330 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



Against this, the author of the Cartas Peruanas" quotes a 

 host of the holy fathers, and the nineteenth verse of the sixteenth 

 chapter of St. Matthew ; — ' ' and I will give unto thee the keys 

 of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on 

 earth, shall be bound in heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt 

 loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven and several other 

 passages from the New Testament, which I have not time to 

 quote, are adduced and explained, to prove that St. Peter sole- 

 ly was charged with the keys, and was set over the other dis- 

 ciples as their chief. The popes, according to the faith, are 

 the successors of St. Peter, who was left as the representative 

 of Christ upon earth ; and the holy bishops are the successors 

 and representatives of the Apostles. 



Our author insists that the destruction of the supremacy of 

 the Pope, must be followed by the destruction of Catholicism 

 — that the church is a unity, and its separation must be fol- 

 lowed by the springing up of various sects, discord, contention, 

 and irreligion. 



The following pages, translated from this well written pam- 

 phlet, will give an idea of the manner and spirit in which the 

 Pope is defended, by the author of the Cartas Peruanas." 

 Speaking of the vices alleged against the popes, he says, 

 Amongst these false Catholics, there are some, who, skim- 

 ming over the annals of the church, instead of imitating the 

 sheep, and extracting the sweetest juices from the flowers, re- 

 semble flies that delight in filth and offensiveness. They col- 

 lect the sweepings of history to cast upon the heads of the 

 popes, without distinguishing between the few bad ones and the 

 multitude of those who have shone in the face of the Universe 

 — when not for their eminent piety, at least for their talents, 

 their integrity, their prudence, their zeal, and upright inten- 

 tion. 



Of more than two hundred and fifty popes, who have oc- 

 cupied the chair since St. Peter, how few are they, who can 

 in reality be qualified as vicious and perverse men ! What 

 throne on earth presents us with so long a list of princes, re- 

 commendable for genius and virtue? Let us hear Bergier. 

 < The charity, the heroic fortitude, the humble and poor life 



