THE 



T R E 



intricate points, which had been left undecided, were by this 

 council abfurdly adopted as articles of faith, and impofed 

 with violence upon the confciences of the people, under pain 

 of excommunication : that there is an ambiguity in the decrees 

 and declarations of this council, which renders the difputes 

 and diffentions, that had rent the church, more intricate and 

 perplexed, and which really multiplies and propagates, in- 

 llead of leflening and fuppreffing them : that matters were 

 decided in this aflembly, according to the defpotic will of 

 the Roman pontiff, without regard to the diftates of truth, 

 or the authority of Scripture : and that the few wife and 

 pious regulations that were made in this council, were never 

 Supported by the authority of the church, but fuffered to 

 degenerate into a mere lifelefs form or fhadow of law, which 

 was treated with indifference, and tranfgreffed with impu- 

 nity. It will not, therefore, appear furprifing, that there 

 are certain doftors in the Romiih church, who, inftead of 

 fubmitting to the decifions of the council of Trent, as an 

 ultimate rule of faith, maintain that thefe decifions are to 

 be explained by the diftates of Scripture and the language 

 of tradition : nor can we wonder that this council has not 

 every where the fame degree of credit and authority, even 

 in thofe countries that profefs the Roman Catholic religion. 

 Some countries, indeed, fuch as Germany, Poland, and 

 Italy, have adopted implicitly and abfolutely the decrees of 

 this council, without the leaft rellriftion. But in other 

 places it has been received and acknowledged on certain 

 conditions, which modify, not a little, its pretended autho- 

 rity. Among thefe latter we may reckon the Spanifh do- 

 minions, which, during many years, difputed the authority 

 of this council, and at length acknowledged it only fo far 

 as it could be adopted without any prejudice to the rights 

 and prerogatives of the king of Spain. In other countries, 

 fuch as France and Hungary, it has never been folemnly re- 

 ceived or publicly acknowledged. Indeed in the former of 

 thefe kingdoms, thofe decrees of Trent that relate to points 

 of religious doftrine, tacitly and imperceptibly through the 

 power of cuftom, acquired the force and authority of a rule 

 of faith ; but thofe which regard external difcipline, fpiri- 

 tual power, and ecclefiaftical government, have been con- 

 Ilantly rejefted, both in a public and private manner, as in- 

 confiltent with the authority and prerogatives of the throne, 

 and prejudicial to the rights and liberties of the Gallican 

 church. 



Notwithflanding the preceding remarks, the decrees of 

 the council of Trent, together with the creed of pope 

 Pius IV., contain a fummary of the principal heads of the 

 Roman Catholic religion. See Popery. 



However, in thefe decrees and confeffion of faith, many 

 things are exprelTed in a vague and ambiguous manner, with 

 a view to the inteftine divifions then prevalent in the church : 

 and feveral tenets are omitted in both, which no Roman Ca- 

 tholic is allowed to deny, or even to queftion. But it muil 

 be acknowledged, that in thefe decrees, and in this confeffion, 

 feveral doftrines and rules of worlhip particularly pertaining 

 to the doftrine of purgatory, the invocation of faints, and the 

 worfhip of images and relics, are inculcated in a much more 

 rational and decent manner than that in which they appear 

 in the daily fervice of the church, and in the pubhc praftice 

 of its members : and it is to be obferved, that in deducing a 

 juft notion of the doftrine of Rome from the decrees of the 

 council of Trent, regard ought to be had, not fo much to 

 the terms made.ufe of in thefe decrees, as to the real fignifi- 

 cation of thefe terms, which muft be drawn from the cuf- 

 toms, inftitutions, and obfervances, that are, every where, 

 in ufe in the Romiih church. Mo(h. Eccl. Hift. vol. iii. 

 Eng. ed. 8vo. 



Trent, Council of, congregation for interprrting the decrees 

 of the, is a congregation, the plan of which was formed by 

 Pius IV. and afterwards inftituted and confirmed by 

 Sixtus V. It was authorized to examine and decide, in 

 the name of the pope, all matters of fmall moment relating 

 to ecclefiailical difciphne ; while every debate of any con- 

 fequence, and particularly all difquifitions concerning points 

 of faith and doftrine, were left to the decifion of the pontiff 

 alone, as the great oracle of the church. Hence it was, 

 that the approbation of Innocent XI. was refufed to the 

 artful and infidious work of Boffuet, bifhop of Meaux, 

 entitled " An Expofition of the Doftrine of the Catholic 

 Church," until the author had fuppreffed entirely the firil 

 edition of that work ; and made correftions and alterations 

 in the fecond. See Popery. 



But though the court of Rome, and all thofe who favour 

 the defpotic pretenfions of its pontiff, maintain, that he 

 alone who governs the church as Chrift's vicegerent, is 

 entitled to explain and determine the fenfe of fcripture and 

 tradition in matters pertaining to falvation, and that a 

 devout and unhmited obedience is due to his decifions ; yet 

 it has been impoffible to perfuade the wifer part of the 

 Roman Catholic body to acknowledge this exclufive autho- 

 rity in their head. And accordingly, the greater part of 

 the Gallican church, and a confiderable number of learned 

 men of the popifh religion in other countries, think very 

 differently from the court of Rome on this fubjeft. They 

 maintain, that all bifliops and doftors have a right to con- 

 fult the facred fountains of fcripture and tradition, and to 

 draw from thence the rules of faith and manners for them- 

 felves and their flock ; and that all difficult points and 

 debates of confequence are to be referred to the cognizance 

 and decifion of general councils. Mofti. Eccl. Hift. vol. iii. 

 See Infallible. 



TRENTAL, Triotntal, or Tricennal, a Romiili 

 office for the dead, confifting of thirty maffes, rehearfed for 

 thirty days fucceffively after the party's death. 



The trental is thus called from the Itahan, trenta, triginta, 

 thirty. It is mentioned anno primo Edw. VI. 



TRENTON, in Geography, a town of New Jerfey, in 

 the county of Hunterdon, on the E. fide of the Delaware. 

 Here the legiflature ttatedly meet, the fupreme court fit, 

 and moil of the pubhc offices are kept. The court -houfe is 

 a handfome building. There is a flourifhing academy, and 

 the number of inhabitants is about 3002 ; 24 miles N.N.E. 

 of Philadelphia. N. lat. 40° 13'. W. long. 74° 48'.— 

 Alfo, a poll -town of the province of Maine, in the county 

 of Hancock, containing joi inhabitants; 31 miles N.E. 

 of Penobfcot. — Alfo, a town of North Carolina, on the 



river Trent ; 20 miles S.S.W. of Newbern Alfo, a poft- 



townihip of New York, in Oneida county, 12 miles N. of 

 Utica ; bounded northerly by Steuben and Remfen, eafterly 

 by Weft Canada creek or Herkemer county, S. by Deer- 

 field, and W. by Floyd. The town is well watered by 

 fmall ftreams, and by fprings. The foil is good : the foreft 

 woods are elm, linden or bafs-wood, butternut, beech, 

 maple, &c. The inhabitants are principally of New Eng- 

 land defcent, though feme are of the ancient Dutch from 

 Holland, and their induftry is well rewarded by the pro- 

 ducts of agriculture. There are fome very remarkable 

 falls in Weft Canada creek, on the eaftern border of this 

 town. This ftream affords numerous fcites for mills in 

 Trenton. The population is 1548 ; the fenatorial eleftors 

 are 127. The largeft compaft fettlement in this townihip 

 contains from 70 to 80 buildings, and is diftant 13 miles 

 from Utica and 107 from Albany. 



TREO, a town on the E. coaft of the ifland of Paros. 

 4 TRE- 



