> ! >!>>> ) > '::X> > > - > -O ' > :K> y j>> .jR>22> :>i> ifR > y^ -^^^^^^'^ ^ ^>. ?3>^ ^> ) D^ i3>>:> L>> INSTITUTE ADVERTISEMENT. THE Tour in Italy, of which an account is given in the following pages, was begun and completed, and the narrative itself, with the exception of a few sentences, was written, long before the pro- mulgation of the late unscriptural, absurd, and insolent bull of the Pope, whom I visited at the Vatican. I could not be aware, that three years ago the plan of dividing England into dioceses, as if we were either a Heathen or a Popish country, could have been imagined, much less acted upon. The folly and the presumption, however, of the Pope's action has not altered that opinion which I believe I am almost alone in holding, express- ing, and enforcing ; but which, until I can he convinced I am in error, I shall still hold, express, and enforce that God will so order, by His Pro- vidence, the course of this world, that in His own good time the Holy and Omnipotent Spirit of God will change the Papists of France, Italy, and A2 IV ADVERTISEMENT. Spain, as He changed, three centuries ago, the Pa- pists of England, Scotland, and Germany. In spite of all the blasphemous pretensions of Rome in spite of all its unjustifiable additions to the Primi- tive Faith of Christ, in spite of all the indefensible assumption, by which, in this hour of its decrepi- tude, it asserts the divine right to permit to, or with- hold from, the soul of man, the birthright of all men, the free use of the Word of God, in spite of all the wicked laws, bulls, rescripts, and edicts, which are alike hostile to the ancient early Religion of Jesus Christ, to modern constitutional liberty, and there- fore to National happiness ; I believe, against all appearances to the contrary, that the Omnipotent power, and grace, and influence of the Spirit of God will finally make the Church of Rome become what it is not now, but what it once was, when St. Paul approved and blessed it. If this great Protestant countiy will now do its duty to the civilized world, as it did in the reign of Elizabeth, when it beat back Popery ; or in the reign of William III., when it trod down the divine right of Kings, and all regal despotism ; or as it did in the reign of George III., when it rebuked and vanquished the Infidelity of the Continent ; then will England be not only safe within itself, but more and more influential as the blessing and the example to mankind. Towards the close of that great and ADVERTISEMENT. V terrible war, which began with the first French Re- volution and ended with the contest at Waterloo, an English General began one of his despatches with the memorable words " England has saved itself by its firmness, and Europe by its example/' So must it be now, in the revival and renewal of the great war between Christianity and its cor- ruptions, between the Reformation and Papistry. But what, it will be demanded, is the remedy ? What must be done ? How are we to resist these aggressions ? How can we meet these encroach- ments ? They must be all met, we answer, by untiring, vigilant, sleepless resistance. This resistance must be of three kinds : Political, Christian, Ecclesi- astical. There must be untiring, vigilant, sleepless, Poli- tical resistance. The details of this first mode of resistance must be left to our Rulers : but as the soldiers of a foreign enemy are justly regarded as ene- mies, and are not, therefore, invested with the privileges of citizens, even if they are permitted to traverse the country on their parole of honour ; so also should it now be with the members of the Church of Rome. The Pope has declared himself to be the foreign enemy. By the pro- mulgation of a bull as atrocious and as hostile A3 VI ADVERTISEMENT. to the Protestant Institutions of England as any that were issued in the reigns of Elizabeth or James L, the Pope has cancelled the claims of his subjects to the civil privileges of their Protestant countrymen ; and has placed them in the position of foreigners, aliens, and enemies. No man in a state of society is entitled to any other privileges than the law of the land allows him. All privi- leges are granted, or are maintained, upon certain implied or expressed conditions. The privilege of participating with the legislatorial power in as- sisting in the formation of the laws 6*f the land, was granted to the Romanists on the solemn condition, that such obedience be not rendered to a foreigner which shall ultimately endanger the Throne of England. If the Pope does not rescind this bull, our political security requires that he be declared to be " a foreign enemy." If the sub- jects of the Pope do not repudiate this bull, they will then be the soldiers of that foreign enemy. They forfeit their political privileges. They place themselves under their parole of honour only ; and though we may safely grant to them peace, tolera- tion, and protection, under the watchful superin- tendence of the public law ; we shall do wisely to insist upon their resignation of the peculiar conditional privileges which we granted to them in the year 1829, and thus relieve them from the ADVERTISEMENT. Vll burthen under which their consciences, as the subjects of the foreign enemy, must so deeply suffer, the power of legislating for the prosperity, the strength, the extension, and the influence of the Protestant Institutions, which their duty to God, and their allegiance to the foreign enemy, the declared vicar of Christ, requires them to en- deavour to destroy. This is the commencement of ihe Political resist- ance to the aggression of which we complain. The second mode of resistance may be called Christian resistance, because it is founded on the principles of abstract Christianity, which ought ever, so far as is possible, to be the guide and direction to the disciples of Christ. We are the disciples of Christ, and the followers of the primitive martyrs of the early Church. Two examples are before us of the manner in which our discipleship may be shown. Jesus Christ loved His people. He reproved their apostasy, He wept over their destruction ; and, at the very moment when they were nailing Him to the cross, He offered the prayer for His murderers, " Father, forgive them ; for they know not what they do." Stephen, the first martyr, loved his countrymen. He reproved the fearful crime of their crucifying Christ, and stigmatized them as the resisters of Vlll ADVERTISEMENT. the Holy Ghost. When they cast him out of the * city and stoned him, then, at the very moment when they were overwhelming him with the in- struments of persecution and death, he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." As Christ, and His servant Stephen, were willing to lay down their lives, protesting against the errors, and corruptions of their people ; so ought we, after their example, in opposition to errors and corruptions as inveterate, obstinate, and unscriptural, to persevere in the second mode of our resistance to the encroachments of Rome. We must maintain our protestation against their doctrines, their superstitions, and their usurpa- tions, to the grave. We must appeal to them, expostulate with them, pray for them, and love them : but we must never, never submit to them, never sanction their idolatry, never uphold their apostasy, never endure their pretensions. Ever watchful, ever on our guard, ever mindful of the uniform experience of many centuries, and espe- cially of the testimony of the last century, that Rome never sleeps, that Still to new flights her restless wishes soar, Claim leads to claim, and power advances power; Still whimpering on, " Think nothing done," she cries, " Till at our feet the Church of England lies " our duty of resistance is strengthened by her ADVERTISEMENT. IX boldness of aggression. The result must be left to God. Only let our motto be No peace with Rome, as it is ; no peace with Rome, till God shall give it repentance ; no peace with Rome, till its Pauline Faith be restored, its mediaeval additions to Christ's Truth be removed, its cruel canons be rescinded, and its odious bulls be withdrawn. No peace with Rome, till the un- restricted Bible be its rule ; and its rulers, and its people, once more become the repentant and humble Church, with their brethren. No peace with Rome, till the Spirit of God shall change it, and render it no longer our duty to protest against its errors, and to resist its domination. The third mode of resistance to the aggression of Rome is Ecclesiastical. By the words Ecclesiastical Resistance, as contra- distinguished from Political Resistance, I mean that opposition to the usurpations and preten- sions of the Bishop of Rome, which may be, and which must be, sooner or later, made by Christian sovereigns, states, and people^ considered as mem- bers of the one universal Church, and founded upon the revival of the scriptural, primitive custom, of conciliar deliberation on the controversies which agitate that Church. The battle is not between Po- pery and Protestantism, considered as two adverse parties, but between Christianity and its corrup- X ADVERTISEMENT. tions. England alone is not interested; the whole human race, to whom the knowledge of the religion of Jesus Christ has been, or will be made known, is concerned in the results of this mighty contest. The controversy is between truth and falsehood, liberty and slavery, consti- tutional government and arbitrary despotism, monarchical authority and papal usurpation ; be- tween good and evil. The temporal monarchs of the world are the guardians of the people committed to their care. Scriptural Christianity is the only effectual mode of blessing their people ; and the monarchs, to whom God has given the crown and the sceptre, are required, as their first duty, to take care that no priesthood changes that blessing into a curse. There is, in fact, but one only question to be considered. Christ gave to one of His Apostles a commission to build His Church, and a prophecy that he should execute His commission. The preaching of that Apostle first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles, accomplished the commission, and ful- filled the prophecy. The chief question for the princes, the rulers, and the people of the Uni- versal Church to consider, in the Council which it is their duty to summon is this, Whether the Bishop of Rome, because Christ said to His Apostle, " Thou art Peter," is entrusted with the ADVERTISEMENT. XI power of saying to all States, and to all Churches, ' I ordain, and I decree, that public prayer shall not be offered to God in the language in which the people think best, but in the language which I deem best. "Thou art Peter;" therefore I give the Holy Scriptures as I please, and as I permit. " Thou art Peter ; " therefore I, the Bishop of Rome, command all Senates, Rulers, Kings, and people, to enact no laws, grant no liberties, make no decrees, which shall affect the best interests of nations, without my sanction, without my permis- sion. " Thou art Peter ; " therefore I, the Bishop of Rome, whatever be the laws of England, whe- ther Scriptural, absolute, constitutional, old or new, ecclesiastical or civil, divide England into dioceses and districts at my will and pleasure ; and I command this law my law to be observed by my subjects in that country/ Such is the claim of ecclesiastical supremacy. In England the papal ecclesiastical supremacy has been met by ecclesiastical resistance. The Convocation, in the reign of Henry VIII., met and rejected it : and the State, in its Parliament, acted upon the decision of the Convocation. But the Councils of England are peculiar to that Empire alone ; and this ques- tion of the Ecclesiastical Supremacy is not an English question only ; it is, if I may use new terms, a European question, a universal Church ill ADVERTISEMENT. question, a human race question. If Christianity is to he, as I believe that God's holy revelation affirms it eventually shall be, the uniter of all mankind in one Universal Church ; then all man- kind, through all its aggregate of states, peoples, nations, languages, and tongues, are interested in the overthrow of an Ecclesiastical Supremacy which poisons the Fountains of spiritual life at their source. The union of Churches, on the foun- dations of Papistry, would only be a universal apostasy, which would bring down the second deluge of fire from heaven to destroy the world, and its Churches. I only add, that if I could have imagined the possibility of the folly and crime which the Pope has committed, I would never have entered Rome ; and that distance from the press, and many avocations and interruptions, have pre- vented the earlier publication of my Journal. COLLEGE, DURHAM, Dec. 4, 1850. TOUR IN ITALY. INTRODUCTION. REASONS FOR GOING TO ITALY, AND SEEKING AN INTERVIEW WITH THE POPE. WHEN a member of the United Churches of Eng- land and Ireland, or a Protestant Episcopalian of Scotland, America, or elsewhere, goes up to the Table and Altar of the Lord, at the celebration of the Holy Sacrament, he is accustomed to pray, that " God would inspire continually the Universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and con- cord ; and that all who confess His holy Name may agree in the truth of His holy word, and live in unity and Godly love." In the Prayer of the Post-Communion we humbly beseech our Lord and Heavenly Father, " that by the merits and death of Jesus Christ we and ALL His whole Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of His passion." "We pray in the Litany B 2 INTRODUCTION. that it may please Grod " to rule and govern the Holy Church Universal in the right way." In the Prayer for all Conditions of Men, we pray " more especially for the good estate of the Catholic Church ; that it might be so guided and governed by God's good Spirit, that ALL who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the Faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life." And in many other parts of our beautiful Service we implore the Almighty, to whom we pray, to grant the same petitions. I have now, through many years, inquired of myself, Whether all these prayers are a mere mock- ery ? Whether they are utterly vain and useless ? Whether they have any meaning, or are merely the language of routine and form ? Solemn prayers like these generally imply a solemn vow. Those who pray for " Unity, Peace, and Concord," are required to exert themselves, to labour, and hope, to accomplish objects so desirable. No Papist, nor Protestant, however, is found to make the least attempt to promote peace. Every Church, sect, and party, entrenches itself behind its own fortifications, and its own battlements, contented with affirming the Scriptural impregnability of its own position, and with exhausting the language of vituperation on the holders of the neighbouring INTRODUCTION. 6 fortress. "See how these Christians love one another!" was the language of antiquity. "See how these Christians hate one another!" is the language of the present day. Infidelity triumphs in our mutual hatreds. Rome charges England with originating and perpetuating this infidelity, by the obstinacy of its schism, and by the multi- plicity of its sects, which it permits to exist, to speak, and to write, without control. England charges Rome with the same sin, by its stubborn resistance to the union of religious liberty with ecclesiastical authority ; and by fettering the mind of man to the maxims, opinions, discipline, and traditions, which are neither divine in their origin, true in their nature, useful in their exercise, nor consistent with the spiritual improvement of man- kind. Rome teaches its people that their opposi- tion to its creed and government produces present political, ecclesiastical, and anarchical evil, as well as undoubted future misery. England regards the religion and polity of Rome as " the worst of super- stitions, and the heaviest of all God's judgments \" Both are vehement in their condemnation of the real or supposed criminality which originates and perpetuates the greatest hindrance to the exten- sion and influence of pure and primitive Christi- anity. 1 Milton. B 2 4 INTRODUCTION. The question, then, is, What is the remedy for these evils ? " Submission to Rome," is the answer of many of our own brethren, whose mournful defection we deplore ; or who have endeavoured to soften or palliate the errors which our fathers so justly condemned. " Submission to Rome," is the answer of the disciples of the school of Bossuet, who endeavour to explain away the more ob- noxious tenets of the Church of Rome, and repre- sent the differences between the two Churches as too minute and too trivial to justify the continu- ance of the separation. " Implicit submission to Rome," says the bolder and more decided Papist. "We will rescind no law; we will abrogate no decree ; we will alter no article of doctrine ; we will change no rule of discipline ; we will recon- quer the Universal Church by our endurance, our patience, and our perseverance." Alas, for the hopes of mankind, if truth is more pliable than eiTor ! With deep, sincere, impartial study of the arguments in favour of the Church of Rome, and of the evidence by which it would support its pre- tensions, I have endeavoured to answer this ques- tion ; and I am compelled, as a lover of the truth, to come to the conclusion, that, while Rome re- mains as she is, resistance to Rome, and not sub- mission to Rome, is the bounden duty of every Christian. I am compelled to believe, that sub- INTRODUCTION. 5 mission to Rome is the worst evil that can befal the Church of God. For Rome is chargeable with two errors which forbid the possibility of unity, peace, and concord between the Churches of the Catholic Church till they are removed. One re- lates to its doctrines, the other to its discipline. The first is, the reception of a Creed, which em- bodies, on the authority, notof a Council, but of an individual Bishop of Rome, the whole of the conclusions to which w r e are compelled to object. The second is, claiming and exercising the right and privilege of permitting, and therefore of with- holding, from the believer in Christianity who re- ceives that Creed, that word of God which the Almighty gave to all, as He gives them the fresh air of Heaven to breathe, or the light of the sun to enable them to see. Three degrees of happiness are given to all mankind. One is, the inferior happiness which we possess in common with the ignorant and the savage, namely, the satisfaction of the appe- tites and the instincts of nature. The second is, the happiness which we share with the refined and learned, who may not possess the better and the higher felicity the pleasures of poetry, the delights of eloquence, and the charms of literature. The third is, the happiness which we partake in com- mon with the spirits of all true Christians the knowledge of the Deity as it is given us in Reve- B 3 6 INTRODUCTION. lation, the anticipations and the earnest also of the enjoyments of a future state, and all the ele- vations and blessing's which the Son of God died to bestow upon man. This highest happiness can only be derived from the knowledge, the belief, and the study of the word of God. The suppres- sion, therefore, or even the partial permission of that word, is warfare against the supreme happi- ness of man 3 . The claim of the Church of Rome to permit what the Almighty has freely granted to all, is an act of blasphemy and presumption against His Providence. The refusal of that word, because it has been sometimes misinterpreted, or sometimes rendered a source of controversy, is an impeachment of the wisdom of the Deity, and an injustice to the soul of man. To sup- ply its place by human compositions, by an acted Mass, by well-painted pictures, by the finest sta- tuary, or by any religious ordinances whatever, is as utterly impossible as the attempt to supply the place of the flowing river, the fresh air, and the realities of the scenery of nature, by the illu- sion of a panorama, or to satisfy the cravings of hunger by the sounds of music. The word of God is the birthright and heritage of all men. It is given to the Church and to the world ; that from the world the Church might be formed. The * Note 2, Appendix. INTRODUCTION. 7 Church is only the keeper of its truth, and the witness of its origin, its perpetuity, and its authen- ticity ; and so long as the Church of Rome con- tinues its unholy warfare against the word of God, that Church must and will be deemed the chief hindrance to the best, highest, spiritual hap- piness ; and the first chief cause of the infidelity which now threatens Christianity. Such are the reflections which have now, for many years, induced me to desire to seek some remedy for our mutual hatreds, and to make some effort, however feeble, and however humble, to- wards the accomplishment of the object for which, in common with my brethren of the Church of England, I ever pray when I go up to the Table and Altar of the Lord. They are not, therefore, new ; neither is my Prayer that the Church may be united in one true Catholicity, now offered by me for the first time. Ten years have elapsed since I commenced a laborious work on the Pen- tateuch, entitled " Scriptural Communion with God." The Sixth and final Part was completed at the end of the last year (1849), immediately before I left England for Italy. As the reunion of Chris- tians, or the establishment of the truth, unity, and concord for which we pray, by unpoperizing the Church of Rome, was the frequent subject of my private prayers to God ; the meditations on B 4t 8 INTRODUCTION. which those prayers were founded were embodied in various Dedications, prefixed to the four last Parts of that work. The Third Part was dedi- cated to Pope Gregory XVI. It related to the mode in which the work of the reunion of Chris- tians might be commenced in the manner which the great majority of the Catholic Church would require- that as laws must be rescinded by the power which enacts them, and as the Bulls of the Popes have been repeatedly rescinded by their successors ; the Bull, therefore, which decreed that twelve doctrines be added to the Nicene Creed 3 , as Articles of Faith, may be rescinded by the pre- sent Pope, or by any of his successors, without propounding any condemnation of the Articles themselves. If this were done, the propositions which the Council of Trent commended to the approbation of the Roman Catholic Church might be reconsidered in another Council, summoned under the authority of Christian temporal Princes, of whom the Bishop of Rome might be one ; and in this mode the hope of a better state of Chris- tianity might dawn upon the world *. In the Dedication prefixed to the Fourth Part of my above-mentioned work, and addressed to the temporal powers of Europe, I placed before them the example of Constantine, the first Christian 8 Note 3, Appendix. * Note 4, Appendix. INTRODUCTION. 9 Emperor. If the Pope, as the chief Bishop of the Western Churches, I showed them, refused to com- mence this great work of promoting the reunion of Christians on the basis of the reconsideration of the past ; it then became the duty of the suc- cessors of Constantino, in the secular empires of Europe and Asia, to adopt his plan of government in seven particulars there specified, and to deem it to be their bounden Christian duty to endeavour, on the basis of truth, without regard to the Pope, to re-establish peace and union on earth. The Fifth Part was dedicated to the Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland, as the fittest poten- tate to begin this holy movement. The Sixth and last Part was dedicated to the general prelacy of the Universal Church, and more especially to the spiritual authorities of our own Church. I there urged upon them, the possibility of obtaining the consent of their several govern- ments to assemble in Synods, in Congresses, or Councils, peaceably to deliberate on this most de- sirable reunion. To the Archbishop of Paris I related, in this last Dedication, the correspondence between Dr. Wake, the Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Queen Anne, and the learned M. Dupin 5 , author of the " Dissertation on the Discipline of the Ancient Church." I then, in 5 Note 5, Appendix. B 5 10 INTRODUCTION. the most earnest terms I could command, implored the Archbishop of Paris, and the Bishop of Rome, to devote themselves to the reformation of their Churches, in the manner in which the Apostles themselves would do, if they could be raised from the dead to judge the spiritual Israel of God. I implored the Pope to become the standard-bearer of that great number, which longs for the em- bracings of Peace with Truth 6 ; but I assured him, that neither the Pope, nor his successors, with all the despotisms of Europe, if they could be restored nor all the Jesuits who have ever uttered their curses on our energies nor all the perverted traitors within our own tolerant Church, will be able to re-unite the Christian Churches on the foundation of the old Popery. From addressing the Pope, I conclude the Dedication with an appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury. I entreated him to be able to look up to God when he is dying, and to say, " No difficulties terrified me ; no mere routine retarded me ; no apprehension lest Princes should oppose me, no fear lest the people should deride me, no human motive prevented me from endeavouring to fulfil my duty to the Holy Catholic Church of Christ, as well as to its best portion, my own Church, the useful, the honoured, the Scriptural Church of England." And the Dedication is con- Note 6, Appendix. INTKODUCTION. 11 eluded with the words of the despair with which I was conscious that I might as well have spoken to the dead themselves, for the present time at least, " Can your Grace do nothing nothing to re- move the mutual hatred of Christians ? " " Nothing to call forth their love to each other, and to pro- mote the union of Christ's Holy Catholic Church V Some such detail as the above was necessary to enable me to answer the questions, Why did I go to Italy ? Why did I desire an interview with the Pope? I went, not from caprice, not from impulse, not from curiosity alone ; I went in the pursuit of what I deemed a religious object, in the performance of what I considered a religious duty. At the very time when I was finishing this last Dedication, and completing the correspond- ence with the Archbishop of Canterbury which followed my transmitting to him my humble labours ; at that very time, I was told that a change of scene and climate was necessary for my health, and that I must travel on the Con- tinent. I had no desire to travel. I wished to stay in England, and proceed, as my health might permit, to other labours to the completion of a work on Ecclesiastical and Civil History, and to the continuation of " The Scriptural Communion with God," in the form of a Commentary on the New Testament. I was assured, however, by my B 6 12 INTKODUCTION. physician, and that earnestly and repeatedly, of the advantage that would attend a remission of application to study. I was again and again assured, that it was necessary that I should go abroad. Then the thought occurred to me, that, if I must for a time leave my home, I would go to Italy, and realize the visions of my solitude. Strange, Quixotic, romantic as the resolution seemed to be, the imbument of my mind with the train of thought which I have mentioned, and which had now continued through so many years, kindled the determination to make an effort to commence, by personal exertion, the better era which my anxious imagination had pictured. I would proceed to the Vatican, and seek an audience of the Pope, whom I had so often addressed from a distance, as an almost imaginary personage ; I would appeal to him, in the Name of the Holy, Blessed, and Glorious Trinity, to begin, and to commend by his own great authority, the reconsi- deration of the past. In proportion to my magni- ficent independence, should be my extreme and deferential courtesy. In proportion to my zeal to serve the cause of peace, on the basis of Truth, should be my caution never to offend. The very attempt to gain admission to the Vatican would subject me, I well knew, to the charge of enthu- siasm, fanaticism, and folly. Self-possession and INTRODUCTION. 13 calmness must protect me from the imputation of the two first. From the imputation of the last, no wisdom could protect me, in the opinion of that large class of men who imagine every religious action which passes the prescribed boundaries of routine, form, and custom, to be utterly useless and absurd. Though I could have no other motive than the glory of my God, and the promoting of the happiness and union of my divided brethren, I well know, that disinterestedness is always folly, in the opinion of the selfish, the formal, and the dull. As I could not be personally acquainted with the Pope, and as the laws of our country prohibit any of the Bishops of England from giving me letters commendatory, according to the custom of the ancient primitive Church 7 , I would endeavour to obtain such letters from some one of the foreign Bishops who might be in communion Avith the Church of Rome. I should thus observe the com- mon etiquette established and observed in courts, without violating the spirit of the laws of my country, or any of the courtesies of society. " In the name of the God I serve, in the name of the Saviour I love, I will present myself;" I said, humbly, deferentially, courteously, to the chief Bishop of that Church, which is the one great ob- 7 Note 7> Appendix. 14 INTRODUCTION. stacle to the reunion of the Christian Churches. I will implore him to commence in his own Church the reconsideration of the past. I will appeal to the Bishop of Rome in the spirit and temper of the Fathers and Reformers of an earlier period, who lamented, while they justified, as an act of bounden religious duty, the absolute necessity of their separation from that Church, which had once deserved the eulogy of an Apostle. I will aim at changing Rome, and so reconciling Rome to England. "Progress, not retrogression/' is my motto. The desire to make Rome once more worthy of the approbation of the reader of God's word, of the lover of God's religion, and of the most anxious aspirant for the blessing of God upon the souls of men, is my motive ; and the attempt, I know and feel, is worthy of St. Paul, or Cranmer, or Luther, or any of the humble fol- lowers of their noble and disinterested examples. Not one word will I presume to speak which can relate to the politics, the quarrels, the contests, which are merely of a secular nature. I will speak to the Pope, in the name of our common Father, on that subject only which relates to the spiritual improvement of the Universal Church, and the foundation of the better union of Christians. " Lord God ! Son of God ! Holy Spirit of God ! Who dost rule the world by Thy Providence," (was, INTRODUCTION. 15 and is, my prayer,) " as Thou hast broken off from my own beloved land the intolerable yoke of the Continental corruptions of the Christian faith ; break off the same yoke from the Continent of Europe itself. Change the creed of Rome. Re- move its errors. Thy divine power can infuse into the minds of its rulers and of its people the desire, and the resolution, to put away their unscriptural additions to Thy revealed will. Send forth Thy light, and grant Thy blessing, that Thy Church may be one in love, peace, and truth, to man's greater happiness, and God's increased glory." So I pray for Rome. Rome prays for me. I pray that Rome become as England, and that England never become like Rome. I will begin the travelling which is commanded me. I will go to Rome. I will see the capital of the Christian world, and the effects of Popery upon the happiness of Rome, and its alleged superiority over the reformed, Pro- testant, Christianity of England. I will obtain, if it be possible, an interview with the Pope himself, to implore him to reconsider, or to cause the re- consideration, in a free and general Synod, of the controversies of the past. In the following ex- tracts from my Journals, some brief details of my tour to Italy, and of my interview with the Pope, are respectfully submitted to those ; who may be 16 INTRODUCTION. interested in the first faint effort to appeal to the' Church of Rome, in the spirit of love to the Romanists, zeal for antipapal Truth, and abhor- rence of papal error 8 . 8 Note 8, Appendix. JOURNAL. WE left London, by way of Folkestone, for Bou- logne, on Tuesday, the 22nd of January, 1850. On taking leave of my friends at Durham and London, I was alternately amused, pained, or cheered, by the different manner in which they received the announcement of my desire to see the Pope, and to endeavour to interest him in the question of a General Council. Some pitied me. Others assured me of the danger of assassination from a fanatic, or from the stiletto of a bandit. One shouted with derisive laughter. Another blessed me, and wished me God speed, with tears and prayers. Some approved of my undertaking, with eulogies on my boldness. Others condemned me, with expostulations for my rashness. Some ima- gined that I was about to tamper with error, and to apostatize from the principles which I had pro- fessed so strenuously, and through my whole life defended. Others acquitted me of all such impu- 18 DISSTTASIVES AGAINST VISITING ROME. [JAN. tations, but enlarged on the impossibility of effect- ing good by any appeal to Rome, which was doomed to utter destruction. The Bishop of London, when I told him I was going to Rome, trusted they would not keep me there. My venerable friend the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, though he declined to com- ply with my request that I might use his name, in the most general manner, as of one desirous of the peace of the Church, when I should see the Bishop of Rome ; and though he discouraged rather than encouraged my persevering, expressed to me, in his answer to my request, every kind and friendly wish. The affectionate and earliest friend of my life, in childhood, manhood, and age, the Historian and advocate of the Vaudois, Dr. Gilly, principally en- deavoured to dissuade me from my enterprise. " I cannot believe that any success," he told me, " will reward your zeal. Peace is your object. I am per- suaded that Truth is the only foundation of Christian union ; and that, till God be pleased to pour out His Spirit, and to transform those who are opposed to His Truth, by the renewing of their minds, we cannot hope for union." But this was the very ar- gument which encouraged me. I believed that God would so order the course of this world, and so pour forth, in His own good time, His changing and con- verting power, that Truth and Love should become the basis of Union, and the madness of the Chris- JAN.] DISSUASIVES AGAINST VISITING ROME. 19 tian world would be lessened. " Your friends/' he added, "of the Lutheran, Calvinistic, Anglican, and Scotian Churches, will begin to suspect that you would sacrifice their honest, conscientious scruples to the shadow of Catholic consent." No, I thought ; if the Holy Power which changed the Heathen to Christian, and which can now turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the chil- dren to the fathers, shall ordain and decree the re-establishment of the Scriptural faith then the Lutheran, the Calvinist, the Anglican, and the Sco- tian will be made to drink of the same fountain of living waters, and all all of them will follow the example of St. Paul, and speak of that faith with eulogy and favour. " Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim 1 ." My confidence in the Presbyterian, the Dissenter, and the Chris- tian of whatever name, whose happiness is derived from the word of God, compels me to believe, that if God changes Rome, they would all rejoice in her conversion, and gladly unite in its reformed com- munion. If God could make Saul the persecutor, Paul the Apostle, God can make the Bishop of Rome himself the opponent of the old Popery. Modern experience shall not destroy my faith and my hope in the promise, that, in spite of all pre- sent appearances, men shall be one fold under the 1 Isa. xi. 13. 20 ARRIVAL AT PARIS LORD BROUGHAM. [JAN. one great Shepherd. I will never sacrifice Truth ; but I will persevere to speak Peace, as the will of Christ, and of God. Wednesday, the 23rd. Arrived at Meurice's Hotel, in Paris, where we had previously ordered apartments. The Canons of Durham are accustomed, when the Assizes take place there, to proffer their hos- pitalities to the senior barristers on the Northern Circuit. More than twenty years ago, when I had the honour to receive from the venerable Bishop Barrington my appointment in the College of Dur- ham, Lord Brougham, then Mr. Brougham, was not acceptable to some of my brethren, who are now no longer among us, on account of certain speeches which he had made in the celebrated cause of the King v. Williams. Unwilling to con- tinue such a ban upon this distinguished advo- cate, I invited him, contrary to the expostula- tions of my seniors, among other members of the bar. From that time I have had the honour of his acquaintance. In the course of this, my first evening at Paris, I heard at the table d'hote of the hotel, that Lord Brougham had just arrived in that city, and was then at Meurice's. Having omitted to bring letters of introduction to the Mar- quis of Normanby, the English Ambassador, I had intended to have called upon his Excellency, as the JAN.] INTERVIEW WITH LORD BROUGHAM. 21 friend of his venerable father-in-law, my neighbour Lord Ravensworth. I desired, by means of the English Ambassador, a letter of introduction to the Archbishop of Paris, from whom I could solicit letters commendatory to the Pope. The arrival of Lord Brougham rescued me from the dilemma. I knew that his kindness of temper was equal to his intellectual eminence, and I had no doubt that he would favour me with the letter of introduction I required to the Marquis of Normanby, with whom I well knew he must be acquainted. Thursday, the 24th. At Eleven o'clock, the ear- liest hour permissible by the customs of society, I called upon Lord Brougham. The conversation was animated and interesting. But I dislike Boswellizing ; and as the ancients never sacrificed to their heroes till after sunset, so do I avoid any eulogies on the knowledge, talents, and accom- plishments of my friend. After he had given me an account of the mistakes that were made in the public papers respecting his experiments, at Can- nes, on light and its effects, and made inquiries about my friend Dr. Gilly, and others, I informed him of the object which had brought me to the Continent. I requested from him letters of intro- duction to his friends at Rome, and to the English Ambassador at Paris, and repeated, as the founda- tion of my request, in a manner now usual with 22 CONVERSATION WITH LORD BROUGHAM. [JAN. me, my settled persuasion that the time was coming, when the great controversy between Eng- land and Rome must be reconsidered, and that the Pope might be induced to summon a General Council for such reconsideration, &c. He promised to have some letters ready for me on the following day, and I then took my leave. Friday, the 25th. " Lord Brougham has left the hotel," said my servant, at breakfast time. " no/' I replied, " it is impossible ; he appointed Eleven o'clock to see me, and it is now half-past Ten. Precisely at Eleven Lord Brougham returned to the hotel, from his early breakfastless visits to some of his friends in Paris. His activity is most extraordinary. At Eleven I was with him ; and, while he breakfasted, renewed the conversation of the preceding day. After a lively and interesting conversation on Wycliffe, and the ecclesiastical history of the Middle Ages ; and on the question, whether modern infidelity, with its multifarious evil offshoots, political and moral, could be effectually opposed only by a general movement on the part of those who feel a common interest in resisting its advances ; his Lordship gave me some letters of introduction to his friends at Rome. -"I am not acquainted," he added, " with Pio Nono, nor with the Archbishop of Paris ; I cannot, therefore, give you letters to them. But here JAN.] CONVERSATION WITH LORD BROUGHAM. 23 is a letter to the Marquis of Normanby: and most sincerely do I wish you success in your (and he added some words of eulogy) mission." I was leaving Lord Brougham, when a gentle- man came into the apartment, to whom, with many encomiums, he introduced me. It was Mr. , the former Roman Catholic Correspondent of " The Times" newspaper. I frankly and can- didly stated to Mr. the nature of my design and purpose in visiting Paris, on my way to Rome. Mrs. Townsend, as I knew the French language but imperfectly, was my interpreter through France ; but I could not, if I should be so fortunate as to obtain, by means of the Ambassador, an introduc- tion to the Archbishopof Paris, take Mrs. Townsend with me to an audience with that prelate, unless I first received his permission to do so. This, I thought, might be difficult. I therefore requested Mr. , if it should please Lord Normanby to accompany me to the Archbishop, as my inter- preter. He assured me that he should be most happy to comply with any request made to him by a friend of Lord Brougham ; and it was agreed that he should go with me to the audience, if an audience were granted me. I then hastened to the hotel of the British Embassy; and the Marquis was so good as to appoint the hour of 24 INTERVIEW WITH MARQUIS OF NORMANBY. [JAN. Twelve the next day for my reception. After a long walk, and many sight-seeings, I returned, much fatigued, to my hotel. Saturday, the 26th. At Twelve, mid-day, I called upon Lord Normanby. I much admired the magnificent and spacious staircase, to which the Suisse at the door conducted me. The mansion had belonged to one of the principal of the wealthy nobles, before the storms of the first French Revo- lution. The waiting-room was at the top of these stairs. An English valet presented himself. I gave him my card. " I will take it to his Excellency/' he remarked ; " but his Excellency, I know, is much engaged." I was angered at this stumbling at the threshold. Handing to him, therefore, Lord Brougham's letter of introduction, which was not of the most diplomatic or courtlike appearance, " Will you/' I said, " give that to the Ambassador ? His Excellency has been so good as to appoint Twelve o'clock to see me." The man bowed, and begged me to walk into the adjoining room. He took my card and the letter, and returned in three minutes, to say that the Ambassador would see me. After apologizing to his Excellency for any un- intentional violation of etiquette, as I appeared before him in my usual morning costume, we con- versed about Lord Ravensworth, his health, an^ JAN.] INTERVIEW WITH MARQUIS OF NORMANBY. 25 family ; and about Lord Brougham, and his letter of introduction. Lord Normanby then observed, that he read Lord Brougham's writing with some difficulty, as it was very peculiar ; but that he saw something in the letter that referred to my going to Rome. This remark led me at once to begin the subject. " Lord Normanby," I said, " I am presuming to attempt what many would regard as the most romantic and absurd eifort that ever pre- sented itself to the mind of man. I see, in every quarter, a general Infidelity threatening the de- struction or the weakening of our common Chris- tianity. I see Christians every where animated with hostile feelings towards one another ; and I wish to appeal to the influential ecclesiastics of Europe to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of Paris, and the Bishop of Rome, that they would make an effort in common to pro- mote the general good of Christians." And so I proceeded for a few minutes. Our laws, I added, forbid the direct communication, or cor- respondence, of our influential ecclesiastics with Rome ; and some one person, therefore, must com- mence the design I had in view, by conversation with the Pope on the subject. Though nothing, I added, could be expected to result from such con- versation at present, yet, if the public attention could be turned to the point, something might be 26 CONVEBSATION WITH THE [JAN. expected by the next generation, although the pre- sent should not witness any results. I only wished, I said, to direct the general attention, or, at all events, the attention of influential persons, to the matter : and that for this purpose, I had obtained letters of introduction to some of the Cardinals, from persons eminent for their rank and influence ; and that I had solicited the honour of this inter- view with his Lordship for the purpose of re- questing him to favour me with a letter of in- troduction to the Archbishop of Paris. I then told his Lordship, as briefly as possible, of the correspondence which had taken place in the beginning of the last century between Dupin and Wake, the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and said that I desired to obtain, if possible, an opportunity of speaking upon the subject of that correspondence with the present Archbishop of Paris, from whom I further wished to obtain a letter of introduction to the Pope. In reply to all this, the Marquis made the cautious and courteous reply which I had expected. Every Christian, he observed, must wish well to an object so desirable as that which I had in view that I had but formed a right notion of the difficulties attending its speedy attainment, and that nothing could be expected at present. That there were matters of detail which seldom pre- JAN.] MARQUIS OF NORMANBY. 27 sented themselves to the ardent and energetic, who projected new schemes of good, but who were often hurried, by the earnestness of their zeal in the pursuit of .an object good in itself, to overtook those obstacles which always impede the most commendable projects. He should feel, he added, much satisfaction in giving me a letter of intro- duction to the Archbishop of Paris ; but he said that it would be advisable that he (Lord Normanby) should have some previous conversation with that prelate upon the subject. He expected to see the Archbishop on the following Tuesday ; and he promised that I should then hear from him. He informed me that, at the present juncture, there prevailed at Rome a great deal of jealousy on the subject of conversion : that any attempt in that direction would be looked upon with much sus- picion: that Dr. Achilli had been released from prison in consequence of some interference, or expostulation, on the part of the English ; and that great offence would be taken by the ecclesias- tical authorities at Rome, if I did not observe, on all occasions, exceeding circumspection. I told his Lordship that my object, in one sense, was not conversion ; that, in the commonly under- stood sense of the expression, I did not intend to put myself forward as the assailant of Popery ; that I sought the extension neither of Protestan- c2 28 CONVERSATION WITH LORD NORMANBY. [JAN. tism, nor of Puritanism, but to make the iriarif, the common Christianity of the Bible and of the Primitive Church, in which all parties pro- fessed to agree, the basis of a common league, and the bond of a common union, against the menacing and alarming onset of Infidelity ; that if we all look up to a common Saviour, our faith in Him ought to bind us together in one common brotherhood, and banish from among us that mutual distrust, jea- lousy, and hatred, which have so long been the bane and reproach of Christendom. I assured him that my object had in it nothing political, nothing sec- tarian, nothing that had even a tendency to kindle the torch of theological controversy ; that my friend the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had known me long, and known me well, could not commit himself by writing to me on the immediate object of my purposed visit to Italy ; but that I was certain he desired the reunion of Christians ; and that I was sure the Archbishop of Paris must desire it also ; and I concluded by express- ing my hope and persuasion, that if I could obtain a private audience with the Archbishop of Paris, and, through that prelate's letter of introduction, with the Bishop of Rome, even my humble efforts might not be eventually wholly unavailing. His Excellency thereupon re- newed his assurance that he would shortly see JAN.] DEPARTURE OF LORD BROUGHAM. 29 the Archbishop of Paris upon the subject of my visit to him, and let me know the result. I then took my leave of his Excellency, thanking him for the courtesy with which he had received me, for the interest he appeared to take in my self-appointed mission, and for the promise of the letter I had requested. Walked about Paris, and returned to Meurice's. Sunday, the 27th. As we were finishing break- fast, Lord Brougham called upon us to say adieu. He had been detained in Paris longer than he had intended to stay by an accident which com- pelled him to take medical advice ; and he was now required to return in haste to England, to his duty in the House of Lords. This obliged him to travel on the Lord's-day. His eye was bound up in con- sequence of the accident ; but his conversation was agreeable as ever. We wished him a plea- sant journey, and an useful life. I envied him his power to do good, and to promote, by his great influence, the best interests of society. The 3rd verse of the 137th Psalm occurred to me as we proceeded to our own Service. Very beau- tiful is that verse in the original Hebrew : " How shall we sing the song of Jehovah on the ground of the foreigner 3 ?" And I prayed that the day might come, when, as the spiritual wants of man- 3 133 ncnN to HiiT-ntfriN v$\ ^ c 3 SO THE UNION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. [jAN. kind are the same, their united prayers might be the same. And I am sure that the foundation of the uniformity of the liturgical worship of the Universal Church is laid in the devotions which are embodied in the primitive services of the early Church, and preserved in our own Book of Common Prayer. This is the best " Song to Jehovah :" and unspeakably mournful is the fact, that, while all Christian people say, " Our Father, which art in heaven," they make so few efforts to remove the barriers which alienate His children from each other on earth, and make the world a Babylon in which the captive Israel mourns. Rise in Thy power, Blessed Spirit ! " Make Thy temples worthy Thee," that all who use Christ's Holy Prayer, and say, " Our Father," may be sanctified by Thy blessed power to be one Catholic family, united in holi- ness, truth, and love ! A large and attentive congregation filled the chapel. The responses were rather whispered than pronounced audibly ; and the sermon was a good portion of the paschal lamb, seasoned, how- ever, neither with salt nor with bitter herbs. Lord Brougham's friend called upon us after his own Service was over. We conversed on the religious prospects of England, the differences be- tween the two Churches, and the possibility of JAN.] THE LOED'S-DAT IN PARIS. 31 a better state of religion in the Universal Church. One material difference, however, between him and myself pervaded his conversation and the same difference marked the conversation of every Roman Catholic with whom I conversed, whether in France, Italy, or England, since I nave re- turned to my own country. / wish for union on the basis of the equality of the Christian Churches, composing the Church Universal: they hope for union on the basis of the submission of all Churches to the ruler of the Church of Rome. This can never, never be. This shall, by God's blessing, never, never be. We will love them as our bre- thren ; but we will never betray Christ, by sub- mitting to the Pope, either as his subjects or his slaves. We can only be united, as brethren, who are all equal with each other, as children of God, and the mutual friends and servants of each other. If we had not been grieved and shocked, we should have been amused by the vivacity of the people in the streets, whom we passed on our way. They seem to imagine that religion being a very dull, uninteresting matter, they must chase away its dulness by external and most intense gaiety. They seem to be utterly ignorant of the delightful fact, that a Christian's duty is a Christian's privilege ; and that to keep the Lord's-day holily, is only to o 4 32 PARIS THE CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME. [JAN. keep the Lord's-day happily, to increase inward felicity, and to anticipate the pleasures of the immortality that is before us 4 . Monday, the 28th. Walk around and in Paris. We visited the Cathedral, and the churches of St. Sulpice, St. Eustache, &c. At Notre Dame, which was under repair, very few people attended ; as is the case with the daily service at our own cathe- drals. I did not know what festival was com- memorated ; but three priests on each side of the choir, in green velvet copes, enriched with gold embroidery, read, sang, turned and bowed to each other ; while two boys in white vestments in- censed the place. I could not distinguish a word that was said by the priests. Eight or ten boys stood on each side of the choir, below the seats where the rest of the priests were sitting, who wore black cloaks, with hoods, like those of the Capuchins. When the repairs and restorations, now in progress, are completed, the general effect will be very fine. The elaborate carvings on the three old porches are preserved with wonderful fidelity, and exactness. I was much struck by the contrast between the general demeanour of English and French worshippers. With us the people seem less devout than the minister who 4 The reader will remember " the rest," o-a/3/3artth. The English Chapel is on the outside of the walls of Rome, near the Church of S. Maria del Popolo. A guard keeps the door. It is by some declared, that he is appointed to protect the English ; by others, to prevent the Italians from attending the English service. We know no necessity, in England, either to prevent or protect the attendance on any church. Heard a sermon at the English Chapel on Inter- cessory Prayer. In the afternoon we walked to the Colosseum, to hear a Capuchin Friar. He preached, I was told, on the tendency of continued sin to harden the heart. The preacher, with a E 4 80 ROME BASILICA BELLA MARIA MAGGIORE. [FEB. train of attendants in long white cloth dresses, with hoods or cowls on their heads, and holes for the eyes, chanting a psalm, took his stand on an open pulpit, or platform. The report of his sermon reminded me of Milton's lines : . . . . where lavish act of sin Lets in defilement to the inward parts, The soul grows clotted by contagion, Imbrutes, embodies, and defiles itself, Till it quite lose &c. Truth and Christian teaching are always uni- form. We were invited, instead of going to the English Service, to attend the very imposing, impressive ceremony of the Consecration of Dr. Cullen to the Primacy of Ireland. I refused to sanction the insult to my Church and country. While I am studiedly courteous and kind to all, I will never sympathize with Popery in its presumptuous claim to send its Priests to rule our Churches. Monday, the Z5th. To the Basilica of the Maria Maggiore, the largest of the churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Twice in every year we bring before the peo- ple, in our Services, some events in the life of the Virgin Mary. We commemorate the Purifica- tion, when Christ was presented in the Temple ; and we pray that, as the only-begotten Son of God was presented in the Temple, we may be FEB.] WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 81 presented with pure and clean hearts: and we commemorate the Annunciation of the Virgin ; with the prayer, that, as we have known the Incarnation by the message of an Angel, so, by the cross and passion of Christ, we may be brought unto the glory of His Resurrection. "We make these parts of Scripture respecting the Virgin the occasion of our prayers not to her, but to the Lord God Almighty of the Christian Church. And this is one of the instances in which the Church of Rome might learn from the Church of England. I could not but admire the beautiful statues and pictures relative to the Virgin Mary which adorn the churches of Rome ! But how blasphemous is the homage they pay to the chosen bringer-forth of the Incarnate Son into the world ! In Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, millions of Christians praise and worship the Son of God, because they believe Him to be omnipresent among them, and because they believe Him to be omnipotent to help them. Is the Catholic Church, or one church, or fifty churches of the Catholic Church, permitted to give to the Virgin the at- tributes' of Deity, and to ask from her any one spiritual blessing whatever anuch more to ask of her the impartation of the highest gifts which man can ask, or God bestow ? Has the Church E 5 82 WOKSHIP OF THE TIKGIN MARY. [FEB. the power to wrest from the Deity His attributes, and to make any being but the Creator the object of the worship of man ? The Father is the Cre- ator, the Son as the Word of God is the Creator, the Holy Spirit is the Creator. Omnipresence and Omnipotence are theirs ; and in every part at once of the round world they are rightly and justly entreated to bestow the blessings of Heaven upon man. We do not, arid we will not, and we cannot, offer our prayers in any form, however defined, or modified, or palliated, as the latria, the dulia, or the hyperdulia, to the beings whom God has created. We, as the true Catholic Church, worship the Creator alone. Neither the Virgin nor the Saints are declared by Revelation to be possessed of the attributes of God ; and where, whence, does any Church, or do any men in the Churches, in Councils or out of Councils, pos- sess the power to clothe the Virgin with the attributes of Deity? Antiquity 3 , reason, Scrip- ture, alike oppose the doctrine and custom of prayer to the Virgin : and England sets the example to Rome of the manner in which the Virgin is to be truly honoured, by the' remem- brance of her name as the occasion of our own 3 The quotations of the popish writers from Athanasius, Ephrem, and Gregory Nazianzen, are forgeries on this subject. FEB.] WORSHIP OF THE VIKGIN MAEY. 83 prayers, not to herself, but to the Lord whom her own soul magnified, and to the Saviour in whom her spirit rejoiced*. Beautiful images and pictures, such as I see now before me, adorn other of the numerous churches in Rome. I shall take no lengthened notice of any of them ; but only add here, that I acknowledge our utter inability to understand the nature of the Intermediate State. If the theory of Dr. Watts, however, be true, that the spirits of the departed may possibly occupy the invisible world in such manner that they even now exist around us, and may be present in any one part of God's uni- verse, though not in many parts ; then it is pos- sible, that the spirit of the Virgin may be now, even now, in the room where I am writing : and if so, then I would, if it were permitted me to do so, apostrophize her as "the mother of my Lord ;" and bid her exult, not so much that Jesus Christ was her Son, as that He is her Redeemer ; and that He is the Redeemer of all faithful people, in whose hearts " He is formed s ," and who, like her, "magnify the Lord, and rejoice in God their Saviour." But never, never will I be guilty of offering to the Virgin Mary the gross and bitter insult, of blasphemously elevating her to the Me- diatorship between God and man an insult which, * Magnificat. 5 Gal. iv. 19. E 6 84 IMAGES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. [FEB. if souls in bliss can suffer pain, must occasion her a keener pang than even that " sword which pierced through her own soul," in the days of her earthly pilgrimage. Yet again I gaze upon the expressive, fair, and noble features. What are the thoughts which pre- sent themselves ? Here, in one church, is a pic- ture of an Italian peasant, there of a Spanish madonna ; here is a Flemish frau, there is the black, or the tawny antique. One portrait re- sembles Miss A , and another resembles Mrs. B . There is the likeness of Lady C . There are the features of the Countess of D , or the Duchess of E . All pass before me, as the faces, the forms, the lineaments of the Virgin Mary. All bewilder and perplex me, with their varieties of beauty, grace, and impressiveness ; but all, all are the delusions of art, the decorations of the great error, the fascination of the senses, the alienations of the heart from the true worship of the one only God. I admire all : I will bow to none. My soul, in life and in death, shall mag- nify the Lord alone. My spirit, on earth, and in heaven, with the Virgin herself, shall rejoice in God my Saviour, and her Saviour ; and when I do so, I will call the Virgin, not Divine, but Blessed. We proceed to the wonderful catacombs. Sir FEB.] ROME THE CATACOMBS THE VATICAN. 85 Gardner Wilkinson draws some of the figures. Bones, fragments of bones, roughly drawn figures, a sort of central chapel under ground, and a chair of stone, in which a primitive Bishop might have sat, marked the catacomb, I think, of St. Agnes, which we visited. I could almost have imagined that some of the early Christians would be surprised by us at their prayers 6 . I seemed, if I may use a metaphor so bold, to be disinterring the grain, or seed of the wide- spreading plant of Christianity and seeing, beneath the earth, the root of the tree of life, whose very leaves shall be for the healing of the nations. Tuesday, the 26th. Great excitement at Rome. An Italian has been shot by the French soldiery for stabbing a Frenchman. To the Vatican with Sir Gardner Wilkinson, whose explanations and remarks made the relics and monuments doubly interesting. Sir George Head, and other tourists, have exhausted the subject of the Vatican. The detail of its contents, though seemingly exhaustless, would be dull and tedious. To the Pantheon. " The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish 7 /' All objects of spiritual worship, not being the cre- 6 See the very interesting picture in Aringhi Roma Subterranea, lib. iii. cap. xii., opposite p. 464. 7 Jerem. x. 11. 86 INUTILITY OF PAINTINGS, &C. [FEB. ators of heaven and earth, shall perish. The heathen gods have vanished before the Providence which spake and fulfilled the decree, and the Saints of Rome shall follow them. Wednesday, the 27th. The Pope ! " The cry is still He comes !" but all is uncertain. Visit and admire the Temple of Vesta, the Bridge of Horatius Codes, two or three of the chief Basilicse, and the house of Rienzi. The crowned skulls of the martyrs did not please me. The paintings, sculptures, &c., in the church, please and dazzle the senses, but they neither raise the affections, nor assist that true devotion which steals over the heart when the humble Christian repeats, in the spirit of the prayer, the endearing words, "Our Father." The human being is com- posed of body, soul, and spirit. If I may interpret, with the best philosophers, the soul to denote that part of man which is delighted with the intellec- tual, as contradistinguished from the spiritual, I would say that the pictures and other works of art please the senses, but do not touch the heart. They make the mind sentimental, not devotional. They soften the intellect, but do not pacify the conscience. They refine the taste, but do not lessen sin. They excite admiration, but they do not increase holiness. They fetter most the FEB.] THE MAEONITE JESUIT FRANCESCO MESAHEB. 87 immortal spirit to the earth, at the very time they seem more to elevate it above its influence. It may seem to be the opinion of an ignorant bar- barian, but I believe that the spirit of the second commandment extends to the Church of Christ ; and that it is inexpedient and unwise to endeavour to assist the Christian religionist, in his aspirations towards heaven, by the picture, the statue, and the crucifix. Religion is the flight of the invisible spirit of man, to the invisible spirit of God. Poetry may give it wings ; but sculpture and painting are splendid hindrances, and beautiful impediments to its flight. Thursday, the 28th. My friend the barrister, whom I have before mentioned, had become, by some means, acquainted with a Maronite Jesuit from Mount Lebanon. Signor Francesco Mesaheb, a member of the Jesuit College, had translated the Bible into Arabic, written on the Councils, and was now employed by the College of the Propaganda in translating the Canons of a Ma- ronite Council into Latin. I was this morning introduced to Mesaheb by my friend. I found him to be a most enthusiastic admirer and venerator of the Church of Rome, of its creeds, principles, disci- pline, friends, and writers. The Church of Rome, in his eyes, was without spot. He deemed all its opponents to be in error, and every argument insi- 88 THE MABONITE JESUIT FRANCESCO MESAHEB. [FEB. nuated against its perfection and infallibility to be utterly unworthy of notice. What the declara- tions of the Scripture are to us, the decisions of the Church were with him ; an authority to which there was to be no reply, and against which there was no appeal. He regarded every thought of the reunion of Christians to be identified with submission to Rome, the common or universal impediment which I ever found to the reception of the Truth, that the Church of Rome was not identical with the Catholic Church of Christ. Notwithstanding this opinion, or this article of his faith, Mesaheb was amiable and courteous, as he was learned and dexterous in argument. He was acquainted with many of the Cardinals, and said that he believed he could materially, by their means, facilitate my desired interview with the Pope. This I did not find to be necessary ; but I was pleased with his polite manners, and agree- able conversation, invited him frequently, and en- joyed his friendship till I left Rome. If it be possible, I shall certainly one day accept his invi- tation to his convent at Mount Lebanon. Immediately on our introduction to each other, we began a long and, to me, most interesting con- versation on the usual topics the Church and the Pope, the authority of Councils, and of the Bible. We discussed the temporal and spiritual power of FEB.] ROME THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE. 89 the Pope the one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism ; the presidency of Hosius at the Council of Nice, and the influence of the Pope at that Council, where he was unable to attend personally. We did not agree on any one topic, but we discussed every point with the cheerful forbearance which permits differences, without intruding upon temper or courtesy; and our conversation was but the commencement of repeated discussions on the chief controversies between the two Churches. We con- versed in Latin and in English. I could not make him agree with me, that, as the Head of all the secular or civil States of Earth was in Heaven, governing all nations by His Providence ; so the Head of all ecclesiastical States, or Churches, was in Heaven, governing them also by His Providence ; and that, as no visible Head was required on earth for all nations, no visible Head on earth was re- quired for all Churches. The Papal Supremacy excites more zeal than the Christian religion ; or rather, Christianity is identified with that Supre- macy ; and this Aaron's rod swallows up all the rest. Visit the Vatican and St. Peter's. Inscription on a column in the Vatican, in which every Chris- tian will agree: "Christus vincit, regnat, im- perat, et omni malo populum suum defendit." Introduced to Mr. and family, who have 90 ROME CHURCH OF ST. JOHN LATERAN, &LC. [MAR. lately seceded from the Church of England to Popery. The reason which decided the father, and the son, and the rest of the family after them, was, the necessity of a visible Head to the Church. The Head of the Church is, in the unseen state, invisible, infallible, ever-living, guiding, though mysteriously, all His people. A priest, a gentlemanly-looking man, meets us in the street, and offers us snuff. We took some to please him. He then proffered his small money- box, with the usual beggar's petition, "Datemi qualche cosa." Friday, March the 1st. After visiting the Vati- can, and the wonderful frescoes and pictures of Raffaelle, including the Transfiguration, the gal- leries, the Pope's private apartments and chapel, we go to the Church of St. John Lateran, and the Basilica of St. Clement. This is said to have been built on the site of the house of Clement, the third Bishop of Rome after St. Peter. I ap- proached it with much interest, and contrasted the Christianity of Clement with that of Pius IV. When St. Clement ruled, the twelve arti- cles of the creed of Pius IV. were not imagined, nor invented, much less were they decreed and established. Nearly opposite the steps of the Church of St. John Lateran, we saw the devout, or penance-performing worshippers, ascending the MAR.] THE UNPROFITABLENESS OF PENANCES. 91 Santa Scala on their knees. This is a flight of stone steps, said to have been taken from the palace of Pontius Pilate at Jerusalem, twenty- eight in number. The strange spectacle of young and old, rich and poor, fat and lean, cheerful and sorrowful, slow and rapid, clumsy and agile, moving on their knees up those steps, must be seen to be understood. The contortions, the jostling, the groaning, the praying, the kissing the steps, the serious gravity of some, the anxious faces of others, the irresistible tumbling, and, consequently, ludicrous collisions occasioned by the sudden stoppages of others, render the scene mournful, or ridiculous, according to the state of mind of the observer. I gazed on the scene with smiles of sadness. I was astonished, and grieved, that there could be found so many Christians who imagined that the Deity could be propitiated by observances so utterly absurd. I am one of those who believe that the atoning work of Christ was designed to prevent all self-tormentings of this nature, and that God is propitiated by the merit and death of His Son, whom we are required gratefully to love, and joyfully to obey. I believe our duty to be our privilege and that we are to serve our Father as children who love Him, not as slaves who dread Him. This is our happi- ness. If we are ever to please God and to win 92 THE UNPROFITABLENESS OF PENANCES. [MAR. Heaven by painful penances, and useless climbing up flights of stairs on our knees, we could not deserve an immortality of happiness. If we were to scourge ourselves to death, or to climb the Santa Scala till our bones came through the flesh, and marked the stairs with our blood, we could not purchase that Heaven, that infinite Heaven, that infinite good, which was purchased only by Christ's infinite atonement. It is freely granted to the worst and vilest sinner who believes, repents, and loves, and prays, and rejoices to obey ; and if it be not secured by these means, no penances can purchase it, no torments deserve it. Faith, without any such wretched works as these, saves the soul ; while that faith always works by love, and by love is made perfect. happy Christian, who welcomes this faith ! wretched, wretched Romanist, who makes his soul miserable by its rejection ! Saturday, the 2nd. Call on the Maronite Jesuit. He has obtained permission to take us over the Propaganda. We conversed on the Semitic languages, Jerome, Hebrew, and on the usual topic, the authority of the Church. My friend told him that the people of England will no more tolerate the papal supremacy of Rome, than the people of Ame- rica would now tolerate the political supremacy of England. Churches, as well as nations, may be independent of each other, and still remain at MAE.] ROME THE CAPUCHIN CHURCH. 93 peace, whatever may have been their former unions and subsequent alienations. My friend could not, however, reconcile this opinion with MesaheVs notions of universal submission to the Pope. It is not necessary to repeat our contending arguments. We visited the Capuchin Church, and admired the fine paintings, the mocking of Christ, and Ananias laying his hands on Saul. We saw the chapel of the convent, and the sepulchres where skeletons are dressed in the Capuchin garment, and the tombs decorated with human bones. This mode of setting forth the triumphs of death seems to me not to be in accordance with the spirit of the faith which regards the last enemy as a van- quished foe. The believer in the Conqueror of death should let the grave keep its own, till death is swallowed up in the final victory. Some of the inscriptions are very beautiful. Sir George Head has described the fearful spectacle of the skeletons in the Capuchin dresses in language which renders all further account unnecessary. From the Capuchin Church we proceeded to visit a collection of beautiful cameos ; and we were ex- ceedingly gratified by an explanation of the pro- cess of forming them, and of the mode of varying their hues. By some mistake we entered a monastery, or con- vent, of Spanish Dominicans. They acquainted us 94 EOME MONASTEEY OF SPANISH DOMINICANS. [MAE. with their rule, never to admit women within the precincts of their establishment. Mrs. Townsend, and a young lady, her friend, were with me. I smi- lingly congratulated the monks on the excellence of their rule, and bade them to be careful to purify the place with incense, as two females, though by mistake, had presumptuously passed their thres- hold ! The good monks seemed to be much amused at this mode of receiving their refusal to permit us to inspect the premises. We conversed in Latin. One of them gave me a most interesting account of some scenes in Spain. I was told that I might come and inspect the convent at any other time ; but that Mrs. T. must not accompany me. I have often heard and read that persons of rank and fortune will sometimes, by way of penance, assume the garb and deportment of beggars, and sit at the convent gates to solicit alms of the passers by. Struck by the countenance of a person of remarkably dignified appearance, I bowed to him. He extended his hand for an alms. I never beheld a face in which dignity, suavity, and sere- nity, were so strikingly blended. Sunday, the 3rd. To St. Peter's. Nearly sixty years ago I remembered my dear mother taught me to recite Dr. Watts's hymn : " This is the day the Lord hath made ; He calls the hours His own," &c. MAR.] ROME SUNDAY AT ST. PETER'S. 95 and I am going to St. Peter's, at Rome! Can I keep the Sabbath, or Lord's day, holy, by going there ? Yes. I wish to see how the com- mon Lord of the Sabbath is honoured by those who assume to be more peculiarly His servants. In the vast area of this colossal temple I was stnick with the paucity of worshippers. We heard, however, in one of the side chapels, a good sermon on the love of God in the forgiveness of sins. The preacher was animated and impassioned. He personated, by changes of gesture and tone, the three characters in the parable of the Prodigal Son. He quoted Chrysostom ; and his discourse was, upon the whole, unobjectionable. It treated, as it was explained to me, of the leading topics of Christianity, and gave prominence to those doc- trines which are held in common by all professing Christians. He paused in his sermon : this seemed to be a signal for the recurrence of that revolting practice of spitting, which is so offensive to those who are habituated to the decencies of English worship. After the sermon was the celebration of Mass. I could not kneel at the elevation of the Host. The " Sanctus " was of the same tune as at Durham ; but our singing is certainly superior to theirs. An Italian gentleman in the chapel obliged me with his prayer-book, in which I recognized many of our own beautiful prayers, and the collect 96 ROME THE PROPAGANDA, &C. [MAR. beginning, " God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed," &c. The priests, I grieve to say, sometimes laughed and smiled at each other when they turned and bowed, and gave to each other the osculum pads. Other services followed ; we sate out the whole. At another side chapel, at which mass was being celebrated, the grouping of the worshippers kneel- ing near St. Peter's tomb struck me as being emi- nently picturesque. After the morning service, I went, at two o'clock, to the Propaganda, with Francesco Mesaheb, the Maronite Jesuit. The director conducted us through the library, which contains a very valuable collec- tion of historical and other books. Among them I observed the works of Baronius, Wadding, Sanders, Ugolino, (Thesaurus Antiq. Sacr.), Calasio, Corn, a Lapide, De Lyra, Aquinas, and his commentators. The worthy director, and a gentleman from Nova Scotia, expressed much surprise at my manifesting an acquaintance with the popish authors, and at my relating to them the particulars of the deaths of Aquinas, Baronius, and Sanders. The conversa- tion was in Latin. I was treated with the utmost attention and courtesy, and was invited to visit the institution as often as I felt inclined. After seeing the refectory, paintings, &c., I took leave, much gratified with my visit. MAR.] ROME THE BAMBINO. 97 Monday, the 4th-. From Albano to Tivoli, through Marino and its neighbourhood. On our way, we turned aside to visit the now dry Lake Regillus, and remembered the lines of Macaulay. We wandered about Tivoli, and admired its 142 ON THE PKOBABLE DESTRUCTION [APRIL beautiful scenery, and the site of the camp of Hannibal. Friday, the 5th. At Tivoli. Enchanting sce- nery! Our party consisted of six. We visited the Cascatelli, the villas of Mecaenas, ^Emilius Varus, Horace, Catullus, and Adrian ; and quoted to each other the poetry and anecdotes suggested to our memories by the associations of the scenes which delighted us. The guide at Adrian's villa complained much of the conduct of an English Protestant zealot, who had smashed to pieces a picture of our Saviour. We were unanimous in condemning this mode of expressing our convictions that the use of images and pictures was erroneous and unadvisable. The poor man quite wept over the picture. We were much annoyed, on returning from our gratifying tour in the neighbourhood of Rome, by the unfragrancy of the Solfaterra. I was strongly reminded by it of the opinion of many writers on the prophecies of the Book of Revela- tion. Dr. Gumming, in his work entitled " Apo- calyptic Sketches/' (p. 437,) and many other authors, have asserted, as their interpretation of some parts of the Apocalypse, that Rome will be destroyed by fire from Heaven, or swallowed up by earthquakes, or overwhelmed with destruc- APRIL] OF ROME BY FIRE. 143 tion by volcanoes, as the visible punishment of the Almighty for its Popery and its crimes. I am unwilling, having read so many books on the in- terpretation of prophecy, to deduce any argument of this kind from the prophecies which are unful- filled ; but I beheld every where, in Rome, near Rome, and through the whole country of Italy from Rome to Naples, the most astounding proofs, not merely of the possibility, but of the exceeding probability, that the whole region of central Italy will, one day, suffer under such a catastrophe. The soil of Rome is tufa, of a volcanic origin ; the smell of the sulphur, which we found to be so disagreeable, must be the result of volcanic subterranean action still going on. At Naples the boiling sulphur is seen bubbling near the sur- face of the earth. When I drew a stick along upon the ground, the sulphureous smoke followed the indentation ; and it would never surprise me to hear of the utter destruction of the entire peninsula of Italy. If the Providence of God, which has hitherto restrained the power of the elements, should permit this desolation to take place, the Deist might reason, from the nature of the soil, that such destruction was to be called a natural event ; the believer in this interpreta- tion of the prophecies would call it the predicted interposition of the Almighty. It is possible, 144 VISIT OF TWO PASSIONIST FATHERS. [APRIL that there would be some difficulty in proving such belief to be erroneous. Arrived, by God's mercy, safely at our apart- ments in Rome. Saturday, the 6th. It is impossible to under- stand critically some portions of the New Testa- ment without a knowledge of the original lan- guage. Two monks of the order of Passionists called upon us at our rooms this morning for alms, which we gave them. I then inquired, as they de- voted themselves to the contemplation of the Pas- sion of our Lord, whether they understood Greek ? They replied, that they did not ; and I found, upon further conversation, that they had no notion whatever of the meaning of some phrases which have been the source of much discussion and con- troversy. We were much amused when they took .leave, on observing that they declined to touch the hand of a lady present, who offered to shake hands with them on their quitting the room. I was informed, that to touch the hand of a woman is regarded as a breach of their vow. This is founded upon their view of the meaning of 1 Cor. vii. 1. Sunday, the 7th. Attended the service of the American clergyman on the floor above us. Monday, the 8th. I am this day informed that the Pope will be certainly at Rome in the course of a few days. APRIL] ROME MONASTERY OF ST. ONOFRIO, &C. 145 Visit the monastery of St. Onofrio, where Tasso was buried, and saw the room in which he died. The ladies were refused admittance. The monks were much amused at my informing them, as I looked out at the window, that the ladies waiting for me outside were my wife and her friends ; and at my then telling the ladies, in Latin, " Hie locus sanctus est : fratres hujus monasterii non mulieres, foeminas, vel uxores, admittunt. Valete, valete I" One of the brethren gave me an interesting expla- nation of a picture representing the death of Tasso. The arm-chair, pens, and other relics of the poet, are preserved in the room. We visited in the church the grave of Cardinal Mezzofanti, to whom Lord Brougham had given me a letter of introduction. Tuesday, the 9th. Visit the Church of St. Vic- toria ; its gorgeous decorations and fine paintings ; and two or three Columbaria. Wednesday, the Wth. To the Rospigliosi Palace, to see the Aurora of Guido, and other fine, paint- ings. To the studio of Chev. Chatellain the artist, of Mr. M'Donald the sculptor, and others. Thursday, the llth. Inspected the preparations for the Pope's reception in the Church of St. John Lateran. Friday, the 12th. I pass by, as irrelevant to the object I had in view, the names of the gentlemen H 146 HOME MR. FORBES CHEV. K , &C. [APRIL to whom I had the honour of being introduced by one to another, and all the interesting conversa- tions held with them at various interviews, to mention two only whose advice and assistance I most highly value. One of these was Mr. George Forbes, of Edinburgh, an acquaintance and friend of Cardinal Mai, whom he had known when the Cardinal was the Ambrosian Librarian at Milan. The other was a gentleman who lately filled the distinguished office of Ambassaor from Hanover to Rome, but who had retired from public life, and was now resident in one of the palaces of Rome. Mr. or rather Chevalier K , of whose accom- plishments, knowledge of the world, good sense, and sound judgment, I must not speak at greater length, had been the friend and political agent to four kings, to George III., George IV., William IV., and the King of Hanover. We had many conver- sations on the subjects which most concerned me the Protestantism, Popery, and Infidelity of Europe ; the lamentable estrangement, and mutual jealousy, that prevailed among professing Chris- tians ; the sole and effectual remedy for those evils, in a return of the Churches of Christendom to the primitive faith and discipline ; and the possibility of effecting this in a General Council duly convened. Mr. K expressed himself APRIL] PREPARATIONS TO EECEIVE THE POPE. 147 deeply interested in the mission which had brought me to Rome. The Pope was now daily expected ; and I had purposed, in the interview I sought with him, to have conversed with him in the same manner as I had already conversed with the Cardinals Mai and Franzoni. I was advised, however, to draw up on paper, in the form of a memorial, a brief statement of the subject on which I would presume to seek an audience; and this advice, I am happy to say, I adopted. Introduced to various gentlemen. We drove to the Piazza of St. Peter's to see the preparations made by the peasantry to welcome the Pope on his return. He is to enter Rome to-day. The people had formed, on a ground-work of fine sand, in prettily grouped, varied, and beautiful flow- ers, the pontifical arms, and inscriptions adapted to the occasion. The Church, inside, was decorated with red and gold drapery. The streets were covered with fresh gravel. The populace lounged about in a state of apparent indifference. The priests, in their best costumes, seemed to wear an anxious look. From St. Peter's we drove to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, near to which seats had been procured for us. The concourse of spectators was immense. The street was lined with troops. The equipages and liveries of the Cardinals and Muni- cipality were sumptuous ; the military display was H 2 148 THE POPE'S RECEPTION [APRIL imposing ; and the spectacle, altogether, was to us as exciting as it was novel. The Pope passed us at about Four o'clock. He looked, I thought, fatigued and anxious. The carriage was guarded by the Italian nobles, though the street was lined with French troops. As the carriage passed slowly on, the Pope bowed to the people from side to side, blessing them, by bending his head towards them, with two fingers raised, as the act of blessing the people by a Bishop is represented in ancient pic- tures and statues, and in the sitting statue in St. Peter's, which is said to be the image of St. Peter, and whose foot the Pope and the people kissed, when they passed it at the end of the procession. I could not but admire, as the Pope passed us, the benignity and mild expression of his countenance. There was much waving of handkerchiefs, cries of Viva, and other sounds of welcome from many. There was much subdued, but persevering hissing from others ; yet, whether it was contrary to the Italian customs, or whether the populace were in- different to the event, I know not ; still the more general silence that prevailed gave a gloom to the spectacle. Some of our party knelt as he passed. We all bowed. The troops knelt, but the populace did not join in the homage. After the long and slow train of carriages had gone by, we drove round by another way to St. Peter's, to see the APKIL] ON HIS RETURN TO ROME. 149 Pope's reception there. The whole space of the large and beautiful Circle was densely crowded with troops, and we made our way with difficulty. Some rain fell as the Pope alighted from his car- riage ; and this, I was informed, was deemed a bad omen. He was met by a long train of bishops, cross-bearers, and gentlemen in a costume that I remembered to have seen in some pictures of the mediaeval ages. A profound silence prevailed ; and the Pope passed on to the Church. We made our way by another door through the crowd, and heard the singing and chanting which accompanied the slow procession up the Church ; and, though with difficulty, I saw the Pope kneel and pray, with much devotion, before the shrine of St. Peter. We did not see the kissing of the foot of the image. After thus kneeling for some time, the procession turned, and the pressure of the crowd prevented me from seeing more. In the evening the city was illuminated ; and the illuminations were continued three successive evenings. We drove every evening to various parts of the city to see them. They seemed to me to be very general ; but I was assured that they were not to be compared with those which had been exhi- bited when the Pope was popular ; and that they could not be depended upon as the certain expres- sion of the rejoicing of their exhibitors ; as a RO- BE 3 150 SOLICIT AN INTERVIEW WITH THE POPE. man noble on a former occasion had been impri- soned for neglecting to illuminate. Saturday, the loth. We drove to the Vatican, to find the Maestro di Camera, or Master of the Ceremonies, to learn from him whether it was pos- sible to obtain an early audience. Mrs. Townsend, on this, and generally on all occasions, was my Italian interpreter. The astonishment of the guards of the Swiss soldiers, who wore the pic- turesque dress said to have been designed by Michael Angelo, and of the gentlemen in attend- ance, seemed to be great, as we were referred from servant to servant, till we found out the proper officer to whom to make our application. We at length found him, and made our request ; and I in- formed him that I had a letter to the Pope from the Archbishop of Paris, which I desired to present in person. Monsignore Borromeo requested me to write a note to him, as a memorandum, which he might lay before the Pope; and after much courteous and agreeable conversation, we left him. I wrote the note immediately on my return to our apartments, and sent it to the Vatican. Having now waited in Rome nine weeks in expectation of seeing the Pope, and being anxious to see Naples before I returned to England, I ventured to mention this circumstance, and to solicit an early interview. APRIL] ROME ST. PETER'S ST. DOMINIC. ] 51 Sunday, the I4tth. Never having seen a Ponti- fical High Mass, I went to St. Peter's, to see that splendid ceremonial. I was justly disappointed. Monday, the 1 5th. The whole morning was oc- cupied in drawing up a Memorial, to be given in writing to the Pope, as Mr. K had advised. Drive for two hours. Call on Colonel Caldwell, to thank him for his courtesy in procuring a place at St. Peter's for Mrs. Townsend, on Friday last ; and on other friends. Tuesday, the 16th. The Pamfili Doria Gardens. The cell of St. Dominic, the celebrated self-denying, austere, and active preacher, whose name (whether rightly or wrongly, for Butler and others affirm that he was notthe founder of the Inquisition) is rendered notorious as that of the foremost of those whose mis- taken piety led them to believe they did God service when they tortured and slew their brethren. The studios of M'Donald and Tenerani. The countenance, in marble, of the angel preparing to sound the last trumpet, is one of the most inter- esting in modern sculpture. The serene, com- posed, and awful upward look, as if the angel expected a voice from Heaven, commanding him to sound forth the judgment of the Most High, produces, in this instance only, the effect of sacred Poetry, or even of a solemn passage of Scripture, on the mind of the spectator. H 4 152 THE POPE BLESSES THE FRENCH TROOPS. [APRIL Wednesday, the 17th. Visit the picture of Bea- trice Cenci ; and the Church of St. Pietro in Mon- torio, on the other side of Rome, in which the un- fortunate Beatrice is reported to have been buried. The Church is said to be built on the spot where St. Peter was crucified, with his head downwards. The place of his crucifixion is covered by a small circular temple, of beautiful workmanship. Thursday, the 18th. Visit again the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, to meditate and admire. The Pope blessed the French troops, in the Piazza of St. Peter. A scaffolding had been raised for the purpose, in front of the Church. We were placed by a French officer, with whom we had become acquainted, between the ranks of a regi- ment. The Pope kept the people waiting. There were some hisses, both from the populace and the soldiers. The remarks " Le Pape est perdu/' &c., were sometimes very amusing. The Pope came, attended by his cross-bearer, and some chief per- sonages of his court. He intoned the blessing he pronounced, and raised his hand. After he had blessed the whole mass of the troops, the order was given that every regiment in their companies should pass him in order. This occasioned a movement of the soldiers, among whom we were placed, and we retired among the people. A vacancy in the circle which had been made by the APRIL] EOME COUNT ZELONI, &C. 153 soldiers resulted from the movement, and a great rush towards the foot of the scaffolding ensued. I think that the momentary confusion resulting from this circumstance, and the noise attending it, made the Pope look pale, as if he anticipated some disturbance. All, however, passed off well. The people were quiet, and the French army passed with great military precision before the Pope. The officers lowered their swords, and bowed, and the Pope returned their salutes. The officers, I thought, did not resemble the early Christians. Neither was the office of the Pope very apostolical : he blessed the swords of foreign- ers, which cursed his own subjects. Friday, the 19th. Conversations with , who, with his family, have become converts to Rome. Called, with , on Count Zeloni, who has written a work on the appeal to the Councils and Fathers of the six first centuries, as confirming the doctrines and practice of the Romish Church. The Count presented me with his book. I called to mind Bishop Jewell's Apology, and his Answer to Hardynge ; and I assured the Count that we earnestly desired this very appeal. He showed us his valuable museum, presents from the Emperor of Austria, portraits in cameo of all the Popes, antique gems, coins, medals, subterranean room, &c. H 5 154 EOME THE VATICAN LIBRARY. [APRIL Saturday, the 20th. Climb with to the top of St. Peter's ; and inspect the relics from the catacombs, &c. In the museum of the Vatican I asked to see some Anglo-Saxon charters, which, I had been informed, were in the Vatican library. They were not produced. Neither was the rescript of Valentinian, which I also wished to inspect. The exhibitor did not seem to be aware of the really valuable contents of the library, Sunday, the 2lst. After the Service, completed the analysis of the Apocalypse, and re-read the beautifully diversified seven reproofs and seven promises to the seven Churches of Asia, from the Saviour of His Church the Prophet, Priest, and King. Monday, the 22nd. Reports are circulated that the seal of the Confessional had been violated, and many persons arrested ; that the female friends of the accused had mentioned to the Priests conver- sations which had taken place by the firesides at home, and A , B , C , had, in consequence, been thrown into prison ; that their houses had been searched for Bibles, and great distress and consternation had been occasioned. Tuesday, the 23rd. Visit the Marchese Cam- pagna's Museum of Etruscan Antiquities. The fillets of gold ornaments, the crown of victory, formed in oak leaves, in gold, round the skull of a APRIL] THE CHURCH OF ST. PAUL, &C. 155 warrior, with the inscription, " Vixere fortes," &c., with many other curious works of ancient art, were deeply interesting. An application was made to me to marry the Lutheran clergyman at Rome to a Lutheran lady. The English clergyman had declined to perform the ceremony, and there was no other Lutheran clergyman at Rome to do so. I inquired of the English consul, whether, by complying with the request thus made to me, I should violate any English, or other law. I was assured that I should not, and I consented to marry them. Call on Mesaheb, the Maronite Jesuit, and converse with him on various important sub- jects. Wednesday, the Z&th. The Barberini Palace, the Sciarra Palace and pictures, the Borghese Palace and pictures. Afterwards visited the Church of St. Paul, and the column at which it is said that St. Paul was beheaded. The interest of this very spot, however, was destroyed by the alle- gation, that three fountains of water proceeded, one from the spot where the head fell, and the two others from the two places at which the head re- bounded. I tasted the water of the three foun- tains : they were of three very perceptibly differ- ent degrees of temperature warm, tepid, cold. How this is done, I know not : but I must not ne- H 6 156 CHEV. K '& COLLECTION OF PAINTINGS. [APKIL cessarily believe a miracle where I cannot detect a trick. In the evening I finished the reading of the Apocalypse. May God grant to His Universal Church the avoidance of its curses, and the pos- session of its blessings! May the Church of Rome cease to add to the Word of God, and the opposite extreme cease to take away from it till the uncorrupted Holy Scripture be the rule to the Catholic Church ! Amen, and amen. Thursday, the Z5ih. Palaces and studios, pic- tures and friends. Visit Mr. K 's fine col- lection of paintings. Met there the Lutherans who wish me to perform the marriage service. Mr. K pointed out to me, in his pictures, the gradual development of the art of painting, from Cimabue and Giotto to Raffaelle, and thence on- ward to the recent schools. We admire the beauti- ful picture of Raffaelle by his father ; and the as- tonishing expression of the ideal and the devo- tional in the comparative infancy of the mediaeval art. On my return home I found a letter, of which the annexed is a copy, appointing to-mor- row for the audience with the Pope. APRIL] COPY OF SIG. BORROMEO'S LETTER. 157 DALL' ANTICAMERA PONTIFICIA. Dal Vaticano li 25 Aprile 1850. 9*0. = I/TJdienza si tiene nella Galleria degli Arazzi alle ore 4 e mezza. Si ascende per la Scala della Sagrestia della Cappella Sistina. Si previene il Sigr. Townsend . . . che Sua Santita si . degnera ammetter lo air TJdienza nel giorno di Venerdi prossimo unitamente alia Consorte. II Maestro di Camera di S. S. Ed Borromeo Arese. Friday, the 26th. An unavoidable previous engagement had deprived me of the valuable assistance of a friend whom I wished to accom- pany me to the audience at the Vatican. I had wished his aid, as a better interpreter between myself and the Pope, when his Holiness might have spoken to me in Italian, than Mrs. Townsend, who had requested the Maestro di Camera to place her name, with my own, before the pontiff, as so- liciting permission to accompany me to the in- 158 HOME CHEV. K , &C. [APRIL terview. Mrs. Townsend was, consequently, with much courtesy, included in the invitation. I found, however, that I could not have had a more excellent interpreter. I had frequently consulted with several gentle- men on the subject of the memorial which I pur- posed to submit to the Pope. Mr. K read it over again with me ; and I employed the morning in carefully transcribing it. My kind and vene- rable friend took with him a copy of the memo- rial, and procured for me an Italian translation of it from a gentleman on whose scholarship, he assured me, he could implicitly rely. This trans- lation was brought to me beautifully penned, and, I have no doubt, accurately written, by Three o'clock. Mr. K informed me, in a most friendly note, that he had compared it with the original, and was satisfied with the fidelity of the translator. I was sorry that I had not with me my aca- demical dress. My wearing the robes of an Eng- lish clergyman would have been but the more proper observance of the courtesy which was due to the Pope as a temporal prince, and as the Bishop of the greatest of the Western Churches. I assumed the usual evening dress required by society in England. When I was dressed, and the carriage had ar- rived at the door, I kept it waiting till I had APRIL] ROME PRAYER FOR UNITY. 159 offered in my own room a solemn prayer to the Father of the spirits of all flesh, that, as Saul the persecutor was changed, by the outpouring of the Divine power from on high, into Paul the Apo- stle, and was enabled by the same power to for- sake the traditions of the Pharisees, which ob- scured the truth of the God of his fathers ; so it would please the same unchangeable God and Father of all mankind, to pardon the persecutions and the cruelties of the Church of Rome ; to remove from all Christians the hatred, and in- tolerances which disgrace their holy profession ; to remove all error from all Christian Churches, and to enable the Church of Rome to forsake the traditions, the errors, and the worship of the Virgin Mary, and of the Saints ; with all other vain and strange doctrines which the Church of Rome had added to the Holy Faith, which had once been spoken of with joy and favour throughout the civilized world. I prayed, I fervently prayed to the Father, the Son 1 , and the Holy Ghost, that all whom God created, all for whom Christ had died, all to whom the blessed Spirit of God im- parted grace from heaven upon the means of grace, which God had given to the Churches, might be again united, as at the beginning by one, one Truth one Sacred Creed one holy bond of peace, hope, and love, for all Christian 160 EOME THE VATICAN. [APRIL people dispersed throughout the world ; I prayed for the Church of England, for the Church of Rome, and for the sinful dust and ashes, that now was presuming to seek the presence of the chief Bishop of that Church which, in spite of all its errors, influenced so many millions of human souls : and then, with a calm and quiet mind, I proceeded to the interview with which I had so long, for many years, desired to be favoured. We arrived at the Vatican some minutes before the time appointed ; and with some difficulty found our way to the ante-room, in which we were first to wait till the Pope summoned us to his presence. Mrs. Townsend only was with me. Sir George Head, in his account of the Vatican, observes, that " the result of the additions and al- terations made by various Popes, is, that the apart- ments, and suites of apartments, were heaped to- gether without uniform order or design' ; and the staircases and passages are so numerous, that it is generally much easier to i*each any given point required, than to know precisely how one gets there." The correctness of these observations was very apparent to us on our arrival at the Vatican at the time appointed. The Papal Palace is, in fact, a town of rooms, and we were quite bewil- dered by their extent and number. On producing 2 Tour in Modern Rome, Vol. in. c. xviii. p. 206. APRIL] EOME THE VATICAN. 161 our letter of admission, we were conducted from room to room, along staircases, passages, halls, and corridors, seemingly innumerable and intermin- able, till we were brought to the Sistine Chapel ; where, as six parties were waiting for an audience, we had ample leisure to admire the celebrated and wonderful painting of the Last Judgment, by Michael Angelo. I called to mind the observa- tion of Mrs. Jameson, that the countenances of the condemned, who have been driven by the Supreme Judge from the abodes of the blessed, seem to increase in demoniacal repulsiveness in proportion to their distance from the throne of the Almighty. " And so it is," I thought : " the fur- ther the soul of man recedes from God, the more sensual, demoniacal, and unfit for Heaven it be- comes." The genius of the painter has expressed the most overpowering thought in theology, that nearness to God, in holy communion and humble obedience, is the supreme felicity of man; and that man's misery increases as man's guilt is deepened. We were struck with admiration by all we saw. Among the parties who were awaiting their sum- mons to the Papal presence, were a Cuban gentle- man and his wife. We conversed together in French ; and I was grieved, but not surprised, to learn from him, that no diversities of opinion in matters of religion were permitted in the island 162 ROME INTERVIEW WITH THE POPE. [APRIL of Cuba. Anxious as I have ever been for the reunion of Christians, and the peace of the Church, I shuddered while I reflected that the religious tranquillity of Cuba was founded upon the banish- ment of the word of God from the island ; and that the consequence of this was, that ignorance, or indifference to true religion, which is the uni- form result of the interdicted perusal of its sacred pages. We were summoned to our long expected inter- view at half-past Five o'clock. After traversing many more rooms, passages, and staircases, we arrived at the Chamber of Audience. No Quaker could have received us with more simplicity than Pio Nono, no sovereign with more dignified courtesy, no Presbyterian with more plainness. There were no lords in waiting, no tedious cere- mony, no trains of state. The Pontiff was alone. The room in which he received us was about the size of a well-proportioned modern London draw- ing-room. The floor was brick, as is the custom in Italy. It was uncarpeted, except a small carpet on the dais on which the Pope was standing. It was unfurnished, except that two small ottomans were placed near an elevated seat, at which, close to a table resembling those in a merchant's count- ing-house, the Pope sate or stood. The dais was raised not more than a few inches above the rest APRIL] EOME INTERVIEW WITH THE POPE. 163 of the floor. A canopy, not a very splendid one, was over the Pope's head. He was dressed in the long white fine cloth Dominican robe, reaching from the throat to the feet ; and he wore the Dominican cap upon his head. We approached him, as to a temporal prince, with the courtesies we should have paid to our own Queen, bowing ' three times. He seemed to be about sixty years . of age, of a fresh complexion, and most benevolent expression of countenance. He gazed at us, as we might have expected, with intent curiosity as we approached him. It was the first time, perhaps, that a Protestant clergyman, accompanied by his wife, had ever ventured to enter the Vatican upon such an errand as that which had brought me from England. On approaching close to him, he gave us his hand to kiss, in the manner which is customary with sovereign princes ; and he then motioned, with an inclination of his head, to Mrs. Townsend and myself to be seated on the otto- mans near the dais. The conversation began on the part of the Pope, in Italian, addressed to Mrs. Townsend, as to whe- ther she had ever been in Italy or Rome before ? whether she admired the country ? what objects in Rome had interested her most ? and so on. To all such questions she replied in the same language. 164 ROME CONVERSATION WITH THE ,POPE. [APRIL She had been my interpreter in French through- out France, and my interpreter in Italian through Italy ; and she interpreted my expressions to the Pope on the present occasion, when the difference of the Italian and English mode of pronouncing Latin made it necessary to require her assistance. When the conversation upon these indifferent sub- jects was over, the Pope inquired in what language he should converse with me? Mrs. Townsend answered that I wished to address him in Latin. He bowed. I then presented to him the letter of the Archbishop of Paris, and explained to him the object for which I had presumed to solicit that letter ; that I was grieved to see the prevalence of modern Infidelity resulting from the disunion of believers in the same Revelation ; that I had pre- sumed, in conformity with the customs of the Primitive Church, to request a letter from the Archbishop of Paris, that I might, through his intervention, obtain permission to speak with the Pope on the subject of reconsidering all the past controversies among Christians in a General Coun- cil. I related the correspondence, to which I have already more than once alluded, between the Archbishop of Paris and Dupin, in the reign of Queen Anne, and told his Holiness the conclusion of the English Archbishop, that in a General APRIL] ROME CONVERSATION WITH THE POPE. 165 Council of the West we would give tlie Pope the first place of order, though not of jurisdiction 3 . It was in his power, I added, to commence the movement towards the reunion of Christians, by summoning such Council with a view to the re- consideration of the past ; and the princes of the Christian world would rejoice at the anticipation of peace among the nations on the basis of such reconsideration. To all this, which was not, of course, said in a speech, but in reply to questions as a conversa- tion, the Pope made the same reply which had been previously made to me by the Archbishop of Paris, the Cardinals Mai and Franzoni, and other ecclesiastics of the Church of Rome with whom I had conversed on the subject. He urged the diffi- culty of calling such a Council, from the expense, the difference between the opponents and the adherents of the Church, and the variety of opi- nions even on the subject of the Sacraments. The Church, he remarked, as I had expected he would do, had already decided on the chief points ; but that the several provincial Councils which are now being summoned in various parts of the world 3 " In Generali Concilio Occidental}," was my expression, " tibi concedemus, Sancte Pater, primam sedem ordinis, sed, da mihi veniam , Sancte Pater, non jurisdictionis." I did not allude to the Eastern Councils ; in them the Bishop of Antioch would claim precedence. 166 EOME CONVERSATION WITH THE POPE [APRIL would possibly prepare the way for the more General Council which I desired. This is the substance of the conversation which passed between us. It has been said, I know not why, that I alluded to the celibacy of the clergy, and the giving of the cup to the laity. I said nothing of the kind. When our noble-hearted ancestors desired the removal of grievances under Charles I., they did not commence their exertions by entering into the detail of those grievances ; they demanded, or they solicited, only a free Par- liament. They well knew, that if they once pos- sessed a Parliament which should frequently meet, all real grievances would be gradually and consti- tutionally redressed. I acted upon this plan. I believe that if a General Council, under the sanc- tion of the temporal princes of the Universal Church, among whom the Pope must now be reckoned, were once assembled as a permanent Congress or Synod, it would very soon, if not immediately, give back the imprisoned Bible to the longing world, and to the Holy Catholic Church ; and that Truth, Peace, and Liberty would follow in its train. But to proceed. The earnestness and energy with which I spoke the nervous agitation of the moment the im- portance and solemnity of the occasion which had brought me to the Vatican and, may I add, the APRIL] ROME CONVERSATION WITH THE POPE. 167 inward prayer which I was offering that the (rod of Truth would change the policy of Rome, and give peace to the Church Universal, on the basis of the reconsideration of the past, which I was now soliciting, made my voice tremulous with emotion. I spoke from the heart ; and I believe that my words went, therefore, to the heart of the Pontiff. I appealed to him as to the one chief person now on earth who had the power to com- mence the appeal to the nations. I so proceeded in that appeal that the tears came into his eyes, and he declared with much animation and I believed him that he had prayed earnestly to the Omnipotent that he might be honoured as the healer of the wounds of the Church. I then placed in his hands the document which I had prepared ; with the observation, that I had therein written the request which I had presumed to submit to him. " I am a Protestant," I said, "and I have always been an enemy to your Church ; but there will not be found in this docu- ment any expression which will be personally offensive 4 ." The Pope looked surprised at my declaration ; and Mrs. Townsend, observing his silence, confirmed the truth of my assurance by an * Protestans sum, Sancte Pater ; semper inimicus tuae Ecclesiffi fui; sed confidenter spero nullam expressionem in hocce docu- mento Sanctitati tuse offendere, &c. 168 EOME CONVERSATION WITH THE POPE. [APRIL exclamation 5 . The Pope took the memorial, and said he would read it with attention. I then in- formed him of the subject of the paper, telling, him that it contained the expression of my persuasion that, as the Church of Rome could not conquer the Church of England, nor the Church of England conquer the Church of Rome, the time had ar- rived when the common enemy, Infidelity, must be met by an effort on the part of all Christians to reconsider the past ; and that very many Christians in England would rejoice in the hope of the re- union of the Churches after this reconsideration of the past. " Yes/' the Pope answered, " there are in England many persons of good will." " There are many good men there 6 ," I answered, "who 5 No no. Mio marito e troppo buono &c. 6 This may seem strange. But the Angelic Song (Luke ii. 14), Aoa Iv v^iaroiQ 6fp, cai iirl yfjc f(pqyq, tv avOpttnroig ivBoicia, is thus translated by the Vulgate, " Gloria in altissimis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonse voluntatis : " " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will ;" and the mem- bers of the Church of Rome are accustomed, by this interpretation of the words, to say, that the angel wishes peace only to the mem- bers of their Church, who are described as the " homines bonee voluntatis." The Pope used this very expression, " Sunt in Anglia multi homines bonce voluntatis." I could not tell whether he meant really to say, " There are in England many of my Church ;" and I could not, in courtesy, presume to inquire, nor to bandy criticisms ; I therefore replied, " There are in England " multi boni homines, "many good men." This is the Scriptural expression ; and the truth. I could not, even to the Pope himself, sanction the erroneous and perverted translation. APRIL] ROME CONVERSATION WITH THE POPE. 169 would rejoice in peace, on the basis of that recon- sideration." Here, after some more observations which I do not remember, the conversation may be said to have ended. He asked me whether I knew Dr. Wiseman ? I told him, that I lived in retirement, and knew the literary labours of Dr. Wiseman 7 ; but that I was not personally known to him. I rose to take my leave, and, after briefly repeating my assurance, that the Pope had the power to commence the repentant movement I solicited, we left his presence. The audience lasted for nearly forty minutes,' though it is so briefly related here. We left his presence with the same observances which are paid to our own Queen, bowing towards the Pope till we reached the door of the room. The Chamberlains, or Monsignores, or Lords in waiting, as we might call them in England, asked 7 Dr. Wiseman is now a Cardinal. I wish he had never been I guilty of uncanonically acting as a Bishop in the dioceses of Pro- testant England. But I sincerely thank him for his work " Lec- tures on Science and Revealed Religion." He has there taken an able view of the manner in which the progress of inquiry overthrows the arguments of Infidelity. Why will he not act in the same spirit of liberty and truth in the great controversy between the two Churches, and seek for Catholicity, and not Papistry ? Why has he insulted the Church, the Nation, the laws, f and the Sovereign of England, by accepting the title of the Arch- j bishop of Westminster ? why will he violate the Canons and laws of the Universal and Primitive Church, to uphold the customs and usurpations of the Romish Church ? I 170 CLOSE OF THE INTERVIEW. [APRIL me in the ante-room, where they had been in attendance, after the interview, some question, which I do not now distinctly remember ; and I expressed to them, with great truth, my satis- faction at the courteous demeanour, benevolence, and kindness of the Pontiff. The Cubans were called in, we observed, next to us. To our great astonishment they both knelt down, as to God, at the folding-doors of the audience chamber, and repeated the same homage in the middle of the room. We had not done so. We had ren- dered every respect to the Pope as to an earthly sovereign: we could not venerate him as our God. An amusing, though affecting scene, followed our interview. On arriving at our apartments, later than our servants expected, (for we had been kept waiting during the audience of some of the parties of high rank who were received by the Pope before us,) we found them in tears. With the not unusual feelings towards the Church of Rome, they imagined that great cruelties and treacheries are still exercised on all who differ from that Church, and who may entrust them- selves to its power. They believed that we were imprisoned, or assassinated ; and were in tears for the supposed calamity of their master and mis- tress. APKIL] COPY OP THE MEMOEIAL TO THE POPE. 171 The following is a Copy of the Document, toge- ther with the Italian translation of it, which I presented to the Pope : " 96, Via del Babuino, Rome, April 26, 1850. " To His Holiness Pius the Ninth, this humble Memorial of a stranger, an Englishman, is respectfully presented. "MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HOLINESS, " Because there is no Ambassador from the Court of England to the Court of Rome, who might submit to your Holiness the opinion of England, on topics which might be deemed to be mutually interesting to the two Courts ; and because, also, it may not be expected that any of the subjects of your Holiness would presume to submit to your Holiness, any reflections which your Holiness might consider novel, or of doubtful utility ; I have ven- tured, as a student of Scripture and antiquity, and as a Canon of the Cathedral Church of Durham, in England, (in accordance with the ancient custom of the Primitive Christians, who solicited letters commendatory from their influential Ecclesiastical brethren, when they desired to hold communica- tion with any Sovereign, Bishop, or Christian, to whom they were strangers,) to request letters commendatory, which I have now the honour to I 2 172 COPY OF THE MEMORIAL [APRIL present, from the Archbishop of Paris to your Holiness ; that I might courteously, respectfully, and deferentially submit to your Holiness the request with which the present Memorial shall be concluded. " Deeming the Infidelity, which too much abounds in France, Germany, England, Italy, and in many other countries, to be continued and in- creased, by the angry divisions and bitter hatreds which prevail among the believers in the inspira- tion of the Holy Scriptures, in the Divinity of Christ, and in the Resurrection of the Dead, and being grieved at learning that many of the sub- jects of your Holiness have identified the Religion of my own free, great, and enlightened country, with this mournful Infidelity, I would respect- fully remind your Holiness, that England has ex- pended more than four hundred millions of pounds during the first French revolutionary war, in re- storing Monarchy and Christianity to the several countries in which this grievous infidelity pre- vailed ; and that one effect of these great exer- tions has been, the restoration of the immediate predecessors of your Holiness to the halls of the Vatican and to the Church of St. Peter's, that England has removed all the laws which excluded the members of the Church of Rome from seats in her Parliament, that the only objection to its APRIL] PRESENTED TO THE POPE. 173 Church urged against it by the predecessors of your Holiness has been, the disruption between the two Churches ; and that for these and for many other reasons England cannot justly deserve the imputation of being infidel, or unchristian. The common infidelity, however, to which I have alluded, threatens with one destruction both the Christianity of England and the Christianity of Rome ; and as the experience of the last three centuries has proved, that the Church of England cannot conquer the Church of Rome, nor the Church of Rome conquer the Church of England, and the religion of both is thus threatened with one destruction, I presume to suggest to your Holiness, that the time has arrived when your Holiness, as a temporal prince and sovereign, with a spiritual authority, may justly appeal to all tem- poral princes, that they commit to their several representatives, whether Ambassadors or Bishops, secular or ecclesiastical, authority and power, in conjunction with your Holiness, to reconsider the whole circumstances of the past and present con- troversies and divisions among Christians, that one more General Council be summoned to dis- cuss the possibility and expediency of restoring to the Catholic Church the ancient discipline and the early primitive union, by which Infidelity may lose its chief defence, and by which Truth and i 3 174 COPY OF THE MEMORIAL [APRIL Love may unite in one Church all Christians who receive the Holy Scriptures, believe in the Divi- nity of Christ, and welcome the discipline of Bishop, Priest, and Deacon. " The request, therefore, which I presume re- spectfully, courteously, and deferentially to submit to. your Holiness is, that as the Parliaments of England, by constant discussion, constitute the strength of the British Monarchy, though they appear at first sight to be its weakness, so your Holiness would believe that the discussions of Councils would prove to be the strength of the Catholic Church. And that your Holiness would be pleased, in conjunction with other princes, to consider the expediency of summoning such Coun- cil, and thus to make one more effort to re-esta- blish, on the basis of deliberation and truth, that peace which might gather together in one all the Churches, and all the Christians, who name the name of Christ, and pray to depart from iniquity. " I now tender to your Holiness my apologies for thus presuming to solicit an interview. I beg your Holiness to be assured that I have ventured to do so, only because I believed that there was no other mode in which the subject might be brought before your Holiness, the world, and the Church. I pray deeply, frequently, and earnestly to the common Lord and Saviour of us all, the Great APEIL] PRESENTED TO THE POPE. 175 Head of the Universal Church, that if there be any Act, Proposition, or Article of Faith, which might be proved to be objectionable in any exist- ing Church, they may be calmly, gradually, and surely removed, till the desired Union of Truth and Peace bless the one Holy Catholic Church. " In the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, I entreat your Holiness to hear and receive my petition. " I have the honour to be, may it please your Holiness, " Your Holiness's faithful, &c. &c. " GEORGE TOWNSEND, D.D." To his Holiness Pius the Ninth, &c. &c. &c. Traduzione. A Sua Santita Pio IX. Quest' umile Memoriale uno straniero, un' Inglese, rispettosamente presenta. SANTISSIMO PADRE, Non a vend o la corte Britannica nessun rappresentante presso la Santa Sede, il quale possa sottoporre alia Santita Vostra I'opmione dell' Inghilterra sopra materie che vengano giudi- cate di mutuo interesse per le due corti, e non essendo da supporsi che qualcuno de' sudditi di Vostra Santita ardisca di esporle alcune riflessioni, i 4 376 COPY OF THE MEMORIAL [APRIL le quali alia Santita Vostra potrebbero apparire nuove, o di una dubbiosa utilita ; io, siccome studioso delle sacre Scritture e delle antichita, e di phi canonico della cattedrale di Durham in Ingliilterra, mi sono fatto lecito, (seguendo in cib gli usi antichi de' primi Cristiani, i quali chiede- vano da' loro fratelli ecclesiastici influenti, delle lettere di raccommandazione, quando desideravano di avere communicazione con un Sovrano, Vescovo od altro Cristiano al quale erano sconosciuti,) di domandare all' arcivescovo di Parigi 1'acclusa commendatizia, diretta alia Santita Vostra, onde io venga ammesso ad esporre rispettosamente e con tutta la dovuta venerazione, L'inchiesta alia quale il presente memoriale allude. Giudicando che la incredulita che tanto abonda in Ingliilterra, in Francia, in Germania, in Italia, ed in altre contrade, non pub die venire continuata ed aumentata dalle acerbe divisioni e dagli odj amari che esistono fra quelli che pure vantano di credere nelle inspirazioni delle sante scritture, nella divinita di Gesu Christo, e nella resurrezione dalla morte, ed essendo profondamente afflitto nelF apprendere che molti fra i sudditi di Vostra Santita vanno confondendo la religione professata nella mia libera ed illuminata patria con tale tristissima incredulita, cosi ardisco di rammentare rispettosamente alia Santita Vostra che 1' Inghil- APRIL] PRESENTED TO THE POPE. 177 terra ha speso piu di trecento million! di Lire Sterline, durante la prima guerra della revoluzione francese, nello scopo solo di ristaurare la monarchia ed il cristianesimo nelle varie contrade, ove una laraentabile incredulita e mancanza di fede ave- vano prevalso ; e che F uno de' risultati di questi ingenti sforzi fu la restaurazione degli immediati predecessor! della Santita Vostra nelle soglie Vaticane e nella chiesa di San Pietro ; che Y Inghilterra ha abolito tutte quelle leggi che es- cludevano i memhri della chiesa romana dal diritto di sedere nel senate britannico ; che la sola ob- jezione opposta alia chiesa d' Inghilterra dai pre- decessori di Vostra Santita fu la rottura fra le due chiese ; e che, non solo per queste, ma bensi per molte altre ragioni T Inghilterra non pub giustamente meritare 1' imputazione di mancare di fede o di essere non cristiana. La mancanza perb di fede alia quale ho fatto allusione, minaccia di distruggere insieme il christianesimo d' Inghil- terra e quello di Roma : e siccome le esperienza degli ultimi tre secoli trascorsi ha gia provato egualmente, che la chiesa d' Inghilterra non pub conquistare la chiesa di Roma, ne la chiesa di Roma pub conquistare quella d' Inghilterra, e che la religione di ambedue e cosi minacciata di una eguale rovina, io ardisco presso la Santita Vostra la suggestione che il momento e giunto, ove Vostra i 5 178 COPY OF THE MEMORIAL [APRIL Santita come principe e Sovrano temporale, con autorita spirituale, pub giustamente invocare tutti i principi temporal! onde commettano a' loro varj rappresentanti, siano ambasciatori o Vescovi, T autorisazione ed i poteri tanto secolari clie eccle- siastic!, di considerare di nuovc, in unione con la Santita Vostra, tutte le circostanze delle passate e present! controversie e division! fra Cristiani ; che un nuovo concilio generale venga convocato, onde discutere la possibilita ed i mezzi piu efficaci per restituire alia chiesa cattolica le antiche disci- pline e quella antica e primitiva unione per la quale la miscredenza perderebbe la sua maggior difesa, e per la quale la verita e Y amore vengano ad unire in una sola chiesa tutti i Cristiani che credono nelle sacre scritture, nella divinita di Cristo, ed accettano le discipline de' Vescovi, preti, e diaconi. La richiesta dunque, che io ardisco rispettosa- mente e con la piu profonda venerazione di sotto- porre alia Santita Vostra, e, che un nuovo concilio venga convocato, che, nell' istesso modo in cui i parlamenti d' Inghilterra costituiscono con una costante discussione la forza della monarchia Bri- tannica, mentre a primo apparire sembrano esserle cagionc di debolezza, cosi la Santita Vostra voglia rimanere persuasa che le discussioni de' concilj pro- veranno la forza della chiesa cattolica ; e che, in APRIL] PRESENTED TO THE POPE. 179 fine, piaccia alia Santita Vostra, in unione con i di Lei consiglieri, di prendere in considerazione la op- portunita di convocare tale concilio, e cosi adoperare ogni mezzo onde stabilire sulle basi della delibera- zione e della verita, quella pace die possa unire in- sieme in una sola, tutte le chiese e tutti i Cristiani clie cliiamano il nome di Cristo e pregano T altis- simo di liberargli dall' iniquita. Non mi resta ora altro ad aggiungere alia mia grave richiesta, senon che la Santita Vostra voglia accogliere le mie umilissime scuse per la mia pre- sunzione di sollecitare una di Lei udienza, e che voglia essere persuasa, che se ho ardito di agire cosi, fu soltanto perche credo che non vi sia altra via perlaquale quest' oggetto pervenga innanzi alia Santita Vostra, alia chiesa ed al mondo, e che io ho pregato intimamente, frequentemente, e con sincere fervore il nostro commune Signore, salvatore di tutti noi, il gran capo della chiesa universale, che, se vi fosse qualsiasi atto, propo- sizione o articolo di fede che potesse essere meri- tevole di eccezione in qualsivoglia chiesa esistente, venga con calma, graduatamente e sicuramente allontanato, fin tanto che la bramata unione di verita e di pace, spanda le sue benedizioni sulla sola, santa e cattolica chiesa. In nome del Padre, del Figlio, e dello Spirito i 6 180 THE POPE CONFIRMS [APRIL Santo, supplico umilmente la Santita Vostra di ascoltare e di accogliere questa mia petizione. Col piii profondo rispetto, ho 1'onore di essere, Santissimo Padre, Di Vostra Santita, GEORGE TOWNSEND, D.D. Roma, 26 Aprile 1850. So ended this, to me, most memorable day. Whether, long after I am dead, there will be any movement among the Churches to second, or con- tinue this effort, must be left to- the future. I may as well, however, relate here the opinion of the Pope himself upon the topics which I introduced to him. Though he condescended to send me a message, on the following day, to thank me for the memorial which I presumed to place in his hands, his own conclusions on the subject un- derwent no alteration. This I may as well state here, instead of placing the following document at May 24th, when I received it. I am permitted, by the kindness of a gentleman who had an audience of the Pope some days after I had the interview, to mention a conversation which took place be- tween himself, the friend who accompanied him, and the Pope, on the subject of my own conference, as I have now related it. My friend wrote down his memoranda, on his return from the Vatican. APRIL] THE PRECEDING STATEMENT. 181 I am permitted to give the memorandum as I have received it. I therefore do so. Though there are in it S3me expressions eulogistical of myself, it will still be interesting to those who are concerned about these subjects, as showing the opinions of the Pope, the estimate which has been formed re- specting him, and the accuracy of the statement I have now given. " Rome, May 24th. " After some few remarks on indifferent subjects, the Pope alluded to his having seen ' II Canone de Durham \ and added, that he was an excellent and good man, and had come to him with an object regarding the Church. But, he continued, 'we conversed in Latin ; and the pronunciation of Latin is so different in England and in Italy, that I did not well understand him. For instance, to show the great difference, here we say "Arma virumque cano" and in England they say, " Arma virumque cano/" (repeating the words according to the English pro- nunciation, and appealing to me, if it were not so). He then claimed for the Italian pronunciation the superiority, as the Italians were on the spot where the Latin had been the vulgar tongue, and had received it down from the Romans. I remarked that the learned in England were of his opinion, that the Italian pronunciation was the more true one. The Pope then went on to speak of Dr. 182 OPINIONS OF THE POPE [APRIL Townsend in terms of warm praise, and said that his object showed a good heart in wishing to heal the divisions of the Christian world ; but he did not think that the proposal of calling a General Council would lead to the desired effect. " Mr. K asked if his Holiness considered there was no ground, such as the religion of earlier times, on which all parties might meet and form one Church. The Pope replied, that he thought it impossible to find any such ground ; c because/ he said, ' we have seven Sacraments, and the Anglican Church has but two Baptism and the Supper. But the Supper you hold in a manner different from us : you consider, that there is no change in the substances of the bread and wine, and that though there is something more, they remain bread and wine/ I observed, that we considered the only change to be in the spirit of the person receiving the bread and wine. ' The difference between us, then/ he said, 'is five Sacraments, and something more/ " Mr. K asked, if, in the event of the Anglican Church making any advance towards that of Rome, his Holiness thought the Catholics would give up any thing. The Pope replied, with a quick movement, ' Nothing. We would give up nothing. We find all our doctrines in the Bible, and therefore we cannot change any point. The APRIL] ON THE UNION OF THE CHURCHES, &C. 183 Church must maintain them all immutably, as founded on the Holy Scripture. We can never consent, also, to permit free-will in the judgment of the Scriptures. The Anglican Church permits free-will in judging of them: it permits every body to read and judge of them. But we hold that they require a fitting authority to judge of them, and to teach them : without this every body would form differing opinions, and the Church would fall to pieces from want of unity in the opinion of the Scriptures. The Church has main- tained one opinion from the beginning ; and it cannot alter what is founded on inspired Scrip- ture/ " Mr. observed, that the Catholic Church had done much good to the world in past times, in maintaining religion and learning ; but, on the change of opinion now on many subjects, would it not be better to make some change in agreement with the present state of the world ; not in the fundamental doctrines, of course, but in some others, and in discipline ? The Pope replied, 'We cannot make any change. But in England a change is taking place ; and now an opinion is growing there, that there is a slight something (Ce qualchb cosa qualchd cosa) in Purgatory. The Anglican Church, however, is the only one in the world, except the Roman Catholic Church, OPINIONS OF THE POPE [APEIL that has the force and power to do good to religion, and advance its cause ; as in the Universities of England religion is studied profoundly, seriously, and with the heart/ " Mr. asked, if his Holiness then considered that in that Church there was no salvation ? The Pope replied, ' We hold that there is no salvation out of the Catholic Church : but the Anglican Church teaches, that in any Church there is salva- tion in the Lutheran, in the Anglican, in the Episcopalian, in the Presbyterian. We cannot allow this. But/ he added, lifting up his hands, ' we must all have charity for each other ! Charity is a divine sentiment, and one that we should entertain for each other among all the troubles and dissensions of the religious world/ " I observed, that we considered Charity to in- clude Toleration. The Pope replied, 'There is a great difference between Charity and Toleration. Charity is, to love our neighbour as ourselves ; to do him no harm ; to assist him in word and deed ; and to pray for him (lifting up his hands and eyes). But Toleration refers to tenets of religion ; and these we must hold strictly, and guard them with all our care. We must oppose all those who dis- sent from them, and use every effort to maintain men in the right way ; not with violence, but with reason and persuasion/ I observed, that if no APRIL] ON THE UNION OF THE CHUKCHES, &C. 3 85 violence were used, reason and persuasion were a true toleration. " After a pause, the Pope said, ' Authority is necessary in the Church ; and no Church can exist without it. In the case of the .Bishop of Exeter there appears a want of authority in the Anglican Church/ I observed, that in our Church there is authority, though not so severe as in the Roman Catholic Church. " After a few more observations in reply to Mr. 's congratulations on his return to Rome, 'that Providence had so willed it, and he was content to be in the hands of Providence/ the Pope dismissed us with much affability of manner, pressing our hands with much cordiality and kindly warmth. His whole manner was expressive of a benevolent disposition, and a carelessness of formal ceremony ; leaning easily against his desk, talking with great freedom and rapidity, and more than once making observations at considerable length ; 'his countenance cheerful, and his bearing almost familiar, he made one forget almost the presence we were in." Such is the memorandum. We may learn from it the same resolution which I have now ga- thered from the highest as I before learnt it from the lower ecclesiastics, as well as from the books 186 DETERMINATION OF HOME NOT TO CHANGE. [APRIL of the Romanists, that they will never, never change never, never alter. Whether the world, the Church, and mankind, will always endure this determination, while it is united with the claims to universal dominion, must be now left to futurity. If the Providence of God did not govern the world, if the hlessed power of God could not change the unruly wills and affections of men, the prospects of the Universal Church would indeed be hopeless. But " the Lord reigneth ;" and God's Holy Spirit is omnipotent against their will, to bend and change it. Saturday, the 29th. On returning from an early walk about Rome, with two friends, in whose conversation I was much interested, we met two ecclesiastics coming down the stairs leading to our apartments in the Via del Babuino. I recognized in one a gentleman who was in attendance yester- day at the Vatican. A Roman Catholic lady, who had been calling on Mrs. Townsend, was coming down the stairs with them, and introduced the two gentlemen to me. They had left their cards for me on the table up stairs, and had been commissioned to bring me a message from the Pope. I begged them to return with me to my apartments. From their cards I found that one was Monsignore de Merode, Cameriere Segreto, Participante di Sua Santita ; the other was Dr. Grant, the head of the English APKIL] MONSIGNOEE DE MEEODE DE. GEANT. 187 College at Rome, who had been educated at Ushaw, near Durham. Dr. Grant acted as interpreter to Mcnsignore de Merode. They had been honoured, Dr. Grant informed me, with a command from the Pope, to tell me that his Holiness had read my Memorial, and desired to converse with me further on the subject of its contents ; but they added, that his Holiness was at this time much engaged. I of course replied, for I deemed the request of the Pope, as a temporal prince, to be a command, that I was ready to attend his Holiness, at the Vatican, whenever he pleased. In my note to the Maestro di Camera, of the week preceding, in which I re- quested the honour of an audience with the Pope, I had mentioned my intention of proceeding to Naples, and urged this intention as the reason of soliciting the additional honour of an early inter- view, if it were possible ; and Monsignore de Merode expressed his opinion, that the Pope would be more disengaged after my return from Naples than he was at present. This, after some conver- sation, was decided upon. The two gentlemen con- tinued with me for some time ; and at the request of Dr. Grant, I related to Monsignore de Merode the nature and titles of my labours on the Old and New Testament, the objects of my several Dedi- cations, and other topics relating to English Theo- 188 ROME MR, OVERBECK'S GALLERY. [APRIL logy. We conversed in English, and Dr. Grant interpreted. To the Capitol, with my friend Dr. Braun, to see again the pictures there. Thence to Mr. Over- beck's Gallery. These pictures relate to some of the chief events in the life of our Lord. One described the nailing of our Lord on the Cross. The idealism of the expression in the countenance of our Blessed Saviour, and the contemptuous, re- joicing, exulting look of the Pharisee, appeared to me to be one of the greatest triumphs of art, in composing and solemnizing the mind, which I had ever yet witnessed. The effect was wonderful, but it was momentary. My reason could not believe that the features of the picture were the resem- blance of the divine original. Every artist, whe- ther in painting or in sculpture, without exception, seems to me to have totally failed to express the sacred countenance. If they paint or carve the dignity of the imagined face, they fail in the ex- pression of its humility ; if they paint or carve the awful, they fail in tendeniess. Mr. Overbeck is a good man. I am told that he has committed the mistake which some other well-meaning men have committed. He has become a convert to Popery, from a better Faith. I could do the same, if I could permit the ideal to conquer the spiritual, APRIL] ROME NOBLE PEDIGREES, &C. 189 or the poetical, contrary to all evidence, to over- come the Scriptural. In visiting one of the numerous churches, the sacristan requested permission to introduce to us a gentleman who understood English. It proved to be Father Hayes, an Irish priest, who, with his friend, accepted our invitations, and frequently called upon us. We passed the early part of this evening in pleasant and interesting conversation on national questions the past sorrows of Ireland, the present opposition to England, and the future prospects of our empire. This evening at a large party, at the Hon. Mrs. K , in the Via Condotti, I met an Italian nobleman, who boasts of his descent from the Dictator Fabius Maximus. Noble pedigree is one of the unpurchasable graces of society, by which a man gives to the world a guarantee for the higher qualities of mind and heart. I could not, however, but prefer my own pedigree, as descended from one of the Bishops who were sent to the Tower for opposing the arbitrary power, and papal efforts of James the Second. I love the principles, the conduct, the moderation, the firm- ness, and the Faith of those confessors: and I would pray to be enabled to follow their good example, if any fatal necessity arose to require me to do so. 190 ROME THE LUTHERAN CHAPEL. [APRIL Sunday, the 28th. In compliance with the wish of my Lutheran brother, I this morning attended the Lutheran worship at the chapel in the Capitol, to perform for him the marriage ceremony when the Service was over. I did not, I grieve to say, understand one word of the noble language in which the prayers were offered and the sermon was preached ; but I revolved in my mind the provi- dential government of God, the mysteries of His dispensations in the permission of so much evil, and the certainty that every prophecy would be fulfilled, and the world and the Universal Church would eventually become the kingdom of the Crucified. I wept with joy to hear the beautiful singing and the eloquent intonation in the prayers and sermon of the language of Luther in the Capitol of Rome ; and trusted that it was an earnest of the time in which the Papist, having been brought to repentance, might be one in Christ with the Lutheran and the Protestant of every name. The marriage, after the Service was ovei^ was celebrated according to the forms of the Church of England. A large party of Prussian, German, and Russian gentlemen assembled at the luncheon which followed. Nearly all present, I was assured, understood English. The prospe- rity of England and my own health were proposed in the most affectionate terms. I begged to pro- APKIL] ROME THE LUTHERAN CHAPEL, &C. 191 pose the expression of good-will to the bride and bridegroom, and alluded to the decoration of the Altar in the Chapel, to give the most appropriate turn to the conversation of the hour. One of the Princesses of Prussia had given a very beautiful velvet covering for the Altar, and adorned it, in the most elaborate gold embroidery, with a grouping of the Cross, an anchor, and flowers. I congratulated the company present on the occa- sion which assembled them together ; and, alluding to the gold embroidery which adorned the centre of the Altar cloth, I reminded them that the flowers of life most abounded in beauty and in fragrance when they were blended with a good hope of the future, and entwined round the Cross, which en- sured the best happiness both of earth and of Heaven. Much enthusiasm was kindled by a few observations of this nature, and the Lord's-day was not desecrated, though all was cheerfulness, and joyousness, and smiles. After I had returned home, Mr. , one of the English converts from our own Church to the Church of Rome, called upon me. The conversa- tion was soon directed to the usual subject, the diiference between the two Churches. He had deserted the Church of England for the additions to the Primitive Faith decreed by the Church of Rome, but was unable to produce any argument 192 CONVERSATION ON THE TWO CHURCHES. [APRIL for his desertion which was not founded upon opinions independent of reading and knowledge, and which uniformly began with "I think." I could not but remember the rude, but unanswer- able reply of John Knox to his Queen, when her Majesty used the same expression, " I think/' Discussion in conversation, when there is but little or no previous reading, becomes tedious. My friend seemed to have more zeal than knowledge ; and less judgment than either. A much more interesting conversation took place with , who came to dine with me. We talked over much of the principles, the providences, and the persons relating to the great controversy be- tween the two Churches. As Christ wept over Jerusalem, when He remembered its past fidelity, its present apostasy, and its coming destruction; so we thought the believers in the religion of Him who thus mourned for His people, might now justly weep over Rome, when they compared the faith which had been "spoken of through the whole world" with its present deterioration. If, too, some interpretations of the prophecies be true, they might weep over the volcanic destruction of the city. While we were mutually convinced that every effort to re- form the present Church of Rome would be unavail- ing, as the tears of Christ over Jerusalem ; yet the tears were shed, and a remnant was saved, and the APRIL] DISCUSSION ON MATT, xxiii. 33. 193 first and best Christians were those of the house of Israel ; so we hoped that it might be again. We prayed that the Providence of God would raise up, in the midst of the Church of Rome, Apostles, Luthers, and Cranmers, who should protest against the additions to the Faith, and restore the majesty of the ancient simple Truth, and with it the an- cient holy love to the Churches of Christ dispersed throughout the world, and to the Church of Rome among their number. Monday, the 29th. Though much fatigued with receiving and returning visits, and though we had intended to set off by vetturino the next morning at Four o'clock to Naples, I accepted an invita- tion to meet some gentlemen of the Scotch Free Church. The chief subjects of our conversation were, whether the stern and severe reproof of our Lord to the Pharisees, " Ye serpents, ye genera- tion of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" was not the right and just language which ought still to be applied to the Church of Rome ; and, what could be the possible benefits of a Council, if it could be summoned even by a competent authority? Having been always ac- customed to speak of the Church of Rome in the most unsparing terms of censure, I found I was deemed most inconsistent when I argued that such language could not apply to the whole mass E 194 DISCUSSION ON MATT, xxiii. 33. [APRIL of the corrupt Church ; but to those only who knew the Truth, but upheld error, and deceived the people wilfully, for the gratificatipn either of avarice or ambition. St. Paul himself, I argued, was a Pharisee, yet lived " in all good conscience." So it was with the Church of Rome. Popery, like Pharisaism, was utterly to be condemned, because it "made the word of God of none effect by its traditions : " and those who were betraying Christ against evidence and against conviction, justly deserved the condemnation pronounced : but it could not be therefore said, that every Pha- risee was damned ; neither can it be affirmed of every Papist. The battle, I urged, must be fought against the system, not against the persons of its upholders. Some there were who might be justly called "serpents, and a generation of vipers;" because, like the old serpent himself, they per- verted God's truth willingly and wilfully : but this could not be said of all ; and the prayer that God would soften the hard hearts, and melt the frozen affections, and change the stubborn will, and con- vince the blinded reason of the sincere members of the Church of Rome, seemed to me more cha- ritable, and more desirable than my own former unsparing and bitter denunciations. To the question, What would be the benefit of a Council? I urged the unanswerable truth, That APRIL] DISCUSSION ON MATT, xxiii. 33. 195 laws ought, if it were possible, to be rescinded by the power which enacted them, rather than by external violence ; that a Council had taken away the Bible from the people ; that a greater benefit would result to the world if a Council could restore it, and that this restoration of the Bible, without restriction, might be expected as the first of the conciliar decrees. The question of the extent of the hatred of Christian to Christian, and the singular manner in which those hatreds varied inversely according to the minuteness of their differences, so that the Calvinist hated the Arminian, and the Arminian the Calvinist, more than either of them hated the Hindoos or the Mahometans, was considered.- The conversation was certainly interesting ; but my brethren of the Scotch Free Church, by their manner of proposing, defending, and objecting, set my teeth on edge. I could not admire the style and manner in which the discussion was con- ducted; at the very time when I agreed in the opinions of my brethren, and in their aversion to the errors of Rome. They seemed to consider Christian serenity to be incompatible with Chris- tian zeal, to regard courtesy as weakness, and to mistake anger for earnestness. It is good to be zealously aifected against Popery ; it is evil to exasperate even the most erroneous, lest we Con- El 2 LEAVE ROME FOR NAPLES CAPU^E. [MAY firm them in the wrong, rather than guide them to the Truth. Tuesday, the 30th. Set off early this morning for Naples. Slept at Cisternse ; disappointed that it was not St. Paul's " Three Taverns." Wednesday, May the 1st. Rose at Four o'clock. Slept at Cicero's villa of FormiaB. Walk on the shore, and enjoy the scene, and the associations connected with its history. Thursday, the 2nd. Dine at Capuse, which must now be very different from the Capua whose attrac- tions proved so fatal to Hannibal. Read in the carriage the Natural History of Enthusiasm. Ar- rived at Naples at Seven, P.M. Friday, the 3rd. Call on some English friends ; and the Consul, Mr. Temple : walk in the gar- dens. Drive early, through the wonderful grotto of Pausilippo, to the grotto del Cane. The sulphur bath-house, and the bubbling hot springs in the lake, near the city. The entire country and dis- trict is volcanic. It is undermined, and redolent with subterranean materials for the utter destruc- tion of the whole of the south of Italy, from Rome to the neighbourhood of Naples. It is saturated with beds of sulphur and the substrata of destruc- tion. It seems as certainly prepared for the flames as the wood and coal on a hearth are pre- pared for the taper, which shall kindle the fire to MAY] ON THE DESTRUCTION OF ROME BY FIRE. 197 consume them. I again read the remarks of Dr. Gumming : " Rome," he believes, " is to be over- thrown by judgments, not to be converted by the agency of the Gospel, nor to be exhausted by poli- tical assaults. It is literally to be consumed by fire." Whether he is correct in regarding such an event as the fulfilment of the Prophecies, and the demonstration of the anger of the Creator, against the incorrigible assumptions of an erring and influential Church, I know not ; but the Divine hand alone seems to me to hold the element of fire in check by a miracle as great as that which pro- tected the cities of the Plain, till the righteous Lot had made his escape to the mountain. " Oh ! for that warning voice, which he who saw The Apocalypse heard cry in Heaven," that I might be heard in my appeal to the Bishop of Rome, when I say " Repent, repent ; rescind your additions to the religion of Jesus Christ ! " If the city of Rome be thus destroyed, enable the future historian, who shall record the event, to say "Rome was destroyed, mysteriously de- stroyed, by the Providence which withdrew its restraining hand from the sulphur, the volcano, and fire : but it was not destroyed by its errors or its sins ; for it had removed its errors, and repented of its sins." We returned from the proofs of the dangerous K 3 198 NAPLES RUINS OF POMPEII, &C. [MAY nature of the soil of Italy to the city, and visited again the Bourbon Museum, the relics from Pom- peii, and the unrolled papyri. The critical acumen and skill with which the editors of some of the manuscripts have filled up the blanks, seems to be among the most successful efforts of conjec- tural criticism. But all these things have been well and often described. Saturday, the 4:th. We pass the day at Pompeii. Oh ! the city of the dead ! If there were any Christians among the people there, how certainly must they have believed that the day of the Lord had come ! The emblems of vice are still to be seen in the streets. The museum at Naples sets forth the luxury, the opulence, and the elegance of the people. The debris of the toilet, the rings, the paint, the ornaments, the broken mirrors, the household and kitchen furniture, bread, and baked meats, the statues, vases, busts, and pictures, prove the suddenness of the destruction ; while the de- scriptions by Sir William Hamilton of the late eruptions, as well as the account by Pliny of the eruption which overwhelmed Pompeii, set forth the terrors and phenomena which must have attended it. Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer has omitted from his most interesting novel, " The Last Days of Pompeii/' if I remember rightly, any allusion to the possibility that some Christians were at Pom- MAY] NAPLES POMPEII CAPBI. 199 peii when it was overwhelmed by the ashes from Vesuvius. What scenes of interest and warning might not his powerful pencil have drawn, if this thought had occurred to him ! The charm of the day and of the scene, when we traced the street of the tombs, the shops, the villas, the theatre, and houses of Diomedes and Pansa, was almost destroyed by the remorseless and insatiable beggars who beset us. We were, however, much amused by the nimbleness and dexterity of one Neapolitan who danced the Tarantella, by another who imitated on a stick the tuning of a guitar, and by three poor fellows who met us at the entrance of the city with a violin, and singing. I could only make out some rhymes about the "Inglesi ;" when it came to that word they raised their voices, and smiled, and bowed. We paid them for their music, and I hope they were not disappointed. Sunday, the 5th. After our Service we went, as the only opportunity, to Capri. We wished to see the ruins of the palace of Tiberius, from whence he issued, according to tradition, his letter to the Senate of Rome, after the account which he had received respecting Christ from Pontius Pilate. The evidence that Pilate actually wrote to the Emperor respecting Christ is collected by Baronius K4 200 NAPLES LIQUEFACTION OF THE BLOOD [MAY in his Annals, on the thirty-fourth year of Christ, and eighteenth of Tiberius. We were, however, disappointed in all. Monday, the 6th. We drove early to several of the churches of Naples, to see the monuments of the noble family of Merode, of Joan of Naples, and her father ; the marble statue of Christ covered with a veil, and another statue in a net, of which the meshes are most exquisitely chiselled. We then drove to the Cathedral. I had ever been most anxious to see the alleged miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius. I did not, however, hope to see it now ; as I had been informed that it only took place on a Sunday, or at the times when the Cardinal Arch- bishop deemed it expedient. To my great joy I learnt that one of the days on which the blood is exhibited is the Sunday which falls next to the Calends of May. This was yesterday ; but fee- cause it was necessary that one of the royal family should be present, and the king could not attend yesterday, one liquefaction had taken place this morning, when the king was present ; and I am told that another liquefaction will take place to- morrow, when the king's brother, the P of S , will attend upon the working of the mira- cle. It was the anniversary of the time when the MAY] OF ST. JANUAKIUS. 201 relics of the Saint had been removed from Puzzuoli, where he was martyred, to Naples. We walked over the church. The large silver images, the silver bust of the Saint, in which, it is said, his head was enclosed, the jewelled mitres, and other ornaments, covered with diamonds and precious stones, still remained on the altar. The Service was over, and the people had dispersed. I walked about the church, and admired its splendour, and inhaled the fragrance of the incense, which still perfumed the building. I have already mentioned my custom in nearly all the cathedrals or churches which I visited, when I saw one of the priests or dignita- ries whose appearance pleased me, of commencing a conversation with him in Latin, by asking him, " Intelligis-ne Latinam, Domine?" The answer very generally was, " Imo, imo, Domine " and then, as well as we could make out our meaning in spite of the difference of our pronunciation, we began to converse. I did this in the cathedral of St. Janu- arius. A very gentlemanly Canon, on being thus addressed, replied in Latin ; and we conversed on the beauty of the church, the splendour of the decorations, and subjects of this kind. After walking with him over the cathedral, he kindly took us to the sacristy, where he showed us some of the gold and silver vessels, and rich presents of K5 202 THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JANUARIUS. [MAT jewels given by the members of the royal family, and especially by Queen Christina of Spain. He retained all, however, in his hands. When Mrs. Townsend wished to inspect them more closely, "Non e permisso, Signora," he said. Heretical hands, I concluded, were not permitted to handle the consecrated jewels. I was very obedient to the custos, and merely gazed at the anathemata, when Mrs. Townsend said, "Mio marito e Cano- nico." " Canonico ! In verita ? Si prendere," said my brother Canon, holding the sacred vessels to me. I could not contradict her ; neither could I at the moment explain to him that the Church of England had its canonries as well as the Church of Rome. I was courteously shown the contents of the sacristy, and permitted to inspect and han- dle the most sacred of the vessels, chalices, patens, ornaments, and decorations. We had a most agreeable conversation while this was going on ; in the midst of which he requested me, to my great joy, to attend at the liquefaction which is to take place to-morrow. If I would be early at the church, he would introduce me to the P of S , and procure us a place within the rails, close to the altar, where I could have ocular proof of the certainty of the miracle. He then went to the table in the vestry, or sacristy, and MAT] NAPLES ST. JANUARIUS. 203 wrote us a paper which we were to show to the virgers, or proper officers, in the morning ; and he left us to attend to some duties in the church. The Canon had told us, in general terms only, to be early. As we walked round the church, we inquired of one of the attendants at what time the miracle would take place ? " Oh ! " was the answer, "when it pleases the good God/' This did not quite satisfy us ; and we soon after re- peated the question to another of the attendants. " Oh ! " he said, with the utmost indifference, " Signora, the P goes to breakfast at Nine ; it will take place about Nine. Yes, Signora ; at Nine, Nine precisely." We made no reply, but bowed and thanked him, and returned soon after to the Hotel Tuesday, the 7th. St. Januarius is said to have been a native of this city, Naples, and to have been Bishop of Beneventum. Three persons of influ- ence in the Church having been arrested, and im- prisoned in Puzzuoli, by order of the Governor of Campania, in the year 305, were visited in their prison by the Bishop of Beneventum. For this offence, St. Januarius, with his companions, after having been exposed to the wild beasts, which re- fused to touch them, was beheaded at Puzzuoli. His relics, his head, and some of his blood, were removed, about a century afterwards, to Naples. K6 204 LIQUEFACTION OF INSPISSATED BLOOD. [MAY The intercession of tlie Saint is reputed to have saved his native city from being destroyed by fire from Vesuvius. I desire, in those instances where the antipapal writers impute wilful falsehood to the historians who relate the wonderful deeds of the Saints, to quote only, or chiefly, from the Papal authors themselves, that my impartiality and my freedom from prejudice may be known, and evident. The blood of St. Januarius is preserved in a rich chapel, called the Treasury. Mr. Butler, in his Lives of the Saints, imputes the preservation -of Naples to the intercession of St. Januarius ; and Baronius, the distinguished Papal historian, as- sures us, that when the blood approaches the head, though at some distance from it, as if impatient of the delay of the resurrection, and conscious that it is near the fount from whence it sprung, and to which it is desirous to return, it ceases to remain in a solid state, and dissolves and bubbles up, to the great admiration of the spectators. Such is the testimony of Baronius, a Cardinal, though not a Saint, who is deemed by many to be deserving of every credit. Mr. Newmann, of Berlin, on the con- trary, an eminent chemist, is said to have performed the miracle of the liquefaction of indurated blood, with all the circumstances of the Neapolitan expe- riment. I do not know whether this chemist was a member of the Church of Rome, or not. So it MAY] THE CHURCH NO PLACE FOB CONTROVERSY. 205 was, however, that, whether the liquefaction was to be regarded as Cardinal Baronius or as Mr. Newmann viewed it, I was most anxious to see it. The carriage was ordered early, and we arrived at the Cathedral by Eight o'clock. The good, kind Canon was waiting for us near the door. It was a festa day. It is the custom at Naples to pay more for a carriage on the festas than on other days. My servant had paid the driver the usual fare, and given him the usual gratuity. He did not, however, know that it was a festa. The driver, therefore, followed us into the Cathedral, and demanded more money. The Canon assured me that, though it was a festa, the man had already received more than he was en- titled to. The man still, however, persevered in his demand, and I ordered him to be satisfied. I thought the Canon would have embraced me, in his delight, when I said, " We must not mind the imposition now ; we are in the church ; and the church, you know, is not the place for controversy:" ' Ecclesia non locus est controversial I mention the anecdote, because I believe the circumstance procured for me the better place at the altar to see the miracle than I should have otherwise ob- tained, even with the intended kindness which had promised me admission within the rails. The Canon then took us to the vestry, among 206 NAPLES CEKEMONY OF THE [MAY his brethren. The P of S came in shortly after. With many kind expressions, we were in- troduced to his Royal Highness. After a short conversation in Italian, in which Mrs. Townsend again acted as interpreter, the P commanded one of his Chamberlains to go with us to that part of the church within the rails where we could most easily observe the process of the liquefaction, and the people, and the whole scene. The ceremony began with the Mass. The P was not at the altar during this Service. He keeps the key of the relics. It seemed to me to be a large golden key, richly adorned with eme- ralds and other jewels. The phial in which was the hardened blood was placed on the altar ; the jewelled bust of St. Januarius, adorned with a most valuable diamond cross, the gift, I was told, of Christina, Queen of Spain, was placed next it. We distinctly saw a hard, solid, round, dark red ball, as if of coagulated blood, move from side to side of a vessel which the Archbishop held up to the people. The hardness continued. The prayers continued. The blood did not melt. A Litany was begun, in which the names of Saints were repeated, and the people took up the chorus, " Ora pro nobis." The blood remained solid. The accounts given by so many writers I found to be correct. The people began to scream, to shout, MAY] LIQUEFACTION OF COAGULATED BLOOD. 207 and to raise their voices angrily louder and louder. A French lady, belonging to the P 's party, was kneeling close to us, overpowered with emo- tion, and bathed in tears. She turned to Mrs. T., and said, " Tell me, tell me, is the good God angry with us still?" She trembled with agita- tion. She impatiently called to her husband, who was at a distance, to come nearer. " Venez ici, Henri ; vous ne pouvez pas voir la." But he did riot move. The people still vociferated. The blood did not yet dissolve. It was nearly Nine o'clock. The P took out his watch. He looked at the Archbishop. Whether I am right in my opinion or conviction, that he looked very significantly, and that the look was returned with equal signi- ficance, I cannot so positively say that I could affirm it upon my oath, but the watch was taken out, and the look given ; and by the most marvel- lous coincidence, which renders it uncertain whe- ther the sympathy of the blood towards the head mentioned by Cardinal Baronius, or the chemical solution of Mr. Newmann, of Berlin, was the cause of the liquefaction, the red solid mass did at that moment begin to melt. I had up to this instant seen the hard substance move from side to side ; and I now saw the same substance gradually be- come liquid, and flow from side to side. The lady near us was mute with solemn delight. Th6 208 NAPLES LIQUEFACTION OF THE BLOOD [MAY screaming of the people ceased. The Archbishop passed the glass phial, in which was the dissolved substance, to the privileged persons who had been admitted within the rails of the altar. The lady near us, with many others, kissed it with enthusi- asm. It was presented to Mrs. Townsend, who put it from her, saying, " No, no ! Sono Protestante !" She could not believe as her neighbour evidently believed. The chemist Newmann would have been credited more than the theologian Baronius. It was taken from before her, with a gesticulation which implied displeasure. It was placed before me : I could not kiss the phial ; I looked at it stedfastly and earnestly. It was removed, I think, with another gesticulation, after a short pause, of surprise and anger. It was handed round to others ; and I believe it was devoutly kissed by them all. When it was taken quite round the space within the rails, and to the people at the rails, we found, with the P of S , that it was time to break- fast ; and the same early performance of the miracle permitted us both to proceed to our meal. We left the church with feelings which I am sure are, and must be, common to many who declare themselves to be members of the Church of Rome. I will indulge in no exclamations on the impossi- bility of believing the act we had witnessed to be indeed miraculous ; I pass by all the thoughts MAY] OF ST. JANUAK1US HERCULANEUM. 209 that breathed my horror, and all the words that burned with indignation at the system which, taking away the Bible, and still claiming to be pure in its teaching and divine in its authority, affirms that the Almighty upholds, by useless, yet by ceaseless miracles, its unscriptural doc- trines, and all its insupportable pretensions. I quote the words of the author of the Lives of the Saints, the zealous defender and admirer of the Church of Rome : " That these reputed mi- racles demand no other assent than that which is due to the evidence on which they rest." If the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius can be resolved into a chemical process, there can be no justification, as there is no necessity, for the x miracle. After breakfast we drive to Herculaneum, and to Vesuvius. We ascended the mountain as far only as to the Hermitage. The late eruption had ceased. Large bodies of white steam only crowned the mountain. The view was bright, and brilliant, and glorious. It was to me a novel and beauti- ful exhibition of the power and works of God. While the horses were being fed, we walked to the Observatory. We were grateful to the government of the country that some soldiers were stationed on the mountain for the protection of travellers. We were told that both robberies and murders 210 MOUNT VESUVIUS NEAPOLITAN CEMETERY. [MAY had been committed upon some unprotected ad- venturers to the summit. We saw some poor, downcast-looking persons, to whom we gave alms and refreshment, and some of the wine, the pro- duce of the mountain. The peasant who sold the wine charged, however, half as much less for the wine we thus gave away than he charged for that which had been used by our own party. The poor men seemed grateful ; but some of them such, I suppose, is the force of habit could not avoid picking my pocket of my handkerchief. Wednesday, the 8th. Read early the Apoca- lypse, and prayed that the wonderful prophecy with which it concludes, tSoi), tcaiva TTCLVTO. TTOIW (Rev. xxi. 5), " Behold, I make all things new," might be accomplished both in my own heart within me, and in the Church of Rome, and in the whole world around me. How mysterious is the permission of evil, however it may be over- ruled for good ! Call on the Consul, Mr. Temple. Drives round the city, and neighbourhood. Visit the English burial-ground, and a Neapolitan cemetery. The dead are buried here at night ; though the coffins are taken to the cemetery in the day. The coffins which we saw were of very slovenly workmanship, made of rough elm, or deal board ; so badly nailed together, that one of them burst open, when a MAY] NAPLES NEAPOLESE COFFINS, &C. 211 workman removed it from one niche in the ante- room to another. The coffin contained the newly- dead body of a young child, about five years old. How calm, how still, how serene it lay, with its little thin hands crossed over the body, its dark locks touching its shoulders, its colourless cheek turned on one side as if asleep, in its long white garment ; " So pale, so fair, It seem'd a form of wax was there ! " " I am the resurrection, and the life," occurred to me, with many other thoughts on the offence which occasioned death, on the decree which con- tinues it, on the redemption which remedies it, on the Resurrection which will follow it, and on the Son of God who will conquer its power. Theological controversy itself is dumb in the pre- sence of the dead. The fall of man, the recovery of man, the immortality of man, are the only thoughts that fill the mind, when the silent dead seem to say, " Thou art what I was ; I am what thou shalt be. May we live again, in one better world together!" I shall never forget the burst- ing open of the coffin of the poor little Neapolitan, nor the silent appeal its dumb lips seemed to make to me. I still see it, I still hear it. On our return from the cemetery we met a funeral. The gay dresses of the hired singing 212 NAPLES PUTEOLI BALE, &C. [MAY boys, the gaudy carriage, and the appearance of the attendants, made me imagine that a bridal, rather than a funeral, was taking place. Thursday, the 9th. Visit the scenes so well known and so often described the Church of St. Proculus at Puzzuoli (the ancient Puteoli) said to have been founded by St. Paul ; Baise, and its beautiful scenery, ruins, and bay ; the baths of Nero, the massy remains of the supposed bridge of Caligula, the temple of Serapis, and its most sin- gular columns ; the Lucrine lake, the supposed lake Avernus, the extinct volcano, and the grotto of the Sibyl. Friday, the IQth. Leave our cards and thanks with the P of S . Write a note to the Canon of St. Januarius, to thank him for his attention. I thought it best to err on the side of courtesy, if I did err, than to be guilty of any neglect. I entitled myself "his brother Canon," and told him that I wrote in English, because I was sure he would find among his learned brothers some one to interpret my note, if he could not himself read it. " If you ever come to England," I told him, " I should be most happy to show you the Cathedral of Durham, and to pay you every attention in my power. Our stay is so short in Naples, and we are so incessantly occupied in visiting its beautiful neighbourhood, that I fear I MAY] THE CANON OF ST. JANUAKIUS. 213 shall not be able to thank you in person ; and I have therefore thus written, begging you to believe that I am, &c. &c. GEORGE TOWNSEND. " Pray communicate the above to your brother Canon, who was also kind to us." To this letter I received an answer, in which the kind-hearted, worthy Canon has fallen into a pleasant mistake. He believed that my letter was written in Irish ! The cause of this error I think I can divine. I told him that I was a Canon of Durham Canonicus Dunelmensis : this latter word he mistook for Dubliniensis. He sup- posed I was a Canon of Christ Church, Dublin, and thence inferred that my native language was Irish ! In the British Museum there is a vast MS. collection, entitled Monumenta Britannica, transcribed from the records in the Vatican. It contains papal rescripts relating to England, Scot- land, and Ireland for five centuries ; and in seve- ral places, through the ignorance or carelessness of the copyists, the words Dunelmensis, Dubli- niensis, and Dumblanensis, are frequently inter- changed. I was not, therefore, surprised at my friend's mistake. "We drove out to the Sulphur Manufactory, heard and gazed upon the subterranean fire, and saw the sulphur smoke coming out of the ground, which sounded hollow when I stamped upon it. 214 NAPLES SALERNO THE CATHEDEAL. [MAY I again remembered the interpretation which so many commentators have given to the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and the great probability that the whole of this district will be destroyed by fire, as the predicted token of the wrath of God against the corrupt Faith of Rome. From the Solfaterra we drove to Cumae, and he scenery of the sixth Book of the JEneid the reservoir of Lucullus, or the spot where his fleet assembled, near Cape Misenum ; and the prisons of Nero. The peasants danced the Tarantella, and many other of their national dances, and sung to us many of the songs of the country. All was novelty. The day, the climate, the air, the scenery, were all perfect ! Saturday, the llth. After a most interesting morning among the pictures at Naples, we set off to Salerno, where we arrived late. Sunday, the 12th. After our own domestic Ser- vice (for there was no church or chapel at Salerno which we could attend), I hastened up to the splendid Cathedral. This Church was built by Robert of Apulia 8 , in the Pontificate of Gregory VII., about the same year in which the present Cathedral of Durham was begun by Carilclpho. Rapidly passing through the noble building, and 8 See Italia Christiana, Vol. vii. p. 387. MAY] SALERNO POPE GREGORY VII. 215 its subterranean crypt, in which were many wor- shippers, I paused at the spot which I had so often desired to visit, the grave of Gregory VII. I had bestowed, in my humble labours embodied in the work, "Ecclesiastical and Civil History, philoso- phically considered with reference to the Re-union of Christians 9 ," more industry in developing of the character and actions of Gregory, than of those of any other of the Bishops of Rome. I there endea- voured to prove the honesty of his ruinous zeal, the disinterestedness of his lofty ambition, the haughtiness of his mistaken piety ; I attempted there to show, to the few who are concerned in such inquiries, that the sincerity of error, and the perseverance in that error, and not, as is com- monly supposed, merely the hypocrisy of Rome, constitutes the chief source of danger to the Churches of Christ. To commit evil that service may be rendered to God, is the curse to the Church, and to the world, which the Saviour predicted. (John xvi.) The whole policy of Hildebrand, the foundation of the stern severity, the inexorable firmness, the disloyal vengeance towards his sove- reign whom he anathematized in the name of God, and the foundation also of his exceeding contempt of the Bishops, the Princes, and people who opposed him, was the theory of the divine 9 Book iii. chap. iv. Vol. ii. p. 176312. 21 6 EXHAUSTLESSNESS OF THE WORD OF GOD. [MAY right of the Pope to rule all nations and all churches, as the representative of the only King of kings, and the only Lord of lords. The con- scientiousness of mistaken piety alone, and not the pride of mere worldly ambition, then made, as it now makes, virtue vice, piety crime, and Christianity itself the religion of evil. The lofti- ness of the unsubdued, unbending energy of the mind of Gregory rendered him, however, the object of involuntary admiration ; as the Satan of Milton, or the indignant silence of Prometheus on the rock, under the fetters of his tormentor, compels the admiration of the student, or the lover of poetry. The tomb of Gregory had been restored by Pius VII., the same Pope on whose monument in St. Peter's is engraven the expres- sion " Verbum Dei," the Word of God ; and I deemed the fact to be a foreshadowing of the time when the Word of God shall be eventually given unrestrictedly to the world, in spite of all present appearances, by the Bishops and Church of Rome themselves ; and that they, even they for God's Omnipotence can so far change them will become the chief distributors of the Holy Volume, upon which alone all their own vain pretensions rest. Poor foolish man! One argu- ment for the truth of the Word of God is its utter exhaustlessness. It has called forth all MAY] THE PEOGEESS OF DISCOVEEY UNCEASING. 217 the research, the learning, and the criticism of the universities, and of the scholars, the students, and the philosophers, of the civilized and religious world. It has filled our libraries, it is preached in our churches, it is pondered in our houses ; hut it is still ever remarkable for its utter exhaustless- ness. As the studies of the universe are exhaust - less, so that new discoveries are incessantly made in the firmament above us ; or as the studies of earth are exhaustless, so that new discoveries are constantly made in Chemistry, Botany, Geology, and science ; so the pages of revelation are always revealing to the student who loves them, some new beauty, some new source of useful knowledge, some more bright anticipation of the happiness of the future state. As Gregory VII. would have con- fined the astronomers of all ages to the system of Ptolemy, or the physicians and botanists of all ages to the imperfect medical science of his own time ; so would he have limited the theolo- gians and the students of all ages to the learning and divinity of his own day only. But neither Gregory VII., nor all the successors of his throne, nor all the adopters of his policy, nor all the admirers of his principles, shall be able to stop the progress of discovery, whether in science or in theology. Whatever knowledge can be elicited from the Heavens, from the Earth, or from the L 218 THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY UNCEASING. [MAY Scriptures, must, it is certain, have been among them from their creation ; but the finite mind of man is yet acquainted with but a very small portion of those discoveries which the Heavens, the Earth, and the Bible, will still pour forth, like ever fresh, ever new streams from these fountains of the exhaustless knowledge of the same God, who made, and gave them all. Why will Rome thus wage war with the improvement of man by its attempts to prevent the unli- mitedly free use of the word of God ? It fights against the Bible, and in so doing it commits the crime which the sacred Book declares to be " making war with the Lamb of God." But the Bible shall triumph ; the Lamb shall overcome His adversaries. It was the Lord's-day ; and I prayed by the tomb of Hildebrand, Gregory VII., that Rome, and England, and the Universal Church, might all thirst more and more for the true know- ledge, and might all be brought to quench that thirst by " drinking of the pure river of the water of life proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb \" From the Cathedral we drove to Pa3stum, and thence back to Salerno. Pa3stum has been so often, so justly, so rapturously eulogized, that to describe 1 Rev. xxii. 1. MAY] SALERNO THE THEODOSIAN CODE. 219 its temples, ruins, and beauty, would be to paint the rose and adorn the lily. Monday, the 13th. In the work to which I have just alluded, "Civil and Ecclesiastical History, philosophically considered with reference to the Re-union of Christians/' I was compelled, that I might more fully understand the origin of perse- cution in the Christian Church, to study the Theodosian Code. I have shown that the impe- rial decrees of the Christian Emperors, contained in this code, laid the foundation of the persecuting canon law of the Churches in the earlier ages, and in the mediaeval ages. This code was embo- died in the laws of Justinian ; and it was at Amalfi that the Pandects of Justinian were said to have been found by the Pisans ; there the mariner's compass was discovered ; and there the first mari- time laws were compiled. These circumstances, with the lovely scenery along the coast, and the reported magnificence of the Cathedral, induced me to go to Amalfi, from Salerno, by boat. The Nea- politan or Salernitan crew sang some of their most beautiful sea-songs, carried the boat into two or three of the singular grottoes under the cliffs, and brought us safely, enchanted with all we saw and heard, to Amalfi. The Cathedral delighted us, though it is much inferior, as a building, to most of the other Italian Cathedrals. We were L2 220 AMALFI SCARACATORE. [MAY much gratified by the subterranean chapel and tombs. Being anxious to go back to Naples and Rome, we would not stop to see the neighbour- hood, but proceeded in the boat to Scaracatore. We declined the offer of the chairs, on which many travellers are taken up the mountain on the shoulders of the peasantry, who are hired by the owners ofthe chairs ; and we clomb up the high precipice. The beggars, in large groups, both at Salerno and Amalfi, exhibited the deformities which excited disgust rather than compassion. If we gave them money, they were dissatisfied that the amount was not larger: if we neglected to relieve them, they cursed us. The extortion of the boatman, or rather of the master of the boat, was most offensive. He took the money we gave for the men, after we had paid himself for the boat ; and though we gave the boatmen some additional smaller gratuity, we were compelled to threaten them with the displeasure of the king if they did not cease to follow and upbraid us. We expected, indeed, to be robbed by violence instead of fraud; and we probably should have been robbed if some strangers had not come in sight. There was no hotel on the top of the mountain : but a Sicilian gentleman, the owner of some of the neighbouring vineyards, invited us to his house, sheltered us from the rain, and took care of us. MAY] RAPACITY OF SICILIAN BEGGARS. 221 As the evening drew on, we thanked and left him, with many mutual invitations to England and Sicily. "We had sent our servants on from Salerno to Sorento by land, when we took the boat to Amalfi. We were much amused, as we walked from the house of our hospitable Sicilian, across the hill to Sorento, to meet an Italian with mules, which he declared our servants had re- quested him to harness r and bring to us. "We re- fused to accept theni ; and we found when our walk was over, on our arrival at Sorento, that he had not been sent ; but, learning from the servants the way we were coming, he set out with the mules to meet us. Every device was invented, through the whole of our journey, to obtain money. "Doubtless thf pleasure is as great/' says Hudibras, "of being cheated, as to cheat." Though we would not lose our temper, we some- times felt angry at the pretences by which money was extorted. But the fellows seemed so happy when they did cheat us, that it became almost an act of benevolence, instead of mere weakness, to submit to their impositions. Much fatigued, but much delighted with the novelty, beauty, and splendour of all we had seen, we arrived late at Sorento, at the hotel of the brothers Gorgiulo. We found the landlord attentive, the accommoda- L3 222 SORENTO ST. ELMO NAPLES. [MAY tion faultless, the provisions cheap and abundant, and the hotel more like an English one than an Italian. Tuesday, the 14th. Introduced to-day to the Very Rev. Dr. Smith, 0. T. B., the President of the Irish College at Rome. Both on this day and the two following days I received and returned the visits of this gentleman, and enjoyed with him, and Mesaheb and others who were present, but chiefly with Dr. Smith, one of the most varied, interesting, agreeable conversations I had yet had in Rome. Dr. Smith appears to be well versed in the knowledge of Councils, Fathers, Scripture, and History. He has promised to lay before the Pope any future Memorial I may wish to present, on the possibility of the summoning of a deliberative Synod to reconsider the controversies which divide us. Alas! the experience I have had, and the uniform answers which I have now received from the Pope, Cardinals, and Priests of the Church of Rome, from the Clergy of my own Church, from the opponents of my own Church, who are anti-episcopal as well as anti-papal, and from my own dearest and most intimate friends of all opinions, almost compel me to believe that all Union between the believers in Christ is hopeless. I should certainly believe it to be hopeless, if I was not convinced that the prayer of Christ will be answered, and the prophecies of God be fulfilled ; and that Rome, therefore, will be brought to re- pentance. With Dr. Smith chiefly, though Me- M 3 246 ROME CONVERSATION WITH [MAY saheb and others joined in the conversation, I discussed : Whether Christ had given His Church power to decide erroneously ? Whether the authority of the Church of Rome was to be doubted, if it was contrary to science, Scripture, antiquity, and every source of evidence, except its own seemingly unfounded decrees ? Whether the words to St. Peter, " On this rock I will build my Church," were not so fulfilled by His preaching to the Jews at Pentecost, and to the Gentiles at Joppa ; that the theory of his su- premacy is not essential to the right interpreta- tion of that passage ? Whether the cessation of the Apostolical mi- racles did not imply that the Church was left to the ordinary influences of the Holy Spirit, and therefore to a greater possibility of mistake by the successors of the Apostles, than by the Apostles themselves ? Whether the belief that any erring Christian may be saved, justifies us in compelling the adop- tion of all his opinions ? Whether the separation of a kingdom from an empire, as in the case of America from England, does not imply that the Church of America is no longer to be subject to the Church of England ? and, Whether that argument would not apply to MAT] DR. SMITH, OF THE IRISH COLLEGE. 247 nations formerly subjected to the empire of Rome, and subsequently separated from it ? To what extent the Fathers, all of whose writings contain some questionable doctrines, can be regarded as guides to truth in controversies ? Whether Rome, by affirming its doctrines to be Scriptural, does not imply that the Scriptures ought to be freely studied, contrary to its practice in merely permitting its perusal ? What are the reasons that justify the disappro- bation of the Council of Trent by those who re- ceive without hesitation the Council of Nice ? Whether the distinction between the words "customs," TO. Wri, "regulations," KCLVOVIQ, and "laws," vo'juot, does not prove, that whereas the two former prevailed in the primitive Churches, and the last in the later Churches, we may believe the gradual change to have been attended with some errors ; and, therefore, that much of the dis- cipline of Rome, as in the forbidding of marriage to the Clergy, &c., may be again changed from laws to recommendations ? Whether the decisions of Councils in one year ought not to be open to consideration in another year, as in the deliberations of the English Par- liament ? Whether the power which enacts a law does not M 4 248 ROME TRINITY SUNDAY. [MAY possess in all cases an inherent authority to recon- sider, revise, enforce, or repeal that law ? To what extent any power has the privilege to decree its independence of any future discovery, criticism, or inquiry ? These and many other similar interesting topics were proposed and discussed without heat, or any loss of temper. With deep and sincere regret I parted from this most learned man. He is, I believe, a Jesuit. If the Jesuits knew their own strength, they would endeavour to win men by acting on the principle, that " truth at all hazards" is a better source of influence than " authority at all hazards." Saturday, the Z5th. Numerous friends call to take leave, as I had announced my intention to quit Rome on Monday. Dine at Mrs. L 's. Meet Mr. P , the P of T , and a pleasant party. Sunday, the 28th. Trinity Sunday. Mr. B , the Chaplain, preaches a good sermon on the sub- ject of the day. Take leave of St. Peter's. calls to present me with a large bronze medal, with my likeness from my cameo on one side, and, on the other, the old but ever valuable motto, " In necessariis Unitas, in dubiis Libertas, in omnibus Charitas." MAY] FAREWELL TO ROME. 249 I was overpowered and gratified by the attention, and by the feelings it implied. My last conversation with the head of the Irish College was on the best English theological writers, such as Hooker and Taylor, on the power of the keys, the Councils, the union of authority and freedom, and the appeal of Christ to the seven Churches of Asia, of which there is no proof that they were governed by Rome. Talis cum sis, utinam noster esses ! Monday, the 27th. A finer or more exhilarating morning never dawned upon the world, even in bright and sunny Italy, than that on which we at length bade adieu to the Great City. " Tell the vetturino," I said, " to drive very slowly." He did so. A and B and C shook hands with us as we drove leisurely from the Piazza d'Espagna, through the Via Babuino, or stopped in front of the Porta del Popolo, to take our last look at the walks and ascent of the Pincian, which terminates at. that spot. After our passports had been in- spected by the proper officers, we proceeded along the Via Flaminia, over the Ponte Molle, near the fields in which the musing Constantino, the even- ing before his last battle with the Pagan Mezen- tius, saw, or affirmed that he saw, after his prayer for the Divine assistance, in the sky, over the sun, M 5 250 ON THE MEANS BY WHICH THE [MAY the shining cross with its speaking 4 inscription. Thence we drove slowly, and looked back, as the windings of the road for some miles permitted, on the domes, the turrets, the cupolas, the palaces, the Vatican, the glorious St. Peter's, and all the fair City, as the morning sun rendered it more magnificent and beautiful than I had ever before seen it. Farewell, farewell to Rome ! What will convert thee ? What means will the Divine Head of the Church adopt to work the great miracle of changing the unchangeable, healing the sick, waking the dead, and commanding the dry bones to live ? Shall the Cross of Christ be seen in the Heavens, as at this very spot it was said to have been seen, when the last blow to the dying Paganism subdued the enemy of the living God ? Shall the Son of God be beheld again, as He was manifested at the conversion of St. Paul, with words from Heaven, to bid thee return to the ancient Faith which deserved and received the eulogy of an Apostle ? Shall the preaching of the Gospel, the progress of civilization, and the saving knowledge of God's word, convert thee? or shall the judgments of God, as so many believe, destroy this Great City by the fire, the volcano, * ypa(j}v \kyovoav. See Note 8, p. 224, Vol. i. Civil and Ecclesiastical History. MAY] CHURCH OF ROME WILL BE CONVERTED. 251 and the earthquake, as the outward, visible, and predicted sign of the Divine condemnation of the idolatrous apostasy from the purer, holier Faith ? Willingly, most willingly, would I sacrifice my life to obtain repentance for the Church of Rome, and thus to lay the foundation of the better blessings which seem to be promised to the latter days, if the Holy page is interpreted rightly ! How shall this great controversy be ended, if Rome will still hate to be reformed ? And then, while I thus pondered, rapidly as the lightning through the cloud, the whole history of the great controversy between Rome and the Catholic Church of God seemed to pass, at this interesting spot, through the mind ; and confirmed every conclusion, and justified every opposition to Rome, which previous reflection and constant meditation on the collisions between the Church of Rome and the other Churches of Christ had induced me, through life, to adopt. " Yes ! " I thought. "Reformation is still required of the Churches ; but it must be the Reformation which takes us further from Rome, not that which brings us nearer to it." The first six centuries of the past history of the Church presented the Faith which St. Paul praised, and the growth of the useful, honourable, ameliorating influence of Rome from his day to the day of the mission of Augus- tine to England ; and the contrast between Rome M 6 252 THOUGHTS ON THE PAST AND PRESENT [MAY as it is, and Rome as it was, bade me, with more than mortal eloquence, persevere in my appeal to Rome itself to reconsider and repent. The second six centuries showed me the incipient usurpations over Kings and Churches founded on the former in- tercourse of kindness, and respect, and Christian love, till Gregory blessed the banner of the Nor- man, and the Sovereigns of England trembled before the High Priest of Italy. The retrospect of the next six centuries related the continued, ceaseless opposition to the ever increasing power, and the ever enlarging Creed of Rome. They reminded me of the stern obstinacy which never acknowledged an error, never retracted a deci- sion ; but which compelled, with unrelenting se- verity, the reception of every dogma, every decree, till Luther became the mouth-piece of Europe, and spoke out the indignation of the Christian world. I remembered the deadly strug- gle of the Reformation, and its continuance till the Revolution ; with the no less deadly hatred which attended it : and that portion also of the history of the past deepened the conviction, that the Reformation was essential to the happiness and the purity of the Church ; that the Reformation was worth establishing, and therefore is worth defending. All the whole history of the past seemed to rise before me, and to vindicate and MAY] HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF HOME. 253 sanction the policy, the expediency, and the justice of the self-irnposed mission which had brought me to the Great City ; the urging upon Rome and its Ruler the reconsideration only of its discipline, its laws, and its creed. So spake the past ; and the present re-echoed its instructions, and its conclusions. Christ's religion alone, in some purer and better form, can heal the diseases of the nations. " Give us/' the nations of the world seem to say, "a better Faith than Rome gives. Give us better governments than the absolutisms and des- potisms which have hitherto subdued and de- pressed us." Religion and politics are the only two great topics, in which the common mass of mankind are interested. Sixty years have elapsed within my own experience since the nations of Europe have oscillated in Religion, between the infidelity which denies Christianity, and the superstitious additions with which Rome has corrupted it. Sixty years have elapsed since they have oscil- lated in their politics, between the despotism which debased, and the anarchy which infuriated, and maddened them. Has not the time come, when, without either infidelity or anarchy, we may hope for a better Faith, and better governments, than Rome would grant or sanction ? Has not 254 EFFECTS OF TOLEKATION IN ENGLAND [MAY the Church of Rome utterly and totally failed to give the Continent of Europe that union of strength to governments, freedom to the people, mutual confidence, and national strength, which distinguishes and adorns anti-papal England ? Is not something better than Popery demanded, both in religion and politics, by the nations of Europe ? Ought not the lovers of the happiness of mankind to persevere in their efforts to eman- cipate the Continent from the faith of Rome ? The present came before me in another form. Conscious of the greatness of its strength, and anxious to prove to all mankind its determination to remove from its government, its senate, and its people, the very possibility of the imputation of intolerance, England has repealed and rescinded every statute which the struggles and the hatreds of centuries had once seemed to render essential to the public safety. Resolved to conciliate, if it were possible, the Church and government of Rome, it has called the partisans of Rome to the senate ; it has endowed its colleges of education ; it has even established its errors in the Colonies, and enabled its Clergy to uphold their hateful corruptions of Chris- tianity. We have surrendered all, and have been willing to surrender all and every thing, but the Faith which St. Paul approved, the Church we love, the prayers in which we worship God, and the Bible MAY] ON THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. 255 by which we know God. More could not have been done for the adherents of the Church which desires to destroy us, than has been done, if we still resolve to preserve the faith of Christ from the apostasy which corrupts it. So speaks the present : and what has been the return ? Not one, no, not one decree has been rescinded ; not one law altered ; not one error resigned. The same towering ambition, the same restless, cease- less, daring spirit of encroachment prevails. Every doctrine of faith, every assumption of power, every principle relating either to their ecclesiastical or civil domination, which our fa- thers resisted to the flame and the sword, is em- bodied in an unauthorized creed, as the motive to action, and the stimulus to incessant usurpation. Can it be supposed, then, that I anticipate at pre- sent the least success in the efforts I am making ? Oh ! no. I can but hope to give this turn to the great controversy ; that, whereas Rome has hitherto called upon us, and our Church, and people, to repent, we should now call upon Rome to repent ; for the end is not yet. The very principles of our splendid toleration will be made to fetter us, until we shall have suf- fered deeply, and more deeply. There is no remedy, none ; none whatever from the insolence, the encroachments, and the assumptions of this 256 THE PRESENT THE SEASON [MAY ambitious, intolerant, and intolerable power. Re- sistance to Rome, its falsehoods, its pretensions, and its dogged perseverance to destroy our Scrip- tural religion and our anti-papal faith, must and will be useless, till it has become, by means of our indifference, our divisions, and our negligence, more successful, and therefore more unendurable. If experience will not instruct nations, they must learn from suffering ; and the resistance to Rome, which has been the solid foundation of our hap- piness, faith, and greatness, cannot now be suc- cessful till we have been still more grossly in- sulted, deceived, or enslaved. Rome must pro- ceed in her odious progress, till she becomes more intolerable. Our zeal must be stigmatized as folly ; our Christian love of truth must be es- teemed as bigotry or enthusiasm, a little longer ; till Rome is still more triumphant, and shall dare, in the intoxication of success, to outrage us, to rouse us, and to provoke us beyond en- durance. This is now our only hope. All our present appeals are vain : but still we must ap- peal. All our present expostulations are useless : still we must expostulate, hoping against hope. Go on, Church of Rome ! Go on in the renewal of the strength of thy mediaeval claims to universal power! The divisions of England strengthen thee ! The traitors of England love thee, and give thee power ! MAY] FOR RESISTANCE TO THE CHURCH OF ROME. 257 Go on in the presumption, and in the insolence, which our weakness upholds and encourages ! In the name of the Church Catholic break the an- cient canons, crush the longings of the nations for hetter governments and a purer religion. Fill up the measure of the ancient iniquity. Persevere to offend us. It is our only cure. Send out the un- required Bishops to insult us, and the unrequired priests to mock us. Go on ! The old zeal of England, which declared in the name of the living God " that Popery should neither wield the sceptre nor wear the mitre among us'," is rapidly wasting away. Go on ! The government is indifferent, the people are torpid, the Church is silent. Go on ! The plague has begun, and is prevailing. The poison is spreading. The leprosy is in the pillars of the house of our God. The handwriting is on the walls. The blight is on the wheat. The curse is on the hearts of our people. The present, the present hour confirms the necessity of some voice to raise its cry in the wilderness, as the testimony to the future, with the cer- tainty that such cry, at present, is useless. The present, the present hour, summons forth the re- sistance of the faithful who are left, to protest, how- ever vainly, against the united craft and boldness of the Church of Rome. The present, as well as the past, sounds its warning voice, and commands 258 THE VOICE OF PROPHECY PROMISES [MAY the Christian once more to be prepared to en- counter the contempt, the scorn, and the reproach of all who disguise indifference to truth under the name of liberality ; or are willing to surrender the Truth itself, and the sacred fountains from which it proceeds, to the grasp of their common enemy, provided they are left to the enjoyment of their quiet and repose. We are betrayed ! But we must persevere against the domestic traitor, and against the foreign enemy. From the past and present I turned to the anti- cipation of the future. There alonethe voice of Pro- phecy spoke forth the words of comfort, and com- manded perseverance in the appeal to Rome, that it repent and put away the additions to the Faith of its fathers. It declared that the Atonement shall not have been made in vain, and that the family of man shall and must become the Universal Church of God. If this word be true, the time must come, when, the judgments of God upon Rome being ended, the Church of Rome itself shall be guided by the Spirit of God to the restoration of the Primitive Faith, and the revival of its purer obedience. But who shall live when God doeth this? Oh, my God, grant to the Church of Rome, for her own sake, for the sake of man- kind, for the sake of the Universal Church, re- pentance to remove its errors, and grace to re- MAY] REPENTANCE TO THE ROMAN CHURCH. 259 turn to the Faith which thy Apostle praised and honoured ! Heal the diseases of the Church of Rome. Make it the blessing, not the curse, to Thy Churches. Enable the Christians who be- lieve in the Faith of the one only divine Saviour and Redeemer, to break down every wall of par- tition between them, and to love Thee, and to love each other. Farewell to Rome. I am weary of conjecture. Drive on. The road from Rome to Nepi is unattractive. We were amused at Nepi by one of the attend- ants, who was absent when we inspected this Cathedral. He came to us as the carriage was setting off, and requested money, for the singular reason, that when we walked through the Church he was not present ! The country now began to be more beautiful and picturesque ; but it has been described, and praised, and admired in the Guide Books, by Eustace, and by Lord Byron, and others, so much, that any further account of it would be needless. "We arrived at Civita Castel- lana, and, after seeing the Cathedral, &c., sent our card to the French Commandant, and requested per- mission to go over the Citadel, a strong fortress and prison, now occupied by French soldiers and by prisoners from the suppressed Republican party. With the great courtesy which distinguishes this nation, he came himself, and walked with us 260 CIVITA CASTELLANA THE CITADEL. [MAT over the fortress. The prisoners were very nume- rous. I trust the mediaeval system of punish- ment for political offences has gone by for ever. The object of punishment once seemed to be the infliction of useless torture, and not the preven- tion of crime. We saw one dungeon, where a poor young man had been imprisoned nine years, in which there was no room to lie down ; it resembled a large cupboard, rather than a cell or room. The glowing, enthusiastic language in which the lovely scenery round this place is depictured by travel- lers in Italy all fail in power to describe it. The constant repetition, indeed, of the words "lovely !" " beautiful ! " " splendid !" " delightful I" " magnifi- cent ! " and " superb ! " seems to have no meaning, unless the eye gazes on the views they are in- tended to describe. Like the broken heaps of marble, to use the comedian's simile, " they en- cumber where they are intended to fertilize." We requested our guide to return with us to the hotel to take coffee. His duties, he told us, pre- vented this ; and we took leave of him, much gra- tified by his kindness. Tuesday, the 28th. To Terni, by Narni. The broken bridge ; Mount Soracte ; the junction of the Nar with the Tiber ; the Cathedral at Narni ; the drive to Terni; the view of the celebrated Falls; in spite of the numerous, indefatigable, remorse- MAT] TERNI THE CATHEDRAL SPOLETO. 261 less beggars, who gathered in crowds at every turn- ing, every end, and every beginning of a path ; made the day as memorable as it was pleasant. Lord Byron compares, in his noble verses, the Iris formed by the waters of the Falls at Terni, to hope upon a death- bed, or to " Love watching madness with unalter- able mien." He might have compared it, if he had known the feeling, to the hope of a Christian, among the apostasies of falling Rome ; or to love for the sons of men, watching the madness of Papal ambition, with the unalterable mien of calm and serene confidence in the accomplishment of the Prophecies, which declare, with the rainbow, at the subsiding of other waters, the removal of the curse, and the arrival of a better day. At Terni they offered to show us some Milk of the Virgin, and some of the Blood of Christ. I turned away in silence ; I could not encourage the wicked folly. I had no authority, I had no power, to suppress the unendurable falsehood. When such follies continue, how could I ever hope to hear that Italy could be restored to a better and purer Faith, if my conviction of the Truth of God's own prophecies were not as strong as death, and as the grave itself? Wednesday, the 29th. Spoleto, and its magnifi- cently adorned Cathedral. I observed a monument in the Church, of which I could not understand 262 ASSISI ST. FRANCIS OF ASSIST. [MAY the inscription. It was to St. Edmund, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, 1205. St. Edmund Rich, the introducer of the study of Aristotle to the University of Oxford, and subsequently Arch- bishop of Canterbury, died at Soissy, in Cham- pagne, in 1242. There is some mistake, which I could not rectify. Thursday, the 30^. Though the rain was de- scending in torrents, and the mist was so thick that we could not see more than a few yards before us, I ordered the vetturino to drive to the magnificent Assisi. Few names of pseudo-saints more influential in the history of the Church have been handed down to us, than that of St. Francis of Assisi. Zeal, austerity, the endu- rance of severe privation and excessive fatigue, the affirmation of wonderful visions, fervour in preaching, raptures in prayer, and all the other virtues usually ascribed to the ascetic devotees of the period, elevated him to the highest rank of popular saintship. The chief foundation, how- ever, of the extraordinary veneration in which he was held was, the belief that his body was miraculously impressed with the marks, or stig- mata, which were inflicted by the spear and nails on the body of Christ. A seraph with six wings had appeared to him in the air, bearing between his wings the figure of a man fastened to a cross. MAY] ASSIST ST. FEANCIS OF ASSIST. 263 This figure gazed on him, it was said, with pen- sive, yet gracious sadness. It then vanished away ; and the body of Francis began to receive the marks of nails, as if, like soft wax, it re- ceived the impression of a seal. His side received also a red wound, as if it had been pierced by a lance. Butler has collected the evidence of the reality of these wounds, the precautions taken to conceal them, and the effect of the conviction of their certain infliction upon the minds of the contemporaries of Francis. He was canonized by successive Popes. He was called a second Christ 5 : and I have in my possession the book of false- hoods which was seemingly written to confirm the other falsehoods, the Book of the Conformity of St. Francis to Christ, in which the parallel is drawn between the two in forty instances, to excite for St. Francis the same veneration which is granted by the anti-papal Christian to Christ the Lord alone ! This book was first published by a Franciscan, of Pisa, in 1383, and printed at Milan in 1513. The interest I have taken in this book, and the remembrance that many Popes, tens of thousands of converts, and hundreds of thousands of disciples, have honoured the name of Francis, made me impatient, in spite of the weather, to see the majestic Church, which the 5 Dean Waddington's History of the Church, Vol. iii. p. 34. 264 ASSIST THE CATHEDRAL. [MAY admiration of his followers had raised to their leader. Neither was I disappointed. The Church at Assist is well worthy of the inspection of every traveller in Italy. It may be justly called three Churches in one. The subterranean Church re- tains portions of the solid rock from which it was excavated. Above this is the Church of the Convent ; and over that is a third Church, extend- ing in long halls, abounding with the pictures of Giotto and Cimabue, and wonders of paint- ing, and frescoes, of which I do not speak more, because the Guide Books are both eloquent and accurate in their details. I was enchanted with the beauty and rarity of the attractive wonders of the city. The Cathedral, the cloisters of the Convent, the great hall into which some of the monks conducted me, though permission was refused to Mrs. Townsend to walk either in the corridors or hall, the ancient Temple of Minerva, and the splendid views of the surrounding country, (for the weather was now more clear,) amply repaid my curiosity. One circumstance, however, destroyed all my satisfaction. "Whether the monks com- memorated the festa of the English saint Walstan, or the Spanish saint Ferdinand III., both of whose days fall on the 30th of May, I know not ; but the open space before the Church was strewed with flowers, the Church was lighted up, MAY] USELESSNESS OF PILGRIMAGES PERUGIA. 265 though it was open day ; and many pilgrims, wearing their peculiar badges, were assembled in the piazza. Among these pilgrims were some gen- tlemanly-looking men, whom, from their appear- ance and demeanour, I believed to be English. I was grieved to see them in that garb. I study the books of the Papists; and from them, as well as from the volumes in which my own conclusions are defended, I deduce my opinions in these matters. From a love of truth, impartiality, and resolution to know all that can be said, I read on each side of the question ; and I find it to be impossible to believe, either in the stigmata of St. Francis, the necessity of pilgrimage, or the system of papal additions to the ancient faith of the Primitive Church. I was grieved, deeply grieved, to see an English gentleman forsaking the better faith of his truth-loving countrymen, and identifying himself with the less enlightened and superstitious Italian. From Assisi we proceed to Perugia. The rain came on again. We were much fatigued, and unable to visit, as it was late, the Cathedral and the tomb of the great Pope Innocent III. So much is to be seen at Perugia, that we hope, if we live, to be able to visit the city at some future time. Friday, the 3lst. "We rose very early, and 266 PERUGIA AREZZO FLORENCE. [JUNE walked out to the ruins of the citadel on the hill on which Perugia is built, and gazed on one of the most wonderful phenomena of nature. The rain of the previous day occasioned a vast sea of white mist to fill the whole valley before us. It appeared like an extended sea of light, ' thin, curling waves ; from which high buildings, church steeples, and church towers, emerged like islands. The difference between this early mist at Perugia and that at Rome, which I saw from the Pincian, consisted in the contrast between the dark floating waves of the one, with the light floating waves of the other. Very striking was the scenery beneath us and before us. It elicited the old, but ever new, quotation, " These are Thy glorious works/' &c. Slowly driving past the serene, calm, silently slumbering Lake of Thrasimene, dining at Cor- tona, and revelling in the remembrances of its history, and the brief view of the ruins around the city, we arrive at Arezzo. Saturday, June 1st. Reading too intensely in the open carriage with my hat off, sudden and continued headache prevented the enjoyment of the scenery between Arezzo, which we hope to see another year, and Florence, which we reached safely : and we at once proceeded to apartments which had been taken for us by a friend. JUNE] FLORENCE VALLOMBROSA. 267 Sunday, the 2nd. Service in our own rooms. Monday, the 3rd. We remained at this most fascinating place three weeks, contrary to our intention of more immediately returning home. The whole of that time was passed in completing, if I may use the expression, the holiday of my life, which had begun in January. We found at Florence agreeable friends, literary conversation, pleasant parties, delightful excursions, ever new walks in the gardens of the Pitti Palace, and other places, and no less enchanting drives in the Boboli Gardens, to the Prattolini, to the grounds and terraces of Fsesoli, Dolci, and other places in the neighbourhood of Florence. The mornings were passed in the picture galleries of the TJffizi, the Pitti Palace, the Laurentian Library, the Duomo, the Baptistery, the Churches, or the Ca- thedrals ; the evenings in the conversational parties, at the apartments or houses of the nume- rous friendly English whom we found in the city. On Monday the 10th we made a party to the Convent, the hill, and the brooks of Vallombrosa. No ecstatic description by the numerous travellers who have visited the scene, and indulged in the most enthusiastic language respecting its varieties, extent, and attractions, has at all exaggerated its beauties. I pleased myself with the thought that it was possible that Milton himself might N 2 268 VALLOMBEOSA FLORENCE. [JUNE have pored over the Hebrew and historical works in the library ; for many of them had been pub- lished prior to the date of his two months' resi- dence in Florence, in the year 1638. It is not probable that he resided at Florence during that time without visiting Vallombrosa, to which he has alluded in one of his most well-known pas- sages. The allusion, indeed, of Milton to the " Autumnal leaves That strew the brooks of Vallombrosa," has made the romantic scenery of the conventual domains still more classical, and formed a powerful incentive to undergo the fatigue of climbing to the summit of the hill. I do not, however, see any fur- ther allusion to Vallombrosa in his Latin poems to Salsilli and Manso, which were written after his visit to Florence. The museum, the long galleries from the Pitti Palace, with the Uffizi, the Arno, the bridges, the sunsets, the houses on the bridge, reminding us of London in the olden time, no less attracted us in their turn. The absence of English newspapers, and the consequent avoidance, for a time, of the exciting discussions respecting our political and religious controversies, added to the mental repose of the place. I do not mention the long list of the names of those who welcomed us, and rendered the three weeks we passed with them among the most pleasant of our reminiscences of JUNE] BOLOGNA PIACENZA MILAN. 269 our journey, as I have not their permission to do so. Sir George Hamilton, one of the most accom- plished, may be named. His friends, and myself among them, are lamenting his loss. With thankful hearts to God for His goodness, and with grateful minds to our numerous friends for their attention and kindness, we left Florence at the end of our three weeks' sojourn, and arrived at Bologna on the evening of the 25th. That city, too, if we live, we hope to revisit at some future day. We were now only anxious to return to England. Wednesday, the 26th. Piacenza. This place also we hope to see on another occasion. Thursday, the 27th. Rise very early, and at Three in the afternoon arrive, exceedingly fatigued, at Milan. After reposing, we dine at the table- d'hote. Our hotel was the Hotel de Ville. Here one circumstance much pained me. I was placed at the table-d'hote near some American gentlemen, from whom I learned that they were travelling for their amusement. Their allusions to their mode of travelling, numbers of servants, and style of equipage, assured me that they were in that rank in America which implied station, wealth, leisure, and education. I have had the honour at Durham of welcoming some of the American Bishops, M'llvain, Meade, and Eastburn, N 3 270 AMERICAN GENTLEMEN. [JUNE and many of the American Episcopal Clergy, Dr. Wightman and others ; and I always found their conversation to be similar to that of the educated English gentleman : there was but little difference. Now and then an idiomatic phrase not generally used in England, or an archaological, classical, though disused English word, such as " to progress," constituted the only observable dis- tinctions. With these gentlemen, however, there was a certain slangishness, a variation in the pro- nunciation of words, such as " inquiries" with the penult short, which surprised me. I was sorry for this. The two nations have the same Bible, the same Prayer Book, the same Milton and Shaks- peare, and all the books which are implied in these four. They have the same religion, and the same literature ; and they ought, if possible, to up- hold the same standard of language. The Ameri- cans are our body, and flesh, and bones ; the same nation, the same people. The parent and the child have not parted on friendly terms, and they have been angry with each other since their first separation ; but I trust we shall ever be deemed one people, for the common benefit of mankind. Three months would be required to see Milan. We could not give to it three whole days. After dinner we devote the evening to the Cathedral and city. I observe that the Milanese will not JUNE] THE FOUK GREAT DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH. 271 go into the same cafes with, the Austrian officers, who are very numerous. Friday, the 28th. Early to see the Cathedral, the Church of St. Ambrose, and the library. Very beautifully did the white marble pinnacles, finials, and crockets glitter against the deep blue sky, as we gazed on them from the window of our hotel ; and well worthy of admiration, as we walked round the magnificent building, were the statues, the windows, and all the external decorations. We thought the inside more dark and gloomy than was required for the impression of solemnity. We inspected the often described relics, and ad- mired the representation of the four great Doctors of the Church, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory, and Ambrose. All was very beautiful, and very attractive. On gazing at the resemblances of the four great Doctors of the Universal Church, I could not but remem- ber the strikingly singular manner in which all the respective excellencies for which they were severally most esteemed and honoured were united in the Church of England. Jerome is chiefly es- teemed for his labours on the Bible ; Augustine, for his explications of the Faith ; Gregory, for his ordi- nances on the Liturgical Services of the Church ; and Ambrose, for his resistance to the Princes and Sovereigns of his age, when they imagined that N 4 272 MILAN THE BASILICA OF ST. AMBROSE. [ JIJNE the authority of the Prince superseded the cus- toms, the doctrines, or the observances of the Church. Though the Church of England is " built upon the foundations of the Apostles and the Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone," the four Great Pillars which sup- port the superstructure are, the knowledge of the Bible, elucidated by Jerome ; the pure Faith, which the Church ever venerated in Augustine ; the appropriate Prayers and Services, which were collected by Gregory ; and the refusal to permit the Stuart race of Sovereigns to compel us to re- ceive the unscriptural additions of Rome to the ancient Creeds of the four first Councils of the Primitive Church. None of the four Doctors of the Church received the novel tenets embodied in the Creed of Pope Pius IV. From the Cathedral at Milan we drove to the Basilica founded by Ambrose. Milan has been so often sacked and destroyed, that little of the original city remains. The site of the Basilica of Ambrose, however, has been always preserved. Parts of the doors of cypress wood, ornamented with Scripture histories and foliage, though of a later date than Ambrose, who died in 397, are still shown. The gold and silver ornaments of the altar, the Baldacchino over the altar, under which the bodies of Ambrose, and Gervasius, and JUNE] MILAN ST. AMBROSE. 273 Protasius, are said to be buried, the pictures, mosaics, the portrait of Ambrose, and the legen- dary history of his life, the ancient throne of marble in which the Bishops of Milan sate, the curious stone pulpit upon eight arches, the repre- sentation of an ancient Agape, and the eagle sup- porting the book of the Gospels, amply repaid our curiosity. We saw the figure of the Brazen Serpent, which is affirmed by many to be regarded as the Serpent which Moses raised in the "Wilder- ness. It was placed here by Archbishop Arnulph in 1002, and is said to have been a type of the Cross 6 . The sight of the remnant of the old doors of the church which Ambrose shut against a powerful Emperor unavoidably recalled to mind the exer- cise of episcopal authority, which was subse- quently so much abused by the Church of Rome. The resistance of Ambrose to Theodosius, and other rulers of the day, must not, however, be considered in the same light with those infa- mous and indefensible acts of authority, the ex- communications of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, for their right and holy rejection of an unjust, usurped, tyrannical supremacy. Five several instances are recorded of the exercise of this 6 Gretzer de Cruce, 1. i. c. 41 , ap. Butler, Dec. 7th, Lives of the Saints. N 5 274 MILAN ST. AMBROSE. [JUNE great influence by Ambrose : and in every in- stance he was justified by the circumstances. He obtained from the Emperor Gratian the enact- ment of the decree, that thirty days should elapse between the sentence of death and the execution of the criminal ; that all haste, and passion, and injustice might be avoided. He prevented the murderer of Gratian, the usurper Maximus, from passing the Alps to destroy the remnant of the party of Gratian. He persuaded Yalentinian to refuse to the eloquent Symmachus the replace- ment of the Altar of Victory in the Senate-house of Rome. The Emperor uttered, on that occa- sion, a sentiment which it may be wished that Newman, Spencer, Ward, Oakley, and others, who have become the adherents of the Church of Rome, would remember, and apply to themselves : That " he loved Rome ; but he must obey God." Ambrose refused to permit the Empress Justina to give up the Basilica of Milan to the enemies of the Divinity of Christ: and he rejected Theodosius from the Communion of those who were admitted to the Holy Table, till he had first placed himself among the penitents who were temporarily refused the Communion for their offences. He required of the Emperor submission, not to himself, but to the usual discipline of the Church, in common with all other Christians. The Emperor had com- JUNE] MILAN ST. AMBROSE CHIA VENN A. 275 manded the wholesale slaughter of seven thousand men, in the circus of Thessalonica, in cold blood, after his solemn promise to Ambrose, that he would pardon the rash and tumultuous murder of a general, who had refused to give back a justly-im- prisoned charioteer to the demands of the people. The crime was great and indefensible. The pro- mise of pardon was unconditional. The punish- ment, whether with or without the promise, was disproportioned to the offence. Well would it have been for mankind if crime, cruelty, and murder could have been repressed or punished in all ages by the same exercise of episcopal autho- rity! Every sect, every party, every society of every kind, exercises the power of rejecting the unworthy from its privileges ; and the same power, however scandalously it may have been abused by Rome, is one of the duties, defences, and immuni- ties, which the civil law ought to permit, as the prerogative which Christ and His Apostles have granted to every Church which is founded upon their Faith and discipline. Saturday, the 29th. To the Ambrosian Library. Inspected many of the manuscripts : but libraries are only tantalizing, unless you may take down the books, inspect them, and replace them at pleasure. Re-visit the Cathedral ; and set forward to the Lake of Como and Chiavenna. N 6 276 CHIAVENNA COIRB. [JULY Sunday, the SQth. Rest at Chiavenna, and keep the day. Walk, after our own Service, to a country church, in which were pictures of miracles, and the bearing away through the air of the Church of Loretto ; and see also the strange collections of skulls, bones, and relics, in the two churches of Chiavenna. Monday, July the 1st. From Chiavenna very early in the morning, across the Splugen. " Re- plenish the earth, and subdue it," was the com- mand. Here the mountain is tamed, and pierced, and subdued. How perfect is the road ! how wonderful the excavated galleries ! how beautiful the curves and windings of the otherwise precipi- tous descent ! We passed through Richenau, the place where Louis Philippe became an assistant to a school. Arrive at Coire in the evening. Although many authors have affirmed the story of King Lucius to be most probably fictitious, yet I resolved, as the question had been discussed by Collier 7 and others, to inspect the relics of this real or supposed British king. Leaving my party, therefore, at the hotel, I went on at once to the Church and Convent where the relics were de- posited. The Church was closed ; and I wandered, till the keys were brought to me, near the spot, * Eccles. Hist, i, p. 14. JULY] COIEE KING LUCIUS, &C. 277 among the towers, walls, and steep rocks on which the higher part of the town is built. The idea that a British king had, as was said, resigned his throne, wandered over the Continent as a preacher of the primitive Truth, and lived and died as a hermit in or near this place, reminded me of the prophecy, that " the isles," the places near the sea, or the places surrounded by the sea, the description equally of Rome and Britain, should longingly wait for the law of Him " who should neither break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax V I remembered the remarkable traditions, that the father of Caractacus possibly and probably became acquainted at Rome with St. Paul, when both were captives in that city ; that he brought from Rome the knowledge of the true Faith ; that St. Paul, in his second impri- sonment at Rome, mentions, when writing to Timothy, a Christian British lady, Claudia, im- plying thereby the certainty that Christianity was known and taught in Britain. These, and other reflections of the same nature, compelled me to be- lieve, also, the possibility, or very great probability, that Lucius was the Llewer Mawr of Llandaif, in British antiquity ; and that he was instructed, when a youth, in the Christian religion, by his mother, the daughter of Pudens and Claudia. The one 8 Isaiah xlii. 1 4. 278 COIRE KING LUCIUS, &C. [JULY great object of Papal ambition, above all other objects, is to obtain the conquest, the repression, and the supreme spiritual dominion over my own dear Christian land. The traitor editor of the Lives of the Saints 9 exults, I remembered, in the fact, that Lucius sent to the Bishop of Rome of that day, Eleutherius, for instruction and direction. He infers from that message the supremacy and precedency of Rome. If the Popes of the three last centuries had given to the sovereigns of Eng- land, and to the Churches of Europe, the same answer which Eleutherius gave to Lucius, there might still have been union, without submission. The Pope told the king that he, the king, was Christ's vicar in his own land, over his own people ; and that the Holy Scriptures were the best founda- tions of his national laws. The letter is quoted by Collier, Williams 1 , Butler 2 , and by nearly all who have written on the subject. Eleutherius claimed no supremacy, enacted no decrees, demanded no submission. One law, the written law of God, was the supreme director, commanded by the one and accepted by the other. There was union, on the basis of love and truth. There was no re- quired and no yielded submission, on the basis of usurpation and falsehood. 9 Newman. ' Ancient Britain. 2 Lives of the Saints. JULY] COIRE THE CATHEDEAL, &C. 279 Such thoughts rapidly filled my mind, as I waited patiently for the sacristan, or verger, with the keys of the Church. I admired the porch, the statues, the ornaments, the architecture. The skulls of Lucius and his sister, adorned with gems and jewels, and surrounded over the foreheads with flowers, were brought forth from their boxes. The evening began to close in ; and as the duski- ness of the hour increased, and I gazed still with attention and curiosity on the fleshless relics, a close, sepulchral, earthy smell seemed to pervade the place, and overcame me, and almost made me faint. The whole vision of Ezekiel in the valley of the dry bones seemed to present itself to me. While I still gazed on the fleshless relics, the sinews seemed to begin to cover the dry bones, and dull flesh to cover the sinews, and pale skin to spread over the flesh. The hollow cheeks filled out, the dry and eyeless sockets assumed sunken, sightless, fearful eyes. I imagined that a mysterious whisper came forth from the lips of the skull of the king, and bade me persevere to uphold the united dominions of the ruler of my country and the law of my God. It was a strange feeling of awe and solemnity. But this was not all : as I still stood by the sad relics before me, the Image of Death, as a skeleton, with the shadowy dart in his hand, as the King 280 COIRE ZURICH. [JULY of Terrors is represented in Martin's striking engraving in the Paradise Lost, seemed to emerge from the increasing darkness in the corner of the vestry. The bones of the skeleton seemed to whiten, and to glisten as I gazed. The noisome hand of one arm seemed to clutch the Bible in its long vile fingers, while the other hand waved ' its shadowy dart, to prevent the possibility of the escape of the sacred book. The vision lasted but a moment ; but the word "Popery" seemed to beam in letters of fire on every bone of the fleshless ske- leton, from its horrible foot to its flaming head. The vision was a phantom : but was it not a rea- lity ? The fatigue of the day, the one subject which always occupies my mind, the skulls, the darkness, and the smell of the sepulchre, raised up the vision. I turned from the skulls and the relics to the door of the room, and re- joiced to meet my party, who were now coming up from the hotel to visit the Church. Tuesday, the 2nd. Set off early to Zurich, through the canal of Vallanstadt, and through the beautiful scenery of the lake, to Zurich. Wednesday, the 3rd. Stopped the whole day at Zurich, to visit the Churches, and to inspect the Library, where was the Hebrew Bible, with some few marginal notes of the glorious Zuinglius, Let- ters of Lady Jane Grey, &c. &c. JULY] BASLE FRANKFORT ROTTERDAM. 281 Thursday, the 4 P- 13. " It may be observed, that the authority of Bishops was never greater in the world than when they concerned themselves only in 288 APPENDIX. the exercise of their own proper spiritual power. For then they had an universal respect paid them by all sorts of men ; insomuch that no Christian would pretend to travel without taking letters of credence with him from his own Bishop, if he meant to communi- cate with the Christian Church in a foreign country. Such was the admirable union of the Church Catholic in those days, and the blessed harmony and consent of her Bishops among one another ! These letters were of divers sorts, according to the different occa- sions or quality of the persons that carried them. They are gene- rally reduced to three kinds : the Epistolce Commendatoriee, Com- municator 'ice, and Dimissoriee. The first were such as were granted only to persons of quality, or else persons whose reputation had been called in question, or to the clergy who had occasion to travel into foreign countries. The second sort were granted to all who were in the peace and communion of the Church, whence they were also called Pacificte, and Ecclesiastics, and sometimes Canonicte. The third sort were such as were given only to the clergy when they were to remove from their own diocese, and settle in another ; and they were to testify that they had their Bishops' leave to depart ; whence they were called Dimissorice, and some- times PacificcE likewise. All these went under the general name of Formatce, because they were written in a peculiar form, with some particular marks and characters, which served as special sig- natures, to distinguish them from counterfeits." Bingham, book ii. chap. iv. sect. 5. NOTE 8, p. 16. The error of Dr. Pusey, and of all his party, whether actually gone over to the Church of Rome, or in the transition state thither, is, the forgetfulness of the spirit of that holy Wisdom, which has declared that " the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath," Mark ii. 27. They forget that the priest is appointed for the people, and not the people for the priest ; that while the priest is the salt of the earth, and the leaven of the bread, the salt was made for the earth, and not the earth for the salt ; the leaven was made for the bread, and not the bread for the leaven. I have read Dr. Pusey's Sermons. The fault may be in myself ; but to me they appear to be obscure, inconsistent, and unintelligible. His APPENDIX. 289 own friends point out his own heterodoxy. " Give me," I ex- claimed to myself, slightly altering the lines of G. Canning, Give me the avow'd, the erect, the Popish foe ; Bold I may meet, and thus avert the blow : But of all plagues, my God, thine anger sends, Save, save Thy Churches from their traitor friends. I have said that Dr. Pusey's own friends point out his heterodoxy, and, by presenting us with a succinct summary of his leading tenets, spare us the distasteful task of raking them together from those writings of their master in which they are dispersed. Mr. Dods- worth, in his Letter to Dr. Pusey, shows that his friend inculcates twelve points of faith, which Rome approves, and England con- demns. The twelve points are these : 1. the Sacrament of Penance ; 2. Auricular Confession ; 3. the Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist ; 4. the Corporeal presence in the Eucharist ; 5. the Adoration of Christ really present on the Altar ; 6. introduction of Roman Catholic books ; 7- encouraging the use of rosaries ; 8. and of crucifixes ; 9. and of devotion to the five wounds of Christ ; 10. using the popish expression of our " being inebriated by the blood of our Lord;" 11. advocating counsels of perfection; 12. seeking to restore the conventual and monastic life. Yet Dr. Pusey still remains in the Church of England ! NOTE 8, p. 74. The 14th of March is observed in honour of the Forty-seven Martyrs who were baptized by St. Peter and St. Paul in the Mamertine Prison, where they were detained for nine months, and were then beheaded. This prison is at the foot of the Capitol, a little above the Forum, with steps down to it, and is visited, from religious motives, by believers on stated days. It is held in great veneration on account of its connexion with the Apostles Peter and Paul. It strongly resembles the prison de- scribed by Sallust, in his Catiline war : " Est locus in carcere quod Tullianum appellate, ubi paulatim descendens ad Isevam circiter duodecim pedes humi depressus, eum muniunt undique parietes, atque insuper camera lapideis fornicibus juncta, et incultu tenebris, odore foeda, atque terribilis ejus est fades." But Baronius (Martyr. O 290 APPENDIX. Roman. Martii xiv.) thinks that ' the Mamertine prison is not the same with this prison, which was constructed by King Tullius (as Varro relates, de Ling. Lat. lib. iv.), and called from him, Tulli- anus ; but lies to the east of it. Pliny says, that the Career Tullianus, that part of it, at least, in which persons convicted of capital offences were confined, extended to the Theatre of Mar- cellus. Now that theatre is between the Tarpeian Rock and the Tiber. But the Mamertine prison lies to the east of the Temple of Marcellus ; therefore it must be altogether a different place from the Career Tullianus. Further ; the Tarpeian Rock, and the rock called Robur, whence criminals used to be precipitated, inclines towards the Tiber. Near to this was the Career Tullianus ; but the Mamertine Prison is not at the elevated side of the Capitol, but at the lower part : therefore the Mamertine Prison must be altogether a different one from the Tullian. The Tullianus Career must have been a large one ; for there was no other prison at Rome. There was, indeed, a place of confinement, called the Career Centum Virorum, but that was only for debtors. The Mamertine Prison was a private one. Some think Mamertinus is derived from Mars, some from Mamerca, the name of a Roman family. There was also a Mamertinus, of the _ Flavian family, who was Consul in the time of the Emperor Julian. An old inscription attests that the prison was built in the Consulship of M. Cocceius Nerva and Vibrus Rufinus, an. 7 of Augustus. In the time of Constantino the Mamertine Prison was made into a church, and persons guilty of grave offences were thenceforward sent to the island in the Tiber. The early Christians were also confined in private houses: this was called, libera custodia liber career. " Career (says Varro, de Ling. Lat. lib. iv.) a coercendo, quod exire prohibentur.' " NOTE 9, p. 116. " Via del Babuino, No. 90, Roma. " Litteras tuas, admodum R. Domine, humanitatis et benevo- lentise plenissimas ante hos dies accepi ; quarum causa debitas tibi gratias ago. Nam quod me benigne inviseris, tuseque plu- APPENDIX. 291 rimae doctrinae coram agnoscendae occasionem prasbueris; quod item Christianas religionis contra hodiernos incredulorum cona- tus tuendae magnum zelum ostenderis; haec, inquam, atque alia amantissimae tuae atque optimae indolis indicia mesummopere delec- tarunt ; tuique memoriam, numquam quoad vixero, ex animo meo delendam, ingesserunt. " Quod autem postulas, ut ego tibi R. Domine, avarariKoiQ ypaftnaai ad Pontificem Maximum aditum curem ; equidem, si opus fuerit, prono animo id agam : neque dubito quin te Pontifex perlibenter adeuntem excipiat. " Ceterum quae hactenus mihi subindicasti de cogitato Chris- tianorum conventu, et ferendis religiosae pacis conditionibus, ea perardua mihi, tibique ipsi, ut puto, videntur; nee sine ingenti omnipotentis Dei beneficio fieri posse. Sancta quidem Romana Ecclesia in dogmatibus semel definitis perstat, semperque perstabit : neque a conciliorum quorumlibet oecumenicorum placitis umquam recedet. Nam praeterquam quod id Catholicae Ecclesise naturam adficit, periculum esset, ne si res gravius et incautius permiscerentur, nee vetera reciperemus, nee hodierna quidem sarta tecta retineremus. " Reliquum est ut tibi A. R. Domine gratum animi sensum declarem, quod liberalem adeo te praebeas, ut hospitalem quoque mensam apud Dunelmum, si forte opus foret, mihi off eras. Equidem nobilissimam Angliam invisere vellem, nisi aetas ingra- vescens et occupationes vetarent : et quamvis Dunelmum borealius est, sedes tamen Volsei et Tunstalli, et tot illustrium litteratorum collegium non parum me allicerent. Ergo, interim, vir admodum reverende et doctissime mei memor, vale. A. CARD. MAIUS. " Dabam ex aedibus Alteriorum Romae, iv idus Aprilis MDCCCL." " Admodum Reverendo Domino Geo. Townsend Canonico Dunelmensi." NOTE 10, p. 16. I place here a copy of the Circular which I sent to some few of the Bishops, and other influential personages, imme- diately before I set out on my journey to Italy. The state of my health would not allow me at that time to continue the corre- o2 292 APPENDIX. spondence in which it involved me. I hope, however, that I shall be still enabled to persevere in the efforts to which it refers : " MY LORD, or, SIR, " Your earnest attention is requested to the statement contained in this Circular, and to the request with which it is concluded. " Because the disunion among the worshippers of Jesus Christ may be deemed the chief source of the numerous evils which curse and afflict the Catholic Church and the world, the attempt to lessen this disunion, however visionary such effort may at first sight appear, becomes the bounden duty of every Christian. "The hope of success in this most desirable object must be founded on principles which shall be alike free from many of the decisions of the Mediaeval Bishops, and of the Reformers also, who, in objecting to those decisions, proceeded to opposite extremes ; and free also from the schisms and errors of a mass of contending sects, and from the dogmas of either ancient or modern infidelity. Such hope must b established also on inferences deducible from the New Testament ; from the history, doctrines, laws, and cus- toms of the early Churches ; and from the experience and facts of the past. " To lessen, therefore, this disunion of Christians, to establish the best Peace Society, the true Evangelical Alliance, and to make one humble attempt to commence the accomplishment of an object no less interesting to the civilized world than to the Uni- versal Church, I have presumed to submit to the Christian com- munity the details of a plan for once more gathering together in one the Churches of the Catholic Church of Christ 1 . I venture to call your attention to the outline of this plan of union, and to solicit your co-operation in the endeavour to carry it into effect. " The chief impediment to the Re-union of the Churches of the Catholic Church of Christ is the Creed, which is sometimes called the Creed of the Council of Trent. I have shown that this Creed was not given to the churches by the Council of Trent ; that the 1 In four several Dedications to a Work entitled " Scripture Communion with God." APPENDIX. 293 same Council gave no power to the Bishop of Rome to draw up a new Creed ; that this Creed was commanded to be received by the Bull of Pius IV. alone ; and that, as the Bishop of Rome possesses, and has exerted, the power of rescinding the Bulls of his predeces- sors, it is in the power of the Bishop of Rome to rescind this Bull also ; and consequently, by the removal of the sanction of a Creed from various long-established errors in doctrine, discipline, and worship, to throw open the whole controversy to unpoperise, and therefore to catholicise, the Christian Church, and to prepare the way for one common mode of prayer, and one common faith and discipline, as we have now one written Revelation, and one Lord and Saviour. " I have next shown that, if this Bull were rescinded, the Chris- tian Sovereigns of the world may imitate the example of Constan- tine (before he violated his own law of toleration, contained in the edict of Milan) without consulting the Bishop of Rome, if the Bishop of Rome refuses to consider the past. I have pointed out the singular parallel between the present age and the age of Con- stantine, and enumerated these seven particulars, in which the secular monarchs of the Catholic Church may unite to attempt the commencement of a better state of Christianity, as the guardians of the peace, happiness, morality, religion, and union of the people. They are : a. Impartiality between controverting Christians. b. The upholding of their own supremacy, without noticing, much less acknowledging, the Ecclesiastical supremacy of the Bishop of Rome. c. Their summoning, and acting with the Catholic Episcopacy. d. Their resolutely adopting a Catholic, not a Papal Creed. e. Their upholding the Universal Episcopate and its Canons, so far as these Canons are consistent with their political institutions. /. Their care to extend to all, the chief Blessing of Man the Word of God. g. And their sanctioning a primitive, not a Papal Liturgy, and the worship of Christ as Divine. " I have, then, presumed to suggest that the Christian titles of ' Defender of the Faith,' and ' Protestant,' with the remembrance 03 294 APPENDIX. of the three great services rendered by England to the World ; namely, by Elizabeth, in resisting Ecclesiastical Despotism ; by William III., in resisting Political Despotism ; and by George III., in resisting Jacobinical and Infidel Despotism justify the hope, that Great Britain may be the means of attempting a still greater benefaction to mankind than even all these ; and that an attempt may be made to promote the Re-union of Christians, by the Sove- reign of Great Britain permitting its Christian Ambassadors at Foreign Courts, to communicate with Christian Statesmen, Chris- tian Princes, and Christian Prelates, on the subject of a Catholic Council, or Catholic Congress, to establish Peace and Truth. I have concluded my humble suggestions by showing, that as two chief causes of the disunion of Christians, and the consequent mournful evils which afflict the Church and the World, have been the discontinuance of that part of the Apostolic office which con- sisted in the mutual vigilance of Bishop over Bishop ; and the dis- continuance, also, of their frequent assemblings, to consider the best mode of maintaining the union of Christians on the basis of Truth ; therefore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and his brother Prelates, obtain the consent of our own influential Government to correspond with the Prelates of other countries, on the best plan of originating an universal movement, for the Re-union of Christian believers in the Divinity of the Son of God. " Such is the statement I have ventured to place before you, as the foundation of the request with which most respectfully, but earnestly, I now, as a Christian, make to you as a Christian, " That you will share with me the honour, or disesteem, which uniformly attends the projector of any novel scheme of usefulness ; communicate with me on this sacred subject ; and unite with me in preparing and submitting to Her Majesty, to the Government, to the Bishops, and to the Clergy, petitions for commencing and con- tinuing the preliminary correspondence which might possibly result in the assembling of a General Council or Congress- the result of whose deliberations may be, the more evident and certain fulfilment of the prophecies, which predict the eventual establishment of peace and union among the now divided Churches of the one Holy Catholic Church of Christ. The last prayer before HE was led out to be crucified, whose zeal for God, love for man, and sacrifice of APPENDIX. 295 self, render HIM the pattern, the example, and the model to Christians, was for the union of HIS followers. Can we not offer the same prayer, and can we not do something to accomplish the object for which we pray ? " I have the honour to be, " Your Faithful Christian Servant, " GEORGE TOWNSEND, " Canon of Durham." INDEX. A. ALBANO, the scenery of, 141. 226. Amain, Cathedral of, 219. Ambrose, St., his influence, 271- American travellers, in England, and on the Continent of Europe, their manners and general deportment, 270. Apostolical succession, correct view of its importance, 61. Aquinas, Thorn as, his vast learn- ing, 224 ; his monastery at Fondi, ib. Aries, historical connexion with Augustine the missionary, 60; Church of St. Trophimus, 61 ; the ruins of the forum and of the amphitheatre, 63. Assisi, St. Francis, 262; the Cathedral, 264. Augustine, St., his character, and infl uence upon the Church, 271. Augustine the monk, consecra- ted Archbishop of Canterbury at Aries, 60 ; proceeds on his mission from the monastery of St. Gregory, or of St. An- drew, at Rome, 99. Avignon, arrival at, 54; the Papal palace and other edi- fices, 54, 55. B. Beggars, French and English contrasted, 57 ; rapacity of Sicilian beggars, 221. Bible, its exhaustlessness, 216; search for Bibles at Rome, 238. C. Capri, visit to, 199. Church of England, her prayer for unity, 1, 2. Civita Vecchia, 64; anecdote, 67- D. Discovery, progress of, unceas- ' ing, 217. Dissenters' opinion of the Lord's Supper, 243. Dupin corresponds with Arch- bishop Wake respecting a union of the Churches, 9. E. England and Rome, mutual re- criminations, 3 ; English and Italian governments contrast- ed, 65. 298 INDEX. F. Florence, sojourn at, 267. Francis, St., his character, 262. Franzoni, Cardinal, interview with him, 134. G. Genoa, its magnificence, 64; buildings, pictures, gardens, and harbour, ib. Gregory I., St., his character, 100102. Gregory VII., his character, 2 15. H. Herculaneum, visit to, 209. Holy Spirit, the, the destroyer of heresies, 229. Homeric fragments published by Cardinal Mai, 106. J. Jerome, St., his character, and influence upon the Church, 271. L. Lateran, Church of the, 127; origin of the name, ib.,,note. Lutheran Chapel at Rome, 192. If. Mai, Cardinal, his learning, and publications, 106 ; interview with him, 109 ; letter to him, 114; his answer, Appendix, note 9. Mamertine Prison, historical as- sociations, 75 ; lines of Mar- tha Marchina, ib., note 2. Marseilles, 63 ; phenomena of the Mestrail, 64. Martyrs of the Primitive Church and of the Reformation, 132. Mary, the Virgin, worship of the, 8184 ; images and pic- tures of, 84. Mesaheb, Francesco, introduc- tion to, 87 ; his character and opinions, ib. ; his monastery at Mount Lebanon, 88. Milan, arrival at, 269 ; the Ca- thedral, 271. N. Naples, brief account of, 197; Cathedral, 199 ; liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius, 201208. Nismes, arrival at, 56 ; beggars, 57 ; the Pont du Garde, 58 ; amphitheatre, 60. Noble pedigrees, remarks on, 189. O. Overbeck's, Mr., gallery of paintings, 188. P. Papal bulls may be rescinded, 8. Supremacy, its ground- lessness, 89. Paris, arrival there, 20 ; inter- view with Lord Brougham, 21 ; and with the Marquis of Normanby, 24 ; the Ca- thedral of Notre Dame, 32 ; the Louvre, 33; Hotel des Invalides, ib. ; anecdote, 34 ; St. Cloud, and Sevres, 35 ; interview with the Archbishop of Paris, 38 ; letter of intro- INDEX. 299 duction to the Pope, 46 ; the Bourse, 43 ; the English Am- bassador's Chapel, 29. 43 ; chapel of the Due d'Orleans, 44; Neuilly, ib. ; the National Assembly, 45 ; start for Mar- seilles, 46. Penance, unprofitableness of, 91. Peter, St., legends respecting him, 75 ; said to have been confined in the Mamertine Prison, 7577- Pictures and sculptures, inuti- lity of, as aids to devotion, 86. Pinelli's celebrated library, 107; its singular fate, ib. Pompeii, the ruins of, 198. Pope Pius IX., reasons for seek- ing an interview with him, 1 ; his absence from Rome, 71 ; uncertainty of his move- ments, ib. ; preparations to receive him, 147 ; his return to Rome, 1 48 ; blesses the "French troops, 152 ; audience with him at the Vatican, 157 170; copy of the memorial, 171 ; Italian translation of it, 175 ; the Pope confirms the statement, 180 185 ; visit of Monsignore de Merode and Dr. Grant, with an invitation to a second audience, 187 5 observations on the proceed- ing, 188. 231237. Prayer for the dead, its unscrip- tural character, 103. 105. Purgatory, observations on, 105. R. Rome, motives for visiting, 1 ; dissuasives from going, 1 8 ; arrival at, 68 ; Church of Sta. Maria del Popolo, 70 ; St. Peter's, 73 ; Mamertine Pri- son, 75 ; the English Chapel, 79; the Colosseum, ib.; Church of Sta. Maria Maggiore, 80 ; Mariolatry, 81 ; the Cata- combs, 85 ; the Vatican, ib. ; Temple of Vesta, and bridge of Horatius Codes, 86 ; Church of St. John Lateran, 90 ; Basilica of St. Clement, ib. ; the Capuchin Church, 93 ; Sunday at St. Peter's, 95 ; the Propaganda, 96 ; Church of Sta. Maria d'Ara- coeli, 97 ; the Bambino, ib. ; the English Cemetery, 98 ; Monastery of St. Andrew, or of St. Gregory, 99 ; Church of St. Pudentiana, 104 ; the Collegium Romanum, 117; Chapel," Domine, quo vadis ?" 118; the grotto of Egeria, 120 ; Doria Gallery, ib. ; condition of the people of Rome, ib. ; Prison of the Inquisition, 122 ; the Quirinal, 124 ; Churches of St. Pietro in Martirio, 125; St. Giovanni in Fonte, and Lateran, 126, 127 ; Corsini Chapel, 128. 130; Gibson's studio, ib. ; review of French troops, 129 ; frescoes of St. Stephano, 131; performanceof the " Miserere," 136 ; Sunday in Rome, 138; Church of Santa Maria in Via Lata, ib. ; probable destruction of Rome by fire, 143. 197 ; Monas- tery of St. Onofrio, 145; High Mass at St. Peter's, 151 ; Pamfili Doria Gardens, ib. ; Church of St. Paul, 155 ; Bar- berini and Borghese palaces, ib. ; return to Rome from Psestum, 227 ; search for Bibles, 238 ; Convent of Sta. Maria del Popolo, 241 ; fare- well to Rome, 249. 300 INDEX. Rome, the Church of, its cor- ruptions, 2 ; submission to, earnestly deprecated, 4 ; chargeable with two main errors, 5 ; sin of suppressing the Bible, 6. S. Salerno, 215. Solfaterra, visit to the, 214. T. Tarrascon, arrival at, 55 ; anec- dote, 56. Theodosian Code, 219. Tivoli, scenery of, 141. Tradition made to annul the Word of God by the Church of Rome, 78. U. Umbreit, Dr., of Heidelberg, his Commentary on Job, 281 ; interview with him, ib. Unity among Christians, duty of seeking to effect it, 1. V. Valence, Cathedral of, 48 ; sin- gular memorial and inscrip- tion to Pio Nono, 4!) ; con- versation with a Romish Priest, 50. Vesuvius, ascent of, 209. Vienne, arrival at, 47 ; reflec- tions on historical facts con- nected with, 48. W. Wake, Archbishop of Canter- bury, correspondence between him and Dupin on the union of the Churches, 9. Wiseman, Cardinal, his writings, 169, note. THE END. GILBERT RIVINOTON, Printers, St. John's Square, London. 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