest love of power, and 

 riches, was predominant; and that, at 

 best, the monastic life laid the founda- 

 tion of that superstructure of mystery, 

 intolerance, and superstition, which in 

 subsequent periods, of the church made 

 such havock with the peace and happi- 

 ness of mankind. It was from this time 

 that the church became modelled by 

 assuming priests ; the simplicity of truth 

 was obscured by mystery ; and the king- 

 dom of Christ became a kingdom of this 

 world. The popes, as bishops of Rome, 

 having laid the foundation of that mo- 

 narchical power to which they afterwards 

 rose, one of the first and most essential 

 steps was the creation of the dignity of 

 Patriarch, afterwards confirmed by the 

 Council of Nice. Thus the hierarchy be- 

 came formed according to the constitu- 

 tion of the Roman Empire. After this it 

 was resolved, that the precedence and 

 authority of bishops over others should 

 be determined by the rank of the cities 

 where they resided ; and of consequence, 

 in process of time, as it could be effected, 

 the Bishop of Rome must have the su- 

 premacy; and this was managed with so 

 much art, as to be confirmed in the next 

 council without its appearing previously to 

 have been made a point of. 



Constantine the Great, who became a 

 Christian, A. D. 312, took the cause of reli- 

 gion into his hands, and defended his new 

 friends against the rage of their heathen 

 adversaries with so much success, that 

 he restored peace and tranquillity to the 

 Christian world. When the church, un- 

 der this Emperor and his successors, en- 

 joyed the protection of the civil powers, 

 the Christians began to compare their pre- 

 sent with their past condition, and called 

 to mind the sufferings of their predeces- 

 sors, and the patience and fortitude which 

 they had exerted, particularly in the last 

 and severest persecution. These consi- 

 derations raised in them a high, and indeed 

 in some degree a just veneration for the 

 martyrs. But it did not stop here ; what 

 was at first only a pious veneration, soon 



