it can be done with impunity, either by fraud or force, these two facts are stated.

"The grand Duke Leopold, frequently commanded the entire suppression of the infamous bull In Cana, throughout Tuscany; and notwithstanding, that paper was affixed by the priests to the confessionals and sacristies; while others had the hardihood to publish it from the pulpit or the altar, on the day specified by the pope."

"In 1815, Ruffo, archbishop of Naples, published a list of reserved cases, among which were infractions of the bull In Cana Domini. Ferdinand IV., the king, having been informed of this violation of the laws, ordered the minister for ecclesiastical affairs to cause the list of reserved cases to be suppressed; and severely reprimanded the monk, who had drawn the prelate, by his perfidious counsels, into such an act of disobedience; threatening him with banishment, if he again attempted to disturb the public tranquillity. The minister, in executing the orders of his sovereign, employed one of his assistants, to write to the cardinal. That secretary, merely for obeying the instructions of the Neapolitan minister, was divested of his office-his dismissal having been demanded by the Roman cardinal, solely because he had composed a letter by command of his sovereign, to deny the authority of that abominable bull, In Cana."

At the close of his memoir to the Grand Duke, Rucellai thus forcibly writes-"The priests ought to be punished as transgressors of the national laws. Their obedience to the bull In Cana should cease to operate as an excuse for them. That bull is published every where, and its principles taught in the schools, and inculcated on penitents by their confessors. It is demonstratively unjust, subversive of all the rights of sovereignty, of law, of good order, and of public tranquillity. The priests are the principal executors of the bull In Cana, in the penitentiary chair; where they decide according to the orders of their bishop. But the prelate is only an instrument of the Roman court, the wretched slave of their caprice; ever since, by false decretals, they succeeded in changing into an oath of fidelity and vassalage, that profession of faith which is made before being admitted a member of the

church.

“THAT OATH, IN FACT, IS A SOLEMN PROMISE, NOT ONLY TO BE UNFAITHFUL TO ONE'S LAWFUL GOVERNMENT, BUT EVEN TO BETRAY IT, AS OFTEN AS THE INTERESTS OF THE COURT OF ROME MAY REN

DER IT NECESSARY.

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Governments, by allowing such an oath to be taken, thereby recognize it as obligatory. The priests who observe it, by putting in force the bull In Cana, and refusing absolution to those who violate it, or who do not repent of having violated it, are rebels to the government of their country, which has proscribed it; and those who do not observe it, are necessarily perjured."

Rucellai, therefore, proposes as the only remedy for all these evils, that "the bull In Cana should be pronounced an unjust civil law, enacted by the pope, which he will always execute in other dominions than his own, when it can be accomplished; and consequently, that its enforcement, either directly or indirectly, in private or in public, should be authoritatively and universally prohibited." Memoirs of Scipio de Ricci. Chapter III. pages 38-50.

VOL. II.-88

Some additional historical notices will more illustrate this interesting subject." The transference of the seat of empire to Constantinople," says Raffaelle, " was the origin of the power of the western clergy, and of the bishop of Rome. And the controversy with the Iconoclasts was adroitly employed by him to render himself entirely independent of the Greek government. Finally, Gregory XI. mounted the papal throne, and reduced into a regular system the whole of that hitherto unshapely mass of privileges and exemptions, which had been slowly constructed on the ignorance and superstition of the people, and the weakness and cowardice of the different governments. The popes boldly laid claim to these prerogatives as original and incontestable rights, and carried their unfounded and ridiculous pretensions so far as to grasp at universal empire. The two councils of Lateran sanctioned this gigantic system. From that period, whoever attacked the persons or property of the clergy was threatened with the spiritual thunder of the church, and its awful consequences both in this world and the next. The energies and intelligence of mankind were thus completely paralyzed, and society fell into the debility and decrepitude of age. The clergy, constituting an immense army, without either restraint or moderation, formed in every kingdom a separate state, which did not recognize the control of the sovereign, and was consequently superior to him-and a theocracy, with the supreme head of all, the Roman pontiff, gave law to the whole nominal Christian world." Bianchi demonstrates, "that the privileges granted to the clergy through weakness were converted into canons. In this manner was the enormous edifice of sacerdotal power constructed; a power supported by civil and religious laws, composed of the real and personal immunities of the clergy, and declared by it to be sacred and inviolable. To attempt the least encroachment upon it was high treason, a crime at all times dreadful, and especially, when the clergy are invested with supreme authority, and are considered by the ignorant and superstitious multitude, as the avengers of that God whose will they profess to declare."

"That anti-social bull In Cana Domini is destructive of all civil authority. If it were scrupulously observed by the clergy and their disciples, all government would be at an end, and the pope would be sole master of the actions, and consciences, and persons and property of every people. The court of Rome never blushed to employ any means," however flagitious; and "to this very day, Rome delegates authority for granting absolution in those cases which it has reserved in the bull In Cana Domini; and the priests who reside under Protestant governments, are not only furnished with that authority, but also exercise it without hesitation." Riflessioni della deput. &c. No. 36, page 67.

"The regulations of the Roman chancery respecting pecuniary fines, benefices, dispensations, and other abuses, are still in existence, and practised as they formerly were. Ought the civil authority to sit in patience and allow a foreign ruler to levy contributions; to distribute revenues and wealth; and to attach to himself, by an oath of fidelity, those with the government of whom it is intrusted, without his having any title to allege in favour of such authority, or being able to exhibit the least claim for such sovereign commission?

"The oath taken by the prelates to the court of Rome, is NOTHING

ELSE THAN AN EXPRESS AND SOLEMN PROMISE TO BETRAY THEIR

RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS, AND EACH CLAUSE OF THE OATH IMPOSES AN OBLIGATION TO COMMIT HIGH TREASON.

"The decretals of Mercator," says Barkovich, "are full of maxims dictated by the grossest ignorance; and they abound in the most glaring anachronisms. The court of Rome, taking advantage of the ignorance which every where prevailed, laid hold of it to establish and consolidate and extend the authority which she arrogated to herself." "The principal doctrines inculcated in that fraudulent collection are that the pope is bishop of all Christendom; that all causes of importance ought to be carried by appeal to Rome; that the pope exclusively must decide respecting prelates; that no council is binding unless convoked, and approved by the pope; and that every church which departs from the ceremonies adopted by Rome, is heretical, &c. Governments should always fear while prelates are subjects of the Roman court, and while the favours of the papacy are distributed with such profusion, that they procure for it partisans and abettors.

"The reform which is most required is that of the studies of ecclesiastics; and the careful removal of the canon law and the decretals, which are the real sources of that monstrous Bull, In Cœna Domini. A doctrine is taught contrary to every law human and divine. By these decretals, a monarch is set up who recognises no other limits to his dominion than the universe; whose laws and commands all are bound to obey. This despot is also declared to be the legislator of the universe; who is possessed of authority to alter, reform, or abolish the laws of all kingdoms and of all states-to be a judge, to the decisions of whose tribunal all earth must submit; whose decrees are infallible, and admit of no appeal, because his decrees are those of God himself; and those who appeal from them are declared to be rebellious and refractory, and are deprived of all communion. This code establishes a despotism and universal monarchy, to whose formidable power all are bound to yield homage and obedience."

The Roman priests are "a bold and enterprising militia, animated by fanaticism, cupidity, and ambition, bound by vows and solemn oaths to excite rebellion and insurrection; and fraught with danger and alarm; because by taking advantage of the superstition and ignorance of the people, it is sufficiently powerful to give just cause of dread, mistrust, and jealousy, to every government." The Jesuits have shown themselves most anxious and careful to extend the limits of popery; and have not scrupled to excite discord and sedition thereby to maintain and defend it. All the decretals were compiled to invest the spiritual power with absolute and arbitrary authority; a despotism more horrible than was ever witnessed in any eastern monarchy.

"Pope Gregory VII. was the author of this new doctrine; which is both sanguinary and seditious, and which establishes the tyranny of the spiritual power, and the slavery of every country. This doctrine foments the ambition of the clergy, and excites rebellion among the people. It causes continual dread, suspicion, jealousy, and distrust, in every government. This doctrine strikes at the root of every natural and divine right; overturns the most solid foundations of human society, and which, in bringing back the times of ignorance and superstition, will renew those scenes of discord which took place between the priesthood and the empire. This doctrine at pleasure can excite sedi

tion, wars, and rebellion among the people. It nourishes fanaticism and folly; and extended the empire of the spiritual despotism even beyond the limits of the known world. This doctrine has obliged princes to violate treaties which they had confirmed with oaths. It has enslaved the free church in times of fierce persecution; and it is completely at variance with the spirit and the precepts of the gospel. "During the eleventh century, those false decretals were published. Besides the independence of the clergy of the temporal government, it was distinctly inculcated, that the orders of the Roman court should be every where obeyed, and by all classes of persons, without delay or contradiction; that no civil law had any force or authority against its canons and decrees; that the tribunal of the church is superior to that of the sovereign; and that the laws of the state ought only to be obeyed when they are not contrary to those of the church.

"About that period also were falsified those ancient laws and canons which militated against this monstrous system. The clergy, supported by these false documents, not content with the independence which they had acquired by open rebellion, and rendered audacious by the ignorance and attachment of the people, usurped the authority which belonged to the magistrates. After this usurpation, the authority of the civil governments was overthrown, and demolished by means of false documents, which taught the superiority of the spiritual over the temporal powers; that princes were inferior to bishops; and that they ought to undertake nothing without their advice.

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Such was the monstrous system, so totally contrary to the doctrines of the gospel, and before that time unknown to any age or nation, by means of which Gregory VII. pretended that the temporal power was subordinate to the spiritual; that the church alone had the power of conferring crowns and judging sovereigns; and that all Christian princes are vassals of the court of Rome, who ought to take an oath of fidelity to it, and also to pay the pope an annual tribute."-Memoirs of Scipio de Ricci, chapter viii. page 272, &c. to 301.

In connexion with this topic, it is likewise requisite to understand "Secreta Monita, the Secret Instructions of the Jesuits," extracts from which are found in the twenty-ninth, the hundred and forty-second, and the hundred and forty-third essays in these volumes.

This documentary evidence might be indefinitely multiplied-but ample testimony has been adduced to demonstrate that the avowed policy of the court of Rome is totally destructive of the rights of man individually, and of all national independence. That this was historical fact during several ages which elapsed prior to the Reformation in the sixteenth century, is recorded and boasted of by the Roman annalists themselves; and pleaded in proof of the claims of the papacy even at this period. Their statements in this case cannot justly be disputed.

The interesting inquiries for our consideration as American citizens therefore are these: Are those principles yet maintained by the Roman pontiffs and their subordinate ecclesiastics? Is that dreadful bull, In Cana Domini, yet in force? And are these shocking dogmas taught, and in operation in this republic ?-To these questions we reply that all these blasphemous, despotic, and anti-social doctrines and mandates, which have been quoted, are in full sway in America,

equally as in every other part of the world, where the papal authority is acknowledged, as far as the system can be executed without exciting alarm and opposition.

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The undeniable facts on this momentous subject are these. Every Roman prelate and every Roman priest in this republic has made the profession, and taken the oath already quoted; and notwithstanding all the perfidious casuistry of the Papists and Jesuits respecting equivocation, mental reservations, and justifiable falsehood, yet it may be admitted, that in the paramount allegiance which they swear to their Lord God the Pope," they are sincere. The promiscuous laity are not possibly coerced to take the same or a similar oath with all its canonical solemnities; although it is undeniable that they do virtually, if not actually, enter into the direct obligation. Yet, the mere external form in this case is of no importance; because the bull in all its tyrannic requirements and ungodly exactions is enforced in the confessional. There, by the priest from the chair of absolution, which in a genuine Papist's estimate is equivalent to the voice of God, he is taught the traitorous doctrine; there he promises to execute, whenever a favourable opportunity is afforded, all that his "God upon earth," through the "father confessor," may require.-Otherwise, he can obtain no holy salt water to mark him; and no bell to "drive" the devil away from seizing his soul; and no unction as a passport to qualify him for purgatory. Consequently, every sincere Papist is equally a bond slave of the Roman court, as though he lived within sight of the Vatican.

The three mainsprings of popery are despotism, and ignorance, and deception-without them, that unholy system could not exist : but each of those characteristics of Romanism is totally incompatible with the principles upon which all our American institutions are founded.

There is nothing more repulsive to all the noble theories upon which our social compact is based, than that the religious faith, the political influence, and the moral conduct of one man, should be regulated according to the mandate or caprice of another citizen. Yet it has already been demonstrated by the Italian secretary of state, that such is exactly the case with every devoted Romanist. He believes nothing which is not to him attested by his priest-thus, combining the most marvellous unbelief, with the most fatuitous credulity. He will know nothing, if it be not communicated by his father confessor-and thus he unites the most marvellous want of intelligence, with the utmost self-conceit. He does nothing, except under his priest's direction; or what is equivalent, unless he is satisfied that he can obtain the priest's favour or absolution. Of course, a Papist thus enthralled, possesses no one implied attribute of a genuine American citizen.

Under his sworn obligations to a foreign power, the fulfilment of which allegiance combines all his earthly comfort and expectations; how can popery be compatible with our civil institutions? how can a Roman priest, in strict parlance, ever be a faithful citizen? how can a resolute Papist consistently avow himself a patriotic adherent of a country, all the social rules of which are at the direct antipodes of that system to which he believes himself bound, by the very highest claims of his religion, unreservedly and always to submit?

If despotism, ignorance, and deceitfulness are the great constituents of the Roman sway, it may be at once affirmed, that by no artifices