said he, and I obey her. But when it was demanded of Campion," although the Pope did expressly command him the contrary, if he would nevertheless faithfully obey her. Oh then! they must not so deeply enter into his conscience."

When this Bull had been issued, the conduct of Elizabeth towards the Roman Catholics was necessarily altered, and those who suffered, suffered not for their religious principles, as such, but because the Pope, by his Bull, had, to the utmost of his power and authority, united treasonable principles to the religious one, and so far at least made the religion treasonable. Whatever therefore were the severities attributed to that truly great Queen, (which never extended to fire and faggot,) she did not confound the loyal with the traitors; and the latter suffered by the law of the land, not for the religious principles, but for the treason connected with them by the Pope. What? Was a Princess, whose deep penetration and capacious mind could astonish even a Sully, to sit puling over the malignant mischief, and suffer it to gather strength? Was she to be blind to the origin, and insensible to the progress, of treason under the sanction of a Pope, and to suffer herself to be deposed? Blessed be God that she was not that ideot; that she had the sense to see, and the spirit to resist effectually, the designs of such an enemy, and of those who endeavoured to promote them. These designs were open and avowed in the face of all Europe, beyond the

* Holingshed,

power of the zeal or ingenuity of party to conceal or extenuate, and such as, had she shewn less firmness, or less exertion of the power of the laws, would most probably have succeeded.

Had it not been for this Bull, the Roman Catholics would not have been so forward to plot against her, and their peaceable conduct would have ensured her protection; for, by that which she gave to those upon whose loyalty she could depend, it is evident, as it is also from the necessity of the times, that she would have wished to extend it, had she found she could do it safely; and she did extend it, perhaps more so than the nation at large might have approved. For the nation, sensible of the inestimable blessings of religion, free from the errors that had so long debased it, and more particularly of the comfort and consolation of reading the word of God, was justly jealous of any thing which might tend to revive that thraldom of superstition, which it had cast off.

To this jealousy the Gunpowder-plot gave additional force. However it was planned, the conspirators were serious in the attempt; and it will be an eternal stigma on the church of Rome, that the secresy of the confessional should for a moment comprehend secresy as to treason, or any crime intended. And what visible marks were there, that would, at that time, induce the public to believe, that the principles of the Romish church had undergone any change since the Eve of Saint Bartholomew? There does not seem to have been any. So far the public opinion appears to have been justifiable. Its fears were also further justified by the unhappy wish of Charles I. to have recourse to the

aid of those of the Romish religion. From this circumstance the Roman Catholics, acquiring new hopes, were loyal to him; but perhaps there was no one circumstance that was more injurious to his interests than his having done so. And, whatever may be thought of the present times, the conduct of the Roman Catholics, in the time of James II. justified every apprehension that had been previously entertained by the Protestants, as to the religion and the constitution of the country.....

Since that time it is true that many changes have taken place, upon the Continent especially, and perhaps among the Roman Catholics here, in the mode of considering the violent measures adopted by the policy of Rome, so that the doctrine of extermination appears to be pretty much given up. It is to be much wished it were wholly and formally so by the See of Rome itself. As to the whole extent of the extermination of those who differ in religious opinions from the Catholics, the fatal impolicy of the extermination of the Moors from Spain may possibly have been too strong a warning of the horror it has inspired throughout the world, to permit even the policy of Rome itself to wish a repetition on so large a scale. Whether that policy would object much to it on a lesser scale, (though the liberality of those who have preferred the petition would not,) may perhaps still be problematical, as Rome has not given up the principle. It is admitted that she no longer avows openly a principle of extermination; she is too prudent to do so; but it may be truly asserted that she holds a principle which may be extended to it. For she not only

1

anathematizes all heretics, but enjoins the secular arm to "punish severely all those who resist the liberty, immunity, or jurisdiction of the church," consequently all who differ from her.

How far this punishment may extend, under the name given to it of ordinances of discipline, may depend upon the times, the power, and the system of policy. In Spain it was to extermination, in France to the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and later still to the dragooning of Languedoc, &c. in England mostly to the burning of the martyrs. But the injunction still remains in its full force and spirit, as that of the church itself which gave it birth.

Where then was the alleged benefit to mankind, that" she herself has declared formally, that she has no power of inflicting sanguinary punishment in any case whatever?" Better a thousand times would it have been for the happiness of the world, that she had declared the reverse. She would then have been restrained by the odium from the acts, which, having thus screened herself, she has so remorselessly excited others to perpetrate, by her † ordinances of discipline.

* Admonet Imperatorum, Reges, Resp. Principes-ut severè in eos qui illius libertatem, immunitatem atque jurisdictionem impediunt, animadvertant.-Concil. Trid. Sess. 25. cap. 20.

† It having been said that the violation of the safe conduct is a matter that lies between the Emperor Sigismund and the magistrates of the free city of Constance, it is right to observe, that the words of the free conduct, granted by the council of Trent, do however give a very different idea, and induce the belief, that the reverend

And the perfect complacency, if not approbation, with which these are yet spoken of, forbids the sup

fathers who composed that council thought that the council of Constance had no small share in the violation.

Insuper omni fraude et dolo exclusis, verâ et bonâ fide promittit ipsam synodum nullam vel manifeste vel occulte occasionem quæsituram, aut aliquâ auctoritate, potentiâ, jure, vel statuto, privilegis legum vel canonum, aut quarumcunque Conciliorum, præsertim Constantiensis et Senensis-in aliquod hujus fidei publicæ et plenissimæ assecurationis præjudicium quovis modo usuram, aut quenquam uti permisuram: quibus in hac parte prohac vice derogat.-Salv. Cond. Sess. 18.

"The council, setting aside all fraud and deceit, promises truly and faithfully, that it will neither openly nor clandestinely seek for any opportunity, or use, or permit it to be used, to any prejudice of this public pledge of faith, and fullest security, by any authority, power, right, or statute, privilege of laws, canons, or of any councils whatsoever, especially those of Constance or Sienna, which for this instance, in this respect, it does not defer to."

Did then the council of Trent make an exception as to a respect, for which there was no foundation? If we are to believe the fathers of this council, they knew that there did exist authorities for violating a safe conduct, in the acts of the councils they have referred to. But supposing even that they were mistaken, they have confirmed the doctrine as their own by the exception. Holding that the authority did exist, they derogate from the authorityHow?-For that time, and, by so doing, leave it in full force to every other. The doctrine then is so far from being repealed, that it has the sanction of the council of Trent, as far as the sanction of that council does, or can extend.

Indeed to imagine that any portion of the power of their church was abrogated, or in any degree lessened by the council of Trent, would be totally inconsistent with what is known of the temper of that council, or of the conduct of the Popes immediately after its conclusion.