eighteen bishops, it was proved that the Son is consubstantial, of the same substance with the Father, and moreover, that whosoever should dare to assert that this expression is unscriptural, he should without further ceremony be deemed a heretic, and be cut off from communion with the church in this world, and without doubt should perish in the world to come. After they had thus decided, and had banished Arius and his followers, who determined to abide by the language of the scripture, these domineering priests sent letters of self-commendation to their friends in Egypt, Lybia, and Pentapolis. Having rewarded the priests and recommended to them peace and harmony, Constantine dismissed the Council, and wrote to several churches, recommending and enjoining universal conformity to the decrees of the Council, both in doctrine and ceremonies; using this, among other arguments, that what they had decreed was the will of God, and that the argreement of so great a number of bishops could be by no other than the immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost.That the Nicene doctors were inspired, whoever considers the nature and extent of their anathemas and depositions, together with the subsequent persecutions of which this council was the foundation, can have no doubt; but whether their inspiration was by the Holy Ghost, is another question. The scriptural Christians being now the weaker party, not relishing neither the decree of the Nicene Council, or the letters of Constantine, most unhappy consequences very soon took place. The orthordox emperor finding his admonitions disregarded, resolved, in the madness of his zeal, to try the efficacy of more formidable motives, and accordingly issued sundry edicts against all who should dare to oppose his will, or slight the decrees of the Council of Nice; at the same time, ordering that the books of their opponents should be burnt, and if any kept them in their possession or endeavoured to counteract his edict, they should, on conviction thereof, suffer death. Thus, the authors of the Nicene creed first brought in the punishment of heresy with death, and persuaded the emperor to destroy those whom he could not easily convert. The scriptures were now no longer the rule of faith and practice; but orthodoxy and hetrodoxy were decided by vote, and agreed upon, not by the number and weight of arguments, but by the number and power of emperors, priests, and councils. The next council that was held was composed of bishops possessing opinions somewhat different from those of their predecessors, because Constantine II. happened to be favourable to the Arians. The side of orthodoxy was now changed, but fulminations and damnations still adhered to the decrees of the council against all those who should dare to oppose them. This alternate shifting of hands continued through the whole of this century. It was in this century also, that painted crosses and the making of pilgrimages became fashionable. The fifth century gave birth to an established union of the temporal and spiritual jurisdictions of the popes; though, as yet, no one had the hardihood to declare himself either infallible or supreme. The prohibiting priests to marry, baptizing with godfathers and godmothers; the sign of the cross in baptism, and some other less important matters, were introduced in this century. The bulk of ecclesiastical historians fix the year 606 for the title of universal bishop being conferred on the pontiff of Rome. This dignity had been assumed by the bishop of Constantinople in the preceding century, but was now confirmed to Boniface 3d; who being elected pope, prevailed on the emperor Phocas to take the title of universal bishop from the bishop of Constantinople, and grant it to him and his successors, by his absolute decree; which was passed for that purpose. Now it was that popery got established, and from this period, therefore, we may date the appellation of Roman Catholic.Without, however, minutely detailing the origin of those various doctrines and ceremonies by which the church of Rome has long been distinguished, we will proceed to give a succinct account of the belief and practice of this very large and respectable portion of the christian world. We cannot, perhaps, do this better, than by laying before our readers, A Summary of the Doctrine, Discipline, and Ceremonies of the Church of Rome, as contained in the Creed of Pope Pius IV. ART. 1.-I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible. The one true and living God in Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ART. II.—I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God; begotten of the Father before all worlds; light of light; very God of very God; begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made. ART. III.-Who for us men, and our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. ART. IV. And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate: he suffered and was buried. ART. V -And the third day rose again, according to the Scriptures. ART. VI.-He ascended into heaven; sits at the right hand of the Father. ART. VII.--And is to come again with glory, to judge both the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end. ART. VIII.-I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who spake by the prophet. ART. IX.--I believe in one only catholic and apostolic church. ART. X.—I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. ART. XII-I believe in the life of the world to come. Amen. ART. XIII-I most firmly admit and embrace the apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the same church. ART. XIV.—I do admit the Holy Scriptures in the same sense that our Holy Mother Church doth, whose business it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of them; and I will intepret them according to the unanimous consent of the fathers. ART. XV.-I do profess and believe, that there are seven sacraments, truly and properly so called, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all of them to every one, (viz.) baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony, and that they do confer grace, and that of these things, baptism, confirmation, and orders, cannot be repeated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the received and approved rites of the catholic church, in her solemn administrations of all the aforesaid sacraments. ART. XVI.-I embrace and receive every thing that has been defined and declared by the holy council of Trent, concerning original sin and justification. ART. XVII.—I do also profess, that in the mass there is offered unto God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the dead; and that, in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is a conversion made of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood; which conversion the whole catholic church call TRANSUBSTANTIATION. ART. XVIII.—And I believe, that under one kind only, whole and entire, Christ is taken and received. ART. XIX -I do firmly believe that there is a purgatory, and that the souls kept prisoners there do receive help by the suffrage of the faithful. To this Bellarmine and the Rhenish Annotations have added-That the souls of the Patriarchs and holy men, who departed this life before the crucifixion of Christ, were kept as in a prison, in a department of hell without pain-That Christ did really go into local hell, and deliver the captive souls out of this confinement. The fathers assert, that our Saviour descended into hell; went thither specially, and delivered the souls of the fathers out of their mansions. ART. XX.-I do believe, that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be worshipped and prayed unto; and that they do offer prayers untə God for us; and that their relics are to be had in veneration. ART. XXI.-I do believe that the images of Christ, of the blessed Vir gin the mother of God, and of other saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration ought to be paid unto them. ART. XXII.—I do affirm, that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the church; and that the use of them is very beneficial to christian people. ART. XXIII.—I do acknowledge the holy catholic and apostolic Roman Church to be the mother and mistress of all churches; and I do promise and swear true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and the Vicar of Jesus Christ. ART. XXIV.—I do undoubtedly receive and profess all other things that are delivered, defined by the sacred canons and œcumenical councils, and especially by the holy synod of Trent: and all other things contrary hereunto, and all heresies condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the church, I do likewise condemn, reject, and anathema-tize. This bull, as it is called, bears date one the ides of November, 1564, and concludes in the usual manner, with the threats of the indignation of God, and his blessed apostles, St. Peter, and St. Paul, against all who dare to infringe or oppose it. Whether this profession of faith would now be subscribed by every Roman Catholic, we will not take upon us to say; but it is certain, that it has received the sanction and confirmation of the Council of Trent, the last general Council, and has been explained and vindicated by Bossuet and other Catholic writers. We should not omit to notice the truly ingenious publication of the late worthy Alexander Geddes, entitled "A Modest Apology for the Roman Catholics of Great Britain." In this singular publication, the author has laboured hard to prove that a very great resemblance exists (even so much as to leave little to prevent a cordial coalition) between the doctrines and discipline of the two churches of Rome and England. This dissenting Catholic, seems to speak of the Romish Church, in terms not much unlike what her friends have usually employed on similar occasions; and very plainly informs us, that the enervation of ancient church discipline, the fabrication of false decretals, the multiplication of appeals, dispenses, exemptions, immunities, and enormous privileges, the rage of idle pilgrimages, the base traffic of indulgences, the propagation of lying legends, feigned miracles, and apocryphal revelations, the doctrines of the pope's infallibility, temporal jurisdiction, and deposing power, are so many large crops of spiritual cockle, that have been, at different times, "while men slept," sown by the enemy in the wide field of the Catholic world. This representation is certainly curious, at least, as com ing from the pen of a professed Roman Catholic priest. If the English Catholics differ materially from their brethren in other countries, where is the unity and catholicity of the Romish faith? We must now conclude this article with a brief statement of the decline and present state of the papal power in Europe.The deadly blow which this gigantic power received in the sixteenth century, will be treated of in the article REFORMATION. From the effects of that blow the Roman Catholic interests have never yet recovered. It was a deep and deadly wound to the usurpations of tyranny, and the towering pride of ecclesiastical domination. In the article, to which we have already alluded, the reader will find a brief enumeration of the countries which receive the doctrine of the reformation, as well as of those countries where the principles of religious liberty had made but little progress. These latter, were principally, France, Spain, Italy and Poland. In each of those countries the spirit of reform has more or less manifested itself since the era of the reformation. In the first mentioned, particularly, the authority of the supreme head of the church, has, since the commencement of the revolution, received an alarming dimunition. Indeed, the liberties of the Gallican church had always depended upon two maxims: 1. That the pope has not the authority to command any thing in general or particular, in which the civil rights of the kingdom are concerned; 2. That though the pope's supremacy is owned in spiritual matters, yet his power is limited and regulated by the decrees and and canons of ancient councils in the realm. These maxims in the Gallican church have been superceded by the Concordat, and still more by events of a very recent date. When the French revolution first broke out, the clergy in that country suffered every species of insult and cruelty that an infuriate rabble, or more refined councils, could invent. Their tithes and revenues were taken from them, and the pos sessions of the church were considered as national property; the religious orders were dissolved, and their estates confiscated.When the National Assembly attempted to impose upon the clergy, what they denominated the "civil constitution of the clergy," a refusal to submit to it, was attended with the most alarming consequences. One hundred and thirty-eight bishops and archbishops, and sixty-eight curates or vicars, were on this account, driven from their sees and parishes. Numbers of these unfortu nate men were massacred in the streets, while hundreds sought refuge in this and other countries. Notwithstanding these proceedings, on the 25th May, 1795, a decree was obtained for religious worship; and in the following June, the churches in Paris |