VATICANISM. I. INTRODUCTION. THE number and quality of the antagonists who have been drawn into the field on the occasion offered by my tract on the Vatican Decrees,' and the interest in the subject which has been manifested by the public of England and of many other countries, appear to show that it was not inopportune. The only special claim to attention with which I could invest it was this, that for thirty years I had striven hard, together with others, to secure a full measure of civil justice for my Roman Catholic fellow-countrymen, and that I still retained the convictions by which these efforts had been prompted. Knowing well the general indisposition of the English mind, amid the pressing demands of our crowded daily life, to touch any subject comparatively abstract and remote, I was not surprised when many journals of great influence, reflecting this indisposition, condemned the publication of the Tract, and inspired Roman authorities among us with the vain conception that the discussion was not practical or significant. In Rome itself, a different view was taken; and the veiled prophets behind the throne, by whom the Latin Church is governed, brought about its condemnation as blasphemous, without perusal, from the lips of the Holy Father.3 The object, probably, was at once to prevent or 1 Appendix A. 2 For example: The various organs of the press, with the shrewd political sense for which they are conspicuous, without any possible collusion, extinguished its political import in a single morning.'-Bishop Vaughan's Pastoral Letter, p. 5. 3 The declaration of non avenu, which, after a brief interval, followed the announcement of the condemnation, appeared upon some subsequent discussion to be negatived by the evi CONTENTS. I. INTRODUCTION THE REPLIES WHICH HAVE APPEARED ON THIS OCCASION. THE INSULT. II. THE RUSTY TOOLS. THE SYLLABUS.. 1. WHAT ARE ITS CONTENTS?... 2. WHAT IS ITS AUTHORITY?. III. THE VATICAN COUNCIL AND THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE.. BREACH WITH HISTORY, NO. 1. FROM THE OPINIONS AND DECLARATIONS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS OF THE UNITED STATES FOR TWO CENTURIES. IV. THE VATICAN COUNCIL AND THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE-continued........ PAGE 5 14 16 23 27 38 BREACH WITH HISTORY, NO. 2. FROM THE HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL OF V. THE VATICAN COUNCIL AND OBEDIENCE TO THE POPE........ 47 VI. REVIVED CLAIMS OF THE POPE.......... 1. TO THE DEPOSING POWER. 2. TO THE USE OF FORCE..... VII. WARRANT OF ALLEGIANCE ACCORDING TO THE VATICAN..... 57 1. ITS ALLEGED SUPERIORITY.. 2. ITS REAL FLAWS....... 57 59 3. ALLEGED NON-INTERFERENCE OF THE POPES FOR TWO HUNDRED YEARS. 63 VIII. ON THE INTRINSIC NATURE AND CONDITIONS OF THE PAPAL INFALLIBILITY DECREED IN THE VATICAN COUNCIL....... 66 50 50 55 |