served, that the second commandment is altogether omitted, as well as the fourth, for which last is substituted the Pope's command, to "remember to keep holy the festivals," (that is, the festivals of the Romish Church,) which he has set apart for idolatry and idleness, but which God has set apart for LABOUR; while the seventh day, which God has commanded us to keep holy, is not even mentioned to "remember."

It were not difficult to multiply examples similar to those above given, of the worship actually paid to the Blessed Virgin Mary in other countries where Popery is dominant, and the pure word of God consequently is excluded. But the preceding instances will suffice to accomplish the object which we have in view, viz., to show, from the writings of reputed saints and doctors, and from the Breviary, and other manuals of devotion authorized by the bishops of the Romish Church, her real tenets, and, from credible testimony, her actual practice, with regard to the worship of the Virgin Mary. "All which (to borrow the appropriate and forcible language of the eminently learned and pious Archbishop Usher*) we do lay down thus largely; not because we take any delight in rehearsing those things which deserve to be buried in everlasting oblivion; but, first, that the world may take notice what kind of monster is nourished in the Papacy, under that strange name Hyperdulia, the bare discovery whereof, we are persuaded, will prevail as much with a mind that is touched with any zeal for God's honour, as all other arguments and authorities whatsoever; secondly, that such unstable souls, as look back unto Sodom, and have a lust to turn back unto Egypt again, may be advised to look a little into this sink, and consider with themselves, whether the stream that ariseth from thence be not so noisome that it is not to be endured by one that hath any sense left in him of piety; and, thirdly, that such as be established in the truth may be thankful to God for this great mercy vouchsafed unto them."

Highly, indeed, should we esteem and

• "Answer to a Jesuit,” pp. 429, 430.

reverence the Blessed Virgin, who was distinguished for her humility and piety, and who enjoyed the exalted honour of being the mother of our blessed Lord. And we should imitate her holy example, and bless God for the benefit of it; endeavouring, as she did, to hear the word of God and keep it, and to do his will. But to invoke her mercy, or to offer up prayers through her mediation, and so to render to her divine honours, this would be most impious idolatry and presumptuous insult to that Divine Saviour, who is the ONLY "Mediator between God and man."

We have already seen, that the attributes and titles of Deity are, by the reputed saints and doctors of the Romish Church, given to the Virgin Mary. We are tempted to trespass a little further on the attention of our readers, while we lay before them a series of PROOFS, that similar attributes and titles have, without any qualification, been given to the popes or chief bishops of the Latin Church at Rome; not one of whom is recorded to have protested or reclaimed against the ascription of such divine titles or attributes to himself. Our proofs are drawn from the proceedings of the Romish Councils, from the canon law, and from the treatises of well-known writers and defenders of the pretended Papal supremacy.

Cardinal Bellarmine, the great oracle and defender of the Romish Church, boldly and unblushingly asserts, that "all the names, which in the Scriptures are given to Christ, whence it appears that he is above the Church-all these same names ARE GIVEN TO THE POPE."* In his treatise, "De Romano Pontifice,"

• "Omnia nomina, quæ in Scripturis tribuuntur Christo, eadem omnia tribuuntur Pontifici." De conciliis et ecclesiâ, book ii. ch. 17, in Disputationes Roberti Bellarmini, Cardinalis. Tom. ii. p. 95. D. Parisiis, 1608: fol. We purposely quote this edition, because it professes to be " enlarged and amended from the book of corrections published at Rome by the author in 1607,"—" plurimis locis aucta et emendata ex correctorio libello ab auctore vulgato. Romæ. 1607." This edition of Bellarmine's Disputationes, therefore, expresses the approved sentiments of the Papal see.

(1.) Among the inscriptions on the triumphal arches raised at Rome in honour of the profligate Roderigo Borgia (who obtained the papacy by a majority of votes obtained by simoniacal promisest) at his inauguration as pope, by the name of Alexander VI. was the following:

Rome was great under Cæsar: now she is greatest: Alexander VI. reigns; the former was a man; this, a God."

(2.) Christopher Marcellus thus addressed the fraudulently and simoniacally elected

military Pope Julius II. (whose extravagant passion for war and bloodshed is said to have caused the death of not fewer than 200,000 men) in the fourth session of the fifth Lateran Council, in the year 1512:-" For thou art the shepherd: thou art the physician; thou art the governor; finally, THOU ART ANOTHER GOD UPON EARTH."

(3.) The appellation of Gon is given to the Pope in the canon law of the Romish Church,

† Few men ever equalled this infallible pontiff in debauchery. At the time of his elevation to the pontificate he had only five illegitimate children; and the whole of his government was one continued series of atrocious crimes for their aggrandizement. At length he met with the reward of his crimes: by the righteous retribution of Divine Providence, the iniquitous career of this monster of iniquity, and of his illegitimate son, the impious cardinal Cæsar Borgia, was terminated in the year 1503, by that poison which they had prepared for others.

"æsare magna fuit, nunc Roma est maxima: Sextus Regnat Alexander: Ille, vir: iste, DEUS "Corio, Storia di Milano. Signature R. iiii. a. Milano. 1503; folio.

"Tu enim pastor, tu medicus, tu gubernator, tu denique alter Deus in terris." (Labbæi et Cossart. Sacrosancta Concilia., tom. xiv., page 109. D.)

which is in force to this day in all countries where Popery is dominant:-"It is shown it is clear, was called God by the pious prince with sufficient evidence, that the Pope (who, Constantine) cannot be bound or loosed by the secular power; and it is manifest that GoD cannot be judged by man."

those whom the Roman Pontiff (who is not (4.) "It is not man, but Gon, who separates the vicegerent of man, but of the true God upon earth), weighing the necessities and the good of the churches, unbinds not by a human, but by a DIVINE AUTHORITY."†

(5.) Saint Alphonso Liguori, having been nominated by Clement XIII. to the bishopric of St. Agatha de'Goti, at first declined to accept it. to which refusal the Pope at first was disposed to accede. Subsequently, however, he retracted his acceptance of Liguori's refusal, alleging that "the Holy Ghost had inspired him to do the contrary." On this determination of the Pope being communicated to him, Liguori exclaimed, “It is the will of God. The voice of the Pope is the voice of Gon!!"

(6.) Mauro Boni, in the dedication of his "Essay on the Studies of the father Luigi Lanzi to Pope Pius VII.," the restorer of the order of Jesuits, thus terms him God:

TO PIUS VII. CHIEF PONTIFF.
AN EARTHLY GOD.§

(7.) Among the thirty-five articles of Popish faith found in the pocket of the Irish rebel

priest Murphy, who was killed at the battle of Arklow, were the following:-" 3d. We acknowledge the supremacy of the holy father, the Lord Gop the Pope, and that he is Peter's successor in the chair. 14th. We are bound to believe that Christ's Vicar, our Lord GoD the Pope, can absolve all men (heretics ex

Satis evidenter ostenditur, à seculari potestate nec ligari prorsus nec solvi posse pontificem, (quem constat a pio principe Constantino DEUM esse appellatum), nec posse DEUM ab hominibus judicari manifestum est." (Gratiani Decretum. Prima Pars, Dist. xcvi., c. vii., p. 293, apud Corpus Juris Canonici. Lugduni, 1591. 4to.)

t "Non enim homo sed DEUS separat, quos Romanus Pontifex, (qui non puri hominis sed veri Dei vices gerit in terris,) ecclesiarum necessitate vel utilitate pensata, non humana sed DIVINA potius AUCTORITATE dissolvit." (Decretales D. Gregorii Papæ IX. suæ integritati una cum glossis restitutæ, ad exemplar Romanum diligenter recognitæ. Parisiis. 1612, cum licentia; page 205, B. C.)

$ "Lives of St. Alphonso Liguori," &c., page 28. London, 1839. 12mo.

§ PIO VII. PONT. MAX.
TERRESTRI. DEO.

Saggio del studii del P. Luigi Lanzi............ scritto dal suo discepolo P. Mauro Boni. Venezia dalla Tipografia di Alvisopoli. 1 Gen1815. 8vo.

naro.

the sixth session of the fifth Lateran Council, A. D. 1513, applied these very titles to Leo X. "But weep not, Daughter of Zion: for, behold, THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, THE ROOT OF DAVID, cometh.'"* This title, "LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH," was also arrogated to himself by Leo X. in a very rare votive medal, engraved by the Jesuit Bonanni, in his Medallic History of the Popes, who has commented upon it. It represents an angel bringing a crown, which he is putting upon the head of a lion, with the inscription, VICIT LEO DE TRIBU JUDE.-the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. (Numismata Pontificum Romanorum à Philippo Bonanni Romæ, 1690. Tom. i. pp. 167, 168.) In page 168 he adduces other instances in which this appellation of the Redeemer is given to Leo X. VL. THE GOOD SHEPHERD.-In the Scriptures given to Christ.

John x. 14.-I (said Jesus Christ) am THE

GOOD SHEPHERD.

The same by the Romanists given to the Pontiffs. "Ego sum PASTOR BONUS" (Latin Vulgate); ILM THE GOOD SHEPHERD, is the title ascribed to himself by Innocent XI. in a medal described by Bonanni. (Tom. ii., page 741.)

Were we not apprehensive lest we should weary our readers' attention, we might adduce many other instances in which the Divine Titles attributed to our Blessed Saviour are given to the sinful mortals called Popes. But we cannot conclude this topic without laying before them proofs of two important facts, viz., that OMNIPOTENCE, which is the peculiar attribute of God our Saviour, and also religious honour-usually termed adoraTION-are given to the Popes.

OMNIPOTENCE.-"ALL power is given to me in heaven and in earth," (Matt. xxviii. 19,) said Jesus Christ to his Aposles; and this very attribute of Deity was given by the Archbishop of Patras to Pope Leo X., at the tenth session of the fifth Lateran Council, in 1515. Addressing that Pontiff, who, though a patron of literature, was eager in the acquisition of money, studious of military warfare, and devoted to sensual pleasure, games, amours and hunting, the orator says:

"Seize, therefore, the two-edged sword of DIVINE POWER delivered unto thee; and enjoin, command, and charge, that an universal peace and alliance be concluded among Chris

"Sed ne fleveris, filia Sion; quia ecce venit LEO DE TRIBU JUDE, RADIX David."

tians for the space of ten years at least; and bind kings in the fetters of the greatness of the great king; and bind the nobles fast in the iron manacles of censures: 'FOR ALL

POWER IS GIVEN UNTO THEE IN HEAVEN AND IN

EARTH.'"*

This is no rhetorical flourish: it is in perfect unison with a decree of the Romish canon law issued by Boniface VIII., in which he says:

"Moreover, we declare, say, define, and pronounce it to be altogether of necessity to salvation, FOR EVERY HUMAN CREATURE TO BE SUBJECT TO THE POPE OF ROME."†

This decree was renewed and approved by Leo X. in his bull, read to, and passed by, the fifth Lateran Council, "with the approbation of the present holy council,"

sacro præsenti concilio approbanto."‡ Boniface VIII., however, was not the author or inventor of this monstrous proposition; he was indebted for it to one of the reputed saints of the Romish church -Saint Thomas Aquinas. In the first of his treatises against the Greeks, addressed to Pope Urban IV., chap. 23, (which is a series of inferences deduced by him, from the two preceding chapters,) he not only asserts that "it is necessary to salvation to be subject to the Pope of Rome," but also that Peter is the Vicar of Christ, that the Pope of Rome is the successor of Peter in the same power which was conferred on him by Christ, and . . . . . that it belongs to him to determine what is of faith."S

.....

"Arripe ergo gladium DIVINE PROTES TATIS bis acutum; et jube, impera, et manda, ut pax universalis et colligatio per decennium inter Christianos ad minus fiat; et reges ad id in compedibus magnitudinis magni Regis liga, et nobiles in manicis ferreis censurarum con

stringe, QUONIAM TIBI DATA EST OMNIS POTES

TAS IN CELO ET IN TERRA.' (Labb. et Cossart. Concilia., tom. xiv., p. 271. D. E.)

"Porro subesse Romano Pontifici omni

human creaturæ [some copies read humanam creaturam] declaramus, dicimus, definimus, et pronuntiamus, omnino esse de necessitate salutis. (Extravagantes communes, lib. i. tit. 8, cap. 1, p. 192 B. Parisiis, 1612.)

+ Labb. et Cossart. Concilia., tom. xiv., p.

313, A.

§ "Ostenditur etiam, quod Petrus est Christi vicarius, et Romanus Pontifex Petri successor in eadem potestate ei a Christo collata... Quod ad eum pertinet determinare quæ sunt fidei." (Aquinatis Operum, tom. xix. p. 24,

Want of space forbids us to exhibit even the briefest notice of the manner in which the Roman Pontiffs have exercised their usurped omnipotence in deposing kings, &c. &c. But we cannot omit to state, that Cardinal Bellarmine was in perfect conformity with the dogma of Aquinas, that it belongs to the Pope to determine what are articles of faith when he made the following extraordinary assertion, which is a precious specimen of Popish morality:—

"The Catholic faith teaches, that every virtue is good, that every vice is evil; but if the Pope should err in commanding vICES or forbidding VIRTUES, THE CHURCH WOULD BE

BOUND TO BELIEVE THAT VICES ARE GOOD AND

VIRTUES EVIL, unless she wished to sin against

conscience."*

In order to evade the force of this as

sertion, advocates of Popery have urged that it is simply a link in a chain of argument. The fact, that they have had recourse to such evasion, is admitted, but Bellarmine's statement is not the less an assertion for that reason: it is still, and ever will be, so long, at least, as his treatise is extant, an unblushing and positive assertion, that, if the Pope so command it, all who are in communion with him are bound to believe," that vices are good, and virtues are evil," unless they wish to sin against conscience. Accordingly, in perfect conformity with this precious morality, the second of the thirtyfive articles of Popish faith, cited in page 73, teaches:

"We acknowledge that they [that is, "our Lord Gon, the Pope," "the holy primates, bishops, monks, friars, and priests," who had been mentioned in the first article, can make vice virtue, and virtue vice, according to their pleasure."+

In pursuance of this usurped omnipo

Venetiis, 1787.)........"Quod subesse Romano Pontifici sit de necessitate salutis."-Ibid. p. 25.)

* Fides catholica docet, omnem virtutem esse bonum, omne vitium esse malum: si autem papa erraret PRÆCIPIENDO VITIA, VEL PROHIBENDO VIRTUTES, TENERETUR ECCLESIA CREDERE VITIA ESSE BONA, VIRTUTES MALAS, nisi vellet contra conscientiam peccare. (De Romano Pontifice, lib. iv., cap. 5, Disput; tom. i., p. 804, E.)

†Taylor's "History of the Rebellion in the County of Wexford, p. 93. Sir Richard Musgrave's "Memoirs of the different Rebellions in Ireland," vol. ii., p. 437.

tence in determining what are articles of faith, Pius IV., in the year 1564, presumed to add to the Nicene, or Constantinopolitan Creed, twelve new articles of faith, embodying all the anti-scriptural and unscriptural dogmas peculiar to the Romish church, which articles were published to the world only fifteen hundred and sixty-four years too late to be the religion of the TRUE Church of Christ. To be sure, these new modern articles have been and are schismatically opposed to a decree of the Catholic or Universal church, viz., that of the Council of Ephesus, held A. D. 431, and subsequently confirmed by a decree of Council of Chalcedon, A. D. 451 (both which councils Papists acknowledge to be General Councils); when it was determined that "it should not be lawful for any one to set forth, write, or compose, any other creed, or produce or present it to those who are willing to be converted to the knowledge of the truth, either from heathenism or from Jadaism, or from any heresy whatsoever: such persons, if bishops, shall be deprived of their episcopate, if clergy, of their clerical office."* Such, however, is the credulity of uninformed Papists, that they implicitly believe whatever their pretended holy father and vicar of Jesus Christ chooses to impose upon them, thus "teaching for doctrines the coMMANDMENTS OF MEN.”. (Matt. xv. 9.)

2. With regard to the ADORATION OF THE POPE, that we may not be charged with misrepresentation or erroneous definition, we will adduce the definition of a French-not an Italian-canonist, who states that "the word 'ADORATION' is used, when speaking of the religious honours which are paid to the Popes in certain ceremonies, as at their election."‡ In the rubric of the Romish service on Good Friday, the adoration of the material cross is enjoined; and, in the eighth

* Labb. et Cossart. Concilia., tom. iii., p. 681. Durand de Maillane, Dictionaire de Droit Canonique. (Tom. i. p. 101, col. 1. Lyons, 1776. 4to.)

"On se sert egalement du mot d'ADORATION, en parlant des honneurs religieux que l'on rend aux papas en certaines ceremonies, comme dans leur election."