nor even a mitre, fell to his lot, he entertained the most rancorous feeling against the Roman Court, and Valdez made him an easy prey. Being now infected with the poisonous sentiments of Zuinglius and Calvin, he began in the pulpit to speak derogatory of the Pope and the Roman See, and preaching in the archbishoprics of Naples, after Peter Martyr, he began to deride the doctrines of purgatory and indulgences, and sowed the first seeds of that great revolution which afterwards, in 1656, convulsed the city. When the Pope received information of this, he commanded him to come to Rome and account for his doctrine. His friends advised him to go; but, as he felt himself hurt by the order, he was unwilling to obey. While he was thus wavering he went to Bologna, and called on the Cardinal Legate, Contarini, to solicit his protection and inThe cardinal was then suffering from sickness, of which, in fact, he died soon after; so he received him coldly, hardly spoke to him, and dismissed him. He now suspected that the cardinal knew all, and would have him put in prison, so he threw off the habit, and went to Florence, where he met Peter Martyr, and concerted with him a flight to Geneva, then the general refuge of apostates. In fact, he arrived there even before Peter Martyr himself, and though sixty years old, he brought a young girl of sixteen along with him, and married her there, thus giving a pledge of his perpetual separation from the Catholic Church. He then wrote an apology of his flight, and abused, in the most violent terms, the Order of St. Francis and the Pope, Paul III. The Pope for a while entertained the notion of dissolving the Capuchin Order altogether, but relinquished it on finding that Ochino had made no perverts among that body.

39. Calvin received Ochino most kindly on his arrival in Geneva, but he soon perceived that the Capuchin had no great opinion of him, and leaned more to the doctrines of Luther, and he therefore began to treat him with coolness; so, having no great affection for the doctrines of either one or the other, he determined to establish his fame by founding a new sect. He then took up the opinions of Arius, and published some tracts in Italian, in which he con founded the personality and properties of the Three Divine Persons, so Calvin procured a sentence of banishment to be passed on him by the Senate of Geneva. He then went to Basle, but as he was not safe even there, he went to Strasbourg, to Bucer, who protected heretics of every shade, and received him kindly, appointed him Professor of Theology, and took him, along with himself and Peter Martyr, to England afterwards. They were both banished from that kingdom by Queen Mary, on her accession, together with thirty thousand others, so he went first to Germany and then to Poland. Even there he had no rest, for all heretics were banished from that country by the King, Sigismund, and so, broken down by old age, and abandoned by every one, he concealed himself in

the house of a friend, and died of the plague in 1564, leaving two sons and a daughter, their mother having died before. Cardinal Gotti, Moreri, and others, say that he died an apostate and impenitent; but Zachary Boverius, in the Annals of the Capuchins, proves on the authority of other writers, and especially of the Dominican, Paul Grisaldus, and of Theodore Beza himself, that he abjured all his errors, and received the sacraments before his death. Menochius and James Simidei follow the opinion of Boverius. I do not give an opinion either on one side or the other, but, with Spondanus and Graveson, leave the matter between them (15).

SEC. III.THE SOCINIANS.

40. Perverse Doctrine of Lelius Socinus. 41. Faustus Socinus; his Travels, Writings, and Death. 42. Errors of the Socinians.

40. LELIUS and Faustus Socinus, from whom the Socinians take their name, were born in Sienna. Lelius was the son of Marianus Socinus, a celebrated lawyer, and was born in 1525. His talents were of the first order, and he surpassed all his cotemporaries at the schools; but he, unfortunately, became acquainted with some Protestants, and they perverted him; so, dreading to come under the notice of the Inquisition, then extremely strict in Italy, he left it at the age of twenty-one, and spent four years in travelling through France, England, Flanders, Germany, and Poland, and finally came to Switzerland, and took up his abode in Zurich. He was intimate with Calvin, Beza, Melancthon, and several others of the same sort, as appears from their letters to him; but he attached himself chiefly to the Antitrinitarian doctrines of Servetus. When he learned that Servetus was burned in Geneva, he hid himself, and fled to Poland first, and afterwards to Bohemia, but after a time returned to Zurich, where he died, in the year 1562, at the early age of thirty-seven (1).

41. Faustus Socinus was a nephew of the former; he was born in 1539, and was infected with his uncle's heresy. He was twentythree years of age when his uncle died. He at once went to Zurich and took possession of all his manuscripts, which he afterwards published, to the great injury of the Church. Next, pretending that he was a true Catholic (2), he returned to Italy, and lived for nine years attached to the service of the Duke of Tuscany, who treated him with honour and respect. Finding it impossible to spread his heresy in Italy as he wished, he went to Basle, and lived

(15) Gotti, cit. sec. 2, n. 8; Varillas, p. 112, & seq.; Nat. Alex. t. 19, a. 14, sec. 3; Van Ranst, sec. 16, p. 328; Bern. t. 4, sec. 16, c. 5; Berti, Brev. Hist. Eccl. sec. 6, c. 3; Bover. in Ann. Capuccin. 1543; Menoch. Cent. p. 2, c. 89; Paulus Grisald. Decis. Fid. Cath. in Ind. Error. & Hærat. Simid. Comp. Stor. degli Eresiarchi, sec. 16; Graveson, t. 4, Hist. Eccl. coll. 3. (1) Nat. Alex. t. 19, art. 14; Gotti, c. 116, sec. 3, n. 1; Van Ranst, sec. 16, p. 328. (2) Gotti, loc. cit. n. 2.

there three years, and published his impious work on theology, in two volumes, and spread his doctrines not only there, but in Poland and Transylvania, both by word and writing. His writings were very voluminous, for not only did he publish his theology, but several treatises besides, especially Commentaries on the fifth and sixth chapters of St. Matthew, on the first chapter of St. John, on the seventh chapter of St. Paul to the Romans, on the first Epistle of St. John, and many more enumerated by Noel Alexander, all of a heretical tendency (3). He was obliged to fly from Cracow (4), in 1598, and went to a village, where he continued to write works of the same tendency, and where, at last, he died in 1604, the sixtyfifth year of his age, leaving one daughter after him.

42. The Socinian errors are very numerous, and Noel Alexander and Cardinal Gotti (5) give them all without curtailment. I will only state the principal ones: They say, first, that the knowledge of God and of Religion could not come from Nature. Second.That there is no necessity for Christians reading the Old Testament, since they have everything in the New. Third.-They deny Tradition. Fourth. They assert that in the Divine Essence there is but one Person. Fifth.-That the Son of God is improRerly called God. Sixth.-That the Holy Ghost is not a Divine Person, but merely a Divine power. Seventh.-That Jesus Christ is true man, but not a mere man, for he was honoured by the filiation of God, inasmuch as he was formed without the assistance of man; and they also blasphemously assert that he did not exist before the Blessed Virgin. Eighth.-They deny that God assumed human nature in unity of person. Ninth.-That Christ is our Saviour, only because he showed us the way of salvation. Tenth.Man was not immortal, nor had he original justification before he committed original sin. Eleventh.-Christ did not consummate his sacrifice on the Cross, but only when he went into heaven. Twelfth.-Christ did not rise from the dead by his own power; the body of Christ was annihilated after his Ascension, and it is only a spiritual body that he has in heaven. Thirteenth.-Baptism is not necessary for salvation, nor is grace acquired by it. Fourteenth. We receive mere bread and wine in the Eucharist, and these symbols are only of use to remind us of the death of Christ. Fifteenth. The Socinians follow the Pelagians in the matter of Grace, and say that our natural strength alone is sufficient to observe the Law. Sixteenth.-God has not an infallible knowledge of future things which depend on the free will of man. teenth. The soul does not survive after death; the wicked are annihilated, with the exception of those who will be alive on the day of judgment, and these will be condemned to everlasting fire;

Seven

(3) Nat. Alex. loc. cit. n. 1. (4) Gotti, cit. n. 2. (5) Nat. Alex. n. 2; Gotti, n. 3.

but the damned will not suffer for ever. Eighteenth. They teach, with Luther, that the Church failed, and did not continually exist. Nineteenth-That Antichrist began to exist when the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome was established. (It is remarkable that heretics of every class attack the Primacy of the Pope.) Twentieth. That the words, "Thou art Peter, and on this rock," &c., were addressed equally to the other Apostles as to Peter. Twenty-first. That the words, " The gates of hell shall not prevail against it," do not mean that the Church can never fail. Twenty-second.-That the keys given to St. Peter have no other meaning but this: That he had the power of declaring who did or did not belong to the state of those who enjoy the Divine Grace. Twenty-third.-They deny that we should have faith in General Councils. Twenty-fourth.-They deny that it is lawful for Christians to defend their lives by force against unjust aggressors, for it is impossible, they say, that God would permit a pious and religious man to be placed in these circumstances, so that there would be no way of saving himself unless by shedding the blood of another. Besides, they say, that it is even worse to kill an aggressor than an enemy, for he who kills an enemy kills one who has already done him an injury; but he who kills an aggressor kills one who has as yet done him no injury, and only desires to injure him and kill him; and even he cannot be sure that the aggressor intends to kill him at all, as, perhaps, he only intends to terrify him, and rob him then with more ease to himself. Here are the original words of the proposition, as quoted by Noel Alexander, error 39: "Non licere Christianis vitam suam, suorumque contra latrones, et invasores vi opposita defendere, si possint; quia fieri non potest, ut Deus hominem vere pium, ipsique ex animo confidentem, tali involvi patiatur periculo, in quo ipsum servatum velit, sed non aliter, quam sanguinis humani effusione. Homicidium aggressoris pro graviori delicto habendum esse, quam ipsam vindictam. Vindicando enim retribuo injuriam jam acceptam: at hic occido hominem, qui me forsan nondum læserat, nedum occiderat, sed qui voluntatem tantum habuit me lædendi, aut occidendi; imo de quo certo scire non possum, an me animo occidendi, et non potius terrendi tantum, quo tutius me spoliari possit, aggrediatur." Twenty-fifth.-That it is not necessary for Preceptors to have a Mission from the Superiors of the Church, and that the words of St. Paul, "How shall they preach if they be not sent?" are to be understood when they preach doctrines unheard till then, such as the doctrine preached by the Apostles to the Gentiles, and, therefore, a Mission was necessary for them. I omit many other errors of less importance, and refer the reader to Noel Alexander, who treats the subject diffusely. The worst is, that this sect still exists in Holland and Great Britain. Modern Deists may be called

followers of Socinus, as appears from the works they are every day publishing. The Socinians say of their founder, Faustus:

Toto licet Babylon destruxit tecta Lutherus,

Muros Calvinus, sed fundamenta Socinus (6).

Well may this be said, for the Socinians deny the most fundamental articles of the faith.

CHAPTER XIII.

HERESIES OF THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES.

ARTICLE I.

ISAAC PERIERES, MARK ANTHONY DE DOMINIS, WILLIAM
POSTELLUS, AND BENEDICT SPINOSA.

1. Isaac Perieres, Chief of the Pre-Adamites; abjures his Heresy. 2. Mark Anthony de Dominis; his Errors and Death. 3. William Postellus; his Errors and Conversion; 4. Benedict Spinosa, Author of a new Sort of Atheism. 5. Plan of his impious System; his unhappy Death.

1. ISAAC PERIERES, a native of Aquitaine, lived in this century. He was at first a follower of Calvin, but afterwards founded the sect of the Pre-Adamites, teaching that, previous to the creation of Adam, God had made other men. The Old Testament, he says, speaks only of Adam and Eve, but says nothing of the other men who existed before them, and these, therefore, were not injured by original sin, nor did they suffer from the Flood. He fell into this error because he rejected tradition, and, therefore, his opinion appeared consonant to reason, and not opposed to the Scripture. He published a treatise in Holland on the Pre-Adamites, in 1655. He was convinced of the fallacy of his opinions, both by Catholics and Calvinists, and his life even was in danger from both one and the other, so he at last recognized the authority of constant and universal tradition, and in the Pontificate of Alexander VII. renounced all his heresies, and returned to the Church (1).

2. Mark Anthony de Dominis was another of the remarkable heretics of this century. He joined the Jesuits at first in Verona, but left them, either because he did not like the restraint of discipline, or was dismissed for some fault. He was afterwards elevated,

(6) Gotti, c. 115, sec. 3, n. 15; Van Ranst, p. 308. sec. 17; Bernini, t. 4, sec. 17, c. 5.

(1) Berti, Brev. Hist. t. 2,

*N.B.-This was written in 1765, or thereabouts.