find their liberality recorded in an act of parliament, which provides that whoever says Christ is not God equal with the Father,' shall suffer death. All parties wreaked their vengeance on the humbled Catholics as long as public opinion would let them, and did not relent for a moment, till the voice of the oppressed, 'weak and trembling at first, waxed louder and louder, and at last spoke in one continued roll of angry thunder to

the church and throne.

We do not say that the Catholic faith did anything to improve the social condition of men; but we believe that it could not make it worse, for the world was suffering under a military tyranny, which made the weak the property of the strong, protected no interests but those of the powerful, and laid its ban on every improvement in social happiness and order. But the spirit of religion, which resides in Catholics as well as others, did all that was done to restrain oppression. Its influence was in favor of peace, and of course of all those pursuits, which, from their benefit to humanity, are called arts of peace. To this it may be answered, that the holy wars were inventions of the church. But allowing this to be true, though it wants confirmation, it was a public benefit to send away that military fury to distant regions. It was turning aside the lightning, which otherwise would have burst on the civilized world. With their impressions of duty, they were doing right; and well would it be if the wars which have since almost broken the heart of Europe, were founded on pretences half as good. If the vast Catholic enterprise of breaking down the walls of nations to throw the whole into one mighty diocess, had succeeded, it would have been no more than changing a thousand usurpers for one; and we know not why those who could cheer on Napoleon in his great endeavour, should condemn the design of the Popes, which was not more unjust in its object, was less guilty in its means, and, so far as we can judge, would have given to the people, that class so seldom honored with the notice of historians, a quiet they had never known before.

That the arts of peace did flourish under the protection of the Catholic religion, its noble monuments of art yet survive to tell; its paintings, which modern art looks up to with wonder and dismay; its cathedrals, the most solemn and magnificent of all temples made with hands. While it was the boast of the feudal bandits to kill and destroy, it was the business of the Catholic religion to build and save; and therefore we presume

to say, that the lethargy of the convent was not worse than the madness of the field. Its spiritual absolutions were not more hostile to. Christianity, than those which now legalize violence and murder; and its immorality, bad as it was, no greater than the license which public sentiment in many countries still forgives to power, though, as Walpole, in almost his only grave and godly saying, observes of the vices of his king, its plea may secure an acquittal at the Herald's office sooner than at the last tribunal.

We have made these remarks respecting the treatment of the Catholics, because they have been condemned without judgment or measure. We have done it, not with a view of defending them, but of having their merits fairly understoodas they cannot be, while we sink their claims and character below those of other religious parties. In all reformations much is done from passion. When principle will go no further in condemnation, passion takes the business into its own hands. Thus almost all writers from the time of the Reformation, like seamen unable to take observations till the winds are laid, have kept up an outcry of censure upon the Catholics, charging them with all the abuses that have ever found shelter under the name of religion. By charging them with transgressions, as if no others had ever offended; by upbraiding them with practices and opinions which they expressly disavow; by insisting, in the face of the best evidence which the case admits, that they stand just where they did three hundred years ago; by treating them with that illiberality and exclusion, which was the greatest of the Catholic sins, and by recording this hard sentence in literature, where all the world can read it to the end of time, they have placed the Catholics in the position of the injured party. But there is in the world a great and increasing number who detest not merely Catholic illiberality, but all exclusion; who know, that liberality means something more than abusing the illiberal, and have no sympathy with those who oppose the oppression of others, only because it stands in the way of their own. The most disgusting form of intolerance, is that which boasts the overthrow of the Catholic faith, and yet fain would wear its broken crown; talks of the Reformation, and sets its face against reform; professes to unseal the scriptures, and suffers none to read and judge for themselves. In all this, there is something which repels their sympathy to the opposite extreme, and makes them feel as if

all who were misrepresented by such a spirit, were martyrs to the cause of truth. Every despotism, Protestant or Catholic, religious or of the world, is their abomination. There is none, under the shadow of which the mind can reach its growth and proportion; there is none, which does not unman those whom it weighs down. This overbearing spirit, whether it dwells in parties, churches, or thrones, should be denounced with sternness and impartiality, and above all, without making any reservation for ourselves.

The great reproach of the Catholic church, is the tyranny with which it enslaved the human mind; its claiming the right to teach religious truth, while it was usurping temporal power. Till the time of Constantine, the Christians were contending with persecution. Their only armour to resist it was the innocence of their lives. Often, their mild fortitude disarmed revenge, and made deep impressions in favor of their religion. Oppressed as they were, their numbers were growing. This Constantine saw, and in a fortunate time for his own ambition, though an evil hour for Christianity, he placed himself at the head of the christian party. From that hour the walks of ambition were thrown open to the Christians, and the worst enemy of their sect could not have contrived a more effectual way to destroy the character of their religion. They were corrupted by prosperity; they soon began to give to Cæsar what belonged to God; and to their vain attempt to serve two mastersto gain the earthly sovereign and not displease the King of Heaven, we may trace the vast demands of intellectual submission which the church made, the release from personal responsibility which it offered, and the steadfast purpose with which it discouraged independence of every kind.

But to explain how the Catholics rose to such a tremendous height of power, we must remember that they were a party; a party, not confined to a single empire, but running through the boundaries of nations, and swallowing up in one great sympathy, all other enmities and passions. While the feudal sovereigns contended each for himself, the Catholics brought the whole force of a party to bear on every enemy and every question. Individual princes might be restrained by prudence, fear, or perchance by feeling, from oppressing their subjects too far; but the church took care to make them willing slaves. Individuals might sometimes feel the power of conscience; but there is no such thing as the conscience of a party. No

one feels guilty, where he does not feel personally liable for misdeeds. What individuals would blush to do, parties will not hesitate to do and to avow. Like the senseless elements, they keep on in their fury when the obstacle is beat down, for nothing can stand against the surge of party lifted by the storm. There is no despotism so unrelenting as that of numbers. Kings can be dethroned; tyrants are vulnerable; but no moral feeling can restrain, no power defy, no energy put down the tyranny of millions. The Catholics were an organized party; and though the separate members were not worse than other men of their day, when they acted as a party they were ready to put out all the lights of the human understanding; for such power can never exist except sustained by some great delusion. Such power is itself an abuse, and leads to many other abuses. They need not be described, for the history of the Catholics will serve as a warning so long as the world endures.

Such was the spiritual oppression of the Catholic church. Such it is still, where light has not broken in. But we confess that we regard as its successors, not those who bear its name, so much as those who inherit its spirit and power. That church held its authority by the force of public opinion, perverted public opinion; and it sunk, in nation after nation, as fast as that foundation gave way. No religious establishment which is not thus supported, can endanger the interests of freedom for any length of time. We cannot tell whether any new religious party will ever indulge the same ambition; at all events, it must be a feeble successor to the giant sovereign of old time. We know not where such an experiment could be tried in the present state of the world, except perhaps in this country. We can imagine a christian party' running through the States of our Union, engrossing all substantial power, sinking all minor differences in one great object, bearing with all its weight on every public question, and suffering none to rise to office or influence whose commission is not countersigned by the party. Such a combination may possibly be formed, and Protestant Jesuits and Jansenists unite in the great endeavour. We should then give the name of Protestant to those who contended for freedom, and think the name of Catholic better applied to such an usurping faction than to the Catholic remnant, who, when their magnificent cathedral in which the world worshipped is almost in ruins, are still keeping up forlorn remains of state and grandeur in some of its darkest towers.

The work before us contains evidence, that there were such persons as Catholic Reformers; men who were strongly attached to the church, and yet deeply sensible of its faults, and most of all of its unrighteous dominion. Mr Roscoe has selected various passages from a foreign work, containing an account of Scipio de Ricci, Bishop of Prato and Pistoia in Tuscany. This Catholic prelate seems to have excited much interest in Europe, though almost unknown in this country. He was educated under the care of the Jesuits, one of his relations being General of that order, at the time of its suppression by Ganganelli. His promise was such, that the road to preferment was open before him; but he had independence enough to perceive and declare, that the whole system was corrupt, and that no one could share its honors, without a sacrifice of principle, except he desired power for the sake of reform. He said of the Roman court, what we suspect is true of various others, that the possibility of continuing an honest man, was incompatible with the idea of making one's fortune and rising to elevated stations. Instead, therefore, of paying court to the ruling powers, he corresponded secretly with the imprisoned General, Lorenzo de Ricci, regarding him as a victim of oppression, though he disliked his order. The last declaration of this Jesuit is printed in this volume. It is written in a mild and dignified manner. He solemnly denies the charges brought against the Society, but offers forgiveness to his oppressors. He died in his unjust imprisonment in the Castle of St Angelo. Here we would ask, if it is not true that the last declaration of a Jesuit would be treated as false and worthless, by many who would place implicit confidence in a murderer's dying words? We honor Seipio de Ricci for his fidelity to his unfortunate relative, and are happy to perceive that it continued unbroken to the last.

In 1780 he accepted the appointment of Bishop of Prato and Pistoia, a place in which it seemed probable that he might commence the reform which he had at heart. But a peaceful revolution was out of the question. Difficulties had long existed between Tuscany and Rome. The Medici, and the Spanish government that succeeded them in Tuscany, did not interfere in church affairs. The emperor Francis followed their example in the beginning of his reign; but after a time, he openly resisted the Roman power, suppressing convents and shutting the prisons of the Inquisition. When Leopold