sity makes her intolerant. Her arrogant claim of supremacy above all governments of the earth in things spiritual, must also of necessity make her an enemy to free thought and action. The truth of this position is clearly set forth in the Rhemish Testament, which urges that "the blood of heretics is not called the blood of saints, no more than the blood of thieves, man-killers, and other malefactors, for the shedding of which, by order of justice, no commonwealth shall suffer." -(Rhem. Test., Annot. upon Rev. xvii. 6.)

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Experience teaches," says Cardinal Bellarmine," that there is no other remedy for the evil but to put heretics to death; for the Church proceeded gradually, and tried every remedy. At first, she merely excommunicated them; afterward she added a fine; then she banished them; and finally she was constrained to put them to death."(Bellarm. de Laicis, lib. iii. c. 21.)

Finally, as an utter refutation of the claim Romanism makes to free thought, free expression, and free opinion, we quote the language of the General Council of Lateran, which says, "Let the secular powers be compelled, if necessary, to exterminate to their utmost power all heretics denoted by the Church."-(Gen. Coun. Lat., A. D. 1215.)

Such are the assumptions of this mighty religio-political organization, which, under the mild ægis of our Republican institutions, sends forth both its deceived and its knowing disciples, to teach the people of America, that it cherishes the fundamental principles of Republicanism, denying for the time its most ancient doctrines, denying its practice through centuries, and seemingly holding in contempt the intelligence of the American people, by claiming attributes so utterly opposed to its practices and precepts. That the Jesuitical foreign priest who was born under the system, nursed in its iniquities, who has no home, no ambition, no future, no glory that does not centre in Rome, should be willing to load his conscience down with mental reservations, or being so utterly corrupt, from his early education, to know nothing as right but the building up of his Church;-that such a man should claim any thing and everv thing for Papacy, that

would palliate the opposition of the American mind to its despotic and liberty-crushing requirements, is not strange; but the terrible influence of Papal power is more awfully illustrated than in any other case, when it can make a free and independent native-born citizen, educated and enlightened, and accustomed in his early life to think and act for himself, suddenly cease to have a mind of his own, suddenly deny the truths of history, suddenly discard the lessons of his own experience, and the accumulated testimony of ages, and declare that in the Romish Church there is free thought and free expression, and support it by sophisms upon history, that upon exami nation by the light of truth are dissipated, and leave the advocate in the condition of a person who willingly lends himself to deceptions of the grossest kind, or who, if sincere, must be passed upon as incapable, from ghostly influence, of announcing the truth.

No historical fact can be produced which will show that the Pope of Rome has aided in any cause that might properly be termed one of freedom, or that any of his official councils, or any acknowledged councils of the Church, have ever done any thing to enlighten the people, and encourage them in the principles of self-government. The present Pontiff may be presumed to have as enlarged views as any of his predecessors, yet he is as far removed from encouraging republican ideas as the most bigoted prelate of the dark ages. He represents, in this matter, not himself, but his Church; and acts only in accordance with the spirit and dictates of the great religio-political institution of which he is the head. Pius IX. blessed the Czar of Russia, and the newly made Emperor of Austria, because they aided in restoring him to his throne, from which he had been driven by the republicans of Italy. At the same time he cursed Piedmont and Belgium, because they asserted that the civil power was superior in civil matters to the power of the priests, and attempted to escape from some of the galling usurpations of Rome. Pius entered the hospitals, filled with wounded republicans who had fallen in the attempt to give liberty to the people, and poured out upon them his especial maledictions. To the wounded French-those hireling troops who had been

employed to stifle liberty-he dispensed his blessing, and loaded them with rosaries, medals, and crosses of honor. Such was his treatment to the men who had cruelly shot down his own subjects—his own people! The bones of the martyrs of liberty were left to decay upon the surface of the ground; and, in this nineteenth century, travellers were disgusted in witnessing this savage cruelty, allowed almost under the very walls of the Vatican. We repeat, that Pius IX., in these enormities, represents the principle of his Church; and were he to act more liberal-more in accordance with the spirit of the age he would cease to be Pope; for Romanism and freedom will ever be at war.

EFFECTS OF ROMANISM AND PROTESTANTISM

ON CIVILIZATION.

"The prosperity of a country is founded upon the intelligence of its inhabitants. This intelligence is dependent upon an enlightened religious belief; for the highest civilization is the result of the purest Christianity."

THREE centuries ago, the people of the continent of Europe became divided by the Reformation; those of the North embraced Protestantism, those of the South remained Romanist. The great powers sided with Rome; the second-rate embraced the new faith. The former held command over the most fruitful domains of the Old and New World, and swayed the sceptre of ocean. Literature, science, and the arts were theirs. The latter, in comparison, had received but little from Nature, and commerce and manufactures were scarcely known amongst them. Such was the position of affairs in the sixteenth century. Let us now examine the transformation which these respective countries have undergone.

At the period of the Reformation, Spain was the first among the nations of Europe. By comparing its former with its present state, we shall discover how much it has lost; and this loss is owing, if not entirely, at least in part, to its religious faith. Never was a nation so completely under the influence of Romanism as Spain. She presented a brilliant picture in the sixteenth century; for the conquest of Grenada had raised her to the pinnacle of wealth and prosperity. While the nobility gave themselves up to the profession of arms, the other classes enriched their country by assiduous labor. On all sides, irrigation, canals, and reservoirs distributed water over the remotest and most barren tracts. Agriculture was especially honored, whilst

industry and commerce added to the general prosperity. The development of trade was equal to that of industry. A minister of Philip the Second, asserted, in an assembly of the Cortes, that at the fair of Medina del Campo, in 1563, business was transacted to the amount of one hundred and thirty-two millions five hundred thousand dollars. A multitude of trading vessels set sail every year from various ports, conveying to Italy, Asia Minor, Africa, and the East Indies, the products of the national industry. Sculpture, architecture, painting, and music were enshrined in her midst. The drama, epic and lyric poetry, and history found worthy interpreters, names which will live forever. The palaces of the Spanish ambassadors were in foreign countries the resort of the most elegant society; and France, Italy, England, and Germany sent their youth to Madrid to acquire Castilian manners and politeness.

Towards the close of the fifteenth century, Spain, victorious over the Moors, became the discoverer and mistress of the New World. What a magnificent present! What a glorious future! All peoples looked to her as first amongst the nations, and sovereigns trembled at her power.

What was the condition of England at the period of the Reformation? One-half of the land was the property of the clergy; the remainder belonged to the nobility. Sixty-five thousand priests and monks supported immense establishments by the moneys levied on the people. The land was cultivated to a comparatively small extent, the gross agricultural product being under forty millions of dollars. Her trade was small, compared to that of many nations on the continent, and commerce was scarcely known in her ports. Manufactures were obtained from other countries, and education of the people had not yet commenced. Everywhere feudalism and priestcraft were triumphant, and divided the nation for their mutual benefit.

England, under the benign influences of the Reformation, from a fourth-rate power, soon took her station at the head of the nations of the earth; and peoples once her superiors became dependent upon her for protection and aid. Her ships whitened every sea, and her