The every one of which, one or more cardinals preside. decisions of these societies are generally approved of by the Roman pontiff, who has not a right, without alleging the most weighty and evident reasons, to reverse what they pronounce to be just and expedient. This form of ecclesiastical government, is doubtless a check to the authority of the pope; and hence it is, that many things are transacted at Rome in a manner that is in direct opposition to the sentiments of its spiritual ruler. This may serve to show us, that those persons are little acquainted with the nature and limits of the papal hierarchy, who pretend that all the iniquitous proceedings of the court of Rome, the calamities it has occasioned, the contentions, rebellions, and tumults it has excited, are to be entirely and wholly laid to the charge of the Roman pontiff. Debates arise the III. The power of the Roman pontiff hath excited debates even among those that are under the papal hierarchy; and the spiritual subjects of this pre- concerning tended head of the church, are very far from be- the power of ing agreed with respect to the extent of his au- pontiff. thority and jurisdiction. Hence it happens, that this authority and dominion are not the same in all places, having a larger scope in some provinces, and being reduced within narrower bounds in others. If indeed we consider only the pretensions of the pontiff, then we shall find that his power is unlimited and supreme; for there are no prerogatives that can flatter ambition, which he does not claim for temporal government of the papal territories. In these congregations, where the pope is never present, all things are transacted which relate to the execution of public justice in civil or criminal matters, the levying of taxes, the providing the cities and provinces with good governors, the relieving those who are unjustly oppressed by subordinate magistrates, the coinage, the care of the rivers, aqueducts, bridges, roads, churches, and public edifices. d The court of Rome is very particularly and accurately described by Aymon, who had been before his conversion to the Protestant religion, domestic chaplain to Innocent XI. in a book, entitled Tableau de la Cour de Rome, of which the first edition was published at the Hague, in 8vo. in the year 1707, and the second in 1726. See also Relation de la Cour de Rome et des Ceremonies qui s'y observent, which father Labat has translated into French, from the Italian of Jerom Limadoro, and subjoined to his Voyages en Espagne et Italie, tom. viii. p. 105. For an account of the Roman congregations, &c. see Doroth. Ascian. De Montibus Pietatis Romanis, p. 510; as also Hunold. Plettenberg, Notitia Tribunal. et Congregat. Curiæ Romanæ, Hildesiæ, in 8vo. 1503. e Hence arises that important distinction, frequently employed by the French and other nations in their debates with the Roman pontiff; I mean the distinction between the pope of Rome and the court of Rome. The latter is often loaded with the bitterest reproaches and the heaviest accusations, while the former is spared, and in some measure excused. Nor is this distinction by any means groundless; since the cardinals and congregations, whose rites and privileges are held sacred, undertake and execute many projects without the knowledge, and sometimes against the will and consent of the Roman pontiff. : : himself and his court. He not only pretends, that the The declension of Rome. f The arguments employed by the creatures of the Roman pontiff in defence of his unlimited authority, may be seen in Bellarmine and other writers, of which an enormous collection has been made by Roccaberti; and, what is not a little extraordinary, a French writer, named Petitdidier, appeared in defence of the pope's pretensions, in a book published at Luxemburg, in the year 1724, Sur l'Authorite de l'Infallibilite des Papes. The sentiments of the Gallican church, and the arguments by which it opposes the pretensions of Rome, may be seen in the writings of Richer and Lauпоу. wealth and power of the Roman pontiffs. It must also be observed, that even the kings, princes, and sovereign states, who adhered to the religion of Rome, yet changed their sentiments with respect to the claims and pretensions of its bishop. If they were not persuaded by the writings of the protestants to renounce the superstitions of popery, yet they received most useful instruction from them in other matters of very great moment. They drew from these writings important discoveries of the groundless claims and unlawful usurpations of the Roman pontiffs, and came at length to perceive, that if the jurisdiction and authority of Rome continued the same that it was before the rise of Luther, the rights of temporal princes, and the majesty of civil government would sooner or later be absorbed in the gulf of papal avarice and ambition. Hence it was, that most of the sovereign states of Europe, partly by secret and prudent measures, partly by public negotiations and remonstrances, set bounds to the daring ambition of Rome, which aimed at nothing less than universal dominion both in ecclesiastical and civil affairs; nor did the Roman pontiff think it either safe or expedient to have recourse to the ancient arms of the church, war and excommunication, in order to repel these attacks upon his authority. Even those very kingdoms that acknowledged the Roman pontiff as the lawgiver of the church, and an infallible guide, confine nevertheless his power of enacting laws within narrow limits. The methods employed by tiff's to repair Miss ions. v. In this declining state of their affairs, it was natural for the humbled pontiffs to look about for some method of repairing their losses; and for this pur- the Loman ponpose they exerted much more zeal and industry, their losses. than had been shown by their predecessors, in extending the limits of their spiritual dominion beyond Europe, and left no means unemployed of gaining proselytes and adherents in the Indies, both among the pagan nations and the Christian sects. The Jesuits, as we have already had occasion to observe, were the first missionaries that were sent for this purpose into these distant parts of the world; but able men, selected out of the other monastic orders, were afterward employed in this arduous undertaking. If however we except the exploits of Francis Xavier and his companions in India, China, and Japan, of which notice has been taken above, there were no great matters effected in this century; as, generally speaking, the persons who were set apart to execute this grand project, were not as yet endowed with that experience and dexterity that it necessarily required, and set about the work with more zeal than prudence and knowledge. The Portuguese had, in the preceding century, opened a passage into the country of the Abyssinians, who professed the doctrine, and observed the religious rites of the Monophysites; and this offered a favourable occasion of reducing this people under the papal yoke. Accordingly, John Bermudes was sent into Ethiopia for this purpose; and that he might appear with a certain degree of dignity, he was clothed with the title of Patriarch of the Abyssinians. The same important commission was afterward given to Ignatius Loyola, and the companions of his labours; and at their first setting out, several circumstances, and particularly a war with a neighbouring prince, which the Abyssinian monarch was desirous of terminating by the powerful succours of the Portuguese, seemed to promise them a successful and happy ministry. But the event did not answer this fond expectation; and in some time it appeared plainly, that the Abyssinians stood too firm in the faith of their ancestors, to be easily engaged to abandon and forsake it; so that, toward the conclusion of this century, the Jesuits had almost lost all hopes of succeeding in their attempts." tians and Ar menians. VI. The Egyptians or Copts, who were closely connected with the Abyssinians in their religious senThe Egyp timents, and also in their external forms of worship, became next the objects of Rome's ambitious zeal; and, in the year 1562, Christopher Roderic, a Jesuit of note, was sent by the express order of pope Pius IV. to propagate the cause of popery among that people. This ecclesiastic, notwithstanding the rich presents and subtle arguments by which he attempted to change the sentiments, and shake the constancy of Gabriel, who was at g It is certainly by mistake that Dr. Mosheim mentions Loyola as having made a voyage into Abyssinia. Jesuits were sent, at different periods, to that country, and with little success: but their founder was never there in person. h See Ludolfi Histor. Æthiopica et Comm. Geddes, Church History of Ethiopia, p. 120. Le Grand, Dissertation de la Conversion des Abyssins, which is to be found in the second volume of the Voyage Historique d'Abyssinie du R. P. Jerome Lobo, p. 13. La Croze, Histoire du Christianisme en Ethiopie, livr. ii. p. 90. i Franc. Sachini Histor. Societat. Jesu, part ii. lib. v. Euseb. Renaud. Historia Patritriarchar. Alexandrin. p. 161 Hist. de la Compagnie de Jesus, tom. iii. p. 314. that time patriarch of Alexandria, returned to Rome with no other effect of his embassy than fair words and a few compliments. It is however true, that toward the conclusion of this century, and during the pontificate of Clement VIII. an embassy from another patriarch of Alexandria, whose name was also Gabriel, appeared at Rome, and was considered as a subject of triumph and boasting by the creatures of the pope.' But the more candid and sensible, even among the Roman catholics, looked upon this embassy, and not without reason, as a stratagem of the Jesuits, to persuade the Abyssinians, who were so prone to follow the example of their brethren of Alexandria, to join themselves to the communion of Rome, and to submit to the authority and jurisdiction of its pontiff." It is at least certain, that, after this solemn embassy, we do not find in the records of history the smallest token of a propensity in the Copts to embrace the doctrine or discipline of Rome. Many years before this period, a considerable sect of the Armenians had been accustomed to treat the Roman pontiff with particular marks of veneration and respect, without departing however from the religious doctrine, discipline, or worship of their ancestors. Of this a farther account shall be given in the history of the eastern churches; it may nevertheless be proper to observe here, that the attachment of this sect to the bishop of Rome was greatly increased, and the votaries of the pontiff considerably multiplied, by the zeal of Zerapion, an opulent man, who was entirely devoted to the court of Rome, and who, by engaging himself to discharge the debts under which the Armenians groaned, obtained, in the year 1593, k This patriarch offered to send one of his bishops to the council of Trent, in order to get rid of the importunity of these Jesuits; but he refused positively the sending any of his young students to be educated among their order, and declared plainly that he owed no obedience nor submission to the bishop of Rome, who had no more dignity nor authority than any other bishop except within the bounds of his own diocess. See Histoire des Religieux de la Compagne de Jesus, tom. ii. p. 322, 324. 1 The transactions of this embassy, adorned with an ample and pompous preface, are subjoined to the sixth volume of the Annal. Eccl. of Baronius, p. 707, edit. Antwerp. m Renaudot, in his Hist. Patriarch. Alexandrin. p. 611, 612, endeavours to maintain the credit and importance of this embassy, of which Baronius has given such a pompous account. He is however much mistaken, when he asserts, that father Simon, relying upon the fallacious testimony of George Douza, was the only person that ever considered this embassy as a stratagem; since it is evident that Thomas a Jesu, in the sixth book of his treatise De conversione omnium gentium procuranda, has considered it in the same light, as well as several other writers. See Geddes, Church History of Ethiopia, p: 231, 232. |
