satisfy the wishes of the most ambitious prelate, as by it he ranks before all western ecclesiastics, and takes place and precedency on all public occasions.

But the Roman Pontiff claims honours still more distinguished, and as successor of St. Peter is acknowledged by the Catholic Church to sit as its first Pastor by divine institution. As it is not my intention to exhibit either proofs or objections, but merely to state an article of belief, I shall as the best and most satisfactory method give it in the words of a general council.*

“Item, definimus Sanctam Apostolicam Sedem et Romanum Pontificem in universum orbem tenere Primatum, et ipsum Pontificem Romanum Successorem esse beati Petri, Principis Apostolorum, et verum Christi Vicarium, totiusque Ecclesiæ Caput, et omnium Christianorum Patrem et Doctorem existere; et ipsi in beato Petro pascendi, regendi, ac gubernandi universalem ecclesiam a Domino nostro Jesu Christo plenam potestatem traditam esse, quemadmodum etiam in gestis Ecumenicorum conciliorum et in sacris canonibus continetur. Renovantes insuper ordinem traditum in canonibus cæterorum venerabilium Patriarcharum ; ut Patriarcha Constantinopolitanus secundus sit post sanctissimum Romanum Pontificum, tertius vero Alexandrinus, quartus autem Antiochenus, et quintus Hierosolymitanus; salvis videlicet privilegiis omnibus et juribus eorum."

According to this canon the Pope enjoys, by the institution of Christ, the primacy of honour and jurisdiction over the whole Christian Church, and to refuse it to him would be deemed an act of rebellion †. But no authority has yet determined, and

* General Council of Florence,

+ See on this subject, Divinæ fidei Analysis, &c. by Holden, a pious and learned divine of the Sorbonne.

it seems indeed very difficult to fix the precise rights and prerogatives which are conferred by this primacy, or flow immediately from it, so that to oppose their exercise or to deny their existence would be either schism or heresy. Suffice it to say, that the greater part of the powers exercised by the Popes, and especially those acts which have been considered as the most offensive in themselves as well as galling to other bishops, are allowed to be of human institution. In fact, the object of the canon above-mentioned, as also of the article corresponding with it in the creed of Pius IV. seems to have been solely to ascertain the existence of a divinely appointed Superior in the Catholic Church, leaving in the interim the mode of exercising his prerogative to the canons and discipline of the same Church, to be enlarged or restrained as its exigencies may require.

But though no temporal advantages are originally, or by its institution, annexed to it, yet it is evident that such an elevated dignity must naturally inspire reverence, and consequently acquire weight and consideration. Influence, at least in a certain degree, must accompany such consideration, and give the spiritual pastor no small degree of worldly importance. We accordingly find, that even in the very commencement of Christianity the Bishop of Rome had become a conspicuous personage, so far as to attract the attention of the Emperors, and sometimes, if the expression of an ancient writer be not a rhetorical exaggeration, to awaken their jealousy.

When the Emperors embraced Christianity, it may easily be imagined, that the successor of St. Peter acquired an increase of temporal weight and dignity; and it has been observed, that

the Pagan historians speak with some asperity of the splendor of his retinue and of the delicacy of his table. This splendor can excite no astonishment. The first pastor of the religion of the Emperors might justly be ranked among the great dignitaries of the empire; he had free access to the person of the sovereign, and was by him treated with filial reverence: his palace and his table were frequented by the first officers of the state, and to support his dignity in their company might, perhaps justly, be considered as one of the duties of his station. In fact, we cannot suspect the Popes of that period, such as St. Sylvester, St. Damasus, Gelasius, Leo the Great, &c. of such contemptible vices as either luxury or ostentation; simple and disinterested all through life, they could not be supposed to resign their habitual virtues in their old age, and commence a career of folly when seated in the chair of St. Peter. But they knew human nature, and very prudently adapted their exterior to that class. of society which they were destined to instruct.

But besides the consideration inseparable from the office itself, another source of temporal greatness may be found in the extensive possessions of land, and in the great riches in plate, of the Roman Church itself. These riches were considerable, even under the Pagan Emperors and during the persecutions, as we may presume from various passages in ancient authors*, and they were not a little increased by the liberal donations of the Christian princes, and particularly of Constantine the Great. The invasion of the barbarians, without doubt, might occasionally

lower the produce of these lands, and lessen by plundering the quantity of plate, yet not in the same proportion in which it affected the lands and properties of the laity, as no small respect was in general shewn to the tombs of the Apostles, and to the sanctuaries of St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John Lateran. So far, indeed, was this veneration sometimes carried by these invaders, that the fierce Genseric himself not only spared the great Basilicæ, but during all the horrors of a week's plunder respected the persons and property placed within the precincts of these temples. Hence the Roman Church, after repeated invasions, after the establishment and reign of a race of barbarian monarchs, and even after the destructive vicissitudes of the

Gothic war, which gave the last blow to the prosperity and to the fortunes of Italy, still retained extensive possessions, not in Italy only, but in Sicily and other more distant provinces. This fact we learn from the epistles of Gregory the Great, who employed this vast income, of which he was the administrator, in supporting many illustrious families reduced to misery, and in relieving the distress of the people labouring under the accumulated pressure of war, of famine, and of pestilence. When such riches are so employed, it is no wonder that the public should look with reverence and affection to the hand that dispenses them, and be disposed to tranfer their allegiance from a sovereign remote, weak, and indifferent, to their Pastor, who relieved them by his generosity, directed them by his prudence, and protected them by his talents and by his authority. Such, in fact, was the part which Gregory acted during his pontificate. Born a Roman patrician, he took a deep interest in the misfortunes of his country; placed by his rank and education on a level with the greatest characters of the age, and early employed in the management of public affairs,

he had acquired the address of a courtier with the experience. of a statesman: when raised to the pontificate he found, in the disastrous state of Rome and Italy, sufficient opportunities of displaying these talents to the best advantage, and for the noblest object; and by them he saved his country from the intrigues of the imperial court, from the weakness and the wickedness of the Exarchs, and from the fury of the Longobardi, then a recent and most savage horde of invaders.

From this period, though the Greek Emperors were the nominal, yet the Popes became the real and effective sovereigns of Rome; and attached to it as they generally were by birth, and always by residence, duty, and interest, they promoted its welfare with unabating and oftentimes, successful efforts. Upon the merit of these services therefore, and the voluntary submission of an admiring and grateful flock rests the original and best claim which the Roman Pontiffs possess to the temporal sovereignty. But though this sovereignty was enjoyed, many years elapsed before it was avowed, on the side of the Pontiff, or admitted on that of the Emperor, and many more ages before it was fully and finally established on a solid and unshaken basis.

The German Cæsars continued long to assert their supreme dominion over the metropolis as the Capital of their empire; the Roman barons, a proud and ferocious aristocracy, often defied the authority of their weak Pontiffs; and the Roman people itself, though willing to submit to the counsels of a father, frequently rebelled against the orders of a prince. It will not appear singular, that these rebellions, or to speak more fairly, these acts of opposition to the temporal dominion of the Popes were