408 
P A 
It was not long before Charles, refolved to terminate 
all differences with refpefl to religious opinions without 
the intervention of any foreign jurifdiftion, laid before 
the diet his famous fyilem of doftrine known by the 
name of the Interim, from its being defigned to continue 
no longer in force than until a free general council could 
be convoked. This fyilem, which contained all the ef- 
fential doflrines of popery, though artfully foftened or 
difguifed, was equally difapproved of both by Papifts 
and Proteftants; but no member of the diet had the 
courage openly to oppofe it, and the emperor was deter¬ 
mined to employ all his power in enforcing the obferv- 
ance of it as a decree of the empire. As foon as the pro¬ 
ceedings of the diet and the contents of the Interim came 
to be known at Rome, the indignation of' the courtiers 
and ecclefiaftics rofe to the greateff height; and they all 
warmly contended, that as the emperor had been fo daring 
as to ufurp the jurifdi<2ion of the head of the church, 
and had attempted to overturn the foundations of eccle- 
ftaftical authority, it was neceffary to proceed immediately 
to extremities againft him, before he grew too formidable 
to be oppofed. But Paul, though he was highly offended 
with the emperor, for affuming an authority to regulate 
the doftrine and difeipline of the church, and condemned 
the Interim in the ftrongeft terms, viewed the matter 
vyith more temper and judgment. The experience which 
he had dearly purchafed by his quarrel with Henry VIII. 
taught him a leffon of caution and prudence; and his 
x difeernment alfo led him to foretel, that a fyftem which 
ail attacked, and none defended, could not be of long 
duration, but muff fink and be forgotten when the power¬ 
ful hand which now upheld it was withdrawn; and that, 
for this reafon, there was no need of his interpofing in 
order to liaften its fall. In the mean time, the feceffion 
of thofe prelates who had voted againft the tranflation of 
the council to Bologna, was foon followed by the de¬ 
parture of others, who grew weary of continuing in a 
place where they were not fuffered to proceed to bufinefs, 
till at length fo few remained, that the appellation of Ge¬ 
neral Council could not, with decency, be bellowed any 
longer upon them. Paul, therefore, had no choice left 
but to diflblve an affembly which had become the objeft 
of contempt to all Chriftendom; and he directed his le¬ 
gates to difmifs it by an indefinite prorogation. 
As Paul advanc -J in years, he became more ftrongly 
attached to his family, and more jealous of his authority. 
Urged on by thefe paffions, he could not forget the lofs 
of Placentia ; and in the year 1549, he made a fecond in¬ 
effectual effort to gratify his enmity to the emperor, by 
an attempt to draw the French king into an alliance 
againft that prince. Finding himfelf unfuccefsful in this 
defign, he turned his thoughts towards the moll likely 
means of preventing the future encroachments of the 
emperor. With this view, he determined to recal his 
grant of Parma and Placentia, and, after declaring them 
to be reannexed to the holy fee, to indemnify his grand- 
fon OClavio by fome other ellablilhment in the ecclefiafti- 
cal Hate. This device, he flattered himfelf, would ren¬ 
der his poffeflion of Parma more fecure, as the emperor 
lpight be cautious of invading the patrimony of St. Peter; 
and he thought it would afford him a better chance of 
recovering Placentia, when, in urging his folicitations to 
that effeCt, he was confidered not as pleading the caufe of 
his own family, but as an advocate for the interell of the 
church. While he was priding himfelf in this device, 
Octavio, a high-fpirited young man, having refolved not 
to accept of any other territory, took meafures in order 
to prevent the execution of a plan fo fatal to his ambition. 
In purfuance of thefe, he fet out fecretly from Rome, 
and, after having made an unfuccefsful attempt tofurprife 
Parma, wrote a letter to his grandfather, intimating his 
refolution of throwing himfelf into the arms of the em¬ 
peror. This defedion of one of Paul’s own family to an 
enemy whom he hated, irritated him almoll to madnefs; 
and there was no degree of feverity to which he might 
U L, 
not have proceeded againft a grandfon whom he reproached 
as an unnatural apoftate. He was prevented, however, 
from carrying his harlh refolutions into execution by his 
death, which took place in 1349, when he was in the 
eighty-fecond year of his age, and had held the Roman 
fee upwards of fifteen years. Almoll all the hiftorians of 
the fifteenth century affirm, that his death was occafioned 
by a fever brought on by the violent paffions which the 
behaviour of his grandfon excited ; but in Dr. Robertfon, 
as referred to at the end of this article, the reader may 
meet with a more authentic account of this event, which 
attributes it to a defluxion on the lungs, attended with 
fuch dangerous fymptoms, that his life was immediately 
defpaired of. .. 
The charaCler of this pope gave rife to much debate, 
even in the laffc century, between cardinal Quirini, and 
Schelhorn, Thieling, and other writers. The cardinal 
has ufed his utmoft efforts to defend his probity and me¬ 
rit, his prudence and moderation ; while the two learned 
men above mentioned, reprefent him as a perfidious po¬ 
litician, whofe predominant qualities were diflimulation 
and fraud; who was wholly intent upon raifing his fa¬ 
mily, and ever ready to facrifice the good of the church or 
Hate, to the grandeurand interefts of his numerous ille¬ 
gitimate offspring. Maclaine, in a note to his tranflation 
of Mofheim, mentions fome Ihocking inftances of licen¬ 
tious and criminal exploits, with which Paul was re¬ 
proached in a book publilhed before his death, under the 
name of Ochino. Befides his natural fon Peter-Louis, he 
had a natural daughter named" Conllantia, who was 
married into the Sforza family; and their children, Alex¬ 
ander Farnefe, and Guido Afcanio Sforza, he created 
cardinals foon after his eleClion, when they were fcarcely 
arrived at the years of diferetion. At different promo¬ 
tions, he created no fewer than feventy-one cardinals, a 
far greater number than had ever yet been preferred to 
that dignity by any pope. Onuphrius fays, that he was 
well verfed in moft branches of literature, and a generous 
encourager of learned men. He wrote a Comment upon 
Cicero’s Epiftles to Atticus, before his promotion to the 
pontificate, and, after it, fome “ Letters,” in a polite 
Latin ftyle, to his particular friend cardinal Sadolet, and 
to Erafmus. Robertfon’s Hijl. of Charles V. vol. iii.. 
Mojk. Hijl. Eccl. free. xvi. 
PAUL IV. (Pope), whofe former name was John Peter 
Caraffa , was the fon of count Montorio, a nobleman of an 
illufirious family in the kingdom of Naples, and born in 
the year 1476. Being dellined for the church, he from 
his early years applied to ftudy with the greateff affiduity : 
he not only acquired profound fkill infcholaflic theology, 
but a confiderable knowledge of the learned languages 
and of polite literature, the ftudy of which had lately 
been revived in Italy. His mind, however, naturally 
gloomy and fevere, was more formed to imbibe the four 
fpirit of the former, than to receive any tinflure of ele¬ 
gance or liberality of fentiment from the latter; fo that 
he acquired rather the qualities and paffions of a monk 
than the talents requifite for the condudl of the affairs 
of the world. When he was only eighteen years of age, 
pope Alexander VI. made him his chamberlain ; and, in 
the year 1504, Julius II. created him archbiftiop of 
Theate, in the Neapolitan dominions. By the fame 
pontiff he was fent in the capacity of his nuncio to Fer¬ 
dinand king of Arragon, when that prince took pof¬ 
feflion of the kingdom of Naples; and in the year 1513, 
pope Leo X. fent"him in the fame charafter to Henry 
VIII. king of England, at whofe court he continued three 
years. Upon his return from this miflion he was ap¬ 
pointed nuncio to Spain, where he was made privy-coun- 
fellor to king Ferdinand, and afterwards confirmed in the 
fame poft by his grandfon Charles V. But, becoming 
difgufted with public life, he languifhed to be in a fitu- 
ation more fuited to his tafte and temper. . Having, 
therefore, obtained his recall, he relinquifhed the 
paths of ambition, refufed the archbilhopric of Brin- 
3 
