ROMAN CATHOLICS. 



"XXI. I do firmly believe, that the 

 Images of Christ, of the blessed Virgin, 

 the mother of God, and of other saints, 

 ought to be had and retained, and that 

 due honour and veneration ought to be 

 paid unto them. 



" XXII. I do affirm, that the power of 

 indulgences was left by Christ in the 

 church, and that the use of them is very 

 beneficial to Christian people. 



" XXIII. I do acknowledge the holy 

 catholic and apostolic Roman church to 

 be the mother and mistress of all church- 

 es ; and I do promise and swear true obe- 

 dience to the bishop of Rome, the succes- 

 sor ot St. Peter, the prince of the apos- 

 tles, and vicar of Jesus Christ. 



"XXIV I do undoubtedly receive and 

 profess all other things that have been 

 delivered, defined by the sacred canons 

 and oecumenical councils, and especially 

 by the holy synod of Trent ; and all other 

 things contrary hereunto, and all heresies 

 condemned, rejected, and anathematised, 

 by the church, I do likewise condemn, 

 reject, and anathematise." 



This bail, as it is called, bears date on 

 the ides of November, 1564, and con- 

 cludes in the usual manner, with threats 

 of the indignation of God, and of his 

 blessed apostles St. Peter and St- Paul, 

 against all who dare to infringe or oppose 

 it. Whether this profession of faith would 

 now be subscribed by every Roman Ca- 

 tholic, we will not take upon us to say ; 

 but it is certain, that it has received the 

 sanction and confirmation of the council 

 of Trent, the last general council, and 

 lias been explained and vindicated by Bos- 

 suet and other Catholic writers. We 

 should not omit to notice the truly in- 

 genious publication of the late worthy 

 Dr. Alexander Geddes, entitled " A Mo- 

 dest Apology for the Roman Catholics of 

 Great Britain." In this singular publica- 

 tion, the author has laboured hard to 

 prove that a very great resemblance ex- 

 ists (even so much so as to leave little to 

 prevent a cordial coalition) between the 

 doctrines and discipline of the two 

 churches of Rome and of England. This 

 dissenting Catholic seems to speak of the 

 Romish Church in terms not much like 

 what her friends have usually employed 

 on similar occasions ; and very plainly in- 

 forms us, that the enervation of ancient 

 church discipline ; the fabrication of false 

 decretals ; the multiplication of appeals, 

 dispenses, exemptions, immunities, and 

 enormous privileges ; the rage of idle 

 pilgrimages ; the base traffic of indulgen- 

 ces; the propagation of lying legends, 



feigned miracles, and apocryphal revela 

 tions ; the doctrines of the Pope's infalli- 

 bility, temporal jurisdiction, and deposing 

 power, are so many large crops of spiri- 

 tual cockle, that have been, at different 

 times, " while men slept," sown by the 

 enemy in the wide field of the Catholic 

 world This representation is certainly 

 curious, at least, as coming from the 

 pen of a professed Roman Catholic priest. 

 If the English Catholics differ materially 

 from their brethren in other countries, 

 where is the unity and catholicity of the 

 Romish faith ? 



We must now conclude this article 

 with a brief statement of the decline and 

 present state of the papal power in Eu- 

 rope. 



The deadly blow which this gigantic 

 power received in the sixteenth century 

 we have already treated of in the article 

 REFORMATION. 



From the effects of that blow the Ro- 

 man Catholic interests have never yet re- 

 covered. It was a deep and deadly 

 wound to the usurpations of tyranny, and 

 the towering pride of ecclesiastical domi- 

 nation. In the article to which we have 

 already alluded, the reader will find a 

 brief enumeration of the countries whick 

 received the doctrines of the reformation, 

 as well also of those countries where the 

 principles of religious liberty had made 

 but little progress. These latter were 



Erincipally France, Spain, Italy, and Po- 

 md. In each of these countries the spi- 

 rit of reform has, more or less, manifested 

 itself since the era of the reformation. In 

 the first of these countries particularly, 

 the authority of the supreme head of the 

 church has, since the commencement of 

 the revolution, received an alarming di- 

 minution. Indeed, the liberties of the 

 Gallican church had always depended up- 

 on two maxims : 1. That the Pope has 

 not authority to command any thing in 

 general or particular, in which the civil 

 rights of the kingdom are concerned. 2. 

 That though the Pope's supremacy is 

 owned in spiritual matters ; yet his power 

 is limited and regulated by the decrees 

 and canons of ancient councils in the 

 realm. These maxims in the Gallican 

 church have been superseded by the Con- 

 cordat ; and still mare by events of a very 

 recent date. When the French revolution 

 first broke out, the clergy in that country 

 suffered every species of insult and cruel- 

 ty that an infuriate rabble or more refin- 

 ed councils could invent. Their tythes 

 and revenues were taken from them, and 

 the possessiens of the church were con 





