Nothing can be more explicit than the language in which this oath is worded, and it is quite impossible to explain away the sense in which alone it must be interpreted. "I swear that I will, as far as I can, persecute and impugn heretics, schismatics, and rebels to our lord the Pope and his successors." The original is as follows:-hereticos, schismaticos, et rebelles domino nostro vel successoribus prædictis pro pope persequar et impugnabo. And we may be quite sure that what is imposed as an oath on every bishop, will not fail to be observed from an impulse of feeling, and be followed as a rule of action by every inferior member of the Papal communion, whether belonging to the priesthood or the laity; every individual of whom, according to Baronius, is branded with the offensive epithet of heretic, who presumes to question this dogma of the Church, and impugn the supremacy of its head. The words of Baronius are, "all are marked with the error of heresy who take from the Church of Rome and the see of St. Peter one of the two swords, and allow only the spiritual; and this he designates by the name of the heresy of the politics hæresis errore notantur omnes qui ab ecclesia Rom. Cathedra Petri e duobus alterum gladium auferunt, nec nisi spiritualem concedunt hæresis politicorum. In the decretals of Gregory VII., this oath (Greg. Decret. lib. 2, cap. 4), and one of a similar spirit but somewhat different in language, was, by his authority, exacted from the Bishops of Aquileia in the sixth Roman Synod (Rom. VI. apud Bin. p. 489).

There is no point on which the Popes, in every succeeding age since this preposterous claim was advanced, have been more tenacious, than of their temporal as well as of their spiritual power in all its plenitude and extent; and there can be no question that every individual member of the Romish communion in the present day receives it as one of the leadiug articles of his faith: indeed, he would not be a consistent Papist were he sceptical on this point. The Church of Rome in none of its doctrines or pretensions ever changes; and to question or limit the power, would be to sap the foundation on which the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope rests. The Pope's supremacy has been upheld at the Lateran Councils, and was finally established at the Trentine Synod. And on this subject nothing can be more precise than the language of Pope Innocent II., at one of the Lateran Councils: "When there is a question touching the privileges of the apostolical see, we will not that others should judge concerning them:" and he peremptorily enjoined his legates at the Council of Trent, on no consideration whatsoever to allow a word to be said or a dispute to be raised on the subject of his Pontifical authority-cum super privilegiis sedes apostolica causa restatur, nolumnus de ipsis per alios judicari (Greg. Decret. lib. 2, c. 12). History does, indeed, furnish some instances in which this arbitrary assumption of universal dominion has been resisted by temporal and high spirited sovereigns, as in the case of the Emperor Theodosius II. and some others; and it has ever been waived, or rather has not been put forth, by some of the milder and more pacific of the Popes; but the instances are rare; and it will be found, on examination, that if it has been yielded for a time by the exigency of circumstances, the claim has never been actually abandoned by any one of the heads of the Romish hierarchy. It will now be important to lay before your readers the authority upon which they found their pretensions to universal dominion, both in temporal and spiritual matters; and at the Florentine Synod it was thus defined: “The Roman high-priest holds a primacy over the universal Church; the Roman high-priest is the successor of Peter the prince of the apostles, unto him full power is committed to feed, and direct, and govern, the Catholic Church under Christ (Conc. Flo. defin. p. 854); and at the Lateran Council, the definition of the Pope's authority is more strikingly given: "Christ, before his departure from the world, did in the solidity of the rock institute Peter and his successors to be his lieutenants, whom it is so necessary to obey, that whosoever doth not must die the death-ita obedire necesse est, ut qui non obedierit, morte morintur!" The words were prescribed by Leo X., and will be found in Conc. Later. Sess. II. p. 151. From these two documents, the genuineness of which cannot be denied, it will be clearly seen upon what is based the pretensions of the Church of Rome to

universa. dominion for its head, and that the awful penalty of death of neces sity attaches to all of that communion who shall disobey the authority of the Roman high-priest.

Your readers may now be anxious to inquire what is the light in which these documents are regarded by the members of the Romish communion? No. question need be mooted as to these records being genuine and authentic. And if they have no weight and authority with Papists of the present day, they are merely a dead letter, and the production of them at this present moment can be productive of no possible benefit. Now, a man, whose object is the establishment of Christian truth, and not the mere triumph of this or that particular section of the Catholic Church of Christ, is always delighted to receive such inquiries, and to be able to answer such questions. The answer, then, is, that all acts of General Councils, which have received the sanction of the head of the Romish Church, are binding at all times and in all ages upon Papists: the documents above quoted are synodical acts of legitimate authority-they have never been disannulled, and therefore they are as much obligatory on the faith and acceptance of Papists now as they were at the several periods in which they were enacted and promulgated. Should this statement be denied, it will be for the Papists to furnish proofs, and not to advance assertions, respecting their abrogation. But the truth is, no such proof can be given; and was the period arrived in which it would be politic to bring them forward, an immediate appeal would be made to them, as a sanction for every claim, and an authority for every pretension. But what is the answer respecting the penalty of death, to which it is said, in one of these documents above mentioned, all who do not obey the Pope are liable? Would that penalty be enforced in the present day? There is no difficulty, apprehend, in returning a satisfactory answer to this question, for this, among other reasons, that no Papist of the present day, who is a bona fide one, or a good Catholic, as it is termed, is ever guilty of an act of disobedience, or of any want of veneration towards the head of his Church: the Pope is the object of his daily prayers, his hourly love, his unbounded reverence! And it is only necessary to select from unquestioned documents the terms with which he is recognized, to see at once that no conscientious Papist can ever fail in any act of devotion and of obedience towards the spiritual and temporal head of his Church. It is the doctrine of that Church, laid down by all its canonists and maintained by all its divines, that the Pope is invested with an earthly authority equal in every respect to that of Christ; that he is held, therefore, Lord of lords and King of kings-see Bellarmine, ch. 5, 1, as authority for this assertion-Prima sententia est, summum pontificem jure divino habere plenissimam potestatem in universum orbem terrarum; he is described as the top (apex) of heaven and earth, as supreme king of all the world-supremus totius mundi rex; and that he can do all things whatsoever he pleases; yea, and things unlawful, and thus more than God-sic quod faceret quicquid liberet, etiam illicita, et sic plus quam Deo! But upon the extravagant, not to say blasphemous, attributes claimed for the Pope, which Councils have sanctioned, and such men as Baronius and Bellarmine have defended in their writings, et alii non pauci, I need not now enlarge, having alluded to them in one of my former letters. I will only add this remark;-if such divine attributes are ascribed to the Pope, if, according to the dogmas of his Church, he can bind and lose all things in heaven and earth; if, in a word, he is regarded and believed by Papists as a God, where is the wonder that he is the object of idolatrous respect and superstitious veneration! for, according to the anathema of the Council of Trent, che non si venga mai per qual causa si sia alla disputa del autorita di Papa. Con. Prid. lib. ii. p. 159.

200

Poetry.

SONNET.

On founding the first Protestant Church in the Island of Malta, by the Dowager Queen, Adelaide.

Malta! blest isle! on thy firm rock is laid

A corner-stone which none shall e'er displace,
Whilst earth needs beacons, pouring lights of grace
On man's benighted soul. Long have ye strayed
Among the tombs-in ignorance arrayed,

And superstition gross, as with a shroud:
But, blest be God, His mercy, though delayed,
Is ever sure. He walketh in the cloud-

'Midst pagan gloom He speaks in thund'rings loud,
And in his own good time the mist dispels;
A fiery pillar leads to where He dwells,

And rays divine illume the wand'ring crowd!
Maltese laud Him whose love is thus displayed,
And bless your nursing mother, pious ADELAIDE.

*

THE EVENING STAR; OR, "ON LIVING AS IF ALWAYS IN

GOD'S SIGHT.”

Behold yon star that gleams and sparkles through
The firmament: like some unwearied eye

Of love, bent on thee ever silently,
As mindful of the least thing thou canst do!
Believe it such, believe that it can tru-

Ly see thy thoughts; then will thy heart be by
Its pure light filled, as thine eye outwardly;
Then wilt thou look up at it, as unto

His father's eye the little child, and bend
Thy head in awe, as fearful to offend!
And then 'twill be the eye of God! yea, his
Own loving eye, to guide thee and defend.

And all thy dear ones eyes gaze down in this
One star of love (in which all heaven's bliss
Is summed for thee), still with thee to the end!

SONNET TO SIR ROBERT PEEL.

Like Hope, amid the ravings of the blast

With aspect mild, and changeless brow serene,
Full confident, though wild waves intervene,

Long toiling hard to moor her bark at last,

And ride securely when the tempest past;

Art thou, oh! PEEL!-Britannia's star and pride!
Our Patriot's boast, though many turn aside,
Desert the right, and fall to error fast.

Oh! guard "The Cause"-to God and Albion true;
Bid red rebellion fly the sister land.

Nor wield the sword, nor toss the flaming brand,
While demagogues bethreat and boast them too!
Be firm, and peace shall wave her olive wand,
And perish all the malice-working crew!

ELLISON,

Manchester Courier.

* "And Queens shall be your nursing mothers."-Isaiah xlix. 32.

Reviews.

Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery Report, 1838. Appendix. The Warnford Trust Deed. Birmingham: Richard Davis, Temple-row. 8vo. pp. 31. An Address delivered at the First Anniversary Meeting of the Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery. By James Thomas Law, Chancellor of the Diocese of Lichfield. Birmingham: Davies. 8vo. pp. 16.

An Address delivered at the Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery, at the Third Anniversary Meeting, August 29, 1838. By Vaughan Thomas, B.D., formerly Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Birmingham: Langbridge. 8vo., pp. 58.

The Valvular Structure of the Veins Anatomically and Physiologically considered, with a view to exemplify and set forth, by instance or example, the Wisdom, Power, and Goodness of God, as revealed and declared in Holy Writ. The Warnford Prize Essay for the Year 1838. Birmingham: Langbridge. 8vo. pp. 65. WHEN we consider the town of Birmingham, the centre of a populous manufacturing neighbourhood, teeming with a population unlearned, in a great measure, in the principles of divine revelation, it affords us peculiar pleasure to observe that a religious and Christian education is bestowed on the medical student, that amidst the dry detail of anatomical investigation he is taught to find at every step new proof of the wisdom and goodness of the Almighty in the wonderful adaptation of the means to the end, and that whether he considers the body in a healthy or diseased condition, the same Almighty power is apparent. How useful may such a man become, accustomed as he must and will be to every variety of human suffering and distress? how grateful will be the words of piety and comfort which he breathes into the ear of the sick and hardened sinner? how many hearts might he save? how much good might he do among his poorer brethren? and how thankful will that man be, when, at the close of a well-spent and useful career, he reflects, that while studying the material part of man he was taught to look from the creature to the Creator, and exclaim, how wonderful art thou, oh God, in all thy works! It is my happiness (says Dr. Thomas) to know that I am addressing a Christian school of medicine and surgery. There was a time in the history of therapeutic instruction when every school of medicine and surgery was Christian, and during that period it would have been an unmeaning or rather an invidious application of the term to have bestowed it on any school in particular. But, unhappily for the present and eternal welfare of those who are sent to some of the metropolitan schools, that time exists no longer."

The Rev. Dr. Samuel Wilson Warnford founded, in the latter end of last year, a prize in the Birmingham school for the best religious essay on an anatomical, physiological, or pathological subject; for which truly pious purpose he gave the sum of one thousand pounds to certain trustees to advance the great ends he had in view: which are declared to be to combine religious with scientific studies and pursuits, and to make medical and surgical students good Christians, as well as able practitioners in medicine and surgery, and so that the compositions written for such prize or prizes may be of a religious as well as of a scientific nature, and the subject of them (being taken out of any branch of anatomical, physiological, or pathological science) may be treated in a practical and professional manner, and according to those evidences of facts and phenomena which anatomy, physiology, and pathology so abundantly supply; but always and especially with a view to set forth, by instance or example, the

wisdom, power, and goodness of God, as revealed and declared in Holy Writ.

Mr. Roden's essay richly deserves the prize awarded to it. It is distinguished throughout for its philosophy, sound inductions, and Christian spirit; we trust we shall see it reprinted in a cheap form: it deserves a place not only in the library of the philosopher, but on the table of every Mechanic's Institution in the country. The addresses of the Reverend Gentlemen are distinguished also for Christian philosophy, and will amply repay perusal.

In conclusion, we conjure every parent or guardian who wishes to educate a young man for the medical profession, to peruse the pamphlets named above; they will convince him of the great importance of a religious as well as a professional education, and that both may go hand in hand in advancing the glory of God and the eternal welfare of the medical practitioner, and at the same time, by directing his thoughts to the right channel, they will advance both his happiness and professional success.

Lectures on the History of Elisha. By the Rev. Henry Blunt, M.A., Rector of Streatham, Surrey. London: Hatchard. 1839.

THE author of the above work has long been known to the religious world, by the many successful publications he has presented to it. The one under our notice cannot fail to secure to Mr. Blunt additional popularity. The work, in the form of lectures, contains a free and interesting history of the prophet Elisha. The Reverend Gentleman has exhibited a peculiar tact, which scarcely or ever relieves public lectures from a certain degree of heaviness: we allude to the interest which is kept up throughout the volume, by repeated applications of the narrative to the hearts of his hearers, and the enforcement of that moral practice which arises from Christian faith. May these lectures, in the language of the author's preface, be instrumental in winning for his beloved country the aid of those" chariots and horsemen of Israel," the sincere prayers of a holy and religious people; and that, upon every individual reader, a large, yea, "a double portion" of the prophet's spirit may descend, enlightening, sanctifying, comforting, and bringing" every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

Ancient Christianity, or the Doctrines of the Oxford Tracts. By the Author of Spiritual Despotism. Jackson and Walford. 1839.

WHETHER Archdeacon Thomas Bewley Monsell will allow the title of the very Reverend for that of Venerable-the title of a Dean for that of an Archdeacon, to sway him in his judgment of this work, not knowing this Archdeacon, to whom an evident Dissenter writes, we cannot judge. To us the work appears full as dangerous as the Tracts; there is a great quantity of verbiage, but very little of real matter. The Author is clearly only one half opposed to the Oxford Divines; and he is as trite as a Dissenter. "To demolish Popery (a work, as it has proved, not so easily accomplished as some had imagined) is only to leave the ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY of the Oxford writers in a fairer and loftier position," is a very strange sentence for who, knowing what ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY truly was, would admit that of the Oxford writers, or seek to demolish Popery by it? We disagree respecting the Fathers, in many points, with the writer-in may points he coincides with the Oxford Divines where we are totally at variance with them: his patristical strictures are very unsatis factory-and what with the points of concession, and what with the weakness of refutation, we must say that this book will be anything but a check to the Oxford Apostacy.