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PAPAL ROME AS IT IS, 
 
 15 v 
 
 A ROMAN; 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev. W. C. MOWNLEE, D. D. 
 
 Of tho Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of New York, 
 BY 
 
 Rev. L. GIUSTINIANI, D. D. 
 
 Formerly a Roman Priest, now Minister of tho Evan- 
 gelical Lutheran Church. 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 PRINTED AT PUBLICATION ROOMS 
 NO. 7 S. LIBERTY STREET. 
 
 1H13. 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress in the year 
 1843, by L. Giustiniani, D. D., in the Clerk's Office of 
 the District Court of Maryland. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 Recommendations, 
 
 I. Introduction of the Rev. W. C. Brownlec, D. D., 
 Pastor of the Prot. Ref. Dutch Church, of N. York. 
 
 II. Credentials — Certificates from Rome, . . 1 
 
 III. The Conversion of a Roman Catholic is a great 
 Miracle, 9 
 
 IV. Easter, 1G 
 
 V. Narrative of the Author's First Riblical im- 
 pression, ........ 23 
 
 VI. The Mass, 30 
 
 VII. Transubstantiation, 44 
 
 VIII. Absurdities and Delusions of the Mass, 52 
 
 IX. Heathen Rome and Papal Rome. The Pan- 
 theon ; The Holy Virgin Lady of Parturition 
 against the Holy Virgin Lady of the Stone; Car- 
 dinal Giustiniani at Rimini; The Holy Stairs; 
 The Flying stone; Saint Peter in Vinculis; Colos- 
 seum Romanum ; Confessional ; Saint Antony in 
 Rome, 59 
 
 X. The Opening of the Eyes of the Virgin Mary, £6 
 
 XI. Beatification of a Franciscan Friar, . . 91 
 
 XII. The Patriarch of Egypt and the Homed 
 Priest, 97 
 
 XIII. Infallibility of the Pope, and Antiquity of 
 
 the Church of Rome, 104 
 
 XIV. Catholicity of the Church of Rome, . . 115 
 
 XV. Apostolical Succession of Roman Pontiffs, 1J0 
 
 XVI. Apostolical Doctrines and not tho Chair 
 
 arc required as a mark of a true Church, . 125 
 
 282010 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 XVII. Adoration of Saints, .... 128 
 
 XVIII. Three Months in the Convent of the Cor- 
 delier, 145 
 
 XIX. Persecution, 157 
 
 XX. Switzerland, 168 
 
 XXI. The Foundation of the Church of Rome, 172 
 
 XXII. Usurpation of the Church of Rome, . 177 
 
 XXIII. Avarice the corner stone of the Church of 
 Rome 183 
 
 XXIV. Moral Corruptions of the Church of Rome, 185 
 
 XXV. The Holy Councils of the Church of Rome, 194 
 
 XXVI. Jesuitism, 218 
 
 XXVII. Miracles, . . . . . .250 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 I have had the pleasure of examining the work written 
 by the Rev. Dr. Giustimani, entitled " PAPAL ROME 
 AS IT IS, BY A ROMAN." 
 
 Dr. G. treats of twenty-seven prominent subjects in the 
 Roman Catholic system, — preceded by an account of his 
 own conversion from the religion of Rome, in which he 
 was born and educated, full of deep interest. On each of 
 these leading articles of Romanism, he writes as one who 
 knows his subject thoroughly, and feels most deeply. We 
 perceive, at every step of his discussion, that we are listen- 
 ing to a man, who had been a Roman Catholic " dyed in 
 the wool," and who has, of course, had opportunities which 
 no Protestant, perhaps, ever had of knowing the secrets be- 
 hind the curtain ; and who has had feelings deep and in- 
 tense, such as we never knew who never wore the mental 
 chains of Popery ! He fails not to manifest the best spirit, 
 and kindest sentiments, even while he is uttering the se- 
 verest truths. He is anxious to reach the heart, as well 
 as to gain the ear of the Roman Catholics, his former fel- 
 low disciples ; over whom his heart yearns (as did that of 
 St. Paul,) to win them away from " The Man of Sin" to 
 " The most Holy One," — away from " The cross of Anil- 
 Christ ," to the cross of Christ Jesus his Lord. 
 
 His style is not that of a polished English scholar. It 
 is that of a learned Italian Doctor, who is, indeed, master 
 of his own beautiful and flowing Italian, but who is writing 
 in a language foreign to him. And this, to my mind, car- 
 ries with it an external evidence of the authenticity of the 
 work. I therefore, beg leave to commend it to the public, 
 
VI RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 as a work exceedingly valuable, coming from such a man ; 
 and calculated, both from its mild spirit and rich materi- 
 als, to do much good in opening the eyes of the Roman 
 Catholics, and instructing Protestants under divine grace. 
 Here is a witness from Rome, a former Priest, brought up 
 under the eyes of the Pope and Cardinals, fully confirm- 
 ing all that we have been asserting of Rome, for years 
 past. 
 
 W. C. BROWNLEE, 
 
 Of the Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of JVeio York. 
 New York, March 22d, 1843. 
 
 Baltimore, March 30th, 1843. 
 I have carefully read Dr. Giustiniani's manuscript and 
 most cheerfully recommend the book to all persons desir- 
 ous of ascertaining the character of " Popery as it is." 
 The Dr. writes in a spirit of kindness and he aims at 
 nothing else than an exposition of the errors which so long 
 shrouded his own mind, but from which, by the grace of 
 God, he has been delivered. His hope is to enlighten the 
 minds of his Romish brethren in this country, in regard to 
 the enormous corruptions of the system as they are mani- 
 fested in a country where the purifying influence of Pro- 
 testantism is not felt. 
 
 JOHN G. MORRIS. 
 
 I have read with great interest the larger part of a man- 
 uscript submitted to me by Dr. Giustiniani, in which he 
 narrates the gracious dealings of a merciful God with him 
 — whereby he, being a native of Rome, and a Papal Priest, 
 was brought, even in the city of Rome, to a saving know- 
 ledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. .The manuscript con- 
 tains, moreover, short and forcible discussions of a number 
 of the errors and corruptions of Popery, and descriptions 
 of many places, and practices in Rome, all of which have a 
 vividness and force, which nothing but personal contact 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. VII 
 
 <cenld impart. My opinion is that this work cannot fail to 
 interest and instruct the reader — and I take much pleas- 
 ure in recommending it to such as have any confidence in 
 our judgment in such matters. I also add, with much sen- 
 sibility, that having known the excellent author for some 
 years, 1 rank him among our esteemed friends, and have 
 the utmost confidence in him as an enlightened gentleman 
 and warm heartod Cliristiau. 
 
 ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, 
 
 Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Baltimore. 
 March 21th, 1S43. 
 
 I entirely concur in the views expressed by the Rev. Dr. 
 R. J. Breckenridge, and will only add, that if Dr. G.'s 
 work receives the circulation and attentive perusal which 
 it deserves, it cannot fail to hecome the instrument of great 
 .■good in the cause of pure and scriptural religion. 
 
 B. KURTZ. 
 
 Baltimore, March 2Sth, 1843. 
 
 Baltimore, March 2Sth, 1S43. 
 " Papal Rome as it is," briefly but faithfully, presents 
 Romanism to view as it exists and exerts its influence, in 
 twenty-seven distinct and prominent points of light. It is 
 irom the pen of a native Roman, trained from infancy in 
 that fallen church — for several years a Priest officiating in 
 Rome itself, an eye and ear witness of the abominations 
 he describes. It is the testimony of a most competent wit- 
 ness. His abandonment cf Rome must have been the re- 
 sult of deliberate and enlightened conviction. He took 
 every step surrounded with most imminent danger, and at 
 the sacrifice of his worldly prospects of honor, wealth and 
 power. His eye must have been single — his motive pure 
 — his aim the glory of God. His position gave him a 
 commanding view of the whole subject, and the singular 
 •artlessnes-i and simplicity of his statements present inter- 
 
Vlll RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 nal evidence of the faithfulness of the narrative. Having 
 attentively read the entire work in manuscript, I most 
 unhesitatingly bespeak for it a faithful and candid perusal 
 by both Protestants and Romanists. If the facts detailed 
 be correct, Romanism should be at once abandoned as an 
 incurable system of error, idolatry and moral pollution. 
 I? false, every dictate of decency, to speak of no loftier mo- 
 tive, demands that its false statements be exposed and 
 overthrown. My personal acquaintance with Dr. Gius- 
 tiniani, commenced some three and a half years since. 
 From the first, till now, I have found him the zealous de- 
 voted christian gentleman and faithful minister of the 
 gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom " I love in the 
 truth," and am happy to have the honor of numbering 
 among my highly valued christian friends. Let this lit- 
 tle volume be read with prayerful attention and with a 
 heart ready to take on the beautiful impress of truth. 
 
 JOHN S. MITCHELL, 
 
 Agent of the American and Maryland Bible Societies, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 My estimable and learned friend, the Rev. Dr. 
 Giustiniani, the author of the following pages, is 
 a native of Italy, born and educated in the city of 
 Rome. Of course, he drank at the fountain head 
 of Romanism, and imbided deeply its genuine 
 spirit from his infancy. He was one of Rome's 
 cherished sons. He had advantages unspeakably 
 superior to those of travelers and strangers, who 
 see only the exterior of Rome's religion ; and can 
 detail of course nothing more than they have seen 
 and heard. He is a native of Rome and was ad- 
 mitted behind the curtains, and into all her secre- 
 cies, and mingled with the hierophants, in all 
 " the chambers of her imagery;" and was fully 
 initiated into all the orders and mysteries of 
 Popery as it is in Rome. Hence, with the pen- 
 cil of a master spirit does he delineate Rome's 
 religion and Rome's morals, with these advantages 
 which few others possess. 
 
 Bishop England and other Roman prelates, 
 have delighted to call Rome " the metropolis of 
 the christian world." Now, as is the fountain 
 head, so must each stream be that issues from it. 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 passion and love to his benighted fellow men. 
 Unwilling to exaggerate and too honest to conceal 
 the truth, he presents to us the picture of Rome 
 and Romanism " as it is" at this day. His frank 
 and explicit testimony with that of others, helps 
 us to decide with less and less difficulty, whether 
 Rome be " the metropolis of the christian world," 
 or the very fountain head of the great Apostacy 
 predicted by Daniel, Paul and John. 
 
 We beg, therefore, a respectful hearing to him, 
 by all Protestants. They will find that he con- 
 firms all that we, who have been drawn into the 
 field against the papacy, have been uttering on the 
 public ear these many years past. And every 
 candid Roman Catholic will, we trust, allow him 
 also a fair hearing. He comes not as your enemy. 
 Judge ye for yourselves. He utters no harsh re- 
 flections on you. His heart loves you. He 
 knows how to pity and sympathize. For he has 
 worn these same chains which are now on your 
 limbs. And by the grace of God, he has broken 
 off and cast from him the cruel yoke which am- 
 bitious men have cruelly placed on your necks. 
 He comes to tell you how happy, — how truly 
 happy he now is, since he cast away a novel and 
 human religion, and received the pure christian 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 faith ; Since lie exchanged the cross of Rome for 
 the holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ; since 
 he renounced the Romish slavery of the mind, and 
 became "the freeman of the Lord." And his 
 bowels of compassion yearn with paternal affec- 
 tion over you, whom he longs to woo over to the 
 same divine faith, and the same christian felicity 
 which he enjoys. 
 
 The following I give in his own words : " I 
 know the feelings of Roman Catholics, and assure 
 my Protestant brethren, that harsh words and re- 
 proaches will not be the means of converting one 
 papist. Some writers whose intentions are pure, 
 whose desire is to propagate the gospel, but who 
 are unacquainted with the interior scheme of po- 
 pery, can but limit their zeal to a dry theological 
 discussion. They recur to the councils, and 
 quote the canons ; of which the body of the Ro- 
 man Catholics are totally ignorant. Hence it is 
 no wonder that they deny the authenticity of the 
 documents adduced ; and that they resist the truth 
 and oppose it with all the might of their unregener- 
 ate hearts. 
 
 " I have before me," — continues Dr. G. — " some 
 pamphlets written by some new converts," whose 
 eyes the Lord had opened, and enable them to 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 see the errors of popery ; but who seem to betray 
 a spirit of bitterness against their old friends, as if 
 they thought that the more violent they are against 
 the church of Rome, the better Protestants they 
 will appear ; and the more they denounced the 
 pope and his priests, the more they will be ap- 
 preciated and loved by Protestants ! But the Lord 
 has impressed my mind differently. He has 
 shown me not only the errors of popery, but also 
 " the truth as it is in Jesus." When I left the 
 church of Rome, I did not cease to love the mem- 
 bers of it; nor to pray for the conversion of their 
 souls, — yea, even for those of my bitterest perse- 
 cutors. 
 
 "Hence," adds he, "I have taken up the pen 
 to write, not against Romanists, but on their be- 
 half. I come to offer myself as an humble, but 
 faithful guide, I trust, to lead them into a candid 
 and devout investigation of the divine truths of 
 the Holy Bible, and to aid them to compare 
 these truths with the dogmas and precepts of the 
 Roman Catholic faith. I come to help them in 
 God's name, and by his grace to do what He has 
 enabled me successfully to do myself. And when 
 I have the painful task faithfully to lift the veil 
 and expose the fatal errors of popery and the 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 abuses of the Roman church; it will only be with 
 the view of laying before you, my friends, in 
 love, and with earnest prayer, the facts of which 
 I have been an eye and an ear witness ; and also 
 the practices which every Roman Catholic must 
 adopt, although they are manifestly contrary to 
 reason and to the practices of the primitive church, 
 and to the living word of God. 
 
 "And allow me to indulge the hope," adds Dr. 
 G. " that every Roman Catholic who reads these 
 pages, will not hesitate to imitate the applauded 
 conduct of the ancient noble Bereans; and search 
 for themselves the scriptures, to see whether these 
 things be so. For contrary to the erring traditions 
 of the fathers, the most High God has declared 
 that " the holy scriptures are able to make you 
 wise unto salvation, through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. iii. 15. And again He 
 saith, "search the scriptures, for in them ye think 
 ye have eternal life, and they are they which tes- 
 tify of me." John v, 39. 
 
 "Above all," adds my estimable and beloved 
 friend Dr. G. " I am anxious to exhibit to my 
 Protestant and Roman Catholic friends, the mira- 
 culous manner in which my blessed Lord and 
 Master brought me out of the darkness of popery 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 by my conversion to the light and hope of the 
 blessed gospel of his grace. 
 
 "Finally, if through the medium of this my 
 feeble effort, there should be even one soul 
 brought not only from popery to Protestantism, 
 but into the heavenly light of the Sun of Right- 
 eousness ; and should thence be enabled to burst 
 asunder the fatal chains of tradition, superstition 
 and idolatry, which it was my calamity to wear 
 thirty -one years, and come forth redeemed and 
 disenthralled, my labors shall be amply recom- 
 pensed ; and all the praise and glory shall be to 
 the divine God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: 
 Amen." 
 
 W. C. Brownlee, 
 
 Of the Protestant Reformed Dutch Church 
 
 of the City of New York. 
 
 New York, April, 1843. 
 
CREDENTIALS OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 I have no doubt, that some into whose hands 
 ihis little volume may fall will stigmatize me as a 
 "heretic, but it matters not what men may say, I 
 will answer them in the language of the apostle, 
 that : "lam determined not to know any thing 
 among men, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 5 ' 
 
 There Will be others as is usually the case, 
 who will say that 1 have written, to gain favor 
 with Protestants, from whom I may have received 
 some temporal support ; with regard to a charge 
 of this character, I would appeal to the Protestants 
 of all denominations, if any of them can come 
 forward and say that I have asked, or even receiv- 
 ed the value of a farthing from any one of them 
 in the Union, in the form of assistance ; but quite 
 the reverse, for I have often labored without any 
 emolument, for the promotion of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom. 
 
 To prove this I will advance an instance from 
 the proceedings of the Synodical Convention of 
 xhe Evangelical Lutheran Church in the State of 
 Maryland, for the year 1840, by the President, 
 the Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, D. D. 
 1 
 
2 ci.ei>e:jtYals' &f the author. 
 
 M 0i? 'ths'14'th Korember, the Rev. Dr. Giustini- 
 ani, formerly a respectable and zealous Honiara 
 Catholic priest in the city of Rome, but for several 
 years a faithful Protestant minister of the gospel,, 
 in the employment of the Western Colonial Mis- 
 sionary Society in England as missionary in Aus- 
 tralia, applied for admission into our Synod. After 
 examining his numerous and flattering credentials 
 from the most respectable sources, and satisfying 
 ourselves of his qualifications and the purity of 
 his motives, we cheerfully received him, and it 
 will now devolve upon the ministerium to decide 
 as to the propriety of that act, 
 
 " The committee constituted to take measures to 
 erect a missionary station, for the benefit of our 
 German brethren on Fell's Point, Baltimore, com- 
 posed of the Rev. Dr. Kurtz, sen., the Rev. Mr. 
 Morris, Mr. Sauerwein, and your President, ap- 
 pointed the Rev. Dr. Giustiniani as missionary to 
 that station, and agreed to allow him the compen- 
 sation promised by the synod. But we were very 
 much embarrassed for the want of funds to carry 
 out the design of synod. Though a resolution 
 was passed requiring all our ministers to take up 
 collections or subscriptions for the maintenance 
 of said missionary, yet very few complied, and 
 
CREDENTIALS OF THE AUTHOR. 3 
 
 the consequence was, that though your missionary 
 labored most zealously, " in season and out of 
 season," yet the trivial recompense we were en- 
 abled to afford him, fell far short of what he had 
 a right to expect, and was by no means adequate 
 to his support. Perceiving the embarrassment of 
 your committee, arising from the non-compliance 
 of the members of synod with the resolution to 
 raise funds for his support, he sometime since 
 magnanimously resigned all claims on the com- 1 
 mittee that might accrue from future services, and 
 generously continued his missionary labors at his 
 own cost, subject, however, to the instruction and 
 control of your committee, just as if he were re-> 
 ceiving the promised compensation from them." 
 
 It is not very desirable for any man to speak of 
 himself; but it being natural for my readers, to 
 whom I am about to disclose some articles of 
 Rome, and the manner in which the Lord brought 
 me out from the darkness of popery to the mar- 
 velous light of the gospel, to desire to know some- 
 thing of the author. I here submit the following 
 facts. 
 
 A Roman by birth, and educated in the metro- 
 polis of the world, having studied in the Univer- 
 sity of Rome, finished there the course of Theo- 
 
4 CREDENTIALS OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 logy, graduated and promoted to sacred orders in 
 the Basilic Church of St. John in Lateran, in 
 Rome, the reader may be assured, that the author 
 must know something of Rome and papal cor- 
 ruptions. Therefore he sincerely believes it to 
 be a duty incumbent upon him to give a short ac- 
 count of it, in order to enlighten the Protestants, 
 and direct the Roman Catholics to the sure foun- 
 tain of life, Jesus Christ the only mediator be- 
 tween God and man. 
 
 My object is not to eulogise myself, but to show 
 my readers that I am what I profess, and as some 
 are generally apt to attack ["when they can not re- 
 sist the truth] the writer, instead of the written 
 truths or principles which are set forth, I thought 
 it my duty to annex my credentials, in order that 
 the reader may be divested of all doubts of the 
 truth of the stated facts, which are laid before 
 him. 
 
 First. I lay before the reader the testimonials 
 of the Professors of the Theological Faculties of 
 the University, Gregoriana, where I finished 
 my regular course of Theology, before I was or- 
 dained. 
 
 I lay also my ordination letter before my rea- 
 ders, which I sent for when I was in Switzerland, 
 
CERTIFICATES FROM ROME. O 
 
 as a legal document, to arrange my temporal af- 
 fairs, authenticated in the office of the Archbishop 
 at Florence, and also of good authorities of this 
 country, that these copies are true from the ori- 
 ginal. 
 
 CERTIFICATES FROM ROME. 
 
 Ego subscripts testor R. Dnum. Aloysium 
 Giustiniani per tres annos mea sub disciplina in 
 Gregoriana Universitate Collegii Romani ad sacrae 
 Theologiae studium, summa cum laude, et pro- 
 gressu incubuisse, atque tarn evidentia perspica- 
 cis ingenei, bonitatisqne moribus specimen pre- 
 buisse, ut quisquis de ipso optimam spem conci- 
 pere queat, pro re veritate fateor. 
 
 Datum Romoe, Die 15 Novembris, 1826. 
 
 Prosper Piatti, 
 Collegii Rom. Theologize Professor. 
 
 Testor ego infrascriptus tarn de annis ut supra, 
 quam de progressu in scientiis biblicisinhac Gre- 
 goriana Universitate, nee non in Theolog. Moral. 
 in Seminario Romano pro viribus studuisse, ac 
 in his scienciis ita fuit versatus, ut in agone litter- 
 
6 CERTIFICATES FROM ROME. 
 
 ario plnries certaverit, et prestantissimas laudes 
 certando semper meruerit, in quorum fidem dabam 
 ex oedibus Die 16 idem mensis, 1826. 
 
 J. Caio. Pellicani, 
 Collegii Romani ex Professor, et h. t. 
 [L. S.] Seminarii Romani Publ. Prof. 
 
 Gaspar Gasparini Scolarum Prefectus. 
 
 D. Placidus ord.S. Benedict! Congreg. Camal- 
 dulensis tituli S. Crucis in Jerusalem. S. R. E. 
 Presbiter Cardinalis Zurla S. S., D. N. Papa? 
 Vicarius Generalis, Roman;eque Curias, ej usque 
 Districtus Judex Ordinarius. 
 
 Universis, et singulis proesentes nostras visuris, 
 lecturis pariter, at audituris, notum facimus, et 
 testamur Illmum. ac Revmum. P. D. Laurentium 
 Mattei Patriarc. Antiochen. Romas die Sabb. 4 
 temporum post Fest. S. Lucioe 23 M. Decembris 
 1826, in Sacram Lateranens. Basilicam Genera- 
 lem Ordinationem inter Missarum Solemn, cele- 
 brand. de licentia nostra inter alios dilectissim. no- 
 bis in Christo fill. Aloysium Giustiniani Romanum 
 at titulum Pensionis praevio examine a R. R. P. 
 P. D. D. Examinatoribus in Urbe deputatis, ido- 
 neum repertum, et admissum cum ceremoniis, et 
 
CERTIFICATES FROM ROME. 7 
 
 ^olemnitatibus necessariis, et opporlimis in simi- 
 'iibtis fieri solitis, et consuetis juxta, et secundum 
 S. R. E. ritum morem, et consuetudinem ad sacr. 
 "S. Diaconatus ordinem praviis Publicationem, et 
 Spiritualem Exercitium rite, et recte Scrvor. serv. 
 in Domino Promovisse, et ordinasse ; in quorum 
 omnium et smgulorum fidem has prasentes literas 
 a nobis, seu ab Illmo. ac Revmo. P. D. Vicesge- 
 rente, etD. secret nostro subseriptas, Sigilloque 
 nostro munitas fieri jussimus. 
 
 Datur Rom.e ex oedibus nostris hac die primam 
 mensis Februari anno 1827, Jurisdict. XIV. Pon- 
 stificatus Sanctissimi in Christo Patris, et D. n.D. 
 Lconis, Divina Procidentia Papae XII. anno ejus 
 
 IV. && 
 
 C. J, Patriarch, 
 
 fL S.] Constantinopolitanus. Vices Gerens, 8,-c 
 Cos. Antonius. Canonicus Argenti. 
 
 Secrctarius. 
 
 Concorda la presente copia col suo originale 
 esistente in filza di atti straordinarj, che si con- 
 serva nella curia Arcivescovile di Firenza di 1 Lu- 
 gho 1830. 
 
 In fede, Gio. Pensi, 
 
 £L. S.] Cancelliere Arcivescovile. 
 
8 CERTIFICATES FROM ROME. 
 
 I have read and carefully compared the ab&v& 
 copy, with the original document; also his other- 
 testimonials, together with the document given to> 
 him by "the Consistoire de Geneve," before 
 whom Dr. Giustini&ni solemnly renounced Ro- 
 manism. 
 
 \V. C. Brownlee, 
 
 Of the Prof. Ref. Dutch Church of N York. 
 New York, March 22d> 1843. 
 
 Having seen the originals, as above, and having" 
 
 do doubt of their genuineness and authenticity* 
 
 I cheerfully add my attestation to that of Dr. 
 
 Brownlee. 
 
 Samuel II. Cox, Pastor of the 
 
 First Presbyterian Church of this City. 
 
 Brooklyn, N. Y, March 22d, 1843. 
 
 Having read and compared the above copy with 
 the original document and believing them genuine 
 and faithful, I freely concur with the testimo- 
 nials of Drs. Brownlee and Cox. 
 
 Charles Martin, Pastor of 
 St. Matthew's Ev. Luth. Church of N. York- 
 
 Chas. F. E. Stoiilmann, Pastor of the 
 United German Luth. Churches in N York, 
 New York, March 22.d, 184a. 
 
OBSTACLES OF CONVERSION. 9 
 
 I have compared the foregoing certificate of or- 
 dination with the original, and find it to be a cor- 
 rect copy. 
 
 Jno. G. Morris. 
 
 Baltimore, April 7th, 4843. 
 
 THE CONVERSION OF A ROMAN CATH- 
 OLIC IS A GREAT MIRACLE. 
 
 The age of moral miracles has not ceased, 
 whatever the opinion of modern theologians to 
 the contrary may be, whatever proofs they may 
 adduce to support their opinions, I will answer 
 them in the language of the blind man, who was 
 healed by our Savior; "One thing I know, that 
 whereas, I was blind, now I see." I know that 
 the Lord has worked a miracle in my heart, once 
 I wa3 a blind leader of the blind, now I know 
 that without grace I can not do any thing. I know 
 it, I have felt the miraculous power of grace in 
 my heart; who will contest the reality of it? — 
 That the blind received their sight, and the lame 
 walked, and the lepers were cleansed, and the 
 deaf heard, and that the dead were raised up, are 
 undoubtedly miracles, but that He should make 
 
10 OBSTACLES IN THE WAY 
 
 such an extraordinary change in the heart of man, 
 who had imbibed the religious superstitions of the 
 church of Rome for thirty-one years ; to give him 
 grace and strength to leave mother, sisters, friends 
 and all that was nearest and dearest to him on 
 earth, for Christ's sake, is an astounding moral 
 miracle, that cannot be properly appreciated by 
 any man who has not been the subject of such a 
 conversion. 
 
 My mind has often been filled with astonish- 
 ment, and deep meditation on the subject of con- 
 version. I am convinced, that when a Protestant 
 is converted, he believes the truth, which he once 
 considered folly, and looks upon the formalities 
 in which he was brought up from his infancy, 
 (which have been augmented and strengthened 
 with his age,) as many tyrants, which bound and 
 shackled his mind, or as many clouds which have 
 darkened the horizon of truth, and deprived him 
 of the light of the sun of righteousness, which 
 he now enjoys in peace with his God. 
 
 The conversion of a Protestant who had aban- 
 doned himself even to the vilest passions of his 
 heart, violating openly the precepts of God, by 
 committing all sorts of sinful acts, is certainly a 
 miracle; it is the work of the almighty power of 
 God, still the conversion of a Roman Catholic is 
 
OF A ROMAN CATHOLIC. 11 
 
 a greater miracle. For the Protestant, though lie 
 was living in vice, never abhorred virtue, nor 
 detested those who practised it. He was not reli- 
 gious, because he considered its practice difficult, 
 but never rejected it as an abominable practice, and 
 during the time when he openly transgressed the 
 laws of God, he never considered the observance 
 of them sinful, nor did he hate those who faith- 
 fully practised them ; it never came into his mind 
 to extirpate the faithful believers in the Bible with 
 fire and faggot, as obnoxious beings worthy of 
 the curse of God and man. But a Roman Cath- 
 olic, before his conversion to the truth of the Bi- 
 ble, is obliged to consider all other religious 
 creeds as abominations in the eyes of God. I 
 never heard them spoken of without an impreca- 
 tion. The name of Luther is never mentioned 
 without the epithet, ** maledetto Luthero," the 
 cursed Luther. The name of Calvin with the 
 addition: l'execrata memoria di Calvino," the ex- 
 ecrated memory of Calvin. The Reformation 
 was never a subject of conversion without a pro- 
 fusion of anathemas. Every Easter I heard the 
 Pope curse the Protestants from the balcony of 
 the Vatican, and bless the faithful Catholics, giv- 
 ing them an entire remission of all their sins, and 
 five hundred days indulgence from the pains of 
 
12 OBSTACLES IN THE WAY 
 
 Purgatory to all who have confessed, and com- 
 muned according to the precepts of the church. 
 Is it possible to describe the horror I had for Pro- 
 testantism, and with what dread all others look 
 upon it? 
 
 Another obstacle, which lies in the way of a 
 Roman Catholic, and one of the greatest of all, is 
 the false peace in which Rome cradles her follow- 
 ers. No Protestant can ever imagine, much less 
 have an adequate idea of those feelings which a 
 devoted Roman Catholic has after he leaves the 
 confessional. I remember it with sorrow, and 
 blush over my ignorance, that I could be so cred- 
 ulous. When my conscience accused me of sin- 
 fulness, when my heart was nearly broken with 
 the sorrowful conviction of having sinned against 
 my God, I often kneeled in a corner of the church 
 before an image of the virgin Mary, or before a 
 statue of a saint, praying for rest to my troubled 
 soul ; I was ashamed to acquaint the priest with 
 all the indwellings of my heart, at the same time 
 I feared if I should neglect that precept of the 
 church, that I must go to hell, in that internal 
 war with myself, and I may say with my God, I 
 approached the confessional ; I clothed my sins 
 in the garment of self-righteousness ; instead of 
 
OF A ROMAN CATHOLIC. 13 
 
 accusing myself, I complained of temptations, 
 and strong inclinations to sin ; in many instances 
 I excused myself; I promised every thing only 
 to obtain absolution. I repeat, that no Protestant 
 can enter into those feelings, which I had after 
 having received absolution ; though I was con- 
 scious of having deceived the priest, still the idea 
 of having obtained the absolution, I felt as easy 
 as if I had really obtained the remission of all my 
 sins, and a license to begin a new catalogue for 
 the next time of confession. 
 
 My readers will think, that this was my indi- 
 vidual fault ; other papists are more sincere in the 
 observance of the so-called sacrament of penance. 
 My readers can be assured, that one-third of the 
 inhabitants of Rome, confess only pro forma, to 
 obtain the parochial ticket, 1 that they might not 
 
 1 The ticket is given by the parish priest at the altar, 
 when he is administering the communion. A month 
 after Easter he visits every house in his parish, col- 
 lecting the said tickets, in order to know who had ne- 
 glected that precept of the church. A person who is 
 found without the ticket, is kindly admonished, but. if 
 obstinate, his name is fixed on the doors of the four 
 Basilic churches, viz., St. Peter's* St. John of Lateran, 
 »S7. Maria Maggiore, and St. Maria del Trasttvere, 
 with the excommunication of the Pope annexed. — 
 Should this second effort be also fruitless, the Pope, as 
 the Father of the faithful, and anxious that no soul 
 should be lost, causes him to be put in prison, where 
 he is visited by the priests. But should the third ef- 
 
14 OBSTACLES IN THE WAV 
 
 be subject to the vexations and punishments to 
 which the disobedient members are exposed. A 
 large number of the inhabitants do not confess at 
 all, they buy the ticket from the boys, who usu- 
 ally serve the priests in the vestibidum, or room* 
 where they dress themselves to appear before the 
 altar. I remember having once bought such a 
 ticket from the Sacristano. 1 Not out of contempt 
 to the sacrament, but for conscience sake ; I 
 thought it a sacrilege to commune without having 
 obtained the absolution. I preferred to deceive 
 the priest, by giving him a bought ticket, rather 
 than my God, by communing with a load of sin 
 upon my soul. 
 
 Another impediment, not less obstructive in 
 the way of the truth of the gospel, is the temporal 
 jjrospects, which the church of Rome holds out 
 to her members. It is like a barrier raised up 
 against the gospel truth. It is like an iron grasp, 
 
 fort prove fruitless also, then the Pope with the au* 
 thority of the Vicar of Christ, and the love of the good 
 Shepherd, gives him into the good care of the tortures 
 of the Holy Inquisition, until he returns into the bo- 
 som of the mother church. 
 
 KSacristano is the servant of the church, whose of- 
 fice is to dress the priest before he celebrates the mass, 
 lighting the candles, adjusting the altar, and assisting 
 at the mass, &c. 
 
OF A ROMAN CATHOLIC. 15 
 
 which holds them back. Every respectable family 
 in Rome has a priest in its bosom, who is the 
 hope of the family. Worldly honors ; ccclessias- 
 tical offices ; riches of this world are expected, 
 and to obtain them, nothing is neglected ; the mask 
 of hypocrisy is put on; intrigues are entered into, 
 even immoral means, and if necessary carnal 
 prostitutions to some cardinal or prelate, or even 
 to the humble confessor, are used, as means to 
 become great in the Catholic and Apostolic 
 Church of Rome. 
 
 After all these repugnances and antipathies 
 towards Protestantism; worldly inducements; 
 spiritual encouragements, and false peace to the 
 troubled soul ; add also the fear of papal excom- 
 munication, and the tortures of the Holy Inquis- 
 ition, and then ask whether the conversion of a 
 Roman Catholic is not a great wonder? Yes! a 
 moral miracle, as great as the opening of the eyes 
 of the blind, and the raising up of the dead. For 
 it is the opening of the eyes of the blind ; and 
 the raising of the dead in sins. 
 
EASTER. 
 
 As my intention is not only to give my person* 
 al experience, but also to describe Rome as it is 
 now, the digression of the present chapter will 
 not be considered a deviation from the subject, 
 but an elucidation of the moral corruption of the 
 church of Rome. Having mentioned Easter, 
 when his Holiness the Pope so profusely pours 
 out curses on Protestants, it will not be out of or- 
 der to give a description of the manner in which 
 that festival is celebrated, and sanctified in Rome. 
 
 Easter is one of the three great festivals in the 
 church of Rome. It is true, the calendar is near- 
 ly all set apart to the commemoration of saints. 
 We have more saints than there are days in the 
 year; still Easter having been a subject of agita- 
 tion in the church, and the cause of separation 
 between the Latin and the Greek churches, 1 Rome 
 displays more luxury, and ecclesiastical splendor 
 in its celebration than in any other festival in the 
 calendar. 
 
 J Circa ann. 862. 
 
EASTER. 17 
 
 The Holy week, which precedes Easter, is 
 worthy to be mentioned. Every amateur of mu- 
 sic will know something of the so far famed 
 "miserere" which is performed in the Slxtin 
 Chapel during the last three evenings of the Holy 
 week. The chapel is in the Vatican, painted by 
 Michael Angelo, fresh as if his master pencil had 
 touched it only to-day ; on the right of the altar 
 a throne is erected for the Pope; on both sides 
 the Cardinals are arrayed in purple, 1 each of them 
 assisted by their respective caudatario,- and Ma- 
 estro di ceremonial — The patriarchs, and bish- 
 ops in their pontifical dress ; the generals, and 
 chiefs of every religious order in their monastic 
 array. The lodges erected on both sides of the 
 chapel are crowded with foreign ambassadors, 
 their ladies and other distinguished foreigners of 
 both sexes. In the middle of the chapel is a 
 reading desk of a triangular form upon which 
 
 'The cardinal's usual dress is scarlet red, but in the 
 morning they dress in purple. 
 
 -Caudatario is literally translated tail-bearer, or one 
 who carries the tail of the cardinal's toga. 
 
 * Maestro di ccrcmonia, is a priest who directs the 
 order in pontifical masses ; every cardinal has one as 
 an apendix to his suit, and in the house of his emi- 
 nence, he. is an overseer of the domestic affairs. 
 
18 EASTER. 
 
 thirteen candles are burning, as a symbol of the 
 candelabrum in the temple of Jerusalem ; others 
 however, say of our Savior, and his twelve dis- 
 ciples. Every eye is directed towards the throne ; 
 the Pope giving the signal, the "miserere meV 
 is commenced, and at once the chapel is rendered 
 vocal by a hundred voices. To describe the ef- 
 fect, and impression which it produces upon the 
 senses, is beyond the power of human language. 
 Ecclesiastical splendor Hashing on every side in 
 a thousand forms, military, and diplomatic decor- 
 ations of all the courts of Europe, the display of 
 the ladies, and other fascinations beggar alt des- 
 cription. In addition to this, the paintings, of the 
 most renowned masters of Italy, the best perform- 
 ers of the theatrical artists, and ehoresters, and 
 the most unrivalled voices of Eunuchs, are too 
 overpowering to be depicted. After every psalm 
 a candle is extinguished, until the last, which re- 
 mains the only one burning in the whole chapel. 
 We can see the colors gradually darken, and the 
 figures of the paintings by degrees lose their form, 
 a striking symbol of the papal power, which is 
 loosing its influence, and gradually Aiding away 
 like the twilight of the evening. 
 
 Saturday before Easter, at twelve o'clock the 
 bells are heard from every steeple, the clouds are 
 
EASTER. 1 9 
 
 rent by their sounds, and tho enrth trembles from 
 the roaring of the canon from Fort St. Jki- 
 gelo; the cars are deafened by the merry clamors 
 of the children in the streets, and the reports of 
 pistols fired nearly in every house. The re- 
 membrance of that joyful spectacle produces now 
 a very different sensation in my heart, for I know 
 the Savior has risen from the dead, and I with 
 him. 
 
 Saturday evening at seven o'clock, P. M. every 
 dwelling, where an image of a Madonna, or any 
 saint is stationed for the houses are illuminated, 1 
 altars are erected, lytanies are sung ; and prayers 
 upon bended knees are offered to those saints, all 
 these in the middle of the streets. In the mean- 
 time the multitude of the (so called) better class 
 of the inhabitants of Rome are directed toward 
 {St. Peter's, where the grandest, and most impos- 
 ing spectacle is to be seen. But at the same time 
 the most revolting to every moral sense, and reli- 
 gious feeling. 
 
 A cross (covered with brass, semetrically illu- 
 minated with thousands of lamps) is suspended 
 
 *It is the custom in Italy to have niches in the walls; 
 the outside of the houses, in which the Virgin Mary, 
 or some saint is p]aced, as a protector of the house, 
 and family. 
 
20 EASTER. 
 
 in the middle of the church. The reader may 
 form some kind of an idea of the colossal height 
 of that cross, when he is informed that its magni- 
 tude does apparently, not diminish even after be- 
 ing suspended at a tremendous height above the 
 heads of the people. Round that cross you can see, 
 promenading arm in arm, the lover with his did- 
 cinea, as though promenading in a dancing sa- 
 loon ; chatting, laughing, and indulging in most 
 irreverent acts, which would be considered an of- 
 fence in a respectable hotel, these are committed 
 publicly in the sanctuary, under the cross of 
 Christ. As the church is entirely dark, except 
 the light which the cross reflects in it, there are 
 sometimes lovers of darkness, rather than of light ; 
 who often lose their way in the adjacent collon- 
 ades, and chapels, where they perpetrate the most 
 wicked acts, of which every honest man would 
 blush, except the adorers of the cross in the 
 church of St. Peter's. This spectacle lasts until 
 eleven o'clock in the night ; decency forbids me 
 to say more, and constrains me to relinquish the 
 subject of the adoration of the cross in St. Pe- 
 ter's at Rome. 
 
 Easter morning. The roaring of the cannon 
 announces the ushering in of the morn; the har- 
 
EASTER. 21 
 
 monious sounds from the thousand steeples miti- 
 gate the roughness of the first, and invite the 
 slumbering beauty to leave her couch, and pre- 
 pare for the rendezvous given the last night under 
 the illuminated cross. 
 
 Nine o'clock, A. M. The square of St. Pe- 
 ter's presents the most varied, and interesting 
 spectacle, State carriages of all descriptions ; 
 the cardinals in their full dress, and suit, the am- 
 bassadors of all the foreign courts, with all the 
 particular characteristics of their nations; car- 
 riages of the innumerable prelates, bishops, and 
 chiefs of the monastic orders; two regiments of 
 soldiers in arms ; martial music, the spouting of 
 the gigantic fountains; thousands, and ten thous- 
 ands of pedestrians of every sex and class, dress- 
 ed in their best garments, take their posts under 
 the colonades, or other spots, as they think the 
 most convenient ; this lasts until one o'clock, P. 
 M., so that the whole square is thronged with 
 people. One o'clock is usually the time of the 
 appearance of the Pope on the balcony of the 
 church ; a dead silence prevails throughout the 
 whole mass of the people ; every eye is directed 
 to the spot, with watches in the hand, the min- 
 utes are counted ; in the mean time the balcony 
 
22 EASTER. 
 
 is filling with cardinals, bishops, and monks ; the 
 attention becomes so rivetted, that a sigh might 
 be heard ; at length the Pope appears in an arm 
 chair carried upon the shoulders of eight persons 
 between two gigantic fans. Then the deafening 
 shouts of the people, the sonorous martial music, 
 the roaring of the cannon rend the clouds. " Pa- 
 dre la santa benedizione," (father the holy bles- 
 sing,) bursts from every mouth ; the handkerchiefs 
 are waved by the ladies, and the hats by the men. 
 All prostrate themselves upon the ground, they 
 receive the blessing from the Pope ; a prelate then 
 reads the so called " Bulla Ccena Domini" in 
 which the most horrible curses against the here- 
 tics, and infidels are pronounced, and a blessing 
 upon all the faithful. Thus ends the spectacle 
 for this time. 
 
 In the afternoon all the promenades are visited, 
 the wine houses filled ; the places of amusement 
 enjoyed until the evening, when all again repair 
 to the square of St. Peter's to enjoy the illumina- 
 tion of the cupola. 1 It is horrible to think, that 
 
 ^he cupola is illuminated by three hundred per- 
 sons, who ar^ stationed with lightened torches within 
 the interior, in order that they should not be seen, and 
 as soon as the first stroke of seven o'clock is heard, 
 they rush forward and light the lamps assigned unto 
 each of them, so that in one minute the whole cupola 
 
CONVERSION OF THE AUTHOR 23 
 
 suductions of the innocent, wicked plans framed, 
 and perpetrated in those days, partly in the sanc- 
 tuary under the eyes of the priests shall be called 
 a religious worship. 
 
 NARRATIVE 
 
 OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PROVIDENCE OF 
 GOD SHOWED ME THE ERRORS OF POPERY. 
 
 As the heaven is high above the earth, so great 
 is God's mercy towards men ; and as far as the 
 east is from the west, so far are his counsels from 
 ours. One day, it was a charming summer day, 
 a day when an Italian sun sheds its enlivening 
 rays over the city of the world ; who could think 
 
 is illuminated, even the cross on the top has three 
 lights. In addition to this, the reflection of these 
 lighls in the spouts of the gigantic fountains, where 
 every drop in the air is like a prism, and represents 
 thousands of rainbows, is above all description. — 
 When Joseph II. of Austria visited Rome, the Pope 
 gave an illumination in honor of that august stranger, 
 when he had watched the spouting of the fountains 
 for a short time, he said : "It is enough." But how 
 much greater was his surprise when he was informed 
 that these were perpetual fountains. And at the first 
 stroke of seven o'clock the Secretary of State asked 
 for a pinch of snuff and in the time the emperor of 
 Austria turned to give his snuff-box, the whole cupola 
 appeared in fire. Joseph was so astonished, that he 
 would not take the snuff-box back, but gave it as a 
 present to the cardinal, Secretary of State. 
 
24 CONVERSION OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 that this would be the day, upon which I was to 
 be emancipated from the thraldom of superstition 
 and freed from the fetters of moral and religious 
 slavery. Coming, as usual, from the public library 
 of the Sapienza, on my way home I passed the 
 Piazza Novona, one of the public squares of that 
 name, and there encountered the stand of an anti- 
 quarian, as one who sold second-handed books. 
 After having examined his stock and found noth- 
 ing which could be of use for my library, I saw a 
 basket on the ground with very old books, which 
 he offered me for ire Bajocchj, four cents a piece. 
 I searched and searched, and found a small volume 
 in the French language, a translation from the Eng- 
 lish, entitled: "Father Clement." I thought 
 it a life of some saint, and being written in French, 
 I thought it might be of double benefit for edifica- 
 tion as well as instruction. I paid my four cents 
 and left the stand. How great was my surprise 
 when in reading Father Clement, I found a dis- 
 cussion between a Jesuit and a Protestant, instead 
 of a life of a saint. All my attention was directed 
 to one point, where is the truth ? After having 
 attentively perused the little book, I read again 
 and again the scriptural passages in favor of the 
 arguments. I could not then believe that such 
 
CONVERSION OP *THE MJTIIOR. 25 
 
 ages were in the Bible, and what was still 
 Worse, I had no Bible to confront the truth and 
 correctness of the passages. Some of my read- 
 ers will think it impossible that a Roman Catho- 
 lic priest should be without a Bible ; they will at- 
 tribute it to my own lukewarmness. I can assure 
 them that few, very few priests in Rome and 
 throughout Italy are in the possession of thrt 
 Holy book, and those who have it keep it like 
 any other classical book only as an ornament in 
 their libraries. 1 
 
 Having no B;blc to verify the truth of the pas- 
 sages quoted by the Protestant, I went to the pub- 
 lic library of the Dominicans, called, "La 3Ii- 
 nerva" from the church which was once a tem- 
 ple dedicated to that divinity. But what was my 
 surprise, when on asking Frater Jlmbrosio for a 
 Polyglot Bible, he asked me if I had the permis- 
 sion from the Maestro del Sacro Palazzo to read 
 it ? I told him with resentment that I never knew 
 of the necessity of such a license ; as a theolo- 
 
 'When I studied theology, I heard twice every week 
 the lectures on Disquiaif.io Biblica, and never saw a 
 Bible in the hand of the professor, nor in the hand of 
 any of the students. The professor dictated from his 
 papers on the controversy of the creation ; about the 
 Adamites and Pre-adamites and all such stuff, which 
 was neither for the head nor for the heart. 
 
 3 
 
26 CONVERSION OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 gian I thought it an affront to refuse me the Bible - 
 Fra. Ambrosio, w.Uo was a very good natured old 
 man, and who know me from a boy, assured me 
 that his intention was not to insult me, but these 
 were his orders ; and that every one, even old 
 priests must have a license to read the Bible. But 
 he stated that he would ask the librarian, and tell 
 him that he knew me, and if the librarian had no 
 objection he would give me the Polyglot Bible. 
 He did so, and the librarian Father Cipidla, at 
 that time also the vice inquisitor, authorized him 
 to give me any book, even those which are in the 
 Index (libror. prohib.) of the forbidden books. 
 
 These little difficulties augmented my desire to 
 read not only the few passages in Father Clement, 
 but the whole Bible. On the same day I searched 
 in all the bookseller stores for a Bible, and bought 
 one, a translation from the vulgate by Martini? 
 Arch-bishop of Florence. It is impossible to des- 
 cribe my feelings, when I found that the passages 
 quoted by the Protestant had been faithfully trans- 
 cribed from the Bible. New, and almost unde- 
 fineable ideas occupied my mind. I am so old? 
 and have not known the Bible ? I studied theo- 
 logy, read the fathers, and canons of the different 
 councils, and not the Bible? Why should I have 
 
(CONVERSION OF THE AUTHOR. 2? 
 
 a special permission to read the word of God ? 
 Why have Protestants, [who are considered here- 
 tics] free access to the Bible ? These, and many- 
 other excruciating thoughts tortured my mind. It 
 was a problem, which I could not solve. I felt 
 that there was something wrong ; but where, I 
 could not find out. Haunted by these thoughts I 
 went to my spiritual adviser, and recounted to him 
 every thing. I was sincere, and that too perhaps 
 for the first time since my fifteenth year, when 
 I first opened my whole heart and troubled mind 
 to a confessor* He was astonished that such a 
 trifling thing should trouble me, as it was nothing 
 more than temptations of the devil, to which I 
 yielded; He counseled me : to let the Bible 
 alone, as it was too strong a food for my fer* 
 vent imagination. Then he asked me : " If I 
 had not been in contact with some heretic? If 
 I had given Father Clement to some other per* 
 son to read ? If I had communicated my senti- 
 ments to some of my companions? If I had 
 been a long time in the possession of the Bible? 
 After having answered all these questions in the 
 negative, he continued his directions. " To give 
 no room in my mind to such heretical ideas ; 
 being only Satan, who appears as an angel of 
 
&8 CONVERSION OF THE AUTHOR * 
 
 light. That I must burn Father Clement, ati 
 the sole cause of the evil. That I should make 
 it as a rule to pay my morning and evening de- 
 votions to the ever blessed Virgin Mary. To be 
 more exact in the duty of saying the horx can- 
 enicse in the Breuiary, fyc. 4'C." 1 
 
 I promised to do all he required me to do, and 
 I did all, except two things I could not observe* 
 namely : to let the Bible alone and to burn Father 
 Clement. 
 
 After a long and heart-rending strugle with my- 
 self, I kneeled before the image of the Virgin 
 Mary, and asked in fervent prayer the counsel of 
 the queen of heaven, [as I believed her to be.] 
 I came to the resolution to inquire : 
 
 1st* Whether the practices of the church ol 
 Rome has been the practice of the primitive 
 churches ? 
 
 2nd. Whether the practices and doctrines of the' 
 church of Rome can be proved and sanctioned by 
 the authority of the Bible ? and 
 
 3rd. Whether they can be confirmed by the au- 
 thority of the Fathers ? 
 
 l Horse Canonicas is a certain task, which every priest 
 is in duty bound to perform, by saying some prayers 
 in the Breuiary in the morning, and is called : "Ma- 
 tutinae," and in the evening called : "Vesper," and in 
 the middle of the day, called horae. 
 
CONVERSION OF THE AUTHOR. 29 
 
 Scarcely had I made the resolution, when I felt 
 as if a burden had fallen from my heart. I thanked 
 the Holy Virgin for her wise counsel, and deter- 
 mined to go to work as soon as possible. Never 
 were the words of the apostle Paul " to will is 
 present with me, but how to perform that which 
 is good, I find not ;" more applicable than in my 
 case. Though strongly determined to investigate 
 the Scriptures, still there was an internal voice as 
 it were, which whispered to my conscience, say- 
 ing: "What, inquire if the doctrines of the 
 church of Rome are the same as in the primitive 
 churches ? Is it not the Catholic and Apostolic 
 church ? Who can doubt the primitive principles 
 and usages of the Roman church ? What ! in- 
 quire whether the doctrines of the Catholic church 
 can be proved by the Bible ? Is it not a mortal 
 sin to doubt the authenticity of the mother church, 
 which is the only saving church out of which 
 there is no salvation ?" Such were the thoughts 
 and feelings, which habit, prejudice and perhaps 
 superstition suggested to my bewildered mind. 
 
 Father Clement being constantly upon my table, 
 I read it over and over again, so that I knew it 
 nearly by heart. Finally I made a resolution, 
 which was in harmony with my own conscience, 
 
30 THE MASS. 
 
 neither derogatory to reason, nor to the doctrines 
 of the church of Rome. A resolution of which 
 no Roman Catholic, priest or layman can be 
 ashamed. It was simply this. If the doctrines 
 of the church of Rome are true, why should I 
 not investigate them, and see if they are really 
 based upon the Scriptures, and the usages of the 
 primitive churches ? In order that my faith 
 might be more fully established, and also in* 
 structed in the Bible. Are the doctrines of the 
 church of Rome not based upon the Bible, and 
 if they are contrary to the usages of the primi- 
 tive churches, it is necessary for my souls sal- 
 vation to know it. 
 
 THE MASS. 
 
 My readers will bear in mind, that at that time 
 I had not been persuaded of the errors of popery, 
 nor had I been in the possession of the truth. 
 First I doubted and then I inquired ; therefore he 
 must not expect an elaborate theological disquisi- 
 tion upon the gospel truth, but only the experience 
 of a sincere seeker. 
 
 All the practices and dogmas of the church of 
 Rome, were crowded together in my mind. The 
 
THE MJtiftS, 31 
 
 ; t ran substantiation ; auriculir confes- 
 sion: invocation of Saints; veneration of im- 
 snages : adoration of relics ; purgatovy and in 
 diligences; infallibility of the Pope,;, and the 
 Inquisition, §'C. All these presented themselves at 
 ■once tc my mind, and I scarcely knew where to 
 begin. But as the Mass is a precept of the church, 
 and an injunction to every member: "to hear the 
 sacred office of the Mass on festival days" it 
 was the first subject of investigation on Scriptural 
 grounds, and also whether it was the usage of the 
 primitive churches ? In my investigation I neg- 
 lected nothing; I read the fathers, canons, and 
 searched diligently the Scriptures to support it; 
 for my desire was not to find errors, but to 
 strenghten my faith in the doctrines of the church 
 of Rome. 
 
 " The Mass [as I had been taught] is a sacri- 
 fice of external oblation of the body and blood of 
 Christ, through the forms of bread and wine, sen- 
 sibly exhibited by a legitimate minister, offered to 
 God in recognition of his supreme dominion, with 
 the use of eertain prayers and ceremonies pres- 
 cribed by the church for the better worship of 
 God and edification of the people." As the es- 
 ished doctrine of the church of Rome, it is 
 
32 THE MASS* 
 
 supported by all theologians. 1 The council cf 
 Trent is equally decided on the subject. 2 " Who- 
 soever shall say, that the sacrifice of the Mass is 
 merely an offering- of praise and thanks, or a simr- 
 ple commemoration of the sacrifice performed on 
 the cross- and not propitiatory; or that it is of 
 benefit only to the recipient ; and that it ought not 
 to be offered for the living and the dead for sins, 
 penances, satisfactions, and other necessities ; let 
 him be accursed." 
 
 The ceremo?iies, which form a part of the sac- 
 rifice I had as a matter of necessity investigated. 
 Before that, I performed them mechanically, not' 
 even thinking of their signification ; but how was 
 I disappointed, when I found that those ceremo- 
 nies are not more related with the things of which 
 they should be emblematic, than rny readers are 
 related with the man in the moon. I shall give 
 a. short description of the vestment and evolutions 
 of the mass, and the reader will see that there are 
 many acts and ceremonies, which have no signi- 
 fication at all. 
 
 *BeIarminode Miss;csacrificio,lib. l.—-Snarez Dk 
 quisitio de Missse celeferancfo. 
 
 2 Concil Tredent, Sessio 22, can. St 
 
THE MASS. S3 
 
 " The priest, who officiates, 1 shall cover his 
 head with an amice, (a white towel,) which sig- 
 nifies the veil that the Jews put on Christ; then 
 over his own clothing an alb, (a white linen shirt,) 
 which betokens a garment of that color, which 
 Herod is said to have put upon Christ. The gir- 
 dle, signifying the cord with which our Saviour 
 was bound in the garden; next he puts on a stole 
 about his neck, as an emblem of the cord with 
 which Christ was led to execution ; then comes 
 the manipulum on his left hand, in allusion to 
 the cord with which Christ was bound to the pil- 
 lar when scourged; over all these a very rich, 
 with gold embroidered vestment, which hangs be- 
 hind and before in a curious manner, and is call- 
 ed pivialis, significant of the purple garment 
 with which the Jews clothed our Saviour. The 
 altar represents the cross, the cup, the sepulchre 
 of the Saviour, the patina, or cover of the cup, 
 the stone on the grave ; the lighted candle, 
 the light of Christ. Then follow, the prostra- 
 tions, and genuflections, the boy and the little 
 bell; the numerous bowings, turnings and facings, 
 kissings and crossings. The drinking of all the 
 wine and the asking for more; the drying of the 
 
 'Missal. Rom. Rubrica, 
 
34 
 
 THE MASS. 
 
 cup with a white handkerchief as a sign that he 
 drank all of it; all these things puzzled my 
 mind. I searched the Bible in order to find a 
 chapter in which the mass, which our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ said, is described. I expected to 
 find a description of the sacred vestments; 
 the exact command of all the evolutions and in- 
 tricate gesticulations of the celebrator of the 
 mass. Unhappily I found not only nothing of all 
 these things, but quite the contrary. I compared 
 the missal with the Bible, and the following was 
 the result of my research. 
 
 The Church of Rome. 
 " I further profess that 
 in the mass is ottered to 
 God a true, proper, and 
 propitiatory sacrifice for 
 the living and dead." — 
 Creed Pius. iv. 
 
 " The mass is a sacri- 
 fice not accompanied 
 with shedding of blood." 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 "The blood of Christ 
 cleanseth from all sin.' 
 Epist. I. John c. i. v. 7. 
 
 "Behold the lamb of 
 God that taketh away 
 the sins of the world." 
 Gospel of John, chap. i. 
 v. 29. 
 
 The mass is offered 
 by sinful priests. 
 
 "Without shedding of 
 blood is no remission of 
 sins." Epist. Heb. c. 
 vii. v. 27. 
 
 " Christ offered up 
 himself," Ep. to Heb. 
 c. vii. v. 27, "to put away 
 sin by the sacrifice of 
 himself." Ep. to Heb. 
 c. ix. v. 26. 
 
THE MASS. 
 
 35 
 
 The Church of Rome. 
 
 "The mass is often 
 repeated, for the living 1 , 
 and dead." Cone. Trid. 
 Can. 3 
 
 The priest needs dai- 
 ly to offer up sacrifice, 
 first for his own sins, 
 then for the people. 
 
 Ritus missal. Roman. 
 
 "The day before our 
 Lord suffered, he took 
 bread into his holy and 
 adorable hands, and lift- 
 ing up his eyes to heav- 
 en, to God, and giving 
 thanks, he blessed (there 
 the priest crosses, and 
 re-crosses the wafer,) 
 brake and gave to his 
 disciples, (then the ma- 
 neuver begins; the hos- 
 tia is broken in two 
 pieces upon the patina, 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 "Christ was once of- 
 fered to bear the sins of 
 many." Ep. Heb. c. ix. 
 v. 28. 
 
 "By one offering he 
 had perfected for ever 
 them that are sancti- 
 fied." Heb. c. x. v. 14. 
 
 "Sueh an high priest 
 became us, who is holy, 
 harmless, undefiled, and 
 separate from sinners, 
 and made higher than 
 the heavens, who need- 
 eth not as those high 
 priests to offer up sacri- 
 fice first for his own 
 sins, and then for the 
 people." Ep. Heb. c. 
 vii. v. 26. 
 
 "And as they were 
 eating, Jesus took bread 
 and blessed it, and brake 
 it, and gave it to the dis- 
 ciples, and said : Take, 
 eat; this is my body. 
 
 "And he took the cup 
 and gave thanks, and 
 gave it to them, saying, 
 Drink ye all of it, for 
 this is my blood of the 
 New Testament, which 
 is shed for many for the 
 remission of sins." Mat, 
 
36 
 
 THE MASS. 
 
 The Church of Rome. 
 
 the towl of the altar 
 scraped ivith it, in case 
 a particle should have 
 fallen upon the altar, 
 again a genuflection, 
 the bell sounds, the peo- 
 ple fall upan their knees, 
 strike their breasts, 
 pray, and worship the 
 hostia ) saying: "take ye 
 all of this, for it is my 
 body." 
 
 (In the mean time 
 ivhile that maneuver 
 goes on, the hostia is 
 transubstantiated in the 
 blood, body, soul, and 
 divinity of Jesus Christ, 
 or in more intelligible 
 words, the morsel of 
 bread is instantaneous- 
 ly changed into the Re- 
 deemer of the world; 
 then he crosses on the 
 bottom of the cup and 
 also on the brim of it, 
 and taking it in his 
 hand, he breathes on it, 
 and utters the rest in 
 the same low voice, viz. 
 "In like manner after 
 supper he took this no- 
 ble calice into his holy 
 and adorable hands, and 
 after thanks to the Fath- 
 er, he blessed, (there he 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 c. xxvi. v. 26—28; Mark 
 c. xiv. v. 22, 23 ; Luke 
 c. xxii. v. 19, 20; Ep 
 of 1 Cor. c. xi. v. 23, 
 
 &c. 
 
THE MASS. 
 
 37 
 
 The Church of Rome. The Bible. 
 
 crosses again) and gave 
 it to his disciples, say- 
 ing, Take YE, AXD DRINK 
 YOU ALL OF THIS, for 
 
 this is the cup of my 
 blood, a new and ever- 
 lasting testament, a mys- 
 tery of faith, which shall 
 be shed for you, and for 
 many, for the remission 
 of sins, so oft as you do 
 this, you shall do it in 
 remembrance of me" — 
 (Then raising the cup 
 over his head that the 
 people may likewise 
 worship it, he kneels 
 upon his knees, and 
 without touching any- 
 thing with the fingers 
 which touched the body, 
 blood, soul and divinity 
 of Jesus Christ, he kis- 
 ses with outstretched 
 arms the altar, eats the 
 hostia and drinks all the 
 Wine, asks for more, 
 says some other prayers 
 and Christ is eaten up, 
 and the people dismissed. 
 
 Who can imagine my feelings at the disappoint 
 
 ment; the words of the consecration not only ma- 
 
 -Miciously altered, but also ignorantly applied, by 
 
 saying, "drink ye all of it," alluding to the wine 
 
 4 
 
38 THE MASS. 
 
 instead of to the apostles, drink ye all the wine Of 
 it, and the word shed, applying to the New Tes- 
 tament, instead of to the blood of Christ, is absurd 
 and laughable even to a beginner of the Greek 
 language ; people who have Calmet and other ex- 
 pounders of the Scriptures, who teach the Greek 
 in schools, should they not know that &*.Hx* 
 (testament) is feminine, and ^a (blood) is neu- 
 tre gender ? It is impossible, it must be a wilful 
 and deliberate deception. In addition to that, I 
 found no sacred vestment ; no crossings ; no evo 
 lutions whatever ; no breathing on the cup ; no 
 mass in the Bible ; whom should I believe, the 
 Bible or the church of Rome ?— certainly the Bi 
 ble. My Roman Catholic brethren see, that it is 
 not the spirit of Protestantism, or criticism, which 
 induces me to write, but to call forth a spirit of 
 investigation from the hearts of my dear Roman 
 Catholic friends, is the only object. 
 
 Though disappointed in my expectations, though 
 the Bible contradicted the councils and the whole 
 church, still it was impossible for me to make up 
 my mind, and to decide against the church. There- 
 fore I continued the investigation with regard to 
 the prayers, being an essential part of the mass ; 
 in the hope that the church and the Bible would 
 in that point agree. Here is the result of it. 
 
THE MASS, 
 
 30 
 
 The Church of Rome. 
 
 The priest begins the mass 
 with confiteor, &e. 
 
 "I confess to Almighty 
 Cod, to blessed Virgin 
 Mary, ever virgin, to 
 blessed Michael, the 
 arch-angel, to blessed 
 John the Baptist, &c, 
 (and to you Father.") 
 Ordiri of the mass. 
 
 After the introit, and 
 the Eyrie Eleison he of- 
 fers the following pray- 
 er: 
 
 "We beseech thee O 
 Lord, by the merits of 
 thy saints, whose relics 
 are here, and of all the 
 saints, that thou would'st 
 vouchsafe to forgive me 
 all my sins." 
 
 At the oblation of the 
 host, he prays : 
 
 "Accept, O, Holy Fa- 
 ther, Almighty and eter- 
 nal God, this unspotted 
 host which I, thy un- 
 worthy servant offer un- 
 to thee, my living and 
 true God, for my innu- 
 merable sins," &c. 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 4 'Against thee, thee 
 only have I sinned, and 
 done this evil in thy 
 sight." Ps. li. v. 4. 
 
 "Christ is able to save 
 them to the uttermost, 
 that come unto God by 
 him, seeing he ever liv- 
 eth to make intercession 
 for them." Ep. to Heb. 
 c. vii. v. 25. 
 
 "There is none righti- 
 ous, no not one." Ep, 
 Romans c. iii. v. 10. 
 
 The blood of Christ 
 cleanseth fiom all sin." 
 Ep. 1 John c. i. v. 7. 
 
 But this man (Christ) 
 after he had offered one 
 sacrifice for sins, for ev- 
 er, sat down on the right 
 hand of God." Epist. 
 Heb. c. x. v. 20. 
 
 "Christ was once of- 
 fered to bear the sins of 
 many." Ep. Heb. c. ix. 
 v. 28. 
 
40 
 
 Tlifc MAtifo 
 
 The Church of Home. 
 
 •Commemoration of the 
 dead. 
 
 "Be mindful, Lord, 
 of thy servants who are 
 gone before us with the 
 sign of faith, and rest 
 in sleep of peace. To 
 these, O Lord, and to 
 all that sleep in Christ, 
 grant we beseech thee a 
 place of refreshment, 
 light and peace." 
 
 "Lamb of God, that 
 taketh away the sins of 
 the world, give them 
 eternal rest." Canon of 
 the mass. 
 
 St. Peter's Chair. 
 
 "O Lord, who by de- 
 livering to the blessed 
 apostle Peter the keys 
 of the kingdom of hea- 
 ven, didst give hinrthe 
 power of binding and 
 loosing, grant that by 
 his intercession, we may 
 he freed from the bonds 
 of our sins." Missal. 
 Roman. 
 
 The Bible, 
 
 "Neither have they 
 (the dead) any more a 
 portion forever in any 
 thing that is done (in 
 prayers, or in Masses, 
 &c.) under the sun." — ■ 
 Eccles. c. ix. v. 6. 
 
 "Blessed are the dead 
 that die in the Lord 
 from henceforth. Yea, 
 with the spirit, that they 
 may rest from their la- 
 bors." Rev. ^c. xiv. v. 
 13* 
 
 "Neither is there sal- 
 vation in any other (but 
 Christ,) for there is none 
 other name under hea- 
 ven given among men 
 whereby we must be 
 saved." Acts c, iv. v, 
 12. . 
 
 Having found no passage in the Bible to sup- 
 port even the prayers of the mass, my faith be- 
 
THE MASS. 41 
 
 gat to shake; my confidence in the sincerity of 
 the church to diminish, and suspicion against 
 spiritual tyranny awakened in my bosom. Now 
 I know the reason why the reading of the Bible 
 is forbidden, was the language of my heart, that 
 the deception of priests might not be detected. 
 My partiality to the church, and my prejudices 
 lessened every day, and I became a more impar- 
 tial inquirer after the truth of the gospel. So I 
 could soon discern that the mass was not an in- 
 stitution of the primitive churches, but a priestly 
 fabrication of the Later an Council in the year 
 1214, and afterwards sealed with the thousand 
 anathemas in the council of Trent. I evidently 
 saw that if that doctrine had been the doctrine 
 of the primitive churches, would the council of 
 Trent have been obliged to introduce it with so 
 it any " Let him be accursed?" Soon I discov- 
 ered the shameful perversion of the Holy Bible, 
 and the privation of the greatest of all privileges, 
 the cup which the Lord gave to his disciples. 
 
 The consequence of all this was awful, I had 
 no faith in the authority, and infallibility of the 
 church ; no confidence in the priests, but looked 
 on them as spiritual tyrants. I became dissatis- 
 fied with myself for having been so ignorant, and 
 
42 THE MASS. 
 
 superstitions, that I for so long a time, believed g 
 lie. The Scriptures I believed to be the inspired 
 word of God, bat it was a dead letter for me ; I 
 read the Scriptures not to edify myself, or to ap^ 
 ply it to- the state of my sinful heart, and troubled 
 soul, but to find out the anti-biblical doctrines, 
 and other anti-scriptural practices of the church 
 of Rome ; and after I had found new errors, I 
 felt happy. In one word 1 was no Roman Cath- 
 olic in heart, nor a real believer in the gospel of 
 Christ; I was more a negative Deist, than a true 
 Christian. 
 
 What was my surprise, when I made known 
 my thoughts to some priests, my intimate friends, 
 to find that they were rank infidels. With the 
 Scriptures they were unacquainted ; the doctrines 
 of the church they considered as human fabrica- 
 tions ; and the ceremonies as forms without the 
 spirit of godliness. They mocked at and ridicu- 
 led things most sacred in the eye of a devoted pa- 
 pist; they laughed at the ignorance of the poor 
 and deluded people, and often expressed contempt, 
 even hatred against the spiritual tyrants. Such 
 instances I witnessed many times. In Rome all 
 is appearance and hypocrisy. But as soon as the 
 heart can find another sincere heart, then the 
 
THE MASS. 43 
 
 mask of appearance is thrown off, and in lamen- 
 tations pours its sorrows into the bosom of the 
 friend. In secret we sigh, and in public we are 
 obliged to feast. But if the providence of God 
 would deliver Italy from its temporal and spiritu- 
 al bondage, the priests of Rome would be the 
 first in the rank to defend the liberty of con- 
 science, and that of the press, Voltaire, Rousseau, 
 Macchiavelli, the novels of Boccaccio, Casti and 
 other unchaste productions are constantly cherish- 
 ed as food for the passions of the Priest's heart, 
 and when among themselves these are the sub- 
 jects of pleasing conversation. To say, "The 
 Signora such and such a one, is the amorosa of 
 such a cardinal, or such a prelate is the cicisbeo, 
 or lover of such, or such a lady. The priest so 
 and so has two beautiful married sisters, he will 
 soon become a canon," it is not very rare to hear, 
 even in the presence of ladies. I found the ma- 
 jority of the young priests negative infidels, or 
 real sceptics ; immoral in their hearts, filthy with 
 their tongues and hypocrites in appearance. That 
 under such friends and companions, my christian 
 progress was not very rapid, is not to be won- 
 dered at. 
 
TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 
 
 Transubstantiation is the principle transaction 
 of the priest in the so called propitiatory sacrifice 
 of the mass. I will not give my readers a disser- 
 tation on that important subject, nor the opinion 
 which I now entertain of it, or make a display of 
 Biblical knowledge, which I have acquired since 
 that time. I will only give a candid description 
 of my feelings, when I at first begun to investi- 
 gate the doctrines of the church of Rome, in the 
 light of the Bible. 
 
 I had been taught, that: " in the most holy sa- 
 crament of the Eucharist, there is truly, really, 
 and substantially the body and blood, together 
 with the soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. That the bread and wine are immediately 
 changed into his body and blood, without any 
 outward appearance of this change, which we 
 only know by faith. Though we see only bread 
 and wine as before, we firmly believe that Jesus 
 Christ is there in a miraculous manner, whole 
 and entire under each of the two species, and un- 
 der every particle, as under the whole without 
 
TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 45 
 
 being multiplied and without ceasing to be in 
 heaven." Creed of Pius the IV. 
 
 I searched the whole New Testament, but found 
 not an idea, not even an indication of any thing 
 which would suggest the least thought of such an 
 extraordinary change in the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper. 
 
 The only passage which I found in my Bible, 
 and upon which the whole fabric of transubstan- 
 tiation is built, is the expression of our Saviour 
 iu the institution; saying: " Take, eat, this is my 
 body ;" and giving the cup, saying : " This is my 
 blood." Our Lord has not said, this represents 
 my body and blood, but this is really and actually 
 my body and blood. 
 
 I thought it absurd to take that passage literally 
 and others spiritually ; when every man of good 
 sense, who possesses only the least knowledge 
 of the Oriental languages, knows that figurative 
 speech is common among them ; and that the dis- 
 ciples understood it in the same figurative way. 
 When Joseph was interpreting the dream of the 
 chief butler and the baker in the prison, he told 
 them : "the three branches of the vine are three 
 days, and the three baskets are three days." 
 They did not understand that the branches and the 
 
46 TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 
 
 baskets were really, actually and truly clays of 
 twenty-four hours, but that they represented them. 
 And when he interpreted the dream of Pharaoh 
 he said : " the seven kine are seven years." Pha- 
 raoh never thought that they are really, truly 
 years, but that they represent the seven years. 
 Daniel, when he interpreted the dream of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, said: " Thou [O King] art this head 
 of gold" He meant not that the king is really, 
 truly, and actually transubstantiated into a head of 
 gold, and the same time had the figure of a man, 
 but that the head of gold represents the king. 
 Even in our phrasiology, when an instructor 
 teaches his pupils geography, he shows them a 
 map, and says : " that is the State of New York, 
 he does not mean that this is truly, really, and ac- 
 tually transubstantiated into the State of New 
 York, but that it represents it. Without multi- 
 plying the examples, I found that our Saviour 
 used in many instances a figurative language, say- 
 ing : " / am the way ; I am the door ; / am the 
 vine." He never thought to convey the idea, to be 
 really and truly transubstantiated into a vine, or 
 door, but that he represents it. 
 
 My mind was deeply impressed at that time 
 with some passages of the Scripture, Matt. chap. 
 
TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 47 
 
 5, v. 28 — 30. " I say unto you. That whoso- 
 ever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath 
 committed adultery with her already in his heart. 
 And if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out, and 
 cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee, that 
 one of thy members should perish, and not that 
 thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if 
 thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it 
 from thee, <fcc." If one passage is to be taken 
 literally and not figuratively, all of them ought to 
 be taken in the same sense. " If thy right eye 
 offend thee pluck it out; if thy right hand offend 
 thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee, &c." It 
 struck me if these passages should be' taken liter- 
 ally too, all the Popes, Cardinals and Confessors 
 of Rome, would certainly go to heaven with one 
 eye, and without a right arm. 
 
 Having found no substantial proof in the Bible 
 to support such a doctrine, I took my refuge to 
 reason. I asked what is taught in that article of 
 faith ? 
 
 1st. That the wafer is changed into the body, 
 soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, and still it re- 
 mains in every respect a wafer. I reasoned with 
 myself in the following manner; that God can 
 change one substance into another substance is no 
 
48 TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 
 
 doubt true, bat that it should be in the same time 
 changed, and entirely unchanged, is an absurdity- 
 above all absurdities ; what would the Pope say 
 if Protestants would teach that Lot's wife, who 
 was changed into a pillar of salt, that she stopped 
 there and in the same time remained a living wo- 
 man, continuing her way with her husband and 
 still being salt. Would the Pope not justly say, 
 the Protestants are crazy ? and still that would 
 only be a matter of opinion, it would not involve 
 an article of faith as transubstantiation does. 
 Have the Protestants not the same right in their 
 turn to call us infidels, by putting forth such an 
 arch-absurcfity as an article of faith? 
 
 2nd. We must deny the testimony of our own 
 senses; we see, smell, and taste the wafer, yet 
 we must believe it to be the flesh and blood, soul 
 and divinity of Christ. And vice versa: we eat 
 and drink the body, blood, soul and divinity of 
 Jesus Christ, though we see and taste a wafer. 
 That was really too strong food for my weak 
 faith and too puzzling for my ordinary talents, I 
 left therefore the enigma untouched. 
 
 3rd. That, when Christ said : " This is my 
 body," we must believe, that he held his own 
 body in his own hand, and yet had not two bodies 
 
TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 49 
 
 ©I two right hands, but only one body and one 
 right hand; and that his body was visible and in- 
 visible at the same moment. I could not compre- 
 hend it, and even now, I defy Ignazio Lojola to 
 be able to shed a ray of light upon that chaotic 
 darkness. 
 
 4th. We must believe that each of the tivelve 
 apostles in succession, really, truly, and substan- 
 tially eat their Lord and master, who was visibly 
 reposing at the supper table before them, without 
 visibly entering into their mouths, but the bread 
 only or the appearance of the bread, which they 
 held in their hands, being visibly and in the same 
 time apparently eaten by them. That was a laby- 
 rinth out of which none but God could guide me. 
 
 To believe such arch absurdities one must in- 
 deed have great faith. 
 
 After all this it struck me that transubstantiation 
 was not known in the primitive churches. Many 
 reasons led me to this conclusion, of which my 
 mind was easily persuaded by the following proofs. 
 
 1st. The advantages which the first christians 
 had over the heathen by reproving them : " That 
 their Gods have eyes and see not, ears and hear 
 not, mouths and speak not," is an evidence that 
 they knew nothing of transubstantiation. Is it 
 5 
 
50 TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 
 
 probable, that people who reproach the heathen of 
 such an absurd idolatry, will worship a wafer in 
 the shape of the real body, soul and divinity of 
 Christ ? Would the heathen not have retorted the 
 argument by saying : " your God is subject to the 
 same vicisitudes as ours ? He can decay, he can 
 be carried away by the wind ; he can be stolen or 
 be consumed by the flames. Moreover, your God 
 is shut up in a little box, which priests carry in 
 their pockets. As it was really the case in Paris 
 in the church of St. Sulpice, where the golden 
 box, in which the consecrated wafers were pre- 
 served, was stolen, and the body, blood, and soul, 
 and divinity of Jesus Christ with it. To strength- 
 en the argument of the heathen, we find in the 
 mass-book the rules, how the priests shall act, if 
 the hostia should fall on the ground, or the priest 
 should vomit it out ; or should be eaten by a 
 mouse, &c. St. Thomas d' Aquinas, the Seraphic 
 Father, treats on the same subject. 1 Could a Ro- 
 man theologian, who maintains such doctrines, in 
 the face of such facts reproach the heathen for 
 idolatry, that their Gods cannot move and are sub- 
 ject to destruction, as the primitive christians did ? 
 What astonished me more was, that in the face of 
 
 'Thorn, d' Acquinas, lib. 3, quest. 77, art. 4. 
 
ttUS'StlBSfANttA'TION. 51 
 
 the numerous historical facts, which are known 
 to every Roman Catholic* the scandal and horrible 
 acts committed through the sacrament of the Eu- 
 charist, [as the death of Pope Victor the 3d* who 
 was poisoned with the cup. The Emperor Henry 
 the VII. with a hostia. The Arch-bishop of York* 
 Who had the same doom in the year 1154,] they 
 can still believe in and adore it. 
 
 2nd. Another proof that transubstantiation was 
 Unknown in the primitive age* I deduced from the 
 fathers against the heretics of their time, who de- 
 nied the assumption of the humanity of Christ; 
 Tertulius' says : " Jesus Christ took bread and 
 gave it his disciples, saying* this is my body, or 
 the figure of my body ; if he would not have 
 had a real body, he could not say, this is my 
 body, for a phantom cannot be a representation 
 of a body*" 
 
 Ireneus* says : "If that would be true* that Christ 
 had not an assumed human nature, the Saviour 
 has not redeemed us with his blood, the cup is not 
 the communion in his blood, and the bread not the 
 communion in his body ; for blood can only come" 
 
 •Tertul. adv. Marc. lib. 4, chap. 40, circa ann. 215; 
 2 Iren. adv. heretic. 
 
b% ABSURDITIES OF THE MASS. 
 
 from veins, flesh, and other substances of man/ ? 
 If these fathers would have believed in the real 
 presence of Christ in the hostia, would they have 
 argued in that way ? would they not have rather 
 said : *« the Eucharist contains the body, blood* 
 soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, consequently 
 he was not a phantom, because we have his real 
 body and blood in the sacrament ?" Would this 
 not have been more convincing than to prove that 
 Jesus Christ assumed humanity, because the sa- 
 crament is a figure of his body ? From these and 
 other authorities I could easily see, that transub- 
 stantiation was not known in the primitive church- 
 es, and is a new thing in the church, being the 
 fruit of the dark age of the twelfth century and 
 the growing power of the Pope. 
 
 ABSURDITIES AND DELUSIONS 
 
 OF THE MASS. 
 
 It is with great reluctance that I bring forward 
 these charges, as I can testify before God, that I 
 have no pleasure in wounding the feelings of any 
 man, but faithfulness to my Divine Master, and 
 love to the souls of my Roman Catholic brethren 
 constrain me to consider it a necessary duty. 
 
ABSURDITIES OF THE MASS. 53 
 
 What can be a greater absurdity than, that the 
 
 PRIEST IS MADE SUPERIOR TO CHRIST ? For llOt 
 
 only is he made the creator of the Son of God, 
 but he is so, when and where he pleases. It is 
 sufficient that the priest puts on an alb, a stole and 
 a manipulum and repeats the words of consecra- 
 tion over any piece of bread and it is changed 
 into the body, soul and divinity of Christ. And 
 as the offering up of the sacrifice depends on the 
 intention of the priest, so Christ may or may not 
 be presented to God for the living and the dead, 
 just as the priest decides. Thus, in both points 
 of view, the priest is made much superior to 
 Christ, and if this is regarded as the calumny of 
 a Protestant, I will cite the words of their own 
 writers. Thus Gabriel Biel, says, " whoever saw 
 anything like this ? He that created me (if I may 
 say so) hath given me power to create him, and 
 he that hath created me is created by my means." 1 
 Hence he tells us of the great dignity of the 
 priesthood. " Passing by the bands of angels, 
 let us come to the queen of heaven and lady of 
 the world. The same, though in plenitude of 
 grace, goes beyond all the creatures, yet she yields 
 
 'Lect. de Missa (citante Du Moulin.) 
 
54 ABSURDITIES OF THE MASS. 
 
 to the hierarchs of the church, (i. e. the priests,) 
 in the execution of the mystery committed unto 
 them." 1 
 
 " Incredible things ! (says Peter de Besse,) but 
 yet true, that the power of priests is so great and 
 their excellency so noble, that heaven depends on 
 them. Joshua stopped the sun, but these stop 
 Christ being in heaven, in the midst of an altar. 
 The creature obeyed the first, but the Creator 
 obeys the last. The sun obeyed the one, and 
 Cod the others, as often as they pronounce the 
 sacred words." 2 
 
 This indeed is very strange language for the 
 ear of a Protestant, but the Roman Catholics look 
 upon the priests as something like God. Yea, 
 they refer to him much more than to the true 
 God. 
 
 Under this head I will refer to some of the ab- 
 surdities of the missal used by the priests, some 
 of which I now cite. 
 
 " Si Hostia consacrata despareat, vel casu aliquo 
 ut vento, aut miraculo, vel ab aliquo animali ac- 
 cepta et nequeat reperiri, tunc altera consecretur 
 ab eo loco incipiendo qui, &c. 
 
 'Fourth Lesson upon the Canon of the Mass. 
 a Besse chap. II. on the Royal Priesthood. 
 
ABSURDITIES OF THE MASS. 55 
 
 " If the consecrated host should disappear, eith- 
 er by some accident, or by the wind, or by a mir- 
 acle, or be taken by some animal, &c. cannot be 
 found: then let another be consecrated, begin- 
 ning from the same place," &c. Seet. iii. 7. 
 
 It is horrible even to think, that such an abom- 
 inable doctrine should be taught and considered 
 an article of faith. That Christ, who is now in 
 a glorified state, may be at any time carried 
 about by the winds of heaven, or even eaten up 
 ■by some animaL 
 
 " Si musca vel aranea, vel aliquid .aliud cecide- 
 rit in calieem ante consacrationem, projieiat vi- 
 aum in locum et aliud ponat in calice, misccat 
 parum aquae, offerat ut supra ^t prorequater mis- 
 sara ; si post consacrationem ceciderii musca aut 
 aliquid ejusmodi et fiat nausea sacerdoti, extrahat 
 earn et lavet eum vino, finita missa cumburat, et 
 *2ombustio ae lotio hujusmodi in sacrarum proji- 
 >eiatur.. Si autera non fuerit ei nausea, nee ul- 
 ium periculum timeat, sumat eum sanguine." — 
 JSccL x. 5. 
 
 u , If a fly, or a spider, or any other thing should 
 fall into the cup, let him cast the wine into a 
 proper place, and let htm place some more in the 
 cup, mix a little water, offer it as before, and 
 
56 ABSURDITIES OF THE MASS. 
 
 proceed with the mass. If a fly, or any thing" 
 of this kind, should fall into it after consecration-, 
 and the priest should feel a nausea, let him take 
 it out and wash it with wine, and the mass being 
 finished, let him barn it and let the ashes and re- 
 fuse be cast into the sacristy. If however, he 
 does not feel sick, or fear any danger, let him 
 take it with the blood." 
 
 I will refrain from any remarks on the above 
 section, they are abhorent to every idea we have 
 of the Saviour's present exalted state. I bring 
 them only forward as the melancholy effects of 
 human traditions. I shall cite only one more. 
 
 "Si aliquod venenatum contingent Hostiam 
 consacratam, tunc alteram consecret, et sumat 
 modo- quo dictum est, et ilia servetur in tabernac- 
 ulo loco seperato, donee species eorrum pantnr 
 et corruptee deinde mittantnr in sacrarum." 
 
 "If any poisoned thing should touch the coa- 
 secrated Host, then let him consecrate another 
 and let him take it in the same way as was men- 
 tioned ; and let the former be kept in a separate 
 place until the species corrupt and so corrupted., 
 let them be cast in the sacristy," Sect x. 7. 
 
 The priests themselves are ashamed of their 
 own articles of faith, for in the Roman Missal 
 
DELUSIONS OF THE MASS. 57 
 
 translated into English for the use of the laity, 
 they are altogether omitted; and well they might 
 be ashamed of such absurdities. 
 
 Delusion is equally a fruit of the mass. If our 
 hopes of God's favor on earth and of his glory 
 in the world to come, be placed on a false found- 
 ation, then we must be deceived, and delusion 
 alone can be our portion. What benefit does a 
 Roman Catholic derive from the mass ? Comfort 
 for their immortal souls and remission of their 
 sins, on the ground that Christ has been offered 
 up for their sins. The question is whether this 
 be true or false comfort. If the first, we should 
 be sorry to deprive any of it ; but if the latter, 
 we must say, "let no man beguile you." " Be 
 not deceived." With regard to the remission of 
 sins through the sacrifice of the mass, we cannot 
 but believe that it is a gross deception, because this 
 work was finished eighteen hundred years ago 
 upon the cross. Jesus died once, and he dieth 
 no more; and by his death he atoned for sin, and 
 therefore the mass cannot be required. More- 
 over it is a useless sacrifice, because the priests 
 repeat it often, yea daily, and because it is noth- 
 ing but bread and wine and without the shedding 
 

 58 DELUSIONS OF THE MASS. 
 
 of blood, which is essential to a propitiatory sac- 
 rifice, and for all these delusions we must pay 
 money! What merchandize of souls is this? 
 What a painful deception ! 
 
 Let Roman Catholics seek comfort in the mass, 
 I am satisfied with the glories of calvary. Let 
 them bow down and adore the wafer raised by 
 the priests; I will cling to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who died on the cross. Let papists trust in the 
 daily repeated sacrifice of the mass for the remis- 
 sion of their sins ; I am content with the finish- 
 ed work and the all prevailing intercession of Je- 
 sus Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father. 
 Thither I will go for comfort, he shall be my hope 
 in life and in death ; in him I shall not be disap- 
 pointed, for his blood is most precious, and clenn- 
 seth from all sin. The name of Jesus shall be 
 my strong tower, and in it I shall find safety. — 
 Let Roman Catholics fly to their queen of heav- 
 en, the Virgin Mary ; I will fly to the rock, Je- 
 sus Christ, the only anchor of my hope, and then 
 I shall be enabled to sing with all the redeemed, 
 
 " Jesus thy blood and righteousness, 
 My beauty are, my glorious dress, 
 'Midst flaming worlds in thee arrayed, 
 With joy shall I lift up my head." 
 
HEATHEN ROME AND PAPAL ROME. 
 
 After this result of my Biblical researches as 
 detailed in the preceding chapter, my eyes were 
 opened ; my mind became unbiased, I celebrated 
 the Mass because it was a source of income, I 
 considered the Breviary a humbug and never re- 
 peated it ; I practiced every form because I was 
 obliged to do it ; in one word I did as others did. 
 Every ecclesiastical event which I considered be- 
 fore as a matter of established rule in the church, 
 became now a subject of doubt and investigation; 
 every day 1 detected new corruptions ; in the sa- 
 cred college I saw spiritual tyrants and in every 
 priest a spy whom I dreaded and fled as from a 
 pest. Whenever an opportunity was offered I 
 opened my mind to some friend, who felt the pa- 
 pal yoke as heavy as myself; but of what use? 
 the evil was without a remedy, a word, a sigh is 
 a mortal sin, and the result would be fatal to my 
 future happiness. The reading of the Bible was 
 no consolation for me, I read it to my own dam- 
 nation, for I read it without prayer, without self- 
 
60 THE PANTHEON. 
 
 examination. As my intention is to institute a 
 comparison between heathen Rome and papal 
 Rome, I will at once proceed. 
 
 The Pantheon is one of the oldest churches 
 and of the most classical architecture in the city 
 of Rome. In the time of heathen Rome it was a 
 temple dedicated to all the Gods. Papal Rome 
 has dedicated it to no God at all, but to the Virgin 
 Mary only. The niches of that church in the 
 time of heathen Rome were filled with the finest 
 bronze statues, which represented [the Dii ma- 
 jores] the chief gods. Papal Rome turned them 
 out, and placed tutelar gods in their places, as 
 St. Peter, John and James, &c. Heathen Rome 
 filled the niches of their temples with bronze 
 gods, papal Rome with wooden saints. 
 
 The reader will be curious to know what papal 
 Rome did with these idols ? Whether they were 
 burned, destroyed, or placed in the museum as 
 relics of antiquity ? No ! Pope Barbarini [called 
 Urban VIII.] the Vicar af God, melted all the 
 gods together, and metamorphosed them into four 
 collossal pillars of the Corinthian order, which 
 raised their gigantic heads even with the cupola 
 of St. Peters, and adorn the high altar where the 
 
THE PANTHEON. 61 
 
 Pope celebrates the Mass. Poor gods ! poor 
 Rome I 1 
 
 Returning to the Pantheon, I must observe that 
 in the church there is a statue, which is called, 
 " La Madonna del Sasso" in plain English, 
 The Lady of the Stone> Why she is called so, 
 
 'The Patnheon is the most interesting antiquity in 
 Rome ; its elegance and grandeur exhibit the taste of 
 the ancient Romans. This temple was erected by 
 Agrippa, son-in-law of Augustus, and repaired by 
 Septimus Severus and Caracalla. The vestibulum is 
 sapported by sixteen Corinthian columns of oriental 
 granite, fifteen feet in circumference and forty-two 
 high. The original doors were vandalized by Genseric, 
 and lost in the Sicilian sea. The interior of the Pan- 
 theon is circular, with one window only, and that in 
 the centre of the dome; by this opening which is on 
 the roof, the edifice receives its only light. The dia- 
 meter of the temple is one hundred and forty -three feet, 
 exclusive of the walls, which are twenty feet in thick- 
 ness. The high t was originally equal to the diameter, 
 until the pavement was elevated to correspond with 
 the new portico, which was made higher than the ori- 
 ginal one. It would afford me great pleasure if I 
 could describe the splendor of that temple before it 
 was robbed by Urban VIII. from the family Barbarini. 
 
 The Pantheon was dedicated to all gods. A statue 
 of Jupitar Tonans, or the Avenger, stood in the centre 
 of the tribuna; the infernal deities on the pavement, 
 the terestrial on the lower niches in the walls, and the 
 celestial in the upper niches. The walls were once 
 adorned with busts, inscriptions, and monuments in 
 memory of great men. Among the statues of the 
 Pantheon, Pliny mentions one, which had ear-rings 
 matte of a pearl cut in two, being the fellow of that 
 which Cleopatra dissolved in vinegar, and drank to 
 the health of Mark Antony. 
 
and how she came there, whether she entered tfig 
 church by a miracle or was carried there, I can- 
 not say j because I never troubled myself about 
 her origin ; but one thing I know, because all the 
 priests in Rome say so, and all the devotees ill 
 the city testify to it, that she is a great miracle 
 working lady. She however never Wrought one 
 for me, though I said many ave marias upofi 
 bended knees to her* but others who have been 
 lame, blind, or paralitic, or labouring under some' 
 Other cronical disease, were [as they say] cured 
 by her, so that the weekly income of the offerings 
 Wdre over a hundred dollars, without the silvef 
 hands and feet* golden pins and chains, or other 
 costly ornaments, which those so cured bring to 
 adorn hef, as an act of pious gratitude. I have 
 seen that Storie Lady dressed more elegantly and 
 more costly than any queen or empress upon the' 
 earth can ever be* It shows that the priests of 
 Rome have much taste in dressing ladies. 
 
 As the pleasures of this world are transitory ^ 
 so was the greatness of the blessed Stone Lady 
 destined to be evanescent, It was a bright day* 
 bright in every respect for the monks of St. Au- 
 gustine, when the ladies and persons of all classes 
 in the city of Rome directed there steps to the 
 
THE VIRGIN OF PAUTUMTION. 68 
 
 church of the Augustine Friars ; even the less dc 
 votional would not remain at home, but would 
 kneel at the foot, I should say before the pedestal 
 of the immaculate Virgine del Parto,jr\ English 
 44 Vergin of Parturition" To make the history 
 short ; the monks of the Augustine order envying 
 the canons of the Pantheon of the great income 
 which the Lady of Stone brought, they devised a 
 plan to draw the revenues of the Pantheon into 
 the treasury of their convent. Having an old 
 rough statue of a Madonna in the corridor of the 
 convent, for many years covered with dust, they 
 thought that lady would be more comfortably 
 situated in the church; they appointed a day? 
 which was extensively published and widely cir- 
 culated, that the Lady of Parturition, who per- 
 formed so many miracles upon several females in 
 time of need, would be carried in procession to 
 the church. The vanity of the ladies having been 
 touched, they collected from all parts, and the 
 Lady of Parturition became the lady of the la* 
 dies. 
 
 The canons of the Pantheon were alarmed at 
 that trick, because the Lady of the Stone lost a 
 great many customers, and the canons felt that 
 loss in their pockets too, much more so as the 
 
64 THE VIRGIN OF PARTURITION. 
 
 monks carried on business in a more skillful man- 
 ner, and their revenues became incalculable. 
 
 Three monks were constantly engaged, one 
 with a stole over his neck and a maniple on his 
 hand, who blessed the wax candles ; the other 
 sold them to the devoted women, and lighted 
 them before the Virgin of Parturition, the third 
 was walking round with the purgatory box, and 
 received the offerings. The great concourse of 
 people brought as a matter of course a great num- 
 ber of female penitents to the confessionals, who 
 procured a great many Masses to be said to the 
 Lady of the Ladies, who payed lady-like for it. 
 The gifts which the Roman ladies [who are gen- 
 erally very liberal to monks] brought her, were so 
 great) that in a short time half of the church was 
 garnished with jewels and ladies ornaments, so 
 that it seemed more like entering the shop of a 
 jeweller, rather than a temple of the living God. 
 Even the young ladies gathered at all times in a 
 large number before the Lady of Ladies, to try 
 her miraculous virtues, praying her to procure for 
 them husbands. The young gentlemen being 
 sure to find the young ladies upon their knees in 
 the Augustine church, became adorers of the lady 
 as a matter of courtesy. So at every hour of the 
 
THE STONE LADY. 65 
 
 day, but especially in the evening until late in the 
 night the adorers of both sexes filled the church. 
 
 The poor Stone Lady in the Pantheon was 
 placed in the most critical pecuniary state, her in- 
 come [as I have been informed by a canon of that 
 church] was not more than twenty dollars a month. 
 The canons being in a desperate financial state, 
 they brought an action of irregularity, against 
 the Lady of Parturition: "being not canonised, 
 she has no right, nor power to work miracles, 
 moreover the miracles she had performed already 
 were no miracles at all, not having received the 
 sanction of the Pope the head of the church, con- 
 sequently cannot have the approval of her beloved 
 Son." 
 
 Scarcely had this transpired, before it spread 
 like fire through the whole city, and became the 
 subject of conversation in every circle, the railings 
 against the priests and monks, the laughing of the 
 young people, the mockings at the ladies ; the 
 pasquinades and scandals are not to be described. 
 Every one was anxious to see the end of the trial. 
 Some avowed that the lady of the monks must 
 shut her counting house, for if the church would 
 sanction such an abuse, every stone could be ador- 
 ed and worshiped. The church only [said the 
 6 
 
66 THE STONE LADY. 
 
 priests] is the judge of a true miracle, ami not tlifs 
 person who pretends to have been the subject of 
 it Others argued the contrary ; they believed 
 that the power of the queen of heaven cannot be 
 limited., she can manifest it where and when she 
 likes. The church in canonising a Madonna does 
 not authorize or sanction, but recognizes it as an 
 act of free mercy of the heavenly queen. 
 
 The retired monks troubled themselves very 
 little about the corruptions of the world, or the 
 avariciousness of the canons, not even about the 
 destitute state of the Stone Lady in the Pantheon, 
 and continued to light and to sell their wax can- 
 dles, to sing litanies and to spread abroad new 
 miracles of the great lady. The monks whispered 
 it in the confessionals, proclaimed it at the altar, 
 cried about it from the pulpits. Nothing had been 
 neglected on the part of the monks. The confes- 
 sors gave no other penance than so many ave ma- 
 rias to the holy Virgin Lady ; the preachers ex- 
 tolled her perfections. They edified the people 
 in their masses with commemorations to the mer- 
 cies of the Virgin Mary. The people of good 
 sense understood it, and valued it as much as it 
 was worth. The Roman ladies felt themselves 
 grossly offended at this insult on their protectress 
 
PAPAL ROME AND HEATHEN ROME. 67 
 
 in the hoar of need ; and sympathized with the 
 humble monks. Even the young ladies blushing- 
 ly said : " in spite of the canons we will visit the 
 Madonna del Parto," and agreed to meet their 
 beaux at the Augustine church. 
 
 I cannot tell how things went at the secret 
 council of the Curia, but the result, which was 
 propagated with the celerity of lightning was, as 
 many had expected : namely, That his Holiness, 
 the Pope Leo XII. decided in favor of the Virgin 
 of the Parturition and granted to the greater en- 
 couragment of the faithful, plenary indulgence of 
 so many days, Sic. 
 
 My readers will think this a romance, I guar- 
 antee the truth of the narrative and assure them, 
 that for the sake of decorum I have not told the 
 half. Every traveller who has been in Rome, 
 can attest the fact, that even at this day, the un- 
 canonized lady in the Augustine church is wor- 
 shipped by all classes of the inhabitants of Rome. 
 
 Now what is the difference between heathen 
 Rome and Papal Rome ? The first brought of- 
 ferings to Minerva and sacrificed to Diana. The 
 second offers donations to the stone lady, and 
 says masses to the lady of the Parturition. The 
 first bowed down and worshipped their godesses. 
 
68 CARDINAL GIUSTINIANI AT RIMINI. 
 
 Papal Rome gives the same adoration and per- 
 forms the same devotional acts to their female 
 god, which they style the queen of heaven. 
 
 That Rome lost the faith of the primitive 
 church, there is no doubt ; that the practices of 
 that church are heathenish, none can deny. In 
 Rimini the principal city of the Romagna, or pa- 
 pal province, there was an old custom, that a cer- 
 tain miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary (I do 
 not remember her name) was carried in proces- 
 sion every corpus Domini with a crown upon her 
 head ; being considered the protectress of that 
 city; she was adored by all the citizens. The 
 cardinal Giustiniani, who was appointed arch- 
 bishop of Rimini forbade that the Virgin Mary 
 should have a crown any longer upon her 
 head. The reason he gave was simply, that : 
 " she is not yet canonized." He had no other 
 object in view, than that the citizens should pro- 
 mise to collect a hundred thousand dollars as a 
 fee for the canonization ; he would write in the 
 mean time to Rome for a dispensation (which 
 would be another source of revenue for the Vati- 
 can,) until the sum could be collected, which 
 would entitle her to wear a crown. But the mag- 
 istrates of that city would enter into no agreement 
 whatever, requesting his Eminence to grant their 
 
CARDINAL GIUSTINIANI AT RIMINI. 69 
 
 Protectress the privilege to wear a crown, a privi- 
 lege which she enjoyed for a long series of years, 
 but all was in vain. The cardinal would not 
 grant it, except they applied for a dispensation to 
 the Pope 
 
 The day of the procession arrived ; the cir- 
 cumstances were known in the neighborhood, the 
 people came from all parts, some to revenge the 
 wrong which had been inflicted upon the miracu- 
 lous lady, others out of curiosity ; but it is suf 
 ficient to say, that the city of Rimini never wit- 
 nessed such a spectacle before, and 1 trust it never 
 will again. 
 
 The procession began, the friars of all colours 
 marched on in their ranks; the respective compa- 
 nies in their masquerades followed the monks and 
 friars ; soldiers in arms accompanied the train ; 
 the priests and canons of the Cathedral joined in 
 the procession, then, alas! the Virgin Lady Mary 
 was carried out of the church without a crown, 
 but had seven stars in a half circle over her head. 
 Why the number seven had been chosen I do not 
 know, but that twelve thousand dollars had been 
 staked in the lottery upon the number seven is a 
 melancholy fact. 
 
70 CARDINAL GIUSTINIANI AT RIMINI. 
 
 Scarcely had the statue appeared in the street, 
 when the people stoped the men who carried her 
 and would not allow that she should be carried in 
 such a dishonored manner in procession. The 
 soldiers tried to disperse the crowd with their 
 muskets, but all in vain. The enraged multitude 
 wounding a soldier, it was found necessary to 
 make use of bayonets, by which means they in 
 their turn wounded some of the citizens, and in 
 the crowd injured also some females ; the mob 
 became furious, throwing stones upon the soldiers 
 and crying vengeance against the priests. The 
 commander ordered them to fire upon the people, 
 many of whom were mortally wounded, even un- 
 ofTensive women and children ; then the cry : 
 " Morte ai preti," death to the priests! was heard 
 in all directions ; the priests with their stoles es- 
 caped from their ranks ; the screams of the chil- 
 dren, the lamentations of the wives in behalf of 
 their husbands; the running of the monks, the 
 explosion of the muskets, was a melancholy sight. 
 At the time that the tragedy was going on, a part 
 of the mob ran to the episcopal palace, where the 
 cardinal resided, rushed like a flood into the pal- 
 ace : " Morte al tiranno" death to the tyrant, 
 was heard from every mouth ; fortunately he had 
 
THE HOLY STAIRS. 71 
 
 time to save himself through the garden. Not 
 finding the cardinal, they broke all the furniture, 
 dashed it through the windows and burned it in 
 the middle of the street. 
 
 The news went to Rome ; the panic was ex- 
 ceedingly great ; the Pope feared a revolution ; 
 soldiers were ordered in the same night to leave 
 Rome for Rimini, to terrify the agitated spirits of 
 the mob. The Pope by a special decree graci- 
 ously ordered, that the authors of that tragic 
 scene, who had disturbed the public peace should 
 be severely punished, and a plenary indulgence 
 to all, who say so many ave marias to the Vir- 
 gin Mary, who shall henceforth have the privi- 
 lege to wear a crown. Here we must say with 
 Virgil: "Magnum Jovis incrementum," or with 
 the inhabitants of Ephesus ; " great is Diana of 
 the Ephesiens." 
 
 If I could accompany my readers through the 
 city of Rome, I would lead them upon mount 
 Janiculum, now called St. John of Laterati; 
 there they would find a chapel, where they would 
 see thousands of people crawling up a high flight 
 of stairs upon their knees and kissing every step 
 with the Rosaries in their hands, until they ar- 
 rive upon the last step. The priests tell us that 
 
72 THE HOLY STAIRS. 
 
 this is the holy stair-case which Christ aseended 
 when he appeared before Pilate, which has been 
 carried by angels from Jerusalem to Home. 1 But 
 I must not forget to mention, that the crawling 
 upon the knees must be occompanied with some 
 
 'The celebrated scala santa or holy stairs, contains 
 twenty-eight white marble steps ; it is said to have 
 belonged to the palace of Pilate, at Jerusalem, and to 
 have been trodden hy Jesus Christ. They were cov- 
 ered with wooden boards by order of Clement XII. to 
 prevent their being worn out by the multitudes of de- 
 votees ascending them on their knees. There is a 
 great deal of mysteriousness and false sacredness 
 thrown about the whole edifice which contains these 
 stairs; there are several secret apartments, which are 
 kept constantly locked. One of them (the priests 
 says,) "contains the most precious and most sacred 
 relic of Christianity. Some say, it contains the feath- 
 er of the seraphic Doctor, with which he wrote his 
 works, which an angel brought him in his study." 
 Others say, " the feather of a wing of the arch-angcl 
 Gabriel, which he left when he saluted the Virgin 
 Mary ; a bottle of the Virgin Mary's milk. A bottle 
 with tears of our Saviour shed at the grave of Laza- 
 rus ; the cord with which our Saviour was bound at 
 the pillar when scourged," &c, the fact is, no body 
 knows what that edifice contains ; you will not find 
 even the oldest of the priests, who ever troubled him- 
 self about it, and still he maintains, that some holy 
 thing is in it. There Luther, the glorious reformer, 
 once basely crawled upon his knees to purchase an 
 absolution; but the light of eternal truth had previ- 
 ously dawned upon his mind, and the words, "the 
 just shall live by faith ," sounded like thunder in his 
 ears while he was on the very stairs. He arose in 
 horror from his servile debasement and from that mo- 
 ment walked forth a free man, vowed to exhibit the 
 fraud and wickedness of exacting such penanees, and 
 to publish the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
MAING STONE. 73 
 
 for the souls in Purgatory. The Apostle 
 Paul said to the Romans of his time, that not 
 •through the works of the law, nor through our 
 own righteousness are we saved, but through faith 
 in Jesus Christ. The so-called Vicar of Christ, 
 says the contrary; we are saved by crawling up- 
 on our knees, or by performing some other works 
 of self-righteousness. 
 
 I would lead my readers into a church near St. 
 Sebastian, there they will find a square stone of 
 white marble, upon which the impression of two 
 feet are seen, to which the people pray and cover 
 wiili kisses, being [as we are told] the stone 
 where our Lord was standing, when he met the 
 apostles after his glorious resurrection. We arc 
 informed by the priests at Rome, that the stone 
 came flying in the air from Jerusalem to Rome, 
 and remained where it is now. Plenr.ry indulgence 
 -is granted to every one who says certain prayers 
 to that flying stone. 
 
 I would continue to lead my readers into a cel- 
 lar of a chapel near the mount Tarpea, which is 
 said to be the prison of the apostle Paul, the very 
 place where the jailor was converted ; there they 
 will see a spring in the middle of the cellar, which 
 sprung up in a miraculous way in order to baptize 
 7 
 
14 ST. PETER IN VIKCULIS. 
 
 him and his family. That water- has great head- 
 ing virtues ; Brandreth's and Morrison's pilis are 
 mere quackery compared with it. It is good for 
 the inflammation of the eyes if washed with it, also 
 for pulmonea if regularly taken and some prayers 
 be repeated at the time. That water is bottled 
 and sold for the spiritual and temporal welfare of 
 the faithful. 
 
 I would continue to lead my readers into a 
 church not far from the ancient Forum Romanum, 
 called SL Peter in vinculis, where the priests as- 
 sure us that they are in the possession of the 
 identical chain with which the apostle Peter was 
 fettered before his crucifixion in Rome. There 
 is a discrepancy of historical tradition with regard 
 to the manner in which that chain came into that 
 church ; it would however be too ridiculous to ref- 
 late all those legends which are afloat. 
 
 In the same church is to be seen the pillar to j 
 which our Saviour was bound, when he was 
 scourged before his crucifixion. One of the 
 Catholic sovereigns asked Gregory the 'VII. for 
 some holy relic, and the Pope caused a peace of 
 the pillar to be broken off and sent it to his ma- 
 jesty, but the fragment disappeared, and in the 
 morning the pillar was entire ; it had returned of 
 
COLOSSEUM iiOMAttUM; 73 
 
 its own accord and joined itself again in such an 
 artful manner that it can scarcely be seen. This 
 chain and pillar are adored, kissed, prayed to by 
 the people of Koine, who receive plenary indul* 
 gence for their devotion to it. 
 
 If my readers are not tired, I will accompany 
 them to the amphitheatre Flavianum, now called,' 
 "the Colosseum Romanum" a building which 
 was erected by the emperor Flavian, by 60,000 
 Jews which he brought captive from Jerusalem <. 
 It is properly called Colosseum, for it is colossal 
 in its dimensions, colossal as a living monument 
 of the fulfilment of the prophecies. A theatre in 
 which the first martyrs of the cross were exposed 
 to the fury of wild beasts, and sealed with their 
 blood the truth as it is in Jesus, in the presence 
 of a hundred thousand spectators, which that 
 building could conveniently contain. Now my 
 readers will find in that splendid relic of antiquity 
 and Christianity a miserable hermit with a box in 
 his hand, to the annoyance of the passengers^ 
 begging for souls in purgatory. 
 
 I shall not leave the Colosseum, without show- 
 ing my readers another, not less barbarous act of 
 the infallible Pope of Rome. The Pope Barba- 
 vini had a nephew, who asked from his holiness 
 
16 COLOSSEUM ROMANUM, 
 
 his uncle the permission to carry off some stoiie^ 
 from the Colosseum. The Pope [as it is histori- 
 cally reported] did not at first give his permission 
 for three strong reasons, First. It was not his 
 property, it belongs to the State. Secondly. It is 
 too holy to make use of it for any profane object. 
 Thirdly. It is such a splendid piece of antiquity 
 that it cannot be equalled in the worlcL But his 
 nephew giving him no rest until the Pope [in 
 spite of all these sound reasons] gave him the 
 permission to take as many as he could carry off 
 in one night* That wretch demolished in one 
 night a third part of that relic, which the tooth of 
 time could not destroy, and the hand of the north- 
 ern barbarian dared not touch, and carried off in 
 one night as many as were required to build that 
 splendid palace Barbarini, one of the most mag- 
 nificent in Rome. Let us turn our eyes from that 
 scene of which barbarians were ashamed, but 
 which the Pope Barbarini [the little barbarian] 
 was able to perpetrate, and direct our steps to the 
 Roman capilol. Let us traverse the Forum Ro- 
 manum, now called : " Campo Vaccino," the 
 field of the cattle, where Cicero harangued the 
 Roman citizens. In passing the Via Apia, the 
 road where the Roman conquerors entered in tri- 
 
THE CAriTOL OF ROME. 77 
 
 umph, we shall leave at our right the ruins of the 
 most splendid Temple of Peace, in which the 
 riches of heathen Rome were preserved, and from 
 which when in flames the melted gold flowed in 
 streams into the streets ; but as the Virgin Mary- 
 has wrought no miracle in that temple, it was left 
 to its own destruction, and scarcely a vestige of 
 the beautiful architecture is to be seen. At our 
 left we shall leave the mount Palatinum, where 
 the ruins of the palaces of Roman emperors are 
 yet to be seen, in which the begging hermits have 
 made their nests, and trouble the visitors with 
 their Purgatory box, fabulous legends and mira- 
 culous stories. 
 
 But let us ascend the capitol of the city of the 
 world ; the place where the voice of the Roman 
 senators caused the inhabitants of the earth to 
 tremble, is now changed into a mournful and nas- 
 al sing-song of Franciscan friars. Look at that 
 high stair-case [with forty steps] leading to 
 the Franciscan convent ; see those fanatics who 
 ascend upon their knees, and at every step say an 
 Ave Maria to the Virgin Mary, that she might 
 tell them in a dream, what numbers they shall 
 take in the lottery, that they might gain a lerno. 
 In the face of the nineteenth century, in the pre- 
 
78 THE CAPITOL OF ROME. 
 
 sence of the sacred college and infallible Pope, 
 such heathenish devotions, absurd adorations and 
 foolish religious acts, should be tolerated, of which 
 we have no example in the history of heathen 
 Rome. Encouraged by the monks and friars, tol- 
 erated by the sacred college, in order to draw the 
 last pence from the pockets of the poor into the 
 treasury of the Camera Apostolica, by a false 
 hope, that the Virgin Mary will tell them the 
 numbers which will be drawn in the next lottery! 
 The spectacle is too shocking; the principle too 
 bad to dwell longer upon. We shall turn our 
 steps towards the sanctum sanctorum, in the place 
 where no profane foot can enter, no profane eye 
 penetrate; it is the manufactory of ignorance and 
 superstition ; it is the machinery of popery, to 
 draw the wealth of the faithful dispersed in the 
 world, into the pocket of the Pope. You are 
 anxious to know what it is ? It is the place where 
 the relics of saints are manufactured. As I can- 
 not introduce you into the secret walls of that un- 
 hallowed place, and show you the bones of dogs 
 and cats, heads of old Roman soldiers, which 
 have been excavated in the different parts of 
 Rome, and rags of all sorts and colors, which are 
 sold for relics of saints. 
 
•RELIC CIIivM! 79 
 
 I will give some specimens of Papal deccitful- 
 aaess, which arc known \o every Roman inlribi- 
 itant. Yon must know, that a tooth of the holy 
 .Jlgafha, if carried about the body, or adored 
 upon the. altar, is a preventive of tooth-ache. — 
 Piua VII. ordered by a special decree, (I do not 
 know if it was because some abuses were made 
 of it, or to make the article more valuable, that 
 all the relics of St, Agatha, in every part of the 
 world should return to Home, and in the space of 
 eight months, two bushels of teeth, all of the 
 holy Agatha were restored to the Relie Chambers 
 in Rome. 
 
 The relies of the cross and spears, with which 
 our Saviour was pierced, are so numerously scat- 
 tered throughout the world, that if all were gath- 
 ered and joined together, a house might be built 
 with them; and if the heads of Johii the Bap- 
 tist, the nails and hammers, scattered upon the 
 globe, which the priests give out as genuine, — 
 were gathered upon a vessel to bring them to 
 Rome, it would have a very good cargo, and 
 would need no ballast. 
 
 If I were to lead my readers to the confession- 
 Is, where the confessors are surrounded by inno- 
 - ci.it. youths of both sexes, who think not of fly- 
 
80 CONFESSIONAL. 
 
 ing from sin, but how to commit it, they wouk'J 
 be astonished. If the confessor v/ere only a 
 judge of that which the penitent accuses himself,,, 
 I would say nothing, but the confessors are like 
 lawyers before the bar of justice, who cross ex- 
 amine and confound the witnesses in order that 
 they might commit themselves. Such is the con- 
 duct of the confessors in the wooden tribunal. 
 
 To give an authentic proof of what is taught 
 to students of divinity, who are obliged to le;ui 
 a life of chastity and perpetual celibacy. I wilt 
 quote from the standard work of Dens' Theology* 
 taught in Emmittsburg, a seminary in Maryland, 
 in the United States. 1 
 
 I. u Quinta species luxuriae contra naturam 
 commtttitur qusrndo quidem copula masculi Jit in 
 vase ferning naturali, sed indebito rnodo, v, 
 g. stando, aut dum vir succumbit, vel a retro femi- 
 nam cognoscit, si cut equi congrediuntur, quamvis 
 m vase femineo." 
 
 II. " Possunt autem he modi inducere peccat- 
 nm mortale juxta periculum p^rdendi semen, ea 
 quod scilicet semen viri communiter non possii 
 ellundi usque in matricera femiiuc." 
 
 'Peter Dens. De modo contra nataiam No. 295,.. 
 
CONFESSIONAL. SI 
 
 III. " Et quamvis forte conjuges dicant, quod 
 periculura diligenter preecaveant, illi interim las- 
 civi modi a gravi veniali excusari non debent, nisi 
 forte propter impotentiam, v. g. ob curvitatem ux- 
 oris, nequeat servaii naturalis situs, et modus, qui 
 est ut mulier succumbat viro." 
 
 Queritur. " Quid agere debet is qui sub pol* 
 lutione in somno inchoata evigelat?" 1 
 
 R. " Evigilans non potest ei ullum consensum 
 prcebere, sed potius dissensum, seu displicentiam 
 voluntatis for mare debet." 
 
 Q. " An tenrtur illam pollutionem in somno 
 incept am, mox it vigilal, vi cohibere smimquc 
 corpus comprimere, ne continuatur in vigi~ 
 liar 
 
 R. "Cum Antoin: tenetur, saltern ut pollutio 
 non continuetur per effusionem seminis nee dum 
 e lumbis, vel ex testiculis extravasati. Sanchez, 
 B Ulnar t, alliique videntur permittere continua- 
 tionem ob periculum infirmitatis; sed omnino 
 puto, eos dicere solummodo de semine jam extra- 
 vassato, nimirum ut exterius eilluat : alioquin non 
 licet promovere formalem, nequidem ad evaden- 
 dam mortem." 
 
 'Ibid. De pollutione, No. 29G. 
 
82 CONFESSIONAL. 
 
 " Confessarius prudens omnem evaded invidi- 
 am hac methodo : dum puella confitetur se esse 
 fornicatara, confessarius petat, an prima vice, qua 
 simile peccatum comisit, exposuerit circumstan- 
 tiam amissce virgin itatis." 
 
 " Si respondeat categorice, ita, vel non, cessat 
 dimcultas; et quidem si jam sint prima? vices 
 statim reponet, jam fuisse prim as vices, adeoque 
 solum ei dici debet, ut conteratur de ilia circum- 
 stantia, et earn confiteatur ; si taceat, instrua'ur 
 illam circumstantiam totius semel exprimendam, 
 adeoque si it nunquam fecerit jam desuper doleat, 
 et se accuset." 1 
 
 My female readers will excuse me for insert- 
 ing the authorities in Latin, I hope they will at- 
 tribute it to the esteem which I have for their 
 virtue, and also to self respect, that I do not dis- 
 cuss in my passes such principles, which will and 
 must injure the morality of my young readers. 
 
 Every honest Roman Catholic, who has fre- 
 quented the confessional, must have experienced 
 its immoral tendency for youth, especially fe- 
 males, and I am astonished, that in this free coun- 
 try, husbands can see their wives and daughters 
 frequent the confessional, without trembling for 
 
 'Ibidem, No. 287. 
 
CONFESSIONAL. 83 
 
 their virtue. The above details should be suffi- 
 cient to compel every father of a family to abhor 
 the confessional, as obnoxious to morality. If 
 decency would allow it, I could write a volume, 
 of which I have had personal experience, and of 
 what I have been informed by others, who had 
 the same melancholy experience. One instance 
 I will relate, though with great reluctance, but be- 
 ing of a character, which can be related without 
 grossly offending the ears of my readers, I will 
 mention it. 
 
 In the family where I boarded in Florence, was 
 a young lady, about seventeen years of age. Her 
 parents gave her a good, but above all, a religious 
 education. One day the mother told her daught- 
 er to prepare to go with her to-morrow to con- 
 fess and to commune. The mother unfortunate- 
 ly, feeling unwell the next morning, the young 
 lady had to go by herself; when she returned, 
 her eyes showed that she had wept, and her 
 countenance indicated that something unusual had 
 happened. The mother, as a matter of course, 
 inquired the cause, but she wept bitterly, and said 
 she was ashamed to tell it. Then the mother insis- 
 ted ; so the daughter told her that the parish 
 priest to whom she constantly confessed, asked 
 
84 ST. ANTONY IN ROME. 
 
 her questions this time which she could not re- 
 peat without a blush. She, however, repeated 
 some of them, which were of the most licentious 
 and corrupting tendency, which were better suit- 
 ed to the lowest sink of debauchery than the con- 
 fessional. Then he gave her some instructions, 
 which decency forbids me to repeat; gave her 
 absolution, and told her before she communed, 
 she must come into his house, which was contig- 
 uous to the church; the unsuspecting young crea- 
 ture did as the father confessor told her. The rest, 
 the reader can imagine. The parents furious, would 
 immediately have gone to the arch-bishop, and 
 laid before him the complaint; but I advised them 
 to let it be as it was, because they would injure 
 the character of their daughter more than the 
 priest. All the punishment he would have re- 
 ceived, is a suspension for a month or two, and 
 then be placed in another parish, or even remain 
 where he is. With such brutal acts, the history 
 of the confessional is full. 
 
 If I could lead my readers on the 17th of 
 January to the church of St. Antoin in Rome, I 
 am convinced, they would not know whether 
 they should laugh at the ridiculous religious per- 
 formances, or weep over the heathenish practices 
 
Bfr. ANTONY IN ROME. 85 
 
 of the church of Rome. He would see a priest 
 in his sacerdotal garments, with a stole over his 
 neck, a brush in the right hand, and sprinkling 
 the mules, asses and horses, with holy water, and 
 praying for them and with them, and blessing them 
 in order to be preserved the whole year from sick- 
 ness and death, famine and danger for the sake 
 and merits of the holy Antony. All this is a 
 grotesque scene, so grotesque that no American 
 can have any idea of it, and heathen priests 
 would never have thought of it. Add to that, the 
 great mass of people, the kickings of the mules, 
 the meetings of the lovers, the neighings of the 
 horses, the melodious voices of the asses, the 
 shoutings of the multitude, and mockings of the 
 protestants, who reside in Rome, and you have a 
 spectacle, which would be new, entirely neiv, not 
 only for American Protestants, but for the heath- 
 en themselves, and must be abominable in the 
 eye of God. The reason why cows, calves and 
 oxen are excluded from the privilege of being 
 sprinkled with holy water, and receiving the pray- 
 ers of the priest* and the protection of St. An- 
 tony, I never inquired ; and why these gentle- 
 men, viz. the horses, asses and mules, are so 
 highly distinguished among all the quadrupeds, I 
 
66 THE OPENING 01? THE EiES 
 
 can not say ; perhaps those who are more versed 
 in the canons of the councils, will be able to give 
 the reader light on that subject. But enough 5 
 the subject is too serious; it is a religious exer-^ 
 cise, practiced by the priests of Rome, in the so- 
 called metropolis of the christian world, sanction- 
 ed by the self styled infallible head of the church 
 of Rome. All we can say is: "Ichabod, thy 
 glory is departed." The priests of heathen Rome 
 would be ashamed of such a religious display in 
 the nineteenth century* 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE EYES OF THE 
 VIRGIN MARY. 
 
 In Rome there is preserved a gigantic mask of 
 the face of a man, in the church of Sia. Maria in 
 Cosmodhi, according to the declaration of the 
 most scientific antiquaries, it is called, " La boc- 
 ca della verita," the mouth of truth* In heathen 
 Rome, when a man swore, he was obliged to put 
 his right hand into the mouth of that gigantic 
 mask ; if what he swore was true he could with- 
 
OF THE VIRGIN MAR?. 87 
 
 draw his hand ; if false, hffl band was bitten off 
 by that monstrous mouth. 1 There is no doubt,- 
 that the priests had some cutting machine in 
 the inside, or some person hidden in it, who 
 performed the operation, and cut off t3ie hand 
 of the perjurer. Papal Rome is worse, it is 
 more intriguing and far more cruel than the 
 heathen priests; it cuts off not only one hand* 
 
 'The church of Santa Maria in Cosmodin, stands in 
 the Forum Boarium. It received this epithet Couma- 
 din, from its having bepn overcharged with orna- 
 ments when Adrian rebuilt it in the year 728. This 
 edifice stands on the ruins of the ancient temple of 
 Pudiciiia Patricia, or Chastity. Plebeians were ex- 
 cluded from this temple. On account of this fact 
 Virginia^ the wife of Volumnius, erected the temple 
 of Pudiciiia Plebeia, at her own home. She. was 
 herself of noble birth, but had to adopt the station of 
 her husband, who was a Plebeian. The pavement is 
 of beautiful porphyry, and the high altar of red 
 Egyptian granite; the columns of the interior are of 
 antique marble. There is a discrepancy of opinion 
 among the antiquarians, with regard to the use 
 of the ugly mask of marble, which stands in the 
 porch. Some say . " It served as the mouth of an 
 ancient fountain." Others suppose, that oracles is-* 
 sued from this mouth, therefore it is called : t' La 
 bucca della verita" (the mouth of truth.) But it is 
 generally supposed that it represents Jupiter, and that 
 persons put their hands in the mouth of it when they 
 made oath in court, and that the mouth closed upon 
 all perjured persons. There is a common saying in 
 Rome, "that women never put their hands into it, 
 for it was sure to close." That is no compliment to- 
 the ancient Roman ladies. 
 
but millions of souls, as the following fact will 
 sufficiently show. 
 
 The people of Rome are not so dull and stu- 
 pid as the priests desire to have them. The se- 
 cret police in the confessional, the paid spies in 
 the public establishments, and the multitude of 
 gens d'arms can terrify them, but can not enchain 
 their minds, nor fetter their intellects. Satires 
 against the canons of the Pantheon, pasquinades 
 against the Pope, and publicly ridiculing the 
 monks* were the order of the day. If the Inquis- 
 ition would have attempted to imprison all the 
 violators of the priestly laws, they might as well 
 have made a roof over the whole city, and written 
 upon the doors of it: "Career Romanorum," 
 the prison of the Romans. But soon they found 
 a remedy to divert the minds of the people, and 
 draw their attention to some other object, though 
 hot less absurd and heathenish than the above ; 
 but that is immaterial only if it serves to accom- 
 plish the desired object. 
 
 A great rumor was sounded abroad: "that in 
 a certain church, situated in the parish of the 
 Madonna di Monte, an image of the Virgin Mary 
 had opened its eyes." The story originated in 
 the following manner. An old, but pious woman 
 
OF A VIRGIN MARY. 89 
 
 praying fervently to that image, and looking 
 steadily at it, she observed, that the image was 
 moving its eyes toward her; she immediately in- 
 formed the father confessor of it, who approach- 
 ed the altar to ascertain the truth of the miracle, 
 and he saw it also, so clear, that there remained 
 no doubt, whatever, that the image did open its 
 eyes, and moved them about in all directions. 
 
 The reader must know, that the church where 
 that miraculous image was to be found, is situated 
 in the darkest corner of the city, where the low- 
 est populace are crowded together. It lies in the 
 valley between the two mounts, Quirinum and 
 Janiculum. It was not difficult to make them 
 swallow any absurdity, which they are ready to 
 defend with their blood. The mass of people 
 who assembled in that section of the city was im- 
 mense. Day and night the church was crowded. 
 I saw it, when hundreds of sick folks were car- 
 ried upon couches into the church ; one of them 
 particularly attracted my attention; he was a tall, 
 consumptive man, more like a skeleton than a liv- 
 ing being, supported by two friends. As soon as he 
 was placed in the middle of the church, all the 
 people cried as with one voice : " Abbiate fede ! 
 abbiate fede!" have faith J have faith.' and the 
 8 
 
90 THE OPENING OF THE EYES, &C. 
 
 skeleton left the shoulders of his friends, who 
 supported him, and advanced with a firm step to- 
 wards the altar, where he sunk exhausted to the 
 ground- The shouts, " have faith in the mercy 
 of the holy Virgin! rise, walk J be not discour- 
 aged! and similar expressions were heard, but 
 all was useless. It was not difficult, as I stated 
 before to make people like these believe every 
 absurdity. One thing was worthy of notice, that 
 no respectable and enlightened person, saw the 
 miracle, not even all the priests, but they said: 
 " That men of bad dispositions, or the sceptic, or 
 those who had not sincerely confessed, or had no 
 faith, could not see it. " I have been one of 
 those, whom the Virgin Mary would not look at, 
 though I was anxious to see the miraculous 
 movements of the eyes of the painted picture. 
 Every movement of the Virgin Mary's eyes had 
 its signification. From the pulpit, like sounds of 
 thunder in a dark night, the most frightful events 
 were predicted. " Prodigium canit, et tristes 
 denunciat iras" Pestilence, famine and destruc- 
 tion were the indications of the moving of the 
 eyes. Penance ! penance ! was the watchword 
 of the priests and monks, as the only panacea for 
 the great evil; I asked myself, what is the differ- 
 
BEATIFICATION. 91 
 
 ence between heathen Rome and Papal Rome ? 
 The first used intrigues to purify the community 
 of perjurers; the second uses it to establish a lie. 
 Heathen Rome had its temple of Apollo in which 
 the oracle of Delphi* prophesied. Papal Rome 
 lias its images which fortell future events. 
 
 BEATIFICATION OF A FRANCISCAN 
 FRIAR. 
 
 Like children who must be amused and delight- 
 ed in the daily change of play things, so Roman- 
 ists are entertained by their priests, by a daily 
 change of new amusements. I say amusements, 
 for the papal worship is nothing but that. We 
 read in history that before the fall of heathen 
 Rome, one could easier find a god than a man m 
 the streets. In papal Rome, there are more saints 
 than inhabitants, and their number is daily aug- 
 menting. 
 
 Scarcely had the frolic of the moving of the 
 eyes of the image ceased, when another ecclesi- 
 astical entertainment was produced. The Fran- 
 ciscans had a friar who had been living among 
 them a hundred years ago, and who at that time, 
 
92 BEATIFICATION. 
 
 performed a great number of miracles. His or- 
 der, begged the sum of one hundred thousand dol- 
 lars, to have their brother friar beatified, which 
 his holiness Leo XII. granted after having receiv- 
 ed this sum as a fee. At the same time we must 
 do justice to the friars; they were very careful 
 not to collect the money in the papal state, but in 
 Spain where the friar was bom. 
 
 A beatification is not a daily nor even an an- 
 nual occurrence because it is very expensive. Pro- 
 testants must not think that saints grow like mush- 
 rooms after a rainy season, no ! they must be at 
 least a hundred years old. They must not think 
 that a saint is some upstart or pauper; by no 
 means; he must be able to pay the minimum fee 
 of a hundred thousand dollars, before he receives 
 permission to be a saint. Being therefore such a 
 rare occurrence, it is no wonder that young and 
 old, rich and poor turned out to witness the exhi- 
 bition. 
 
 The day on which the beatification was to take 
 place, the Pope descended from the Vatican into 
 the church of St. Peter's, followed by the whole 
 sacred college, in great pomp and magnificence ; 
 nothing was spared which was calculated to im- 
 press the senses of the immense multitude. The 
 
BEATIFICATION. 93 
 
 bishops were in their pontifical garments and cov- 
 ered with their mitres; the Pope himself presid- 
 ing as the supremua cpiscopus, or the bishop of 
 bishops, had only the mitre upon his head; in that 
 pompous manner the mass was celebrated by the 
 Pope, and when he arrived at that part where the 
 collects of the saints are said ; the Pope [by a 
 special bull] declared the friar, of whom three 
 miracles had been scrupulously investigated, to be 
 a saint, with all the privileges to work miracles 
 when and wherever he pleases. 1 At the same 
 time the cooks and friars were very busy in pre- 
 paring a good dinner for the cardinals, prelates 
 and other illustriors guests. In the afternoon his 
 holiness went in great pomp to the church of the 
 Franciscan convent, where the painting of the 
 new saint was exposed for the adoration of the 
 people. He kneeled before that very being whom 
 lie had created a saint, and adored that very paint- 
 ing, to the original of which he had a few hours 
 before granted the privilege of saintship and the 
 permission to perform miracles. After the invo- 
 
 'Before the canonization takes pla^e, three miracles 
 are brought before the curia in trial, where a prelate, 
 called " the Devil's Advocate" pleads against them, and 
 examines the evidences of the miracles. 
 
94 BEATIFICATION. 
 
 cation of his new manufactured saint, his holiness 
 graciously entered the convent and admitted the 
 whole family to kiss his holy foot, or rather his 
 holy slipper. 
 
 To satisfy the great mass of the people who do 
 not understand latin, the three approved miracles 
 were exhibited in painting at the facade of St. 
 Peter's, in order that they might see what had 
 been the miracles for which he was elevated to 
 the glory of being saint. Among the largest and 
 most conspicuous, was the one which represents 
 the sainted friar seated in the kitchen of a tavern, 
 and warming himself at the fire at which the land- 
 lady, who had the reputation of being a very un- 
 charitable woman, was roasting birds for her 
 guests. After an interval of a short time, the lady 
 was obliged to leave the kitchen, when the friar 
 [not being as yet a saint] took the roasted birds 
 from the fire, and after holding them one by one 
 up in the air, they immediately received life, be- 
 came covered with feathers and flew about in the 
 kitchen. The woman entering and seeing that 
 spectacle, fell upon her knees and would have 
 worshiped him; but the friar said unto her: 
 " Woman give all the glory to the Virgin Mary." 
 
BEATIFICATION. 95 
 
 As a narrator I will make no remarks on this 
 peculiar case ; my object is only to show the spirit 
 of the Roman population, that they are not so ig- 
 norant as some travellers have described them, 
 and not so bigoted as they appear. 
 
 Scarcely was the painting displayed to the eyes 
 of the people, when a general burst of laughter 
 filled the air; even the ladies who are not averse 
 to the miracles of friars, considered it very puerile. 
 Their disapproval was not expressed in secret, 
 but in the presence of the spies, and openly in 
 broad day to the mortification of the priests. I 
 heard it said : " the friar has eaten the roasted 
 birds and let fly some living one which he had in 
 his large sleeves." Others more serious asked : 
 " What benefit has that miracle conferred on the 
 human family, for Christianity, or even for the 
 tavern keeper?" A great many in a joking man- 
 ner said : " that miracle resembled very much 
 those of the Jesuits at St. Domingo, when they 
 asked only [for the love of the holy Virgin] a lit- 
 tle boiled water, which they poured upon toasted 
 bread, and soon the fragrance of that dish filled 
 the house. The people were astonished, that the 
 water should be changed into such delicious food. 
 They [the Jesuits] told them: " give all the glory 
 
96 BEATIFICATION. 
 
 to the holy Virgin who performed the miracle ;" 
 and in secret the good fathers put preserved meat 
 and concentrated broth as ingredients of the mira- 
 cle into it. Similar anecdotes, abounding in face- 
 tiousness and wit were publicly related. I tremb- 
 led for them ; I was apprehensive that the gens 
 d' arms would lay hands on them. But the dis- 
 approbation being general, the police were over- 
 awed and dared not touch them ; otherwise they 
 would have been massacred on the spot. 
 
 The result of that censure was not less humi- 
 liating than the censure itself. The next day 
 another painting was placed in its stead. But for 
 all that the effect of the blunder was not removed. 
 Like the ass in the fable, who clothed himself in 
 the dress of the shepherd, whose long ears betray- 
 ed him, that he was even in the cloak of the shep- 
 herd nothing but an ass. Such was the effect 
 which the change of the picture produced. 
 
 We read in history many deceptions practiced 
 by the heathen priests, but that in papal Rome, 
 under the garb of Christianity, such intrigues 
 should be perpetrated in the nineteenth century, 
 is too revolting even to narrate. If the apostle 
 Paul, who withstood Peter to his face in Antioch, 
 because he was blamed of having dissimulated 
 
THE PATRIARCH AND THE 97 
 
 ftnd walked not uprightly, according to the gos- 
 pel; 1 — what would that apostle say, if he could 
 appear again upon the palatinum, and see the in- 
 trigues, deceptions and corruptions of the so-called 
 Vicar of Christ in the so-styled chair of Peter? 
 
 THE PATRIARCH OF EGYPT AND THE 
 HORNED PRIEST. 
 
 The following is a narrative which I published 
 in the Lutheran Observer during the last year, but 
 as that journal is not read by Roman Catholics, I 
 will insert it here, that they may hear something 
 of the infallibility of their supreme pontiff. 
 
 The blunder of the miraculous birds was too 
 great; the impression it left too strong to be easily 
 effaced, they immediately put forth a new specta- 
 cle, new in every respect in the history of Popes, 
 and I may safely say new in the history of heath- 
 en Rome. 
 
 In the Propaganda fide are educated mission- 
 aries for the countries of the East; there are 
 usually from seven to eight hundred pupils in it, 
 many of whom are taken when nine years old, 
 
 •Galat. c. 2, v. 11—14. 
 9 
 
98 HORNED PRIEST, 
 
 and educated until they reach their twenty-fourths 
 year. Among the boys there educated was an* 
 Arabian youth, fifteen years of age, whose talents 
 were not of a very superior order. One day a 
 letter arrived by mail, directed to the Prefect of 
 the Propaganda, sealed with the state seal of the 
 Pasha of Egypt, in which His Highness in a very 
 friendly manner complimented his holiness, Pope 
 Leo the XII. requesting him to consecrate the 
 Arabian boy Bishoj) of Alexandria. The Pre- 
 fect of the Propaganda as soon as he read the letter, 
 ordered his state carriage to the Quirinal palace, 
 where the Pope was at that time residing. Leo 
 received the message with delight, he thought the 
 riches of Egypt were already hoarded in the trea- 
 sury of the Vatican ; he immediately convoked 
 the Sacred College and desired their counsel on 
 that important subject. Some of the cardinals 
 argued in favor of the consecration, believing that 
 the Arabian boy must be an illegitimate child of 
 the Pasha, otherwise he would not thus distin- 
 guish a christian and a youth with such honors. 
 Others argued the contrary on the same ground, 
 as the councils and canonical laws strictly forbid 
 that the dignity of a bishop should be enjoyed by 
 a bastard. Another irregularity was in the way m r 
 
THfc PATRIAllCH AttD THE 09 
 
 the boy was not even of age, and still more that 
 he wns ignorant. But Poniifex omnia potent: 
 the Pope can do all things, even metamorphose 
 ignorant heads into wise ones, the boy was, in 
 spite of all the illegalities and irregularities, de- 
 clared by Leo XII. not only Bishop but Patriarch 
 of Egypt. 
 
 The priests promulgated it with great joy ; the 
 triumph of Christianity, the advantages of the 
 church of Rome, and the pecuniary profits to the 
 holy seat, all was mentioned that could swell the 
 song of gladness. They had the audacity to say 
 publicly, in the presence of ladies, " that the 
 Arabian boy was an illegitimate child of the 
 Pasha." And many Roman mothers, [not heath- 
 en, but christian Roman mothers] envied the Ara- 
 bian lady the honor of having such a distinguish- 
 ed lover. In short, I was an eye witness of the 
 consecration as performed by Pope Leo XII. ; I 
 saw that Pope kneeling upon the first step of the 
 altar in St. Peter's church, to receive the blessing 
 of the boy celebrans, or as he was called "the 
 Boy Patriarch," at the end of the ceremony of the 
 consecration. In the history Of Popes, we never 
 find a similar occurrence, that the Pope himself 
 should have consecrated a bishop. 
 
300 HORNED PRIEST, 
 
 The Pope gave the boy Patriarch a monk of 
 the Paolotti as a secretary, who was also to be his 
 tutor, under whom he had to finish his education, 
 He wrote also through the Secretary of State, a 
 complimentary letter to the Pasha of Egypt, to 
 inform His Highness that his wishes were all punc- 
 tually fulfilled, and that the new Patriarch of 
 Egypt would soon leave the papal shore for his 
 new destination. The Propaganda fitted out the 
 Patriarch in the best style ; sacred vases, episco- 
 pal ornaments and gifts for the Pasha were pre- 
 pared ; a vessel was chartered in Civita Vecchia 
 upon which the boy Patriarch and whole suit 
 Were embarked. 
 
 We shall leave the young Patriarch on his voy- 
 age, and direct the attention of the reader towards 
 Egypt. The Pasha received the dispatches of 
 the Pope, and could scarcely understand their con- 
 tents. After a due examination of the documents, 
 the Pasha became furious, he immediately ordered 
 the father of the boy Patriarch to be imprisoned, 
 who as it was supposed had forged the signature 
 of the Pasha, and was without any further inquiry 
 decapitated, and an order was issued that the Pat- 
 riarch with his whole suit should meet with the 
 same fate, as soon as they landed on the shores of 
 Egypt. 
 
THE PATRIARCH AND THE 101 
 
 The ambassadors and consuls of the christian 
 courts, wrote to all the ports to inform the mitred 
 voyager of the danger which awaited him. The 
 merchants did the same. Fortunately a contrary 
 wind drove them [I do not exactly remember if 
 it was on the island of Malta, or on one of the 
 Ionian islands,] where they received information 
 of the predicament into which they were placed. 
 The monk of the Paolotti immediately resumed 
 the authority of the master instead of secretary ; 
 he ordered the captain to return, and treated 'the 
 poor youth not as a boy Patriarch but as a school 
 boy. On one occasion the poor creature resented 
 the tyrannical treatment of the monk, who gave 
 him a slap in the face ; the servants who saw it 
 lost their respect for him, so that the poor young 
 man in a short time was driven to despair. In 
 that state of mind, he determined to escape upon 
 an English vessel, and to place himself under the 
 protection of the British flag. If he would have 
 done that openly, he might have saved himself; 
 but being inexperienced in the world, [in addition 
 to this the fear of his monkish tyrant,] he resolv- 
 ed to escape at night and take with him the sacred 
 vessels and the gifts, which he had for the Pasha 
 of Egypt. But a servant whom he thought faith- 
 
102 HORNED PRIEST. 
 
 ful betrayed him, and in the act of his escape he 
 was taken, and wishing to hide his guilt, conceal- 
 ed the sacred vessels. 
 
 Now the monk, who envied the mitre of the 
 boy became the master ; he put the poor patriarch 
 in confinement, chained him in the cabin, until 
 they reached the port of Civita Vecchia, where 
 the monk wrote to the cardinal Zurla, the Vicar 
 of the Pope, intimating to him that he would not 
 leave the vessel, until His Holiness recompensed 
 him for the faithful services he had performed, 
 and the dangers he had encountered for the wel- 
 fare of the church. The Pope was obliged to 
 give him the mitre, in order to stop the mouth of 
 the monk. 
 
 Now in order to bring the victim to Rome with- 
 out incurring the ridicule of the people, the Pope, 
 and the sacred college to cover their blunder and 
 ignorance, invented a story of which Satan him- 
 self would be ashamed. It was related as a pos- 
 itive fact, by the priests in the confessional, as 
 well as in society, in the pulpit as well as in the 
 streets : " That in a certain village, a poor wo- 
 man was to be buried, but that the parish priest, 
 who was very avaricious, would not perform the 
 burial, because her children could not pay the fee. 
 
THE PATRIARCH, &C. 103 
 
 Two of her sons were obliged to dig the oravc 
 in the night, where they found a treasure ; the 
 next day they came to the priest paying him the 
 fee, and also a sum for a number of masses., 
 ■which the priest was to celebrate for the soul of 
 the deceased, to be delivered from the pains of 
 Purgatory. The priest asked them from whence 
 ihey received the money; they revealed to him 
 the fact of having found a treasure. The priest 
 wishing to rob them of it, took the fresh hide of 
 an ox, and covered himself with it, so as to ap- 
 pear as the devil, in order to frighten the poor 
 boys. But when he returned with the treasure, 
 and was about to undress himself, lo ! the horns 
 of the ox's hide remaided fixed upon his head, and 
 that on the morrow night, the horned priest would 
 be brought into the city, and placed in the prison of 
 the Inquisition. So it was ; a close carriage ac- 
 companied by gens d' arms in which the poor 
 boy Patriarch was placed, and was brought into 
 the prison of the Inquisition under the name of 
 the horned priest, drove into the city. There he 
 was tortured, in the presence of the students of 
 the Propaganda, dispatriarchized and condemn- 
 ed to death ; but Pope Leo XII. graciously com- 
 muted the sentence of death into imprisonment 
 for life in the Fort of St. Leo, 
 
104 INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 If my Roman Catholic brethren could know 
 all the intrigues and strategeins, which are re- 
 sorted to in the church of Rome, in order to 
 be made prelates, they would blush to call them 
 shepherds. It is a proverbial saying in Rome : 
 "To become a prelate you must have one of the 
 three devils to aid you. You must have a white 
 devil, or a yellow devil, or a red devil. The 
 white devil is the protection of a woman ; the 
 yellow is gold ; and the red, the protection of a 
 cardinal. The narrative of the above stated fact, 
 needs no comment, no parallel even in heathen 
 history is to be found. The council of the infer- 
 nal recesses could not produce, nor invent a more 
 execrable falsehood, to blindfold the eyes of men 
 in order to destroy their souls. 
 
 INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE. 
 
 In the face of such inconsistencies of the Pope, 
 blunders of the sacred college, corruptions of the 
 priests, and intrigues of the monks, it was no 
 wonder that I began to doubt the infallibility of 
 the Pope, and to inquire upon what grounds the 
 pretended infallibility is based. The Pope legit- 
 
INFALLIBILITY. 105 
 
 imatcd the Arabian boy, and removed all the dis- 
 abilities arising from his unfitness on account of 
 his presumed ignoble birth, by a special dispen- 
 sation, ordained the boy, who had not yet arrived 
 at the canonical age, and invested him with the 
 power to confer sacred orders on others. He 
 dispenses the monastic orders from submis- 
 sion to the diocesan bishops, absolving faithful 
 subjects from the obedience to their legitimate 
 sovereign, children from all obligations towards 
 their parents. These were the subjects which 
 occupied my mind, and became a matter of close 
 investigation. How can the Pope dispense chil- 
 dren from submission to their parents without an- 
 nulling the ten commandments of God ? How 
 can he dispense the servant from obedience to his 
 master without subverting social order? How 
 can he authorize subjects to break the sacred ties 
 which bind them to their sovereign, with impuni- 
 ty? How can he withdraw the sheep from the 
 flock, without exposing them to the danger of be- 
 ing destroyed by the wolf? How can he dis- 
 pense the members of the monastic orders from 
 their obedience to the diocesan bishops, without 
 destroying the order of the hierarchy ? These 
 and similar contradictory acts, which have been 
 
106 INFALLIBILITY. 
 
 the cause of so much blood-shed, gave rise in my 
 mind to the inquiry of the assumed infallibility of 
 the Pope. 
 
 I took the Bible, searched the whole New Tes- 
 tament, in order to support the papal power ; I 
 say support, because my intention was not to 
 leave the church of Rome. The infallible pow- 
 er of the church through her head, the Pope, was 
 the only link which chained me to it, and it is a 
 very powerful one. 
 
 The passage: "Thou art Peter, and upon 
 this rock I will build my church, and the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against it;" and that pas- 
 sage, " Lo I am with you always, even to the 
 end of the world;" were not sufficient for me, 
 upon which to base such an unlimited power ; I 
 could not see in them that the Lord spoke of 
 Popes, because Peter had the privilege of being 
 the first of the apostles, he was not thereby ap- 
 pointed a Pope, nor had he a successor. To sat- 
 isfy my conscience by examining the direct line 
 of apostolical succession was too delicate, and 
 even superfluous for a Roman, who had been ac- 
 quainted with the son of Pius VII. and read the 
 letters which he had received from his father, 
 written to his mother when cardinal Chiara Monte; 
 
INFALLIBILITY. 107 
 
 a Roman, who had a personal acquaintance with 
 the Pope Leo XII. when a cardinal, knowing him 
 to be a gambler, licentious, and even debauched. 
 One who was acquainted with the scandalous his- 
 tory of immoral succession in the papal seat, was 
 not much disposed, nor did not feel it so neces- 
 sary to investigate that subject. 
 
 As my intention is not to reveal, but to give 
 only the grounds of my doubts of the apostolical 
 succession at that time, I will state that I examin- 
 ed the fathers of the church and viewed the mat- 
 ter in the light of sound reason. 
 
 In that conflict I sought for the opinions of en- 
 lightened authors as Origin, Eusebius, Hieroni- 
 mus, Chrisostomus, Isidor, Baronius and Tertu- 
 lian, which I carefully read and studied on that 
 subject. I found that after the Holy Spirit had 
 descended upon the apostles, they dispersed into 
 all parts of the world, and preached the gospel to 
 all nations. St. Peter preached in Judea, in An- 
 tioch, in Capadocia, in Bithanien, and according 
 to the tradition of the papal church also in Rome. 
 St. James, son of Zebedce, preached also in Ju- 
 dea and in Spain. St. John in Asia Minor. St. 
 Andrew in Scythia, in Thracia and in Achaja. 
 St. James, the brother of our Lord preached in 
 
108 ANTIQ.UITY. 
 
 Jerusalem. St. Phillip also in Scythia and Phry- 
 gia. St. Bartholomew in Judea and Armenia. 
 St. Matthew in Ethiopia. St. Thomas pieached 
 in Parthia Medea, in Persia and among the Brach- 
 mans, Hircaniens and other nations. St. Simon 
 preached also in Persia and Mesopotamea. St. 
 Jude in Egypt. St. Matthew in the upper part of 
 Ethiopia. The apostle Paul and Barnabas in dif- 
 ferent parts of Europe and Asia ; none of them 
 had been subject to the others, not even under the 
 direction of one another, much less under the 
 jurisdiction of the apostle Peter. 
 
 As the church of Rome bases her infallible 
 power upon her antiquity, Catholicity, and apos- 
 tolical succession, I purpose examining each of 
 them separately. 
 
 If the authority of antiquity be conceded as a 
 test of its infallibility to any church, it ought to 
 be to that of Jerusalem, because that church was 
 founded by our Saviour himself. There the ever- 
 lasting gospel was heard from the lips which spake 
 as never man spake ; there he exercised his high 
 sacerdotal power and episcopal office ; there he 
 offered himself up as a ransom for our sins and 
 for the sins of the world. There the operations 
 of the Holy Spirit were manifested on the first 
 
ANTiaUITY, 109 
 
 day of Pentecost. Jerusalem was called by the 
 ancient writers, " the mother of all other church- 
 es." 1 Even Antioch has greater claims than Rome 
 for the primacy, if ever a primacy should exist, 
 being the first church the apostle Peter governed, 
 and where the disciples were called christians for 
 the Jirst time ; 2 which Chrisostomus calls : "the 
 capital of the christian world." 3 
 
 If the mother is older than the daughter ; the 
 source older than the stream from which it flows ; 
 the Greek church has certainly the claim to be 
 the oldest ; being founded by the apostle Paul and 
 St. Andrew, from which the spirit of Christianity 
 flowed as from a sacred fountain, and extended 
 over many nations and kingdoms. Another very 
 important historical consideration convinced me 
 that Rome has no claim of primacy upon the 
 ground of her antiquity, because the history of 
 the councils themselves testify that the church of 
 Rome received the New Testament, the creed of 
 the apostles, that of Nice and that of Athanasia 
 from the Greek church, and that until the time of 
 
 } Theod. Hist. lib. v. chap. 9, atque in lib. 4, ann. 
 382, etiam Banmius ad annum 382. 
 
 2 Acts of the Apost. chap. 11, v. 26. 
 
 3 Chrisost. Hum. 3 ad populum Antioch. 
 
110 ANTiaUITY. 
 
 Bishop Britontius. 1 The council of Trent itself 
 recognized her as the mother of the church of 
 Rome. 
 
 Having found nothing in the writings of the 
 fathers and ancient historians, which gave the 
 church of Rome any title to that boasted antiquity 
 of which she vaunts so much, I begun to reason 
 with myself in this way. If the doctrines and 
 the practices of the church of Rome are anti* 
 scriptural, w T ill they become better when they 
 number five hundred or more years existence? 
 Or is the truth less truth, because it cannot show 
 that it has been acknowledged centuries ago ? If 
 a man would build a house upon the land of his 
 neighbor, without having any title to that lands 
 can he claim that property as his own, because he 
 intruded upon the rights of his neighbor for many 
 years ? So it is with the truth. If an error is 
 received and accredited from the beginning of the 
 world, will a long series of years give any advan- 
 tage and weight to that error ? or give a right to 
 those who believe it, to remain in that error fof 
 no other reason than because it is an old establish- 
 ed error 1 Certainly not. Error can never change 
 into truth even though it exists until the end of 
 
 'Hist. Concilii. 
 
ANTiaUlTY. 1 1 1 
 
 the world, but rather crcscit eundo, like a chronic 
 ilisea.se which increases in malignity in proportion, 
 as it approximates to its consummation ; thus it 
 is with the pretended antiquity of the church of 
 Rome. 
 
 It is certain that the heathen are the most an- 
 cient worshippers of their idols ; who will contend 
 that because their idolatrous worship is the most 
 ancient, it is the most true and infallible ? Is it 
 probable that the primitive christians ever advanc- 
 ed such an argument to the heathen, that the most 
 ancient religion is the most true? Would the 
 heathen not have boasted of the antiquity of their 
 worship ? But we read the contrary, St, Cyprian 
 says : " that antiquity has no influence in religi- 
 ous matters if it is not accompanied with the 
 truth" l To show that the ancient prevalence of 
 idolatry is nothing but an error of antiquity, he 
 adds : " if an error would be sanctioned because 
 it claims antiquity, no crime would be too little 
 which could be committed without impunity, for 
 the thief would say that my ancestors were also 
 thieves and corrupt." 
 
 That such a doctrine upon which the church of 
 Home builds her infallibility was not known to 
 
 'Cyprian Epist 74, cont. idolati. 
 
112 ANTiaUITY. 
 
 the prophets, is evident from the words of the 
 prophet Jeremiah, 1 when he reproached the Jews 
 for their sinfulness, and called them to repentance, 
 he says : " thou art Gilead unto me and the head 
 of Lebanon ; yet surely I will make thee a wil- 
 derness and cities which are not inhabited. And 
 I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one 
 with his weapons, and they shall cut down thy 
 choice cedars and cast them into the fire. And 
 many nations shall pass by this city ; and they 
 shall say every man to his neighbor, wherefore 
 hath the Lord done thus unto this great city ? 
 Then they shall answer, because they have for- 
 saken the covenant of the Lord their God and 
 worshiped other gods and served them." This 
 clearly shows that the kings, priests, and the peo- 
 ple had no right to continue in sin, to despise God 
 and his holy word, because they had despised it 
 for a long time. Our Saviour himself preached 
 against that principle, and maintained that the an- 
 tiquity of a thing is no proof of its being truth. 
 For when the scribes and pharisees gloried in 
 Abraham, who was their father, he told them that 
 their genealogy extends still further back, that 
 they are children of the devil. 
 
 'Jeremiah, chap. 22, v. 6. Ibid. chap. 32, v. 30-35. 
 
ANTIQUITY. 113 
 
 The church of Rome condemns iny reasoning. 
 She says; "The infallibility of the church of 
 Rome is a doctrine of faith." I must believe it, be- 
 cause the church says it, and because the church 
 who is the oldest of all other churches, believes 
 it. Here I must confess, that on that point I am 
 a rationalist. Suppose some one has to make a 
 payment to a merchant, and gives him certain 
 coins, of which the merchant knows not the val- 
 ue, can that man condemn the merchant if he en- 
 deavors to find out the intrinsic value, by weigh- 
 ing the gold pieces 1 Or if he tries it, in order 
 to assure himself if it be pure gold ? Would 
 that be sufficient reason for the merchant, if the 
 other would say : " It is a very ancient coin, it 
 lias been preserved in the family for several cen- 
 turies?" Certainly not. The merchant would 
 say, " This may be all true, but there are many 
 ancient coins, which are false." Suppose that 
 man would insist, and condemn the merchant for 
 not believing in his word, and trusting in his in- 
 tegrity. Would the merchant not have good rea- 
 son to suspect the sincerity of such a man ? Thus 
 it was with me, when I read the canons of the 
 council of Trent, and they said, " That whoso- 
 ever denies the infallibility of the church of Rome, 
 10 
 
114 ANTIQUITY. 
 
 let him be accursed.''' I suspected the truth of 
 that doctrine, and had good reason to doubt it. 
 
 But the church of Rome teaches: " That the- 
 bishops, who are the legitimate pastors of the 
 church receive the Holy Ghost, who is the spirit 
 of truth, therefore they can not err." I will not 
 employ my reason with regard to the Holy Spir- 
 it, but submit my reason to the living AVord of 
 God, which teaches me that the doctrine of the 
 church of Rome, by limiting the Spirit of God 
 only to the bishops, is false ; because St. James 
 says : L " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask 
 of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and up- 
 braideth not, and it shall be given him." That 
 again shows that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of 
 wisdom is given not only to the bishops, but also 
 to all men, who will ask for it. My dear Roman 
 Catholic brethren see, that it was not, and is not 
 the spirit of protestantism, which directs my pen, 
 but the love of truth and of your immortal 
 souls, and above all to show you how the Spirit 
 of God enlightened my mind. 
 
 'Ep. James c. i. v. 5. 
 
CATHOLICITY OF THE CHURCH OF 
 ROME. 
 
 The Church of Rome glories in the name, 
 Catholic (universal) church. She boasts of the 
 multitude of believers in her doctrine. I heard 
 from my youth the loudest panegyrics upon the 
 numerous conversions, and believers in her doc- 
 trines. I thought if that is really the case, it 
 would show, that it is accompanied by the out- 
 pouring of the Spirit of God. With these feel- 
 ings I searched the statistics of the world, to see 
 if that boasted multitude be really so great. 
 
 I found that the population of the world is 
 eight hundred and five millions of souls, of which 
 those who profess Christianity, taking all denomi- 
 nations together, are two hundred and twenty 
 millions of souls. I separated the chaff from the 
 wheat, the heretics and schismatics from the pa- 
 pists, and found that the numbers of the Papal 
 church are much smaller, than those of the Greek 
 church, and not as much as those of the Protest- 
 ants in the world. 
 
 In Asia the christians are numerous, but few 
 recognize the authority of the Pope. The chris- 
 
116 CATHOLICITY OF THE 
 
 tians in Palestine are under the jurisdiction of the 
 Patriarch of Jerusalem, The Armenians and 
 Georgians, have their own patriarch. The Cir- 
 cassians, and those of Asia Minor are under the 
 jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople. 
 The Jacobites, and all the other tribes this side, 
 and on the other side of the Caucasus have their 
 own Patriarch, and are by no means under the 
 power of the Pope. 
 
 The South of Africa belongs to the Protest- 
 ant Episcopal Church of England. The Chris- 
 tians of Egypt, and the Cophts are under the Pa- 
 triarch of Alexandria. The Ethiopians, and 
 Abyssynians have their own Patriarch, and have 
 not submitted to the authority of the Pope of 
 Rome. 
 
 America. The north of it is nearly all Pro- 
 testants, though the immigration from Ireland and 
 Austria overflows the Union, still the Protestant 
 immigration overbalances it, and it can with cer- 
 tainty be styled a Protestant country. 
 
 Europe; where Rome once deposed kings, 
 and obliged them to come barefooted, and with 
 uncovered heads to the door of the Vatican, has 
 nearly deserted her. Russia has not recognized 
 her. Moldavia, Croatia, and Valachia belong 
 
CHURCH OF ROME. 117 
 
 to the Greek church. England, Denmark, Swee- 
 den, Holland, Prussia, Darmstadt, Curhessen, 
 and all the other small principalities are Protest- 
 ants. France rejected the authority of the Pope, 
 and assumed the name Gallican church. We see 
 that Rome has no more to boast of her Catholici- 
 ty, than it has, of her antiquity. 
 
 The above facts, strong as they are, were not 
 sufficient to obliterate an impression, which had 
 been made from my youth ; I thought it my duty 
 to examine the fathers, and make use of my own 
 reason and judgment. 
 
 If we establish the principle, that the multitude 
 is a sign of an infallible and true church of God, 
 we must conclude, that in the time of Enoch and 
 Abraham, there was no true church upon the 
 earth ; that in the time of our Saviour and the 
 apostles, there was no true church in existence; 
 and even when anti-christ shall come, there will 
 be no true church, and what is more horrible to 
 think, that the church of anti-Christ will be the 
 only true one ; and in the time of the persecution, 
 the martyrs and confessors did not constitute the 
 true church, but the Jews did, who crucified our 
 Saviour. This would be the natural consequence 
 if we receive the principle, upon which the church 
 of Rome bases her infallibility. 
 
118 CATHOLICITY OF THE 
 
 St. Augustine says -, 1 " That there was a time 
 when the true church had been included in the 
 person of Abel, and in another period in the fam- 
 ily of Noah." 
 
 In the time of the Arians, Theodosius says : 2 
 That the Emperor Constantinus spoke of Athan- 
 asius as being one of the greatest wretches upon 
 the earth. " Who art thou (said the Emperor to 
 Liberius) that thou comest with that wretch, to 
 trouble the rest of the earth?" 
 
 St. Hilarius reports : 3 That in the whole Pro- 
 vince of Asia, there was only the bishop Eleu- 
 sius with a very small number of persons, who 
 remained firm in the truth. 
 
 St. Hieronimus affirms: 4 That in the whole 
 of Orient, there was only Athanasius, and 
 Paulinus, with very few, who have not followed 
 the heresy of Arms ; that the true church has not 
 been composed by Arius; and the multitude of 
 his followers, but by the very few, viz. Athana- 
 sius and Paulinus. The answer of Liberius to 
 
 'Augustin. Enaratio in ps. 128. 
 2 Theodosius Hist. Lib. II. 
 3 Hilar. cont. Auxent. 
 4 Hieron. cap. 58, adv. Lucif. 
 
CHURCH OF ROME. 119 
 
 the Emperor Constantinus will settle the whole 
 controversy. " The word of faith (says Liberius) 
 is not diminished by the small number who pro- 
 fess it, even if it would be limited to one per- 
 son." 1 And according to the testimony of Ter- 
 tulius, who says: 2 "It is not the great number of 
 bishops who form the church, because the church 
 can be contained in one person." 
 
 St. Gregorius adds: 3 " TYlio are those who de- 
 fine the true church by the multitude ? They 
 have the multitude, we have the faith; they have 
 the gold and silver in abundance, but we have 
 the true doctrine." It is evident, that the true 
 church at that time was not composed of the mul- 
 titude. And when anti-Christ shall come (accord- 
 ing to the testimony of our Saviour,) who says 
 in the Gospel of Luke, chap, xviii. 8, " When 
 the Son of man cometh shall he find faith? 1 ' — 
 That convinces me, that when the impious here- 
 sy of anti-Christ shall reign in the church, there 
 will be no other proof of Christianity, no other 
 refuge for the christian, than the Bible, which is 
 
 'Theod. unde Supra. 
 
 s Tertul. Lib de poenit, chap. x. 
 
 3 Gregor. Oratio 25, Cont. Arianum. 
 
120 APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 
 
 the Word of God. That the multitude will fol- 
 low error, and the true church will be limited to 
 a small flock, who will have no other arms against 
 the strategems and persecutions of anti-Christ, 
 than the arms of God. 
 
 THE APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION AS A 
 PROOF OF THE INFALLIBILITY OF 
 THE CHURCH OF ROME. 
 
 I must confess, that at the time, with all these 
 evidences before me, with all these proofs of anti- 
 scriptural practices, and heathenish worship before 
 my eyes, I could not divest myself of a strong 
 attachment to the church of Rome; having the 
 strong impression of the apostolical succession, I 
 thought she must be infallible. But how differ- 
 ent were my feelings after a strict examination of 
 my Bible, and the fathers on that important point. 
 
 Admitting that the church of Rome has really 
 an apostolical succession, would that give her a 
 right to the assumption of infallible power ? For 
 if any church in the world has a right to boast of 
 an apostolical succession it is the church of Jerusa- 
 lem. We read in the Psalms. 1 "As the mountains 
 
 'Ps. 125, v. 2. 
 
APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 12>1 
 
 * are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round 
 about his people from henceforth, even forever." 
 These were the promises upon which the priests 
 in the Old Testament relied, and these very pro- 
 mises gave rise to prejudices, so that every mo- 
 ment they exclaimed: "the people of the Lord; 
 the tempel of the Lord are we, &c." But the 
 Lord answered them r 1 " Trust ye not in lying 
 words, saying : the temple of the Lord, the tem- 
 ple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we. 
 For if you truly amend your ways and your 
 doings ; if you truly execute judgment between 
 a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not 
 the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and 
 shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk 
 after other gods to your hurt; then will I cause 
 you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave 
 to your fathers, for ever and ever. Behold ye 
 trust in lying words that cannot profit, &c." 
 Though Jerusalem has been favored by God as a 
 tabernacle of his own dwelling, the judgment of 
 the Lord has been notwithstanding executed, be- 
 cause of their abominations."" 
 
 'Jeremiah, chap. 7, v. 4 — 15. 
 2 Jerem. chap. 5 and 6. 
 11 
 
122 APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 
 
 If Zion has ceased to be the house of God; if 
 Jerusalem, the city of the Lord has been reduced 
 to a solitude, the altars laid waste and made deso- 
 late ; what has the church of Rome to boast of 
 being the cradle of martyrs, and the nurse of con- 
 fessors and saints? She ought rather to tremble 
 at the abominations with which she is filled, the 
 errors with which she is infected, the scandles 
 which their Popes have been to the universe ; is 
 it not a wonder, that long ere this it has not been 
 reduced to the dust like Jerusalem, and become a 
 den of thieves and robbers, a horrible Babylon, a 
 terrible solitude? Is it not a wonder that Rome, 
 which has been founded with fratricide j 1 popu- 
 lated by rapine; 2 whose morals are filthy like her 
 streets, and in her avarice selling the cross of 
 Christ, wherever she finds a purchaser, 3 yet exists 
 upon the surface of the earth ? 
 
 1 Hist. of Rome, where Romulus killed his brother 
 Remus atter having founded the city of the world, in 
 order to be the sole governor of it. 
 
 -Ibid. The stratagem of the Romans, of making a 
 feast, and inviting the Sabine women, and then shutting 
 the gates of the city against their husbands and lovers, 
 in order to populate the city. 
 
 *The relic of the cross is very dear, that is the rea- 
 son that it is not to be found in the poor man's house 
 as the rags and bones of the saints are. 
 
ArOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 123 
 
 I remember when I resided in Florence, the 
 capitol of Tuscany, where I had nothing to fear 
 from the holy inquisition, I had a friendly contro- 
 versy with an enlightened priest of the church of 
 Rome ; I showed him the anti-evangelical doc- 
 trines and practices of the church, the immorality 
 of the Cardinals and Popes, of whom we must 
 blush, when we think that such men pretend to 
 bind and to loose our conscience. He said : "all 
 that you say is truth, and as a reply to your ar- 
 guments, I will read a novel of Bocaccio." The 
 contents of the novel are as follows: 
 
 A christian had a bosom friend, who was a Jew, 
 the latter was a just and an upright man ; but the 
 christian constantly urged his friend to become a 
 christian, the Jew always refused to consent, until 
 one day, he said: "I will go to Rome and see 
 how your Cardinals and Pope act and live ; if 
 their life correspond with the doctrine they preach, 
 I will become a christian." The christian instead 
 of rejoicing lost all his hope, for he thought, if he 
 went to Rome and saw all those corruptions, he 
 never would become a christian, and persuaded 
 him not to go so far, as he might have an oppor- 
 tunity to do it at the place where he was : but all 
 in vain, he undertook the journey, and in a short 
 
124 APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 
 
 time the christian received a letter from his friend, 
 that he had been already baptized. He could not 
 imagine what it was that induced him to take that 
 step, as he knew the integrity of his friend, and 
 the strict morality of his sentiments, and was ac- 
 quainted with the corruptions of the priests. As 
 soon as his friend returned, he asked him the par- 
 ticulars, who told him, saying : " I saw all the 
 corruptions and abominations which ever an eye 
 can see, and still your religion exists ; it must be 
 of God." Such are the arguments, which the 
 Roman priests use, when the truth is forcibly pre- 
 sented to them. Such are the grounds upon which 
 they build the infallibility of their church. 
 
 Let us now recur again to history and reason. 
 If an apostolical succession can confer the privil- 
 ege of infallibility upon a church, as the church 
 of Rome maintains, the heretics of the third cen- 
 tury had the same claim ; for Paul of Samosate, 
 was the legitimate Bishop and Patriarch of Anti- 
 och, he was succeeded by Demetrius, tnen fol- 
 lowed Fabius, then Babilas ; Babilas was succeed- 
 ed by Zebidus, then by Philetus, then Aselpiades, 
 then Serapion, Serapion by Maximin, Theophile, 
 then followed Cornelius, then Hero, tbea succeed- 
 ed Ignatio, then Evodius, all of whom have been 
 
APOSTOLICAL DOCTRINES. 125 
 
 legitimate successors of Peter. We may as well 
 say, that in the fifth century [according to the 
 reasonings and pretensions of Rome] all those 
 who embraced the heresy of Nestorius, were un- 
 der an infallible head, because their heresiarch 
 was a legitimate successor of Sisinus ; successor 
 of Attique ; of Arsace ; of St. Chrisostome ; of 
 Nectarius ; of Gregory Nazianzeno ; and accord- 
 ing to the chronicle of Nicefore, Nestorius was 
 the thirty-sixth bishop of those who successively 
 occupied the episcopal chair after the apostle St. 
 Andrew. After such historical grounds, Avho can 
 receive an apostolical succession as a proof of its 
 infallibility* ? 
 
 THE APOSTOLICAL DOCTRINES AND 
 NOT THE CHAIR, ARE REQUIRED AS 
 A MARK OF A TRUE CHURCH. 
 
 It is true that the fathers often used the argu- 
 ments of an uninterrupted succession against 
 heretics, but that of doctrine and not of persons. 
 So did Tertulius in his time. So did Optat against 
 the Donatists. St. Augustine against the Mani- 
 cheans ; Pelagiens and the Ariens. Tertulius 
 calls the apostolical succession : '« a consangui- 
 
126 APOSTOLICAL DOCTRINES. 
 
 nity or an affinity of doctrines.''" He uses the 
 following language : " They [^speaking of the 
 heretics] may show a succession of bishops from 
 the beginning of Christianity, but cannot show a 
 succession of doctrine in conformity with that of 
 the apostles ; the succession of persons is no other 
 proof, except that they are neither apostles nor 
 having been taught by them, have 710 consan- 
 guinity of doctrine with the apostles." 
 
 St. Gregorius Nazianzenus, says: 2 "the suc- 
 cession of piety and not of the chair is required, 
 for those who make profession of the same faith 
 are participating in the same chair; the succession 
 of faith being the true succession ; the others, 
 who glory in the chair without the truth, have 
 only the appearance of a true succession." From 
 these authorities we see that it requires a succes- 
 sion of doctrine of which the church of Rome 
 boasts but cannot show a proof. 
 
 St. Hieronimus equally affirms : 3 " the church 
 is not in walls and splendid buildings, but in the 
 true doctrine of Christ. The buildings having 
 been for a space of twenty-five years in the pos- 
 
 J Tertul.de prescript, hseret. 
 
 2 Gregorius Nazianzenus de laude Athanas. 
 
 3 Hieronimus Contra hseret. 
 
APOSTOLICAL DOCTRINES. 127 
 
 session of heretics, but the true church has been 
 where the true faith was." 
 
 The same we can say, if we look to Germany, 
 Holland and England, that whilst these beautiful 
 edifices, which before the reformation were in the 
 possession of the Roman church, the true church 
 was among the JFaldenses and the real followers 
 of the cross. Let Rome cease to boast of the 
 apostolical succession to prove her unlimited 
 power of infallibility, for Nero also was the legi- 
 timate successor of Augustus, and still was a ty- 
 rant. Manasse succeeded Ezekiel, and was not- 
 withstanding an ungodly king. And finally we 
 will tell Rome, that the Arian bishops have equal- 
 ly succeeded the faithful bishops ; the impious 
 Nestorius was a legitimate successor of St. An- 
 drew in the chair of Constantinople, as well as 
 Pope Gregory the X VI. in the chair of St. Peter. 
 As the dark night which succeeds the splendor of 
 the day ; as sickness and death which succeeds 
 health, so is the succession of persons without 
 the truth of the gospel. 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 In one of my preceding articles, I showed suf- 
 ficiently the corruptions, the deceit, the heathen- 
 ish adoration of the Virgin Mary, and the manner 
 in which saints are manufactured; but having only 
 given an historical account, I resume the subject 
 in a separate section, to show the light I received 
 after an attentive examination of the scriptures 
 with regard to the invocation of saints. 
 
 Having been taught to venerate and adore the 
 saints, I felt the great importance of that subject; 
 and it was not a matter of trifling or small mo- 
 ment for my conscience whether it was true or 
 false. The scriptures teach, that: "God is a 
 Spirit, and they that worship him must worship 
 him in spirit and in truth." Consequently it was 
 a practical question in which every man, lay-man 
 as well as priest must be interested. 
 
 How am I to approach God with acceptance?: 
 How am I to present my prayers unto Him ? Is it 
 through the Lord Jesus as the only and perfect 
 Mediator, or through him and the saints with him 
 in' heaven \ Through one mediator and advo- 
 cate, or through many ? were naturally the 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. 129 
 
 thoughts which rose in my mind. If I would 
 give my views on the subject with the light I 
 have now, I would certainly treat it differently. 
 But 1 will in the plainest and most concise man- 
 ner, give the views I had at that time. Two 
 points presented themselves to my mind. 
 
 1st. Whether the saints pray in heaven for 
 man ; and 
 
 2dly. Whether men should pray to God through 
 the saints. On the first point I could not decide, 
 because I found nothing revealed in the scriptures 
 to make it a matter of faith. 
 
 It was the second point ; whether it is the du- 
 ty of making saints in heaven our mediators with 
 God ? This it was my desire to verify. 
 
 Before I enter upon the inquiry, I will see if 
 the Roman Catholics offer really a regular and 
 unequivocal worship to the saints, and if they 
 adore them as mediators between God and man ; 
 then examine if it is right or wrong. 
 
 The following prayers are addressed to the 
 Virgin Mary and to other saints. As the Roman 
 Catholics are not much versed in the Bible, I 
 will for their convenience give also the passages 
 from scripture as a parallel to their prayers. 
 
 12 
 
130 
 
 ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 The Church of Rome. 
 
 " Heart of Mary, il- 
 lustrious throne of glo- 
 ry. 
 
 "Heart of Mary, com- 
 fort of the afflicted. 
 
 "Heart of Mary, re- 
 fuge of sinners. 
 
 "Heart of Mary, hope 
 of the agonizing. 
 
 "Heart of Mary, seat 
 of mercy. 
 
 "Hail Mary, lady and 
 mistress of the world, to 
 whom all power has been 
 given, both in heaven 
 and earth." 1 
 
 "Come then, harden- 
 ed and inveterate sinner, 
 how great soever your 
 crimes may be ! come 
 & behold ! Mary stretch- 
 es out her hand, opens 
 her breast to receive you. 
 Though invisible to the 
 great concerns of your 
 salvation, though unfor- 
 tunately, proof against 
 the most engaging in- 
 vitations of the Holy 
 Ghost ; fling yourself at 
 
 'Litany of the heart of Mary. p. 206. 
 2 Ps. xxxiv. v. 4. 
 3 Ps. xlvi. v. 1. 
 "Isaiah ch. xlv. v. 22. 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 "I sought the Lord, 
 and he heared me, and 
 delivered me from all 
 my fears." 2 
 
 " God is our refuge 
 and strength, a very pre- 
 sent Help in trouble. 3 
 
 "Look unto me, and 
 be saved, all the ends of 
 the earth; for I am God, 
 and there is none else." 4 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 131 
 
 The Church of Rome. 
 
 the feet of this powerful 
 advocate. Her throne, 
 though so exalted, has 
 nothing forbidding." 
 
 "Hail Mary, queen of 
 my life, my sweetness, 
 and my love." 1 
 
 "O thou, whosoever 
 thou art, who under- 
 standest that thou dost 
 rather fluctuate in the 
 streams of this life, a- 
 midst storms and tem- 
 pests, than walk over 
 the earth, turn not thine 
 eyes away from the 
 splendor of this star, 
 if thou desirest not to 
 be overwhelmed with 
 storms. If the winds 
 of temptations arise a- 
 gainst thee ; if you run 
 upon the rocks of tribu- 
 lations, look to this star, 
 call upon Mary. If you 
 are cast upon the waves 
 of pride, ambition, de- 
 traction, and emulation, 
 look to this star, call up- 
 on Mary. If anger, or 
 avarice, or the entice- 
 ments of the flesh strike 
 against the vessel of the 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 "To whom then will 
 ye liken God ? or what 
 likeness will ye compare 
 unto him ? The work- 
 man melteth a graven 
 image, and the goldsmith 
 spreadeth it over with 
 gold, and casteth silver 
 chains. He that is so 
 impoverished, that he 
 hath no oblation, choos- 
 eth a tree that will not 
 rot; he seeketh unto him 
 a cunning workman to 
 prepare a graven image 
 that shall not be moved. 
 Have ye not known ? 
 have ye not heard ? hath 
 it not been told you from 
 the beginning ? have ye 
 not understood from the 
 foundation of the earth ? 
 It is he that sitteth upon 
 the circle of the earth, 
 and the inhabitants there- 
 | of are as grass-hoppers ; 
 
 'Litany of the heart of Mary- p. 293. 
 
132 
 
 ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 The Church of Rome. 
 
 lhind, look to Mary. If 
 disturbed by the immen- 
 sity of your crimes, con- 
 founded by the pollution 
 of your conscience, and 
 terrified with the horrors 
 of the judgment, you be- 
 gin to be absorbed in the 
 gulf of sorrow, in the 
 abyss of despair, think 
 of Mary." 1 
 
 "O God, who hast 
 crowned the blest king, 
 Edward thy confessor 
 with the diadem of glo- 
 ry, grant that we may 
 honor him in such a 
 manner on earth, as to 
 hereafter reign with him 
 in heaven, through, &c. 2 
 
 "And I reverence you, 
 O, sacred Virgin Mary, 
 the holy ark of the cov- 
 enant, and together with 
 all the thoughts of all 
 the blessed spirits in hea- 
 ven, do bless and praise 
 you infinitely for you 
 are the great Mediatrix 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 that stretched out the 
 heavens as a curtain, and 
 spreadeth them out as a 
 tent to dwell. That 
 bringeth the princes to 
 nothing; he maketh the 
 judges of the earth as 
 vanity," 3 &c. 
 
 "Whatsoever ye shall 
 ask in my name, that 
 will I do, that the Father 
 may be glorified in the 
 Son." 4 
 
 "Thou shalt not make 
 unto thee any graven 
 image or any likeness of 
 any thing that is in hea- 
 ven above, or that is in 
 the earth beneath, or that 
 is in the water, under the 
 earth. Thou shalt not 
 bow down thyself to 
 
 ^Breviary Roman. Autumn. Fest. Sept. lect. 5, Ser- 
 mo St. Bernardi. 
 
 2 Missal. Rom. p. 672. 
 3 Isaiah xl. v. 18—23 
 "John ch. xiv. v. 13. 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 133 
 
 The Church of Rome. 
 
 between God and man, 
 obtaining for sinners all 
 they can ask and de- 
 mand of the blessed 
 Trinity. Hail Mary." 1 
 
 "O God, who didst 
 teach blessed Hedwigs 
 to fly from the pomps of 
 the world, and with her 
 whole heart to embrace 
 the humility of the cross; 
 grant by her merits and 
 example, that we may 
 also learn to tread under 
 our feet, the fading plea- 
 sures of this world, and 
 to overcome all that 
 standeth in the way of 
 our salvation, by embra- 
 cing the cross." 2 
 
 Hymn. 
 "Hail star of the sea, 
 sweet mother of God, 
 and ever Virgin. The 
 blessed gate of heaven 
 receiving that salutation. 
 From the mouth of Ga- 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 them, nor serve them," 
 &c. 3 
 
 "Little children, keep 
 yourselves from idols. 
 Amen." 4 
 
 "They that make a 
 graven image are all of 
 them vanity; and their 
 delectable things shall 
 not profit," &c. 
 
 "Shall I fall down to 
 the stock of a tree?''''' 
 
 "This is the stone, 
 which was set at nought 
 of you builders, which 
 is become the head of 
 the corner. Neither is 
 there salvation in any 
 other ; for there is none 
 
 'Sacred heart of Mary, p. 200. 
 -Missal. Rom. p. G77. 
 3 Exod. ch. xx. v. 4, 5. 
 <lEp. of Johnch. v. 21. 
 5 Isaiah xliv. v. 9 and 19. 
 
134 
 
 ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 The Church of Home. 
 
 briel ; establish us in 
 peace ; chancre the name 
 Eve ; loose the chains of 
 the guilty ; bring light 
 to the blind ; drive away 
 our ills ; o-ive all p;ood 
 things; show that you 
 art a mother ; and let 
 him receive through thee 
 our prayers, who was 
 born for us, and conde- 
 scended to be your son." 
 May the Lord conduct 
 us to the kingdom of 
 heaven by the prayers 
 and merits of the bless- 
 ed ever Virgin Mary, 
 and of all the saints.— 
 Amen." 1 
 
 "O blessed mother, 
 and immaculate Virgin, 
 O glorious queen of the 
 world, intercede for us 
 with the Lord." 2 
 
 "We fly beneath thy 
 protection, O, holy mo- 
 ther of God ; do not de- 
 spise our supplications 
 in necessity, but ever de- 
 liver us from all dan- 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 other name under heav- 
 en given among men, 
 whereby we must be sa- 
 ved." 3 
 
 Every man is brutish 
 in his knowledge ; every 
 founder is confounded 
 by the graven image ; 
 for his molten image is 
 falsehood, and there is 
 no breath in them. They 
 are vanity, and the work 
 of errors ; in the time of 
 their visitation they shall 
 perish. 4 
 
 "This is a faithful 
 saying, and worthy of 
 of all acceptation, that 
 Christ Jesus came into 
 the world to save sin- 
 ners." 5 
 
 'Breviar. Rom. p. 137. 
 2 Brev. Rom. Ibid. 
 3 Acts iv. v. 11, 12. 
 ^ 4 Jerem. x. v. 14, 15. 
 5 1 Ep. of Timothy i. v. 15. 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 135 
 
 The Church of Borne. 
 
 gers, O, glorious, and 
 blessed Virgin." 1 
 
 "We pray thee, O, 
 Lord, that the glorious 
 intercession of the bles- 
 sed, ever glorious Vir- 
 gin Mary, may protect 
 us, and conduct us to 
 life eternal, through the 
 Lord." 2 
 
 "O God, who didst 
 adorn the blessed bish- 
 op Nicholas with innu- 
 merable miracles, grant, 
 we pray thee, that we 
 may be delivered from 
 the burnings of hell by 
 his merits and prayers, 
 through the Lord." 3 
 
 The Bible. 
 
 "This is good, and 
 acceptable in the sight 
 of God our Saviour, 
 who will have all men 
 to be saved, and to come 
 unto the knowledge of 
 the truth. For there is 
 one God, and one Medi- 
 ator between God and 
 man, Christ Jesus." 4 
 
 "Let no man beguile 
 you of your reward, in 
 a voluntary humility, 
 and worshipping of an- 
 gels, intruding into those 
 things which he hath 
 not seen, vainly puffed 
 up in his fleshly mind, 
 and not holding the 
 head." 5 
 
 That to the Virgin Mary is ascribed power, ut- 
 terly inconsistent with her condition as a crea- 
 ture ; I shall give another specimen of the wri- 
 tings of our present Pope Gregory XVI. who 
 
 'Officiura parvum V. Mariae. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
 3 Breviar. Rom. Dec. 6, Fest. hiemalis. 
 
 "Ibid. chap. ii. v. 3—6. 
 
 5 Ep. Coloss. chap. ii. v. 18. 
 
136 ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 closes his pastoral address in the following man- 
 ner : " Now that all these events may come to 
 pass happily and successfully, let us lift up our 
 eyes, and our hands to the most holy Virgin 
 Mary, who alone has destroyed all heresies, and 
 
 is OUR GREATEST CONFIDENCE, EVEN THE WHOLE 
 
 foundation of our hope." These quotations 
 sufficiently prove, 
 
 1st. That a religious worship of the most de- 
 cided character is offered to the saints. 
 
 2dly. That God is addressed through their 
 merits. 
 
 3dly. That to the Virgin are ascribed the pre- 
 rogatives and titles of Deity. 
 
 4thly. That saints are held to make satisfaction 
 for sinners, and are therefore not only mediators 
 of intercession, but also mediators of atonement. 
 
 I examined further the scriptural grounds, upon 
 which the church of Rome bases that worship, 
 and those practices. Three reasons are adduced 
 as proof: 
 
 1st. The nature of christian charity. 
 
 2dly, The scriptures. 
 
 3dly. The practices of the primitive church. 
 
 With regard to the excellency of christian love 
 or charity, I perfectly agree with them, knowing 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. 137 
 
 full well, that it is the bond of perfectness, and 
 that it will live for ever in the kingdom of glory ; 
 or those who die in the faith of Jesus, feel a liv- 
 ing charity for the church on earth ; but it has not 
 been revealed unto us to what extent, or in what 
 manner, much less that the saints in heaven pray 
 for us. To call on them to exercise this love in 
 our behalf as intercessors for God, is in opposi- 
 tion to the whole tenor of scripture. I perfectly 
 coincide with my beloved Roman Catholic breth- 
 ren, that the church of heaven is filled with love 
 towards the church yet militant. As the body of 
 Christ shall not be seen in its glorified state, until 
 all God's people shall be gathered together ; so it 
 is reasonable to think, that this feeling of love to- 
 wards those on earth, is found among the blessed 
 above. But to establish it as an article of faith, 
 would be absurd, much more so to assert, that we 
 are authorized to call on them to exercise this 
 charity by praying for us, or in other words to 
 ask them to intercede with God for us. Such a 
 doctrine I could not receive, because the word of 
 God declares, that none in heaven is to be invok- 
 ed as an intercessor, save the Lord Jesus Christ* 
 To call on the saints in glory, to pray for us, is 
 not to invite them to a work of charity, but an 
 
138 ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 act of great presumption. For God has revealed 
 this truth unto us, that we are to apply to Jesus 
 our only Mediator, and not to the saints, to exer- 
 cise their charity in this way. 
 
 2dly. The passages of the scriptures which the 
 church of Rome brings to support her doctrine of 
 the invocation of saints, I carefully examined, and 
 are as follows. In the gospel according to St, 
 Luke we read i 1 " There is joy in the presence of 
 the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." 
 Consequently the angels know our state on earth, 
 and therefore can pray for us. I firmly believe 
 that they do not know every thing concerning 
 man ; but how can they know when a sinner re- 
 pents ? The parable from which the above pas- 
 sages are taken explains the matter. The man 
 goes into the wilderness, seeks his lost sheep, 
 finds it, carries it home, and tells his friends, say- 
 ing: "rejoice with me for I have found the 
 sheep that was lost.^ 2 Jesus comes to this wil- 
 derness of sin, seeks and saves that which was 
 lost, proclaims the triumphs of his grace to the 
 angels who surround his throne, saying: "rejoice 
 with me, &c # " How simple and how instructive 
 
 'Luke, chap. 15, v. 10. 
 2 Luke, shap. 15, v. 5. 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. 139 
 
 this passage is, when left to its genuine meaning 
 and bearing, and how dangerous it is, when per- 
 verted to support the error of the intercession of 
 saints and angels. The simple fact is, that Jesus 
 the good shepherd, informs the angels of the sin- 
 ners conversion and therefore they know it. 
 
 Another passage from Job 1 is the next quota- 
 tion. The command of God to Job's three 
 friends to seek an interest in his prayers and their 
 obedience thereto. There is no doubt, that God 
 commanded them to seek an interest in the prayers 
 of Job, and he did plead for them, so did the peo- 
 ple of God at Rome in Paul's time plead for him, 
 according to his request. 2 But he has not com- 
 manded us to ask the prayers of the saints in 
 heaven ; the first is a precept, the second is the 
 invention of man. 
 
 The difference is as great as heaven is above 
 the earth. Job was not in heaven, but a child of 
 God upon the earth, and Job's friends did not pay 
 to him religious honor but recommended them- 
 selves to his prayers, as every christian's duty is 
 to pray for his friends. 
 
 'Job, chap. 43, v. 7—10. 
 2 Romans, chap. 15, v. 30. 
 
140 ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 Another text from Zacharia is taken as a sup- 
 port. 1 " O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not 
 have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Ju- 
 dea, with which thou hast been angry, this is now 
 the seventieth year." These were the words of 
 an angel, who prayed for Jerusalem and the cities 
 of Judea. May that or any other angel not pray 
 also now for us ?" I was very much surprised 
 at such an interpretation, though my biblical 
 knowledge was at that time not very extensive, 
 still I could see the real meaning of that text ; the 
 angel who uttered that prayer was not in heaven, 
 but upon the earth with the prophet. 2 Therefore 
 it could not prove any thing for the intercession 
 of saints or angels in heaven ; another point 
 which is evident from the original, is that the 
 angel was our Lord, the Mediator Jesus Christ. 
 For the true translation would be: " the angel, 
 the Lord" and not the angel of the Lord. 
 
 Another passage is quoted by the Romish divines 
 from Exod. chap. 3, v. 5, where a voice was heard 
 by Moses, at Eloreb. " Loose thy shoes from off 
 thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is 
 
 J Zachar. chap. 1, v. 12. 
 2 Ibid. v. 9. 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. 141 
 
 holy." This he did; thus it was with Joshua, 
 who fell down upon his face at the appearance of 
 the angel. Here I was somewhat embarrassed, 
 but St. Thomas d' Aquinus gave me light on the 
 subject, saying :* " The angel, to wit Christ, who 
 is called an angel, because sent by the Father into 
 the world. This angel is the mediator Jesus 
 Christ, because of no other can it be said, that he 
 offers up to the Father after so glorious and ma- 
 jestic a manner the incense, that is, the prayers of 
 all the saints upon the golden altar." 
 
 Again a passage from Revelation, 2 where it 
 reads : " The four beasts and four and twenty el- 
 ders fell down before the lamb, having every one 
 odours, which are the prayers of the saints." As 
 plausible as it appears, still the fathers interpret it 
 in a more rational way than the present Roman 
 divines. They consider it figuratively, referring 
 either to the church on earth, or to the church in 
 heaven, if the former, the four beasts and the 
 four and twenty elders represent the ministers 
 and the people of Christ's church, the harps, their 
 songs of praise or thanksgiving, and the odour or 
 
 'Thorn, d' Aquinus, Apoc. Sect. 2, caput 8. 
 2 Rev. chap. 5, v. 8. 
 
142 ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 incense their prayers, relates to the service of 
 God's people on earth. But if taken in reference 
 to the church of heaven, it can only prove one 
 thing, and that is, that they pray even there. 
 Now reason asks where does it appear that they 
 offer our prayers, or even that they pray for us ? 
 but any prayers that may be offered up are for 
 themselves, or of a general nature. 
 
 3dly. I examined the assertion of the church of 
 Rome, that it was the constant practice of the 
 primitive church. I carefully read the fathers, 
 and I defy any man under heaven to show me one 
 of the fathers who lived in the first two centu- 
 ries, who has even hinted at this doctrine in any 
 shape or form, that is even acknowledged by the 
 Roman Catholic advocates : " That to the Gentiles 
 no occasion should be given to think that many 
 gods were offered them, instead of the multitude 
 of gods which they had forsaken." Even Origin, 
 who lived in the third century makes no reference 
 to the duty of praying to the saints. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact, that the fathers brought 
 forward the same arguments against the gods of 
 the heathens, as the Protestants against the invo- 
 cation of the canonized saints of the Pope of 
 Rome, and ever maintained the truth, that we 
 
ADORATION OF SAINTS. M3 
 
 must come to God through Christ, the true and 
 only Mediator with God. 
 
 Having shown what the church of Rome teach- 
 es upon this topic, I will give the doctrines of the 
 Bible as I understand them now. There is an 
 infinite distance between God and man. " Your 
 iniquities [says the prophet Isaiah] 1 have sepa- 
 rated between you and your God." These have 
 caused the breach which the sinner could not by 
 any exertion heal. Hence our sins expose us to 
 the condemnation of God's law here, and eternal 
 misery hereafter. 2 God in his love and pity, pro- 
 vided a way for the sinner to come to him, which 
 is thus plainly expressed by the Saviour : " I am 
 the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh 
 unto the father, but by me." 3 The barrier to our 
 approach to God was sin, but this Jesus has re- 
 moved by the sacrifice of himself. 4 And as God 
 the Father was fully satisfied with the ransom 
 which he paid for the sinner, so it is through J/iiu 
 alone the sinner must go to God, present his peti- 
 tions through him, and expect an answer to prayer 
 
 'Isaiah, chap. 59, v. 2. 
 2 Rom. chap. 3, v. 9. 
 3 John, chap. 14, v. 6. 
 4 Heb. chap. 9, v. 26. 
 
144 ADORATION OF SAINTS. 
 
 in the same way. Hence the great stress laid 
 upon the intercession of Christ in heaven, 1 and 
 the constant reference to him as our mediator and 
 advocate with the Father. 
 
 There are three features in his mediation, which 
 give us boldness to approach in his name. 1st. It 
 is single, that is, He exercises it alone, and none 
 shares it with him. No man cometh unto the 
 Father, but by me." 2 There is one God and one 
 Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, 
 who gave himself a ransom for all. 3 2dly. This 
 intercession is suitable to mail's wants and con- 
 ditions, for he is omnipotent, he is full of tender- 
 ness and power. He feels our miseries and en- 
 ters deeply into our condition. 4 3dly. His inter- 
 cession is perfectly efficacious; he never can 
 plead in vain. He is our advocate with the 
 Father, 5 and prevails with God. "Him thou 
 hearest always.'' What more does the Father 
 require than the mediation of his dear son ? And 
 why should the sinner seek further than the aid 
 
 'Romans, chap. 8, v. 34, and Heb. chap. 7, v. 27. 
 2 John, chap. 14, v. 1. 
 3 Timothy, chap. 2, v— 5 and 6. 
 4 Heb. chap. 4, v. 15. 
 5 1 Ep. of John 20. 
 
THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 145 
 
 of the beloved? Can the voice of many be re- 
 quired here .' Surely not. 
 
 If the church of Koine contends for the supre- 
 macy of the Pope ; I will uphold the supremacy 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 If the church of Home clings to the tradition 
 of men ; I will receive nothing but the written 
 word of God, as the rule of my faith. And if she 
 teaches the intercession of saints, I will direct 
 my heart and my mind to the perfect Mediator of 
 Christ. 
 
 THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT 
 OF THE CORDELIER. 
 
 After this result of my inquiries, my readers 
 may easily imagine the perplexity of my mind. 
 No friend in whose bosom I could pour the dis- 
 tress of my troubled spirit; no prospect of any 
 relief for the anguish of my heart, no refuge 
 against the wrath to come, and if the true state of 
 my feelings become known among the Catholic 
 clergy, whither should I fly to avoid the fiendish 
 tortures of the Inquisition ? The Bible, which 
 should have been my consolation, only augment- 
 * ed-my sorrows, and wus as a worm constantly prey- 
 13 
 
146 THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 
 
 ing upon my heart ; for the more I reM it, the 
 stronger became my convictions, that the church 
 of Rome had deserted from the doctrines and 
 practices of the primitive church of Christ. In 
 the midst of this perplexing state of mind, I saw 
 also the impossibility of leaving the church. For 
 in what church should I take refuge ? I had no 
 chance in Rome. Should I leave Rome and join 
 a Protestant heretic church? I hated even the 
 idea, for my intention was not to become a Pro- 
 testant, but a faithful believer in Christ. The me- 
 ditations of Thomas A' Kempis were, next to 
 the Bible my companion ; I also procured several 
 French works of the Jansenists, in order to in- 
 struct myself better in the truth of the gospel ; 
 these strengthened my determination not to leave' 
 the church, but labor for its reformation. Inspired 
 with this idea, I resolved to separate myself en- 
 tirely from the world, and live a monastic life. I 
 consulted with my friends, who represented to 
 me all the difficulties of such a change. My 
 habits, temperament and health were taken into 
 consideration, I both acknowledged and felt the 
 force of these objections, but believing as I did, 
 that cloisters are the residences of holiness and 
 science, and looking upon monks as perfect, and 
 
THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 147 
 
 ihe only godly men in the church ; I entertained 
 no doubt, that I should be able to overcome all 
 these difficulties, by the superabundance of spiri- 
 tual good I should receive. So I resolved to be- 
 come a Capucin friar. My mother was greatly 
 displeased with this change ; my sisters ridiculed 
 me, they called me a crazy, lazy and ignorant 
 friar, and did all in their power to prevent such a 
 st6p. But I had been seeking that peace for my 
 troubled conscience, which the world could not 
 give me ; the confessional was not sufficient to 
 bind up my broken heart ; the mediation of the 
 Virgin Mary I considered only a trick of the 
 priests to get money. I had no one to direct me 
 to the fountain of life, to the mediation of the 
 crucified Redeemer as the only refuge, I sought 
 refuge in the cloister and entered not the convent 
 of the Capucins, but the minor order of St. 
 FranciscMS, whose manner of living is not as 
 austere as that of the other orders of St. Francis- 
 cus, and who are also men of learning. 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1826, I entered 
 the convent of the Minorites, the so-called Cor- 
 deliers as a novice. The superior of the convent, 
 treated me in a very gentlemanly manner, as a 
 grown up person, and being in sacerdotal orders, 
 
148 THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 
 
 I had no communication with the other novices, 1 
 had more liberty being only placed under the di- 
 rection of the father professor of Theology, and 
 saw them only in the choir. As a novice I had 
 no intercourse with any of the fathers of the con- 
 vent, without the permission of the father profes- 
 sor. My cell was plain and neat, my bed much 
 better than I had expected ; I was obliged for my 
 health's sake to make a prominade twice a week 
 with some of the fathers in the city or elsewhere, 
 as it pleased my conductor. Nearly every day 
 after dinner I had permission to frequent society 
 with the father students of Theology, who met in 
 a large saloon m the garden, where a billiard table 
 was standing, and other games were played, ac- 
 cording to the fancy of the students, until the bell 
 rang for vesper. I might have been happy with 
 regard to my temporal welfare, but it was not that 
 which I was seeking, it was something of a higher 
 order. I was much surprised, that I never heard 
 the monks speak on the subject of religion among 
 themselves ; they backbited and censured each 
 other behind their backs, while they preserved the 
 most friendly exterior when in each others pre- 
 sence ; cabals and intrigues were used in order to 
 gain the good will of the superior, of to be pro- 
 
THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 149 
 
 moted to some little office, and so zealous were 
 
 J* 
 they in this, that one would think they aspired to 
 
 obtain a crown. I was horror-struck with one 
 circumstance, which troubled me not a little ; we 
 had an old father in the convent about 80 years of 
 age, who occupied all the high offices in the or- 
 der; in his old age he retired within the same 
 convent, where he had once been a novice, and 
 had made his vow, when he was 17 years old. 
 I loved the old man very much, I never saw him 
 pass the corridor without being engaged in mumb- 
 ling- some prayer, or without the rosary in his 
 hand. OJd and infirm as he was, he was ever the 
 first in the choir and the last to leave it. He in- 
 vited me often to his cell, and recounted his suf- 
 ferings, when Napoleon suppressed the convents, 
 and when he was imprisoned ; but what appeared 
 to alllict him most was the almost unbounded lib- 
 erty now enjoyed by the friars. They had been 
 much more restricted at the time when he was a 
 student. He repeated that history every time we 
 met, and complained as often as we saw each 
 other. 
 
 One morning the news came that father P. had 
 Tjeen found dead in his bed, this was sad intelli- 
 gence for me, — he being the only one whose cell 
 
150 THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 
 
 I could visit without permission. But the other 
 fathers passed by this circumstance with light in- 
 difference ; scarcely was the office which is said 
 for the dead performed at church, when many of 
 them ran away, while some did not even accom- 
 pany the funeral to the grave. I saw evidently 
 that these men came together without knowing 
 each other, lived together without loving each 
 other, and died without mourning over each other.. 
 
 All this 1 would have overlooked, because I 
 thought my cell was my world, for as soon as I 
 had once made the profession, I was no more un- 
 der any direction, except under that of the prior 
 of the convent, and as I aspired to no honors, nor 
 promotion, I felt rather indifferent about the con- 
 duct of others. Such were my calculations ; but 
 two things troubled me, and contributed not a lit- 
 tle towards increasing the miseries of my situ- 
 ation. 
 
 1st. As a novice I could read no book, without 
 the permission of the superior; they gave me the 
 constitution and Breviary of the Franciscan or- 
 der; the office of the Virgin Mary ; the lives of 
 St. Franciscus, St. Bernardus, St. Antonius of 
 Padua, and all such old, miserable, insipid pro- 
 ductions, which were calculated to create disgust,, 
 instead of imparting a taste for reading. 
 
THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 151 
 
 2tlly. I once asked for a Bible, and the father 
 professor promised me one, but as lie never at- 
 tended to his promises, I renewed my request 
 after a few days, when he refused, saying: "that 
 ■ ■■! such books which edify, and make 
 a good Franciscan friar, and not the Bible, 
 which would only satisfy my pride and. carnal 
 mind." 
 
 The following Saturday evening I confessed as 
 usual, when the father confessor put questions to 
 me quite different from those, which had refer- 
 ence to my confession He asked me, "whether 
 I believed that the Pope is the infallible head of 
 the church? That the Pope and bishops in coun- 
 cil arc the only interpreters of the Bible?" and 
 similar questions. I perceived immediately that 
 t was surrounded by spies. I considered the 
 father professor no more as my superior, but as 
 my jailor, and my cell a jail, and from that hour, 
 I studied how to get out of the convent, but was 
 ashamed on account of my own relations, who 
 had warned me, and predicted to me all that had 
 occurred. In such a state of mind, I neglected 
 that little biblical knowledge, which I had ac- 
 ; uii 'd; my mind was too much perplexed to 
 think of the one thing needful, and if I had 
 
1 52 THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 
 
 remained in that den of corruption, my soul 
 must certainly have perished forever. 
 
 ' One day after dinner, I visited as usual, the 
 company of the students, where I heard that one 
 of the novices, a boy, aged sixteen years, was 
 missing; it was a mystery how he could have es- 
 caped, as the door of the noviciate was locked. 
 The whole convent was searched, but nothing 
 could be found of him. The following day a 
 toga was seen hanging out of a window on the 
 roof of the convent. The father director of the 
 noviciate recognized it to be that of his novice, 
 and immediately ascended the garret with some 
 friars, where they found the poor creature lying 
 helpless. 
 
 His melancholy history is as follows : Some 
 of the monks opened the door of the noviciate 
 with the general key, and persuaded the boy, 
 •through promises to go with them, when they 
 conducted him up into the garret, where after 
 having abused him in a manner too beastly to be 
 told, they left him nearly lifeless. The boy re- 
 mained there two nights and one day, without 
 eating and drinking ; during which time, having 
 so much recovered as to become sensible of his 
 situation, he linns; his too-a out of a window for 
 
THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 153 
 
 ihe purpose, no doubt, of drawing the attention 
 of some one to the place of his solitary confine- 
 ment. The boy on being examined revealed the 
 names of the individuals who had first induced 
 him to leave the noviciate, and then after having 
 satisfied their worse than beastly appetites, left 
 him half dead in a lonely unfrequented garret, to 
 perish as best he might. These monsters in hu- 
 man shape were found to be three of the fathers, 
 who on the same day, after having perpetrated 
 this shocking crime, celebrated mass ! Yes read- 
 er, three holy fathers of the Roman Catholic 
 church in sight of the papal throne, not only out- 
 raged humanity in a manner, to which the history 
 of the most degraded savage, presents no parallel, 
 but having scarcely wiped the stains of pollution 
 from off their hands, you see them also standing 
 in the sanctuary of the Most High, before the sa- 
 cred altar, elevating the host, celebrating the aton- 
 ing sacrifice in the mass, and in short performing 
 the functions of pretended ministers of Christ. 
 Is it not astonishing, that men, wallowing in the 
 deepest mire of moral pollution, should presume 
 to minister in the holy temple of God? Should 
 they not rather be denied a place among human 
 beings ? But reader, degraded as they were, they 
 14 
 
 
154 THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 
 
 suffered no punishment. Atrocious as their 
 crime appears to every lover of virtue, it fell far 
 short of shocking the moral sensibility of papal 
 Rome. She did not blush to own even these. — 
 All the anxiety that was manifested upon the sub- 
 ject, consisted in an effort to keep the transaction 
 hid from public notice, and prevent scandal, and 
 to do this it was only necessary to remove these 
 holy fathers to another convent, which was done. 
 This was enough for me, I saw that, that per- 
 fection which I sought was not to be found in 
 convents, which are after all, but nests of abomi- 
 nation and dens of corruption, so atrocious and 
 shocking*, that even hell itself would blush to own. 
 them. I immediately wrote a letter to one of my 
 friends, and handed it to my jailor, the father pro- 
 fessor, for the purpose of having it sent off, who 
 however, on finding it sealed, would open it, say- 
 ing, "no novice can send, or receive any letter with- 
 out the superior first inspecting it, for the novice 
 ought to have no intercourse with the world." 
 "The world ! (1 exclaimed) the world would nev- 
 er be guilty of that, which I saw in the space of 
 these three months in your convent." I took the 
 letter from his hand and opened it myself, show- 
 ing him, that there was nothing more in it, than 
 
THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 1 5o 
 
 that my friend should come the same evening 
 with his carriage, and take me away, for I intend- 
 ed to remain no longer in the convent. At this 
 news, the friar changed immediately his com- 
 manding voice into a placid and friendly one, 
 without even changing his countenance in the 
 least, (Lavater might have learned something, if 
 he had been present,) and said, "dear Don Luigi 
 have you well considered the step, which you are 
 taking? entering again the wicked and trouble- 
 some world." He called me no more Fra. Eu- 
 gen, which was my monastic name, but Don 
 Luigi, which was my civil name. He insisted 
 that I should come into his cell and continue to 
 be his friend, endeavoring to dissuade me from 
 my purpose by many monkish flatteries, worthy 
 only of the devil, but not of one, who left all 
 things for Christ's sake. I excused myself, not 
 being in a state of mind to visit, begging him to 
 send my letter to its destiny, and if he had no 
 messenger, he should send it per city post, in or- 
 der that my friend might receive it before dark. 
 He promised compliance with my wishes, but 
 deceived me. In a few hours the prior came, 
 and knocked at my door; this was something 
 new, for before, the father professor and prior en- 
 
156 THREE MONTHS IN THE CONVENT. 
 
 tered my room without any ceremony, as in their 
 own rooms, in order to surprise me, now they 
 used all the civilities of worldly men, and invited 
 me into their cells. I went, and he received me- 
 in the most civil manner ; our conversation was 
 more philosophical than religious ; at the end, he 
 wished me to consider, that even in the sacred 
 walls of the convent there are some, who do not 
 live up to the holy promises, which the vow be- 
 fore the altar had enjoined, and exhorted me to 
 live a religious life, even in the midst of the cor- 
 ruptions of the world. He assured me that my 
 conduct in the convent, had been exemplary, and 
 expressed his sorrow for my leaving the order; 
 he added, that he would not allow my letter to 
 be sent off, for he would have the pleasure, to 
 have me conveyed to my home, for as he hired a 
 carriage by the month, at the livery stable, it 
 would be no extra expense to him. I accepted 
 his kind offer, and on the same evening threw off 
 ike- Franciscan toga, and deserted, that sink of 
 iniquity. 
 
PERSECUTION. 
 
 My mind was excited by this unexpected 
 change in my life ; my heart indignantly inflamed 
 against the corruptions which are committed un- 
 der the religious garb of holiness and christian 
 perfection ; the Bible was again my daily food, I 
 felt that the word of God became a comfort to my 
 soul, and a soothing to my broken spirit; especi- 
 ally did the Epistle to the Romans afford me light 
 on the subject of self-righteousness; it taught me 
 that it is through faith in the atoning blood of 
 Christ, that we are saved, and have access to the 
 throne of grace, where mercy is found. But how 
 was I to practice it ? I was obliged daily, to per- 
 form the anti-scriptural and idolatrous ceremonies. 
 How to escape the abominations of popery ? O ! 
 if I had had a christian friend in these trials, who 
 could have directed, and counselled me what to do, 
 what a blessing would it have been for me ! Un- 
 der such insurmountable difficulties, I resolved to 
 remain in communion with the church of Rome, 
 as though I were not in it, like the saints living in 
 
158 PERSECUTION. 
 
 the world, as though they were out of it; use- 
 ing" this world as not abasing it. 1 
 
 I resolved to profess the pure gospel of Christ 
 in my heart, for God is a Spirit, and in spirit and 
 in truth he must be adored, and He who is the 
 great Searcher of all hearts, will consider the dis- 
 position of my heart, and not the outward per- 
 formances of my body. Every day I made a new 
 profession in the secrecy of my conscience, enter- 
 ed a protest against the errors of the church of 
 Rome ; and denounced all other anti-scriptural 
 practices, as human inventions, of which I wish- 
 ed to be no partaker. When I was obliged to 
 kneel before the host, I raised my spirit towards 
 heaven, and adored my Redeemer, who was slain 
 once forever, for the sins of the world. My con- 
 science told me, that I should proclaim the gospel 
 of Christ unto those around me; but another 
 voice stronger than the first asked me : " will you 
 die by the torments of the Inquisition 1 If the peo- 
 ple will be deceived, if they voluntarily harden 
 their hearts against the truth of the gospel, what 
 business is it of yours 1 Is it possible that God 
 will demand an account of me, for the salvation 
 of a people, who wish to live in error, and perse- 
 
 1 1 Cor. chap. vii. v. 31. 
 
PERSECUTION. 159 
 
 onto, and even torture and murder the saints, and 
 any one who announces to them the truth? Are 
 there not many priests and learned men, who are 
 equally persuaded of the errors, and superstitions 
 of the church of Rome yet remain still in com- 
 munion with her ? How is it with the bishops and 
 clergy of France, who do not recognize the pri- 
 macy of the Pope of Rome, neither believe in the 
 infallibility of his decrees, still they do not separ- 
 ate themselves from the church of Rome ? The 
 Jansenists also, who have ever been the most 
 learned of the University of Sorbonne in France, 
 did not separate themselves from the communion 
 of the Roman church. Such were my reasonings, 
 and according to this principle I acted for the 
 space of a year and a half; but now and then, 
 when an opportunity presented itself, I preached 
 the truth publicly, communicated it in private to 
 my friends, gave them Father Clement, the Pro- 
 vincial Letters of Paschal, and other useful books 
 to enlighten them, so that I became suspected of 
 heresy, and was at once surrounded by false, 
 priestly friends, who were hired spies of the ec- 
 clesiastical tribunal, and of course informed against 
 me as a heretic. 
 
1G0 PERSECUTION. 
 
 One afternoon, I received a letter from a friend, 
 
 the cardinal del G io, (may the Lord prosper 
 
 him !) who urged me to leave the city before mid- 
 night. I understood the hint, and only those who 
 have felt the tyranical yoke of priests, can enter 
 into my feelings. I had no passport to leave the 
 papal states, nor was I provided with money for 
 a journey in a foreign country; and a few hours 
 would seal my doom, and deprive me of my lib- 
 erty forever. I had no alternative, either to re- 
 main and become a victim of the gospel truth, in 
 the grasp of the Inquisition, or to leave Rome, 
 and with it ail that was dear to my heart, this side 
 of the grave. 
 
 The difficulty, how to leave the city without 
 being observed at the gate, was the first which 
 presented itself to my mind. The fear of being 
 surrounded by secret spies, was another painful 
 idea. Having however, no time to lose, I wrote 
 a letter to my dear mother, informing her that I 
 was about to undertake a journey to Naples. I 
 however, did not tell the truth, for I intended to 
 go to Florence, for fear she might unwillingly be- 
 tray me, or the priests might in a subtle manner, 
 get it out of her, and the Inquisition might lay 
 hold of me before I could have passed the from- 
 
PERSECUTION. 161 
 
 tier of the Papal Dominion. I dressed myself as 
 if I intended to go to an evening party, and was 
 going on a promenade out of the gate of the city, 
 called, " St. John of Lateran," the ancient via 
 apla, which leads to Alb ana, called by Cicero, 
 Alba longum which road leads direct to Naples. 
 After having walked a certain distance, I turned 
 to the left and pursued my way among fields and 
 gardens, until I came into the road which leads 
 towards Tuscany. I walked during the whole 
 night ; in the morning I rested in a common Inn 
 on the roadside, where I took breakfast. Four 
 piastres formed my only capital, nor had I any 
 other clothing than what I had upon my body, 
 but my anxiety how to pass the Papal frontier, 
 and enter the other without a passport, was so 
 great, that I entirely forgot my external circum- 
 stances. 
 
 After having rested about two hours in a place 
 where I would have before considered it a disgrace 
 to enter, I continued my journey, and at 3 o'clock 
 reached Mont efias cone ; I did not enter the town, 
 for it lies upon a hill, but stopped at the hotel on 
 the turnpike. I ordered a dinner, and providen- 
 tially saw there a carriage belonging to an ac- 
 quaintance of mine, who came from Bologna on 
 
162 PERSECUTION. 
 
 his way to Rome. I opened my mind to him, 
 knowing him to be a true liberal. 1 Telling him 
 my circumstances ; I offered him my gold repeat- 
 er as a security, if he would lend me fifty piastres, 
 which he would not accept, being satisfied with 
 my note. He appeared to be more afraid than 
 myself, and told me to leave the turnpike, and 
 thus pass the papal frontier, where no police is 
 stationed, so that in case they should have an or- 
 der to stop me, I might elude them. But I knew 
 that I had nothing to fear, for the friend who had 
 advised me of my danger, was sure that no step 
 had as yet been taken to prevent my escape ; I 
 was also certain that no living being knew the di- 
 rection I had taken, for I deceived them by leav- 
 ing the city by an opposite gate. The same night 
 I passed the papal frontier, and entered the terri- 
 tory of Tuscany. I cannot describe my feelings 
 when I saw the yellow cockade upon the hat of 
 the soldier, I breathed more freely, and my knees 
 trembled as if they would have indicated that I 
 should bow down in prayer and thanksgiving; I 
 raised my heart to the God of mercies who pro- 
 
 1 Liberals are all those who oppose the temporal, as 
 well as spiritual tyranny of the Pope of Rome. 
 
PERSECUTION. 1G3 
 
 tected and delivered me from the wicked hands of 
 the Roman priests. 
 
 The Ducal soldier asked me for my passport, I 
 told hicn : " I have none." Then he invited me to 
 appear before the officer, to whom I said : " That 
 ecclesiastical offences obliged me to leave Rome, 
 and that I would relate the circumstances in Flor- 
 ence to the chief director of the police." He 
 smiled and said : "II Signore Abbate amava forse 
 piu le Signorine che il suo Breviario." [The 
 Abbe loved perhaps more the ladies than his Bre- 
 viary,] and gave me a temporary passport, in 
 which he specified the towns and cities through 
 which I was to pass, and directed me to show it to 
 the police to be signed, adding: "I rely upon you 
 as a gentleman, that you will be careful in keeping 
 the road and in observing my instruction, else yon 
 might bring both of us into great ^ifheidties." 
 After an assurance upon my honor I left him, and 
 at the distance of about a mile from that place 
 there is a village, where I remained over night. 
 
 My present safety and timely deliverance from 
 the vengeance of a merciless Inquisition, together 
 with that pecuniary aid which a kind Providence 
 had so unexpectedly sent me, directed my thoughts 
 towards the Giver of all good, and caused my heart 
 
164 PERSECUTION. 
 
 to overflow with gratitude for his unbounded love. 
 The following Sunday was Pentecost. I asked 
 permission to remain three days in Sienna, which 
 the police director cheerfully granted ; during that 
 time I provided myself with some linen and other 
 indispensable things for my comfort. The next 
 week on Wednesday in the afternoon I arrived at 
 Florence. At the gate when I gave up my tem- 
 porary passport, I heard one of the officers say: 
 "Ecco il Signor Abbate." [Here is the Abbe.] 
 This was a sufficient indication that they expect- 
 ed me, and that my delay in Sienna had already 
 created suspicion. 
 
 The next day I presented myself to the police 
 with the ticket I had received at the gate of the 
 city. The director of the police called me into a 
 private room and inquired into the cause of my 
 leaving Rome without a passport. I showed him 
 
 the letter from the cardinal del G io, and told 
 
 him that I had committed no other crime than that 
 I read the Bible, and took it as the only rule of 
 faith. He in a very friendly manner told me : 
 "If that is really the case you may remain here 
 and read the Bible as much as you like ;" he gave 
 me a ticket of permission for eight days ; after 
 that for a fortnight; then for a month, and after 
 
PERSECUTION. 165 
 
 that for three months, and so after a renewal of 
 the permission every three months, I remained in 
 Florence two years and six months. 
 
 I passed my time in literary occupations and 
 openly professed my sentiments ; I often had the 
 pleasure of reading the Bible and conversing on 
 the subject of vital religion with numerous priests 
 and several young abbes, and discussed the anti- 
 biblical doctrines of the church of Rome, and re- 
 ceived not only a hearty approbation from many 
 of them, but also a hearty Amen to the truth. I 
 was invited twice to the Arch-bishop of Florence, 
 who had a friendly interview with me, but as I 
 performed no ecclesiastical duty, I cared little 
 about his smiles or his frowns. 
 
 I cannot exactly say how, but it was in a pro- 
 vidential manner I made the acquaintance of the 
 chaplain of the Swiss ambassador, the Rev. Mr. 
 Colomb, who was the first Protestant minister 
 with whom I had a religious interview, but as he 
 was about leaving Florence, he gave me a letter 
 of introduction to his successor the Rev. Mr. Re- 
 cordon, who arrived shortly after his leaving the 
 station. I enjoyed the company of the Rev. Mr. 
 R. frequently, and was much edified with it, and 
 I must say to him, [if this book should ever find 
 
166 PERSECUTION. 
 
 its way into his hands,] that he was the first 
 christian who prayed with me, and showed me 
 that a biblical knowledge without having experi- 
 enced the power of God unto salvation in the 
 heart, is insufficient for salvation. 
 
 One day 1 was called to the Prefect of the po- 
 lice, who informed me that they had received a 
 letter from the Secretary of State, stating: "that 
 the court of Rome reclaimed me as a Roman sub- 
 ject, and that they were obliged to send me back 
 into the papal State." I showed him how dan- 
 gerous it would be to my personal liberty and 
 even life, if I was to return to Rome, I made an 
 appeal to the right of hospitality, which every na- 
 tion observes, if the subject who is demanded 
 has committed no crime. He told me: "I know 
 all about the priest's doings, I would give you a 
 piece of advice if you are willing to take it ; I 
 will delay answering the letter of the Secretary of 
 State ten days ; in the mean time you will take 
 your passport and leave the city of Florence ; 
 after which I will make my report, that you are 
 no more here, so you will be released from all 
 priestly vexations. For [added he] whatever an- 
 swer we may gi\e, Rome will insist on having 
 her subject; the Secretary of State will be obliged 
 
PERSECUTION. 1()7 
 
 [though with reluctance] for the sake of etiquette 
 and peace to surrender you to the papal power. 
 But if you are not here, the diplomatical corres- 
 pondence on that subject must of course cease." 
 I advised with my Protestant friend, the Rev. 
 Mr. Recordon, who was of the same opinion ; he 
 gave me a letter of introduction to the brethren in 
 Lausanne in Switzerland ; so I left Italy, the gar- 
 den of the world, the seat of arts and sciences, 
 my sweet home forever; yes it is sweet, and even 
 now after a long separation, distance, years, and 
 vicissitudes, my affection is not diminished, 
 but rather increased. Though I have spent 
 thirteen years in various climates since I left 
 Italy, yet no change of scene, no tropical sun, 
 nor northern ice has yet and never will ex- 
 tinguish my ardent love for my native land. The 
 reader who never felt the anguish of being an 
 exile from the land of his birth, will excuse me if 
 I for a moment transmit myself to that land, 
 where I first opened my eyes to salute the sun, 
 where it shines brighter than in any latitude in 
 this hemisphere; I seem to feel it even now; it 
 pours its genial rays upon my head, and from the 
 head they descend into my heart and extend 
 through nil my veins, and when my eyes shall be 
 
168 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 dim in death, my tongue paralized and speech- 
 less, I shall not cease to love thee, Italy. 
 
 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 I arrived in Switzerland towards the middle of 
 the year 1829, where I was received very kindly, 
 and with much christian affection by the Protes- 
 tants of that country. It is necessary that I give 
 a short sketch of the religious state of Switzer- 
 land, and of my personal progress in vital religion 
 while in that country. 
 
 With regard to my temporal affairs, I took great 
 care so as not to require assistance from the Pro- 
 testants, in order that none should have reason to 
 think that my leaving Rome had been induced by 
 sinister motives ; I lectured in the College of Lau- 
 sanne on the Oriental languages, preparing the 
 students who were in the last year of the philoso- 
 phical faculty for the preparatory examination of 
 the Theological faculty, and thus procured an 
 honorable subsistence, even without using my 
 own pecuniary resources. 
 
 The religious state of the Helvetic church was 
 at that period highly interesting; the spirit of 
 
SWITZERLAND. 1G9 
 
 God w orked wonderfully upon the hearts of men; 
 some of the ministers of the established church 
 had been awakened from their spiritual lethargy, 
 and preached not only the living gospel of Christ, 
 but preached also against socinianism, which was 
 the leading doctrine of the established church; 
 many men and women had been brought to a 
 knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, and unit- 
 ed in prayer and supplications for the outpouring 
 of the Holy Spirit with those faithful ministers. 
 These the ministerium turned out from their com- 
 munion, persecuting the faithful ministers with 
 exile, and lay-members with imprisonment and 
 pecuniary punishments. But in spite of all oppo- 
 sition, that little persecuted flock daily augment- 
 ed, not only in number, but also in zeal and god- 
 liness. In the mean time the French revolution of 
 the so-called three glorious days of July, 1830, 
 had taken place; the spirit of freedom inflamed 
 the noble hearts of the inhabitants of the Canton 
 de Vaud, who, uniting like one man, dissolving 
 the House of Assembly, elected delegates to 
 frame a new constitution, which, as it made ample 
 provision for the enjoyment of religious liberty, 
 was adopted by an overwhelming majority. Now 
 that little Hock worshipped their God according 
 15 
 
170 SWITZERLAND, 
 
 to the dictates of their own consciences, without 
 being molested by the ministerium of the estab- 
 lished church. In the Canton of Geneva, the 
 spirit of vital Christianity spread also with the 
 rapidity of lightning, but the spirit of aristocracy 
 among the worldly, and socinianism among the 
 clergy, opposed it with all their might ; they ex- 
 pelled three of the most learned and respectable 
 ministers from their communion ; then the gaunt- 
 let was thrown down } the christians took it up, 
 and continued to tight the good battle of Christ. 
 They formed themselves into a church, establish- 
 ed a seminary, and at this day if not the majority 
 in the Canton of Geneva, they can at least boast 
 of a number of flourishing congregations in the 
 different Cantons. 
 
 Roman Catholics after having thrown off the 
 yoke of papal superstition, are sometimes deterred 
 from an immediate union with Protestants, and 
 that principally on account of that systematic or- 
 der and strict union to which they were accustom- 
 ed in the church of Rome. The circumstance at 
 least perplexed me ; I was at a loss what to do, 
 whether 1 should unite with the established church 
 or with the few persecuted christians. However, 
 after a rigid examination of the doctrines of both 
 
SWITZERLAND. 171 
 
 parties, I resolved to unite my destiny with the 
 feu* despised Gallileans, and share with them per- 
 secution for Christ's sake. I should have been 
 very sorry to have exchanged the errors of the 
 Roman church for the socinian heresy. So I re- 
 mained two years in Lausanne, and eight months 
 in Geneva, where I not only acquainted myself 
 more fully with the doctrines of the gospel, but 
 also learned how to live as a christian ; how to 
 pray for the conversion of the church of Rome ; 
 how to love my persecutors as well as my friends. 
 Entertaining now an ardent desire to sound the 
 same clarion of grace, mercy and peace, which 
 had saluted my ears, and called me from the sable 
 gloom of Roman idolatry to the clear light of gos- 
 pel truth, also to others ; the brethren advised me 
 to make a public profession of my faith, to show 
 that I was not ashamed of that gospel which is 
 the power of God unto salvation to every one that 
 believeth. This 1 did in Geneva before the whole 
 consistory and a large assemblage of people ; in 
 proof of which I annex my certificate from the 
 consistory of the Canton of Geneva, declaring my 
 reception as a member of the Helvetic confer ion, 
 and my admission to all the privileges of that 
 church. 
 
V) % FOUNDATION OF THE 
 
 Nous Sousigne Secretaire du Consistoire &0 
 1'Eglise Chretienne Reform ee de Geneve certi^ 
 fions, que Monsieur Louis Giustiniani a Solem- 
 nellement declare, qu'apies avoir pris connais" 
 sance de la doctrine et du culte de l'Eglise Chre- 
 tienne Reformee, choisissait liberement cette Eg- 
 lise pour la sienne, et qu'il voulait vivre et mourir 
 dans sa communion. En consequence le Consis- 
 toire l'a admis, selon les formes voulues par le 
 reglement au nombre des fideles de notre com- 
 munion pour participer avec nous a la Ste. Cene* 
 
 Fait a Geneve le premier Juillet mil huit cent 
 trente un. 
 
 Le secretaire du Vener. Consist. 
 
 [L. S.~] BOURDILLON. 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH 
 OF ROME. 
 
 I cannot conclude without giving some histori- 
 cal facts of the foundation of the church of Rome, 
 in order that the Roman Catholics may see upon 
 what basis their church is built and upon what 
 ground their soul's salvation rests. Our Saviour 
 calls the man who has built his house upon a rock 
 wise. For he says: "The rain descended and 
 
CHURCH OF ROME. 173 
 
 the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat 
 upon that house and it fell not, for it was founded 
 upon a rock. 1 The apostle Paul speaking to the 
 Corinthians of that rock, which must be the only 
 foundation of the christian, says : " That rock is 
 Christ." 2 
 
 If I read the history of the inquisition and com- 
 pare it with that of the reformation, I cannot be- 
 lieve that the church of Rome is built upon the 
 rock which is Christ. I will not speak of the 
 ^pns and hundreds of thousands who have perished 
 at the stake, neither of the slaughtered Huguenots 
 in France, nor of the noble army of martyrs in 
 Germany, neither of the strewed ashes of the 
 many Auto da Fe, of which the church of Rome 
 is guilty, and with which she defiled her garments 
 as a testimony of her crimes. But I will only 
 state, that if the church was founded upon Christ 
 the rock, she could have withstood the flood of 
 the reformation, resisted the heavenly rain of gos- 
 pel truth without injury, and remained unshaken 
 like a rock amidst the agitations and civil convul- 
 sions of the sixteenth century. Her proud vessel 
 of Catholicism and infallibility could never have 
 
 'Matt. chap. 7, v. 21. 
 
 2 l Ep. to Cor. chap. 10, v. 4. 
 
174 FOUNDATION OF THE 
 
 been wrecked by the adverse wind of Luther's 
 protestations. 
 
 But having promised to give historical proofs 
 of her foundation, I will at once proceed. There 
 are : 1st. Ambition. 2nd. Usurpation. 3rd. 
 Avarice, and 4th. Moral corruption. 
 
 To prove the ambition of the church of Rome, 
 the decree of Gregory VII. in a council assembled 
 in Rome, 1 the so-called: " Dictator a Pontificis" 
 will be sufficient ; in which he says : " That the 
 pope has the power to depose kings and emper- 
 ors, and absolve subjects from their fidelity and 
 obedience due to their sovereign." 2 
 
 To carry out this principle, the same Gregory 
 VII. dethroned emperor Henry IV. and Bo- 
 leslaus II. King of Poland. 
 
 To be faithful to that ambitious dictatura, pope 
 Zacharias deposed Chidrique, King of France, 
 and absolved the French from their allegiance to 
 their legitimate sovereign, and placed Pepin upon 
 the throne in his stead. 
 
 Upon the same ground Boniface VIII. deposed 
 Philip le Bell, 3 and hurled the thunders of ex- 
 
 'Anno 1076. 
 
 2 Greg. Septimup, lib. ii. Ep. 30, 
 
 "Anno 1302. 
 
CHURCH OF ROME. 175 
 
 communication against him, declaring : " That it 
 is necessary for the salvation oi' all men to he sub- 
 ject to the Pope." 
 
 Pope Innocent III. dethroned the Emperor 
 Otbon IV. 
 
 Pope Innocent IV. deposed Emperor Fred- 
 ric II., and pope Julius II. took the kingdom of 
 Navarre from its legitimate sovereign and gave it 
 to Spain. 
 
 That such an amhition animated all the popes, 
 is abundantly evident from the fact, that in all 
 rges it has been displayed with the greatest arro- 
 gance. We find that Innocent III., who dethron- 
 ed the Emperor Othon, did the same to king 
 John of England, and declared him incapable of 
 governing, and absolved the English subjects 
 from their oath of allegiance to their legitimate 
 prince, and gave the kingdom to Philip Auguste, 
 king of France. 
 
 Pope Paul III. excommunicated Henry VIII., 
 and Pius V. the queen Elizabeth of England. 1 
 
 None can deny that the Dictatura Pontificis of 
 
 >ry VII. had its desired effect, and the above 
 
 fads show, that his successors have been faithful 
 
 to his principles, though contrary to the will of 
 
 'Anno 1:33 1. 
 
176 FOUNDATION, &C. 
 
 the Lord, who expressly commands : " To give- 
 to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what 
 belongs to God." The Apostle Paul in his Epis- 
 tle to the Romans, 1 says, " Let every soul be 
 subject unto the higher powers, for there is no 
 power but of God, the powers that be ordained 
 of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the 
 power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they 
 that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." 
 The Apostle Paul cannot speak of popes, for in 
 his time there were none, and he never declared 
 himself to be one. 
 
 The ambitious power which the popes assume, 
 is not only contrary to scripture, but also to the 
 practice of the primitive church, until the year of 
 our Lord 1076, when the ambitious Gregory Vll. 
 established his Dictatura. The Emperors had a 
 right to choose, and to depose the bishops, patri- 
 archs and popes. The following historical facts 
 will plainly show it. The Emperor Othon de- 
 posed Pope John XII. for several crimes, but es- 
 pecially for debauchery. The Emperor, Henry 
 III. deposed in a short period three popes, viz. 
 Benedict IX., Sylvester III. and Gregory VI. not 
 only on account of their arrogance in assuming 
 
 ] Ep. Rom. xiii. 1, 2. 
 
USURPATION OF ROME. 177 
 
 an ecclesiastical power, belonging to the civil au- 
 thorities, but also on account of their avarice. 
 
 USURPATION IS ANOTHER FOUNDA- 
 TION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC 
 CHURCH. 
 
 That the church of Rome has usurped a pow- 
 er over the other bishops, I have sufficiently pro- 
 ved in a preceding chapter on Infallibility. That 
 these pretentions are neither founded upon the 
 word of God, nor upon the practice of the prim- 
 itive church, has been clearly shown, for the sin- 
 gle fact, that neither Peter, nor any other apostle 
 did ever exercise such a jurisdiction over their 
 brother apostles, is sufficient. That the apostle 
 did not preside at the council of Jerusalem, but St. 
 James the bishop of Jerusalem, is another proof. 
 
 According to the doctrines of the church of 
 Rome, the universal bishop or pope has a right 
 to preside over all the councils, or to appoint an- 
 other bishop in his place. Can any Roman 
 Catholic show, that Peter ever presided at, or ap- 
 pointed any other apostle to preside in his place 
 at any council ? Certainly not. The horror 
 16 
 
178 USURPATION OF ROME. 
 
 against any one assuming supremacy was so great, 
 that when John the Patriarch of Constantinople, 
 desired to assume the title of Universal Bishop, 
 supported by the Emperor Maurice, 1 the whole 
 christian world was so shocked at such an inno- 
 vation, that they called it a doctrine of hell; and 
 pope Gregory the great, was so animated with a 
 holy zeal for the glory of God, that he opposed 
 it with great vigor, and denounced it as a temeri- 
 ty never before heard of. He wrote to Athana- 
 sius, Patriarch of Antioch, in the following terms, 
 " May it please God not to permit, that the spir- 
 it of Christianity should be so infected with the 
 opinion, that there exists a bishop, who can be 
 called Universal.'' 1 
 
 To the Emperor Maurice he declared, "That 
 any bishop, who assumes the title of universal is 
 the forerunner of anti-Christ." 2 And to John, 
 the bishop of Constantinople himself, he wrote 
 in beseeching terms, and exhorted him not to con- 
 sent to that spirit of pride, folly and error ; he 
 represented it as a temptation of the devil, against 
 which he warned him. These were the last dy- 
 ing words of the truth in the Church of Rome. 
 
 'Anno 600. 
 
 2 Greg. Magn. Lib. vi. Ep. x. 
 
USURPATION OF ROME. 179 
 
 Alas! it happened in that dark and unfortunate 
 period, when the Emperor Maurice had been as- 
 sasinated by Phoeus, who usurped the empire, 
 and who gave, in order to fortify himself in his 
 tyranny, the title of Universal Bishop to Boni- 
 face III. In that way the Popes obtained the 
 supremacy, and gradually usurped the authority 
 over the other bishops. To execute this scheme, 
 they addressed to Pope Theodore, 1 letters with 
 the superscription: "Holy Father of fathers, sov- 
 ereign Pontiff of bishops." 2 
 
 The churches of Dacia, and Illiria strongly 
 opposed that monstrous usurpation, which they 
 considered both blasphemy and apostacy. France 
 as well as Spain and England, protested against 
 it, and it was not till a long time after this event, 
 that they submitted to the yoke of the so-called 
 universal bishop of Rome. 
 
 Such is the short history of the usurpation of 
 the title of Universal bishop. Such is the his- 
 tory of the birth and progress of papal pretentions. 
 Such is the foundation upon which the infallible 
 power of the Pope, and the hope of Roman Cath- 
 olics' salvation rest. 
 
 •Anno 642. 
 
 2 Siei-ebert Hist. Anno G45. 
 
180 USURPATION OF ROME. 
 
 The usurpation of authority over men, is not 
 the only crime of which the church of Rome is 
 guilty, but their popes have tried also to rob God 
 of his glory, and make themselves equal with 
 God. If they would only limit their ambition to 
 rule over the bishops, it would be impiety enough, 
 but they extend even their ungodly principles so 
 far as to officiate as the Vicars of Christ, the 
 Old and New Testaments, and usurp the right of 
 being the sole interpreters of the living word of 
 God. 1 Is it a wonder that Luther resisted the am- 
 bition of Leo X.? Is it a wonder that pope Leo 
 condemned Luther? Is it surprising that we read 
 the abominable Bull, full of curses against the Pro- 
 testants, called, " Exurge Domine ?" 2 
 
 Will Roman Catholics deny, that the Pope 
 styles himself " God on earth ?" Let them go 
 to Rome, they will read on the gate of the city : 
 44 P aulas III. Pontifex Opt. Maxim, in terris 
 Deus." [Paul III. High priest, the best, the 
 greatest, and God on earth.] Without going to 
 Rome we find papal arrogance in every decree, 
 which comes from the Vatican. The reader will 
 kindly examine the conclusion of the ordination 
 
 'Bellarmine Lib. adversus Barkl. chap. 31. 
 2 Concil Lateran. V. Bulla Exume Domine. 
 
USURPATION OP ROME. 181 
 
 letter, which I have prefixed at the beginning of 
 this volume, and he will find as follows. Page 7, 
 line 11. 
 
 " Datur Roma? ex 8edibus nostris hac die pri- 
 mam raeasis Februarii anno 1827, Jurisdict XIV. 
 Pontificates S. S. in Christo Patris, et D. n. D. 
 Leonis, Divina Providentia Papos XII. anno ejus 
 IV. &c. &c." 
 
 " Given in Rome from our Palace, the first of 
 February 1817, the XIV. jurisdiction of the most 
 holy Pontiff and Father in Christ, and Lord 
 our God, the Pope Leo XII. through the Divine 
 Providence, the IV year of his reign," <fec. 
 
 Pope Martin V. wrote in the despatches with 
 which he furnished his ambassador to Constanti- 
 nople : " Sanctissimus, et Beatissirnus, qui habet 
 coeleste arbitrium, qui est Dominus in terris, suc- 
 cessor Petri, Christus Domini, Dominus Universi, 
 Regum Pater, orbis Lumen," &c. In plain En- 
 glish it reads simply thus : " The most Holy and 
 most happy, who is the arbiter of heaven, and 
 the Lord of the earth, the successor of St. Pe- 
 ter, the anointed of the Lord, the Master of the 
 universe, the father of kings, the light of the 
 world,"'' 8,-c. What will the Emperor of China 
 say, who pretends to be the Lord of the Sun, 
 
182 USURPATION OF ROME. 
 
 when the British officers tell him that the pope 
 is the arbiter of heaven, and the master of the 
 universe ? What must the grand Sultan think, 
 who declares himself emperor of the moon and 
 stars, when he hears that the pope is not only 
 the arbiter of heaven, but also the light of the 
 world ? How must it tickle the emperor of Rus- 
 sia, and the fair queen of England, when they 
 are told that the Pope calls himself, " the father 
 of kings?" Is it not painful to hear in the light 
 of the nineteenth century, such absurd doctrines 
 as these, and even more painful to see people 
 with minds so totally shrouded in ignorance, as 
 to be capable of believing such abominable dog- 
 mas ? 
 
 To call a man, " God on earth, Vicar of 
 Christ, most Holy Father, Arbiter of heaven, 
 and Lord of the Universe ," is this not virtually 
 making him equal with God Almighty ? Is it 
 not giving God a competitor? To call the Pope 
 " the anointed of the Lord, the father of kings, 
 and the light of the world," is it not blasphe- 
 mous ? can such titles be applied to any other, 
 except to Christ himself, without the profanation 
 of the word of God, or without committing sac- 
 rilege against his most holy Son? Such is the 
 
USUItrATION OF ROME. 183 
 
 foundation upon which the infallible authority of 
 the self-styled universal bishop of Rome is based. 
 I ask, is it not founded upon the sand, of which 
 our Saviour speaks in his gospel ? I repeat it, to 
 call the Pope, " God on earth," is blasphemy so 
 monstrous, that even Satan himself, cunning as 
 he is, could not invent a greater profanation of the 
 name of God, or assume greater pretentions, or 
 manifest a more infernal spirit, or teach a more 
 obnoxious and criminal doctrine than this. 
 
 AVARICE, THE CORNER STONE OF 
 THE CHURCH OF ROME. 
 
 That avarice is another foundation of the church 
 of Rome, and the corner stone of the whole po- 
 pish edifice, is not difficult to prove. It was Bon- 
 iface VIII. who begun the traffic of indulgences 
 and forgivness of sins. It was he, who declared 
 that his bulls had the power of law, and were re- 
 ceived in Purgatory in favor of souls. To amass 
 greater treasures, the Pope sells dispensations of 
 degrees [forbidden by the law of God,] and sanc- 
 tions marriage even among the nearest relations. 
 The bulls of bishops, arch-bishops, and cardinal 
 
184 USURPATION OF ROME. 
 
 hats are clearly sold. Is it surprising, that Sixtns 
 IV usually said, " as long as we have a pen and 
 ink to write, money will not fail" 
 
 Let us only open the volumes of the history of 
 papal Rome, and we will find that at the time, 
 when England was yet under her yoke, the 
 preaching of crusades against the infidels, and 
 the promises of the remission of all sins, was the 
 order of the day, the draining of England's money 
 was carried on as voraciously as a leech, drawing 
 blood from the veins ; such was the constant 
 practice of the popes. Justly therefore, did Pope 
 Boniface call England, "his inexhaustable treas- 
 ury." 
 
 Let us look to Germany, where Tetzel peddled 
 Indulgences by order of the Pope Leo X. The 
 avarice of the Roman Pontiffs reached such a 
 height, that the princes in Germany could no 
 longer endure, and the monarchs no longer coun- 
 tenance it. It was not Luther who caused the 
 protestation against the corruptions of the church 
 of Rome, it was the avarice of Leo X. which 
 provoked it, and accelerated the glorious Reform- 
 ation. With all these historical facts before him, 
 will an enlightened Roman Catholic buy indul- 
 gences ? Will he continue to shut his eyes 
 
MORAL CORRUPTION. 185 
 
 against the gospel truth ? Will he make the 
 avarice of the court of Rome the foundation of 
 his soul's salvation ? " O, how are the mighty 
 fallen, and the weapons of war perished." 1 
 
 MORAL CORRUPTION OF THE CHURCH 
 OF ROME. 
 
 What can be expected of a church, which is 
 founded upon ambition, usurpation and avarice ? 
 Is it not certain, that she will even fall deeper 
 into the abyss of error, and abandon herself to all 
 manner of corruption? Such is the actual state 
 of the church of Rome. 
 
 Let us examine the lives of the popes, who 
 governed that church from the moment she be- 
 gan to degenerate from her ancient purity, and we 
 shall rind events, which scarcely have a parallel 
 in the history of heathen Rome, and which must 
 fill every moral mind with disgust and horror. 
 
 John XL governed the church of Rome to- 
 wards the tenth century, 2 and was the natural son 
 of pope Ssrgius. His debauched life corrcspond- 
 
 'Samuel chap. i. v. 27. 
 
 2 J3aronius vita Pontificis ad annum 931. 
 
1S6 MORAL CORRUPTION. 
 
 ed with his illegitimate origin. Baronius calls 
 him, "B monster of iniquity" 
 
 John XII. who succeeded that monster, was 
 not more than eighteen years of age when he oc- 
 cupied his place, and was in no respect better 
 than his predecessor, and even Baronius' speaks 
 of him with execration and horror. As my ob- 
 ject is however, not to offer at present, any ex- 
 tensive work on Popery, I can only refer my 
 readers to those authors who have written the 
 lives of the Popes, as Luitprand, Siegbert, Pla- 
 tina, Onuphre and Baronius. The latter char- 
 acterizes John XII. as a gambler, whore-monger, 
 swearer, Sabbath-breaker, blood-thirsty, and a 
 man capable of all iniquities. That great histor- 
 ian assures us that his death was in conformity 
 with his life; that he died in the midst of de- 
 bauchery and violent agitations of the devil. It 
 is really presumptuous to attempt to prove, that 
 such men were chosen by the Holy Spirit, as in- 
 fallible heads of his blood-bought church. 
 
 A certain Boniface poisoned two others, in or- 
 der to become their successor ; and Benedict IX. 
 was not more than ten years old, when he was 
 raised to the seat of Peter, by the bloody faction 
 
 'Baronius vita pontiff ann. 955. 
 
MORAL CORRUPTION. 187 
 
 of his father, who [as Baronius says,] was a 
 monster sitting upon the chair of St. Peter. — 
 There were periods, when we had three popes 
 at the same time, and each excommunicating the 
 others. Some [as we learn from history") have 
 been murderers, adulterers, simoniacs, perjurers, 
 and guilty of every crime imaginable. To say, 
 that these were chosen by the Holy Ghost to be 
 the infallible heads of his true church, is in reality 
 saying, that Jesus Christ had chosen the infernal 
 princes to announce his gospel, and appointed his 
 santanic majesty as his successor to dispense the 
 truth of his church. 
 
 Who can persuade himself that God had chosen 
 pope Hildebrand, and such like profligates, who 
 had been sold to iniquity, as organs of the Holy 
 Spirit and Vicars of Christ? But why need I 
 speak of a period before the reformation 1 Go, 
 reader, go to Rome now, enter within the so-called 
 metropolis of the Catholic church, and you will 
 find every evening, [as soon as it is dark] carri- 
 ages of cardinals and bishops before different 
 houses, not indeed before palaces, where the no- 
 ble lady resides, but before the humble dwelling 
 of the citizens, where their eminences and my 
 lord bishops spend the evening with their respec- 
 
188 MORAL CORRUPTION. 
 
 tive ladies, at the card tables or other games of 
 Italian lovers ; even the humble confessor has his 
 house, where he spends his evenings with his fair 
 penitent at some game. You will see at ten 
 o'clock, when the husband arrives, his 
 
 eminence 
 
 or my lord bishop preparing to leave, and accom- 
 panied by the husband with a lighted candle in 
 one hand, and with the other pressing the conse- 
 crated hand of the purple clothed priest to his 
 lips, and kissing it as an act of veneration and 
 gratitude for having spent the evening at a game 
 with his wife. 
 
 Only go to Rome, and you will see the indis- 
 posed fair penitent remain in her bed, and the 
 Franciscan friar leaving his sandals before the 
 door of her bed chamber, as an indication that he 
 is performing some ecclesiastical act, then none 
 not even the husband can enter the chamber of 
 his wife, until the Franciscan friar has finished 
 his business and leaves the chamber; then the 
 husband with reverence ready waiting at the door, 
 kisses the hand of the father Franciscan for his 
 kindness for having administered spiritual com- 
 fort to his wife, and very often he gives him a 
 dollar to say a mass for his indisposed spouse. 
 
MORAL CORRUPTION. 18 ( J 
 
 But why shall I speak of the moral corruption 
 of popery in Rome ? it is every where the same ; 
 it appears differently, but never changes its char- 
 acter. In America, where female virtue is the 
 characteristic of the nation, the only stronghold 
 of the American republic, it is under the control 
 of the papal priest. If a Roman Catholic lady* 
 the wife of a free American, should choose to 
 have the priest in her bed-room, she has only to 
 pretend to be indisposed and asking for the spiri- 
 tual father the confessor, no other person, not even 
 the husband dare enter. In Rome it would be at 
 the risk of his life ; in America at the risk of be* 
 ing excommunicated, and deprived of all spiri- 
 tual privileges of the church, even excluded from 
 heaven. 
 
 But enough, I will no longer bespatter my pa* 
 ges with the immorality of the priests of the city 
 of Rome ; I will finish in the language of the 
 celebrated speaker in the council of Trent, Father 
 Anlonius Paganus, a minoritc of the order of 
 St. Franciscus. "I am silent [says that orator] 
 respecting public adulteries, rapes and robberies; 
 I pass over the great effusion of christian blood, 
 unlawful exactions, impositions gratuitously ac- 
 cumulated, and for whatsoever cause they were 
 
% 
 
 190 MORAL CORRUPTION. 
 
 introduced, persevered in without cause, and in* 1 
 numerable oppressions of this kind ; I pass over 
 the proud pomp of clothing, extraordinary expen- 
 ses beyond the requirements of their station in 
 life, drunkenness, surfeits, and the inordinate 
 nlthiness of luxury, such as never took place be- 
 fore. Women were never less modest and bash- 
 ful ; young men were never more unbridled and 
 undisciplined; the old were nevermore irreligi- 
 ous and foolish ; in fine, never was there in any 
 person less fear of God, honor, virtue, and mo- 
 desty ; and never did carnal licentiousness, abuse 
 and irregularity prevail to such an extent. For 
 what greater abuse and irregularity can be imagin- 
 ed than a pastor without watchfulness, a preacher 
 without works, a judge without equity, a lawyer 
 without honesty, a magistrate without decorum, 
 laws without observance, a people without obedi- 
 ence, religious professors without devotion, the 
 rich without shame, the poor without humility, 
 women without pity, the young without discip- 
 line, the old without prudence, and every chris- 
 tian without religion ? It was for a similar rea- 
 son that David said : « God looked down from 
 heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there was 
 any one who was wise, and sought God. All had 
 
MORAL CORRUPTION. 101 
 
 gone out of the way, all were become unprofit- 
 able, there was no one that did good, not one.' 
 And Jeremiah says : ' They all from the least to 
 the greatest seek covetousness, and from the 
 prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth 
 falsely." ' ' 
 
 I will continue to show the moral corruptions 
 of the church of Rome by their own writers, and 
 next I refer my readers to a witness whom no 
 Roman Catholic can repudiate ; she not only 
 being a canonized saint, but also her book of Re- 
 velations, from which I quote, has been sanction- 
 ed by two councils and three popes, viz : by the 
 councils of Constance and Basilea, and Popes 
 Urban VI., Martin V. and Paul V., I allude to the 
 Revelations of Santa. Bridget, a most devoted 
 member and canonized saint of the church of 
 Rome. Christ is represented by her as express- 
 ing himself respecting the popes in the following 
 terms : " Now, therefore, I complain of thee, the 
 head of my church, who sittest in my seat, which 
 I delivered to Peter and his successors to sit there- 
 on with a triple dignity and authority. First, 
 that they should have the power of blading and 
 
 'SecLabbaoi. 20, 1219— 1223. 
 
102 MORAL CORRUPTION. 
 
 loosing souls from sin; secondly, that they should 
 open heaven to the penitent; thirdly, that they 
 should shut heaven against the accursed and the 
 blasphemous. But you who ought to loosen 
 souls, and to present them to me, you truly are 
 slayers of souls. For I appointed Peter the pas- 
 tor and preserver of my sheep. But you are their 
 dispersers and tormentors. You are worse than 
 Lucifer. For he envied me, and desired to slay 
 me only, in order that he might rule in my stead; 
 but you are worse than him, forasmuch as you 
 not only slay me, by removing me from thee by 
 your evil works, but you also slay souls by your 
 bad example. 1 have redeemed the souls with 
 my blood, and have committed them to you as to 
 a faithful friend, but you betray them to the invet- 
 erate enemy from whom I redeemed them. You 
 are more unjust than Pilate, who sentenced no 
 one beside me to death. But you not only con- 
 demn me, as if Lord of no one, and worthy of no 
 good thing, you also condemn innocent souls and 
 dismiss the guilty. You are more merciless than 
 Judas, who sold me only, but you not only sell 
 me, but also the souls of my elect, for vile gain, 
 and for an empty name. You are more abomi- 
 nable than the Jews, they crucified only my body, 
 
MORAL CORRUPTION. 193 
 
 but you crucify anil punish the souls of my elect 
 to whom your malice and wrong is more bitter 
 than any sword. Therefore, because you are like 
 Lucifer, more unjust than Pilate, more cruel than 
 Judas, and more abominable than the Jews, I pro- 
 perly complain of you." 1 
 
 Among the many authorities, I shall adduce 
 only another impartial evidence of Honorius 
 Augustoduncnsis, a celebrated scholastic divine 
 of Autun, who lived in the twelfth century. 
 44 Turn to the citizens of Babylon ; and observe 
 what manner of people they be, and by what 
 ways they walk ; come hither, to the top of the 
 mountain, that thou mayest behold all the habita- 
 tions of the damned city. Look upon her princes 
 and judges, cardinals and arch-bishops, the very 
 seal of the beast is placed upon them. All day 
 they are intent to do evil ; ever insatiably occu- 
 pied in the works of iniquity. They not only 
 themselves perform, but instruct others in flagiti- 
 ous wickedness. They offer things sacred for 
 sale, and labor with all their might that they may 
 not descend alone into hell." 2 Such are the pic- 
 
 ' Revelation Sancta? Brig. lib. i. cliap. 41, Colonic. 
 
 'Dial, de Pracdest. et lib. arbit. cited by White in 
 his reply to the Jesuit Fisher. 
 
 17 
 
194 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 tures of papal Rome by their own divines and 
 saints. Will Roman Catholics yet shut their eyes 
 to the truth ? Will they longer continue in error 
 without examining and investigating the founda- 
 tion of their soul's salvation? or rely upon the ipse 
 dixit, the words of the priests ? In Italy where 
 the paid spies listen to every sigh, where the In- 
 quisition interprets every word, and punishes it as 
 heresy, Roman Catholics are in a measure excu- 
 sable, but in a Protestant country, in America, the 
 land of freedom, the country of the Bible, among 
 an enlightened and progressive nation, it will be 
 to the greater damnation to those who neglect 
 their soul's salvation. 
 
 THE HOLY COUNCILS OF THE 
 CHURCH OF ROME. 
 
 I am an enemy of every thing which has only 
 the appearance of acrimony much more of hos- 
 tility ; but when I think of the soul-destroying 
 doctrines of the church of Rome, and that even 
 after the clear demonstration of the corruptions of 
 the heads of their church, [the popes,] some will 
 stilt be guided by prejudices, saying: "It is uo- 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 195 
 
 deniable [so it is indeed] that there were popes* 
 who have been immoral and corrupt, but that does 
 not affect the church and its principles. If any 
 man can show us that the church of Rome itself 
 in its principles is corrupt and immoral, then wC 
 shall abandon it as an incurable system of error." 
 The definition of the church of Rome is quite 
 different from the general acceptation of the word* 
 and the Biblical conception which Protestant 
 theologians have formed. The Protestant divines 
 divide the church into visible and invisible ; each 
 of them forms a separate body. A person may 
 be a member of the visible Protestant church* 
 without being a living member of the mystical 
 body of Christ; and vice versa, a person may be 
 a child of God without ever having joined a visi- 
 ble church. That is not the case in the papal 
 church ; for in that church the members and pro- 
 fessors of the Roman faith do not constitute the 
 church, but the bishops in council, with the infal-> 
 lible pope at the head, guided by the Holy Ghost, 
 constitute the visible and invisible church. For" 
 the councils being the sole interpreters of the 
 word of God, and the pope being the infallible 
 head, expresses through the Holy Spirit the sen-* 
 timents of the church, [viz : of the councils, J and 
 
19(3 holv councils. 
 
 whosoever denies that authority, they without any 
 hesitation anathematize in their usual phraseology* 
 " Let him be cursed." I will therefore prove that 
 the councils have been corrupt in doctrines i irn* 
 moral in principles and contradictory in their 
 proceedings. 
 
 Not only the popes as private individuals were 
 corrupt and immoral, but the General Councils 
 have been, like the Roman pontiffs, a stigma on 
 religion and a disgrace to humanity. What were 
 these conventions in point of respectability? They 
 unhappily were inferior to an assembly of the low^ 
 est plebeians, yes! inferior to a modern cock-fight 
 or a bull-baiting in a circus of the city of Rome. 1 
 
 St. Gregory Nazianzen, who stands high in the 
 estimation of the church of Rome, for his learn- 
 ing and virtue ; who is adored as a saint, and 
 whose writings are adopted as a standard by all 
 their theologians, describes the councils with the 
 pencil of truth and With the hand of a master. " I 
 never [says the Grecian bishop] saw a Synod 
 Which had a happy termination. These conven- 
 tions instead of diminishing, unfortunately aug* 
 
 'This barbarous custom is even yet kept up in the 
 city of Rome, constituting one of the summer amnse- 
 ments of that city. 
 
 • 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 197 
 
 mented the evil which they were intended to 
 remedy. Passion, jealousy, envy, prejudice and 
 the ambition of victory prevail and surpass all des- 
 cription. Zeal is actuated rather by malignancy 
 to the criminal than aversion to the crime." 
 
 He farther compares the dissensions and wrang- 
 ling exhibited in the councils, to the quarrels of 
 geese and cranes, gabbling and contending in con- 
 fusion ; and represents such disputation and vain 
 jangling as calculated to demoralize the spectator 
 rather than to correct or reform. This portrait, 
 which is taken from life, exhibits in graphic deli- 
 neation and in true colors, the genuine features of 
 all the general, infallible, apostolic councils of 
 Holy Rome. Let us take a glance at the General 
 Synods of Constantinople, Nice, Lyons, Con- 
 stance and Basil, which are in a particular man- 
 ner worthy of our observation. These conventions 
 we shall show have been composed of the lowest 
 rabble and patronized the vilest abominations. 
 
 The Bizantine assembly, which was the se- 
 cond general council, has been faithfully described 
 by St. Gregory Nazianzen. This convention the 
 saint characterizes as a cabal of wretches fit for 
 the house of correction, fellows taken newly from 
 the plough, the spade, the oar, and the army. 
 
198 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 Such is a Roman saint's sketch of that most holy, 
 apostolic and unerring council. I will give it in a 
 note in his own words, in his own language, and 
 the reader will see, that I have not exaggerated in 
 the description. 1 
 
 The second Nicscan council, without any re- 
 gard of their sacred office, unblushingly approved 
 of perjury and fornication. The holy infallible 
 Synod in loud acclamation, approved of a most 
 disgusting and filthy tale, taken from "the Spiri- 
 tual Meadow" by sanctioning such sins. I will 
 give an outline of the tale, recounting only those 
 parts which can be related with propriety. 
 
 "A monk [according to the story] had been 
 haunted with the spirit of fornication from early 
 life till hoary age. The lascivious propensity 
 which is all that could be meant by the demon of 
 sensuality, had seized the solitary in the fervor of 
 youth, and continued its temptations even in the 
 decline of years. One day when the spirit [or 
 more probably the flesh] had made an extraordi- 
 nary attack on the anchorite, he begged the foul 
 
 'Alii ab aratris venerant adusti a sole ; alii a ligone, 
 vel bidente totam diem non quiescente; alii jemos 
 exercitus ve reliquerant, redolentes adhuc sentinam 
 vel corpus faedatum cicatricibus habentes in Flagri- 
 ones, et pistrinis digni. St. Greg. Ep. labb. 2, 1158. 
 Du Pin 1,259. 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 199 
 
 fiend to depart, as he was now arrived at the years 
 of advanced age, [when such allurements through 
 attendant debility should cease.] The devil ap- 
 pearing in his proper form, promised a cessation 
 of arms if the hermit would swear to tell no per- 
 son what he was going to say. 1 The monk with- 
 out hesitation obeyed the devil, and bound him- 
 self by oath to secrecy. The devil administered, 
 and the monk swore. He swore by the Most 
 High never to divulge what Belial would tell. 
 The solitary, it appears, was sufficiently acquaint 
 ed and on very good terms with Beelzebub, who 
 as an act of intimate friendship, promised to with- 
 draw his temptations if the monk would quit 
 worshipping a statue of Lady Mary, carrying her 
 son in her arms. 
 
 The monk, though decrepit, it seems, did not 
 reject the temptation with becoming resolution. 
 He requested time for consideration. And next 
 day, notwithstanding his oath, he revealed the 
 whole circumstance to the Abbot Theodorus, who 
 lived in Pharan. The holy Abbot f who was, as 
 the reader can easily perceive, a Roman Catholic 
 
 'Jura mihi, quod ea quae tibi dicam nemini sirrnifi- 
 cabis, et non amplius tecum pugnabo. Crab. 2, 520. 
 Bin. 5, 642. 
 
200 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 theologian,] called the oath a delusion, at the 
 same time he approved of the confession, and in 
 consequence [notwithstanding his sanctity,] ap- 
 proved of the perjury too. 
 
 The devil, it appears, according to popish di- 
 vinity, is considered a heretic, which as a matter 
 of course, warranted the violation of faith with 
 his infernal majesty. St. Theodorus told the 
 monk, " you ought rather to visit all the brothels 
 in the city, than omit worshipping Immanuel and 
 his mother in their images." 1 What a blasphe- 
 my ; not to speak of the immoral inculcation, 
 but only of the heresy, the anti-scriptural senti- 
 ments which are expressed in his words. To be 
 called a heretic by such men, and excommunica- 
 ted by such pontiffs, is a great honor, it is a great 
 blessing. The manner in which that saint solved 
 a case of conscience, showed that his ability as a 
 casuist, exceeded his morality as a man. 
 
 Returning to the tale of " the Spiritual Mea- 
 dow," we find, that Satan afterward appeared to 
 the monk indignant, and accused him of perjury, 
 
 1 " Expedit tibi potius, ut non dimittas in civitate 
 ista lupinar, in quod non introeas, quam ut recuses 
 adorare Dominum et Deum nostrum Jesum Christum, 
 cum propria matre sua in immagine." Labbeus 8, 
 902. 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 201 
 
 and pronounced his doom at the day of judgment. 
 It strikes me that the devil had felt a greater hor- 
 ror of perjury than the papal monk, and preached 
 better morality than saint Theodoras, or the Holy 
 General Council. The anchorite, in his reply to 
 the fiend, admitted that he had perjured himself, 
 but declared that he had not abjured his God. 
 
 Such is the tale as related in the Sacred Synod, 
 from " the Spiritual Meadow." The holy fath- 
 ers of the council with unanimous consent, ap- 
 proved of the conduct of the monk, as well as of 
 the saint Theodoras, and by their approbation, 
 showed the refinement of their taste for debauch- 
 ery, by sanctioning the advice rather to visit all 
 the brothels in the city, than omit worshipping 
 their goddess, or in other words, it is better to 
 be a perjurer, a profligate, and debauchee, than 
 to forsake the adoration of the holy Virgin Lady 
 Mary. 
 
 Theodoras' sermon, which is so warmly re- 
 commended by the Sacred Synod, incouraged the 
 monk, rather than forsake his idol, which in all 
 probability, was a parcel of worthless lumber, to 
 launch into the troubled waters of prostitution, and 
 with crowded canvass and swelling sail, to sweep 
 the wide ocean of licentiousness. 
 18 
 
202 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 The picture of sensuality as presented in the 
 Abbot's holy advice, seems to have tickled the 
 fancy and feeling of the holy fathers of the apos- 
 tolical council, who appeared to have been actu- 
 ated with the same spirit in the council, as the 
 monk in his cell. The old sensualists gloated 
 over the scene of voluptuousness, which the The- 
 odorian theology had presented to their view. — 
 The aged libertines seemed to be entirely enam- 
 ored of the tale, caused it to be repeated in the 
 fifth session, for the laudable purpose of once 
 more glutting their libidinous imagination with its 
 filthiness. 
 
 Even the Caroline books, [the production of 
 the French king and prelacy,] deprecated the 
 story as an unprecedented absurdity and pesti- 
 lential evil. Du Pin, the great Roman Catholic 
 historian, actuated with the sentiments of a man 
 and a christian, condemns the synod, equally de- 
 precates the whole transaction, and even refuses 
 to translate the Abbot of Pharan's holy homily. 
 
 Using the language of a modern writer, 1 who 
 says, " The Nicoeans nevertheless, boasted of 
 their inspiration. The sacred synod, amid all its 
 
 'Sam. Eager, of the infallibility. Page 1G9. 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 203 
 
 atrocities, pretended to the immediate influence of 
 heaven. The divine afflatus, forsooth, passed 
 through these sinks of pollution, and made the 
 •consecrated ruffians the channels of supernatural 
 communications to man. The source of their in- 
 spiration, if the holy fathers felt such an impulse, 
 is easy to tell. The spirit which influenced the 
 secluded monk, seems to have been busy with 
 the worthy bishops, and to have stimulated their 
 imaginations to the enjoyment of the obscene 
 story, and the approbation of its foul crimin- 
 ality." 
 
 The holy infallible council of Lyons, has been 
 delineated in a portrait taken from life by Math- 
 eus Paris, a contemporary historian, who recounts 
 that, " Pope Innocent, retiring from the General 
 Council of Lyons, in which he had presided, 
 cardinal Hugo made a farewell speech for His 
 Holiness, and the whole court to the citizens who 
 had assembled on the occasion, to witness the de- 
 parture of his infallible lordship. " Friends, (said 
 the cardinal,) we have effected a work of great 
 utility and charity in this city. When we came 
 to Lyons, we found three or four brothels in it, 
 and we have left at our depasture only one. But 
 
204 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 this one extends from the eastern to the western 
 gate of the city." 1 
 
 The inspired fathers of that council who should 
 have been patrons of purity, seem on this occa- 
 sion to have been the agents of demoralization 
 throughout the city in which they assembled. 
 The same historian, (cardinal Hugo,) speaking in 
 the name of His Holiness, gloried in his shame, 
 and talked of the abominations of himself and his 
 companions in a strain of railery and unblushing 
 effrontery. 
 
 The Constantine council was characterized by 
 father Paptiza, one of its own members, as the 
 most infernal. His portrait is frightful. The 
 clergy, he declared were nearly all under the 
 power of the devil, and mocked all religion by 
 external devotion, and pharisaic hypocrisy. The 
 prelacy, actuated only by malice, iniquity, pride, 
 vanity, ignorance, lasciviousness, avarice, pomp, 
 simony, and dissimulation, had exterminated 
 Catholicism, and extinguished piety. 2 
 
 ir rria vel quotuor prostibula invenimus. Unum 
 solum relinquimus. Verum ipsum durat continuatum 
 ab orientali porta civitatis usque occidentalem. Mat. 
 Paris, page 792. 
 
 2 Baptiza 2, page 95. 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 205 
 
 The character of the holy bishops, appeared 
 from their company, to be the most destitute and 
 wretched. More than seven hundred public wo- 
 men, according to Dachery's account, attended to 
 the sacred synod. Though the Vienna manu- 
 script reckons the number of these female attend- 
 ants, whom it calls vagrant prostitutes at fifteen 
 hundred. 
 
 " This was a fair supply, (says Samuel Edger, 
 page 170,) for the thousand holy fathers, who 
 constituted the Constantine council." 
 
 Brays, another Roman Catholic writer, adds : 
 " These courtesans were in appearance intended 
 to exercise the chastity of the clergy." As far as 
 my knowledge extends of priestly chastity, I have 
 no doubt whatever, that their company contributed 
 no little to the entertainment of the learned di- 
 vines, and introduced great variety into their 
 amusements. 
 
 The Council of Basil taught the theory of 
 filthiness, as that of Constance had exhibited the 
 practice. Curlerius, the champion of the Roman 
 church in the Basilian assembly against Nicolas, 
 the Bohemian heretic, advocated the propriety of 
 tolerating stews in the city. 1 This hopeful, and 
 
 J Haec ptstis maneat in urbibus. Canisius 4, 457. 
 
 B 
 
206 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 to the fathers of the council pleasing thesis, the 
 hero of the faith supported by the authority of 
 St. Augustine and Acquinas. " Remove prosti- 
 tutes, (says Augustine as cited by Carlerius,) and 
 you will disturb all things with licentiousness. 
 Human government should (says the saint) im- 
 itate the divine ; but God (according the saint) 
 permits some evils in the universe, and therefore 
 so should man." 1 
 
 His saintship speaks by experience, and shows 
 that his logic is as good as his morality. For 
 simple fornication is to be permitted to avoid a 
 greater evil. The Roman population at large, 
 and especially the husbands, experienced the 
 effects of that holy decision of the council of 
 Basil. 
 
 I will say nothing of the hateful and degrading 
 doctrine of materialism, patronized in the coun- 
 cils of Nice, Vienna and Lateran ; I will only 
 state that it is no wonder that the purgatory box 
 is kept as the only panacea for the soul's salva- 
 tion. It is not astonishing 1 that transubstantiation 
 is taught as an article of faith, and the wafer-god 
 
 'Aufer meretrices de rebus humanis, turbaveiis om- 
 nia libidinibus. Labb. 17, 986. Deus permittit ali- 
 qua mala fieri in universe Acquinas ii. 10, 11. 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 207 
 
 elevated for the adoration of the christians. It is 
 not surprising that a rosary is substituted for the 
 atoning blood of the Redeemer of the world ; that 
 bones and rags of all kinds are adored instead of 
 the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
 world. It is not astonishing that ignorance, pre- 
 judice and superstition cover like dark clouds, the 
 mind of papists, and that inquisitions, tortures 
 and blood have been the means of the aggrandize- 
 ment to the church of Rome, when the Roman 
 pontiffs and the General Councils were (according 
 to the accounts of their own historians,) sunk into 
 the lowest depths of vice and abomination. A 
 rapid view of the six centuries, that preceded the 
 reformation, sketched by the warmest partizans of 
 the papacy, will show the correctness, truth and 
 justice of this imputation. 
 
 The tenth century has been portrayed by the 
 pencil of Sabellicus, Stella, Baronius, Gianone 
 and Du Pin. No man can read them without 
 shedding tears over the church of Christ. Stupor 
 and forgetfulness of morals invaded the minds of 
 men. All virtue fled from the pontiff and the 
 people. This whole period was characterized by 
 obduracy, and an inundation of overflowing wick- 
 edness. The Roman church was filthy and de- 
 
208 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 formed, and the abomination of desolation was 
 erected in the temple of God. Holiness had es- 
 caped from the world, and God seemed to have 
 forgotten his church, which was buried in a chaos 
 of impiety. I will let their own faithful historians 
 speak in the note below, and the reader will be 
 convinced of the immorality and open corruption 
 of the church of Rome. 1 
 
 The eleventh century has been described by 
 Gulielmus, Paris, Spondanus and Baronius. Gu- 
 lielmus portrays the scene in dark and frightful 
 colors. "Faith was not found on earth, all flesh 
 had corrupted its way. Justice, equity, virtue, 
 sobriety and the fear of God perished, and were 
 succeded by violence, fraud, stratagem, malevo- 
 lence, circumvention, luxury, drunkenness and 
 debauchery. All kinds of abomination and incest 
 were committed without shame or punishment." 
 The colors used by Paris, are equally black and 
 
 •Stupor et amentia qusedam oblivioque nr.orum in- 
 vaserat hominum animos. Sabellicus II. 
 
 Quis non puterit Deum oblitum ecclesiae suae. Spon 
 iii. p. 908. 
 
 Contingent abominationem desolationis in templo. 
 Baron, i. p. 900. 
 
 L'eglise etait dans un etat pitoyable, defiguree par 
 les plus grands desorderes, et plongee dans un chaos 
 d'impietes. Gionnon vii. 5. Du Pin 2, p. 156. Bruy 
 2, p. 316. 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 209 
 
 shocking. " The nobility (says the English his- 
 torian) were the slaves of gluttony and sensuality. 
 All in common passed their days and nights in 
 protracted drunkenness and sensual entertain- 
 ments. They provoked surfeit by voraciousness 
 and vomit by inebriety." The outlines of Spon- 
 danus and Baronius correspond with those of 
 Gulielmus and Paris. Piety and holiness (these 
 historians are obliged to confess) had fled from 
 the earth, whilst irregularity and iniquity among 
 all and in an especial manner among the clergy, 
 every where reigned. The sacraments in many 
 parts of Christendom, ceased to be dispensed. 
 The few men of piety, from the unparalleled at- 
 trocity of the times, thought that the reign of anti- 
 christ had commenced and that the world was 
 hastening to its end." 1 
 
 The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were simi- 
 lar in their morals, and have been faithfully des- 
 
 r Fides deficerit, et domini timor erat de medio sub- 
 latus. Perierat de rebus, justicia et aequitate subacta, 
 violentia dominabatur in populis. Fraus, dolus, et 
 circumventio late involverant universa. Fides non 
 inveniebatur super terram, omnis caro corrumperat 
 viam suam. Bell. Sacram. i. 8. 
 
 Optimates gulae et veneri servientes, in cubiculis, 
 et inter uxores complexus. Potabatur ab omnibus in 
 commune, et tam dies quam noctes, in hoc studio pro- 
 ductaj sunt. In cibis urgebant crapulam, in potibus 
 vomicam irritabant. Paris 5, 1001. Spontanus ii. 
 p. 1001. Bruy2, 31G. 
 
210 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 cribed by Morlaix, Honorius and St. Bernard. 
 According to the two former, the picture is a 
 melancholy one. Piety and religion seemed to 
 bid adieu to man, and for these were substituted 
 treachery, fraud, impurity, rapine, schism, quar- 
 rels, war and assassination. The throne of the 
 beast seemed to be fixed among the clergy who 
 neglected God, stained the priesthood with impu- 
 rity, demoralized the people with their hypocrisy, 
 denied the Lord by their works, and rejected the 
 revelation which God gave for the salvation of 
 man. 1 
 
 St. Bernard 1 s picture of the priesthood, is cer- 
 tainly not complimentary, and his character of the 
 laity, is of the same unfavorable description. Ac- 
 cording to this saint, the putrid contagion had in 
 his day, crept through the whole body of the 
 church, and the malady was internal, and could 
 not be healed. The conduct of the prelacy in se- 
 cret, was too gross for expression. Therefore, 
 
 l La fraude, Timpurete, les rapines, les schismes, les 
 querelles, les guerres, les trahison,les homicides sont 
 en vogue. Adieu la piete et la religion. Morlaix in 
 Bruy 2, 547. 
 
 Tourn toi vers le clerge, tu y verra la tente de la 
 Bete, lis negligent le service divin. lis souillent le 
 sacerdoce par leur impuretez, seduisent le peuple par 
 leur hypocresie, renient Deupar leurs ouvres. Hono- 
 rius in Bruy 2, 547. 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 211 
 
 the saint left the midnight monstrosity in its na- 
 tive and congenial darkness. 1 
 
 And when he addressed himself to the clergy of 
 his time, he gives a full, but the most hideous sketch 
 of the moral depravity of his brethren and the 
 church in general. He loads the canvass with the 
 darkest colors. " The clergy, (said the monk of 
 Clairvaux,) are called pastors, but in reality are 
 plunderers, who, unsatisfied with the fleece, thirst 
 for the blood of the flock, and merit the appellation, 
 not of shepherds, but of traitors, who do not feed, 
 but slay and devour the sheep. The Saviour's 
 reproach, scourges, nails, spear and cross, all 
 these, his ministers who serve anti-Christ, melt 
 in the furnace of covetousness, and expend for 
 the acquisition of filthy gain, differing from Judas 
 only in the magnitude of the sum for which they 
 6pll their master. The degenerate ecclesiastics, 
 prompted by avarice, dare for gain, even to bar- 
 ter assassination, adultery, incest, fornication, sac- 
 rilege, and perjury. Their extortions they lavish 
 on pomp and folly. These patrons of humility, 
 appear at home amid royal furniture, and exhibit 
 
 'Serpit hodie putrida tabes per omne corpus Kcclos- 
 133. Intestina et insanabilis est plaga Ecclesiae, quae 
 enim in oeculto facia ab episcopis, turpe sunt dicere. 
 
212 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 abroad in meretricious finery and theatrical dress. 
 Sumptuous food, splendid cups, overflowing cel- 
 lars, drunken banquets, accompanied with the 
 lyre and the violin, are means by which these 
 ministers of the cross evince their self-denial and 
 indifference to the world." 1 
 
 The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries have 
 been delineated by the bold, but faithful pens of 
 Alliaco, Petrarch, Mariana, Aegidius, Mirandula, 
 and Fordum. 
 
 Alliaco's description is very striking and sig- 
 nificant. " The church, (said the cardinal,) is 
 come to such a state, that it is worthy of being 
 governed only by reprobates." Petrarch, with- 
 out any hesitation, calls Rome, " Babylon the 
 great whore, the school of error, and the temple 
 of heresy." The court of Avignon, he pronoun- 
 ced, " The sink, and sewer of all vice, and the 
 house of hardship and misery." 
 
 Marian, that celebrated historian complains, as 
 every christian would do, who loves his church, 
 he sheds tears over the destitute state of the 
 
 'Dicemini pastores cum sitis raptores, sitiis enim 
 sanguinem. Non sunt pastores sed traditores. Min- 
 istri Christi sunt, et serviunt anti-Christo ; ven- 
 dunt homicidia, adulteria, fornicationes, sacrilegia, 
 perjuria. St. Bernard, page 1725 — 1728. 
 
HOLY COUNCILS. 213 
 
 church of Rome, which he loves with his whole 
 heart. " Every enormity had passed into custom 
 and law, and was committed without fear; shame 
 and modesty were banished, while by a mon* 
 strous irregularity, the most dreadful outrages, per* 
 fidy and treason were better recompensed than 
 the brightest virtue. The wickedness of the 
 pontiff, and the corruptions of the fathers of the 
 councils, descended to the people," 1 A book of 
 three hundred pages is not ample enough to con* 
 tain all the historical facts of the degraded state, 
 anti-biblical decisions, and moral corruptions of 
 the most holy, apostolic, and infallible councils of 
 the papal religion. I will conclude with the lofty 
 sentiments of the zealous Roman Catholic writer, 
 the never dying Italian poet, Petrarch. 
 
 " Gia Roma, or Babilonia, falsa, e ria," &c. 
 
 " Formerly Rome, now Babylon, false and 
 guilty — hell of the living! It will be a great 
 miracle, if Christ is not angry with thee at last !" 2 
 
 I ask every man of sincerity, I make an appeal 
 to every christian, without any distinction of reli* 
 
 'Les plus grand crimes etaint presque poussez en 
 coutume et en loi, on les commitoit sans crainte, la 
 bonte et la poudeur etaient banies, et par un deregle- 
 ment monstrueux, les plus noirs attentats, les perfid- 
 ies, les trahisons etait meux recompensees que ne l'eta- 
 ient les vertus \es plus ecclatants. Marian 5, 718. 
 
 2 Petrarch, vol. 4, p. 149. 
 
214 HOLY COUNCILS. 
 
 gious party, to tell me where the Roman chUfcrl 
 isj if she is not to be found in the holy apostolic 
 and unerring councils, where shall we look for 
 her? In the priests? They are subject to the 
 direction and obedience of the popes, and have 
 no ,other authority than that which is conferred 
 upon them by the supreme pontiff, the most holy 
 infallible head, the pope. When Luther inter- 
 preted the scriptures according to his own con- 
 science, the pope excommunicated him as a heretic^ 
 
 Shall we seek the church in the corrupt power 
 of the so-called vicar of Christ? Roman Cath- 
 olics say, " The popes have been men like oth- 
 ers, [and they were bad men indeed,] who had 
 their faults, whom we consider as the head of the 
 church, but not the church itself." 
 
 Shall we seek the church in the people, which 
 would be the very place according to the word of 
 God ? The pope of Rome would say, " That is 
 heresy. They have no right to interpret the Bi- 
 ble by themselves ; that is Lutheranism. Let it 
 be accursed." For as soon as the people begin 
 to be the church, they have a right to decide in 
 matters of faith, and make the Bible their rule of 
 faith if they choose. That, according to the 
 present statutes of the papal church is a prerog- 
 
YUCATAN*. 1 1 ;> 
 
 alive which belongs exclusively to the sacred 
 councils presided over by the pope, as the head 
 of the church. 
 
 The reader sees that the councils, or in othe^ 
 words, the bishops controlled by the pope, are 
 the church of Rome. That is the reason that 
 they conclude every article of faith, [I say 
 every article without exception,^ with the words* 
 " Whosoever denies it, let him be accursed.'''' 
 
 Roman Catholics! be sincere, let sound reason* 
 rectitude of mind, purity of conscience prevail 
 for an hour ; listen not to me, but to the history 
 of your own writers. Read the bloody history 
 of your church ;■ examine the corrupt decisions 
 of your councils ; number (if you can,) the im- 
 moral acts of those fathers, who wrote the artU 
 cles of your faith. Inquire into the truth, if it 
 is to be found in those polluted channels of the 
 councils, or in the pure fountain of the living 
 word of God. Search the scriptures, for in them 
 you will find eternal life. 
 
 Look to the deplorable state of Mexico, enter 
 into the examination of the state of Yucatan.--*- 
 You will see that those palaces, now in ruins, 
 have been inhabited by a civilized people ; and 
 judging from the architecture of the ruins, it was 
 
216 YUCATAN. 
 
 a nation of taste, in the possession of arts and 
 sciences, as the Chinese and other nations, who 
 had not been in contact with the civilization of 
 Europe. 
 
 It is not yet three hundred years, that the Span- 
 iards took possession of it, that they came under 
 the iron rod of priestly government and papal influ- 
 ence. " They are no more." Their palaces lie 
 in ruins ; arts and sciences are lost ; the nation 
 perished, and the wild ruins are living monu- 
 ments of the melancholy effects of papal influence. 
 Study the progressive spirit of the nineteenth 
 century, and you will find in all the Protestant 
 countries, commerce (if not flourishing) at least 
 not languishing; steamboats, manufactories, rail- 
 roads for the facility of their communication; 
 arts and sciences generally incouraged ; and liber- 
 ty of conscience and of the press as the vehicle 
 of social actions. Go to Italy, Spain and Portu- 
 gal, to our neighbors of South America, you will 
 find misery, ignorance, oppression and a convul- 
 sive strugle between the principles of liberty and 
 papal tyrany* 
 
 Columbia ! thou land of freedom, asylum of 
 the oppressed; the tyrant's scourge and freeman's 
 joy; patern of all nations and the people's coun- 
 try. Shall Yucatan' 's doom be thine ? Wilt 
 
t 
 
 YUCATAN. 217 
 
 thou allow thy cherished sons to become slaves 
 of Jesuits, and thy lovely daughters demoralized 
 by priests and monks as those in Italy? Wilt 
 thou permit that thy political institutions, which 
 have been dearly bought with the blood of thy 
 first-born heroes, to be effaced by the coward 
 hand of a priest, who sways his bloody sceptre 
 in Rome? No. That cannot be. Thou art 
 young, it is true, but wise enough. Thou art 
 inexperienced in the strategems of Jesuits, in- 
 trigues of monks, and hness of popery, but thou 
 art strong enough to strike the blow in time. O ! 
 Italy ! Italy ! why art thou not stronger or less 
 beautiful! Conquered, or conqueror, thou art al- 
 ways a slave ! 
 
 Roman Catholics ! freedom of thought, liberty of 
 conscience, is my aim, happiness of mind, peace 
 of heart is my principal desire, and the salvation of 
 your souls, my only prayer ; which the adoration 
 of images, the kissing of relics, the kneeling be- 
 fore the host, the money for purgatory, the hear- 
 ing of a latin mass which you do not understand, 
 or the counting of the beads of the Rosary, will 
 not, and cannot give. None but Jesus Christ, the 
 only Mediator between God and man, can save ; 
 if lie make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 
 19 
 
JESUITISM. 
 
 My intention is not to write what I have heard 
 from others respecting those devoted children of 
 the zealous Ignazius Loyola, but what I have seen 
 and observed by my frequent intercourse with 
 them. Having been a pupil in the college of the 
 Jesuits, I must confess, that from what I know 
 and have seen of them, they are worthy sons 
 of such a father. 
 
 The name Jesuit is one of reproach among 
 Protestants ; in Rome it commands respect ming- 
 led with fear. In Protestant countries they 
 (though numerous) are never apparently seen ; 
 but in Rome they are every where present. Pro- 
 testants abhor Jesuitism, (and well they might) 
 for the name Jesuit is associated with regicide 
 and the gunpowder plot, with the bloody night of 
 St. Bartholomew and the desolation of Europe; 
 in Rome they are not only the chief counselors of 
 every project, but the executors of every plan 
 framed by the secret council of the Vatican. To 
 kill kings is out of the question, for they know 
 that without the assistance of kings they will 
 never succeed in oppressing liberty and opposing 
 
• i:>i iti.vm. 2\\) 
 
 the" progressive spirit of the nineteenth century* 
 Neither is there danger that modern Jesuitism 
 will teach molinism and probabilism, for the pre* 
 sent generation is too virtuous, and science has 
 found its way out of their doors. With all these 
 it is still the ever-living spirit of Jesuitism. 
 
 A Jesuit is an amphibious being; he is (accord- 1 
 ing to his constitution) neither a monk nor a secu- 
 lar priest; still he is both when required. The 
 spirit of domination is the foundation of his order, 
 and at the same time you see him creeping like a 
 worm in the dust to be (apparently) crushed by 
 every foot that passes by. He is a monarchist in 
 Austria, a revolutionist in France, an autocrat in 
 Italy and a republican in the United States. Ill 
 one word he is every thing, in order to obtain his 
 aim, for the end sanctifies the means. A Jesuit 
 is like a bat; when the cat comes, it says: "I 
 am a bird," extending its wings and flies; if the 
 hawk appears, it creeps in the darkest holes and 
 exclaims : " I am a mouse." Such is the char- 
 actei of Jesuitism. 
 
 To become a Jesuit and to be welcomed at their 
 doors, a person must have one of the three requi- 
 sites, talents, nobility or money. Talent is 
 the chief object, nobility is preferred before mo- 
 ney, 
 
;22U JESUITISM, 
 
 The bull of restoration by Pius VII. in the yeai 
 1814, was an unfortunate event for the church of 
 Rome ; not only because it has restored the Jesu- 
 its, but because it gave a tremendous blow to the 
 infallible authority of the pope ; it showed that the 
 bull of Clement XIV. in which that pontiff sup- 
 pressed and annulled the order of the Jesuits was 
 wrong, and how can we know that his bull of 
 restoration is right ? Popery boasts loudly of its 
 uniformity of creed, unity of actions and infalli- 
 bility of authority, but is it not surprising to see 
 the same authority in contradiction with itself? 
 The house is divided and it must fall. But as 
 there is no effect without a cause, so the soi dist- 
 ant infallible heads did nothing without a good 
 cause, and that cause was self-interest. In the 
 year 1773, Clement XIV. saw his interest in the 
 destruction of the Jesuits ; Pius VII. restored it 
 for the same reason. Clement acted before the 
 revolution, Pius after it. The revolution was the 
 line of demarcation. 
 
 Jesuitism and the reformation are contempor- 
 aneous; like cause and effect, so was one the 
 effect of the other. The light of reformation 
 broke through the dense darkness of papal super* 
 stition ; the so-called seat of Peter was shaken* 
 
JESUITISM. 221 
 
 the thunders of the Vatican were rendered pow- 
 erless ; the church was attacked and wounded in 
 the most vital part ; nothing but a holy militia 
 could save her from entire destruction. The 
 period of reformation was short, the spirit of Lu- 
 ther was soon spent, and the period of Protestant- 
 ism and the spirit of polemics unfortunately took 
 its place ; instead of uniting against the common 
 enemy, the children of the reformation disagreed 
 in doctrinal points, and divided on the same 
 ground. Germany and Switzerland were the 
 theatre, and the Jesuits not inactive spectators of 
 those trying times. The Bible and reason were 
 the greatest enemies to papal darkness and were 
 evaded by the Jesuits, whilst the banner of science 
 and erudition was unfurled in their stead. During 
 the time that the sons of the glorious reformation 
 discussed their dogmatical points, the Jesuits 
 fought in the foremost ranks for popery, raised 
 again the beaten down standard of Rome and tried 
 to give new lustre to the ancient honors of the 
 triple crown. 
 
 It would be ridiculous if I were to make any 
 distinction between ancient and modern Jesuitism, 
 for that sect never changes. The leopard may 
 change its spots and the Ethiopian his color, but 
 
222 JESUITISM. 
 
 Jesuits will remain always the same. They are 
 as in time of old, cunning and sagacious in gain- 
 ing the favor of the great and the heart of youth. 
 Jesuitism is all activity as in the day of its origin ; 
 having determined to go, they advance, they re- 
 solve to accomplish an object and succeed. To 
 realize a project they evade all laws ; they clear 
 them by a leap or trample them under foot as 
 they did before their suppression. If they aim 
 at an object, they exert all these influences, resort 
 to stratagems, equivocations and intrigues to ob- 
 tain it, for conscientious scruples are trifles. The 
 evil has risen to a point where concealment ie cri- 
 minal. Charity is due to the righteous, not to 
 men who are guilty of delinquencies against 
 righteousness to such a high degree. 
 
 It is not more than twenty-eight years since 
 they have been restored by the good but imbecile 
 Pius VII., and they have their foot upon every 
 kingdom and empire in both hemispheres of the 
 globe. In Europe the people had a severe lesson 
 of the past, and their progress is slow, though 
 their influence great. In the United States the 
 free political institutions and the separation be- 
 tween church and state are favorable for the pro- 
 gress of Jesuitism ; North America is the chosen 
 
JESUITISM. 223 
 
 Land, the second Paraguay. In Europe the Jesuits 
 are under the direction of the Secretary of State; 
 under the vigilance of the police, only as long as 
 they promote the interest of the State in the king- 
 dom in which they live, they are tolerated; but 
 in America they are under the entire direction of 
 the pope. The political prosperity of the United 
 States and the promotion of their interest are not 
 the interest of a foreign Jesuit, who is the citizen 
 of Rome, and is obliged by oath, without mental 
 reservation, not to become a citizen of any here- 
 tical or Protestant power ; not to recognize any 
 other head but the pope residing in Rome, as the 
 oath of the Jesuits will show. 
 
 JESUIT'S OATH. 
 
 "I, A. B., now in the presence of Almighty 
 Cod, the blessed Virgin Mary,, the blessed Mich- 
 ael the archangel, the blessed St. John the Bap- 
 tist, the holy apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and 
 the saints and the sacred host of heaven, and to 
 you my ghostly father do declare from my heart, 
 without mental reservation, that His Holiness 
 pope Gregory XVI. is Christ's Vicar General, 
 and is the true and only Head of the Catholic 
 
224 JESUITISM. 
 
 or Universal Church, throughout the earth; and 
 that by the virtue of the keys of binding and 
 loosing given to his holiness by Jesus Christ, 
 he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes , 
 states, commonwealths, and governments, all 
 being illegal, ivithout his sacred confirmation, 
 and that they may safely be destroyed ; there- 
 fore, to the utmost of my power, 1 shall and will 
 defend this doctrine and his holiness's rights and 
 customs against all usurpers of the heretical or 
 Protestant authority whatsoever, especially against 
 the new pretended authority and church of En- 
 gland, and all adherents, in regard that they and 
 she be usurpal and heretical, opposing the sacred 
 mother church of Rome. / do renounce and 
 disoivn my allegiance as due to any heretical 
 king, prince, or state, named Protestants, or 
 obedience to any of their inferior magistrates or 
 officers. I do further declare the doctrine of the 
 church of England, of the Calvanists, Hugue- 
 nots, and other Protestants, to be damnable, and 
 those to be damned who will not forsake the 
 same. I do further declare, that I will help, as- 
 sist, and advise all, or any of his holiness' agents 
 in any place wherever I shall be ; and do my id- 
 most to extirpate the heretical Protest- 
 
JESUITISM. 225 
 
 ants' droctrinc, and to destroy all their pretend- 
 ed powers, regal or otherwise. I do further pro- 
 mise and declare, that notwithstanding I am dis- 
 pensed to assume any religion heretical, for the 
 propagating of the mother church's interest, to 
 keep secret and private all her agents' coun- 
 sels, as they entrust me, and not to divulge, di- 
 rectly or indirectly, by word, writing or circum- 
 stances whatsoever, but shall execute all which 
 shall be proposed, given in charge, or discovered 
 unto me, by you my ghostly father, or by any of 
 this sacred convent. All which, I, A. B., do swear 
 by the blessed Trinity and blessed sacrament, 
 which I am now to receive, to perform and on my 
 part to keep inviolably ; and do call all the heav- 
 enly and glorious host of heaven, to witness these 
 my real intentions to keep this, my oath. In tes- 
 timony hereof, I take this most holy and blessed 
 sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness the same 
 further with my hand and seal, in the face of this 
 holy convent, this — day — An. Dom." &c. 
 
 America is the promised land, the land of the 
 Jesuit's operations to obtain the ascendency, 
 they have no need of a mercenary Swiss guard, 
 or the assistance of the mighty bayonets of the 
 lioly alliance, but a majority of votes, which can 
 20 
 
226 JESUITISM. 
 
 easily be obtained by an importation of Roman 
 Catholic voters from Ireland, Bavaria, and Aus- 
 tria. Rome, viewed at a distance, is a colossus ; 
 near at hand its grandeur diminishes, its charm is 
 lost. But the Jesuits are everywhere the same, 
 cunning, immoral, and sneaking intriguers until 
 they have obtained the ascendency. Rome feels 
 her weakness at home, she knows herself to be a 
 mere political institution, dressed in the garment 
 of Christianity, she takes good care to uphold 
 that holy militia, the Jesuits, in order to appear 
 what she is not. It is a strife for existence. 
 
 I am not a politician, but knowing the active 
 spirit of Jesuitism, and the indifference of the 
 generality of Protestants, I have no doubt what- 
 ever, that in ten years the Jesuits will have a 
 mighty influence over the ballot-box, and in tiven- 
 ty, they will direct it according to their own 
 pleasure. Now they fawn, in ten years they will 
 menace, and in twenty, command. 
 
 Protestants are divided; they have no other 
 common centre than the Bible ; they have no ex- 
 clusive source from whence pow r er flows in every 
 religious society, but the Bible. They have no 
 Rome, no predecessor of Rome. Nor the pre- 
 tentions of Rome. Piotestanis have (through 
 
JESUITISM. 227 
 
 the grace of God,) no visible head to whom a 
 special deference from all parties is paid, and 
 from whom honors and power are to be expect- 
 ed; in one word, they have no Rome. 
 
 Religion has nothing to do with the political 
 institutions of America. The exaltation, or de- 
 pression, the triumph or defeat of religious de- 
 nominations, is of no importance in the political 
 order of the United States. It is not so with 
 Rome, everything in popery tends to Rome. She 
 exercises an immense power over her ministers, 
 and through them over her faithful adherents; 
 consequently the chief of these militia every- 
 where to be found, is the pope. 
 
 A Roman Catholic bishop in France, Mr. De 
 Prat says : " The pope counts more subjects 
 than a sovereign; more even them many sover- 
 eigns together. 1 '' That is very natural, for the 
 sovereigns have subjects only in their territory, 
 the pope counts subjects upon the territory of all 
 sovereigns. They maintain soldiers only in the 
 space of their dominions, the pope has his faith- 
 ful militia, the Jesuits in all their dominions. The 
 king's authority extends only to the exterior, and 
 regulates the exterior social life. The pope's 
 
 
228 JESUITISM. 
 
 penetrates deeper, he commands the interior; his 
 empire is in the conscience. 
 
 What an immense power, what an inconceiva- 
 ble influence ! If the whole world were Roman 
 Catholics, the pope would command the world, 
 and all the millions of ministers would be under 
 his authority, directed by his will, and all would 
 be obliged to promote the interest of Rome. If 
 the whole world, (I repeat,) would be Roman 
 Catholic, it would shake, subjugate and corrupt 
 the world, as it did for ages, and is now actually 
 doing in Europe. 
 
 Americans ! Protestants ! not to know how to 
 foresee, is not to know how to govern, or how to 
 profit by the past, or to judge the world. Have 
 you no apostolical Vicars in the United States, 
 who have no other mission than to promote the 
 private interest of Rome ? Have you a right to 
 choose bishops for your country as is the case in 
 Europe? No! In France, Prussia, Bavaria, 
 Saxony, and even in Austria, the kings and the 
 emperor choose their own bishops ; no govern- 
 ment, or power would accept a bishop in its do- 
 minion, who was not elected by them. The pope 
 must sanction it; I say, the pope must sanction 
 their choice, and if he refuses to give his consent 
 
JESUITISM. 2! ( J 
 
 they compel His Holiness to do so, as it was in 
 Prussia with the arch-bishop of Cologne, 1 and in 
 H angaria with the Pnmateoi that country. 2 But 
 for the wants of America the pope, graciously 
 provides, he sends his minions, who serve under 
 his holiness' banner, and not under the starred 
 flag of the Union. 
 
 In Austria no priest can regularly officiate with- 
 out being a native Austrian, or having obtained the 
 imperial permission to do so. In Prussia, no 
 Roman Catholic priest can take charge of a par- 
 ish without being a native Prussian, or obtaining a 
 special royal permission, which is not so easily 
 obtained. The same cautious state policy is adop- 
 
 •The bishop of Cologne introduced the anti-social 
 order of Gregory XVI. in his diocese, viz: not to 
 celebrate the ceremony of marriage in case of mixed 
 marriages; the king of Prussia ordered him to change 
 his course, aud as the bishop of Cologne would not obey 
 His Majesty's cammand, he was put into prison, and 
 in spite of the pope he was icnbishupcd by the king of 
 Prussia; the same course did the king pursue with 
 the bishop of Poseri in Silesia. 
 
 -Mr. Rudnay , bishop of Weszprim, in Hungary, is 
 a very liberal man, and advocated at the Diet the 
 cause of the Protestants, and obtained many privileges 
 for them. Bishop Rudnay was elected Primate of 
 Hungary by His Catholic and Apostolic Majesty the 
 Emperor of Austria; but the pope would not sanction 
 tin' election of a friend of heretics. But His Catholic 
 Majesty said it is his will and the pope was obliged to 
 say : Amen. 
 
230 JESUITISM. 
 
 ted in France, and in ever)'' other kingdom and 
 principality of Europe, to prevent the fatal influ- 
 ence of Jesuitism, which convulsed the peace of 
 Europe ; which was the cause of so many wars, 
 and blood-shed, of which the history of Europe 
 is so unhappily full. America is the only land 
 where Rome can work without impediment. 
 America is the stage of papal action, where her 
 hired servants, a swarm of Irish priests, German 
 monks, Italian friars, and Roman Jesuits over- 
 flow the country, in order to promote pope Gre- 
 gory's interest, and oppress religious and politi- 
 cal liberty. 
 
 Protestants ! the political regime of the United 
 States pleases Rome; it gives her means of hoping 
 soon to become the mistress of North, as she is 
 of South America. The Roman clergy of }he 
 United States, like that of Ireland, is very devo- 
 ted to the pope; very rigorous and submissive to 
 Rome's orders, soon she will (may the Lord pre- 
 vent it,) occasion embarrassment to the United 
 States, as that of Ireland does to the British Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The recent revival of this subtle and dangerous 
 order, together with its widely diffused and in- 
 creasing influence in the United States, makes it 
 
JESUITISM. 231 
 
 desirable to give as full a view of its character 
 and history as the limited space of this article 
 will allow. 
 
 The Jesuits, or society of Jesus is one of the 
 most celebrated monastic orders in the church of 
 Rome; it was founded in the year 1540, by Igna- 
 zius Loyola, sanctioned, and afterwards confirm- 
 ed by Paul III., granting unto them the most am- 
 ple privileges, and appointing Loyola the first 
 General of the order. 
 
 It was indeed, a fundamental maxim with the 
 Jesuits, from their first institution, not to publish 
 the rules of their order ; these they kept conceal- 
 ed as an impenetrable mystery. Their constitu- 
 tion and laws were concealed with such solicitude 
 that this alone was a good reason for having ex- 
 cluded them. Through the opposition, however, 
 which they encountered in Portugal and in 
 France, the Jesuits were obliged to produce the 
 (Monila Sacra) mysterious volumes of their in- 
 stitute. 
 
 The primary object of the society was to estab- 
 lish a spiritual dominion over the minds of men, 
 of which the pope should appear as the ostensi- 
 ble head, while the real power should reside with 
 themselves. To accomplish this object, the plan 
 
232 JESUITISM. 
 
 of the constitution was differently shaped from 
 all other monastic orders. The immediate design 
 of every other religious society was to separate 
 its members from the world; that of the Jesuits, 
 to render them masters of the world. The in- 
 mates of other monastic convents devoted them- 
 selves to work out their own soul's salvation by 
 extraordinary acts of devotion and self-denial ; 
 the followers of Loyola plunged themselves into 
 the bustle of secular affairs to maintain the inter- 
 ests of Rome. The monk was a retired devotee 
 of heaven; the Jesuit a chosen soldier of the 
 pope. That the members of the new order might 
 have full leisure for this active service, they were 
 exempted from the usual functions of other monks. 
 They were not required to spend their time in the 
 long: ceremonial offices and numberless mumme- 
 ries of the Romish worship. They attended no 
 processions and practiced no austerities. They 
 neither chanted nor prayed. Their antagonists 
 said : " that they cannot sing, for birds of prey 
 never do." They were sent forth to watch every 
 transaction of the world which might appear to 
 effect the interests of papal Rome, and were espe- 
 cially enjoined to study the dispositions and culti- 
 vate the friendship of persons in the higher ranks, 
 
JESUITISM. 233 
 
 Jesuits are open and liberal in the external aspect 
 of their institution, yet nothing- can be more strict 
 and secret than its internal organization. Loyola 
 influenced perhaps by the notions of implicit 
 obedience which he had derived from his military 
 profession, resolved that the government of the 
 Jesuits should be absolutely monarchical under 
 a general at Rome who governs as he pleases. 
 To accomplish the vast designs of this society, it 
 was indispensably necessary that the whole body 
 should have one mind, that all its members should 
 be indissolubly united to the head, and this by the 
 obligation of unreserved obedience. Ignazius goes 
 so far in a letter of his, directed to his associates 
 in 1553, on the subject of obedience, that he com- 
 mands them to receive any and every order given 
 by a superior without distinction, and to receive 
 it as a divine precept, to be observed without dis- 
 cussion. The general has the direction of all 
 missions and the control of the property of the 
 society ; as it is necessary that he should know 
 the character of those whom he sends out ; the 
 confession is no secrecy, the very desires of the 
 heart are made known and recorded, so that they 
 can be at any time reported to the general ; the 
 talents of each are also noticed with care, that a 
 
234 JESUITISM. 
 
 man unfit for the station may not be sent. A con- 
 stant communication is kept up between the dif- 
 ferent branches of the order, of the most minute 
 character ; to effect which, and for the better re- 
 gulating the concerns, -a provincial is placed over 
 a certain district as overseer, who inspects and re- 
 ports all things to the general at Rome. For fear 
 that the provincial should prove unfaithful, or fail 
 to communicate, the superiors of the houses, col- 
 leges, convents, and the masters of novices are 
 compelled to write every three months to the 
 general ; the provincials monthly ; in return he 
 must write to the provincials every two months, 
 and to the superiors every six. The provincial 
 has the power over the superiors, directs, com- 
 mands, controls without being responsible to any 
 man, except to the general. In order to render 
 these correspondences secret and certain, the gen- 
 eral can withdraw any Jesuit from under the pow- 
 er of a rector or provincial and bring him near 
 himself. Every Jesuit can correspond with the 
 general on things pertaining to the interest of the 
 society. In certain matters which require great 
 secrecy, the correspondence is in ciphers, of 
 which the general has the key. 
 
JESUITISM. Z30 
 
 Extensive as their missions and numerous as 
 their colleges are, the boast of a general in the 
 seventeenth century might be considered true : 
 " that he from his closet governed not only Paris, 
 but China, and not only China, but the world, 
 without any one knowing how it was done." 
 The general is served by a cabinet of faithful 
 minions who communicate to him information on 
 every subject connected with the advantage or in- 
 jury of their order, the civil and religious con- 
 cerns of every country, the friends and foes in 
 every court. 
 
 The maxims of policy adopted by this cele- 
 brated society were, like its constitution, remark- 
 able for their union of laxity and rigor. Nothing 
 could divert them from their original object, and 
 no means were ever scrupled which promised to 
 aid its accomplishment. They were in no degree 
 shackled by prejudice, superstition or real religion. 
 Expediency in its most simple and licentious 
 form was the basis of their morals, and their prin- 
 ciples and practices were uniformly accommodated 
 to the circumstances in which they were placed, 
 and even their bigotry, obdurate as it was, never 
 appears to have interfered with their interests. 
 The paramount and characteristic principle of the 
 
236 JESUITISM. 
 
 order, from which none of its members ever 
 swerved was simply this, that their interests were 
 to be promoted by all possible means, at all pos- 
 sible expense. In order to acquire more easily 
 an ascendency over persons of rank and power, 
 they propagated a system of the most relaxed 
 morality, which accommodated itself to the pas- 
 sions of men, justified their vices, tolerated their 
 imperfections, and authorized almost every action 
 which the most audacious or crafty politician 
 would wish to perpetrate. To persons of stricter 
 principles, they studied to recommend themselves 
 by the purity of their lives and sometimes by the 
 austerity of their doctrines. While sufficiently 
 compliant in the treatment of immoral practices, 
 they were generally rigidly severe in exacting a 
 strict orthodoxy in opinions. " They are a sort 
 of people (says the Abbe Boileau) ivho lengthen 
 the creed and shorten the decalogue." They 
 adopted the same spirit of accommodation in their 
 missionary undertakings; and their Christianity 
 assumed the color of every religion where it hap- 
 pened to be introduced, except that of real Chris- 
 tianity. They freely permitted their converts to 
 retain a full proportion of the old superstitions, 
 and suppressed without hesitation any point in 
 
JESUITISM. 237 
 
 the new faith which was likely to bear hard ou 
 their prejudices or propensities. They proceeded 
 to still greater lengths ; and besides suppressing 
 the truths of revelation, devised the most absurd 
 falsehoods, to be used for attracting disciples, of 
 even to be taught as part of Christianity. One of 
 them in India produced a pedigree to prove his 
 own descent from Brama; and another in America 
 assured a native chief that Christ had been a vali- 
 ant and victorious warrior, who in the space of 
 three years, had scalped an incredible number of 
 men, women and children. It was, in fact, their 
 own authority, not the authority of true religion 
 which they wished to establish, and Christianity 
 was generally as little known when they quitted 
 the foreign scenes of their labors as when they 
 entered them. 
 
 To carry such principles into practice, morali- 
 ty and religion they must have forgotten. No 
 man could have acted upon them who took the 
 Bible for his standard of morals ; a new code was 
 necessary, and such we find among them ; one 
 which any man possessing the least principle of 
 morality would blush at, and be ashamed to ac- 
 knowledge. The world, the whole world has fixed 
 such an indelible stigma upon them for their prin fc 
 
.^38 JESUITISM. 
 
 ciplcs, thai they will not own them, arid they 
 never attempted to reply to all the accusations of 
 which the order has been the subject; they never 
 could exculpate themselves, for their own writers 
 have exhibited their doctrines and morals, and 
 from them 1 will give some specimens in order to 
 show what they have been, what they are, and 
 would be if they could. I will give not only the 
 names of the authors, but the chapters, and eveii 
 the pages containing these corrupt principles, 
 taught by the Jesuits as doctrinal points. 
 
 Pascal, a Jansenist, a man of piety, but who 
 never separated from the church, and died in the 
 pale of the church of Rome, says : Let. 5, p. 76, 
 77, "an opinion is probable, if Only one author, 
 or one single divine, or one reason which we 
 think good, maintains it." "Of two probable 
 opinions we may choose the one we like best, 
 though it may be the least probable." This is 
 acting according to the declaration of a Jesuit, 
 mentioned by Pascal, " rinding their morals too 
 strict for the people, they had brought them down 
 to suit every one." In the Let. 7, p. 101 and 
 102, "you may kill false witnesses, or a judge, 
 who is going to decide against you." In page 
 107, " you may kill one who is going to calurti- 
 
JESUITISM. Jo * 
 
 niate you, so that you may hinder the caiman \ 
 from circulating." In Let. 8, p. 113, "Judged 
 (though positively prohibited by the law of God, 
 and the laws of the land)- may receive bribes.'' 
 Sanchez the standard of moral theology of the 
 order of Jesus, one of their greatest theologians* 
 says, Book I. chap. 10, no. 12, 13, p. 46. " An 
 oath obliges not beyond the intention of him, who 
 takes it, because he who hath no intention to 
 sivear, cannot be obliged in conscience to any* 
 thing." See Pascal, p. 135, on mental reserva- 
 tion. Saurez another prominent writer of the 
 Jesuits, and chief moral theologian, says, in the 
 practice of the love of God: "It is enough to 
 love him a little before we die," Ibid. Let. 10, p. 
 154. Vasquez, also a standard writer of the or- 
 der of Loyola adds! "it is enough to love him 
 at the point of death ; we are not so much com- 
 manded to love God, as not to hate him." Oth- 
 ers teach, "That to love God at baptism is 
 enough." The last I shall allude to is on Cal- 
 i'mnv, p. 238. "To calumniate any man who is 
 obnoxious to the order, is no sin." According to 
 their doctrines, they were permitted to calumni- 
 ate and slander every one who differs from them. 
 These arc the doctrines of the followers of Igna- 
 
S40 JESUITISM. 
 
 ferns Loyola, who style themselves the order of 
 Jesus J Paganism would blush* 
 
 Is it a wonder, that men without any moral 
 principle, with vigorous efforts, trained and dis* 
 ciplined men, the end always sanctifying the 
 means, no barrier hindering, no law which they 
 would not evade, no artifice to which they would 
 not resort, nothing too low or base, nothing so 
 dangerous but they were bound by oath to attempt 
 if ordered by their General, — is it any wonder 
 that such men would not stop at anything ? What 
 have they not accomplished ? How numerous 
 have their colleges become ? How great their 
 wealth, and their power ! their licentiousness and 
 corruption ! Intrigue, usurpation and tyranny 
 have followed wherever they have bent their 
 course. George Bronswell, the Catholic arch- 
 bishop of Dublin, in 1558 from a knowledge of 
 their principles, prophesied of them as follows : 
 " There is a fraternity which has lately risen, 
 called the Jesuits, who will seduce many; who, 
 acting for the most part like scribes and pharisees, 
 will strive to overturn the truth, they will go neat 
 to accomplish their object, for they transform 
 themselves into various shapes ; among Pagans, 
 they will be Pagans ; among atheists, atheists > 
 
JESUITISM. 241 
 
 among Jews, Jews; among Reformers, Reform- 
 ers, for the sole purpose of discovering your in- 
 tentions, your hearts and your desires. These 
 persons are spread over the whole earth. They 
 will be admitted into the councils of princes, 
 who will, however, be no wiser for their intro- 
 duction ; they will infatuate them so far as to in- 
 duce them to reveal the greatest secrets of their 
 hearts : they will in no way be aware of them. 
 This will be the consequence of their advisers 
 neglecting to observe the laws of God and his 
 gospel, and conniving at the sins of princes. Not- 
 withstanding, God will in the end, in order to 
 avenge his law, cut off this society, even by 
 those who have most supported and employed it; 
 so that at last, they will become odious to all na- 
 tions." ' 
 
 The following historical facts have confirmed 
 the above. In the year 1540, when they "peti- 
 tioned Paul HI. to establish or sanction their or- 
 der, they were only ten in number. In 1543 
 they were not more than twenty-four. In 1545 
 -they had only ten houses ; but in 1549, they had 
 two provinces ; one in Spain, the other in Portugal, 
 and also twenty-two houses. At the death of Igna- 
 
 1 Varan's Annals of Ireland. 
 21 
 
242 JESUITISM. 
 
 zius Loyola in 1556, they had twelve large pro- 
 vinces. In 1608, there were reckoned twenty - 
 nine provinces, and two vice provinces, twenty- 
 one houses of professions, two hundred and nine- 
 ty-three colleges, thirty-three houses of proba- 
 tion, ninety-three other residences, and ten thous- 
 and five hundred and eighty-one Jesuits. In the 
 catalogue, printed at Rome in 1629, are found 
 thirty-five provinces, two vice provinces, thirty- 
 three houses of profession, five hundred and sev- 
 enty-eight colleges, forty-eight houses of proba- 
 tion, eighty-eight seminaries, one hundred and 
 sixty residences, one hundred and six mission 
 stations, and in all seventeen thousand six hun- 
 dred and fifty five Jesuits, of whom seven thous- 
 sand eight hundred and seventy were priests. At 
 last, in 1710, they had twenty-four houses of pro- 
 fession, fifty-nine houses of probation, three hun- 
 dred and forty residences, six hundred and twelve 
 colleges, of which about eighty were in France ; 
 two hundred mission stations, one hundred and 
 fifty-seven seminaries and boarding houses, and 
 nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight 
 Jesuits. The houses of profession were for Jes 
 uits of the first order who could hold no proper- 
 ty, but were dependent on charity. The houses 
 
JESUITISM. 243 
 
 m residence or probation were for those of the 
 second order, who could hold any amount. Many 
 of these houses are said to have equaled in splen- 
 dor the palaces of the kings and princes of France, 
 A late writer says: " At the abolition of this or- 
 der, their property was found to exceed ten times 
 the papal treasury at its most flourishing and afflu- 
 ent period, and yet no money scarcely was found 
 in their establishment, owing no doubt to their 
 precaution to secret it for future purposes." 
 
 American Protestants, you are the most favor- 
 ed nation upon this hemisphere, having the 
 privilege to breathe the free air of republicanism 
 and enjoy the blessings of a sound political con- 
 stitution ; let the history of the past be the guide 
 for the future, let the experience of the past not 
 be lost, but a lesson for the future. Read the 
 plots, intrigues, and assassinations^ which occu- 
 py no small part of the history of Jesuits. They 
 were implicated in the assassination of Henry 111. 
 of France ; they planned the Spanish armada ; 
 often attempted the life of Elizabeth of England ; 
 devised the gunpowder plot; instigated the mur- 
 der of Henry IV of France ; effected the revo- 
 cation of the edict of Nantz, and the persecution 
 of Protestants following on it, [one of the most 
 
244 JESUITISM; 
 
 bloody and disgraceful pictures in the history of 
 the world,] ruined James II, and in short, were 
 deeply engaged in all the atrocities and miseries* 
 which desolated Europe during nearly two hun- 
 dred years. So atrocious, extensive, and contin- 
 ual were their crimes, that they were expelled, 
 either partially or wholly from all the different 
 countries of Europe. They were expelled from 
 England by proclamation of James I in 1604, 
 The king of Portugal was assassinated, and Mal- 
 agrida and a few more of those holy fathers were 
 charged with advising and absolving the assassins, 
 and having been found guilty, were condemned to 
 the stake. The rest were banished with infamy, 
 and even treated with the most iniquitous cruelty. 
 On the sixth of August, 1752, their institute was 
 condemned by the parliament of France, as con- 
 trary to the laws of the State, to the obedience 
 due to the sovereign, and to the welfare of the 
 kingdom. The order was dissolved, and their 
 effects alienated. But in certain quarters, where 
 the provincial parliaments had not decided against 
 them, Jesuits still existed, and a royal edict was 
 afterwards promulgated, which formally abolished 
 the society in France. 
 
JESUITISM. 245 
 
 In Spain, where they conceived their establish- 
 ment to be perfectly secure, they experienced an 
 overthrow equally complete, and much more un- 
 expected. At midnight, March 31, in the year 
 1767, large bodies of military surrounded the six 
 colleges of the Jesuits in Madrid, forced the gates, 
 secured the bells, collected the fathers in the re- 
 fectory, and read to them the king's order for 
 their instant transportation. They were immedi- 
 ately put into carriages, previously placed at pro- 
 per stations, and were on their way to Carthage- 
 na before the inhabitants of the city had any in- 
 telligence of the transaction. Three days after, 
 the same measures were adopted with regard to 
 every other college of the order in the kingdom ; 
 and ships having been provided at the different 
 sea-ports, they were all embarked for the ecclesi- 
 astical states of Italy. All their property was 
 confiscated, and a small pension assigned to each 
 individual, as long as he should reside in a place 
 appointed, and satisfy the Spanish court as to his 
 peaceable demeanor. All correspondence with 
 the Jesuits was prohibited, and the strictest silence 
 on the subject of their expulsion was enjoined 
 under penalties of high treason. A similar seiz- 
 ure and deportation took place in the Indies, and 
 
246 JESUITISM. 
 
 an immense property was acquired by the govern- 
 ment. The example of the king of Spain, was 
 immediately followed by Ferdinand VI. of Na- 
 ples, and soon after by the prince of Parma and 
 Piacenza. They were expelled from Venice in 
 1606; from Antwerp in 1518; from Hungary 
 and Germany their banishment was demanded 
 above all other things. At Vienna they were ex- 
 pelled without judicial forms, and in Bordeaux 
 for conspiracy. The same from Bohemia, in the 
 year 1618. Mr. Be Prat, a Roman arch-bishop 
 of Malines, says : "Thirty-nine times they have 
 been banished and expelled, prior to their aboli- 
 tion in the year 1773, by Ganganelli, [Clem- 
 ent XIV.] 
 
 Their abolition was not a work of haste. Ac- 
 cording to the life of this pope, published in the 
 year 1776, he spent four years deliberately exam- 
 ining the history of this order. He searched the 
 archives of the Propaganda, for the documents 
 relating to their missions, the accusations against 
 and apologies for them ; desirous of being correct 
 in the matter of his condemnation, he communi- 
 cated his brief, privately to several cardinals and 
 theologians as well as to some sovereigns, «fcc, 
 before he promulgated it. He then decided on 
 
JESUITISM. 247 
 
 the abolition, but not without considering the con- 
 sequence's to himself. He believed it would be 
 death to iiim ; when he signed the instrument, he 
 is reported to have said: " The suppression is 
 accomplished. I do not repent of it, having only 
 resolved on it, after examining and weighing 
 every thing, and because I thought it necessary 
 fur the church. If it were not done, I would do 
 it now ; but this suppression will be my 
 death." The initial letters of a Pasquinade ap- 
 peared on St. Peter's church, which he interpret- 
 ed: " The Holy See will be vacant in Septem- 
 ber," which was verified in his death on the 
 twenty-second of that month, 1774, attended with 
 every symptom of poison. Thus ended for the 
 time being the order of Jesuits, and thus too the 
 man that dared to stop them in their course of in- 
 iquity. It is not saying too much, if we consult 
 history and experience, that another so infamous 
 a class of men never lived. 
 
 To show the reader that this is not my private 
 opinion, or the opinion of their enemies, or of the 
 Protestant heretics (as they call us) but that of 
 the secret college in Conelave, who have ever in- 
 tertained the same opinion of that pernicious or- 
 der ; it is well known to the reader, as well as to 
 
248 JESUITISM. 
 
 the world at large, that the Jesuits had the most 
 learned cardinals in the church of Rome, more 
 than any other monastic order, and with all their 
 intrigues they could never get a pope in their or- 
 der as others had, and never will obtain one. It 
 is a common saying in Rome ; 
 
 " Non date le chiavi a Jesu, 
 Perche non vi le rendera piu." 
 in plain English it is : " Give not the keys to a 
 Jesuit for he will never return them again." 
 
 Before I conclude I will give a short description 
 of the essential evils of the society of Ignazius 
 Loyola. Their essential principles are, that their 
 order is to be maintained at the expense of society 
 at large, and that the end sanctifies the means. 
 These principles are utterly incompatible with 
 the welfare of any community of men. Their 
 system of lax and pliant morality justifying every 
 vice and authorizing every atrocity, has left deep 
 and lasting ravages on the face of the moral world. 
 Their zeal to extend the jurisdiction of the court 
 of Rome over every civil government, gave cur- 
 rency to tenets respecting the duty of opposing 
 princes who were hostile to the papal creed, 
 which shook the basis of all political allegiance 
 and loosened the obligations of every human law 
 
JESUITISM. 249 
 
 Their indefatigable industry and countless artifices 
 in resisting the progress of the Protestant religion, 
 perpetuated the most pernicious errors of popery, 
 and postponed the triumph of tolerant and chris- 
 tian principles. Whence, then, it may well be 
 asked, whence the recent restoration ? What 
 long-latent proof has been discovered of the ex- 
 cellence or even the expedience of such an insti- 
 tution ? The sentence of their abolition, as we 
 saw, was passed by the senates and monarchs, 
 statesmen and divines of the church of Rome, by 
 the pope and of almost every civilized country in 
 the world. Almost every land has been stained 
 and torn by their crimes ; and almost every land 
 bears on its public records the most solemn protest 
 against their existence. The evils of Jesuitism 
 arise not from the violation of the principles of 
 the order ; on the contrary, they are natural and 
 necessary fruits of the system; they are confined 
 to no age, place or person ; they follow, like the 
 tail of the comet, the same disastrous course with 
 the luminary itself; and in consequence, not this 
 or that nation, but humanity, is startled at the re- 
 appearance of this common enemy of man. 1 
 
 'I would recommend to the reader, who wishes to 
 have all the minute particulars of the Jesuits and Je- 
 
 21 
 
MIRACLES OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 
 
 I cannot conclude ray volume without saying 
 something for the edification of the Roman Cath- 
 olics ; I say for their edification, for nothing is 
 more edifying to them than the miracles of their 
 saints, as a display of the holiness of the church 
 of Rome. They I trust will not think that I 
 speak in irony or ridicule ; by no means ; I will 
 merely state them as they are. Therefore, I will 
 say nothing of the feather of the angel Gabriel ; 
 neither of the bottle of the Virgin Mary's milk; 
 nor of the tears of our Saviour, which are pre- 
 served in the chapel of the Scala Santa in Rome. 
 I will say nothing of the holy house of Loretto, 
 where the Virgin Mary was born and brought up, 
 and in spite of its dimensions of thirty-two feet 
 long, thirteen broad and eighteen high, it was in 
 a miraculous manner transported in the air with 
 
 suitism, Edinb. British Encyclopaedia; and Encyclo- 
 paedia Americana ; Mosheim Eccl. History ; Harleian 
 Misc., vol. v. page 566; Broughton's Diet. Works of 
 Robert Hall ; New York Evangelist for 1831 ; British 
 Review, &c. Bat above all 1 would intreat every 
 Roman Catholic to read Pascal's Provincial Letters, 
 American edition, and he will learn the doctrines of 
 his chnreh, and the Protestants ought to read it in or- 
 der to know what they are. 
 
MIRACLES. 251 
 
 its chimney and belfry ; and according to its his- 
 tory, it was several times borne aloft through the 
 air and deposited in one place after another, until 
 it was finally located on the spot where it now 
 stands, and remained for the last six hundred 
 years without a foundation ; for the account of it 
 is sold in Philadelphia, and can be read by every 
 pious papist to the edification of his immortal 
 soul. 
 
 Neither will I speak of St. Viar, whom the 
 Spaniards venerate and invoke, and whom the 
 pope has canonized for the usual fee of a hundred 
 thousand dollars, and at the end it turned out that 
 St. Viar never existed. That the grave-stone 
 which was found with the inscription S. Viar, 
 does not say St. Viar, but Prefectus Viaruiu, 
 overseer of the high ways. 
 
 N or do I intend to make any remark on the 
 holy relic of the handkerchief of Sta. Veronica, 
 in St. Peter's in Rome, upon which the original 
 impression of our Saviour's face is seen, or of the 
 numerous Ave Marias and other prayers which I 
 once said to that handkerchief, I am only sorry to 
 say, that I have at last found out that all my Ave 
 Marias were for nothing, for Sta. Veronica never 
 existed, that her name was formed by blundering 
 
252 MIRACLES. 
 
 and confounding the two words vera icon (true 
 image,) which the first contrivers and impostors 
 visually wrote on the paintings of the Saviour's 
 image. 
 
 Neither will I speak of St. Amphibolis, who, 
 according to the catalogue of saints in the breviary 
 was bishop of the Isle of Man, and fellow martyr 
 and disciple of St. Alban. I am happy to state 
 for the consolation of the Roman Catholics, that 
 St. Amphibolis did not suffer martyrdom for he 
 never existed ; he is a saint risen by mistake. 
 This Amphibolis, though reverenced as a saint is 
 nothing more than a cloak, which Alban happened 
 to have at the time of his execution ; Amphibclis 
 being; the Greek word for a rough cloak, which 
 ecclesiastical persons usually wore in that age, 
 just as the Romans called the cloak of senators 
 and other distinguished persons, toga. (See 
 arch-bishop Usher.) 
 
 To show the Roman Catholic brethren that I 
 do not intend to ridicule, I will say nothing of 
 Sta. Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins, who, 
 on the twenty-first of October, are adored in the 
 following manner : " Permit us, we pray thee, O 
 Lord our God, to venerate with unceasing devo- 
 
MIRACLES. 253 
 
 tion the triumphs of the holy virgins and martyrs 
 Ursula and her companions, &c." ' 
 
 Nor will I relate all the adventures of the seven 
 holy sleepers, and accidents happening unto them 
 during the time of their long rest, who slept in a 
 cave for a period of three hundred and sixty-two 
 years, from the time of Decius to the reign of 
 Theodosius, nor of the worship which is offered 
 unto them the twenty-seventh of July. 
 
 I will at once select some miracles not of Italian 
 or Portuguese saints, which the reader might sus- 
 pect, but such which Bede and Southey have de- 
 clared as true and authentic. 
 
 "King Oswald set up a cross at Heofenpeld, 
 (or Heavenfield,) and after the battle fought there, 
 pieces of this cross were carried away ; they were 
 supposed to be perfectly efficacious in curing men 
 and cattle, and of course imparting miraculous 
 virtue to the water wherein they were dipt. The 
 moss which grew upon it possessed equal efficacy ; 
 and a brother in the monastery at Hagulstad, who 
 had lost the use of his arm in consequence of a 
 fracture, found it restored by sleeping with some 
 of this moss in his bosom. Earth taken from 
 
 'Breviarium Monasticum of pope Paul V., pao- e 
 G7G, Paris Ui71. * 
 
254 MIRACLES. 
 
 the spot where Oswald was slain, to be adminis- 
 tered in water, was in such request, that a pit had 
 been excavated there five or six feet deep, by per- 
 sons who came from all parts to obtain it. A 
 horse recovered from a (it by falling upon the sa- 
 cred spot, and the owner of the horse consequent- 
 ly carried a paralitic girl thither, who fell asleep 
 when she was laid upon the miraculous ground, 
 and awoke in perfect health. A bag containing 
 some of this earth was hung upon one of the 
 posts in the wall of a house which took fire, the 
 house was burned to the ground and that post 
 alone remained unconsumed. When Oswald's 
 bones were removed they were washed before 
 they were deposited in their shrine; and the earth 
 upon which the water was poured out, proved of 
 sovereign efficacy in expelling evil spirits from 
 possessed persons. A boy, who had an intermit- 
 tent fever, was assured, that if he went to the 
 shrine and remained there till the hour for the re- 
 gular paroxism was past, the disease would leave 
 him; he went in faith; the paroxism did not 
 come at the usual time, and it returned no more." 
 " The dust from St, Chad's coffin was an ap- 
 proved remedy for man and beast. Sick persons 
 were healed by being placed in the horse litter 
 
MIRACLES. 255 
 
 wherein Sir Erkcmval used to be carried; but if 
 they were too far away to be taken to it, a piece 
 cut from the litter was taken to them, and the 
 effect was the same." l 
 
 " St. Fursey was conducted by the angels who 
 in one of his flights, commanded him to look 
 down upon the earth. He discovered in the air 
 four fires at a little distance from each other, these 
 were kindled for the punishment of the wicked 
 and finally for the destruction of the world. The 
 first was the fire of lying, where men are punish- 
 ed who break their baptismal vow; the second, 
 that of covetousness ; the third, that of dissen- 
 sion ; the fourth, that of iniquity, especially the 
 sin of defrauding others. Fursey was much alarm- 
 ed at beholding the increase of these fires, and 
 that they gradually approached him. The angels, 
 however, silenced his fears by informing him that 
 they were only intended for those who had kind- 
 led them by the sins above mentioned. Accord- 
 ingly, when it reached them, one of the angels 
 went before him and divided the flames ; the two 
 others, one on each side, warded them off to the 
 right and left, and he past through unhurt, seeing 
 
 l Souihey Vindicae Ecclesiae Anglican©, p. 133, who 
 quotes from Bede's History, lib. iii. cap. 4. 
 
256 MIRACLES. 
 
 on the way many devils flying about, some of 
 whom pursued him with accusations. From 
 thence he passed into the regions of bliss and 
 found many of his friends there. On his way 
 back, he was obliged to go again through the fire, 
 and as he was passing again through the flames, 
 the devils snatched up a soul which they were 
 tormenting and flung it at him. This unhappy 
 sold was so burning hot that it scorched his 
 shoulder and his cheek where it touched him" ' 
 That is a little too tough to digest. 
 
 " Touama, who fell in a battle, fought near 
 Trent, and though left as dead, he revived, and 
 was taken prisoner, whose chains fell off every 
 night to the great surprise of all. The cause of 
 which was, that his brother, an abbot of Tunna- 
 caster, supposing that he was dead, had said 
 masses for his soul ! Touama suspected the rea- 
 son, and explained the matter in this way. " When 
 however, it was ascertained that the chains fell 
 off just at the time that the masses were said for 
 his soul ; it had a marvellous effect in inducing 
 many to bespeak masses for their deceased 
 friends." 2 
 
 'Bede, lib. 3, c. 19. 
 2 Bede, lib. 4, c. 122. 
 
MIRACLES. 257 
 
 I forbear any comment except a question which 
 Southey thus puts to Mr. Butler : " Would you 
 desire, Sir, a prettier sample of priestcraft and 
 importance than this scheme for bringing custom 
 to the mass-mongers at Tunnacaster?" l Such 
 are a few specimens of the miracles related by 
 Bede. Trusting that they have suiliciently edi- 
 fied my Roman Catholic brethren, but should that 
 not be the case, I will earnestly recommend them 
 " the Golden Legend" of Jacobius de Voragine ; 
 those related in the "Speculum" of Vincentius 
 Belluacensis ; and those related in the " Saints' 
 Lives" of the patrician Metaphiastes ; those re- 
 lated by Surius and Monbritius, where they will 
 find the most absurd and ridiculous stories, which 
 will afford them much pleasure, and great edifi- 
 cation. 
 
 Having thus edified the Roman Catholics, I 
 will also amuse my Protestant readers, by rela- 
 ting some miracles. St. Genajo, is the protector 
 of Naples in Italy, his blood is preserved in a 
 small bottle at the altar of the church of the same 
 name. It is believed by every Neapolitan, and 
 well known by every traveler, that the liquifac- 
 
 'Southey Vindica? Ecclosiae Angl. p. 211. 
 
258 MIRACLES. 
 
 lion of that blood is an indication of grace and 
 mercy to the inhabitants of the city, as well as to 
 private individuals, who approach in faith to the 
 saint At the time when Napoleon invaded Italy, 
 suppressing the convents and nunneries, carrying 
 the priests and their riches to France, the few 
 who remained, were as a matter of course, not 
 very loyal to the emperor, they agitated in secret, 
 whispered in the confessionals, into the ears of 
 the Lazzaronies, that " St. Genajo is displeased 
 with the conduct of the invaders, that his blood 
 did not boil during the whole time the ungodly 
 French soldiers occupied the kingdom of Na- 
 ples." The reader can imagine the fermentation 
 of the populace, the acrimony of the devotees, 
 the fears of the peaceful citizens, and satisfaction 
 of the priests. The complot was organized, and 
 the time of a second Sicilian vesper was appoint- 
 ed, at the procession with the blood of St. Gen- 
 ajo, [when all the populace, and Lazzaronies are 
 gathered,] then the signal of the slaughter should 
 be given. The day arrived; the high mass was 
 celebrated, the blood of Genajo exposed to the 
 adoration of the people; but it would not boil, 
 not even liquify. The spies of the French, im- 
 mediately informed the commander of the troop, 
 
MIRACLES. 259 
 
 of the imminent danger, who without delay gave 
 orders that the whole armory should occupy the 
 principal streets of the city ; two cannons were 
 planted before the door of the church of St. Gen- 
 ajo, and at the different corners of the streets with 
 lighted matches, and a special order to the Vicar 
 of the bishops, who celebrated the mass: " That 
 if in ten minutes St. Genajo should not per- 
 form his usual miracle, the whole city ivould 
 be reduced to ruins ;" and in five minutes the 
 saint was pacified, his blood liquified and boiled. 
 The " gloria in excelsis" was sung, the shouts of 
 joy re-echoed in the air, and the French rejoiced 
 with them, but not the disappointed priests. 
 
 The house of Loretto is one of the richest es- 
 tablishments of the pope, and the surest source 
 to get money. As soon as the French troops oc- 
 cupied the papal dominions, Napoleon ordered, 
 "that the silver statues representing the apostles, 
 should be taken from that house and melted, and 
 coined with his bust on it, in order that they 
 might be faithful to the command of their Master, 
 who ordered them, "to go into all the world," 
 but not to remain inactive in the house of Loretto, 
 and court the lady. His messengers came to the 
 house, but the twelve apostles were already gone 
 
260 MIRACLES. 
 
 when Napoleon was informed that the silver apos- 
 tles undertook the voyage before his messengers 
 arrived. He said : " never mind the apostles, I 
 have the Vicar of Christ and he shall not escape," 
 and carried the pope Pius VII. to France. 
 
 " St. Anthony, the Stylite of Egypt, who lived 
 upwards of thirty years on the top of a pillar, 
 was considered to have attained the highest degree 
 of holiness." * 
 
 " A man who returned from the fiery regions 
 saw the miserable wretches there unable to endure 
 the heat on the right hand, throwing themselves 
 into the equal torment of cold on the other." 2 
 
 " St. Dominick, (the author and finisher of the 
 Holy Inquisition,) was such a holy man, that he 
 made the fiend in the shape of a monkey, hold a 
 candle for him till he burnt his fingers." 
 
 " At another time St. Dominick fastened the 
 devil, in the shape of a flea, to a book, which he 
 was reading and only allowed him to skip from 
 one page to another as the saint turned over the 
 leaves." 
 
 " St. Dennis and St. Alban carried their heads 
 in their hands after they were beheaded." 3 
 
 'Omicron's third letter, p. 58. 
 
 2 See Release from Purgatory, p. 309. 
 
 3 Omicron's third letter, p. G4. 
 
MIRACLES. i26l 
 
 " St. Anthony of Padua, preached on the same 
 day and hour in Padua, in Italy ; in Madrid, the 
 capital of Spain; in Lisbon, the capital of Portu- 
 gal and in Rome." The apostles on the day of 
 Pentecost preached in their own language, and 
 Were undei stood by all the nations at Jerusalem, 
 or as some say, they preached in the different 
 languages of the people who were at Jerusalem 
 St. Anthony of Padua, spoke not only Italian , 
 Spanish and Portuguese at the same time, but 
 was also omnipresent in the different parts of 
 Europe. 
 
 If I would continue to relate the absurd mira- 
 cles which are authenticated by the church of 
 Rome, and believed by the papists as facts, I 
 could write a volume in folio ; but as this would 
 be a useless expence for myself, and of no profit 
 for my readers, I will make an appeal to the Ro- 
 man Catholics as well as to Protestants The 
 first I intreat not to trifle with their soul's salva- 
 tion, but to inquire into the truth, to read the bible 
 for in that only they will find the hidden treasure, 
 the pearl of great price, the truth as it is in Jesus, 
 And if I have said any thing which might have 
 wounded their feelings, I can assure them, that it 
 was not my intention to attack any person or 
 
262 MIRACLES. 
 
 wound any man's feelings, but enlighten those 
 who know little of the intrigues of the church of 
 Rome* and lead them to the pure fountain of life 
 Jesus Christ And the Protestants 1 beseech to 
 pray without ceasing for the conversion of the 
 church of Rome. May God grant it in his ten- 
 der mercies. 
 
 THE END* 
 
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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
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