many a pope did unquestionably utter. That which was spoken by the person and in the character of pope, may here be adduced in completion of the evidence that the things which he spake against the Most High were MARVELLOUS.

Though the bull of the pope was then, in Britain, the powerless thing that it ever should have been, these are the words in which papal infallibility thought fit to pronounce the deposition of Elizabeth, the queen of Protestant England." He who reigns on high, to whom is given all power in heaven and in earth, has committed the one holy catholic and apostolic church, out of which there is no salvation, to one alone on earth, namely to Peter the prince of the apostles, and to the Roman pontiff, the successor of Peter, to be governed in the plenitude of power. Him alone hath he constituted prince over all nations, and over all kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant," &c.*

At a later date, (1585), but with more authoritative power, the bull of pope Sextus VI., against the two sons of wrath, Henry, king of Navarre, and the prince of Conde, these marvellous words, the common language on such occasions, are spoken against the God of gods, in which the pope himself, in denouncing judgment against others, is the witness that he is the very man of sin who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God,-who doeth according to his will, and exalts himself, and magnifies himself above all. "By the immense power of the eternal king, the authority given to the blessed Peter, and to his successors, excels all the powers of earthly kings and princes. It passes, on them all, judgments not to be controlled

*Camden. Hist. A.D. 1570.

(inconcussa judicia). And if it find them resisting the ordinances of God, it takes more severe vengeance upon them, and, however powerful, casting them down from their thrones, as the ministers of aspiring Lucifer, overthrows and prostrates them to the lowest parts of the earth.”

Speaking thus of themselves in the face of the world, the language of blasphemous adulation, used towards the pope by the sycophants of Rome, when his own words more than those of any king on earth betrayed the pride of Lucifer, need scarcely be wondered at, however melancholy and marvellous of itself. There is ample proof in the summary of such godless verbiage given by bishop Newton; and there would be no pleasure, as there is no need, in extending it." He exerciseth divine authority in the church, shewing himself that he is God, affecting divine titles and attributes, as holiness and infallibility, assuming divine powers and prerogatives in condemning and absolving men, in retaining and forgiving sins, in asserting his decrees to be of the same, or greater, authority than the word of God, and commanding them to be received under the penalty of the same or greater damnation. Like another Salmoneus, he is proud to imitate the state and thunder of the Almighty; and is styled and pleased to be styled, Our Lord God the Pope;' another God upon earth, king of kings, and lord of lords. The same is the dominion of God and the pope. To believe that our Lord God the pope might not decree, as he decreed, were a matter of heresy. The power of the pope is greater than all created power, and extends itself to things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal. The pope doth whatsoever he listeth, even things unlawful, and is more than God."* Such blasphemies are not only

"Dominus Deus noster papa alter Deus in terra.

6

Rex

regum, dominus dominorum. Idem est dominium Dei et papæ.

allowed, but are even approved, encouraged, and rewarded in the writers of the church of Rome! and they are not only the extravagancies of private writers, but are the language even of public decretals, and acts of councils. So that the pope is evidently the God upon earth; as there is no one like him who exalteth himself above every God; no one like him, who sitteth as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

The papacy indeed has fallen from its high estate; and the appointed time during which it so greatly prospered, is, in human view, in a great measure past. After the judgment sitteth, it is to be consumed and to be destroyed until the end-words which imply a gradual, but sure and terrible destruction. The pomp of ceremonies" has lost its charm, in many countries where they were revered. No king now stands uncovered and barefooted at his gate; and none do penance at the mandate of the Pope. An interdict, such as he was wont to issue, would, in Britain, and now even in France, give licence to laughter. We hear now but the faint echo of the thunder of the Vatican as it is dying away in distant lands, where before its loud peal was over our heads, and, in the midst of the deepest darkness, the lightning's flash was around us. But even yet the pretence to divine honour is not abjured; there still is the name of blasphemy on the forehead of the papacy. And the pope, as his predecessors throughout

Credere Dominum Deum nostrum papam non potuisse statuere, prout statuit, hæreticum censeretur. Papæ potestas est major omni potestate creata, extenditque se ad celestia, terrestria, et infernalia. Papa facit quicquid libet, etiam illicita, et est plus quam Deus. (Translated in the text.) See these and the like instances quoted in Bishop Jewel's Apology and Defence, in Downham's Treatise de Antichristo, and Poole's English Annotations. See likewise Barrow's Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy in the Introduction."-Bishop Newton.

the dark ages, may be yet literally said to sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. The pope, on his election, as the custom still goes, is enthroned in the temple of St. Peter. There he sits, and shows himself that he is God. Even the cardinals, the princes of the church, prostrate themselves before him. Adoration is not only the act, but also the word that is still in use, to the regret of some Catholic writers in these more enlightened times. And the symbol is yet to be seen of what the pope once was in Christendom. Still, literally too, he exalteth himself ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD, or that is worshipped. Wood or stone is not God; neither is a wafer. But it is called God. Speaking without a figure, the host is laid upon the altar in St. Peter's. It is said to be the very body of Christ. The elevation of the host, according to the Roman Catholic faith, is the offering up of very God. When it is borne throughout the streets, or brought into the view of men, all Catholics bow down and adore. Yet the altar on which the host itself is laid, is literally the footstool of the pope. He exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.

In a manner, and with a truth that can never be said of any other, and according to the testimony of many ages, or throughout a long appointed time, it is true of the pope and of the papal power, as such, And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and he shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all: But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god

whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge, and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. Ver. 37, 38, 39.

It was the practice of the early preachers of the gospel, and it is ever the duty of them all, to inculcate the worship of the only living and true Godand, according even to the first commandment, of him alone. The second commandment of the law is expressly directed against all manner of idolatry, against the making of ANY graven image, or ANY likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, or against bowing down to them or serving them; for God is a jealous God, and will not suffer the glory that is due to him to be given to another. But the bishop of Rome did not thus regard the God of his fathers. The purity and the worship of the one only God, was not maintained by the bishops of the church as it had been by the priests under the law; and Rome, under its pontiff, showed none of that zeal against idolatry, which, even in its degenerate days, Jerusalem, under its high priests, repeatedly displayed. The temporal power of the popes was first called into action in defence of the worship of images; and judgments were fulminated, not against those who worshipped but against those who destroyed them.

Bent on aggrandizing the see of Rome, or on magnifying himself above all he did not regard any God, whose worship would counteract that object; and for that the domestic charities of life were also sacrificed. If marriage had been tolerated among the priesthood, then the clergy would have had a separate