XX INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. the church. In earthly governments, a substitutemay be found qua- lified for all the functions of the sovereign; but in thespiritual king- dom of the church, this miserable vicar is incapable of performing a singleact of that office which Christ executes as king of Zion. He can neither give repentance to Israel, nor the remission of sins, canneither subdue the hearts nor conquer the enemies of his people, can neither sanctify nor save their souls, can neither bless the ordinances of grace nor manage the operations of providence. He has the name of a spiritual monarch, but not a shred of the thing itself; he has " the likeness of a kingly crown," but not the reality. He is thegreatest anomaly in this world, the earthly head of a spi- ritual body, a despot without power, a viceroywithout commission, a shadowwithout a substance! One thing only was wanting to complete this climax of fictitious authority, the assumption of temporal in conjunction with and springing from the spiritual jurisdiction. With regard to the former, history attests the consequences_of the temporal authoritywith which the popes were invested. We may content ourselves with the follow- ing sketch of them by Guicciardini, the celebrated Florentine his- torian : " By these foundations and means, being raised to an earthly power, forgetting by little and little the salvation of souls and the commandments of God, and bending all their thoughts to worldly greatness, no longer using the spiritual power but as an instrument of the temporal, resembling rather secular princes than popes or bishops, their cares andendeavours were now no longer sanctity of life, no longer propagation of religion, no longer zeal and charity towards their neighbours, but to raise arms, and to make war against Christians, managing their sacrifices with bloodyhands and thoughts. Theybegan to gather treasure, to make new laws, to invent new tricks and new devices to get money on all sides, to usethe spiritual armswithout respect, for this onlyend, to profane sacred things without shame, for this onlypurpose. The great wealth lavishly bestowed upon them and their whole court was accompanied with pride, luxury, dishonesty, lust, and abominable pleasures; their successors having no care of the perpetual dignity of the Papacy. Instead whereof they had an ambitious and pestilent desire to exalt their children, nephews, and kindred, not only to excessive riches, but to principalities and kingdoms; no longer conferring dignities upon men of desert and virtue, but almost alwayseither selling them to the most giver, or distributing them to persons most fit for their ambition, avarice, and other shameful plea- sures."* But on this point we must carefully distinguish between the tem- poral honours and possessions conferred on the Roman pontiff and the temporal jurisdiction which he claims in virtue of his office. * The above is part ofthe famous passage inGuicciardini's " History of the Wars of Italy," which was expunged from the Italian and Latin editions, but restored by old Fenton in his translation of 1618, p. 177.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=