"Art. 15.-We have stated, most holy father, that it is not lawful by any compact to derive lucre from any use of the keys whatsoever; in this matter the words of the Saviour are expressed, Freely you have received, freely give.' This matter not only concerns your Holiness, but all who are partakers of this power. The same applies to legates and to nunneries.

"Art. 16. Another abuse troubles Christendom, that of nunneries, which are under the care of convents of monks, when in many monasteries public sacrilege is committed, to the very great scandal of the citizens.

"Art. 17.—It is a great and pernicious abuse in the public schools, especially of Italy, that in them many philosophers teach impiety. Even in the temples of religion, they hold most impious disputations, and if some of them are of a pious nature, they are treated before the people in a most irreverent manner.

"Art. 18.-The abuse of permitting monks, for the sake of lucre, to retain the monastic habit, who have apostatized from their vows.

"Art. 19. Another abuse is the existence of questing crafts, called of the Holy Spirit and of St. Anthony, by which the country people and the simple are deluded, and involved in many superstitions; these, we think, ought to be put an end to.

"Art. 20.-Another abuse is, the facility with which dispensations have been given to many persons who have been ordained.

"Art. 21.-The abuse of dispensations, in cases of affinity or consanguinity. Marriages within the second degree should not be tolerated, except on very grave public grounds. In other degrees to be withheld also, except for justifiable reasons; and never for money, except by the imposition of a fine after absolution for pious uses.

"Art. 22.-The abuse of absolving persons guilty of simony, and still profiting by it. Alas! how widely spread is this pestilential vice in the Church of Christ! so much so, that persons are not ashamed to commit the crime of simony, and forthwith

to ask absolution for it. They even buy it, and thus retain the benefice they have purchased.

"Art. 23.-The abuse of granting the clergy permission to bequeath the things of the Church, or to convert the patrimony of the poor into private uses, or the enlargement of houses.

"Art. 24.-The abuse of the confessional, with the use of portable altars, which tends to bring sacred things into disrespect. Indulgences should be granted only at stated times of the year, and in some important place. Commutation of vows. should be less frequently sanctioned.

"Art. 25.—The impiety of changing the last wishes of a testator, with a view of diverting property from the heir-at-law, on any pretences of charitable purposes, should be put a stop to.

"Art. 26.-The scandal given by priests officiating in the temple of St. Peter, unfit for the sacred functions, and robed in vestments utterly unfit for divine service, and that too in the city of Rome, which is the Mother Church, and the mistress of other churches.'

"Art. 27.-In this city (of Rome) some courtesans go about on mules as matrons, who are sought at noon day by high personages, and of the court. In no other city have we seen such corruption of manners as in this city, which is accounted an example for all cities. They inhabit also fine houses. This vile abuse ought to be corrected.

"Art. 28.-The abuse in this city, of feuds between citizens, fomented by some cardinals, instead of being appeased by them. And lastly, the state of the hospitals in Rome, asylums of orphans and widows, calls for the care of his Holiness and his cardinals."

The statement of the evils which afflicted the Church, terminates with a moving appeal to his Holiness, "that as he had taken the name of Paul, he would imitate the charity of the apostle who was chosen to be the bearer of the name of Jesus. to the Gentiles. He, it was to be hoped, was chosen to prevent the name of Christ being forgotten by them, to have it restored by the clergy, renewed in the hearts and works of the laity, so that the sick might be healed, the sheep of Christ

gathered into one fold, the impending wrath of God, and the revenge, justly merited, turned away from the nations of Christendom."

The preceding extracts, it may be repeated, are taken from the original published report. "The Pope," says Sarpi, "caused this report to be examined by several cardinals, and proposed the matter in full consistory. Nicholas Schomberg, commonly called Cardinal of Capua, contended in a long discourse that the reform was not seasonable. He said that such was the malice of men, that if one attempted to prevent them doing evil, they would take a delight in doing still greater evil, and that there was less inconvenience from suffering a known disorder, which being in existence, gives less scandal than the introduction of another, which being new, becomes more apparent, and consequently more subject to censure. That it would give the Lutherans reason to boast of having forced the Pope to make this reform, in which the abuses would not only be taken away, but also other good customs, and thus the affairs of religion would be put on a worse footing. That the Lutherans would proclaim they had reason to make their complaints, which would increase their obstinacy. On the other hand, Cardinal Caraffa, a Theatine, contended that the reform was necessary, and could not be deferred without offence to God. That it was a general rule of Christianity, that evil could not be done that good might come of it; one ought not, moreover, to refrain from a good work that was obligatory, on account of the evil that might arise from it."

Pallavicino, in his History of the Council of Trent,* makes mention of the appointment by the Pope Paul, of this commission of enquiry of the four cardinals and five prelates, in the year 1537, and in general terms of their recommended reforms. He speaks of the Cardinal Schomberg as a man "religionis studiosissimus et Germanicorum ingeniorum peritissimus.' With reference to the scandals given in Rome, referred to in

* Hist. Con. Trent, vol. i. p. 137.

the 27th Art. he observes, "Nunc amplius hoc enorme spectaculum Romam deturbat."

Savonarola found ecclesiastical affairs in a far worse state than Bernard left them in, and of that fact we have the clearest evidence in the preceding official report of the state of religion in the beginning of the sixteenth century, which must have been as Alexander left it. Savonarola's zeal in all probability was not more ardent for the cause of religion than that of Bernard. He denounced the abuses that prevailed in the court and in the government of the Church of Rome, as Bernard had done. And though the calamities of the Church were greater which Savonarola had to bewail, and to contend with, his invectives. against those who occasioned them were not more vehement than those of Bernard.

Mirandola, in his biography of Savonarola, has made mention of the calamitous state of religion, in his account of the different classes of persons who were opponents or persecutors of Savonarola: "But amongst all the persecutors of Fra Girolamo, the most inveterate were those persons of the worst morals, and especially the highest dignitaries of the Church, 'whose scandalous lives filled the whole world with an evil odour amongst the Florentine laity, those citizens who were devoted to usurious practices, and depraved by vices, and other classes infected with the pestilence of avarice and luxury, such as those who had given themselves up to simony." +

and

So bad was this state of things, continues Nardi, at the time of the death of Savonarola, "it was publicly said, that under the rule of Mahomet, there was not greater scandal, than then disgraced the Christian religion. And certainly the corruption of morals was so great in all classes, it might be affirmed truly that such was the case, by those who lived in those evil times. In that period it appeared that no vice was deemed more scandalous or reprehensible, than the crime of having had

* Vide Appendix, Original Report.

p. 33.

J. Fran. Pico de Mirandola, Vita de Savonarola. Vol. ii. cap. ix.

VOL. II.

M

faith in the truth of that friar (Fra Girolamo), or to have desired a reform in morals in the court of Rome." *

If it were possible by scandals to overwhelm the church, Alexander the Sixth and his vices must have ruined it.

If it were in the power of a corrupt court, to pervert its doctrines and to undermine religion, the faith could hardly have survived the crimes against it, committed by its highest dignitaries, and the most corrupt of all Italian courtiers.

If it were possible, moreover, to abolish the Church of Rome by invective, it must have long since sunk under the vast amount of vituperation which has been expended on it. It seems, however, to thrive well in the worst tempests, and to suffer only from the influences of a court, and its secular concerns and corruptions.

But the court of Rome is one thing, and the church of Rome is another. One is a mere human establishment, the other is an institution that claims to be of a divine origin.

"We often hear it said," observes Macaulay, " that the world is constantly becoming more and more enlightened, and that this enlightening must be favourable to Protestantism, and unfavourable to Catholicism. We wish that we could think so. But we see great reason to doubt whether this be a well-founded expectation. We see that during the last two hundred and fifty years the human mind has been in the highest degree activethat it has made great advances in every branch of natural philosophy-that it has produced innumerable inventions tending to promote the convenience of life-that medicine, surgery, chemistry, engineering, have been very greatly improved—that government, police, and law have been improved, though not to so great an extent as the physical sciences. Yet we see that, during these two hundred and fifty years, Protestantism has made no conquests worth speaking of. Nay, we believe that, as far as there has been a change, that change has, on the whole, been in favour of the Church of Rome. We cannot, therefore, feel confident that the progress of knowledge will necessarily be * Nardi, p. 83.