their own consequence, the bishops of Rome asserted their claim to infallibility, in explaining articles of faith, and deciding finally on all points of controversy; and, bold as the pretension was, they so far imposed on the credulity of mankind, as to procure its recognition. Perhaps a latent sense of the necessity either of universal freedom, or of a fixed standard in matters of religion, might assist the deceit. But however that may have been, it is certain that the remedy was worse than the disease. If wars and bloodshed were the too common effects of the diversity of opinions arising from different interpretations of Scripture, and of hereditary princes sometimes embracing one opinion, sometimes another, a total extinction of knowledge and inquiry, and of every noble virtue, was the consequence of the papal supremacy. It was held not only a resistance to truth, but an act of rebellion against the sacred authority of that unerring tribunal, to deny any doctrine to which it had given the sanction of its approbation; and the secular power, of which, by various arts, the popes had acquired the absolute direction in many countries, was instantly exerted to avenge both crimes. Thus a complete despotism was established, more debasing than any species of civil tyranny.

To this spiritual despotism had Europe been subjected for several centuries, before any one ventured to call in question the authority on which it was founded. Even after the era of the Reformation, a right to extirpate error by force was universally allowed to be the privilege of those who possessed the knowledge of truth; and as every sect of Christians believed that was their peculiar gift, they all claimed and exercised, as far as they were able, the prerogatives which it was supposed to convey. The Catholics, as their system rested on the decisions of an infallible judge, never doubted that truth was on their side, and openly called on the civil power to repel the impious and heretical innovators, who had risen up against it. The Protestants, no less confident that their doctrine was well founded, required, with equal zeal, the princes of their party to crush such as presumed to discredit or oppose it; and Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, Knox, the founders of the reformed church in their respective countries, inflicted, as far as they had power and opportunity, the same punishments that were denounced against their own disciples by the church of Rome, on such as called in question any article in their several creeds'. Nor was it till near the close of the

1 Robertson, ubi sup.

seventeenth century, when the lights of philosophy had dispelled the mists of prejudice, that toleration was admitted under its present form; first into the United Provinces, and then into England. For although, by the pacification of Passau, and the Recess of Augsburg, the Lutherans and Romanists were mutually allowed to enjoy the free exercise of their religion in Germany, the followers of Calvin yet remained without any protection from the rigour of the laws denounced against heretics. And after the treaty of Munster, concluded in more liberal times, had put the Calvinists on the same footing with the Lutherans, the former sanguinary laws still continued in force against other sects. But that treaty, which restored peace and tranquillity to the north of Europe, introduced order into the empire, and prepared the way for refinement, proved also the means of enlarging the sentiments of men, by affording them leisure to cultivate their minds; and Germany, less enslaved by civil and ecclesiastical tyranny, beheld, in process of time, taste and genius flourish in a climate deemed peculiar to lettered industry and theological dulness, and her fame in arts and sciences as great as her renown in arms.

Even before this era of public prosperity, the lamp of liberal science had illuminated Germany, on subjects remote from religious controversy. Copernicus had discovered the true theory of the heavens, which was afterward perfected by our immortal Newton; that the sun, the greatest body, is the centre of our planetary system, dispensing light and heat, and communicating circular motion to the various planets, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, which move around him. And Kepler had ascertained the true figure of the orbits, and the proportions of the motions of those planets; that each planet moves in an ellipsis, which has one of its foci in the centre of the sun; that the higher planets not only move in greater circles, but also more slowly than those that are nearer; so that, on a double account, they are longer in performing their revolutions.

Nor was that bold spirit of investigation, which the Reformation had roused, confined to the countries that had renounced the pope's supremacy and the slavish doctrines of the Romish church. It had reached even Italy, where Galileo, by the invention, or at least the improvement, of the telescope, confirmed the system of Copernicus. He discovered the mountains in the moon, a planet attendant on the earth; the satellites of Jupiter; the phases of Venus; the spots in the sun, and its rotation, or turning on its own axis. But he was not suffered to unveil the

mysteries of the heavens with impunity. Superstition took alarm at seeing her empire invaded. Galileo was cited before the Inquisition, committed to prison, and commanded solemnly to abjure his heresies and absurdities; in regard to which, the following decree, an eternal disgrace to the brightest age of literature in modern Italy, was promulgated in 1633: "To say that the sun is in the centre, and without local motion, is a proposition absurd and false in sound philosophy, and even heretical, being expressly contrary to the Holy Scripture; and to say that the earth is not placed in the centre of the universe, nor immoveable, but that it has so much as a diurnal motion, is also a proposition false and absurd in sound philosophy, as well as erroneous in the faith!"

The influence of the Reformation on government and manners was no less conspicuous than on philosophy. While the sovereigns of France and Spain rose into absolute power at the expense of their unhappy subjects, the people in every Protestant state acquired new privileges. Vice was depressed by the regular exertions of law, when the sanctuaries of the church were abolished, and the ecclesiastics themselves became amenable to ' punishment. This happy influence extended itself even to the church of Rome. The desire of equalling the reformers in those talents which had procured them respect; the necessity of acquiring the knowledge requisite for defending their own tenets, or refuting the arguments of their opponents, together with the emulation natural between rival churches, engaged the popish clergy to apply themselves to the study of useful science, which they cultivated with such assiduity and success, that they gradually grew as eminent in literature as they were formerly remarkable for ignorance. And the same principle, proceeding from the same source, occasioned a change no less salutary in their manners.

Various causes, which I have had occasion to enumerate in the course of my narration, had concurred in producing great licentiousness, and even a total dissoluteness of manners among the Romish ecclesiastics. Luther and his adherents began their attacks upon the church with such vehement invectives against these, that, in order to remove the scandal, and silence those declamations, greater decency of conduct was found necessary. And the principal reformers were so eminent, not only for the purity but even austerity of their manners, and had acquired such reputation among the people on that account, that the popish clergy must have soon lost all credit, if they had not endeavoured to conform, in some measure, to the standard held

up to them. They were beside sensible, that all their actions fell under the severe inspection of the Protestants, whom enmity and emulation prompted to observe and to stigmatize the smallest vice or impropriety in their conduct, with all the cruelty of revenge, and all the exultation of triumph. Hence they became not only studious to avoid such irregularities as must give offence, but more intent on the acquisition of the virtues that might merit praise.

Nor has the influence of the Reformation been felt only by inferior members of the Romish church: it has extended to the sovereign pontiffs themselves. Violations of decorum, and even trespasses against morality, which passed without censure in those ages, when neither the power of the popes, nor the veneration of the people for their character, had any bounds-when there was no hostile eye to observe the errors in their conduct, nor any jealous adversary to inveigh against them-would now be liable to the severest animadversion, and excite general indignation and horror. The popes, aware of this, instead of rivalling the courts of temporal princes in gaiety, or surpassing them in licentiousness, have studied to assume manners more suitable to their ecclesiastical character; and by their humanity, their love of literature, their moderation, and even their piety, have made some atonement to mankind for the crimes of their prede

cessors.

The head of the church of Rome, however, not willing to rest what remained of his spiritual empire merely on the virtues and talents of its secular members, instituted a new monastic order, namely, that of the Jesuits, who, instead of being confined to the silence and solitude of the cloister, like other monks, were taught to consider themselves as formed for action; as chosen soldiers who, under the command of a general, were bound to exert themselves continually in the service of Christ, and of the pope, his vicar on earth. To give more vigour and concert to their efforts, in opposing the enemies of the holy see, and in extending its dominion, this general or head of the order was invested with despotic authority over its members; and that they might have full leisure for such service, they were exempted from strict monastic observances. They were required to attend to the transactions of the great world, to study the dispositions of persons in power, and to cultivate their friendship'.

1 Compte Rendu, par M. de Monclar.-D'Alembert, sur la Destruc. de l'Ordre des Jesuites.

In consequence of these primary instructions, which infused a spirit of intrigue into the whole fraternity, the Jesuits considered the education of youth as their peculiar province: they aimed at being spiritual guides and confessors: they preached frequently, in order to attract the notice of the people; and they set out as missionaries, with a view to convert unbelieving nations. The novelty of the institution, as well as the singularity of its object, procured the society many admirers and patrons. The generals and other officers had the address to avail themselves of every circumstance in its favour; and in a short time, the number and influence of its members were very considerable. Before the beginning of the seventeenth century, only sixty years after the institution of their order, they had obtained the chief direction of the education of youth in every Catholic country in Europe. They had become the confessors of most of its monarchs; a function of no small importance in any reign, but under a weak prince, superior even to that of minister. They were the spiritual guides of almost every person eminent for rank or power, and they possessed the highest degree of confidence and interest with the papal court, as the most zealous and able assertors of its dominion.

The advantages which an active and enterprising body of priests might derive from these circumstances are obvious. As they formed the minds of men in youth, they retained an ascendant over them in their more advanced years. They possessed, at different periods, the direction of the most considerable courts in Europe; they mingled in all public affairs, and took part in every intrigue and revolution. With the power, the wealth of the order increased. The Jesuits acquired ample possessions in every popish kingdom; and, under the pretext of promoting the success of their missionaries, they obtained a special licence from the court of Rome to trade with the nations which they laboured to convert'. In consequence of this permission, they engaged in an extensive and lucrative commerce, both in the East and West Indies, and they opened warehouses in different parts of Europe, where they vended their commodities. Not satisfied with trade alone, they imitated the example of other commercial societies, and aimed at obtaining settlements. They accordingly gained possession of Paraguay, a large and fertile country in South America, and reigned as sovereigns over two or three hundred thousand subjects.

1 Hist. des Jesuites, tome iv.