and a small bit of musk. Onuphrius, in his treatise on the basilic of the Lateran, says, that it was the prior of this basilic who gave these things to the Pope. His sitting in the two chairs denoted the primacy which St Peter conferred on him, and the power of preaching the gospel conferred by St Paul. The girdle signified continence and chastity; the purse denoted the treasure, out of which the poor were to be nourished; the twelve precious stones represented the power of the twelve apostles, which resides totally in the pontiff; in fine, the musk denoted the fragrancy of good works, according to that saying, We are to God a sweet savour of Christ. In this chair the Pope elect admitted the ministers of the palace to kiss his feet, and to receive the kiss of peace. There, too, several pieces of silver were delivered to him by the chamberlain, to the value of tenpence. These he threw to the people at three different times, pronouncing these words, He hath scattered; he hath given to the poor; his righteousness remaineth for ever. All this being done, the Pope elect went next Sunday, attended by all the orders of the sacred palace, and the principal people of the city, to the basilic of the Vatican, and there, before the confession of St Peter, he was solemnly consecrated by the bishop of Ostia, to whom this office specially belongs. After this function, the archdeacon and the second deacon gave the pall to the Pope, the archdeacon pronouncing these words, Receive the pall, which is the plenitude of the pontifical office, to the honour of Almighty God, of the most happy virgin his mother, of the blessed apostles St Peter and St Paul, and of the holy Roman church."

After this description Cardinal Rasponi adds these words: "That is what was done when the pontiff was announced or proclaimed in the church of the Lateran; but when the election was made in the Vatican, the Pope, immediately after being conducted to the altar by two cardinals, or after having performed his adoration, and offered a secret prayer, kneeling, was placed in a chair behind the altar, where he admitted the cardinal bishops, and the others, during the singing of the Te Deum, to kiss his feet, and to receive the kiss of peace. The following Sunday they assembled in the same church, and the Pope, crowned according to the custom of his ancestors, went to the Lateran palace; but, before entering it,

he seated himself in the stercorary, where, sitting down thrice, according to custom, he was introduced by the cardinals into the basilic, distributing money to the populace. There he ascended a throne behind the altar, where he admitted the canons of the basilic to kiss his feet, and to receive the kiss of peace: which being done, he went to place himself in the chairs that were before the oratory of St Sylvester, where all was performed that has been recited above. But if it happened that the Pope was created out of Rome, all the clergy, when he made his entry into that city, and before entering the gate of the Lateran, went to meet him without the gate in pontifical habits, with the standard of the cross and censers; and, entering thus into the Lateran church, they observed, though in an order somewhat different, all the ceremonies mentioned above. And if the Pope, coming to Rome after his consecration, went to the church of St Peter, the same rites were used there as in the Lateran church, except only that he did not receive the canons of St Peter to kiss his feet in the portico, and that he did not sit down on the stercorary, which is not in that church. For this reason, the next day after mass, he went, without the tiara, to the Lateran palace, and, before entering the basilic, he placed himself on the stercorary, with the accustomed ceremonies."

These ceremonies, it must be owned, appear to us very silly, and some of them absolutely ridiculous. But ye may depend on it, that there is neither exaggeration nor misrepresentation in the account above given. It is not given by an enemy to that profession, or by a stranger to the customs used on such occasions, who could relate them only from hearsay; it is a relation given by a friend, a cardinal too, one who had probably witnessed them oftener than once, and who had himself a principal part to act on those occasions. The ceremonies of consecration as bishop, in case the Pope elect had, previously to his election, been only in priest's or deacon's orders, have not been related by the cardinal, as not differing materially from those used in the ordination of bishops, which are to be found in the Roman pontifical. There was, besides, a ceremony of coronation used in the instalment of the Popes, which seems not to have been introduced earlier than the thirteenth century; and it was in the following century, the

fourteenth, that the triple crown was devised. Benedict XII. seems to have been the first Pope that wore it. The reasons which the canonists give for the use of the triple crown are so diverse and so fantastic, that it is not worth while to report them.

The rites employed in coronation I shall give you some notion of, from the account given by Lenfant (in his History of the Council of Constance) of the coronation of Martin V. created Pope in a peculiar manner, agreed on by that council, in the room of John XXIII. whom they had deposed. "There was erected in the court of the palace," says our historian, "a grand theatre, which could contain about a hundred persons. Close to the wall was a very high throne, above which there was a canopy of cloth of gold, the seat destined for his holiness. On the right hand, and on the left, were ranged several other seats, a little lower, but magnificent, for the princes and the prelates to sit on. At eight o'clock in the morning, the two patriarchs, (for since the time of the crusades they had got titular Latin patriarchs in the eastern patriarchal sees subdued by the Mahometans), the twenty-two cardinals, (for there were no more then present), the archbishops, the bishops, the mitred abbots, entered the court of the palace, on horseback, in pontifical habits. The Emperor, and the other princes, followed on foot. When all the people were assembled, the Pope mounted the theatre, preceded by the clergy, carrying the cross and waxen tapers. On the forepart of the theatre there was an excellent choir of music, which sang and played on all sorts of instruments. The Pope had on his head a superb tiara, seeded with gold crowns, with a golden cross on the top. At his right hand, a little behind, were cardinal Viviers and a patriarch; at his left, cardinal Brancas with another patriarch. Then marched the other cardinals, and the grand-master of Rhodes, who were all received by the emperor, the electors, and the princes. The Pope being placed on the throne, the patriarch of Antioch took his tiara or crown off his head, and kneeled before him, holding his crown in his hand. Near him other cardinals kneeled also; one of whom carried some tow at the end of a stick, another a cross, and the rest wax

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tapers. At the Pope's right hand sat cardinal de Brancas, with eight other cardinals; at his left, the grand-master of Rhodes, with eight cardinals. Next them, on the right, the emperor, on the left, the elector of Brandenburg, both attended by archbishops. Next them, electors, princes, bishops, and other prelates, as many as the place could contain. The rest sat on the stairs, which had been made very wide for the purpose. There was, beside these, in the court, a great number of archbishops, bishops, and other great lords, both ecclesiastic and secular, who surrounded the theatre on horseback. There was likewise an immense crowd of people, who could not get into the court. When the music had ceased, one of the cardinals, who was kneeling before the Pope, and who carried the tow, lighted it, and twice said aloud, addressing himself to the Pope, Sancte pater, sic transit gloria mundi. After which, three cardinals, who had been selected for putting the crown on the Pope's head, standing up with the grand-master of Rhodes, and taking the crown from the hands of the Pope, they all four kneeled on the highest step of the throne, whence, after saying a prayer, they arose and put the crown on the Pope's head, after which, resuming their former places, they heard the Te Deum and the music. When they left the place, the Pope mounted his white horse, which was preceded by three led horses, that were also white, and had red caparisons. The inferior clergy walked before, followed by the abbots, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals, on horseback. The emperor, on foot, held the reins of the Pope's bridle on the right, walking in the dirt, (which is particularly observed by the historian), whilst the elector of Brandenburg did the same on the left. Thus the Pope was carried in procession from the cathedral to the Augustine monastery, and thence reconducted to the episcopal palace. Here ended the ceremony." And here shall end our account of the rise and establishment of papal dominion.

LECTURE XXIII.

HAVING now given you some account of the rise and establishment of the Romish hierarchy, it is but reasonable that, before I dismiss the subject of ecclesiastic history, I should consider the causes which have contributed to the declension of that wonderful empire. This will lead me to remark a little on the latent springs, the progress, and the effects of the Reformation.

In all governments, of what kind soever, it may be justly said, that the dominion of the few over the many is primarily founded in opinion. The natural strength among beings of the same order, which is equal in the individuals, or nearly so, lies always in the multitude; but the opinion both of right and of occupancy, or secure possession, can and does universally invest the smaller with the direction or government of the greater number. By the opinion of right we are restrained, through justice or a sense of duty, from divesting a man of what we think him entitled to enjoy: by the opinion of occupancy we are restrained, through prudence or a sense of danger, from disturbing a man in the possession of what we think he has a firm hold of. Either opinion, when strong, is generally sufficient to ensure peace; but they operate most powerfully in conjunction. When the two opinions are disjoined, that is, when unfortunately, under any government, it is the general opinion that the right is in one and the occupancy in another, there frequently ensue insurrections and intestine broils.

The above remarks hold equally with regard to property, which is in effect a species of power. Now these opinions, which, from the influence of custom, and insensible imitation, men have a natural tendency to form, prove, in all ordinary cases, a sufficient security to the few rich and great, in the enjoyment of all their envied advantages, against the far superior force, if it were combined, of the many poor and small. Indeed, it is opinion that prevents the combination, and makes that a master may sleep securely amid fifty servants