foe. Even the usual external signs of sovereignty are insufficient to gratify the pontiff's inordinate pride. Emperors and kings, for the most part, present their hands to be kissed; but the pope deems it a sufficient condescension to present his foot. The generality of princes are satisfied with the glory of a single diadem; the pope, however, claims a triple crown. The former are content with the boundaries of earth, the latter extends his influence to the confines of another world; the regions of disembodied souls are challenged to confess his mighty sway, his vast, unlimited ambition! Have we not here" revealed "that man of sin," the son of perdition; "who opposeth and exalteth himself "above all that is called God, or that is worshipped?" This is indeed that

*Martin IV. made over the kingdom of Peter of Arragon to Philip the Bold of France.Innocent III. transferred the kingdom of England to the king of France, dissolved the allegiance of John's subjects, and abrogated Magna Charta. (See Hume's History of England-John.)

"man of sin, who exalts himself not

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only above inferior magistrates, but "likewise above bishops and primates,

exerting an absolute jurisdiction and "uncontrouled supremacy over all: not only above bishops and primates, but "likewise above kings and emperors; deposing some, and advancing others;

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obliging them to prostrate themselves "before him, to kiss his toe, to hold his stirrup, to wait barefooted at his gate,* treading even upon the neck,† and kicking off the imperial crown with his foot: not only above kings and emperors, but likewise above Christ and

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God himself; making the word of God

of none effect by traditions; forbidding "what God hath commanded, as marriage,

* As Pope Hildebrand, or Gregory VII. did to Henry IV.

† As Alexander III. did to Frederic I.

As Celestin did to Henry VI.; also as Pope Alexander VII. to Henry II. of England, and Lewis VII. of France-the former riding on horseback, the two latter walking on foot, as grooms at his horse's head!

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"communion in BOTH kinds, the use of "the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, and "the like; and also commanding or allowing what God hath forbidden, as idolatry, persecution, works of supererogation: so that he as God sit"teth in the temple of God, showing

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himself that he is God.' His sitting "in the temple of God plainly implies "his having a seat, or cathedra, in the "Christian church. And he sitteth "there as God, especially at his inau

guration, when he sitteth on the high "altar in St. Peter's church, and maketh "the table of the Lord his footstool, and "in that position receiveth adoration! "At all times he exerciseth divine authority in the church; affecting titles and attributes, as holiness' and "in

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fallibility;' assuming divine powers "and prerogatives in condemning and absolving men, in retaining and forgiving sins, in asserting his decrees to be of the same, or greater authority "than the word of God, and commanding them to be received under the penalty

of the same, or greater damnation! Like "another Salmoneus, he is proud to "imitate the state and thunder of the

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Almighty; and is styled, and pleased "to be styled, Our Lord God the Pope; another God upon earth;' King of kings, and Lord of lords.' The same is the dominion of God and

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" of the Pope. To believe that our "Lord God the Pope might not decree "as he decreed is heresy. The power of "the pope is greater than all created power, and extends itself to things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal. The pope doth even what he listeth, even things unlawful, ('etiam et illicita et plusquam Deus,') and is more than God!!"*

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What resemblance does this portrait bear to Him,t of whom the prophet

* See Newton's Dissertation, p. 466.

+ "Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence." (See St. JOHN xviii. 36.)

says, "He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets." "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench." (ISAIAH xlii. 2, 3.) "Who when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not!" But the voice of him who pretends to be Christ's representative, is bellowed forth, and fulminated from one end of the earth to the other! We read, that when the Samaritan city rejected the Saviour of the world, and refused him the common rites of hospitality and shelter, and his indignant followers besought him to call down upon the blaspheming city an avenging fire; instead of commending, he rebuked their unchristian zeal, and said, "Ye know not what spirit ye are of! For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them!" (LUKE ix. 56.) But when the pope's authority is questioned, even by true believers in this blessed Saviour, the flames of persecution burst forth, and are quenched only by their blood.